November 3rd 2009, 7pm
Regional Athletics Arena, Manchester

	-
Manchester City Reserves	1-0	Manchester United Reserves

Nimely 20

-

-

 
As the first-team played out an entertaining and eventful Champions League clash with CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford, an altogether more dour and unmemorable encounter over the other side of Manchester saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reserve side fall to a second league defeat of the season at the hands of City, ceding top spot in the northern section to Liverpool in the process.

A strong start by the hosts brought reward after 20 minutes in the form of a fine strike from their England U20 forward Alex Nimely, and in truth United were fortunate to only be the one goal behind at the break. Looking to get back on terms in the second half, their task was made all the more difficult as substitute Scott Wootton saw red just three minutes after being introduced, and while the Reds produced their best football of the game despite being a man short, they were unable to find a way back into the game.

Match report to come…

 
UNITED
1. Ron-Robert Zieler
2. Ritchie de Laet
3. Joe Dudgeon (16. Febian Brandy 61)
4. Corry Evans (c)
5. Oliver Gill (12. Scott Wootton 54)
6. Matt James
7. Cameron Stewart
8. Oliver Norwood (14. Ryan Tunnicliffe 67)
9. Joshua King
10. Magnus Eikrem
11. Zoran Tošić

Booked: Gill

Sent Off: Wootton

Ref: ?

Attendance: 360

Man City: Nielsen, Trippier, Cunningham, Boyata, Mee, Tutte (Kay 86), Mak, Marshall, Poole, Nimely (Guidetti 81), McDermott (Ibrahim 46).
Unused: T Johansen, Moore

United schoolboy Jack Barmby has been named in the England Under-16 squad for this Thursday’s Sky Sports Victory Shield clash with Northern Ireland.

Still only 14, Barmby has forced his way into Kenny Swain’s squad on the back of some impressive performances for the Reds in the pre-season Manchester United Premier Cup and in regular U16 games. A tall and skilful winger, the Essex-born youngster is a promising talent in his own right, but much of the focus will naturally be on his famous surname – father Nick, still playing for Hull City, accumulated 23 full England caps during a career that has seen him score in the top flight for six different clubs (Spurs, Middlesbrough, Everton, Liverpool, Leeds and Hull for trivia fans).

Barmby is the only United representative in the squad for Thursday’s game at Chester City’s Deva Stadium, although Reds U16 skipper Luke Hendrie (another son of a famous footballing father, former Bradford and Middlesbrough forward John) was named in the initial squad before later withdrawing. Centre-half Tyler Blackett, who along with Hendrie started England’s first Victory Shield match against Wales, hasn’t been included this time.

The game will be televised live on Sky Sports, and for those tuning in to keep an eye on the progress of England and Barmby, a couple of other players are worth keeping an eye on from a United perspective. QPR starlet Raheem Sterling, a late call-up to England’s squad, has been heavily linked with the Reds in the media in recent days – he is another attacker who is still just 14. On the other side, Northern Ireland centre-half Luke McCullough, of Portadown College, has spent time at United on trial and is still very much on the club’s radar.

Kick-off is at 7.40pm on Thursday, and anyone wanting to go along and watch the game can do so for £3 admission (£1 concessions). You can find all the necessary details here.

United’s Will Keane and his club colleagues Tom Thorpe, Sam Johnstone and Ravel Morrison have all played their part as three wins from three saw England Under-17s cruise through their First Qualifying Round for the 2010 U17 European Championships.

The Reds quartet were all included in John Peacock’s squad for the trip to Azerbaijan, where the Young Lions faced their Azeri hosts, Serbia and Kazakhstan for the right to progress to the Elite Qualifying Round, to take place next spring. A top-two finish in the group would be enough to qualify, but with all first-placed teams being seeded at the elite stage, the incentive was there for England (and indeed their rivals) to take top spot.

Peacock’s side got their campaign underway last Monday against the unfancied Kazakhs in the Azeri capital of Baku, duly roaring into an early 3-0 lead with goals from Everton’s Luke Garbutt and Arsenal’s Benik Afobe sandwiching a strike from our own Will Keane. Smooth sailing from then on you would have thought, but Kazakhstan had other ideas, a quickfire double around the half-hour mark trimming England’s lead to just the one goal at half-time. Any concerns that comeback may have aroused were duly eradicated after the break however as a brace from West Ham’s Robert Hall (on as substitute) and a second goal for Afobe secured a convincing 6-2 victory. Keane, Thorpe and Johnstone all completed the full ninety minutes, but Morrison had to settle for a watching brief from the bench.

