Perhaps the majority of our young players aren't anywhere near as good as some people on this forum would like them to be?
Giving a young player game time isn't going to turn them all in to United quality players. If Ten Hag isn't promoting them to the first team it's for a good reason
That is very likely true, but with some players you just have to give them the chance. Did you expect Rashford to explode the way he did? If I recall correctly, he wasn't even going to play but one of our other youth forwards, whose name I've forgotten, got injured so Rashford got the chance instead and took it.
What they show in training may not even be relevant to their match performances, but more to do with mentality and discipline rather than actual ability.
And they may not turn out to be United quality players by playing them, but it's just meaningless to put on McTominay when we're 4-0 up instead of Mainoo or Iqbal, or taking out Antony for Weghorst instead of Pellistri.
I also think that by playing these players regularly when we can, obviously, and not when we're losing, would increase their sell price instead of comical sums like €1m.
Honestly, I think most youth players that choose United are doing themselves a disfavour. Hannibal Mejbri, for example. He would be playing for Monaco years ago and would have developed much better playing men's football than constantly playing with youth players below his level. It has ruined his development and now he's not even a stand-out in Championship. It's obviously not too late, but very few youth players make it at United, but that also has to do with not being given chances/loaned out. What was the point of refusing Pellistri to go on loan and keep him here to play 100 minutes in a season?