Manchester United rank second in the Premier League for minutes given to players aged 23 or under so far this season.
The Red Devils are behind only Leicester City in that department, stats from Prospect Watch show, in what could be cause for optimism about the team Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is building at Old Trafford.
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While it’s not been the best start to the season at United, Solskjaer is relying on a lot of promising young players such as Marcus Rashford, Daniel James, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Meanwhile, others we think of as more experienced such as Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay would also fit that category, meaning Man Utd have given 1807 minutes to players aged 23 or under so far this season:
Minutes given to players aged 23-years-old or younger in the Football League. pic.twitter.com/eW6yrqPsSx
— Prospect Watch (@prospectwatch1) September 5, 2019
United can take some pride in that, with this side perhaps not yet ready to take the club back to where it once was, though it could be a real work in progress.
Sir Alex Ferguson also notably started out building around a core of academy products, with his faith in youth eventually seeing him develop one of the best teams the Premier League has seen.
Solskjaer will hope to replicate that, and for now can also hope his side’s inconsistency can be explained by that lack of experience, which he’ll hope can also give him more time in the job.