[Son]

Chelsea's youth players aren't really that young comparitively, here are their ages: Tomori 21, Abraham 22, Loftus-Cheek 23, Hudson-Odoi 18, Mason Mount 20.

Compare them to our kids: Gomes 19 (turned 19 in September), Greenwood 18 (turned 18 in October), B.Williams (19, also just turned 19 in September), Chong 19, James Garner 18.

In case you hadn't noticed, our youth are really fecking young compared to the ones Chelsea are playing (most of whom have years of first team experience already). Arsenal are more similiar but even then, they still beat us in age.

Maitland-Niles 22, Willock 20, Reiss-Nelson 19, Saka 18 (like Greenwood, only has recently turned 18).

This may be the reason.

Chong I don't think will make it though. Apart from the Inter game like Gomez he hasn't impressed me since. Gomez has shown flashes.

It's gonna be hard for any of them to do well with our current tactical setup and manager though let's face it. Absolute no attacking plan atm. Needs to change in January at the latest.

Luckily Tuanzebe looks like a beast but maybe thats because we have a decent defence locked down for him already unlike our attack.

 

[In Rainbows]

Chelsea's youngsters have proven themselves on loan, while ours still haven't. It's no shame to admit that as of right now, they're better. Chelsea's academy is the best right now. Still, a couple of ours have really high potential.

Abraham
Tomori
Mount
James
Hudson Odoi
Mceachran
Gilmour
Lamptey

Rashford
Tuanzebe
Greenwood
Gomes
Garner
Williams
Laird

Ours need to develop the way Chelsea's youngsters have before it's an apt comparison.

 

[Ekeke]

This may be the reason.

Chong I don't think will make it though. Apart from the Inter game like Gomez he hasn't impressed me since. Gomez has shown flashes.

It's gonna be hard for any of them to do well with our current tactical setup and manager though let's face it. Absolute no attacking plan atm. Needs to change in January at the latest.

Luckily Tuanzebe looks like a beast but maybe thats because we have a decent defence locked down for him already unlike our attack.

That and he's 21, having played for Aston Villa last season and helping them get promoted to the premier league. Likewise Mount and Abraham have cut their teeth on loan in the championship and have taken that form into the premier league. This would be the argument as to why we should send young players out on loan instead of having them stick around and not play much

 

[In Rainbows]

That and he's 21, having played for Aston Villa last season and helping them get promoted to the premier league. Likewise Mount and Abraham have cut their teeth on loan in the championship and have taken that form into the premier league. This would be the argument as to why we should send young players out on loan instead of having them stick around and not play much

I think it depends on the player and their situation. For example, I've always been against a Gomes loan because of his small stature, he would have a bias against him from dinosaur managers. Greenwood is another that I'm against because I think he can develop at United due to being a technically gifted player. I've wanted an overseas loan for Chong so that he can go up against men, but at the same time be protected by refs more so than he would by English refs.

I wouldn't mind a loan for Garner even though I think he's ready for minutes now. If he won't get that chance, let him go to the Championship. He definitely has the grit that would buy him time from all his managers, and he's also a gifted passer. He's a better Ben Pearson.

 

[romufc]

They weren't those types of players from the start. Frenkie started off as a 10, and I'm pretty sure the same is true of Modric.

Unfortunately, I cannot find Modric's stats but I have managed to find Frenkie's who btw at 22 is a CDM.

But anyway at the same age he was playing in the second division of dutch football and had 31 games 6 goals and 8 assists and followed that season with 22 games in the top flights with 8 assists.

And Xavi was actually a CM and in 2000/2001 had 2 goals 6 assists in 20 games followed by 35 starts 4 goals and 10 assists.

Btw these are League matches, I haven't even looked at any cup games.

So I hope that answers your question on where them players were. They all got the chances at a young age. We can discuss lower standards of football in different leagues and all but that is a pointless. It is not as if Manutd are flying and we can't risk playing youngsters, our main players are misfiring miserably so why not give Gomes 4/5 games why not give Greenwood 4/5 games whilst the Martials, Pogba's of our team are injured.

