Manchester United are deep in crisis amid their worst-ever start to a Premier League season and club chiefs are desperately trying to turn things around at Old Trafford
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Erik ten Hag reviews the Crystal Palace game
Manchester United are looking to overhaul their academy by advertising for two new scouts to take over their ‘emerging talent’ department.
The Red Devils are in crisis mode after a fourth defeat in seven games handed them their worst-ever start to a Premier League season. Boss Erik ten Hag has splashed the cash ever since he arrived at Ajax last summer, even breaking the club’s transfer record.
But there is growing concern at the lack of academy players breaking into the first-team. The only players in the current first-team squad to have come through the club’s academy are Jonny Evans, Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford.
It is a situation that has now come to a head, with club bosses taking drastic action to improve the pathway for young stars. That has led to the creation of a new part of their scouting team, with two people set to be hired to lead it.
They have placed two job adverts on their website, the first for a Lead Phase Scout for the 17-20 age group. The advert states that the Red Devils are looking for a person to “perform a leading role in the identification, recruitment, and retention of the best UK players for the Academy/First Team from 17 to 20 years of age, in line with the Club’s Recruitment Philosophy”.
The lead scout will be responsible for leading and overseeing scouting for the age group. They will have the “ability to identify and evaluate talented players”. Eleven characteristics have been listed as essential, including Scouting Strategy, Player Assessment and Progress Monitoring.
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Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay are two of just three academy graduates in United’s first team (
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(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images))
United will further boost their team with the addition of a Phase Scout for the 17-20 age group. For this role, the club are looking for someone who has a “deep understanding of football scouting” and “the capacity to provide valuable player information and recommendations”.
Ten characteristics are listed as being essential for this job, with United looking for a person with “extensive experience” in scouting the 17-20 age group. The job search comes with United struggling on the pitch, with boss Ten Hag admitting his side need to look in the mirror after Saturday’s defeat to Crystal Palace,
“I think every occasion is different. Sometimes it’s like calmness and composure, other times it’s be more clinical, other times be more direct. The next time, play the extra pass. As I’ve said, it’s about decision making, the qualities and skillset the players have,” he said.
There were many occasions, I can’t count them, but we are in the position to put the ball where we want to be. I think I repeat myself but we came into the positions and have to make the [correct] decision. Yes, these players can do better.
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“We have more qualities than we showed today. It’s a bad start. We have to catch up and do better. This is not good enough. Of course, it’s frustrating for everyone, especially the fans. It’s frustrating but for us, as well, the players and for me.
“We have to stay together, fight together and get better and make sure we get improvement. We can’t change this anymore. Only what we can change is the future and that’s Tuesday’s game.”
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