Young players, were happy to come or stay here as they knew Jurgen would give youth a good chance, is that feeling from the youth players changing under Slot?
He does seem reticent to give youth a try.
To be fair even the likes of Cole Palmer had to go elsewhere to get game time. Man City are hardly the pinnacle of clubs to give young players chances and Slot will be out of contract even before he has a whiff of the first team.
However, our propensity to try youth players was a reason they chose us over higher paying teams.
theres something in thatâŚ
its not as black and white as weâd like, we arent a brighton or a Cystal Palace, every game has pressure to win, we need to go deep into competitions⌠so i get theres more than just the youth team metricâŚ
butâŚ
if you cant offer the largest incentive financially (City/Chelsea) then you need to compete with that top echelon with Facilities ( we do) but you then need to offer a pathway throughâŚ
if your a 15 year old top top talentâŚyou can go to City and Chelsea to secure your future, and despite the games derision, theres merit in that, as nothing is garunteedâŚor you can go to a Dortmund Ala Haaland and Belingham(s), and back yourselfâŚ
theres merit in both those pathsâŚ
what do we offer? its kind of a middle ground, Rio (family/agents) would have looked at our set up and thought the way we play, and the pathway to the First team, com bined with the facilities and coaches, was probably a better bet than staying at ChelseaâŚ
having just bought Ekitike and Isak, if i was a 16/17 year old central striker of elite potential, im not so sure id sign on here⌠if it wasnt City - who seem content to let top drawer talent leave at a reasonable age- itd be probably a few levels down where i could start to get time - a brighton or a Crystal palace.
now i dont want to get all slaggy offy hereâŚbut if Klopp was still here, i might be convinced theres a pathwayâŚwith the uncertainty around Slot, and his apprehension to rotate even through the senior squadâŚthen yeah, decision has probably been made for me.
That last paragraph is my thoughts and gut feeling too.
I personally love to see the talent come through and blossom, if they make it with us, fantastic and if they leave, make us a bit of money and still have a good careers, like Wilson and now Morton, then that is also great for us fans and the club.
yeah, i mean, you canât filter them in in a bubbleâŚwe still exist to win trophies, so its not much of a stick to beat Slot with, but it is a negative when your not playing well, probably not winning anything, and cant even produce talent from the youth teamsâŚits just added weight on Slots shoulders
Wilson is a great point, even though he didnt make it here, its awesome to see him kick on, it was the right move for everyone and i can only imagine he benefitted from his time hereâŚ
even Horror stories like Bobby Duncan and (for different reasons) Jordan Ibe, you still feel an affinity with the humans, like at some stage you were this tiny part of thier journeyâŚ
cant think of too many youth players you dont want to see doing wellâŚ
Sterling was one you didnt wish success for, for obvious reasons, but i never wanted him to fail on a personal levelâŚ
about the only example i can think of, and its not even for our club, would be Mason GreenwoodâŚim sure there are others, but in general, its great to see our accademy kids kick on, even if its not hereâŚdefinately for the greater goodâŚ
Not disagreeing with either of you but just to clarify Abe is a RW not a CF so I donât imagine Ekitike or Isak play too much of a role in his decision making.
I never mentioned positions 
No, I think RedBJ did
I wasnât grassing him up, but I think he was just using it as a another counter reason why youth players may consider their options limited with our 2 current CFâs.
Fair he probably was reading it again. Anyway wasnât meant as criticism just clarifying that in the case of Abe he actually has a pretty âclearâ path with Salah the only real 1st team RW at the moment. To be fair to Slot he got a lot of criticism for not using Ngumoha more but the lad is only 17 and heâs played a fair bit. I think a youngster would be encouraged by his usage.
In the case of Abe I think he will probably see himself as the best player in his age group and similar/better than Rio this time last year so I expect he would want reassurances of 1st team progression over the next 12/18 months.
That could be tricky. I think we have to pay big to buy Salahâs replacement next year. In an ideal world, if we could buy someone who can play both flanks like Mane, it would help. If not, we do lack quality wingers on both sides, while both Rio and Abe are still 1-2 years too young.
Personally I think for a 15/16 year old you shouldnât really try and carve out a spot for them - they have it all to earn. So yes I agree buy a new RW, maybe two of them, you can still drip in first team places with a player 3/4 in the pecking order.
I get your general point, but this is not a good example.
For a potential kid like that, a 10-year older Isak isnât really an obstacle. In fact, it can even be an attractive factor that we have such individuals in the building, if you can merit training with the first team in the following years.
But first of all, the first team is yet to prove that Ekitike and Isak can be here together for a long time and that has itâs own legit questions how that will work. Ekitike signed for us and I bet him and his entourage knew weâd keep pursuing Isak.
What Liverpool and similar big clubs can offer in different cases (I mean we all get some and lose some) is more than just who can guarantee or sell the idea of pathways and game time. Itâs a platform to grow, train in top environment, get quality loans to maybe make a career elsewhere if not here, etc.
nope, i was talking hypotheticals
Also not a great example, because Palmer still got 41 games at City, but ultimately, his position clashes with Fodenâs (and not only his, but most directly). And theyâre 2 years apart. You can argue there can be room for both if itâs tactically adjusted, but the player pushed for a move to make a name for himself elsewhere, be someone elseâs âFodenâ. We had someone like Neco Williams (youâd say a lesser talent, though more limited position wise), who also didnât have to move after 33 games for us, but decided to, due to Trent.
I mean, I can see young players taking note when they saw Slot not bothering to give Academy players any chance in the last few matches of the last season when we already won.
On the other hand, none of our Academy graduates since TAA have reached Anthony Gordonâs level (a regular starter at a Big 6 contender club), not even Jones - this is not a good record.
And yet some of those young players are still here this season and higher in the hierarchy than they were last season. Which is open for discussion among fans and the public whether having someone like Ngumoha in the role heâs having this season is best for the team and him at this period of his career.