Next up just two days later was a clash with the hosts, and when the Young Lions again raced into a 3-0 lead, there was to be no such hint of a comeback. All three first-half goals came from Ipswich Town prodigy Connor Wickham, whose replacement on the hour mark – the predatory Afobe – sealed the win with a fourth goal after 67 minutes. As Peacock shuffled his pack somewhat, it was Johnstone’s turn to endure a game on the bench, while Morrison this time made it on as a half-time replacement for Keane. Thorpe again completed the full game.

With the Azeris having held Serbia to a goalless draw, England had the luxury of going into their final game on Saturday knowing a draw would be enough to secure top spot and a place among the seeds for the Elite Round. The Serbs, a force in recent years at youth international level, had been something of a disappointment, following up that goalless opener by squeaking a narrow 1-0 win over Kazakhstan, and went into the clash with England knowing that a defeat would leave their grip on second place in the group vulnerable.

The Young Lions duly secured victory via a single Afobe goal, and the Serbs were left to thank their English opponents for defeating Azerbaijan so convincingly earlier in the week and thus doing sufficient damage to their goal difference to see Serbia through. Johnstone was restored to the starting lineup while Keane again started before being replaced by Morrison. After starting the first two games, Thorpe sat this one out.

The draw for the Elite Round will take place towards the end of the year, and England will be joined in the hat by the Republic of Ireland, who also won their group, Sean McGinty skippering the Irish side in all three games. Other United participation was limited, but Norway and France progressed without the injured Etzaz Hussain and ineligible Paul Pogba, who will likely come into consideration when the Elite Round matches come around next March.

October 29th 2009, 7pm
Moss Lane, Altrincham

	-
Manchester United Reserves	1-1	Liverpool Reserves

Tošić 72

-

Eccleston 29

 
LIVERPOOL WIN 4-3 ON PENALTIES

Macheda SCORED	-	Irwin SCORED
Brandy SCORED	-	Ayala SCORED
Tošić SCORED	-	Mavinga SCORED
James MISSED	-	Eccleston SCORED
de Laet MISSED	-	-

 
 
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reserve side were left rueing the ineptitude of the officials and their own profligacy in front of goal as defeat – via a penalty shoot-out – to arch-rivals Liverpool at Moss Lane ended their hopes of a third successive Lancashire Senior Cup triumph.

Behind at the break through Nathan Eccleston’s well-taken (if a little fortuitous) strike, the Reds had nevertheless controlled the game and eventually got themselves level thanks to a terrific freekick from substitute Zoran Tošić. United’s Serbian winger was then clearly felled in the box, but instead of having a chance to win the tie with one well-earned spot-kick in normal time, the reigning champs had to endure the lottery of a shoot-out, where Liverpool ‘keeper Dean Bouzanis was the hero with decisive saves from Matt James and Ritchie de Laet.

Full report to come…

 
UNITED
1. Ron-Robert Zieler
2. Reece Brown (14. Federico Macheda 65)
3. Joe Dudgeon
4. Corry Evans (c)
5. Oliver Gill
6. Ritchie de Laet
7. Cameron Stewart
8. Sam Hewson (12. Zoran Tošić 58)
9. Joshua King
10. Oliver Norwood (15. Matt James 58)
11. Febian Brandy

Ref: K Evans

Attendance: 762

Liverpool: Bouzanis, Darby, Threlfall, Ayala, Mavinga, Irwin, Eccleston, Amoo, Saric (Mendy 81), Palsson (Weijl 65), Kacaniklic.
Not used: Hansen, Kohlert, Brouwer.

United’s England Under-20 goalkeeper Ben Amos has joined Peterborough United on a one-month emergency loan deal.

With regular first-choice ‘keeper Joe Lewis suspended after a red card in the Posh’s Carling Cup defeat to Blackburn Rovers midweek, boss Darren Ferguson has turned to his father for reinforcement, choosing to bring in Amos to start this weekend’s home Championship clash with Barnsley rather than relying on youngster James McKeown.

