Manchester United youngster Ro-Shaun Williams has revealed he closely watches his senior United defenders in order to improve his own performances.
The 17-year-old is widely tipped to become a member of the United first team in years to come and has impressed his Old Trafford coaches with his recent displays for the under-18s.
Williams has revealed that as a youth player he attends all first team matches at Old Trafford and is using Chris Smalling and Daley Blind as experienced defenders to learn from.
He said: “You see what you can learn from the game. You study different situations and different teams, and you watch players in your own position.”
With Smalling and Blind clocking up 35 league games each last season they are the perfect players to watch after keeping some impressive clean sheets in a somewhat unforeseen partnership at the beginning of the season.
The youngster continued: “In my case Blind and Smalling played well throughout the season- they were solid and kept lots of clean sheets.”
Minimal chances for youngster Williams?
With the pacey youngster continuing to impress at Old Trafford, the chances of breaking into the first team on a regular basis have been made that bit harder after the Reds brought in highly rated central defender Eric Bailly from Villarreal as Jose Mourinho’s first summer signing as United boss.
With the Portuguese manager under pressure to deliver right from the start of his Old Trafford reign, and produce an assured trophy winning season, Williams could find himself having to spend more time with the youth sides rather than on the fringes of the first team.
Despite Mourinho’s reluctance to consistently bring through talent from the youth ranks that is not to say that Williams will not be given the opportunity to impress the new United boss, and if his performances last season are anything to go by, it will be hard not to pick the youngster in seasons to come.