I'm not going to paint a rosy picture and claim everything is perfect with Mourinho, but there seems to be a definite agenda to suggest United will suffer as a result. These range from 'he's a ****', 'he'll spend gazillions' to 'his football will be dull' and 'he's a short term measure and will leave United worse off - most of which is bollox (or in the case of him being a ****, irrelevant). But the thing I wanted to focus on was the claim that he doesn't give youth a chance. The facts are quite different. Giving youth a chance is not simply about bringing young players through, but also allowing young players who have broken through, to continue to establish themselves at a club IF they're good enough. So has he done this? At Porto, he brought through and established Ricardo Carvalho. He gave opportunities to Carlos Alberto, Ricardo Costa and others who aren't worth mentioning. These were often in big games as well. At Inter the same, with Davide Santon and Rene Krhin. But it was at Real Madrid where we've seen the greatest impact. Nearly 20 youth players he either brought through or continued to play in the first team. Varane, Jese, Morata, Nacho, Casemiro among those that have gone on to do very well. So what about Chelsea? Well, does the problem lie with Mourinho or with the club? Which of the other managers at Chelsea over the last 10 years have promoted or nurtured youth players from within??? Typical example Ancelotti... while Luiz and Torres were being brought in, the likes of Van Aanholt, Sturridge and Kakuta were being loaned out. At the time Ancelotti blamed the pressure for immediate results on the need to spend so maybe this is the confines of the club imposed on the managers who take on the role. In fact, why look at Mourinho in isolation - why not compare him to other 'hollywood' managers. Who are these great managers that develop youth from their own academy? Looking at the figures, he's given as much opportunity (if not more) over the last 7-8 years than the likes of Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola, Wenger or Klopp. While they may bring through players from their academy, it's proved to be no more sustainable than Mourinho. Where the facts get blurred is that many of these managers actually 'play a numbers game' by buying in young players from other clubs to replace those that leave the club. But that's not the same as bringing through players from within the club, or continuing to nurture and develop those that have broken through. And if you look at the numbers that come in and leave, you can see it's a heck of a conveyor belt in most cases... with a handful of success stories, which is the same for most managers tbf. So I don't really see a problem with him developing youth from within the club (if the talent is there, as at Real Madrid, he will), only time will tell if that's right or not. But when comparing Mourinho to other managers, the real "problem" is whether he has the ability to buy in young players from other clubs and develop them. Can he spot the next Lewondowski? The question then is, is this important for United? Do we care if he can, or are we content with him developing the youth from within and buying the finished articles at £30m to £50m a pop to complement them? After all, where were we when Andy Cole was being signed by Newcastle, only for us to break transfer records for him a few years later. Or when Carrick was being snapped up by Tottenham for £3m only for us to buy him for much more when he was established?
If our youth players don't make it through the system into the first team squad then surely that is an issue of the players themselves not having the ability, or the academy itself not being fit for purpose - neither of which apply at our club. That being the case I can see JM pressing on with youth development, particularly as it is part of the culture, the history of the club - something that has never been the case at any of the new-money clubs who have sought to buy success over the last decade.
The players have to be of the right quality for them to break into the first team, mistakes happen Pogba with you lot and Matic, Lukaku would stand out at Chelsea, none home grown but young lads who should have been given a chance. Mikel San Jose has just made the Spanish squad, we let him go years ago and he's shown that he has what it takes to be a top performer. In defence of Mourinho he has been at top end clubs where success is expected and no time is given to build from within, is that what is expected at Utd now? If so then imo the 3 year thing will kick in and he is doomed to fail in the long term, if he is to be given time to build a squad and youth structure then he may well be at Utd for a long time.
United have had a rich tradition of talented youngsters coming through. We had the likes of Duncan Edwards (well before my time!), George Best and Bobby Charlton, then more recently the class of 92. Totally unique coming through of 6 academy players into the first team. This is an integral part of the image of United. And we are honest, the emergence of Rashford (by chance perhaps as LVG would surely not have played him if Martial hadnt been injured) has provided more excitement than the purchase of a £50m+ striker. That's why it is a shame that the likes of Welbeck was sold by LVG. The reality is that we need to have a mix of really good experienced players with some of the youngsters. If the youngsters are not around or he deems them not good enough, he'll buy new expensive players. There is nothing wrong with that. Bringing in youngsters from the academy is a massive risk. It shows the genius of Ferguson that he sold three of the best United established players - Hughes, Kanchelskis and Ince to let the class of 92 youngsters come through.
I really hope that Mourinho sees the quality in Mensah and start integrating him into the first team. He doesn't need to go on loan.
I don't think you can miss the quality in big Tim, Tyler Blackett should also get game time but we do need a ready made partner for Smalling at the moment.
