A 2-1 DEFEAT will give Louis van Gaal plenty of food for thought but for long periods, they were in complete control. Still, it’s a results business and United need to be a lot better than they were in Eindhoven tonight.
Anthony Martial is hungry, energetic but shouldn’t have to shoulder such responsibility
After his goal against Liverpool at the weekend, it was inevitable that Anthony Martial would feature but it was still a surprise to see him start given van Gaal’s pre-match talk of having to lower expectations and avoid putting too much pressure on the youngster.
But, he played well. And combined really effectively with Memphis Depay on a number of occasions. He showed his pace when putting in the hard slog and pressing defenders while he got on the ball quite a lot – in sharp contrast to what we’ve seen from Wayne Rooney in the same role.
But, expecting such a young player to dive straight into a first start for the club and deliver is a big ask. Van Gaal said pre-game that the only reason Martial started was because he had no other option – perhaps some mind games at play – but still a greater reflection on United’s reluctance to sign another attacker in the transfer window considering they allowed so many to leave.
Under the circumstances, Martial did really well but as the game went on, the inexperience of the United attack showed and they panicked with plenty of time left – clearly feeling the stress. It was a bit frenzied – again, something to expect from a young forward line.
And maybe another sign that we’ve veered a long way from United under Ferguson.
The much-vaunted United defence is creaking and the loss of Luke Shaw is a massive blow
This was a strange game. PSV didn’t exactly cut United to ribbons and David de Gea had nothing to do except for having to retrieve the ball from his net.
The game-changer came with the Luke Shaw injury. Firstly, what an incredibly cruel moment given how excellent the full-back has been since the season has started. And the incident came from his magnificent burst into the penalty area – exactly what United have been lacking for a while – that penetration, that energy, that directness.
Secondly, United were forced into a change and instead of keeping Chris Smalling and Daley Blind alongside each other at the heart of the defence – a real positive for them this term – van Gaal decided to stick Marcos Rojo in at centre-back and moved Blind to the flank.
Before coming on, Rojo – who was linked with a move away from the club right at the death of the transfer window – was locked in conversation with his manager who was offering plenty of instruction.
But from there, the calmness and composure disappeared. In the immediate aftermath of the change, Rojo took a while to find his feet with misplaced passes and general difficulty. And it was no surprise that the winning goal came from Blind and Rojo unable to get to Versingh in time – the makeshift full-back lost the foot-race race while Rojo was caught underneath the cross despite Blind ordering him to drop deeper and watch the run behind him.
Of course, the initial error was made by Matteo Darmian who surrendered possession incredibly cheaply – an uncharacteristic mistake from a player that’s been quite solid since arriving.
The Shaw injury now breaks up what’s been a really impressive quartet and United will have to reconfigure.
If only Memphis Depay could bring his European form to the Premier League
Taken off at half-time against Liverpool at the weekend, it said much about the young Dutchman’s Premier League career so far: disappointing and frustrating.
He’s managed three goals since joining United but all of them have come in the Champions League and he seems to relish the space in Europe. In the English top-flight, he’s found it tough to find the gaps but it’s a different story on these midweeks nights under the lights.
He’s taken his goals superbly – there was the brace in the play-off first-leg against Club Brugge before tonight’s lovely effort. And there has been an assured nature in front of goal in this tournament where the pressure and deep defences have easily agitated and annoyed him in the Premier League – often resulting in poor decision-making or wayward passes and shots.
Still, he could’ve and probably should’ve had at least another one tonight – a low left-footed strike rolled narrowly wide of the far post moments after he had opened the scoring.
And there was his encouraging dynamic with Martial too.
But, it’s about consistency and Memphis needs to start conjuring something special domestically too.
