I think there are two things that killed Manchester United’s chances in Europe.
Bad Coaching/Managing
Day in and day out, I would prefer Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic to any defenders. No questions asked. In my opinion, they are the most solid center back tandem out there. HOWEVER, for the second leg rematch with AC Milan, with both of them coming back off of injuries, I believe the team would have been much better off to play with a lower quality tandem that was 100% physically, and 100% match fit. Had you asked me that day, I would have said Heinze, O’Shea, Brown, Cathcart.
Over Confidence
It seemed to me that United assumed that the domination they had over AC Milan in the second half of the first leg would somehow automatically continue. Whether it was fatigue, stage-fright, or something else they seemed to just sit back and wait for the game to come to them instead of going and taking it the way they had before.
However you look at it, AC Milan played a great game and really took it to United. Hats off to them — and good luck!
