Will be interesting to see who Jose thinks is good enough to win that game, he has more or less said that every member of the squad will get game time over the next 3 weeks.
It seems a strange one that, it's like he's taking the CL games for granted if he makes changes like that. Is this a sign that the PL is becoming so competitive, that teams are actually prefering to just qualifying for the CL money, rather than actually going far in it, and risking the league form and not qualifying the following year. I noticed that a lot last season too, with Arsenal and Tottenham not quite playing their best 11 in CL matches. If you want to go far in Europe then it's a silly approach, as despite the fact we are 1/5 with the bookies, none of these CL teams are mugs, and if you don't win your home games your putting huge pressure on yourselves to qualify.
Oh right that's fair enough then. Atleast it gives us another opportunity to look at Lindelof. I think I read somewhere that Rojo might not be back til January, so we don't really have a choice but to go with those 2.
Basel do like to turn over English teams, should be simple enough for yuo though doubt that will happen again.
I can't in honestly say I've missed the champions league, I enjoyed the EL last season as it was different in many way. Some amusing, some less so. Still, it's better on a Tuesday/Wednesday than a Thursday so am looking forward to hearing the CL anthem again, it's been a while. That's pretty much the only difference, the day and the 'anthem'.
I frequently disagree with Jose's pronouncements but I agree with him that Champions League is and must remain the "natural habitat" for United. If we can't dispatch Basel at home then there is something wrong with the team. I still feel disgust at the way we performed against PSV at OT under LVG. It was a draw but for me that was the worst match Ive ever seen at OT and a turning point and from then on I wanted LVG gone. The players were totally clueless and kept possession in our own half and wondering what to do with the ball. We won the possession battle with 80%
Really? It was the surrender versus Liverpool that did it for me. The PSV game was insignificant compared to that. I would have gladly strung van Gaal up to a lamppost after that.
I too thought at the time this was pathetic. Getting beat away happens but there was hardly any passion in the return leg. LVG had driven all excitement and passion from the players. They were all playing "keep the ball" and the biggest crime was losing the ball. At least with JM, there is more movement and more passion. The players want to move forward and they want to score. I think he'll keep the spine of the team. DDG, Pogba, Matic, Lukaku. Bailly is suspended otherwise would probably have played.
Not happy with 6 changes. OK 2 of them were forced but to change so many after losing a bit of rhythm during the international break is a bit of a risk in my opinion.
Pretty happy with that line up - the big difference being that we have genuine talent and options on the bench.