2023/24 Season Summary

Mr. MUJAC

Manchester United Youth Historian
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As the season is finally completed for the Academy teams here is a statistical summary of the campaign for the U/18's including the UEFA Youth League as most players featuring came from this group.

U/18 Academy League - P25 W21 D2 L2 F80 A29
U/18 Premier League Cup - P6 W5 D0 L1 F20 A 6
FA Youth Cup - P2 W1 D0 L1 F1 A 2
UEFA Youth League - P6 W1 D2 L3 F5 A 8

Overall - P39 W28 D4 L7 F106 A45

In addition we played eight friendly games as follows:

v Hertha Berlin (1-2), Liverpool (0-1) and Valencia (2-4) at the Northern Ireland Super Cup
v Gainsborough Trinity 1-1
v SALFORD CITY 6-1
v SHREWSBURY TOWN 8-1
v AS Monaco 2-1
v OGC Nice 2-3

Appearances and goals in these games and any others in shorter tournaments like the Otten Cup have not been included.

CONTEXT:

A change of manager during the summer of 2023 saw Adam Lawrence use a total of 44 different players during the campaign with players in bold making their debut. A number of these suffered injuries which either limited their playing time or necessitated playing matches with the U/16's. Many of the players also made progress into the U/21's which impacted their total number of U/18 appearances. Devaney, Amass, Biancheri and Jack Fletcher in particular all had stand-out debut seasons.

In terms of goalscoring, the majority of the 100+ goals came from the forward line, however our midfield struggled to find the net with any degree of regularity. The likes of Fitzgerald, J. Fletcher, Devaney, McAllister, Curley and Missin all played in more than 20 games each but only scored a combined total of 14 goals between them. Clearly it had minimal impact on the overall performance of the team and their play contributed to the success of the forwards, but it clearly is a development area moving forward.

Daniel Gore, Willy Kambwala, Omari Forson, Isak Hansen-Aaroen, Kobbie Mainoo and Tom Wooster only featured in the UEFA Youth League.

APPEARANCES:

29 games - Finley McAllister (26+3), Louis Jackson (25+4), Jacob Devaney (19+10)
28 games - Gabriele Biancheri (13+15)
27 games - Jack Kingdon (26+1)
26 games - James Scanlon (22+4)
25 games - Harry Amass (24+1), Victor Musa (17+8)
24 games - Ashton Missin (16+8)
23 games - Ruben Curley (16+7)
22 games - Jayce Fitzgerald (18+4)
20 games - Tom Myles (19+1), Ethan Wheatley (18+2), Ethan Williams (16+4)
19 games - James Nolan (18+1), Jack Fletcher (17+2)
18 games - Elyh Harrison (18), Zach Baumann (8+10)
16 games - Malachi Sharpe (10+6)
15 games - Jayden Kamason (11+4), Habeeb Ogunneye (11+4)
14 games - Reece Munro (14)
13 games - Shea Lacey (7+6)
10 games - Bendito Mantato (8+2), Jimmy Thwaites (1+9)
6 games - Willy Kambwala (6), Tyler Fletcher (3+3), Daniel Armer (2+4)
3 games - Daniel Gore (3), Godwill Kukonki (1+2)
2 games - Jack Moorhouse (2), Maxi Oyedele (2), Omari Forson (2), Kobbie Mainoo (2), Isak Hansen-Aaroen (2), Amir Ibragimov (1+1), Albert Mills (1+1), James Bailey (0+2)
1 game - Tom Wooster (1), Dante Plunkett (1), Will Murdock (1), Cameron Byrne-Hughes (0+1), Siem Eyob-Abraha (0+1), Mason Cotcher (T) (0+1)

GOALSCORERS:

19 - Ethan Wheatley
17 - Gabriele Biancheri
13 - Ethan Williams
8 - James Scanlon
6 - Victor Musa, Bendito Mantato
4 - Ashton Missin, Malachi Sharpe
3 - Finley McAllister, Louis Jackson, Jack Kingdon, Ruben Curley, Jayce Fitzgerald
2 - Harry Amass, Shea Lacey, Omari Forson, own goals
1 - James Nolan, Jack Fletcher, Zach Baumann, Jack Moorhouse, Reece Munro, Jimmy Thwaites