Amos is likely to be relegated to a bench role when Lewis returns from his one-game ban, but a first spell out on loan and a month of experience as part of a senior setup will still be very useful experience for the 19 year-old, whose sole senior appearance thus far came for the Reds against Middlesbrough in last season’s Carling Cup.

October 24th 2009, 11am
Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground, Wolverhampton

	-
Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s	2-2	Manchester United U18s

Spray 7	-	Brady 30
Rooney 10, missed pen 26	-	Ajose 89

 
For the second time already in this fledgling season, United’s academy side produced a spirited comeback and a late late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw in a tough away game. Having done so at Leeds from 2-1 down earlier in the campaign, they had to go one better at the Sir Jack Hayward training ground on Saturday morning, rallying after going 2-0 down inside the first ten minutes to goal from forwards James Spray and Nathan Rooney.

With less than half an hour played, Paul McGuinness’ U18s were staring down the barrel of a resounding defeat, with home side Wolves presented with a chance to make it three from the penalty spot and arguably put the game out of sight for the visiting Reds, who looked decidedly shaky at the back. Rooney was foiled by Conor Devlin however, and United seized the lifeline offered to them, Robbie Brady pulling one back before the break with a trademark freekick before Nicky Ajose, latching onto a throughball from the returning Davide Petrucci, earned his side an extremely hard-earned point with a great finish ninety seconds from time.

Match report to come..

 
UNITED
1. Conor Devlin
2. Alberto Massacci
3. Sean McGinty
4. Michele Fornasier
5. Scott Wootton
6. Ryan Tunnicliffe
7. Larnell Cole
8. Paul Pogba
9. Nicky Ajose
10. Jesse Lingard
11. Robbie Brady (c) (14. Davide Petrucci 43)

Ref: J W Thornhill

October 22nd 2009, 7pm
Moss Lane, Altrincham

	-
Manchester United Reserves	3-0	Blackburn Rovers Reserves

Eikrem 18	-	-
Brandy 80	-	-
Tošić 90+1	-	-

 
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Reserves kept up their 100% home record and moved back to the summit of the Premier Reserve League North this evening by defeating their Blackburn Rovers counterparts 3-0 at Moss Lane.

United were good value for the win, but were made to wait until the final ten minutes of the game to clinch all three points and give the scoreline some gloss. Magnus Eikrem’s superb 18th minute freekick had given the Reds an early lead, but despite proceeding to dominate the remainder of the match, it wasn’t until Febian Brandy rose highest to head home a Zoran Tošić corner on 80 minutes that the points were made safe. Tošić then rounded things off nicely with a well-struck effort from 20 yards inside injury time.

With the likes of Danny Welbeck, Kiko Macheda and the da Silva twins having been part of the first-team squad that headed to Russia this week, Solskjaer’s side almost picked itself. Gabriel Obertan continued his comeback from the spinal injury that has hampered his first few months at United, while Ritchie de Laet and Zoran Tosic returned to the team after missing the win over Oldham due to international duty. Elsewhere, there was a first start of the season for Reece Brown at right-back, while the Norwegian duo of Joshua King and Magnus Eikrem returned to the starting lineup after being restricted to cameo roles against the Latics last time out. One member of the Moscow travelling party, Corry Evans, did take up a place on the bench.

Despite fielding a relatively young side featuring a number of regular U18s (including former Reds schoolboy Michael Potts), Blackburn settled the quicker and made most of the early running, albeit without ever really giving Ben Amos too much cause for alarm. Potts and Julio Santa Cruz, younger brother of former Rovers (and current City) striker Roque, were prominent in the early stages as United struggled to get their usual quick passing game going and were guilty of surrendering possession far too often for Solskjaer and Warren Joyce’s liking.

Magnus Eikrem - made it four goals for the season with another beautiful freekick

Happily, and almost as if a switch had been flicked, that all changed with one moment of magic just before the twenty minute mark, and there was a real sense of deja vu about that magic moment. When King was fouled roughly 25 yards out and to the left of centre, facing the open terrace United typically attack in the first half at Moss Lane, minds were cast back to the last home league game against Sunderland where Eikrem had curled home a peach of a freekick from practically the same blade of grass.

Presumably the level of scouting done on the opposition at reserve level isn’t quite the same as it is with senior football, as Rovers’ goalkeeper Kean could only watch despairingly as Magnus found practically the same patch of netting as well, just inside the near post with unerring accuracy. In fairness, even if Kean had known what was coming he’d have struggled to get near it. This is starting to become something of a pleasing habit for the youngster from Molde.

