It is no secret that Old
Trafford is one of the most daunting locations in the world to play
at if you're not wearing a red shirt, but the mental resilience
that the Champions League demands should see any team in the last
16 rise to the occasion. Unfortunately for Didier Deschamps,
Marseille showed little in the way of such fortitude – especially
early in the game – and it cost them a goal after just five
minutes.
Devoid of momentum for the
best part of the match, les Phoceens failed to keep the ball
rolling after a critic-silencing 2-0 win over Stade Rennais at the
weekend – a win that answered any questions regarding a lack of
flair in OM's ranks.
Loic Remy and Andre Ayew
were tremendous on Friday evening, something that should have given
the French side hope after seeing regular string-puller Lucho
Gonzalez marked out of the first leg. However, despite some
glimpses of quality, there was to be no such luck on the whole,
which left lone striker Andre-Pierre Gignac struggling for options
and also with little on offer in the way of effective
counter-attacking.
Wasted
Chances
A demanding mistress,
Europe's finest club competition requires not only mental strength,
but the ability to turn opportunities into goals. For all of
United's domination, OM actually managed to muster 12 clear
chances, but failed to capitalize on a single one.
Perhaps still getting used to playing through the middle in
the absence of Brandao, Gignac had a golden chance to square up the
scoring just minutes after Chicharito had found the net for the
first time. After Ayew dealt the striker a clean through ball,
Gignac's attempt to side-foot the ball over the head of Edwin van
der Sar sailed well over the bar – the first glance of Marseille's
poor finishing.Then, Benoit Cheyrou managing to wriggle his way out
of a crowded midfield for just a moment, and went on to present
Diawara with a free header that would have been a goal on any other
day. The defender slightly mistimed his six-yard nod and failed
even to trouble Edwin Van der Sar, never mind shake the net.
And while the discussion
could continue further with Remy's well-struck volley that just
shaved the bar, or Cheyrou's close range attempt that forced
heroics from United's Dutch 'keeper, the point can be summed up
perfectly by the fact that, out of six corners won by the visitors,
the only person who managed to find the net was Wes Brown.
Tactical
Failure
Learning well from the
first leg in France, Didier Deschamps recognized Gabriel Heinze's
inability to cope with the pace of Nani. Opting cleverly to deploy
Taye Taiwo at left-back instead, Nani was always beaten for pace,
and that part of the plan seemed to have worked.
However, in playing Taiwo
on the left, Heinze was forced inside, meaning one of the stand-out
performers from the first leg, Stephane Mbia, was pushed into a
defensive midfield role – a role Mbia has publicly stated he
doesn't enjoy. With Rooney sitting deep, it was Mbia – with help
from Cheyrou – who was charged with the task of keeping the forward
quiet.
As Cheyrou looked to move
forward and subsidize creativity due to a crowded-out Lucho, Mbia's
individual marking ultimately failed to shackle Rooney, allowing
him to orchestrate play beautifully. With this in mind, Nani's
negated pace was never really a worry.
Failure To Exploit A Makeshift
Defence
To give United their dues,
they won the game and played very well, however, it was clear that
there was communication breakdown between defenders. This was
highlighted by Brown's own goal, but emphasized even further by the
fact that United lost not one, but two right-backs to hamstring
injuries on the night. Coming in off the back of a slick win over
Stade Rennais, Marseille could have had a field day with United's
makeshift back-line.
It may have taken a bit of
reshuffling to compensate for Lucho's relative nullification from
the game, but the center-backs were there for the taking, as was
the flank that saw three different full-backs across ninety
minutes. But despite the obvious problems at the back, the most
effective crosser of the night was the Nani-shackling left-back
Taiwo, who had to deliver from deep.
Lack
Of Belief
At pivotal points in the
game where Marseille should have been pushing to get themselves a
foothold in the game, they floundered. At the midpoint of the
first-half, when OM would have hoped to apply some pressure to
fully recover from their early setback, captain Steve Mandanda's
weak kick-out landed at the feet of Nani, almost gifting the hosts
another goal. Soon after, Lucho, who is often billed as Marseille's
inspiration, blazed a free-kick over the bar when he should have
crossed from an acute angle.
With morale low and no one
leading the charge outfield, it became increasingly obvious that
Marseille lacked the belief and experience that it takes to be
successful in Europe. And while the class might be just about
there, the current French champions know that they must raise their
game and learn from their mistakes on Tuesday night if they are to
become true Champions League contenders in years to come.
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