Van Gaal must put in place a more coherent system for United to mount title challenge

Over the course of the 2014-2015 Premier League season Louis Van Gaal struggled to settle on a consistent formation and starting XI. Prior to the campaign he announced the side would use the same 3-5-2 Van Gaal had used to lead a less-talented-than-usual Netherlands team to the semifinals of that summer's World Cup. That plan was dispatched after a poor start to the season- United won just one of their first six competitive matches, a stretch that included an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to MK Dons in the Capital One Cup and a 5-3 loss at Leicester.

VanGaal switched to a more traditional (in England at least) back four but a combination of injuries and inconsistent performances led him to continue tinkering with formations and personnel. Over the course of the season Van Gaal used a revolving door of formations- 3-5-2, 4-4-2, diamond 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3. It seems likely United's inconsistency was at least partly brought on by the changes- developing an understanding of your own role in a side and developing a team synergy is remarkablydifficult when your duties are continually being redefined as formations and personnel change.

No player appeared to suffer more from the constant shapeshifting than Angel Di Maria. Di Maria didn't have the season many expected but the conditions weren't favorable for him. It's difficult enough for players to adapt to new teammates in a new league but when your role in the squad is constantly changing it makes the bedding in process that much more difficult. Di Maria played on the left wing, on the left side of a center midfield three, in a #10 role through the middle and even as a striker with Rooney behind him in midfield. He wasn't the only player whose role was inconsistent. Daly Blind played as a center back, left back, left wing back and holding midfielder. Rooney played as part of a front two alongside Robben Van Persie, as a lone striker and as a center midfielder. Both Di Maria and Blind are known for being flexible and tactically intelligent footballers and Rooney has developed more of that flexibility with experience but it has to be unsettling for players to be shifting spots on the field so often and unsettling for their teammates as well. In any efficient, well run company the employees know their specific roles. For much of last season Manchester United's players appeared to be struggling to figure out theirs.

It wasn't until the second half of the season when Van Gaal settled on a 4-3-3- with Maurouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera either side of Michael Carrick in a midfield three, Juan Mata tucking in on the right channel, Ashley Young playing wide on the left and Wayne Rooney up front- that United started to put in consistent, impressive displays. The first half of their 2-1 win over Liverpool at the end of March, Liverpool's first league defeat in three months, was sensational. With tactical stability came improved performances.

Settling on the right tactical system could prove difficult yet again for Van Gaal given the number of new signings brought in over the summer. In their season opener last weekend against Tottenham Van Gaal opted for a 4-2-3-1 with Morgan Schneiderlin partnering Carrick at the base of midfield, Mata on the right, Young on the left and Memphis Depay playing off Rooney through the middle. United struggled to create chances. They produced just one shot on goal and scored from a fortuitous Kyle Walker own goal that stemmed from an awful giveaway in midfield by Nabil Bentaleb.

The lackluster attacking performance obviously can't simply be put down to formation. No team can be expected to be at their most fluid this early in the season. United started three of their summer signings in Depay, Schneiderlin and right back Matteo Darmian and with new personnel comes additional time needed to develop an understanding among the players.

Still, Van Gaal's selection showed some signs of his tendency to perhaps over-tinker and use players where they aren't at their best in order to make a spot for them in the starting XI. Young was outstanding last season and probably deserving of his starting spot on the left of midfield. But his inclusion meant that for Van Gaal to play Depay, he had to be deployed through the middle. Using Depay through the middle meant there was one fewer spot for a proper center midfielder so in effect United were playing with two center midfielders rather than three. Having a third center midfielder would potentially have allowed United to establish a bit more control of possession and dictate the tempo of the game more. It's noteworthy that Spurs finished with 50% possession at Old Trafford and 4 shots on goal to United's 1.

