Which managers give youngsters a chance?
There aren’t many things as universally popular among football supporters as seeing a young player make his professional debut in your club’s colours. Some managers are experts at bringing through such prospects, while others prefer to rely on experience.
Using Transfermarkt data collated for ft.com by John Burn-Murdoch, we reveal the managers most likely to give youngsters an opportunity in the first team by measuring the share of league minutes they gave to under-23s since 2008/09. Coaches must have taken charge of at least 250 games in Europe’s top five leagues to be eligible.
23. Tony Pulis, 3.6%
Pulis’ ranking at the bottom of this list won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s followed his managerial career to date. The Welshman failed to find much of a use for Serge Gnabry – who now belongs to Bayern Munich – at West Brom, and he rarely recruited young players in a seven-year second spell at Stoke.
During his time in charge of Crystal Palace, meanwhile, Pulis pushed back on the board’s attempt to re-sign then-21-year-old Wilfried Zaha, although he has at least found a place in his starting XI for Adama Traore at Middlesbrough.
22. Walter Mazzarri, 8%
Mazzarri was appointed as manager of Torino in January 2018, which could be bad news for youngsters Lucas Boye, Antonio Barreca and Lyanco. The Italian has tended to favour experience over youth in his previous jobs, handing 92% of his various teams’ overall minutes to those aged 23 or over.
Marek Hamsik, Mauro Icardi and Isaac Success bucked the trend at Napoli, Inter and Watford respectively, but it’s fair to say Mazzarri’s preference is for players who have been there and done it.
21. Mark Hughes, 9.9%
Hughes was sacked by Stoke in January 2018 after four-and-a-half years at the helm, with a poor run of results forcing chairman Peter Coates to take action. Although the threat of relegation was the primary factor behind the dismissal, the club’s board may also have been a little disappointed by the Welshman’s failure to blood more young players in the Potteries.
Stoke trio Ramadan Sobhi, Marc Muniesa and Jack Butland did play under Hughes before turning 23, as did Gael Kukuta at Fulham, Fabio da Silva at QPR and Daniel Sturridge, Micah Richards and Stephen Ireland at Manchester City. In general, though, Hughes has usually opted for experience.
20. Carlo Ancelotti, 10.1%
Since managing Milan between 2001 and 2009, Ancelotti has been employed by four different clubs. In that time the Italian has come to be seen as a safe pair of hands rather than a leader of a grand project, which perhaps explains why he’s only rarely used young players.
Matteo Darmian and Alexandre Pato were both under 23 when they played for Ancelotti’s Milan in 2008/09, though, as was Daniel Sturridge at Chelsea, Mamadou Sakho at PSG, Raphael Varane at Real Madrid and Kingsley Coman at Bayern Munich. But overall, his job has been to keep the old guys happy.
19. Jose Mourinho, 10.2%
Mourinho came prepared when, at his Manchester United unveiling in summer 2016, he was confronted with the accusation that he hasn’t always given youngsters a chance. “Do you want to know how many players I have promoted from academies?” he grandstanded. “Forty-nine.”
The validity of that claim is questionable at best, and although Mourinho has aided the development of Mario Balotelli (Inter), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid) and Marcus Rashford (United), he’s tended to prefer experience for much of his career - as Rashford is about to find out while observing new signing Alexis Sanchez.
18. Max Allegri, 11%
Allegri beat Jose Mourinho to the Serie A manager of the year award in 2008/09, when he led Cagliari to a ninth-place finish. Youngsters Davide Astori and Robert Acquafresca were both part of that team, and Daniele Ragatzu, Daniele Dessena and Radja Nainggolan all broke through at the Stadio Sant’Elia the following campaign.
Allegri later gave opportunities to Alexandre Pato, Mattia De Sciglio and Stephan El Shaarawy during his time in charge of Milan, before including Kingsley Coman, Paulo Dybala and Paul Pogba in his starting line-ups at Juventus.
17. David Moyes, 13.2%
Even if the Scot tended to favour more experienced figures at Goodison Park, he still picked several under-23s like Marouane Fellaini, Jack Rodwell, Seamus Coleman and Ross Barkley. (There was a kid called Rooney, too, but that was before this data-set's 2008 start point.)
Hand-picked as Alex Ferguson’s successor at Manchester United, Moyes may have had long-term ambitions but was unable to fulfil them due to poor results, with Adnan Januzaj the only young Red Devil to make any sort of impression under his stewardship. Since then, the former Preston boss has made use of Ruben Pardo at Real Sociedad, Jordan Pickford at Sunderland and Declan Rice at West Ham.
