Manchester United’s academy has a big role to play in the final five Premier League games this season.
If the Premier League season was not an afterthought, it certainly will be following Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Wolves on Sunday.
It was a familiar outcome for United this season, amounting to a 15th defeat in the Premier League this season which is the most the club have ever suffered in the competition.
The performance was good, United just could not find a way to score, with finishing being a huge problem. The main positives came in the performances of the academy graduates.
Academy graduates Harry Amass and Tyler Fredricson were very impressive for United, while from the bench, it was clear that Chido Obi was an improvement up top on Rasmus Hojlund.
As the season winds down, with nothing to play for in the league, and the Europa League being prioritised, Amorim has already stated he will use the United academy, which he proved on Sunday.
Fredricson became United’s 254th academy debutant, but the club have now been recognising the 252nd and 253rd.
The latest academy graduate was Fredricson, but before he goes up on the famous wall at Carrington, the United have recognised Amass and Obi, with special gifts for both being shared as well as interviews.
This was a brilliant video with both youngsters speaking, Nick Cox was also involved in, he commented on the fact that both arrived at the club later in their youth careers, making a striking comparison to two of the United trinity, George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton.
“Every journey to our first team is different”, Cox explained to begin during an interview with MUTV.
“Occasionally, we’ll have boys that go right through the program like Kobbie. We’re really proud of that, but we’re equally proud of boys that arrive a little bit further on in the journey, and that’s really been a Manchester United winning formula over the years.
“The youth team has got young players that have been at the club for a long time, with local players that understand the club and its values, and then some really high-potential players that arrive from further afield. You mix those two groups of players together, and you get a really wonderful environment.
“Harry and Chido [arrived] here a little bit later than Kobbie did, but they follow in the footsteps of Paul Pogba, Alejandro Garnacho, or dare I say Bobby Charlton arriving from the northeast or George Best arriving from Northern Ireland.”
Chido Obi and Harry Amass are already key players for Ruben Amorim
Despite only making their debuts over the past few months and still being very much young players at 17 (Obi) and 18 (Amass), both now look to have secured a place in Amorim’s team already, which speaks to their quality.
Obi has looked like an improvement on Hojlund every time he comes off the bench, so with a start likely in his near future, a first senior goal this season would be logical to think will happen.
The importance of Obi is seen in how much he is missed in the Europa League, for which he is not eligible. With Hojlund struggling and Joshua Zirkzee less of a number nine and also injured, United don’t have striker options.
This saw Harry Maguire used up top as a striker, to an effective end as he grabbed the winner against Lyon.
Meanwhile, Amass has also been key over the past few weeks with back-to-back Premier League starts and even getting minutes in the must-win Europa League quarter-final.
Both will not be hoping to do enough over the next few weeks to secure their place in Amorim’s team for the 2025/26 season.
