Quote Originally Posted by Pedro de la Rosa View Post
How many of those players were playing u23 football though? Brooks, Sterling, Sancho, CHO etc all broke through at an extremely young age. I think the problem is after you've learnt the fundamentals at u18 level and you're into your 20s, there's nowhere to go if you're not in the first team.
I've no idea. I couldn't tell you about the development of individual players. However, it appears to me that England and Wales currently have younger squads than has generally been the case throughout my 45 years following football, and most of the players in those squads also appear more comfortable with a football at their feet than has generally been the case.

Regardless, the main issue (for me at least) is that City currently have a manager who is seemingly opposed to the idea that young players should 'pass, pass, pass' and that philosophy manifests itself very clearly when his team plays.