Should we put our faith in the youth?

[The only place to be 11,313]

Not how many here make him out to be and that is partly due to how Torres is performing.

I've not seen anyone go too overboard on him. He's an exciting young talent and could be very good indeed.

[GodZola 630]

Personally its more a question of losing the 'dead wood' rather than the veterans so those names mentioned top2b can be brought in to the squad next season, Hilario, Turnbull, Benayoun, Mikel, Torres and possibly Marin (those names are just my opinion so knockers don't turn this in to another debate - thanks) You can also add Lamps to that list though that's not my choice but the clubs amongst many fans.

As i stated many times we need to appoint the right manger first and foremost, this is absolutely fundamental to our future, hopefully he will recognize the talent we have coming through and act immediately, 3 out of the those 7 are ready - the Belgium lads, it would be wrong for me to speak about Chalobah as i have not seen anything of the lad, i know you and Zola rate him very highly, the fact he is versatile adds weight to the argument especially if Jose returns. I've been very impressed with Feruz and Piazon, as for Ake he didn't look out of place at Middlesboro.

Let's face it we have been going down hill rapidly since we won the double in 2010, our performances in the Prem back this up, with the investment we have had we should not be so far behind in terms of points that we were last year and again this year. The question is, are they better than what we already have, imho yes, if we pay attention to our attack where we have been light and punchless, you cannot tell me that Lukaku, Feruz and Piazon will not improve that department, the same can be said with Courtois who would arguably get in to any other side in the world, de Bruyne will add energy and goals from Midfield and another player that is versatile.

Lastly whats the point investing all that time and dosh on our academy if we are not going to use that talent, these lads are hungry they want to make a name for themselves, i'm pretty confident you will get more commitment and passion from them than we are currently seeing from some of the older generation at the mo. We still need to go in the transfer market though, for perhaps 2 maybe 3 quality players.

[Mundaka 243]

Can't KDB play as the DLP?

Well at the moment he's more used to play as AM or LAM (Plays like that at werder) and Genk last years. But he might be even better as DLP, although he might need more experience first to be really relieable in such a role. In our NT he sometimes plays like that tho, and does (very) well. As long as we have lots of possesion i think we will do great then, not sure what would happen if we are having a tough time tho, he might need more getting used to it then(perhaps in pre-seaon?).

[Santiago. 1,500]

I've not seen anyone go too overboard on him. He's an exciting young talent and could be very good indeed.

I've seen many things

[manpe 10,861]

I've not seen anyone go too overboard on him. He's an exciting young talent and could be very good indeed.

Suggesting that he's ready to be first team player next season at the age of 18 with no real experience is going overboard.

[Mundaka 243]

As for the youth in general + new signings, an all-round midfielder (also good in tackling n stuff) might come in handy, for the rest we can solve things with our current players/players on loan i think. Signing more AM's would even do more harm than good i think... we already have 4/5 potential worldplayers on those positions.

[Backstreet09 499]

Are we trying to do a Arsenal here ? Well that didn't work for them and I don't think it'll work for us .

Sell Torres , Buy a couple of midfielders , a solid defender and a striker and we'll be okkkayyy xD

[Mundaka 243]

Would be rather boring + might stall those players mentioned above + cause them to leave... .

[The Skipper 20,609]

Chalobah, Feruz, Piazon and Ake aren't ready to be part of the 1st team because 1. Their development will be hampered by not playing regularly and 2. They aren't good enough yet to start week in week out for the team.

[xPetrCechx 13,570]

First, Get rid of the Spanish double twats... Rafa and his " Striker".

[Blue Gino 377]

Giving youth a chance here is like seeing a UFO, I'll believe it when I see it. Gourlay just announced the club will look to add a few players so I highly doubt youth is in their future. This would have been the season to do it since this club won't win jack shit. Youth so far only gets a chance when they are needed as emergency backup i.e. Bertrand and Ake. Meanwhile useless fucks who collect a paycheck with no one breathing down their necks for a place just show up on the pitch with no heart. It amazes me how much Chelsea brag about their youth winning FA Cups, knocking out Barcelona in the Nextgen series and yet they want to add more from the transfer market in the summer.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Suggesting that he's ready to be first team player next season at the age of 18 with no real experience is going overboard.

This would be how he gets experience, no?

Chalobah, Feruz, Piazon and Ake aren't ready to be part of the 1st team because 1. Their development will be hampered by not playing regularly and 2. They aren't good enough yet to start week in week out for the team.

Chalobah is good enough in my opinion. Piazon is starting games for a Malaga team who would give us a good game, whilst Ake didn't disgrace himself before although a loan might be best for him if Chalobah and De Bruyne came back.

But out of interest, why isn't Chalobah ready? What specific areas of his game do you think he need to work on?

Are we trying to do a Arsenal here ? Well that didn't work for them and I don't think it'll work for us .

Sell Torres , Buy a couple of midfielders , a solid defender and a striker and we'll be okkkayyy xD

What's doing an Arsenal? When people say that, they're usually completely wrong and don't have a clue what they mean.

Arsenal's problems weren't relying on youth - it was underinvesting in the squad, selling their best players and actually not having young players of a high enough calibre supplement the first team squad.

Now they're stuck buying players like Mertesacker, Arteta, Podolski etc.