Stream of Consciousness: Manchester United 1 - Athletic Bilbao 2

photo by Thejaswi	via PhotoRee

Stream of consciousness from United's depressing 2-1 loss at the Lion's Den last night, a result that saw the English Champions ignominiously bounced out of Europe this season.  What you are getting below are the raw, slightly unpolished gems that roll around inside my head on a daily basis:

o Is this game being shot from a blimp?  I feel dizzy I'm so high up right now.

o The game begins with Athletic on the front foot. Hasn't United tried this approach before....?  And failed?

o Was Marcelo Bielsa dressed by a homeless man?  Don't they sell suits in Bilbao...?

o Man United's defense tonight is shocking. Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans just got carved open like a Thanksgiving turkey.

o Who created Enjoyneering, and how do you do it?

o Ji-Sung Park is playing tonight as if he's slightly drunk.  Check that -- totally drunk.

o Bloody hell, that's a great finish from Llorente. Sign him up, Fergie, sign him up!

o One goal doesn't change anything. Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? #AnimalHouseQuotesILove

o Rafael injured. What a surprise.... The kid is held together by chewing gum and paper clips.

o I didn't realize berets were still in style in Basque country.  That's such a 1970s look.  Where is Woody Allen when you need him?

o GolTV loses its signal during the match.  What is this, the Internet...?!

o Apparently, sunspots are responsible for the loss of GolTV's signal, although they didn't seem to affect the shots of the crowd.

o Iraola just made Messi look clumsy...!  Too bad he didn't score.

o United look like Stoke City here. Kick and follow. Kick and follow.  Repeat, as necessary. It's depressing, to be honest.

o Playing the role of Peter Cech tonight is Chris Smalling.

o The ball goes in off Rafael for Athletic's second goal.  He's been one of Bilbao's best players in this tie.

o Now Ferdinand's injured. The only thing worse that can happen today is if we score three goals and have to play another European game this season.

House of Horrors: Manchester United 2 - Athletic Bilbao 3

photo by divinemisscopa	via PhotoRee

Manchester United's European House of Horrors continued last night, with the not-so-mighty Reds conceding three road goals while losing to a younger, faster, and dare I say better Athletic Bilbao squad, a side that currently sits fourth in La Liga.  If Bilbao is world famous for its modern art museum, many of United's players looked old enough to be exhibited in a similar environment on Thursday night. Losing a second straight home contest -- let me repeat that: Losing a second straight home contest -- in a cut-rate European competition can't feel very good for Sir Alex, and perhaps the only silver lining Red fans will come up with is that the team's focus must now be on Title number Twenty.

United will be fully up against it in the second leg of this tie, to be played in the Basque region of Spain in a week's time, needing at least a two goal win to advance. Based on last night's evidence, United has two shots at getting that result: slim and none. Herewith some brutal thoughts on an ugly evening in Manchester.

o Thank God for David De Gea, who was easily Man of the Match for the Reds -- and having surrendered three goals, that's saying quite a bit.  DDG is the man for all those doubters. Let me remind you of what we said on this site before.  Oh, and by the way: the guy is class.

o I hate to say this, because I love him, but Chicharito has been largely useless this season when not directly in front of goal. He's not big enough to play hold up man, a la Berbatov, and his touch is not good enough to dribble 20-30 yards with the ball, a la Rooney. When he's on his game, he's a definite fox in the box, one of the deadliest strikers in the world from six yards in or less, but if United don't get the ball in there he's basically just taking up space. On a positive note, the Mexican's timing seems to have returned, as he's not being flagged offside nearly as much as he was earlier in the season.

o We're grasping at straws here, but on the plus side of the strikers' ledger, Roo is hot right now, very hot, with seven goals in his last four games.  Despite his generally abject performance yesterday, he still managed to find the net twice.  He was at the right place at the right time last night for the first goal, but a betting man would have backed him to score regardless. His movement and instincts on the play were excellent, as he both started and finished the move, hanging just off the shoulder of the defense until they lost track of him, and onrushing the net like a bull in Pamplona to get to a spot where he could side foot it in.

o Against the run of play seems to be United's new motto. For the second straight game the Reds allowed the opposition to completely outplay them. United's new tactic appears to involve letting the other team play brilliantly for as long as they can, riding their luck the entire time, and then hit back just when the opposition is least expecting it. It worked for the first 44 minutes yesterday, but then we all witnessed what happens when your luck runs out.

o Give full credit to the visitors: Bilbao moved exactly like you would expect a youthful club to move. They showed tremendous fluency on the ball, were quicker to it in so many instances I lost count, displayed a nice variety of short, quick hitting passes and tons of pace -- oh, the pace. Those boys were fun to watch, and they completely and utterly outplayed our guys. There's no way to sugar coat it.

Man Up!

Photo by Dariuszka on Flickr

I give you Columnist Ed, on one of his all-too-frequent rants.  Apparently, he's under the mis-impression that the standard in Spanish Football this season is still being set by a certain side from Catalonia.  Before I point out to him that the most dangerous squad in La Liga this season hails from the Spanish Capital -- a side which has come fully into its own in this, the Special One's second season in Madrid -- I'll let Ed offer you an entertaining side show of sorts:

First off, if your not reading www.zonalmarking.com, there's something wrong with you.  Seriously.  Don't even look at me if that's the case.  Turn away.  I can't take the sight of you.

Okay, with that behind us, let us speak of the darkness growing in the South, and by that I mean Barcelona.  How are we in the EPL to deal with their dominance?  Is it personnel or tactics?  I think it's both, but let's look today at tactics.

In his latest review of the Barca v. Athletic Bilbao (unedr the tutelage of Coach Marco Bielsa) match, Zonal spoke of how Bilbao was able to achieve a draw against the powerhouse by playing man defense rather than the zone.  This is along the lines of what I've believed has been worth a try for some time. 

The traditional defense In football is, of course, the "zonal marking" we see time and time again.  Getting eight or nine players behind the ball in two straight lines.  Tweaks occur by tightening in the middle or on the outside against certain players.  To be short and clear, this defense is widely used because it is very effective.