I don't expect to see them starting when they are fit but Ole has shows he doesn't trust the youngsters, he plays them because he is forced to compared to Lampard at Chelsea where he drops Pedro, William, Ivanovic, Zouma for Mount, Tomori, CHO etc.

 

[Adcuth]

That and he's 21, having played for Aston Villa last season and helping them get promoted to the premier league. Likewise Mount and Abraham have cut their teeth on loan in the championship and have taken that form into the premier league. This would be the argument as to why we should send young players out on loan instead of having them stick around and not play much

Chong needs a year in the championship, see how he copes. I'd possibly send him and Gomes to different teams. If they can impressed there, they're ready to play in the prem

 

[Rozay]

Chelsea's youth players aren't really that young comparitively, here are their ages: Tomori 21, Abraham 22, Loftus-Cheek 23, Hudson-Odoi 18, Mason Mount 20.

Compare them to our kids: Gomes 19 (turned 19 in September), Greenwood 18 (turned 18 in October), B.Williams (19, also just turned 19 in September), Chong 19, James Garner 18.

In case you hadn't noticed, our youth are really fecking young compared to the ones Chelsea are playing (most of whom have years of first team experience already). Arsenal are more similiar but even then, they still beat us in age.

Maitland-Niles 22, Willock 20, Reiss-Nelson 19, Saka 18 (like Greenwood, only has recently turned 18).

You, importantly, forgot Martinelli, who is 18.

 

[AltiUn]

You, importantly, forgot Martinelli, who is 18.

I thought we were just talking about youth graduates tbf, I haven’t been following the whole thread

 

[andersj]

I don't think anyone expects him to dominate, people want to see him more often than the odd appearance here and there considering our options currently.

Bernado Silva 13/14 - 38 games 7 goals 7 assists
Juan Mata 08/09 - 38 games 11 goals 17 assists

The others you mentioned are more CM / box to box players so you wouldn't expect them to be creating like Gomes is expected.

I am not one who is saying unleash Gomes because personally I do not think he is ready to be a regular but I thought I put stats of the other 2.

Also, you cannot control which team you play for at age, it isn't like United are a big club at the moment anyway. Players coming through would be expected to start for clubs at mid table e.g Declan Rice.

Bernardo Silva for Benfica B. Juan Mata in 08/09 was more than one year older than Gomes is at present time. In 07/08 he neither played much or made much of an impact.

And I’m not saying it is impossible to establish themself at a young age. I’m just saying it does not mean much that Angle Gomes have not. It is an individual thing.

 

[Adam-Utd]

People on the caf are stupid. Hasn't that become obvious over the last few months.

They’d rather have months of crap average players huffing and puffing than give the young lads a few games in a row to see if they can settle.

Nobody plays their best having 1 match every few months amongst new players.

 

[Ekeke]

Personally I'd be happy to see Gomes get 8-10 starts in the league this season almost regardless of performances, just to get experience and with the knowledge that hes a talented player who we should be involving to build for the future. We don't have better AM/CM options performing at a quality level that should get in the way of getting him settled in mens football. If we did, that would be fair and maybe he gets 5 games. But we don't. We have have gaping holes in all the positions Gomes could play for us

 

[Treble]

The team is not far away from slipping in a relegation battle. All the talk about starting youngsters is naive, imo.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

The team is not far away from slipping in a relegation battle. All the talk about starting youngsters is naive, imo.

Would tend to agree if the experienced players were performing above anything other than relegation standards themselves. To expect a dramatic turnaround in players we have seen woefully disappoint time after time is foolhardy. The time to improve the squad is in January.

We've seen that under the current manager all that keeping the likes of Gomes/Chong/Greenwood on the bench does is see them come on with 20/30 minutes to go with the team drawing or losing and I actually think this is more detrimental than positive.

