[roonster09]

The average age of outfield players was around 19 or something. Not bothered about the result as it was inconsequential. Ofcourse the dullards here will ind something to moan about.

The ultimate no brainer move for a mediocre manager, play a team of 'kids' you win, it's a great move, you lose, fans hate criticizing kids.

On the point @KM

 

[Dec9003]

The ultimate no brainer move for a mediocre manager, play a team of 'kids' you win, it's a great move, you lose, fans hate criticizing kids.

We’re already through, it would have made no sense to play the first team and take them to Kazakhstan.

 

[bondsname]

If Chong scores the easiest goal ever, we win.

I promised myself that it's a nothing game and there's no reason to be upset if we lose, but when we blow the game away by missing an open goal, and also scoring an own goal to give the opposition the lead, I just can't help myself. It's just so goddamn irritating.

Hope the he youngsters learn from this. Greenwood is class, unsure about Gomes and all these rumours about Chong joining Juventus wont upset me any more.

Laird and Levitt look class as well.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The average age of outfield players was around 19 or something. Not bothered about the result as it was inconsequential. Ofcourse the dullards here will ind something to moan about.

Nail on head. Good experience for a lot of the young boys.

 

[Paxi]

Considering we had a 36-year-old journeyman keeper playing, that’s quite a big difference in average age. Two years at this age is a massive difference.

We had Evra starting and Ryan Giggs that came on which contributed to that overall number. Look, I've seen the first half, then turned it off. We were playing a team that were out of the competition and had finished their seasons as champions of their league for the 6th time in the row two weeks prior. I mean I'd give them a game and I haven't laced my boots in about 5 years. That Astana team were mentally checked out. I could say yeah well done lads for putting on a red shirt but for the vast majority (Laird, Greenwood, Tuanzebe excluded) it will hopefully be the last time since I don't want be dwelling in Europa League playing dead rubbers in Euroasia pretty much.

 

[tenpoless]

Good to see our under 21 players.

I'm not proud that We lose though.

 

[Judas]

If Chong turns into a world beater at Juve I think its safe to say the club is cursed.

 

[Andycoleno9]

The average age of outfield players was around 19 or something. Not bothered about the result as it was inconsequential. Ofcourse the dullards here will ind something to moan about.

Playing youth is great and this was 100% game for that but you must do it on some balanced way. Result in this game wasn't important regarding group table but we also have reputation in Europe which we as Man Utd must keep. Losing against Astana doesn't look nice.
There was better way to resolve this game. Mix of youth and experience. Play Tuanzebe but play also Jones with him. Play Garner but put Matic with him, etc.....
Headline will be Man Utd lost against Astana. Not that our kids lost or something like that. You don't tarnish your reputation in Euro games.

 

[FelixFelixFelix]

You may disagree with me but I think Astana deserved to win the match. Although the Astana players do not have technical abilities, they tried to go forward, played their game plan at least. Our team was able to keep possession because we kept passing backwards and side by side. Our attacking players especially Gomes and Chong did not try hard to go forward and attack. Every time when they get the ball they just walk a few steps in front of two to three defenders of Astana who were also standing and watching. This is very disappointing. They had to show their abilities in front of Ole and impress the fans. From what I have observed, Chong was unable to beat his man as a winger and Gomes kept losing the ball.

Only Laird had tried to go forward while Levitt and Garner did ok in the midfield. Luke Shaw had gone to sleep for the whole match... what an attitude from him...

It might be too harsh to those young players but they have to show a strong desire out there. And I hope all of them can make tremendous improvement like Mctominay.

 

[Paxi]

The average age of outfield players was around 19 or something. Not bothered about the result as it was inconsequential. Ofcourse the dullards here will ind something to moan about.

It's not moaning is it? Its putting some perspective on things. Moaning would be saying the result was shit ole needs to go bla bla.

We played kids we didn't get a result against a team that checked out Weeks ago. Take it however you want it.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Started well and confident. Lingard scored a goal but quickly regressed to type.
Kept demanding the ball from the youngsters and kept shooting off target losing possession and by the second half no longer wanted the ball and gradually got worse.

