A proper winger and something we are crying out for atm. Did more in 15 minutes than Gakpo & Salah did in the whole game. Idgaf how young he is, he looks like a young Mbappe at times when he gets on the ball, what exactly is Slot so scared about not playing him?
by Too_much_motion_
27 Comments
To be fair he is also playing midweek games for the youth teams so don’t want to put too much strain on a young body
Honestly, I’d nearly start him against West Ham next week at Anfield and again, against Wolves in the FA Cup the week after
Did more than both Salah and Gakpo in the time he was on. That dink cross was brilliant.
Hes 17, he needs time. He’ll be playing every week in a season or two I’m sure.
He is still very young. Ok.
I say this every time. Yamal is an aberration. Rio’s playing pretty significant first team minutes for someone his age. Compare him to any current England international at the same age.
The only players who played more were Ballon d’Or candidates as teenagers.
Pedri, Gavi, Yamal, Owen, Rooney (although he was also shit at looking after himself) etc etc
Countless examples of players playing too much football at a young age and their careers ending prematurely or suffering injuries from overplaying at a young age.
He absolutely needs to be playing more but I understand why the club are protecting him too. Easy to forget he is still only 17 and growing.
I think his weaknesses are clear when he comes on. He does get pushed about a bit by the players he’s going up against. Probably could do with a bit more time but I think we’ll see more after he bulks up in the summer. At the moment playing more would do him in.
What is Slot scared about?
Him being another Bajcetic and Danns which is fair I think. Better to have him here for 10+ years than crippled trying to save Slot’s job.
I am sure the Reddit analysts knows more than medical professionals with access to all his data and vitals what is best for a 17 year old
Slot has consistently made it clear his opinions on how much over training youth talent have been doing. He will likely start the FA cup match, and otherwise pick up the minutes he has done so far. While I understand the frustration with Gakpo and the fervor of wanting to see our young talent, we have seen plenty of young players burn out due to being overplayed.
We’re literally seeing it with Saka this season, as an example.
That dribble at the end was the best piece of play the whole game
Until he’s overplayed and you blame the manager for running a talent into the ground.
He’s a real victim of the nature of the league right now. The last 15 minutes of every game appears to be just both teams launching high balls into the box as often as they can. You don’t really want a 17 year old involved in that at either end of the pitch. I would have liked to see him involved in CL games more, but he doesn’t seem to be ready for the PL yet.
I bet Baj wished he played less during that run in the team 4 years ago
Slot has MANY faults this season but his use of Rio isn’t one of them. He’s a 17 year old kid that needs to have minutes managed extremely strictly
Tbf he is 17. I know people are excited to see him week in week out, but his body and mind will probably need more time to grow. You don’t want him to get injuries at this age which might impact the rest of his career.
That being said. I personally would love to see him as a regular sub around the 60-70 minute mark. Especially since our standard wingers aren’t performing up to their, well, standards right now.
we need to carefully condition this boy’s physicality for the league
He got 70 minutes vs Barnsley and was taken out with a minor knock. Do you understand?
It’s more of a joke how this gets its own post when we literally discuss it every single day
He literally looks like a boy against men and has so much to learn
He is 17
Expect 17 years old who also have to play U-League for minutes become a savior is delusional
Gotta resist the allure of short term gains to make sure you don’t long term or permanently injure a still developing young player. We’ve seen far too many times what happens when you give too many minutes to the youngsters.
He plays for the youth team he’s not going to be playing tons for the senior team as well.
His minutes are being managed which is a sensible thing to do for a young player.
Slot has said this and many other managers say and do this . Youngsters need less time while they are developing. Look at pedri , trent who are getting constant injuries now in their mid twenties . I bet Yamal would also decline after 25 with the minutes he get plays . It all shortens their playing career .
Planned long term development > quick point scoring.
He got a decent amount of minutes today and had some great moments. That’s perfect for his development right now