I agree. While we make average signings we have a whole host of defenders plus Tom Davies who have at the very least not looked out of place when they have played for the first team. Now (while our normal first team players underperform) would be the reflect time to give some of them a go.
So, nearly twelve months in to the Moshiri regime and I think its fair to say, there have been some positives but also negatives.
Whilst the supposed stadium progress, to the removal of the previous management regime can be looked favourably upon, the dreadful summer transfer business and lack of credible PR from the club is leaving a lot to be desired.
Team results are also neither here nor there.
There is however a major issue I feel isn't being addressed and doesn't seem to be generating much discussion within the fan base.
The youth.
Our under 23's are top of the league; our under 18's are progressing well yet I dont see a direct route into the first team for them right now. We had a supposed golden generation, both Martinez/Unsworth and Osman's words yet not one of them is near the starting eleven and when they have been, they have been displaced immediately (Holgate).
Dowell/Davies/Walsh/Holgate/Galloway - are they really worse than Oviedo/McCarthy/Gibson/Kone/Valencia/Cleverley etc...?
These lads have formed great teams at various age levels and always impressed when either given a chance in the first team or at another league club.
Koeman is here for the short term, we all know that. His reluctance to bring in the youth shows me this; as does his career history and length of contract. The context of his arrival (i.e. promise of significant funds) also stands up to this train of thought.
Have we just abandoned the route into the first team and the values which the club, so brilliantly, produce young players and recruit young players from around the North West and further?
Has the appointment of Koeman effectively kissed good bye to the chances of these guys getting the opportunity to become first team material? What if we do suddenly spend the riches we supposedly have on players?
We have the basis of an excellent core of young players who are both successful at there league level but also when on loan; they form key parts of national set ups yet we dont even hear about them from either Walsh nor Koeman. I am led to believe that RK doesnt even attend there matches.
How can this be? How can we have forgotten one of the principles which makes the club what it is and has been so significant to our recent history?
Where is the blue print for the lads to progress to the team? Its all well and good having the academy route and the tools in place but if our head honcho isnt prepared to play them then what does this tell us about the strategy at the higher levels of the club? Equally, can we afford to waste the 'Koeman Years' to Liverpool who are transforming there route into the first team under Klopp?
Our new Head of Academy; what do we hear from him? Silence.
I fear our youth will be forgotten about and the supposed golden generation wasted whilst we spend big money on players rather than look at what we have inside.
One of the fundamental values we have as a club is being silenced and as a club we simply cant let that happen.