Again, United were at their most fluid last season playing with a three man midfield with Herrera and Fellaini shuttling up and down the pitch either side of Carrick at the base of midfield (although at times Fellaini would push further up the pitch alongside Rooney).  Like Herrera, Scheniderlin is full of energy and more than capable of playing one of the two shuttling roles in a 4-3-3. A midfield trio of Herrera and Schneiderlin in front of Carrick provides an excellent balance of energy, technique, passing vision and tackling ability.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino likes to press high up the pitch. However most opposing managers will come to Old Trafford and look to defend deep and compact and play on the break. It's difficult to imagine Depay being especially effective in the #10 role in these sorts of contests. His strengths are his tremendous pace, dribbling ability and finishing. While he's also a very good passer, he's at his best in the channels where he has the opportunity to get the opposition fullback in 1 v. 1 situations, cut inside and either shoot or provide through balls. Playing him through the middle against sides that defend deep will reduce the chances he has to pick the ball up in space and run at the defense.  According to the soccer data site transfermarkt.com every one of Depay's 30 league appearances for PSV came on the left wing. He scored a remarkable 22 goals. He had 6 assists which is impressive enough but suggests he's more of a goal scorer than a goal creator. The #10 in a 4-2-3-1, the role Depay played in the opener, tends to be reserved more for creative passers than speedy dribblers. It seems strange to ask him to play out of position when he was virtually unplayable on the left last season. For all of Young's success last season, Depay is the more dynamic, dangerous player. Eventually I'd expect Van Gaal to move Depay wide in place of Young.

Whatever options the Dutch manager chooses to go with he should look to establish a coherent playing system early. For all his talk of philosophy, United didn't really seem to have one last season. With title winners Chelsea last season you knew their lineup before the team sheet came out perhaps with the exception of whether Cesc Fabregas would play in the #10 role or deeper in midfield. The players knew their roles in the system and it showed in cohesive if not always thrilling performances. For United to mount a title challenge this season, Van Gaal will need to do less tinkering.

Manchester United fluid in 4-3-3; Liverpool attacking midfielders stifled

Early on in his reign at Liverpool Brendan Rodgers expressed that his favorite formation was a 4-3-3 with one holding midfielder flanked by two midfield shuttlers. Louis Van Gaal went into this season fully intending to play the same 3-5-2 at Manchester United that he had success with at the World Cup with Holland. It was ironic then that Manchester United have recently switched to a 4-3-3 while Rodgers has adopted a system with three at the back similar to the one Van Gaal had planned on implementing at United.

The system changes had paid off for both managers. Manchester United came into today's fixture on the back of a 3-0 win over Tottenham, their most impressive display of the season, while Liverpool hadn't lost in the league since their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United in December, the first time they used the 3-4-2-1 they've since switched to.

In the opening half it was Van Gaal's 4-3-3 that won out. United played some of their most fluid football of the season with Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera finding space either side of Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson, the two holders in Liverpool's midfield. Liverpool's system requires a great deal of defensive work in the middle of the pitch from Allen and Henderson because the two attacking midfielders, Adam Lallana and Coutinho today, stay higher up the pitch. As a result, Liverpool can get overloaded in central midfield zones but with three center backs covering in behind it's not always much of a problem in terms of the opposition creating great scoring chances. However, being overloaded in that zone makes it much more difficult to win the ball back which is what we saw today. Manchester United were able to keep possession and dictate the tempo. They had 60% possession at halftime.

Defensively, Van Gaal's side was compact and didn't allow Liverpool to use their four man central midfield to overload them. They defended with a midfield bank of five with Fellaini and Herrera either side of Michael Carrick and Juan Mata and Ashley Young tucking inside from their wide midfield positions. Lallana and Coutinho like to operate in space between the opposition center midfielder and wide midfielder or fullback. However, with United's compact midfield bank of five these spaces didn't exist. Lallana completed just three passes in the attacking third before being subbed off at halftime. Coutinho had more of an impact but didn't enjoy the space to collect possession in midfield and dribble at the defense the way he typically does.

Rodgers tried to change the shape at halftime to give Liverpool more control of the game, replacing Lallana with Steven Gerrard. Liverpool changed from a midfield box with two holders and two attacking midfielders to a diamond with a holder in Gerrard, two shuttlers in Allen and Henderson and a #10 at the tip of the diamond in Coutinho. Gerrard was meant to dictate the tempo at the base of midfield and find penetrating, expansive forward passes. During the extremely brief period he was on the pitch the change in shape seemed to be having the desired impact of giving Liverpool more control of the game. Gerrard completed four passes including a sweeping cross field switch to the right channel.

