The Former United Youth/Reserves Thread

khoazany said:
I still thought that they are in the League One or Championship until I checked Google. That should tell you how much I know or care about them :nervous:
Click to expand...
Their owner is a really rich man, he owns Blackpool Tower and quite a few other things. When Blackpool were relegated from the PL, he pulled the plug on feeding the club money to pay for players, wages etc and they went into free fall.
 
khoazany said:
So am I but on paper Young has what Brady offers - composed, versatile. Young is already at the club and more experienced.
Click to expand...
Brady would be an upgrade in my opinion but then again I'm Irish so I'm gonna be biased.
 
Tom Lawrence :drool: favourite player. Being linked with a number of clubs. Kind of hoping he goes to Newcastle. Will get promoted and I might go up and watch a few games.

About time Brady got back to the pl too. Way too good for the championship
 
Great goal! Watching him in that vid reminded me about something I noticed in him when he was at United; the way he carries himself like a star player. Sometimes comes across wrong if you don't live up to it but he's obviously got huge confidence in his own ability.

According to whoscored he has 8 goals and 4 assists so far this season.

Also I agree about Brady, liked him when he was here and would have him back as Lwb, albeit depending on if Luke can regain fitness/form.
 
During the game today I realised that not only did Matty James lose 19 month of football, at the same time Reece James lost 12 months.
Talk about bad luck running in the family... hopefully both will enjoy some change of this luck
 
Danny Butterworth scored 1 and assisted 1 in his first start for Blackburn U23s yesterday (he's a first year U18). Blackburn won 2-0 against Brighton U23s.
 
Tom Lawrence with a brace, has scored 8 of the 9 goals Ipswich has scored in 2017.

Josh King with a brace against Everton.

Januzaj with two assists for Defoe.

A good day for United's academy.
 
top1whoisman said:
Tom Lawrence with a brace, has scored 8 of the 9 goals Ipswich has scored in 2017.

Josh King with a brace against Everton.

Januzaj with two assists for Defoe.

A good day for United's academy.
Click to expand...

3 guys I had high hopes for. :(

It's good to see them showing they are good enough for PL level.
 
Josh King up to 11 PL goals this season (7 non-penalty goals scored from 31 shots inside the box so conversion rate 22%). Got 6 PL goals last season (from 41 shots inside the box so conversion rate of 14.5% which is average). Genuinely good player now or just a hot spell ?

Made me think that a lot of talented young players need to gain the physicality to play against men, then they need someone to believe in them enough to give them playing time.

Blackburn used him wide, Bournemouth seem to be getting more from him as a support striker.
 
Wonder if Tom Lawrence will get a chance at Leicester next season ? Surely he has done enough for a PL team to give him at least 10-15 games to see if he can deliver in the PL. One season left (summer 2018) on his current contract at Leicester.

Ravel Morrison 3 sub appearances (29 mins total) since joining QPR on loan. 2 more years on his Lazio deal. Will he get a start before the end of the season ?

Saidy Janko's loan at Barnsley hasn't gone well. Been missing for a long time, perhaps injured ? 2 years left on his Celtic contract. Matty James also on loan at Barnsley (from Leicester), getting much needed starts.

Ben Pearson 23 Championship starts for Preston; 11 yellow cards is hardly a surprise but still rather alarming. Might need another season before being ready for PL. Contract until 2020, which is very long by Championship standards.

Vermijl 10 Ch starts for Preston. Last season got 20 so not making progress.

James Weir has gone from being an unused sub at Hull to a similar role at Wigan, though he does have 1 start and I think 3 sub appearances. Probably earning good money at Hull but a move to a League One club might have been better for his career. Needs playing time somewhere.

Ryan Tunnicliffe was a regular starter in the Championship until this season. Only 7 starts. Fulham contract finishes in the summer. Doubt they want to keep him. I imagine another Championship team will take him.

Corry Evans 16 starts for Blackburn. 201 appearances in the Championship. 1 in League One.

Richie De Laet been injured most of the season at Villa after his extraordinary 2015-16. Is he really that much worse than Danny Simpson ?
 
Last edited:
don't sign old players said:
Any chance of bringing Drinkwater in to play DM?
Click to expand...
That will not end well, as much as I think he'd make a good squad player for this team, he'll be bombarded with "not United quality" shitposts on social media and forums like Fellaini gets now. People will never be happy with him, constantly asking for him to be replaced with a better player who is "good enough" to play for us.

Even Lingard to an extent gets this, and if his production or big goals dry up, watch people turn on him quickly. Home grown players who aren't flashy or high profile enough get too much shit from fans these days.
 
Sid234 said:
That will not end well, as much as I think he'd make a good squad player for this team, he'll be bombarded with "not United quality" shitposts on social media and forums like Fellaini gets now. People will never be happy with him, constantly asking for him to be replaced with a better player who is "good enough" to play for us.

Even Lingard to an extent gets this, and if his production or big goals dry up, watch people turn on him quickly. Home grown players who aren't flashy or high profile enough get too much shit from fans these days.
Click to expand...
Okay. No chance then.
 
don't sign old players said:
Any chance of bringing Drinkwater in to play DM?
Click to expand...

