Have we blown our chances of qualifying the Champions League after last night’s draw against Southampton?
No. Not yet, in my opinion. However you can’t get away from the fact that with this group of players there is a self-destruction mode that’s always been there. Is it the pressure of playing for United? Is it simply not being good enough? It’s probably a little bit of both. But what the last week has reinforced for me is how poor of a league it’s been. Everyone is dropping points and nobody is taking advantage. That’s why the title was handed to the scousers on a plate this season.
I’ve been saying for a few weeks – and faced some criticism for it on Twitter – that I felt pressure would be play a big part in these last few weeks of the season. I know better than anyone how it can grip you. How it can make you feel not normal. Your passing and concentration can go awry.
This is a subconscious thing. It’s not on purpose, it’s a malfunction in the brain. I know when people see me talk about it they think I’m being negative but it’s just an observation about what I can relate to. I’ve been there, when times are hard and your legs suddenly feel heavy, almost as if you’re literally carrying the weight of expectation.
Sometimes you can just smell it in the air. There was something about that game last night that had that feeling from the very first minute. You can’t just forget the mistakes of the past and pretend they didn’t happen. Many of those players who played last night have been at the club for years and they have been a part of the failure and miserable football.
It has been great to see United playing well and with freedom but it’s been an easy ride until last night. Last night was an opportunity for United to make a statement, almost like a Cup Final as many of these games will feel like for the rest of the season. It seemed like the players knew that and couldn’t get going. And United, as impressive as they have been, are still not good enough that they can afford for half of their team to not turn up. Their improvement means they can get away with one or two being below par.
Ironically, I’d say one of the players who gets most of stick, Anthony Martial, was the one who stood up most. He was outstanding. He’s been labelled as lazy and that tag hasn’t gone away with his good form. But I can see he is just selective with his runs and he is so intelligent. When he’s given the service he’s deadly. I had grown into thinking Marcus Rashford was much better than him – but I do wonder about Marcus’ decision making. I still have a nagging concern about his intelligence on the ball when it comes to making the right decisions. There is no doubt he has glimpses of brilliance but an overall improvement is needed.
Nemanja Matic came in for some stick for his performance. But I do think he did okay considering the other midfielders were so poor with the basics of their game. United needed to win their battles and keep it simple and effective but they always seem to be undermined when Pogba’s Achilles’ heel comes into play and he tries to be a peacock, taking too many touches and overplaying. He’s been so good – brilliant in fact – other the last five games but he’s never far away from the inconsistencies which plague his game.
He could be tired – he looked it – but come on, these are prime throughbreds that have the best care in the world. Tiredness is not an excuse for failing to do the basics as he did yesterday. So that puts the onus on other players and it makes them anxious to compensate. Bruno Fernandes was trying too hard and this can happen when you are that anxious to do well.
The draw was a reminder for me that we are still five or six players away from a title challenging team. We do look a lot better, but the mental leadership is still missing. The way the game ended showed that. I don’t see any players having a go at anybody – they don’t grow on trees, but we’re missing a Keane type player. We’re also missing a goalkeeper that commands his area and that is telling when you’re up against teams who get rough and aggressive in and around the penalty area.
There were injury concerns after the game, with Luke Shaw coming off. It looked like a ligament strain – I’ve done that numerous times. It’s sore when you do it, but unless it’s serious, you can strap it up and play in a few days. He has been a lot better lately but I don’t think it’s such an important injury that it would cause complete panic if he doesn’t. If he could cross the ball better he might reflect being one of the best paid full-backs in the world – as it is, players like Dalot should see this as an opportunity if Brandon Williams is out.
Ole has also gone to a back three in the past to compensate for injuries and I think that would be my way to go forward to tighten up at the back – bringing in Bailly for a bit of no-nonsense defending.
My team would look like this :
De Gea
Lindelof Maguire Bailly
Wan-Bissaka Bruno McTominay Pogba Shaw
Martial Rashford
We’ve seen that before – it gives a bit of cover at the back, and isn’t negative as it pushes the full backs on. It would give the opportunity for Matic to have a rest and also Greenwood, who came up against an experienced full-back in Ryan Bertrand who didn’t give him a kick. Mason will have to learn from this because he’s already shown he’s no longer an unknown quantity.
The top four is still there to be achieved. It will probably go to the last game and then we’ll really get an answer to whether these players can handle the pressure of playing for United.
In the FA Cup I make City favourites, primarily because they can rotate and suffer no ill-effect. United, on the other hand, can’t do that even when mailing 2 or 3 changes. Still – it should be an exciting end to the season. And it wouldn’t be United if we didn’t make it difficult for ourselves – have they ever made it easy?
