Former Manchester United and England defender Viv Anderson has launched a scathing attack on Manchester United's current youth players, questioning whether or not they're up to United standard. Anderson witnessed Sir Alex Ferguson's latest batch of youngsters crash out of the Carling Cup quarterfinals, and Avram Grant's West Ham side thoroughly taught young Red Devils such as Bebe and Federico Macheda a lesson amidst the snowy weather at Upton Park.

United Youngsters Fail to Fill Boots

Alex Ferguson said yesterday morning that the nucleus of youngsters at his disposal, and indeed who started last night's humiliation at the hands of West Ham United, was ‘the future of Manchester United'.

In Manchester United's heaviest defeat for over nine years, Ferguson had selected a blend of youth and enthusiasm, with the focus falling on those youngsters aiming to fill the illustrious boots of Messrs Van der Sar, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

Being on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline hurts. It doesn't matter which team we put out there. Even if it was an Academy side, it hurts because its still a Manchester United eleven. I still haven't caught the highlights (and I don't know if I really want to), so I can't quite comment on how the game unfolded.

Yes folks... as unbelievable as it may seem Manchester United were beaten by West Ham United in the Carling Cup quarter-final last night. But not just beaten, thrashed 4-0 by the team stuck at the foot of the Premier League... only Real Madrid can claim to have had a worse week.

Thanks to goals from former United player Jonathan Spector and the former Liverpool target Carlton Cole put paid to the defence of the Carling Cup and also ended United's 29-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

The Premiership, probably at the moment, is the most open league for anyone to win since its introduction in 1992. The emergence of teams like Bolton and Sunderland is making them competitors worthy of testing the best in the league. The league in my mind has stretched across a different range altogether, watching a resurgent Newcastle United side under Chris Hughton and a spirited Blackpool side under Ian Holloway, who in their own way have silenced critics that wrote them off even before the season kicked off.

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed today that Ji-Sung Park, who has scored 4 in his last 6 league games, will play his last game for a few weeks on Boxin Day. The battling midfielder will be representing Korea in the Asian Cup in Qatar in January.

"Ji is in fantastic form," said Ferguson.