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Tom Cleverley needs full season at Manchester United - Nicky Butt
Tom Cleverley needs an injury-free season to cement his place for Manchester United and England, says former United midfielder Nicky Butt.
Cleverley, 23, impressed in England's first World Cup qualifier in Moldova but struggled to have the same impact against Ukraine at Wembley on Tuesday.
Butt said: "He needs a good season where he plays 30 or 35 games.
Tom Cleverley has started all three of Manchester United's Premier League games this season, having started just five league matches in 2011-12
"He had a few injuries in his early days, but he's got to a level now where he needs to get games under his belt."
Cleverley has made only 12 competitive starts for United, while he was only winning his third senior cap against Ukraine.
His performance in Moldova drew praise from England boss Roy Hodgson, but the former Leicester, Watford and Wigan loanee was unable to match that display on Tuesday, missing three excellent first-half opportunities to score.
Butt, who played 387 times for United and has 39 England caps, told BBC Radio Manchester: "Tom can be a great player. His ability is there for everyone to see.
"He's a phenomenal young footballer and he's at the right club to develop, with the right manager, the right coaches and the right players around him.
"He's one of those players who can go on to great things but he needs a good run in the team and to get used to playing week in and week out for a massive club."
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Comment number 182.
BaggiosPonytail15th September 2012 - 15:19
He definitely needs a run of games for Man Utd and, providing he does not get injured, I can see him doing that this season. Ferguson seems to have confidence in his ability.
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Comment number 181.
Proffdaddy8515th September 2012 - 7:26
Really really don't get the rave reviews cleverly is getting, he looks pretty ordinary to me. Typical England though throwing in a player who not ready for international football, Tom ain't played enough for utd yet so can't expect him to do well of England right now
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Comment number 180.
Removed14th September 2012 - 22:11
All this user's posts have been removed.Why?
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Comment number 179.
XajaKat14th September 2012 - 15:39
@Critoforo (177)
The real solution would be dropping Carrick, Lampard and Gerrard and never letting them near an England shirt again. Perhaps TC is not good enough - we haven't seen enough of him to know yet - we it has been proven time and again that the three players you mention are certainly not good enough.
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Comment number 178.
graham14th September 2012 - 13:03
I can't believe some Man U fans actually think Cleverley is a quality player, do me a favour.
He's an average player who works hard. Wilshere is the opposite, he has natural talent.
In Rio the midfield 3 will probably be Rodwell, Wilshere and Chamberlain. All three can tackle and pass the ball.
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Comments 5 of 182