Nathan Aké

[Madmax 9,219]

He won't make it here. Not good enough for the DM role.

Loftus Cheek has the best chance.

Right, thanks Nostradamus.

[Kojo 4,676]

If anyones good enough it's Ake.

For me he's the most proven out of our youngsters.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Great quotes, thanks Jai.

"A lot, actually," he added, "also David Luiz and Paulo Ferreira – they talk to you about football but also about normal life, like how to live a normal life outside of football. And in football, what to improve, what to do better, and things like that. So they help you a lot. "From Paulo [i've learned that it's important] to stay the same," Ake went on. "After the Rubin Kazan game a lot of people came to me and said a lot of things so to stay the same and be the same normal person - that's an important thing to learn. "And inside football, to work hard to improve every day in training. I think that's the most important thing to learn from them."

This is where the "love" for Paulo comes from for all the people who were talking about Ferreira and comparing him to Malouda.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

How many youngsters have made it here over the last 10 years? Zero.

Ake won't be the one to break that barren spell.

Perhaps if he goes through another growth spurt he'd have a chance at CB but he isn't good enough on the ball to become a first choice DM. Same with Nate, who's had a solid year playing DM but his future lies at CB.

Out of all the lads in the academy RLC and Chalobah are the only two near-certainties in my opinion. The rest will probably ever get a chance because of the amount of changes the club makes each year.

[The only place to be 11,313]

How many youngsters have made it here over the last 10 years? Zero.

Ignoring the England captain....this shows a tremendous amount of ignorance about our academy, and academies in general. The quality of player we are turning out now is virtually unrecognisable from the ones we were turning out ten years ago, as evidenced by our recent Youth Cup successes.

Ake won't be the one to break that barren spell.

Perhaps if he goes through another growth spurt he'd have a chance at CB but he isn't good enough on the ball to become a first choice DM. Same with Nate, who's had a solid year playing DM but his future lies at CB.

Wrong on both accounts in my opinion. Nat has been remarkable in midfield for both Watford and England u21s and has all the skills needed to make it as a top class midfielder. I also like him as a CB and think he coud be exceptional there, but I think you'd be losing a lot of what he offers if he did.

Ake has everything needed physically and technically to be a midfielder for this club, but simply needs to continue his growth as a professional footballer. He also needs support.

Out of all the lads in the academy RLC and Chalobah are the only two near-certainties in my opinion. The rest will probably ever get a chance because of the amount of changes the club makes each year.

Both of those players are excellent but I think you've missed a lot of the changes that have been made in terms of youth development over the last 18-24 months. We seem to have a more focused view of what to do with youngsters and Nat Chalobah's progress will hopefully become a blueprint for others to follow.

To be honest the rancid bait you laid down earlier doesn't smell much fresher although I think it's gone from antagonistic to simply uninformed.

[Stats 7,056]

How many youngsters have made it here over the last 10 years? Zero.

Ake won't be the one to break that barren spell.

Perhaps if he goes through another growth spurt he'd have a chance at CB but he isn't good enough on the ball to become a first choice DM. Same with Nate, who's had a solid year playing DM but his future lies at CB.

Out of all the lads in the academy RLC and Chalobah are the only two near-certainties in my opinion. The rest will probably ever get a chance because of the amount of changes the club makes each year.

LOL, one thing Ake is good at is his play with the ball, i don't think you have watched him play if you are saying he is not good enough on the ball.

[Kojo 4,676]

That's a stupid way of looking at it, it's clear the investment into your acedemy which was made a long time ago is now starting to show. We haven't had nowhere near the talent then as we do now. Ake, Chalobah, McEachran, Loftus-Cheek & Feruz

[Stats 7,056]

That's a stupid way of looking at it, it's clear the investment into your acedemy which was made a long time ago is now starting to show. We haven't had nowhere near the talent then as we do now. Ake, Chalobah, McEachran, Loftus-Cheek & Feruz

Add Boga to that list

[Miguelito 459]

Yea it absolutely takes awhile for the academy to really start producing talents. It's well known, for it to get built up. We started investing heavily five years or a little more ago and now is about the time that it should take for kids to start coming through.

It's no coincidence that we have so many greats talents now compared to then. The quality of our players is on the rise and we have some the best talents in their age group at almost every level. Patience is key for kids and that holds true for building the academy also.

I'm excited most about RLC Ake and chalobah right now. They all play in the midfield too. Not sure how it will pan out but I really do think 2 will make it. I do hope Ake makes it as a CB but his size is a little problem. If he can find a way to hide his size disadvantage to alot of forwards then I think he could be great there

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

Great game tonight!

[lucio 5,418]

quality in midfield and left back. i would play him over bertrand at left back - just allot better on the ball and a good tackler

[Manuf 1,448]

That's a stupid way of looking at it, it's clear the investment into your acedemy which was made a long time ago is now starting to show. We haven't had nowhere near the talent then as we do now. Ake, Chalobah, McEachran, Loftus-Cheek & Feruz

Sala, Kakuta, Borini, Hutchinson, Delac, Matic, PvA, Tore, Manchienne (or however his name goes) all were talented and supposed to break through

[Kojo 4,676]

Sala, Kakuta, Borini, Hutchinson, Delac, Matic, PvA, Tore, Manchienne (or however his name goes) all were talented and supposed to break through

I didn't rate Sala, Delac, Matic, PVA, Gokhan Tore and especially mancienne. Those never striked me as good players, Ake has been putting in great performances at his age, none of them did that. Kakuta looked really special, but Carlo never gave him a chance even though he shown true quality at such a young age, Borini the same, good player but we just sold him. Hutchinson is unfair, he got a career injury and managed to make a comeback, even now i seriously doubt he could come back to the player he was.

[Styles 9,790]

In a perverse way the best thing that can happen to this football club is the implementation of FFP (despite it's crooked intentions of keeping the elite safe from new money taking over). Perhaps we'll be forced to use some of the very talented kids we have instead of picking up rubbish like Marin and Benayoun.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Played 3 different positions in one match and was excellent in every one of them! Very excited to see his involvement with the first team next season.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Played 3 different positions in one match and was excellent in every one of them! Very excited to see his involvement with the first team next season.

Think he'll go out on loan.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Think he'll go out on loan.

Go back to the previous page, Jaimin posted quotes of him saying that he would rather not go out on loan..

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Sala, Kakuta, Borini, Hutchinson, Delac, Matic, PvA, Tore, Manchienne (or however his name goes) all were talented and supposed to break through

^ fair comment, but you have to be absolutely truthful and admit that none of those are of the same ilk or quality as RLC, Aké or Chalobah. Our academy has improved massively and over the last 24 months we have really started to reap the rewards of all that investment.