As a matter of interest, is there anyone coming through even at younger age groups that you see with that kind of potential?
Charlie Savage
- Thread starter L1nk
- Start date
Kobbie Mainoo. Also, Greenwood was ace, no way Fletcher was better.
Gore
Ferguson wanted Fletcher in the first team and wasn’t allowed by the FA because he was too young. He was something else.
He's really tidy on the ball but I don't think his actual passing is that great. It's not bad either but a lot of the passes are slightly misplaced or over/under hit. He just looks composed when he does them.
He has plenty of time to improve on that and definitely one to keep an eye on and who might get the odd chance here and there, but anyone thinking he'll be playing regularly in our first team midfield next season I think is kidding themselves. He's miles away from being ready for that. If he's considered ready for first team football he'll more likely go on loan.
We've had plenty of young players who can look tidy on the ball and pick a pass. There's a whole lot more than that to playing in a PL midfield. If we wanted to give a youngster who has quality on the ball and a range of passing a try, Garner would be head of the queue.
That's not saying I haven't been impressed with Savage but we need a bit of realism. People talking as if he should replace Mctominay now I assume don't understand the concept of pre season against Melbourne not being the same as a 100mph Premier league game where you get found out with every mistake and buried into the ground if you aren't up to it physically.
Not to mention if we sold Elanga we'd have absolutely no back up for either Rashford or Sancho, and after last season it's debatable who out of Rashford and Elanga would even be the back up.
He has plenty of time to improve on that and definitely one to keep an eye on and who might get the odd chance here and there, but anyone thinking he'll be playing regularly in our first team midfield next season I think is kidding themselves. He's miles away from being ready for that. If he's considered ready for first team football he'll more likely go on loan.
We've had plenty of young players who can look tidy on the ball and pick a pass. There's a whole lot more than that to playing in a PL midfield. If we wanted to give a youngster who has quality on the ball and a range of passing a try, Garner would be head of the queue.
That's not saying I haven't been impressed with Savage but we need a bit of realism. People talking as if he should replace Mctominay now I assume don't understand the concept of pre season against Melbourne not being the same as a 100mph Premier league game where you get found out with every mistake and buried into the ground if you aren't up to it physically.
That's a nothing amount for a club who let £50m players run their contracts down and leave for free.
Not to mention if we sold Elanga we'd have absolutely no back up for either Rashford or Sancho, and after last season it's debatable who out of Rashford and Elanga would even be the back up.
No…not in the same way.
I agree Greenwood was a better player…but Personally I had no doubts about Fletcher whereas I did with Greenwood which was point.
I appreciate all the above, but this is one persons opinion, to many in and around the academy, Greenwood was about as nailed on to succeed as you can get.
Agreed, took me about 15 minutes of watching Greenwood to know he was a really special player. Pretty much knew he was gonna be a first teamer after the first game I saw of him at 16.surprised not to see Greenwood in your list, but perhaps he’s been scrubbed from memory
Not that I've seen, there are some fantastic young players coming through but someone like Greenwood only comes along once every 20 years. There might be someone younger than 16 who's a Greenwood-level talent but we won't know much about them until they hit the U18s.
same here, seeing the results roll in every week and checking to see if greenwood had scored again - yep you guessed it.
It’s makes what’s happened sting just that bit extra. I feel like we had a glimpse of his talent and it’s all been snatched away. What a waste.
Yep, Greenwood was special for sure. His speed, dribbling, finishing, and how ridiculously comfortable he was on the ball in super tight areas in the box surrounded by defenders ala Aguero, Suarez and RVP, that is rare to find, so rare.
People forget how young he was when he was banging them in the Premier League.
Practically unheard of for an 18 year old forward to perform like that in the Premier League, off the top of my head only Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney managed that.
Comfortably the best player the academy produced since David Beckham and Paul Scholes.
He was a generational talent, 100m+ player potentially.
Agreed. Such a shame he seems to have thrown it all away.
What about Edwards, Charlton and Best?
I think a lot like to be keyboard coaches and make strong 'expert' pronouncements about youth players when there are so many factors involved.
@Mr MUJAC ain't that old say 95y.o.
If he is, he's lucky to be alive and kudos to him for his PC abilities at that age.
I did watch him a bit at a younger age (12-16) and whilst I do like his left peg and he does look comfortable spraying passes around comments like this doesn't surprise me as he does not exactly stand out compared to his peers in his positions like A.Hughes (who didn't sign the scholarship) and Pleavin. When he moves to the U18s we signed Hannibal plus Svidersky whom we already signed before that who made him and Iqbal moved down the pecking order further but he has made impressive progess during his second year when he's being played regularly.
Part of United's philosophy is having better players raises the bar for everyone. It's a great sign that he and Iqbal were able to raise their game in order to get back into contention again. Great mindset.
Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton were in the youth teams in 1954 and Bestie 1963/1964….the first youth team I remember was mid 1970’s.
