The West Ham Academy received a huge boost in the second half of last night’s Premier League draw against Bournemouth.
Following a week where I had been highly critical of Hammers’ head coach Julen Lopeteguiās reluctance to use any West Ham youngsters in the league this season, it was great to see both Ollie Scarles and Kaelan Casey get some game time last night.
Scarles was introduced in the 73rd minute of the game, and Casey was brought on in injury time. However, what was most telling about the Academy graduates’ introduction was the fact they were utilised when the game still hung in the balance.
Lewis Orford was also on the bench but remained an unused substitute. Lopetegui, however, deserves credit for using two of the Hammersā Youth Cup-winning side during a Premier League game.
The Irons boss will have earned himself some credit by involving the youngsters, and one can only hope that their presence on the bench becomes a regular occurrence.
Was very excited, although surprised, to see Scarles and Casey get onto the pitch during a tight match but it’s great to see them out there and they didn’t let us down either! Maybe this will encourage JLo to try and use them more often!
There is a lot to be said for young players that want to prove themselves as opposed to players who have a beef with the manager and donāt believe in him, it will affect your attitude on pitch canāt always affect performance but it can help build team cohesion
Casey was making his PL debut aged 20.
You might wonder how this compares to PL debut age for another outstanding central defender.
Branthwaite of Everton is 22. He made 4 PL appearances for The Toffees 5 yrs ago aged 17. On loan aged 20 at PSV in the Eredivisie he made 27 appearances plus 4 domestic Cup & 5 European appearances. Perhaps heĀ“s an earlier developer or just better but I think other clubs get better experience for their Academy players whether its for their 1st Team or out on loan
Its great that these 2 young talents have been given some time on the pitch but it would have been better if Casey had been on earlier so that Mavropanos wouldnĀ“t have had the opportunity to make a needless foul. The commentator said that the range from goal for Unal was difficult. It was a great kick but from an ideal distance. You donĀ“t want to be too close as then the shot has less time/distance to drop below the bar.
I was moaning that there was no mention of Scarles for the Bournemouth game with Emerson out, then he comes on as well as Casey. Great to see. It will be gradual, but everyone says we have a lot of talent in the Academy and I am convinced they bring with them attributes you will not find on the transfer market, plus they love the club. With any luck they’ll be competing for places one day soon and it will be like a breath of fresh air. Good luck to them.
Nothing better then seeing a youth player get his chance ā
Letās hope he continues playing the youngsters