Jim Thwaites

[Mingus]

Excellent summary.
There are so many things that could go wrong for Thwaites, but also, if he works hard at his deficiencies, he could be a top player. He does use his left foot, it's something I always try to spot in a player, but admittedly, the vast majority of passes, especially longer passes, are with his right foot, that's one thing he definitely needs to work on. As you said, he's just turned 18, so still has some physical development to come, and possibly a slight increase in his overall pace, but to me that is not a massive problem, it's quickness of the mind which sets players apart, but pace over a short distance is probably an important factor.
What I noticed was his ability to create a bit of space, and time for himself, admittedly, I've only seen him in one game, at Brackley earlier in the season, but for me he was the best player on United's team, and he does ride tackles very well, as Brackley we're keen to put pressure on him, as United's most creative player.
He could be one of the academy players who go on the 2026 pre season tour, I've heard Scandinavia mentioned.

He is probably the academy player that has the least deficiencies. His left foot is better than most other players dominant foot.There's just no pressure to use his weaker foot as he always creates time for himself.

His pace is fine. He has great press resistance, an incredible range of passing, can dribble, can tackle and although I'm sure he still has a lot to learn, his abilities off the ball look good too.

I'm not completely sure about his physicality (I've not seen him bullied even against men's teams, like the PFA team and Brackley) probably because nobody can get close enough to him though. I'm sure when the time is right he'll get his chance.

 

[red woppit]

He is probably the academy player that has the least deficiencies. His left foot is better than most other players dominant foot.There's just no pressure to use his weaker foot as he always creates time for himself.

His pace is fine. He has great press resistance, an incredible range of passing, can dribble, can tackle and although I'm sure he still has a lot to learn, his abilities off the ball look good too.

I'm not completely sure about his physicality (I've not seen him bullied even against men's teams, like the PFA team and Brackley) probably because nobody can get close enough to him though. I'm sure when the time is right he'll get his chance.

I take all your points on board. I just have the one game to judge him on, although I do watch some of the under 21 matches. I saw the game v city at the weekend, and I thought he gained more control for United in the second half after he came on.
He will certainly get better, and I'm hopeful that he will eventually turn out to be a similar to Carrick.

 

[Scholsey2004]

As far as I can tell he's never had a single call up to any England youth teams, let alone a single cap.

I still haven't had it adequately explained to me how if he's this incredible talent that it's the case.

Mainoo was an obvious top-tier midfielder coming through when I saw him, and he was even the England youth teams captain.

Something doesn't quite add up.

We do produce some very easy on the eye central midfielders who end up playing in lower divisions. Ethan Galbraith off the top of my head. I see the Fletchers who are the same age in the u21's and around the first team, who play with their age group at international level, whereas Thwaites plays with the u18's and I wonder if the coaches see a flaw. Something that's not immediately obvious to us s spectators. Stamina, pace, who knows.

 

[Scholsey2004]

I take all your points on board. I just have the one game to judge him on, although I do watch some of the under 21 matches. I saw the game v city at the weekend, and I thought he gained more control for United in the second half after he came on.
He will certainly get better, and I'm hopeful that he will eventually turn out to be a similar to Carrick.

I think Tyler Fletcher is more of a Carrick. Thwaites looks really good but the fact that he's playing in the u18's at 18 when he's only a month younger than the Fletchers, and doesn't have international recognition makes me wonder.

 

[red woppit]

I just checked, and Paul Scholes had 4 England appearances at under 18 level, no others until the senior team, likewise Michael Carrick, just 4 caps at under 18. So not being selected for international honours is not the end of the world.

 

[goldenboy]

I just checked, and Paul Scholes had 4 England appearances at under 18 level, no others until the senior team, likewise Michael Carrick, just 4 caps at under 18. So not being selected for international honours is not the end of the world.

4 is more than 0.

 

[Marwood]

4 is more than 0.

So if Thwaites makes 4 apps for England youth over the next 12 month or so that's going to change change your opinion of the player?

 

[Poborsky's hair]

Really high hopes for him. I was wrong about some in the past though. I thought Garner, Levitt, Mejbri could equally breakthrough, and margins are small. Players who could go on to be a PL-level somewhere else, play in Scottish league somewhere or maybe lucky to be integrated in the first team. After this summer and hopefully new reinforcements coming in it will be more difficult compared to the path McTominay had for example - extremely lucky to get a chance because of a squad hole and managers personal preferance. But quality players will always breakthrough. Think Lacey looks mentally strong too and will get further chances after his promising cameos.

