United May Yet Show That Kids Can Lead the Way

Football legend Alan Hansen’s famous remark “You’ll never win anything with kids” has been sarcastically quoted whenever a team consisting of a significant number of youngsters challenges for the title.

Hansen, a Liverpool-player-turned-commentator, coined the phrase in 1995 after a Manchester United squad with unproven young players Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and David Beckham lost to Aston Villa on opening day. United won the title that year, leaving Hansen red-faced.

We know how Scholes and Co. went on to carve their names among the Old Trafford greats and the latest batch of Fergie Fledglings has made itself known by spellbinding displays in the first three Premier League matches. The emergence of Tom Cleverley, Chris Smalling, Danny Welbeck, David De Gea, and Phil Jones makes United fans believe they’re witnessing stars in the making.

How good are they really? Let’s start from the one who excites me the most. Spending 18 million pounds ($29 million) for a 19-year-old defender is considered too much even by United’s standards. So there’s got to be some huge talent in Phil Jones, one of United’s summer signings.

Jones was purchased from the Blackburn Rovers and is said to have caught the attention of United manager Alex Ferguson when Jones featured in Blackburn’s 7-1 loss to United. Ferguson liked his leadership and the fact that a young player managed to rally his teammates.

Jones has played in every United match this season, looking like he’s been on the team forever. He possesses unusual calmness for a player his age and he defends like a colossus. His tackles are perfectly timed and the way he trailed and denied Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale from meters behind thrilled fans. He’s also gifted with passing ability and can be deployed as a holding midfielder. Rio Ferdinand better be worried about his position.

Smalling’s transfer raised eyebrows last season and cynics said the boy wasn’t good enough for Fulham, let alone United. Smalling has proven the naysayers wrong by offering a solid performance in the back and this season he’s been deployed in another position. At 1.92 meters tall, he might look suitable playing at center back, but Ferguson assigned him the role of right back to replace the injured Rafael da Silva. Smalling has excelled in that position and even won his first cap with England playing as right back.

After a remarkable loan season with Sunderland last year, local lad Danny Welbeck is starting to look like a gem. Welbeck broke onto United’s first team three seasons ago, but it’s been his successful stint on the Wearside that has made Ferguson believe he is worth a place in the starting 11. Welbeck has managed to keep last season’s top scorer Dimitar Berbatov on the bench and scored two goals, including a cheeky backheel assist to Anderson against the Spurs. He’s expected to fight with Javier Hernandez for a place in the staring lineup.

Cleverley is not Wesley Sneijder and he’s yet to be on similar stature with the Dutch world-class playmaker, but Ferguson was convinced to not prolong the stalled negotiation with Sneijder because Cleverley showed a lot of promises. He was one of the brightest United academy graduates in years but it wasn’t until his loan in Watford two years ago that it looked like he was meant to shine on a bigger stage.

Cleverley might be an instant replacement for the retired Scholes but he needs to get more involved in the game. He is not yet a great midfielder, but he can be expected to pull strings behind United strikers.

Of all the new kids with United, De Gea is the one who has received the most stick for his performance. Filling the assuring gloves of Edwin van der Sar is not an easy task for a 20-year-old goalkeeper and De Gea looked nervous at times and responsible for fluke goals against Manchester City, West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal. He may need time to settle down but it is unbelieveable how some people already comparing him to Massimo Taibi.

De Gea is an amazing shot-stopper and has showed it on several occasions, but he needs to work more on how to deal with low shots. Because he’s still adapting to English football, he has looked awkward and sometimes too soft on opposing strikers, but he has astute ball distribution — he rarely sweeps the ball away and prefers to pass to players in the middle of the park.

I’m not sure whether installing the young boys this soon was Ferguson’s primary plan because it could’ve been different had they lost to Manchester City in Community Shield — the defining match where United came back from a two-goal deficit after the boys were sent on. But United is reaping the benefits of casting its faith upon youngsters at the moment.

How good are they? I think good enough to challenge domestically even though they may need extra effort to fight for a place in the Champions League final, although Barcelona will win again with more than 60 percent ball possession.

