StriderHiryu Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 From the BBC: When trophies are at stake and relegation costs millions, giving young players a chance can be seen as too much of a gamble. One Premier League club has yet to field a player aged 22 or under this season, however another has shown an unrivalled faith in youth. BBC Sport has researched how all 20 Premier League clubs have used - or not used - players aged 22 or under this season. Here are our findings. Foxes lead the way Claude Puel may be the bookmakers' favourite to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job, but the Leicester boss perhaps deserves some leeway given the faith he has placed in the club's youngsters. The Frenchman has given more minutes to more young players than anyone else in the division. In total Puel has given 8,373 minutes to eight Foxes players aged 22 or under this season, nearly double that of the next highest - Arsenal, with 4,467 minutes. Next on the list is Marco Silva's Everton, whose young players have played 4,455 minutes in the Premier League so far this campaign. West Ham are fourth on the list with 4,134 minutes afforded to their youngsters, with London rivals Tottenham making up the top five with 4,083 minutes between seven players. With Leicester leading the way, it is little surprise that it is two young Foxes players who have played the most minutes so far. Wilfred Ndidi has featured in all but one of Leicester's games, playing 2,038 minutes in total. Team-mate Ben Chilwell has also missed just one league game and is second on the list, seeing 1,980 minutes of action. Crystal Palace defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka is just behind the Leicester duo, playing 1,965 minutes so far. West Ham defender Issa Diop (1,890) and Huddersfield's Phillip Billing (1,842) complete the top five. Cardiff rely on experience In contrast to the youthful looking line-up we have seen at the King Power Stadium this season, Cardiff prop up the table having failed to give a single minute to a player aged 22 and under so far. The youngest player to feature for the Bluebirds in the Premier League this season is Josh Murphy, who turned 23 last February. Boss Neil Warnock clearly feels experience gives his team the best chance of avoiding relegation this season. Like Warnock, Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri also favours older players. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Andreas Christensen are the only Blues players aged 22 or under to play in the Premier League this season, totalling just 151 minutes. Next up are Watford, with Domingos Quina and Ben Wilmot playing 296 minutes of action between them this season. Burnley (440) and Brighton (863) complete the bottom five. The 'give kids a chance' table - 2018-19 Premier League Team Minutes Team Minutes Leicester 8373 Fulham 1975 Arsenal 4467 Crystal Palace 1965 Everton 4455 Southampton 1671 West Ham 4134 Newcastle 1409 Tottenham 4083 Man City 1107 Wolves 3962 Brighton 863 Huddersfield 3089 Burnley 440 Liverpool 2553 Watford 296 Bournemouth 2400 Chelsea 151 Man Utd 2009 Cardiff 0 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47016796
Alf Bentley Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 5 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said: From the BBC: When trophies are at stake and relegation costs millions, giving young players a chance can be seen as too much of a gamble. One Premier League club has yet to field a player aged 22 or under this season, however another has shown an unrivalled faith in youth. BBC Sport has researched how all 20 Premier League clubs have used - or not used - players aged 22 or under this season. Here are our findings. Foxes lead the way Claude Puel may be the bookmakers' favourite to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job, but the Leicester boss perhaps deserves some leeway given the faith he has placed in the club's youngsters. The Frenchman has given more minutes to more young players than anyone else in the division. In total Puel has given 8,373 minutes to eight Foxes players aged 22 or under this season, nearly double that of the next highest - Arsenal, with 4,467 minutes. The 'give kids a chance' table - 2018-19 Premier League Team Minutes Team Minutes Leicester 8373 Fulham 1975 Arsenal 4467 Crystal Palace 1965 Everton 4455 Southampton 1671 West Ham 4134 Newcastle 1409 Tottenham 4083 Man City 1107 Wolves 3962 Brighton 863 Huddersfield 3089 Burnley 440 Liverpool 2553 Watford 296 Bournemouth 2400 Chelsea 151 Man Utd 2009 Cardiff 0 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47016796 That could usefully be posted in the Puel Out thread, though I'm sure even this wouldn't make some of the real Puel Out headbangers think. That's not to say that Puel should have carte blanche forever, regardless of results/performances, just because he's developing lots of young talent - but it SHOULD give him more time and leeway: this season, minimum, barring catastrophes. I'd have expected us to be near or at the top of any table of this kind, but twice as much "youth time" as any other club, while holding our own in mid-table is pretty stunning. If those young players continue to improve and stay with us, we could be just a couple of players short of a team capable of challenging the top 6 next season.
Ric Flair Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 Tielemans, Soyuncu, Barnes and Benkovic in and we'll just about break the machine
North Leeds Fox Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 Thats a fantastic statistic. Shows why we are struggling for consistency. Very damning stats for Chelsea despite having a brilliant academy. Not his biggest fan, but massive fairplay to puel for allowing youth a chance. Hopefully we can keep a core of them for years to come to develop together and sell players we can replace at the correct time to reinvest in more youth like dortmund. It may encourage more players to come to us if this continues.
StriderHiryu Posted 29 January 2019 Author Posted 29 January 2019 Well I'd rather not turn this thread into yet another managerial debate, but just want to recognise that to have given literally twice as much to youngsters as any other team is quite incredible. Of course it's ony worth it if it has some payoff in the end, but given we can be midtable with so many youngsters then the future is surely very bright for our fledgling team! I do believe it will pay off in some way in the end, a League Cup win or something.
Nick Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 It’s the one thing he is absolutely brilliant at - no doubt.
davieG Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 I'm convinced this is a strategy being pushed down from the top/Top and why I think all this talk of Puel being certain to get the push is pie in the sky thinking and will only happen if it looks like we're certs for relegation / this strategy is proved to be not working.
StriderHiryu Posted 29 January 2019 Author Posted 29 January 2019 1 minute ago, North Leeds Fox said: Thats a fantastic statistic. Shows why we are struggling for consistency. Very damning stats for Chelsea despite having a brilliant academy. Not his biggest fan, but massive fairplay to puel for allowing youth a chance. Hopefully we can keep a core of them for years to come to develop together and sell players we can replace at the correct time to reinvest in more youth like dortmund. It may encourage more players to come to us if this continues. Yes, I think that's quite important to keep in mind. A team that can beat the champions of England one week and then lose to a relegation threatened team the next... hasn't that got the hallmarks of a young naive team written all over it? That's not an excuse for players, but if you look at Chilwell he was all over the place in his first season, and now is quite consistent every game. As the young guns get more experience this will naturally happen to all of them and we should see a more consistent level of performance from the team every week. I for one will be interested to see what level Maddison and Barnes are at this time next season for example.
RowlattsFox Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 I must admit I forget Ndidi is still so young. Great stat and Claude should be applauded for it. It doesn't make up for other mistakes but it should give him a little time.
Dickov22 Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 Makes good reading for Puel, fair play. 800 odd minutes too many for Iheanacho though.
CosbehFox Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 It’s apparent on occasions too - the inconsistency, the lack of leadership and sometimes intelligence. But it’s too black and white for most Leicester fans
Voll Blau Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 This is the thing we should be proudest of as a fanbase at the moment. After 2016 and Europe, I think it's really what's keeping me interested in going to games still - seeing what we can achieve with our own and other lads we've brought in and developed ourselves. Hopefully it's a policy we stick to whoever's in charge, cobbing big money about really doesn't suit us as a club.
Wolfox Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 Very pleasing to read…. It’s good to have a strategy…. It’s even better to have a good strategy… if you’re a bright young talent…. Who are you going to pick? The future looks bright
StriderHiryu Posted 29 January 2019 Author Posted 29 January 2019 27 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said: It’s apparent on occasions too - the inconsistency, the lack of leadership and sometimes intelligence. But it’s too black and white for most Leicester fans Absoultely. Case in point was in the last minute against Wolves, Ndidi tried a hollywood pass, gave it away and 20 seconds later it's a 4-3 defeat. Mind you in that game I'd argue the players who were most culpable were our senior pros in Morgan and Simpson at the back! Hopefully our players can improve in this area. One concern I have is that of the young players I don't see anyone as a standout leader among them. Hamza was captain for the under 23's, so it could end up being him, but I haven't yet seen any of the young guns really stamp their authority on the game and lead. Not in the same way that Vardy, Kasper, Morgan maybe even Drinkwater when he was here (to some degree) could do. I think Spurs have a similar problem actually, which is that for all their class players they don't have a leader outfield which is why Lloris is their captain and why I think they've bottled a lot of big matches. The issue is that leaders on the pitch tend to be a natural characteristic rather than something that can be developed.
coolhandfox Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 To play devil's advocate, you could argue that it's because are senior players just aren't up to it. I'm think if we want to include improve as a club it's the way to go, we can't afford to buy top players, but we have shown we can buy and develop top players in Vardy, Kante, Mahrez and Drinkwater.
Dan Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 That, in fairness, makes for brilliant reading. I have to hand him that.
sylofox Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 More minutes than 9 other teams combined. It will probably be more than half the teams by the end of the season.
Dan Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 45 minutes ago, Voll Blau said: This is the thing we should be proudest of as a fanbase at the moment. After 2016 and Europe, I think it's really what's keeping me interested in going to games still - seeing what we can achieve with our own and other lads we've brought in and developed ourselves. Hopefully it's a policy we stick to whoever's in charge, cobbing big money about really doesn't suit us as a club. Do agree with this a lot. We never seem to get the best from it when we do it. Every time I remember we've spent a fair bit it hasn't really worked.
lgfualol Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 1 hour ago, Swan Lesta said: It’s the one thing he is absolutely brilliant at - no doubt. He is brilliant at making fans angry
Nicolo Barella Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 1 hour ago, StriderHiryu said: Well I'd rather not turn this thread into yet another managerial debate, but just want to recognise that to have given literally twice as much to youngsters as any other team is quite incredible. Of course it's ony worth it if it has some payoff in the end, but given we can be midtable with so many youngsters then the future is surely very bright for our fledgling team! I do believe it will pay off in some way in the end, a League Cup win or something. At the very least, we will make significant financial revenue.
Larry_LCFC Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 Is that not half our problem though? We are relying too much on inexperience which clearly isn't working out great for us. It is important to bring some youth into the side but you could argue we have gone too much the other way. How many of these decent youth players will we still have in 3 years time? We've seen how the big teams come in and poach our rising stars. All this could well be for nothing. It certainly explains our poor results, I don't think it justifies it.
StriderHiryu Posted 29 January 2019 Author Posted 29 January 2019 7 minutes ago, Nicolo Barella said: At the very least, we will make significant financial revenue. Yep and that is important to running a sucessful club. Not all players work out, in fact most are medicore at best (this applies to any club). But when signing like Slimani and Silva don't work out the club is stuck paying mega wages for a player that we can't get any money back from because of their age and wages. With young players their wages are lower and even if they don't work out it's easier to get something back. For example, Ihenacho has disapointed but it would be much easier you would think to get something back for him than Slimani. That's why I think long term we have an advantage over West Ham and Everton. I feel like they are crippling themselves by rushing too quickly to be competitive. It could still work out for them, but our way is more sustainable long term. Look at Dormtund... they have lost players like Lewandowski, Auba, Hummels, Pulisic at the end of this season but usually remain competitive because of their focus on youth. Just a shame we weren't in for Sancho!
StriderHiryu Posted 29 January 2019 Author Posted 29 January 2019 9 hours ago, Larry_LCFC said: Is that not half our problem though? We are relying too much on inexperience which clearly isn't working out great for us. It is important to bring some youth into the side but you could argue we have gone too much the other way. How many of these decent youth players will we still have in 3 years time? We've seen how the big teams come in and poach our rising stars. All this could well be for nothing. It certainly explains our poor results, I don't think it justifies it. Definitely a very good point! Had we put more experienced players in the team, you could argue we would be firmly in 7th, etc. To answer the question we will only know in a few years time. But I think it's a good experiment to try personally because it has been proven to work (Spurs, Dortmund, Monaco, etc).
UniFox21 Posted 29 January 2019 Posted 29 January 2019 15 minutes ago, Nicolo Barella said: At the very least, we will make significant financial revenue. Exactly, if we can nurture and develop, the sell on value of these players will rocket. Obviously we don't want to become a selling club, but if we're reaping the benefits of the young players then that's brilliant
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