Manchester United's Academy - News and Rumors

[Andi Istiabudi]

DEMI MITCHELL TIPPED TO EXCITE UNITED FANS

Manchester United's interim Reserves coach Nicky Butt believes Demi Mitchell is handling his shift to left-back superbly and is ready to impress at Old Trafford in Monday's Premier League 2 match against Southampton.

Kick-off is at 19:00 GMT and there's free entry for all spectators as the young Reds play at the Theatre of Dreams for only the second time this season and look to build on last week's wonderful 3-1 away win over Sunderland.

Mitchell opened the scoring on Wearside from the penalty spot, his fourth goal of the campaign, and he has been one of the real plus points of 2016/17 after switching from a much more attacking role. He is likely to be charged with the responsibility of helping to overcome the Saints, who fielded a very strong and experienced line-up in their last Premier League 2 fixture, a goalless draw with Chelsea.

Speaking about Mitchell's conversion to full-back, Butt told ManUtd.com: "It started out of necessity, if I’m honest, as we had no left-back when Cameron Borthwick-Jackson went out on loan.


"So we needed a replacement and decided Demi could do it. He has got blistering pace. He’s strong, brave, can take people on and can cross a ball.

"When he plays on the left wing, it doesn't always happen for him as the space tightens up pretty quickly but I think, as a modern-day full-back or wing-back, Demi is perfect for that. He comes onto the game at pace and, once in full flight, he’s pretty impossible to stop.

"He just needs to develop the defensive side of it now with coaching. But he’s keen to learn, which is good. I think modern-day full-backs are really attacking players and, if you can get the defensive side right as well, you've got a serious defender on your hands.

"Both Demi and Matthew Olosunde [who has been playing right-back] are very attacking players and good on the eye. They have got to get better at defending one against one but that will come. They are pacey and exciting for fans to watch."

MUTV will show the full Premier League 2 match between United and Southampton at 23:00 GMT on Monday night, following the first team's Emirates FA Cup tie at Chelsea.

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UNITED ACADEMY IMPLEMENTING NEW IDEAS

Manchester United's Academy may be one of the most successful in the game but it is continuing to embrace new ideas and innovations, after launching a six-week project at the start of the year designed to present a number of challenges for the club's various age groups.

A huge amount of hard work behind the scenes, led by long-serving Academy specialist Tony Whelan, who co-ordinated the programme, has enabled the youngsters to enjoy enriching experiences across a variety of versions of the game.

There was even a special 'elite playground' idea developed with Chelsea at St George's Park that cemented a special relationship between the clubs at youth level. Other opponents have included numerous teams from the continent, such as Bayern Munich, Dinamo Zagreb and Besiktas, in addition to the likes of Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.

BUTT'S VISION

Head of Academy Nicky Butt, whose own experiences as a schoolboy were very different to those being accrued in the current system, has been keen to implement these ideas. "We want to take an innovative approach to our games programme so it is one that maybe gives us an edge over our opponents," he said.

"We've devised a variety of experiences, on and off the pitch, for all our age groups as it's an opportunity to stretch the players and provide different challenges."

United have been competing in various tournaments with an Under-19s team winning the Sparkasse & VGH International Cup in Germany, while the Under-12s finished runners-up in indoor events in the same country in consecutive weeks. The Under-14s won their group convincingly in the Albert Phelan Cup in order to qualify for the knockout stages, while the Under-11s lifted the Graham Buckingham Cup, named in honour of a popular long-serving member of staff, at The Cliff.

COX EXPLAINS PROJECTS

Academy operations manager Nick Cox outlined the thinking behind the extensive planning for the first part of 2017, as the Reds work hard behind the scenes to produce the Marcus Rashfords, Jesse Lingards and Axel Tuanzebes of the future.

"In this six-week period, we were attempting to protect the kids from the weather, give the players a breadth of variety in the programme, plus different formats and opposition, with a little bit of competition thrown in," he told ManUtd.com.

