'Understanding what you're part of is non-negotiable at Man Utd'

Published on: 02 April 2020

Manchester United vs Everton on December 15 was a game that will forever be remembered in the club’s history as a landmark occasion.

The fixture itself will not live long in the memory but it was symbolic that 18-year-old academy graduate Mason Greenwood was the player to salvage a point against the Merseysiders. The contest marked the club's 4,000th consecutive game involving an academy graduate, a remarkable feat that now stands at 4,022 and there’s no sign of that stopping any time soon.

Brandon Williams, Ethan Galbraith, Di’Shon Bernard, Ethan Laird, Dylan Levitt, D’Mani Mellor and Largie Ramazani are the latest in a long line of youth team players to be given a taste of first team action this season. There’s a strong belief at the club that they have a structure in place that will continue to allow the fabled academy system to keep supplementing the first team for years to come.

Many clubs claim they pride themselves on their youth systems but there isn’t another academy in the country to have committed so much to youth and that’s been backed up this season with United handing more Premier League appearances to academy graduates than any other club in the division.

But why do United believe they’re the best?

“Nicky (Butt) and I talk about our most important ingredients for potential talent and it’s obvious that skills, athleticism and character is key. You need to have all those three things. But, at United, understanding what you’re part of is non-negotiable,” Head of Academy Nick Cox told Goal. “What we are at Manchester United, no matter what your role, is a guardian of the culture and values.

“Many of those culture and values were laid down by Sir Matt (Busby) and Jimmy Murphy when the fateful day happened in Munich. The way the club picked itself up and galvanised itself to be successful in the face of adversity in the 10 years that followed Munich is the values that the club is built on and it’s really important the boys understand it.”

Cox replaced Nicky Butt last summer, with the treble winner moving to become Head of Football Development in a role further linking the club’s youth teams with the first team. While he had previous Premier League experience with Watford and a spell at Sheffield United, it is the set up at Carrington that has impressed him the most.

“I know a lot of people say their club is built on youth and it’s a pillar of their foundations but it genuinely is at this club. More so than anywhere else I’ve ever made it,” Cox explained. “Developing homegrown players is the fabric of the football club.”

The importance to get the young players to understand the club’s history is key to Cox’s job. Workshops, cultural visits and talks are just some of the activities the youngsters at United take part in, and the senior players are key to that.

“One of the most important things, and I know that a lot of clubs say this, but Manchester United really is a family. What you see is knowledge being passed down through the age groups. Mason Greenwood is not too far from Marcus Rashford in terms of age and they will have spent time together as youngsters, so there’s a rapport there. But now Greenwood has been looking down to the next person to educate them and then the kid in the 16s is looking to the 15s and so it ripples across the club,” Cox said of the club’s culture. “It’s young person to young person that is probably our most powerful mechanism of getting information. People following in each other’s footsteps.”

And the baton continues to be passed from one academy graduate to the next. For the Europa League group stage game in Astana, 16 of the 18 names in the matchday squad were products of the famed academy and six debuts were handed out.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already shown his commitment to youth. His decision not to replace Romelu Lukaku last summer, in part, was not to block the path of Greenwood and the teenager has already repaid the faith shown in him by his manager scoring 12 goals in all competitions so far this season.

But who will be the next to break through? Plenty is already being said about playmaker Hannibal Mejbri, who United bought from Monaco last summer, but Cox would not be drawn on the hype surrounding the 17-year-old.

“It’s still really early days,” Cox said about the Frenchman. “We try not to single out individuals for two reasons, firstly if you single out one it puts pressure on them and there’s enough pressure on them anyway because getting into our first team is a difficult thing to do. But also, the one that gets there sometimes is the one that nobody is talking about.”

Cox’s example of the latter is Williams. The full back was given his first taste of the first team when Solskjaer included him in the travelling squad for Paris Saint-Germain in March 2019. A relative unknown, the defender was given his debut against Rochdale in the League Cup in September and he’s made 26 appearances for the first team in all competitions since.

“There are two types of talent. There’s obvious talent that hits you in the face, but sometimes it doesn’t get there. And then there’s a whispering talent that works away in the shadows, hiding on the shoulder of the obvious talent and at the right time they fulfil their potential and arrive in the first team,” Cox said.

“Nobody ever called me up to ask me about Brandon Williams. I had loads of requests to speak about other kids but nobody ever wanted to talk about Williams, and now they do. That’s the beauty of talent development - it’s unpredictable. The ones you might expect to get there sometimes don’t and the ones you don’t expect to get there do.”

And with the first team in the middle of a rebuild there will be other Williams, McTominays and Greenwoods ready to push through and secure their place in Solskjaer’s squad.

“We definitely have more hidden talent in our system. I don’t necessarily know who they are but we will have boys who surprise us,” Cox said. “We are excited because we know we have many boys who have the potential to make it into the first team.”

Cox believes now, more than ever, the club have the right ingredients to ensure the next wave of talent pushes through with Solskjaer as manager, Butt acting as the bridge between the academy and the first team and first-team coaching staff Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna key as well.

“We are in a good position with a manager who believes in youth and a board that believes in youth,” Cox explained. “With all the resources available to us to make sure we continue to have a winning first team with a core of home-grown players. I couldn’t not be excited by that.”

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

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