Manchester United balls: De Gea flowers amongst the rubble of Mourinho’s collapsing house
Manchester United were comprehensively outplayed in their home Champions league tie with Juventus. Stodgy, defensive and possessed by nary a muon of the swashbuckling style that made the club great. After the dull match and the performative nature of Jose Mourinho’s snipes, snarks and adherence to the belief that the boredom is not of his making, Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport reviewed United’s pampered posers:
Romelu Lukaku scored a 4/10 – the lowest of anybody on the pitch
(He is) a symbol of the torments of the United season: when the striker does not score, it becomes hard for everyone.
At this moment the Belgian is almost a deadweight, lost and confused in opposing defences, but Mourinho has no alternative.
Anthony Martial (5.5/10)
Another step backwards.
Marcus Rashford (4.5)
Never really dangerous. Half a disaster.
Luke Shaw (5)
Targeted as the weak link. Dazed. Stunned.
Chris Smalling (5)
His performance was as mediocre as his haircut.
David De Gea (lauded as United’s best player by a distance)
Like a flower amongst the rubble.
A delicate flower or a weed?
MARCA was tops, though, awarding Lukaku, Rashford, Smalling and Nemanja Matic a combined score of zero.
On the look out for bias, let’s see what the Manchester Evening News said about United:
David de Gea – United’s best player by a country mile:
Kept United in it with a few saves as United struggled to contain Cristiano Ronaldo, Juan Cuadrado and Paulo Dybala. 7
Victor Lindelof – who was every bit as good as De Gea. Yeah, really:
One of his more impressive displays for United, despite Juventus’ firepower. Read the game well and timed his challenges impressively. 7
Nemanja ‘nil points’ Matic:
Was disciplined and tried to get things going but the fleet-footed Blaise Matuidi and Miralem Pjanic outfoxed him. 5
And Romelu Lukaku, the big bloke up front who was good at Everton:
When United supporters screamed ‘move’ Lukaku rarely did. Bossed by Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci and too static. 2
Such are the facts.
Posted: 24th, October 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
