Shock Defeat For The Red Devils
It appears Cristiano Ronaldo or no Cristiano Ronaldo, the Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde Manchester United refuses to go away. We slumped to our first defeat in the season in our maiden Champions League match this season. You can’t win them all and at some point during the season, a team will lose, a fact that I can accept.
Great Start
We got off to a great start early in the game when Cristiano Ronaldo converted a great assist from Bruno Fernandes; it was our first real attempt on goal. On a counter-attack after scoring the first goal, Ronaldo nearly made it 2–0. That was as good as it got for us in an attacking sense. We had a shout at a penalty in the second half when Ronaldo raced clear of the Young Boys defender, Ali Camara who appeared to nudge him in his back.
Turning Point
The turning point in the game came in the 35th minute of the match when Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sent off. I will not criticise Wan-Bissaka for getting sent off as he made a genuine attempt at getting the ball but just over-stepped his tackle. I would put it down as misfortune on his part. Before his sending off, we were not threatening too much but we were in control.
Lack Of Composure & Mental Strength
Ole Gunnar Solksjaer has taken a lot of flak for his substitutions in trying to manage the game at 1–0 with 10 men for 55 minutes. It’s easy for us to say he should have done this or that and a manager is judged by the success and failure of his choices which in this case, he failed (AGAIN). I will not delve deeper into the topic of substitutions. However, I would say that we didn’t manage the game well at 1–0 with 10 men. We have players with experience of playing in the Champions League, World Cup, European Championships, Copa America matches but yet we showed a lack of composure and mental fortitude to manage the game.
Lack Of Concentration
Despite being under the cosh, I felt we dealt with Young Boys’ threat well. Luke Shaw did well all night in blocking crosses from his flank. The one time he lost concentration and was slow to cut out the cross, it resulted in a goal. For the winning goal, a substitute that wasn’t really in the game since coming on plays a weak back pass and the rest we know what happened. It was a very disappointing and upsetting end. I could imagine the abuse Jesse Lingard would get on social media for that mistake when the winning goal was scored. If not for that, we could have escaped with a draw but to be fair, even with 10 men, we should have done better in the second half in retaining possession and attacking.
Ronaldo & Varane’s Response
I will be interested to know the response of players like Ronaldo and Raphael Varane in the dressing room after this defeat; two new signings, two players accustomed to winning and know what it takes to win. What impact will their words and action have on the team? How will it affect the team? I would love to be a fly in the wall leading up to the weekend match. On to the next one then.
*Article 225
