If that happens Im sure we will still finish second,but as others have said it could turn out alright and we get to the last 8 where its anyone vs anyone,so lets see what happens
Head to head takes prescedant, then goal difference if the aggregate is equal. Basle deserved to beat us at home and it would be no surprise if they finished the job in Switzerland. We are far too relaint on wingers at present, I feel like I have time travelled back to 2001!I thought we learned this lesson in Europe?We are far too easy to defend against, far too predictable.Every time the play goes wide to our wingers who are double marked.Our central midfileders couldnt create tedium. Why wasnt Pogba, Petrucci or Morrison on the bench?Who can all pick a pass and would have improved our creativity hugely.Instead we have Gibson warming his fat arse on the bench.Who could blame Pogba for looking elsewhere when he cant even get ahead of Gibson shadowing the worst central midfield United have had in 20 years.
Pack the midfield, compensate for lack of quality with quantity. This will also help protect the defence.
Notice Berbetov goal was his first in the champions league since his double against Celtic 2008, his goal last night as was his double back then , were all offside
"If we want to win the thing..........". I commend your confidence, but....I think you should add a splash of reality to your cocktail. Can you really see that happening this season?
Head to head takes precedence. That's why Benfica are above us in the group already, despite having inferior GD.
Away goals I would assume. 2-2 at OT against 1-1 at the Sunderland ground. I dunno what game you lot were watching, but I thought our midfield was actually really strong. Or did I just dream that performance from Carrick? Jones and Fabio aren't in our first choice defence. And you could tell that the communication wasn't really there. But apart from their goals and a few half chances, they didn't create much. I think it's just the media paddling the hysteria over our results in the CL this season.
This. Didn't actually watch the game as no Sky and proper internet isn't installed till next week so no streaming. But from the commentary it sounded more like elementary mistakes were what gave Benfica their goals, rather than the usual porous midfield. We just need to cut that **** out.
I agree with you, I've said on another thread that Carrick's performance was encouraging. He needs the creative sperk alongside him though, not Fletcher. Indivdually Fletcher also improved throughout the game but together it's a dull partnership. Cleverly would sort that out, as would a much needed purchase in the transfer window. It was good to see Young back, he'll now hopefully reach the level of the start of the season, and also Smalling which will hopefully lead to a settled defence. I can see us gradually picking up in form now as the season goes on..
It wasn't mistakes as such, it was just sloppy all round. The own goal was just bad positional play from all of our defence and in Jones's defence, he had to get something on the cross otherwise a Benfica player behind him had a tap in but he was just in a muddle. Their 2nd goal came from a poor kick from De Gea, something he had trouble all night I thought which was odd because his distribution off the ground (and from his hands) is normally impeccable. But even so, it was unbelievable how the Benfica player just ran through the defence and it was a combination of a bit of bad luck and sloppyness. The key to Carrick's performance was that he had space to play in. And he wasn't exactly just sitting in the hole either. He looked for the little give and go's, pushed forward and controlled a game. Probably the first time since the United CL games against Chelsea last season. But it was odd because defensively I thought both were good. Carrick made a couple of great tackles, including the one he got wrongly yellow carded for, he got the ball! Even if it was from behind (very debatable), it should have been a foul at the most. I digress but it was a very good all round performance from Carrick. We haven't seen a Carrick and Cleverley partnership yet and if the combination of Carrick and Anderson tells us something, the C-C partnership should be a good one.
Being bitter , next thing you will be telling me , when giggs pulled his hamstring against us , it was a penalty. Whoops the ref gave you that as well
Agreed, but the key stage of the CL starts in February, the only important thing now is to qualify. There is a reason Utd are still ranked #1 in the UEFA coefficient.
They will be when the current owners grow bored, pull out and the players all desert the sinking ship! You thought Leeds demise was fast, watch City go into oblivion.
