England manager Gareth Southgate says he will take inspiration from Sir Alex Ferguson as he attempts to get the best out of teenagers Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The 18-year-olds impressed in Friday’s 5-0 European Championship qualifying win over the Czech Republic.
Ferguson handled young players at Manchester United with care, limiting their game time and public exposure.
“I always think of Sir Alex with Ryan Giggs,” said Southgate.
“He did that so well and they had sustained success because of that.
“I think that comes into everything: how much we expose them to the public, how much we put them into commercial situations.
“We’ve got to be thinking about all of that all of the time because it’s very easy for them to enjoy these moments, and they’ve got to enjoy them, but equally there’s a good balance.
“So, although they’re not our player on a day-to-day basis, I think we’ve got a responsibility to do that as much as we can, because also we’re putting them on to another level and we’ve got to make sure we get the balance right for the club, but most importantly for the player.”
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England’s matchday squad at Wembley for their first European Championship qualifier contained six players aged 24 or under, while several others – Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez – would almost certainly have featured if they had been fit.