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Rooney double helps England cruise

Wayne Rooney scored two first-half goals as England cruised to a 3-0 victory over Bulgaria to extend its lead in Euro 2012 qualifying Friday.

Defender Gary Cahill grabbed his first goal for England in the 13th minute, beating goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov as he toppled to the ground.

Rooney twice punished Bulgaria's casual defending. He beat his marker to head in a corner from Stewart Downing in the 21st minute, and then tapped in a ball on the break just before half time.

England leads Group G with 14 points from six games, pulling ahead of Montenegro which stayed on 11 points after losing 2-1 in Wales. Bulgaria, coached by former German great Lothar Matthaeus, has five points.

England's Football Association reported to UEFA that racist abuse was directed at England midfielder Ashley Young by a section of home fans.

Matthaeus said he was not “well informed” about the incident. But he added: “It is very regrettable for such things to happen. I would like to apologize on behalf of the Bulgarian Football Federation.”

It was the only sour note of the night for England, which followed up its 4-0 home win over Bulgaria in its opening Group G match with another comfortable victory.

Coach Fabio Capello picked Tottenham's Scott Parker and Manchester City's Gareth Barry in central midfield, meaning Frank Lampard was left out of a competitive match for England for the first time since 2007. He played for the last 10 minutes, coming on for Barry.

Capello said he used “the best players at this moment,” and said he was delighted with the result that leaves England needing three points to qualify from two games — at home against Wales next week before travelling to Montenegro.

“We're really happy because (Rooney) scored. We're really happy with the performance of the team. Tonight the players were very focussed at every moment,” Capello said.

“Bulgaria had lots of chances in their game against Switzerland but tonight they had only one.”

Rooney increased his England goal tally to 28, and said a knock on his foot during Friday's game would not stop him playing against Wales next week.

“We've got one foot into the finals. If we win on Tuesday we will more or less have qualified and we are capable of doing that,” he said. “This was a good performance from the whole team and we fully deserved the three points.”

Matthaeus fielded five defenders, but his side still struggled at the back. Spells of pressure, and boisterous fans at Vasil Levski stadium, failed to help Bulagria score a qualifying goal at home at the third attempt.

England goalkeeper Joe Hart blocked a close-range header from Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov 10 minutes into the second half — Bulgaria's only clear chance.

Downing answered for England a minute later, heading down a skilful cross from Theo Walcott, but the ball struck the far post with Mihaylov again beaten.

Matthaeus said England had simply outclassed his players.

“The win was fair ... We made very obvious mistakes and handed them as a gift to our opponents,” Matthaeus said. “The difference in quality between the players was very clear. In all areas of the game, the English were a class above us.

“That's the difference between us and the great football nations.”

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Manchester United's Tom Cleverley goes to top of class of 2011 with England call-up

Cleverley, named alongside Manchester United team-mates Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in Fabio Capello's England squad for the euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales, has been ever present this season, filling the void left by the retired Paul Scholes in which Ferguson had hoped to deploy Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder.

Manchester United's Tom Cleverley goes to top of class of 2011 with England call-up

The 22 year-old's energetic performances in midfield have embellished the club's 100 per cent start to the campaign, which has also seen Jones, Smalling and striker Danny Welbeck play central roles in the 3-0 victory against Tottenham and 8-2 triumph over Arsenal at Old Trafford.

But Cleverley insists that their emergence is merely the latest chapter in a lengthy process. "I have been coming to Old Trafford for 10 years and have always looked on, thinking one day I want to be on the pitch. At the minute it is happening, but I have got to work hard and stay there.

"It is what I have been working towards for the last two or three years while going out on loan [to Watford and Wigan]. I knew I had to work hard in pre-season and impress the manager and hopefully that is what I did. "I have waited a long time for this chance and I want it to go on as long as possible. We are a young, high-energy team and hopefully we will keep putting on performances like that [against Arsenal] and the trophies will come."