Liverpool fought well after Gerrard's dismissal but Van Gaal's side were deserving winners. They seem to have struck a nice balance in recent weeks with Rooney in his favored position up front and the excellent Mata getting a run in the side. This result struck a blow to Liverpool's UCL hopes- they haven't been particularly good over the last two games and will need to be at their best from here on out if they're to have any chance of catching United.

Three thoughts on Manchester United's 1-2 defeat to Arsenal

1. United lack midfield creativity

n the first half Van Gaal set his side out in a 4-3-3 with Daley Blind at the base of midfield and Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera either side of him in the shuttling midfield roles. United started the game off attacking well enough in this shape. Herrera would create overloads in his right-sided center midfield position with Angel Di Maria down the right channel. Di Maria would cut back onto his left foot and swing crosses towards the back post where Fellaini continually tried to push forward onto Arsenal's left back Hector Bellerin and use his height advantage to win headers. United were fairly bright going forward and equalized after Nacho Monreal's opener for Arsenal from a Di Maria whipped cross to Rooney.

The issue with Van Gaal's 4-3-3 was in defense. With Herrera and Fellaini both shuttling forward into advanced positions, Manchester United were left too open in the center of the pitch when Arsenal won the ball back. Blind was left to defend counterattacks on his own and Arsenal proved dangerous breaking into that space quickly on the counter.

Recognizing United were probably too open, Van Gaal replaced Herrera with Michael Carrick at half time. Carrick sat deeper than Herrera had closer to Blind while Fellaini stayed high up the pitch. United had essentially switched to 4-4-2. While this served to keep United more compact defensively, it also meant they were short on creativity in the middle of the pitch. Whereas a player like David Silva can provide creativity in Manchester City's version of 4-4-2 by tucking inside into gaps of space from the left, both United wide men Di Maria and Young maintained positions in the channels. Fellaini got high up the pitch to win direct balls with Rooney alongside him to get on the end of knock downs. This meant United didn't have a player getting into the gaps of space between the Arsenal center midfielders and center backs. Their only link to the attacking third therefore was through overlapping runs in the channels between fullbacks and wingers and then hitting crosses towards Rooney and Fellaini into the box. In that respect this resembled a United performance under David Moyes.

There's certainly nothing wrong with getting the ball wide and aiming at a big target in the box- it's a strategy Arsenal aren't always convincing defending against. However, with Arsenal employing a tremendously attacking side, a more creative center attacking midfielder would likely have found space to influence the contest. I thought this game was crying out for the introduction of Juan Mata, a player whose clever positioning would have made the still relatively inexperienced Francis Coquelin's day much more difficult. As it turned out, Coquelin didn't have a direct opponent in the second half in midfield and was therefore able to offer cover where needed. This performance will do little to silence critics of Van Gaal's formation tinkering and overall tactics.

2. This was a typically English and typically FA Cup type game

It was entertaining, open, frenetic and often a little sloppy. The crowd roared as the sides took turns attacking one another at speed. Neither side ever really developed any sort of control on the game and in that sense it was a distinctly English game. Nowhere else in Europe's biggest leagues would you witness a game that remained so open without one of the sides making a change to bring some sort of order to proceedings. It was probably fitting that the winner came from a bad individual error- neither side were especially well organized and it was one won by the ability of the individual players rather than a tactical system.

3. United's form worrying

United's next five league games include visits to Tottenham and Chelsea and home clashes with rivals Liverpool and Manchester City. Those five matches will go a long way in determining whether United will secure a place in the Champions League and should bring to light whether the club has improved under Van Gaal. While league wins over Arsenal in November and Liverpool in December were important, they weren't exactly commanding performances. United have yet to put in a truly commanding performance against a top side this season. Five of their final ten fixtures are against opposition currently in the top six. Uninspiring victories over Sunderland and Newcastle in their last two league games after defeat to Swansea mean United aren't exactly experiencing the run of form you'd hope heading into the final months of the season. They'll again face Arsenal at home in the second to last weekend of the league. Van Gaal has his work cut out.

