Manchester United 4-3 Arsenal - the kids notch season’s first United win over Arsenal
Last night Manchester United’s kiddies beat Arsenal’s youngsters in the second leg of the FA Youth Cup semi-final, booking a final spot against Liverpool.
The reverse (United lost 1-0 in the first leg at the Emirates) does not suddenly mean that United’s batch of youngsters are better than Arsenal’s - that sort of prick-waving gets us no where. Plus we’ve already covered the youth team policy comparison last time.
Personally, I would like to see players from both youth teams get a shot in their respective first teams in the next four years. From Arsenal’s end I think Fran Merida, Kieran Gibbs and Nacer Barazite are the most likely candidates, while from Manchester United’s crop Ben Amos (too bad he has Foster and Kuszczak ahead of him), Craig Cathcart, Febian Brandy and Antonio Bryan look to be good bets.
Which brings me to the whole point of this post - if you were to pick teams from both youth squads for a 5-a-side game, who would be on your list?
We tend to focus on the players sitting in the reserves and those out on loan, but as with Craig Cathcart traveling to Roma, there are certain players at the academy level who are good enough to play for the first team in a pinch.
Who do you see as Arsenal’s best 5 young players? Manchester United’s?
[Source: Guardian]
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Discussion - 4 Responses
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I looked to see all those who posted a reply to your article on “youth Policies” with “It’s OBVIOUS that Arsenal have the best youth team / policy”. Where have you gone?
I think that both teams’ policies are much of a muchness. Times have changed and both now scour the globe looking for youth to import to their academies. There’s no great secret to it. Fabregas, for example, was widely regarded as the best central midfield player in the world for his age when playing in the FIFA and UEFA youth competitions and there were a whole host of clubs trying to sign him. It’s not as if it was a work of genius picking him from the crowd. The only true assessment of youth policies is how much better players become whilst in the academy system and how much of their potential is realised. Questions that without day to day involvement we would all be hard pressed to answer. The FA’s limited travel rule isn’t doing anybody any favours, though.
Watch out for Cathcart!
Wellbeck man. Wellbeck…….. A black Giggs………….
problem with my Team Arsenal is that it lacks sharp shooters from far and it fails to take chances when they come and i believe if nothing is done then we are in for difficult times ahead of seasons to come.
Wishing my team all the best
I love Arsenal.
GO CATHCART!RUN FASTLY!SHOW YOUR TALENT!GIVE MORE SUCCESS!
GOOD LUCK BOY!