There's no guarantee that they will do better than what we are currently seeing but honestly our form will be 'patchy' until we improve the attack/midfield fundamentally and that will happen through purchases so until January, at the least, I would much rather give the youth the backing and be more accepting of the ups and downs.

We shouldn't be relying on any of them the way we are in all honesty but if they have to play they should get proper game time in their best positions.

 

[R'hllor]

The team is not far away from slipping in a relegation battle. All the talk about starting youngsters is naive, imo.

Yea youngsters are the reason why we are in this position.

 

[Treble]

Yea youngsters are the reason why we are in this position.

Thoughless response. My post didn't imply that the youngsters are the reason for being in this position, but that experimenting with them and letting them learn how to cope in the PL might make the position even worse. The starting XI is already the youngest team in the PL or thereabouts.

People thought we didn't need Lukaku because he was a donkey. Well, we miss his goals against average/poor teams. They say now we don't need Mata, Lingard....Well, the situation could get worse with starting youngsters instead. Relegation battle is not far away.

 

[Ekeke]

Thoughless response. My post didn't imply that the youngsters are the reason for being in this position, but that experimenting with them and letting them learn how to cope in the PL might make the position even worse. The starting XI is already the youngest team in the PL or thereabouts.

People thought we didn't need Lukaku because he was a donkey. Well, we miss his goals against average/poor teams. They say now we don't need Mata, Lingard....Well, the situation could get worse with starting youngsters instead. Relegation battle is not far away.

No actually it couldnt, Mata and Lingard are the worst players in their positions in the league this season. They're the ones who's performances deserve a team in the relegation places.

 

[johanovic]

Thoughless response. My post didn't imply that the youngsters are the reason for being in this position, but that experimenting with them and letting them learn how to cope in the PL might make the position even worse. The starting XI is already the youngest team in the PL or thereabouts.

People thought we didn't need Lukaku because he was a donkey. Well, we miss his goals against average/poor teams. They say now we don't need Mata, Lingard....Well, the situation could get worse with starting youngsters instead. Relegation battle is not far away.

Mata and Lingard have the same stats for last season and this combined reach with 4 goals and 2 assists. That is dreadful for a attacker for Man Utd. Mata does not have the pace and Lingard is just lacking in ability. Giving Gomes a chance or pushing Pogba into the number 10 role could hardly be worse.

 

[Treble]

Mata and Lingard have the same stats for last season and this combined reach with 4 goals and 2 assists. That is dreadful for a attacker for Man Utd. Mata does not have the pace and Lingard is just lacking in ability. Giving Gomes a chance or pushing Pogba into the number 10 role could hardly be worse.

I know this theory. And I'm not convinced.

 

[0le]

I know this theory. And I'm not convinced.

To be fair, I don't think anyone is convinced by anything going on at United at present. It seems like we have to hope right now..

 

[Ekeke]

I know this theory. And I'm not convinced.

Not convinced of what? That Gomes doesnt have a good chance of being better than the worst players in their position in the league?

 

[R'hllor]

Thoughless response. My post didn't imply that the youngsters are the reason for being in this position, but that experimenting with them and letting them learn how to cope in the PL might make the position even worse. The starting XI is already the youngest team in the PL or thereabouts.

People thought we didn't need Lukaku because he was a donkey. Well, we miss his goals against average/poor teams. They say now we don't need Mata, Lingard....Well, the situation could get worse with starting youngsters instead. Relegation battle is not far away.

Yea there is no universe where Gomes vs Lingard and Mata would be worse, maybe same shit but worse no, at least kid aint on 100k plus wages. Same goes with some other senior experienced pros on other position, all so called winners.

 

[johanovic]

I know this theory. And I'm not convinced.

This is hardly a theory, it's just the plain facts.

 

[POF]

Chelsea's youth players aren't really that young comparitively, here are their ages: Tomori 21, Abraham 22, Loftus-Cheek 23, Hudson-Odoi 18, Mason Mount 20.

Compare them to our kids: Gomes 19 (turned 19 in September), Greenwood 18 (turned 18 in October), B.Williams (19, also just turned 19 in September), Chong 19, James Garner 18.

