Tyler Blackett's Promising Start Hints at a Bright Future at Manchester United

In a summer of change at Manchester United, in which Danny Welbeck’s sale and Radamel Falcao’s signing has stirred debate, the promising start to the season made by Tyler Blackett hints at a bright future for the Manchester-born defender and other youth-team prospects.

In July, Blackett was named in Louis van Gaal’s pre-season squad to tour the United States. Just two months later, having impressed at centre-back, the academy graduate has played every minute of United’s first four Premier League games.

It’s a trajectory that few young players at the world’s best clubs can match. Naturally, had Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic stayed, Blackett may not have played. The same is true if United had signed a centre-back in the summer.

Yet none of that matters to Blackett, who has looked confident and assured—two characteristics not usually associated with young players.

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When the 20-year-old joined Birmingham City on loan last season, he conceded a penalty on his debut and was withdrawn after just 23 minutes a few weeks later in a game against Sheffield Wednesday.

So how has Blackett gone from nervy loanee to United regular in just a matter of months?

Insight from Birmingham manager Lee Clark, per Colin Tattum of the Birmingham Mail, suggests that it has much to do with Blackett’s professional attitude:

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He is brilliant on the training pitch, he is always asking myself and the coaches to stay behind and do some individual work on his defending and different type of stuff. You want lads like him to succeed because you know they are working really hard at their game to try and get better.

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Talent and ability is one thing, but application and hard work is equally important. That Blackett seemingly has both bodes well for the future.

And the above example is certainly not a one-off.

Gary Neville, another academy product and one of United’s greatest-ever players, also noted Blackett’s willingness to learn and improve his game on a recent trip to the club’s training ground, per the Daily Telegraph:

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In a corridor at Carrington at 3pm, I came across Tyler Blackett sitting on his own, with a computer on his lap, studying clips of his performance in the 2-1 home defeat to Swansea City. Wearing my England coach’s hat, I could absolutely see that Manchester United is going to be a fine place for young English players to develop.

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Despite Blackett’s improvements, there’s still an obvious rawness to his game, which is only to be expected.

On his United debut, he showed his inexperience by giving the ball back to a Swansea player when the away side were awarded a free-kick. It was taken quickly, United were caught off guard and the ball was in the back of the net.

A shrewd, wily defender would have held on to the ball, delaying the game and giving his team-mates a chance to get back in formation.

But that’s nit-picking, especially since Blackett has been so calm and assertive aside from that mistake. The fact that he hasn’t been sent out on loan again—as Michael Keane has—shows Van Gaal likes him.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

The list of young players whose successful careers stemmed from Van Gaal’s tutelage is only getting longer. It was the Dutchman who handed debuts to Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Thomas Muller at a young age.

For Blackett, he is the perfect coach at this stage of his career.

Renowned for trusting in young players and helping them improve at a rapid rate, Van Gaal will be crucial to Blackett’s development. Even though United will likely target a centre-back in January or next summer, there’s no reason why Blackett cannot be a first-choice defender under Van Gaal if he continues to improve.

He has an impressive physique for a man only months out of his teenage years, which will become more noticeable as he gets older. Developing his positional awareness and improving his decision-making is the next step for Blackett.

United will have a top-class defender on their hands if he does just that.

In a wider context, Blackett’s emergence illustrates that United’s approach to developing the best young players is alive and well.

Adnan Januzaj was the one to break through last season, and it looks like Blackett this season.

That’s important because, despite the sums paid for Di Maria and Co., United have not lost sight of the importance of overseeing academy players’ progress.

How Blackett, Januzaj and whoever is next to make the step up to first-team football fare remains to be seen.

For the moment, it’s promising that Blackett is taking the chance that’s been handed to him.


Follow @Chris__Fleming