As said, that goal completely changed the pattern of the game. All of a sudden United were first to every loose ball and looked dangerous every time they went forward, while the heads of those in the blue and white halved shirts seemed to drop somewhat. King was narrowly off target with a great chance after being played in by Obertan, before Eikrem, Hewson and Tošić all went tantalisingly close with great efforts from just outside the box. It was one-way traffic all the way until half-time, and how the score was only 1-0 as the players headed down the tunnel for a breather was something of a mystery.

Evans replaced Hewson at the break, but otherwise it was very much a case of more of the same in the second half. The Northern Irish substitute was the first to go close with a glancing header that shaved the far post on its way wide, before Matt James and Tošić again followed suit with decent efforts from range. When Obertan’s fierce effort cannoned away off the post after a wonderful jinking run from the back by de Laet, frustration must have started to creep in at the inability to kill the game off.

Perhaps sensing this, or maybe just wanting to try something a bit different, Ole used his remaining two changes as the game moved into the final twenty minutes, first introducing Febian Brandy in place of King (who had worked hard with little reward) before then replacing Eikrem with Ollie Norwood shortly after. Brandy looked an immediate threat and, with ten minutes to go, made exactly the impact his manager wanted, although I doubt OGS would have realistically expected the diminutive Brandy to score in quite the way he did, leaping highest at the near post to power Tošić’s corner past Kean. Very well-taken by Febian, but when the smallest player on the park is scoring in the manner, questions probably have to be asked about the marking.

The boys in red didn’t care of course, and were able to play out the remaining ten minutes in comfort and with freedom. Indeed, from probably still thinking they were in the game at just 1-0 down, the visitors suddenly looked in real danger of being absolutely routed in the closing stages. Kean pulled off a terrific point-blank stop to deny Evans what looked like a certain goal after Tošić had cleverly pulled back Obertan’s low cross-shot, but as the game entered the three minutes allocated for stoppages, the young Rovers keeper was beaten for a third time, left helpless as United’s Serbian winger – an impressive performer in the second half especially – latched onto a loose ball 25 yards out and rifled a sweet left-footed strike into the corner of the net.

Five wins from six then, and with a goal difference sufficient to see the Reds top the table above fierce rivals Liverpool, who will be the next visitors to Moss Lane in a week’s time as the Lancashire Senior Cup gets underway once more with United looking to win the trophy for a third successive year. The next league action comes the following Tuesday in the form of a trip across town to Eastlands for the first reserve derby of the campaign.

Star Man: Zoran Tošić – frustrated at times in the first half with his tendency to over-elaborate but was a threat all night, switching between the left and right flank to great effect and causing all manner of problems with some terrific set-piece deliveries.

 
UNITED
1. Ben Amos
2. Reece Brown
3. Joe Dudgeon
4. Ritchie de Laet (c)
5. Oliver Gill
6. Matt James
7. Gabriel Obertan
8. Sam Hewson (12. Corry Evans 46)
9. Joshua King (15. Febian Brandy 70)
10. Magnus Eikrem (14. Oliver Norwood 75)
11. Zoran Tošić

Ref: P Davison

Attendance: 660

October 17th 2009, 11am
Trafford Training Centre, Carrington

	-
Manchester United U18s	3-0	Manchester City U18s

W Keane 4, 27, 42

-

-

 
After four successive defeats to their cross-city rivals and three games without a win in the Academy League this season, United put a convincing end to both of those unwanted sequences at Carrington this morning with a 3-0 win over City, all the damage being done by the left foot of Will Keane, who made it four goals in two games with a clinical first-half hattrick.

After a frustrating start to the season in front of goal, Keane grabbed United’s consolation in injury time at Crewe last week and that seems to have got him up and running. The Stockport-born forward gave the Reds the lead inside four minutes, tucking home a loose ball in predatory fashion, before repeating the trick just before the half-hour mark, both times via unknowing assists from Ryan Tunnicliffe. Some fine work from Robbie Brady on the left and a crisp volleyed finish gave the 16 year-old and his side a decisive third goal just before the break, and Paul McGuinness’ side cruised through the second half largely untroubled to record a welcome derby victory.

