Incompatibility

I was up last night to catch some Champions League action and i flipped between Celtic vs Manchester United and Real Madrid vs Juventus. I noticed a stark difference between their styles of play and it is this difference that resulted in 3 of the 4 semi-finalists in the same competition last year to be English. The modern game is characterized by pace and the tempo which the team is capable of playing at. The faster and higher tempo u can play in, and the longer you can keep that up, the better team you are.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool were, and still are, capable of playing fast-paced games and can keep the tempo up for long periods in the game. The likes of Real Madrid, Juventus and Milan have been left behind in the wake of this revolution for some years now, and have yet to see continental success in the last 5 years. They are languid and pensive in their approach, patiently probing for openings. Although cautious, it is harder to get a result against swifter opponents.

They may have to rethink their strategy in tactics and player recruitment if they were to stay competitve with not just the clubs from England, but also examples like Inter Milan and to a lesser extent, Lyon.

Manchester United's Chances in Europe

Five games, five victories, and United are through to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Only two other teams have remained unbeaten in the group stages, Chelsea and Barcelona. Although the teams that were in Group F were not exactly what you would call serious contenders for the Champions League, coming away from Kiev and Lisbon 4-2 and 1-0 winners is quite a feat. Coupled together with dominating performances at home, the Red Devils look the best bet for a strong showing in Europe this season.

As a United fan myself, I would love to see that happen. But this is dependent on two factors. Firstly, the Cristiano Ronaldo factor. He has netted 14 goals in 18 games this season, 5 of which have come in the 5 European games he appeared in. He sure is peaking, but is it too early? If he burns out prematurely, this could cause serious problems to United in all competitions. You could say there are still the likes of Tevez, Rooney and Saha to lead the front line. Tevez and Rooney are doing relatively ok while Saha is perpetually unfit yet somehow is able to contribute when called upon. The situation looks real bright. At least one of the three has to step up when (or if) Ronaldo wanes at the latter part of the season if United were to see success in any competition.

The second factor is the shaky defense that has been on display all season. They have conceded 13 goals so far this season, which doesn’t seem that bad a number initially. However conceding 5 in the last 7 is a statistic to worry about. The most consistent defensive performer this season has been Wes Brown, who is now in the middle of a distracting contract wrangle. The problem actually lies in the latent instability of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. They look solid on the whole and started off very hard and strong early in the season, but they are beginning to show a propensity to lose concentration, which was precisely why those goals were leaked. Such cracks will be gaping holes when they move deeper into the competition where the likes of Kaka, Ronaldinho and Ibrahimovic will prove to be much more of a problem. Reestablishing the once sound Ferdinand-Vidic partnership and holding on to Brown could be vital to their quest for silverware this season.

My humble opinion is that whether United do well in the Champions League this season is entirely dependent on their performance in the domestic league. The better they do in the league, the less likely they would do well in the Europe. They arguably have enough depth in the squad to challenge a minimum of two fronts, but the new batch of players lack the experience to compete at such a high level so often and perform consistently. However if there was one player that could bring back the 2^nd European title that Sir Alex so obviously wants and needs to surpass Sir Matt Busby and cement himself in United folklore, it will be that Portuguese Prodigy.