Ralph: my kids will always be winners
SOUTHAMPTON boss Ralph Hasenhuttl says modern football is fast becoming a young man’s game.
Hasenhuttl will field his youthful Saints line-up against Frank Lampard’s fresh-faced Chelsea starlets at St Mary’s today.
And the Austrian coach said: “It seems to be that players are getting younger and younger.
“I had a lot of experience of using younger players when I was at RB Leipzig. I played with 18- and 19-year-old centre-backs in the Champions League.
“A few years ago, nobody would take this risk but, if you can handle them making mistakes, the development of players at that age is massive.
“When I look at Chelsea, or Arsenal in the Europa League last week, it seems that the big clubs now realise the importance of producing their own players.
“For our club, it’s very important to work like this because we have to develop players in our academy who can bring us future profit.
“We get high transfers when we sell them to bigger clubs.
“Chelsea have worldclass players of the future. Maybe if they didn’t have the ban, they wouldn’t be playing.
“Of course, they need time and that is not always easy at a big club.
“Lose a couple of games and the pressure grows.
But they are making a great job of it.
“And Frank is showing he has the hunger to make it big as a manager – like he did as a player.” FRANK LAMPARD has told Christian Pulisic and the rest of Chelsea’s bright young things that hard work and performances always trump reputations and back stories.
Pulisic, a £58million January signing who arrived in the summer after being loaned back to Borussia Dortmund, had the unenviable task of easing the pain of Eden Hazard’s departure.
It has been Mason Mount, however, who has assumed the mantle.
And the backing Lampard has given the academy graduate has given rise to accusations from some Pulisic supporters back home in the US that the Chelsea manager is favouring homegrown stars.
Lampard, t hough, has challenged Pulisic to train harder and follow Callum Hudson-odoi’s lead after he r esponded to s i milar criticisms.
The Blues chief said: “One of my difficult problems in this job is that I have good players and everyone has a story.
“Christian Pulisic has a price-tag, Ross Barkley is an international player, Mason Mount is an international player. Callum Hudson-odoi has just signed a new contract, Bayern Munich wanted to buy him last summer, he is an international player, Ruben Loftus-cheek will come back and be an international player, and I can’t pick them all in the game, unfortunately.
“All I have to demand of them is that they show me in training, or show me in the game when they get the chances to play, that they are worthy of their place.
“I s poke to Christian two days before the Grimsby game and was very clear about the standards.
“And we have to give him the fact he has moved country, moved leagues and is as young as all the young players we keep talking about. “He has just turned 21.
“So if anyone is getting too excited about this, they should calm down, frankly, because he has started five games for us.
Criticism
“What he needs to do is work daily and work to show within the group that he deserves to play, as all the players do.
“I’ve been really pleased with Callum’s response to criticism and that has to continue.
“We can all focus on Pulisic, but Callum’s the same.
“I have to speak in the real world when I speak to them.
“Sometimes as a manager you want more. Then you are honest and players have to react to that.
“Callum has two assists in the games when he has come on and that is what you want, to keep pushing, particularly with young players.
“I love all the players and I particularly love these young players because I want to improve them daily.
“But sometimes I have to make harsh decisions or say something that will help their game t hat might not sound that nice.” And Lampard (left) knows that his older players have a role to play as well.
He added: “Without a doubt there’s a responsibility of senior players, particularly when we have a batch of young players coming through, that they set the tone.
“The young players will look up to them and follow their lead, hopefully in the right way.
“That’s on and off the pitch. I’m not naive enough to think I can walk around and be the dictator of this building at all times.
“It’s impossible. I rely heavily on my staff as well and I rely on all the players, the senior players to take on their responsibilities.
“And they do – I’m happy with what I’ve seen so far.”