While Manchester United’s second successive League Cup exit to lower-league opposition was the main headline of Wednesday night, the manner of their defeat to Middlesbrough was even more frustrating than the loss itself.
Last season’s second-round humbling at Milton Keynes Dons was at least a one-off, with Louis van Gaal having sent out a team full of players who were set to have no real future at the club. That 4-0 defeat was embarrassing but ultimately inconsequential in the bigger picture.
Yet Wednesday’s 3-1 penalty shoot-out defeat to Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough left Van Gaal with much to ponder, with the 0-0 draw in 120 minutes having provided the perfect showcase of United’s current issues on a wider scale.
There were some positives to take from the draws with CSKA Moscow and Manchester City in the previous seven days, but in both fixtures United had started slowly and rode their luck. Too many of their passes went sideways, giving their opponents very little to fret over. In both matches United ended the game with a much higher tempo and looked all the better for it.
But still there was no change in approach when Boro came to town, despite Van Gaal making nine changes to his starting line-up. There were different faces, but the body of work was much the same. United had plenty of ball, but very little to show for it. Once more, it was their opponents who had many of the better opportunities in front of goal, with full-back George Friend in particular missing a gilt-edged chance before skipper Grant Leadbitter spawned two very good openings.
For United’s part they improved slightly after the break, but it wasn’t until extra-time that they really asked questions of the Championship side. And the fact that it took a change to a 4-4-2 formation and long-ball tactics for the 20-time champions of England to pick holes in Middlesbrough’s defence says an awful lot.
“I’m disappointed we are out, that we came so close and we are still out,” said Van Gaal after the match. “I thought we didn’t play so well in the first half. They played in a compact way as Man City did. In the second half we had much more chances but you have to finish them. In extra time we had even better chances, but when you are not finishing the chances it is difficult to win games.”
While it is true that Anthony Martial and Marouane Fellaini both should have done better with close-range headers at the end of extra time, it would have been unjust on Boro to be denied by that point.
The home side had a couple of big penalty shouts, but Jesse Lingard could have seen red for a nasty studs-up challenge in the first half. Lingard hit the post, but Kike did too before Daley Blind sliced into his own net only to be saved by the offside flag. For every argument in United’s favour, there was one for the visitors. The difference was that Boro had the better game-plan, and carried it out to perfection.
So how has it come to this? Why have Manchester United suddenly become a side against whom teams can set up a base of six or seven defensive players and hold out with something to spare? Clubs arriving at Old Trafford with men by the ball used to be asking for trouble, but not any more. Should £300 million or more of spending really result in desperation tactics against a Championship side, with a series of long balls for Fellaini to flick on?
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