Arthur Albiston reckons new Manchester United manager David Moyes has a conveyor belt of talent at his disposal.
Manchester
United were doing holistic when the average man in the street didn’t know it from a hole in the ground.
Long
before it was a football buzzword, brought to the soccer masses by the
neighbours from across Manchester last month, Sir Matt Busby was the
grandfather of the approach at Old Trafford.
And in the modern game, Sir Alex Ferguson was the giant of the strategy.
Ensuring
that all parts of the United system were singing from the same song
sheet, and providing their own players to add to those purchased, has
been in the Old Trafford psyche for decades.
New Reds boss David
Moyes will be expected to continue the
Fergie conveyor belt and he comes with a Goodison pedigree for promoting from the youth ranks.
He
will arrive in his Carrington office a week next Monday to assess his
playing squad from the young hopefuls right through to those with a 2013
Premier League title medal.
And Moyes will find the system in good shape.
Roy Hodgson’s recent England squads contained United academy products Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley.
Peter
Taylor’s England Under-20s start their World Cup tournament in Turkey
on Sunday against Iraq and United have provided goalkeeper Sam
Johnstone, and Mancunians defender Tom Thorpe and midfielder Larnell
Cole. Last season Oldham-born midfielder Ben Pearson was a feature of
the England Under-19s.
The latter quartet have all been prominent
members of reserve boss Warren Joyce’s squad who pulled off a
spectacular Barclays’ Under-21 Premier League final success against
favourites Spurs to win silverware at Old Trafford after being 2-0 down.
And
while Moyes is getting down to the business of perusing the transfer
market and pinpointing targets, he will also discover a healthy well of
potential ready to impress and hoping to follow in the footsteps of the
famous Class of ’92 and other youth products to have made the grade at
Old Trafford like Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Darren Fletcher and Welbeck
and Cleverley more recently.
Arthur Albiston was himself a former
United apprentice who progressed to the first team in the 70s and now
casts his expert eye over his 21st century successors at youth level for
United’s TV channel MUTV as a co-commentator.
He also takes in
reserve matches and he believes Moyes may have one or two bright sparks
who will be knocking on his door very soon.
“Any young player who has a United football education has ability and a great grounding,” said Albiston.
“There
is some great talent out there and United have never been shy of giving
lads their heads if they deserve it. I don’t think David Moyes will be
any different from Sir Alex Ferguson in that respect.
“They are
both canny Scots and won’t be putting their hands in their own pockets
to bring in new players if there is quality ready to come through.
“Of
course, United have to invest in the transfer market as well but they
have always wanted to bring through their own products.
“When I
was a young player at the club it was maybe a bit harder in the respect
that you could find yourself thrown in without much senior experience to
cover injuries. That’s what happened to me.
“These days they like
to make it as seamless as possible and younger players are given
tasters of the first team and travelling with the squad to ease them
into the picture.
“Players wouldn’t be at United if they didn’t
have the ability but you never know how a youngster of great promise at
around 15, 16 or 17 will handle the pressure of the big time.
“But
there are certainly a number of kids around who you’d like to see given
the chance to show whether or not they can handle it soon in the
future.
“A handful of the ones who’ve impressed me are for
starters Adnan Januzaj. I saw the Belgian for a couple of seasons mainly
in the academy matches and he’s impressive.
“He was the club’s
Reserve Player of the Year and the 18-year-old was given a first team
number by Sir Alex Ferguson towards the end of the season. He is a real
eye-catcher.
“He is lovely and smooth the way he runs at
opponents. He teases them and then just weaves his way past tackles. He
is always in control of the ball and looks almost like he is doing it in
slow motion.
“Nick Powell arrived last summer from the United of
the lower divisions in terms of how Crewe like to play and how they
produce young players.
“He did have a few injuries but the senior opportunities he did get he really did impress everyone.
“He’s
got a good physique so there is no problem about not having the
strength. He is confident and assured. There is talk about a loan this
season (Wigan and Doncaster have been linked with him) and that might be
beneficial if he is not knocking on David Moyes’ door early on.
“I
hope Stockport-lad Will Keane has completely overcome the cruciate knee
ligament injury he suffered last year. He is a real calm goalscorer –
he doesn’t panic in the box.
“A year out is hard to cope with but if he is raring to go now I could see him pushing for a place in the senior squad.
“Eighteen-year-old
Norwegian Mats Daehli is a fantastic player. I don’t want to put
pressure on him but, with his tight control, ability to hold it up in
pressurised areas and eye for a defence-splitting pass he reminds me of a
Barcelona midfield player.
“Finally, Ben Pearson is a midfielder from Oldham. He is 18 and was outstanding last season in the Under-18s.
“He
was the most consistent player in the academy. He likes a tackle, has a
great pass on him. He has an old head on young shoulders.
“I can understand why he is compared to Paul Scholes.”
Which youngsters will succeed at United? Have your say.
