Three Red Devils wonder kids were promoted to first-team training early this season by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, raising eyebrows. However, just one of them has succeeded thus far.
Before United’s opening Europa League group match in September of last year, when morale was at an all-time high, the Dutchman made the decision to promote the young trio. After a rocky start to the season, United was in this stage with four straight victories and had just defeated league-leading and rival Arsenal.
Ten Hag appears to have seen the competition, especially the group stage, as an opportunity to test some of the club’s younger talent and see if they have what it takes because the Europa League was not considered as United’s first priority.
The United manager gave three youth players special treatment in the days before their debut match against Real Sociedad and included them in first-team practice. The group in question consisted of Charlie McNeil, a striker, Tyler Fredricson, a defender, and Kobbie Mainoo, a midfielder.
The United supporter who was most known at the time was McNeil, who joined the Red Devils directly from bitter rivals Manchester City and had a remarkable record in front of goal at the youth level. More than 600 goals have been scored by the striker in academy football, and at the time of his training call-up, he had 43 goals in 63 matches for Manchester United.
It is surprising that the sole player to have played for the first team this season after five months, and that player is midfield ace Mainoo.
Ten Hag obviously has a lot of respect for the 17-year-old because he has given him playing time in both the Carabao and FA Cup. In the 3-1 FA Cup victory over Reading last month, Mainoo was given 17 minutes of playing time and made the most of it.
The Carabao Cup victory over Charlton, where Mainoo received his first start and played for an hour as United defeated Charlton 3-0 to advance to the quarterfinals in front of the Old Trafford faithful, followed a similar pattern.
Ten Hag spoke prior to the game and explained the decision to start Mainoo.
He performed admirably during the winter camp in Spain, the United manager argued, so this is a perfect opportunity for him. In a friendly match against Everton, he performed admirably as well.
He deserves to play, so I’m glad to give him the chance – it’s all about earning it. I believe we have a strong team today, but he must (be prepared), and we must step up.
Those words should ring true for McNeil, Fredricson, and any other United academy prospect: you have to earn your spot on Ten Hag’s team.