Jordan Cousins - U21 Call Up

Swisdom said:

Well done Jordan - don't go along and get your head turned. Go along and enjoy the experience

I was talking to an ex-pro about Cousins and Poyet last week. Someone who works for Sky Sports.

Claims both are merely average players. Poyet "never goes anywhere and just plays the simple ball" and Cousins "Isn't intelligent enough to make it at the top level, isn't a winger and doesn't appear to offer much"
I argued both player's merits, value to the club etc but he was adamant. Jeff Vetere was also pretty nonplussed with Poyet (but acknowledged he's only seen him twice)

Maybe we over hype any player who shows even the slightest bit of ability - but I've seen enough players in my time to know these two are good enough to go a long way in the game if they continue to progress.

unless it's gary neville, they don't have many brain cells to rub together. Remember most of the sky sports pundits are failed football managers or coaches, I wonder why they failed? Surely can't have much to do with spotting a good player...

It might be worth considering the context within which both have emerged at Charlton. Jordan Cousins was already captain of England at youth level, and he and Diego were/are amongst a good crop of young players.
Earlier in the season with Andy Hughes and Mark Gower not suitable for the role, Jordan Cousins is introduced, not really a planned introduction, but a needs must. Jordan stepped up to the plate straight away, maybe the fearlessness of youth, maybe (as I think) because he is simply a really good player although young. The fact he was already regarded internationally ought to be a clue anyway. Ironically in the abandoned Doncaster game Jordan was our best player for what it was worth, getting on with it, not 'old pro' enough to manipulate the situation particularly, just a young player, playing well.
Along comes Diego when we were in desperate shakes, Chris Powell shuffling and re shuffling the pack when Danny Green and Bradley Pritchard were proving ineffectual, and something had to be done about it (all this against the backdrop of a missing Chris Solly btw). To my surprise Diego has proved to be the surprise hit, although his excellence ought not to take it away from Cousins. Poyet has been a reliable rock upon which we were able to move forward as a team.
The SKY person with their critique may expect Poyet and Cousins to be ball juggling, shot bending, all powerful dynamos. That is not the case, and in Poyets example in particular he fits into the cool, excellent decision making mold of Chris Solly, calm on the ball, and an excellent team player developing extra stuff as he gets experience. Morgan Fox has a similar style to Solly, and Cousins and Poyet too, maybe not eye catching straight away, but intelligent and very promising players (and we also have others in the camp).
For the Sky bloke to assess two such young players as he/she did, tells me why I don't subscribe, and my money is better spent some other way. We are very lucky at the moment that we are producing young players who have a good balance of brain and body and for Jordan, Diego and Gomez their international recognition drowns out any whinging pundit.