Ben Pearson

settembrini said:
Very disappointed with this. He always impressed me when playing for our academy and under-21s and he won the young player of the year award one season. He had a successful loan spell last year and we didn't even give him a chance in pre-season and despite continuing to do well at Barnsley this year he's now being flogged for what we pay Rooney each week.
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He's 21, has never earned a United cap and has been picked up by a mid table championship side.

Some players just don't do enough to earn their chance. The coaches see them in training daily. If he's worth a chance at United, why were no Premier League sides interested?
 
Pexbo said:
If he's worth a chance at United, why were no Premier League sides interested?
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Don't understand this argument. Van Gaal has given chances to lots of players who would struggle to secure a move to a premier league team. McNair, Varela, Bothwick-Jackson, Powell, Wilson, Blackett, M. Keane etc. Should we have sold all of them without giving them an opportunity as well? Might as well scrap the academy altogether if we ran a policy like that.
 
settembrini said:
Don't understand this argument. Van Gaal has given chances to lots of players who would struggle to secure a move to a premier league team. McNair, Varela, Bothwick-Jackson, Powell, Wilson, Blackett, M. Keane etc. Should we have sold all of them without giving them an opportunity as well? Might as well scrap the academy altogether if we ran a policy like that.
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So you're complaining that the wrong "not good enough" players have been played. Fair enough.
 
settembrini said:
Don't understand this argument. Van Gaal has given chances to lots of players who would struggle to secure a move to a premier league team. McNair, Varela, Bothwick-Jackson, Powell, Wilson, Blackett, M. Keane etc. Should we have sold all of them without giving them an opportunity as well? Might as well scrap the academy altogether if we ran a policy like that.
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How many of them do you think are going to make it here?
 
Pexbo said:
So you're complaining that the wrong "not good enough" players have been played. Fair enough.
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Some of those players I don't rate, some I do. The point is they have all been given chances when, if we had sold them, none of them would have been obvious targets for premier league teams. I was wondering if you thought that was the wrong approach and they should all have been sold a while back because your post about Pearson would imply you think that should be the model of our academy.
 
All this reminds me of us releasing Tom Thorpe and many were annoyed with him not given a chance in the first team but he went to a lower chammpionship side where I dont think he has started a lot of games.
 
settembrini said:
Don't understand this argument. Van Gaal has given chances to lots of players who would struggle to secure a move to a premier league team. McNair, Varela, Bothwick-Jackson, Powell, Wilson, Blackett, M. Keane etc. Should we have sold all of them without giving them an opportunity as well? Might as well scrap the academy altogether if we ran a policy like that.
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Michael Keane moved to Burnley. I dont think that had anything to do with the one game (the 4-0 loss to MK Dons) he played for us.
 
Good luck Ben, devastated he didn't get a chance even though being 1 of the best acedemy players during his time. Can't for the life of me understand why McNair, Powell, Keane, Lingard, Blackett are still at the club but then again we do have LVG in charge and it would suprise if all them player to get contract extensions and senior game time while Goss, Pereira, Januzaj and Wilson are sold for a bag of crisps. Anyway were going to spend Millions on a young talented DM to take place Ben could have filled. I hope he reaches his potential and come back in the future.
 
settembrini said:
Some of those players I don't rate, some I do. The point is they have all been given chances when, if we had sold them, none of them would have been obvious targets for premier league teams. I was wondering if you thought that was the wrong approach and they should all have been sold a while back because your post about Pearson would imply you think that should be the model of our academy.
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My point is that it's up to the coaches to decide who gets a chance in the first team. Plenty get a chance, for whatever reason Pearson didn't but I'm sure there will be valid reasons. You can't just give every player a first team run out.
 
Another baffling case of mismanagement of academy players. There where a hell of a lot of people in this thread who have watched him for longer than me, who for years thought he would make it. It's just odd.
 
my God we are a retarded club.....in 90% of the cases i dont think our youth players are good enough even if i rate them as good players but in Ben's case im sure he is good enough. Probably one of 5 players since(from 08 or 09 not sure when they started with MUTV streams) i started watching every youth game that i was sure they are good enough to be regular starters of a top team.
 
Oo0AahCantona said:
Another baffling case of mismanagement of academy players. There where a hell of a lot of people in this thread who have watched him for longer than me, who for years thought he would make it. It's just odd.
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Posters on here are often very optimistic when it comes to our young players -- I am guilty of that myself, sometimes. It has a lot to do with hope and romanticism, I think. A bit early to call this a "baffling case of mismanagement" in my opinion.
 
settembrini said:
Don't understand this argument. Van Gaal has given chances to lots of players who would struggle to secure a move to a premier league team. McNair, Varela, Bothwick-Jackson, Powell, Wilson, Blackett, M. Keane etc. Should we have sold all of them without giving them an opportunity as well? Might as well scrap the academy altogether if we ran a policy like that.
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Pretty much all of them with the exception of Wilson got games because of injuries/other mitigating circumstances which is about right because none of the others are good enough to be United regulars. In all likelihood Pearson isn't good enough either.
 