LEAGUE COMBINATIONS:

Goalkeeper - 4 different goalkeepers were used with Tom Myles the most preferred
Fullbacks: 10 different combinations were used with McAllister/Amass, Kamason/Amass and Kamason/Nolan all featuring four times
Central Defence: 7 different combinations with two of Jackson, Kingdon and Munro combining for 19 of the 25 league games
Midfield: There were numerous interchanges in this area as you would expect with Curley, Fitzgerald and J. Fletcher the mainstays
Wide Right: 7 different players were used with Malachi Sharpe (7) the most favoured.
Wide Left: 7 different players used with Williams preferred on 9 occasions
Centre-forward: Only three players were used...Biancheri (11), Musa and Wheatley.

CUP COMPETITIONS:

Looking at the line-ups for the Cup competition in isolation, the only two observations was that Adam Lawrence went for slightly stronger teams with Harrison, Nolan and Wheatley being preferred over some of the younger players which is understandable. The second observation was there was less experimentation from the bench.

PL2:

24 players from this seasons Academy were called up into the U/21's and made their debut during 2023/24. This is one of the largest number of debuts at that level for many years.

INTERNATIONAL CALL UPS:

The following players were all called up for their respective countries at some level during the course of the season. I have only listed those who played in the U/18's. In addition, some players like Victor Musa have represented their country in past seasons but I can't find matches for the current campaign. (f I have missed anyone here let me know)

England: McAllister, Amass, Mantato, Fitzgerald, Ibragimov, Lacey, Harrison, Wheatley, J. Fletcher
Scotland: Sharpe, T. Fletcher, Jackson, Kingdon
Wales: Biancheri
Northern Ireland: Murdock
Gibraltar: James Scanlon who made his full international debut.

That's an impressive 16 players from the squad.

FIRST TEAM CALL UPS:

Finally, United have had 306 different players since 1932 to come through the youth system and make the first team squad. Not every player has gone on to play in the first team but it is significant recognition. The following players who featured in the Academy THIS SEASON joined that 'exclusive club'.

Harry Amass, Ethan Wheatley and Louis Jackson. Obviously congratulations to Ethan Wheatley who went on to play in the first team.

SUMMARY:

The success of the youth team in 2022/23 in winning the FA Youth Cup and this season winning three trophies illustrates an excellent level of depth within the Academy. Most of these players will not make it at United but it will be fascinating watching their progress over the next few years. Marcus Rashford reached 400 appearances this season whilst Scott McTominay has 250 to his name. Both these players were hardly the stars of their respective teams but it shows what can be achieved. Hopefully the first team manager will continue giving young players opportunities.

Congrats to all the players and coaching staff for their achievements in 2023/24.
 
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Mr. MUJAC said:
GOALSCORERS:

19 - Ethan Wheatley
14 - Gabriele Biancheri
12 - Ethan Williams
7 - James Scanlon
6 - Victor Musa, Bendito Mantato
4 - Ashton Missin, Malachi Sharpe
3 - Finley McAllister, Louis Jackson, Jack Kingdon, Ruben Curley, Jayce Fitzgerald
2 - Harry Amass, Shea Lacey, Omari Forson
1 - James Nolan, Jack Fletcher, Zach Baumann, Jayden Kamason, Reece Munro, Jimmy Thwaites
Click to expand...

I've got Biancheri down for 17, Scanlon for 8 and Jack Moorhouse with 1 instead of Kamason (Stoke away).

Fantastic summary of a terrific season :)
 
Brilliant summary @Mr. MUJAC!

Although I disagree with these.

"Midfield: There were numerous interchanges in this area as you would expect with Curley, Fitzgerald and J. Fletcher the mainstays"

All three missed large chunks of the season. McAllister & Devaney both played much more than the three mentioned. Even if you exclude McAllister's minutes at RB & CB.

"Wide Right: 7 different players were used with Malachi Sharpe (7) the most favoured."

Mantato and especially Scanlon and Missin played (much) more than Sharpe.
 
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Nice quotes about Garnacho, Mainoo etc.

One part that interests me the most are the loans.

