Are we expecting too much from a team of kids?

Lentwood

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Debate rages on...is it the system, is it the players? Why are we struggling to see off sides such as Leicester, Palace, Brighton and Southampton?

Well, personally, I think one factor that has been massively, massively overlooked is the age profile of our team. Its been mentioned in other threads, but I am not sure people comprehend quite how big an ask it is for a team of 6 or 7 u23s to compete vs Premier League standard opponents.

We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

Now factor in the fact that other regular starters like De Ligt and Mazraoi are settling in to a new team and a new country...under a new manager, in a new system.

Is it actually really any wonder / surprise at all that we're struggling? We're not far off a genuine u23s team - and it's not like these are fringe players in fringe positions, they're regular week in, week out starters at CB, CM and CF.

Do we actually expect too much, too soon from these lads as a club and as a fanbase? Are we basically doing about as well as can expected with a team of kids?
 
We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

6 or 7 is a massive stretch
 
SirScholes said:
We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

6 or 7 is a massive stretch
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Well I named 8, and 6 of them started the game yesterday

Bear in-mind, Yoro and Mainoo were injured first few months, and Garnacho was dropped due to his attitude...I would expect all three to be regulars when available from now until the end of the season.
 
Most complaints I see from reds is about the senior players anyway

None of them are captain material and we have no leaders etc.

Hojlund would have been better than he is now if we’d have got Kane in at the same time, as was apparently the idea at the time
 
LawCharltonBest said:
Most complaints I see from reds is about the senior players anyway

None of them are captain material and we have no leaders etc.
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I would argue though that it's equally as difficult for the senior players to have to guide a team half-full of kids through games.

Imagine being De Ligt or Mazraoui...you're trying to settle in a new league, a new country and a new system...you need to be worrying about your own performances - but you're not coming into a settled team full of senior professionals, you're coming into a team in total flux with 5 or 6 inexperienced teammates.
 
Yes!
It’s so hard to not bring the baggage from the last 10 years of mismanagement and disappointment to the current team and set up. It clouds our vision of the team now.
They are perhaps the most promising group of young players since the early nineties, I like it that INEOS have changed the recruitment from DiMaria, Sanchez, Casameiro, to Chidi, Yoro and Heaven. Not all of them will make it but along side Amad, Garnatcho etc that we already have I think the future is very bright. It’s going to be tough for us fans, it’s hard to keep the faith, the Glazers have so much to answer for.
 
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Yes this is one problem. It's been said a million times but if you look at our successful SAF teams the young players would come in and be surrounded by winners and if you look at that 96 campaign Schmiechal and Cantona were our best players that year. When Rooney and Ronaldo came into the team it took a few years to get going but again you had such experienced and quality players around them.

A lot of our youngsters don't really have many great senior players around them, or they have the likes of Eriksen, Shaw or Casemiro who aren't in the team often enough.
 
Lentwood said:
Debate rages on...is it the system, is it the players? Why are we struggling to see off sides such as Leicester, Palace, Brighton and Southampton?

Well, personally, I think one factor that has been massively, massively overlooked is the age profile of our team. Its been mentioned in other threads, but I am not sure people comprehend quite how big an ask it is for a team of 6 or 7 u23s to compete vs Premier League standard opponents.

We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

Now factor in the fact that other regular starters like De Ligt and Mazraoi are settling in to a new team and a new country...under a new manager, in a new system.

Is it actually really any wonder / surprise at all that we're struggling? We're not far off a genuine u23s team - and it's not like these are fringe players in fringe positions, they're regular week in, week out starters at CB, CM and CF.

Do we actually expect too much, too soon from these lads as a club and as a fanbase? Are we basically doing about as well as can expected with a team of kids?
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Lentwood said:
Debate rages on...is it the system, is it the players? Why are we struggling to see off sides such as Leicester, Palace, Brighton and Southampton?

Well, personally, I think one factor that has been massively, massively overlooked is the age profile of our team. Its been mentioned in other threads, but I am not sure people comprehend quite how big an ask it is for a team of 6 or 7 u23s to compete vs Premier League standard opponents.

