United Academy Streak - 3883 Consecutive Games
- Thread starter MrMarcello
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
A really amazing and admirable record.
It was good when it was about playing in games. Now it's just a player in a squad of 18 it seems pretty meaningless tbh.
Meaningless? It’s a core part of what Manchester United is about. Compare the frequency with which other clubs don’t have academy graduates in their squad, even those that have poured millions into them, and you’ll possibly see why it is an incredible streak.
By 17th Jan, City had only given seven league minutes to graduates from their vanity project.
It’s only really United, Arsenal and Everton who have a streak of any real length and theirs are dwarfed by ours.
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That is because United fans invented the stat. Like I say, it was a very cool stat when it was about starting games, or playing in games. Now it is pretty technical and very diluted as a result. Actually bringing players through is great of course.
I’ve always been hilarious, it’s just a few jokes lately have been funny to people other than myself.
You've become quite funny lately. Keep up the good work.
No bites on this one thoughChrist, another one!
Can't see this record being in danger any time soon. Pogba, McT, Lingard, Rashford will likely be regulars for years and even if any of them are moved on that will only open up opportunities for other academy players. If DDG stays for a long time I can see the bench spot going to Pereira instead of spending big money on a reserve GK.
Also I think the club is well aware of the streak and will actively push to keep it going.
Also I think the club is well aware of the streak and will actively push to keep it going.
How does this compare to other clubs? Are their numbers available for other teams in the league?
And so they should. If ever the quality being produced by the academy drops, in my opinion the answer should never be to stop featuring academy products in the squad, but rather to do whatever is necessary to fix the academy at all costs.
It's sacrilegious on the caf to say that anything matters more than winning but hypothetically I would rather see us protect this strand of the club's character and suffer for it for a while than discard it in order to, say, win a trophy. Because you get another chance to win trophies every year, but once we lose our commitment to playing home grown players, it's probably gone forever.
Rashford, Lingard and McTominay are all important part of the squad this season. I expect Pereira to be also as important as them next season. +Pogba also counts as United academy product. It is not irrelevant stat...
I just fon't get this Pereira thing. Hes been ok at valencia. In his position we have better options who already need strengthening. Anyone expecting him to play a part in our team next season are going to end up disappointed.
No idea in the Prem. Perhaps Barca have a decent record? They usually have a kid or 2 on the bench, Messi rarely misses games and game and Valdes was their goalie for years.
It's a few months old now, but it should give a rough idea.
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/6y1l16/manchester_united_have_played_3871_games_with_an/
@TMDaines posted a link to it earlier in the thread
The Reddit thread I posted is outdated though but gives you a good idea.
Very impressive, we're way miles ahead than any other clubs. Last time no youth in m.d. squad is way back in 1937, damnn. Interested to know though our comparison with other top teams such as Barca, Real, Bayern, Juventus, etc.
Seeing our own young blood in red is in my list of most satisfying moment in United after us winning trophies.
I think Barca has decent record. We must track back to 80's to know if they used youth or not. Earlier Cruyff era begin at 90 when he promote Guardiola's gen to made that dream team. after that they had Puyol at the end of 90's and Xavi in earlier 00's. After that we know what happen. I think they have a good 20 or 30-ish years of youth.
Wouldn't surprise me if Barca at least had a youth product this millenium.
Cheers. About 1/3 of the league not doing too well on the front. Don't know if that's the norm or not. Probably not out of the ordinary.
It's a few months old now, but it should give a rough idea.
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/6y1l16/manchester_united_have_played_3871_games_with_an/
@TMDaines posted a link to it earlier in the thread
Not sure which one to bump as we have few threads on academy.
Lingard (academy player) scored brace against Arsenal
Rashford (academy player) scored brace against Liverpool
Pogba* (academy player) scored brace against City.
Also Lingard scored winner against Chelsea.
Not sure if any other top team in PL apart from Spurs (who have Kane) have good record with academy players.
*big fee still academy player.
Lingard (academy player) scored brace against Arsenal
Rashford (academy player) scored brace against Liverpool
Pogba* (academy player) scored brace against City.
