You know what, Davo's spot on in his assessment i think. People need to actually read what people post instead of a reflex answer like ' like Pennant' etc.
The truth is we've always had 'exciting' youngsters. With every crop we claim they are different to the last, Nardiello was different to Webber, Johnson was different to Nardiello, and now i'm guessing Campbell is different to Johnson. The fact is, as much as people go on about our tradition with kids, i honestly think United will always go out and buy a reputable player when there is a need in the team.
I feel we have some good youngsters, after all, i started this thread. But i know not many will be United first teamers. It's simple, for example, people, myself included, have been raving about Evans lately, but the fact is, in four years from now, he'll be 22. There is no way Evans, Pique, Vidic, Brown, Rio and Heinze will all be in the first team. Evans and Pique won't be in the reserves at 22, so there's a good chance they'll ask to leave, if they haven't left already, because they want to play football, which they can't do with Rio, Vidic and Brown about, the oldest of whom is around 32 by that time. That's generally how it works i feel.
I think this is partly why people make a fuss about Fletch making it into the team so easily, saying stuff about him being a Fergie fave due to nationality etc. I personally feel that he hasn't been our best young midfielder since 92', but it seemed Fergie was almost insistent that he HAD to make it with us. He didn't go the route that all the other youngsters who were at least equally as promising and go out on loan here and there. He was supposed to play at 16 even. Made a Champions League start very early. And yet the jury is still out. I feel this type of treatment is only acceptable if we are talking about a Fabregas or something, but for what Fletch has shown, surely David Fox, Markus Neumayr, David Jones or Ritchie Jones would not have fared inferior after so many games?
I reckon we should treat some of our youngsters like the Spanish and Italian teams do, either let them sign for other Prem teams and develop there until ready, or own 50% in them or something but let them play. I reckon Rossi for example, could well be a player we'd be looking to buy for about £15m by now if he came through the ranks at say, Blackburn,Fulham or Villa. He could have had a full season in the league under his belt by now possibly, but we have such top quality at Old Trafford it's been hard for him to get games. I've said several times before, i doubt Rooney would be exactly where he is today if he came through our academy, he definately wouldn't have been playing in the league at 16 etc. He would have had a few loan spells and Carling Cup games maybe, and probably find himself in a similar position to Rossi now, with us thinking whether to loan him out again and sign some shite like Kuyt for the here and now.
Perhaps a bit cynical, but an honest view of mine. As i said, fundamentally, i think we have a lot of quality here, but ultimately we may have become too big and our ambitions and expectations to large for them to get a proper run in the side, due to the hunger for success of the fans, directors/Glazers, and even commercial interests.
