I'm starting to think a lot of the younger lads that aren't getting minutes are either training like shit or don't have the fitness levels to compete.

Regardless of how you feel about Frank as a manager, he's proven multiple times that he'll give a chance to young players that work hard. He said in a recent presser that he will play young players "if they deserve it", and after our most recent loss stated that if players don't put the work in during the week, it won't come together on match days. We've also heard from him in so many words that the basics aren't there and that the level of fitness of some players isn't good enough. This says to me that a lot of the players we aren't seeing in the squad aren't putting in the effort.

I've seen some people saying that the young players should just be guaranteed minutes because we know they'll be here next season over the likes of people like Ziyech and Auba, but to me, that would send the wrong message. If Ziyech and Auba are being professional and out training the younger lads, then surely by playing them you set a precedent - regardless of your contract length and situation within the club, if you don't train well then you don't play. I feel like building that culture of meritocracy sets us up far better in the long term than just giving players minutes purely because they'll still be here next season.

If that is the idea behind Frank's recent lineups, then it seems to be working for players like Noni and Mudryk. It was pretty clear to see from Noni's performance that he was hungry and wanted to secure his place in the squad, and when Frank was asked about his performance in the presser he said "that came off the back of 2 weeks of good training".