"There were foreign trips, with the travel and cultural experience, and different challenges they won't face here. That was the plan, to achieve those things over the winter period, and it's fairly unique. I'm not sure it happens anywhere else but we made sure every one of our age groups was exposed to some kind of indoor festival every weekend.

"We've had player-led tournaments, where we leave it completely up to the boys and it's all about leadership, cage football, six-a-side events, in-and-out balanced tournaments where you add or subtract players at various stages, power-play football where music plays and goals are worth double, and futsal on a hard court with a heavy ball. So we've been bombarding the kids with loads of different things.

"The variety of opposition is important as well and we've invited Tottenham and Chelsea as, because of the geography, we don't play them on a regular basis. It's really important we pitch our players against the best in the country and we also hunted down other types of opponents. Chester spring to mind as perhaps their players are more used to real football on a Sunday and they actually won that particular Under-14 competition.

"We put a project in place due to our good relationship with Chelsea. We have similar thoughts on how to develop players and, this year, decided to meet them at St George's Park where three of the younger age groups played all day across every format of the game. It was the best players, we perceive, in the north and south of the country in a pressurised situation. It was difficult but almost creating an elite playground. It was playground type of football against the best players out there and it was an absolutely fantastic experience and is not something that is done anywhere else."

UNSWORTH A FAN OF INDOOR FOOTBALL

Under-12 lead coach Lee Unsworth is a big advocate of the boys honing their skills in small-sided games and also enjoying the different challenges that are posed.

"The indoor programme benefits our boys in many different ways," he told ManUtd.com. "Firstly, it is designed to allow football to continue through the traditionally poor weather months. More importantly, it provides the players with the variety in the football that we feel they need.

"Technically and tactically, it is a real test to play smaller sided games and there is no hiding place on the pitch as the action is fast paced. We run indoor tournaments for all age groups, inviting teams from across the North West to participate. These events have proved over many years to be a real success and the players gain so much from them, not least having tremendous fun and enjoyment.

"We also participate in some European indoor tournaments where we are tested to the limits against top-class foreign opposition. This is a real spike in the learning opportunities for the boys and a programme that we wish to continue and enhance over the coming seasons."

STRETCHING THE YOUNGSTERS

The travel element is important to the club as Cox explained the value of taking youngsters out of their comfort zone at the Aon Training Complex.

"There's lots of developmental football," he said. "It's great as the boys can express themselves and learn through making mistakes. But, at the end of the journey, they have to deliver under pressure so, slowly and gradually, we introduce this aspect. If they go to a tournament, there is a crowd and they might have to take a penalty in a shoot-out or go into a game knowing a draw is enough to qualify for the next stage.

"It gives them loads of new problems to face; they're not just turning up for a game that doesn't necessarily mean anything and they're very comfortable. That's fine as they can express themselves but they need to experience discomfort. We want them to experience everything and are stretched before they cross that white line at Old Trafford."

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE

And what better way to learn than to listen to somebody who has a wealth of experience of becoming a United legend? Michael Carrick may still be playing regularly for the first team but he is spending some of his time coaching the Under-14s and also passed on valuable information to the whole group of Academy youngsters during a special Q&A session.

"I enjoy it when I can," he told ManUtd.com. "I had a bit of a chat and a Q&A with the boys a few weeks ago, a lot of the Academy lads, and it’s something I enjoy.

"It’s just trying to pass something on, some experience that I’ve had over the years, what I was like in their situation and things like that. Obviously, I’m using it to go for my badges as well and go for my A-Licence, so it’s worked quite well."

http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Features/2017/Mar/manchester-united-academy-overview-as-programme-yields-huge-benefits.aspx

[fredrian.seven]

Ada orang-orang yang dikenal?

[Andi Istiabudi]

PROUD AFTERNOON FOR UNITED'S ACADEMY

Records tumbled as Manchester United defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 with a youthful line-up in the Premier League season finale at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The XI selected by Jose Mourinho was the youngest to be fielded by the club in Premier League history and the boys did not let the boss down as first-half goals by Josh Harrop and Paul Pogba sealed three points.