More to come…

 
UNITED
1. Conor Devlin
2. Alberto Massacci (16. Reece Brown 79)
3. Zeki Fryers
4. Tom Thorpe
5. Scott Wootton
6. Ryan Tunnicliffe
7. Nicky Ajose
8. Paul Pogba (14. Ravel Morrison 86)
9. Joshua King (15. John Cofie 86)
10. Will Keane
11. Robbie Brady (c)

Ref: M Salisbury

October 12th 2009, 7pm
Ewen Fields, Hyde

	-
Oldham Athletic Reserves	0-3	Manchester United Reserves

-	-	Brandy 21
-	-	Hewson 22
-	-	King 90+2

 
It would be fair to say United’s defence of the Manchester Senior Cup hasn’t been unduly challenging so far. Resounding 5-0 victors in the opening round-robin match against Bury, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side made it two from two at Hyde United’s Ewen Fields ground tonight with a comfortable 3-0 win over a game but ultimately outclassed Oldham Athletic.

The result was never in doubt once the Reds netted twice in as many minutes midway through the first half through Febian Brandy and Sam Hewson, and substitute Joshua King added some gloss to the scoreline in stoppage time at the end of the game with a fine goal on the counter attack. Further plus points for those of a United persuasion came in the form of the comebacks from injury of Rafael da Silva and summer signing Gabriel Obertan, who made his first appearance in the red shirt.

The inclusion of the 20 year-old French forward was the big team news, with many speculating that this was a test run ahead of a possible first team debut at Barnsley in the Carling Cup later in the month. Signed from Bordeaux in July, Obertan arrived at the club nursing a spinal injury and has endured a frustrating start to his United career, but now looks ready to get his time in English football underway in earnest. Rafael meanwhile was making his first appearance of the campaign after picking up a shoulder injury at the start of pre-season – he lined up in his usual right-back slot, opposite his twin Fábio.

Elsewhere, Solskjaer shook things up a bit with several further changes. Scott Wootton and Oliver Gill made up an inexperienced centre-back pairing, while the adoption of a 451/433 system meant the use of three central midfielders, Hewson, Matt James and Ollie Norwood getting the nod. Robbie Brady came in on the left-wing with Obertan occupying the other flank, both wingers being expected to get up and support lone frontman Febian Brandy, who was making his first competitive start since returning from England’s disaster of an U20 World Cup campaign. Triallist goalkeeper Daniel Lloyd-Weston had to make do with a place on the bench.

Febian Brandy - off the mark for the season

On the opposition’s side of the teamsheet, one name of interest – former Reserves captain Kieran Lee. A consistent and often impressive performer for the second string up until his slightly surprising free transfer departure in May 2008, many will remember Kieran as the scorer of a dramatic 119th minute winner in a Carling Cup tie at Crewe in late 2006. The versatile youngster from Stalybridge made three first-team appearances in total and was expected by many to have a productive career in the game, but thus far his time at Oldham has been disappointing, injuries hampering his bid to establish himself with the Latics.

As expected, United were quickest out of the blocks and had all the early chances. Norwood was unfortunate to have the sting taken out of a dangerous-looking freekick by a deflection, while Brandy latched onto a great Obertan throughball but pulled a shot across the face of goal. The Reds’ #9 was also frustrated to miss the target with a near post header that went narrowly wide.

No matter – the quality of United’s football, with the front three and the forward-thinking Hewson linking up excellently, meant that Febian didn’t have to wait long for his next chance. On 21 minutes the little forward received the ball with his back to goal some 35 yards out and instantly laid it off to Hewson before turning and easily beating the offside trip to get on the end of the return pass. His first touch wasn’t the greatest, but with Latics ‘keeper Ollerenshaw slow to come off his line, the finish was a simple one for the 20 year-old and he duly found the net for the first time this season.

The lead was doubled just a minute later, the pace of United’s wide players ripping Oldham to shreds on the counter attack. Obertan, who had started the game brightly, drifted infield from his right-wing station and found Brady on the opposite flank, who played in the overlapping Fábio. The Brazilian left-back burst into the area and flashed a cross-shot across the face of goal that was opportunistically tapped-in by the lurking Hewson. Simple passing and a straightforward finish, but devastatingly effective.

United could and really should have added to that rapidly-acquired lead before half-time, most notably when Norwood was played in by Obertan after a terrific one-touch move involving several players but could only shoot straight at Ollerenshaw. Robbie Brady also went agonisingly close with a freekick that shaved the near post.

