Man City Have Sown Seeds of 1st-Team Reinforcement with Academy Overhaul

Four months after its official opening, Manchester City’s brand new £200 million academy facility hosted an FA Youth Cup final first leg on Monday evening in front of 6,421 supporters at their Academy Stadium.

In a repeat of the 2008 final, City’s youngsters took on Chelsea. It was the west Londonders who won it, 3-1, and they head back to Stamford Bridge for next week’s return leg in a strong position to win the competition. They were physically far more dominant and deserved their win, but for City this was an occasion to remember.

The opening of the City Football Academy was seen as a signal of the club’s intent. Often accused of short-termism and a lack of foresight, the scale of their ambition took many by surprise.

No stone went unturned. City executives travelled the world in search of ideas to incorporate into the design, and what’s emerged is a state-of-the-art complex that leads the way in terms of player development.

Everything the club needs to attract world-class first-team players and recruit and develop youngsters is there. A 7,000-seater academy stadium, 16.5 practice pitches, living quarters for the players, a relaxation lounge, swimming pools and world-class medical facilities. Only those who have seen it with their own eyes will fully understand the magnitude of what has been created.

With home-grown quota rules now in place, the importance of clubs cultivating their own stars has never been more marked. And if City’s latest batch of youth players are anything to go by, there could be a home-grown youngster in their first team in the not-too-distant future.

There are a number of players who look to have the quality to make the jump into City’s senior side. The gap these young lads have to bridge to make the leap is huge, and physically they have some catching up to do before they can be called upon by Manuel Pellegrini on a regular basis, but in Angelino, Brandon Barker and Tosin Adarabioyo, they have three who appear to have the tools to make it.

Barker is a wonderfully talented left-winger capable of turning full-backs inside and out thanks to an array of tricks and flicks. He looks so comfortable in possession, with a confidence in his ability that means he pulls off moments of brilliance on a regular basis.

Behind him, Angelino looks like arguably the finest prospect City have. An attacking left-back with an eye for goal, he has been earmarked as a future star. He struggled physically against some of Chelsea’s players—a reminder that he has some way to go before he can be considered for the first team—but he's shown consistently this season he has serious ability.

But it was Adarabioyo who impressed the most against Chelsea with a commanding display at centre-half. There were moments where he looked Vincent Kompany-esque, making some great recovery tackles and displaying assuredness in possession.

Patience is needed, though. Many City fans are desperate to see a club-trained player become a regular, but the gulf in class is so big that allowing them time to properly prepare is vitally important. 

Once City’s Premier League title challenge was over, the next best thing would have been to be comfortably in the automatic Champions League places in order to have the opportunity to give one or two young players some time on the pitch.

That is unlikely to happen now, but with so many talented young players in their ranks, there has to be some kind of progression available to the most promising. Whether Pellegrini is the best man to oversee that process remains to be seen. 

It’s myopic for observers to focus solely on first-team affairs. City's senior stars may have regressed on the pitch this season, but with the club posting healthy financial figures, their academy and EDS sides playing excellent football and the infrastructure of the club improving all the time, it's not all doom and gloom inside the Etihad. 

It’s only the start, and it will take time for City to really feel the benefit of their significant academy investment, but this final was a special occasion befitting of such a wonderful facility.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard.