Undeserved win (vs Crawley Town)

If this encounter was meant to epitomize the romance and glamour of the FA Cup, United failed to hold up their end of the bargain with an utterly lackluster performance. In a night that was supposed to be a big coming out party for Crawley Town and their fans, United played like they didn’t even want to be there.

Sure we ended up winning, but it was the same old recurring theme this season – a less than impressive performance with United doing just enough to win the game. However, the performance was the kind that will win United no new fans and was a disservice to the United brand of football.

As has been the case when we’ve fielded a side largely comprised of our squad/bench players, we looked disjointed especially in the second half.

The usual offenders once again were guilty of not doing enough:

-Gibson – He had a few positives in the game when we actually looked like a decent side. He had 2 outstanding passes from deep within a 7 minute spell in the first half. One led to a corner which resulted in our goal. That too came off a cross from Gibson after a short corner. The second found Fabio racing in behind the Crawley Town backline, but nothing materialized.
Aside from that, his awful first touch was on display again. What was even more infuriating was the way he just sauntered around the pitch in the 2nd half with no effort to push the pace or control the game from that position. My opinion is that he thinks he’s a lot better than he really is due to his ability to strike the ball from outside and deliver a couple of good balls from deep. For a player who is so one dimensional in what he offers the team, he simply does not work hard enough in the engine room.

-Obertan – Couple of good moments, but generally, seemed to disappoint with his final ball and decision-making (sound familiar right?). He also ran himself into dead ends or directly into opposition players. I’m sure the coaching staff is aware of this and are spending time reviewing game tape with the lad. He really needs to pick up his football IQ quickly. At this point, he’s just all talent without the know-how.

-Carrick – These are the games that he should be dominating from midfield. Yet, he really failed to stamp his mark on this. Just think, this guy was on the plane as part of the England squad to South Africa. 8 months later and he’s barely able to show his quality against lower league opposition. Where is the Carrick from 2-3 seasons ago?

-Bebe – He’s got a long way to go before he can even think about being a first team regular, let alone the star that Carlos Queiroz envisioned when recommending him to SAF.

Even the introduction of Rooney in the 2nd half failed to spur United to a higher level of play. It seemed like he was up for it in the first 10 minutes he was on the field. Then, almost like a disease, the lethargy and sloppiness that plagued the whole team crept into his play as well. Passes were lazily executed and easily intercepted.

To write this without mentioning the endeavor of every Crawley Town player would be an injustice of the highest degree. They played their hearts out and both the team and fans would have left OT with their heads held high knowing they gave United a real run for their money. They never showed United too much respect nor appeared intimidated by the big stage.

If there was a lack of respect, it was on United’s end as evidenced in the performance they put out on the field: A lack of respect for their opposition, the fans, and the game itself.

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Category: FA Cup, Manchester United, Match Reports