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Rhian Brewster

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RedStar

RedStar

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Inspired by Maccas championing of this lad I took some time over the last couple of days to follow his progress in the u17 world cup. And he doesn't disappoint, back to back hattricks this week to fire Englad into the last 4 of the competition. While that's not exactly the highest level of competition to prove himself (Sinama Pongolle is still the u17s world cup all time top scorer) he's clearly a talent.

From all I've seen and read he seems remarkably level headed, opting to leave Chelsea at 14 becuase he didn't see a route to first team football there, thats some self awareness for a 14 year old. Talking about bouncing back from missing a penalty in the u17 Euro finals by getting advicr from Gerrard. His head seems to be firmly on his shoulders. Since he signed with us he's gone from the u18s to the u23s and was named on the bench last season at just 16.

What's next for him? Should we be looking to loan him out in Jan and start him on the road to first team football or is he still too raw and better off honing his skills getting regular games at reserve level?
 
I said in the summer, this kid's precocious, he deserves to be in the first team squad. He's at that age when nothing fazes him, he thinks he's indestructable, other teams regard him as unpredictable, he's fast, he attacks space like a natural, and he just loves playing and scoring. Put him on the bench and encourage him.
 
From what I've seen he's not the biggest player around so he may need time to be ready for the physical demand of the league. But he has a calmness when he gets a chance that suggests he will be a very good finisher, he doesn't thrash the ball goalwards, he seems to pick his spots and then hit them. Also seems to have great reaction/anticipation of when a ball might break to him or how to get a yard ahead of a defender.
 
I would keep him away from the first team and the criticism that will follow any performance for now because he's still very young and inevitably makes a lot of mistakes and doesn't always hot the back of the net. He started off slowly in the U17 WC missing his chances and generally not being involved but he's just destroying them now. Hope he has a great final and wins the Golden Boot.
 
If Woodburn isn't getting a sniff of the first team at the moment then I'd be surprised if this lad gets much of a look in this season. But having said that he really couldn't do worse from the bench than what Sturridge is doing and a bit of enthusiasm would be a welcome change.
 
davud graham said:
If Woodburn isn't getting a sniff of the first team at the moment then I'd be surprised if this lad gets much of a look in this season. But having said that he really couldn't do worse from the bench than what Sturridge is doing and a bit of enthusiasm would be a welcome change.
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If your good enough your old enough, his confidence would be sky high I'd be tempted to throw him into the lime light
 
RedStar said:
From what I've seen he's not the biggest player around so he may need time to be ready for the physical demand of the league. But he has a calmness when he gets a chance that suggests he will be a very good finisher, he doesn't thrash the ball goalwards, he seems to pick his spots and then hit them. Also seems to have great reaction/anticipation of when a ball might break to him or how to get a yard ahead of a defender.
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He's a striker.

It's the only position on the pitch where the 'if you're good enough you're old enough' phrase still makes sense.

Michael Owen was small when he came through at every level in comparison to his peers & in the first team he was dwarfed by teammates & defenders, but that didn't stop him.

Tbh, if he's the type of striker who poaches chances & can make himself a yard of space with his pace, then being smaller may actually help him, cos it means he's quicker & can slip into good positions all the more easily.
 
FoxForceFive said:
He's a striker.

It's the only position on the pitch where the 'if you're good enough you're old enough' phrase still makes sense.

Michael Owen was small when he came through at every level in comparison to his peers & in the first team he was dwarfed by teammates & defenders, but that didn't stop him.

Tbh, if he's the type of striker who poaches chances & can make himself a yard of space with his pace, then being smaller may actually help him, cos it means he's quicker & can slip into good positions all the more easily.
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All true, but let's be honest Owen was one of the best strikers to ever play for us and he also had that blistering pace that made him unplayable.

It's not like he's a typical example of a player who was thrown into the first team at a very young age, and it's not unreasonable to be cautious about Brewster's readiness.
 
Owen was small but he had really good balance and incredible acceleration to get away from bigger stronger opponents. Sterling was smaller still but he had insane upper body strength. Brewster isn't much bigger than Owen and the league is far more demanding now than it was 20 years ago when he broke through. To those that have seen more of him does he have the strength balance and pace at this point to make mark at this stage.
 
I hope we get a decent fee for him when he goes back to Chelsea.
 
No need to rush him, give him time to develop. He looks a talent but to me he's not physically strong enough yet. Put him in the u-23's this season and see how he gets on.
 
RedStar said:
Owen was small but he had really good balance and incredible acceleration to get away from bigger stronger opponents. Sterling was smaller still but he had insane upper body strength. Brewster isn't much bigger than Owen and the league is far more demanding now than it was 20 years ago when he broke through. To those that have seen more of him does he have the strength balance and pace at this point to make mark at this stage.
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Owen was also in the World Cup squad at around the same age as Brewster is in the Under 17 World Cup squad.

Brewster has Pacheco potential for me. He looked great in the underage teams and reserves but lacked the physicality required for the Premier League.
 
