So I wanted to dig into the numbers based on the narrative going around that Unai Emery doesn’t give youth a chance. I looked at all the U21 players he has had in his squads from Almería to Valencia to Sevilla to PSG and to Arsenal. I evaluated based on over 2,000+ mins played

The numbers are interesting. If a young player is good enough, they far surpass even the 3,000 mark (Mata, Banega, Kimpembe), but out of the 29 strictly teenagers played, only two - Mbappe + Guendouzi - have surpassed 2,000 minutes in a season. That’s over 5 clubs and 10 years.

If you take out Mbappe and Guendouzi from the data, those 27 teenagers have combined for a total of 5,525 minutes. Or, 205 minutes a season per player. Less than three full 90 min games.

The numbers go up exponentially for 20-21 year olds. Those 26 players combined for 45,545 mins which equates to about 1,751 min per player. Nearly hitting that 2,000 min mark. Given Emery’s quotes about the growth process and the need not to accelerate, the numbers make sense.

He doesn’t look to rush players and burden them with too much pressure early on. Of all the young players he’s managed, only Isco & Canales were the ones you could argue deserved more time. Even so, Isco was very young and had Mata (21), Silva,Joaquin, & Villa eating up the mins

And Canales, 20, had serious knee injuries and even before the injuries struggled to make his mark in games. His maturation process took time like others (think Rodrigo, Parejo, Sarabia, etc).

For the full list of U21 players that have 2,000+ mins in a single season under Emery, see below:

21 - Negredo - Almería (2,916 mins)
20 - Mata - Valencia (3,556 mins)
21 - Banega - Valencia (3,513 mins)
21 - Feghouli- Valencia (3,142 mins)
20 - Sergio Rico - Sevilla (3,204 mi)
20 - Denis Suarez - Sevilla (2,493 mi)
20 - Kimpembe- PSG (2,474 mins)
21 - Rabiot - PSG (2,793 mi)

18 - Kylian Mbappe - PSG (3,408 mi)
19 - Guendouzi - Arsenal (3,040 min)
20 - Maitland-Niles - Arsenal (2,120)

Notable young players with 800 or less mins:
- Isco, Bernat, Canales, Portu, Lo Celso, Nkunku, Guedes

The above should note the context of the competition + their age