RYAN’S ROOKIES
He was a Fergie Fledgling & now Giggs says it will be.. New coach gives youth a chance with Wales
RYAN GIGGS will have no fear playing kids for Wales after his own stunning emergence as a teenager at Manchester United.
The new Dragons boss is preparing for his first game in charge of his country in the China Cup in Nanning against the hosts on Thursday. It will also be the Old Trafford legend’s first game in permanent full-time management. He has previously been a coach at United under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal from 2013-2016. Giggs took charge of United’s senior side for four games in 2014 when he gave debuts to Tom Lawrence and James Wilson against Hull after Moyes was axed. He also helped coach Marcus Rashford (right), who made his debut in 2016 under Van Gaal after Anthony Martial was injured in the warm-up. Giggs said he will always give the kids a chance after making his United debut aged 17 in 1991, before going on to be crowned PFA Young Player of the Year twice. Asked if he had any reservations about playing youngsters, Giggs said: “No. That is what I had and even in my four games at United I gave Tom Lawrence his debut and James Wilson. I am not afraid to do that. I see it in training and then I want to see if they can do it on the pitch. It has never been a problem for me giving young players a chance.
“Look at Rashford, I have seen him develop and he got a chance when someone got injured in the warm-up.
“When I got my chance it was Lee Sharpe who got injured. I couldn’t see a way into the first team.
“Sharpey had won PFA Young Player of the Year and he was playing for England. I was thinking he is in my position.
“You get a bit of, ‘Unlucky for Sharpey, lucky for me’, but you take that chance.
“That is up to the young player – you give them a chance and they have to take it. The easy bit is getting in the team, the hard bit is staying in.”
Giggs was one of the United youngsters former Liverpool star Alan Hansen was talking about in 1995 when he said, “You can’t win anything with kids”.
Alex Ferguson’s youth brigade of Giggs, Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and David Beckham went on to lift the league title that season – and Giggs ended up winning 13 Premier League crowns, two Champions Leagues, four FA Cups and the League Cup three times during a 24-year playing career.
Now, as a manager, the 44-year-old is excited about working with young Welsh talents like David Brooks, Ben Woodburn and Ethan Ampadu.
Only Woodburn has travelled to China but Giggs believes their emergence can also help the senior players. His advice to kids breaking through is: “Don’t try to change anything – do exactly what you have been doing in your short life in your career and in the youth team. “Young players as well as older players can give that inspiration. “All of a sudden you go from getting a bit of time on the ball in training to not being able to take two or three touches because they are on you – they are aggressive and you are looking over your shoulder, he is after my position, so you need to raise your game.
“That is what I want to emulate, that competitiveness in training.
“From the feedback I have got off Osian Roberts, that is the case when Brooks came in, with Woodburn and Ampadu, in the last squad. That is good to hear.”