In case you hadn't noticed, our youth are really fecking young compared to the ones Chelsea are playing (most of whom have years of first team experience already). Arsenal are more similiar but even then, they still beat us in age.

Maitland-Niles 22, Willock 20, Reiss-Nelson 19, Saka 18 (like Greenwood, only has recently turned 18).

This is spot on. United's equivalent youngsters are Rashford 21, McTominay 22, Tuanzebe 21 and Pereira 23 who are all regulars in the match day squad. There's also Lingard (mental age 16).

United's "chosen 4" of Greenwood, Gomes, Garner and Chong are just too young and inexperienced to be regular first team players, especially when you consider the inexperience already in the first 11.

The whole "Gomes needs a consistent run in the first team as a number 10" stuff is just pie in the sky. As mentioned above, Modric and Bernardo Silva both played top level European football before moving to England but still played at least a season out wide when moving to the EPL to adapt to the intensity.

But Angel Gomes who is years behind the levels they were at physically and can only hope to reach the level of Modric or Silva one day doesn't need that period of adaptation?

He's getting chances. More than Phil "Best player Pep has ever seen" Foden. If he plays well enough, he will get more games. I think it's far more likely that United will sign a new 10 though. He's not ready to play yet and Mata and Lingard just aren't cutting it.

 

[Bondi77]

I think back to our best youth side since the class of 92 and high hopes were held for the likes of Tunicliffe, Cole, Will Keane, Thorpe and notably Ravel Morrison and yet it has only really been Lingard, Pogba and Michael Keane that we can say are playing at the highest level.
I think it shows how big a gulf it is to make the jump from this level to first team football and while we can all get excited watching our youngsters perform at youth level we have to realise that is the standard they are shining in.

 

[Ekeke]

This is spot on. United's equivalent youngsters are Rashford 21, McTominay 22, Tuanzebe 21 and Pereira 23 who are all regulars in the match day squad. There's also Lingard (mental age 16).

United's "chosen 4" of Greenwood, Gomes, Garner and Chong are just too young and inexperienced to be regular first team players, especially when you consider the inexperience already in the first 11.

The whole "Gomes needs a consistent run in the first team as a number 10" stuff is just pie in the sky. As mentioned above, Modric and Bernardo Silva both played top level European football before moving to England but still played at least a season out wide when moving to the EPL to adapt to the intensity.

But Angel Gomes who is years behind the levels they were at physically and can only hope to reach the level of Modric or Silva one day doesn't need that period of adaptation?

He's getting chances. More than Phil "Best player Pep has ever seen" Foden. If he plays well enough, he will get more games. I think it's far more likely that United will sign a new 10 though. He's not ready to play yet and Mata and Lingard just aren't cutting it.

Modric and Silva at 19 years old, if they were at this United this season and Mata and Lingard were playing like they have for the past 2 seasons would also deserve to be given a good 10 games this season to get them ready for the next season

 

[Treble]

This is hardly a theory, it's just the plain facts.

Gomes hasn't started a game in the PL, so there are no facts. It's a theory that he couldn't be worse. There is no such thing as worst level of performances, it's always possible to get worse.

For instance, for all his inability, Lingard can press and is relatively fast. He is one of the players who can run the most in this squad. Mata is one of those who cover the most distance. Gomes can't offer that now. And it is important. When people think that Gomes can't be worse, they think of goals/assists. Which is only part of the picture. There is a hierarchy in the team and if you break it by playing kids without having results to show for it, you are dead man walking.

Gomes is getting chances in the EL. If he shows there that he performs better than the senior players, he will get starts in the PL too. He has featured in two games against championship level of opposition in the EL and the team scored 1 goal and had 0 shots on target in the second game: hardly the staff of dreams.To throw him in such a shit moment against a PL opposition might be the wrong thing to do for his own development. Where does he start? Liverpool home, Norwich away, Brighton?

