Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck learning from Robin van Persie

MANCHESTER United striker Danny Welbeck is set to absorb the maximum amount info as he will from Robin van Persie, despite the fact that the Dutchman is obstructing his path to the primary team.

Although Welbeck is hoping to form his nineteenth look of the season in tonight’s Champions League encounter with CFR Cluj at recent Trafford, solely ten of the previous eighteen are as a starter.

And most of these are as a wide-man, instead of through the center wherever Welbeck enjoyed most success at monetary unit 2012.

Welbeck finished 2012 as England’s high scorer, with 5 goals on the international stage.

Ferguson ready for United, Manchester City title slog

MANCHESTER - Alex Ferguson predicts a long, hard Premier League title race with champions Manchester City after his Manchester United team opened up a seven-point gap over rivals Chelsea.

Table-toppers United ground out a 1-0 victory over West Ham at Old Trafford thanks to Robin van Persie scoring the fastest goal of the Premier League season to date, after only 33 seconds. It was only the third clean sheet United have kept in domestic football this season and ended a worrying trend of the team having conceded first in nine of their opening 13 league games.

And while it was a far from vintage performance, it was a vital one given that City's victory at Wigan kept the defending champions just one point behind.

"The three points means we're still ahead in the league and, with Chelsea drawing, it draws us away from them a little bit further," said veteran United manager Ferguson. "But City are on our tails. It's going to be a long season. "The importance of winning 1-0 in certain games is your opponents know the resilience is there.

"If you look at some of the really important one-nil we've had, go back to beating Newcastle when they were nine points clear of us (in 1996).  "Our 1-0 that night won us the league. There are important 1-0 victories. We've had many of them."

Given the scarcity of clean sheets for United this term, the fact his side were able to keep West Ham at bay for such a long period gave Ferguson as much pleasure as the large points cushion he enjoys over European champions Chelsea and their new manager Rafael Benitez. "It is particularly hard, when you take the lead after one minute, to keep a clean sheet over the remaining 90-plus minutes, with time added on," said Ferguson. "But in the main I thought we defended very well."

Ferguson paid particular tribute to young Brazilian full-back Rafael and fit-again central defender Chris Smalling, who was starting a game for just the third time this season.

"Chris came into the team and did very well after a few weeks out and Jonny Evans was magnificent," he said. "There were a lot of plus points tonight, particularly with the defending because you have to against West Ham because they are such a handful. We had to be at our best for the whole 90 minutes. "Rafael is maturing; he's 22 years of age now. He came here as a young boy, he was in the first team at 17-18, and made a lot of rash mistakes because he was such an enthusiastic boy. He is maturing and learning now."

Van Persie now has nine goals in just 12 league starts this term and Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo's joint record for a 38-match Premier League season -- 31 goals -- will be under threat if he maintains this form.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce certainly believes that, whether van Persie sets records or not, his goals could see United to the title.

"He's going to score 20-odd, maybe 30 goals," he said. "In the end, that's normally the difference, if you sort your defensive side out.

"It's not so long ago, a couple of seasons that Man United went 14 games without conceding a goal and that won them the league.

"Van Persie is a quality player, no doubt about that, though we kept him quiet tonight.

"United have got lots of players who will have good spells, lot of players who will come up trumps, and that's what makes them so good."

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Danny Welbeck celebrates his winner against Wolves

Academy Is Vital To Manchester United

Local youngsters will always be the heartbeat of the side at Old Trafford, according to the Scotsman...

Manchester United's academy director Brian McClair, himself a striker with the club during the early years of Alex Ferguson's reign as Old Trafford manager, has revealed that homegrown talent is still considered as vital to the club, despite the scouting net being cast wider than ever.

A premium is put on players from the Greater Mancehster area too, with the likes of Longsight's Danny Welbeck and Salford's Richard Eckersley being held up as examples of the way local youngsters are still nurtured by the Red Devils, despite the influx of global talent in recent years.

"It is nice to see that young players who have passed through the academy are good enough to play for Manchester United," McClair told The Manchester Evening News.

"It would be lovely to have 22 home-grown English players in the first team squad. But that is not going to happen. It is great to have a few get to the front door and then get in.

"The support wants to have local boys and that's what we try to do. There will never be a situation where all your academy players are imports and there are no locals because the way FIFA and UEFA are looking at the game.

"They are making sure you have so many home produced players. You have to have your locals and home produced. That's how it should be.

"I couldn't see Manchester United surviving without the academy anyway because that has been a part of the fabric of the club. That is part of the enjoyment of the success of the club.

"I couldn't see a squad of 22 players all from external transfers and I couldn't see people being happy with that either.

"I don't think it is harder for the Manchester boys. But the fact is there are not as many local boys playing football anymore as there were 20 years ago. It is about numbers.

"Why are there so many Brazilians playing all over the world? A lot are still playing football because if you ask the majority of them, and the Argentineans, they are coming from the favelas, the poor areas, so football is their only way out."

There is one man who can be thanked for the maintenance of the club's youth policy, according to McClair, and that is his fellow Scotsman who manages the club.

"We are blessed here for various reasons but one huge plus is that we have the top man in Sir Alex Ferguson who has invested time and interest in youth development," he continued.

"It has helped the club flourish. We appreciate what we have. The club have also invested in the infrastructure. The facilities are a massive benefit to us. The club continue to look to invest in it. You can always get better in things."