Athletic Bilbao leave Utd stunned

Manchester United fans were left somewhat shocked, as Athletic Bilbao managed to exploit the frailties within the side, successfully beating them. United were outplayed for the majority of the game; much of that has to do with Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics. But it was the manner in which United were defeated that was worrying, to say the least.

Biesla has revolutionised the side, since taking over the summer. He has adopted a Barcelona-esque approach, not something that was expected considering that prior to him joining Athletic; they were more known for their direct, long ball approach.

Sir Alex Ferguson did say that he was going to field out his strongest line up, but it was far from that. United’s strongest line up contained Ryan Giggs and Phil Jones as central midfielders, and Park Ji-Sung as a left winger. Michael Carrick and Nani would have added more ammunition and self-discipline, a factor that was clearly lacking.

The side from Bilbao started off as the brighter team, with Fernando Llorente causing all sorts of trouble, and was unlucky to see his shot travel wide early on. However, it was United who stunned Athletic, after great link up play between Giggs and Javier Hernández, whose shot was palmed at by Gorka Iraizoz, but he did not get enough on it, as Wayne Rooney scored from the rebound.

It was against the run of play. However, this did not change the approach Athletic’s players took, and continued to knock the ball about with ease. Iker Muniain was finding it easy, one of the main reasons being that there was a clear lack of determination from United’s end. The sheer persistence paid off, just before the half, as Fernano Llorente, who had troubled Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans all half, scored a powerful header. Question marks were raised over the defending, though, as Jones left Llorente to go past him, without tracking him. This set the tone for the rest of the game.

United were allowed to cool down and get their acts sorted out. It was an opportunity to brush up on school boy defending and inject a bit of liveliness into the team. However, nothing changed in the second half, if anything, United got worse.

The Spanish side were still allowed to knock the ball back and forth, and looked assured throughout the second half. It was the same performance they put in, but United’s players backed off even more. David de Gea is to be thanked for the score line remaining a bit more respectable. The Spaniard produced two fine saves to deny Athletic the opportunity to lead the game early on in the second half. First, from Iker Munian, and the second was world class, to deny Llorente.

Chris Smalling could not continue and so, was replaced by Michael Carrick. Jones dropped to centre-back. Subsequently, Anderson was brought on for Park Ji-Sung, with Giggs switching to the left flank. It was not really what United needed.

The game looked to be done and dusted 20 minutes from time, when Ander Herrera found De Marcos, with a scrumptious ball, to score in emphatic fashion past de Gea. Although replays do suggest he was offside, it was nothing less than the Spanish side deserved, after outplaying United for the majority of the second half.

Nani was brought on late for Giggs, but it was too little too late, although he did do more than Park. More question marks were raised over the squad selection and why Nani was not included. His dynamic style would have caused more damage to Athletic’s defence.

The final nail of the coffin, or so we thought, was put in place when Munian scored in the last minute, after Rafael da Silva was unaware of the danger, it was a comedy error, one that you would expect your friends to make, but not a professional football. Of course, this all came after a controversial decision, which was the wrong one, but you have to be fully alert.

United were handed a lifeline though towards the end, as Rooney scored from the penalty spot. It was a bit unfortunate for Athletic and lucky for United, at the same time. It does provide United with a chance to score two goals, as opposed to three, but if Athletic score first in the second leg, then it will be lights out.

This season has been a sloppy European campaign for Champions League finalists. It is ironic that they find themselves struggling in the Europa League, less than a year ago, they found themselves playing against the best team in the world, Barcelona.

The only positive to take from this is de Gea’s performance. He really has found his feet now, and is displaying the quality we all expected from him when he arrived at the club. He made some great saves and, in essence, was the sole reason for the score being a bit more respectable.

The players are capable of much more. My main concern is that, if we do continue in the Europa League, it could potentially have a significant impact on our title campaign. In other words, it could ruin the team spirit and morale. We will soon find out.

2 losses in a Europe at old trafford. How the mighty have fallen.

Excellent article man, spot on