Would anyone be against us playing youth players?

Red Rash

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Maybe this thread is a little bit reactionary after today's result but I'm really getting sick of some of the players who are starting week in and out.

At this point I would really not mind if we dropped the players on big wages in favour of some players from the under 23s.

Seeing Maguire, McTominay, Rashford and (sad to say) Ronaldo stinking up the place is really becoming depressing. I would love to see the likes of Elanga and Mejbri start to get more game time even if it means some short term pain. What are everyone's thoughts on this?
 
Who plays up front for our youth team at the moment?
 
Yes. Its a big part of why we are in a mess. Indulging crap like Rashford,Lingard,Mctominay etc instead of buying in top players. None of the youth are good enough nor ever will be. All will end up at lower PL clubs at best.
 
Alejandro Garnacho and Charlie McNeil are both better than Rashford to be quite honest and Hannibal is miles better than Scotty. Would also put in better workrate.
 
It all depends whether they are ready for football, speculation and criticism at this level.

You can do alot of damage sticking in players who are not ready to play against men.

I don't see any of Hugill, McNeil or Garnacho being anywhere near ready for premier League football just yet. Have they even had alot of u23? Alvaro Fernandez is a really interesting prospect but again not ready to be just thrust into the first team by any means.

The likes of Wilson, Macheda, Welbeck, Rashford and Greenwood were far more dominant in younger teams by the time they made debuts and for longer. Nor Iqbal.

I think Hannibal could make some appearances tbh and Shoretire...and potentially Garner after his loan move...though again I am not sure Garner is of the level we need either. Laird is always spoken of highly...not kept up with his loan. Same with Mengi....
 
Mr PG said:
Alejandro Garnacho and Charlie McNeil are both better than Rashford to be quite honest and Hannibal is miles better than Scotty. Would also put in better workrate.
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Garnacho and McNeil aren't better than Rashford and are still inconsistent in some aspects of their game also.

Hannibal isn't a #6 like McTominay is playing, he's better as an #8.
 
Laird, Tuanzebe, Mengi, Garner and Mejbri should all be in our first team when you look at those who are in our first team in the same positions.

No one can convince me that Tuanzebe would be a worse option that Maguire has been this season whilst he’s far less injury prone than Bailly or Jones, for me Laird is exactly what we need at right back and a better option that either AWB or Dalot.

Garner is composed on the ball with an eye for a pass, his range of passing is good as well as his positioning so could be the deep lying playmaker we’re looking for whilst Mejbri reminds me of how Modric plays. Both offer more than playing McTominay and Fred together whilst Matic’s legs went years ago.
 
davidmichael said:
Laird, Tuanzebe, Mengi, Garner and Mejbri should all be in our first team when you look at those who are in our first team in the same positions.

No one can convince me that Tuanzebe would be a worse option that Maguire has been this season whilst he’s far less injury prone than Bailly or Jones, for me Laird is exactly what we need at right back and a better option that either AWB or Dalot.

Garner is composed on the ball with an eye for a pass, his range of passing is good as well as his positioning so could be the deep lying playmaker we’re looking for whilst Mejbri reminds me of how Modric plays. Both offer more than playing McTominay and Fred together whilst Matic’s legs went years ago.
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Yea agreed in an ideal world I'd love to see the following players in and around the first team:

Tuanzebe as third or fourth choice CB after Varane, Lindelof and Bailly. I would let Maguire go.

Laird as second choice right back as it's makes no sense having Dalot and Wan Bissaka.

One or two of Garner, Galbraith and Levitt as sub midfielders.

Hannibal as backup for Bruno

Elanga and Amad to play on the wings with Sancho
 
Nice sentiment, but too much money at stake for top 4. Certainly wouldnt miss half these players ever playing again
 
You already had the best identifier and developer of youth players of all time - Louis van Gaal. The way LvG developed Holger Badstuber (pre-injuries) into a Bayern starter, National Team starter, CL-winner was astounding. And I'm certain someone like Tyler Blackett would have at least 40 NT caps if LvG had stayed. I saw both at 19, no doubt in my mind Blackett would have had a totally different career trajectory with LvG backing and nurturing him.

Unfortunately top teams don't have time to develop players, don't know how to or don't do it because bought star players sell more shirts. Incredibly stupid and short sighted in my view because the academy player is free, knows the culture, shows others the way and has the potential to become a fans favourite as the local boy turned star.
 
pascell said:
Garnacho and McNeil aren't better than Rashford and are still inconsistent in some aspects of their game also.

Hannibal isn't a #6 like McTominay is playing, he's better as an #8.
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Indeed. Anyone that thinks they are anywhere near that level is utterly deluded
 
Red Rash said:
Maybe this thread is a little bit reactionary after today's result but I'm really getting sick of some of the players who are starting week in and out.

