Top clubs U25?

Mad Winger

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I just realized how many young players we actually have, so I tried to put together an U25 starting XI. Not only did it become surprisingly balanced, but it's also really strong!

DDG
Rafael - Smalling - Evans - Büttner
Jones
Cleverley - Anderson
Welbeck - Hernandez - Kagawa​

We could alternatively turn it into a diamond instead..

---

I haven't bothered to go through the squads of Barca, Real, City, Bayern, Dortmund and Juventus etc, but I wouldn't be surprised if we have the strongest U25 team. Not wanting to sound overly rawk-ish, but it should count for something as far as the future is concerned.

There are obviously gonna be different opinions on when a player no longer is considered "young". For me though, the line should be drawn at 26. When you are 26, you are no longer young, but possibly about to enter your prime(depending on the player obviously). Feel free to disagree, but mainly try to make lineups based on the rules I've set in this topic.

Now, let's see if the other top clubs can match us!

EDIT:
To make things less confusing for the people trying to put together starting XI's: all players born before 1988 are forbidden.
 
Would have thought some of the Germans will take us very close and everyone who plays for Arsenal is technically 'Wenger's kids'.....
 
Jaybezia said:
Would have thought some of the Germans will take us very close and everyone who plays for Arsenal is technically 'Wenger's kids'.....
Click to expand...

Yeah, Dortmund and Bayern would still have pretty strong teams. I doubt they'd beat us, but pretty strong teams none the less.

To make things less confusing for the people trying to put together starting XI's: all players born before 1988 are forbidden.
 
I'll have a go at putting together some other team's U25 XI's. I'm going for 25 and under here, by the way.

Man City

Hart (25)
Boyata (22) Richards (24) Nastasić (20) Rekik (18)
Nasri (25) Razak (20) Rodwell (22) Sinclair (24)
Aguero (24) Guidetti (20)​

Chelsea

Courtois (20)
Azpilicueta (23) Luis (25) Chalobah (20) Bertrand (23)
Romeu (21) Oscar (21)
De Bruyne (21) Hazard (22) Mata (24)
Lukaku (19)​

The City side is a bit naff, but the Chelsea one looks pretty strong.

Edit: No idea if any of them go against the "before 1988" rule, but I'm not changing it now :mad:
 
Minkaro said:
Edit: No idea if any of them go against the "before 1988" rule, but I'm not changing it now :mad:
Click to expand...

As long as they don't turn 26 this year, it should be fine:D

City sucks as expected. Chelsea's decent enough.


EDIT: Hart, Nasri and Luiz would have to go though :P
 
That's some team Chelsea have to be honest. They have done well buying young players over the past couple of seasons I expect De Bruyne, Courtois and Lukaku to be first team players in the coming years.
 
A couple gaps in Arsenal's line-up

Oxlaide - Walcott - Miyaichi
Wilshere - Ramsey
Coquelin
Gibbs - CB - CB - Jenkinson
Szczęsny​
 
Dortmund

Langerak (24)

GroBkreutz (24) Subotic (24) Hummels (24) Schmelzer (25)

Bender (23)

Gundogan (22) Leitner (20)

Gotze (20) Lewandowski (24) Reus (23)​
 
To be a good 15 year old is about as impressive as Freddy Adu.

@Rowem, Arsene are weak on CB's, even their older ones but FWIW the closest they have to decent young CB's are probably Angha and Miquel who are YOUNG with no experience so don't think Arsenal can stand up to the Chelsea's/Uniteds/Bayerns etc
 
@CJ for playing Grosskreutz at RB!! Come on! he is a bloody midfielder surely...

Based on so the XI's put out so far, for me its the Chelskis overall
 
Bayern


Riedmüller (25)
Boateng (24) Martinez (24) Badstuber (24) Alaba (20)
Can (19) ------ Gustavo (25)
Kroos (23)
Shaqiri (21)----------------Muller (23)
Weihrauch (19)
​

It's not a bad line-up by any means, but the inclusion of Emre Can and Patrick Weihrauch are the key parts. I had to place Martinez as a CB, which he has played for Bilbao and move Boateng to RB as Lahm is 29 and Rafinha is 27.

Mandzukic is 26, and Gomez is 27 so it isn't as if they are playing with ageing strikers but they obviously don't fit the bill in regards to this topic.
 
Based on the lineups posted so far, I'd say it goes something like this

1. Dortmund
2. United
3. Chelsea
4. Bayern
5. Arsenal
6. City

I put Arsenal above City because Hart and Nasri are too old. I doubt their replacements would set the world on fire though.

Someone do Barca, Real and Juventus!
 
Pedro-Messi-Sanchez
Thiago-Fabregas
Busquets
Alba-Bartra-Song-Montoya
GK
​

That's pretty good...
 
