Middleton

[Thirsty Lizard 3,165]

I think you''re rather missing the meaning of the word ''developed'' Lincoln. Of course for a player to develop he has to be picked for the first team. However, there''s far more to it than that. There''s all the coaching and training for one thing and then there''s the whole psychological aspect of it too - the manager knowing when to put an arm round a player and when to give him a rocket and how best to generally build up his confidence. If you listen to any of the interviews where Maddison talks about Farke, you''ll hear him being absolutely fulsome in his praise of our manager.

[westcoastcanary 173]

[quote user="Legend Iwan"]Disagree with that final statement, Westcoast. Football tactics change, so there''s no reason why ''old fashioned'' wingers won''t be an important force again. Just look at wing backs. Hardly required 4 seasons ago, then Chelsea do their thing with a back three and all of a sudden they''re a vital commodity once more.

Good luck to the lad. Glad we''ve played some (small) part in another player making their way in the game.[/quote] Yes, football tactics continually change, they evolve; what they don''t do is stand still or revert back in anything but a superficial way. Old fashioned wing play is not just out of fashion; it has been rendered largely ineffective by evolution in other aspects of the game, particularly in defense. And I consequently disagree with your example of wing backs. A player doesn''t cease to be a wing back just because he''s the wide player in a back four. His overall role in the team is what distinguishes him from the "old-fashioned" full back. Man Utd often set up with "a back four", e.g. with Valencia and Ashley Young either side of two CBs. But they are as different from the Arsenal Invincibles''s back four as chalk from cheese.

[Icecream Snow 761]

[quote user="lincoln the reading fan"]

Farke developed Maddison?! Give it a rest, he picked a player who would have been picked by any other manager, apart from Alex Neil of course!

I give far more credit for Lewis and Aaron’s. But Maddison, sorry, he was always going to have a season like he did last year imo.[/quote]

I always find this kind of revisionist history rather odd. It''s clear that before Farke turning up it was debatable if Maddison would even start a first team game.

[url]https://www.alongcomenorwich.com/articles/stuart-webber-the-interview[/url]

[quote user="Stuart Webber"]

“I think there’ll be exits all through the squad. I think that’s

natural. The squad needs freshening up, everyone can see that, we are

heavy in certain areas so for example James Maddison, if he isn’t in the

team next year he can’t have another year of a loan which was far from

perfect in my opinion and then come back into a club where so far he’s

played fourteen minutes of football for the first team. That can’t

happen again, because before you know it James Maddison will be 21, 22

and we’ll be going ‘how many games has he played?’

We have to get a clear plan for James – whether that be in our team

next season or whether that’s maybe he needs to go and gain more

experience to wait for his chance, because Naismith, Hoolahan and

Pritchard are top players. So he’s got top players in his way, it’s not

like he’s got someone in the way who’s easy to dislodge. In that case

we’ve got to do what’s best for James and what’s best for the club.​I’ve

had a couple of conversations with him and his agent and we need to

work out over the course of pre-season where does he fit in. He can’t be

stuck in no-man’s land. I think that’s what kills young players is when

they’re stuck in that in-between where they’re not playing but they’re

doing a bit with the first team, young players can lose a year, two

years of their career where other players of the same age are playing

game after game and suddenly they’ve got a hundred games under their

belt; we’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen. If you can’t get them

in your team but you can get them first team football in a good club,

with a good manager that’s important. We can’t have them going somewhere

where they have three days off a week and they’re not fit, we need them

to go to a loan club which will have a similar schedule and the way

that we do it, otherwise that might not develop them.

[/quote]