Is Manchester United's Youth System Failing or Flourishing?

If Ryan Giggs, Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck or Jonny Evans are in the squad to face Crystal Palace on Saturday, they'll continue a remarkable run at Manchester United.

If one of the four homegrown players are in the 18 chosen by David Moyes—and it's more than likely they will be—it will mean United have had an academy product in the matchday squad for 3,646 consecutive games.

It's a run dating back to October 1937. And it's a phenomenal achievement.

After all, that's the true measure of a youth system. Not the FA Youth Cup winners' medals—although they're a good indicator—but the number of players that make it into the first team. And there are few who do it better than United.

It's easy to focus on the Busby Babes and Fergie's Fledglings. But producing whole teams of homegrown players—and successful ones at that—are the exception rather than the rule.

Simply put, it's down to luck. 

There's no magic formula for turning a Youth Cup-winning team into European champions. It just happens. And when it does, all you can do is cash in and hope you win as much as possible.

United have enjoyed the spikes, the teams built around Duncan Edwards, David Pegg and Bobby Charlton and Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and David Beckham. But when they haven't been able to produce whole sides, they've maintained a steady stream of talent from youth team to first team. 

In the current squad, Evans, Welbeck and Cleverley are the most recent graduates. They are all Premier League winners and full internationals.

Jesse Lingard, Tom Thorpe, Will and Michael Keane are in the next batch. They are all Youth Cup winners and Under-21 internationals, but they've still got to make the final step up. On the rung below are Jack Barmby and Ashley Fletcher.

It's that stockpile of talent that will help United reach 4,000 consecutive games with an academy graduate in the squad. And then 5,000. And then 6,000.

Producing players is a difficult business. It's why the top clubs spend hundreds of millions buying them in. But even with the resources at their disposal, United have remained committed to bringing players through the youth system, even when it can only be one at a time.

There may never be a Moyes' Boys like there was Sir Matt Busby's Babes and Sir Alex's Fledglings. 

But 3,645 games and counting is proof the Old Trafford production line is flourishing.