Harrop and Pogba were two of eight former Academy players in the side, with four more on the bench, as the manager shuffled his pack ahead of the key Europa League final against Ajax in midweek. Harrop joined a select band of homegrown products to score on their league debut, with Marcus Rashford and James Wilson having achieved the feat recently. He also became United's 100th different scorer in the Premier League.

Demi Mitchell, outstanding at left-back, and Harrop made their senior debuts while Joel Pereira made his Premier League bow. Scott McTominay was afforded his first start and Angel Gomes will gain a lot of the limelight after coming off the bench with a couple of minutes left.

The 16-year-old is the youngest debutant since the legendary Duncan Edwards and became the first 2000-born player to appear in the Premier League.

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[fredrian.seven]

Realistis aja, mungkin nggak semua pemain reserva dan akademi yg ikut dalam pertandingan semalam bisa terus berkarir di United. Mungkin hanya beberapa saja. Tapi pertandingan semalam jadi pencapaian spesial buat akademi meski hanya di pertandingan yg tidak menentukan apa2 ini. Lawannya CP dengan kekuatan penuh.

[Andi Istiabudi]

UNITED NAME SQUAD FOR TERBORG TOURNAMENT

Manchester United are taking an 18-man squad to the Netherlands for the Terborg tournament.

The Under-19 competition gets under way on Friday, with matches continuing over the weekend.

Kieran McKenna has made a strong selection with Angel Gomes and Zak Dearnley chosen after being on the bench for the first team in the final Premier League game of the season against Crystal Palace. Gomes came on for his debut, becoming the first man born since the turn of the century to play in the division.

Aidan Barlow, fresh from a terrific end to the campaign that included appearing for Under-17 European Championship finalists England, will add even more firepower while Reserves regular Matthew Olosunde is joined by others who have been in Nicky Butt's squads of late - including Callum Gribbin and Joshua Bohui.

The Reds have been drawn in a group containing Brazilian side Flamengo, De Graafschap and Ajax Cape Town.

United: Alex Fojticek, Theo Richardson; Max Dunne, Jake Kenyon, Lee O'Connor, Matthew Olosunde, George Tanner, Tyrell Warren; Aidan Barlow, Indy Boonen, DJ Buffonge, Angel Gomes, Callum Gribbin, Ethan Hamilton, Callum Whelan; Joshua Bohui, Nishan Burkart, Zak Dearnley.

http://www.manutd.com

[Andi Istiabudi]

UNITED REACH SEMI-FINALS OF TERBORG TOURNAMENT

Manchester United reached the semi-finals of a prestigious youth tournament in the Netherlands last weekend.

Having taken a strong 18-man squad, the Reds finished fourth in the final standings in the 38th edition of the Terborg tournament.

Despite losing 2-0 to Ajax Cape Town in their opener, Kieran McKenna's side finished second in the group in the Under-19 competition after goals from Indy Boonen and Callum Gribbin secured a 2-0 win over Brazilian side Flamengo before a goalless draw against Dutch side De Graafschap.

It was enough for the young Reds to advance to the semis but the team were unfortunate to see the journey cut short by an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat – losing 5-4 on spot-kicks following a goalless draw against Atletico Mineiro, who went on to win the competition as the Brazilians saw off Ajax Cape Town 2-1 in the final.

The Reds lost 2-1 to Club Brugge in the third-place play-off game to take fourth place. Aidan Barlow had scored in the first half but also missed a penalty after Angel Gomes was brought down, before the Belgian side scored a late winner.

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[Andi Istiabudi]

MCKENNA: U18S STANDARD IS REALLY HIGH

Manchester United Under-18s coach Kieran McKenna believes the standard of youth football in England compares favourably to anywhere else in Europe.

Citing the draw with Manchester City in early December as a perfect illustration of his point, McKenna feels the level being reached can match anything on the continent.

