Manchester United still has it’s soul

Pic courtesy of Man United Twitter (@ManUtd)

As a club, Manchester United has a history and tradition of having faith in homegrown talent and giving youth a chance. This is the foundation upon which the club was built, started by Sir Matt Busby who won the First Division in 1956 with a squad the average age of just 22 years. The media dubbed his squad the ‘Busby Babes’ and that generation of players has laid the foundation for what the club believes in and stands for today.

The Munich Air Disaster of 1958 is also at the forefront of the club’s history, claiming 23 lives 8 of which were players. Just 10 years later in 1968 the Red Devils became the first English club to win the European Cup, becoming the Kings of Europe for the first time. This defines the measure of the club in terms of the character, bouncing back from a catastrophe or tragedy by achieving great success.

The ‘Class of 92’ perhaps makes the club what it is today. The likes of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and David Beckham took the club to new heights in the modern era. Sir Alex Ferguson mirrored his reign at the club to that of Sir Matty Busby giving young players a chance and believing in the development of their own talent. He along with Busby believed that if the club can have a strong academy, it would stand a great chance to achieve long term success, longevity and continuity.

With the club being successful investing in youth, there were questions raised when new manager Louis van Gaal allowed Tom Cleverley, Tom Lawrence, Michael Keane and Nick Powell to leave the club. However, it was the sale of Manchester-born striker Danny Welbeck to Arsenal that caused an uproar. Welbeck is one of the brightest young talents at the club and is a full England international. Welbeck has been criticized for his poor record in-front of goal but the 23 year old had been played out of his preferred central position on numerous occasions.

Despite all the talk, the Red Devils have given several of it’s academy products their debut this season. The likes of Jesse Lingard, Tyler Blackett, Paddy McNair and Tom Starke have all been given their Premier League debuts. Adnan Januzaj is a part of van Gaal’s plans in the first team while 19 year old Luke Shaw who was bought from Southampton has played well at left back since he got healthy. James Wilson has also seen some action this season making appearances from the bench. Brazilian youngster Andreas Pereira got his taste of first team football in a 4-0 defeat to MK Dons in the League Cup.

Despite all the criticism after spending £150M on 6 players, stats from CIES Football Observatory showed that only Barcelona has more homegrown players in their squad and in the other 5 top leagues in Europe, than Man United. The Catalans have 13 players in their squad and 30 in other leagues while United has 12 in their squad and 24 in the other top five leagues.

Assistant manager Ryan Giggs had mentioned that the young players will get their chance now more than ever because the manager has a track record of using young players even in the biggest of games. This has been consistent with what the Dutch master tactician has done so far in his career and the fans will hope it continues for years to come.

With the money that is being thrown around by many clubs these dys, it is easy to see the reason young players are finding it hard to get a fair chance, especially in England. However Louis van Gaal and Manchester United have stuck to their philosophy and there are signs that things are going in the right direction. There are many players with great promise at Old Trafford but only time will tell if they will fulfill their true potential.