Darren Fletcher reveals which old United clips he's shown U18s group
Manchester United’s Under-18s players have been inspired by old clips of Andrei Kanchelskis and Ji-Sung Park, lead coach Darren Fletcher said.
Fletcher is relishing his new role leading the age group, having come through United’s Academy himself in the early 2000s. He went on to win five Premier League titles as a Red, as well as the Champions League and Club World Cup.
After steering the young Reds to two league victories to open the season, Darren watched his side show a ruthless streak in our opening game of the U18 Premier League Cup group stages.
Leading 1-0 at the break from a set-piece goal, United scored three times in just four minutes to take the game away from Brighton. The game ended 4-0.
The fast attacks on show — which were finished by Amir Ibragimov, Bendito Mantato and Samuel Lusale — were partly inspired by clips Fletcher has been showing the group.
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“We were devastating on the counter-attack with our fast attacks,” Fletcher told club media post-match.
“It’s something we’ve spoken about, recognising what the opposition are trying to do and using the tools we have to exploit it. It’s a great challenge for the lads and they met it.
“The fast attacks… it’s proper United. I’ve been showing them old clips of [Wayne] Rooney, [Cristiano] Ronaldo and Ji-Sung Park, the counter-attack goals, and [Ryan] Giggs and [Andrei] Kanchelskis, too, trying to show a bit of that Man United DNA. And that came out today.
“If teams want to come and have a go at us, and try to press, we’ve got the ability to play around them, and if they want to leave a high line, we can be devastating. It’s enjoying the challenge of the different things Brighton brought today and it’s about us giving the players that beforehand, but then the players recognising it and problem-solving themselves.”
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United have further group-stage games against Middlesbrough and Birmingham City to play in this competition, which we last won in 2024.
Last season, the Reds enjoyed another strong campaign in the cup. Although ultimately beaten on penalties in the quarter-final by West Ham, any fixtures in this tournament are beneficial for the group’s development. While the U18 Premier League is split regionally, meaning United do not face southern opposition, the cup is not, giving new opponents who present new challenges, like Brighton.
United were led against the Seagulls by Amir Ibragimov, who Fletcher said is “relishing” wearing the armband.
“He’s had leadership capabilities in him, he’s demanding of himself and his team-mates but I think he’s really grown, being empathetic at times and setting the standard himself, and he’s relishing it,” Darren said.
“But it’s important we have other captains on the pitch as well, it doesn’t matter who wears the armband, we’ve got Godwill Kukonki, Albert Mills and Jimmy Thwaites, too.”
United’s next U18s game is at home to Derby County on Saturday 30 August. The game will not be shown live on MUTV as the men’s first team are also in action that afternoon, at home to Burnley.