Manchester United’s loss to FC Midtjylland in the Europa League comes as no surprise as Louis Van Gaal has not prioritized the competition
This week’s European fixtures had their fair share of excitement and even a few surprises. Chelsea FC put up a better fight than expected against Paris Saint Germain and Gary Neville’s Valencia scored five goals in a single half against Rapid Vienna. One result that was not a surprise was Manchester United’s loss to Danish side FC Midtjylland.
United went in to the match with no intensity whatsoever and it was clear that Louis Van Gaal cared little for the competition. In fact he may be glad to be rid of it, with his supposed focus on reaching the top four in the Premier League and winning the FA Cup. Even though his side look more likely to win the Champions League than qualify for it next season, he may remain convinced that they have an outside shot.
Van Gaal has come out and said publicly that he would rather win the FA Cup than the Europa League which is truly a disservice to the competition. The FA Cup is a fine domestic cup to add to one’s trophy cabinet, but winning the Europa League comes with the added prize of playing in the Champions League next season. Not to mention that winning it would help England’s struggling coefficient numbers which could quickly turn a race for the top four in to a race for the top three.
Perhaps the reality is that Van Gaal knows Manchester United is not good enough to win the Europa League and has decided the sooner they exit the better. There are still some very good sides in the competition, the likes of Borussia Dortmund, FC Porto, Tottenham, and holders Sevilla come to mind, and United are not any better than them.
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The Red Devils may possess the quality on paper to beat any of the aforementioned teams, especially FC Midtjylland, but talent on paper only takes you so far. The Danish side looked the more likely to win from the start and were it not for Sergio Romero’s heroics, the Red Devils could have lost by a far more embarrassing margin.
The Wolves, as Midtjylland are known, harassed and harried the United backline and attacked the goal with abandon. They were beaten only in possession but had more shots on goal (six to three) and won more tackles (22 to 17) than Manchester United. It was their aggression that allowed the Wolves to win and their effort carried them through.
This match proves above all else that even if there is a sizable gulf in talent, effort can make the difference. United may have had some injury issues but still started the match with eight full internationals so the talent was there. What was lacking was effort and the backing of a manager who does not care one lick about the Europa League. This disrespect for the competition shows that not only was Manchester United’s loss not a surprise, it was well deserved.