Ryan
Giggs believes Manchester United's crop of
promising youngsters will fire them to the Premier League title
while Manchester City's expensive signings do little but heap more
pressure on that club.
Speaking in Philadelphia as United continue their North American
pre-season tour, Giggs said the club's talented young prospects
have the same determination and desire to succeed as he and his
fellow golden generation of players had when they first arrived on
the Old Trafford scene over a decade ago.
It promises to be a season of transition for United. Sir
Alex Ferguson has assembled nearly a full team of
players in their teens and early twenties ready to push for first
team places including new signings Chris
Smalling (20) and Javier
Hernandez (22), along with current fringe players
Rafael (20), Fabio (20) and Federico Macheda (18) among
others.
Giggs said: "Last season we saw a lot of the young players
featuring in the first team. Nani had a good season, Antonio
[Valencia] had a fantastic debut campaign, Kiko Macheda had a
frustrating season with injuries, Chris has come into the squad; so
there are a lot of young players who experienced some first-team
action last season.
"Hopefully their determination and hunger will see them kick on
this season and do even better, because we're going to need them.
The injuries we had in defence last season were unbelievable. We've
strengthened with the arrival of Chris, and hopefully Rafael and
Fabio can get through the season without the niggly injuries
they've had.
"Hopefully these young players will get better and better, and
I'm sure they will. I see their determination on the training
ground. They want to do well, they want to learn, they want to play
for United, get in the team and stay in the team. That's what we
were like when we were younger and I see the same desire in these
young players."
While United seek to rebuild largely from within, the blue half
of Manchester is set to be thrilled by another summer of spending
as City's wealthy owners look to shortcut their squad towards
Premier League success. Giggs said City would be in for some
"stick" if they failed to produce results after another string of
high-profile signings. He said a top-four finish would be
considered a minimum for his city rivals this season.
"Until we play them I don't take any notice of what City are
doing, like any other team really. If they get a run together, if
they get the consistency, they'll be a force, and no one knows if
they're going to do that.
"It's a similar scenario to last season really. They've got so
many talented players that, if they gel as a team, they'll be a
force. If they don't then obviously it could be a frustrating
season for them and they'll probably get a little bit of stick.
But, if they gel as a team, like they proved in games last year,
they can beat anyone."