 

[Grande]

Mata and Lingard have the same stats for last season and this combined reach with 4 goals and 2 assists. That is dreadful for a attacker for Man Utd. Mata does not have the pace and Lingard is just lacking in ability. Giving Gomes a chance or pushing Pogba into the number 10 role could hardly be worse.

I really like Gomes, in fact he is my favourite of the up and coming players, and I really hope he develops well. I also love that Solskjær is making so much space for the young players at the club, and I’m ready to waive a year of champions league if need be to see it happen. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but hey. I read about the Babes when I was a kid, and if football is not romantic, well, then it’s nothing.

I was disappointed not to see Gomes earlier in the season after his good preseason, but when he has played, I see the point better. End product notwithstanding, both Mata and Lingard, even when playing bad, does a lot of things important to give the attacking play a chance to click. Basic things like seeing when to move where. Gomes lacks a bit of that yet. He needs time, and playing time, to learn it. But it’s not a thing he’ll learn if the players around him doesn’t know how to make their play gel.

One important thing to me: When we’re struggling, like we are, the level and amount of criticism that surfaces from media, supporters and ‘supporters’, are unlike anything we’ve seen in history.

Fergie’s first batch of fledglings didn’t swim, they generally sank (Beardsmore, Sharpe, Martin, Robins) and I think Ferguson knew he had to protect the next ones (Giggs, class of 92, etc) better from pressure and public exposure.

Today, Lingard will have seen a thousand vitriolic tweets abouthis role in destroying the glorious club that is United. That does things to a young persons confidence. If we want Gomes to increase his confidence (which he needs to), he’ll need protection.

 

[Ekeke]

I really like Gomes, in fact he is my favourite of the up and coming players, and I really hope he develops well. I also love that Solskjær is making so much space for the young players at the club, and I’m ready to waive a year of champions league if need be to see it happen. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but hey. I read about the Babes when I was a kid, and if football is not romantic, well, then it’s nothing.

I was disappointed not to see Gomes earlier in the season after his good preseason, but when he has played, I see the point better. End product notwithstanding, both Mata and Lingard, even when playing bad, does a lot of things important to give the attacking play a chance to click. Basic things like seeing when to move where. Gomes lacks a bit of that yet. He needs time, and playing time, to learn it. But it’s not a thing he’ll learn if the players around him doesn’t know how to make their play gel.

One important thing to me: When we’re struggling, like we are, the level and amount of criticism that surfaces from media, supporters and ‘supporters’, are unlike anything we’ve seen in history.

Fergie’s first batch of fledglings didn’t swim, they generally sank (Beardsmore, Sharpe, Martin, Robins) and I think Ferguson knew he had to protect the next ones (Giggs, class of 92, etc) better from pressure and public exposure.

Today, Lingard will have seen a thousand vitriolic tweets abouthis role in destroying the glorious club that is United. That does things to a young persons confidence. If we want Gomes to increase his confidence (which he needs to), he’ll need protection.

If they are doing it right, moving to the right places at the right time how come they are so uninvolved and uneffective?

We're talking about statistically the worst 2 AMs in the league to have played 2 matches or more. They arent doing anything right

 

[POF]

Modric and Silva at 19 years old, if they were at this United this season and Mata and Lingard were playing like they have for the past 2 seasons would also deserve to be given a good 10 games this season to get them ready for the next season

He's played 3 games already and it's early October. I'd be amazed if he doesn't make at least 10 appearances this season.

 

[Grande]

If they are doing it right, moving to the right places at the right time how come they are so uninvolved and uneffective?

We're talking about statistically the worst 2 AMs in the league to have played 2 matches or more. They arent doing anything right

You’re simplifying it. Lingard is doing some things wrong because he is limited, he is doing some more things wrong because he is out of form, he is doing yet other things wrong because the interplay relations aren’t working atm, and he is doing somethings right that you ignore in order to paint a black and white picture.
His limitations are little to do with at this point, his form is probably much down to confidence which can turn fairly quickly oftentimes, the interplay makes anyone in that position do things, it needs a team solution, and the right things you just have to look for. The coaches knows that he has our highest pass completion in the opposition half, and even though they are safe passes, it is possibly a necessity to build on a bit of pass security if we’re going to establish some team play. Likewise with the pressing patterns. They aren’t functioning at the moment, and it’s a team thing.

