Busby Babes, Fergie's Fledglings...Ten Hag's Tots?

The Corinthian said:
Yes, I'm taking some liberties with the title...

Some of the players that really performed last night have come straight from the academy -

Hannibal (20)
Garnacho (19)
Gore (19)

and then there's Mainoo (18) who'll be back soon.

Some of the other players who are in the same age bracket, but not strictly academy players -
Pellestri (21)
Hojlund (20)
Amad (21)

Are we seeing the start of a group of players who will grow in the team together and supplant the first team players in the next year or two? I can definitely see a clear pathway to first team football for the likes of Hannibal, Garnacho, and Mainoo - I think they all have the ability, it's just a case of whether they get their head down and focus enough.

Similarly, for Hojlund and Amad (although not technically academy products) both have a future here. Pellestri as well I think can stake a claim here, but from reading the player performance thread, the jury is out for a lot of you.

Gore is one I haven't watched a lot of previously - but from his performance last night, he looks great, and mature beyond his years.

So, what say you?
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I reckon EtH would bite your hand off if you offered even 2 of those 6 becoming regular first teamers.
 
In four years, someone will bump this thread and look for those players in the third division in Spain or somethng.
 
Slightly knee jerk, no? Up until last week the prevailing narrative was that ETH doesn't give opportunities to young players.
 
The League Cup in 05/06 was basically lift off for Fergie's last great United squad. It seemed we were miles behind Chelsea at the time but it gave the likes of Ronaldo and Rooney a huge boost. They were integral to that and future success.

I wonder if something similar could happen this year. Being in a successful winning team (even if it is only the League Cup) could give Garnacho, Højlund, Pellestri and hopefully Hannibal that same boost.
 
Amir said:
In four years, someone will bump this thread and look for those players in the third division in Spain or somethng.
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Doubtful. Mejbri is a full international and shone for Birmingham in the Championshio last season. Garnacho is already well on his way to being an established Premier League player. Pellistri is a full international and played for Uruguay at the last World Cup. We spent £72m on Hojlund, who is currently the joint top scorer in European Championships Qualifying.

The only two who are really untested are Mainoo and Gore. Haven't seen much of Gore, and he's the one who potentially still has the most to do, but I'd be shocked if Mainoo doesn't at least make a solid Premier League player/top Championship player.
 
Remember the geese said:
Pellistri in particular, won't make the grade I feel. Hannibal has a better chance and can be at least a squad player here. Mainoo is a nice mix of technique and physicality. Skilful, good dribbler and passer. Sound decision making and composure. He has an effortless strut. All in all he's a big talent and it will be interesting to see what type of player he develops into. I see him in a deep midfield role, perhaps as a playmaker.
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Well I will look him up thanks for the info mate
 
iHicksy said:
Errr what. 16 is a child, you absolutely can credit the academy for developing them. They're hardly the finished product at 16 are they? Do we only count 8 year olds or someting now?

Scholes and Giggs were 14 and Neville and Beckham 16 (guess they are not an academy player then either?)
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16 counts as academy player. But Scholes, Beckham and Neville were all (much) younger when they joined United iirc.
 
Ten Tiny Tots - ETH went for the name and Sancho had a falling out since he thinks himself too big to be a part of the Tiny Tots
 
This thread is possibly the biggest clutching of straws since Federico Macheda was lauded as our saviour. You can’t take anything from that Palace game last night, they were dreadful and had 6 changes from there usual starting 11

Let’s see what the weekend brings . . .
 
dutchred said:
which players?
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I wouldn't try to guess.

And while I may be exaggerating by mentioning the third division, over the years I've seen time and time again how hopeful supporters put huge faith in young players and see them as the new class of 92' or something like that. Well, we've been waiting almost 30 years for something even remotely similar, so I doubt it will be any different.
 
Amir said:
I wouldn't try to guess.

And while I may be exaggerating by mentioning the third division, over the years I've seen time and time again how hopeful supporters put huge faith in young players and see them as the new class of 92' or something like that. Well, we've been waiting almost 30 years for something even remotely similar, so I doubt it will be any different.
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Agree we haven’t had that level of quality all in one year group, but we’ve definitely had some success stories from the academy in the intervening years - Brown, O’Shea, Evans, Fletcher, Welbeck, Rashford, Mason (before you know what).

