Alan Hansen infamously mentioned “you possibly can’t win something with children”, however that was 30 years in the past and Enzo Maresca clearly would not share that sentiment.
The Chelsea facet picked by Maresca on Wednesday evening had a mean age of solely 22, the second youngest fielder by an English facet in Champions League historical past.
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His daring choice was vindicated in a 5-1 win in opposition to Ajax, with Marc Guiu, Estevao and Tyrique George all heading in the right direction – the primary time within the competitors’s historical past three youngsters have scored for one group in a single recreation.
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It is solely honest to level out that whereas substitute George is a Chelsea academy graduate, not one of the beginning line-up got here by way of the ranks at Cobham.
Most of their high younger skills have been recruited from elsewhere, typically at important value and with the promise of a pathway to first-team soccer.
Nonetheless, it’s a mannequin which seems to be working for the Blues, who completed fourth within the Premier League in Could regardless of the typical age of their beginning line-up being simply 24 years and 36 days – the youngest throughout a whole season within the competitors’s historical past.