Chong was poor and then missed the sitter. Bernard was poor and could have had a pair of own goals.
Greenwood was too quiet. Gomes tried a lot but lost possession too often.
Laird , Garner and Levitt the most impressive especially in the first half.

Lingard's only (hopefully) captaincy ends with a goal, a defeat and a yellow card. The plane to Shanghai leaves in an hour.

 

[Judas]

Games like this are never the best way to introduce kids in my opinion. You play a few in a well functioning team, thats how Fergie always did it, and it works so much better.

Its no surprise the performance today was like it was.

 

[KM]

Playing youth is great and this was 100% game for that but you must do it on some balanced way. Result in this game wasn't important regarding group table but we also have reputation in Europe which we as Man Utd must keep. Losing against Astana doesn't look nice.
There was better way to resolve this game. Mix of youth and experience. Play Tuanzebe but play also Jones with him. Play Garner but put Matic with him, etc.....
Headline will be Man Utd lost against Astana. Not that our kids lost or something like that. You don't tarnish your reputation in Euro games.

Oh C'mon mate, Matic wouldn't have done more than Levitt/Garner atleast on current form and whole Jones's last 45 mins of the club were disastrous. You chose the worst possible 2 examples of senior players ffs.

 

[Paxi]

He has a short memory. That Arsenal game could have finished 8-5. We were very lax in midfield. We had Cleverly and Park. It was freakish and Arsenal were so bad. He also forgets that the same team got taken apart by Cjty 6-1. At home!!!
So much for such a great side eh?

Yeah that finished second on goal difference. That side would fecking maul our first 11. Maul.

 

[Chairman Steve]

Its a result that‘s basically a shrug of the shoulders and saying “Whatever”... even if we won it’d have been the same.

Its all about what happens when Villa come to OT on the weekend, and the fans won’t be as forgiving if we didn’t win that.

 

[Isotope]

Nope, he never wastes energy whenever I’ve seen him. More RVP than Martial

I see the similarity with Martial. He looks like he's shouldering all the world problem on his back, while playing. Also, RVP was always a nuisance to their backline all game long, which Greenwood and Martial not.

 

[Al-T]

Already qualified so a bit of a nothing tie and given the upcoming league fixtures, made sense not to send the 'first team' halfway round the world.

Of course the poor dears now won't have the 'tired after all the travel' card to play if we don't get a result on Sunday.

 

[always_hoping]

Average age that beat Arsenal 8-2 was 23.1. With exception of a couple of players, these guys aren't anywhere up to standard. That's the truth really.

Too soon to tell yet, 7 lads made their debuts tonight and some others with only a handful of games.

 

[downunder red]

The kids will get a huge benefit from playing in this match. I can not remember a game by any club that has sent a team as young as ours to the 2nd largest cup in europe. Traveling across the world like they did and not getting hammered will be huge in their learning of the game and playing for utd.
Ole got it spot on doing what he did.

 

[Wumminator]

Liked that game a lot.

Think Garner, Williams, Greenwood and Tunazebe have impressed in their appearances.

Laird looked good.

Gomes has struggled.

Chong has struggled.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

The score in the other group game is interesting.

 

[red woppit]

Disappointed with the result, but a decent performance all round. Thought Lingard was trying to do too much on his own, Shaw looked a bit rusty, but when he started to push forward more, we looked so much more dangerous, didn't happen enough though. Grant had a couple of saves, but wasn't really troubled, and Tuanzebe also looked a bit off the pace first half, but won some good headers second half, and looked better. Of the youngsters, Laird was the obvious outstanding player, Garner and Levitt were under no real pressure, but when they were, occasionally, they had the skill to get out of the situation. Not many defence splitting passes, but with Astana sitting back it was difficult, thought we could have been a bit quicker in some aspects of our play, it's OK to have a slow build up if you suddenly inject some pace into the attack, as we did when Chong missed that chance. Greenwood has still to learn how to cope with the physicality of senior football, as I'm sure he will, but will get on the end of a lot of crosses into the box because he's a clever player. Gomes looks class, and always tries things, not always the safe pass for him, Chong definitely needs a season of Championship football, as many have said. Bernard just looked a little overawed at times, but really unlucky with the second goal, but I'm sure he will learn from it (where was Shaw?). Mellor had one terrific run, when Gomes hit that great free kick (couldn't understand why Ole took him off, if we had got another free kick? Perhaps he will be on the bench Sunday? Garner certainly will), Ramizani also tried things, but a little light, both him and Mellor worked their socks off for the short time they were on there, Galbraith really didn't have time to make any telling contributions. Laird looked a very very good player, defensively sound, but going forward he was immense, probably needs a little more confidence to come inside onto his left a bit more, overall he was my MOM.

