Crewe Alexandra boss Dario Gradi is hoping to add the name of a goalkeeper to his list of players that have come off the Crewe conveyor belt to feature at the top level of the game.
And the Alex boss is hopeful that 16 year old Ben Garratt could be that name with the youngster already an England U17 international.
Speaking to the Football League’s website, Gradi said:
“Ben’s got a real chance. He’s very sound and he doesn’t make mistakes. That’s the first thing – he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“Half the problem with goalkeepers is that their decision-making is poor; Ben’s decision-making is good. He’s quick, he’s brave and he’s competitive enough to get something in the way of shots – whether it comes off his feet or whatever, he almost always manages to keep the ball out of the net.”
Gradi was also keen to talk up two other England U17 international’s at the Club, Nick Powell and Max Clayton who are fine examples of what the Club is all about.
“Seeing Crewe players doing so well is a great encouragement to the kids coming along behind them, that’s important to our Academy, to the boys coming through and the future of the Club.”
“Nick and Max are both fine prospects. Max is an out-and-out goalscorer. When he gets in on goal you expect him to score, but as well as being sharp in that area of his game he can do lots of other things as well.”
“Nick is difficult to categorise, a bit like Steven Gerrard in that everyone’s got their opinion of where Gerrard should play and it’s a similar situation with Nick. He’s not an orthodox player, but he has got a lot to his game.”
“He’s good in the air, he’s got a good shot on him and although he didn’t have goalscoring as one of his qualities, he’s added that to his game – or maybe I should say brought it back to his game, because he used to score a million goals every Monday night when he was training with the Under-16’s.”
