It's great he has got so much game time for pats. He is even at this age by far their best frontman but still brave of them.to play him. Hopefully they get rewarded with him been a millon euro transfer when he goes at 18Originally Posted by JR89
Stephen Kenny in talks to become his next manager at St Pat's which will be very interesting. Hopefully he can aid his development even further.
Reports that Celtic are leading the race to sign Melia. Brighton also reported to be preparing a bid.
"Although Brighton are also in a strong position to secure his signature, he may be convinced that he has a clear pathway to the first team at Celtic "
I can't upload it but the meme "when I lied on the internet" comes to mind.
Hopefully Melia isnt as stupid as the rest of the Irish players that signed there and stays well clear.
Thankfully wouldn't be able to join Celtic until he's 18 so won't be stuck playing against pub teams with their B team. Someone like Brighton though could get around the rules by using their sister club in Belgium. City too as they were once linked. Supposedly has been over to Spurs already on trials.
At least the clubs hes being linked with are more realistic now, he was linked with Man City for a while. Even at only 16 I think he'd need to be getting more goals in the LOI if he was to be in with a realistic chance of moving to an elite club and making it to the 1st team.
Its a harsh assessment to say a 16 year old should be doing more, but in the context of what young players who make the break through at top clubs do early I think the standard in the LOI at the moment is of a low enough level that Melia only having 3 goals in 29 games doesnt stand out as being someone who makes it into Man Citys squad. Man United just signed a Danish 16 year old kid from Arsenal and promised him that hes going to be 3rd choice striker this season. Thats the type of player Melia at 16 is measured against with elite clubs.
Im not writing off Melia by any means, but if he goes on to be as good as Kevin Doyle that is a massive success.
Its really not that complicated!!!
Not really, Haaland as a 16 year old for instance, wasn't even scoring goals in the 2nd division in Norway at a similar age... never mind Ferguson who didnt start for Bohemians and only clocked about 100 minutes at a similar age. The standard isn't really relevant, the fact is he's starting regularly in mens football in a demanding position, it take's a lot of mental strength and resilience to be able to do that, not to mention talent. He obviously isnt going to make it into the Man City squad for awhile if/when he arrives but thinking he cant get to that standard because he's only scoring 3 goals in the LOI as a 16 year old is showing a very fair poor understand of how these clubs asses youth players.
The point overall though is even if he was never good enough to make it for City, I am far more confident in them improving him as a player than I am Celtic...which is why if its a choice between the two the choice should be a no brainer.
And for the record, he is still being linked to Man City. it's just Celtic are the most recent team to come into the picture.
Chido is an exception rather than the rule, and no that isn't who he's measured against that's just United trying to copy the Ferguson era like they have a tendency to do.
Thankfully I dont think Melia is as stupid as the likes of Afolabi & Kenny are and I suspect he'll have enough sense to know better.
I remember after the last Euro's the media stating that he's keen on the English route so I'm still fairly sure that's the route he'll take.
I hate the Man City project, but from an Irish perspective, the quality of training at the likes of City, Liverpool or Arsenal and their links to continental clubs would give him a great grounding and learning. Imagine going up against Virgil Van Dijk, the City defenders and Saliba on a daily basis or going out to a club like Salzburg or a good Dutch or Belgian club, which is the path they would take with him I would imagine.
Melia is an exceptional talent. He may end up playing Leinster Senior League in five years or he may be world class in the future. Right now, I'd be judging him against 16 year olds and there aren't too many better. Harry Kane was a very good 16 year old but he was far from the best. His desire and attitude got him to that place. He's a blueprint for any young player who wants to get to the top.
Thats a fair argument, but I do still think the standard is somewhat relevant if we are talking about a young kid who there is hope that he is elite. Of course Yamal is absolutely an exception, but if you are going to a top club you are up against the very best of your age in world football. Has Melia got this far on his size?
Interesting few years ahead to see if the LOI pathway works for him. If he was as good as Idah when he gets over to England or wherever thats still a success. The Sam Curtis scenario of playing LOI so young to end up on loan in L1 wouldnt have been really a good pathway for him if we discussed it a year ago. I still think Curtis will be good, and I think he'll have a successful career, but will he ever be as good as Matt Doherty for example? Curtis was another who was linked with Man City
Its really not that complicated!!!
