Ten Hag told the simple answer to his Man Utd woes after quiet transfer window
Erik ten Hag's outlook at Manchester United would be bleak without the vital contributions of his academy graduates.
Three of United’s four goalscorers in the rollercoaster win at Wolves on Thursday night – Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Kobbie Mainoo – came through the ranks at Old Trafford. Throw in Alejandro Garnacho, who joined the United academy as a 16-year-old, and Omari Forson, who set up Mainoo’s fantastic 97th-minute winner at Molineux, and Ten Hag has a core of young talent who should give him hope for the future.
Those youngsters may not have saved the manager’s job – but Ten Hag would be in even greater difficulty without them. And although the current crop are not yet rivals to the Class of 92’s David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and the Neville brothers, they have produced the goods where too many of Ten Hag’s expensive recruits have been poor.
Throwing another £100million at the transfer market does not always solve a big club’s problems on the pitch. Sometimes the answer lies closer to home – and Manchester United’s academy has always been a special nursery for young talent.
In a market where billions change hands, the most valuable discoveries are often found on your doorstep. Former Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen famously said “You can’t win anything with kids’ almost 30 years ago – and the Class of 92 proved him spectacularly wrong.
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But take away McTominay’s two injury-time goals against Brentford, take away Mainoo’s brilliant winner at Wolves, take away Garnacho’s sensational overhead kick at Everton and United’s highlights reel this season would be desperately thin.
Those McTominay goals and Mainoo’s first Premier League strike were worth an extra four points on the board alone – the difference between United being seventh and in the bottom half of the table.
Omari Forson set up fellow academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo at Wolves (James Gill/Getty Images)Lots of people have had their say on Rashford and his ill-advised trip to Belfast, but he provided the right response at Molineux. He was wrong. But when you think it’s eight years since his first goal for United, there is an opportunity for him now to become the leader of this generation of academy graduates.
They cost virtually nothing, but how much would Rashford, Garnacho, Mainoo, McTominay and Forson be worth now? I’ll start the bidding at £300m. One thing’s for sure, and it’s been the same story at Manchester United down the years – if you’re good enough, you’re old enough to make the first team.
Last month, I observed that Liverpool’s title challenge was being underpinned by home-grown youngsters like Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Conor Bradley, who was absolutely outstanding in their 4-1 demolition of Chelsea in midweek. It’s great to see two of our biggest clubs keeping their conveyor belts of scouted young talent in good order.
On the whole, Ten Hag’s big-money buys have been poor, but his judgement has been vindicated in terms of promoting youth at Old Trafford. Who knows? In the same way that a Mark Robins goal at Nottingham Forest was reputed to rescue Sir Alex Ferguson from the sack in 1990, they may even save his job.
One more thing about Manchester United. When was the last time they had a negative goal difference after 22 games of a Premier League season?
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