CHOULO19

But we already know that about Andre and Salah, don't we? They have terrible decision making in the final third, even Oscar's is inconsistent and even Hazard's is not not par with top forwards. And I reckon Salah and Schurrle were extra desperate on Tuesday because they are trying to get into the team.

They play very different football than what our players, especially the light weights like Salah, are used to. They were very very physical and like I said, the ref was not getting any cards out which encourages them to be even more physical. Add to that the terrible pitch and weather conditions. Means absolutely nothing in which league they play in when they want to defend in numbers and play physically. Last night I watched a team of amateurs (literally) keep up with Real Madrid for 45 minutes and only conceded from 2 corners. Those kind of teams are difficult to break down. I do agree with Pat Nevin's analysis that we did make it difficult for ourselves by not trying to keep the ball in midfield and by going for the hollywood pass and long range shot way too often. But I do think we played decently in the second half. End of the day, we go through to the next round and we got Derby who I genuinely believe will be easier than Shrewsburry and we can play a couple of youngsters again. So, it's all good.

No need to scream about it... To be fair, I'd take him as a backup keeper for Thibaut next season

Pique has already failed the premiere league test at united, why would we take it with him again?

That's nothing, I remember a team we drew last season or the season before (I can't remember who, maybe Boro) had something like 12 consecutive away draws before they were draw at home to us!

Who are all those QPR fans? Their stadium is always empty!

That just sounds so wrong!

Talk about emphatic finish! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28wa6n_goal-hazard-frankfurt-0-1-monchengladbach-29-10-2014_sport

Can someone explain his face? thanks.

I like how he seems to be growing in confidence. Looks a lot more comfortable now than when he first broke through under Rafa. Still needs to improve his decision making which will naturally improve with experience.

I think he has the goals in the FA cup final and semifinal as well as the goal against Stoke in the league from a Mata through ball IIRC.

Just watched the second half and boy do people around here love to whine! I half expected us to be shooting at our own goal by the comments here! But it was an average performance by the team. The Pitch was terrible and the grass was way too long and the weather conditions pretty bad which all combined to make moving the ball on the ground very difficult and slow, Shrewsburry played very very physically and the ref was really not helping us out by not producing any cards. But despite all that, we were pretty comfortably in control of the game, they scored with the only chance in the half which came from lapse of concentration from Zouma. They were back on level terms with us for just 4 minutes. We raised our game when we needed to. Schurrle wasn't good but I don't think Salah was nearly as bad as people are trying to make him out. He was trying to make things happen but we already know that his decision making in the final third is pretty bad. All in all, it was a league cup game, and we had a bunch of youth and fringe players in the XI. We got the win without getting out of first gear and gave some youngsters a chance. There is absolutely nothing to moan about!

Yes. Exactly this. We setup first and foremost to win. Giving chances to youth players is a secondary objective and I think we managed to combine the two to the best we can yesterday. And Solanke was not needed on the bench because Brown can play striker as well. No point keeping him from the U21s if he's not going to get any minutes. Still can't see how what Jose said is different from what has happened. No of course Baker can't do what Oscar does! There is a reason why one is a Brazil international and the other plays for our U21 side! We only think that the youngsters like Christensen and Ake are MOTM because it's 'cool' to play youth and we see them once or twice a year in unimportant matches. If you think our backups are shit, imagine what you'd say about our youth players if they were regulars with the team!

Can we just take a moment to laugh at Fullham who were 2-0 in the 45th minute against Derby and went on to lose 5-2!

Why? Because Baker is not anywhere near the level Oscar. Not even close. I can't believe I need to even state this. And because we had Salah and Ake we couldn't afford to have Baker as well. I repeat: The squad needs a certain balance even against Shrewsburry and I think Jose got it exactly right as is evident by the very close game.

You're comparing Oscar to Baker?! You're detached from reality! I rest my case...

Of course Solanke was not going to start as the lone striker! He's 17! He's not anywhere near ready and won't be for at least another 2-3 seasons. The U21 team needed him because we were taking Brown with us so he stayed. And no, we obviously can't play more than two youth players against Shrewsburry without seriously risking losing the game, especially when you consider that we have some fringe players we need to start in the game as well such as Salah, Mikel and Zouma. Even league 2 is miles above youth level. Not sure what you are complaining about in those Mourinho quotes since the exact same is happening! They're training regularly with the first team and coming on in occasions in the league cup and FA cup.

Stop it!

You two are on your own!

You know as well as I do that you can't challenge for titles while giving considerably more time for youth players than we already have. Very harsh not to give Jose credit for Christensen. JT is more than capable of playing and we had a 36 (or is he 37 now?) play 2 matches in 3 days up front. It was clearly to give Christensen a chance. Plus, you're forgetting that only last week Solanke was give his debut and became the youngest ever player to play for us in the CL when we didn't really need him to come on. Then there is the debut for Baker himself last month.

You two are saying the same thing in different ways!

Well, what exactly do you base your expectations on? What is the frame of reference? Past seasons? This season has already exceeded any of the past few seasons, bar maybe 2012-13, in terms of time for youth players and we're still in October. Other title contenders? How many youth players have city give debuts to this season? We've give for 3 while a 4th was on the bench for the first time for us yesterday. I really don't see any realistic expectations of youth development that we have fallen short of in any way this season.

The point was that, had the game panned out in a way that we could have brought on more youngsters, he would have gotten some valuable experience playing with the first team. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but just being on the bench should be a great boost for his confidence because it is a message that the management thinks you're going in the right direction, and a great motivation for him and the rest of the youth team to keep working hard to be able to play with the first team. Honestly, the moaning on here is hilarious! The boy would have been delighted to even be considered for the match and yet you're all upset about it on his behalf!

You never know. They played well against Villa and they're oozing of confidence after that win. Though you can't really tell how well they played because Villa were just dreadful! We could have someone sent off early on or concede a 90 mins equalizer. November works in mysterious ways...

And they did. This season alone, Jose has given debuts to all of Solanke, Baker himself and yesterday Christensen and Brown was on the bench for the first time yesterday as well. That is more than any previous manager has done in a single season and beyond any of our dreams even 3 months ago. About yesterday, the starting XI needs a certain balance. You can't put out your U21 team out because they'd get battered. Jose actually went one better than what I had expected and started Christensen who I thought would be on the bench. He could of course had started Baker instead of Christensen and played Ake at LB, but obviously Jose thinks the young Dane is more ready. Unfortunately, the game didn't pan out in a way where we could bring on more youth players and still ensure going through to the next round. Point is, be grateful for the youth involvement yesterday and in this season in general because it has already exceeded expectations. There's just no pleasing some people...