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Quincy, up against his old club, had a chance to shine in the starting eleven for once but failed to do so. He had the odd decent run or two, even pressured the full back on occasions but generally speaking he was found to be lacking defensively and also failed to anticipate a couple of decent balls played inside the full back in his direction. When he did get the ball his distribution was not as good as we know it can be, he certainly wasn’t relaxed enough except when he was supposed to be marking or tracking back, then he was altogether far too relaxed. He still shows loads of promise but has much to learn.
Ralph played left back and had a fine performance throughout, a couple of powerful tackles before the break set up promising attacks and it has to be said our back four played a respectable match as a unit. Whenever Ajax seemed to have a decent attack going, not all that often as it happens, it tended to break down with an offside decision in our favour. Like Ralph there were a few others on the pitch who decided to show some first team regulars how to get stuck in and as a result both Grygera and Maduro had to be replaced before the break. Flamini for a scything challenge on Galasek and Hleb for a miss-timed chunk out of Maduro’s ankle both picked up yellow cards before the break. Hleb showed some special touches but also managed to squander a few balls that I'll put down to his lack of match practice.
Eboue playing at right back had an in an out game and as he has done previously improved as the game progressed. Senderos was very solid and not without a little class, he made just one very poor choice of clearance that went straight to Rosenburg who thankfully shot wide. Philippe also had a storming run before the break at a time when the crowd needed some excitement. He also showed some very composed ball skills defensively after the break. Kolo was our main man at the back and was both solid and vocal in marshalling his colleagues.
Mathieu had a solid chugging sort of match where he did the work required and went about his business effectively. He maybe steamed in a tad less after his booking but that was to be expected. Sebastian Larsson should feel quite proud tonight, I was impressed with his work rate in the League Cup when he played on the right and tonight he worked just as hard in central midfield, a good solid, no risk, workmanlike performance.
Reyes set up Quincy with a fine chance from a corner that he squandered in the first half, it just wasn’t to be his night. Reyes also won us a penalty in added time before the break, he was quite clearly tripped in the box and would surely have been given the nod even if the referee hadn’t been Spanish. So Thierry stepped up to the spot and sent the keeper the wrong way, whilst putting the ball the wrong side of the other post in the last kick of the half.
The crowds chant of ‘Robin Van Persie’ after just twenty odd minutes rather summed up the game,scintillating it certainly wasn’t. That said, if you never try the kids in the big time you’ll never know what they are capable of and players do need to rested, as Ferguson will tell you.
The nearest we came to a goal was the penalty, the nearest we came to a goal in open play was when Robin, on to replace the injured Reyes, squirmed his way through two or three players near the bye line and got a shot off. Reyes had done quite well but just when he looked like storming away he was crudely hacked down by Heitinga whilst in full flight down our left flank. He needed to be stretchered off and after treatment from Gary only managed to limp around looking pained till the young Dutchman got himself ready to replace him.
Henry showed some class as ever, some very clever touches, but also his down side. Glaring at youngsters because what they tried didn’t come off is not the way to go, we need more from a captain than that. Leading by example is also great but it means doing it for the whole game, not just in bits of it. Which leaves me with Almunia who made a great save at feet on the edge of our box before the break, he made another full length save in the second half from a shot that was probably going just wide. He also had a flap at a cross and a decent catch or two but his distribution still leaves a lot to be desired.
Cesc came on for Hleb, who clearly needed the run out, and looked like he’s played European Champions League matches for about six seasons, such is his control and reading of the game. As the match opened up towards the close and Gilbert replaced Lauren I feared our defence might not be up to it but it was, young Kerrea was very composed. Quincy got in a good cross that Cesc headed wide but there was little else to write about really.
There were maybe two noisy phases in the game, the first at half-time when it was announced that Manure were losing to Benfica. The second at full time when they showed all the results except United’s which they saved till the very last and thus sent us to travel home with broad smiles on our faces.
We all know that finishing top of our group means absolutely nothing as a pointer to future fortune in this competition, but it certainly can’t have done us any harm can it? Not when you know you’re going to get one of these teams in the next round; Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen, Benfica, PSV, Real Madrid or Glasgow Rangers. Did I tell you United are out of Europe altogether because they finished bottom of their group? Sad isn’t it?