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PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE: MAN UNITED'S CARABAO CUP WIN

 Okay, fine they did win it, they're third on the league and are still in contention for a rare quadruple. Manchester United look like a team on a roll, and the only question is: who's gonna stop them? Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. This analysis requires some levelheadedness, something rare and very rare indeed among the United fan-base. You'll remember Liverpool were at the exact spot just 6 months ago and we all know what happened.

But before we address all that, let's spare a moment to analyze the game - something the mass media and the pundits don't seem to be able to do. Jose Mourihno once opined that that the pundits analyze the result rather than the game, the outcome rather than the means. In fact, that is the same thing we've been treated to since last night. No one is talking about how brave Newcastle United fought. No one is talking about the kind of negative football Man United played just to get the result. But that has been the Man United way, so to speak, playing long balls lobbed forward for the quick legs of Marcus Rushford to chase. You might object to this but that only proves my point. You see the media has created this false narrative that Manchester United are a proper ball-playing, possession dominating team. But that's as far from the truth as you can get. Look at the premier league possession table - there are sites that offer this kind of information - you'll be shocked to see where United lie. A team that has had, Jose Mourihno and David Moyes as their head coach in recent years cannot be said to price the method over the result or appreciate any aesthetics or care about how a team is set up. Only results count. Well, that how small teams reason.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not chiding united for playing negative football - which they did - I'm only pointing it out that their reputation of a ball-possessing team playing attractive, expansive football is unmerited to say the very least. You see I was sitting at the couch last night watching the game, and all I saw was Newcastle United taking the initiative, pushing for an opening, pegging United back, and I was thinking, "how did United come to this?" Their manager, Erick Ten Hag is reputed with playing total football and the current United team looks anything but. Newcastle dominated the game. No one's giving them any credit for that. Instead all praise is heaped on Manchester United for two lucky goals. 

Newcastle United went on the game with a handicap, playing a third choice goalkeeper and a number of forced changes. No one is even talking about that. People say "Man United are good, they beat Barcelona". But that's the same Barcelona team that lost to Almeria last night. I guess then that Almeria are really that good too. No matter what you make of it, United were lucky - and very lucky indeed - to win the Carabao cup. What's most disturbing is this new trend United have adopted of playing long balls, defending deep, being frugal with possession of the ball, and a knack for lucky, dead-ball goals. That's how small teams play.

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