Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been relatively clear in terms of his approach at Man Utd as talented young players will get a chance to impress.
That has been reflected in the signings of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James, as well as Harry Maguire to an extent, while the likes of Mason Greenwood, James Garner and Scott McTominay were given playing time through pre-season.
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It was perhaps a quieter transfer window than some may have expected given their failure to secure qualification for the Champions League this season as well as ending last year without a trophy, but the early signs were promising on the opening weekend of the new campaign.
United secured a 4-0 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday, and although they did ride their luck in the first half at times, they deserved their win after a clinical performance secured a morale boost for all concerned.
As noted above, Solskjaer is seemingly ready to show faith in the homegrown youth at his disposal, with McTominay, Andreas Pereira, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford all named in the starting line-up at the weekend and all of whom came through the youth ranks at the club.
Coupled with the new additions over the summer, the Man Utd boss’s influence is already having a clear impact as they look to build a long-term vision at the club, which will perhaps require a level of patience as they try to compete on multiple fronts.
As seen in the tweet below though, United fielded the youngest starting XI of the weekend in terms of average age, with their average standing at 24 years and 227 days.
With the likes of Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Nemanja Matic and others not in the side, coupled with the likes of Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini moving on in recent times, there is a clear direction in which the Red Devils appear to be heading.
On one hand, it’s an exciting new outlook to have. On the other, time will tell if they have the necessary quality and depth to compete for major honours moving forward.
Man United had the youngest starting XI of any Premier League team on matchday one.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is putting his faith in youth ? pic.twitter.com/79esXQPjrE
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 12, 2019
