I'd take Muniain or Susaeta over Young, Martinez over any of our centre midfielders. Pogba did have a presence that's true, but Cleverley was terrible for 85 minutes tonight.
Cleverley was out of position on the right wing last night. If you remember last year's U21 tournament, he played diabolically there under Stuart Pearce. The logic then that stronger players would be used centrally and Cleverley could float inwards, but it's pretty obvious that Cleverley is isolated whenever he plays on the wing, and plays poorly whenever he can't get on the ball consistently. I never thought I'd see Fergie play him there, too. This time it was to accommodate Park as a central midfielder, which was the worst tactical mistake of the night. Park's legs are gone, it seems, because Fergie doesn't appear to trust him out wide any more; his technical ability just isn't up to playing as a central midfielder, though, and he certainly isn't a stronger player. In a perfect world, Cleverley would have started centrally and Welbeck would have started on the wing. Not to say that we still wouldn't have lost handily on aggregate, but we would have given it more of a fight, even if still outclassed. Our midfield set-up last night was just all wrong. I'd like to say it was indicative of the over-rotation Fergie's been indulging in but this time it might have been warranted with the title run-in to consider.
It's crazy, but we might actually need another winger in the summer, because I think it's time to let Park go. (That's beside the need for a midfield alternative to Carrick, but that's quite obvious at this stage.) Otherwise, Pogba did well - he showed good composure and technical ability. Our attack looked much better when Welbeck came on, too. Ashley Young - I don't know, he's an enigma to me. I'm certain he's a poor footballer, at least mentally, and then he pulls goals and assists out of his hat the next time I see him play. We'll see, I guess.
