03 Sep 2014 12:28:04
With a fully fit squad will united have a single player that has come through the ranks in the first 11?

1.) 03 Sep 2014
No, but Adnan, Fletcher, Blackett, Evans, Lingard or Wilson could make the bench. Quite strange not having one in the first XI.

2.) 03 Sep 2014
Yeah the 12th man.

Of course there won't because we have a half decent team

3.) 03 Sep 2014
Probably not and for me this is one of the biggest issues at our club.

Since Sir Matt we have always put a high value on youth and have tried to develop them and thus improve ourselves.

This needs to be readdresses but throwing players in who are either not ready or not good enough won't help. This isn't a quick fix and will take at least three years to truly start to see the changes start to blossom.

LvG will be working very hard on the youth team, bringing in new ideas to freshen up and modernise our academy. The changes won't happen over night and the results will take years to see the benefit.

Blackett, Januzaj(If you count him as a true academy player) and Wilson are the ones who can in the future get first team chances based on what LvG has done so far. After that I suspect it could be several years before we get a real gem from the academy.

4.) 03 Sep 2014
Really what does it matter? If Wilson or Blackett or someone else comes through in next couple of years then we will.
Can't understand this obsession no point promoting youth just for the sake of it if they are good enough they will progress to the first team simple as.

5.) 03 Sep 2014
Shappy - Great blog by the way, I just put something similar to what you posted here on your own blog, so ignore it as you have obviously considered it already.

6.) 03 Sep 2014
Shappy
For me as long as they get a chance it ok, then its down to the player to take that chance .
I think januzaj chances could be limited this season and that for me would be a problem

7.) 03 Sep 2014
Surely the point though Devil Dust is that if they aren't good enough then don't we have to look at how and what we are teaching them?

Barca and Ajax constantly bring through quality players, is that just down to the fact that children born in Barcelona or Amsterdam are just born more naturally talented players? Of course not, it is due to the footballing education they are given. Obviously talent plays a part but can it is about making sure your youth products reach their potential.

Fact of the matter is most do in Barca's and Ajax's academies, where as most don't in ours.

8.) 03 Sep 2014
Jred, I said earlier that Adnan will be the one who plays less than expected this season and could become disgruntled. In theory Falcao, RvP, Rooney & Mata could all start 30 games each this season and come on as a sub for 10 games. All of those players would be happy with that. Due to not playing with wings, Adnan may have to make do with wingback or in central midfield.

9.) 03 Sep 2014
Jred, with LvG in charge youth will always be given a chance but we live in the real world and in the real world the club can't afford two years without UCL football so we need big players right now who are rrady to deliver. Not only do we need them to get the results on the pitch but we need them to challenge and the youth players and give them some one of the highest quality to learn from.

Syd, I think Adnan will be fine this season, there will be times the team play 433 and he is a shoe in for a role in that formation. And I feel he could get several chances off the bench in the No.10 role for Mata. If we need to win a game then Januzaj on for Mata makes sense. I don't see Rooney playing in the No.10 role much at all. LvG has already said that he is a striker and his system is set up to fit two strikers in. Plus looking at the three current first choice strikers all of them have had their injury issues so will they all be fit at the same time that often?

10.) 03 Sep 2014
We don't have any young players other than adnan to break into our team. Although Wilson is a good player and can only get better learning from Rooney falcao and van Persie he's not going to break ahead of any of those. I believe with lvg shaking things up we should see a few players coming through in 2-4 years

11.) 03 Sep 2014
Shappy, no doubt we will play 433 on occasions this season, even change to it during games, but MU will be playing with two strikers for the majority of this season and if he plays the two best strikers then where does that leave Rooney (our captain)? I think it's almost certain that Rooney will move back to the number ten role. Where does he play for England? Where has he played for SAF in the latest years? I think if anyone misses out when everyone is fit, it will be Mata, but I think all will play many games each this season. I think Di Maria will continue to play LCM.

12.) 03 Sep 2014
Will rvp and falcao be the best partnership?
As I posted further down the page they play the same role .
You need a 9 and a second striker who plays of him.
Rvp will need to change his game to pkay with falcao .
May well work or maybe not time will tell.

13.) 03 Sep 2014
Shappy
You say youth will get a chance but who.
I honestly think adan will struggle to get a game .
Shaw will get a game and so will jones you could argue they are youth

14.) 03 Sep 2014
So are you saying Rooney is a ten then Jred?

I think we will see every combination played and all will be happy. But I think LvG will go with Falcao and RvP if all are fit more often than not.

