Coached 17-year-olds Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho – more Man United debuts to come

Manchester United’s academy has always been the beating heart of the club.

United’s academy continues to be at the forefront of youth development in 2024 and has given fans something to be proud of in a challenging season for the first team.

The Under-18s enjoyed an outstanding campaign and won three trophies, beating rivals Manchester City to two, which made the victories all the sweeter.

“It was a collective effort,” Travis Binnion said Manchester Evening News. “Adam Lawrence and his staff deserve a lot of credit for this season, but we stick to the mantra of one group of players for different youth teams and I really think we’ve done that.”

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Binnion is the Under-21 coach but has the official title of head of player development and training, meaning his remit goes beyond overseeing that age group.

The 37-year-old won the FA Youth Cup in 2022, coaching a special group of players that included the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Kobbie Mainoo, Willy Kambwala and Dan Gore, and has become a key figure in an academy that is regarded among the best in world football.

Binnion spoke to MEN in November to reflect on the mid-way point of the campaign and sat down again to discuss the end of the season for the academy. The U18s’ success was the starting point for the conversation and Binnion admitted there were similarities between the current culture and his FA Youth Cup winning side.

“I think Louis Jackson is the only player to have played in both and I spoke to Jacko and his dad last night about some good years he’s had,” Binnion said.

“There are certainly some similar traits between those teams and I think any successful team needs to have goals, a competitive spirit and some very good players. This season’s U18s have some players with high potential and both groups have that in common, as you would expect from us.”

There were five players from the 2022 FA Youth Cup-winning squad given their senior debut by Erik ten Hag, and Binnion is confident the current U18 crop will produce more debuts – Ethan Wheatley has already been handed – in the near future. .

“I would expect it to happen,” Binnion said of the upcoming debuts. “I think the unknown is which because some players come up and some players will slow down. I think we can get the same number of debuts and I think what they do is actually more important than the debut.

“Garna, Kobbie, I think Willy Kambwala will play a lot of football for us. I think debuts are one thing, but sustained impact is another, and I think that will happen with this cohort.

“We expect it to happen, we don’t just think or assume it will happen, but there is an expectation within the academy and club staff that it will happen. and debuts under Erik ten Hag were not easy debuts.

“There’s been a lot of players training with the first team and getting involved in the squads, but not a lot of debuts, so what I’m saying is that training is one thing, but him putting you on the pitch is one thing. indicator if he thinks you can help him and if you’re good enough.”

Binnion continued: “I look forward to working with any player as long as they have the right attitude. Usually our kids’ attitudes are good and part of the training is to work between the ears, so we make sure the environment is right, the attitude is good. right and are focused.

“But as you alluded to earlier, and with the Youth Cup team from two years ago, there are a lot of good kids out there who are pushing each other and wanting to be successful. As long as you have that, with an aligned group. of personnel, the players will maximize what they are capable of”.

Binnion coached Garnacho and Mainoo to Youth Cup success and both have established themselves as first-team regulars this season, performing well in the Premier League.

Garnacho started his 37th straight game and his durability at 19 has not gone unnoticed. Binnion has seen him develop from a fresh teenager who arrived from Atletico Madrid in 2020 to someone the first team relied on to produce highlights.

“I think his reliability is the biggest quality he’s added,” Binnion said. “As a young winger going through his first 20 games as well, I was watching and wondering what we were going to get out of possession, which was good, but I knew there were high-level moments there.

“Whereas now, I watch his press, his tracking, his positioning; his durability and ruggedness and I think that’s where his game grew. He still needs to do more in possession and he’ll be aware of that, but look. like he did against Ben White the other day.

“His end product has to be bigger but I thought he got the better of that duel and he’s puzzled not to go back to fullback the first time, he’ll keep trying.”

When Binnion spoke to MEN for the academy’s mid-season review, Mainoo had just made his Premier League debut against Everton at Goodison Park.

The league campaign is now over and Mainoo has made 24 starts. The youngster has started almost every game since 2024 and his breakthrough should be celebrated.

“The way Kobbie plays the game is the way you invented it, a breath of fresh air,” Binnion said. “There’s no fear, he’s really composed and has a good understanding of the game so he’s never going to be terrible in a game of football because he’s too smart and too smart.