Sometimes all you need is one injury to a senior player and couple of good cameos for the youngster.

Extremely difficult for CMs though. Thwaites to me has something more than the afformentioned though. Along his unquestionable passing and goalscoring ability. He's very decent dribbler and can get stuck in on the other hand as well. Pretty much allround player who needs to step up, so fingers crossed for no further major injuries.

 

[goldenboy]

So if Thwaites makes 4 apps for England youth over the next 12 month or so that's going to change change your opinion of the player?

I don't have that much of a strong opinion on the player. I've seen a couple of games with him in but can't really remember much. Plus some highlights.

I'm more wondering why others seem to be hyping him so much, and yet the opinion of the coaches at United and England are that he's behind a lot of other players.

 

[sleepehead]

I don't have that much of a strong opinion on the player. I've seen a couple of games with him in but can't really remember much. Plus some highlights.

I'm more wondering why others seem to be hyping him so much, and yet the opinion of the coaches at United and England are that he's behind a lot of other players.

I think the biggest flaw I see, isn't even his fault. He's a deep 8, I don't think he can function as one of the 2 in a double pivot currently because he doesn't have the physical aspects yet. And he's not really a 10 either because he doesn't score enough and we like our 10s to be more dynamic than him. So he needs to play in a midfield 3 of a 433. We don't have the players to do this yet, and the English youth teams have better options in his age group. Remember that most academy players from us don't get selected, they select from Chelsea, City, Arsenal, Liverpool etc.

So right now if we throw him in the team there are still better options than him in both the 10 and 8/6 positions even in his age group. The Fletcher bros are bigger and more physically developed. And I don't think they are any less talented than him right now.

 

[FriedClams]

I don't have that much of a strong opinion on the player. I've seen a couple of games with him in but can't really remember much. Plus some highlights.

I'm more wondering why others seem to be hyping him so much, and yet the opinion of the coaches at United and England are that he's behind a lot of other players.

For someone without a strong opinion you sure do spend a lot of time putting him down and insinuating he isn’t good enough

 

[Scholsey2004]

I think the biggest flaw I see, isn't even his fault. He's a deep 8, I don't think he can function as one of the 2 in a double pivot currently because he doesn't have the physical aspects yet. And he's not really a 10 either because he doesn't score enough and we like our 10s to be more dynamic than him. So he needs to play in a midfield 3 of a 433. We don't have the players to do this yet, and the English youth teams have better options in his age group. Remember that most academy players from us don't get selected, they select from Chelsea, City, Arsenal, Liverpool etc.

So right now if we throw him in the team there are still better options than him in both the 10 and 8/6 positions even in his age group. The Fletcher bros are bigger and more physically developed. And I don't think they are any less talented than him right now.

Reminds me a bit of Charlie McNeil although he played in a different position. A lot of people were big fans, swore he was going to make it and he scored some terrific goals. But he was playing u18 football at 18, like Thwaites is. The adademy is a lot stronger at the moment than it was then but it's still a logical gauge. If he's 18 and playing in the u18's then that means the lads who are the same age and who are playing in the u21's and getting debuts in the positions he plays in must be more highly rated, at least at the moment.

 

[goldenboy]

For someone without a strong opinion you sure do spend a lot of time putting him down and insinuating he isn’t good enough

I'm not allowed to ask those who seem to be hyping him up a lot on what reasonable basis they are doing so?

 

[Scholsey2004]

For someone without a strong opinion you sure do spend a lot of time putting him down and insinuating he isn’t good enough

I don't think he's 'putting him down'. It's just hard to see where he would get first team minutes if both Fletchers are being groomed for that level already. Sekou Kone was very highly rated when he arrived as well but it looks kike the Fletchers have overtaken him as well.

 

[Scholsey2004]

I'm not allowed to ask those who seem to be hyping him up a lot on what reasonable basis they are doing so?

He does look good but the group is really strong at that age group now. Sekou Kone was very highly rated when he arrived and there are lads like Devaney, but it's hard to see how you can push all these lads for the first team at once. The Fletchers seem to have pulled ahead of the others hence being in the u21's and getting their debuts.

