Manchester United back in the Youth Cup final: ‘This is the magic of this place’
On Wednesday, in front of around 65,000 at Old Trafford, Manchester United take on Nottingham Forest in the FA Youth Cup final.
It is United’s first final since since 2011, when a team featuring Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard clinched the club’s 10th victory in the competition. That record total remains unmatched, with Chelsea on nine, but the wait for the chance to add to it has been long overdue.
In the intervening period United’s academy has undergone a shake-up and, though an FA Youth Cup final is not the ultimate gauge of the benefit of those changes, silverware at under-18 level would nevertheless be a good signpost.
“This is where we have to zoom out and say the result won’t define necessarily where we are at,” Nick Cox, United’s head of academy, tells The Athletic. “We are about helping individuals reach their full potential.
“My job is to hold the tension between our healthy traditions, discard others, and innovate so in 10 years’ time we continue to produce players ready to play at the highest level, year on year.”
This United youth side have already touched the first team. Alejandro Garnacho, who has scored five goals in the competition, made his senior debut in the closing minutes against Chelsea — with his parents crying tears of joy in the Old Trafford directors’ box — and several others have trained with Ralf Rangnick’s squad.
Part of the reason Erik ten Hag got the job as permanent manager was because of his commitment to youth at Ajax, and once he officially takes charge, watching footage of the final should give him an idea of the standard at his new club.
Ten Hag will also need to get acquainted with an evolving structure led by Cox, which The Athletic details here…
Foreign recruitment
This is the final age group coming through before transfer rules changed owing to Brexit. United signed winger Garnacho, full-back Marc Jurado, midfielder Isak Hansen and goalkeeper Radek Vitek in the 2020 summer window, a few months before new regulations raised the age that European players could move to the United Kingdom from 16 to 18. All four are expected to start the final, with centre-back Willy Kambwala, the France youth captain who joined at the same time, in line for the squad.
Cox rejects any notion United made a rush to clinch deals for continental players “before the shutters came down”. United hadn’t generated enough of their own players, losing others to rival clubs. Cox says: “It wasn’t a case of filling up with European players before it’s too late. It was circumstantial.”
The early signs about United’s recruitment at this level are encouraging. There have been examples of youth signings not hitting the mark in the past, but Garnacho is surpassing expectations and full-back Alvaro Fernandez, who also joined in 2020 but is a year older, made Rangnick’s squad for the visits of Chelsea and Brentford. Work is being done to acclimatise all those from abroad to the training required at United.
Cox says Dave Harrison, formerly of Leeds United then Manchester City, is instrumental to finding “synergy” at the academy. Harrison joined United in 2017 as one of several appointments. “You need coaches and recruiters on the same page, all with the same common goal but looking through slightly different lenses,” Cox says. “If you have aligned staff and people working well together, you find a way of making good decisions.
“We have weekly acquisition meetings. We are not trying to build a winning team, but build players in every position that conceivably could puncture the first-team squad. At the same time you need balance.
“Dave and his team then are really looking at, ‘Who are the best players in that position across all the regions available to us?’ He would be cross-referencing, ‘How does that right-back in that country compare to that one?’ Finally, ‘Here are three players who fit the bill.’ Then there is collaboration around video footage, looking at data, background information before you pick the one you think might be right.
“There is a job to be done between the clubs to make sure you get the finances sorted, then the real stuff starts. I’ve got to go look a young man in the eyes and say, ‘Hey, listen, there is an opportunity here for you, this is what it looks like.’ My approach is always to be really honest.
“So it is a conversation about the things that are gonna be difficult: ‘You’re gonna leave home, different language, different food, different style of football, different way of coaching, all the cultural stuff that goes with it. It’s gonna be hard but, by the way, this is the history of the club, come and meet the person whose house you might live in, come and meet the coach who might nurture you’.”
Cox stresses parents need to be brought on board. “These boys are seen by the outside world as young professionals, but I am dealing with someone’s child. I’ve got to prove I’m responsible.”
Dave Bushell, United academy’s player liaison officer who marked 27 years at the club in February, has an important role in the process. “He builds relationships, goes round for a cup of tea with parents while we’re still working out if this is a good move or not.”
Cox adds: “At the same time you’re also trying to fight off other clubs. Because if you’re a good footballer who Manchester United are interested in, other clubs are going to be interested too. You are going to war with your competitors but you’re trying to do it in a really compassionate way that is authentic and genuine.