United's start to the season has seemingly set up a Mancunian battle for honours with neighbours City – a clash of youthful promise against big-money signings. Cleverley's impact even led to a banner being unfurled at West Bromwich Albion, stating 'Who needs Wesley? We've got Cleverley.' Cleverley laughs off the comparison and says it is too early to judge United's young crop.

"Wesley Sneijder is fantastic, but if the fans think that, then I must be doing something right. Nobody wants to get too carried away, but this is a youthful squad and it's exciting to be a part of it. "We have to remember that we're only a month into the season and there's a long way to go. Some of us younger lads don't know what it's like to win the Premier League yet, but that's where the experience of others comes in. A few older players have left the club in the summer, but we've still got experience in abundance."

Although Cleverley insists he aims to build his own reputation, he admits he purposely chose the 23 squad number to emulate David Beckham.

"The manager offered me 22 or 23, but due to superstition, I prefer odd numbers. Also, David Beckham was my idol and he wore 23 at Real Madrid and still does with LA Galaxy. I looked at Scholes and Beckham, top professionals you can model your game on, but I'm just being Tom Cleverley.

"Growing up around Gary Neville, Scholes, Nicky Butt and Beckham, you pick up a lot and you know the history of the club. We are not comparing ourselves to them just yet, but this is a good batch of young players."

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Manchester United cash in with sponsored kit and caboodle

There is nothing for it but to doff your heavily branded caps to Manchester United, which has found £40m down the back of its metaphorical sofa, having secured a deal with DHL to sponsor its training kit. The arrangement outstrips what all but a couple of other Premier League clubs pull in for even their shirt sponsorship, with United's chief executive, David Gill, declaring: "This breaks new ground in the English game." Quite so. The kit will be on TV screens only for the brief flashes of pre-match warm-up – and even then not for European games – so DHL is forking out to advertise on something that will primarily be worn around United's well-appointed Carrington training complex.

Indeed, given that no plans have been announced to make the club's training sessions more open to cameras, let's assume that the deal is at least in part a marketing push aimed at the guests who frequent its facilities most frequently. Namely, the much-courted football hack demographic – or the Scribblers' Pound, as it is known in consumer circles. Though the spending power of this group has yet to rival that of other lazily stereotyped tribes such as the Pink Pound or the Pre-School Pound, Her Majesty's Sports Press is clearly being targeted for its ability to influence the wider market. "Get a pair of DHL jogging bottoms on Woolly Woolnough," a made-up Old Trafford insider tells me, "and you see an almost immediate spike in the Asian retail figures."

Furthermore, I am reassured to read that United is now actively looking beyond traditional areas of branding. The message is that the training kit deal is far from the end of it. And why not? Every garment or accessory in the footballer's wardrobe should be regarded as virgin snow into which some sponsor or other might stamp its imprimatur, and I imagine Mr Gill is already firming up the possibilities.

Clearly they should begin with sponsored sleepsuits for night flights. One day we will marvel that players for the game's biggest financial powerhouse ever flew home from European ties, or out to summer tours, wearing anything other than branded winceyette rompers. The convention for squads to pose on the plane steps, or to stalk through aircrafts looking grumpy, would appear the ideal opportunity to do so while drawing people's eyes to the branding of an electronics firm or brewery.

The club suit is beginning to look hopelessly undermonetised, given that all we hear about them is that they are made by M&S or whoever, when they are crying out for more logos. The DHL-branded training kits will doubtless soon be available in the club shop for sale to completist fans and so, ideally, would the club suits, allowing fans to share in the magic of combining sharp tailoring with shilling for a fast-food chain. If sponsors are worried about how little wear the club suit would get, they should be aware that the garment is a more integral part of some players' sartorial arsenal than others. Did you see Luis Boa Morte's appearance on Cribs? It was remarkable for the fact that he lived in a modest semi, had a Vauxhall Corsa in the drive, and his wardrobe contained a single suit – his club suit. I know. It was like he was openly urinating on the values of an entire generation. I can only hope that MTV has locked this blasphemy in a vault marked "NEVER REBROADCAST", as Viacom tried to do with the South Park episode in which Tom Cruise is trapped in a closet.