16. Roberto Donadoni, 13.3%
Donadoni became Napoli manager in March 2009, embarking on a return to domestic football after being sacked as Italy manager following a disappointing European Championship the previous year; he may have lasted only last eight months at the Stadio San Paolo, but still managed to hand game time to under-23s Marek Hamsik and Fabiano Santacroce.
The 22-year-old Radja Nainggolan played regularly under Donadoni at Cagliari, and the former Milan midfielder went on to use Ishak Belfodil and Jose Mauri at Parma, and Adam Nagy and Gonfred Donsah at current club Bologna.
15. Manuel Pellegrini, 13.4%
A fresh-faced Diego Godin was one of the young players given playing time by Pellegrini at Villarreal, and the Chilean later aided the development of Karim Benzema at Real Madrid and Isco at Malaga.
One of the criticisms made of Pellegrini during his time at Manchester City was his failure to adequately refresh the squad, with young players rarely afforded a look-in between 2013 and 2016. Matija Nastasic, Raheem Sterling and Kelechi Iheanacho were very much the exceptions.
14. Rudi Garcia, 13.4%
The Marseille manager has found room in his squad for youngsters Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Maxime Lopez in 2017/18, having handed minutes to Doria and Morgan Sanson in his debut campaign at the Stade Velodrome.
Garcia worked with several under-23s while in charge of Lille, including Yohan Cabaye, Eden Hazard and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and in his next job at Roma he gave minutes to Alessandro Florenzi, Adem Ljajic and Antonio Rudiger.
13. Ernesto Valverde, 14.8%
Blooding La Masia graduates in the first team is a key requirement of any Barcelona manager, and Valverde will be expected to do exactly that as time goes on. The 20-year-old Ousmane Dembele has made a handful of appearances so far in 2017/18, while teenage winger Jose Arnaiz has been a regular in the Copa del Rey.
Before his appointment at the Camp Nou, the one-time Spain international deployed Giuseppe Rossi at Villarreal, Juan Bernat at Valencia and Aymeric Laporte at Athletic Club, all of whom were under 23 at the time.
12. Unai Emery, 16.8%
David Silva, Juan Mata, Paco Alcacer and Jordi Alba all played for Emery’s Valencia while under the age of 23, as did Alberto Moreno, Denis Suarez and Gerard Deulofeu when the Spaniard was managing Sevilla.
His remit changed somewhat when he was appointed PSG boss in 2016; the primary objective for any manager at the Parc des Princes is to win the Champions League, which makes the promotion of young players difficult. Nevertheless, Emery has still handed minutes to Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe in the French capital.
11. Christophe Galtier, 17.7%
Galtier’s time at Saint-Etienne came to an end in 2017 after eight successful years in charge. Blaise Matuidi, Dimitri Payet and Kevin Mirallas were all under 23 when they appeared in the former Marseille defender’s starting XI during his first campaign in the hot seat, with Faouzi Ghoulam, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kurt Zouma among those who made the breakthrough in subsequent seasons.
After seven months out of the game, Galtier was chosen as Marcelo Bielsa’s successor at Lille in December 2017. It’s still early days for the 51-year-old at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, but it’s notable that Galtier has already made use of youngsters Mike Maignan, Ezequiel Ponce and Thiago Maia.
10. Pep Guardiola, 18.7%
Critics of Guardiola insist he’s relied heavily on sizeable war chests throughout his managerial career, but the Catalan has also continually demonstrated a readiness to include young players in his starting XI.
Handing game time to Lionel Messi in 2008/09 was a no-brainer, yet many other bosses wouldn’t have been so trusting in rejuvenation as to sell Ronaldinho and make the young Argentinian the centrepiece of the side. Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez also made great strides on Guardiola’s watch at Barcelona; so too David Alaba, Thiago Alcantara and Joshua Kimmich at Bayern Munich.
Going forward, Phil Foden, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Tosin Adarabioyo will hope to build on the cameo appearances they have made for Manchester City in 2017/18 – and if the side can wrap up the title as quickly as they threaten, the promising kids may well get plenty of pitch time.
9. Christian Gourcuff, 19.1%
Gourcuff spent four seasons at Lorient during his playing days and has had three separate spells as the club’s manager, amassing 29 years of service in total. Kevin Gameiro, Lamine Kone and Mario Lemina all turned out for his Les Merlus side before they’d turned 23, following in the footsteps of Laurent Koscielny, Andre-Pierre Gignac and Christophe Jallet, who were also picked as youngsters by Gourcuff before 2008/09.
After two years at the helm of the Algeria national team, the veteran boss returned to French football with Rennes in 2016/17. Not only did Gourcuff secure a ninth-place finish at Roazhon Park, he also gave first-team minutes to prospects Joris Gnagnon, Wesley Said and Ramy Bensebaini.
