Young Manchester United Show Gutsy Performance in Youth League

Watching a very young Manchester United side open their UEFA Youth League campaign in Munich, there were clear tactical patterns and philosophies on show that will be viewed two-and-a-half miles across the city later on Wednesday.

It might be a similar outcome as well, but for a very young side this was a gutsy and determined performance that was only finally put to bed late on when Bayern scored their second goal.

United have never enjoyed great success in this competition but it is a valuable learning curve for youngsters and it is a perk of the first-team's presence in the Champions League. The next step for these players is to try and enter the first-team environment and to help prepare them for that, Travis Binnion's side try and replicate Erik ten Hag's approach as much as possible.

ALSO READ: Why Ralf Rangnick was at United vs Bayern Youth League game

ALSO READ: United must change Champions League approach

There were certainly signs of that in the September sunshine in Munich. This was a sign of a club showing the kind of joined-up thinking and leadership that hasn't always been present.

You could have thrown that accusation around when Ralf Rangnick was appointed interim manager at the club less than two years and Rangnick was an interested observer at the FC Bayern Campus, along with his former assistant coach and analyst at Old Trafford, Ewan Sharp.

Rangnick, now in charge of the Austria national team, never did fulfil his consultancy role at the club, although he had watched their defeat to Brighton at the weekend. It would have felt familiar to him.

It was football director John Murtough who appointed Rangnick. He got that one wrong, but he looks to have got things right with Ten Hag and United's investment in the 53-year-old is clear given this team's commitment to matching his tactical approach.

Murtough was sat in the front row of the impressive academy stadium at the FC Bayern Campus, a gleaming training ground dedicated entirely to the club's academy, with a stadium they can call their own. When the reverse fixture takes place, it will be at Leigh Sports Village.

Murtough might have taken in his surroundings and wished for a similar set-up back at Carrington. This is the kind of facility you expect from one of Europe's biggest clubs and it's an area where United are lagging behind. The stadium is stylishly decorated in Bayern branding and their distinctive red colours. It's the academy's home in a way Leigh Sports Village never will be for United.

Perhaps that will change at some point and under Murtough United have been keen to develop Carrington into the kind of training ground it should be. But at academy level it's about producing players and under the direction of Ten Hag, the approach has become clear over the past two summers.

Once players reach an age where they should be first-team ready, they are given a chance to impress but often end up being sold. There was a flood of departures this summer on permanent deals and it means Travis Binnion's side is a young one this season.

This is an under-19 competition but nine of United's starting XI were 16 or 17 and six of their seven substitutes were also in that age category. Experience came in the shape of highly-rated centre-back Willy Kambwala, 19, and 18-year-old captain Max Oyedele.

That will make this competition a difficult challenge for United and they had to fight hard in Munich to stay in the game, but these matches are about more than winning or losing, even if the nature of the Youth League does add a competitive element not always present in Premier League 2.

It is about learning what is required at this level, not necessarily to make it, but to step up into first-team training sessions or games. The academy doesn't replicate Ten Hag's stylistic approach through the age groups, because some of those players are six, seven or eight years from first-team level and by then there could be a different manager with a different approach in charge.

But when they reach this group, playing in the Youth League, travelling to European cities, they are on the brink. The next step at United is to first-team level, so it is essential they know what is required.

That is why the style is replicated here. United tried to play out from the back and Binnion employed the same pressing shape and triggers that Ten Hag uses. They defended with a high line and goalkeeper Ehly Harrison was in the centre circle when United had attacking corners, a position we've seen Andre Onana take up this season.

Not all of these players will make it here, of course. Maybe none of them will, although hopes are high for 16-year-old Shea Lacey, quiet on Wednesday, and Ethan Wheatley caught the eye, as did sub Victor Musa. At this stage though, they are being given the chance to succeed. With an injury crisis ripping through the first-team squad, some of these might be required next week in the Carabao Cup, with the third-round tie against Crystal Palace on the same night as the EFL Trophy fixture at Bolton.

That will be an interesting night for an academy that has moved on from a core of players this summer and opted to look at the next crop coming through.

United were always likely to be up against it here and they went behind when Robert Ramsak scored from close range in the first half and they needed Harrison to be at his best to keep the game close. United threatened a revival in the second half but Bayern substitute Michael Scott ended those hopes with a well-taken goal with 11 minutes to play.

United did create a flurry of late chances, with substitute Ruben Curley hitting the post and Louis Jackson's header being saved by Max Schmitt.