Red Devils Europe Quest ends in Milan
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I feel for only one player, and that is Heinze. He held MUFC for the first leg.Originally posted by Maurince:haiz.. i only find 1 devils is playing the game..
Poor VDS was so exposed so many times..
First 1st half was a giveaway.. Same to 2nd half..
the Devil really tio owned by Milan.. No excuses
for the poor performance by the boys..
Haiz.. Better luck next year.. Time to beefed up
the squad with quality player..
And in second leg, he really play his heart out. -
Yes, Liverpool has more ball-winners than MUFC and that's why they will succeed.Originally posted by SumOne:Liverpool does have more options to play around with than Man U did last night. -
actually, I expect more shots on goal from MUFC given the slippery nature and Dida just recovered from Injury.Originally posted by SumOne:Actually, not really. They were just outplayed. Pitch slowed the movement of the ball too, which suited Milan's game.
However, Milan fired the first shots and scored. -
Originally posted by zocoss:
I think OwenH is one fix.
[b]Fergie already planning next Euro tilt with Hargreaves at the heart
A final in Athens may have been taken away from Sir Alex Ferguson’s team but victory at City will take them to within touching distance of a ninth Premiership title. Ryan Giggs — who has eight such medals already — was the only United player with enough class to stop and talk after his team’s 3-0 defeat at the San Siro. "We just did not perform on the night and Milan deserved to go through," he admitted. "We are greedy and we wanted to win everything this year. We are out of the Champions League but we have got two other trophies to earmark. There is still a lot to play for and that’s what we have to tell ourselves. "Saturday was always going to be a big game but now there’s even more riding on it because we have to get a positive result to put the pressure on Chelsea." With their title rivals and FA Cup Final opponents seemingly struggling to overcome physical and mental fatigue, United must fancy their chances of a Double.
Indeed, if they beat a City team that has not scored at home since New YearÂ’s Day, and Chelsea fail to win at Arsenal on Sunday, then the Premiership title would go to Old Trafford with two games to spare. The Holy Grail has proved beyond Ferguson for another year but he has immediately turned to planning for another campaign. The United manager said: "Milan were better than us. They showed us where we need to get to. On the evidence of Wednesday, it could be a long journey, but not necessarily."
Taking their defending out of the equation — United’s first-choice back four would have been far less generous—Ferguson’s men suffered from a failure to interrupt the triangular passing rhythms of Milan’s outstanding midfield and an inability to hold possession at the top of their 4-2-3-1 formation.
Answer No 1 will arrive in the shape of Owen Hargreaves this summer. An £18million deal with Bayern Munich has been agreed in principle for the England midfield player who would add much-needed physical presence. Answer No 2 will arrive in a new centre forward. Ferguson has completely lost faith in Louis Saha and the Frenchman will be sold if at all possible this summer. Ideally, Ferguson would like Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbatov in his place.
The BulgarianÂ’s presence would not only bring United a natural attacking focus but also free Wayne Rooney from the restrictive role he was asked to play on Wednesday. Rooney is at his best 30 yards from goal with team-mates ahead of him, not in the role he occupied in Milan as the lone striker.
United face a struggle to snare Berbatov, one of the PremiershipÂ’s star turns. Initial soundings have not yielded much encouragement, and yesterday Spurs manager Martin Jol reiterated the clubÂ’s determination to hang on to him. Chelsea are also keen on Berbatov but Jol insisted: "I have no fears. The chairman wouldnÂ’t sanction it even if I would like to sell him.
Ferguson also has NewcastleÂ’s Michael Owen and BarcelonaÂ’s Eidur Gudjohnsen in mind, even though the latter does not quite fit the same centre-forward job description. These matters have been earmarked as a priority by Ferguson for some time. Wednesday may have exposed UnitedÂ’s deficiencies to a European audience but it told the Scot nothing he did not know already.
Quite simply, you can get away with cracks in your make-up in the Premiership. In Europe those cracks merely widen. But few recover their sense of purpose quicker than the PremiershipÂ’s first knight. Chances are the joke will be on City by Saturday tea-time.
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but it was his mistake that led to milan's 2nd goal.Originally posted by iceFatboy:I feel for only one player, and that is Heinze. He held MUFC for the first leg.
And in second leg, he really play his heart out.
the player i sympathize most for is scholes..he missed out on the '99 final through suspension and now they come so close but fell at the last hurdle.
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They tried, but every shot was blocked off or closed down by Milan. I think Milan after their experience with Liverpool in the final and seeing Man U's play against Roma, they knew not to let the English side take long shots.Originally posted by iceFatboy:actually, I expect more shots on goal from MUFC given the slippery nature and Dida just recovered from Injury.
However, Milan fired the first shots and scored.
Milan threw bodies infront of shots by Scholes and Carrick and rushed to deny them any chance to score from range. I think Milan themselves were pretty aware of their keeper not being 100% as well.
I think the early goal really helped Milan too because from then on, Man U had to chase. Milan could afford to sit back and defend which like any Italian side, they can do quite well. -
Milan defended in numbers, everytime united got the ball, there were already 7-9 players behind the ball.
