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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