Man Utd coach says hard to find teenagers as good as these two Manchester United wonderkids

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Manchester United have high hopes for the young players who have recently broken into the first team.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is under pressure right now, but he has certainly left his mark on the club over the past couple of seasons.

Whatever happens next with the boss, he has helped lay the ground for future success by establishing two FA Youth Cup winners in the first team squad.

Alejandro Garnacho last season and now Kobbie Mainoo this campaign, the pair are exciting hopes for the future.

Garnacho and Mainoo set the standard

It is a busy week for the academy, Manchester United’s under-18s begin their FA Youth Cup campaign on Tuesday night at Old Trafford against Derby County.

Travis Binnion, academy coach, spoke to The United Stand about the standard set by both Garnacho and Mainoo.

He admits they have piled on the pressure to find more youngsters who can match the incredible progress made by the pair.

Binnion said: “Ultimately our job [in the academy] is now done with an Alejandro Garnacho or Kobbie Mainoo, it’s the next ones.

“They need to be as good as them, and that’s not easy. It’s not easy for the players, it’s not easy for the staff.

“We have to work smart and hard to ensure the players are ready and progressing. That’s a challenge.”

Manchester United do have a long list of talented youngsters who will hope to follow Mainoo’s recent breakthrough. There is real talent in the under-21s, under-18s, and further down.

Garnacho and Mainoo have more work to do

Binnion added that while Garnacho, 19, and Mainoo, 18, are first team players now, he wants to see more from both of them, and the academy staff wants to ensure youngsters are better prepared to succeed when they get there.

He explained: “Alejandro is on that journey, and he’s further on from Kobbie but he’s not there yet. So he’s got more to do. Every performance he puts in is exciting but he will want to be more consistent and he’s becoming more consistent.

“Kobbie has got to play more often and keep his place in the side to kick onto be on level of a Garnacho, who is in the team and it’s his place to lose.

“It’s nice that Alejandro and Kobbie are playing, but you want them to kick on and establish themselves and become the best they can be, and they are not at that point yet.

“Although we are proud of them and excited about what they can go on to achieve, like with all their [first team] players, we expect them to achieve. I don’t think it’s enough to go ‘Oh they have made the step up’, they’ve now got to become part of a winning first team.

“We’ve got to do more in the academy so that when they get there, they’ve got the tools to survive and kick on in that environment as quick as they can.”