In an impressive showing, Valencia dominated and beat Manchester United at Mestalla.
From United’s point-of-view it was a humiliating defeat that took the very faint gloss off their qualification and represents yet another stage in the decline of José Mourinho’s Manchester United. Who were the winners and losers?
Winner: Carlos Soler
Carlos Soler is one of the bright young prospects to emerge from the Valencia academy, but he has struggled to truly impose himself on the Champions League. There’s no doubt he has the quality to perform on this stage, but he just needed to, you know, do it.
That’s exactly what he did against Manchester United. Hanging back in space he was in the perfect spot to latch on to Phil Jones’ garbage clearance. Soler took the ball under his spell and arrowed it low into the far corner. It was a stunning finish and gave Valencia a huge lead that they never ended up surrendering. This was his moment, and although he’s now into the Europa League, he will have the belief to perform.
Loser: Phil Jones
Back when he signed for Manchester United, Phil Jones was a colossal prospect. Athletic, technical, committed. He was like John Terry with rocket boosters attached. But then Sir Alex Ferguson beat the fun out of him and injuries stunted his development so that now, at the age of 26, he’s still basically the same player he was at 19.
Tonight against Valencia was the comedown most people expected after he had played half-decently in recent games. Thankfully it didn’t take the form of an injury as it usually does, and instead was something far more amusing: first, an awful clearance/headed assist (depending on your perspective) that led to Carlos Soler’s goal. And second, a staggeringly amusing own goal that ended up being the game-winner.
This was incidentally the fourth own goal he has scored for Manchester United (and the club’s first own goal since he last pumped it into his own net back in 2011). The man is a walking disaster.
Winner: Nemanja Matic
Nemanja Matic hasn’t played well this season. Not for any extended period of time. He’s been just as bad as every other Manchester United player not named Luke, Victor, Ander, Juan, Jesse, Anthony and Marcus. But he’s often been spared criticism or being dropped because he seems to be José Mourinho’s favourite.
That’s part of why he didn’t play today; he was being rested for Liverpool at the weekend. And, well, his stock has rocketed up simply by virtue of not playing. United were so bad in his absence (they would have been this bad in his presence too) that Matic’s status will now move up to match Eric Cantona’s in 1996. He will now be immovable, which is good for him at least.
Loser: Paul Pogba
UEFA recently got rid of the cup-tie rule for Champions League clubs, which means that if a player moves between two sides in the January transfer window he will be eligible to play for his new side in Europe’s top competition. This is huge for the January window as it now means the kind of mega January moves like Coutinho to Barcelona or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal will become more common.
All of which is to say that Paul Pogba should probably look to get the hell out of Manchester in January. Rather than waiting for summer, he should cut his losses and leave now. Just the fact that he was starting tonight with the rest of the b-teamers and not being rested for Liverpool was enough of a slap in the face, but then the team played horribly and he just looked utterly adrift in the nonsense.
Pogba is a World Cup winner and a world-class talent. He deserves so much more than this, and UEFA have just handed him a Get Out Of Jail Free card. Real Madrid could use something to pick up their ailing season, right?
Winner: Marcelino
Poor Marcelino did so well to make Valencia relevant last season that their utter inability to win matches this season has been as frustrating as it has been baffling. They’ve struggled so much in La Liga and have blown their chance to qualify for the knockout rounds ahead of an utterly ordinary Manchester United side.
Still, he does finally have a win. A big win. And a deserved win. Valencia outplayed Manchester United from start to when Marcus Rashford came on. They were confident and composed, and the scalp was so big that Marcelino will be hoping that his side can now, finally, get started this season. The potential is there, they just have to execute.
Loser: José Mourinho
What is this guy doing? Obviously he won’t quit and pass up a huge payday, but surely he can do more to get sacked than he currently is? No one can be enjoying themselves at United right now, and the fact that Ed Woodward does seem to be so hesitant to give Mourinho the financial backing he demands means he’s not going to turn this around soon. He should walk.
If that sounds dramatic, just watch this game again. United were absolute garbage until Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard came on; and even then the bump in quality was only enough to create a couple of chances and get United one goal. It wasn’t like they began laying siege to Valencia or anything; they were just a little bit better. And that is both not good enough and almost wholly down to the manager who has managed to make Manchester United one of the least attractive teams to watch in Europe despite a wealth of attacking talent.
The post The winners and losers as Jones own goal sees United end Champions League group stage in defeat appeared first on Squawka News.
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