Manchester United lost their first match in the Champions League this season, after failing once more to score on a European night at Old Trafford. Paulo Dybala’s goal was enough for Italians to seal the win, while Valencia’s 1-1 draw against Young Boys means the Devils are still sitting in second halfway through the group stages.
After Juventus scored, Man United never really looked like equalizing. Their pure quality was on display to seal the match and return home with all three points. The Old Lady had 60 percent of possession, controlling for the most part of the match what was happening on the pitch.
A deeper look into numbers is offering something new to talk about after the Tuesday match.
Paul Pogba Does Not Offer Much
It is simple as that. It is not something that we did not really know, but against a top side like Juventus, we have got the confirmation of what is Paul Pogba offering to this team. Take away the flashy long balls that rarely get United anywhere precisely, or his long range shots that most of the time just turn out to be lost possessions and Paul Pogba really is not offering much.
Without the ball he looks uninterested for the most part. His running towards the opposition players is always slow, a type of a run for the sake of doing it, not for a particular reason other than to make it look like he is doing job. His sluggish runs without the ball are from sprints that leads to nowhere. At the other end, Pogba can create things here and there, as we have seen this season, but it is far from enough for United to be completely relying on the Frenchman.
Miralem Pjanic Shows Class For Juventus
The Bosnian midfielder showed why he is an important player for Juventus. For the most part of the match, there is a real possibility that you did not even notice him, but Miralem Pjanic ran things from central areas of the pitch. He had 97 touches, the joint highest of all players and centre of the park really was his playground.
He controlled the tempo and ran things to his liking. Pjanic completed a single dribbling, but from deep he managed to create three chances for his teammates, whilst also adding defensive work. It was not a spectacular performance, but rather a show of what can be done with a creative midfielder that is disciplined as part of the whole structure.
Rashford Too Meek To Fight Matuidi And Sandro
Marcus Rashford got his chance to play against Juventus in starting XI, but not as a forward. He was deployed as the right winger and he struggled. Rashford did not make a single shot on goal and lost possession on four occasions. He did offer one key pass, but overall, he was just unable to get through the right flank.
Which is not a wonder, given that Blaise Matuidi, a natural defensive midfielder, played as the left midfielder, offering more solidity down that side, while the experienced Alex Sandro also played as left-back.
The point is our defensie strategy, wingers playing on the back, no back going oer the wingers and we never have somebody in front of the ball when we have possession. ONLY WHEN WE ARE A GOAL DOWN WE SEEM TO REALISE THAT THIS GAME IS ABOUT WINNING NOT ABOUT NOT LOSING…whose gameplan…take your responsibility United or we will be in the dark for some more years.