Ferguson: Beckham would never be Man Utd player under current system
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says they're forced to go abroad for young talent because of the laws blocking recruitment in England.
He said: "Well, I think there is a weakness in the academy system, as far as Manchester United is concerned. We can't scout a boy on the south coast of England or the North East or anywhere in the east of England - yet you can bring a boy from Brazil. It seems ludicrous.
"We used to go to Newcastle and Belfast and coach them, before the academy started. We would never have got David Beckham under the present situation.
"The reason for the distance restriction was education. They said that a boy from, say, Newcastle travelling to Manchester two days a week for coaching would have his education interfered with. You can understand that. But I don't think we have ever done that.
"You have to ask what would be a boy's best chance of being able to get to the top. Would it be at Torquay, or somewhere like that, or at big clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea?
"And who has produced more players for their countries than Manchester United?"
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun May 13th | |||
| West Bromwich Albion | Arsenal | 2 - 3 | 14:00 |
| Everton | Newcastle United | 3 - 1 | 14:00 |
| Sunderland | Manchester United | - 1 | 14:00 |
| Wigan Athletic | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Manchester City | Queens Park Rangers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Swansea City | Liverpool | 14:00 | |
| Norwich City | Aston Villa | 14:00 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Fulham | 14:00 | |
| Chelsea | Blackburn Rovers | 2 - 1 | 14:00 |
| Stoke City | Bolton Wanderers | 2 - 2 | 14:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 64 | 89 |
| Manchester United | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 56 | 89 |
| Arsenal | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 70 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 25 | 69 |
| Newcastle United | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 65 |
| Chelsea | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 19 | 64 |
| Everton | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 56 |
| Liverpool | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 52 |
| Fulham | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | -3 | 52 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | -7 | 47 |
| Swansea City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -7 | 47 |
| Norwich City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -14 | 47 |
| Sunderland | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -1 | 45 |
| Stoke City | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -17 | 45 |
| Wigan Athletic | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | -20 | 43 |
| Aston Villa | 38 | 7 | 17 | 14 | -16 | 38 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | -23 | 37 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | -31 | 36 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | -30 | 31 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | -42 | 25 |
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Comments (10)
yes Burt, he is talking about big clubs, not wannabe clubs with a distant history fading into folklore and oldtimers memory banks, run by a fat spanish whining waiter.
United fan. Arsenal s wenger would selebrate if Eduado dived to win premiershp! Wenger is a stupid man
Mr burt , he ddnt mention liverpool cuz he talkn abt big clubs with respect to development of youth players. When u figure out what to do with babel and n'gog am sure he'l give u a mention.
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