Chicken and egg though isn't it? The young players they give minutes to are generally world class. Pulisic, Mangala, Larsen, Demirbay, Rudiger, Gotze, Reus et al are all very good players who have gone for big money and played regularly at international level, and that's before the players bought in as youngsters are taken into account. This from a team who regularly compete in Europe and for honours in Germany, so they don't exactly have dead rubbers either.
Contrast that with our youth players, and since Rooney the best of them was Barkley, who hasn't exactly set the world on fire.
How about compare our academy to other English academies for it to be more relevant. Only Chelsea this season are bringing lots through and that's only because they had no real choice.