Rowem said:
A couple gaps in Arsenal's line-up

Oxlaide - Walcott - Miyaichi
Wilshere - Ramsey
Coquelin
Gibbs - CB - CB - Jenkinson
Szczęsny​
Click to expand...

Put Bellerin in for Jenkinson, Gnabry in for Miyaichi, two CB's would be Isaac Hayden & Miquel
 
TheHorse'sMouth said:
Put Bellerin in for Jenkinson, Gnabry in for Miyaichi, two CB's would be Hayden & Miquel
Click to expand...

Why would you swap Jenkinson? He's an established player in the Premiership. Isn't Hector Bellerin the midfielder you got from Barca in the Fabregas deal?
 
BD94 said:
Cuenca-Tello-Sanchez
Thiago-S.Roberto
Busquets
Alba-Bartra-Muniesa-Montoya
GK
​
Click to expand...
I think that's what it should look like given the needed changes.
 
Jaybezia said:
@CJ for playing Grosskreutz at RB!! Come on! he is a bloody midfielder surely...

Based on so the XI's put out so far, for me its the Chelskis overall
Click to expand...

He has started at RB twice in the last month, bit of a stretch but it get him in.
 
Mad Winger said:
I haven't seen a lot of these players... Is this a good team? Can it be compared with Dortmund and United?
Click to expand...

Nah. It lacks goals imo. Still a good team, and good few of them will probably be great players in the future, but at the moment it doesnt compare to ours or Dortmunds.
 
Mad Winger said:
I haven't seen a lot of these players... Is this a good team? Can it be compared with Dortmund and United?
Click to expand...

Not a chance. Bartra is an up and coming centre back, Muniesa is next in the queue but I'm not sure if they see him as good enough. Cuenca and Tello are both young wingers, although I think Tello has played striker before (hence his positioning). Delofeu has had a handful of appearances, and is the youngest player to play in the Spanish league, and I know that he's very highly rated.

I'll be honest and say that I haven't seen Delofeu play much, only caught a glimpse of him at the U-19 national tournament but his inclusion is mainly off of reputation. Bartra I've seen occasionally and looked alright, and Muniesa is there because I couldn't think of anybody else to stick there.
 
Dortmund has the best side so far, United and Chelsea also very impressive.
 
I'll give Real a go.

Jesus (24)
Marcelo (24) Varane (19) Nacho (23) Coentrao (25)
di María (25) Rodríguez (18) Özil (24) Sahin (24) Cheryshev (22)
Morata (20)​

Higuain and Benzema were born December 1987, so only just miss out under the "born in and after 1988" rule. Was determined to get both Marcelo and Coentrao in there, even if I had to play one out of position.

I'm not a regular watcher of them though, and there's a few guys (Nacho, Cheryshev and Morata) that may have better alternatives in the B team.
 
Everyone seems to think that Dortmund's team are quite superior to Chelsea..

Langerak (24)/ Courtois (20)
At their age for me its Curtois who surely has the higher potentialGroBkreutz (24)/ Azpilicueta (23)
Considering Grosskreutz isn't a right back this is a harder comparison but as who will be the better RB, I think you can't look past Azpilicueta
Subotic (24)/ Luis (25)
Quite clearly, despite a dip in form this season, Hummels remains superior, or at least the only defender of the two.Hummels (24)/ Chalobah (20)
Schmelzer (25)/ Bertrand (23)
Very hard one to call again, Schmelzer looks more solid IMO but Bertrand has the higher ceiling for me so this is a draw
Bender (23)/ Romeu (21)
Very, very close but I think Bender has to take this one.
Gundogan (22)/ Oscar (21)
Another very close one, and as great as Gundogan is, quite clearly at a year younger Oscar is the better prospect, as good as Gundogan is
Leitner (20)/ De Bruyne (21)
This one for me again could go either way but De Byrne has done quite well internationally hasn't he? Or am I getting him confused? I will call this a draw to try and be fair
Gotze (20)/ Hazard (22)
Gotze against any other player on this list would win, but based on this season, Hazard is the best player on the list.
Lewandowski (24)/ Mata (24)
Very, very hard and I rate Mata after how consistent he has been in the PL this season, but with Lewi's experience I don't think you can look past him IMO.. In fact I should have compared Mata/Reus (Mata) and Lewandowski/Lukaka (Lewandowski)
Reus (23)/ Lukaku (19)
Again a very close one and I think Lukaku will become the better player, they are harder to compare as they are so bloody different, so I will call it a draw, but for me in their respective positions, I hold Lukaku currently with more weight towards his potential, but as I said, I will count this as a draw.

Overall Score: Chelsea 7 - 4 Dortmund

Comments more than welcome as I'm sure most will disagree :)
 
Jaybezia said:
Langerak (24)/ Courtois (20)
GroBkreutz (24)/ Azpilicueta (23)
Subotic (24)/ Luis (25)
Hummels (24)/ Chalobah (20)
Schmelzer (25)/ Bertrand (23)
Bender (23)/ Romeu (21)
Gundogan (22)/ Oscar (21)
Leitner (20)/ De Bruyne (21)
Gotze (20)/ Hazard (22)
Lewandowski (24)/Lukaku (19)
Reus (23)/ Mata (24)
Click to expand...

That's my opinion Jay. I think you either have to compare by potential or by current stats. It's not fair to say that Bertrand is better potentially but that "based on this season" Hazard beats Gotze. Good comparisons though.
 
Remember that Chelsea's Luiz is born in 87, so he's out..

Just judging "player by player" is absurd. At least go with positions! If we do that, then it's a clear victory to Dortmund, as they have a superior defense, a superior CM, and a superior striker. The only postion Chelsea has better cover in is AM/wingers and goalkeeper, but Dortmund is not that far behind here either.

But most importantly: we have to take into consideration that this Dortmund team is pretty much the same as the original 1st XI. Unlike most of the teams posted here, they have a proven top side.

Chelsea is good enough, but they're clearly behind us and Dortmund. Chelsea have 3-4 very good players pulling the team(Mata, Oscar, Hazard and Azpilicueta), but the rest of the team is pretty mediocre or unproven.
 
Are there anyone who follows Real or Juventus? Are they able to put up a decent lineup? So far I'd say Dortmund and United are in a clear lead, with Dortmund edging it because of experience(they're almost the same as the original first XI). Chelsea and Bayern are good enough, but too unbalanced and inexperienced, relying too much on certain individuals.

Barca is unlucky for having a lot of world class players born in 1987. As a result they're pretty mediocre. As is Arsenal.

City is laughably bad.

EDIT:
I didn't see that Real has already been posted! Sorry about that!

That just leaves Juventus.
 
Liverpool FC

--------Sturridge
Sterling-Couthino-Borini
-----Allen-Henderson
Robinson-Kelly-Wisdom-Flanagan
-----------Gulácsi
 
jakec said:
Liverpool FC

--------Sturridge
Sterling-Couthino-Borini
-----Allen-Henderson
Robinson-Kelly-Wisdom-Flanagan
-----------Gulácsi
Click to expand...

Absolutely horrendous defence, will get murdered by any team. Next area for the manager/owner to concentrate on really.

Midfield and forward of Coutinho->Sturridge looks :drool:
 
--------------DDG------------
Rafael--Smalling-Evans--Buttner
------Cleverley-Anderson-------
Zaha------Kagawa------Welbeck
----------Hernandez-----------
 
SkeppyRed said:
--------------DDG------------
Rafael--Smalling-Evans--Buttner
------Cleverley-Anderson-------
Zaha------Kagawa------Welbeck
----------Hernandez-----------
Click to expand...

That might be a better lineup, seeing as Kagawa flourishes in the AM role, and that Welbeck is best out left. I chose the lineup in the topic simply because I don't know if Zaha is good enough yet, and because a CM consisting of only Cleverley and Anderson looks a bit "naked" defensively.

But no matter which lineup we choose, it's still fecking impressive. Had it not been for the fact that Dortmund is a ridiculously young side and therefore more experienced as a team, then I'd say United has the best set of young players in the world by several miles.
 
This is probably the best U-25 that Spurs could muster:

---------------- Archer
Adam Smith - Walker - Caulker - Naughton
------- Holtby - Sandro - Carroll
Townsend ---- Bale -- Sigurddson

It would mean shifting Walker across to CB, where he has sometimes played previously, bringing in Jordan Archer as the GK, giving the promising 20 year-old Tom Carroll a place, and playing Bale as more or less an out-and-out striker.
 
Joemo said:
Bayern


Riedmüller (25)
Boateng (24) Martinez (24) Badstuber (24) Alaba (20)
Can (19) ------ Gustavo (25)
Kroos (23)
Shaqiri (21)----------------Muller (23)
Weihrauch (19)
​

It's not a bad line-up by any means, but the inclusion of Emre Can and Patrick Weihrauch are the key parts. I had to place Martinez as a CB, which he has played for Bilbao and move Boateng to RB as Lahm is 29 and Rafinha is 27.

Mandzukic is 26, and Gomez is 27 so it isn't as if they are playing with ageing strikers but they obviously don't fit the bill in regards to this topic.
Click to expand...


Riedmüller (25)
Boateng (24) Martinez (24) Badstuber (24) Contento (21)
Can (19) ------ Gustavo (25)
Kroos (23)
Shaqiri (21)---------------- Alaba (20)
Muller (23)
​

Why bring Weihrauch, when Müller can play Striker and Contento can play the left full back and Alaba in the left offensive midfield?

