Adnan Januzaj

[CLK_FPC]

I think that's the main thing with a lot of the players in that age group quite a few of them were small/smallish but despite their size they were tough boys.

Pearson for example never shied away from anything whenever I watched him

 

[onesaf]

Showed some neat football tonight in the friendly against Aberdeen

 

[pocco]

Looks a cracking little player. Showed good intelligence.

 

[charleysurf]

Showed some neat football tonight in the friendly against Aberdeen

"neat" does not do him justice. He looked really really classy.

 

[RyanGoggs]

Showed some neat football tonight in the friendly against Aberdeen

Good to hear. I know he is very young but does Ferguson playing him have any significance in the short term?

 

[dev1l]

He needs to bulk up a bit - at 17/18 he has plenty of chance to do that. Otherwise we could force him to swap meals with Anderson.

 

[marjen]

To be fair, Shaun Derry would probably look neat alongside a bunch of retired 50 year olds, a player who's too sick to play football, some unretired 40-year olds, Anderson, and Clayton Blackmore.

 

[Top]

Only 17 years old, what a talent. Reminds me of Ravel in playing style, or at least in confidence and flashyness.

 

[prateik]

Yep. He was very good.
Needs to bulk up a bit. Looking forward to watching him play for the reserves this season.

 

[dev1l]

Only 17 years old, what a talent. Reminds me of Ravel in playing style, or at least in confidence and flashyness.

But Adnan looks to have more than 1 brain cell...

 

[Drainy]

Good to hear. I know he is very young but does Ferguson playing him have any significance in the short term?

Nope. Didn't Magnus Eikrem made his debut in a testimonial a few years ago and went straight back to the reserves.

I'm sure its just a reward for working hard and playing well, and a taste of things to come if it continues.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

How long left on his contract?

 

[KingEric7]

Thought he'd be more quiet, but he was really quite expressive. Great to see that confidence.

If we're looking back in 5 years and we're talking about how none of Januzaj, Daehli, Pogba, Petrucci, Morrison and this Pereira have made it, then there's something seriously fecking wrong!

 

[marjen]

Look, you can't defend our players acting like zombies because it's a testimonial on the one hand, then praise one of our youngsters coming on because he looked good - he actually moved, you know. Which is kind of an advantage in a game of football.

I mean, the first time Anderson moved other than chasing after his own backpass, he scored a brilliant goal. That's how poor the quality of the game was.

 

[SkeppyRed]

Has attributes in his game that cant be coached such as fantastic balance, awareness and natural ability on the ball. Always has a perfect first touch and he sort of glides across the pitch in a way that attracts comparisons that I wont bother with. Also showed courage in receiving the ball and determination in getting it back despite being physically inferior, all in front of by far the biggest crowd he has played in front of so far in his career. Encouraging signs.

 

[Heffo]

Look, you can't defend our players acting like zombies because it's a testimonial on the one hand, then praise one of our youngsters coming on because he looked good - he actually moved, you know. Which is kind of an advantage in a game of football.

I mean, the first time Anderson moved other than chasing after his own backpass, he scored a brilliant goal. That's how poor the quality of the game was.

Of course you can, it was a promising performance, no one is saying he's amazing on the basis of that performance. It was nice to see him look for the ball and play with confidence in front of a large crowd in a team which included more experienced players. Not sure what your problem is?

 

[Gambit]

Very graceful on the ball.

 

[68-99-08]

What is Januzaj's best position?

 

[Cutch]

Yep. He was very good.
Needs to bulk up a bit. Looking forward to watching him play for the reserves this season.

He needs to bulk up a bit - at 17/18 he has plenty of chance to do that. Otherwise we could force him to swap meals with Anderson.

I wonder are we the only fans with this obsession

 

[RedThaiDevils#7]

Was there at the match, he looked amazing, to be honest Aberdeen's defence was really well organized and the lad provided bright sparks which we really lacked...

In all honesty, he looked a lot better than Powell.

 

[NoLogo]

I wonder are we the only fans with this obsession

General obsession in English football I fear.

A lot of people still seem to value physicality over footballing skills.

 

[londonredmaniac]

Was there at the match, he looked amazing, to be honest Aberdeen's defence was really well organized and the lad provided bright sparks which we really lacked...

In all honesty, he looked a lot better than Powell.

He did indeed. Bu then adnan is playing his natural position.

 

[antohan]

Looking forward to seeing more of this chap, sounds very promising

 

[KingEric7]

What is Januzaj's best position?

He's a bit like Silva. Can play/come in from wide or go through the middle.

I think his future lies through the middle. Players of his quality and composure need to be on the ball as much as possible.

 

[prateik]

General obsession in English football I fear.

A lot of people still seem to value physicality over footballing skills.

Its not about valuing physicality over skill. I dont want him to turn into an enforcer...
but he looked very thin/frail. He needs to fill out a bit more.

 

[Wowi]

How long left on his contract?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Typical redcafe. A particular trope gets used too often ("he needs to bulk up") resulting in a backlash that ends up with nobody being able to use the same observation where it is entirely appropriate.

Januszaj is a lanky streak of piss who can't weigh more than 10 stone soaking wet. Of course he needs to bulk up. There's not a top flight footballer anywhere in Europe with that kind of build.

This will happen naturally, though. He's probably not even stopped growing yet. It's almost impossible for kids to fill out until after they've reached their adult height. Look at Danny Welbeck, for example. He didn't really fill out until he was in his 20s.

