There may be no line more famous in British football punditry than Alan Hansen's withering assessment of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad overhaul in the summer of 1995. "You can't win anything with kids," warned the former Liverpool center back after an emphatic 3-1 win for Aston Villa. David Beckham, the Neville brothers et al disproved that line nine months later.
Now Sunderland are out to repeat the trick to an even more extreme extent. After all, the famed class of '92 was supported by a back four of which three constituent parts were in their 30s, the then-31-year-old Peter Schmeichel, and Eric Cantona, who would turn 29 at the end of that tournament. If players their age turned up at the Stadium of Light in 2024 they would do well not to be carted off to an old folks' home.
Sunderland are implausibly, remarkably, dispiritingly young. When Jobe Bellingham, the elder of their two midfield eights, was born, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" was riding high at the box office, Roger Federer was winning the U.S.
Open again and "How I Met Your Mother" was making its CBS premiere. I mean ..
. can we not? Surely Friday night's game against Leeds is past this lad's bedtime? In what can only be viewed as the latest in a long line of assaults on millennials by Gen Z, through eight Championship games so far this season Sunderland are yet to afford a single minute to a player aged over 29. Four outfield players have featured in every minute for Regis Le Bris' side so far.
Three of them are aged betw.