Binnion meets with Les Parry, Darren Fletcher and Nick Cox each month to discuss academy loans and was insightful when discussing how certain spells away are viewed.

"Even with loans you've mentioned [Will Fish, Alvaro Fernandez, Joe Hugill and Radek Vitek], the perception is they've been successful because they've played or their team has done well, whereas some lads who have left on loan and haven't played appears really bad," he said.

"But it makes them realise where they’re at. Some boys are playing higher-level games and of course, we'd like them to all be successful, but I think realistically we know they’re not going to be and they can’t be because we’re not putting a gun to the heads of the managers.

”We don't say 'you must play our players'. I know that does happen, but I don’t think that's healthy and we'll continue to review each loan we do and analyse what happened.

"We'll think that wasn’t great because a player had three managers, but could we have foreseen that? No, OK, that team played that way, it suited that player, would we do that again?

"So it’s a reflection and planning for next year’s loans is what we’re in control of and we’ll endeavour to get it right. It’s been a real mixed level of success and that’s ok.

"I think sometimes people are too ready to say a loan has failed and suggest a player isn't good enough. A lot of loans at a lot of clubs aren’t successful, particularly the first ones.

”That doesn’t define how successful a player's career will be or how successful his next loan will be, so we make sure we're aware of why something happened and put it right."

”Will's undoubtedly for me been our most successful loan and you could argue that's been the case for two years and he’s going to get the rewards from that," Binnion said.

”People are aware of how well he’s doing. What I would add is that Will's first loan at Stockport wasn’t good in terms of minutes and exposure and then his start at Hibernian was tough.

”Who's to say he'd have that success without the learning from the first period? I think he’s a great example of the loan system and it’s a testament to him. When you say he’s gone under the radar, I think it’s because he’s quite low maintenance and profile as well.

"He's a great kid, he just wants to play football and have success. Hierbnian have been great for him, so he's in a really good place and there’s a lot of interest in him for future loans and coming back with us, the manager will have another look at him and see how he’s progressed."
Click to expand...
 
top1whoisman said:
Brilliant summary @Mr. MUJAC!

Although I disagree with these.

"Midfield: There were numerous interchanges in this area as you would expect with Curley, Fitzgerald and J. Fletcher the mainstays"

All three missed large chunks of the season. McAllister & Devaney both played much more than the three mentioned. Even if you exclude McAllister's minutes at RB & CB.

"Wide Right: 7 different players were used with Malachi Sharpe (7) the most favoured."

Mantato and especially Scanlon and Missin played (much) more than Sharpe.
Click to expand...

Agree on Devaney/McAllister. The right wing one though - Scanlon and Missin definitely played much more than Sharpe but split their minutes with left wing/number ten. I have right wing starts as: Sharpe 9, Missin 6, Musa 6, Scanlon 5, Mantato 4, Lacey 3 (rough estimate as those are stats for the #7 shirt, which was almost always right wing in our U18 lineups but there may have been the odd exception). Really illustrates what a good job Lawrence and the team did producing such a great set of results with lots of chopping and changing of personnel.

For what it's worth (U18s only, so no UYL):

GK: Myles 19, Harrison 13, Murdock 1
RB: Kamason 11, Ogunneye 7, McAllister 7, Nolan 6, Devaney 2
LB: Amass 23, Nolan 5, Mantato 3, Kukonki 1, Plunkett 1
CB: Jackson 22, Kingdon 22, Munro 14, Nolan 3, Armer 2, McAllister 2, Mills 1
CM: Devaney 17, McAllister 16, Fitzgerald 12, Curley 10, Baumann 6, T Fletcher 2, J Fletcher 1, Ibragimov 1, Scanlon 1
AM: J Fletcher 15, Curley 4, Scanlon 4, Fitzgerald 3, Baumann 2, Moorhouse 2, Biancheri 1, Lacey 1, Mantato 1
RW: Sharpe 9, Missin 6, Musa 6, Scanlon 5, Mantato 4, Lacey 3
LW: Williams 12, Missin 8, Scanlon 6, Lacey 2, Musa 2, Biancheri 1, Curley 1, Thwaites 1
ST: Wheatley 14, Biancheri 11, Musa 8
 
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PS18 said:
Agree on Devaney/McAllister. The right wing one though - Scanlon and Missin definitely played much more than Sharpe but split their minutes with left wing/number ten. I have right wing starts as: Sharpe 9, Missin 6, Musa 6, Scanlon 5, Mantato 4, Lacey 3 (rough estimate as those are stats for the #7 shirt, which was almost always right wing in our U18 lineups but there may have been the odd exception). Really illustrates what a good job Lawrence and the team did producing such a great set of results with lots of chopping and changing of personnel.