Overall I think the youngsters will have learnt a lot from that experience, and I hope that Ole, Nicky Butt and Mike Phelan have a chat with each one of them individually on the trip back, and point out where they went wrong, could improve and what to work on in training back home.

 

[Isotope]

All the young ones were tidy on the ball. I don't see anyone is ready for first teamer, but it's a good game for young lads to get loan interest from lower teams.

 

[Fully Fledged]

Enjoyed the first half immensely we could have been 3 up at half time then had a open goal in the second half to make it 0-2 before Astana's age and experience won out in the end.

Proud of the lads and some of them look like real prospects and look like they will make real prospects.

 

[In Rainbows]

Average age that beat Arsenal 8-2 was 23.1. With exception of a couple of players, these guys aren't anywhere up to standard. That's the truth really.

This is such a dumb statistic. One huge difference is the fact that Grant and 2011 de Gea were like a 16 year difference. The youngest outfield players in that side were Welbeck (20.75), Cleverley (22), Phil Jones (19.5), Smalling (21.75), and Anderson (23.5). We can include subbed in Chicharito (23).

Compare that to
Greenwood (18)
Gomes (19.2)
Levitt (19)
Garner (18.75)
Laird (18.25)
Bernard (19)
Chong (19.9)
Tuanzebe (22)

BTW, that side also had Nani and Rooney. Nani who should have won PL player of the year the season prior, and Rooney a 30 goal a season player. Compare that to Lingard and Shaw just coming back from injury.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Oh C'mon mate, Matic wouldn't have done more than Levitt/Garner atleast on current form and whole Jones's last 45 mins of the club were disastrous. You chose the worst possible 2 examples of senior players ffs.

Exactly because of that. They will not play PL game, we are paying their wages so lets use them in this kind of games. Young players need some lead on the pitch no matter how that leader is slow or bad.

 

[In Rainbows]

Exactly because of that. They will not play PL game, we are paying their wages so lets use them in this kind of games. Young players need some lead on the pitch no matter how that leader is slow or bad.

They need a leader on the pitch in most instances, but today was a match that didn't matter.

 

[roonster09]

Exactly because of that. They will not play PL game, we are paying their wages so lets use them in this kind of games. Young players need some lead on the pitch no matter how that leader is slow or bad.

Is Matic even fit? If he is at least back then there is no point in playing him considering we have only 1 fit CM. We need him for league games.

 

[Paxi]

Games like this are never the best way to introduce kids in my opinion. You play a few in a well functioning team, thats how Fergie always did it, and it works so much better.

Its no surprise the performance today was like it was.

I remember we played kids in Champions League when Fergie was here. Haifa and Panathinaikos stand out. At least they were in the CL.

This is such a dumb statistic. One huge difference is the fact that Grant and 2011 de Gea were like a 16 year difference. The youngest outfield players in that side were Welbeck (20.75), Cleverley (22), Phil Jones (19.5), Smalling (21.75), and Anderson (23.5). We can include subbed in Chicharito (23).

Compare that to
Greenwood (18)
Gomes (19.2)
Levitt (19)
Garner (18.75)
Laird (18.25)
Bernard (19)
Chong (19.9)
Tuanzebe (22)

BTW, that side also had Nani and Rooney. Nani who should have won PL player of the year the season prior, and Rooney a 30 goal a season player. Compare that to Lingard and Shaw just coming back from injury.

