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Newcastle United look towards youth academy to fix ageing squad issues
Juventus manager, and Newcastle United caretaker manager Andy Banks has a reputation for many things, one of which being a desire to reduce the average age of any squad he takes charge of and his latest project, Newcastle United, look to be his toughest task to date with only 4 players in the starting match day 16 who are under the age of 30 years old.
The 4 players under the age of 30 just happen to be 29 years of age meaning Newcastle United unfortunately have one of, if not, the oldest squads in the world.
Players such as rotation defender J_Evans (36), attacking midfielder S_Canales (35) & midfield maestro and World Cup winner T_Kroos (35) are all nearing retirement and with very little else in the way of a youth project at the club, one option available to the club would be to delve into the youth academy route.
The club spent a whopping £44,000,000 in the pre season just gone on the youth academy, developing the facilities and attracting new and exciting talent to the club with defenders E_Cribari & G_Loovens being accepted into the academy at the age of just 17 years old.
Other players who were already within the academy such as 19 year old goalkeeper L_Franco, 18 year old attacking midfielder J_R_Riquelme & 18 year old striker D_Milito are the gems of the academy so far with D_Milito being the star of the show at the academy, but the question remains:
Can these players make it in the Newcastle United first team?
The answer to this will depend on what happens next at Newcastle United, how long Banks stays with the club and what direction they're taken in.
One option is to try to reduce the age of the squad through any means necessary, which would drastically reduce the quality of the starting squad while lowering the average age of the squad.
Another would be to try to maximise the current crop of players through player sales and rebuild, something that would be most ideal at the end of the current campaign.
The final option is to promote said academy players into the first team and try to blend them together with the more experienced players.
With currently 5 players available to be called up to the first team at Newcastle United at the end of this season, which if any will make it into the senior team?
Goalkeeper L_Franco looks impressive for his age, but is far away frm being ready for the number 1 shirt.
Defender R_Song COULD make an interesting replacement for the ageing J_Evans, but he would need to learn fast in that first team environment.
Another defender in R_Taylor could do the dame job as the previous man, R_Song, however it's unlikely that the club would want or need two players such as these to replace one player coming towards the end of his career.
Player number 4 is R_Kauf, an all rounder who could step up into the first team and play in a sporadic way for the team. Offering good, solid cover when the XI are suffering with injury or suspension.
Finally, striker D_Ashton. Ashton is a similarly talented player to R_Kauf however with the first team already having 19 year old K_Moore, the need for Ashton would be non-existent as this would make him Newcastle United's 4th choice striker and by some distance.
After assessing the lay of the land, it doesn't seen like the youth academy will be a quick fix for Newcastle United as once hoped, it will more of a long term project that would most likely support a gradual reduction in age and skill in order to further benefit the playing squad moving forwards season upon season.
We spoke to Newcastle United caretaker manager Andy Banks regarding this issue for the club:
"It's a decision that'll take more than just myself. The board of directors will have to weigh in on this as the academy players aren't quite where we'd expect them to be as of now.
We're aware that something has to be done about the current playing squad and that under the previous administration, the average age of the team has got out of hand.
We've only had 1 offer so far and that was for Toni Kroos, but that was quickly dismissed but if that offer is anything to go by, added to the lack of other offers on the table, we may struggle to turn things around by this time next season.
This won't stop us trying and we'll search high and low for deals that can help us achieve the goals that we've set this week.
For now, we have to focus on our next game against Everton and try to work with what we have but I'm certain that the deals will flow for us here at Newcastle United"
1579/2000
Juventus manager, and Newcastle United caretaker manager Andy Banks has a reputation for many things, one of which being a desire to reduce the average age of any squad he takes charge of and his latest project, Newcastle United, look to be his toughest task to date with only 4 players in the starting match day 16 who are under the age of 30 years old.
The 4 players under the age of 30 just happen to be 29 years of age meaning Newcastle United unfortunately have one of, if not, the oldest squads in the world.
Players such as rotation defender J_Evans (36), attacking midfielder S_Canales (35) & midfield maestro and World Cup winner T_Kroos (35) are all nearing retirement and with very little else in the way of a youth project at the club, one option available to the club would be to delve into the youth academy route.
The club spent a whopping £44,000,000 in the pre season just gone on the youth academy, developing the facilities and attracting new and exciting talent to the club with defenders E_Cribari & G_Loovens being accepted into the academy at the age of just 17 years old.
Other players who were already within the academy such as 19 year old goalkeeper L_Franco, 18 year old attacking midfielder J_R_Riquelme & 18 year old striker D_Milito are the gems of the academy so far with D_Milito being the star of the show at the academy, but the question remains:
Can these players make it in the Newcastle United first team?
The answer to this will depend on what happens next at Newcastle United, how long Banks stays with the club and what direction they're taken in.
One option is to try to reduce the age of the squad through any means necessary, which would drastically reduce the quality of the starting squad while lowering the average age of the squad.
Another would be to try to maximise the current crop of players through player sales and rebuild, something that would be most ideal at the end of the current campaign.
The final option is to promote said academy players into the first team and try to blend them together with the more experienced players.
With currently 5 players available to be called up to the first team at Newcastle United at the end of this season, which if any will make it into the senior team?
Goalkeeper L_Franco looks impressive for his age, but is far away frm being ready for the number 1 shirt.
Defender R_Song COULD make an interesting replacement for the ageing J_Evans, but he would need to learn fast in that first team environment.
Another defender in R_Taylor could do the dame job as the previous man, R_Song, however it's unlikely that the club would want or need two players such as these to replace one player coming towards the end of his career.
Player number 4 is R_Kauf, an all rounder who could step up into the first team and play in a sporadic way for the team. Offering good, solid cover when the XI are suffering with injury or suspension.
Finally, striker D_Ashton. Ashton is a similarly talented player to R_Kauf however with the first team already having 19 year old K_Moore, the need for Ashton would be non-existent as this would make him Newcastle United's 4th choice striker and by some distance.
After assessing the lay of the land, it doesn't seen like the youth academy will be a quick fix for Newcastle United as once hoped, it will more of a long term project that would most likely support a gradual reduction in age and skill in order to further benefit the playing squad moving forwards season upon season.
We spoke to Newcastle United caretaker manager Andy Banks regarding this issue for the club:
"It's a decision that'll take more than just myself. The board of directors will have to weigh in on this as the academy players aren't quite where we'd expect them to be as of now.
We're aware that something has to be done about the current playing squad and that under the previous administration, the average age of the team has got out of hand.
We've only had 1 offer so far and that was for Toni Kroos, but that was quickly dismissed but if that offer is anything to go by, added to the lack of other offers on the table, we may struggle to turn things around by this time next season.
This won't stop us trying and we'll search high and low for deals that can help us achieve the goals that we've set this week.
For now, we have to focus on our next game against Everton and try to work with what we have but I'm certain that the deals will flow for us here at Newcastle United"
1579/2000