₦airaland Forum

Oasis007:


Are the Lads balling?!

AmoryBlacq:
This Manchester united is one hell of a useless club, keep saying Chelsea is s.hit,

you left the league cup before chelsea!

left the champions league before Chelsea!

you're in the FA cup same as Chelsea!

you didn't win the league neither did we!

time you guys accept your club died with the departure of Ferguson!

ClumsyFlimsy:
Damn see as trolls full here


Person go collect both offline and online all thanks to that bastard valverde


When some of us complained that valverde was overworking our players and valverde hardly take risks...some cules here said he was the best thing since sliced bread


Now this bastard has made caricature out of us

The whole Europe laughs at us


Valverde think say na Bilboa him dey


Mehn I am really pissed

Valverde and Andre Gomes his gay partner should fucking leave my club


The useless man couldn't even start dembele

Neymar1095:
Lol...... Your club is out of champions league and 13points behind. What are you trolling With Goat

MaziOmenuko:
That pep celebration though; he looks at the board chairman and raises his fist like 'I told you we can pull this off'.

He did it twice against manutd and still lost.

Skimpledawg:
Egbon, you ready to risk am with 10k?

People keep telling Mourinho to allow his team to play more attacking football... yet have criticized Wenger for now having his team play tight enough defensively. Jose clearly doesn't trust his back line, so he plays cautious. If he can get a more reliable and consistent back four, I think you'd see him allow his from 4 or 6 to have more creative freedom (with the occasional game where grinding out a defensive game is tactical towards a bigger title challenge). I'd hold Matic and Pogba or Mctominay back too if I had Smalling in the back four. Smalling is so inconsistent, Bailly often injured, Valencia pure athleticism but prone to errors, Young having a solid season but not a true LB and getting older. With Darmian (yikes), Jones (injured), Lindelof (still settling), and Shaw (not fit) in the wings. Certainly not the defensive setup he'd probably like to allow his creative players to thrive.

eph12:
What's the difference between second round and quarter final? Are we now celebrating the "we made the quarter final" trophy?

BushWickBill:


E go dey interesting to see these arrogant lot humble themselves while booking flight toAzerbaijan Finland Hungary Iceland and even Greenland all in the name of Wazobia league.
Especially given how they were flapping their gums at us last season.

Take note. Since March these guys no wan leave 5th

http://www.espnfc.us/club/mancheste...-80-year-streak-for-manchester-united-academy
3,883 games and counting: Rashford continues United academy streak

Marcus Rashford has already followed in the footsteps of Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham.

But if he is selected by Jose Mourinho to face Tottenham this weekend, it will be a significant milestone for the Manchester United academy that produced them.

A key part of Mourinho's squad at just 19, it is likely Rashford will start at Old Trafford on Saturday. And if he does, it will extend a record the club are particularly proud of beyond 80 years.

Should Mourinho pick Rashford or Jesse Lingard -- or Scott McTominay or Axel Tuanzebe, for that matter -- it will be 3,883 consecutive games that a United manager has selected a youth team graduate in their match-day squad.

It is a run that started on Oct. 30, 1937 -- the 80th anniversary falls on Monday, the day before United face Benfica in the Champions League -- when Tom Manley and Jackie Wassall played in a 1-0 defeat to Fulham.

Rashford, Lingard, McTominay and Tuanzebe are just the latest to pick up the baton.

To put it into context, Everton also have an impressive run of promoting youth team graduates. After United, it is the longest in the Premier League standing at more than 1,000 games over 21 years.

For the round of Premier League matches on the last weekend in August, six teams -- Bournemouth, Burnley, Manchester City, Stoke, Swansea and Watford -- did not include a youth team graduate at all. United beat Leicester 2-0 thanks, in part, to a goal from Rashford.

The record is detailed in Sons of United, a chronicle of United's youth team written by Steve Hobin and Tony Park.

Greater movement of young players between different clubs and countries means there are strict criteria about what constitutes a youth team graduate.

They have to join United before they turn 18, without playing first team football elsewhere, and play for the club's junior teams as part of their development.

It means players such as Lee Sharpe, who played for Torquay before moving to Old Trafford, and Regan Poole, who played first team football for Newport, do not count.

"I use these three criteria as we can hardly claim that we developed the player if they were virtually adults when they joined, had already played first team football somewhere else or went straight into our first team without playing for our academy in some capacity," Park said.