“Boys change. If you start looking at 11-year-olds in Spain there are so many unknowns. You probably don’t narrow your focus until boys are 14, 15. At 16 you’re making your mind up. I’m really proud of the work we’ve done.”
United have decided against potential signings late in the process. “I think inducting a boy is the final piece,” Cox says. “You suddenly find out maybe this club is too big. That is a blessing really. A lot of it is craft knowledge; you have a feel.”
Before stepping up to senior work as football director, John Murtough, the main driver of signing Hannibal Mejbri, was involved in putting together this team, which had additional hurdles to overcome because of the pandemic. Together with academy operations manager Steve Higham, Cox would speak to the boys and their families via Zoom “with a translator popping up in the corner of the screen” and video the inside of host family houses.
He adds: “When they first arrived we were only allowed to train for 75 minutes due to Premier League regulations at the time. They were taking their food away in a pack. So they were sitting in a host family bedroom for 21 hours a day. You try to put stuff online and entertain them. We had tremendous host families who were prepared to quarantine with these boys when they came into the country. Amazing, but it was really difficult. Wow, these boys deserve a Youth Cup final.”
Garnacho swapped Atletico Madrid for a bedroom in Manchester, Fernandez left Real Madrid, and Jurado joined from Barcelona.
Jurado explains why: “Here, you have more opportunities to arrive to the first team. That’s why I came — to play professionally. Anthony Elanga is a good example for us, we have to work hard to be there.”
Trimmed squads
United also added to this age group with domestic transfers, namely Charlie McNeill, who joined from Manchester City in a deal potentially worth £1.35 million depending on first-team appearances, and Joe Hugill, who signed from Sunderland for £300,000.
McNeill is a United fan. “The fact he was wearing a blue shirt didn’t matter, he could have been in Spain, wherever,” says Cox. “(But) him being a United fan made it a little bit easier.”
McNeill and Hugill are United’s best teenage strikers. McNeill has scored five goals in the FA Youth Cup while Hugill has been out through an injured ankle. Both 18-year-olds are regulars for Neil Wood’s under-23 side. Hugill was name-checked by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after scoring four goals in a game against Liverpool
Wood has often fielded many of the FA Youth Cup side, with squads kept lean. “It is a very deliberate approach here not to have lots and lots of players,” Cox says. “Boys will come off the bench (on a) Friday night for the 23s and play Saturday morning for the 18s. That’s not an accident, ‘Oh no, we haven’t got enough players this week!’ That is, for me, really good youth development. There is no point having so many talented players that you can’t maximise their development.
“We’re never gonna stockpile. Some clubs do. What I need at the top end of our programme is enough players for there to be challenge and competition, not so many that I stifle opportunity. If you have five in the same position then we are wasting our time.
“We have tried to go younger than normal. Our under-18s team’s average age is 17. Our average age in the 23s is 19. We get the older boys out on loan. We could keep them in, win the 23s’ league but nobody is gonna pat me on the back for winning the league and not producing any players.”
Detailed coordination for the various line-ups each week is required between Cox, Wood, under-18s manager Travis Binnion and head of player development and coaching Justin Cochrane. “We sail close to the wind sometimes,” Cox admits. “But that is proper, hearty youth development. It is not the approach clubs of our size usually take, but I’ve worked at smaller clubs where you accidentally discover these principles.”
As well as supplementing the squads with signings, United have a core of local lads running through the age groups. Midfielders Daniel Gore and Kobbie Mainoo have impressed in particular, with Sam Mather scoring three FA Youth Cup goals from the wing and captain Rhys Bennett performing well at centre-back.
“We have a group of boys in our 18s and 23s who’ve been with us a long period of time,” Cox says. “What’s the best way to retain players? It’s by making sure they love the place.”
First-team training
Part of creating a good environment is giving a genuine pathway to the first team, which begins with training. Garnacho, Jurado, McNeill, Hugill, Gore, Mather and Bennett have been involved in senior sessions.
Cox would like to set the record straight, however. “It does my head in when I see photographs, ‘Look who trained with the first team today! They’re gonna be the next superstar!’ Get over it. This is Man United. It happens. This is the magic of this place. It is not fabricated, it is organic; kids go over and train on a daily basis.
“There will be a discussion every morning, ‘The first team are gonna try to achieve these things today, the session’s gonna look like this, we could really do with a midfielder and a centre-forward’.”
