McGuinness: Cup exit disappointing
Paul McGuinness was disappointed that United's Under-18s couldn't
make their possession count as the Reds crashed of the FA Youth Cup
on Wednesday.
The Reds went two goals down to Carlisle before pulling one back
before half time. But they couldn't turn their dominant possession
into the crucial equalising goal in the second half.
"You have to give credit to opposition, they deserved to go
through," the U18s boss told MUTV. "We didn't take advantage of our
possession. And to have the chances we had and not to take them
wasn't good enough.
"We made basic mistakes in the build-up to Carlisle's goals. We
played some good football after that, but we didn't carry that into
the second half. We didn't test the goalkeeper enough.
"We had loads of possession and even played some good passing
football, but we were too narrow. We didn't use the width well
enough and didn't get enough crosses in."
McGuinness says his young players have passed up a big chance to
impress on youth football's biggest stage.
"The defeat puts us back two steps," he added. "We've missed an
opportunity to do well in this competition. The players now have to
lift themselves. It's a big defeat and at this club sometimes
that's a burden you have to carry."