Why Manchester United do not have a first choice playing 11
Manchester United qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League as group winners but at the same time they missed out on a unique record, to become the only side in the history of the competition to have qualified for the knock
out rounds without conceding a single goal.
But in the end they did it and the record won’t matter too much for Sir Alex’s side as they did the job at hand in the most efficient of manners. In fact, United’s last match of the group stage presented a true picture of their
entire group stage campaign, they were efficient, did so with minimal effort and never even had to hit top gear to get past their opponents. Over the course of 2 months of the grueling group stages, not once did United give anyone an idea as to how they would
be faring in the later stages of the competition.
They played six matches in the competition, scoring seven times along the way and conceding only once in the process and yet no one knows anything about their season that they already didn’t know. Perhaps there was something about
Sir Alex’s moaning about the continual absence of Owen Hargreaves right before their match against Valencia. It has been four years to the day that United were mauled at the San Siro by an Italian team that prompted Sir Alex to splash out 18 million pounds
to buy a defensive shield to sit in front of his defenders to give them extra protection but 4 years on and United are still missing that protective shield. One can only wonder if United would have lost the Champions League final against Barcelona two years
ago if Owen Hargreaves was playing in their midfield, if they would still have lost to Bayern Munich in last year’s quarterfinal if instead of Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves was deployed in the midfield.
Perhaps we will never know the answers to these questions and can only speculate as to what could have happened but the fact of the matter is that United have once again navigated through the group stages without a proper defensive
midfielder and did so with masterful ease, only conceding one goal in the process.
Another qualm about their performances this season is their profligacy in front of goal, no side has ever qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League scoring any fewer goals than United did this season, United’s attack in
6 six matches featured no less than 6 strikers and that is not a trait one could associate with a team that has title winning aspirations.
United first choice defence barely ever played together, although Nemenja Vididc featured in all 6 matches of the group stages but Evra and Rafael could only feature in 3 while Rio Ferdinand could only last for 2 and a half games.
Let alone being tested, their defence could not even get one proper game in. United’s fringe players gave no idea of what could be expected of them in the later stages and although their squad has players who can come up with the goods on the day so far no
evidence has been presented on this front.
6 games on in the season and no one yet knows what to expect from Manchester United. Sir Alex surprised all and sundry on Tuesday by playing Ben Amos in goal and playing the Da Silva twins together as the two full backs.
Perhaps only Ferguson knows what team he trusts the best to deliver the goods on the day and no one can second guess the manager, perhaps it is not a surprise that no one ever knows what is the manager’s first choice 11, maybe
he doesn’t know himself.
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