We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

Now factor in the fact that other regular starters like De Ligt and Mazraoi are settling in to a new team and a new country...under a new manager, in a new system.

Is it actually really any wonder / surprise at all that we're struggling? We're not far off a genuine u23s team - and it's not like these are fringe players in fringe positions, they're regular week in, week out starters at CB, CM and CF.

Do we actually expect too much, too soon from these lads as a club and as a fanbase? Are we basically doing about as well as can expected with a team of kids?
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It's an interesting point. Alan Hansen famously said "You don't win anything with kids" in August 1995 and was then mocked at the end of the season when United won the double. But, he was actually correct because although yes a number of 'kids' were integral that season, we still had a spine of Schmeichel, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Keane, Cantona and Giggs, although still very young had been a regular for a while.
 
You certainly have to adjust your immediate expectations with players who are that young.

And understand that while investing in young players is the correct way to try and build our way out of our current situation, it comes with short term costs. Because you're effectively trying to build a team that will peak 4 or 5 years later, not one that solves all your current problems.

But that doesn't mean you can point to those young players as justification for us being where we are.

For example, 8 of Arsenal's 12 most regular starters in the 21/22 league season were 23 or under. And they finished 5th, not 13th.
 
The kids aren’t the problem it’s the players that have been here the longest that are killing the dressing room. If you follow this club especially in the 90s and 2000s you have to understand how important the atmosphere in the dressing room and on the pitch leadership is when you’re trying to bring kids along.
 
I think we’re middle of the pack when it comes to average squad age. Chelsea are far and away the youngest squad in the league.
 
Keownisacnut said:
Yes!
It’s so hard to not bring the baggage from the last 10 years of mismanagement and disappointment to the current team and set up. It clouds our vision of the team now.
They are perhaps the most promising group of young players since the early nineties, I like it that INEOS have changed the recruitment from DiMaria, Sanchez, Casameiro, to Chidi, Yoro and Heaven. Not all of them will make it but along side Amad, Garnatcho etc that we already have I think the future is very bright. It’s going to be tough for us fans, it’s hard to keep the faith, the Glazers have so much to answer for.
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Agree with the post, but I love the username
 
I believe so, yes. There's certainly truth in it. It's not a get out of jail card for * insert manager's name *, but it looks like INEOS are playing the long game (knowing that we don't have the money to force a quick overhaul). I think it will be a group of youngsters alongside a group of senior players who will be here not just for their skill-sets, but also for their mentality and character. Hopefully then, step by step, we'll see a new team emerging.
 
Lentwood said:
Debate rages on...is it the system, is it the players? Why are we struggling to see off sides such as Leicester, Palace, Brighton and Southampton?

Well, personally, I think one factor that has been massively, massively overlooked is the age profile of our team. Its been mentioned in other threads, but I am not sure people comprehend quite how big an ask it is for a team of 6 or 7 u23s to compete vs Premier League standard opponents.

We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

Now factor in the fact that other regular starters like De Ligt and Mazraoi are settling in to a new team and a new country...under a new manager, in a new system.

Is it actually really any wonder / surprise at all that we're struggling? We're not far off a genuine u23s team - and it's not like these are fringe players in fringe positions, they're regular week in, week out starters at CB, CM and CF.

Do we actually expect too much, too soon from these lads as a club and as a fanbase? Are we basically doing about as well as can expected with a team of kids?
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I agree with you, and I think it explains why we seem so lightweight, particularly in midfield. We dont really have an experienced sitting midfielder alongside Ugarte, Erickson is past his best and Bruno is too indisciplined. I think its also true that the senior players arent necessarily the sort that the younger ones would hold in great esteem as they arent serial winners.
 
DWelbz19 said:
I think we’re middle of the pack when it comes to average squad age. Chelsea are far and away the youngest squad in the league.
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Not really interested in squad average because that can be misleading, I'm thinking about key players who play week-in, week-out.

Chelsea undoubtedly have a very young squad and usually start young XIs, they have been very up and down though, and they don't field many, if any, teenagers.

