Player Age Range

[essex canary 622]

Just noting that Spain are playing a 16 year old whilst Portugal played a 41 year old. Why are we so obsessed about the age of players?

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,789]

We aren’t. 

[Capt. Pants 5,008]

Pepe isn't under contract to play for Portugal though.

But yes Spain playing a 16 year old makes a bit of a mockery of NCFC not pushing younger players more. We seem to be more concerned about the effects it has on them if they were to fail rather than the benefits.

Hopefully we'll see more young players given a chance next season.

[Midlands Yellow 4,682]

7 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said:

Pepe isn't under contract to play for Portugal though.

But yes Spain playing a 16 year old makes a bit of a mockery of NCFC not pushing younger players more. We seem to be more concerned about the effects it has on them if they were to fail rather than the benefits.

Hopefully we'll see more young players given a chance next season.

Quite Captain, how old were Arrans and Bellamy when making Norwich debuts? If you’re good enough you’re old enough. 

[mre2 5]

Players like Yamal and Rooney breaking into top division teams at 15/16 are outliers. They are exceptionally talented for their age. The vast majority of 16 year olds aren't ready for first team football. 

If Norwich had a player of similar quality to Bellingham at that age then I'm sure they would break into the team. 

[Midlands Yellow 4,682]

1 minute ago, mre2 said:

Players like Yamal and Rooney breaking into top division teams at 15/16 are outliers. They are exceptionally talented for their age. The vast majority of 16 year olds aren't ready for first team football. 

If Norwich had a player of similar quality to Bellingham at that age then I'm sure they would break into the team. 

I’m sure we’d sell him. 

[hogesar 10,762]

47 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said:

Pepe isn't under contract to play for Portugal though.

But yes Spain playing a 16 year old makes a bit of a mockery of NCFC not pushing younger players more. We seem to be more concerned about the effects it has on them if they were to fail rather than the benefits.

Hopefully we'll see more young players given a chance next season.

Using an often one-in-a-decade talent as an example isn't really useful in this argument.

[chicken 3,083]

46 minutes ago, mre2 said:

Players like Yamal and Rooney breaking into top division teams at 15/16 are outliers. They are exceptionally talented for their age. The vast majority of 16 year olds aren't ready for first team football. 

If Norwich had a player of similar quality to Bellingham at that age then I'm sure they would break into the team. 

Spot on. Not only that, breaking through at 16-18 doesn't mean you make it to being a talented world class 26-31yr old either. Ronaldo was naive and there is no guarantee that he would have gone on to have the career he has done without joining Man Utd and learning off Sir Alex and the class of '92.

Just before Rooney had broken through at Everton, a player once dubbed the Fox in the Box - Francis Jeffers. 20 goals in 60 appearances for Everton led to a move to Arsenal at which point his career never really took off. Some players are good for their age at 16-21ish, but they don't always develop into world beaters, or even good for their age later in their careers.

One might suggest that Cantwell could well be another. Over the years there have been a number of higher profile academy youngsters that have been let go with some folks on here suggesting it was a big mistake. So far, very few of them have gone on to prove that. Joe Lewis, Danny Crow to name just a couple.

It;s why football can be so tough. 

[cambridgeshire canary 7,797]

9 hours ago, mre2 said:

Players like Yamal and Rooney breaking into top division teams at 15/16 are outliers. They are exceptionally talented for their age. The vast majority of 16 year olds aren't ready for first team football. 

If Norwich had a player of similar quality to Bellingham at that age then I'm sure they would break into the team. 

Don't forget Odegaard! Who at 16 was considered to be one of the best young players around and famously started for Madrid a few times.

 

Of course he ended up being sent all over the world and seemed to never lived up to until until recently in which he's been doing very well for Arsenal 

[essex canary 622]

9 hours ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Quite Captain, how old were Arrans and Bellamy when making Norwich debuts? If you’re good enough you’re old enough. 

Exactly but shouldn't it work the other way round too. Footballers have different development patterns. The Transfer Fee has developed into an unseemly gambling process upon those differing development patterns which is contributing to the finances of Clubs being destabilised. NCFC being a prime case.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 4,615]

4 minutes ago, essex canary said:

Exactly but shouldn't it work the other way round too. Footballers have different development patterns. The Transfer Fee has developed into an unseemly gambling process upon those differing development patterns which is contributing to the finances of Clubs being destabilised. NCFC being a prime case.

So you've managed to somehow turn the facts that Yamal is young and Pepe is old into a stick to beat Norwich City with?

I must say, this is one hell of a straw clutch even for you.

[essex canary 622]

8 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

So you've managed to somehow turn the facts that Yamal is young and Pepe is old into a stick to beat Norwich City with?

I must say, this is one hell of a straw clutch even for you.

Simply to say that the prime purpose of any Football Club should be to service it's first team with suitable players and provide some stability and modest churn for both players and fans in doing so.