Van Persie, Falcao not the right striker pairing for diamond 4-4-2

Daley Blind got a late equalizer to earn Manchester United a slightly fortunate 1-1 draw with West Ham at Upton Park. Louis Van Gaal's side created some good scoring chances in the final 10 minutes after throwing on Marouane Fellaini and adopting a direct approach but they looked bereft of ideas in the attacking third for much of the game despite boasting a starting 11 that included Wayne Rooney, Angel Di Maria, Adnan Januzaj, Falcao and Robin Van Persie.

Machester United's major issue in the attacking third seemed to be a lack of any type of threat from wide areas. They never got in behind West Ham's fullbacks Carl Jenkinson and Aaron Creswell and forced them to turn towards their own goal. As a result, Creswell and Jenkinson were able to maintain narrow positions close to their center backs making it very difficult for Man United to play any penetrating passes between gaps in the West Ham back four.

That lack of width was in large part due to Van Gaal's use of a diamond 4-4-2 which naturally doesn't provide for width from the midfield. Angel Di Maria played at the tip of the diamond with Van Persie and Falcao up front; behind them Rooney and Januzaj played the shuttling roles and Blind sat deep in front of the back four. A diamond midfield is a system that can allow for possession dominance because with four midfielders in narrow positions there is generally going to be an unmarked player to pass to. However, it's also a system that requires dynamic movement from the two front men to work the channels in order to provide the width that can stretch defenses. Falcao and Van Persie don't provide that sort of dynamic movement. Both are happy to drop off deep into central areas in midfield to get on the ball but neither make runs in behind the opposition fullbacks. This lack of a threat in behind on the channels allows the opposition fullbacks to support their center backs in central areas and makes the penalty area crowded enough that it becomes very difficult for the attacking side to play their way through.

The graphic below shows the passes received by Falcao and Van Persie over the 90 minutes. When they received the ball in wide positions it was deep in midfield towards the halfway line, not in dangerous areas behind the fullbacks. Both players received passes in the channels in the attacking third just twice. As a result, all of Manchester United's possession was happening in front of the West Ham back four making it very comfortable on them- they were rarely forced to turn their backs and sprint to towards their own goal to track Manchester United runners.

I think if Van Gaal is going to continue with the diamond 4-4-2 he needs to use one striker that offers a little more movement into the channels and behind the opposition back four. James Wilson isn't yet the talent that Van Persie or Falcao are but he's more suited to operating alongside one of the two star strikers in a diamond 4-4-2 than the two are to playing alongside one another. He brings a pace and willingness to make diagonal runs behind the opposition fullbacks that give the side much more of a vertical threat. Manchester United are a less rigid, static side when he is in the squad.

The movement of Di Maria in his role at the tip of the diamond was also a bit disappointing. His pace and crossing ability make him a dangerous threat in wide areas, which we saw glimpses of when Van Gaal changed systems near the end, but I thought he could have done more to move across the width of the pitch to create overloads in the channels. Instead, he maintained fairly narrow positions and received the bulk of passes in the middle of the pitch. Di Maria is a better player when he is able to receive the ball in space and run at the defense. He is not an especially clever passer in crowded central areas and with West Ham defending compact and narrow it was a situation he found himself in frequently today. It was a #10 role that would have better suited Juan Mata, a player comfortable finding pockets of space in tight areas and finding clever penetrating passes.

Van Gaal has yet to find the right system for his side. For a squad with such an embarrassment of attacking riches, too often they struggle to convert possession dominance into goal scoring opportunities. Strangely, it is that abundance of attacking options that is probably partly to blame for Manchester United's occasional tepid attacking displays as Van Gaal attempts to adopt formations that get as many of his star attackers on the field at the expense of a system that will create more cohesion going forward.

