The fierce competition between Teddie Lamb and JJ Gabriel to become the most prolific goalscorer in English academy football has seen the pair reach new levels as they gear up for an all-Manchester FA Youth Cup final.
Lamb, who Manchester City signed from Leyton Orient last summer, netted 25 times in the Premier League this season, nudging clear of Gabriel’s 23 in the race to bag the Golden Boot. Both featured for England’s Under 17s for three European Championship fixtures in March – and the topic of how they are driving each other on cropped up.
‘You do everything in your power to make your team win,’ 16-year-old Lamb said. ‘For me, either being selfish or being unselfish can help. But you obviously have that (selfishness) as a striker. That's what makes you hungry and want to score goals.
‘When I was on England camp with JJ, I was saying, “you need to stop scoring so I can get that top spot.” It's healthy competition and it pushes me and I think it'll push him, so he wants to score more goals.
‘It's pushed me to my limits this season to want to score more goals. It's just the pride you have as a striker, you always want to score goals.’
Lamb revealed that his rivalry with Manchester United's JJ Gabriel is helping both players. The professional rivalry will be seen by the FA as a positive as they attempt to create more goalscorers in the pathway teams. Gabriel – still only 15 - has manufactured plenty of success while playing off the front for United, scoring 13 times in his last nine league appearances from midfield.
Lamb has trained with Pep Guardiola’s first team throughout the campaign and is afforded the chance to pay close attention to Erling Haaland.
‘He's the best striker currently in world football,’ Lamb added. ‘I see little details he has in his game. If he does it, then I can implement it in my game. It just gives you confidence.
‘It's how he's making runs or doing certain stuff. You always pay that little bit of extra detail to see how you can improve your game.
‘You get to see where you're at as well up against them, how far you are from that level. It's a great confidence booster and a great learning experience.’
Manchester United go to City’s academy stadium on Thursday night amid criticism that the final is not being hosted at the Etihad Stadium – unavailable due to ongoing construction work.
Harrison Miles, formerly of Southampton, is another who has been asked to train with Guardiola’s side. And the promising central midfielder cannot understand the furore and insisted the 7,000 capacity still provides a platform for two teams playing live on TNT Sports, Prime Video and HBO Max.
‘We've played there a few times this year - loads of big games have been played on there,’ Miles said. ‘Big women’s Champions League games have been played there. It's a top stadium, the Joie. It holds 7,000, which for a lot of teams is a big stadium.
‘If you look at teams in League One, League Two, that's their capacity for their stadium. It's a great place to play. We play in the Youth League there. It's a great thing for me to be able to play in that. That's how I see it.’
