When Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick was asked about 15-year-old JJ Gabriel last month, he navigated the narrow path between high praise for a young player of immense talent and the knowledge he will ultimately be the one who decides when it is time for first-team exposure. "JJ is one of the boys," he said. "He's obviously got a really big talent.
He's trained with us quite a bit and is getting experience all the time. "He's physically adapting to each step, and we're just continuing his development." Carrick was at Leigh Sports Village four days earlier when Gabriel, making his Premier League 2 debut against Ipswich, ran on to Jack Fletcher's through ball and after taking the pace off the pass with his left foot, scooped the ball over an advancing keeper from the edge of the area with his right. It was an audacious finish, one that highlighted Gabriel's thought process given the most obvious route to goal was either a low shot or sprinting round the keeper.
Seven days later, Gabriel followed up with a completely different, but even better effort. Taking Tynan Thompson's short pass in a central position, with his back to goal just inside the area, Gabriel's first touch was a drag back with his left foot that allowed him to spin round so he was facing the right way. Then, showing strength to keep his balance after being nudged by an opponent, he nicked the ball to his left with his right foot, gliding past a second defender.
He took another touch to steady himself before rifling a low shot into the net from just inside the six-yard box. From start to finish the manoeuvre took less than five seconds. It was impossible not to be impressed.
The goal itself has been viewed on various social media accounts millions of times. Ryan Giggs, United's record appearance holder, was 17 when he made his United debut in 1991. Like Carrick with Gabriel, Sir Alex Ferguson saw Giggs playing youth football in the flesh, initially in a trial game at the Cliff training ground.
In his first autobiography, Managing My Life, he recounts the experience like this: "A gold miner who has searched every part of the river or mountain and then suddenly finds himself staring at a nugget could not feel more exhilaration than I did watching Giggs that day. "I shall always remember my first sight of him, floating over the pitch so effortlessly you would have sworn his feet weren't touching the ground. He carried his head high and looked as relaxed and natural on the park as a dog chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind." Giggs can't assess what he looked like.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