Šjor Bepo said:
my God we are a retarded club.....in 90% of the cases i dont think our youth players are good enough even if i rate them as good players but in Ben's case im sure he is good enough. Probably one of 5 players since(from 08 or 09 not sure when they started with MUTV streams) i started watching every youth game that i was sure they are good enough to be regular starters of a top team.
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I think we have an over abundance of players who can play in midfield coming through the ranks at the minute. Gomes, Gribbin, Fosu-Mensah (who may or may not settle at CB) Goss to name 4 with Herrera and Schneiderlin as longer term options already in the first team. Him, Rothwell, Cole, Thorpe and Varela seem to have been caught up in a group that was apparently just too early for Moyes (I disagree entirely given we had nothing to go for come Feb and that group were playing some great stuff that year) to use and is now just too late for van Gaal to start with come next season. Timing is everything.
 
It's pretty pointless having a go at Van Gaal over this considering decisions on young players are made by a team of coaches who have been working with these players for years and know everything about them. The club have always trusted the likes of McGuinness and Joyce to decide which players are ready to be pushed up the age groups and sent to train with the seniors which has happened with the likes of Goss, Pereira, and Tuanzebe in the past year and Van Gaal even spoke about asking Joyce to recommend a player when we had defensive injuries and he suggested Borthwick Jackson. I've always been a big fan of Pearson as much for his attitude as his ability and would have liked to have seen how he would done if given a chance but realistically if he wasn't from our academy and was just another 21 year old who had done well for a league 1 team would anyone be suggesting we should be buying him? As for the price there really isn't much point complaining as an extra few hundred thousand realistically means nothing to United but can often be the difference between the player being able to move to a club which he really wants to join and a club which he doesn't particularly want to go to but who can pay the extra money.
 
Sad to see him go. I thought he could make it. I wish him the best.
 
van Gaal has given plenty of youth a chance if he thought Pearson was worthy then he would've done. How the lad describes himself in his Preston bio makes him sound like a typical Championship footballer.
 
Dissapointed to see him go.

Enjoyed watching Ben since he made his u18 debut and has been one of the best players I have seen in the academy since I have been following it over the last 10 years. We produce lots of players who go into have excellent careers without ever making into the highest category of football. Pearson's talent is better than the average and I can see him playing at a high level in the future.

Most likely he couldn't see himself getting the oppurtunities here he feels he needed in midfield and has made a decision to leave in search of it. Best of luck to him.
 
He's pretty good, tactically aware defensive mid, think he'll be an outstanding signing for them.
Lets face it he wasn't going to get a chance here. 100k seems pitifully low however.
 
Always looked a step below united standard. Nice player though. Should have a good career. Good luck to him
 
Stobzilla said:
I think we have an over abundance of players who can play in midfield coming through the ranks at the minute. Gomes, Gribbin, Fosu-Mensah (who may or may not settle at CB) Goss to name 4 with Herrera and Schneiderlin as longer term options already in the first team. Him, Rothwell, Cole, Thorpe and Varela seem to have been caught up in a group that was apparently just too early for Moyes (I disagree entirely given we had nothing to go for come Feb and that group were playing some great stuff that year) to use and is now just too late for van Gaal to start with come next season. Timing is everything.
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We have a lot of midfielders i agree but Pearson is the most talented(Gomes is most probably up there) one and is on pretty high level already. But nothing new, we sold our most talented defender in last 10 years and then gave plenty of chances to Blackett(awful) and McNair(average). To be fair i dont think Thorpe was good enough but he was class above everyone else and given the situation we are now(1 good CB in the club) he would be a decent option.
 
Šjor Bepo said:
We have a lot of midfielders i agree but Pearson is the most talented(Gomes is most probably up there) one and is on pretty high level already. But nothing new, we sold our most talented defender in last 10 years and then gave plenty of chances to Blackett(awful) and McNair(average). To be fair i dont think Thorpe was good enough but he was class above everyone else and given the situation we are now(1 good CB in the club) he would be a decent option.
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Keane was, and is, better than Thorpe. Much though I liked Thorpe. And Fryers was more talented too even if he is a gimp.
 
TwoSheds said:
Keane was, and is, better than Thorpe. Much though I liked Thorpe. And Fryers was more talented too even if he is a gimp.
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i dont agree....Keane was lucky that he looks like a CB, is tall and strong so thats a big advantage over Thorpe who is pretty small for a defender and he isnt the quickest either so not many teams will gamble with that type of CB no matter how good he is ability wise. Thats why we started playing him as defensive midfielder in U21 and from what i read, thats where he plays for Rotherham when he isnt injured and unfortunately thats not often.
 
