Manchester United’s academy took a public battering over the past few months under Ruben Amorim, but Darren Fletcher has stood up for the youth.
Despite three academy players debuting under Ruben Amorim in the last month, the former Manchester United boss wasn’t overly thrilled with the youth.
Amorim labelled academy players ‘entitled’ after they responded to his stray insults, comments which were not at all well received within the fanbase.
The manager of Manchester United needs to be better and understand that youth is a massive part of the club’s identity.
Finley McAllister said it best when he hailed Shea Lacey, writing the club motto, ‘Youth. Courage. Success.’ in his post.
Now, Darren Fletcher has hailed the academy.
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Darren Fletcher has an alternate view of Manchester United academy players
Fletcher will be in charge of United on Sunday when the FA Cup campaign begins for the club against Brighton.
Ahead of the game, Fletcher has been speaking with the media, with the academy being a topic of conversation.
After being asked, Fletcher made it clear he disagrees with Amorim’s academy claims.
“I think historically this club is built around the academy, our record speaks for itself. I can’t stand here and say anything other than that.
“We’ve got some amazing talent. What I see is a lot of hard work, humble young players who aren’t perfect because they’re young and learning. We ask too much of young people in society at times. We have to let them learn, educate them, help them, and understand that they will make mistakes.
“With good guidance, all of us play a part in developing them to be Manchester United players and people. My work with them as individuals and throughout the academy, I deal with hard-working, honest, and coachable kids. Hopefully, they can showcase themselves like Shea [Lacey] did.”
Fletcher’s defence might be innocent, but it is also the perfect response to the now departed Amorim. For Fletcher, those comments will have been personal with two kids in the academy.
But he got the last laugh.
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The academy has been criticised a lot over the past year.
Even Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made academy claims that aren’t entirely true, but it could also be seen as a challenge for these players to prove him wrong.
Shea Lacey is most likely to do this.
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In just 11 minutes against Burnley, Lacey had an outstanding performance, channelling everything the club stands for, showing complete bravery and proving he is ready.
Lacey hit the crossbar and also saw another shot drift agonisingly wide, all while Burnley were powerless to stop him doing exactly what he wanted.
Fletcher needs to make the brave call to start Lacey against Brighton, as it could see him create a star for the club, and a gift for the next manager.
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