Leeds United: How youth could play a part next season
Leeds United: How youth could play a part next season
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00:00And I mean, we're going to bridge onto that summer now.
00:03Of course, as you've already touched on there Lee, it is going to be a very important summer
00:08for Leeds United if they are to maintain themselves as a title challenger
00:13for next season in the championship. And let's be honest, no one wants to go through the playoffs again.
00:18I don't think they have to get into that top two next season.
00:22And so the summer naturally will be very important.
00:25And of course, you've mentioned that some of the big names
00:28may be prized away. It's natural, considering that Leeds haven't gone up
00:33and they will need to balance their books in some other ways as well as, of course,
00:36the investment we've already mentioned. So as you say, Somerville, Nonso,
00:40they could be prized assets who could be moved on if the price is right.
00:45But from looking at the other side of things, you've then got to start bringing in
00:50players to come in, of course, as well. And yes, you can bring in money,
00:54signings from the money you've made if they are to sell the likes of Nonso and Somerville.
01:00But you've got to also bring in some young players.
01:03We've had Archie Gray in this last season, who of course has come in at 17 years old
01:08and set the world on fire for Leeds United, to be honest, in his breakthrough year.
01:12So you've got to look, who is the next Archie Gray?
01:16Who's going to come through maybe next season? And by next season,
01:20Archie Gray is a seasoned pro, almost, given how much he's played in the last season.
01:26So who's next for Leeds? Who else can we be looking at with a little bit of excitement
01:31who Leeds won't have to go and break the bank to bring in because they're already within their books?
01:36Well, the simple answer to that is probably Charlie Crew.
01:38And that's not me sitting here and saying that Charlie Crew is the new Archie Gray,
01:41because that would be putting massive pressure on the youngster.
01:44And Daniel Farke said at one of his presses this season, he said, basically,
01:47when a youngster comes through, all you lot and the journalists and stuff,
01:50you know, talking about the best things in sliced bread and the need to give time to develop.
01:53And so, which is totally true. We do do that. But that's what journalists are like, really, isn't it?
01:57And stuff, you know, that's what it's all about to a degree.
01:59And, you know, you do want to get excited about young players and look into the future and stuff.
02:03But he's just the obvious one because like for so many reasons, really.
02:08I mean, first and foremost, he's at 17 years of age. He's already in the Wales international squad.
02:13So that's some achievement already.
02:15You know, the second thing that really stands out for me with him was, I think it was at the football,
02:19at the EFL Awards, that Chrysenzio Somerville and Archie Gray both spoke to football manager journalists.
02:27And they were asked, basically, you know, who's coming through the academy?
02:30Who is there to look out for? And both of them said Charlie Crew.
02:33So, I mean, that's like massive praise coming from those two players.
02:36On top of that, I've actually seen him play. He hasn't actually stepped out for the first team yet.
02:41He hasn't made the bench on three occasions, but even making the bench at that age speaks volumes.
02:45And basically, you know, the games that I've seen him in, four or five games for the 21s
02:49and obviously in the FA competition as well, at the Youth Cup as well.
02:54He's looked a very, very tidy player. So it all sort of points towards him being the one.
02:58I don't really know with him like what sort of position he'll end up as really.
03:02I mean, whether he'll be a holding midfielder or a centre midfielder or a box-to-box midfielder
03:08or develop into maybe more of an attacking midfielder, I'm not too sure.
03:11He seems to sort of like have it all really, you know, like in terms of like the sort of attributes
03:16to be able to do any of those three. So, you know, it remains to be seen like where he sort of fits into it.
03:21But, I mean, the first step, he's already made the bench, obviously.
03:24So the first step for him is to make his senior debut. So that surely won't be very long.
03:28You know, you'd think that would probably happen, I don't know, maybe the first couple of months of the season,
03:31something like that, and then see where he goes from there.
