Well it wasn't quite the embarrassment that that I'd feared, thankfully, we are still in the tie, which is about as much as we could have possibly have hoped for ahead of the match.
There were two reasons for that outcome as far as I am concerned. First, the players selected showed far more spirit than they managed to muster against either of City or Liverpool. Secondly, i feel that this Bayern team are a little over-hyped, they do not yet belong to the class of Barca 2011 or the great Milan teams of the late 80's and 90's. Yes they had a massive percentage of possession, but to have only troubled De Gea three or four times, well, we all saw what City and Liverpool managed.
I wasn't that enamoured of Moyes team selection or his tactics, or should i just say the inclusion of Fellaini. After the last round he had to pick Giggs, though his removal at half time, suggests he hadn't really wanted to. There certainly looked nothing wrong with Giggs as he left the pitch at half time. Giggs never really got into the game, that's fair enough, but he can't have been helped having Fellaini next to him. At 40 years of age, he does need someone to be his "legs", and the last person you would entrust that to, would surely be Fellaini. I know I'm a broken record on the subject of our mop headed Belgian, but really, a Manchester United player, really! He was shocking last night, he was so out of place, on that pitch against Europe's best, it was laughable. We were playing the champions of Europe with ten men for most of the match.
And then Moyes tactics, some have argued that he got it right, it was the only way we could have lived to fight another day. Well I'm not having that, we gave Real Madrid more than a run for their money in last years last sixteen with basically the same squad. The difference was the manager, Moyes managed United last night as if we were Everton as countless bloggers have today stated. Everybody behind the ball and then just launch long balls in the direction of Danny Welbeck. I'd love to have seen how we would have played if Van Persie hadn't got injured. Given that when Rooney and Van Persie are both fit, Moyes will play them both, how on earth would last nights tactics have worked.
Credit to Welbeck for the fist he made of the job, he was our best player on the night for me, once again proving that this is the level he belongs at. It's just that at the moment, under Moyes, Manchester United don't belong at this level, despite last nights result. I couldn't see anything wrong with Welbecks first goal that was disallowed, typical of his luck that it was rubbed out and then he made a mess of our best chance of the match later on in the first half. But he'll get no stick from me for that miss, his was about the only "real" Manchester United performance of the night.
I suppose credit has to go to our patched up and geriatic back four, with not much in the way of protection from our midfield, they held firm. Buttner has received some praise, but to be honest I think it was just relief he wasn't the walking disaster we had feared. I have to admit that Rio and Vidic's performance, far exceeded my wildest hope, it was almost like the good old days.
The introduction of Kagawa for Giggs saw United actually get some kind of toehold into the game, though we may have got even more of grip of the game if Fellaini had been the player to be replaced. It's usually thought that Fellaini gets left on for his defensive capabilities and physical presence. But he can't even do that, so besides giving the ball away continuously, he was losing headers and not competing in the tackle. At least with three central midfielders on a nodding acquaintance with the ball, on those occasions when United did have the ball, they would have had chance to get at Bayern's less than stellar back four.
It was a pity we couldn't hold out for the 1-0, that was probably Moyes hoped for result, but in fairness, it would probably have been a travesty if Bayern had come away from the game with nothing. It's hard to see us coming away from Bayern with a result, but if Moyes can manage to see his way to leaving Fellaini out and putting Kagawa or Januzaj into the mix, who knows.
There were two reasons for that outcome as far as I am concerned. First, the players selected showed far more spirit than they managed to muster against either of City or Liverpool. Secondly, i feel that this Bayern team are a little over-hyped, they do not yet belong to the class of Barca 2011 or the great Milan teams of the late 80's and 90's. Yes they had a massive percentage of possession, but to have only troubled De Gea three or four times, well, we all saw what City and Liverpool managed.
I wasn't that enamoured of Moyes team selection or his tactics, or should i just say the inclusion of Fellaini. After the last round he had to pick Giggs, though his removal at half time, suggests he hadn't really wanted to. There certainly looked nothing wrong with Giggs as he left the pitch at half time. Giggs never really got into the game, that's fair enough, but he can't have been helped having Fellaini next to him. At 40 years of age, he does need someone to be his "legs", and the last person you would entrust that to, would surely be Fellaini. I know I'm a broken record on the subject of our mop headed Belgian, but really, a Manchester United player, really! He was shocking last night, he was so out of place, on that pitch against Europe's best, it was laughable. We were playing the champions of Europe with ten men for most of the match.
And then Moyes tactics, some have argued that he got it right, it was the only way we could have lived to fight another day. Well I'm not having that, we gave Real Madrid more than a run for their money in last years last sixteen with basically the same squad. The difference was the manager, Moyes managed United last night as if we were Everton as countless bloggers have today stated. Everybody behind the ball and then just launch long balls in the direction of Danny Welbeck. I'd love to have seen how we would have played if Van Persie hadn't got injured. Given that when Rooney and Van Persie are both fit, Moyes will play them both, how on earth would last nights tactics have worked.
Credit to Welbeck for the fist he made of the job, he was our best player on the night for me, once again proving that this is the level he belongs at. It's just that at the moment, under Moyes, Manchester United don't belong at this level, despite last nights result. I couldn't see anything wrong with Welbecks first goal that was disallowed, typical of his luck that it was rubbed out and then he made a mess of our best chance of the match later on in the first half. But he'll get no stick from me for that miss, his was about the only "real" Manchester United performance of the night.
I suppose credit has to go to our patched up and geriatic back four, with not much in the way of protection from our midfield, they held firm. Buttner has received some praise, but to be honest I think it was just relief he wasn't the walking disaster we had feared. I have to admit that Rio and Vidic's performance, far exceeded my wildest hope, it was almost like the good old days.
The introduction of Kagawa for Giggs saw United actually get some kind of toehold into the game, though we may have got even more of grip of the game if Fellaini had been the player to be replaced. It's usually thought that Fellaini gets left on for his defensive capabilities and physical presence. But he can't even do that, so besides giving the ball away continuously, he was losing headers and not competing in the tackle. At least with three central midfielders on a nodding acquaintance with the ball, on those occasions when United did have the ball, they would have had chance to get at Bayern's less than stellar back four.
It was a pity we couldn't hold out for the 1-0, that was probably Moyes hoped for result, but in fairness, it would probably have been a travesty if Bayern had come away from the game with nothing. It's hard to see us coming away from Bayern with a result, but if Moyes can manage to see his way to leaving Fellaini out and putting Kagawa or Januzaj into the mix, who knows.
No comments:
Post a Comment