“He’s going to be more successful some days than others, but am I surprised by his development? I’m not surprised by what I see, but how quickly it got there and how it settled is naturally surprising because it’s really hard to do that’s the only surprising aspect

“How he’s handled it and how he’s playing is no surprise and I think his mentality is why he can take it in his stride. Yes, the results have been up and down, but it’s been a constant in good and bad performances, so it’s learning and getting that extended opportunity.

“When he gets a chance to sit down and reflect on this season, he’ll think about what went well and what didn’t go well and what he needs to do better because he’s a really bright lad. He’s humble, smart and will only continue to improve, I have no doubt about that.”

You get the feeling when you talk to the academy staff that they really care about the players and Binnion was at Wembley for Mainoo’s England debut.

“I went to the Brazil game, I went down to Wembley with my little boy when he made his debut,” he said. “I wasn’t sure he was going to play, but I wanted to be down there anyway.

“I thought he was their best player in the Belgium game. Does his performance in England deserve him in the team this summer? I think so and I think his consistent performances for us in a difficult season bodes well for him contributing to a successful England I’m certainly no Gareth Southgate but I’d be surprised if he’s not on the plane to Germany.

Binnion meets Les Parry, Darren Fletcher and Nick Cox every month to discuss academy loans and was insightful when discussing how certain spells are viewed.

“Even with the loans you mentioned (Will Fish, Alvaro Fernandez, Joe Hugill and Radek Vitek), the perception is that they were successful because they played or because their team did well, whereas some guys who they went out on loan and I didn’t play it’s a shame,” he said.

“But it makes them realize where they are. Some guys are playing top level games and of course we’d like them all to be successful, but I think realistically we know they won’t be and they can. Not because we don’t put a gun to managers’ heads.

“We’re not saying ‘you have to play our players.’ I know it happens, but I don’t think it’s healthy, and we’ll continue to review every loan we do and look at what happened.

“We’ll think it wasn’t great because one player had three managers, but could we have predicted that? No, well, that team played that way, it suited that player, would we do that again?

“So it’s a reflection and planning for next year’s borrowing is what we control and we’ll try to get it right. It’s been a real level of mixed success, and that’s okay.

“I think sometimes people are too ready to say a loan has failed and suggest a player is not good enough. Many loans at many clubs are not successful, especially the first ones.

“That doesn’t define how successful a player’s career will be or how successful their next loan will be, so we make sure we are aware of why something happened and we put it right.”

The MEN interviewed United youngster Will Fish in March and he spoke with great maturity. Impressively, the centre-back made over 40 starts for Hibernian and enjoyed his time in Scotland which saw him play regular first team football at a competitive level.

Sources indicated that his loan was “very successful due to the volume of games played and against a decent level of opposition”, and Binnion reiterated that message.

“Will has been without a doubt for me our most successful loan signing and you could argue that’s been the case for two years and he’s going to reap rewards from that,” Binnion said.

“People are aware of how well he is doing. What I would add is that Will’s first loan at Stockport was not good in terms of minutes and exposure, and then his start at Hibernian was rough.

“Who’s to say he would have that success without the learning from the first period? I think it’s a great example of the loan system and it’s a testament to it. When you say it’s gone under the radar, I think it’s because it’s pretty low maintenance and low profile as well.

“He’s a great kid, he just wants to play football and be successful. Hierbnian has been great for him so he’s in a really good place and there’s a lot of interest in him for future loans and to come back with us, the manager will have look at him again and see how he has progressed.”

United recently made an academy visit to France and played closed-door friendlies with INEOS-owned Monaco and Nice, with whom a partnership is developing.

“I know conversations with Jason Wilcox and Nick (Cox) are ongoing and obviously there’s a lot of knowledge to share,” Binnion said of the INEOS impact.

“We’ve been to Nice and played there, we know what their expectations are and what resources they have and that can only be a good thing. Their standards and expectations are really high, they fully support what we do and recognize it. that we do many good things.

“They want to continue to support that and ultimately help us continue what we’ve been doing, which is maximizing individual potential to play in our first team and beyond.

“The statistics that came out last week showing the most minutes in the Premier League by academy players are further validation of the work we are doing. We will continue to move forward and I can only see INEOS helping that, so we are excited for the future with them on board.

“We had some young players with great potential and the U19s who have had tough seasons with injuries on that trip to France and it was great to have that group together.

“It was away from the limelight, good training, a beautiful part of the world, a new partnership with INEOS and we also played Monaco, who historically we have a good relationship with. To go there and play two completely different sides was fantastic. and we hope to do it again.”