Man Utd academy coach Phil Jones names upcoming star who is an 'animal' - Ruben Amorim could need him now
Former Manchester United player Phil Jones has been addressing some of the club’s struggles
Manchester United’s bench against Tottenham Hotspur contained 183 Premier League appearances - but they all belonged to one player. Victor Lindelof was the only player among Ruben Amorim’s squad with senior experience in the top flight with the United boss forced to name seven academy players in his squad amid a host of injury problems.
Lisandro Martinez and Amad Diallo are out for the season while the likes of Kobbie Mainoo is facing an extended spell out. Up next is a trip to a resurgent Everton and Amorim will hope to have some of his players back as the Red Devils take on the Toffees at Goodison Park.
Amorim only made one sub against Spurs as Chido Obi-Martin was introduced in the 91st minute, with Casemiro making way. United signed the player from Premier League rivals Arsenal last year, with big things expected of the youngster.
Jones hails Obi-Martin
Former Red Devils defender turned academy coach Phil Jones has called Obi-Martin an ‘animal’ and believes he could be among the younger United players who could make a name for themselves in the coming years.
He said on the latest episode of the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast with Sam Allardyce: “Working in and around the academy and helping those young players develop, United have some really good and talented young players coming through. The squad had a lot of injuries against Tottenham and the bench was full of kids, but there were some talented players on that bench. People might not know a lot about them now, but they certainly will in the next few years.
“I think you look at Kobbie Mainoo, top player, you look at Chido (Obi-Martin) who we’ve just signed from Arsenal, who’s an animal, you look at Amad (Diallo) who had a couple of really good loans, and I remember watching him winning it against Liverpool in extra time last season, and I had said at that time he’d play a huge part in the next season. I played with Amad for a year or two and you could see then that the quality he had was really good and really strong. As I said there’s a great crop of young players ready to be given the chance and integrated into the team.”
Obi-Martin could be thrust into spotlight
Given he was the only academy player introduced against Spurs, there is the very real possibility that the 17-year-old could be called upon again by Amorim between now and the end of the campaign. He has scored 12 goals in 12 appearances at youth level and could freshen up United’s attacking options as they continue to struggle for goals. They have netted just 28 times in 25 Premier League fixtures.
Amorim said of the player on Sunday: “I think if you see Chido playing sometimes, every ball lost in the box, he’s very clever. So, I was trying to put one more player [in there]. I felt the team was good during the game and I didn’t feel the need to change. Then, Chido was like that player, one long ball in and he could make the difference.”