Manchester United fail to expoit numerical advantage in middle of pitch

Manchester United's poor start to the season continued with a 0-0 draw away to Burnley. Louis Van Gaal's side were aided by the debut of Angel Di Maria who started at the base of midfield alongside Darren Fletcher. The only other change from the side that drew 1-1 last weekend at Sunderland was Johnny Evans into the back three for the injured Chris Smalling.

In theory Burnley should have been the ideal opponent for Van Gaal's side to gain a bit of confidence in their new 3-4-1-2 shape. The home side set out in a 4-4-2, a formation that has a number of disadvantages against 3-5-2 on paper.

In a 3-5-2 vs. 4-4-2 match up, the 3-5-2 side has a 3 v. 2 advantage in defense, a 3 v. 2 advantage in midfield and a 2 v. 2 up front, meaning the opposition doesn't have a spare center back to provide cover. In effect, Burnley were outnumbered 4 to 5 in the middle of the pitch in attacking areas.

With the spare man in midfield, Juan Mata would have expected to to find plenty of space to work in between Burnley's defensive and midfield lines. However, the home side did an excellent job keeping the space compact between the lines. The center midfielders David Jones and Dean Marney and center backs Jason Shackell and Michael Duff stuck tight to one another, limiting the space for Mata to operate between them. Mata saw plenty of the ball and completed 39 of 40 passes but he was forced to drop in front of Burnley's midfield and towards the channels to get on the ball so that he was always separated from his forwards by the Burnley midfield. Rarely did he get on the ball behind the Burnley midfield where he could turn and play penetrating passes for Rooney and Van Persie behind the Burnley center backs. Mata played just 4 passes to Rooney and just 1 to Van Persie throughout the match. United had just 1 first half shot and finished the match with only 2 shots on target.

Di Maria was quite good overall but it doesn't seem as though 3-5-2 is a shape that has a natural position for him. From his deeper midfield position today he struggled to get into areas of space where he had the opportunity to run with the ball in space, something he did so well playing as the left center midfielder in Real Madrid's 4-3-3 last season. Today he would frequently drop deep to get the ball from Fletcher and the United center backs. He showed his long passing quality from these deeper positions, with one particularly tasty diagonal ball to Van Persie coming to mind, but he's at his very best moving towards the left channel and combining with the wide men in space.

Di Maria also played higher up the pitch than Ander Herrera or Tom Cleverley had alongside Fletcher in United's first two league games. This left Fletcher with a lot of defensive work to do on his own in front of the back three. The lone holder isn't a role Fletcher is especially suited to. New arrival Daley Blind can play one of the holding positions and we saw Herrera start in that spot for United's opener. If one of those two partner Fletcher or play with one another in the deep midfield roles, where does Di Maria play? He could play the Mata role behind the two forwards but then you're forced to leave a gifted creative player on the bench. Alternatively he could certainly play wing back given his energy, tactical intelligence and willingness to work for the team but then do you really want to give your side's most dynamic attacking player that much defensive responsibility?

Van Gaal's reason for playing 3-5-2 was largely that it allowed him to play Van Persie, Rooney and Mata all in their favored positions. While most of the attention has been paid to the squad's poor defending with the new shape, it's been shocking just how impotent they are in the attack. Four games is too quickly to implement a new system but when a formation allows a front three of Mata, Rooney and Van Persie and you manage just two goals against a newly promoted side and two sides that battled relegation last season it's a worrying sign.

Grading the young players at the Premier League's top clubs

I looked at the age of the 11 starting players for each of the 20 Premier League teams in match week 1 in order to get an idea of how teams were balancing the use of promising youthful players and more experienced veterans (you can see that information in the chart on the previous post). For the sake of this post I was most interested in seeing to what extent the clubs likely to contest for the league title and Champions League places over the next 5 years (I look at Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United) are using young players (which I define as younger than 25). Clubs with older squads will of course have to spend more on incoming transfers in future seasons in order to revamp their squads and remain competitive. This could be significant given that FFP should in theory restrict the ability of clubs financed by super wealthy owners like Manchester City and Chelsea to spend as they wish. The days of those clubs bringing in five or more big name transfers in a single window are likely gone. It is therefore seemingly more important for big squads to have young players that can contribute well into the future or can be sold at a premium price to finance the purchase of other players.