Technical director Darren Fletcher is heavily involved in choosing the players alongside Rangnick’s coaches, as well as Wood and Cochrane.
“I think people believe there is some kind of D-Day where we sit down and go, ‘Right he’s moved to the first-team squad’. It doesn’t look like that; it’s a steady integration. Boys will start by popping over every now and again when needed. Then the manager comes to a youth fixture, there is general discussion. Someone impresses in training, ‘Let’s put him up for a week, see how he does’. Hopefully he can make a debut. But it doesn’t look the same for everyone. It isn’t this formal sign-off.”
Hugill found his experiences hugely rewarding, watching Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani up close. “I loved being over there a few times,” he says. “Learning off the greatest player ever in Ronaldo. Cavani too. They are always giving you tips on moving in the box, where you can be, where you don’t want to be. You know the stature of the club, they are great players, but you want to show what you can do as well. You focus on your training, hopefully you impress. I scored a few goals in training games!”
New faces
Cox made two significant appointments last summer in Cochrane, who came in after Nicky Butt left, and Binnion. “There needs to be a healthy blend, custodians of some of the traditions, but also people from outside so there are fresh ideas,” he says. “Eric Harrison was an outsider brought in who showed people a way of working.” Harrison developed the Class of ’92 and many other players.
Cox worked with Binnion at Sheffield United, while Cochrane was persuaded to leave his job as head coach of England Under-17s, with a promotion to under-21 manager and first-team club roles in the offing. He had previously worked with Kieran McKenna at Tottenham Hotspur. “I wanted to find the best possible person for that role,” says Cox. “I had seen Justin present and had interaction with him through some of our players being on England duty. I was impressed with his approach, building rapport and connection with young people. I was also aware Brexit meant we would bring in boys from all over this country and he has his finger on the pulse. We had to work quite hard to get him here.”
Cox also feels the appointments last year of Adam Lawrence as under-16s coach, and Rick Ashcroft as under-14s coach are notable. “Adam used to be head of coaching at Charlton, Rick used to be head of coaching at Rochdale. You have people coming from massive positions at other clubs to the academy here, that is quite important.”
The increased staff means various teams can travel the globe, with the relevant safeguarding support. United recently had matches in Monaco, Dallas, the Netherlands and Spain at the same time.
Familiar faces
Coaches Tony Whelan, Eamon Mulvey, Colin Little, Stuart Leicester and Neil Harris are long-standing members of staff doing valuable work, and Cox is eager to praise Mark Dempsey, who was part of the unit in Dallas in April.
Cox had to lobby Solskjaer to get Dempsey from the first-team set-up to the academy, eventually succeeding in December 2020. Dempsey was integral to Solskjaer’s success at Molde.
“Ole was really supportive. He would ask me over a coffee on the balcony overlooking the pitches. ‘Where are you going? What are you trying to achieve?’. My conversation was, ‘Where I’m going, I need Demps, can I have him?’.
“Demps is a wise old owl. He came here with Ole’s team but his heart has always been with young people. I sat and begged the manager to let me have him. I got knocked back and knocked back. ‘You can’t’. Ole needed him for the same reasons as me. But this is how Demps is wired up — he loves working with young people.
“He is supposed to be working 18s to 23s, offering advice to young coaches who don’t necessarily know Man United. But he dips down, 14s, 15s, 16s. I can’t stop him coaching.”
Manchester United Foundation
The expected crowd is a record for the FA Youth Cup, with tickets priced at £1. As of Monday evening 63,455 had been sold, which would mean a larger attendance than any game in the Premier League this season other than Old Trafford. All money raised will go to the Manchester United Foundation. The team got an experience of the work the charity does a fortnight ago when staff gave a presentation about poverty in the city and more than 50 pupils aged 11 to 13 came to Carrington for a training session.
Midfielder Maxi Oyedele says: “Over the season we have done quite a lot of activities with the Foundation and underprivileged kids. It’s been really good to be integrated with them, talking to them.”
The children played matches and United’s players joined in, with full-back Sam Murray gleefully celebrating after volleying in a goal. “I was a bit shocked at that honestly,” laughs Oyedele. “He was playing against my team, I was like ‘Whoa, need to step it up a level’.”
No place to step it up like the FA Youth Cup final.
https://theathletic.com/3296001/2022/05/09/manchester-united-back-in-the-youth-cup-final-this-is-the-magic-of-this-place/
Manchester United back in the Youth Cup final: ‘This is the magic of this place’
On Wednesday, in front of around 65,000 at Old Trafford, Manchester United take on Nottingham Forest in the FA Youth Cup final.
It is United’s first final since since 2011, when a team featuring Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard clinched the club’s 10th victory in the competition. That record total remains unmatched, with Chelsea on nine, but the wait for the chance to add to it has been long overdue.
In the intervening period United’s academy has undergone a shake-up and, though an FA Youth Cup final is not the ultimate gauge of the benefit of those changes, silverware at under-18 level would nevertheless be a good signpost.
“This is where we have to zoom out and say the result won’t define necessarily where we are at,” Nick Cox, United’s head of academy, tells The Athletic. “We are about helping individuals reach their full potential.
“My job is to hold the tension between our healthy traditions, discard others, and innovate so in 10 years’ time we continue to produce players ready to play at the highest level, year on year.”
This United youth side have already touched the first team. Alejandro Garnacho, who has scored five goals in the competition, made his senior debut in the closing minutes against Chelsea — with his parents crying tears of joy in the Old Trafford directors’ box — and several others have trained with Ralf Rangnick’s squad.
Part of the reason Erik ten Hag got the job as permanent manager was because of his commitment to youth at Ajax, and once he officially takes charge, watching footage of the final should give him an idea of the standard at his new club.
Ten Hag will also need to get acquainted with an evolving structure led by Cox, which The Athletic details here…
Foreign recruitment
This is the final age group coming through before transfer rules changed owing to Brexit. United signed winger Garnacho, full-back Marc Jurado, midfielder Isak Hansen and goalkeeper Radek Vitek in the 2020 summer window, a few months before new regulations raised the age that European players could move to the United Kingdom from 16 to 18. All four are expected to start the final, with centre-back Willy Kambwala, the France youth captain who joined at the same time, in line for the squad.
Cox rejects any notion United made a rush to clinch deals for continental players “before the shutters came down”. United hadn’t generated enough of their own players, losing others to rival clubs. Cox says: “It wasn’t a case of filling up with European players before it’s too late. It was circumstantial.”
The early signs about United’s recruitment at this level are encouraging. There have been examples of youth signings not hitting the mark in the past, but Garnacho is surpassing expectations and full-back Alvaro Fernandez, who also joined in 2020 but is a year older, made Rangnick’s squad for the visits of Chelsea and Brentford. Work is being done to acclimatise all those from abroad to the training required at United.
Cox says Dave Harrison, formerly of Leeds United then Manchester City, is instrumental to finding “synergy” at the academy. Harrison joined United in 2017 as one of several appointments. “You need coaches and recruiters on the same page, all with the same common goal but looking through slightly different lenses,” Cox says. “If you have aligned staff and people working well together, you find a way of making good decisions.
“We have weekly acquisition meetings. We are not trying to build a winning team, but build players in every position that conceivably could puncture the first-team squad. At the same time you need balance.
“Dave and his team then are really looking at, ‘Who are the best players in that position across all the regions available to us?’ He would be cross-referencing, ‘How does that right-back in that country compare to that one?’ Finally, ‘Here are three players who fit the bill.’ Then there is collaboration around video footage, looking at data, background information before you pick the one you think might be right.
“There is a job to be done between the clubs to make sure you get the finances sorted, then the real stuff starts. I’ve got to go look a young man in the eyes and say, ‘Hey, listen, there is an opportunity here for you, this is what it looks like.’ My approach is always to be really honest.
“So it is a conversation about the things that are gonna be difficult: ‘You’re gonna leave home, different language, different food, different style of football, different way of coaching, all the cultural stuff that goes with it. It’s gonna be hard but, by the way, this is the history of the club, come and meet the person whose house you might live in, come and meet the coach who might nurture you’.”
Cox stresses parents need to be brought on board. “These boys are seen by the outside world as young professionals, but I am dealing with someone’s child. I’ve got to prove I’m responsible.”
Dave Bushell, United academy’s player liaison officer who marked 27 years at the club in February, has an important role in the process. “He builds relationships, goes round for a cup of tea with parents while we’re still working out if this is a good move or not.”
Cox adds: “At the same time you’re also trying to fight off other clubs. Because if you’re a good footballer who Manchester United are interested in, other clubs are going to be interested too. You are going to war with your competitors but you’re trying to do it in a really compassionate way that is authentic and genuine.
“Boys change. If you start looking at 11-year-olds in Spain there are so many unknowns. You probably don’t narrow your focus until boys are 14, 15. At 16 you’re making your mind up. I’m really proud of the work we’ve done.”
United have decided against potential signings late in the process. “I think inducting a boy is the final piece,” Cox says. “You suddenly find out maybe this club is too big. That is a blessing really. A lot of it is craft knowledge; you have a feel.”
Before stepping up to senior work as football director, John Murtough, the main driver of signing Hannibal Mejbri, was involved in putting together this team, which had additional hurdles to overcome because of the pandemic. Together with academy operations manager Steve Higham, Cox would speak to the boys and their families via Zoom “with a translator popping up in the corner of the screen” and video the inside of host family houses.
He adds: “When they first arrived we were only allowed to train for 75 minutes due to Premier League regulations at the time. They were taking their food away in a pack. So they were sitting in a host family bedroom for 21 hours a day. You try to put stuff online and entertain them. We had tremendous host families who were prepared to quarantine with these boys when they came into the country. Amazing, but it was really difficult. Wow, these boys deserve a Youth Cup final.”
Garnacho swapped Atletico Madrid for a bedroom in Manchester, Fernandez left Real Madrid, and Jurado joined from Barcelona.
Jurado explains why: “Here, you have more opportunities to arrive to the first team. That’s why I came — to play professionally. Anthony Elanga is a good example for us, we have to work hard to be there.”
Trimmed squads
United also added to this age group with domestic transfers, namely Charlie McNeill, who joined from Manchester City in a deal potentially worth £1.35 million depending on first-team appearances, and Joe Hugill, who signed from Sunderland for £300,000.
McNeill is a United fan. “The fact he was wearing a blue shirt didn’t matter, he could have been in Spain, wherever,” says Cox. “(But) him being a United fan made it a little bit easier.”
McNeill and Hugill are United’s best teenage strikers. McNeill has scored five goals in the FA Youth Cup while Hugill has been out through an injured ankle. Both 18-year-olds are regulars for Neil Wood’s under-23 side. Hugill was name-checked by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after scoring four goals in a game against Liverpool
Wood has often fielded many of the FA Youth Cup side, with squads kept lean. “It is a very deliberate approach here not to have lots and lots of players,” Cox says. “Boys will come off the bench (on a) Friday night for the 23s and play Saturday morning for the 18s. That’s not an accident, ‘Oh no, we haven’t got enough players this week!’ That is, for me, really good youth development. There is no point having so many talented players that you can’t maximise their development.
“We’re never gonna stockpile. Some clubs do. What I need at the top end of our programme is enough players for there to be challenge and competition, not so many that I stifle opportunity. If you have five in the same position then we are wasting our time.
“We have tried to go younger than normal. Our under-18s team’s average age is 17. Our average age in the 23s is 19. We get the older boys out on loan. We could keep them in, win the 23s’ league but nobody is gonna pat me on the back for winning the league and not producing any players.”
Detailed coordination for the various line-ups each week is required between Cox, Wood, under-18s manager Travis Binnion and head of player development and coaching Justin Cochrane. “We sail close to the wind sometimes,” Cox admits. “But that is proper, hearty youth development. It is not the approach clubs of our size usually take, but I’ve worked at smaller clubs where you accidentally discover these principles.”
As well as supplementing the squads with signings, United have a core of local lads running through the age groups. Midfielders Daniel Gore and Kobbie Mainoo have impressed in particular, with Sam Mather scoring three FA Youth Cup goals from the wing and captain Rhys Bennett performing well at centre-back.
“We have a group of boys in our 18s and 23s who’ve been with us a long period of time,” Cox says. “What’s the best way to retain players? It’s by making sure they love the place.”
First-team training
Part of creating a good environment is giving a genuine pathway to the first team, which begins with training. Garnacho, Jurado, McNeill, Hugill, Gore, Mather and Bennett have been involved in senior sessions.
Cox would like to set the record straight, however. “It does my head in when I see photographs, ‘Look who trained with the first team today! They’re gonna be the next superstar!’ Get over it. This is Man United. It happens. This is the magic of this place. It is not fabricated, it is organic; kids go over and train on a daily basis.
“There will be a discussion every morning, ‘The first team are gonna try to achieve these things today, the session’s gonna look like this, we could really do with a midfielder and a centre-forward’.”
