seems like a hell of a kneejerk reaction here. didn't see the game tonight unfortunately but i've seen a fair amount of these kids this season and it's OTT to start going on about this not being 'one of the vintage youth teams'. they've had a bad day at the office certainly but we're doing better in the academy league than we have done in a while. you look back at the youth cup winning side of 2003 and how many of them have set the world alight? not going to dismiss this crop just on the back of a shock result. it may well be that we don't have a team as good as the one that won in 2003 or came so close last year, but we could well end up producing an individual or two that goes on to make the first team, which the aforementioned teams have so far lacked.
Another point worth making (even though it's arguing against myself!) was the fact that a lot these lads were part of the team that won the World Youth Cup this summer, beating the likes of Barca and Juve along the way.
But I stand by my statement about the lack of real stars (with Wellbeck being the possible exception). In general, you can spot the young players who are likely to make the first team by the fact that they appear in a totally different class to everyone else on the pitch. Even the much-maligned Darren Fletcher was playing at a different level to his team-mates and the oppposition, when he was coming up through the ranks.
I think our trophy in Malaysia was more about graft, team-work and organisation than exceptional individuals. This was in contrast to a few of the teams we played, who were a bit all over the place but had a few exceptional youngsters.
Still, there's always time for late developers and Wellbeck and Macheda are both lanky lengths of rope, who won't be at their best until they start to fill out and get better control of their spindly limbs. I was shit at sports until after I stopped growing. Being a tall dork, in your teens, is a nightmare, when it comes to hand(foot)-eye coordination.
We've also got our best youngsters either in the reserves, or out on loan, including real talents like Hewson, Brandy, Cathcart, Kieran Lee, Campbell and Dong (spot the deliberate mistake
)