Got to say I'm all for blooding youngsters. And I have always gone along with Matt Busby's mantra of "if they're good enough, they're old enough".
BUT that game against a Bolton reserve side who had lost something like 8 out of their 12 games was Pacheco's first start of the season.
Now there's blooding and there's BLOODING,
To remotely consider Pacheco for the Premier League at this stage of his career development would be reportable to the NSPCC. He showed real ability against Bolton but come on fellas.
Nemeth, I feel, is a different case. He is older, stronger and has experience at higher levels. Also a fundamental element of his game consists of making space for himself and finding space. You cannot really teach that as it's instinctive. That gift allied to his close two footed skills and Fowler-like goalscoring knack could well translate onto the Premier stage.
Pourie is another whose more physical "game" could translate well into the premier League.
That said I'd say realistically we're talking of at least a year or so extra experience before any of these could be considered for even a League Cup game.
From what I've watched the only one who could hold his own in the Premier at the moment is Jay Spearing. Despite his size, he has bags of ability, a huge heart and determined approach which I feel would not see him overawed. Also he could slot in anywhere.
Not sure I agree exacty.
Re Pacheco:
- Bolton are one of the oldest teams that the ressies will play - Mikel Alonso played, for example. THe question marks about Pacheco are not over his ability, rather his physicality, so playing against senior & physical players does give us some new information.
- He has started 3 ressie games actually. He's steadily built the number of minutes since he's arrived (like Babel or Lucas in the 1st team)... and he played against Tottenham or West Ham, & Bury in friendly games in Dec/Jan. You've also got to balance this with the fact that the ressies play so few games, and that they've had a few games postponed of late - these are all games Pacheco would be using to increase his match-fitness.
- I haven't seen anyone realistically proposing he starts for the first team, but I'm not sure what's wrong if we only have 14/15 players fit and he's sitting on the bench. Bring him on at 75-80 mins and he'll get a taste of it, if he does something - great - if he doesn't then it's only 10-15 mins that he can build on.
Re Pourie:
- He's not even in the Ressies yet - so for him the PL is an even bigger step than Pacheco, Nemeth, or Spearing
Re Nemeth:
- I would suspect he's physically better than Pacheco - and I'd be more confident he wouldn't get bullied around than with Pacheco. However, I think it's fair to question whether he has the quality to cut it at the highest level. Admittedly he's faster than Kuyt, but I"m not convinced he's as quick or agile as Robbie was - Nemeth is no Torres/Henry/Owen, but neither was Robbie, yet he had enough pace to create space to shoot etc. For me, I am simply not sure whether Nemeth can do it or no - not saying he can or can't - I just don't know.
Re Spearing:
- In terms of if we had to play for 90 mins and we had to use one of the ressies, I'd probably prefer Insua over Spearing. This is because left-back is not so important a position. If Insua stayed back & merely defended, then it would be a job well-done. A centre-mid is, by definition, more involved in the game, and has to contribute heavily in both attack and defence, regardless of where the ball is on the pitch. Therefore I'd be happier if we had to play Insua rather than Spearing (i.e. if we were short of a LB rather than a CM).
- I appreciate what you say about Spearing. I would have a lot of confidence in him too, I think he would more likely be solid than stellar - he probably would not be easily intimidated or shoved off the ball. He's also got a bit of character about him too.
In terms of readiness:
- This really depends what you consider
ready. Is Babel
ready? Lucas? I think we probably agree that Mascherano is
ready - he consistently performs at a high level for 90 mins in games, concentrating, tracking back, covering, making tackles etc - but that's a part of his position, just like it is for Reina, Carra etc.... Babel does not fit any of these definitions, yet he offers flashes of brilliance; Lucas can't do all that grunt work you get out of Carra or Masch, but he offers some great movement, runs, and passing in the offence. I like to see Carra, Masch, Babel, & Lucas all on the teamsheet.
- So, in this sense, for me, I consider Pacheco ready somewhat earlier than you might, because my definition of
ready would mean unleashing him for sub-appearances here or there.
- Nemeth is a bit different, because of his style of play, I"m not sure he'd be as troublesome as Pacheco (with his close control, pace, and vision) but he would be very useful if Crouch or Kuyt was just having an off-day, if the team was playing well and we needed a finisher. But equally Pacheco could probably do that too, so I think he may be quite useful on the bench relatively soon, wheras Nemeth may be only of particular use when he can play 90 mins.
- Spearing on the other hand, has a much higher bar to jump for two reasons - CM requires concentration, consistency over 90 mins, and the players ahead of him are both younger & better than the forwards ahead of him are.
Question for you to consider Spearing's readiness: If we had to play, say, Milan, and Mascherano & Alonso were both unavailable, what would your strategy be for dealing with Kaka?
My thinking would be:
- Gerrard can't shackle him - and even if he could you would lose his attacking contribution.
- Lucas is quick, but is a poor tackler & concedes a huge number of fouls.
- You could play Carra or Agger as DM to stop him (with the other plus Hyppia/Skrtel at CB). Carra wouldn't have the pace, and has atrocious passing - Agger is better. You also risk disrupting the CB pairing doing this.
- Finnan at DM? No pace. Same with Riise.
- Aurelio at DM? Not strong enough for Kaka
So for me, the options are pairing Agger, Arbeloa, or Spearing in the centre with either Lucas or Gerrard (who have attacking responsibility).
Do you agree? And if so, who would you choose:
- Agger?
- Spearing?
- Arbeloa?
I would choose Arbeloa.
