THE DILEMMA OF THE ‘YOUTH’ POLICY

Evans passes to Anderson, who jinks past his man passes it to Welbeck, Welbeck to Anderson who plays a lovely ball to Macheda and its in!!! 1-0 Manchester United.

Well, this is a fantasy for some United fans like me. Watching a player progress through the ranks is different feeling, a different connection. You start learning about a prospect when he is in the U-18’s and as he progresses so do you! As Sir Alex says, “The crowd take to the younger lads more than a player ‘bought’.” But, at a club like Manchester United the pressure to win is so high, that you expect big player signings and one feels without them the club isn’t moving forward. Last season was one such season where after we sold a key player everyone expected some big money signings. But, who did we get a winger from Wigan who can’t play on the left, a crocked player from France who wasn’t fit to play in the first two months and a 29 year old PAST-HIS-PRIME Michael Owen. It raised doubts through the media and most United fans.

While our signings turned out to be more than decent, the younger ones too stepped up to make a mark. Ok, it was only Johnny Evans and Nani who made a mark, but that’s two young players getting through into the squad. Anderson showed flashes of brilliance here and there, but hasn’t delivered yet in a big game. But, he was injured in the latter part and really with Carrick out of form the chance was ideal for him to perform. I think (or rather hope) next season will be the breakthrough season for Ando, just as this was for both Evans and Nani. Rafael can show he can do the job but he’s immature (advantage taken by Ribery), hope he learns from that. Fabio is out only because Evra had an immaculate season with over 50 starts. Gibson has a shot on him, but can he really keep the ball and pass well? that’s left to be seen.

We have been blessed to have younger talented understudies in most of our first team positions. Probably that’s how we’ve differed from other teams like say Arsenal, who are supposed to be the promoters of the ‘Go Young’ policy. But, then again they haven’t been able to hold on to their good players like Flamini, Hleb, which meant young players are immediately thrust into the spotlight. Not every young player makes it right away on the big stage, mental strength plays a big part there. For us, Ronaldo has been one of the few established stars who have left the club in their prime, last being David Beckham of course. Thankfully, with the squad that we have it meant youngsters could be blooded in gradually. Youngsters need to be treated with care and also need to be educated to keep a level head. Who better than Giggsy, Scholesy, Neville or even Rooney then to set look upto? Also, before the Carling Cup semis we saw youngsters given more chances they showed their worth totally.

Of course, at a certain point age youngsters demand more playing time, I’m sure people remember Guiseppe Rossi. But, the case was different then, Rossi had just returned from loan and we got Carlos Tevez. Sir Alex knew better than to let Rossi rot in the reserves and we lost on a bundle of talent who I believe will become a great player for Italy if given the chance. Hopefully, next season with just one world class creative midfielder signing we will the same young players getting more chances.

Some of the youngsters have done well on loan. Tom Cleverly was Watford’s player of the year and he could actually replace Gibson in the squad. Craig Cathcart and Fabian Brandy did well too. Our Reserves won the league title and we also clinched the U-18 North title for the first time. So, it was a good domestic season for the youngsters. At the international level, the U-17 European Championships have 4 of our young players doing really well. Paul Pogba has been man of the tournament for France and the U-18’s, while the English team which reached the final has 3 United representatives. So, definitely there is hope.

But, patience is going to be the key if we are to see a new generation of United superstars coming through the ranks. Even out of a group of 20 if we see 5, 4 or even 1 make it really big the satisfaction will always be there that he was always ‘OUR’ player, just like Giggs, Scholes and the others. Well, I’ll leave you here, it seems Macheda just scored after a neat moving involving Welbeck and Anderson in Football Manager 2010 that is.