He's Scholes parody; good player and forging a good career for himself, but he'd need to improve his passing accuracy and consistency to make it at a big club than isn't counter-dependent.

Matty James just got player of the month at Barnsley, and before his injury in 2015 he was keeping DD out of the Leicester team. He's a more consistent, classier player who would be a better fit for a top club if it weren't for the bad luck injury wise. Still young I suppose...
 
AP88 said:
He's Scholes parody; good player and forging a good career for himself, but he'd need to improve his passing accuracy and consistency to make it at a big club than isn't counter-dependent.

Matty James just got player of the month at Barnsley, and before his injury in 2015 he was keeping DD out of the Leicester team. He's a more consistent, classier player who would be a better fit for a top club if it weren't for the bad luck injury wise. Still young I suppose...
Click to expand...


Always held Matty James as top class. Thought he could make it here.
Hopefully the bad luck is behind him.
Seems bad luck with injuries runs in the family, as Reece is/was also out for about a season..
 
Honourable mention to Josh King (I don't want him back before anyone jumps the gun) - 10 goals in his last 11 PL games.
 
Always looked capable of scoring goals at youth level, hopefully something's clicked with him and he keeps it up. Just not against us. :D
 
Classical Mechanic said:
From 6 goals in 92 throughout his career to 17 in 58 overall for Bournemouth with 11 in 27 this season shows great improvement for him.
Click to expand...

Also demonstrates how much easier it is to score when used centrally, rather than playing right/left wing as he did for Blackburn. Even his Bournemouth stats include some time as a not-particularly effective wide player.

His conversion rate stats look great but I don't watch Bournemouth enough to get a feel for his potential. Might just be a hot spell.

Will be interesting to see how he does next season.
 
Tom Thorpe's post United career is interesting to say the least:

Joined Rotherham on a 2 year deal. First match played CB, then used as a DM for 4 starts and 2 sub, before being loaned out to Bradford City in League One, who used him as a DM for one game then a CB for one match, then unused sub.

This season started back at Rotherham, 2 sub appearances in the first 5 games (3 defeats) before sent on loan to Bolton in League One. 19 starts in all competitions for Bolton. 2 as right back, 1 CB, 1 CM, 1 RM, the rest as DM.

Out of contract in the summer. Not been involved for a while for Bolton (might be injured ?).

Not sure whether that tells us more about U21/U23 level football, or the demands of playing centre defence at Championship and League One level.
 
kundalini said:
Not sure whether that tells us more about U21/U23 level football, or the demands of playing centre defence at Championship and League One level.
Click to expand...

Or the lack of fight and ambition from Thorpe himself, judging from the fact that he would rather stay and wait for a hopeless chance in his last year at United than going out on loan to prove himself.

There's a pattern there. Those who went on loan early (Lawrence,King or even Blackett) usually forge themselves a better career than those who did not despite rated higher by the fans (Cole,Thorpe). That's why I'm doubting whether Josh Harrop will even make it at Championship level.
 
I remember Thorpe going out on loan and tearing his ankle legaments on his first game. Think it was thr season before LVG arrived.
No doubt his career is not turning out well, to say the least
 
ariel said:
I remember Thorpe going out on loan and tearing his ankle legaments on his first game. Think it was thr season before LVG arrived.
No doubt his career is not turning out well, to say the least
Click to expand...

I was talking about the season after that when he had a choice to go on loan but wanted to stay.
 
King now on 14 PL goals this season.

Also, being bored at work I browsed through the non-league series. In Vanarama National League North, former academy player (or so it appears to be, going by his transfer records) Danny Rowe have score 46 in 27 for league leaders Fylde.
 
kundalini said:
Tom Thorpe's post United career is interesting to say the least:

Joined Rotherham on a 2 year deal. First match played CB, then used as a DM for 4 starts and 2 sub, before being loaned out to Bradford City in League One, who used him as a DM for one game then a CB for one match, then unused sub.

This season started back at Rotherham, 2 sub appearances in the first 5 games (3 defeats) before sent on loan to Bolton in League One. 19 starts in all competitions for Bolton. 2 as right back, 1 CB, 1 CM, 1 RM, the rest as DM.

Out of contract in the summer. Not been involved for a while for Bolton (might be injured ?).

Not sure whether that tells us more about U21/U23 level football, or the demands of playing centre defence at Championship and League One level.
Click to expand...

Very weird one, but I think he's yet another victim of his versatility; he should have gone to clubs where he was guaranteed the chance to play exclusively in defence. He seems happy to just play, even in midfield, despite the mediocrity that condemns him to.

I really rated him and think had he got into the first team he'd have made a bigger impact than Blackett and McNair; its about opportunity though, and that's why Rashford would likely still be in youth team limbo had Will Keane not been injured last spring.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Penna
Talks of King wanted by Spurs. Would be a good opportunity for him but I have a gut feeling that he will flop there.
 
Didnt realise El Fitouri had already been released by Chesterfield.

He'll regret wasting this opportunity.
 
DatGuyRich said:
Didnt realise El Fitouri had already been released by Chesterfield.

He'll regret wasting this opportunity.
Click to expand...

When you say this opportunity do you mean with United? If so I'd say that's a bit unfair.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.