Mourinho's preparations for the Europa final

Starting to wonder if hiring LVG was a good idea after all tbh.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

In England? Southampton would be a decent shout. They're so confident that they now bin managers who get them to cup finals

they sack managers like confetti fs.

having a youth production line to raise revenue keeps them afloat. but that's a business vision, not a football vision. imo.

Originally Posted by gav81

Here is a list of every teenager who made an appearance this season for the top seven clubs, ranked by minutes on the pitch (stats correct at 20 Apr 17): -



So if we look at the actual number of teenage players each team had given minutes to: -

Liverpool 6
Man City 6
Arsenal 5
Everton 4
Man Utd 3
Tottenham 2
Chelsea 1

Liverpool and City had given game time to twice as many teenagers as we had.

We are probably fifth on the list because Mourinho sold/loaned most of our young players at start of the season. Chelsea are bottom of the list because Mourinho was their manager for the last three seasons.

Mourinho will never be one to provide opportunities to or develop youth. To be fair, I think we already knew that.

But according to your own table Mourinho gave the most minutes to teenagers out of every manager in the PL last season.

You haven't thought this through have you gav?

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

they sack managers like confetti fs.

having a youth production line to raise revenue keeps them afloat. but that's a business vision, not a football vision. imo.

In fairness the previous two managers were both taken from them by bigger clubs.

The youth production line, which ties in with hiring managers with inclinations to trust that, is a big part of it. But they also do have strategy. I believe when Koeman was hired he made recommendations for players in Holland and the club had already scouted and filed reports on the players he asked for, such as Pelle and Tadic, and inquiries had already been made. He was their long-term target when they knew Poch was leaving, so they made sure they were fully up to speed on the Dutch market. That's a thinking club.

£#%&! reading this thread, scanning a few posts and it's groundhog day with the added tedium of OCDerers - This place is a psycho analyst paradise

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

give me an example of a club that has a medium to long term vision right now that is working?

Barcelona are the obvious example. They hired a rookie called Pep in 2008 rather than Mourinho because the former fit their long term vision of the club.

Also Arsenal, Ajax, Bayern... United under Fergie.

Originally Posted by atticusgrinch

But according to your own table Mourinho gave the most minutes to teenagers out of every manager in the PL last season.

You haven't thought this through have you gav?

Purely because Rashford is the single most talented teenager in the Premier League - it doesn't take a manager interested in youth development to put him on the pitch. The fact remains there's a better chance of getting a game as a teenager coming through at Liverpool, City or Arsenal.

Also, if we look at under 18s to see the stats without Rashford it swings further against United. The same if we look at under 20s to include other clubs' youth players e.g. Alli, Iwobi, Origi, Iheanacho, Sane, etc.

At the end of the day Mourinho has stated outright his belief that big clubs with pressure to win aren't the best place for youth players to develop...

“It is important but this club is very demanding. It is a club where it is not easy to play football. The level of demand is high. The pressure is big. It is not the same to play in a club where people just accept a so-so performance, or a so-so result or people accept that you finish, sixth, seventh or eighth. This is not the best habitat for a young player to be developed. It is not the best one.”

~Moirinho on youth

That pretty much settles it from the horse's mouth.

Originally Posted by gav81

Barcelona are the obvious example. They hired a rookie called Pep in 2008 rather than Mourinho because the former fit their long term vision of the club.

Also Arsenal, Ajax, Bayern... United under Fergie.



Purely because Rashford is the single most talented teenager in the Premier League - it doesn't take a manager interested in youth development to put him on the pitch. The fact remains there's a better chance of getting a game as a teenager coming through at Liverpool, City or Arsenal.

Also, if we look at under 18s to see the stats without Rashford it swings further against United. The same if we look at under 20s to include other clubs' youth players e.g. Alli, Iwobi, Origi, Iheanacho, Sane, etc.

At the end of the day Mourinho has stated outright his belief that big clubs with pressure to win aren't the best place for youth players to develop...

“It is important but this club is very demanding. It is a club where it is not easy to play football. The level of demand is high. The pressure is big. It is not the same to play in a club where people just accept a so-so performance, or a so-so result or people accept that you finish, sixth, seventh or eighth. This is not the best habitat for a young player to be developed. It is not the best one.”

~Moirinho on youth

That pretty much settles it from the horse's mouth.

So if you ignore that it was Mourinho who gave the most minutes to teenagers, and end your analysis of the number of youth players played by mid-April, Mourinho + underpants = bad bad bad.

Riiiightttttt