At this point I would really not mind if we dropped the players on big wages in favour of some players from the under 23s.

Seeing Maguire, McTominay, Rashford and (sad to say) Ronaldo stinking up the place is really becoming depressing. I would love to see the likes of Elanga and Mejbri start to get more game time even if it means some short term pain. What are everyone's thoughts on this?
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Aren't you just going to start hating them soon as well?
 
if a youth place is ready then I’m all for it, or if they are close and need some game time, but we shouldn’t just play them for the sake of playing them.

For me right now Elanga is close to starting, Him, Rashford, and Sancho are the 3 fighting for the 2 wide positions.

problem is they all look best on the left, the right is still and issue.
 
Skills said:
Aren't you just going to start hating them soon as well?
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Nope but I don't "hate" any of the players I mentioned in tbe OP. I'm just sick of players underperforming and think that if we don't change something we will be stuck in the same rut we have been in since Sir Alex retired.

If we have to take a few years of pain to bring through the youth and try and build something meaningful, I'd take that right now
 
Red Rash said:
Nope but I don't "hate" any of the players I mentioned in tbe OP. I'm just sick of players underperforming and think that if we don't change something we will be stuck in the same rut we have been in since Sir Alex retired.

If we have to take a few years of pain to bring through the youth and try and build something meaningful, I'd take that right now
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We tried that with McTominay and Rashford, and you're sick of them already?

It's just a supply chain of players you're sick of, so what will the next set have that makes them different?
 
Same old "play with youth". Look how many young players other top clubs have? One or two. Because they give a chance to best of the best. That is the way. Not picking 7 or 8 youngsters and play them all. We must evaluate who have potential to be first 11 United player and give those players a chance. Young player needs proven players around him from who he can learn.
 
I would be, for the simple fact that it's not fair on the youth players playing before they're ready. Why should they have their confidence knocked because our extremely well paid and backed first team players can't do what's required? I say let those lads suffer, strong chance they'll get replaced in the summer if they don't adapt anyway, so they'll learn one way or the other.
 
Red Rash said:
I would love to see the likes of Elanga and Mejbri start to get more game time even if it means some short term pain. What are everyone's thoughts on this?
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I think the problem is you've just named the only two who are ready for regular first team football and we're already using one of them a fair bit. So, like, sure we can increase Elanga's minutes and bring in Mejbri (I suspect both of these will happen) but it's not gonna be a particularly big change.
 
Sell one of the left backs, promote Alvaro Fernandez.

Sell one of the right backs, recall Ethan Laird.

Sign a couple of central midfielders, but recall James Garner.

Use Hannibal Mejbri and Shola Shoretire as options.

Recall Amad and have him compete with Elanga, Rashford and Sancho.

That's more or less it in terms of young players who are genuine candidates for the first team squad. There are others such as Mainoo, Hansen-Aarøen, Garnacho etc who can be given opportunities if we get a nice draw in the early rounds of cups.
 
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Skills said:
We tried that with McTominay and Rashford, and you're sick of them already?

It's just a supply chain of players you're sick of, so what will the next set have that makes them different?
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It's hardly a case of being "sick of them already". Both players have been with the first team now more than 5 years. I have no issue with either of them being in the squad however based on recent performances we need to change them up.

McTominay - in my opinion he will never be good enough to be first choice. He goes missing in way too many games, technically is average and defensively is easily run past.

Rashford - he is really really out of form at the moment. There is a good player in there but based on his recent performances shouldn't be anywhere near the first eleven.

It shows how far we've fallen that some fans in the fanbase are happy to accept mediocrity. When I'm looking at players the benchmark for me is the great Fergie teams. Compare prime Ronaldo, Rooney, Scholes, Giggs, Keane etc etc to today's players and it's night and day.

If we continue to use players who can't get us to the level of Man City or Liverpool then we are really going backwards as a football club. I'd much rather we try some young players who may get us there one day rather than continue on our current trajectory.

Once again if McTominay and Rashford can find form then great but their performances this season have been miles under what we should expect.
 
DOTA said:
I think the problem is you've just named the only two who are ready for regular first team football and we're already using one of them a fair bit. So, like, sure we can increase Elanga's minutes and bring in Mejbri (I suspect both of these will happen) but it's not gonna be a particularly big change.
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I think we have some players who would be close if not on loan. The likes of Garner, Tuanzebe, Laird and Amad could be around the first team if we kept them and dropped some players who shouldn't be in the first team.
 
No, feck 'em, keep playing them, they get paid to perform and if they don't qualify for the CL or win anything it's their careers at stake. At this stage I am so removed from the success of the team that I want these players to dig their own graves.
 
