Academy Arena
@academyarenaUTD
Manchester United’s Next Gen.
Academy director Nick Cox has often spoken about the need to appropriately prepare academy players for first team football. A big part of this comes down to exposing them to environments that are similar to the first team. These could include: - high pressure academy matches -…
Manchester United Under-18s beat Swansea Under-18s 3-0 today in a pre-season friendly JJ Gabriel’s goal, via @joeoc8710
I expect Douka Nkoto to come through as a winger for the U18s He has been playing there in the younger age groups for both United and England recently I haven't seen him play for a while so it will be interesting to see how his game has developed. Can still play CM.
Elyh Harrison on senior football. Got his loan move to League 2 side Shrewsbury for 2025/26. Made his unofficial debut yesterday. Conceded 2 goals. Should’ve done better for the second, he’ll be disappointed. But very early doors and loads of time to establish himself. Great…
Adapting to a new environment. Different facilities. New teammates. New staff. Pressure to perform on a weekly basis in front of a regular fan base. Playing vs seasoned pros who have learned the dark arts over the years. I could go on for a while. It’s just character building and…
Gazik Ibragimov played his first full 45 mins in 6 months yesterday Gazik’s usually a regular starter for his age group, which explains why he wasn’t involved in last season’s Floodlit Cup finals Good to see him back
This time last year, Bendito Mantato was scoring goals for the Under-16s in pre-season 12 months later and he's with the squad in Chicago
Edward Ibrovic-Fletcher showing off his technical ability and ball-striking for the Under-18s this weekend. Shown several times for the Under-16s that he’s capable of scoring special individual goals (solo dribbles/long range shots) The 16yo is a traditional no.10 but has…
Where Manchester United’s younger players stand going into the new season Plans for Diego Leon, Harry Amass, Chido Obi, Tyler Fredricson, Sekou Kone and more nytimes.com/athletic/64959…
Sometimes selling the player is the right call for their development. Loans are there, but clubs are under much less pressure to invest in a player if they’re just going to leave in 6-12 months time. If clubs put down a fee and pay their wages, I think they’re more inclined to…
Seems like United has a problem now inside coz how comes the young players go out and outperform
Maxi Oyedele signs for Strasbourg until 2030. An inspiring story leading to here. After being re-called from his difficult Forest Green Rovers loan, he spent the remainder of the season with the Under-21s. Watching those academy games, it was like seeing someone completely…
Manchester United’s Under-16s will travel to Hong Kong again this August for the JC Youth Football Academy Summit 2024 saw JJ Gabriel impress, scoring in back-to-back games. Bendito Mantato caught the eye in 2023. A great opportunity for the players, both on and off the…
Simple and surface level analysis from myself for the time being, but I think this goal captures exactly what I was talking about in the strengths section.
JJ Gabriel’s goal for the under-18s today in their friendly against QPR: (Video courtesy of @joeoc8710) x.com/joeoc8710/stat…
Full time score: 8-2 United. Second half goals scored by: Ibrovic-Fletcher x2, B. Nkoto, D. Nkoto. Team A: Byrne-Hughes, Shah, McCormack, Kukonki, McEvoy, O’Brien, Ibragimov, Bailey, Brown, Gabriel, Bradbury. Team B: Heath (GK), Hefalu, Mills, Armer, Watson, B. Nkoto,…
Manchester United’s under-18s played in a pre-season friendly vs QPR this afternoon. 4-1 at HT, still waiting on the full-time score. First-half goals scored by: McEvoy, Bradbury, Ibragimov (pen) and JJ Gabriel.
Under-18s played a pre-season game today vs QPR Can’t quite make out the team and haven’t been told the score yet. JJ Gabriel scored
How many players in today’s game could score a goal like this?
A lot of people don’t know this but Lacey’s never featured in a competitive game for the u21s. He can’t just skip that group. Let’s be reasonable with our expectations.
Manchester United’s under-18s played in a pre-season friendly vs QPR this afternoon. 4-1 at HT, still waiting on the full-time score. First-half goals scored by: McEvoy, Bradbury, Ibragimov (pen) and JJ Gabriel.
Jim Thwaites also trained with the first-team today. Told he’s been given no.77
I can’t tell you if Jim Thwaites will ‘make it’ at Manchester United, but I can tell you this… I’ll enjoy every minute of watching him along the way.