I did some research because as I was working out, it occurred to me that the Chelsea team might have been much older than the 11 we sent out today. I was thinking that if our boys were mostly 18 and theirs 3-4 years older, it might work against us in that the physical difference marked by those growing/developing ages might have just made it too much of a mismatch (because they did look bigger and was definitely a one-sided match).
What I found out re the ages though is a different story, minus the two first team players who they gave a runout to today.
Chelsea Liverpool
Cumming - 19 Kelleher - 20
Lamptey - 18 Hoever - 17
Rudiger - 26 Boyes - 18
Guehi - 19 Van den Berg - 17
Maatsen - 17 Larouci - 18
Mola - 18 Kane - 20
Gilmour - 18 Dixon-Bonner - 18
Uwakwe - 19 Elliott - 16
Anjorin - 17 Jones - 18
Castillo - 19 Lewis - -19
Batshuayi - 25 Brewster - 19
Our subs (on at 60 minutes, Neco Williams, Tony Gallacher and Bobby Duncan - are 18, 20 and 18, respectively).
So as you see, excepting the two first team players, the ages are fairly similar. I suppose we could have used Shaqiri and Lallana, or Lovren, but probably would only give them such a runout for a home fixture. Anyway, the difference in the overall game and not j ust one or two guys being physically dominant. Hopefully it is a learning experience somehow for the team, but it did make me wonder how many of them are ready to play in a League Cup match, for instance.
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