After United's 1-0 win over Orlando Pirates on Tuesday,
ManUtd.com journalist Nick Coppack asked Sir Alex to assess the
contributions of the team's younger players. Here's what he had to
say:
"Chris Eagles and Lee Martin haven’t played enough football over
the last two or three years and they’ve come to an important time
in their careers.
"Lee, in particular, has been very unfortunate in the loan spells
he’s had. He’s picked up a couple of long-term injuries. Of course,
at that age these kids want to play football all the time.
"Meanwhile, Chris Eagles had the opportunity to go on loan last
season and didn’t want to. Because of that, and the form of the
team, he was dependent on Reserves football, which, at his age and
the progress he’s got to make, isn’t enough for him.
"I have to find out more about those players and that’s why I bring
them on tour and it’s why I played them [against Orlando
Pirates].
"As for Jonny Evans, he went to Sunderland in January and did very
well. In fact, I think he was very instrumental in them
staying up. Jonny's a very good footballer, who reads the game
well and has good composure. He’s got a career in football –
there’s no question about that.
"Darron Gibson went to Wolves last season and injuries, as well as
a family bereavement, derailed his time there. He needs to get
football – he’s a big, powerful lad with good feet and he has a
chance.
"Then there's Fraizer Campbell, who spent time at Hull City
last season and had an incredible season. He has to improve in
certain aspects of his game, but he has a chance as well.
"Concentration is one of the vital components of making the step
across the line to be a regular first-team player. You saw the
composure that Rooney and Scholes brought to the team [on Tuesday]
and that tells you the vast difference between a young player and
an experienced player like Scholes. His pass in the final minutes
of the game to Rooney… I would have paid money to see that pass if
that was the only thing I saw in the game.
"We often under-rate the value of concentration with footballers.
They can practise all day long, they can have fantastic ability but
if they don’t have the concentration to produce final passes in
important moments then they’re never going to make it."