Bear in-mind, Yoro and Mainoo missed months with injury, but will play most weeks now - and Dorgu coming in will see Mazraoui, Dalot or Maguire play less often - and Martinez is now out for the season

I bet our average starting XI will be very, very young from now until the end of the season
 
DWelbz19 said:
I think we’re middle of the pack when it comes to average squad age. Chelsea are far and away the youngest squad in the league.
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But in terms of forwards, we must be up there as the youngest.

Agree with OP and I think it's tje single biggest cause of our problems.

Said it before, we have to sign more players in their prime. Should be number one stipulation in the summer.
 
Marwood said:
But in terms of forwards, we must be up there as the youngest.

Agree with OP and I think it's tje single biggest cause of our problems.

Said it before, we have to sign more players in their prime. Should be number one stipulation in the summer.
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Against Palace we started Mainoo (19) at CF and Garnacho (20) and Amad (22) in the forward positions.

There's probably 'unders' teams with a higher average age in their forward line...and we regularly see the 'unders' teams struggle vs League One / Two opponents in the EFL Trophy.

It's a massive ask. An unbelievable ask, really.
 
Marwood said:
But in terms of forwards, we must be up there as the youngest.

Agree with OP and I think it's tje single biggest cause of our problems.

Said it before, we have to sign more players in their prime. Should be number one stipulation in the summer.
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I mean there are plenty of young forwards obliterating the prem though.

It’s not age. It’s quality.
 
Yes, we expect too much when all our new signings are young talents. They have far too few established players in the squad they can learn from. I guess there's only Bruno and Maguire.

In general, I am extremely tired of the criticism that hits young players like Garnacho, Mainoo and Højlund. All 3 players have already shown their talent, and we should therefore all know that their talent is big enough, but that they can have periods of great instability when they are so young and at the same time do not have many experienced, great players in the squad to lean on. If we had bought Kane, Højlund would have been a more stable and better striker now.
 
Lentwood said:
Not really interested in squad average because that can be misleading, I'm thinking about key players who play week-in, week-out.

Chelsea undoubtedly have a very young squad and usually start young XIs, they have been very up and down though, and they don't field many, if any, teenagers.

Bear in-mind, Yoro and Mainoo missed months with injury, but will play most weeks now - and Dorgu coming in will see Mazraoui, Dalot or Maguire play less often - and Martinez is now out for the season

I bet our average starting XI will be very, very young from now until the end of the season
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Forgot about the Martinez injury, that will definitely see more of Yoro. We'll probably slide down to the sort of average of 25~ish on average when you cumulate the starting XI which does put us on the lower scale. Probably Chelsea still out in front, then a mix of us, Spurs (lots of injuries), Bournemouth and Southampton.
Marwood said:
Said it before, we have to sign more players in their prime. Should be number one stipulation in the summer.
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I think this is a key point. It's not really a good thing to have such a young side. Players are not linear and often stockpiling wonderkids just leads to the issues we are seeing and often failed talent. We definitely need some more players in that 25-28 year old band. I think we're especially missing that in the no.9 and a proper central midfielder in there.
 
It’s a problem that all the players in the 24-29 age bracket are either out on loan, new to the league, always injured or not very good.

We don’t have many established players at their peak or close to it. Hopefully that changes over next couple of years but it’s another reason why this isn’t a quick fix. Hopefully there is significant improvement from some of the younger players.
 
Lentwood said:
Debate rages on...is it the system, is it the players? Why are we struggling to see off sides such as Leicester, Palace, Brighton and Southampton?

Well, personally, I think one factor that has been massively, massively overlooked is the age profile of our team. Its been mentioned in other threads, but I am not sure people comprehend quite how big an ask it is for a team of 6 or 7 u23s to compete vs Premier League standard opponents.

We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

Now factor in the fact that other regular starters like De Ligt and Mazraoi are settling in to a new team and a new country...under a new manager, in a new system.

Is it actually really any wonder / surprise at all that we're struggling? We're not far off a genuine u23s team - and it's not like these are fringe players in fringe positions, they're regular week in, week out starters at CB, CM and CF.