The next logical step would be washbag sponsorship, which would see players come off the bus for away games clutching not the standard Louis Vuitton but a club-issue toiletries tote, perhaps bearing the logo of CK In2U, or one of the more misery-engendering online casinos.

Finally, it is a sad fact of the modern game that every now and then a player will end up having to defend himself against trumped-up charges of disco-brawling, or demanding a Phil Collins record with menace. For this, he will need a courtroom suit, which is of course different from a party suit, and should be carefully targeted club issue. There is no earthly reason why denying an assault charge should not be combined with promoting a kiddies' charity. Of course, should a player be before a judge to obtain a superinjunction, his kit would ideally be seen by nobody at all. Yet ought wearing an item in camera really preclude its being monetised by any truly enterprising 21st-century club? The way things are going, only a dinosaur would suggest such a thing.

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Ferguson delighted with United youngsters

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has praised his younger players following the 3-0 victory over Tottenham on Monday. The Red Devils took the lead in the second half through Danny Welbeck, before further goals from Anderson and Wayne Rooney secured a convincing win. Now the Scot has hailed the likes of Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Danny Welbeck for the part they played in the match.

"It tells you we still believe in young players. All the fans appreciate that," Sir Alex said. "This is what the club is all about. We have always had confidence to play young players and this group has such fantastic ability it forces you to play them really."

With Welbeck putting in impressive early-season performances and Javier Hernandez having returned to fitness following a concussion, the presence of Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen has given the boss a selection headache.

"If you look at Berbatov, Michael Owen, Chicharito (Hernandez) and Wayne Rooney, we have different qualities," he said. "You have to utilise all that and make changes as best you can. But the horrible part for me now is, with Chicharito back, what do we do. It is going to be a big problem."

Sir Alex added: "He (Welbeck) has always had that ability but he has made slow progress because when he was growing up, he had a knee-growth problem. It was a situation where we knew we had to wait for him. We put him on loan to Sunderland (last season) and that is when he became a man. He has grown up and the lad has a great future."

The 69-year-old was also happy with David de Gea having kept his first competitive clean sheet for United and also praised Chris Smalling, who has played at right-back so far this season. Sir Alex said: "David was very confident. He was excellent. He got a bit slack towards the end of the game but other than that, he was very confident."

"He (Smalling) had a marvellous season last year and he is showing more maturity," the boss added. "He has done a great job at right-back. You'd think he'd played there all his life. We are pleased with all these players. They have all done well tonight and you cannot criticise any of them."

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Manchester United beats Tottenham 3-0 in Premier League

Manchester United delivered a vibrant second-half performance to beat Tottenham 3-0 on Monday and make it two wins from two in the Premier League. Tottenham, seeking a first win at Old Trafford since 1989, kept the scoreline blank in the first half, with American goalkeeper Brad Friedel marking his Spurs debut with a full-stretch save from Tom Cleverley's well-struck shot. United turned up the heat after the break and Danny Welbeck broke the deadlock in the 61st when he headed in Cleverley's precise right-wing cross.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp responded with a double substitution on the 74th but two minutes later, Welbeck set up Brazilian midfielder Anderson to stroke home the second goal. Substitute Ryan Giggs crossed for Wayne Rooney to head in the third in the 87th to wrap up the win and leave the defending champions on six points from two games, behind league leader and cross-city rival Manchester City on goal difference.

"The second-half performance was absolutely fantastic," United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports. "It was a fast game in the first half, it was end-to-end. Tottenham had a lot of possession, but in the second half we just took off." Tottenham was playing its first game of the season after its opener was postponed in the wake of the London riots.

Redknapp chose not to select Chelsea transfer target Luka Modric in his squad, but said afterward he expected the Croatian playmaker to stay at the club. "For sure, he's a fantastic professional," Redknapp said. "We need him back playing. "We need one or two more players. We've got good footballers but we just lack a spine to the team. I know who we need and if the chairman can help me bring them in we'll be fine."

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