Capital One Cup: Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool - Five talking points

United’s young guns come to prominence

Phil Jones and Jonny Evans had a good game for United yesterday (Getty Images)

Much had been made of United’s persistence of playing the younger players in the League Cup under Ferguson and that has continued under Moyes. It was a completely new look back-four as Rafael made his comeback from injury, Alexander Buttner made his first start to the new season and the pairing of Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling replaced Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.

As the game went on, all of them looked the part, with Evans particularly impressing with his aerial prowess and Smalling sweeping up with tackles.

Even Phil Jones, who played as a defensive midfielder, enjoyed a solid game as he won everything in the air, and provided the team with a physical presence in central midfield. And although it was just one match, if these players progress as expected, Moyes’ job of transitioning the older players will be made relatively easy.