There are of course limitations with looking at just one week of games and we can't make sweeping predictions based on this data. The absence of a young player or two due to injury or fitness will skew the data if they were replaced by significantly older players. Likewise, the opposite is true- veterans who normally start but were forced to miss the opening week and were replaced by young ones (eg Calum Chambers replaced Per Mertesacker at Arsenal) will skew the data the other way.

The measure of squad youthfulness I looked at was the number of players a squad had under 25. I'll discuss the quality of those players for each club and what they suggest the future may hold for their respective clubs.

Arsenal

Arsenal started more players under 25 than any other club in match week 1 with 6- Wojciech Szczesny (24), Jack Wilshere (22), Calum Chambers (19), Aaron Ramsey (23), Kieran Gibbs (24) and Yaya Sanogo (21). This isn't terribly surprising. Arsene Wenger has always had a talent for developing young players and the faith in them to play them. Szczesny isn't always the most convincing keeper but seemed to improve his decision making and propensity for big errors last season. Wilshere was the most hyped of all of Arsenal's young players and although it would be unfair to say he's been a disappointment, he's maybe not quite as far along in his development as some would have expected by now. Injuries haven't helped but it's difficult to say whether his best position is a #10 or more of a box-to-box #8. At the moment Arsenal have more talented players in both positions. Gibbs is a solid, reliable left back. Ramsey endured a difficult spell after suffering that horrific broken leg but surprisingly emerged last season as one of the Premier League's outstanding midfielders. He's athletic enough to track back and win tackles and run past defenders with the dribble, has the vision and passing ability to provide the final ball in attacking third and a strikers finishing ability in the penalty area- a true all around midfielder. The jury is still very much out on Yaya Sanogo. He looked awkward, uncoordinated and totally out of his place in his appearances last season and although he enjoyed a solid preseason, his performance in Arsenal's opening day win over Crystal Palace suggested he's along way from being good enough to play for a side hoping to contest the title. Joel Campbell (22) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (21) were on the subs bench for Arsenal with Oxlade-Chamberlain coming on in the second half. Both players look promising. Along with this collection of players under 25. Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez are all just 25. Arsenal appear to be in fairly good shape for the future in they can retain their players.

Young player grade: A

Manchester United

Manchester United have plenty of youthful players but not enough have shown they have the quality to play at a club with such consistently high expectations. Of the five players under 25 that started their opening day defeat to Swansea, Tyler Blackett (20) and Jesse Lingard (21) were making their Manchester United debuts. Phil Jones (22) and Chris Smalling (24) are solid enough squad players but have yet to establish themselves as first team regulars and they need to step up their performances in defense after the summer departures of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. For me Jones looks the more likely to do so. Only goalkeeper David De Gea (23) has been a regular starter at the club. At 25, new midfield signing Ander Herrera is still quite young and an upgrade on Tom Cleverley (also 25) while 26 year old Juan Mata should still have several seasons remaining at his peak. Danny Welbeck's (23) energy and work rate are useful off the bench but he's never given the impression he'll be a 20 goal a season scorer. New signing Marcos Rojo (24) offers versatility at the back- he can play center back or left wing back- and has big game experience having started in 6 of Argentina's 7 World Cup games including the final. Luke Shaw (19) was excellent at Southampton last season and came with a hefty price tag. Louis Van Gaal was unimpressed with his fitness this summer and he's probably more suited to playing as a traditional fullback in a four man defense than a wing back in Van Gaal's 3-4-1-2 but LVG is tactically flexible and may well change shape in the near future. United's key big players Wayne Rooney (28), Robin Van Persie (31) and Michael Carrick (33) all have their best years behind them. Van Gaal has never been afraid to install youth players and he'll need to consider how he'll replace those three sooner rather than later.