 

[red woppit]

4 is more than 0.

Fair enough, but at that age Scholes and Carrick couldn't have been outstanding, or they'd have got a lot more caps.
I think Thwaites will have an excellent professional football career, wherever he plays.

 

[red woppit]

He does look good but the group is really strong at that age group now. Sekou Kone was very highly rated when he arrived and there are lads like Devaney, but it's hard to see how you can push all these lads for the first team at once. The Fletchers seem to have pulled ahead of the others hence being in the u21's and getting their debuts.

Yes, we seem to be getting a good standard in our midfield players, all different attributes as well. It bodes well for the future, and one or two of this group may well become first team regulars, but firstly, send them out on loan, and see what they're like against men. Some of them will develop later on, like Garner (although I thought he was talented, but obviously Ten Hag thought otherwise).

 

[Mingus]

I think Tyler Fletcher is more of a Carrick. Thwaites looks really good but the fact that he's playing in the u18's at 18 when he's only a month younger than the Fletchers, and doesn't have international recognition makes me wonder.

Well, Thwaites is 9 months younger than the Fletchers and has been playing in the U18's since he was 16.

He's also played a number of times for the U21's, including previous seasons. Sometimes he has played for the U18's and then has been subbed on for the U21's a few days later.

 

[Brightonian]

Playing U18s at 18 means you’re not good enough now?

This place…

 

[sleepehead]

He does look good but the group is really strong at that age group now. Sekou Kone was very highly rated when he arrived and there are lads like Devaney, but it's hard to see how you can push all these lads for the first team at once. The Fletchers seem to have pulled ahead of the others hence being in the u21's and getting their debuts.

The more I think of Kone, the more I think he was just a low risk high reward situation. I don't know if he'll make it here, usually we only keep players up to age 21-22 after that we'll let them go for cheap if they haven't shown anything. He just turned 20 and on his first loan so I'm not worried just yet, but he needs another year being loaned out somewhere else because he's too good for the u21s but again physically he hasn't gotten big enough. Honestly I'm a bit worried about our strength and conditioning program in the academy. A lot of these players are leaving the academy looking like they need to get some size for the PL

 

[Marwood]

I don't have that much of a strong opinion on the player. I've seen a couple of games with him in but can't really remember much. Plus some highlights.

I'm more wondering why others seem to be hyping him so much, and yet the opinion of the coaches at United and England are that he's behind a lot of other players.

Because they've watched him. He's really good.

As opposed to somewhat dismissing him because he hasn't as yet played at England youth level.

Our three best CM's of the last 30 years(Scholes, Carrick and Keane) barely got a kick at international youth level. About 10 caps between them.

I'd just suggest actually watching him. It'd clear up your confusion.

 

[limerickcitykid]

Comparing international youth caps between the 90s and current day is just disengenous.

England u17s went about 4 years in the 90s without playing a match. In 2025 they played 20 matches. The funding for youth football has skyrocketed since the 90s with way more matches and training camps.

The record keeping of youth football in the 90s is also terrible. According to stat sites Roy Keane never played below u21s level for Ireland which is obviously wrong as he played for Ireland at the u18s Euros in 1990. He also had call ups to u16s.

 

[red woppit]

Comparing international youth caps between the 90s and current day is just disengenous.

England u17s went about 4 years in the 90s without playing a match. In 2025 they played 20 matches. The funding for youth football has skyrocketed since the 90s with way more matches and training camps.

The record keeping of youth football in the 90s is also terrible. According to stat sites Roy Keane never played below u21s level for Ireland which is obviously wrong as he played for Ireland at the u18s Euros in 1990. He also had call ups to u16s.

Good points, so comparing the stats is not as clear as it seems.
Still, I hope Jim Thwaites progresses well, and hopefully we'll see him on the pre season tour.

 

[Ekeke]

I think Tyler Fletcher is more of a Carrick. Thwaites looks really good but the fact that he's playing in the u18's at 18 when he's only a month younger than the Fletchers, and doesn't have international recognition makes me wonder.

