You can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times Manchester United have been rank outsiders at Old Trafford over the last two decades, but these are strange times. Tuesday evening provided United with a chance to fight for their right against the standard of club that Jose Mourinho was appointed to compete with. These days, they’re barely winning the fight against themselves.
For all the belief that part-performances against Newcastle United and Chelsea provided, this was a dose of reality and another slump in competence. One step forward, one more back; this is the new Manchester United dance.
This fixture should be special. It conjures up images of Roy Keane in 1999, throwing off the reputation of defensive enforcer with one of the best displays of passing dynamism you could ever wish to see. It reminds of Ryan Giggs’s supreme solo goal in 2003, silencing the Stadio Delle Alpi during the season in which the Old Lady would reach the final.
But if Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester gave the Old Trafford crowd a chance to salute a former hero, the lingering mood may not be as warm. Ronaldo, 1999 and 2003 are memories of a gloried past that is become more distant with each backwards step into the dark.
Chasm between the sides
Juventus were embarrassingly dominant for large swathes of the match. They registered more than 70 per cent possession in the first half and had ten shots to United’s one. United’s midfielders chased spaces as a kitten might pursue its own shadow, eager but ultimately destined to paw only at air.
As home defenders launched the ball clear and David de Gea made a series of important saves to keep Juventus in sight, this had the feel of a Serie A match with United playing the role of Fiorentina, Torino or Parma. There is a chasm between these clubs, and it is widening. As ‘Glory, glory Man United’ played out on the half-time whistle, you wondered whether anybody has considered saving the song for when it seems less sarcastic.
Juventus’ only enemy was complacency. They had two or three chances to extend their lead even before half-time and put Group H to bed, but after the break chose to slow down the tempo noticeably rather than push for the second. That did allow United back into the match.
But Wojciech Szczesny was barely forced into a save. Again, United only pushed forward after adversity.
Competence comes as a shock
United still have world-class players who commanded lofty transfer fees and salaries, but who within this squad thrusts their hand in the air and drags it to higher ground when the flood comes like Ronaldo and Keane? If De Gea is the closest thing to a saviour, no elite club should be quite so reliant on their goalkeeper for so long.
What about Alexis Sanchez, absent on Tuesday but virtually AWOL ever since becoming the highest paid player in England back in January? What about whichever two central defenders Mourinho picks, from whom competence now comes as a shock? What about Nemanja Matic, who let Paulo Dybala run into the area and convert Juventus’ opening goal despite being able to see him squarely in front of him? Matic barely broke into a jog.
And what about Paul Pogba? If Ronaldo is proof of what United once were, Juventus might remind Pogba of what he used to be. In his final two seasons in Turin, Pogba was the most complete midfielder in world football. He played with a swagger that emphasised his belief that no opponent could push him off his stride. The concern was how to stop Pogba. Now the focus is on how to get him going.
United no longer have players of the ability to match Juventus, but it is their passivity that is most suffocating. The Italians’ speed of transition – first touch, look, pass – was infinitely quicker than United’s. That highlights a lack of confidence but also an unforgivable absence of intensity. Too many opposition players are given extra half-seconds and half-spaces to make decisions.
This was not quite the sensational homecoming that Ronaldo planned, the chance to remind Manchester United what they could have won. But nor did it need to be. After five minutes, a pitch invader got close to Juventus’ No. 7 and shook his hand. That man kept up with his man more effectively than most Manchester United players.
There is nothing to suggest that any of United’s squad does not care or is taking it easy, but there is a passivity to their performances – particularly in the first half – that would be alien to Ronaldo and his former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. A club that led the way for two decades, particularly at Old Trafford, now sits and waits for things to happen. In this game, bad things generally come to those who wait.
The post Manchester United display unforgivable absence of intensity in lacklustre defeat to Juventus appeared first on inews.co.uk.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2q8dvkU
Post a Comment