 

[RyanGoggs]

Typical redcafe. A particular trope gets used too often ("he needs to bulk up") resulting in a backlash that ends up with nobody being able to use the same observation where it is entirely appropriate.

Januszaj is a lanky streak of piss who can't weigh more than 10 stone soaking wet. Of course he needs to bulk up. There's not a top flight footballer anywhere in Europe with that kind of build.

This will happen naturally, though. He's probably not even stopped growing yet. It's almost impossible for kids to fill out until after they've reached their adult height. Look at Danny Welbeck, for example. He didn't really fill out until he was in his 20s.

Serious question with you being a doc and all but is this filling out thing a natural process and what causes it. I can understand it with athletes because I'm sure they do a lot if gym work to "bulk" but is it really a natural occurrence?

Anyway back to Januzaj. I'd take a player like Iniesta, Messi or Xavi everyday over a physical player like Gerrard, Heskey or Parker

 

[Striker10]

He's still very young. Size isn't that big a deal. Giggs was doing one of the hardest jobs of all ie running at people and he was always around 10 stone apparently. Messi don't look particularly strong but these things can be deceptive. He showed confidence on the ball and some nice touches. That's why mutv is great, if you can't get down to the games. Personally i've seen little of him, but will be great to see how he performs this season off the back of his cameo. I'd expect that to be in the academy and maybe reserves later on.

To me it only highlights the potential here, because I imagine a lot of people would not have any idea who he was.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Serious question with you being a doc and all but is this filling out thing a natural process and what causes it. I can understand it with athletes because I'm sure they do a lot if gym work to "bulk" but is it really a natural occurrence?

Anyway back to Januzaj. I'd take a player like Iniesta, Messi or Xavi everyday over a physical player like Gerrard, Heskey or Parker

Definitely. Talk to any tall bloke and he'll tell you that he only really filled out when he stopped getting taller. Obviously, doing weights and eating a high protein diet will help this process but an increase in muscle mass will happen naturally to all tall, skinny kids once they reach their adult height.

 

[RyanGoggs]

Definitely. Talk to any tall bloke and he'll tell you that he only really filled out when he stopped getting taller. Obviously, doing weights and eating a high protein diet will help this process but an increase in muscle mass will happen naturally to all tall, skinny kids once they reach their adult height.

Fair enough. You still see some tall lanky people but I suppose their muscle growth is just not so pronounced ie crouch

 

[Tomuś]

General obsession in English football I fear.

A lot of people still seem to value physicality over footballing skills.

This. We can blame English system all we want but it's us as well who have to re-think it first. I can still see people praising Rodwell for his frame rather than skill and crying player X has to bulk up everytime the see a modest built talented lad.

'He's big he's strong and put himself about' that seems to be the benchmark and has seemed for some time now. It won't stop soon, whereas Spaniards are laughing their asses off while producing microgeniuses.

FFS, I've even seen statement like 'I don't want De Rossi here cause he was physically dominated by Muntari in one game' I think it came in the comparison between De Rossi and Nigel De bloody Jong! What is this physicality complex?

 

[Adam-Utd]

This. We can blame English system all we want but it's us as well who have to re-think it first. I can still see people praising Rodwell for his frame rather than skill and crying player X has to bulk up everytime the see a modest built talented lad.

'He's big he's strong and put himself about' that seems to be the benchmark and has seemed for some time now. It won't stop soon, whereas Spaniards are laughing their asses off while producing microgeniuses.

FFS, I've even seen statement like 'I don't want De Rossi here cause he was physically dominated by Muntari in one game' I think it came in the comparison between De Rossi and Nigel De bloody Jong! What is this physicality complex?

People are stuck in the days where big strong hard men ruled the roost, and hard robust tackles were allowed.

That time has passed.

 

[gooDevil]

Fair enough. You still see some tall lanky people but I suppose their muscle growth is just not so pronounced ie crouch

Amos and Welbeck are good examples, Amos was nothing but bones and Welbeck pretty slender as well and it wasn't until they stopped growing upward that they filled out. They came back, over a summer, looking like different people they'd added so much muscle.

 

[dev1l]

The same with Pamela Anderson, her teachers say she was very skinny at school....

 

[Duffy]

Looked good from what I saw last night. Willing to run at players, looked like he wanted to do something, even despite it being a friendly, its a good attitude to have. Look forward to seeing him in the reserves this season.

 

[jb8521]

Paddy Crerand has obviously been told that the club thinks he's a special player he gets very excited any time he talks about him.

 

[Brwned]

General obsession in English football I fear.

A lot of people still seem to value physicality over footballing skills.

Must be a Brazilian thing too then, given Flamengo said the same about Zico at the same age. Santos said the same about Robinho more recently. Doesn't matter how talented the player is, clearly. Those bloody Brazilians just don't know the value of technique.

 

[holdsteady]

Paddy Crerand has obviously been told that the club thinks he's a special player he gets very excited any time he talks about him.

Yeah it's not like he's watched him in the reserves and at Carrington or anything

 

[jb8521]

Yeah it's not like he's watched him in the reserves and at Carrington or anything

Well considering he was talking a lot about him and said "I believe he's something special as well from what I hear" when talking to Kershaw before he had even played I'd say its fairly clear he's heard they expect a lot from him