Players who are younger than you think

[IslandExile]

Liam Thompson.

Oh... Younger! Sorry, as you were.

[Bris Vegas]

Where is that promising lad Jesse Lingard playing these days?

Players like Adam Lallana seem to have been around forever. But it’s probably because other players decided to retire early, like Gareth Bale. 

Schurrle retired 4 years ago and is still only 33. 

Retired a millionaire and is younger than me.

 

Edited August 22 by Bris Vegas

[SSD]

John Stones is only 30.

I think he's been 30 for the past 10 years!

[hintonsboots]

Oliver Skipp thought he was 32 but only 23.

[Ramplinho]

Barkley, Oxlade Chamberlain. 

Felt really old when the likes of Michael Owen retired.

Similar age to me, and it hit me if I was a pro footballer I would be at retirement age. That was worse than turning 40.

[Alph]

On 21/08/2024 at 18:04, Gerry Daly said:

Raheem Sterling is also only 29. Compare what he has achieved in his career with Will Hughes 

I didn’t believe you about Sterling! 
 

Hughes should have done more. One of the smartest players we’ve had at Derby since the likes of Eranio and Co. Such a clever player but I guess he never really added anything to his game. He always made everyone else better but didn’t grab hold of games. I think if he’d have come into a Premier League Derby team with Southgate as manager then he would have done a little more. 

[Gerry Daly]

18 hours ago, Alph said:

I didn’t believe you about Sterling! 
 

Hughes should have done more. One of the smartest players we’ve had at Derby since the likes of Eranio and Co. Such a clever player but I guess he never really added anything to his game. He always made everyone else better but didn’t grab hold of games. I think if he’d have come into a Premier League Derby team with Southgate as manager then he would have done a little more. 

I think the ACL injury that Hughes had robbed him of that little bit of snap and pace that makes all the difference. He was a clever player as you say but we do tend to over rate our players. The comparison with Sterling was done deliberately to make the point to those of our supporters who do just that. Just to finish I think we have had two academy products that were as good, if not better than Hughes - Giles Barnes whose career was ruined by injury and Tom Huddlestone who went on have a much better career than Hughes

Edited August 27 by Gerry Daly

[Crewton]

18 hours ago, Alph said:

I didn’t believe you about Sterling! 
 

Hughes should have done more. One of the smartest players we’ve had at Derby since the likes of Eranio and Co. Such a clever player but I guess he never really added anything to his game. He always made everyone else better but didn’t grab hold of games. I think if he’d have come into a Premier League Derby team with Southgate as manager then he would have done a little more. 

Southgate? He rarely gave Will games for the U21s, preferring Tom Carroll all too often, unbelievably. He never gave him a chance in the senior team, even when Will was being touted by most of the media commentators.

I think Southgate is the last manager that Will would have wanted to see!

[Alph]

40 minutes ago, Crewton said:

Southgate? He rarely gave Will games for the U21s, preferring Tom Carroll all too often, unbelievably. He never gave him a chance in the senior team, even when Will was being touted by most of the media commentators.

I think Southgate is the last manager that Will would have wanted to see!

Tom Carroll we had here didn’t we? He was rubbish? 
Yeah I did mean Southgate. I didn’t realise he wasn’t a fan of Hughes. Just look at some of the players that Southgate has picked and I can’t believe Hughes never got his chance. 
 

I suppose 20 goals in his entire career for a player who isn’t defensive shows that he never really found a role. 
 

Maybe a bit too unremarkable to be a regular but to not have a few call ups to the squad? 

[Crewton]

1 hour ago, Alph said:

Tom Carroll we had here didn’t we? He was rubbish? 
Yeah I did mean Southgate. I didn’t realise he wasn’t a fan of Hughes. Just look at some of the players that Southgate has picked and I can’t believe Hughes never got his chance. 
 

I suppose 20 goals in his entire career for a player who isn’t defensive shows that he never really found a role. 
 

Maybe a bit too unremarkable to be a regular but to not have a few call ups to the squad? 

I agree. When you look at some of the players he did cap, and some that were capped regularly who were very limited footballers, it's pretty disgraceful that Will didn't even get in a squad, let alone a substitutes appearance.

One of the reasons he's scored so few goals is how he's been played by some managers, as a wide midfielder (Watford) and then as a DM at Palace by Hodgson (Vierra didn't fancy him at all IIRC - look what happened to him!)

I always thought he was best in a free role that allowed him to pop-up wherever the ball was - that's where he had most impact IMO.

[jono]

On 27/08/2024 at 13:57, Crewton said:

I agree. When you look at some of the players he did cap, and some that were capped regularly who were very limited footballers, it's pretty disgraceful that Will didn't even get in a squad, let alone a substitutes appearance.

One of the reasons he's scored so few goals is how he's been played by some managers, as a wide midfielder (Watford) and then as a DM at Palace by Hodgson (Vierra didn't fancy him at all IIRC - look what happened to him!)

I always thought he was best in a free role that allowed him to pop-up wherever the ball was - that's where he had most impact IMO.

I’m probably overstating things as it is early days; but the way our Kenzo moves, touches and thinks reminds me of Will. Good feet, those reverse passes and a front foot mentality.