Also Lingard scored winner against Chelsea.
Not sure if any other top team in PL apart from Spurs (who have Kane) have good record with academy players.
*big fee still academy player.
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I've had this argument before. Pogba counts as an academy player, all we did was pay 87m to bring an academy player back
Barcelona's record goes back to the 1990's as does Real Madrid's.
Ajax goes back to the mid 1980's.
There might be some obscure team in some obscure league that has a better record but in terms of the top 10 historical leagues in Europe (Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Portugal, England, Scotland, Austria, Germany, Hungary) no-one really comes closer to 3,914 which was the total yesterday.
I have no idea about South America as no-one seems to be able to identify all the games ever played nor who is a youth player and who is not.
I understand it's just a statistic, but when I was doing the research and actually looking into it...I just thought it was an amazing testimony to the club that they continue to give youth a chance.
Whether it's playing in the game or being in the squad is a moot point and I can see both sides.
What is even more interesting to me is that we are the most successful club in England and have a 50/50 split between bought players and home grown players. Why don't other clubs just stop buying crap players and develop their own because they surely can't do any worse than they currently do. It's not even as if they are trying.
It's a wonderful record and something everyone associated with the club should be immensely proud of particularly in modern football where competing in the transfer market is so key to having success.
Long may it continue
Long may it continue
Pointless record, all that matters is titles.
Joke obviously. Something the flub must be unbelievably proud of
Joke obviously. Something the flub must be unbelievably proud of
City having no youth player with all the no way gone there is a disgrace.
Bet their youth couches get no job satisfaction.
Bet their youth couches get no job satisfaction.
Awesome stat, major reason why i fell in love with this club.
Great to see Mourinho upholding the traditions and continuing to place faith in the academy lads.
Almost 80 years 
Anyone got numbers on Ajax?
Anyone got numbers on Ajax?
This data is from 2016Almost 80 years
Anyone got numbers on Ajax?
AC Milan - December 2014
Ajax - September 1981
Atletico Madrid - January 2009
Bayern Munich - April 2002
Borussia Dortmund - January 2003
Barcelona - April 1963
Porto - January 2015
Inter Milan - March 2014
Real Madrid - February 1965
So Ajax 34 years, Real Madrid 51 years, Barcelona 53 years...Manchester United 79 years
With the date against Fulham on 30th October 1937 being the start of the run...we are now over 80 years.
They've only just started to pour money into the academy, they should have some players starting to come through soon, Foden being the first. If not then questions need to be asked.
What a boost to the confidence of McTominay that must have been yesterday. To bring him on at such a stage of the match he must have been thinking, "wow the boss must have some belief in me".
Hope the other young players take note.
Hope the other young players take note.
Great. Does any club have a better record? What about someone like Bilbao?
That Ajax stat is about actual players on the pitch, not simply in the match day squad. I can't imagine we've ever even been able to a squad without academy players, at least not since 1960 or something.
In fact, since 1981, we've apparently played just 21 minutes without an academy product on the pitch
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Also that one match we didn't, the 12 September match vs MVV seemed to be because were resting players for the EC2 match 4 days later against Spurs, with Rijkaard, Vanenburg, and Kieft as usual starters from the academy not playing
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Now thats impressive.
Obviously, 3883 consecutive games with academy graduate is something to be proud of, but I will rather care more about the actual playing mins of those graduates rather than just being in the matchday squad. Also, there is no point in counting the likes of Pogba in there even though he qualifies technically.
I believe we will easily be in top 3 clubs in the world in playing mins too in last 5 decades.
Bournemouth Vs City game had zero academy graduates for either side.
It's a few months old now, but it should give a rough idea.
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/6y1l16/manchester_united_have_played_3871_games_with_an/
@TMDaines posted a link to it earlier in the thread
Why not count Pogba seen as how he came through our academy?
Because he has hardly make any senior appearances for us before he left. And we 'bought' a different Pogba, a much more mature pogba from Juventus after some 5 years.
But the point is about players that came through our academy playing for us. He came through our academy and plays for us.