03:34But massive praise from Rob Page at Wales, basically describing him as his football talent was very special,
03:41I think his words were. I mean, so like it's quite clear that whoever sort of sees him play
03:45and spends time with him, whatever, like as a footballer,
03:48they can see like that this lad's going to be a very, very huge talent.
03:51So I think he's got to be top of the list of ones that you'd expect to sort of break through.
03:55I mean, how much he breaks through, like it depends obviously how he goes this summer
04:01and how much he progresses.
04:02But it also depends on what Leeds have got in midfield at the start of the season.
04:05I mean, Kamara and Gruev are the two at the moment, I mean, and that seems fairly solid.
04:10The criticism of those two together, I suppose, is they're both very, very good players
04:13and very dependable and reliable.
04:15But do they need something a little bit more attacking in there, you know?
04:18And like if you stick in Archie, if Archie stays into midfield, we've seen Archie play as a number 10 before.
04:24So, you know, he's maybe someone that could maybe add a little bit more attacking element into it.
04:28And obviously, you know, there'll be the hope that Leeds go out and sign an attacking midfielder.
04:31So we'll wait and see.
04:32So with him, a lot depends really on what there is because obviously the less midfield options there are about,
04:37then the more likely he is to break through.
04:39So he's the obvious one of someone who hasn't actually played yet.
04:42Matteo Joseph is not someone who's like a secret.
04:44Everybody knows.
04:45I mean, we did many shows speaking about him.
04:48I can't believe he still hasn't had a league start yet.
04:50It's absolutely amazing, really.
04:51I have to almost keep checking the stats when I write about that because I think he must have.
04:55But he still hasn't had a league start.
04:5732 games, three goals, one in the league, two in the cup.
05:02But every single time he's come on, you know, he's impressed.
05:05And he just looks like a real...
05:07He's still only 20, you know, Spanish under 21 international now.
05:11And he just looks like someone that you would, I don't know, like, well, build your future around, I suppose, really.
05:16I mean, whether he's going to be able to step up and sort of start the season and say, right, I'm Leeds United's main number nine,
05:21you know, and be first choice number nine remains to be seen because that's a big jump.
05:25But everything I've seen of him so far looks like he could do it, given a bit more time.
05:29Obviously, we've still got Bamford here at the moment and stuff.
05:31So he's sort of like a standard bearer, I suppose.
05:33But Joseph's obviously the other one coming through that you would obviously look at.
05:37And thereafter, you're sort of like...
05:39After that, I think you're taking a bit of a punt on people, really.
05:42Darko Jaby will obviously come back, having been on loan at Plymouth.
05:46So he's still quite young.
05:47I'd be interested to see what happens with him because Leeds spent around ÂŁ5 million for him
05:50and he's only 20 and an England youth international midfielder.
05:53So he's one you could possibly see.
05:55But then again, he could go back on loan.
05:57You just don't know.
05:58But of the younger lads, the 18s and 21s, there's a young winger, Scottish youth international,
06:02Josh McDonald.
06:03We've spoken about him a few times before.
06:05And just every 18s or 21s game I've seen, he's been the one that stood out to me.
06:10He's like a pacey winger, you know, like lots of tricks, usually has a good end product.
06:14And I think the thing you would say at the moment, you could do one of these shows almost
06:18and talk about what the Leeds need this summer.
06:20Well, it's hard to know because you don't know who's going to leave.
06:22But if we're sort of like kind of assuming that Nonto and Somerville are going to go,
06:26which would be the sort of natural thing to think, then obviously that's going to leave
06:29them two wingers short, isn't it?
06:31So naturally, that would potentially open up an avenue for a young winger to come through,
06:35potentially.
06:36And McDonald appears as one who might be able to do that, but he's still only 17.
06:40And look, I've talked about Harry Gray enough on here already and stuff.
06:43So we won't put any more pressure on his young shoulders.
06:45But it's pretty obvious that at some stage he's going to jump forward.
06:50I mean, Eddie Gray was speaking to the BBC, I think it was back in January.
