As expected, Manchester United did win their CL group and will therefore go into next Friday's draw as a top seed and play the second leg of their knock-out tie at home.
Now firstly, it was disappointing to lose our winning record in Europe against such opposition. Then, it was disappionting to lose goals the way we did. On a whole, our defense is the one element that does not look as good as last season. The goals conceded in the Carling Cup against Blackburn and yesterday should go a long way in exposing our frailties. Much as it was not that much of an important game, United must be aware that in the modern era, technology plays a part in how teams approach games. Any coach can use a video of one of those games and plot a coup--much to the team's astonishment. I'm particularly worried for our right-back slot as even Rafael may not be able to stand up to big and pacy forwards who may want to impose themselves. Much does depend on how fast Wes Brown can return as he was the unsung hero of our Double act.
John O'Shea does not give the slightest hope as far as replacing Evra is concerned for the next 5 weeks. His height is an asset and I think it's better he stays back and lets Rafael do the marauding. The games coming up in the next few weeks are not difficult but the opposition are the type that can take their chances. That brings me to another area of concern. This season, United have already created enough chances to win the league but unfortunately, we have taken few. I thought that the price tag was a little heavy on Berba's head so that could explain why he has not been putting chances away. So Tevez should find it easier...well it seem that may not be the case afterall. Tevez could have one the game for us within five minutes. He had 4 very good goalscoring opportunities last night but only took one--which to me was the hardest. Credit to him, he does create most of them for himself unlike the Bulgarian but the bottom line is that neither takes them. He looked very composed infront of goal against Blackburn and that is the composure that we can only hope for going into the weekend's game with Spurs. It' gonna be a hell of a tough game for us!
Now the draw for the last 16 is going to be the most fatal in he history of this competition. I 've already put my money on a tie against Real Madrid but can you believe that we can still play Inter-Milan! Mr. Jose has already accounted for a United exit in Europe so I doubt He'll be doing us any favours if we draw them. Ideally, the easiest tie on paper can be a tie with Sporting Lisbon--Oh How I Wish!