I think how Pat's have been playing is as relevant as anything. He's been a lone striker, very isolated at 16, for much of any game I've seen him. Pat's have strengthened considerably this month, and I think it will mean, he will return to playing a bit less, but for a team with a bit more control and more bodies up front, which will probably help him and his confidence, the role he's been doing is too punishing for someone his age no matter how good he is imo.
Surely the likes of Haaland and Ferguson's rise is evidence that it isn't that relevant. Obviously only 2 examples but I dont think playing in the LOI at his age is going to be what stops him becoming elite, if/when he goes over to England we'll see how he applies himself and then we'll have a fair idea of where he'll go in the game. The fact Melia as a 16 year old is standing out against literal grown men and for Ireland's u17s as a u16 player would indicate that his size hasn't been an advantage, if anything this will only benefit him when he goes across the water and trains with other 18 year olds who possibly haven't had this experience yet.
It isn't and I said at the time that Curtis going to Sheffield United was a terrible decision and day by day that's looking more and more like the case, but he wanted to go down the journeyman route so let him lay in that bed! Overall Melia is doing all he can do to attract big clubs, the key now for him fulfilling his potential is making the right next step.
That's exactly the point, plus City have been proven to give youngsters a chance when good enough and even youngsters who dont make the grade tend to get decent transfers so if Melia applies himself the right way if he signs for City he should be okay one way or the other.
At Melias age Ferguson was over at Brighton and scoring goals for their U21 team so he not really a similar comparison. Ive said Haaland was a good point, but hes also a bit different because as he got older he grew quite a bit and even in mens football he looks like hes just a bigger guy, and quite often it looks like he is a man playing against boys.
To be clear, I am not saying that Melia wont be a good player, Im just saying that chances are he isnt going to be elite. And thats not a major criticism, we as a country have probably produced 5 or 6 truly world class players in our history. My personal opinion is that if he was going to be that very top level we'd be seeing more quality from him in a poor LOI, even at such a young age.
Its really not that complicated!!!
He scored the same number of goals against u21 players as Melia scored against men this season...if anything the comparison favours Melia. You are now falling into the world of subjectivity which is a dangerous area to be when it comes to an objective observation.
And as I've just highlighted from Haaland and Ferguson, that isn't always the case. I dont know what more you were expecting, if you were expecting a 16 to rip up the LOI at his age and that was the bar you've set then you were always going to be disappointed...no player has ever done that.
Not every 16 year old has to be as good as Yamal to be elite prospect.
It's simply an opinion, we all have them. We'll circle back in a few years and see. I hope I'm wrong and he goes on to be our greatest ever striker... all I'm saying right now is I don't see it
Its really not that complicated!!!
Largely because you've set a totally unrealistic high bar for him to hit.
I'm not the one linking him with the likes of Man City. My personal opinion is that he hasn't shown enough to make me think that he's good enough to make it at an elite club. That's the standard we are talking about. If you want to argue that it's too early to tell , that's grand and it's a fair argument even if I disagree with it. Neither of us can prove we are right one way or another so there no need to react like I've insulted your favorite puppy
Its really not that complicated!!!
What exactly are you expecting a 16 year old to show to make you think he could make it at an elite club, because what you appear to be looking from him you rarely see from any 16 year old in the world. It's far, far too early to making assessments on a player to be quite honest, the expectations you've set for a 16 year old to set in order to make it at an elite club just shows a real ignorance on how player development works which is why I've reacted the way I have rather than you "insulting my favourite puppy".
Because based on you're criteria the likes of Haaland, Nunez, Kane, Vlahovic, Sesko, Ferguson, Hojlund (These are just CF's that come to my mind, I could name far more I'm sure) wouldnt have shown enough to make it at an elite club and yet...most of them have and the ones that havent have shown potential to make it there since they are 16...
Last edited by CSAD; 07/08/2024 at 7:28 PM.
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