Man Utd youngsters taught harsh European lesson in Youth League thrashing

Within the Manchester United academy, coaches are keen to stress that the results are not the be all and end all for their young players, with overall development far more important.

But Wednesday's 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Villarreal in the UEFA Youth League is not the kind of learning experience many will have had in mind.

It took the visitors just five minutes to get on the scoresheet at Leigh Sports Village, and it went from bad to worse for Neil Wood’s side, as they found themselves 4-0 down before the break.

For large swathes of the game it looked like the men against boys as Villarreal bettered their hosts in every area of the pitch. They were well drilled, quick and very direct with their play, causing United’s youngsters problems all afternoon.

There are some mitigating factors, most notably that this is a very young United team for Under-19s level.

Seventeen-year-old Shola Shoretire was handed the captain’s armband while French defender Willy Kambwala, who only turned 17 himself in August, was making his first start at this level after his first season in England was almost entirely wiped out due to injury.

Villarreal, on the other hand, fielded players who have previously represented their 'B' team, a side that plays in the third tier of Spanish football. The difference in experience level was evident.

United's defending, too, left a lot to be desired. As club-captain Harry Maguire watched on from the stands, United failed on countless occasions to deal with balls into their box, with the opening two Villarreal goals almost carbon copies of one another as Villarreal forwards tapped into empty nets after shots came back off the post.

The Red Devils were clearly missing centre-back Teden Mengi, who was also watching on due to an injury issue, and the third goal, scored by Marlone Foubert-Jacquemin, again illustrated the lack of experience in the United backline as the Villarreal defender ghosted in to poke home a free-kick.

To their credit, Wood's team did show more resilience after the break and pulled a goal back through Alvaro Fernandez, the ex-Real Madrid left-back heading home former Barcelona right-back Marco Jurado's searching free-kick.

With one win and one defeat after two games, all is not lost for United in the Youth League, with the competition tending to be quite volatile in terms of its results.

But this was a chastening result for United's teenagers. The hope is that they realise, along with the coaching staff, that it will not define their futures.