Sir Alex Ferguson will downgrade the Carling Cup even further this season after deciding to use the competition to blood a group of promising Manchester United starlets.
The United manager has vetoed extending loan deals to all 12 young players – including Gerard Pique, Dong and Chris Eagles – leased out last season as he intends to use the second-tier domestic cup to give them their first-team breaks.
Arsene Wenger did something similar last season with devastating results, a 6-3 win at Liverpool, but Ferguson plans to take it a step further.
He said: “We had 12 young players out on loan last year, but I have deliberately brought them all back and they are now training with the first team.
“I now have a group of 29, 30 players, and that will take some managing!
“But I just feel that after one year out on loan, they now want to play for the United first team and I will give them that chance.
“I believe we have already four or five of this youth team group coming through who are ready to make the big breakthrough.
“And you know my philosophy over 20 years at this club, if they are good enough, they are old enough. I shall take them for the experience of European football, but the League Cup will give them a quicker route into the first team.
“These boys have been out on loan all over Europe, with a couple in this country, but we have one of the best groups of young players coming through for years.”
Wenger has often refused to abide by the rules and play his strongest team and now Ferguson is joining in the reasoning that the Carling Cup is little more than a token trophy, and that it is more important to develop young players.
