so is the Carling Cup for everyone- unless we are winning it. EL and CC is still better than nothing. We have no guarantee that we will win the league. We threw it away and thats just arrogant.
even with our strongest 11 we would still have got torn apart, the mentality and concentration in Europe has not been there this season, seems the Barca defeat is still fresh and holding us back.
If they upped their game, then we will find out in next round. We all shaw what happened to Basel vs FC Byern Munich
thats the thing i bet in the next round they prob end up getting proper hammered, but still even if we did get through we was going to end up getting a massive hiding from someone.
Losing final to them again last season was just add insult to the injury from the original lose in 2009.
as for Fergie getting a step closer to Barca well he can carry on dreaming, its just shown the hard work he and the players need to put, rest assured he wont let them forget this and if they dont respond quite a few will be out of that exit door, need a few reinforcements in the summer and get rid of some players,
There's not much he could do anyway...Any team in the world would struggle against Bilbao at there place. Barca one of the best sides too have played the game were very lucky to get a draw there. Add in the fact we don't have a ball winner in the midfield against a team who likes to keep the ball and attack and you're always going to struggle. It also doesn't help when you're missing your best player and your player of the season from the starting line up either. At the end of the day, we are in a transitional period. We've lost so much experience in the past 12 months and the injuries we've had this season doesn't help either. If it wasn't for fergie this season in the league I shudder to think where we would be. Yes he's made few questionable descions but he's human, that happens. I think this season, especially our form in Europe where we've been shown up by technical sides will show him that we really need to invest on a ball winner in midfield and perhaps a creative midfielder too. If we get them two in we will be so much stronger and be able to compete with the best again IMO
I understand but I can't come around that he seemingly gave up after.. 23 minutes?! Talk about United spirit.
What makes you say he gave up after 23 minutes? I wouldn't say it was until he brought on Pogba and Smalling that he "gave up". Even then it isn't about United spirit, it was about proitising IMO, no point going full out busting your balls for something you have maybe a 5 per cent chance of even brining the game to extra time and been knackered for a huge game against Wolves the weekend. Especially if the lads didn't go through after giving it there all...it could have lead to injuries too. One positive is, Pogba got some minutes in Europe and did well. No injuries into the weekend is a huge plus too. Look I hate losing as much as the next guy, but I've said it since we entered this tournament, the sooner we went out the better. It's not a defeatous attitude but it's just that we're going to have to focus completely on the league if we were going to win it IMO
Well i'm not sure anyone knew what Fergie was thinking and that starts with the team. We started 4-5-1 a formation i can't remember us playing since we lost to Barca in last years Champs league final, so i doubt the players actually knew their position especially Park and Cleverly both were either out on the wing or in the middle, meaning we didn't have a right winger... not that it would have mattered cause we barely got the ball out of defence anyway, which leads me to my next point. What the hell were we thinking slowing the ball up and playing out of the back? Alright start off like that but once you realise they are playing high up and will run their asses off do something, change the style of play, become more direct, try the long ball, change up formation anything don't just keep playing the pass it in defence, back to keeper, back to centre back then to full back, who runs with ball who then loses it. I mean it was predictable as hell, yet we kept doing it. As for going forward, bugger me what was that, beautiful attacking Manchester United or a team who are afraid to have a pop so they just endlessly recycle the ball and shock horror eventually lose it. That type of play may work in the premier league against teams who are afraid to attack us but against a team who had already given us a spanking the week prior, nah it's not going to happen. If we wanted to play possession football we should have at least had a certain number 22 on the pitch. Anyway as for the subs, i think it was a case of "fuck it, lets see what this Pogba kid can do, he can hit 'em long range". I think Smalling was because Rio was either injured, most likely from a rectum tear. We should have attacked them from the start or at least attempt to it might have changed the corse of the game a little. But quite frankly on the night they were as good as we were shit..... and we were pretty bloody shit.
Well, the concensus is not that he was clueless or that it was the best option to remain status quo so he must have given up then (?). I don't know which is why I started this thread to ask. Great to see Pogba with his first European experience though.
The last CL game the midfield vs Basel : Giggs-Jones The last 16 EL the midfield first leg vs Balboa : Giggs-Jones Make what you will out of that midfield selection.
second goal surely killed all our chances and the moment you saw Fergie taking off Rio and Carrick .. it was clear he wanted those two for the tie against Wolves ....
But absolutely nothing was done for 42 minutes between their 2 goals at 23rd and 65th minutes that is mind boggling.
just shows how good barcelona didn't have to be to utterly destroy fergies teams and his own personal management calibre in Europe .. Far to many average teams have put united to the sword in Europe in fergies reign and i include bayern and Chelsea in the finals in that as we were lucky in both. The premiership is a pi$$ poor league supported by the best camera work and technical support in the world . How many players are poached from it to go abroad . Not very many . Save ronaldo the rest of united's departed have been chucked out through clashing with fergie . For a few years he has let the fans blame the glaziers for the teams lack of style and creativity but really the buck stops with fergie. He has bought badly over the years yet never seems to be able to admit it. If he had been at any other top European club he would have been fired long long ago. We are at the stage now as scottish football in that there is only ever going to be one challenger to the crown. The fact that we have done it time and time again is a huge advantage to us and he has put us in that position so he is a good manager, even now. However he is not in the same league as mourinho, ,guardiola ,Hiddink etc who know what it takes to do it on the big stage . He is a legend but his reign has always left a nasty after taste with his treatment of the really great Manchester united players who deserve their place as europe's elite . None of this current squad can be regarded as that im afraid to admit. The club is stale and we need fresh ideas and a different regime. Yes we may live to regret it but our football is rubbish and every fan knows where are main problems are but such is his contempt for everyone around him ,he insists on doing it his way. Its working ,we are top of the tree with it ours to lose but i know he will upset the style and quality again this weekend and i think we will drop points .I hope i am wrong but i have no confidence in the man, legend or not
