Ok on the back of another great thread, I would like to question those who posted. it seems age is an issue to some so lets get some guidelines. Apart fron the ever young Ryan Giggs, Paul scholes etc lets address these issues. "Personally" I have my own views on how a team should shape up with regards to age..ther are obvious exemptions with the freaks of nature that are Giggs, Maldini, Ceasar, scholes, Adams, Puyol, etc For me there are definite age limits on what atop team (not us) should be looking for. So with this in mind, how would you let age influence your team. Forget the exceptions, if you were setting a team up what would you lok for.i understand that age is relative; but if you had a chance what would you aim for. I'll list my team/position & max age....see what you think.... Remember; you aint allowed the exceptions like Giggs etc.... Here goes....max age remember GK - 40 LB - 30 RB-30 CB-35 CB2- 26 LM - 26 RM-26 CM1-34 CM2-25 CF1-30 CF2-24 SUBS all under age...or maybe that's my sexual preference !! But seriously...that a sustainable team that can progress...age and experience with skill and ambition.,.... FYI ..I know age isn't the issue, but just thought..."if you had a chance"... Also reflects the style of football to be played Over to you..!
Sorry Queens, but to put arbitrary age limits on each position is ridiculous. It's nice to get quality younger players in but if the finished article is available and he would improve the team you sign him on a contract relevant to his age. Fergie has always brought in players capable of improving his team even if they are getting on the wrong side of 30, there's more to a winning team than rigidly sticking to age limits as Wenger has found to his cost...
When people can't just play along with threads and take things too seriously, as if the decisions we make here are important. It's a message board for enjoyment and discussion.
Hi Queens I see what you're trying to do here. Before I get stuck in I would just like to make one overriding point. Attitude is the most important trait in football these days not age. Every team has to have the right blend of youth and experience. But these are professional footballers playing in 2013. Each team now has sports scientists, dieticians, fitness gurus etc etc. players are now not expected to play 2 or 3 times within a 7/8 day period like they use to and squads are now huge compared to years ago. The modern day player has considerably less mileage on his legs than years ago. It seems the greatest mistake we made was not conducting extensive background research and interviews for our players to see what type of attitude they had. While Beard and TF were perhaps naive in this, Warnock and Hughes should have known better. Some on here have been misguided and continuously link these under performing players with age. That's simply ridiculous and I think most can see it. We can't just continue to dismiss every player we are linked with that's over 30. To dismiss a quality player like Parker because he's 32 is unbelievable. What I said earlier is the key. Proper research and interviews are essential. To address your OP, I won't put an age limit on any one position but I think there are a few positions that an older head is essential such as GK, 1xCB, 1 X CM and an experienced CF. I do feel that the wingers should be relatively younger but by that I mean under 30. As a footnote. What age is HH. I'd bet almost everyone on here would love him back playing for us in the Champ regardless of his age. Why? Because his attitude is excellent and he gives his all.
The problem some of us have with aged players is not their age as such but the fact that we have signed many an experienced player this past 2 years who has let us down big time and taken us for a ride financially. Here are some examples; SWP has 18 England caps. He won the league and many cups with Chelsea etc....... Barton came with a big reputation.....did his football match the reputation? To me it didn't. Cisse, ex Champions League winner, on his day was good but overall his attitude stank big time. Bosingwa, won the Champions League only 4 months before signing for us on big money. Also won the PL. Big attitude problem. Chris Samba, stayed with us 6 months when we all thought he was a fantastic signing. Had 2 left feet and as much skill as Dominic Iorfa on a bad day. I would suggest Crouch, Parker and Upson are along the same lines. The are all ex-England internationals and I doubt any of them won a cap in the last two years. Why is that? Because they are simply not good enough at this stage of their careers. I agree you need a mixture of experience and youth to get out of the Championship. The problem I have is that currently, we have the experienced players but very, very little in terms of younger players. Our squad is CURRENTLY (before we make any further signings or let anybody go) too unbalanced in terms of age. The only way to address that is to sign younger players. Overall, we have gone down this road the last two years, it has cost us an absolute fortune and has made us a laughing stock amongst other club's supporters. TF, please change the record and get the youth in that we need or we are headed for league 1.
its not just about age, its about the number of old players. Id be quite happy to sign Parker if we had 1 or 2 30+ in the team but we have 5 or 6 already. GK - 27 LB - 27 RB-27 CB-27 CB2- 27 LM - 27 RM-27 CM1-27 CM2-27 CF1-27 CF2-27 Id only make an exception for a massively better player and even then only offer 1 year deals if hes in his 30s. It wont be one last payday and he will have to perform to get another contract.
I'll say it again lads. It's not age it's attitude, desire, effort etc etc. we all know we bought badly last year but not in terms of age. We bought players who didn't give a ****. If you've watched Parker throughout his career you'd know he gives 200% in every game. He's similar to Derry in that respect expect five times better.
Ive not problem with Derrys or Hills attitude, the fact is their bodies have given up on them. They simply cannot do what they want to do. Parker giving his all means hes very likely to suffer the same fate very soon.
I think we did buy badly in terms of age this past two years, not just last year. Who would take SWP, Green, Park, Barton, Granero, Bosingwa off our hands? The answer is NOBODY. They were bad buys because at their age, they have no sell on value and nobody else will pay them the wages we do so they are going to sit tight leaving us to hemmorage money from our club. In addition Cisse and Bothroyd were let go because their contracts were up and we didn't want to renew and nobody would dream of paying us a transfer fee for them. I think we may have got both of them on frees ourselves. The only player we bought who wasn't a bad buy in terms of age was Hoilett and he has also been a big let down. Apart from him, is there anybody else who we bought who wasn't a bad buy in terms of age? If there is, I can't think of any.
Exactly, buy a young player and you can always sell them on, buy an old player and you can't give them away for free. Parker will be exactly the same if he doesn't work out.
Sorry must say that is rubbish. We could off-load every single one of those without a problem. Any number of Championship teams would take Green or SWP. Park and Bosingwa could easily find clubs abroad. Barton back to France or mid to lower PL side and there is already plenty of interest in Granero.
I have to agree that we have brought badly not only in terms of age, but also as stated..attitude. Still stick with my op that I have a mix of age and youth in the side. Old experienced heads throughout the "spine" of the team & younger, fitter, quicker players in the more "athletic" positions! I know that its not gospel, but if I were to manage a side, that is the template I'd use. As for the unloading point in the last post. i think we're probably stuck with that bunch !
I'll be waiting for you to use the famous quote "you cant win anything with kids" then DT.... how did that turn out for Alan then?!! The most succesfull team in the Prem had a massive youth policy but also added experienced pro's....Man Utd ring any bells?
