Scrappy Win (AET Crewe Alexandra 1 - Manchester United 2)

I finally managed to finish torrenting the game and watching it. Not much good to say about our performance, except that it was a scrappy affair and we played poorly for most parts.

4 youngsters were given a run, David Jones and Ritchie Jones in the centre of the park, Phil Marsh on right wing and David Gray in right back.

Both Jones performed alright, and were quite frankly overwhelmed by the occasion. David Jones did show some nice passes, but nothing to suggest he could make the transition into the first team. Ritchie was nervous and besides a good cut back for Ole to score the first goal, I didn't see anything special. That being said, both of them are still very raw. Hopefully they would grow and mature in the coming years.

Phil Marsh was spectacularly unimpressive. I couldn't remember anything noteworthy to mention, except for losing the ball on numerous occasions. I hope it was a bout of nerves. David Gray, on the other hand, had a presentable debut. Perhaps it was the role he played in. He looked good going up front and able in defence.

Our other players were noteably underwhelmed by the occasion. With the exception of Ole and Kuszczak (who incidentally had his name spelt wrongly on the jersery), the rest of the other players played down to their level of opposition. Silves, Heinze, Brown and Smith were all terrible. Had it not been for Kuszczak heroics, we could have been flatten.

If you noticed, Richardson was not mentioned....yet. I thought he had a good game playing on the left and subsequently controlling the midfield in the later part of the game. However I was extremely disappointed with his general behaviour on the pitch. He was often whining and complaining to the referee. And when decisions didn't fall his way, he went on to exact his own vengeance by fouling the opposition. How he stayed on the pitch, only the referee knows. Despite a good performance, he showed he's not a classy person. At the rate he's going, I'm going thru what I felt for Ronaldo last season. The difference here is that I feel Richardson is a player we can let go.

3 youngsters were given debuts as they came on as substitutes. Michael Barnes came on and played in the left flank. I wasn't too impressd with him. Too much dribbling. You can see he has the physical gifts and it might take a while before he knows when to dribble and when to pass. The potential is there, but it's going to take sometime to harness.

Ryan Shawcross came on in right back and like the other youngster he replaced, had an okie game. We seem to produce alot of good full backs who are able to join in the attack when required.

Kieran Lee came on and generally played a quiet game until he scored the winner in the dying minutes of injury time. Amongst all the kids on display, he perhaps showed the most maturity. At least he was composed enough to take the chance when it mattered. Will be sometime before he even matures to command a place in the first team.

On the whole, I wasn't impressed with this crop of youngsters. There is some potential, but nothing jaw dropping. I reckon all the ones with potential have been loaned out to other clubs all over Europe. What's probably more disappointing was the level of play of the veterans. If they can't up their level of play in a cup competition, then our squad is truely thin, which doesn't bold well when the injuries in the first team do eventually pile up.