Serial Semi-Finalists

There is some symmetry between this season’s Carabao Cup campaign and last season from a personal capacity as a fan. In both seasons, I didn’t watch any match until the semi-final. In the semi-final, we met Manchester City at Old Trafford. It was a two-legged tie last season but a one-legged one this season. Last season, City tore us to shreds in the first half and I switched off the TV at half-time. This season, they beat us deservedly and I switched it off with seven minutes left.

False Belief

With the quality and strength of City, it was always possible that they could beat us. I was lulled into a false belief that we could beat them after the draw we had against them at the same venue. It was also fueled by City’s below-par performances this season. As a fan, I will always believe in the team getting a positive result like I did last season at the same stage. But I was left mightily disappointed at the defeat and performance.

Even First Half

The first half was decidedly even. City was sharp and smooth in possession, had two goals disallowed and a shot that crashed off the post. But for all of that, they had no shots on goal. We had more attempts on goal and more shots on target and had a goal disallowed for offside. Bruno Fernandes had a good shot saved by City’s Zack Steffen.

Soft Goals Conceded

Things changed in the second half with City’s first shot on goal. We didn’t deal with the free-kick into the box, Harry Maguire in particular and Luke Shaw let John Stones free to nudge the ball in. It was a poor goal to concede but I had a sinking feeling after that. I had no faith that this team could find its way back into the game. That turned out to be the case.

Details Make A Difference

In terms of selection, I was surprised to find Eric Bailly on the bench after playing so well in recent games. Victor Lindelof and Maguire didn’t do too much wrong but the one mistake either of them made turned out to be costly and that is the price to pay for mistakes at this level. Every minute detail counts in matches of this magnitude. Even at the other end, whatever half-chances we had, we didn’t take them and that too made a difference.

Not A Fan Of The Diamond

I am not a fan of us playing with a diamond in midfield because we don’t have traditional centre forwards aside of Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood. Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford prefer to go wide to collect the ball as wingers. That leaves us lacking any presence centrally and not enough players join the attack from midfield. In the first half, Rashford carried the most threat for us going forward. Bruno Fernandes had a below-par game and was guilty of making the wrong pass in the final third.  That proved to be the difference between United and City, the influence he had on the game as opposed to Kevin De Bruyne’s.

Limp Exit, Cautious Display

In the end, I felt it was a limp exit. We have not had a good record this season in big matches and I feel the team is psychologically affected from the 1-6 mauling by Tottenham. Since that match, we have been cautious in big matches. Solksjaer has also been guilty of making late substitutions. It’s predictable that in these games, he will have two defensive midfielders but at some stage, he would need to tinker with this. Either from the start or during the game. If it is during the game, the change got to come sooner especially when the game is evenly balanced. This defeat amplifies my doubts on this team’s ability to be title challengers.