It has been a while since they played 'Glory, Glory Man United' at Old Trafford but the youngsters deserved it. The Manchester United academy is well run, with an impressive recruitment hit-rate, still producing first-team players and now 90 minutes away from silverware. In these lean years for the first-team, the academy has been the standout feature at the club.
Charlie McNeill and Alejandro Garnacho, recruited from Manchester City and Atletico Madrid respectively in 2020, played with an exuberance reminiscent of Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison in 2011. Extraordinarily, United haven't reached an FA Youth Cup final since that standout class.
McNeill and Garnacho celebrated the latter's goal bromantically. McNeill endured the disappointment of elimination to Liverpool last year when Garnacho was omitted from the squad. United youngsters have made a habit of channelling negatives into positives.
