Sir Alex Ferguson delighted with Manchester United's youngsters

• Side with average age of 23 easily beat Tottenham Hotspur
• Cleverley, De Gea, Jones, Smalling and Welbeck impress

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• Daniel Taylor at Old Trafford
• The Guardian, Tuesday 23 August 2011
• Article history

Phil Jones, right, had a fine game for Manchester United in the centre of their defence. Photograph: Tim Hales/AP
Sir Alex Ferguson eulogised his young Manchester United players after being informed the team that had beaten Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 was the second youngest side he had ever fielded in the Premier League. Ferguson's team had an average age of 23 years and one month and the manager believes it continues the principles that have been in place "since Sir Matt Busby and his Babes". Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley and Daniel Welbeck all excelled and Ferguson said: "It tells you we still believe in young players. All the fans appreciate that. This is what the club is all about. We have always had confidence to play young players and this group has such fantastic ability it forces you to play them really." Ferguson picked out Welbeck for special acclaim after the striker had opened the scoring with a header from Cleverley's cross before setting up Anderson with an exquisite backheel for the second goal. Welbeck had been chosen ahead of Dimitar Berbatov and Ferguson admitted the form of the younger player had left him with a selection dilemma now Javier Hernández has been allowed to return to action after the concussion he suffered on the pre-season tour to the United States. "If you look at Berbatov, Michael Owen, Chicharito [Hernández] and Wayne Rooney we have different qualities. You have to utilise all that and make changes as best you can. But the horrible part for me now is, with Chicharito back, what do we do? It is going to be a big problem." The United manager added: "He [Welbeck] has always had that ability but he has made slow progress because when he was growing up he had a knee-growth problem. It was a situation where we knew we had to wait for him. We put him on loan to Sunderland [last season] and that is when he became a man. He has grown up, and the lad has a great future. " Danny is a big, rangy, long-legged boy who can gallop really quickly. Once he gets his legs going he is quick. He is a good footballer and has a great attitude when he loses the ball. He has a great attitude to win it back." Ferguson was also impressed with his new, experimental defence and particularly encouraged by David de Gea's first clean sheet for the club. "David was very confident. He was excellent. He got a bit slack towards the end of the game but other than that he was very confident." This was Jones's first competitive start for United and Ferguson said the £16m signing from Blackburn Rovers had demonstrated he was "an absolutely fantastic young player." Chris Smalling was equally impressive and Ferguson added: "He had a marvellous season last year and he is showing more maturity. He has done a great job at right back. You'd think he'd played there all his life. We are pleased with all these players. They have all done well tonight and you cannot criticise any of them."