FWIW:

GK: Myles 19, Harrison 13, Murdock 1
RB: Kamason 11, Ogunneye 7, McAllister 7, Nolan 6, Devaney 2
LB: Amass 23, Nolan 5, Mantato 3, Kukonki 1, Plunkett 1
CB: Jackson 22, Kingdon 22, Munro 14, Nolan 3, Armer 2, McAllister 2, Mills 1
CM: Devaney 17, McAllister 16, Fitzgerald 12, Curley 10, Baumann 6, T Fletcher 2, J Fletcher 1, Ibragimov 1, Scanlon 1
AM: J Fletcher 15, Curley 4, Scanlon 4, Fitzgerald 3, Baumann 2, Moorhouse 2, Biancheri 1, Lacey 1, Mantato 1
RW: Sharpe 9, Missin 6, Musa 6, Scanlon 5, Mantato 4, Lacey 3
LW: Williams 12, Missin 8, Scanlon 6, Lacey 2, Musa 2, Biancheri 1, Curley 1, Thwaites 1
ST: Wheatley 14, Biancheri 11, Musa 8
Click to expand...

Yeah that’s fair regarding RW. Crazy to think that we would’ve been even better with Lacey being fit or playing Mantato more.
 
top1whoisman said:
Brilliant summary @Mr. MUJAC!

Although I disagree with these.

"Midfield: There were numerous interchanges in this area as you would expect with Curley, Fitzgerald and J. Fletcher the mainstays"

All three missed large chunks of the season. McAllister & Devaney both played much more than the three mentioned. Even if you exclude McAllister's minutes at RB & CB.

"Wide Right: 7 different players were used with Malachi Sharpe (7) the most favoured."

Mantato and especially Scanlon and Missin played (much) more than Sharpe.
Click to expand...


top1whoisman said:
Brilliant summary @Mr. MUJAC!

Although I disagree with these.

"Midfield: There were numerous interchanges in this area as you would expect with Curley, Fitzgerald and J. Fletcher the mainstays"

All three missed large chunks of the season. McAllister & Devaney both played much more than the three mentioned. Even if you exclude McAllister's minutes at RB & CB.

"Wide Right: 7 different players were used with Malachi Sharpe (7) the most favoured."

Mantato and especially Scanlon and Missin played (much) more than Sharpe.
Click to expand...

Fitzgerald, Fletcher and Curley all played midfield only which is why I called them mainstays. Both McAllister and Devaney played in other roles. Nothing more than that.
 
Mr. MUJAC said:
Fitzgerald, Fletcher and Curley all played midfield only which is why I called them mainstays. Both McAllister and Devaney played in other roles. Nothing more than that.
Click to expand...

Fair play. Once again, top work for the op.
 
Excellent write up and these are the stats I like as they can be illuminating. The number of players used was something I had been complimentary about to both the squad and management. Although the levels are clearly different and rotation is expected the first team issues shows how bad it can get.

The spine of the team stayed pretty consistent though and this continuity had an affect I feel. That core of 6/8 players built a foundation.

The loans and movement between squads definitely affected the under 21s and maybe with the same core stepping up to the at level regularly we may see some improvement. We did already I feel with the last 3 games of this season.

I’m hopeful that even with the success of this season we will have players that will add to the under 18s next season when they find their feet. Thwaites looked interesting as did Bailey. Midfield will be an area of strength again I feel.

While it’s pleasing that we have a lot of players doing well at youth international level, the most for a while i think, it’s interesting that you also mention the lesser profile members of the first team in relation to appearances too. The unheralded members of this under 18 team have that vibe. Devaney in particular.

Excited for next season.
 
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