Developing young players is more of an art than science. There is no set in stone formula on what will or will not work for a given young player. While I completely agree that Donna should be given a fair shake at fighting for the No 1 shirt, I do think not bringing in any experienced keepers and just hand him the No 1 can be very harmful to his career.
The funny thing about young players is, they can be as talented as any superstar, but their performance will always have its high and lows. In a team that has such high level of exposure like Milan, these highs and lows can go a long way in the way media and fans view a player. Donna is riding a high right now, and being compared to Buffon. This is great, as it gives him more confidence to go out and perform every week. But when the inevitable low comes, his ability to handle the pressure and scrutiny can make or break his entire career. We have a very recent example of this in De Sciglio. He was the new Maldini at one point, and now looks like a shadow of his former self out there. His confidence is shot, and his progress has stalled completely.
The younger a player is, the more inconsistent his performances will be. And for a goalkeeper, every error is magnified because it basically always leads to a goal for the other team. Exposing a 16 year old to the world every week can be very harmful to his career, as his confidence can be completely shot when he makes mistakes. The fans might love him now, but how will everyone react when he has a few bad games and lets in a few needless goals? Will everyone still chant his name or will they start turning their backs on him? And how will Donna react if people do start hating him? It is hard for a 16 year old to handle the pressure, that's why most teams in the world do not roll out players that age to be their starters. Going from youth team to first team starter is a process, and it needs to be handled carefully. We cannot just throw him to the lions full time and expect everything to just be ok. I am fully supportive of Donna becoming our No 1 for the future. But to make him the full time starter right now? It is very very risky to say the least. Youth movement is great, but simply rolling out a team of teenagers out on the field and let them sink or swim is not the way to do it.
Sirigu can be a good replacement for Abbiatti and Lopez, since both guys seem to be on their way out. He can be installed as the No 1 if he out plays Donna, or he could be reliable depth behind Donna. Lopez's performance has dipped big time this year, and Abbiatti hasn't been very good for years now, so no shame in letting either one of those guys go. With Sirigu or someone like that, we can have a good one two punch at the GK spot and will ensure we can handle Donna's development correctly (play him when he's good, sit him when he's out of form) and still get the results needed.
The funny thing about young players is, they can be as talented as any superstar, but their performance will always have its high and lows. In a team that has such high level of exposure like Milan, these highs and lows can go a long way in the way media and fans view a player. Donna is riding a high right now, and being compared to Buffon. This is great, as it gives him more confidence to go out and perform every week. But when the inevitable low comes, his ability to handle the pressure and scrutiny can make or break his entire career. We have a very recent example of this in De Sciglio. He was the new Maldini at one point, and now looks like a shadow of his former self out there. His confidence is shot, and his progress has stalled completely.
The younger a player is, the more inconsistent his performances will be. And for a goalkeeper, every error is magnified because it basically always leads to a goal for the other team. Exposing a 16 year old to the world every week can be very harmful to his career, as his confidence can be completely shot when he makes mistakes. The fans might love him now, but how will everyone react when he has a few bad games and lets in a few needless goals? Will everyone still chant his name or will they start turning their backs on him? And how will Donna react if people do start hating him? It is hard for a 16 year old to handle the pressure, that's why most teams in the world do not roll out players that age to be their starters. Going from youth team to first team starter is a process, and it needs to be handled carefully. We cannot just throw him to the lions full time and expect everything to just be ok. I am fully supportive of Donna becoming our No 1 for the future. But to make him the full time starter right now? It is very very risky to say the least. Youth movement is great, but simply rolling out a team of teenagers out on the field and let them sink or swim is not the way to do it.
Sirigu can be a good replacement for Abbiatti and Lopez, since both guys seem to be on their way out. He can be installed as the No 1 if he out plays Donna, or he could be reliable depth behind Donna. Lopez's performance has dipped big time this year, and Abbiatti hasn't been very good for years now, so no shame in letting either one of those guys go. With Sirigu or someone like that, we can have a good one two punch at the GK spot and will ensure we can handle Donna's development correctly (play him when he's good, sit him when he's out of form) and still get the results needed.