Toothless Manchester United hold to goalless draw by determined Marseille in UEFA Champions League
It was one of the most disappointing performances of the season for Manchester United and that includes the loss at the hands of the Wolves earlier in the English Premier League. Sir Alex Ferguson’s team looked completely out of sorts and short of ideas
when it came to finding a way past the Marseille defence.
There were bad and misplaced passes throughout the game and to add to that, there was lack of coordination between the midfield and the attack. Despite their best efforts, whenever United managed to make it to the French team’s box, a final ball was always
missing. The killer ball inside the box could have made all the difference and a forgetful night for ManU could still have been one worth mentioning.
Sir Alex Ferguson made a big mistake by fielding a 4-3-3 formation that has been a norm with him this season in Europe. And to be fair to him, Manchester United have won all their away games in Europe prior to this one. However, it is possible that could
have given Marseille a bit more respect than they deserved and a wee bit more attacking approach could have done his team a lot of good.
The midfield lacked a man with composure and vision. Normally http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ryan-Giggs-c31985 was out injured and did not travel with
the team whereas Paul Scholes was given a place on the bench by Sir Alex. Had he started the game, it may have been a different story altogether, which he showed when he was substituted in the last 20 minutes of the game.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 was forced to play out of position since Berbatov was in the centre while playing the 4-3-3 formation. Rooney had to run on the flank. However, since there was not much coming his way from the midfield, Rooney was quite useless on the left.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nani-c27299 continues to amaze everyone with his on-again-off-again form. The Portuguese showed a lot of promise this season and after Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit, it was hoped that he would step up to fill the void. He did start to flourish to some extent, but continues
to come up with these kinds of performances where he takes one step forward and goes two steps back. He was not much use on the right in the attack and his habit of holding onto the ball too long and taking wild shots from a distance did not serve ManU’s purpose.
Sir Alex realised he needed to shake things up in the second half and with 20 minutes left, finally decided to send in his old stalwart, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paul-Scholes-c29394. The midfield marshal showed the team how they should have played. Though he did not have a lot of time
to make his presence felt, he did make a difference in the final third of the game.
Still, ManU huffed and puffed, but failed to get the precious away goal against Marseille. The match ended 0-0. The French team must be happy with the outcome and will now travel to Old Trafford in three weeks knowing that if they get one goal in, they will
be in the driving seat.
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