Man Utd pay the price for wrong decisions

Manchester United fans were so angry that they threw a water bottle at coach Diego Simeone after the early morning match on March 16 (Hanoi time) at Old Trafford ended. They understand that this is another “throwaway” season with the Manchester team.

Failure cannot be excused

Coach Diego Simeone’s team did not make the same mistake as the first leg. They played better than the home team and deserved to go through. For Man United, this defeat is more than pain. It shows the decline in the position of the Manchester club.

Atlético Madrid deservedly into the quarterfinals after what was shown in both legs. I hope Manchester United The spark for the fans in the past 2 weeks was quickly extinguished.

Atletico’s defense is not as fragile as Tottenham Hotspur let Cristiano Ronaldo score a hat-trick again. Anthony Elanga cannot continue to shine with only opportunities like the first leg. The quality and fluidity of the away team’s play put them in control of the game.

Atletico is at the level of the Champions League, while MU may no longer belong to the group of the strongest clubs in Europe. In the last 11 seasons, Man United has only twice qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League. It is an achievement that is in stark contrast to Atletico Madrid. The home team of Wanda Metropolitano has reached the quarterfinals of 6 out of 9 seasons Champions League nearest.

Renan Lodi’s goal at the end of the first half is the clearest proof of MU’s defeat. Atletico counter-attacked sharply, constantly putting MU’s defense in a state of alarm. Coach Simeone and his students know what to do against an opponent playing unstable since the beginning of the season. The gaps of MU kept showing up in the embarrassment of the defensive stars.

Video: Man Utd 0-1 A.Madrid

In attack, the Man United strikers could not do anything to turn the situation around. They had almost only one clear chance in the second half, after Raphael Varane’s header. 1-0 is Atletico Madrid’s favorite score, and this team often knows how to keep a clean sheet in the games they are leading like that.

Paul Scholes caused controversy when he directed criticism at the Man United head coach. The former “Red Devils” midfielder said he could not understand why Mr. Ralf Rangnick was chosen as the interim coach at Old Trafford.

“I don’t understand why he was given a 6 month contract“, Scholes post-match analysis.”Atletico Madrid is not a better team than Man United. They only have experienced and better coaches. If Simeone leads Man United, the English team will win this match“.

What has coach Rangnick been doing at MU in the past 4 months? “Red Devils” have a change in gameplay. But it is very difficult for any coach to create miracles. Right after MU won 3-2 against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, Mr. Rangnick himself admitted MU still had “too many problems”.

5 changes of coach Rangnick against Atletico in the second leg did not work. The goal that David de Gea must receive in this match is not something strange for MU. Their defense was stretched, the central defenders failed to control space.

De Gea was angry at Harry Maguire because the English midfielder awkwardly passed when pressed. Coach Rangnick can hardly do anything more when Maguire is wearing the captain’s armband and is the most expensive central defender in the world.

Hard summer

One of the typical football philosophies of the German strategist is to buy players cautiously.

“At any club, if you can’t recruit the right players, at least don’t buy the wrong ones“, Rangnick once assessed the situation of MU in 2019.”You will be in big trouble if you go through 2 or 3 consecutive transfer windows wrong“.

The mistakes in the transfer of the “Red Devils” even lasted for nearly half a decade. Coach Rangnick has no magic wand to save Man United’s season. The Old Trafford team is facing a difficult summer.

Attendance in the Champions League next season has now become the biggest goal for MU at the moment. For the first time in 40 years, MU was empty-handed for 5 consecutive seasons. The last time MU won a title in 2017. Before that, the Manchester team experienced a thirst for titles during the 1978/79 to 1982/83 season.

A full-scale reconstruction at Old Trafford over the next few months is certain to happen. However, the decision to recruit personnel from the MU leadership in the near future depends a lot on the team’s ability to attend the Champions League.

If MU does not enter the top 4 of the Premier League at the end of the season, it will be difficult for them to attract the best stars in the world. Ronaldo might even leave. MU will also need a new central midfielder to replace Paul Pogba, who is almost leaving when his contract expires next June.

Who will mentor Rangnick and Director of Football John Murtough choose to sit in the chair of the team’s head coach? Coach Erik ten Hag and Mauricio Pochettino have both been eliminated in the round of 16 of the Champions League this season, and the “Red Devils” cannot be under the illusion that the new strategist can help the club move forward quickly.

Any coach who leads MU next summer will need support from the Glazer family in selling or buying players. The biggest hope of MU fans is that if Rangnick is in charge of the team’s transfer in the summer, he will not repeat the same deals as Maguire.