Academy Briefing: Duo nominated for PL2 award
Manchester United’s senior Academy players return to competitive action this week after enjoying a break over the festive period. Here’s everything you need to know from our world-famous youth set-up in our regular Briefing…
GORE AND MOORHOUSE NOMINATED FOR AWARD
Two young Reds midfielders have been nominated for Premier League 2’s Player of the Month award for December. Well done to Dan Gore and Jack Moorhouse, both of whom worked hard to return from injury and put in impressive displays sufficient to stand out in the Under-21s division before Christmas.
The full list of nominees is: Aodhan Doherty (Blackburn Rovers), Jonathan Esenga (Fulham), Dan Gore (UNITED), Harry Howell (Brighton & Hove Albion), Aidan Manning (Norwich City), Jack Moorhouse (UNITED), Daniel Ogwuru (Norwich City) and Cameron Peupion (Brighton & Hove Albion).
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Although we only had one PL2 fixture in December, Gore and Moorhouse put in excellent goalscoring performances in a 5-1 triumph over Southampton at Carrington.
INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE
Many of United’s Professional Development Phase (U17-U21) players begin 2025 with a trip to Germany to compete at a pair of international tournaments. United squads will simultaneously be on show at the REWE Junior Cup (Friday-Sunday) and the Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup (Saturday-Sunday), where they’ll face both local opposition and counterparts from other top European academies.
United will face Bayern Munich, Borussia Monchengladbach and Rangers in Group B of the Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup, which can be watched live on Sky Sport Germany’s YouTube channel. We last won the competition in 2015, when future graduates Joel Pereira, Dean Henderson, Joe Riley, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Axel Tuanzebe and Marcus Rashford were all involved. Other stars to feature in recent years include Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich and Leroy Sane.
The young Reds will also face Borussia Monchengladbach in the Rewe Junior Cup — which we’ve won twice before — as well as 1. SC 1911 Heiligenstadt, Hamburger SV, JFV Eichsfeld, JFV West Gottingen and SV Rhume-Ode.
“These competitions give us different stimuli,” says Nick Cox, Director of Academy.
“It’s small-sided, indoor games, so it’s about touch, close control and intensity. We’re also playing against German clubs like Bayern Munich who play in this format every week so it’s a proper challenge. We’re playing them at their game.
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“These smaller formats in front of crowds are great for all-around development as they expose players to new challenges that they might not face in a full-sized game, and the addition of the crowd adds a new level of pressure to overcome.
“This is one part of our consistent focus on delivering a varied programme. The league matches supporters may see the results of are just one part of a wider games programme which we hope will stretch the boys as much as possible to help prepare them for a future in professional football.”
UNDER-21s TRAVEL TO LEEDS
In the league programme, United’s U21s travel to Leeds United on Friday evening for their first Premier League 2 fixture of 2025. The 19:00 GMT kick-off is not being shown live on MUTV. We’ll have updates and reaction for you on ManUtd.com and the United App.
EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH U21s ASSISTANT HUGHES
Ahead of the return of U21s football after the winter break, you can read an extended interview with assistant coach Dave Hughes. Formerly Academy Manager at Cardiff City, after a successful playing career, Dave detailed his coaching philosophy while filming our popular Lifeblood documentary series. You can read the interview in full here.
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GOALKEEPERS RETURN FROM LOAN
Young goalkeepers Elyh Harrison, Tom Myles and Tom Wooster have returned from their respective loan moves at Chester, Runcorn Linnets and Farsley Celtic. Well done to all three Reds on their positive short-term stints away. They return to Carrington now with senior experience under their belts, ready to enact the lessons learned in the second half of this season.
FA YOUTH CUP TICKETS AVAILABLE
Tickets are available for the U18s’ upcoming FA Youth Cup fourth-round tie with Preston North End, to be played at Leigh Sports Village on Friday 17 January (19:00 GMT). Order yours now, here.
MUTV INFO AT A GLANCE
Friday 10 January | Leeds v UNITED U21s | 19:00 | Not live on MUTV
Friday 17 January | UNITED U18s v Preston North End | 19:00 | Live on MUTV