Manchester United have endured a difficult season, there is no denying that. But there are some positives from this campaign and that’s the emergence of a younger core.
Erik ten Hag has never been shy to use his younger players if the senior first-team regulars are not performing well enough and there have been some beneficiaries in the last 18 months.
Alejandro Garnacho is one of the first names on the teamsheet right now and he has been joined by the remarkable Kobbie Mainoo, who is undroppable at this point.
Further up the pitch, Rasmus Hojlund is continuing to make headway after he recently scored in his fourth consecutive appearance.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s trip to Villa Park, Luke Shaw has reserved special praise for the Denmark international, claiming he will go on to do big things.
“(He will be) one of the best,” Shaw told Sky Sports.
“There’s a lot of pressure on his shoulders, he has to come in and hit the ground running. He wants to learn, adapt and push himself to the max.”
Shaw was one of many first-team players to miss the majority of the first half of the season and thus, he hasn’t been able to share the pitch with Hojlund as much as he would have liked.
But in recent weeks, with both players fit and at the top of their game, they seem to have struck up quite the understanding.
Shaw is seen looking for Hojlund’s runs regularly and the England star assisted Hojlund’s strike at Wolves last week.