Young player grade: B

Tottenham

Tottenham can be cautiously optimistic about [most of] their five young starters from week 1- (Christian Eriksen (22), Nabil Bentaleb (19), Eric Dier (20), Danny Rose (24) and Erik Lamela (22). Eriksen already established himself as a quality Premier League player in his first season, compiling 7 league goals and 8 assists. Bentaleb started in 3 of Algeria's 4 games at the World Cup and should continue to get opportunities to develop under Mauricio Pochettino, who showed in his time at Southampton he's more than happy to field capable youngsters. Dier's Spurs debut got off to a flying start as he picked up a stoppage time winner over Spurs and MOTM honors. Danny Rose is inconsistent and prone to errors but Spurs have just signed 21 year old Ben Davies from Swansea. Davies became a regular starter early last season under Michael Laudrup and was a surprising success- he could secure the left back position over Rose. The verdict is out on Lamela- Spurs' record signing was certainly a disappointment in his first season, struggling to get a game before succumbing to injury- but he enjoyed a strong preseason and should enjoy a stronger rapport with fellow countrymen Pochettino than with Tim Sherwood in the second half of last season. Spurs are also currently missing 24 year old right back Kyle Walker through injury. Walker is exceptionally athletic and likely would have been England's starting right back at the World Cup. Under Pochettino the young players will get their chances.

Young player grade: B

Liverpool

Four of Liverpool's five starters under 25 played an integral part in the Merseyside outfit's impressive second place finish last season. Daniel Sturridge scored 21 goals, second only to then teammate Luis Suarez in the Premier League. Raheem Sterling was something of a revelation, scoring 9 goals and assisting 5. Coutinho's 7 goals and 7 assists were likewise impressive while Jordan Henderson provided 4 goals and 7 assists of his own as he improved vastly from the previous season. Those four players combined for 41 goals and 28 assists. Liverpool's fifth starter under 25 from match week 1 was right back Javier Manquillo, on loan from Atletico Madrid. Brendan Rodgers has also added 20 year old winger Lazar Markovic from Benfica, a player with high expectations after impressing in Portugal. Liverpool look poised for a bright future but like Arsenal need to do what they can to hold on to their best players.

Young player grade: A

Chelsea

Chelsea boast an outrageously talented collection of young players. Of their five starters under 25 in match week one, Cesar Azpilicueta, Oscar, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois were all regular starters at the World Cup. The fifth player, Andre Schurrle, was Germany's second leading scorer off the bench and provided the assist for Mario Gotze's winner in the final. Add in Diego Costa (25), Willian (26) and Nemanja Matic (26), it's a Chelsea side you'd expect to remain stable for quite some time. Chelsea also won the under-21 Premier League last season though few of the club's youth players end up getting a chance with the senior side. After years spent shelling out on big money signings at or just past the peak of their best, Chelsea's recent signing of younger talent bodes well for the future.

Young Player Grade: A

Manchester City

The five teams that started five or more players under 25 make up five of the six Premier League teams you'd expect to compete for a top four finish consistently. The sixth, Manchester City, have quite a different squad makeup. The defending league champions started just one player under 25 in match week one, forward Stevan Jovetic. New center back signing Eliaquim Mangala is the only other City player under 25 likely to play any sort of a prominent role this season. Jovetic and Matija Nastasic are the only City players under 25 to have appeared in more than 10 league games last season; Nastasic is certain to depart for Italy before the transfer window closes after the arrival of Mangala. The lack of young players in the squad suggests the club aren't terribly concerned with FFP compliance in the coming years since they'll need to continue to purchase players as current squad members pass their peak. City's plethora of veteran players with title winning experience certainly contributed in part to their success last season but in the near future its squad will need an overhaul.  With FFP City won't be able to make that overhaul in one transfer window. Of City's five signings last summer only Jovetic is under 25 while Fernandinho is 29, Jesus Navas is 28, Alvaro Negredo is 29 and Martin Demichelis is 33. They need to start making signings with an eye towards the future. Their U-21 side finished 4th in the U-21 Premier League last season so there are promising young players at the club but, like Chelsea, promotion to the senior squad for youth players has been all but impossible in recent years.

Young player grade: C-