Oh ye of little faith!
On a serious note, it’s good to see us starting to produce technically proficient midfielders on a consistant basis.
Too bad our recruitment team hasn’t managed to produce more of the same.
Jim Thwaites
- Thread starter top1whoisman
- Start date
Oh ye of little faith!
On a serious note, it’s good to see us starting to produce technically proficient midfielders on a consistant basis.
Too bad our recruitment team hasn’t managed to produce more of the same.
Just signed to a new agency, who seem to almost entirely represent players in Germany/Switzerland. Whether that's a sign, I don't know.
Jim Thwaites with his World War II name moving to Germany, now I've heard it all
Maybe he's a spy.
The agency could just be trying to expand their portfolio into English youth. A fair few high profile youth players have moved to Germany so I can see where you're coming from, but probably wouldn't hurt the agency to have a few break outs in the EPL itself
Hearing good things about this lad.
Throwback name.
Throwback name.
Back after a injury, a good performance capped off my a now trademark free kick.
Really like what I’ve seen from him so far.
Hope he gets some minutes in the first team next season
Hope he gets some minutes in the first team next season
Technically he looks very good, sharp, and aware.
Don’t know much about this lad at all, except for this thread basically but he sure does look like one of those special “technically gifted” midfielders - seemingly press resistant as well, we’ve been crying out for since Scholes/carrick. We never seem to sign them!
If Thwaites doesn't get a chance at the first team you'd have to wonder if any young CM can break through.
I think he's got everything.
I think he's got everything.
Like mainoo you mean.
Thwaites can't even get a call-up to the England youth teams.
I mean from this current crop of U21 and U18 players onwards. For those in Thwaites' generation and those behind him.
He's that good in my eyes that if he doesn't get a chance just how incredible do you have to be.
Madness if true.
As far as I can tell he's never had a single call up to any England youth teams, let alone a single cap.
I still haven't had it adequately explained to me how if he's this incredible talent that it's the case.
Mainoo was an obvious top-tier midfielder coming through when I saw him, and he was even the England youth teams captain.
Something doesn't quite add up.
Feel like he’s getting overrated because he scores some great free kicks goals.
I like him, have done since u16s but being a second year playing u18s just isn’t impressive.
International level heavily favours early year birthdays though, especially with England as they split by school year so he is playing a level below at club level compared to his international competition as he is December born. England is also just incredibly stacked, Chris Rigg has played senior football for a few years already. As have some of the others.
I like him, have done since u16s but being a second year playing u18s just isn’t impressive.
He’s not an incredible talent is the easy explanation, he’s a really good one.
International level heavily favours early year birthdays though, especially with England as they split by school year so he is playing a level below at club level compared to his international competition as he is December born. England is also just incredibly stacked, Chris Rigg has played senior football for a few years already. As have some of the others.
1) He has very good technical qualities but there are questions about his physicality.
2) He is a December boy, which unless your are an all-world talent like Max Dowman, will count against you in the national teams (especially earlier on) which divide sets by calendar year.
3) Divine Mukasa, Chriss Rigg, Trey Nyoni, Jack Fletcher are not shabby in midfield from his age group. Even Josh King from the same set is playing a couple of age groups ahead.
He is probably not as good as some of us think. He should be moved to Under-21s for the rest of the season in order to test himself against more age appropriate opposition. He can drop down for FA Youth Cup matches.
The explanation is simple. Judge him as a player with your own eyes rather than how many England youth caps he has. Why take the opinion of a couple youth team managers over your own judgement?
Scholes barely got a kick at England youth level. Best CM the country has produced in the last 30 years.
What about Sekou Kone?
I've not seen much of him.
Kone could be the replacement for Ugarte. He's has a good season on loan in Switzerland
He’s played one game?
That's the first thing to remedy then if you're confused by the praise he receives.
Those 10 minutes he played were the best ever.
He will get a chance when he’s ready. At the moment he’s playing u18 and is just back from injury. Let the kids develop at their own pace
Season? He hasn’t been there that long
I'm not saying he must get a chance anytime soon. I'm saying if he doesn't get a chance at all the bar must be unrealistically high.
Eh? He went like last week
You must have been impressed by all of 10 mins he has played in two games he has been there on loan.
Steady on lads,he probably meant"If he has a good loan in Switzerland "
It is high, it's Mainoo, Greenwood, Pogba high. These 3 were highly touted at 18 and were good against grown men from the start
Rashford, Mctominay, Garnacho were thought to be talents but not as high. These 3 had chances because of injury not because they were thought to be generational.
Thwaites is thought highly but he's missing things in his game. From what I've seen of him, he's got a great right foot, but doesn't use his left enough. And he lacks elite physicality and elite speed which you need if you want even a chance in the top leagues.
He hasn't been training consistently with the 1st team yet. I think he's at least a half a year away from even being close to debuting especially since he just turned 18. Because of his body he'll need at least a summer of strength training. Technically he's there but we have to bring him in slowly.
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As does almost every player. Especially at 18.
You don't need elite speed as a CM. I'd say he's quicker than Mainoo at least and I don't think he's anymore one footed than the average.
This isn't me saying he should be getting 1st team chances soon. I'd give him all next season in U21's.
But that talent level, especially in that position, has to be given a chance at some point.
Should probably be challenged at a higher level but don't think it has anything to do with his talent level why he isn't getting call-ups. The call-ups often enough seem quite random with a lot of focus on London Clubs and maybe City Players. No way Jack Fletcher is more talented than Thwaites if you ask me, not trying to bring Jack Fletcher down at all who's a very good talent.
There are many reasons why some young players make it and some don’t, and talent is only a part of it. Some players just drop off, some can’t make the step up to the men’s game, some don’t have the athletic ability needed for the very top, or the breadth of technical ability or football IQ to make up for the lack thereof. Trying to predict which players will make it based on how they look at an U18 or U21 level is a fool’s errand. The reality is that only a very tiny percentage do, and some of the most talented ones don’t. We’ll see in the coming years how Thwaites gets on, but we certainly shouldn’t be extrapolating anything from whether he does or not.
If you look at his highlights reels you'll notice him pinging inch perfect 30m balls with his left foot so that part certainly isn't the case.
He has also played against men in the National League cup and his skills transferred well. He only recently turned 18 and although he's no Toby Collyer speed wise, he covers ground well for a midfielder. I don't think Mainoo has "elite speed" and he's doing fine. Thwaites certainly seems quicker than both our current first team midfielders.
I think he'll train again with the first team soon enough, I think Carrick will love him.
Garnacho was always going to be given a chance, he was outstanding in his final season before promotion to the first team.
Excellent summary.
There are so many things that could go wrong for Thwaites, but also, if he works hard at his deficiencies, he could be a top player. He does use his left foot, it's something I always try to spot in a player, but admittedly, the vast majority of passes, especially longer passes, are with his right foot, that's one thing he definitely needs to work on. As you said, he's just turned 18, so still has some physical development to come, and possibly a slight increase in his overall pace, but to me that is not a massive problem, it's quickness of the mind which sets players apart, but pace over a short distance is probably an important factor.
What I noticed was his ability to create a bit of space, and time for himself, admittedly, I've only seen him in one game, at Brackley earlier in the season, but for me he was the best player on United's team, and he does ride tackles very well, as Brackley we're keen to put pressure on him, as United's most creative player.
He could be one of the academy players who go on the 2026 pre season tour, I've heard Scandinavia mentioned.