The question, though, is why is it important?

United have the wealth to compete for players with the biggest clubs in the world. It is, after all, easier to spot a Champions League winner at age 25 than at age 15.

After revolutionising the youth setup following his arrival from Aberdeen in 1986, Sir Alex Ferguson won the Champions League in 1999 with four former youth players in his team and another two on the bench.

But Ferguson, and the academy staff at Carrington, will tell you it is about more than just trophies.

"People like Marcus and Jesse, people who know the system, they have to carry the club now," said Nicky Butt, himself a youth team graduate, Champions League winner in 1999 and now head of the academy.

"These players who come in for a lot of money might not know the club or the environment or the area, so it's up to those guys to incorporate them into United and instill those beliefs," Butt added.

"They need to be introducing them to Kath on reception [at Carrington], letting them know how long she's been here at the club.

"They need to recognise the laundry people, the canteen ladies, the chefs, the ground staff and security lads -- they're part of our family and you need to say 'good morning' to them every single day.

"When you come to United, the players are the superstars and the ones everyone wants an autograph from but, when you come into this building, we're all equal. We all have a role and, without one, we don't have a team," Butt said.

The players who have gone before continue to play a key role.

McTominay, who has been training with United since he was five, said after playing in the Carabao Cup win at Swansea on Tuesday: "When you see boys progressing and impressing in the first team, it gives the lads in the academy the motivation to keep pushing forward."

The corridors of the academy building at Carrington are covered with murals of past graduates such as Giggs, Butt and Rashford.

On the noticeboards in the dressing rooms, there is a list of 14 pieces of advice written by Gary Neville.

No.2 is: "Give 100 percent all the time. You have never arrived at Man United so you must maintain a high standard all the time, every day."

No.3 is: "Always remember why you began to play football. You loved it for its own sake and not as a means to get money, fame, girls or cars."

Neville, a Youth Cup winner, made 602 first team appearances to sit fifth on United's all-time list. The four above -- Bill Foulkes, Paul Scholes, Charlton and Giggs -- were all part of the same production line.

It's the same one Mourinho will benefit from when he picks his team to play Tottenham this weekend.

The same one United hope the manager, whoever it is, can still turn to in another 80 years' time.

Rob is ESPN FC's Manchester United correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @RobDawsonESPN.

airmark:
They were distracted by Pogba's hairstyle.

Eruditor:
Someone came here and said Fergie spent £500m in his United career (26 years) compared to same figure for Pep in 2 years.

I said £500M from (1986-2013) in terms of buying players is not on the same pedestal as the market Pep is in. That we would have to adjust SAFs own.

I gave an example: Rio for 30M in 2001 who would be 70M+ going by VVDs figure. What have I deviated from?

afrodoc2:
Hehehe this guy went to rifle through my records. Well i have to say i was impressed with my scores also, thanks for mentioning it. LOL

A1 should be top score for an erudite person, so Ferguson signed Bryan Robson? Abi wetin concern Robson with this matter?
You want to add Robson that was bought 5yrs before Fergie became Utd manager? Are you well sir?

Okay Mr A1, in Ferguson's 1st ever season in English league (86/87) his net spend was -3m pounds which was DEAD LAST in the league.
Oya change to another shape you irredeemable shape shifter. hehehe

Eruditor:
That is where Fergie was king at least till Roman came. Of course Blackburn had a run in 1995 but that was about it. United were by far the richest club in most of Fergies era.

CapitalCee:
You must be the Personal Assistant to Woodward. Who valued him? From where? From your room Abi? You have turned from mathematician to a valuer abi

Eruditor:
I am just using raw figures and my estimation of Lukaku at £100M is his value if you consider Rooney was included in that (£90M) deal. That is by the way.

Eruditor:
Face palm.

You have reduced the talk to absurdities. Zidane and Neymar comparison only came up as overall worlds most expensive players.

Eruditor:
So where did anyone categorically say "this is definitely what Player A will go for"?

If these clubs don't use your CIES why are you brandishing it like war booty?

Eruditor:
I guess this is why Barca paid 105M for Dembele. Traceable trend indeed.

eph12:
Still trying to understand how we came back to win that match. I missed the game but I have seen the goals. I just wish these our players can put in more energy. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing making City look this good and better than other top teams is their work rate. If we can do same or even better we will be contesting for the league. Our boys should have discovered that by now na