06:54And he said, like, he expects him to link up with the first team squad soon.
06:57So that was pretty huge, huge, you know, says it all really when he's saying that.
07:01So he's obviously one that's, you know, cats out of the bag with him.
07:04And long, long term, he's the real big youngster that will come through, I think.
07:07But certainly as far as at the moment goes and the start of next season, Charlie Crewe.
07:13I think, to be honest, Leeds seem to have some sort of a lot of uncovered hidden gems
07:19in their academy from the way you're talking, to be honest.
07:23Yeah, well, I mean, Harry Gray's so young, like 15, I think he is.
07:27So, I mean, he's so young that he couldn't even play in the FA Youth Cup, you know.
07:32I mean, which speaks volumes, really, because we went down and did the, I think it was the,
07:37was it the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup.
07:39And we all expected, first time a lot of us have seen that team, the 18s.
07:43And a lot of us expected to see him because he'd been banging in the goals for Leeds under 18s.
07:47But he suddenly wasn't there.
07:48So, obviously, we asked Rob Everington before the final, will we see him?
07:51And the answer was no, basically, he's too young because of age.
07:53I think, presumably, he must have to be 16 when the competition starts.
07:57So, I mean, surely he's still going to be some way off.
08:00He is.
08:01But, I mean, obviously, other clubs will look in.
08:03There's no doubt about that.
08:04Because, again, every time you see him playing the goals he scored, he looks like a real talent.
08:07So, he's one for the longer, long term.
08:09But you're right.
08:10I mean, but then, but this club has always produced good young players, you know.
08:14Like, you go back as long as you want, really.
08:16Like, and stuff.
08:17And back to, you know, the O'Leary days and things like that.
08:19The club's always had a good academy.
08:20They've always brought good players through.
08:22The frustrating thing for Leeds fans is that most of them end up getting sold on, you know.
08:26But, I mean, that's what happens when you're not competing at the elite level.
08:29So, yet again, here we are again.
08:32Because that is exactly the case of Archie Gray.
08:34And I don't know what you think.
08:36But I think the general consensus from people tends, almost tends to think, look,
08:42he'd be better off staying for another season.
08:44Like, for his own individual development as well.
08:47Because if he goes somewhere bigger, you know, like a sort of Premier League club or whatever,
08:50then is he going to play?
08:52And, you know, he's got guaranteed minutes here at Leeds, hasn't he?
08:54So, I totally get that.
08:56And that's probably the way I'd see it as well.
08:58But then, you know, football's, you know, money talks and ambition talks.
09:02So, it just remains to be seen.
09:04And the way to answer all of this, basically, for Leeds is just to get themselves back into being a Premier League club ASAP.
09:10Because otherwise, we'll have the same thing next summer.
09:13Otherwise, we could be sat here in a year's time talking about Charlie Crewe having had a breakthrough year
09:18and saying, well, how are they going to hold on to him, you know?
09:20So, the cycle will continue until they get back in the Premier League.
09:23So, let's just hope they do it next season.
09:24And as we said last week, they are favourites.
09:26So, got to go out and do it.
09:28Yeah, that's the thing.
09:30It is that Premier League status, unfortunately.
09:34And as you rightly say there, Lee, I think Archie Gray would be better off staying at Leeds.
09:40Because, as I say, given he's 17, you have to wonder how many Premier League minutes he would get at a Premier League club.
09:47So, I can't imagine him going elsewhere would do his career much benefit, to be honest.
09:53But added on to that, their needs have got to go up this season.
09:57Because then you can expect that, okay, maybe he will stay.
09:59Because then he'll be sort of blooded into the team by then.
10:02And will be, as I say, we've already said he's a bit of a seasoned pro, given how many games he's played.
10:07But it's pretty much a guaranteed start for Leeds in the Premier League, should they get there as well.
10:13So, that's what has to be considered for Leeds.
10:18As I say, it's going to be a long old summer for the Whites.