I suspect its as simple as both the Fletcher's are decently tall and have quite good balance. They are physically more ready for u21s and first team football. Thwaites is smaller and will rely more on technical ability. It might take him slightly longer to get to first team football because of that. At the same time I wouldnt be too surprised if at some point he gets rushed through as a special circumstance with his set pieces. Lets say if our new manager comes in and decides he wants to be as good as Arsenal on set pieces and as good as possible from freekicks, maybe then Thwaites will start to get rushed through as thats one of his strengths

Theres also the ecosystem problem which is that if you already have a youngster who goes to the u21s who you have high hopes for, then its going to be hard for the next youngster to come in and take their spot and you have manager bias towards players they like and sometimes its more subjective. The same goes with the England setup. Yes in theory the England team should reflect the best players but in practice it reflects the players the manager trusts and likes the most and thats slightly different. Players who arent as good but the manager has used for a while and he likes their hardwork or character or something can stay in and newer players might not then be able to build that trust.

 

[Withnail]

Playing U18s at 18 means you’re not good enough now?

This place…

I don't know anything about the lad but isn't that usually the case or it can be said that at least you're not developing as quickly as your peers?

The average age of the top clubs U21 squads is between 18-18.5 and the average of United starting XI at U21 is 18.3 so it seems most are moving up at a younger age.

 

[Mingus]

I think people are looking on Transfermarket or whoever and assuming that he isn't playing U21's. The stats for U21's are wrong.
He's played minutes at U21 since he was 16 and has also played this season and last. He's performed well against men's teams like in the PFA match and the National League cup matches.

For the U21's he often plays further forward due to the number of defensive midfielders in that group (fewer now that Devaney and Kone are out on loan) especially when subbed on.

 

[limerickcitykid]

I think people are looking on Transfermarket or whoever and assuming that he isn't playing U21's. The stats for U21's are wrong.
He's played minutes at U21 since he was 16 and has also played this season and last. He's performed well against men's teams like in the PFA match and the National League cup matches.

For the U21's he often plays further forward due to the number of defensive midfielders in that group (fewer now that Devaney and Kone are out on loan) especially when subbed on.

The stats aren’t wrong, he’s simply played very little u21s football.

He played further forward because he’s played their most of his life and does very little defensive work.

 

[SparkedIntoLife]

I think there's obviously some instances where players not having under age international caps isn't a problem, especially when the player is undersized and will develop physically later. I think Thwaites does sort of fall into this category. But I am very concerned by the lack of United players in England underage squads, especially given Amorim's assessment that the academy needed a lot of work and that we weren't producing enough players physically suited for the PL. I do wonder if we overhype our own and that the balance is wrong when it comes to physical attributes. Not every youngster can be a Paul Scholes and have the technical excellence to make up for being physically deficient.

In the latest underage England squads, there have only been 4 United players (0 in U16, 1 in U17, 1 in U18, 2 in U19 and 0 in U21). City had 17. I'm sure there's quite a few contributory factors that have nothing to do with quality, or lack thereof, but the disparity is significant.

But yeah, I can't help thinking Thwaites will end up as a 'nice little player' as opposed to an elite PL player.

 

[Mingus]

The stats aren’t wrong, he’s simply played very little u21s football.

He played further forward because he’s played their most of his life and does very little defensive work.

I must have imagined all those matches that I've seen with my own eyes.

He's generally played in either DM or CM and AM, CM or 10 for the U21's. And his defensive ability is good. His best position IMO is as a defensive playmaking mid.

 

[Brightonian]

I don't know anything about the lad but isn't that usually the case or it can be said that at least you're not developing as quickly as your peers?

The average age of the top clubs U21 squads is between 18-18.5 and the average of United starting XI at U21 is 18.3 so it seems most are moving up at a younger age.

Players develop differently. It doesn't matter if a player moves up to U21 at 17 or 18 in the long run, and it doesn't really indicate much about how good they will end up being as a senior player. I can think of lots of youngsters who came through really early then came to nothing; I would guess the correlation between how early you debut for U18s or U21s and how successful you are as a senior footballer is very slight. To assess Thwaites, you just have to watch him play football.

He was really good against Oxford tonight, I thought.

 

[Mr. MUJAC]

Players develop differently. It doesn't matter if a player moves up to U21 at 17 or 18 in the long run, and it doesn't really indicate much about how good they will end up being as a senior player. I can think of lots of youngsters who came through really early then came to nothing; I would guess the correlation between how early you debut for U18s or U21s and how successful you are as a senior footballer is very slight. To assess Thwaites, you just have to watch him play football.

He was really good against Oxford tonight, I thought.

