Blogs

Why this could be the season that this Manchester United starlet comes to the fore:

|
Image for Why this could be the season that this Manchester United starlet comes to the fore:

Manchester United have had a busy summer in the transfer market, young talented players like Phil Jones and David De Gea have joined the Premier League Champions. The much rumoured deal for Wesley Sneijder is supposedly only a few days away from completion despite the denials off both Inter and United. During the summer I’ve had several discussions with Manchester United fans regarding the transfer of Sneijder and while every fan I’ve spoken with has said “yes”  they would welcome a deal to bring Sneijder to Old Trafford, no one would be too concerned if a deal didn’t happen in the next few weeks. Why would this be the case?  One reason is the emergence of Tom Cleverley.

Cleverley has been with Manchester United since he was fifteen and for the past three seasons he has had successful loan spells with Leicester, Watford and spent the entirety of last season with Premiership strugglers Wigan, making a total of twenty-five appearances and scoring four goals.

In a little over two days Manchester United will begin their title defence with a difficult opening day fixture at the Hawthorns. Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher are injury concerns, Paul Scholes has retired, added to the fact that any deal for Sneijder is unlikely to take place before the weekend which could lead to Cleverley making his official first team debut for Sir Alex Fergusons team. Cleverley joined United on their pre-season tour of the US late due to England under 21 duties, but made up for any lost time by putting in man of the match displays against the Chicago Fire and the mighty Barcelona.

At Wembley on Sunday, Cleverley made a second half appearance against local rivals City and helped inspire United to overturn a 2-0 deficit at half time into a thrilling 3-2 victory; this performance alone impressed England Manager Fabio Capello enough to call Cleverley up to the senior squad for the postponed friendly against the Dutch.

Can we read too much into a string of impressive performances by Cleverley in pre-season and the Charity Shield on Sunday and is he now ready to make the step-up in class and play regularly for Manchester United?  So far during the pre-season he has proved to himself, Sir Alex and the fans that he can make the grade as a Manchester United player.  Against Barcelona, Cleverley was the best player on the pitch that contained the likes of Iniesta, Villa, Busquets, Thiago, Rooney and Nani. Of course some people could make the argument that it was only a friendly and Barcelona didn’t really take it serious, this wasn’t the case Barcelona didn’t play the game as if it was a friendly nor did Manchester United. The game itself was so far removed from pre-season it was played as if it was a Champions’ League group match with both teams playing a ferocious pace throughout with plenty of tough tackling from both sides. The same can be said for Sundays match at Wembley when Cleverley again excelled against a world class midfield.

Cleverley is exactly the type of player needed for Manchester United’s midfield; the current formation of 4-4-2 suits him perfectly, with Anderson, Carrick or Fletcher dropping into a deeper role to facility Cleverley in a more attacking role from midfield. Cleverley has the determination and drive to succeed at United, he has the vision to play in midfield, help unlock a tight defence. He can pass accurately, play one touch football with ease, can beat an opponent with his ability in tight situations and unlike the three players mentioned, likes to get forward and link up with the forward line.

Even if United do complete a deal for Sneijder, Cleverley could still manage to establish himself in the Manchester United squad this season playing in the region of twenty-five games gaining valuable experience along the way. If Cleverley can continue to maintain his performance levels he reached in the Barcelona and City game during the upcoming season then Sir Alex will be more that pleased with his new fledglings progression into a new look United team.

ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.

Click here to have a look out our predictions for the 2011/2012 Premier League Season!

Or have a look at the ten strikers that we think will lead the race for the Golden Boot next season

Share this article

0 comments

Comments are closed.