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Man U had no plan B for that match or many other matches this season for that matter. Many a times they have relied on Ronaldo to carry or to win the game for them.Originally posted by iceFatboy:Yes, Liverpool has more ball-winners than MUFC and that's why they will succeed.
For example, against Everton, Man U only won after the introduction of Ronaldo into the game. To suceed in Europe, you always need to have a plan B or even plan C. This is something I believe Benitez is good at.
The Man U now is unlike the Man U that won the treble in 1999. Back then, whichever player you substituted in or out, the overall game plan still worked. -
true true. Hopefully this lost will plant some rethink into SAF.Originally posted by SumOne:Man U had no plan B for that match or many other matches this season for that matter. Many a times they have relied on Ronaldo to carry or to win the game for them.
For example, against Everton, Man U only won after the introduction of Ronaldo into the game. To suceed in Europe, you always need to have a plan B or even plan C. This is something I believe Benitez is good at.
The Man U now is unlike the Man U that won the treble in 1999. Back then, whichever player you substituted in or out, the overall game plan still worked.
And hopefully, they can strengthen the squads...
Gosh, I hate RATS!! -
well, it worked, and they deserve to be in the finals.Originally posted by omgukilledkenny:Milan defended in numbers, everytime united got the ball, there were already 7-9 players behind the ball. -
How much can they strengthen? They are in debt.Originally posted by iceFatboy:true true. Hopefully this lost will plant some rethink into SAF.
And hopefully, they can strengthen the squads...
Gosh, I hate RATS!! -
i think the failure of manu is mainly due to the wrong formation use by ferguson in the start.
why do he put giggs as forward centre n rooney as lone striker?
n ronaldo was switched to left winger? maybe he is trying to neuralize kaka n play defensive game.
playing defensive game is a doom from the start. -
The two away goals and early home goal greatly affected the remainder of the game. It may have been a more open match if Man U didn't concede so early. Milan itself would have been attacking more.Originally posted by omgukilledkenny:Milan defended in numbers, everytime united got the ball, there were already 7-9 players behind the ball. -
Actually, I think Fergie was playing more of a 4-5-1 formation. I saw Giggs on far right pretty often. If it was 4-4-2 playing as CF, he would have had Ronaldo still on the left but someone else on the right. But Flecther, Scholes and Carrick were always in the centre.Originally posted by 798:i think the failure of manu is mainly due to the wrong formation use by ferguson in the start.
why do he put giggs as forward centre n rooney as lone striker?
n ronaldo was switched to left winger? maybe he is trying to neuralize kaka n play defensive game.
playing defensive game is a doom from the start.
He has put Giggs and Ronaldo on opposite flanks pretty often this season, because he wants them to cut into the centre. But centre was effectively controlled by Gattuso and Seedorf. Everytime they tried to cut in, they would be effectively blocked off and forced to run into a defender.
To add, I think Rooney can't perform in a 4-5-1 formation. Remember England vs Portugal? I think Fergie played 4-5-1 to hold onto possession, which didn't happen actually. -
ac milan were far the better team and simply crushed a hapless manu squad. all the goals conceded were bcos of the defence.
too many players were focusing on seedorf winning the header in the penalty box and ignored the empty spaces around other players. but kudos for seedorf for spotting kaka with a perfect time header
second goal was a gift from heinze. a simply clearance would have done a job but he chose to pass to vidic who was being tightly closed down which forced an error from him. unlucky for vidic as his blocked only set up nicley for a seedorf volley.
defence were at all the wrong places for the third goal and the pass was inch perfect for gilardino thru on goal
milan's mind set was not to concede at all cost and look at the numbers they have at the back when manu start to counter. manu mind set was attack is the best defence. unfortunately italian teams are known to be very defensive esp if you have pirlo, gatusso and nesta in your team -
Man u is always good,except the weather that day no good!Remember ?It was raining at San Siro stadium,at the same time,Singapore was raining too,Jurong also raining!Originally posted by jianfish9:It was raining pretty heavily. The pitch was quite slippery. Everyone was like slipping every few steps. No excuse though, and Man Utd is very poor away from home in European matches. Maybe its due to SAF coaching. Like alittle psychological.
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Actually, Man U was bad in both defence and offence on the night itself. The midfield kept giving away passes and possession and despite employing a 5 man midfield, they had problems employing it to their advantage. Milan managed to close off many of the passes to their two wingers, sometimes Scholes, Carrick and Flectcher made it easy for them to do so.Originally posted by used:ac milan were far the better team and simply crushed a hapless manu squad. all the goals conceded were bcos of the defence.
too many players were focusing on seedorf winning the header in the penalty box and ignored the empty spaces around other players. but kudos for seedorf for spotting kaka with a perfect time header
second goal was a gift from heinze. a simply clearance would have done a job but he chose to pass to vidic who was being tightly closed down which forced an error from him. unlucky for vidic as his blocked only set up nicley for a seedorf volley.
defence were at all the wrong places for the third goal and the pass was inch perfect for gilardino thru on goal
milan's mind set was not to concede at all cost and look at the numbers they have at the back when manu start to counter. manu mind set was attack is the best defence. unfortunately italian teams are known to be very defensive esp if you have pirlo, gatusso and nesta in your team