Decision time: Gibson's raised his profile but may need
move from Old Trafford
If the likes of Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck and
Darron Gibson needed any reminding of how difficult it will be to
establish themselves as
Manchester
United players, then the presence of a
new face at the training ground last week will have done just
that.
At 21 years, Mame Biram Diouf is one of the best young players
in African football, a Senegal international who will officially
join up with United next month after finishing the domestic season
with Molde in Norway.
It is more than possible that Diouf - scouted personally by
United reserve-team coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and signed last
summer - will find himself on loan for the rest of this season,
probably in Belgium.
Nevertheless, his visit to the Carrington training
complex emphasises how the United production line relentlessly
keeps turning out new faces.
Macheda may have scored two vital Barclays Premier League goals
last season and yesterday put his name to a new four-year
contract.
Welbeck may have been tipped as an outside bet for the England
World Cup squad by Sir Alex Ferguson, and Gibson may be the latest
name on the back pages after two Carling Cup goals against
Tottenham on Tuesday.
But for those three, and other hopefuls, the route to a regular
place in Ferguson’s squad will be long and difficult. It could be
that they never get there.
Gibson, 22, reflected on his efforts against Spurs and suggested
the team that won 2-0 on Tuesday could hold its own in the Premier
League.
England hopeful? Welbeck has been tipped as a
future international by Fergie
‘When you face established Premier League players like
that it increases the pressure because we have to prove that we are
good enough to play against them,’ said the Republic of Ireland
international.
‘And this week we proved we’re good enough, as individuals and
as a team, to play in the Premier League every week. That team
would be good enough to compete there.’
Gibson, known as a quiet but decent man, may have a point but
unwittingly he has hit upon another, more salient, issue.
There is a huge difference between being good enough for the top
flight and being good enough for Manchester United. And the dilemma
facing players of his age and ability centres on how long they are
prepared to wait.
Do they, for example, take the Darren Fletcher approach and
resist overtures from elsewhere in the hope of establishing
themselves by their mid-twenties?
Waiting game: Fletcher chose to bide his time
rather than leave Old Trafford
Or do they follow the lead of defenders Ryan Shawcross
(Stoke) and
Jonathan Spector (West Ham) and
look elsewhere for regular football?
Ferguson touched on the problems facing Gibson in particular
when he recently said: ‘He’s not playing the amount of football he
would wish for but he’s had very good competition in Scholes,
Anderson, Carrick and Fletcher.
‘He’s never let it get to him in terms of being unsettled. His
performances in training are excellent and he comes in knowing it
has been worthwhile. 'But sometimes you can’t hold a young man back
and that time is approaching for Darron now that he’s becoming a
good, powerful midfield player.’
For all Gibson’s promise, it should be noted that Ferguson has
seen fit to start him in just one Premier League game, the
end-of-season dead rubber at Hull in which he scored the winning
goal.
Patience pays off: Gibson's mobbed by United
team-mates on scoring his second
It is hard to see him making regular appearances during
this season. Macheda and Welbeck have been given slightly more
encouragement but it is all relative.
As the arrival of young Diouf showed last week, time waits for
nobody at Old Trafford.