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The Manchester United Thread X

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Original post by 419
Oh come on, 25 is not young. By that token, you consider Johnny Evans a youngster.


I though we were talking about the average age of a squad, not individual players. If a squad's average age is 25 then, yes, this is certainly a young squad. A squad whose average age is 27, the upper limit you gave, is still average and not "old".

But for an individual player it's still pre-peak, so relatively young.

As a 28 year old I hope it's still considered relatively young for anyone :tongue:

Original post by jam277
Tbh there's a good mix, united's age isn't as young as people make it out to be. I think vidic and ferdinand are the main CB pairing when fit, evra first choice, carrick first choice and rooney+RVP first choice most likely if rooney stays. That's 4 people in the first 11 over 30, and 2 players who are getting to 30 years old now.

It's just offsetted by you guys integrating young players such as rafael, DDG, cleverley (just about fits), and kagawa which makes the age lower. I'd say it's a good mix of youth and experience, considering that the squad players or rotation options are all pretty young so make up for a first 11 that's ageing.


It's often always been the same. Even in 1995, when we sold Hughes, Ince and Kanchelskis (which brought the average age down) and Hansen's, "you won't win anything with kids" remark. There was still Bruce, Pallister, Irwin and Schmeichel - so three of the back four and GK, who were in their 30s. Well, Irwin turned 30 fairly early in the season.

Mixture of young players in their teens and early 20s, with players in their 30s. Perhaps not quite as many players in their mid to late 20s as other teams.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by 419
No it isn't. In golf when players peak at 70s maybe. But in football when many players start playing at 17; no way is 25 young.

Is Johnny Evans a youngster?


well that just shows you know exactly nill about Golf or Football tbh, even by your own logic that would make 25 the middle of a players career which is generally quite young.

relatively speaking yes, though I was thinking primarily of other players like De Gea, Rafael, Jones, Zaha, Wellbeck etc...though I suppose if you think golfers peak in their 70's then such nuance of any post is far beyond you.
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Original post by River85
I though we were talking about the average age of a squad, not individual players. If a squad's average age is 25 then, yes, this is certainly a young squad. A squad whose average age is 27, the upper limit you gave, is still average and not "old".



Sorry, didn't read your post properly.

I still wouldn't consider anything above 23 in terms squad as young. The term is used loosely. As Jam showed, 4 of the first name on the teamsheet are 30+, 2 are 27+, not to mention Giggs who will play more games than many of the rest. I wouldn't say United have a young squad however you want classify what makes a squad young. More of a squad that's got that mixture.
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Original post by SciFiRory
well that just shows you know exactly nill about Golf or Football tbh, even by your own logic that would make 25 the middle of a players career which is generally quite young.

relatively speaking yes, though I was thinking primarily of other players like De Gea, Rafael, Jones, Zaha, Wellbeck etc...though I suppose if you think golfers peak in their 70's then such nuance of any post is far beyond you.


You need to turn that sarcasm detection on.

25 isn't young in football can't believe how this isn't obvious.

But tbh, enjoy your myopia if you think that United have a young squad when the players that will have the biggest say on how your season pans outs are 30+. Don't really care tbfh.
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Original post by SciFiRory
no he doesn't. he's not fit half the time and when he is his attitude is ****e, if he weren't English people wouldn't rate him half as much, he reminds me a bit of Anderson, glimpses of brilliance, but all too often unfit/injured.


Who's better then WIlshere in your midfield, other then Carrick? :eyebrow:
This whole who's young and who's not doesn't make much sense tbh. It depends on their position in the team and their attributes/style of play.

Take for example maldini, who relied mainly on his reading of the game, he was a great left back but you saw him moved to centre back for this reason, as he lost his pace, he still had great reading of the game to play at left back, but his age didn't affect his game and was a world class player till the age of 40. Similar thing for didier drogba, who relies on his brute strength and off the ball movement, which doesn't wane as much as pace and stamina does in their latter years. With lampard/scholes, they rely/relied on their reading of the game and technique again, which doesn't decrease with age, they eventually went into deep lying positions to prevent them from running too much. So in that case you'd use them regularly and they'd still do the job or similar to what they did 10 years ago.

That's why I believe that age of a squad can be irrelevant. It also depends on your style of play, chelsea e.g. won the CL with an ageing team because they had a couple runners like ramires, meireles and played deep counter attacking football hoofing it to drogba. Or when they won the double in 2010 they had a lot of top class midfielders to pack the midfield, despite their age the tactics suited their old ages and they won it.

You can use such players in a system which can make their ages irrelevant, especially since defensive, midfield and attacking partnerships also are more vital than the age of the individuals in a team, or even the age of the team.
Original post by Deshi
Who's better then WIlshere in your midfield, other then Carrick? :eyebrow:


Cleverely is about the same level, Giggs maybe not anymore but makes up for it with experience.

Anderson when fit/on form is as well.

Fletcher is unlikely to play again sadly but at his best he is as well imo.

our main issue with the midfield is lacking someone who is fit to play alongside Carrick in most games, last season we struggled at times there because Cleverley/Ando/Fletcher were injured and Giggs/Scholes also were injured or just not fit enough to be at the level they needed to be, which meant playing Jones there who isn't as good there as he is in defence.

Wilshere shows glimpses of being better than he is now, but they are far less frequent than the games he misses with injury (or suspension for that matter :tongue:), I don't really see how he right now does anything other than give us another option like those we have now.

we need a midfielder or two who can stay fit and play well alongside Carrick, but Wilshere just adds to the same kind of players we have now so I don't really see the point.
LMAO at Cleverley being on the same level as Wilshere. This is pure comedy gold.

Posted from TSR Mobile
At least our midfielders aren't on the llello (no names)
Original post by River85



It's often always been the same. Even in 1995, when we sold Hughes, Ince and Kanchelskis (which brought the average age down) and Hansen's, "you won't win anything with kids" remark. There was still Bruce, Pallister, Irwin and Schmeichel - so three of the back four and GK, who were in their 30s. Well, Irwin turned 30 fairly early in the season.

Mixture of young players in their teens and early 20s, with players in their 30s. Perhaps not quite as many players in their mid to late 20s as other teams.


The average age is 24-28 imo. Smart the way fergie built it from the defence up too.

But anyway, that goes into my essay. Defenders are another good example, as they mature later than strikers(CB's especially) which is why you'd get the likes of hazard, oscar, messi, ronaldo, zaha getting into first 11's for the best teams in the world by the age of 22, yet players like nastasic and varane are an almost rare find. Your CB pairing being the biggest example. Evans only got into the team due to vidic being out for the season, jones doesn't get great gametime at CB, same for smalling and they're often deployed as second choice right backs.

Carragher's progression from RB-CB and andre wisdoms current progression in comparison to sterling getting a run of straight games at 17 just shows why CB's bring the average age up of a squad, so comparing average ages isn't a great point, when really the same average age could have ageing strikers who relied on pace/stamina and young immature defenders who haven't developed a good reading of the game which would be an absolute disaster compared to the other way round.
Original post by SciFiRory
Cleverely is about the same level, Giggs maybe not anymore but makes up for it with experience.

Anderson when fit/on form is as well.

Fletcher is unlikely to play again sadly but at his best he is as well imo.

our main issue with the midfield is lacking someone who is fit to play alongside Carrick in most games, last season we struggled at times there because Cleverley/Ando/Fletcher were injured and Giggs/Scholes also were injured or just not fit enough to be at the level they needed to be, which meant playing Jones there who isn't as good there as he is in defence.

Wilshere shows glimpses of being better than he is now, but they are far less frequent than the games he misses with injury (or suspension for that matter :tongue:), I don't really see how he right now does anything other than give us another option like those we have now.

we need a midfielder or two who can stay fit and play well alongside Carrick, but Wilshere just adds to the same kind of players we have now so I don't really see the point.


Wilshere is a class above all of your midfielders except for Carrick. The only part of your post that makes any sense is that it would be stupid for United to buy him, which is true because of his injury record and your dire need for a partner for Carrick, but we're not debating that, we're debating their footballing ability.
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Original post by SciFiRory
Cleverely is about the same level, Giggs maybe not anymore but makes up for it with experience.

Anderson when fit/on form is as well.


I'm sorry but this is delusional. I really don't rate Cleverley either so I don't really know how to reply to this.
Original post by Conzy210
Wilshere is a class above all of your midfielders except for Carrick. The only part of your post that makes any sense is that it would be stupid for United to buy him, which is true because of his injury record and your dire need for a partner for Carrick, but we're not debating that, we're debating their footballing ability.


and Andy Carroll is better than Van Persie because he's younger and English too right?
Original post by CB91
LMAO at Cleverley being on the same level as Wilshere. This is pure comedy gold.

Posted from TSR Mobile


That's just bad. I really need to quote some of these when they're proven wrong.
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Original post by Kenan and Kel
At least our midfielders aren't on the llello (no names)


This conspiracy is still strive :facepalm2:

(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by SciFiRory
and Andy Carroll is better than Van Persie because he's younger and English too right?


Have you watched wilshere play week in week out?
Have you watched andy carroll week in week out?

If you did then I'm sure you would take both the statements back, even if the second one was said sarcastically.
silly me, I forgot Wilshere took Arsenal singlehandedly to the title for the last 3 seasons running.
Original post by jam277
Have you watched wilshere play week in week out?
Have you watched andy carroll week in week out?

If you did then I'm sure you would take both the statements back, even if the second one was said sarcastically.


I watch match of the day and live matches on TV every week yes, like I said Wilshere shows some great games, but they are far too few and inbetween for me to really rate him right now, in a few years if he gets fitter and can replicate individual game showings regularly then I may well agree with you, but right now it's simply not the case that he does.
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Wow, looks like jw has found a running mate.
Original post by SciFiRory
silly me, I forgot Wilshere took Arsenal singlehandedly to the title for the last 3 seasons running.

Brb insinuating gerrards been a **** player since 2006.
Brb insinuating cavani's a **** player
Brb insinuating ronaldo was **** last season
Brb insinuating suarez is a **** player
Brb making ridiculous assertions because he knows he's wrong about wilshere.

I need some of that pot.

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