UNITED Reds youngsters following in steps of Class of ‘92
EXACTLY 27 years on from the Class of ‘92 becoming trainees, it was fitting the latest batch of United’s hottest prospects learnt they would be going on the club’s preseason tour.
It was only last week that James Garner’s father revealed his team-mates had been told he was going to the US - just weeks after signing his first professional contract.
Garner, Mason Greenwood et all will have an unforgettable experience in Los Angeles – similarly, David Beckham, Keith Gillespie and Nicky Butt never forgot going abroad and winning the prestigious Milk Cup tournament a few weeks after signing.
It is a gesture that has captured the imagination of United fans, who were left disappointed by Jose Mourinho’s team selection for Michael Carrick’s farewell game against Watford last season.
That was the opportunity for a changing of the guard if you like, a hint of what was to come. But, bizarrely, Mourinho resisted and Angel Gomes and Co. watched on like the rest of us.
Mourinho has long proved he is no longer ‘the monster that kills the kids’ at United and is well aware of the academy’s traditions. Marcus Rashford was his most used player last season, while Scott McTominay quickly left his mark to the point where Mourinho personally watched him make his international debut and handed him a special gong at the club’s end-of-season awards night.
Following the promotion of academy coach Kieran McKenna into his backroom team, Mourinho may be about to take that one step further.
Indeed, given how Mourinho tends to take 25-man squads on tour, bringing along some players who have no first-team experience is something of a departure for the Portuguese.
To date, United have bought three players this summer and there is no expectation their fourth target, a quality centre-back, will be a superstar who will sell shirts around the world.
That leaves potential gaps. Indeed, it is noticeable, Ro-Shaun Williams apart, how it is midfielders and forwards who have been called-up with United’s World Cup contingent absent. And they will find a welcoming, family-like environment in the first-team dressing room - unlike the Class of ‘92. Thinking back to the last time United finished second and lost an FA Cup final, in 1995, Ferguson turned to the academy and boldly let a number of his generals - Steve Bruce, Paul Parker, Paul Ince, Andrei Kanchelskis and Mark Hughes - depart.
Mourinho will not be that ruthless; Sam Johnstone, who never made a first-team appearance, is the only departure of note so far this summer. But this is an encouraging start.