Louis Page

[Claudio Fannieri]

We need to remember this lad has only just turned 17 and has so much physical development to come, he has been thrown in the deep end and it’s been a baptism of fire but there have been moments where you can see his talent. I think the preference from all sides would be for him to be used as an impact sub initially and then as he develops begin to rotate and start a few games. &nbsp
 

Monga was nowhere near as effective starting last week but has looked excellent coming off the bench and I think that would suit Page as well but given all that he has just got an assist under his belt and will have learnt so much from these two games where he has got 55-60 minutes under his belt in both. 
 

Patience are needed by us as fans with all the younger players as there will be moments of absolute genius and then moments of frustration but what I do love is the youthful energy and the attitude that they want to run through brick walls for the manager and club, which is a refreshing change from witnessing the likes of BEK and Winks effectively checking out. 

[Dahnsouff]

1 minute ago, Pliskin said:

He was really poor last night. The assist was a poor ball that Fatawu turned into a chance. I’m all for playing youth, but as @TJB-fox said, he was miles off it yesterday, and it was a massive part of our attacking woes last night. It’s a position that needs sorting ASAP. 

If you never play them, you might as well sell them, but for a player coming through, he was fine, if you expect seasoned pro performances, that is just an unreasonable expectation.

 

Not every youth can be a Monga, and even he has had a less than stellar game previously.

 

Got to be worth persisting, as the benefits of pushing youth focus are numerous.

[Free Falling Foxes]

7 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

He was really poor last night. The assist was a poor ball that Fatawu turned into a chance. I’m all for playing youth, but as @TJB-fox said, he was miles off it yesterday, and it was a massive part of our attacking woes last night. It’s a position that needs sorting ASAP. 

It was, and I was still cursing it when Fatawu turned it into gold.

However, the pass did mean that Abdul could knock it to his left, cut in and score with his wonderful left boot

A pass in front of him might not have meant a goal. More 'poor passes' behind Abdul, may mean more opportunities.

Edited 30 August 2025 by Free Falling Foxes

[Finnegan]

7 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

He was really poor last night. The assist was a poor ball that Fatawu turned into a chance. I’m all for playing youth, but as @TJB-fox said, he was miles off it yesterday, and it was a massive part of our attacking woes last night. It’s a position that needs sorting ASAP. 

 

The assist is a bad example of a bit of play to beat him with to be fair, he created the goal not with the pass but the read, the interception, the driving run and the all round energy to make that happen. It was his best moment of the game even if the pass was a bit poor.

 

We do need a more controlling, quality influence in there though and I don't think he's the level we need to be starting regularly for us there.

 

[Swarles Barkley]

He’s got potential but think he is too raw to play too many games starting this year. 
The CAM position is quite pivotal to the Marti system and as a 17yr old its such a difficult position to play him. With other positions at that age you can kind of ‘hide’ the player. With the CAM he is solely the player we need to start the attacks and he doesn’t quite have the experience to play it in the championship. 
 

Good signs but we desperately need another CAM if Bilal goes

[Lesta Legend]

2 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

If you never play them, you might as well sell them, but for a player coming through, he was fine, if you expect seasoned pro performances, that is just an unreasonable expectation.

 

Not every youth can be a Monga, and even he has had a less than stellar game previously.

 

Got to be worth persisting, as the benefits of pushing youth focus are numerous.

Like Jakob. He’s been in and out of the team behind Mads but has slowly developed. Some don’t like his distribution but he’s a pretty good goalkeeper and have every confidence in him and now as no.1 will keep getting better. 
 

We should only support the likes of Page and Monga and maybe they come on as subs more. If we sign another CM then they’re likely to make more sub appearances than starts. Which for their development would be fine. 
 

But I’d rather see a loose pass here and there while they get used to men’s football and their confidence in front of fans. It takes time.  Stick with them and support them. 
 

If he develops in line with the standards he shown in the Youth setup, we’ll have one hell of a player. 

[ceebeefox]

5 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

The assist is a bad example of a bit of play to beat him with to be fair, he created the goal not with the pass but the read, the interception, the driving run and the all round energy to make that happen. It was his best moment of the game even if the pass was a bit poor.

 

We do need a more controlling, quality influence in there though and I don't think he's the level we need to be starting regularly for us there.

 

I agree, Ayew would’ve stood still for 5 seconds and drew a foul or passed it back! Great to see him drive towards goal quickly.

[Noahfence]

I feel like it won’t help him you’ve got Monga a year younger than him who’s an actual freak of nature when it comes to fans opinion of him. 
 

He played exactly like a “normal” 17 year old would. Although I do agree with most points. I’m just glad Marti is brave enough to play him. 

Edited 30 August 2025 by Noahfence

[Old Fox]

Really simple he needs a loan tbh - not ready to start with our expectations 

[bmt]

28 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

He was really poor last night. The assist was a poor ball that Fatawu turned into a chance. I’m all for playing youth, but as @TJB-fox said, he was miles off it yesterday, and it was a massive part of our attacking woes last night. It’s a position that needs sorting ASAP. 

God bro cheer up

[Iwebema]

Just doesn't look ready, thought he was very poor in both games and got bullied.