Our squad lacks a goalscorer so if this lad can finish well I don't see why we wouldn't give him a go. It's not like we don't create enough chances for the strikers but at the moment their finishing is letting them down and if that carries on then Klopp would be silly not to at least try this kid even if it's from the bench. Whether he does or not remains to be seen.
 
davud graham said:
Our squad lacks a goalscorer so if this lad can finish well I don't see why we wouldn't give him a go. It's not like we don't create enough chances for the strikers but at the moment their finishing is letting them down and if that carries on then Klopp would be silly not to at least try this kid even if it's from the bench. Whether he does or not remains to be seen.
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It would be madness to throw him into games now just because he's scoring goals in a U-17 tournament. For starters Solanke is miles ahead of him at the moment and deserves a chance.
 
Glen C said:
It would be madness to throw him into games now just because he's scoring goals in a U-17 tournament. For starters Solanke is miles ahead of him at the moment and deserves a chance.
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That's why I said if the strikers carry on missing chances then he should get a try and most probably from the bench. I didn't advocate playing him as soon as the U17 world cup finishes so lets not suggest I did.
Solanke does deserve a chance before him but let's face it he hasn't taken any of the opportunuties he's had so far has he and Klopp seems similarly reluctant to start Solanke at the moment (1 game so far against Leicester in the league cup).
If the current strikers start scoring then it's a moot point anyway.
 
Owen was exceptional at 17-18 but there's an argument he was over-played as a youngster and that led to his regular injuries depriving him of his phenomenal acceleration. Ultimately, Owen peaked far too young and was a much diminished player at an age when many strikers are at their best. Same could be said for Rooney but that was more to do with his bulk.

Brewster looks class and hopefully will have a bright future with us but he should be eased in gently and as others have said, Solanke and Woodburn are ahead of him in development.
 
Don't forget at 17 years old he has all the benefits of youth, tactical freedom, his agility, pace, no injuries, confidence, and that fearlessness. On the flip side he's using those advantages against 17 year old defenders who have yet to learn anything about defending. It's an unfair mismatch in that sense. I'd guess that if you put him in the first team he'd probably look totally clueless, a little bit like Origi.
 
beejay said:
Owen was exceptional at 17-18 but there's an argument he was over-played as a youngster and that led to his regular injuries depriving him of his phenomenal acceleration. Ultimately, Owen peaked far too young and was a much diminished player at an age when many strikers are at their best. Same could be said for Rooney but that was more to do with his bulk.

Brewster looks class and hopefully will have a bright future with us but he should be eased in gently and as others have said, Solanke and Woodburn are ahead of him in development.
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I always got the impression Woodburn was more of a number 10 where as Brewster and Solanke are more like number 9s. I think Woodburn will end up in Coutinhos position
 
beejay said:
Owen was exceptional at 17-18 but there's an argument he was over-played as a youngster and that led to his regular injuries depriving him of his phenomenal acceleration. Ultimately, Owen peaked far too young and was a much diminished player at an age when many strikers are at their best. Same could be said for Rooney but that was more to do with his bulk..
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Spot on, this often happens with young strikers - exactly the same with Robbie and Torres - because they are so effective at a young age, coaches cannot afford to rotate them and they become jaded at an early age and start picking up injuries - and have a frustrating end to their careers - although he did not hit quite the same heights, the same might be said of Studge
 
He needs a go and then we'll know if he's good enough, physicality is neither here nor there, when you've got quick feet, speed of thought and game intelligence.

As far as I'm concerned, Can, Lovren, Sturridge etc arent worth wasting any more time on, we might as well indulge in the future, with Brewster, Woodburn, Grujic, Gomez, TAA etc. Get them regularly in match day squads and give them all ample game time in their natural positions.
 
mark1975 said:
He needs a go and then we'll know if he's good enough, physicality is neither here nor there, when you've got quick feet, speed of thought and game intelligence.

As far as I'm concerned, Can, Lovren, Sturridge etc arent worth wasting any more time on, we might as well indulge in the future, with Brewster, Woodburn, Grujic, Gomez, TAA etc. Get them regularly in match day squads and give them all ample game time in their natural positions.
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I agree with the overall sentiment in the second half of the post.

Brewster looks slow and weak like Aspas - who couldn't make an impression in the Premier League despite scoring loads in La Liga.

Klopp would get accused of ruining Brewster by throwing him in the first team now. I really don't think it would work well at all.
 
Dangerous to compare any young player to Owen, who was ridiculous. We have Solanke kicking his heels unable to get valuable game time. I hope he’s amazing this lad but I’ve not got massive confidence in how we’re likely to handle it.
 
I would not play Sturridge anymore. I was laughing at Everton when they signed Rooney, but then i realised we have a bigger fanny here who is living on past reputation.

Lovren, Sturridge, Hendo and AOC are all on the 100k/week bracket. We will never win anything with these players.

What a waste of money.
 
Dave G said:
When is the final?
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You just missed it Dave. Finished 15-20 mins ago. I had it going live on the laptop whilst watching us.

Superb final, England 0-2 at one time came back to win 5-2 with Brewster getting the first of them. He was also Tournament top Scorer with 8 goals. Phil Foden (City - total class) has been named the player of the tournament.

I'm sure you can find it on the BBC who showed it live for free.
 
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