Like Sterling last season, the most important thing for Ibe is to work on his reading of the game and his decision-making. Finishing will come with shooting practices and confidence when he scores a few, again like in Sterling's case.
For where he'll be expected to play (out wide and maybe central behind the strikers), the ability to read the game and spot where the gaps and movements are, and to pick the right options after that, is, I think, the facet of the game he'll need to improve on and get consistently solid at.
I think some of us were saying that fresh out of the U-21s, he already seemed to be ahead of Sterling in this aspect. Now that Sterling has raised the bar, it'll be interesting to see if Ibe can raise his game to catch up.
Just so we don't forget a couple of other youngsters on show yesterday:
McLaughlin:
I thought he had a quiet game by his standards. I don't think he really got involved that much up front, and save for one incident when his man got past him too easily, didn't do much wrong defensively either.
This last season has seen his progress disrupted by injuries, and he's now seen Wisdom (last season) and Flanagan (this season) - albeit both a year older - get regular first team action while he's still playing at the U-21 level or going out on loan. There's fresh competition now from Connor Randall, who is a year younger than him and who has had a good season with the U-18s and U-21s. He might need to go out on a good full season's loan to improve his chances; needs to stay fit.
Dunn:
His finishing yesterday was sweetly-struck. I've watched Dunn since he was in the U18s where he played in various positions (CM, wide mid, 2nd striker), before moving up to the U21s and being played wide and then up front as the lead striker (with Yesil out again, Bijev pretty meh, Ngoo on loan, Morgan released - we really have no strikers left).
Always liked what I've seen - strong, good attitude and industry, and he knows where the goal is. He has a booming left foot shot and isn't afraid to take a pop when he sees an opening. His contract expires in June and I hope we give him a new contract and send him out on loan, because he really needs to be given an opportunity to see if he can step up to the next level.
Besides, him going out on loan will then free a slot in the U21s for either Sinclair or Wilson to move up from the U18s. Maybe both, if we release Bijev and Ngoo goes on loan again (has 1 year left - played some games on loan to League One club Walsall, scoring a goal in 6 starts and 14 sub appearances in all competitions). That both Bijev and Ngoo didn't travel with the squad for this game probably says something about their future here.
