Can young players get ahead at United? …
There was good reason for a knees up in Wes Brown’s household earlier today when news filtered through that he was to be offered a new four year contract.
“Brown, 27, is due for a four-year offer,” the Sun newspaper reported. “Defender Brown was concerned talks had not been held but Reds supremo David Gill said: ‘Wes likes it here and we will be looking to extend his deal.’”
If the length of the deal proves true, good luck to the defender, who has been a loyal club servant for a decade. It will mean more millionaire wages, a kitchen refit or a conservatory extension perhaps or even a move to a bigger mock Tudor mansion in Hale.
But the same headlines might have been greeted with groans chez Jonny Evans and Gerard Pique, for the retention of an experienced campaigner can only mean fewer opportunities for younger players desperate to make their names.
Sir Alex has the tricky task of balancing the exuberance and potential of youth against the need for experience in winning teams. The short term objective of football means that it is teams with experienced players like AC Milan which lead the way and keep on winning.
Whilst United are not following that model, they do appear to be reverting to 80’s practice, relying ever more on expensive bought-in talent, instead of the 90’s method of blooding youthful talent. Even worse for the youngsters tempted to sign on at Old Trafford, the new recruits are young themselves, theoretically blocking the road to the first team for a generation.
A precocious teenaged striker might not consider joining United, when 21 year old Rooney and 23 year old Tevez lead the attack and the manager can find no place for 20 year old Rossi, a star of youth and reserve football?
Can either Pique or Evans really expect to get a run in the team without United suffering a catastrophic loss of form or a 2006/07 style injury crisis, especially as the manager might be expected to turn to Silvestre or Brown in the first instance?
Are United likely to field the equivalents of Arsenal’s Denilson or Fabregas in the next few years, when the first 11 features the 26 year old internationals Carrick and Hargreaves who cost nearly £40 million?
Much the same criticism can be levelled at all the top teams at home and abroad, save for Wenger’s paupers. It is also true that football changes quickly, always leaving hope for those tyros tempted by the glory of being Red.
To his credit, Sir Alex has said that this season he will promote youth. “We are very pleased with the young players we have got,” the manager said in an interview with the Manchester Evening News last February. “We have good coaches and have done well to develop players in the academy such as Jonny Evans, Craig Cathcart and Darron Gibson. The three Irish boys are exceptionally good.
“We’ve also got Lee Martin at Stoke at moment. Danny Simpson is at Sunderland and Phil Bardsley is at Aston Villa. It is a good crop. Gerard Pique is in Zaragoza’s first team every week now in Spain and he has good potential. Giuseppe Rossi is at Parma and scoring goals. These are boys with potential at that age, at 19. They give us a future.
“The question is, how do we view them in terms of first-team positions next season if we decided to bring them on at the same time? I think we will probably do that. “That will be a challenge for them then, but also a reminder to everyone else that there are players looking to take their position.”
The manager may well be committed to finding places in his squad for Evans, Pique, Simpson and Eagles but they are likely to be irregular substitutes at best. Moreover, if he does promote youth, it is 19 year old Anderson, 20 year old Nani and 23 year old Tevez, who are most likely to benefit next season.
Sir Alex is right to buy in such gifted players. The evidence of a lack of quality among United’s youth players is there for all to see, personified by the demise of Kieran Richardson, sold to Sunderland after years of underachievement. Is ex-United reserve captain David Jones likely to get the rave reviews that Anderson or Nani have earned already in their careers? Is Rossi, for all his promise, a better long term prospect than Tevez? Have any of the youth players who have left in recent years proved Fergie’s judgement was flawed.
That said, to hope for young players to be given a chance at United, is not to indulge in ‘Fast Show’ nostalgia for a new era of the Busby Babes or the ‘92 golden generation. Sir Alex has every right to do what is necessary to keep United ahead of the rest. Football belongs to the winners, leaving losers to cherish their what-might-have-beens and their Giro cheques. Fergie’s duty is to produce a winning team now.
But as every midnight toker knows, home grown is best. United’s romantic tradition is built on the early promotion of youth. When the last decade has seen only Brown, John O’Shea and Darren Fletcher come through the ranks for an extended run in the first team, a shake-up of the youth coaching and scouting system would seem in order.
