“The confidence and assurance…”: Carrick blown away by surprise United wonderkid, he is one to watch out for next season

Manchester United may have lost their opening pre-season fixture against Wrexham on Saturday, but head coach Michael Carrick was pleased with some of the things he saw. The head coach picked two different teams in each half, with the seniors playing the first 45 minutes, a half which saw a couple of interesting positional tweaks. The second half XI was comprised entirely of academy wonderkids. During his post-match interview with MUTV, Carrick claimed he felt his team had more control of proceedings in the second half. “I was really pleased with the second-half team. I thought they controlled the game really well against a team that is not easy to play against. Carrick most pleased with second-half performance “They make you work for it. In general, the boys took responsibility and showed their quality. Again, that final bit of trying to break down a lot of bodies in front of the ball, at this stage, it’s not easy to find that sharpness and that extra little bit of creation. “But that will come. I was really pleased with the young players [in the] second half and they can really be proud of themselves.” The statement was a 100 per cent true and indicative of the bravery shown by the youngsters against their counterparts from the Championship. Of all the youngsters in the fray, it was one who spent the second half of last season away from Carrington that most pleased the new boss. Jacob Devaney has caught Carrick’s eye Jacob Devaney stole the show while playing for St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership and seems to have caught Carrick’s eye. The 19-year-old is a combative defensive midfielder by trade but can double up as a centre-back when needed. Carrick opted to play the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international at the heart of the defence against the Red Dragons’ physical striker, Kieffer Moore. Safe to say that Jacob Devaney emerged with flying colours and he has done his chances of playing against Rosenborg next week no harm. With United needing midfield reinforcements, the Barnsley-born ace could step up if required. “They can play long into Kieffer Moore and JD [Jacob Devaney] playing centre-half, it’s not natural to him. He’s played a little bit there but not a lot, I thought he did ever so well. Tyler Fletcher also earns praise “He had a really successful few months up in Scotland. It was good to see him take that next step. The confidence and assurance in his game, even though he was playing a slightly different position. He was vocal, he was commanding. I liked a lot of what he did today.” Tyler Fletcher was another who was name-dropped by the United midfield legend. From earning his first United start under Carrick to making his international debut and then making Scotland’s World Cup squad, it has been a whirlwind last few months for the Scotland international. He added another feather to his cap in Finland by being named as United’s captain for the second half, and his mature display pleased the boss. “He’s had an eventful three or four months, Tyler. He didn’t want long off after the World Cup, he wanted to get back into it. He took that responsibility and led the team [in the] second half really well.” Hopefully, the youngsters will continue to impress and one or two of them can become regular first-team fixtures in the upcoming season. Feature image Lewis Storey via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25