United ultimately finished fourth in the top division after an entertaining campaign and the former Tottenham youth coach believes the challenge is to provide appropriate steps for youngsters when they move up from the Academy league.

"I think there are a lot of things in this country we’re doing right in Academy football," McKenna told Inside United during an in-depth review of the campaign. "I think the standard of games is really high and we’ve had some terrific games this year.

"After the derby with Manchester City here [at the Aon Training Complex] before Christmas, the 2-2 draw, a lot of coaches at national level said to me it was the best game of Under-18 football they’d seen this season – and in quite a few other seasons as well. I thought it was two really good sides going toe to toe and everything you want to see in a high-level youth game.

"I’d say the ones against City, Chelsea and some of the games with Liverpool have been probably as high a level of games as Real Madrid versus Barcelona or Bayern Munich versus Borussia Dortmund – or any game you might have in Europe at that level.

"I think there are a lot of good things in the Academy system but I feel the biggest challenge is still what comes at the next step when they leave the youth team and when they progress. How do we get them opportunities to play competitive football?

"Whether that will be with first teams, on loan, in the Under-23s, I think that next step of the pathway is something everyone in youth development is looking at and trying to refine to make sure some of the good work going through the Academies ends with the players at the end of it getting the right opportunities at the right times."

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[Andi Istiabudi]

UNITED YOUNGSTERS TO VISIT HONG KONG

Manchester United's youngsters will head to Hong Kong in August as part of the preparations ahead of the new season.

The Under-16 squad will join the newly established JC Youth Football Academy Summit, through official club partner The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

As part of the initiative, which is co-organised with the Hong Kong Football Association, the young Reds will spend a week in mid-August training with the HKFA Academy squad, along with playing two games against elite youngsters from the District and Hong Kong Academy teams.

As well as the training camp and games for the youngsters in Hong Kong, the Under-16s team will engage in a number of experiences offering cultural and diverse activities to offer life-learning skills, through the club’s partnership with The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

The partnership with Manchester United and HKJC has continued to grow since the initial link in 2012, with United benefiting from the expertise of the organisation, in engaging with communities across the region.

A party of club representatives including former player Louis Saha and Manchester United’s Group Managing Director Richard Arnold announced the plans for the week-long training camp.

"It’s really exciting for us," commented Academy Operations Manager Nick Cox. "We have a long-standing partnership with the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Hong Kong FA, where the relationship has seen a number of things happen in recent years.

"We have a coach based out there on a full-time basis, helping put a development structure together and we’ve sent a number of our experts over to speak to coaches in Hong Kong about sports science, development, the Foundation and that type of work.

"We’ve got an elite programme running whereby the winners join us in September for some experience over here. There are a number of initiatives that have been running for several years now and, through that partnership, one of the commitments we made to each other was, at some point, to have a little bit more of an exchange programme. We’re going to take the 15s and 16s to Hong Kong for a week and it will be fantastic.

"There will be a number of shared initiatives and they will spend time together but the main focus is this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m not sure many people get the opportunity to go to Hong Kong, even in adult life, so they will experience and see another side of life. For us, it ticks the box in terms of really helping to develop well-rounded young men.

"It will also go some way to ensuring the Academy experience is a life-changing one for the boys. A lot of time, effort and energy is devoted by the boys and their parents so it’s important that being involved in our programme gives you some experiences you could not get anywhere else in life."

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[Andi Istiabudi]

MCKENNA: UNITED IS A FANTASTIC WORKPLACE

Manchester United's Under-18s coach Kieran McKenna spent some time with the official club magazine Inside United to review last season and look ahead to the 2017/18 campaign.

The Northern Irishman believes the job has been everything he hoped it would be, after arriving from Tottenham Hotspur last year, and he is keen to oversee more progress when the new term gets under way.

