Give the kids a go

Jimmy Jeggo against Celtic in July

(Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)

Some say the Melbourne Derby was dull and had no excitement. I disagree I thought it was a great game and one good thing that emerged was Melbourne Heart youngster Craig Goodwin.

Goodwin had a fantastic game on the left side of the pitch in place of Aziz Behich who is on Olyroo duty and the 20-year-old took his chance with both hands.

I have watched Goodwin many times this season in the National Youth League (NYL) in which he plays exactly the same. After watching the Adelaide born wide man since his first game you could tell immediately this kid is going to be something.

On his A-League debut he got plenty of touches and ran down the wing beating Petar Franjic on a number of times with his immense pace and great touch. But let’s just all hope John van ‘t Schip keeps him around. With Behich still out until for possibly two or three more games Goodwin has a huge chance to impress even more and cement a spot in the line-up.

Giving a youngster a chance instead of going out and signing a replacement for five or six weeks is a much better way of going. Save clubs funds and also you never know what a club could find at their own footstep.

Giving the youngsters ago is an idea which Melbourne Victory should give a shot.

This coming week against Central Coast Mariners Victory are missing Grant Brebner and with Billy Celeski only having played 45 minutes for the NYL side James Jeggo could be in line for his starting A-League debut.

On Victory’s Facebook page Victory asked who should come in for the suspended Brebner.  Jimmy (he prefers Jimmy) Jeggo won the contest between Celeski, Tom Pondeljak and for Mark Milligan to move into midfield. Jeggo received 92 more votes than second placed Celeski.

With the frustrated at results and performances they believes something different could work but would Jim Magilton and co listen? Well if he has seen Jeggo’s performances recently as captain of the NYL side he would know the 19-year-old is on form and should be given a chance.

Jeggo a modern day midfielder who can play just about anywhere and has been playing the deep role in midfield which is exactly the role Brebner played in the Melbourne Derby so a straight swap? I think so.

Just look at a successful club in Europe- Borussia Dortmund. If we only compare the ages of their squad and their success then we can see that at an average age of 23 or 24 Dortmund were able to win their league over powerhouse Bayern Munich. Youngsters like Mario Götze were given a chance and grabbed it with both hands. Now Götze (known as the German Messi) is a German international.

With Victory’s ageing squad impressive youngsters like Nick Ansell (18) and Luke O’Dea (18) should be given a chance to impress. Brebner, Pondeljak, Roddy Vargas, Archie Thompson and marquee man Harry Kewell are all on the wrong side of thirty with goalkeeper Ante Covic too. But as we know goalies tend to perform at their peak when they are thirty plus like Socceroo Mark Schwarzer.

Victory have already reportedly signed former Bayern Munich youngster Julius Davies so just maybe they are already in the process of injecting some youth into the squad. Davies a winger or forward could bring that speed and youth into the line-up but would Magilton thrown him in the deep end? Well let’s hope so. But he may decide to play him in the NYL side to gain match fitness and adapt to Australian Football.