Šjor Bepo said:
i dont agree....Keane was lucky that he looks like a CB, is tall and strong so thats a big advantage over Thorpe who is pretty small for a defender and he isnt the quickest either so not many teams will gamble with that type of CB no matter how good he is ability wise. Thats why we started playing him as defensive midfielder in U21 and from what i read, thats where he plays for Rotherham when he isnt injured and unfortunately thats not often.
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Thorpe may have been better on the ball but Keane is a better defender. Their respective careers will bear this put.
 
he didnt have luck with chances, SAF would have probably liked him as a player and gave him his chance. I got carried away with what people said that he was gonna be a star, was never sure about that, yes he was years ahead in terms of positioning and thinking on the pitch but at the same time he was a little child unable to keep cool head, also average athlete, too little too small. He will be a decent player one day if Danny drinkwater can play for top half team then he surely can too but needs to grow up first..
 
TwoSheds said:
Thorpe may have been better on the ball but Keane is a better defender. Their respective careers will bear this put.
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when i said ability i didnt mean ability on the ball.....i meant on positioning, reading of the game, 1v1 etc.
Keane will probably have a better career but that would prove nothing, i already said why in previous post + by the look of things Thorpe is made out of glass like 90% of our academy graduates :(
 
Acole9 said:
van Gaal has given plenty of youth a chance if he thought Pearson was worthy then he would've done. How the lad describes himself in his Preston bio makes him sound like a typical Championship footballer.
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Not talking about whether Pearson should be given a chance or not but this is really daft.

About Pearson, wouldn't be surprised if he lost out to Goss in the pecking order of LVG.There wasn't a hell lot difference in abilities between two of them so it's probably up to managerial preference.We have too many senior CMs as it stands.

He still have a lot of rooms to grow in terms of physicality and mentality (still giving away needless fouls) so should have a bright future ahead once he filled out in those aspects.
 
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BennyBlanco said:
He's pretty good, tactically aware defensive mid, think he'll be an outstanding signing for them.
Lets face it he wasn't going to get a chance here. 100k seems pitifully low however.
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It was 300k plus add-ons.Still very low fee but wouldn't be a surprise since we're talking about Man United selling a player.
 
khoazany said:
It was 300k plus add-ons.Still very low fee but wouldn't be a surprise since we're talking about Man United selling a player.
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Off topic. But how would you rank the remaining CMs in the U21 and below? Any other opinions are welcome. I'm curious to see what people think.
 
dichinero said:
Off topic. But how would you rank the remaining CMs in the U21 and below? Any other opinions are welcome. I'm curious to see what people think.
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Poor,
Always thought Pearson was better than Rothwell.
Fosu-Mensah and Josh Harrop seem the most promising of the current lot.
 
dichinero said:
Off topic. But how would you rank the remaining CMs in the U21 and below? Any other opinions are welcome. I'm curious to see what people think.
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Depends on how you categorize them.There're players who play in different positions but have played CM at times and might well be one long-term like Harrop,Gribbin or Gomes.If we only talk about players who played most of their games at CM Fosu-Mensah,Goss,Rothwell and Kehinde are my pick.Obviously things haven't gone well with Rothwell this year and both him and Kehinde might not really fit with English football but they are sounded technically and I always like to see that kind of players coming through.Willock and Redmond are decent but those are kind of players that we can produce a few every year.Whelan showed some promises so far in the U18s but very hard to tell how good he is/will be.Apart from Fosu-Mensah the rest of them will probably need some (or a lot of) luck and timing to make it here.
 
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I think we might see Andreas Periera play in midfield more for the 1st team.. Pearson didn't really stand a chance considering the players ahead of him in Van Gaal's list.

He'll do well at Preston, I expect to see him playing in the PL in a season or two
 
khoazany said:
Depends on how you categorize them.There're players who play in different positions but have played CM at times and might well be one long-term like Harrop,Gribbin or Gomes.If we only talk about players who played most of their games at CM Fosu-Mensah,Goss,Rothwell and Kehinde are my pick.Obviously things haven't gone well with Rothwell this year and both him and Kehinde might not really fit with English football but they are sounded technically and I always like to see that kind of players coming through.Willock and Redmond are decent but those are kind of players that we can produce a few every year.Whelan showed some promises so far in the U18s but very hard to tell how good he is/will be.Apart from Fosu-Mensah the rest of them will probably need some (or a lot of) luck and timing to make it here.
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Heard a lot about this lad. However with the number of players people hope who make it from our academy but don't, do you think Mensah has a good chance? Is he someone who is like Pogba in terms that he will be a first-team player for a top team or is he like the many others from our academy who may be good enough to ply their trade in the PL one day but not for any top club?
 
Gutted. He was my favourite. Loved his energy and enthusiasm, and would have loved to see him given a chance here. Hope he does well there and has a good career.
 
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