No MUFC players in England U21 squad

[Pogue Mahone]

So the England U21s beat Czech Republic 2-0 last night. As far as I can see there wasn’t a United player in the squad.

Is this a first? Do we have an unusually low number of English players in our reserve/U18 squads? Or a bit of a freak occurrence due to injuries etc?

There’s been a lot of talk about an overhaul of our youth system, going back several years yet we seem to be going backwards, if anything. Or am I reading far too much into one match?

 

[cj_sparky]

So the England U21s beat Czech Republic 2-0 last night. As far as I can see there wasn’t a United player in the squad.

Is this a first? Do we have an unusually low number of English players in our reserve/U18 squads? Or a bit of a freak occurrence due to injuries etc?

There’s been a lot of talk about an overhaul of our youth system, going back several years yet we seem to be going backwards, if anything. Or am I reading far too much into one match?

At least we had two academy graduates in the starting XI.

 

[SilentWitness]

Gomes and Garner are in the squad. Aside from City the academy spread in the squad is quite broad.

 

[backofthenet]

Think its safe to say that the quality of our academy sides above U18 at the moment is not brilliant. We lost out on a lot of kids to City around the time that represent these age groups if I recall correctly, and we've not had much luck in backfilling from other academy sides. The problem with changes to academy structures are that they changes are only borne out over many years. A change in recruitment focus at an U11 level doesn't reflect into U21's for 10 years. So we could be much more successful now at the younger age groups, and have a better quality of kids coming through, but we won't see it for a few more years yet.
In fact, if I have been reading this forum correctly over the last year or so, there's definitely indications that the younger age groups have some very talented lads in there. We've just got to wait for them to come through, and hope that they're backed up by others after that.

 

[SparkedIntoLife]

Some of you won't like this comment but it's because our academy is yet another part of this club that was once great but is now falling behind other top clubs in England. I think we're coasting a bit on reputation too. We can be proud of all the players this club has produced who have gone on to have good solid careers in the PL and the Football League and I know it's hard to produce players good enough to be United first team ready. But I've seen too much to suggest that there's a real lack of absolute excellence in youth development.

 

[Rood]

So the England U21s beat Czech Republic 2-0 last night. As far as I can see there wasn’t a United player in the squad.

Is this a first? Do we have an unusually low number of English players in our reserve/U18 squads? Or a bit of a freak occurrence due to injuries etc?

There’s been a lot of talk about an overhaul of our youth system, going back several years yet we seem to be going backwards, if anything. Or am I reading far too much into one match?

Reading too much into 1 match and it's certainly not a first, I can't remember when we last had more than 1 or 2 in the U21 team anyway

It's a bit of a weird age group because most players who qualify and who are good enough to play for us will probably be in the first team

E.g. the likes of Rashford and Greenwood mostly skipped this level and went straight to the first team for both club and county

And then those who aren't quite good enough tend to move on for game time elsewhere e.g. Gomes & Garner

Then you have players like Williams and Tuanzebe who only managed 1 cap each at this level

 

[Andersonson]

Greenwood was to good to be there, and we have players in that squad who we have sold because they werent good enough. I'd say we're fine

 

[Nickosaur]

Haven't United always been poorly represented at U21 level? That's an opinion that's probably quite tough to prove but over the years I'm sure Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea academies have dominated, plus of course those playing regularly at the mid- and lower- table PL and Championship clubs.

 

[Nickosaur]

Reading too much into 1 match and it's certainly not a first, I can't remember when we last had more than 1 or 2 in the U21 team anyway

It's a bit of a weird age group because most players who qualify and who are good enough to play for us will probably be in the first team

E.g. the likes of Rashford and Greenwood mostly skipped this level and went straight to the first team for both club and county

And then those who aren't quite good enough tend to move on for game time elsewhere e.g. Gomes & Garner

Then you have players like Williams and Tuanzebe who only managed 1 cap each at this level

Yeah I do also think it's largely this. If an English United player breaks onto the scene, they are the next big thing and more likely to go into the main squad than U21s.

 

[Nickelodeon]

Some of you won't like this comment but it's because our academy is yet another part of this club that was once great but is now falling behind other top clubs in England. I think we're coasting a bit on reputation too. We can be proud of all the players this club has produced who have gone on to have good solid careers in the PL and the Football League and I know it's hard to produce players good enough to be United first team ready. But I've seen too much to suggest that there's a real lack of absolute excellence in youth development.

I think in terms of overall quality of our academy, you're absolutely right. And the way to measure it is the lack of representation or sales we see from our academy to other major clubs.

But just analyzing the top end of it, we have regularly been producing players capable of slotting into a Man United starting 11 consistently over the years. Garnacho, in addition to Rashford and a certain #11 in between are probably some of the best youth prospects in the last 6-7 years, especially if you compare them against other Big 6 clubs.

 

[Devil You Know]

If you want to talk about Brexit FC, this is actually it.

 

[SparkedIntoLife]

I think in terms of overall quality of our academy, you're absolutely right. And the way to measure it is the lack of representation or sales we see from our academy to other major clubs.

But just analyzing the top end of it, we have regularly been producing players capable of slotting into a Man United starting 11 consistently over the years. Garnacho, in addition to Rashford and a certain #11 in between are probably some of the best youth prospects in the last 6-7 years, especially if you compare them against other Big 6 clubs.

Fair point. Garnacho was signed from Atletico but he definitely improved in our academy. Rashford was quite a few years ago but is a real poster boy for our youth system. It’s easy to forget just how promising [REDACTED… lol] was too but currently he doesn’t seem too good of a representative for us. I don’t think the club could’ve done much to prevent his indiscretions though.

United still get a lot right when it comes to youth - the understanding that not all players are write offs if they don’t make it at 18/19, the willingness to sign smaller or less athletic players and be patient with them and there’s still a huge ethos of giving youth a chance.

Despite this, there’s still big deficiencies etc and I’m not convinced by Nick Cox and the current setup/people. Even ETH doesn’t strike me as the absolute best in developing young players and I think some of his reputation comes from being at the helm as Ajax produced some fantastic talents. I’ve heard from many Ajax fans who feel he was too slow or didn’t properly introduce and integrate players he should’ve long ago.