He got caught in possession quite a bit tonight...something he will need to work on.

 

[limerickcitykid]

I must have imagined all those matches that I've seen with my own eyes.

He's generally played in either DM or CM and AM, CM or 10 for the U21's. And his defensive ability is good. His best position IMO is as a defensive playmaking mid.

No you’re just incapable of reading as all of those matches are on transfermarkt. He’s just barely played for the u21s.

He generally played as a 10 or even on the wing in younger age groups. Jacob Devaney has good defensive ability, Tyler Fletcher does too. Thwaites most certainly doesn’t. He is a defensive midfielder the same way Andrea Pirlo was a defensive midfielder. He wasn’t.

 

[KM]

Weird underrating of him on this page, he's excellent technically and just needs to develop physically to be a considered an excellent talent. That's why he's probably playing U18 soo much rather than u21, but i think our setup is also far too conservative in promoting players. Kukonki simply needs to play u21 also.

 

[goldenboy]

He got caught in possession quite a bit tonight...something he will need to work on.

I watched the game and this was something I noticed as well.

It's clear his set-pieces and long-range passing are excellent (when he has time on the ball), but he did seem to lose the ball more than the other United players, whether through getting caught in possession or messing up passes when put under pressure. Don't know how common that is for him.

 

[bringbackbebe]

Weird underrating of him on this page, he's excellent technically and just needs to develop physically to be a considered an excellent talent. That's why he's probably playing U18 soo much rather than u21, but i think our setup is also far too conservative in promoting players. Kukonki simply needs to play u21 also.

The CAF in general is poor at rating midfielders, if not all players. Go through historical Michael Carrick threads from 2003-2006.

Carrick is no better than Butt or Fortune - https://www.redcafe.net/threads/cole-defoe-carrick.27638/ (not a single poster wanted Carrick when he was 22 and rated Defoe over Cole and Carrick)
Jenas over Carrick - https://www.redcafe.net/threads/fletcher-fabregas-jenas-and-carrick.82983/
Let's get Lennon instead of Carrick - https://www.redcafe.net/threads/forget-carrick-get-lennon-instead.118409/
We got ripped off for Carrick - https://www.redcafe.net/threads/united-defend-carrick-price.122447/

 

[Ekeke]

I think there's obviously some instances where players not having under age international caps isn't a problem, especially when the player is undersized and will develop physically later. I think Thwaites does sort of fall into this category. But I am very concerned by the lack of United players in England underage squads, especially given Amorim's assessment that the academy needed a lot of work and that we weren't producing enough players physically suited for the PL. I do wonder if we overhype our own and that the balance is wrong when it comes to physical attributes. Not every youngster can be a Paul Scholes and have the technical excellence to make up for being physically deficient.

In the latest underage England squads, there have only been 4 United players (0 in U16, 1 in U17, 1 in U18, 2 in U19 and 0 in U21). City had 17. I'm sure there's quite a few contributory factors that have nothing to do with quality, or lack thereof, but the disparity is significant.

But yeah, I can't help thinking Thwaites will end up as a 'nice little player' as opposed to an elite PL player.

I dont think so. Our youth teams do extremely well against the other youth teams featuring those players that play for England, so obviously they arent deficient overall or we'd see them falling short and not being successful. Right?

And when I watch youth teams for Spanish teams for example the technical level is sometimes higher than united but the physicality is lower. I dont think we have an emphasis on technical players at all. We have a couple of more technical players (and we do get excited about them, for good reason) and plenty around them that are balanced or physical. For example against City u18s we had Mills, Kukonki and Obi on the pitch who are all physical players. Armer is like 6'4 and although he's not the most aggressive I think with his height advantage alone he should be considered enough of a physical player. Our wingers tend to be physical first and foremost, we tend to produce the Rashford/Elanga types whos main weapon is speed - Mantato and Brown are two more of those and same for Lusale though we signed him. So with Brown and Mantato that would make 6 of 10 outfield players physical types

I will say that some of our more physical players that have come through and played in the youth teams dont tend to be the most highly rated of our players, theyve tended to be the ones going to league 2 etc which makes some sense because they might be good enough to be a physical player in the u18s or u21s but when they play adult football now their physicality is likely inferior to the older experienced players and they didnt have standout technical ability even in the youth teams. So the key is finding those physical players who also have good technical skills. And I think we've done that with our wingers and some of our midfielders as being a runner is also physical and we have had midfielders who will do lots of running and have plenty of stamina.