Do we actually expect too much, too soon from these lads as a club and as a fanbase? Are we basically doing about as well as can expected with a team of kids?
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It’s a very interesting take and shines a light on the shortcomings of the more senior players, such as Dalot, Fernandes, and Onana.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
I mean there are plenty of young forwards obliterating the prem though.

It’s not age. It’s quality.
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Apart from a few exceptions those two things are connected. Players don't show their top level quality until they're in their prime years.

Mainoo, Amad etc will be better in three years than they are now.

Not sure what you'd call young but I don't see too many 19/20 year olds obliterating the Prem.
 
When you're in the position we're in (i.e. at least half a decade from winning titles) it makes absolutely zero sense to spend big money on 27+ year olds.

But there's a balance to be struck between correctly avoiding those sort of signings and depending too much on kids in their late teens & early 20's.

If you look at Liverpool (the most relevant point of comparison for the rebuild we want to do) almost all their key outfield signings have been aged between 23-26. Firmino (23), Robertson (23), Jota (23), Mane (24), Fabinho (24), Salah (25), Wijnaldum (25), Diaz (25), Van Dijk (26), etc.

As common sense would suggest, that's the ideal age to target. Old enough to contribute significantly immediately, but also young enough to still be core to the team by the time you're actually in a position to win something.

The OP has lumped them together, but there's a massive difference in experience/development between players like Yoro/Garnacho/Mainoo and someone like Ugarte, who more correctly belongs in the same bracket as players like De Ligt/Mazraoui as players we should expect to be able to rely on straight away. Because 23 isn't that young in football terms.
 
It's certainly a very fair point that so many of our senior players are not contributing. Casemiro, Rashford, Eriksen, Shaw, Mount, Sancho.. That's 6 senior players who should be our main players, but who aren't contributing anything whatsoever (for different reasons). Take a similar list of senior players on big wages out of any other club and of course they'd struggle massively.

And now we can add Martinez to that list.
 
It does worry me that we don’t seem to be targeting players in that sweet spot for performance, we need a couple of them at least to get some points on the board, we’re getting out muscled nearly every game
 
Keownisacnut said:
Yes!
It’s so hard to not bring the baggage from the last 10 years of mismanagement and disappointment to the current team and set up. It clouds our vision of the team now.
They are perhaps the most promising group of young players since the early nineties, I like it that INEOS have changed the recruitment from DiMaria, Sanchez, Casameiro, to Chidi, Yoro and Heaven. Not all of them will make it but along side Amad, Garnatcho etc that we already have I think the future is very bright. It’s going to be tough for us fans, it’s hard to keep the faith, the Glazers have so much to answer for.
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I love your user name. Well played.
 
Its not a coincidence that our team always seems to be outmatched physically, confidence wise and "in-game" intelligence. We have young team of kids AND lack of leaders and model professionals amongst the experienced players. Manager alluded to the latter point recently.
 
Lentwood said:
Debate rages on...is it the system, is it the players? Why are we struggling to see off sides such as Leicester, Palace, Brighton and Southampton?

Well, personally, I think one factor that has been massively, massively overlooked is the age profile of our team. Its been mentioned in other threads, but I am not sure people comprehend quite how big an ask it is for a team of 6 or 7 u23s to compete vs Premier League standard opponents.

We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

Now factor in the fact that other regular starters like De Ligt and Mazraoi are settling in to a new team and a new country...under a new manager, in a new system.

Is it actually really any wonder / surprise at all that we're struggling? We're not far off a genuine u23s team - and it's not like these are fringe players in fringe positions, they're regular week in, week out starters at CB, CM and CF.

Do we actually expect too much, too soon from these lads as a club and as a fanbase? Are we basically doing about as well as can expected with a team of kids?
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Yes. Exactly my thoughts too.
 
New mid-season manager, specific system that varies significantly from previous styles and players suitability, more baggage and deadwood than any other "top" team, financially crippled by stupidity, am i expecting too much, no, do a lot need to lower the expectations for this season and give the manager a break, yes.
 
