Alex Ferguson fielded his second youngest Premier League line-up on Monday night as a Manchester United side with an average age of 23 beat Tottenham 3-0.
Only three players in the team were over the age of 24. And Smalling, 21, said: "There is an excitement in terms of the endless potential.
Boss Fergie fielded a younger side in the last game of the 2008-09 season but United had the title in the bag and were saving players for the Champions League final. Still, they went to Hull and won.
This line-up was in a big game against a top-five club and they tore Spurs to shreds.
The exact average age was 23 years and 191 days.
But if 30-year-old Patrice Evra had not recovered from an early-season injury, Fabio, 21, would have played and that average would have been nearer 22.
Evra said: "The boss is not afraid to use young players. "They have such composure. They want to prove to the manager they are ready to play on the team. It's good for us because we need some energy and they have that.
"I'm not surprised because they played well during pre-season and they are confident.
"We have lost experienced players like Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville but you can see now that the team is very fresh."
This is as dramatic and exciting a change-around as Ferguson has inflicted on the Premier League since the 1995-96 season.
David De Gea, 20, Phil Jones, 19, Ashley Young, 26, and Tom Cleverley, 22, made their top-flight Old Trafford debuts in a United shirt.
The way Cleverley set up 20-year-old striker Danny Welbeck for the opening goal was a joy for Ferguson.
Wayne Rooney, at 25, is now regarded as one of the senior figures at Old Trafford.
Smalling added: "Rooney is young in terms of his age but is one of the more experienced players now. The young players try to learn from players like him."
Ferguson gave his players two targets at the start of the season - to hit the ground running and sort out their away form.
They played intense football to win all five games on their pre-season tour of America and continued that in the Community Shield with a brilliant second-half comeback against Manchester City.
In the league, they have beaten West Brom away and now thumped Spurs at home.
Smalling revealed: "Everyone's smiling. The manager tells us to concentrate but he also tells us to enjoy it.
"And if you're not enjoying your football, you shouldn't really be here. This is a venue that should please anyone.
"You could see that in the performance against Spurs."
Source: Thesun.co.uk
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