BryanRoy
Stuart Pearce
You're talking about Giorgos Vagiannidis, of Panathinaikos. He declined a very big contract from his team in order to chase the Italian dream (he is almost certain to sign for Inter Milan). Good player, but somewhat overrated and a bit cocky (he demanded guaranteed playing time in his negotiations with Panathinaikos).
There's plenty of talent over here, the problem is, and has always been, the gap between the U19 team and the first team. That's why it's often better to acquire a 17-year old who has playing team in one of the lower leagues than hope that your home-grown talent will flourish outside the protected environment of the academy. We just bought a 17-year old left back, who was on the brink of signing for Willem in Belgium. He played in a semi-professional league, but was a starter from the age of 16.
Many foreign clubs send scouts in our development tournaments and Italian clubs in particular lure several players each year to Italy. The bigger clubs tie down young players early on (we have 30 professional contracts in our U19 and U17 teams), but the smaller clubs cannot afford to.
PAOK seems to have the better U19 in the last couple of seasons, I think we have a good group in our U17. But there's no point in mentioning names, because I've seen too many extremely talented 17-year-olds not making it at a high level.
An example should suffice: the left back of our U19 team, Apostolos Martinis, 19, is, on paper, an extremely talented player. Lightning fast, solid in his defensive duties, very good going forward, excellent technique with the ball at his feet, good dribbler, good in passing game, fearless, good finisher. But there were spells of 5-10 minutes in a couple of games I watched him when his mind seemed to completely turn off, and during which he made one blunder after another. You may get away with that sort of inconsistency in a youth team, but not in a first team.
Not sure Inter Milan is the right club either. Got loads of good young players but rarely get them involved.
I always say to myself when you see young talent, if they the best of their generation then with the right encouragement and opportunity they should make the grade but those are few and far between. They the unique one's.
There are many that fit a lot of the categories required and you see the talent/right attitude but only until they get to train with the first team and possibly get senior football and build confidence can you make a more determined judgement. Many young players are in this category. They can go on to play at a high level, drop down level(s) and still have a good career or fall out of the game.
The Martinis situation is interesting. I suppose if there has been regular communication with him about and he still keeps switching off for periods in games then it will come down a lot to coaches decisions. This is where coaches earn their mustard. Still believe in the talent and challenge him or does he need a new environment ? Each case is different.
Only have to look at Toby Edser. Same age group as Jake Taylor. Been given more opportunities to be with the first team but he has had unsuccessful loans whilst Jake Taylor has thrived on loan and in senior football and earned the opportunity to train with the first team in build-up to next season.
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