vs Tottenham (1-2), Southampton (0-0), Palace (2-0)
This is probably the first time I’ve
failed to post on this blog for three games running as I was away in
Switzerland with no laptop. Needless to say, I watched the games vs Tottenham,
Southampton and Crystal Palace. A tad disappointed with the way we approached
the first two games but delighted to see youth given a chance. I’ve heard a lot
about Tuanzebe and it seems that a lot of locals rate him highly. He had a
tough game vs Tottenham but improved in the following games. His performance vs
Palace was easily a 7/10. It’s always a pleasure to witness the emergence of an
exciting home-grown talent. Obviously, there’s plenty of work to be done but
our Reserve Team Player of the Year has done well when given a chance during
the past month.
The game vs. Palace gave us a
glimpse into the future as it featured as many as 9 players developed by United’s
academy. The team fielded was the youngest in Premier League history and the
boys (quite literally) produced a good display at Old Trafford....something
that’s become a rarity. It was great to see Harrop score on his debut and
produce a very good performance. Mitchell was excellent. Pogba scored his first
goal since January after scrumptiously assisting Harrop. Augurs well for the
final.
Anyway, the Palace game brought
an end to a very poor Premier League season. I expected so much more than a 6th
place finish behind the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal. We’ve finished 24
points adrift of Chelsea. There’s a lot to be done if we want be more
competitive next season as we risk becoming a cup competition team (just like
Liverpool since their last title win) without any real power to finish the
marathon that is the Premier League on a high. Technically, Chelsea and
Tottenham are miles ahead of us, as the league table tells, City are bound to
get better next season and Liverpool aren’t half bad either.
What went wrong this year is definitely
up front. Ibra scored a lot of goals but there wasn’t anyone that came close to
his goal record. I expect more goals from Pogba, Mkhi, Martial and Rashford.
Mkhi scored a few cup goals but his contribution in the PL was poor. We’ve got
some excellent forward players but they’ve fluffed chance after chance. I can
think of 8 PL games which we deserved to win but had to do with a draw...that’s
16 points! We would’ve qualified for the Champions League and given Chelsea
some tough time. And that’s what makes me feel quite confident about next
season. It’s not like we were dominated in the games we failed to win this
season. It’s the opposite actually. We need a great finisher up front who’s got
pace and I think we can go that extra step next season. We already have an
excellent striker in Ibra but sometimes I feel that he slows down our play. We
need an explosive forward to partner Martial and Rashford. Griezmann said there’s
a 6/10 chance of him joining United....well, I wouldn’t mind him in a United
jersey J
I don’t think there’s much wrong
with our defense other than having a few defenders who spend more time on the
treatment table than on the field. Bailly has been a great buy. Valencia had a
very good season. Blind dependable and Rojo improved greatly. Jones was really
good when he played but Smalling had a bit of a bad season, in my opinion. I
think either Jones or Smalling will have to make way for a new defender this
summer. Shaw’s lack of improvement has been sad and Darmian has had a few good
games at left back. Our back four were backed by a top-class goalie who I don’t
think will be at Old Trafford next season. Whatever happens, I have full
confidence in our second goalie Romero.
Finally, a little word about
tomorrow’s final vs. Ajax. This is perhaps the club’s biggest game in years.
Winning it will save our season. There’s so much to play for tomorrow; a place
in the Champions League, promise of better players joining us in the summer and,
over and above all, a European trophy. If, at the start of the season, you
asked me to choose between seeing United end 2nd, 3rd or
4th in the league and not win the Europa League and ending 6th
but winning the Europa League, I would have most definitely chose the latter.
Silverware is silverware and winning this trophy will be a very important step
for Manchester United. Having said that, I really don’t want to see United in
the Europa League next season so that’s an extra incentive to win the final
tomorrow.
Ajax is a young side, a team that
creates chances for fun. Luckily, their forward line misses a lot of chances
too. I expect us to beat them but then again, I expected us to challenge for
the PL this season. Football’s a funny old game. Come on United!
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