It feels like an age since there was so much joy among United fans but the performances since the restart probably merit it. We are on a 15 game unbeaten run and look like we may yet finish 3rd this season, which seems incredible given how harrowing and hopeless the loss against Burnley in January felt.
The turnaround means a lot of goodwill and there is hope of a title challenge within a year or two. Fans are rushing to credit Bruno for seemingly transforming the club overnight and Ole for building the most cohesive post-Fergie team and finally getting us to play entertaining football. And yet I feel we aren't crediting the academy enough.
A couple of years ago, it felt like all you heard in the press was how we'd let the academy system atrophy and how youth development was just yet another avenue where City had overtaken us. And yet only a few years on, as we finally seem to be headed the right way the academy is at the centre of it.
Rashford was basically a one-man team the firat half of the season was on a hot streak that was drawing comparisons with Ronaldo's breakout season here. Greenwood is probably our most exciting youth prospect since Giggs. Scott Mctominay is at the very least an incredibly reliable squad option and has himself come on leaps and bounds under Ole. Brandon Williams and Dean Henderson are both knocking very heavily on the door of the first team and (at least in my opinion) it wouldn't be a major dropoff (if there is even a dropoff at all) if they replaced the incumbents in the first team. Plus, there are obviously big hopes at the club for Axel Tuanzebe, James Garner and Ethan Laird. Now, the jury is still out on whether any of the youngsters make it into a future title winning United team or if there even is a title winning team but it still does speak highly of the academy.
For those who follow the youth teams, are there any other names I've missed out on here? Was the talk of the failing academy always overblown? If not, how has the club managed to turn it around so quickly? For everyone else, how exciting is all of this, eh?
The turnaround means a lot of goodwill and there is hope of a title challenge within a year or two. Fans are rushing to credit Bruno for seemingly transforming the club overnight and Ole for building the most cohesive post-Fergie team and finally getting us to play entertaining football. And yet I feel we aren't crediting the academy enough.
A couple of years ago, it felt like all you heard in the press was how we'd let the academy system atrophy and how youth development was just yet another avenue where City had overtaken us. And yet only a few years on, as we finally seem to be headed the right way the academy is at the centre of it.
Rashford was basically a one-man team the firat half of the season was on a hot streak that was drawing comparisons with Ronaldo's breakout season here. Greenwood is probably our most exciting youth prospect since Giggs. Scott Mctominay is at the very least an incredibly reliable squad option and has himself come on leaps and bounds under Ole. Brandon Williams and Dean Henderson are both knocking very heavily on the door of the first team and (at least in my opinion) it wouldn't be a major dropoff (if there is even a dropoff at all) if they replaced the incumbents in the first team. Plus, there are obviously big hopes at the club for Axel Tuanzebe, James Garner and Ethan Laird. Now, the jury is still out on whether any of the youngsters make it into a future title winning United team or if there even is a title winning team but it still does speak highly of the academy.
For those who follow the youth teams, are there any other names I've missed out on here? Was the talk of the failing academy always overblown? If not, how has the club managed to turn it around so quickly? For everyone else, how exciting is all of this, eh?