Technical director Darren Fletcher is heavily involved in choosing the players alongside Rangnick’s coaches, as well as Wood and Cochrane.
“I think people believe there is some kind of D-Day where we sit down and go, ‘Right he’s moved to the first-team squad’. It doesn’t look like that; it’s a steady integration. Boys will start by popping over every now and again when needed. Then the manager comes to a youth fixture, there is general discussion. Someone impresses in training, ‘Let’s put him up for a week, see how he does’. Hopefully he can make a debut. But it doesn’t look the same for everyone. It isn’t this formal sign-off.”
Hugill found his experiences hugely rewarding, watching Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani up close. “I loved being over there a few times,” he says. “Learning off the greatest player ever in Ronaldo. Cavani too. They are always giving you tips on moving in the box, where you can be, where you don’t want to be. You know the stature of the club, they are great players, but you want to show what you can do as well. You focus on your training, hopefully you impress. I scored a few goals in training games!”
New faces
Cox made two significant appointments last summer in Cochrane, who came in after Nicky Butt left, and Binnion. “There needs to be a healthy blend, custodians of some of the traditions, but also people from outside so there are fresh ideas,” he says. “Eric Harrison was an outsider brought in who showed people a way of working.” Harrison developed the Class of ’92 and many other players.
Cox worked with Binnion at Sheffield United, while Cochrane was persuaded to leave his job as head coach of England Under-17s, with a promotion to under-21 manager and first-team club roles in the offing. He had previously worked with Kieran McKenna at Tottenham Hotspur. “I wanted to find the best possible person for that role,” says Cox. “I had seen Justin present and had interaction with him through some of our players being on England duty. I was impressed with his approach, building rapport and connection with young people. I was also aware Brexit meant we would bring in boys from all over this country and he has his finger on the pulse. We had to work quite hard to get him here.”
Cox also feels the appointments last year of Adam Lawrence as under-16s coach, and Rick Ashcroft as under-14s coach are notable. “Adam used to be head of coaching at Charlton, Rick used to be head of coaching at Rochdale. You have people coming from massive positions at other clubs to the academy here, that is quite important.”
The increased staff means various teams can travel the globe, with the relevant safeguarding support. United recently had matches in Monaco, Dallas, the Netherlands and Spain at the same time.
Familiar faces
Coaches Tony Whelan, Eamon Mulvey, Colin Little, Stuart Leicester and Neil Harris are long-standing members of staff doing valuable work, and Cox is eager to praise Mark Dempsey, who was part of the unit in Dallas in April.
Cox had to lobby Solskjaer to get Dempsey from the first-team set-up to the academy, eventually succeeding in December 2020. Dempsey was integral to Solskjaer’s success at Molde.
“Ole was really supportive. He would ask me over a coffee on the balcony overlooking the pitches. ‘Where are you going? What are you trying to achieve?’. My conversation was, ‘Where I’m going, I need Demps, can I have him?’.
“Demps is a wise old owl. He came here with Ole’s team but his heart has always been with young people. I sat and begged the manager to let me have him. I got knocked back and knocked back. ‘You can’t’. Ole needed him for the same reasons as me. But this is how Demps is wired up — he loves working with young people.
“He is supposed to be working 18s to 23s, offering advice to young coaches who don’t necessarily know Man United. But he dips down, 14s, 15s, 16s. I can’t stop him coaching.”
Manchester United Foundation
The expected crowd is a record for the FA Youth Cup, with tickets priced at £1. As of Monday evening 63,455 had been sold, which would mean a larger attendance than any game in the Premier League this season other than Old Trafford. All money raised will go to the Manchester United Foundation. The team got an experience of the work the charity does a fortnight ago when staff gave a presentation about poverty in the city and more than 50 pupils aged 11 to 13 came to Carrington for a training session.
Midfielder Maxi Oyedele says: “Over the season we have done quite a lot of activities with the Foundation and underprivileged kids. It’s been really good to be integrated with them, talking to them.”
The children played matches and United’s players joined in, with full-back Sam Murray gleefully celebrating after volleying in a goal. “I was a bit shocked at that honestly,” laughs Oyedele. “He was playing against my team, I was like ‘Whoa, need to step it up a level’.”
No place to step it up like the FA Youth Cup final.
https://theathletic.com/3296001/2022/05/09/manchester-united-back-in-the-youth-cup-final-this-is-the-magic-of-this-place/