8. Gian Piero Gasperini, 19.8%
One of Italian football’s most innovative and forward-thinking managers, Gasperini has consistently handed significant playing time to under-23s: he's the first on this list to average two players per starting XI. The former Genoa boss blooded Stephan El Shaarawy while occupying the hot seat at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, before aiding the development of Paulo Dybala at Palermo.
A second spell at Genoa saw Gasperini give opportunities to Mattia Perin, Stefano Sturaro and Suso, and at current club Atalanta he’s brought through Franck Kessie, Mattia Caldara, Bryan Cristante and Andrea Conti.
7. Diego Simeone, 19.8%
Experienced professionals such as Diego Godin, Gabi and Juanfran have been integral to Atletico Madrid’s success under Simeone, but that doesn’t mean the Argentinian gaffer has been afraid to hand opportunities to young players in the Spanish capital.
Thibaut Courtois, Koke and Saul Niguez are among the under-23s who have been a key part of the first team at some point during Simeone’s reign, and Yannick Carrasco, Jan Oblak and Thomas Partey all made their Atletico debuts before their 23rd birthday.
6. Roberto Martinez, 20.2%
Martinez was a strange choice as Belgium national team manager in 2016, but perhaps his track record of developing young prospects was part of the reason behind the country’s choice. The Spaniard worked with Callum McManaman, Victor Moses and James McCarthy while they were all still teenagers at Wigan, and Scott Sinclair, Tom Cleverley and Patrick van Aanholt also improved under his guidance in Lancashire.
At Everton, meanwhile, Martinez brought the best out of Romelu Lukaku, Ross Barkley and Gerard Deulofeu, players who are now plying their trade at Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona respectively.
5. Arsene Wenger, 22.4%
Wenger has long been known for his propensity for bringing youngsters through, and the statistics from the last decade certainly bear that out: almost a quarter of the overall playing minutes at Arsenal since 2008/09 have gone to those under the age of 23.
Alex Iwobi, Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding are among those who have emerged in the last few seasons; before that, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Cesc Fabregas, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wojciech Szczesny, Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Theo Walcott were all entrusted with first-team berths at a tender age.
4. Jurgen Klopp, 23.3%
Klopp’s high-energy, heavy-pressing style of football relies on supreme fitness and a willingness for individuals to sacrifice themselves for the good of collective, two characteristics which are often found in young players looking to make their way in the game.
It’s no surprise, then, that Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominic Solanke have all appeared in Liverpool’s first team in 2017/18, nor that Divock Origi and Ben Woodburn were handed opportunities in Klopp’s first full season at Anfield. All five of those players will hope to become regulars in Liverpool’s starting XI in the future, just as Mario Gotze, Nuri Sahin, Mats Hummels, Shinji Kagawa and Ilkay Gundogan did under Klopp at Borussia Dortmund.
3. Dieter Hecking, 25.1%
Developing young prospects was a key part of Hecking’s remit at Aachen, Hannover and Nürnberg, and the 53-year-old has continued in a similar vein in subsequent jobs at Wolfsburg and Borussia Monchengladbach.
Max Arnold, Ricardo Rodriguez and Julian Draxler all turned out for Hecking’s Wolfsburg before their 23rd birthdays, and Andreas Christensen and Mahmoud Dahoud played numerous games under his guidance at Gladbach in 2016/17. This season, Hecking has found space in his squad for youngsters Denis Zakaria, Mickael Cuisance and Nico Elvedi.
2. Mauricio Pochettino, 26.7%
Not only has Pochettino improved Tottenham’s league position during his time in charge of the north Londoners, he’s also brought down the average age of the squad. England internationals Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Eric Dier and Harry Winks have all become important first-teamers under the Argentinian’s stewardship, as has Colombian Davinson Sanchez in 2017/18.
It’s not just at Spurs where Pochettino has employed under-23s; he also found room in his side for Jose Callejon, Jordi Amat and Didac Vila at Espanyol, and Luke Shaw, Calum Chambers and James Ward-Prowse at Southampton.
1. Claude Puel, 28.9%
Anyone familiar with Puel’s managerial career won’t have been surprised when the Leicester boss made 21-year-old Demarai Gray a fixture of his starting XI soon after assuming control at the King Power Stadium.
The former Monaco midfielder blooded Hugo Lloris, Miralem Pjanic and Karim Benzema during his time in charge of Lyon, before helping develop the careers of Jordan Amavi, Alassane Plea and Nampalys Mendy at Nice. Puel may have been sacked after just a single season at the helm of Southampton in 2016/17, but as well as finishing eighth in the Premier League and reaching the League Cup final, he also handed minutes to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Sam McQueen and Matt Targett.
