It
is sad how Manchester United’s ‘season with silverware’ ended… unless one is
brave enough to think that United will actually (on current form) goes all the
way and wins the Champions League – and qualify for next season’s campaign as
defending champion. Maybe the tiny little bit of confidence comes from knowing
that with the quality of the current squad, United can actually secure a Europa
League spot (yes Europa League – not Champions League) by merit…To
do so they need to finish 5th or 6th and trying to catch
teams like Everton, Tottenham Hotspurs or even maybe Liverpool. Possibility is
still there but David Moyes’ United is currently severely short of confidence
or even identity – it seems like the squad does not know who they are playing
for at all.
To
be fair the extra time is justified as Sunderland is playing well enough – and
seems hungrier – to be in Wembley. Manchester United however seems content to
drag into a penalty shootout, where it becomes like a lottery to determine the
winner. And the ‘boys’ selected for the tasks remain boys after the shootout.
Every single penalty takers are relatively young and inexperience. Makes one
wonder why David Moyes did not bring on the experienced Ryan Giggs from the
bench during the extra time, given the fact that he (Moyes) was targeting a
penalty shootout. And for once David de Gea fumble – and badly at that. He did makes
amend during the shootout, only to be let down by the ‘boys’ from his team.
Experience
like this will however makes one stronger. The likes of Phil Jones, Danny
Welbeck, Adnan Januzaj and Rafael da Silva will learn from this failure – if
they are properly guided. With the news (unconfirmed so far) of the impending
arrival of Juan Mata from Chelsea, it seems like David Moyes and the Manchester
United’s hierarchy had finally decided to make that one drastic change – to save
their trophyless season. But who is to say United cannot win the Champions
League this season – stranger things had happened before?
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