European Masterclass In Paris

When you least expect it, you get a result and performance that positively amazes you. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and Manchester United returned to the ground of their last Champions League victory this morning, turning out a European tactical masterclass to beat last season’s finalist, Paris Saint-Germain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HqDqlt91As

Wan-Bissaka, Tuanzebe & De Gea

On the day of the match, a sex scandal erupted on Instagram that involved Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Who would have thought that someone who looks so quiet and shy could allegedly be guilty of cheating on his girlfriend and fathering a child with someone else? Not the first footballer to do so. I wondered what impact this would have on him considering his below-par start to the season. Instead, Wan-Bissaka put all that aside and produced a fabulous performance. Only once did Layvin Kurzawa get past him. Besides blocking crosses from the right and tackling, he was also following runners into the box and blocking them, making one brilliant block on Kylian Mbappe. This was Wan-Bissaka back to his best but with room for improvement.

Axel Tuanzebe got his chance to start after the injuries to Harry Maguire and Eric Bailly. After being sidelined for so long with injury, he got his chance in a match of this magnitude. He didn’t let anyone down as he produced an assured and solid performance. Twice he was in a foot race with the speedy Mbappe and twice he got the better of his illustrious opponent.

David De Gea was also a critical element in United’s win, making some really good saves to deny Neymar, Mbappe, Angel Di Maria and Kurzawa. A component to his game that we perhaps didn’t see too often before this morning was the playing the sweeper role. He did that very well, sweeping imminent threats to his goal.

Lindelof & Shaw

Victor Lindelof & Luke Shaw are two members of the defence that have been heavily criticised but both produced under-rated, solid performances in defence. Lindelof played in the centre of the back three and Shaw on the left of the back three first before reverting to their usual centre back and left-back role in a back four. They didn’t put a foot wrong in the entire game and their performance would be one that would go under the radar.

McTominay & Fred

For the second game running, McTominay and Fred were chosen ahead of Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic. After a shaky start where neither player could get to grips with Neymar, both grew into the game making some vital interventions. They broke up play and started our attacks from midfield. It turned out that McTominay lost a contact lens in the first half which goes some way to explaining why Neymar was running rings around him. On present form, both these players justify their start ahead of Pogba, Matic and Donny van de Beek.

The Attack

This was where I felt United could have done better. United had space to attack into on the counter-attack in the second half and both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial were wasteful with the space they had to run into. Credit should go to PSG’s Abdou Diallo who overcame the penalty concession to nullify Martial. Martial’s night was compounded when he headed into the wrong goal to equalise for PSG. Rashford eventually scored the winner but was frustrating before that.

 

Solksjaer’s Tactics

Finally, this victory is an answer to all the critics who said Solksjaer had no tactics or that he was rigid. This tactic and formation were effectively applied in big matches last season as well but people’s memory is short-lived. Solksjaer is building a reputation of getting the team to perform in big matches.

It’s only the first game of the Champions League group stage and there is a long way to go yet. This win and performance will no doubt boost the morale and confidence of the team but consistency is what the players individually and the team as a whole need to achieve.