Manchester United’s young players have been urged to impress Erik ten Hag in next week’s FA Youth Cup final.
United’s Under-18s will be aiming to lift the cup for the first time since 2011 as they take on Nottingham Forest next week. In the process, they be aiming to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard in then making the next step up to the senior team.
With a summer of big changes in the offing for United as Ten Hag arrives as the club’s new manager, next week’s final at Old Trafford will present the club’s youngsters with the opportunity to stake their claim to the new boss. The likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Kobbie Mainoo and Charlie McNeill have already made compelling cases during United’s run to the final, and could further their cases for the future.
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“There’s a new manager coming in,” United’s head of academy player development Justin Cochrane told the club’s website. “I’m sure he will be playing a style of football that’s required at this football club and he comes also with a background of developing youth players.
“So for these young players who are going to play at Old Trafford, it’s a great opportunity for them to play well and stake a claim in the exciting times ahead for the young players in the first team.”
More than 50,000 supporters are expected to be in attendance at Old Trafford next Wednesday as United look to end more than a decade without a cup to their name. With a chance to create some of their own history, United’s youngsters will have an outstanding opportunity to put themselves firmly in the running with Ten Hag this summer.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how the players handle it,” Cochrane admitted. “It’s another step in their journey — a big step in their journey — so how they handle the nerves, how they handle the crowd, how they handle a strong opposition in Nottingham Forest who have been doing very well.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how these players adapt in this scenario because they need to show that they can play in this sort of stage and this sort of arena if they want to progress and play in the Premier League for Manchester United.
“There’s no bigger stage than the Theatre of Dreams, [and] 75,000 [people]. That’s what these boys are aiming for, so if we can recreate that somehow with the supporters coming in, with some noise and some atmosphere in the stadium, that will only be good for their development.”
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