Oldham will have been delighted to get to the break only 2-0 down and probably even more happy to see Messrs Obertan and Rafael depart with the first 45 minutes of their comebacks under their belts – Obertan in particular had really caught the eye on debut, showing terrific pace and tricky but also an apparent maturity to his game. What the hosts didn’t know of course was that the two replacements, Magnus Eikrem and Joshua King, were probably the second string’s most impressive performers so far this season.

That said, the half-time substitutions did coincide with the level of United’s play dipping considerably – no fault of the two Norwegians, but seemingly more a case of complacency creeping into the performance, perhaps understandable after such a one-sided first half but never something coaches or the paying public want to see. Oldham started to come into the game more, and United’s attack, which had appeared so fluent in the first half, now looked decidedly laboured.

Fortunately for the Reds, the Latics didn’t really possess the quality to punish this second-half lethargy, although they gave the United rearguard a few scares. Fábio in particular will have been a tad concerned when he brought down Csiki as the striker bore down on goal, but thankfully there was a covering defender and – unlike in the Carling Cup tie with Wolves – the card was only yellow.

Csiki’s strike partner Blackman went close with a low strike after a neat one-two, and the home side obviously started to grow in confidence. As the game moved into its final twenty minutes, Ben Amos was finally brought into action, the United stopper first producing a great close-range save to deny substitute Tischler’s volley before dealing well with a more routine but still-awkward effort from the same player.

Whether it was these close shaves or the increasing volume and urgency of the instructions from Solskjaer and Joyce on the touchline, United seemed to wake up somewhat as the clock ran down, helped by the introduction of the energetic Will Keane from the bench. As Oldham committed more men forward, gaps predictably began to open up, Matt James nearly capitalising on one of those as he timed his burst forward from midfield perfectly but saw his angled left-foot strike strike the far post and rebound to safety.

Brandy also went close with a left-foot strike from the edge of the box, before the Reds strung together a counter attack inside the three minutes of stoppage time that was far more in keeping with the exciting first forty-five minutes than the rather more turgid second half. Unsurprisingly it was the ever-improving Norwegians who were at the heart of things, Eikrem seizing possession near the halfway line and finding King with a perfectly-weighted throughball. The 17 year-old searing pace took him away from the chasing defenders and the finish was coolness personified.

3-0 was just about a fair scoreline given the superiority the Reds displayed in the first-half, but the sloppy second-half showing won’t have gone unnoticed by the Solskjaer/Joyce combination. From a purely statistical viewpoint, two wins, eight goals and none conceded from the opening two MSC games is about as good a start to the competition as you could ask for – Stockport County are next up on November 16th. In the meantime, the reserves have a friendly against Clyde to contend with this Sunday before they resume league commitments.

STAR MAN: Gabriel Obertan – one of many to shine in a first half that was great to watch, the new-boy gets the nod for an impressive bow in English football and an encouraging return from injury. Seems to be the week for impressive debuts for new French signings…

 
UNITED
1. Ben Amos
2. Rafael da Silva (14. Magnus Eikrem 46)
3. Fábio da Silva
4. Scott Wootton
5. Oliver Gill
6. Matt James
7. Gabriel Obertan (15. Joshua King 46)
8. Sam Hewson (c) (12. Will Keane 68)
9. Febian Brandy
10. Oliver Norwood
11. Robbie Brady

Booked: Fábio

Oldham Athletic: Ollerenshaw, McKerr, Black, Rowney, Fodor, Ojapah, Lee, Dembo-Leta, Blackman (Tischler 60), Brooke (Csorba 75), Csiki (Beszterczei 67).
Unused: White, Tarkowski.

Referee: M Astley

Attendance: 416

October 10th 2009, 11am
Gresty Road, Crewe

	-
Crewe Alexandra U18s	2-1	Manchester United U18s

Oswell 48, 66

-

W. Keane 90

 
It’ll take some time for Paul McGuinness and his young charges to work out exactly how they contrived to lose at Gresty Road this morning. In essence the answer is a relatively simple one – they struggled to create genuine chances and couldn’t convert the ones they did engineer, while their opponents Crewe Alexandra had no such problems. Nonetheless, to lose a game after dominating possession and territory to the extent the Reds did today and still fall to defeat is a definite headscratcher.