Gomes might be better than Lingard atm, to be honest I don’t think he has yet, but Lingard may have the best short term potential when it comes to get the play flowing again - which again might be a prerequisite for Gomes to have a good environment to learn in.

You could say, of course, if Gomes is as good as Lingard on current level, why not let him get game time even if he struggles. I disagree: with the level of criticism, scepticism and negativism around right now, Gomes could actually be harmed in his development by playing too much now, Lingard is not as big a los and should also handle it better.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

People arguing against Gomes playing more matches use unfair comparisons. They've made comparisons to Modric, Silva, class of '92, Foden, Chelsea's youth, ... It's getting tedious. How about comparing Gomes to the players he's competing with at United? Mata, Lingard, and Pereira. You need to explain to us why Mata, Lingard, and Pereira are better attacking options than Gomes. Fans who actually watch games can see that none of Mata, Lingard, nor Pereira are good enough. The reason we want Gomes to play more games is to relieve us from the excruciating agony of watching Mata, Lingard, and Pereira flounder.

 

[Beachryan]

It's just the internet age, and the strange things it does ton people's brains. If Gomes were a new signing, we'd sensibly be saying to ease him in gently, because the premier league is totally different from (x) league he came from.

If it were under Fergie, we'd get glimpses of him for 15 minutes at the end of a cup game we'd already won, like renowned academy player Paul Pogba. And he'd be playing alongside a team of seasoned pros fighting for their spots. Not retirees like Matic, Young and Mata.

From all I've seen and all everyone at the club is saying, they know Gomes could be the real deal and are acting accordingly (cept that contract). Its our fault for demanding him to play before hes ready, and then judging him for not being ready.

Virtually 0 players are getting big minutes at top clubs at his age, and those that do are physically gifted. Rooney, Ronaldo, Owen hell even Rashford. Scholesy was like 21 when he was introduced.

Give him time ffs.

 

[Smores]

It's just the internet age, and the strange things it does ton people's brains. If Gomes were a new signing, we'd sensibly be saying to ease him in gently, because the premier league is totally different from (x) league he came from.

If it were under Fergie, we'd get glimpses of him for 15 minutes at the end of a cup game we'd already won, like renowned academy player Paul Pogba. And he'd be playing alongside a team of seasoned pros fighting for their spots. Not retirees like Matic, Young and Mata.

From all I've seen and all everyone at the club is saying, they know Gomes could be the real deal and are acting accordingly (cept that contract). Its our fault for demanding him to play before hes ready, and then judging him for not being ready.

Virtually 0 players are getting big minutes at top clubs at his age, and those that do are physically gifted. Rooney, Ronaldo, Owen hell even Rashford. Scholesy was like 21 when he was introduced.

Give him time ffs.

CHO, Mount, Tomori, Reece James, Saka, Guendouzi, Nelson, Willock, TAA.

That's just off the top of my head from the clubs around us. There's plenty his age being trusted with minutes.

 

[In Rainbows]

CHO, Mount, Tomori, Reece James, Saka, Guendouzi, Nelson, Willock, TAA.

That's just off the top of my head from the clubs around us. There's plenty his age being trusted with minutes.

Only Saka and CHO are his age or younger.

 

[andersj]

CHO, Mount, Tomori, Reece James, Saka, Guendouzi, Nelson, Willock, TAA.

That's just off the top of my head from the clubs around us. There's plenty his age being trusted with minutes.

«The top of your head» is obviously not a good source for you.

 

[Rocknrolla69er]

So what would people say Gomes best position is?

With the team lacking creativity, and somebody who can keep possession in midfield and knit play, Pogba needs to be played as the advanced midfielder it's clear as day, so that leaves 2 deeper roles in midfield, can Gomes play in one of them that's the question facing Ole.