Which is what I'm saying. We've had a squad that was of a similar age that were nearly title winners. Apart from the fact that they got their debuts, there's absolutely nothing more to add, which is a bit of a give away.

I'm not slagging the kids off or the decision to play them, I just find most of them particularly uninspiring. Is that so out order?

Again, impressed with Laird. Garner did okay. You expect Greenwood to do well at this point as well as Tuanzebe. Others were disappointing from what I've seen in the first half.

 

[Gordon S]

Good experience for the lads! Shame Lingard was playing through the middle, offers very little. Gomes could have offered more there i think. Levitt was very positive, quick incisive passing. Laird looked good, composed in the last third i thought. Shaw looks like he is just cruising at times but still good to have him back. We need options and competition for lb. Tuanzebe is a good talent, hope he can get a good run soon.

 

[In Rainbows]

I remember we played kids in Champions League when Fergie was here. Haifa and Panathinaikos stand out. At least they were in the CL.


Which is what I'm saying. We've had a squad that was of a similar age that were nearly title winners. Apart from the fact that they got their debuts, there's absolutely nothing more to add, which is a bit of a give away.

That is not a squad of similar age. The youngest player was Phil Jones, who is older than 6 of our starting players. And if we talk about the entire season since you're bringing up the title challenge, why are you not including the fact that the side also had Vidic, Rio, Rooney, Berbatov, Nani, Valencia, Scholes,Young, etc...

The more accurate comparison is bringing up Lingard, Ravel, Pogba, Keane, etc... of that squad. That is the comparison to be made.

 

[reddevil702]

Regardless of the result it’s pointless to read much into this. One was evident though, this was an ole “coached” Team, clueless in the final third and side ways passing galore.

 

[matherto]

The ultimate no brainer move for a mediocre manager, play a team of 'kids' you win, it's a great move, you lose, fans hate criticizing kids.

They really don't.

Took less than ten minutes for them to start laying into them.

 

[M Bison]

The ultimate no brainer move for a mediocre manager, play a team of 'kids' you win, it's a great move, you lose, fans hate criticizing kids.

Daft post.

 

[M Bison]

Regardless of the result it’s pointless to read much into this. One was evident though, this was an ole “coached” Team, clueless in the final third and side ways passing galore.

How to contradict yourself in 1 paragraph...

 

[Fully Fledged]

Average age that beat Arsenal 8-2 was 23.1. With exception of a couple of players, these guys aren't anywhere up to standard. That's the truth really.

Grant(36) made the 22 much older than it would normally be, the average age of the outfield players was only 20 and we had a record 16 academy players in the squad.

 

[Paxi]

That is not a squad of similar age. The youngest player was Phil Jones, who is older than 6 of our starting players. And if we talk about the entire season since you're bringing up the title challenge, why are you not including the fact that the side also had Vidic, Rio, Rooney, Berbatov, Nani, Valencia, Scholes,Young, etc...

The more accurate comparison is bringing up Lingard, Ravel, Pogba, Keane, etc... of that squad. That is the comparison to be made.

I was making a point about average ages of the team. The team that beat Arsenal was the second youngest in the PL iicr which is the level I'd like to get back to. Playing youngest team possible is fine and all but ultimately if they're not good enough then it's okay to say it too.

 

[Fully Fledged]

The score in the other group game is interesting.

Yeah.

Spoiler

AZ could need a win against us to qualify.

 

[MrBest]

I didn't watch the game but few pointers, it was minus 15, artificial pitch under a roof, way past many of the players bed time and most have not played a first team game against men before. Go easy, only 20% if that will make it, great opportunity for them and a great (smokescreen under current circumstances) statement for the club. Who cares if we finish 2nd and the youth play again, at least we have a fresh squad for Sunday and Wednesday games over the next 6 days. Can anyone give a honest analysis on how Chong and Gomes played? Any signs that they ate ready?

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Yeah.

Spoiler

AZ could need a win against us to qualify.

They could, but could also miss out to Partizan if we win. We would only need a point, but we have to make sure the players have the right attitude. Go for the win.