Gopher Brown said:
No, feck 'em, keep playing them, they get paid to perform and if they don't qualify for the CL or win anything it's their careers at stake. At this stage I am so removed from the success of the team that I want these players to dig their own graves.
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But ultimately we as fans are the ones who suffer. These players could easily find new clubs if they wanted to move. If we keep letting the players dig their grave we could end up finishing the season in 6th or 7th with no CL football and difficulty in attracting top players
 
Our youth players will do a lot worse than our first team. I'd rather draw 1-1 every week than lose 3-0 every week.
 
Red Rash said:
I think we have some players who would be close if not on loan. The likes of Garner, Tuanzebe, Laird and Amad could be around the first team if we kept them and dropped some players who shouldn't be in the first team.
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Yeah, I'm sure some of those have a good chance of making the squad for next season.
 
Mr PG said:
Alejandro Garnacho and Charlie McNeil are both better than Rashford to be quite honest and Hannibal is miles better than Scotty. Would also put in better workrate.
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They aren't and neither are anywhere near as good as Greenwood was and even he took time to find his feet.
 
I’d like to see Mejbri given minutes instead of watching Rashford stink up the place for another few months even if it’s not his preferred position
 
With the fixtures we have in front of us I don’t think this is the right time to experiment with more young players, apart from Elanga. I do however fail to understand why Mata is not being used more as a sub. He is a player that needs more than 5-10 minutes to make a difference, but when he came on against Middlesbrough I think he did well and he has the right attitude and loves the club, whereas Lingard I am less sure where his sympathy lies.
 
only players we should be giving game time now are to Galbraith and Mejbri to add press resistance and composure to midfield in possession, and maybe Laird at right back as anyone is better than Dalot.

clarkydaz said:
Nice sentiment, but too much money at stake for top 4. Certainly wouldnt miss half these players ever playing again
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Thing is, the club effectively told us they had given up on top 4 in January. Not signing a cm and, after losing Greenwood and Martial, not bringing in another attacker, was us waving the white flag.
 
thegregster said:
Yes. Its a big part of why we are in a mess. Indulging crap like Rashford,Lingard,Mctominay etc instead of buying in top players. None of the youth are good enough nor ever will be. All will end up at lower PL clubs at best.
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No-one's talking about indulging them, just playing them. Elanga has been one of our beat players in the games he's played for us that I've seen. Plus it could help shame the seniors into working.
 
I'd have a problem. We have one of the league's best squads. Should be playing better. Replace the manager if he can't beat the league's worst sides with 11 better players, or persist if there is a plan. Dont just give up
 
I don't think the problem is only at first team. The reserve players that we produced the last few years Rashford, Greenwood, McT and Pogba are also lazy or can't press. Elanga so far look ok.

Not sure the youth is the answer. We need total football structure revamp.
 
Yakuza_devils said:
I don't think the problem is only at first team. The reserve players that we produced the last few years Rashford, Greenwood, McT and Pogba are also lazy or can't press. Elanga so far look ok.

Not sure the youth is the answer. We need total football structure revamp.
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Debate all you want about McTominay's footballing ability but how can you call him lazy? :lol:
 
As much as I want the youth players to have a chance, it's really just not feasible at the moment. True they might show more passion and energy, but the truth is a lot of them are just not ready and are not better than the likes of Rashford (come on, youth and senior level are worlds apart).

In an ideal world we could bring in these players in two scenarios;

1) We are winning most matches and are playing well, meaning we can start to slot in the youth players for some sub appearences when we are comfortably winning a game (This is currently nowhere near happening)
2) Even if we weren't winning every match, I don't personally believe we have the necessary players with their heads screwed on correctly, who will grab a game by the scruff of the neck, real senior players, who will help guide the youngsters along in the match even if we are losing. In the past when we would play youth regularly we'd have real senior players with superior mentality along for the ride with them which is what made it a winning combination (The players we currently have are petulant, whinging, not much energy, no one wants to take any responsibility etc)

Neither criteria is being met to successfully blood youngsters of the likes of Garnacho and McNeill in, Elanga and Hannibal are a bit further along in their development and needs must because of the Greenwood situation, but fair play to Elanga, he took his chance, but in my opinion he still doesn't look totally ready
 
I'm not against the idea, but I think only a handful are actually ready. Mengi, Mejbri and Garner more specifically.

I think all three could prove to be useful additions to the squad. It doesn't solve our issues, but I see very little reason not to give Garner and Mejbri a run in the team.
 
Yeah, lets throw a bunch of 18 year olds in there and watch their confidence take a beating for good.
 
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