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Gary Neville identifies value that Manchester United can never lose
Manchester United have a proud history of utilising academy players and Gary Neville believes this value can never be lost
by Connor O'Neill, Josh Challies, https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/authors/connor-oneill/, https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/authors/josh-challies/Manchester United legend Gary Neville has stated that the club can never play without academy players in their first-team squad, identifying the importance of the value.
Neville was part of the famed Class of 92 that rose through the ranks at Old Trafford, featuring the likes of Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Phil Neville.
Since then, those values have been stuck by and the current United squad boasts the likes of Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay as those who have learnt their trade at the club.
As such, Neville believes this value should always be maintained and there should never be a first-team squad that does not include an academy player.
“Manchester United can never not play without academy players in its first team squad. It is far too important a value to drop and that was something born out of the 1950s," he told Sky Sports' The Football Show.
“I think Manchester United won the Youth Cup for the five or six years on the bounce with Bobby Charlton winning three of four of them.
“I think from those very early years the sort of Academy was so important to the club and those principles.
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“Even thinking about the simple things like the club blazer at Manchester United that was worn by the Busby Babes, you still see the Manchester United player wear to this day. Those traditions and sort of values and principles never more. You have to keep certain things the same.
“We know the rest of technology moves on and nutrition, sports science, everything moves forward but some things have to remain stable.
“And I think with Manchester United those things that were born in the 50s and 60s under Sir Matt Busby, culminating in that 1968 victory, that we still see values deployed at the club, and by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the first-team manager.”