But reading reports everyone said they were certs.
Thats what is so interesting about youth football, we all see different things which forms our views.
It’s one of the reasons I say ‘trust the coaches’…I’ve been wrong about more players than I’ve been right over the years so now I tend not to make predictions.
The coaches get right most of the time and I can’t think of too many players who we let go of when we should have kept them.
Back on point, all Charlie can do is give his best, continue to develop and then we will see…
I'm going straight out and say this lad is going to make it on here.
Yeah I've been burnt before (Gomes, Chong, Pearson). But with Savage I just see how good a midfielder he is.
His positioning is top class as is his reading of the game, there was this moment that stood out: Telles raced out to intercept a pass played towards the left side channel and Savage immediately covers for him.
He plays with such calmness and assuredness that belies his young age and experience that I don't feel with Garner.
If he can improve the weight of his of passes which imo is the only weakness in his game then we have a hell of a player on our hands
Yeah I've been burnt before (Gomes, Chong, Pearson). But with Savage I just see how good a midfielder he is.
His positioning is top class as is his reading of the game, there was this moment that stood out: Telles raced out to intercept a pass played towards the left side channel and Savage immediately covers for him.
He plays with such calmness and assuredness that belies his young age and experience that I don't feel with Garner.
If he can improve the weight of his of passes which imo is the only weakness in his game then we have a hell of a player on our hands
Well if we sold the other not good enough squad members for similar money, we would be able to buy some decent back up.
Take your point re last season and how atrocious Rashford was, Elanga however wasn't a whole lot better. Maybe he would fetch more than 20m, he is a full Swedish international now.
Hopefully the days of allowing players to run their contracts down are behind us..... hopefully.
Less of the cheek young fellow. Have only watched or taken an interest in United youth teams for about 70 years, not even 80 yet.
This might be premature, but I think Savage will have a stronger chance to be in the first team than the rest. Players like him are capable of following instructions and executing them according to the manager's wish. Savage's technical skills are not that bad for his age with room for improvement, so all in all he will be someone who will make the grade.
On the slight off-topic of youth players making the grade, I would say these are the key factors besides possessing talent for their playing positions.
1) Attitude (very important)
2) Discipline
3) Intelligence/Maturity level in making decisions off and on the ball
All the players who make the grade certainly possess the above with point number 3 not always true in some of the cases. People get surprised with Scott McTominay but if you look at his attitude and discipline, he is a player capable of following instructions with strong self-motivation. It is very rare to see players make the grade just based on talent alone.
1) Attitude (very important)
2) Discipline
3) Intelligence/Maturity level in making decisions off and on the ball
All the players who make the grade certainly possess the above with point number 3 not always true in some of the cases. People get surprised with Scott McTominay but if you look at his attitude and discipline, he is a player capable of following instructions with strong self-motivation. It is very rare to see players make the grade just based on talent alone.
Wouldnt you put Greenwood in the list ?
Great post. From that list only Morrison disappointed... and that due to his own attitude over anything else.
It should be a reminder that we have seen so many e.g. Macheda, Wilson, Januzaj, Blackett, McNair... who looked like that they could at least break into regular first team football. Chances are most won't... I have high hopes for Iqbal but a long way to go yet and needs patience!
Technical skills largely don't improve much at this age. What improves is confidence (to showcase the technical skill you already have shown at youth levels), and sharpness in terms of decision making (speed of play decisions, and general decision making).
Read above he's answered that already. (he said no )
Clearly others thought he was a cert as they have said…but I wasn’t sure as he was only playing against youth players against which he excelled.
He never really played against adults so I always wondered about his physicality. He jumped straight to the first team and there were no problems for him.
I was wrong at the time.
But that’s the thing, no fan is a perfect predictor of young talent.
I agree, League One would be a good challenge for Savage. He's a decent hard-working player who will hopefully have a good career in the lower EFL leagues.
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Does anyone know if we got a fee for him?
Seemed like a good lad and gave it his all despite probably not being as talented as some contemporaries. Gave us a touching moment listening to his Dad get emotional on his debut. Wish him the best and hope to see him do well with another club.
Seemed like a good lad and gave it his all despite probably not being as talented as some contemporaries. Gave us a touching moment listening to his Dad get emotional on his debut. Wish him the best and hope to see him do well with another club.
If we did it's probably a low six-figure fee. We put more emphasis in the buyback/first refusal and sell-on %.
Reading didn't pay a fee for any player last season or the season before, despite being in the Championship at the time, they are now in League One. Last season League One teams paid a fee for 12 players according to Transfermarkt, so the vast majority of arrivals are loans and free transfers. Charlie Savage started 13 matches last season for the worst team in the division, so doesn't strike me as the type of player you'd buy at this stage of his career.
Charlie has signed a 4 years deal at Reading so it is possible that the sell-on % will come into play.
Last edited: