The following contains excerpts from an article authored by myself on 20th July 2010 on www.footballtransfertavern.com
Once upon a time, someone who thought himself very clever spoke of how, in football, it is impossible to win anything with kids.
Although he was quite emphatically proved wrong, it appears that certain newspapers and pundits have reversed that philosophy completely in their binary minds. Now, like an American beauty pageant, you can’t win anything with old people.
These were certainly the sentiments of Derek Hunter, a football journalist for the Daily Mail. After watching Manchester United breeze past Celtic in Toronto during pre season, Hunter wrote a dubious article concerning the age of the former champions’ team and how that may not bode well for Sir Alex Ferguson’s 25th year at the helm. But, like Wayne Rooney in a nursing home, Hunter seems to have forgotten how old is too old.
So too have certain Manchester United fans, following a somewhat disappointing start to the season that has seen United throw away points right at the death of two away games.
But it’s still pretty mystifying how anyone who has followed the game in the past four years could come to the absolute conclusion that Manchester United’s team has reached its sell-by-date.
In the pre-season game against Celtic that Hunter observed Johnny Evans, Chris Smalling, and the da Silva twins all featured in a defence that averaged at 20.5 in terms of years.
Ahead of them, Gabriel Obertan, Biram Mame Diouf, Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda and Darren Gibson all featured.
Admittedly in the games this season against Everton and Fulham, the young blood was almost wholly omitted as Ferguson favoured campaign veterans such as Edwin Van der Sar, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville. This, combined with the three late goals that United have conceded, has again caused fans and critics to ask whether Ferguson’s team is too reliant on their elder squad members.
However, it is a question that need not be considered.
Granted no one has yet comfortably filled the gloves of Van der Sar, but Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes served only bit parts throughout last season. The Welshman played 1798 minutes of football in the Premier League last season, that’s 52% of United’s total. The Englishman meanwhile accumulated 1979 minutes: 57%. And neither of those limited appearances can be attributed to injury.
To serve as a comparison, how dependent were title-winners Chelsea on those who, according to Hunter, should soon be legible for a bus pass?
Didier Drogba, now 32, was on the pitch for the London club for 81% of their league campaign. Frank Lampard, also 32, graced the field for 3216 minutes – a staggering 94% of Chelsea’s fight to the title; while John Terry, who will hit 30 this year, featured 95% of the time.
So, yes, it is certainly possible to name a Manchester United side that features entirely players over the illusory threshold of 29.
(Van der Sar, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Park Ji Sung, Paul Scholes, John O’Shea, Ryan Giggs, Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov)
But that is the legacy and aftermath of years of domestic dominance and, of course, the exceptional youth team of 1992. The key thing to remember about Sir Alex Ferguson is that he has created several quality teams during his tenure and, should he have time, should bring in the newest generation just as successfully. In fact, Manchester United’s current squad has a respectable average age on which to build on. Compared to Chelsea’s average age of 25.6 and European champions Inter Milan’s average of 26.2, Manchester United’s has a fairly healthy average age of 25.47.
So, is Manchester United ageing beyond repair? Unlikely.
Statistics courtesy of football-lineups.com
Image Credit: Theoffside.com
Kyle Jackson 