Manchester United’s academy continues to fly away from the spectre of the first team, and Kai Rooney had a statement game in their recent 6-0 thrashing.
Burnley U18s were at the receiving end of the latest thrashing by Man Utd, as Kai Rooney helped himself to four goals.
Jaume Camacho added the fifth to continue his own run of brilliant form, as Noah Ajayi finished the scoring, but for Darren Fletcher, the positives didn’t end there.
A new wonderkid is emerging at Carrington who is direct, electric, and personifies what Sir Alex Ferguson said should be the perfect Man Utd player.
Emmanuel Ziro is breaking out at Man Utd
Direct, tricky, and pacey wingers are in the DNA of Man Utd, but the club has fallen victim to the modern football stereotypes and committed to inside forwards.
Therefore, it is a breath of fresh air today when you see a winger just taking his man on directly and trying to dribble past him with his bag of tricks.
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That’s Emmanuel Ziro, the Man Utd winger who had Burnley’s academy on skates in the 6-0 thrashing until he was taken off in the second half.
Ziro created havoc with his pace, trickery, and directness, always running to the byline and creating chances for his teammates.
There is a distinct lack of end product right now, as he is often a second too late in playing the pass, and his crosses can be a bit wayward sometimes.
However, the fact that he can get into those dangerous positions almost at will is an extremely encouraging sign for a player his age and physicality.
Ziro is not the tallest or the strongest, so his technical skills carry the burden of success, which are most easily transferable to senior football.
Ziro generally hasn’t been spoken about at Carrington with the most exciting wonderkids, but he’s quickly rising through the ranks, managing to separate himself even in a game where Kai Rooney scored four.
Better performances will surely come from Ziro in the future as he develops more game intelligence, but for now, his raw tools alone make him a handful at this level of football.
What Rooney is doing is remarkable, but Ziro is the new wonderkid emerging from the shadows to stake his own claim to be called as a genuine wonderkid at Carrington.
He is exactly the type of player Sir Alex would love, as he gets the supporters out of their seats.