You’ll never win anything with kids
When the England squad for the upcoming World Cup was announced, it naturally caused uproar. As always, there were some questionable selections but also some that were a pleasant surprise.
In the past, many England squad selections have been criticised for having too high an average age. Experience is important, but you need youthful energy in equal measure. 2010 and 2014 stand out as the tournaments when the England squad contained far too many ageing legs.
But a lot has changed since 2014. Long gone are the days Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard trotting around, chasing shadows as Italy pass us off the pitch. Only five players who went to the 2014 World Cup are in the current squad. The new guard have arrived and they’re full of energy.
However, to many it may still come as a surprise to learn that England have statistically the youngest and least experienced squad at the whole tournament, going by the average age and average number of international caps per player.
Nick Harris, from sportingintelligence.com, today published a graph that reveals the average age and total experience of each squad.
World Cup 2018 squads number-crunched by age and experience pic.twitter.com/bXf74q26od
— Nick Harris (@sportingintel) June 4, 2018
Mexico and Panama have the most internationally experienced squads, although Panama have never played in the World Cup finals before, while England, France and Nigeria all have squads boasting an average age of just 26.