Jred, or anyone for that matter, if you could sign anyone in January, who would it be? Hummels for me.

15.) 03 Sep 2014
Wilson, Blackett & Adnan will get games, but will not play regularly.

16.) 03 Sep 2014
Syd it depends what you class as a 10.
If you are playing 2 up top the 10 role is a second striker a bit like yorke was .
But if you are playing 1 up top the 10 is more of an attacking midfielder like oscar or mata .

Rooney can play either I think he is better as a second striker .

17.) 03 Sep 2014
I would like to see Rooney play as a 2nd striker, but behind RvP and Falcao if that makes sense? The attacking midfielders will be AdM and Herrera anyway. We could see Rooney and Falcao, but it would be a shame to have RvP on the bench when we could have all three playing together. With LvG always playing all of his best players at once I cannot see him changing that now. So for me RvP and Falcao with Rooney linking midfield and attack. It's where I think Rooney is best anyway. That's what I think, but it will be interesting to see what LvG does. There is so many combinations it's pretty frightening. Can't wait to see Falcao in action.

18.) 03 Sep 2014
For me RvP and Falcao are clearly No.9's and I agree with Jred that it might be difficult to fit them both into a team.

Rooney is neither a true No.9 nor a No.10, he kind of plays between the two roles.

I suspect there might be times that LvG plays Rooney as a No.10 but he has said several times that Rooney is a striker and should be played further forward. So I suspect that it will be Mata at No.10 then Rooney with one of RvP or Falcao.

Remember too many cooks spoil the broth. RvP, Falcao and Rooney are primarily goal scorers. Mata is needed more than ever as he is a creator of goal scoring chances, but he needs people to move about to get into those positions. I think with Herrera and Di Maria running beyond him from deep along with Rooney dragging players out of position and Falcao or RvP ready to run off the shoulder we should be able to create several chances, but I feel Mata will be far more important than most people think. And I suspect Januzaj will be more likely to deputise for him than Rooney.

Remember how many times has LvG said he doesn't care about names or reputations he will play the player he feels will do the job he wants them to do best.

19.) 03 Sep 2014
Shappy I agree with all that .
But I honestly have no idea what lvg will do .

20.) 03 Sep 2014
"Remember how many times has LvG said he doesn't care about names or reputations he will play the player he feels will do the job he wants them to do best."

This is what we all thought Shappy, but LvG has done the opposite. LvG has played all of his best players at once all season so far. He favours the 433 yet he hasn't played it as he wants to play all of his best players at once. Why would that change now? I would be very surprised if Rooney isn't played behind RvP and Falcao when all are fit. It would be pretty dumb to have someone with as much brilliance as RvP left on the bench. Same goes for Rooney, it's only a matter of time before he starts producing the goods this season, I'd want all three on the field and I think all three will start against QPR if available.

21.) 03 Sep 2014
Syd
Yer it should be good to watch .
I think everyone will be given a chance but I expect 1 maybe 2 big names to leave in the summer .

22.) 03 Sep 2014
Syd
How do you see rvp and falcao working

23.) 03 Sep 2014
The same way any two top quality strikers would work together. One striker would occupy the right side, the other on the left side. One being marked by one CB, one by the other CB. A solid two upfront, not one further forward than the other.

I'm looking forward to it. So many options, we haven't had this many options since 2008.

24.) 03 Sep 2014
Other than the class of 92 fergie didn't exactly give youth that much of a chance except for carling cup games.

25.) 03 Sep 2014
Syd
Was that a joke
One left, one right.
Neither dropping of each one getting marked by a cb.
Who plays like that, even sunday league

26.) 03 Sep 2014
It was a joke Jred, Subbuteo - the evil monster :)

27.) 03 Sep 2014
Oh, I did post twice on the teams page, but for whatever reason they haven't been posted yet. I wrote them hours ago. It was only saying fair play after your first post. That I think we will play the 433 sometime this season, but play with two strikers for the majority. Also that I cannot wait to see these players gel. Something like that anyway.

28.) 03 Sep 2014
Syd
No probs it should be a good watch can't wait to see falcao in a united shirt

29.) 04 Sep 2014
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I have been doing a lot of reading up on Falcao and he is a true gentleman. A down to earth nice bloke. Does a lot for charity. He's quite emotional too, similar to Hernandez in person. I posted a video yesterday of him meeting a kid fan of his who was in tears, after five minutes or so Falcao breaks down sobbing. Not sure why it never got posted.