Can Manchester United Ever Catch Manchester City? And if So, How?
Betteridge’s Law of Headlines, try to answer that! Ahead of this weekend’s Manchester derby, I wrote about how the bad team might one day reach the level of the good team:
Casemiro, 32, and Varane, 30, are two of United's 11 most-used players this season. Bruno Fernandes, their most-used outfield player, is 29. Scott McTominay, their most-used midfielder, is 27. Harry Maguire, their most-used center back, turns 31 in a couple days. And Victor Lindelöf, their 10th-most-used player, is 29.
Add it all up, and United's average age this season is 26.9. In other words, they're the age of a title-winning team ... and they've conceded as many goals as they're scored this season. To ever reasonably expect to challenge for a title again, and get close to the heights of Man City, the majority of United's roster needs to be overhauled with 25-and-younger players, and then those players will need a couple years to age into their primes together.
Also, I’m at the Sloan Conference today and moderating a panel tomorrow morning (8:30 AM, woo hoo). If you’re here, give me a shout.