Somebody already posted about the success of the U21's in the recent match against Benfica. I think some of the lads in that team have looked really good and given our current goalscoring predicament wondered if it would be a good shout to stick two or three of them on the bench in the run up to Christmas. I personally would be in favor of giving any of: Lawrence, Dodoo, Hopper or Barmby a run out for 10-15 mins when we are looking for a goal. It can't be any worse than our current situation anyway. On the subject of young players what is the general opinion with 18-21 year olds breaking into the first team? Bar Southampton there seems to be this mentality in English football that when a player is under 21ish they "aren't ready" or are "preparing to take the step up". Is this the right mentality to have? Does age dictate a players' readiness? If you look around Europe; Germany, Spain and France if players have the quality, regardless of age, they are given a chance. In fact that exposure at a younger age can provide invaluable experience. Take Mueller: 62 German caps, 176 Bayern games and he is only 25!! Just seems to me that there is an english mentaility to nurture these players a bit too much whereas our European counterparts are using the early years as a key development phase! What happened to the days of a 17 year old Wayne Rooney or a 18 year old Michael Owen bursting onto the scene?
