Ferguson backs United youth

Sir Alex Ferguson says Manchester United will need to produce another crop of youth-team players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and David Beckham.

Ferguson’s original pool of youngsters, which also included Gary and Phil Neville, as well as Nicky Butt, eventually went on to guide the club to their historic treble success in 1999.

Ferguson believes the club will be able to replicate that strong first-team nucleus from their academy system, but warned the Premier League’s restrictive guidelines regarding coaching youth players would have to change.

“It’s going to happen again,” Ferguson said. “You can’t think that Manchester United could have only one cycle of players as good as that. We will always keep chasing the dream.”

“We will get a bunch like that again. We have got to. When the academy system changes to what it should be then we are capable of doing it, getting five or six through at one time again.”

“There’s progress being made on that front at the moment.”

“It’s ridiculous that in 2011 you can only coach a boy within an hour-and-a-half of Old Trafford. Absolutely ridiculous. Barcelona have just signed a player from China, one from Japan.”

Ferguson said United’s academy development had improved in leaps and bounds since the relocation of their training base.

“The great thing was the move from The Cliff to Carrington. That was the best thing that ever happened to the club,” he said.

“It (The Cliff) was an old ground, too small, great history. We couldn’t have achieved what we have achieved now – the number of staff, academy, coaches. We have 110 people at Carrington – without the players – 110 staff here.”

“There was no way we could have accommodated that at The Cliff. The gymnasium, was half the size of this here. We had to move.”