LOUIS VAN GAAL gave himself a huge pat on the back, before making a sensational admission on Marcus Rashford’s development at Manchester United this season.
The United boss believes he has shown guts by promoting the club’s youngsters to the senior side – but added Rashford is not ready for the first team.
Van Gaal has handed debuts to 14 United academy graduates since being appointed Red Devils’ manager in 2014, with Rashford and Timothy Fosu-Mensah particularly impressing.
Many would argue the Dutchman had little choice given the lengthy injury list he’s had to deal with, but Van Gaal was having none of that.
When asked whether former Under-18 coach Paul McGuinness and Under-21 coach Warren Joyce deserved credit for readying the youngsters for the senior side, Van Gaal replied: “They are not ready, I’m sorry, also Marcus Rashford is not ready.
“You need always guts to put youngsters in the squad and also in the line-up, but of course the academy and all the academy coaches have the credits for these players, also the scouts who have discovered these boys, they have credits.
“And I am a little part of it but that part is important because you need the guts to do that.”
Clearly Van Gaal is desperate to leave some sort of legacy from his time Old Trafford and fair play to him, he did have the courage to introduce a number of youngsters when it would have been easy to sign second-rate replacements for injured players during the January transfer window.
But that doesn’t make up for the fact his United team could still end the campaign with their lowest points total in the Premier League era, while they appear certain to record their lowest goal tally for a season during this period.
Should Van Gaal be given more credit for the emergence of United’s youngsters this season?
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