Quote Originally Posted by GP View Post
Neither of those were in the academy. First team squad pretty much immediately.
Fair point, but I was more talking about youngsters around which a buzz had developed before they made their senior debut. These days we hear too much about "wonderkids" and "the next ..." and when you eventually see them play you ask, WTF? Remembering Anelka pitch up, push the ball and then burn the defence before burying it, not an ounce of hype. High octane talent. It was like Owen, same pre-debut build up around Liverpool at that time too. These were real football players with big futures ahead of them. Now I think it's more a marketing exercise. Latest example, Zelalem, or whatever his name is. Where is he now? Hopefully still on track but shouldn't he be ripping it up by this stage?

That said, the kids who played out the pre-season did look good. Better than we have seen in recent years. Not, take your breath away wonderful, but good.