Lentwood said:
Debate rages on...is it the system, is it the players? Why are we struggling to see off sides such as Leicester, Palace, Brighton and Southampton?

Well, personally, I think one factor that has been massively, massively overlooked is the age profile of our team. Its been mentioned in other threads, but I am not sure people comprehend quite how big an ask it is for a team of 6 or 7 u23s to compete vs Premier League standard opponents.

We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

Now factor in the fact that other regular starters like De Ligt and Mazraoi are settling in to a new team and a new country...under a new manager, in a new system.

Is it actually really any wonder / surprise at all that we're struggling? We're not far off a genuine u23s team - and it's not like these are fringe players in fringe positions, they're regular week in, week out starters at CB, CM and CF.

Do we actually expect too much, too soon from these lads as a club and as a fanbase? Are we basically doing about as well as can expected with a team of kids?
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Some truth to that - its the age but also a new set of players coming together and trying to gel. We signed 5 players this year + Amad (virtually new). Add to that the relative inexperience of Hojlund, Garnacho, Mainoo, Collyer - that's 10 players trying to find their feet. Some of our more experienced players have been giving the boot - Rash, Casemiro, Antony, Eriksen leaving only 3 fit experienced players - Bruno, Maguire, Onana, Licha (injured), Shaw (injured), Mount (injured)
 
sullydnl said:
You certainly have to adjust your immediate expectations with players who are that young.

And understand that while investing in young players is the correct way to try and build our way out of our current situation, it comes with short term costs. Because you're effectively trying to build a team that will peak 4 or 5 years later, not one that solves all your current problems.

But that doesn't mean you can point to those young players as justification for us being where we are.

For example, 8 of Arsenal's 12 most regular starters in the 21/22 league season were 23 or under. And they finished 5th, not 13th.
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Arsenal being able to do that was more of timing and luck. It doesn't usually ever happen that way. Our team shouldn't rely on kids anyway. Too much pressure and attention on them, and they're still learning how to win at this level. How can they know what it takes to win a pl if they don't have a spine of players who've accomplished it or have in other leagues. Also we already can't seem to wait on our youth there's groups of people, who are okay with selling half of them before they even get close to their peak. Garnacho, Mainoo, Rasmus all have people calling for them to be sold and they've barely been in top flight football. We need guys in their primes or about to be in their primes. Basically we need to target 24-28 year olds, who will also be the best players in the team, so that it's more balanced. We have too many players at the end of the spectrum who we focus on
 
Done a bit of research and it's clear that both United and Chelsea field very young sides on a regular basis - much younger than the league average.

There is a slight nuance when comparing the two teams though - generally Chelsea have a younger average starting XI but United generally have the youngest regular starters in Hojlund (21), Mainoo (19), Garnacho (20) and Yoro (19).

On a typical game week, Chelsea generally have an age range of 21 (Colwill) to 27 (Sanchez), whereas United have an age range of 18 (Yoro) to 31 (Maguire).

Chelsea rarely, if ever, field a player older than 27, whereas United regularly field Maguire (31), Onana (28) and Fernandes (30), which drives our average up.

Chelsea virtually never field a player younger than 21 (Colwill), whereas we regularly field Hojlund (21), Mainoo (19), Garnacho (20) and Yoro (19).
 
sullydnl said:
You certainly have to adjust your immediate expectations with players who are that young.

And understand that while investing in young players is the correct way to try and build our way out of our current situation, it comes with short term costs. Because you're effectively trying to build a team that will peak 4 or 5 years later, not one that solves all your current problems.

But that doesn't mean you can point to those young players as justification for us being where we are.

For example, 8 of Arsenal's 12 most regular starters in the 21/22 league season were 23 or under. And they finished 5th, not 13th.
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I guess a lot depend on the positions the youngsters play. If your whole spine (striker, central midfield, centre backs) is underage that has a bigger impact than playing young fullbacks and wingers. I can’t actually remember what position Arsenal’s youngsters played in but didn’t they have fairly senior players through the centre?
 