Then there’s players like Gibson, Pogba, Lingard, Pique, Cleverley, who have done something of a job despite not being an overwhelming success.
 
It's interesting as we can now basically check the previous Youth Cup winning side from 2011 to see how they got on:

Sam Johnstone - Established Championship/occasional Prem level keeper, 3 England caps, played against us last night
Michael Keane - Established Premiership player, 12 England caps
Sean McGinty - Went all the way down to the National League before becoming a regular, now in the Scottish Championship
Tom Thorpe (c) - Had absolutely terrible luck with injuries, can't imagine he'd have been less than Championship quality otherwise
Michele Fornasier - Had a fairly long time in Serie B, now in C
Ryan Tunnicliffe - Fairly long time in the Championship, couple of seasons in League 1, just gone to Australia
Jesse Lingard - The myth, the legend... 232 appearances for United and 32 caps for England
Paul Pogba - World Cup winner, so good that we paid 90m for our own youth team player
Will Keane - Another with bad injuries, having a late-career renaissance in the Championship, was classy and a great finisher back in the day
Ravel Morrison - Now only the second biggest disappointment from our youth sides, at least made a career of it at Championship level where Rooney has apparently adopted him, taking him to DC United
Gyliano van Velzen - Seems to have mainly played in the Dutch second tier, honestly always looked like Bambi on ice even in the youth team.

(And on the Sheffield United team from that final, a certain H. Maguire)

So, while not a Class of 92, which is obviously very unlikely to ever happen again, there was one world class player, some Prem level and some wasted talent. I'd take the same again!
 
The Corinthian said:
Agree we haven’t had that level of quality all in one year group, but we’ve definitely had some success stories from the academy in the intervening years - Brown, O’Shea, Evans, Fletcher, Welbeck, Rashford, Mason (before you know what).

Then there’s players like Gibson, Pogba, Lingard, Pique, Cleverley, who have done something of a job despite not being an overwhelming success.
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Yeah, we've not done badly. And if Garnacho and Hojlund become the stars we hope, that will be massive. If one of the other guys also becomes a good squad player, it will be an added bonus. I certainly wouldn't expect more than that.
 
Wazzaduke33 said:
This thread is possibly the biggest clutching of straws since Federico Macheda was lauded as our saviour. You can’t take anything from that Palace game last night, they were dreadful and had 6 changes from there usual starting 11

Let’s see what the weekend brings . . .
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Well Macheda made a great entrance back in the days. I was there when he made his debut. Went downhill from that point :lol:
 
With some luck, we won’t need to sign a midfielder next year (except possibly Amrabat, who I’m counting as part of our current group anyway). Not only will we not sign one, but McTominay, Eriksen and VDB would hopefully leave.

That would leave us with a midfield group of:

Casemiro
Amrabat
Mount
Bruno
Hannibal
Mainoo
Gore

The last three would have hopefully gotten good opportunities this season to be ready to take on a bigger squad role. The summer after that, Casemiro could well be off too, and after two years in the first team squad, Mainoo may be ready to nail that spot down, and I think that by then, Hannibal/Gore may also start putting pressure on Bruno and Mount to start regularly.
 
united_99 said:
16 counts as academy player. But Scholes, Beckham and Neville were all (much) younger when they joined United iirc.
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Beckham officially joined the club at 16. He attended different football schools (including both those run by Tottenham and Man Utd) before that but was not officially attached to any clubs - just a normal school boy attending a normal high school.

He also attended Bradenton Preparatory Academy, but signed schoolboy forms at Manchester United on his 14th birthday, and subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991.[46] Beckham was a late developer and not selected to represent the England Schoolboys team primarily on account of his small size.[47]
 
I’m forever hopeful of a new crop coming through and there definitely potential in the current crop, and even the next cycle after that.

Especially in midfield I think we have a diverse set of players with different traits who if they fulfill their potential can find a home here. Of course some won’t make it but I think they have a manager who will reward hard work and will look to integrate youth.
Those that can play different roles or positions will find it easier I believe as our squad will change again in the next 2 years.
 
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