Football Food For Thought / Tareq Quiroz / 28 September 2008 /

Having watched an Arsenal side whose average was 19 demolish a Sheff Utd side that included 39 year-old (and former betting.betfair.com columnist) Gary Speed, Tareq Quiroz examines the question of whether if you're good enough, you really are old enough....

Seemingly no matter what the competition or stage of that competition, there are talking points galore. An entertaining weekend of league action across Europe will have to be confined to the reserves this week as all the relevant action in England occurred during an eventful round of midweek Carling Cup fixtures. It may have only been the third round but you could just make out a sense of urgency amongst many of the Premier League teams.

Competition is so fierce in the Premier League that you can only draw the conclusion that any team who fancies themselves as a top half team wants to keep their hopes in the League Cup alive. Sure, there are different ways and means about going about this but you can't tell me there is a single team that would be happy to bow out of the competition at any point. Every player and club want to be at Wembley next year and despite what some might say they were all gunning for it on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Proven nowhere more than at Chelsea where the boys from Stamford Bridge put an extremely strong team out and are now deserved market leaders for this competition at [3.6].

There is no doubt that the performance of the round came from Arsenal, although I do fully accept that Brighton fans will disagree. Cup upsets are part and parcel of the competition but there was never any danger of that happening at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night. Arsenal's young team were in sparkling form as they simply took a bewildered Sheff Utd side apart. This is an impressive Arsenal side that is now just [7.4] to win the trophy. Arsene Wenger fielded a side that had an average age of just 19! An incredible statistic when you take into account the quality of player on show. It certainly raised the constantly referred to question of whether if you are good enough, then is age no concern?

Sticking with the Arsenal game we can't help but mention the biggest contrast of all. Arsenal fielded a 16 year old in Jack Wilshere whilst Sheff Utd rolled out 39 year old Gary Speed. Wilshere didn't look out of place at all against an experienced Sheff Utd side and even got on the scoresheet whilst Speed had the impression of someone who was wishing he was anywhere else other than being run ragged by these superb kids. Let's take nothing away from Speed, who has had a great career and has an incredible amount of appearances in the Premier League, but gone are the days when experience would win over youth.

The top kids today will not be intimidated and show absolutely no fear when out on the big stage. Without getting too deep this can only be a reflection of the changes in society. Youngsters today become aware of the real world a lot sooner than they used to and will not be scared to express themselves. It is time for the old guns to move over and let the kids show the world what they have got.

The days of playing until you are in your late thirties are on the way out and fortunately us fans won't be subject to watching tired legs traipse around the park. I am sure all Dean Windass fans will disagree but this game isn't for the senior citizens. Incidentally, Dean has yet to enter the Top Premier League Goalscorer race that Adebayor currently leads the way with at current odds of [7.8]. I feel it might be time for any under-worked FIFA employees to look into compulsory player retirement at 33. That may seem a little harsh so I guess we could extend it by a year for every rung of the league you drop down.

Sport is rife with young superstars and it is only going to get bigger. Tiger Woods, Rafael Nadal and the Williams sisters have lead the way in showing the rest of the world in how even when you are just starting out if you have skill, passion and are totally fearless then the world is your oyster. Each sport has its dinosaurs and although they are fun to go and look at it is the new kids on the block that put the excitement in the game. Out with the old in with the new.

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