Academy boss Alan Moore with reaction to the Fleetwood youth game
Youth coach Alan Moore gave us his reaction to last weekend's defeat at Fleetwood."We were disappointed with the performance," he said. "We try and take positives out of every game but there weren't too many last Saturday. We scored three goals but we just didn't show up. Every decision the players tried to make was the wrong one at the wrong time.
"We could have talked all afternoon about what went wrong but we've just got to put it behind us now. It was a setback in terms of individual performances. We did put a bit of pressure on the lads because we told them it was their shirt to lose for the FA Youth Cup game next Tuesday. They're all looking forward to it and it's all they want to think about. However, a lot of them couldn't deal with that pressure on Saturday."
"We're trying to figure out the mentality of the players at the moment," he admitted. "We've won every cup game we've played but they aren't bringing that kind of form into league games.
"Something has to change within their mentality to address that. They're obviously capable of it, we've beaten some decent teams in the cup so far this season, but when it comes to league games they just think of it as another game.
"We aren't too bothered about results, but there is a trend building up in terms of them being able to show up for cup games before slipping back with their levels in the league. We have to look at Saturday as just one of those days. We have to wipe the slate clean and start again."
"I've looked at the game and the goals and we weren't good in any way, shape or form," he commented. "We have to put it to the back of our minds and move on. Hopefully the lads will learn a lesson from it.
"We aren't too bothered about results, but there is a trend building up in terms of them being able to show up for cup games before slipping back with their levels in the league. We have to look at Saturday as just one of those days. We have to wipe the slate clean and start again."
"I've looked at the game and the goals and we weren't good in any way, shape or form," he commented. "We have to put it to the back of our minds and move on. Hopefully the lads will learn a lesson from it.
"We learn a lesson as coaches as well because we put the pressure on them in terms of the Youth Cup game. They didn't handle it but it's all part and parcel of football and they have to get used to it.
"It's been frustrating for us as coaches because whenever we seem to have a couple of good performances we follow it up with a little dip. When we go a goal down the lads seem to accept it. That generally leads to us conceding another goal and then another. They need to be more resolute when they concede and a lot of that is down to what goes on between the ears."
"The Barnsley FA Youth Cup game next Tuesday will be tough," he said. "They're a category two team, which is the category above us, and we probably couldn't have got a worse draw in the first round.
"It's been frustrating for us as coaches because whenever we seem to have a couple of good performances we follow it up with a little dip. When we go a goal down the lads seem to accept it. That generally leads to us conceding another goal and then another. They need to be more resolute when they concede and a lot of that is down to what goes on between the ears."
"The Barnsley FA Youth Cup game next Tuesday will be tough," he said. "They're a category two team, which is the category above us, and we probably couldn't have got a worse draw in the first round.
"It will be great for the lads to go and play on the main pitch under the lights. Some of them will never have done it before and they might get caught in the headlights, so to speak, but it's brilliant for us because we learn a lot about them in games like this."
United: Flower, Hurley, Pearson (Taylor 55), Quigley, Douglas, Marshall, Moyes (Bradbury 55), White, Blackburn, Hamell, Elliott. Subs - Copland, Robson, Rudd.
United: Flower, Hurley, Pearson (Taylor 55), Quigley, Douglas, Marshall, Moyes (Bradbury 55), White, Blackburn, Hamell, Elliott. Subs - Copland, Robson, Rudd.
Goals - Blackburn, Elliott, Bradbury.
Next Up: Rochdale v United, Saturday 1 November 2014, kick off 11am
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