• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Man United appoint coach with track record of promoting wonderkids, it could be the making of Kobbie Mainoo and Zidane Iqbal

Home> Football

Published 18:43 7 Mar 2023 GMT

Man United appoint coach with track record of promoting wonderkids, it could be the making of Kobbie Mainoo and Zidane Iqbal

Man United are evolving their recruitment and academy team under Erik ten Hag.

Dominic Booth

Dominic Booth

Manchester United are finally catching up where others have followed when it comes to using data to aid their recruitment and player development.

And the club's latest addition, the hiring of Southampton’s lead data scientist Alex Kleyn, marks another rung on the ladder in United's quest to become 'dominant' in data – in their own words.

Clubs have been using data scientists for years now, particularly to identify players' strengths and weaknesses before they are brought into the squad – either from transfers or through the academy.

Advert

It's become commonplace at clubs like Brighton and Brentford to get ahead of the competition; they're market leaders in signing unheralded players who can be sold on for huge profits. It's also used to highlight which of a club's young players can make the step up to first team level, which – according to Training Ground Guru – is the reason United have hired Kleyn.

United have been lagging behind their rivals when it comes to using data, but they appointed Dominic Jordan as director of data science in October 2021 with the aim of "driving forward the club’s use of data to help players and staff deliver success on the pitch".

So how will Jordan and Kleyn help United get ahead of the game after years of recruitment flops and near-misses with young players trying to step up?

Advert

Kleyn said at a data webinar in December 2020 he had a "ready-made tool" to judge how young players can make the transition, tactically, between youth football and the first team. He and Southampton's director of football Matt Crocker turned the Under-23s side at St Mary's into a 'B team', which replicated the style and intensity of the first team rather than simply being an academy side.

He said: "It allows us to use internal comparisons, so we can compare the first team with key metrics to the B team and interpret the differences.”

Crocker said: “There was definitely a void between those two styles of play. One of the big wins was to come in and really remove the U23s from the academy and place it as a B team connected to the first team.”


Advert

United's current U21s (the Premier League changed U23s to a younger age group from 2022) boasts exciting talents like Zidane Iqbal, Kobbie Mainoo and Isak Hansen-Aaroen, who are all teenagers and have been tipped to follow in the footsteps of Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and company at Old Trafford. But in the U21s league they've had mixed results this season and sit seventh in PL2, out of 14 teams, with Man City top of the pile.

United are approaching nearly 86 years of consecutive matches in which they've named an academy graduate in their matchday squad – an incredible record that started in October 1937 - and one the club are keen to continue.

If Kleyn and the new data team at United are successful, it could mean even more minutes for youth graduates at United, as well as big improvements to recruitment in the transfer market.

Featured Image Credit: PA/LinkedIn

Topics: Manchester United, Southampton

Dominic Booth
Dominic Booth

Dominic is a freelance journalist for SportBible who also works for the Evening Standard and Sporting News and was formerly a Manchester United writer and editor for the MEN. He's a big Test cricket fan and Arctic Monkeys obsessive.

X

@DomBooth19

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

7 mins ago
15 mins ago
an hour ago
  • Getty
    7 mins ago

    Man Utd 'Make Decision' on Sacking Ruben Amorim After Derby Defeat

    Manchester United were thrashed 3-0 by Man City on Sunday

    Football
  • Mark Leech/Offside / Contributor via Getty
    15 mins ago

    Alejandro Garnacho Breaks Silence after Costly Error on Chelsea Debut

    The young Argentine winger made a huge mistake in Chelsea's 2-2 draw.

    Football
  • Getty
    an hour ago

    Benjamin Sesko Stats on First Man Utd Start Look Like a Typo

    Benjamin Sesko led the line from the start against Manchester City.

    Football
  • Getty
    an hour ago

    Man United Fans Stunned by Andre Onana's Surprise Trabzonspor Debut

    Andre Onana joined Turkish side Trabzonspor on loan last week

    Football
  • Kobbie Mainoo Reacts After Man United Refuse to Sanction Exit
  • Cole Palmer's Cryptic Comment on Kobbie Mainoo Post Gets Fans Talking
  • Kobbie Mainoo Responds to Claims He Aimed Dig at Ruben Amorim With Cryptic Post
  • Man Utd coach reveals Kobbie Mainoo played as striker at youth level before Ballon d'Or winner sparked major change