So we lost the match, we lost to the better team on the night, but they know that their "noisy neighbours" mean business now.
We won the home leg, but a 2-1 home win was never enough to take to the swamp, especially with the lack of players we have at the moment. To play with 3 defensive minded midfielders was imo never going to work, as with utd we all know that they can score out of nothing and will punish any mistake that our (at times) shambolic defence makes.
The main difference for me is the midfield. The two teams lined up with similar formations, 4-5-1, but utd have players in midfield in Fletcher and Carrick who can be defending one minute and the next both be in our 6 yard box (look at their 2nd goal) and scholes who gets in or around the box whenever possible, where as i can barely remember a moment when one of our central mid players got into their box. Maybe we could have started ireland, but i'm not sure that was the answer, i just think our players need to be more willing to do the box-to-box job. Utd just dont get scared, they have 20 years experience of playing against top class teams in champs league, they know how to play in any type of match (even if their team looks pants) which is something we're still learning about.
Boyata was good, for his age and lack of experience he looks quality. Kompany is great on his day, and today he did some great defending, but overall he was poor, too eager to make a challenge and was out of position too often. We need our defence back, and if we had Toure, Lescott and bridge available then tonight could have been very different.
Unlucky City, I absolutely adore you.
THIS IS OUR CITY