Everyone was excited about him. I had the chance to spend over an hour with Martinez in either his second or third season with us and asked him specifically about Walsh. He was absolutely gushing about his abilities (I know, unusual for Martinez!) but was very frank about his prospects of a top career in the game. It basically came down to nobody knew what he was. Was he a winger? Was he a 10? Was his role a little deeper? Off the forward? Even with coaching, he drifted all over the place, looking to be involved. I suppose that's great if your established and in a good team who can cover your vacant space. A loan he had just been sent on was basically his last chance to nail down a position.
I don't even know where he is now? Is it Torquay or somewhere similar?
I have said it many times here, my absolute favorite Arsene Wenger quote is that you pay for the development of youth players with dropped points.
He's exactly right, but I guess it depends where we sit in the table. Obviously, if you're bottom 6 it's unlikely worth throwing them in, similarly, if you're challenging for the league you can only really use them in Carabao/FA Cup.
If we're using this as a treading water season with no real ambition beyond 7th-10th this may well be a good season to bring a few on during league games. Proper football is the only way to learn.
