Tom Cleverley is perhaps one of the brightest upcoming young English midfielders of his generation. He started his career at Bradford City’s youth set-up. At the mere age of 15, he joined Manchester United as a trainee. Two years down the line, he got selected to play for the Man United Reserves and occasionally made first-team appearances in friendly matches. In 2009, he was loaned to League One side Leicester City and helped them secure the League One title and championship promotion. He was loaned to Championship side Watford seven months later, where he scored 11 goals in 33 league games and was voted as their Player of the Season. Finally he got loaned to Wigan Athletic in 2010 where he debuted for the first time in the Premier League. He managed to save Wigan from relegation, scoring 4 goals in 25 appearances.
Below is a video of Tom Cleverley In Action:
As you can see, Cleverley has had a substantial amount of experience in three different leagues. Scoring 17 goals in 75 games, he has shown tremendous amount of potential to be given a first-team place in Manchester United. He has also enjoyed international experience currently playing as a regular U-21 player. Wigan’s first-team coach Graham Barrow was the first to make the link between Cleverley and Scholes saying the lad had it in him to take up the challenge Scholes had left behind in replacing him. On hearing the comparison made between him and the Ginger Prince, he said “He’s been a great player for the club and I know I have a lot of hard work to go before I get on his level. But if I can fill a bit of a hole he has left then that would be brilliant.”
Sir Alex has spoken highly of him confirming he will play a part in this coming season. This is Cleverley’s chance to prove that he is worth it. He has the ability to be a complete midfielder through his passing skills, his composure in front of goal and his speed and work rate. Cleverley's game has flair and creativity. In addition, he can also play defence. He charges forward with aggressive energy and often finds himself in miles of space behind the opposition’s defence. He also creates enough space for himself through his dribbling ability to create a chance of striking a shot. I believe he has the natural talent to be a center midfielder. United need a player with the ability to break forward down the middle like Lampard does for Chelsea and Gerrard does for Liverpool and Tom Cleverley might just be that man. His short passing is good. He has the composure about him to know when, and where to pass.
All the above abilities show that he has the capability and potential to replace Scholes up to a certain extent, but only time will tell if Tom can harness these abilities and become what many hope he can. With many European players under United’s radar choosing to go to other clubs rather than making the move to England, I think it’s time for our young English generation to step up and fulfil their talents. Personally, I am keeping my fingers crossed for Tom.
