Football fans around the world are aware that Manchester United’s academy plays a major part in much of the glamorous success the club and its fans have enjoyed over the years and most notably, under Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign.
Written down in history are players like Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and David Beckham, who will always be idolised stars at Manchester United and were an integral part of a golden generation for Sir Alex Ferguson’s club. With Giggs and Scholes still playing late into their thirties whilst being more than capable to compete at the top level, it strongly suggests how well the academy can produce outstanding talent. All four rose through the youth system, head and shoulders above the rest, to achieve incredible things with their careers.
Additionally, there have been players of previous footballing generations who broke through into United’s first team-QPR manager Mark Hughes and the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton are proof of how the academy has developed and honed gifted youngsters, transforming and moulding them into football icons.
In the present day, the Red Devils unsurprisingly have several exciting talents who have either broken through or are on the verge of regular first team football. A great example here is Danny Welbeck; after being with Manchester United since the age of six, he is now a matured goal scorer at Old Trafford and has reaped much praise from the press for his performances. After playing for Preston North End and Sunderland on loan in recent seasons, his persistence and talent means he boasts caps for the England national team on top of gaining regular first team appearances for United.
There have also been claims that a future home-grown midfield pairing will rival that of Barcelona’s Xavi and Iniesta. Jesse Lingard and Larnell Cole have attracted much attention from the media recently due to their outstanding midfield prowess and performances for the reserves impressing many. 19 year-old Lingard has already set his sights on making his first-team debut before the end of the current campaign. And wait, there’s more…
In May 2011, United’s youngsters lifted the F.A Youth Cup for a record 10th time after seeing off their Sheffield United counterparts in a 6-3 win over a two-legged final. Promising striker William Keane scored twice in the second leg’s 4-1 victory at Old Trafford in front of optimistic spectators.
Therefore, with facts and statistics like this, United’s future seems to be looking very bright. Or does it?
November 30th, 2011 saw a day that not many of the Red Devil’s fans will want to remember, as their team exited the Carling cup (at home) after a 2-1 defeat to an impressive Crystal Palace side. United’s starting 11 saw youngsters like Ben Amos and Mame Biram Diouf, whilst the substitutes’ bench was warmed by several products of the academy: Ezekiel Fryers, Ravel Morrison (who also scored 2 goals in the F.A Youth Cup final second-leg) and Paul Pogba all entered the field of play as substitutes.
United were beaten and left red-faced as a fully deserved Palace entered the next round. As a result, this raised many questions: it may only be a brief glimpse, but did United’s kids perform well enough for a club with the type of worldwide status it owns? Is this really the next generation for Ferguson?
Ravel Morrison, mentioned earlier, was sold to West Ham United in the January transfer window for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half year deal. This certainly surprised many, who saw Morrison as an important part for United’s future. However, the talented teenage midfielder has been at the centre of much controversy. Earlier this month he was charged with posting a homophobic threat on Twitter and was fined £7,000 as a result. Previously, in early 2011, Morrison received a 12-month referral order and was ordered to pay a fine covering costs and compensation after he admitted to two accounts of witness intimidation.
Therefore, this gives a few suggestions as to what Manchester United want themselves to be seen as; as promising as Morrison was, they clearly feel that the reputation of United as a worldwide brand is more important than the talent of their players (is this something Liverpool and Chelsea could learn from?)-this is a certainly a respectable quality of the Red Devils.
Despite coming up against a few obstacles of late, the youth setup does look pretty convincing as a real force for the future at Old Trafford. Especially with Ferguson at the helm, youngsters there are guaranteed an expert education in football and it will come as no surprise when the next Scholes and Giggs are soon gracing English football.
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