Looking at the season overall, the Under-18s scored five goals on six different occasions so there was plenty of entertainment…
Yeah, I think we can all be proud, the staff and the players, of how the group has performed in terms of representing the club well. We’ve been very attacking and very aggressive right through the season and competed, bar maybe the latter stage of the game against Arsenal, and shown the players can compete with any Academy in the country. We’ve done that in all the games, scored a lot of goals and had good spirit. Most importantly, I can see a lot of individual development in a lot of players throughout the season so there have been lots of positives to take.

One of the things you mentioned when you took over was wanting to play the United way – that’s certainly been the case…
It’s something we emphasise to the boys, especially at this level, with a mindset of not taking a backward step but always looking to take the game to the opposition, to score goals and show their talents. They’ve managed to do that for most of the time and it’s something that will be reinforced to the next group coming in again. It is a thread the club is very proud of and something we want to continue.

What are you own highlights from the entire season?
[Pauses to think] I think there was a spell probably in the autumn where I thought we were playing really fantastic football. One game that sticks out in my mind is Wolves away when we were 5-0 up in 30 minutes. I thought, at that stage, the group was in terrific form and playing football as good as any I’ve been involved with. After the Manchester City game here [at the Aon Training Complex] before Christmas, the 2-2 draw, a lot of coaches at national level said to me it was the best game of Under-18 football they’d seen this season and in quite a few other seasons as well. I thought it was two really good sides going toe to toe and it had everything you want to see in a high-level youth game. The best football was probably played in the autumn when we produced some terrific stuff but we had disappointing injuries, long-term ones, in the second half of the season and difficult challenges to contend with. Some of the games in that period, home and away against City, and the game against Chelsea, even though we lost, were very good games between really good youth sides.

Development is key in youth football of course. Have there been occasions when you’ve noticed – individually or collectively – something that has improved significantly?
There have been loads of examples. As coaches, it’s the main thing we’re looking for. We could go through a large majority of the squad and clearly envisage things that were identified by themselves or us early on that we tried to improve. You can see that improvement and we’re really there to add value to each of the players individually, to teach them some things they can take on with them to have success in their future careers. I can certainly see that throughout the side and can see that in training and in games and that’s the biggest aspect really.

Going out of the FA Youth Cup in December was disappointing, and rather undeserved, and it meant we missed out on a run of games in the competition…
That was disappointing. Part of the learning journey is there are going to be disappointments throughout you career and that was one of them we’ll look back at and think about. We conceded two goals in five or six minutes against Southampton when we hadn’t previously lost or been behind in a game for a very long time. So it probably shellshocked the whole group a little bit and it was a disappointment for the boys. I’m sure next year’s group will look to go on a good run in the tournament and what was pleasing was the response to that in the league games. We had an indoor tournament shortly afterwards in Germany and lifted that trophy and got that taste of winning a competition. The response shows we learned lessons and I am more than confident the same boys playing at Old Trafford, in those type of games next season – in the Under-23s or Under-18s – would handle that situation even better.

I was going to say you wanted a response and you certainly got that – there was no hangover at all…
No, as I say, it’s one of those things in the FA Youth Cup. It’s a tournament we really want to do well in but you can’t hang the season on it because it’s a knockout competition. To concede two goals in five minutes towards the end of the game was disappointing, but I think the boys were able to see the good work going in and they were moving in the right direction. The most important thing is we kept doing that good work.

Was it hard to pick the traditional three contenders for the Youth Team Player of the Year award as it was very much a team effort?
It is a team effort and it changes over the course of a season. You might pick three different ones before Christmas. We had injuries to the likes of Ro-Shaun Williams and Tahith Chong who were both fantastic in the early parts of the season in the games that they played, and then there are the boys who finished the season really, really strongly. You could list a lot – Aidan Barlow and Ethan Hamilton spring to mind as they had really strong second-half finishes to the season. So I think I tried to pick three over the course of the season who were generally consistent throughout and played a high level over the course of it. Certainly, there are more names who could have been thrown into the hat.