Yes and no. Yes in that this season was always going to be inconsistent with so many youngsters but no, in that we should still be seeing better in my opinion. I had assumed/hoped we would see more of a style and then immature decision making/lack of quality would be the clear issue but we seem to have problems that even the senior players struggle with. There’s something fundamentally wrong when lower placed teams in the league can tactically dominate us for large periods of games.
 
sullydnl said:
You certainly have to adjust your immediate expectations with players who are that young.

And understand that while investing in young players is the correct way to try and build our way out of our current situation, it comes with short term costs. Because you're effectively trying to build a team that will peak 4 or 5 years later, not one that solves all your current problems.

But that doesn't mean you can point to those young players as justification for us being where we are.

For example, 8 of Arsenal's 12 most regular starters in the 21/22 league season were 23 or under. And they finished 5th, not 13th.
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It's a huge contributing factor. Especially when those young players are concentrated in attack.

You could do this for any team but using Liverpool, imagine their front three or four were their 19/20year old selves. Instead of theprime version we see today. Where would Liverpool be? I don't think anybody would say top of the league.

Equally they likely wouldn't be 13th. But we obviously have other problems as well.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I guess a lot depend on the positions the youngsters play. If your whole spine (striker, central midfield, centre backs) is underage that has a bigger impact than playing young fullbacks and wingers. I can’t actually remember what position Arsenal’s youngsters played in but didn’t they have fairly senior players through the centre?
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Xhaka (28), Partey (28), Tierney (24) and Lacazette (30) were their key older players,

So I suppose the key difference with us would be having more senior CFs, as they also had an out-of-favour Aubameyang make a few starts that season too.

Though as those two CFs only got 4 league goals each, it wasn't a huge advantage in the end. Their top 6 scorers in the league that season (Saka, Smith-Rowe, Odegaard, Martinelli, Gabriel and Nketiah) were all aged 19-23. But then CF has been one of their main problems ever since, so maybe that was an issue in itself.

sleepehead said:
Arsenal being able to do that was more of timing and luck. It doesn't usually ever happen that way. Our team shouldn't rely on kids anyway. Too much pressure and attention on them, and they're still learning how to win at this level. How can they know what it takes to win a pl if they don't have a spine of players who've accomplished it or have in other leagues. Also we already can't seem to wait on our youth there's groups of people, who are okay with selling half of them before they even get close to their peak. Garnacho, Mainoo, Rasmus all have people calling for them to be sold and they've barely been in top flight football. We need guys in their primes or about to be in their primes. Basically we need to target 24-28 year olds, who will also be the best players in the team, so that it's more balanced. We have too many players at the end of the spectrum who we focus on
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Obviously they can't know what it takes to win a league unless they've won a league, but that hasn't stopped countless league-winning sides in the past. For example Liverpool's title winning side were hardly full of proven league winners, nor do I remember City's first title-winning side being such. Ability is massively more important than having won a title before.

When I say 23-26 seems the ideal age to target based on what Liverpool and Arsenal have done, that doesn't mean you can't add older players too. Those two teams also brought in the likes of Thiago, Endo, Klavan, Milner, Trossard and Jorginho, all of whom were 27+.

But the most spent on any of those players was €23m, I don't think any of them overly damaged their wage structure, and most of those were bought to add to the squad around the core team they'd already built.

As opposed to ourselves, who at various point tried to short-cut our way to success by spending much bigger fees and/or wages on the likes of Casemiro, Varane, Ronaldo, Matic, Sanchez, etc. in the hope they'd be key players for us. And that's just too much money on players who will inevitably have a limited shelf-life even if they work out, which they might not. Whereas picking up Eriksen for free is the sort of move it absolutely made sense to make and we could happily repeat, because there was so little risk.
 
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SirScholes said:
We have, starting on a regular basis, Yoro (18), Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Amad (22), Ugarte (23), Hojlund (22 this week). Collyer (20) has started a few games and Dorgu (20) has been signed presumably to start.

6 or 7 is a massive stretch
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You’ve just listed 6 or 7
 
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