 

But hes only just turned 17 so theres plenty of time for him to learn and grow, cant be hammering the lad, its a big ask and a difficult position to play at such a young age.

[teblin]

He did alright and he’ll get better. Simple as that really.

[Lesta2014]

Put in a shift and got an assist, will get better as he plays more. Didn’t get the ball to him too much, always moving to try get in position to get it though which I like. 

[adejo92]

I look at Alves, and he looks way off it, definitely needs a loan.

 

I look at Page, he might be a bit sloppy with signs of inexperience,  but he really doesn't look out of place. He's so young, I'd like to see him stay in the starting 11's where possible as I think he'll develop rapidly. 

 

Theres almost so much focus on how young Monga is, its easy to forget how young some of the others are.

Edited 30 August 2025 by adejo92

[Merchant_Banker]

46 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

He was really poor last night. The assist was a poor ball that Fatawu turned into a chance. I’m all for playing youth, but as @TJB-fox said, he was miles off it yesterday, and it was a massive part of our attacking woes last night. It’s a position that needs sorting ASAP. 

I only watched the highlights, but I am not sure if this is true. As others have said, if the ball was played in front of him he would have had to take it on his weaker right foot. Page knows what Fatawu wants to do and, being left footed himself, knows how he needs to receive the ball. Obviously I might be completely wrong!

[Philkeavo]

I think Page has huge potential. I’d say based on the two starts he is not quite ready for the physicality of the Championship but there is a real player there. I am very excited to see him develop 👏

[honeybradger]

1 hour ago, Pliskin said:

He was really poor last night. The assist was a poor ball that Fatawu turned into a chance. I’m all for playing youth, but as @TJB-fox said, he was miles off it yesterday, and it was a massive part of our attacking woes last night. It’s a position that needs sorting ASAP. 

If that was Ayew he holds onto the ball too long or takes the shot himself.

 

Page making the right run to pick up the ball and making the right decision to lay it off to Fatawu shouldn't be taken for granted. Good decision making is not something all our players have and is generally underrated because it doesnt look flashy.

 

In a team full of poor decision makers you cant take an action that actually led to a goal for granted.

[whoareyaaa]

Thought he done ok, looks lively he is basically filling Bilals role atm while he is sulking in the stands.

Edited 30 August 2025 by whoareyaaa

[coolhandfox]

He's done fine, but along with CF an new ACM is priority.

[dooflip]

So much negative in here it’s mad.

 

I really enjoyed his performance last night.

He showed more heart and enthusiasm than we see from many of the squad in recent times. He was lively.

 

These young players will make mistakes, they are learning. This is a process that we have to accept to reap the rewards later on.

 

Save your criticisms and negative energy for those who deserve it - take your pick, there’s plenty, page isn’t one of them.

 

We need to be patient and positive towards these young lads who show a lot of promise, and are doing incredibly well given their age and lack of experience in men’s football. We need to champion them, nurture and help them grow.

[TJB-fox]

3 hours ago, Tommy Fresh said:

A lot better last night, ball got under him a bit on occasion, but good to see an improvement from Charlton from him, he's only going to get better as well

He was miles better at charlton 

[TJB-fox]

35 minutes ago, dooflip said:

So much negative in here it’s mad.

 

I really enjoyed his performance last night.

He showed more heart and enthusiasm than we see from many of the squad in recent times. He was lively.

 

These young players will make mistakes, they are learning. This is a process that we have to accept to reap the rewards later on.

 

Save your criticisms and negative energy for those who deserve it - take your pick, there’s plenty, page isn’t one of them.

 

We need to be patient and positive towards these young lads who show a lot of promise, and are doing incredibly well given their age and lack of experience in men’s football. We need to champion them, nurture and help them grow.

The fan base on the whole is being very patient with the younger lads, but just because some of these lads are young doesn’t mean they’re exempt from criticism. There’s of course an understanding that not everything they do will be perfect, but he looked really out of his depth last night. 
 

It’ll take time and I like him! But unfortunately this is professional football, they’re there to be critiqued.

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Cant see much to criticise his assist for, nitpicking saying it was 💩 

[bmt]

5 minutes ago, TJB-fox said:

The fan base on the whole is being very patient with the younger lads, but just because some of these lads are young doesn’t mean they’re exempt from criticism. There’s of course an understanding that not everything they do will be perfect, but he looked really out of his depth last night. 
 

It’ll take time and I like him! But unfortunately this is professional football, they’re there to be critiqued.

We've won both games. At Charlton there was no midfield behind him. People in here saying he's "very poor". He's in the team because one of our senior players thinks hes too important to play. Its a joke, he's looked fine both games.

[Ric Flair]

He's an example of where a player needs time to settle but by being picked week in, week out. Whilst he was older, this is what Puel did with Chilwell.

 

The irony is, most debates with fans on the lack of opportunities for academy players is because they evidently " aren't ready " otherwise they'd be in the team, but the reality is you often need a manager to have the bravery and trust in a young player that gives them the environment to improve and succeed.

 

Page is no more ready right now than Jake Evans or Bade Aluko but Marti see's something in him and the lack of other options that he's prioritising his fast track development. He's got a great future in the game and let's hope Philpott and Branston get that pro deal signed with us.