Is that you bashing him on youtube, jas? What a cynical little twat you are.

I guess our other prodigies in a similar position to robertson are interesting

ikonomidis - ended up an above average a league player and did ok for the roos
brimmer - a standout a league player but yet to get a roo call up
Volpato - actually really did break into roma though mostly as a sub. Still making an impact

Any i am missing? It seems being a prodigy doesn’t guarantee success but they rarely end up npl level

Wait till the NST clubs have been announced ... there may be a few Iranian Maradonas on the radar... hahahahahahaha

He's 20 in a couple of days, his contract is up in June - it has not been renewed. This is a last ditch attempt to force his way in city team. Pep wont let it happen. Watch.

This is the same people whinging about Kuol not already starting and scoring... kid has barely got going... hasnt been sitting in an academy for half a decade like Alex.

Guys same age as Alex game time in city team: 

Mbete 19 - 3 games for first team now out on loan to CHP now played 12-15 games.
Doyle 21 - 7 games for first team now out on loan to CHP played nearly 50 games on loan past 2 seasons.
McAtee 20 - 6 games for first team now out on loan to CHP(looking at auto promotion)
Delap 20 - 6 games for first team now out on loan at Stoke - 23 games so far.
Lewis 18 - 10 games for first team.
Robertson - 0 games for first team.

Pep had the option to bring Alex in during the summer, he went out and bought Phillips and Perrone. 
Pep is not scared to play youth.... he just doesn't rate him... end of story.

Jesus christ.

The only door he's banging on is the media room one and his calling dad to get Vince on the phone for another article.

I do agree with you that this is an overhyped cap. I believe that Robertson's ceiling is Championship at best but you are wrong, he has re-signed with City until the end of the 2025 season.

I think his ceiling is much higher than championship to be honest from what ive seen.

no gauranteehe will get there of course. Im curious what his level is like now. We might find out next week!

If he isn't in the Australian team then I couldn't care less. 

So what’s going on with Langerak?

Probably not bothering ever again. Who’d blame him? 

Ryan - yes
Redmayne - no
Gauci - yes

Souttar - yes
Rowles - yes
Degenek - yes
Wright - no
Deng - yes
Atkinson - no 
Karacic - no
Behich - yes
Bos - yes

Devlin - yes
Baccus - yes
Metcalfe - yes
Oneill - yes
Robertson - not sure
Mooy - yes
Irvine - yes
Mcgree - yes

Goodwin - yes
Tilio - yes
Borello - yes
Mabil - yes
Kuol - yes
Cummings - yes
Duke - yes

Not sure about robertson is pretty fair.

it could be inspired, he could end up not good enough

I can understand some misgivings about Robertsons selection given he isn't playing first team football but I think you're being too pessimistic.

Robertson returned to football after 7 months away with injury in November last year. In that 5 months he's had a sub appearance for the first team in a friendly, has been in matchday squads, and doing well in the development team.

This is the most dominant team in the EPL for the better part of the decade. It's still early of course but there's cause for optimism. I'm excited by the selection and looking forward to see how he gets on. 

I think there are some good selections in this squad. 

I'm glad Borello was called up. The idea of a pacy centre forward is something i'm looking forward to as a point of difference. 

Really pumped about Irankunda and that has been well managed. Bringing him in but making him earn it. 

Gauci good, Redmayne bad, wanted to see Maynard-Brewer. 

It will be good to see Bos in the NT and I am glad that we are looking at options at left back, albeit Behich has been doing really well. 

I wish we could have been as positive looking at right backs. The most disappointing non-selection was Strain. Right back a huge concern and Strain is in fantastic form. We need a solution there and Strains form warranted it. 

Wright was an odd choice given club form. Was hoping to see Circati. 

Volpato one day I hope. That decision from his last comments is still very much in the air. 

Karacic on the wiki but he certainly wasn't named. Still, they've made publishing errors before with quite a few names at once. Optus needed 3 posts to finally get the squad's current club affiliation right.

Too many old players in the squad.
Should have had Karacic and Strain as RBs, Elder and Bos as LBs, Behich and Wright are the too old, they are the past not the future. CBs then would be Souttar, Rowles, Deng and Degenek.
Other players too old are Goodwin, Irvine and Duke. Leckie and MacLaren also too old, should not be picked even if fit.

So how do you find out, bring him into the squad & have a look. You can tell at training whether he good enough or not.

Yep and im guessing arnold already has an idea how good he is

LOL have you watched a Victory game in the last 2 years, Ikonomidis is probably the worst player in the league and that is not an overexaggerating, he is seriously terrible plays in the team dead bottom of the a-league, only keeps getting a game because we don't really have any player's as we are paying most of the clubs money to him and Nani.
Also, Jake Brimmer is not a good player, i know a lot of people will cry and stamp their feet on the ground with me saying that, but again he is not a stand-out in the dead bottom placed team and if you actually watch a game will know that Victory will never win everything the way he plays. Very selfish player, tuenover king, sits deep and never really gets involved in the attack, unless it's a set piece (yes he can hit a decent set piece) so he can stat pad. There is a reason Glory (another terrible team) didn't want him.

wright currently hasn't been in the squad for rotherham games must have an injury

Many of the squad, who are now in their early 30's, will be around their mid-30's in 4 year's time at the next World Cup. So I assume that many of these will be dropping out of the picture after the Asian Cup.

Even the marginally younger ones like Mabil, who is 27 now, will be around 31 at the next World Cup. Hrustic will be about 30. Bailey Wright will be about 34. Mitch Duke, now 32, will be around 36.

I know there's the strategy of keeping these older players on until after the Asian Cup. But wouldn't it be better to blood a new generation with experience in international tournament competition, rather than keeping the older players who will definitely not be at the next World Cup?

I think it's clever to keep some old heads around. There are 3 years to transition the team for next WC. The older players offer experience that will help maintain the team culture and pass their experience onto the next generation. It's good to see some of the next generation players in this squad and I'd expect this to continue with future squads. There's no need to rush this and tgis squad feels like a step towards a composed/well planned transition. 

The Asian Cup is very soon and it’s important we do well. 

Agree 100%. It’s not like this is a Holger squad full of purely oldies. There’s a ton of generation next mixed in here, who will all learn from the experienced heads.

Imagine a squad full of only the young players. Who would set the standards in training? Who would keep Irankunda in line when he starts acting too big for his boots? Who would help the young forwards with their finishing and making the right runs?

was good to see him on the bench... oh wait... back to the u23s... wont be seen again after those media whinges... Pep wont like that.