Ralph Hasenhuttl, Southampton and their new owners are on the same page: Saints must march in as the freshest, least predictable team around.
The 50 youngest starting line-ups in Premier League history provide a fascinating insight into changing trends and time-resistant truths.
Fifteen of them were named in the 1990s, when youthful exuberance was eschewed in favour of experience and elder statesmanship. A more experimental and continental shift in terms of both playing and coaching perceptions led to 28 of them coming in the 2000s. But while the expectation might be for that drift to continue as horizons are further broadened, things have actually leaned the other way: only seven of the 50 youngest starting line-ups in Premier League history have been named since August 2011.
That was the month in which Sir Alex Ferguson offered two of his only three contributions to the list, with his adolescents kicking numerous shades out of Tottenham and Arsenal in a 3-0 win and 8-2 thrashing respectively.
Established managers do dominate the selection. Arsene Wenger and David O’Leary account for 23 of the XIs between them. Their reputation for developing talent and granting opportunities to players regardless of age was based in reality.
And the same predictably goes for clubs. Of the 50 youngest starting line-ups in Premier League history, only 12 had been named by sides who subsequently finished that same season in the bottom half. Just two of those – Everton in December 1997 under Howard Kendall against Bolton and February 1999 under Walter Smith against Middlesbrough – actually won.
Southampton could finally extend that record into the 21st century, depending on how they fare come May. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s gamble against Leicester eventually paid off.
23y 238d – Southampton’s starting XI to face Leicester today has an average age of 23 years and 238 days; the youngest named in a Premier League game since Man Utd in May 2017 (22y 284d v Crystal Palace), and Southampton’s youngest ever in a game in the competition. Refreshed. pic.twitter.com/DsGB14akPi
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 20, 2022
The third-oldest and third longest-serving top-flight manager had his faith justified and his decisions rewarded with a rousing comeback victory from the Premier League’s most volatile club.
Teenager Romeo Lavia patrolled the centre alongside the similarly vindicated James Ward-Prowse with supreme, press-resistant confidence, recording the highest passing…
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