The standards of Manchester United\u2019s academy have \u201creally slipped\u201d in recent years, according to Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The club is renowned as one of the world\u2019s best schools for young players, so the words of the man at the top of the football operation will have stung those trying to create the next generation of stars.<\/p>\n
The academy is in flux after Nick Cox, its long-time leader, left in September to become technical director at Everton. His replacement, Steve Torpey, joined from Brentford and is an ally of United\u2019s director of football, Jason Wilcox. The pair worked together at Manchester City and the introduction of another former employee from there implies a literal blueprint is being followed.<\/p>\n
Manchester United\u2019s director of football Jason Wilcox (left) welcomes the new academy director Stephen Torpey at the training ground. Photograph: Ash Donelon\/MUFC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
At a recent staff meeting attended by Wilcox, it was discussed how the academy had been somewhat neglected while the focus was placed on turning around the first team\u2019s fortunes. Although \u00a350m has been invested in renovating the training facilities, the academy staff are working in prefabricated structures behind the main building, situated in the players\u2019 car park, but there are plans for a modernisation to match the first team\u2019s infrastructure. Ratcliffe has told academy staff his reference to slipping standards was in relation to facilities.<\/p>\n
A senior academy staff member spoke passionately in the meeting about the academy being overlooked and was visibly emotional when doing so, giving Wilcox a glimpse of the strong feelings within the department.<\/p>\n
Comments from Wayne Rooney, who has two children, Kai, 15, and Klay, 12, in the United setup, were not welcomed by senior figures but others were happy for them to be aired publicly. \u201cThe culture of that football club has gone,\u201d Rooney said. \u201cI see it on a daily basis. I see staff losing jobs, people walking out of jobs. I\u2019ve got two kids at that football club and I really hope this doesn\u2019t affect what they\u2019re doing.\u201d His analysis was regarded by some as shrewd.<\/p>\n
Kai Rooney \u2013 son of Wayne \u2013 scores Manchester United\u2019s fifth goal in an under-18 Premier League match at Carrington. Photograph: MUFC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
No one within the academy is denying there are improvements to be made but staff recruitment is causing problems. A physiotherapist turned down a role because they could continue to earn more in the equivalent job at another club, and United cannot compete financially with some Premier League teams for top talent.<\/p>\n
Ruben Amorim has suggested he is open to using homegrown players<\/a>, saying: \u201cOur academy is the future,\u201d but opportunities have been few and far between. Considering how United laud their history of including a homegrown player in every matchday squad for the past 88 years, a greater effort to energise the department would be advantageous.<\/p>\n Some staff have been irritated by the removal of free lunches and having to wash their own tracksuits. And it may seem a minor detail but as recently as Thursday the list of 15 academy leadership staff on the club\u2019s website included six who have left.<\/p>\n Samuel Lusale (second right) of Manchester United Under-18s warms up. Photograph: Poppy Townson\/MUFC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Turnover has also caused disruption: the under-18s coach, Adam Lawrence, left to coach Newcastle Under-21s; Cox has gone; David Horseman departed for a role as elite player development coach at Arsenal three months after being appointed as United\u2019s assistant manager with the under\u201121s; Paul McShane took a role on Lee Grant\u2019s staff at Huddersfield; David Hughes became head coach at the League Two club Newport; and Simon Wiles is in charge of Liverpool Under-18s after working with younger age groups at United.<\/p>\n Disappointment at United over losing so many experienced staff is accompanied by a belief that each moved to a more prestigious job thanks to their work at the club and that it should be taken as a compliment. It led, though, to concern among parents and agents about possible further upheaval. If United are regarded as being unable to retain staff, it could be off-putting to potential recruits in a highly competitive market.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Football Daily<\/p>\n Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Samuel Lusale comes off for Kai Rooney during an under-18s game. Photograph: Manchester United\/Getty Images<\/p>\n There were concerns Darren Fletcher would go in the summer before he became the under\u201118s\u2019 lead coach in mid-July. Fletcher was the technical director and academy staff were eager to keep someone of his quality and experience.<\/p>\n Fingers are being pointed at the academy\u2019s lack of productivity for Amorim\u2019s squad \u2013 Kobbie Mainoo and the defender Tyler Fredricson are the only graduates to have played this season, and the latter\u2019s one appearance ended at half\u2011time of the Carabao Cup defeat at Grimsby<\/a>. But Scott McTominay, Dean Henderson, \u00c1lvaro Carreras and Anthony Elanga have gone on to thrive elsewhere, having been victims of poor United recruitment and overlooked in favour of subpar signings. Marcus Rashford<\/a> and Alejandro Garnacho are showing signs of a return to their best form after being allowed to leave by Amorim, and Mainoo is a victim of tactical circumstance, leaving him on the periphery.<\/p>\n There was frustration in the academy that the goalkeeper Radek Vitek did not feature during pre\u2011season because the 22-year-old is regarded as having the potential to be United\u2019s No 1. Instead Andr\u00e9 Onana, who eventually left for Trabzonspor, and Altay Bayindir, never perceived as a long-term first choice, were preferred. Vitek left on loan for Bristol City, where a couple of recent errors have blotted an otherwise fine campaign, and he will probably be integrated into United\u2019s squad next season.<\/p>\n There is confidence Shea Lacey will soon make his first-team debut. Photograph: Poppy Townson\/MUFC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n There is confidence that the 18-year-old Shea Lacey will soon make his first-team debut, the attacking midfielder having impressed under Travis Binnion in the under-21s after recovering from injury, earning a spot on the bench against Everton on Monday<\/a>. Lacey, viewed as having a similar skill set to Phil Foden, trained with England during the October break. The highly rated \u2013 and sought-after \u2013 15-year-old JJ Gabriel has been training with United\u2019s first team.<\/p>\n Torpey built an academy almost from scratch at Brentford but having carte blanche there may have made that job easier than his task at United. Ratcliffe and Wilcox want to replicate City\u2019s success but that cannot be done at the expense of United\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n