Revealed – Manchester United Have The Best Youth Academy In England

According to research by Sporting Intelligence, Manchester United have the best youth academy having produce more first-team players for club in Europe’s top 5 leagues than any other team in England.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are ranked fifth in the world behind the likes of Barcelona, Olympique Lyonnais, Real Madrid and Stade Rennais. Twenty of the twenty-four players who have graduated from the Old Trafford academy have gone on to play in the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 or the Serie A.

Nine of the twenty-four players produced are still at United ( including Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck), and the remaining 15 playing elsewhere include the likes of Phil Neville (Everton), Kieran Richardson (Fulham), Phil Bardsley (Sunderland), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover 96), Paul Pogba (Juventus) and Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City).

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Arsenal came second behind United with 20 players, Aston Villa third with 15, Tottenham and West Ham joint fourth with 13 primary products. Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City are in seventh with 12 home grown players, while Chelsea are eight with total 12 players and Liverpool are tenth with a total of 10 primary products.

Outside the Premier League, Barcelona are the undisputed kings of producing players – with a massive 38 players produced by the famous La Masia academy. And it’s not only the number of production that impresses, its the unbelievably high talent level too. The likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Jordi Alba, Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique are all home-grown players.

Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnias lie second behind Barcelona with 29 primary products, while Real Madrid have 27 home grown players. Another French club, Stade Rennais, are above Manchester United with 21 primary prodcuts. Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich are sixth with a total of 23 players followed by Sochaux, Real Sociedad, Atalanta and Atletico Madrid.

Top 10 from the Premier League

Manchester United – 24 total academy products
Arsenal – 20 academy products
Aston Villa – 15 academy products
Tottenham Hotspur – 15 academy products
West Ham United – 13 academy products
Newcastle United – 13 academy products
Manchester City – 12 academy products
Southampton – 12 academy products
Chelsea – 12 academy products
Liverpool – 10 academy products

Complete list..

Top 10 from Europe

Barcelona (La Liga) – 38 academy products
Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1) – 31 academy products
Real Madrid (La Liga) – 29 academy products
Stade Rennais (Ligue 1) – 24 academy products
Manchester United (Premier League) – 24 academy products
Bayern Munich (Bundesliga) – 23 academy products
Sochaux (Ligue 1) – 22 academy products
Real Sociedad (La Liga) – 21 academy products
Atalanta (Serie A) – 21 academy products
Atletico Madrid (La Liga) – 21 academy products

Complete list..

Premier League 2012/13 Team Preview – Sunderland

Welcome to IntoTheTopCorner’s team-by-team preview to the new Barclays Premier League season. Here we look at Sunderland’s vital stats, their summer transfers and analyse their chances.

Manager: Martin O’Neill.
Captain: Lee Cattermole.
Stadium: Stadium of Light (48,707).
Last season: 13th.
Leading scorer (PL): Nicklas Bendtner (8).
Odds: Title 500-1. Relegation 9-1.

In: Carlos Cuellar (Free, Sunderland), Louis Saha (Free, Tottenham).

Out: Marcos Angeleri (Undisc., Estudiantes), Liam Bagnall (Released), James Brace (Released), Trevor Carson (Free, Bury), Jordan Cook (Free, Charlton), Bred Elliot (Released), Craig Gordon (Released), Asamoah Gyan (£6.6m, Al-Ain FC) Lewis King (Released), Jordan Lavender (Released), Mark Liddle (Free, Accrington) George McCartney (Free, West Ham), Cristian Riveros (£254k, Kayserispor), Oumare Tounkara (Released), Michael Turner (£1.6m, Norwich).

Kits

Key Man – Stephane Sessegnon
The Benin international was Sunderland’s player of the year last season, assisting nine and scoring seven goals, but he contributed more than just the goals. With his pace and dribbling skills, Sessegnon is the man charged with making things happen at the Stadium of Light and the fans will be hoping that he replicates his form of last season this term.

Opening Fixtures
18-Aug – Arsenal (A)
25-Aug – Reading (H)
01-Sep – Swansea (A)
15-Sep – Liverpool (H)
22-Sep – West Ham (A)
29-Sep – Wigan (H)

Probable Formation (4-4-1-1): Mignolet; O’Shea, Cuellar, Brown, Bardsley; Larsson, Cattermole, Gardner, McClean; Sessegnon; Saha.

Verdict: Martin O’Neill produced the positive impact on his appointment last season, and the Black Cats will continue to improve in all areas. Stephane Sessegnon one of the best season of his life and its a mystery why no bigger club has taken him away from Sunderland. The Black Cats haven’t made any big signings, so far, this summer and that’s a big worry. The striker position needs to be filled as Fraizer Campbell, Ji Dong-Won and Connor Wickham are not at all first-choice strikers and should be backups to a top striker. The signing of Louis Saha is a good one but his fitness is an issue and I can’t see the Black Cats finishing in the top 8 unless they sign Steven Fletcher or any other goal-scorer, who can guaruntee them 15 goals per season.

Prediction: 10th.