Without a player essentially guaranteed a start on the wing, this could give our prospects / suspects a better chance to prove themselves than what was on offer last season. The trouble is, the only way these kids can prove anything is if this they are given a chance in the bigger matches. Look at Macheda: the kid comes on in two critical matches and shines; within 10 matches he’s become 1 of the 4 first team strikers. Compare this with Welbeck, who had statistically similar performances, but in less crucial games. The only way they can prove they’re able to cope with the big stage is if they play…on the big stage.

What makes this situation more complex is that we’re dealing with the wing. Last season nani and tosic barely got a peek at the 1st team because the only position available was opposite Ronnie. With every match these days being crucial (unlike when it was just us and le Arse challenging) that position was given to Park or Giggsy, most likely because Fergie wanted the security of having experience there while Ronnie did his thing on the other side.

My question is this: now that Ronaldo’s gone, can we basically put a rotation policy in place on the wings to give the potentials a chance even if it means a gamble on losing points in big matches? I’m hoping yes, especially after seeing Cleverley on wednesday (one word came to mind — “class”). With talents like him, Tosic, and now Obertan at our disposal I’d love to see them get some first team action…especially when it puts them to the ultimate test of whether they are fit to wear the shirt.

btw, this is only my second post, so feel free to let me know if it was too long, in the wrong place or anything.

Anyway about Cleverley, as much as i would love to see him succeed with United, he is way behind in the pecking order. Sad to say but i dont think he can make it.

But the conclusion is, lol, SAF is one hell of a great man. But you cant compare SAF with Cantona though, because Cantona is not a man

SAF keeps on proving his critics wrong, and SAF will always find a way out. Scott, please make a competition on SAF’s greatest acts.

If the statements by Gill and Fergie are truthful, that United won’t be buying more players and that they believe there are good young players coming through, that’s good news. I’m glad if they are resisting the temptation to spend all that Ronaldo money on a ‘marquee signing’ and trusting youth. It’s true there appears to be a very good crop of youngsters and I would love to see them given a chance, in the great United tradition. Of course it gets harder every year to risk inexperienced players but the success of Jonny Evans and Raphael and to a lesser extent Gibson, Macheda and Welbeck shows it can be done, not to mention ‘ones that got away’ like Rossi and Pique. I’d like to see a steady stream of kids given games here and there, building up their experience. One of the little heralded features of the United structure these days is that players can slot seamlessly into the next level up as the basics are the same throughout the whole club, which is why so many of these kids do well straight away, even if they still subsequently get sold on.From that point of view it could be argued that loans are not the answer, the kids actually benefit more from training with the first team squad. The exposure to the competitive environment and the highest possible skill levels at the most successful club in the UK for the last 15 years gives a youngster something they could never get elsewhere. But, having said that, I’d trust Fergie to get it right. Coming back to the thread about morality in the game the other day, part of that trust is based on the knowledge that Fergie really does seem to play fair by the young people in his care, hence allowing major talents like Rossi and Pique to leave, despite it being against United’s best interests, as we saw last May with Pique. It was one of the few redeeming features of Barca’s victory over a strangely supine United was the way Pique made a point of speaking to his old friends at United , about whom he spoke very warmly. He expressed genuine gratitude for the coaching he’d received and still regarded the club with real affection.