I report on Sunderland's youth teams - I'm tipping these 12 players for good careers in football
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00:00Yeah, I think there's a couple that have really caught my eye this season.
00:03Obviously, people will be aware of Trey Ogunsui.
00:07He's just picked up an injury at the moment, but he came on in the FA Cup game at the Stadium of Light against Stoke.
00:12He's done really well for the under-21s.
00:14He can play off the right through the middle.
00:16He's just got sort of everything you'd want from a young striker, and he's got, you know, a way to develop and a way to grow.
00:23He's been fantastic, to be honest.
00:25But then Finn Geragosian behind him as well, who's 17.
00:28He was playing like under-16s football last season, and he's been playing for the under-18s this season, as well as the 21s.
00:34And he's just looked amazing.
00:37Sometimes I think you see youth football, and it can be, and not all of the time, it can be very passive and very technical.
00:47And I'm not saying Geragosian isn't technical, because he is, but he just goes after games, like his desire and his work rate and his pace for a big lad as well.
00:54I think he's like six foot two already.
00:56Really, really impressed by him.
00:58I'm not saying you're going to see him like in the first team next week or anything, but I think he's definitely one to keep an eye on.
01:05Southern fans will be fairly familiar with Harrison Jones now.
01:08I think he's played three times for the first team in the Cups, and he made his league debut off the bench against Sheffield Wednesday, excuse me.
01:19But he's a really good technical player, can play in a multitude of positions.
01:23He can play as an eight.
01:24He could probably play as a six as well, can definitely play as a 10.
01:28And against Leeds United, he actually played as a false nine.
01:30He got an assist and a goal, and he just makes things happen.
01:33He's a boyhood Sunderland fan as well, which always helps.
01:35It's his dream to play for Sunderland, and he's doing that alongside his brother, Jadon Jones, as well, in the middle, who's not a bad player at all, actually.
01:44Another one that's really impressed us in recent weeks, actually, and I've watched him for a long time, but I'm really starting to appreciate him now, is Jenson Jones.
01:51So there's Harrison Jones, Jadon Jones, who are brothers, and then there's Jenson Jones, and that's always very difficult,
01:57especially when the three of them were named on the same team sheet against Leeds.
02:00But Jenson Jones can play left-back, right-back.
02:03He's played centre midfield, and then against Leeds, he also went left wing and got an assist as well.
02:10So he's just so ridiculously technical that he can play in all these different positions, which is obviously really, really handy to have.
02:18He's really, really come on in recent weeks.
02:21I would say, again, probably has a little bit of growing to do.
02:24Physicality of his game probably needs to be improved on, but he's a top prospect.
02:28And Ollie Bainbridge as well, who got a little bit of first-team experience with Kilmarnock earlier on in the season, played at Celtic Park.
02:37I think he played six or seven times up there before coming back in January.
02:42He can play left-back, right-back, centre-back.
02:44He was a big player when the under-21s got the Premier League play-off final against Tottenham.
02:52They ended up losing, but he's a really, really good handy player.
02:55A little bit like Serkin, I think, in a little way.
02:59They both wear Alice bands at times, so that's probably why.
03:03But honestly, it's so fun to watch the under-21s because they are just full of talent.
03:06Graeme Murtie does a great job.
03:08Luke Bell, actually, the centre-back, he's really come on.
03:11He's a good player.
03:12And then there's others as well, like Zac Johnson's out on loan at Notts County as well.
03:16I really, really, really like him.
03:17Tom Lavery's a good player.
03:18Ben Crompton's out on loan.
03:20So, there's so much talent there.
03:22But I think for me, the standout in recent weeks has been Finn Garragousian because he's just been this phenomenon.
03:32In terms of just contributing and imprinting his will on a game, he's doing it way beyond his years.
03:43And he's got time to grow and time to learn, and it's very, very impressive.
03:48And not really doing anything too flashy either, just doing the basics really well,
03:53just getting the ball, running at players, being in the right place, being on the end of it,
03:59and can play in a couple of positions across the forward line.
