Tanvir Juneja
The Red Devils have incorporated their latest devil in the face of the New Jersey native Matthew Olosunde. Manchester United have gotten in their ranks one of the top American youth prospects as the US youth international and former New York Red Bulls Academy fullback/winger has been officially announced as a Red Devil. The 18-year old who recently celebrated becoming an adult on March 7 signed the contract on January 29th to join the United army just after receiving his international clearance. As Manchester United’s hottest target and the US Men’s National Team’s top sensation, the young American was included in the squad for United’s U-18s match against Brighton & Hove Albion and has been training with the Red Devils since the summer.
Matt Olosunde is just the latest member from a more than decent American clan that has been associated with the great club having respected players of the likes of Tim Howard, Jovan Kirovski, Giuseppe Rossi and others.
Matthew Olosunde: A Scout Report
He began his youth club career training with the Mooch Myernick Academy which was founded in memory of Myernick – U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame inductee with the goal of “using soccer as a vehicle to mentor and provide positive life experiences for the underprivileged children in the city of Trenton.” The academy serves to provide underprivileged children in the city of Trenton with a quality soccer experience, as well as a positive environment to encourage growth and success off the field.
Graduating the ranks from the New York Red Bulls Youth Academy, the winger was also a part of the U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, 2015 U-17 World Cup squad and has spent time in camp with the U-20 national team. Olosunde started as a right winger before shifting to a right back’s role in recent years to an occasional center back position as well. Apart from being a tall, fast and a stable young gun – Matt Olosunde is a strong tackler with oodles of stamina and has great feet as alone. He has the ability to hold the ball and compliment good possession from his position as well that make him such a terrific potential name for USA and more importantly, Manchester United.
If all goes well with hunks at Old Trafford and the ship sets smooth sails aboard to quicken the process of exposing this pristine talent, he must eventually make his first-team debut in the near future for the Red Devils. It is no less of a guarantee that he would be able to sustain and possibly kill all competition moving ahead on the scouter’s list to peek below from the top and become a sensation real soon.
Without a doubt, Matthew Olosunde remains a full-back prospect even though he has been remarkably consistent playing at right and centre-back for both club and country. Standing at a more than reasonable 6′ 1”, he has a long frame and a lanky stride. He possesses a high top-speed whilst his agility and acceleration is not exactly his strengths at the moment. In a flourishing scene for defense lines, it is an encouraging time to be a modern-day fullback who is willing to join the attack at all times. Matt Olosunde is that type, he prefers to stay wide and is more willing to attack on the counter since the open field allows him to reach out in exploiting his top speed.
Olosunde gives a worthwhile overlapping alternative that can extend an effectively thin barrier considerably more slender. Be that as it may, once the play is set up inside of the last third he likes to pull back to a more profound position. From this more profound position he will once in a while offer himself as a possibility for the midfielders to reset the play, notwithstanding when the group is looking after ownership. Just when the group resets to the center third of the field does he re-enter the stream of the amusement. Olosunde’s intersection is normal and crude, however that is a specialized expertise that can be enhanced with the right instructing and consideration.
As far as the defensive side of the game goes, Olosunde is solid in almost all aspects. He is strong in the tackle and possesses above-average positioning, especially for his age. His ability to track runs is superb in the run of play, but he can occasionally lose his marker as the game slows down because he can occasionally be caught flat footed due to his sub-optimal agility. He is a fantastic youth player to have come to just the right club. Over the next few years at Old Trafford, he will deeply influence how his current weaknesses are addressed. His strengths – speed, positional sense, and knowledge of his role – are rare for his age, and will serve as a very, very good base to for his further development as a player.
Based on the current assessment of his attributes and achievements – he would not be out of place playing for a top European club in the future.
Age: 18
Born: March 7th, 1998 – Trenton, New Jersey
Nationality: American
Height: 6′ 1″ Weight: 158 lbs
Position: Right Back
