i certainly dont follow our youth setup to the degree that some folks here do, but im not really sure what our overacrching plan is for our youngsters.
what is the value of having a young player train with our first team instead of being out on loan and playing regularly? for example, a player like martinelli seems to have stagnated a bit. hes had injury problems as well, but hes not really developed much and i think maybe part of that comes down to his sporadic playing time here. getting the occasional start, the sub appearance, etc. is that more valuable than playing 90 minutes week in and week out in a domestic league competition?
when a player hits 17-18, shouldnt we be trying to get them loans to League 1/2 teams where they'll have a chance to regularly play? successful loans at lower tier clubs domestically would theoretically make it easier to secure them loans at championship clubs when they are 19/20/21. and ultimately, getting them loans at newly prompted premier league teams to allow them time to further adjust to this league before we are just throwing them into our first team.
development from 16-19 seems like the most critical time point for young players. not having regular football seems like it would hold a player back. if the player is an exceptional talent, i can understand the desire to keep them close to the first team and integrate them faster. but im not sure we've had many of those cases since the likes of cesc came through.
