United placed a starting 11 out with an average of 23 against Tottenham and this same team then demolished Arsenal. The team included 4 up and coming English players in the likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck. If you also include in that list Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney, the future for not only Man United, but for England, looks very promising.
Phil Jones had the composure, power and strength to make it seem like he had been at United for years. Apart from one tackle on Gareth Bale in the first half against Tottenham which could have led to a dangerous free-kick (that the referee missed), his game was flawless, pair this with a dominating display against Arsenal and he has merited his call up to the England senior side. To have such a young defender playing alongside another youngster in Jonny Evans was a bold strategy in both games. Defoe and Van Persie may not be brutally strong but both have a degree of pace and can be labelled as top strikers. The good news for United is that neither centre back looked out of place in the first team and marshalled the attacking threat levelled at them.
Evans has bulked up and worked on the physical side of his game and this showed against Spurs more so than Arsenal - although it will be interesting to see what he will be like against stronger opponents such as Drogba and Kevin Davies. The downside to Evans’ game is the lack of pace he has shown, he was at fault for Arsenals penalty, but then not many centre backs can read what Theo Walcott will do as he is running, let alone keep up with him. But if he is either played next to a pacey centre back or can adjust his positioning skills to cover the lack of pace he’ll be at United for many years to come.
Phil Jones strikes me as a centre back that comes as a complete package. He seems as if he could handle the biggest of centre forwards, he can pass, he can bring the ball out from the back and most importantly he can tackle. In my eyes, he should warrant a place in the starting eleven, even if Rio is fit to play. Rio will have to work very hard in training to get his place back.
Another youngster who has shown he has the tenacity and commitment to play for United is Chris Smalling. Having been thrust into the first team last year due to injuries and suspensions, Smalling took his opportunity with both hands and has never really let go. He has the composure of a centre midfielder and the passing range of one too, and even better for United, he has shown the willingness to run up and down the right flank to support Nani or Ashley Young. He has delivered good crosses from deep and has shown that he is a very capable right back in terms of attacking and defending.
Danny Welbeck was unfortunate to pick up a hamstring injury in the Arsenal game, but it looks like he has matured into a very good, athletic and intelligent centre forward. His touch is superb and his heading ability has come on leaps and bounds since the last time I saw him in a United shirt. I will be brutally honest about myself and predicted him to be a bit part player that wouldn’t warrant a starting place – how wrong I was. I hope that he can recover from his injury relatively quickly a challenge for that starting spot again.
Another player that I predicted to do not-a-lot for United this season was Tom Cleverley. In my pre-season review, I was adamant (like most) that United needed an attacking creative midfielder. But, with the emergence of Tom Cleverley, and Anderson finally showing what he can do there is a huge amount of creativity coming from the United midfield. Tom Cleverley appears to have been given huge faith by Alex Ferguson and is given a licence to roam with Anderson picking up the pieces – although saying this, Cleverley has shown he is not afraid to put his body in the way and make some good tackles. Hopefully this midfield partnership will blossom in the upcoming games and Park, Carrick and Giggs will have to be used to being impact subs.
Of course, it is always easy to get carried away with the club you support especially when you see youth players coming through the system such as Cleverley, Evans and Welbeck. But, the future is bright for this generation and the fact they have so many years ahead of them, it will take a lot to destroy the self-belief and confidence they have in themselves and are gaining with every game they play.
Dave
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