It has become common knowledge to nearly all football followers that Angel Gomes, of whom Nani godfathers, is a player with a very bright future, despite only having played above the club level of U18 twice at the time of writing, a late cameo in a dead rubber first team game and a brief appearance off the bench for Ricky Sbragia’s U23s team in a disappointing 3-0 defeat to West Ham. As well as this apparent lack of higher level football, at the well documented U17 World Cup triumph, which Gomes did captain, he played an insignificant role in the success, whilst compatriots such as Foden and Brewster, who stole the limelight and picked up individual accolades as well as their medals, went into the tournament with the public expecting the duo to serve as understudies to Gomes. This could be put down to the injury that kept Gomes out of the U17 Euros that same summer, which the boys finished as runners up, meant that as the saying goes, if it isn’t broke, don’t fit it. It should not be underestimated that Gomes went into the tournament with no U23s experience, whilst among a team of regulars at that level.
With that being said, to still be held as one of the cream of the crop you must be pretty special to maintain that status. As a player, his technical ability is by far his greatest feature. His agility and trickery allows him to glide past defenders with ease, hardly breaking a sweat. It has become a joke amongst the regular U18 viewers, that no one watching has ever seen the boy sprint, this is because of his quick and bamboozling feet, leaving defenders baffled as how he skipped past them so easily. As for his end product, he is by no means lacking in that department, being a regular name on the scoresheet, ranging from well worked finishes and long range strikes, his goal contribution per game is excellent. He also scores from dead ball situations, with curling free kicks never out of the question, and coolly slotting home most penalties. Most, as he had a shocker against Man City earlier this season, it resembled a rugby conversion more than a penalty. On top of all this, he boasts great creativity and vision, which compliments surrounding players such as Tahith Chong, Nishan Burkart and Millen Baars, all of which possess great pace; pace often utilized by Gomes’ creativity and defence splitting through balls.
So, why has a player of his ability been languishing in the U18s since the age of 15? The answer has two parts, his physical presence and United’s annoying crop of young number 10s. Gomes is a minute player, often the smallest player on the pitch, his lightweight body is of no help at all to him. He holds his own in the U18s, but for a growing lad it would do his confidence no good to be consistently squashed by huge centre backs who are only still at a Premier League academy playing U23s football because they are big and fast. That and United also have Callum Gribbin, 19, a talented player by no means making up the numbers in the U23s side. Gribbin’s belated development to loan status due to injury has had a domino effect, relegating Mason Greenwood back down to the U16s after an impressive spell in the U18s whilst Gomes was at the World Cup. However, Nicky Butt, overseer of the academy has vowed to promote Gomes, and looks to deliver on his promise as he became involved with the U23s for the first time earlier this week.
Another cause for concern was the contract saga, dragging months on after he became eligible for a professional contract in late August. No one has come out and said for certain what the delay was, but when a host of Europe’s top clubs are understandably tracking you, and seeing a good friend in Jadon Sancho fly the nest to Dortmund, Gomes could’ve understandably taken his future in deep consideration. His loyalty to the club is unquestionable, as in his own words he is ‘London born, Salford raised.’ Unlike Sancho, from Watford’s academy prior to City snapping him up Angel is a boyhood fan of the club and relieved everyone when he put pen to paper. No fan should have concern that United were unwilling to meet his financial demands – United have well and truly learned their lesson on that front, in recent times.
With his development to the U23s looking clearer, the big question is when he will break into the first team if his impressive performances continue in the U23s, well the answer is hazy, but don’t get frustrated if he doesn’t get any relevant minutes or cup appearances in the next few years. Throwing him up against technically inferior opposition who will kick him out the game is pointless whilst he is so small, a very badly documented height, as it differs wherever you look, but my best guess would be around the 5”6 mark, but we’ve seen Scott McTominay shoot up in recent years, reportedly 5”6 at the start of 2015 and stands at 6”4 now, a huge difference, admittedly there is no guarantees Angel will grow past his current height, and we don’t need him to stand at 6”4, but he needs to be able to hold his own – or does he? Players like Juan Mata have played high end Premier League football at similar heights, but he came to the league much later, with valuable top flight experience, which Angel doesn’t possess.
Where would he fare under Mourinho? It is no secret he likes a large, physical spine but necessarily in the number 10 position. Mourinho, likes players in that position to be able to be flexible enough to sometimes play as a half 8, half 9. This means he wants his number 10s to be able to drop deeper into midfield and help recycle possession, and close down opposition midfielders, whilst also being flexible enough to play as a second striker, whilst also posing a significant goal threat. If you look back at all Mourinho’s players in that position, Deco, Lampard, Sneijder, Ozil, Oscar. All of them are athletic, do lots of running (Yes Ozil – him being lazy is a myth), and physically not being one of Mourinho’s giants, are normally quite stocky and can defend where required. On the other hand, one of Mourinho’s most notorious player management scandals – Juan Mata, was sold for a lack of athleticism and defensive solidity, but simultaneously the argument could be made that he is one of the best amongst that fine list.
But no one should worry about Gomes’ artificial development – by that I mean club handled promotions, there is no cause for concern. Having lost out so badly on Pogba, the club will do all they can to keep him whilst his potential is clear. Even if Mourinho does the unthinkable and stays beyond three years, he would see this as a great opportunity to finally put the common opinion that he is an enemy of the academy to bed, and if the club is in different hands at that point, with the right work ethic he can become someone who couldn’t be refused.
Tacticomotion 