Can and Riedmüller are the only ones that have not played a couple of CL matches etc. until now. But maybe I would play Hojbjerg instead of Can. He will get a lot of match time next year.
 
Joemo said:
That's my opinion Jay. I think you either have to compare by potential or by current stats. It's not fair to say that Bertrand is better potentially but that "based on this season" Hazard beats Gotze. Good comparisons though.
Click to expand...

It is actually quite funny, how Oscar gets the benefit of being one year younger than Gündogan and the bigger age difference between Hazard and Götze is completely ignored. There, the performance of this season counts. What makes it even worse, is the fact, that he did not eloberate how exactly Hazard plays a better season than Götze.

Hazard started off furiously at Chelsea (7 scorer in the first three games), but his form fell afterwards until he stabilized it in the winter.

Meanwhile, Götze came back from a long injury and displayed something again right off the bat, what makes him stand out of a lot of the top talents in the world: brutal consistency. I can count his "average" performances in this season on one hand, a really poor game, where he contributes little to nothing to the game is a true rarity. At the age of 20, Götze has gained a stability in his form that most players won`t even reach at their prime. He is unboubtly Dortmund´s best player of the season and once again a top 3 midfielder of the Bundesliga.

If we include the games on the international stage, the comparision between Hazard and Götze gets even more clearer. Hazard overall performance in the CL and EL so far was decent, Götze´s group stage was outstanding, being the best player on the pitch in three of his five games. He carried on this form with a good (away) and an extremely strong game (home) vs. Donetsk. If he would have converted one of his chances yesterday vs. Malaga, a lot of people on here would probably praise him over the moon. So, it was just one of his many "good" games.
 
Jaybezia said:
Everyone seems to think that Dortmund's team are quite superior to Chelsea..

Langerak (24)/ Courtois (20)
At their age for me its Curtois who surely has the higher potentialGroBkreutz (24)/ Azpilicueta (23)
Considering Grosskreutz isn't a right back this is a harder comparison but as who will be the better RB, I think you can't look past Azpilicueta
Subotic (24)/ Luis (25)
Quite clearly, despite a dip in form this season, Hummels remains superior, or at least the only defender of the two.Hummels (24)/ Chalobah (20)
Schmelzer (25)/ Bertrand (23)
Very hard one to call again, Schmelzer looks more solid IMO but Bertrand has the higher ceiling for me so this is a draw
Bender (23)/ Romeu (21)
Very, very close but I think Bender has to take this one.
Gundogan (22)/ Oscar (21)
Another very close one, and as great as Gundogan is, quite clearly at a year younger Oscar is the better prospect, as good as Gundogan is
Leitner (20)/ De Bruyne (21)
This one for me again could go either way but De Byrne has done quite well internationally hasn't he? Or am I getting him confused? I will call this a draw to try and be fair
Gotze (20)/ Hazard (22)
Gotze against any other player on this list would win, but based on this season, Hazard is the best player on the list.
Lewandowski (24)/ Mata (24)
Very, very hard and I rate Mata after how consistent he has been in the PL this season, but with Lewi's experience I don't think you can look past him IMO.. In fact I should have compared Mata/Reus (Mata) and Lewandowski/Lukaka (Lewandowski)
Reus (23)/ Lukaku (19)
Again a very close one and I think Lukaku will become the better player, they are harder to compare as they are so bloody different, so I will call it a draw, but for me in their respective positions, I hold Lukaku currently with more weight towards his potential, but as I said, I will count this as a draw.

Overall Score: Chelsea 7 - 4 Dortmund

Comments more than welcome as I'm sure most will disagree :)
Click to expand...

See, what you did here is you said it's very close whenever Dortmund's player was better (like Bender v Romeu, they're a class apart, or Reus v Lukaku) and gave Chelsea a point everytime it was possible.
 
Blackwidow said:
Riedmüller (25)
Boateng (24) Martinez (24) Badstuber (24) Contento (21)
Can (19) ------ Gustavo (25)
Kroos (23)
Shaqiri (21)---------------- Alaba (20)
Muller (23)
​
Why bring Weihrauch, when Müller can play Striker and Contento can play the left full back and Alaba in the left offensive midfield?

Can and Riedmüller are the only ones that have not played a couple of CL matches etc. until now. But maybe I would play Hojbjerg instead of Can. He will get a lot of match time next year.
Click to expand...

Apologies I don't really know the Bayern team all that well, although I did know Alaba was versatile and could operate in midfield. Your team looks a lot better than mine, and I went by this Transfermarkt's squad, which doesn't include Hojbjerg.
 
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