England 's decision to leave Mason Greenwood out of their squad for the October internationals shows that they have heeded Sir Alex Ferguson 's warning.
The 20-year-old has been omitted by Gareth Southgate and co in order to not be overworked, having featured heavily for Manchester United across the last two seasons.
Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham has also been left out by the Three Lions for the same reason, demonstrating that the national side have listened to criticism from Ferguson regarding former Red Devils striker Michael Owen.
The legendary manager believes the ex-England hitman was played too often from a young age, notably breaking out in the 1998 World Cup at just 18 before suffering a injury-plagued career, possibly due the amount of matches he played while he was still physically developing.
Is it the right decision to rest Greenwood or should he be getting international experience? Comment your thoughts below.
In 2012, Owen himself wrote on his blog: "Sir Alex had made some comments suggesting that I would have been a better player had I been managed more effectively in the early part of my career.
"I have to agree with most of what he said except the usage of the word 'better'. In my opinion, had I been managed differently I would have been at my best for longer as opposed to being a better player."
The former Liverpool and Real Madrid marksman added: "My body made me pay for pushing it to the limit too often."
It is worth noting that Owen - like Wayne Rooney, who many also believe to have physically burned out early in his top-level career - was one of the world's best players as a youngster and much more of a key component for his nation than either Greenwood or Bellingham are.
Now Southgate and co have a deeper squad in terms of overall quality, which has been nurtured under the same regime over a long period of time, allowing the Three Lions' boss to manage his starlets more sustainably with an eye on the future.
It was most recently highlighted by Patrick Bamford's call-up in September as he started the World Cup qualifying match against Andorra in order to give captain Harry Kane (who eventually came on and scored a penalty) a break.
"We have to remember these lads are physically growing," Southgate said at his press conference on Thursday regarding Greenwood and Bellingham.
"When we are talking about young player development, we have to be careful how we handle them and make sure that they are two players we feel can be really exciting players for England for the future.
"We don’t want to overload them and we’ve got to be making sure we make the right decisions. They’re very much decisions that have been taken with me having conversations with the players and their families rather than any sort of deal with the club.
"Both clubs we have very good relationships with and we have spoken to about the situations. It’s not a deal with the club, it’s very much us looking at young players," he added.
"It’s not a case that we don’t think the players deserve to be in the squad. We’d be picking them if we didn’t have those longer term aims and ambitions in mind, I think."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is evidently on the same page as Southgate, revealing the two managers' thinking back in August after Greenwood scored his third goal of the season before the first international break.
"The boy is special," Solskjaer stated. "I had a good conversation with Gareth and we discussed Mason of course.
"The boy wants to play for his country," the United boss explained.
"I think at the moment the best thing for him to do is focus on his day-to-day football and I’m sure he will come good for England in the end."
