Jose Mourinho’s pre-match downplaying is reflected on the pitch by a dire United while Southampton reap the rewards of a far more progressive attitude.
Here’s how Thursday’s Europa League ties played out.
Feyenoord 1 Manchester United 0
Tonny Vilhena’s 79th minute goal, with more than a hint of offside in the build-up, was enough to beat a sluggish Manchester United.
Jose Mourinho’s pre-match comments rather summed up his side’s attitude to a Europa League fixture in which they displayed a total lack of urgency and intent until they went a goal behind
“It is not the competition I want, it is not the competition the players want, but it is a competition where we are and that’s the reality.”
It wasn’t exactly ‘once more unto the breach, dear friends’ material, although one player who welcomed the pitch time was Marcus Rashford (6.8), a 3.3%-owned potential Fantasy Premier League differential.
Given his first start of the season – Wayne Rooney (9.0) didn’t even make the squad – the young England international struggled in an isolated role up front.
Only David de Gea (5.5), Eric Bailly (5.5) and Paul Pogba (8.5) kept their places following the weekend’s derby defeat, with the world’s most expensive player cutting an increasingly frustrated figure as the match dragged on.
Bailly formed a solid enough partnership at centre-half with Chris Smalling (5.9), a small positive on a poor night and a possible threat to Daley Blind’s (5.5) place after the Dutchman’s poor display against Manchester City.
Not even a triple substitution involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic (11.9), Memphis Depay (7.3) and Ashley Young (5.3) could rouse United, who slumped to a fourth consecutive away defeat in Europe for the first time in their history.
Mourinho gave Luke Shaw’s owners something to cheer about by confirming the left-back was rested for the trip, after reports suggested he had limped out of the weekend loss to City.
“We left Valencia and Shaw back to play and be fresh so we go back to a normal team obviously without so many changes.”
Team: De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Bailly, Rojo, Schneiderlin, Pogba, Herrera, Mata (Young 62), Rashford (Ibrahimovic 62, Martial (Depay 62). Subs: Romero, Depay, Ibrahimovic, Carrick, Young, Fosu-Mensah, Fellaini.
Southampton 3 Sparta Prague 0
Everything United weren’t – intense, committed, positive – Southampton were in spades as they brushed Prague aside with aplomb.
Charlie Austin (6.2) took the plaudits (and the ball off Dusan Tadic) to score with an early penalty and then a header from a Cuco Martina (4.4) cross before Jay Rodriguez rounded off the win with a smart finish from a Shane Long pass in time added on.
Only Fraser Forster, Virgil van Dijk, Oriol Romeu and Tadic kept their places from the side who lost 2-1 to Arsenal, and both Austin and right-back Martina made a strong claim for further starts as Claude Puel reverted to his preferred diamond formation.
Prague never really threatened aside from an occasional long range effort; the result of their own passivity and Southampton’s industry and purpose. But if the Saints can replicate that performance against Swansea on Sunday, Puel might be on the verge of his first domestic victory as boss.
With the match running down, he brought on Nathan Redmond (6.1) for Tadic and used him in a midfield role at the tip of the diamond. There was also time for Steven Davis (5.4) to replace the excellent Oriol Romeu (4.5) and midfielder Jay Rodriguez to put in a shift as a striker and seal the deal following a fine break – his second goal of the season from the subs’ bench.
Puel certainly learned something about the strength of his squad from the encounter:
“It’s very interesting, because we changed the team a little bit for the start of this game, and I am happy for all the squad, because they can see many good players. It was, I think, important to improve and to build for the future. With a game every three days, it will be very important.”
How he employs that squad could have a major bearing on some FPL teams. For such a talented group, Southampton’s players are relatively low cost – Tadic is the most expensive at just 7.3.
Team: Forster, Martina, van Dijk, Targett, Yoshida, Hojbjerg, Romeu (Davis 82), Ward-Prowse, Tadic (Redmond 70) , Austin (Rodriguez 76), Long. Subs: McCarthy, Clasie, Fonte, Davis, Rodriguez, Bertrand, Redmond.
