Being on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline hurts. It doesn’t matter which team we put out there. Even if it was an Academy side, it hurts because its still a Manchester United eleven. I still haven’t caught the highlights (and I don’t know if I really want to), so I can’t quite comment on how the game unfolded. But based on the postgame reaction, it sounded like we weren’t too hot.
A couple of folks including some of our former players have criticized the team selection and the youngsters in general. With one thumping loss, our youngsters have been deemed not good enough.
Of our team of youngsters who took the field yesterday, the ones that are truly young and thus, under the microscope would have to be Evans, Smalling, Fabio, Ando, Obertan, Chicharito and Bebe. Macheda and Rafael were the other youngsters who played, coming on as subs.
Evans is having a rough time this season. Scott over at ROM wrote a great article on the young lad and about giving him the time to reestablish his form. Hopefully, he finds it quick before the fans and ultimately, the manager, lose patience with him. Smalling seems to be coming along nicely and there is still a belief in his ability to eventually become like Rio. Obertan has been getting a lot more games in the past few months (largely due to others being unavailable), way more than I ever imagined for this season. I haven’t forgotten about both Cleverly and Welbeck being out on loan. But would they really have been able to make a difference if they were on the team sheet for yesterday’s game?
I guess the question worth asking then is whether or not our youngsters are truly that far off the pace as some are claiming? Are our current crop not at the same level as the youngsters over at Arsenal or even Chelsea? Arsenal have Wilshere who has already made an appearance for the senior national side and is a very special talent. But they also have Gibbs who has been making first team appearances and has also been getting included in the senior national side. After that, there seems to be a bit of a drop off in and that may have more to do with players needing to mature more and get increased playing time. Chelsea on the other hand have the much touted Josh McEachran who is being regarded as the next big thing with Ancelotti giving him increased playing time recently. Then there is the enigmatic Kakuta who may be leaving them shortly depending on what you read and who you believe.
We’ve always taken pride in raising youngsters the United way. However, having the right demeanor and attitude is one thing. Being able to play at a level that is worthy of pulling on the red shirt is another.
Surely, it is unfair to judge these players based on one bad performance and the negative press has been more a knee jerk reaction to the nature of the loss. What do you say?