Lee O’Connor said in his interview you helped him overcome homesickness – does it help being able to relate to players in that way?
Yes, that’s the benefit of having been there yourself, in terms of coming to a big Academy and moving over from Ireland. It’s only natural at some stage he would feel a little bit homesick and would go through that process but he had a terrific season and made a really good impact. He performed really well and is a good lad as well. The big challenge for him, the other two players I nominated for the award [Angel Gomes and Callum Whelan] and the rest of the squad, is what they do next and what level they can go to next season after being a very dominant player last season.

Quite a few of the lads will still be eligible for Under-18 football next season…
Yeah, they will. I think we’ve got quite a few second-year players who have managed to get a contract for next year and progress into the Under-23s and that’s a big part of the process. We want to pass on as many boys as we can to that level as we can and pass them on in the best position possible. So we have a big group of second-years moving up but we have first-years like Alex Fojticek in goal, George Tanner, Lee O’Connor, Angel Gomes, Aidan Barlow, Tahith Chong and Nishan Burkart. So it’s a strong list of players who are eligible again next year and, whether they play for us again, when the expectations will be even higher, or they’ll look to progress into the Under-23s, which is the goal for all of them, I’m sure it’ll be interesting for everyone to see how they progress.

It’s like a production line, so the Under-16s will move up. We’ve seen glimpses of them but they’ve been nursed along gently…
They have been. Like I said, we’ve had quite a large group of second-years this year so the Under-16s haven’t had as many minutes in the Under-18 team as we would sometimes like. What we have done is we’ve had a very strong Under-17 programme running in the background that people don’t see. We’ve had a couple of trips like the Slovakia one, where we take next year’s players away as a squad, and had numerous games at The Cliff, training ground and at stadiums like Birmingham City's. That’s a group of the most talented Under-16s, the most talented under-15s and some of this year’s first-year scholars, and we got that group together and looked at them individually and also looked at how the group is forming for next year. A lot of work is done in the background, some excellent work by Neil Ryan and his coaches, who work in that phase to prepare those boys and I think there are some really good players who can come in and have a good impact straight away.

Are there any plans afoot for the new season - such as more Friday-night games?
We’ve had a couple at Altrincham and a couple at The Cliff with a little crowd and floodlights in the stadium. It’s something we’ll look to do more of next season again as it provides a different atmosphere to the games. The programme of games is something we’re always evaluating and I think it’s something that we did well last season with the tournaments the boys have been to. We’ve had the Otten Cup, stadium exposure in the Under-23s and some with the Under-18s, the indoor tournament in Germany and we’ve just been to Dallas. We had the Terborg tournament and different types of games, like the one against Altrincham at their stadium, and had a mix of Saturday mornings and Friday nights at The Cliff and Altrincham. It’s about providing a wide range of games, different types and styles of games and at different arenas so hopefully the boys are comfortable in any type of setting as they progress in their careers.

We seem to be careful about moving players up as I’ve noticed other clubs tend to use 16 and 17-year-olds in their Reserves. We don’t appear to rush them through…
Yes, it’s about doing it when it’s right for the individual. Ro-Shaun Williams, for example, is a player who is physically very well developed, he has a really good stature and had played Under-18 football regularly from his Under-16 year up. He was looked at individually as one who would benefit from playing Under-23 football from the start of the season. There are other players who might be just as talented as Ro-Shaun but are physically not as developed and mentally not quite right yet. So we will be a bit more patient with them. It’s not about pushing them up just when they’re a certain age or when they show a certain amount of ability in the Under-18s. It’s about us as a club, from Nicky Butt downwards, making the decision when it's going to be the right time for a player to go to the next level.

Conversely, we’ve played some youngsters below their age group in the past – Jesse Lingard and Michael Keane are just two examples of that…
Yeah they have done that. Maybe we use Aidan Barlow as an example as he didn’t play a lot of games in the Under-18s early in the season because he had a lot of competition. So he played quite a lot of games for the Under-16s and Under-17s so there were times he was playing Under-16 football but he applied himself terrifically to that and always excelled when he went to Neil Ryan’s group. In the second half of the season, he came through really strongly, got his opportunities and took his opportunities. He’s ended up playing at the European Championship. Aidan has still got a long way to go but he’s a good example of being patient and waiting for players. So he’s a good example for the boys coming in next year for developing themselves over the course of the season and being ready to take their chance when it comes.

