Edwin Hails United’s Young Defenders

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar has hailed United’s young defenders on their tour of the United States.

Chris Smalling partnered Jonny Evans in the centre of defence during the 3-1 win over Celtic, with the Da Silva twins, Fabio and Rafael, playing in the full back positions.

Van der Sar acknowledges that his main role is to play in net, but admits that he’s also partly responsible for helping the players develop for the future.

“The main reason why I’m here is keeping the goals out, of course. And probably the second thing is helping out with educating and making them aware of how to play, how to defend,” said the Dutchman.

A solid back four is the foundation behind every great football team and that’s what Van der Sar is hoping to return to this season, after United suffered with the loss of eight first team defenders at times last year.

“It’s nice when you’ve got experience or a back-four with you that have played a long time and at the moment a couple of players are still missing.”

He added that all four of the young defenders that played against Celtic in Toronto have bright futures at the club if they can force their way into Sir Alex Ferguson‘s starting line up for next season.

“The good thing for Chris [Smalling], who is new at the club, is to get a run-in, and Jonny has really come on very, very well, so I don’t think he’s lacking experience. And even the Da Silva brothers, Rafa played more than Fabio, but they are good players anyway.”

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