04:02So, yes, it's nice to watch these youngsters come through, it really is.
04:08Absolutely, absolutely.
04:09I think that Garragousian, and to be fair, I think you could say pretty much the same thing about Ogunsui.
04:16You're always hesitant to hype up these young players too much at such a form of time in their career,
04:24because you don't want to apply that pressure.
04:26Obviously, I do think there is an awful lot of merit to allowing them to develop away from the limelight,
04:32and almost away from fan attention to a certain extent,
04:35so that they can reach their full potential without having to deal with the surrounding limelight, really.
04:44But I do think that where Sunderland differ from most clubs, and why it's perhaps that little bit more exciting,
04:52is because there is such a reliance on youth.
04:55And we're talking about Garragousian, he's 17 now, he's only a couple of years younger than Eliza Maienda.
05:05And he's the same age as Chris Rigg, that's the mental thing.
05:09Exactly, we've already seen it with, in very recent times, Chris Rigg, Tommy Watson,
05:15these young academy lads who have made such an impact at youth level,
05:19that they've almost forced their way into being in a position where they have to be under consideration for the first team,
05:27because you can't ignore them any longer.
05:28And that's why, you know, with the Garragousian, you kind of want to take your foot off the gas a little bit,
05:34and you want to be a little bit realistic about it.
05:37But at the same time, it's hard to ignore what you're seeing on a weekly basis.
05:41And if he's going to keep on influencing matches in the way that he is, similar thing with Aung San Suu Kyi,
05:47if he's going to keep on scoring goals in the manner that he has this season,
05:51it is going to get to a point where, you know, it might not be this year, it might not be next year,
05:58but we are going to get to a point, presumably sooner rather than later,
06:01where they are knocking on the door of that first team squad.
06:05And like I say, that's probably where something differs a little bit from a lot of the clubs around them,
06:10but it does make for a really exciting prospect, I think.
06:16Yeah, and I didn't even mention Matty Young as well, who's probably one of the best young goalkeepers
06:20in the country out on loan at Salford.
06:22I think he's probably seen as like the natural long-term success of Anthony Patterson one day.
06:27I'm not trying to sell Anthony Patterson off early or anything like that.
06:29But yeah, the depth of talent at Sunderland is ridiculous.
06:33And it's really nice to see that pathway utilised, as you mentioned.
06:37I think the ownership have done an absolutely tremendous job with the academy.
06:41It's very vibrant.
06:43Credit to Graeme Murty as well, who just drives standards in that group.
06:46You've got Finn Lynch as well, running the under-18s alongside his partner in coaching crime,
06:53whose name I've forgotten, Jordan Moore, that's it.
06:56And the academy manager, Robin Nicholls.
06:58It's such a vibrant space, I think, for those youngsters.
07:02And, you know, Sunderland do still lose some of their young talent.
07:05It does happen.
07:06Mason Kotcha, Toby Bell, you know, we won't see success across the board all of the time.
07:13But contrast it to the Madrox era, where Sunderland were just losing all of their players.
07:18Pretty much everyone went bar and done.
07:20They essentially have that really talented youth group with Sam Greenwood, Lucas Stephenson,
07:26Joel Hugel, all of those players.
07:28But now Sunderland have a real chance of holding on to them and progressing them into the first team.
07:33For me, that's like, I've got to be realistic about things.
07:37I think hopefully in my lifetime, Sunderland will have some form of success at the highest level.
07:43I really hope they do.
07:44And obviously, I really hope they win promotion for the championship.
07:47But for me, I get my sort of enjoyment from watching the young lads come through and,
07:52you know, coming into the first team and playing for Sunderland's first team,
07:56especially when they're boyhood fans.
07:57That's the type of story that I really like.
08:00In the absence of something massive, which probably isn't on the cards yet.
08:05Hopefully, it will be in my lifetime one day.
08:07But yeah.