So ... I’m guessing ... zero zero in extra time ?
It is what Andre Villas-Boas might call a ‘negative spiral’. On a day when Manchester United spirits ought to have been lifted by the arrival of Angel di Maria for a British record transfer fee, they instead went crashing out of the Capital One Cup.
The performance was feeble and the result was perhaps United’s worst since York City won at Old Trafford in this competition, nearly 20 years ago.
Van Gaal’s first campaign is unravelling at breathtaking speed, although he made every effort to suggest he was unaffected — even unsurprised — by the pummelling.
Watched it. Man U looked lost. Even with Di Maria they are probably going to struggle. They need to make several more moves in the transfer market, but don’t have much time to do it. At the same time, their competition in the Premiere League have improved themselves.
wsj.com - Early-Season Woes May Worry Manchester United Investors
For fans and investors accustomed to almost constant success, English soccer club Manchester United is becoming a very different proposition after its worst start to a new season in two decades.
The club, which claims to have 659 million followers worldwide has won the English Premier League more than any other team. It struggled for form last season, its first since legendary manager Alex Ferguson stood down, eventually sacking his replacement David Moyes and appointing new manager Louis van Gaal. But Mr. van Gaal’s side has failed to win a game this season. On Tuesday his team suffered a humiliating 4-0 thrashing by lower-league MK Dons.
On the one hand, ManU has a real problem with injuries right now, but that excuse only goes so far. The new 3-5-2 system isn’t working, and instead of shoring up the suspect defense, they spend insane amounts on acquiring players who fill positions they already have covered up front.
But worse, they aren’t showing any energy or enthusiasm. They have looked flat, played flat, and even before the embarrassment to MC Dons, they went loss-draw in their opening EPL games. They don’t even have the excuse of European league play causing them to be tired or distracted.
I think it’s the Obama Curse, where their Obama Motors’ Chevrolet logo that has doomed them.
To put it in college football terms, Manchester United losing to MK Dons, is the equivalent of Florida losing to Georgia Southern.
Arsenal barely made it to the Champions League Group stage, they were down to 10 men with about 20 minutes against Beskitas, but hung on to win 1-0.
Go Clarets.
Champions League Draw
Group A
Atletico Madrid
Juventus
Olympiakos
Malmo
Group B
Real Madrid
FC Basel
Liverpool
Ludogorets Razgrad
Group C
Benfica
Zenit St Petersburg
Bayer Leverkusen
Monaco
Group D
Arsenal
Borussia Dortmund
Galatasaray
Anderlecht
Group E
Bayern Munich
Manchester City
CSKA Moscow
Roma
Group F
Barcelona
Paris St-Germain
Ajax
Apoel Nicosia
Group G
Chelsea
Schalke
Sporting Lisbon
Maribor
Group H
Porto
Shakhtar Donetsk
Athletic Bilbao
BATE Borisov