 

[Mingus]

No you’re just incapable of reading as all of those matches are on transfermarkt. He’s just barely played for the u21s.

He generally played as a 10 or even on the wing in younger age groups. Jacob Devaney has good defensive ability, Tyler Fletcher does too. Thwaites most certainly doesn’t. He is a defensive midfielder the same way Andrea Pirlo was a defensive midfielder. He wasn’t.

Mainoo played as a forward in the younger ages, a lot of technically good players do when they're younger. Ayden Heaven was a winger.
Even Transfermarkets stats have him down playing overwhelmingly as a DM this season, but it's true he's not the midfield destroyer type, more of a deep lying playmaker as he played against City at the weekend.

It wasn't his best game last night but he still contributed. He has had a couple of months out injured though and he was playing further forward than he has this season.

It's a shame that Ibragimov is injured as he looked good in a central midfield pivot with Thwaites at the beginning of the season.

 

[KM]

I think there's obviously some instances where players not having under age international caps isn't a problem, especially when the player is undersized and will develop physically later. I think Thwaites does sort of fall into this category. But I am very concerned by the lack of United players in England underage squads, especially given Amorim's assessment that the academy needed a lot of work and that we weren't producing enough players physically suited for the PL. I do wonder if we overhype our own and that the balance is wrong when it comes to physical attributes. Not every youngster can be a Paul Scholes and have the technical excellence to make up for being physically deficient.

In the latest underage England squads, there have only been 4 United players (0 in U16, 1 in U17, 1 in U18, 2 in U19 and 0 in U21). City had 17. I'm sure there's quite a few contributory factors that have nothing to do with quality, or lack thereof, but the disparity is significant.

But yeah, I can't help thinking Thwaites will end up as a 'nice little player' as opposed to an elite PL player.

Amorim was an insecure and incompetent man who was criticising the academy to hide away his weaknesses.

 

[SparkedIntoLife]

I dont think so. Our youth teams do extremely well against the other youth teams featuring those players that play for England, so obviously they arent deficient overall or we'd see them falling short and not being successful. Right?

And when I watch youth teams for Spanish teams for example the technical level is sometimes higher than united but the physicality is lower. I dont think we have an emphasis on technical players at all. We have a couple of more technical players (and we do get excited about them, for good reason) and plenty around them that are balanced or physical. For example against City u18s we had Mills, Kukonki and Obi on the pitch who are all physical players. Armer is like 6'4 and although he's not the most aggressive I think with his height advantage alone he should be considered enough of a physical player. Our wingers tend to be physical first and foremost, we tend to produce the Rashford/Elanga types whos main weapon is speed - Mantato and Brown are two more of those and same for Lusale though we signed him. So with Brown and Mantato that would make 6 of 10 outfield players physical types

I will say that some of our more physical players that have come through and played in the youth teams dont tend to be the most highly rated of our players, theyve tended to be the ones going to league 2 etc which makes some sense because they might be good enough to be a physical player in the u18s or u21s but when they play adult football now their physicality is likely inferior to the older experienced players and they didnt have standout technical ability even in the youth teams. So the key is finding those physical players who also have good technical skills. And I think we've done that with our wingers and some of our midfielders as being a runner is also physical and we have had midfielders who will do lots of running and have plenty of stamina.

You raise some very good points. Any idea, though, why we have such a paltry amount of players in the England youth sides than many other teams? I'm not saying it's a 100% barometer of academy health, in the same way that it can't be said that results at youth level automatically equate to producing great players for the first team or to be sold on to clubs at a high level. It's puzzling, though.

Amorim was an insecure and incompetent man who was criticising the academy to hide away his weaknesses.

There was some narrative that Amorim would come in and promote like 20 youngsters as he did at Sporting and would save the day. He put the kibosh on that very quickly but you're right - he was very much in the self preservation game. I do think we can overrate our youth system though.

 

[KM]

There was some narrative that Amorim would come in and promote like 20 youngsters as he did at Sporting and would save the day. He put the kibosh on that very quickly but you're right - he was very much in the self preservation game. I do think we can overrate our youth system though.

We don’t overrate our youth system. It’s genuinely good. Not every youth system can be Barcelona where they deliver a worldie every two years.