Prospect Watch have posted an interesting stat, listing the minutes played by players under the age of 23 in each team in the Premier League.
Manchester United are second in the list, behind just Leicester City for blooding the most youthful players.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has reiterated his belief in the youth at Old Trafford and the stats show that he is building a young team with potential to develop and improve.
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It was always going to be a challenging rebuild process for the next United boss after Jose Mourinho’s sacking, but Solskjaer is laying the foundations by consistently selecting young talent.
The arrivals of 21-year-olds Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka reduced the average age of the squad further this summer, and Mason Greenwood is also getting minutes under his belt for the first-team.
Solskjaer, in a sense, has been given little choice but to pick some players under the age of 23, which Andreas Pereira and Scott McTominay both featuring heavily in the opening four league games as no midfielder was signed following Ander Herrera’s exit this summer.
But it’s great to see so many youngsters coming through at Old Trafford, and we are still yet to see Axel Tuanzebe, Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong who are all eagerly awaiting their first-team opportunity.
However, for United to be successful and challenge domestically, there has to be a balance between the promise and enthusiasm of the young players and experience and proven quality of older players.
Solskjaer must now prioritise signing an established attacking midfielder as United are currently lacking a creative spark in the middle, as well an attacker to provide depth to the squad after the exits of Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku.
Minutes given to players aged 23-years-old or younger in the Football League. pic.twitter.com/eW6yrqPsSx
— Prospect Watch (@prospectwatch1) September 5, 2019