United had by far the best of a scoreless first-half but were caught cold early in the second 45 as Crewe’s big #9 Jason Oswell glanced home a devilish cross, and while McGuinness’ side continued to dominate and probe for goals of their own, they were caught by another sucker punch with 25 minutes remaining as Oswell bagged his second in spectacular fashion. The young Reds battled on gamely but were frustrated by Crewe’s resolute backline and the excellent Daniel Platt in goal, only eventually making a breakthrough in injury time through Will Keane, whose tap-in was ultimately merely a consolation goal.

The big team news was the inclusion of Paul Pogba for a competitive debut. The summer signing from Le Havre finally received clearance to play from FIFA in midweek, and while he enjoyed a brief runout in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Tuesday, this was the first chance for United fans to see the much-hyped midfielder in action. He partnered the ever-present Ryan Tunnicliffe in the centre of the park, with Larnell Cole dropping to the bench and Etzaz Hussain unfortunately sidelined with a shoulder injury.

There was another new face in between the sticks – as we reported yesterday, Port Vale ‘keeper Daniel Lloyd-Weston took his place in goal for the first of a two-game trial, with Conor Devlin away on international duty with Northern Ireland U19s and Sam Johnstone nursing a slight knock.

There were further changes as well, Sean McGinty coming in for Scott Wootton to partner Michele Fornasier at the heart of defence, Ravel Morrison replacing John Cofie in attack, and Nicky Ajose taking the left-wing spot and the captain’s armband from Robbie Brady. The three stepping down were all included among the substitutes, but may have been rested with possible Reserves action on Monday in mind.

It’s no real exaggeration to say that within ten minutes it was apparent just why United were so keen to bring Pogba on board (and why Le Havre were so keen to keep hold of him) – his physique, posture and running style immediately elicited obvious but unavoidable comparisons with Patrick Vieira, while – perhaps surprisingly for someone described as a defender/defensive midfielder – his ability on the ball really stood out. Even with opposition players around him he rarely seemed in danger of losing the football, showing terrific composure and plenty of skill.

An eye for a pass was also very soon in evidence, crisp short passing complimented by elegantly-sprayed longer deliveries, not to mention a couple of brilliantly incisive through-balls which deserved better results than they brought. And when not in possession, the resemblance to Vieira came to mind again with an uncanny ability to stick out an almost telescopic leg and win the ball back. The 16 year-old’s talent was glaringly obvious and his impact immediate, the early signs suggesting that all the legal hassle surrounding his transfer has been very much worth it.

The young Frenchman was the focus of attention, but it wasn’t just a one-man show as United took the game to Crewe in the early stages. Tunnicliffe in particular dovetailed excellently with the new recruit while Ajose looked threatening every time he recieved the ball out on the left flank. The football was excellent at times, but the final pass or shot was just lacking, with Keane’s natural tendency to drop deep often leaving the Reds without a genuine frontman.

United’s best chance of the half did fall to Keane, but the England U17 international was just unable to get up high enough to nod home at the far post after Tom Thorpe had flicked on Ajose’s corner. Otherwise, the best efforts from the visitors came from long range, with Pogba and Morrison narrowly off target with well-struck shots and Tunnicliffe twice forcing Alex ‘keeper Platt into action, albeit of the fairly routine variety.

As the half wore on and no tangible reward for United’s superiority was forthcoming, Crewe began to grow in confidence and play some attractive stuff themselves. Fornasier in particular was reading the game well from the back and dealing with much of the home side’s threat adeptly, but the counter-attacking nature of most of Crewe’s forays forward started to pose occasional problems, typically via a combination of the pace and crossing of Alex Titchener (who scored twice in this fixture last season) and the physical presence of centre-forward Oswell. It was that pair who combined for comfortably the best chance created by either side in the first half, as the latter flicked the former’s cross across the face of goal, where Oswell’s strike partner was inches away from converting at the back post.

Second half report to follow…

 
UNITED
1. Daniel Lloyd-Weston
2. Tom Thorpe
3. Zeki Fryers
4. Michele Fornasier
5. Sean McGinty
6. Ryan Tunnicliffe
7. Jesse Lingard (12. Larnell Cole 63)
8. Paul Pogba
9. Will Keane
10. Ravel Morrison
11. Nicky Ajose (c)

Ref: D A Croft