FC Midjylland win! on the biggest night in their history
I watched the
Danish Champions FC Midjylland knock out Southampton in the Europa League
qualifying rounds at the start of the season, so I was not surprised to see
them put in a good performance on Thursday night. Having said that, FC
Midjylland who shares the same owners as Championship side Brentford F.C, operates
on a fraction of the budget of their English opponents. So winning 2-1 on the
biggest night in their history will live forever in the memories of the
supporters and players.
F.C Midjylland
were formed in 1999 by a carpenter, the same year Sir Alex Fergusons Manchester
United won the famous treble. Much had
been made prior to the game of the high ticket prices for both home and away supporters
(Around £71 per ticket). The Midjylland chairman “Johnny Rune” explained that
the decision to host the match at their home ground the MCH Arena which would
have a reduced capacity of fewer than 10,000 to comply with UEFA stadium
regulations, rather than moving the game to Copenhagen had been the cause of
the elevated prices.
F.C
Midjylland are a physical side that rely heavily on set pieces. The Danes
however showed they are cable of playing good quality football, with players
like Sisto and Vaclav Kadlec particularly impressing for the home team.
From
Manchester United’s point of view, Juan Mata’s challenge on the Midjylland
second half substitute Onuachu, in the lead up to his winning goal, epitomised
a truly dreadful night for the Manchester giants. No desire, no fight, no
leadership and in truth no real idea. The lengthy injury list will be pointed
to by United’s Dutch manager but everyone that saw the game knows that
regardless of personnel the performance was poor.
Ander Herrera
is another player I have to pick out for criticism, giving the ball away over
and over again in dangerous areas, putting his team under pressure. Herrera caught
a knock on his lip in the first 5 minutes and seemed to be more interested in
nursing his lip for the rest of the game than finding space and passes.
Although I’ve picked out the Spaniards they were on marginally worse than the
rest of the 11. Anthony Martial who started in a number 9 role along with the
deputising goalkeeper Sergio Romero are the only two I give pass marks to on
the night.
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