Would this work

...........Pogba
Mctominay...Gomes

For me it's the only real option we have left to try given the players at Oles disposal

Mata, Matic, Fred and Lingaard just aren't good enough and aren't performing.

 

[Alemar]

Chelsea's youngsters have proven themselves on loan, while ours still haven't. It's no shame to admit that as of right now, they're better. Chelsea's academy is the best right now. Still, a couple of ours have really high potential.

Abraham
Tomori
Mount
James
Hudson Odoi
Mceachran
Gilmour
Lamptey

Rashford
Tuanzebe
Greenwood
Gomes
Garner
Williams
Laird

Ours need to develop the way Chelsea's youngsters have before it's an apt comparison.

McTominay as well, and Henderson if you would. Don’t forget about those as well

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

So what would people say Gomes best position is?

With the team lacking creativity, and somebody who can keep possession in midfield and knit play, Pogba needs to be played as the advanced midfielder it's clear as day, so that leaves 2 deeper roles in midfield, can Gomes play in one of them that's the question facing Ole.

Would this work

...........Pogba
Mctominay...Gomes

For me it's the only real option we have left to try given the players at Oles disposal

Mata, Matic, Fred and Lingaard just aren't good enough and aren't performing.

He’s not built like a s***house like McT so people will doubt that option but honestly I would rather watch him try & fail then be subjected to Mata starting again.

Wholesale improvements can’t be made until January; we should be playing the youngsters [who due to squad construction are being over relied upon] from the start in their best positions.

A midfield 3 with Gomes in the 8 or 10 with Greenwood playing as ST [at least until we next see Martial] would have done no worse than what we have been witness to recently.

 

[Ekeke]

He's played 3 games already and it's early October. I'd be amazed if he doesn't make at least 10 appearances this season.

I'm talking about league matches where he's so far appeared 1 time off the bench for 9 minutes. Why? To get used to the premier league and get ready for next season where we can expect more from him.

A lot of the young players we get linked to had a quieter first season and werent amazing but once they got some experience they came good. Its a lot more rare for players to come in and be great straight away

 

[Ekeke]

You’re simplifying it. Lingard is doing some things wrong because he is limited, he is doing some more things wrong because he is out of form, he is doing yet other things wrong because the interplay relations aren’t working atm, and he is doing somethings right that you ignore in order to paint a black and white picture.
His limitations are little to do with at this point, his form is probably much down to confidence which can turn fairly quickly oftentimes, the interplay makes anyone in that position do things, it needs a team solution, and the right things you just have to look for. The coaches knows that he has our highest pass completion in the opposition half, and even though they are safe passes, it is possibly a necessity to build on a bit of pass security if we’re going to establish some team play. Likewise with the pressing patterns. They aren’t functioning at the moment, and it’s a team thing.

Gomes might be better than Lingard atm, to be honest I don’t think he has yet, but Lingard may have the best short term potential when it comes to get the play flowing again - which again might be a prerequisite for Gomes to have a good environment to learn in.

You could say, of course, if Gomes is as good as Lingard on current level, why not let him get game time even if he struggles. I disagree: with the level of criticism, scepticism and negativism around right now, Gomes could actually be harmed in his development by playing too much now, Lingard is not as big a los and should also handle it better.

And I completely disagree

Remember the last time we were this shit? We had Moyes, we had a shit transfer window - same thing. What was the one thing that helped us get through a shit season?

Januzaj, a young player was given the chance and performed as well as almost any of the older players. The older players were the reason we did so poorly, not the kid. When we fixed a couple of those issues and the team got better, Januzaj didnt actually do as well. He had trouble finding that form from the first season where his competition was rubbish and he just needed to go out and express himself to stay in the team.

Thats all Gomes needs to do. Go out there and play some nice pieces of football. Even a glimpse at the player he could be in 2 or 3 years would be lightyears ahead of Mata and Lingard blunting our attack