LONDON -- Manchester United players have been at great pains in recent weeks to point out how they have been failed by the powers that be, by those with supposedly more influence than the 11 lads on the field. On occasion, you could argue they had the measure of the situation. There's just one little note for Lisandro Martinez, Bruno Fernandes and anyone else who counts themselves among the Old Trafford mutineers.
If you're going to start demanding greater professional standards from your employers, you would be well advised to hold yourself to the same level. It would be a real problem if, for instance, you earned yourself two yellow cards in the space of 210 seconds, handing your opponents the penalty from which they win the game. Sympathy will be in quite short supply for those who complain about the head coach's tactics or the sporting director's recruitment but then, when the circumstances are right, fail to exploit prime opportunities.
Lisandro Martinez was right when he intimated a fortnight ago that Jason Wilcox had bungled recruitment this summer, an assessment that seemed to be supported by Amad Diallo. Bruno Fernandes had a point in Como. Michael Carrick had picked the wrong tactics for the occasion.
One of the most significant problems at Old Trafford is that the wrong executives, appointed by the wrong owners, are not exploiting the financial heft that United, even loaded with debt, still have. Another is that Carrick is not a good enough coach to paper over the cracks. Those weren't the problems at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
This was a game lost for United by senior players. Fernandes and Amad, who is now 24 and has played over 100 games for the club, partly number among them. It is rarely wise to over-index on anyone missing chances; perhaps only Amad's last shot of the first half could reasonably have been termed one he should have scored.
Then again, if you've got notes about tactics, you had best exploit the mismatches that come your way. Whether through Chelsea's early disorganization or Carrick's adjustments -- which included center forward Bryan Mbeumo peeling off to the right and taking center backs with him -- Amad and Fernandes were afforded space and time to excel. Had they exploited them in the first half, United would have been firmly in the ascendancy.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