It’s hard to summarise concisely, but what are your thoughts on the Academy system as a whole?
I think there are a lot of things in this country we’re doing right in Academy football. I think the standard of games is really high and we had some terrific games last season. I’d say the ones against Manchester City, Chelsea and some of the games with Liverpool have been probably as high a level of game as Real Madrid versus Barcelona or Bayern Munich versus Borussia Dortmund – or any game you might have in Europe at that level. I think there are a lot of good things in the Academy system but I feel the biggest challenge is still what comes at the next step when they leave the youth team and when they progress. How do we get them opportunities to play competitive football? Whether that will be with first teams, on loan, in the Under-23s, I think that next step of the pathway is something everyone in youth development is looking at and trying to refine to make sure some of the good work going through the Academies ends with the players at the end of it getting the right opportunities at the right times.

The players are clearly there – Axel Tuanzebe proved that with his fantastic Premier League debut – but it’s about getting that opportunity and making the big step isn’t it?
There are examples and Axel going in and doing so well in such a tough environment can only help the ones coming through below. Credit to Axel, everyone is delighted for him in that one inspires the younger boys through his application and good attitude, which Axel has in abundance. He can go on to achieve good things and it also shows people, young players, if they have the right mentality, if there are opportunities to put them in, they can be trusted to go and do a good job. I think, right through this club, from Jesse to Marcus to Axel, there are some great role models for young boys coming through now, boys with real talent but also boys with a fantastic attitude, who are leading the way for younger ones to follow.

As a United supporter before coming here, you know we have a great tradition of bringing through youngsters. How much of a boon is it for the current players to see that?
It is. They know it’s not the same everywhere else. I think they know they’re at a club where, historically and I’m sure going forward, if they hit a certain level in terms of their performances, and if their attitude and application is right, United have always been a club where young players are given an opportunity. It’s something that can inspire young boys here – a pathway is there – it’s clearly been seen and it certainly continued into last season.

Are you enjoying your time here now you’ve settled in – is it everything you wanted it to be?
Yeah, it’s been fantastic – everything. My expectation of the club from outside was a fantastically-run Academy who do things the right way, with good people who take care of young players and try to nurture and develop them the right away. That’s how it’s been. So I feel I’ve settled in really well, the players have been very responsive from the Under-18s to the Under-23s, when I’ve had the opportunity to work with them, and also with the Under-15s and Under-16s, when I’ve had opportunities to work with them. There are talented players, there are really good people in the building, excellent facilities and a real goal from the club I think, from the chairman and manager down, to develop the youth system further. There are some really good ingredients and a base for success in the future. It’s a fantastic place to work.

Demi Mitchell mentioned you’d offered him advice on his defending, so have you worked with the older players as well?
Did he? Okay! I have but only the good bits! [Laughs] I didn’t travel with the team to the Dallas Cup so I had a couple of weeks where there was an opportunity to work with some of the older players, who I’ve known for a couple of years from playing against them, like Demi, and I always try to speak, advise and work with any of the players in the Academy. Whether it’s the boys I work with on a daily basis with the Under-18s or a quick bit of advice and a chat with some of the older players when I see their Under-23 games or with the younger players, as I try to watch as much as I can of the Under-16s especially but also the Under-14s and Under-15s. Any opportunity to pass on a little bit of help to any of the boys in the Academy it’s always something I’ll always look to do.

Even after a long season, it's never long before we’re itching for the next one to start, is it?
No, it isn't. It’s always the way. You do look forward to a summer holiday because you put so much into the season but, two weeks into the break, you’re looking forward to getting started again. Your head is already spinning with things to put in place for next season and ways to move it forward. It’s nice to get a break but everyone is itching to get back to work at the start of July and get going again.

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