22 Apr 2019 11:29:08
Why do people think that promoting players from the academy will solve our problems on the pitch?

Our academy has been severely neglected for over a decade. Ed001 has explained how the academy stagnated, costs were cut, and we coasted on reputation rather than producing quality young players.

How many of our academy players have made the transition to the first team over the past decade? How many of our exceptional up and coming talents completely underwhelmed at senior level? What has convinced people that the current crop will be any different?

The Class got 92 was the fruits of a well funded, well run academy. Fergie put faith in young players because he recognised that they were capable of stepping up.

This is a different era. Our stadium is one bad winter from becoming a UNESCO heritage site, and our academy is equally archaic and miles behind the likes of City and Chelsea. If the talent was there, previous managers would have looked to it.

The club requires massive investment and modernisation to get back to the top level, and pretending that the attitude of the first team is the root cause is misguided.

1.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 12:09:10
For a start they would be more arsed than half of these waste of spaces in the first team.

Anyone who has an attitude problem they shouldn't be at the club if that means selling the so called best players In our team so be it.


To many times we have slated the manager on here when in fact the players are an absolute joke and if they turn up and play there heart of Wednesday they are even more of a joke.

2.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 12:21:51
Danny are you happy watching the same half arsed performances from the same players every week? I made a post yesterday in the match posts. Is martial doing anything greenwood or Chong couldn’t at the moment? Is Matic doing anything garner couldn’t do?

I would rather see these kids given a chance than watch the same old rubbish.

3.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 12:24:53
Academies at top clubs are a tricky one to judge. Players coming though at top clubs need to have the ability and the mentality at a very young age if they are going to be able to make it. Also different people judge a successful academy graduate differently. For some players need to become a top world class player to be considered a "good" academy graduate.

In our current first team we have Lingard, Pogba, Rashford and McTominay who are first team regulars who have come through our academy. In Tuanzebe, Garner, Gomes and Greenwood we have four who could make the step up. Plus Chong who could, but personally I don't think he will make it at the highest level at our club.

If as a top club you have 4-5 academy players playing regularly in your first team I think you can consider that a successful academy.

In Lingard, McTominay and Rashford we have three already. if 2-3 of our current top prospects make the step up then we will have a successful academy.

For all the fuss around City's academy how many play regularly in their first team. Sancho has had to move on to make it. Foden only plays a couple of minutes every few weeks at most. Chelsea have the same issue even though they have spent a fortune on their academy. Money doesn't help if you don't have the attitude or the focus to give them a chance in the first team.

4.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 12:39:40
Spot on Shappy.

5.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 13:06:35
Danny, I have been calling for the youth to play for a number of reasons. Right now that squad is finished. We can move 7 out and bring in 5 but it won't do any good. If you have rotting veg in your fridge, and you slowly move some out and replace it with fresh produce, the fresh produce goes off a lot quicker.

That's one of the most expensively assembled squads in world footbal. With transfer fees and wages we are in the top 3. We need to set a precedence that turning up, accepting your weekly wage and turning in that heartless performance is unacceptable.

Put the heart back in the club. Show faith in the youth. We'll likely finish 6th with this team. Reboot the squad with young hungry players. I'd imagine most united fans would accept the good with the bad if it meant most of those players never play for us again.

6.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 13:23:29
Why are people assuming that academy players will have the right attitude?

Has Rashford shown the right attitude over the last few weeks? Or does he only bother if he’s played centrally?

Lingard? Mr 26 going on 16? More interested in his brand than his performances on the pitch.

To Mctominay’s credit, he does seem like a good lad, but hardly looks like he’ll be more than a squad player.

There is a rotten culture right through the club, and promoting young players into a squad rife with attitude problems won’t fix that.

7.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 13:24:42
Chelsea invested loads in the academy, but obviously that takes quite a few years before you see the fruits of that investment.

Now we're starting to get players through. Callum is playing, Ruben is playing, Christensen is a regular. Reece James and Mount have a really good chance to make it next season or the season after. So I'd say we're starting to do better now.

The issue at City is that they buy world class players for fun so it makes no sense to play young academy grads. At Chelsea we buy duds like drinkwater and Zappacosta so should make it easier to play the younger guys.

I'd say for you guys it depends on who you buy. You spend a lot, and on good players, so it makes sense to play them. I'd bet lots of Chelsea fans would really like a guy like Martial in our team for example.
You have some amazing talent, but I have no idea why it often doesn't show.

8.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 14:23:17
Jackson I'd sell Martial to Chelsea. Maybe a swap? How about Dennis Wise, least he had a bit of fight.

9.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 15:12:39
The world has changed since 92 when the vast majority of players in the EPL were from the British Isles. 1n 1991-2 we had only two players in the squad who were not, Schmeichel and Kanchelskis. Was there a single foreign born manager? The idea that we can return to whatever worked in 1992 is a myth.

10.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 15:52:03
Shaw, the world has changed since Cruyff rocked up at Barcelona. Doing things his way hasn't done them any good recently.

Having tradition isn't a problem, having a way of doing things isn't a problem. It's about knowing what you need to keep and what you need to adapt.

{Ed0333's Note - let me tell you mate if you followed johan cruyffs blueprint you wouldn’t be in the mire you are in now.

11.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 16:04:54
Ok so shall we not play the youth and just carry on as we are!

If you play some of the best youth players in some games to see what they can do then you might realise a couple of gems and move forward positively.

If you don’t then currently nothing will change.

Utd need to buy young players who are hungry and willing to play to the style set out by the manager.

I don’t want to see any more galactico type players at Utd. We have had so many of these in recent years and also none of them have worked.

Time for a new approach.

12.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 19:36:38
Exactly. We've gone the Madrid route last few years. Its not worked. Maybe the Barcelona route is what's needed.

13.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 20:02:26
So you think we should take the Barcelona approach without any of the world class youth infrastructure that enables Barcelona to promote from within?

The club needs a new approach from top to bottom. ‘Play the young lads’ isn’t an effective response to the long term infrastructural and cultural problems throughout the club. What we’re seeing with the first team squad is just the tip of the iceberg.

14.) 22 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 21:18:54
It'll take years to sort this mess. But we need to start doing it now. As someone else said we have McTominay, Lingard and Rashford in the main squad. Tuanzebe, Garner, Greenwood, Chong and Gomes are close. Would any of them do any worse than Jones, Matic or Martial?

15.) 23 Apr 2019
22 Apr 2019 17:38:49
Ed0333, that's my point. My post was tongue in cheek.

{Ed0333's Note - sorry if I misenterpreted you mate.

16.) 23 Apr 2019
23 Apr 2019 02:26:51
Barcelona have long stopped doing things Cruyff's way - which is one of the reasons why they are not the force they used to be.

{Ed0333's Note - I agree mate.