Man United's Champions League Nightmare

Wolfsburg 3 Manchester United 2

Disaster in Germany as Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League as they were beaten by a vibrant Wolfsburg and will now enter the Europa League as the third placed team in their group.

Going to Germany with the majority of the first team under doctor's orders meant that van Gaal had to call on all his vast experience in European competitions to guide the Red Devils through the group stage. In the end ıt turned out to be not enough and wıth another poor showing from United they were resigned to the fact that they are just not good enough to feast at the table of the European elite.

The nineteen man squad had an unfamiliar ring to it with many players venturing into Europe for the first time in their fledgling United careers. Included in the mix was Nick Powell, who must have enjoyed being back in the fold for the first time in sixteen months.

The starting XI that van Gaal chose as the players to get the job done was as follows: De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Varela, Schweinsteiger, Fellaini, Mata, Lingard, Memphis and Martial.

Varela was handed his first start for United at right back following his league debut as a substitute against West Ham at the weekend. Fellaini retained his place in the side despite a rather mixed performance on Saturday, but there was a return to the starting lineup for Memphis to once again try and warrant his place in the team.

United got the match underway inside a very noisy Volkswagen Arena.

The home side had a great chance as early as the third minute when former Chelsea player Schurrle found himself open inside the area, but he inexplicably fired his shot way over the bar. An early let-off for United and a sign that they were not going to get an easy ride.

United's first effort on goal came from a Mata shot which Fellaini got in the way of but luckily for him he was adjudged offside to spare his blushes.

The opening goal came on ten minutes when Mata was involved again as his defence-splitting pass fed Martial who confidently ran into the area and planted a shot past the keeper to give United the all important lead.

However, it was a lead that only lasted three minutes as the home side immediately attacked and were rewarded when Naldo got in front of the defenders to volley home the equaliser. A soft goal and a rare lack of concentration by the usually tight United defence.

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Manchester United Views is a Manchester United blog written by Miles Dunton, with lost of blog posts all about Manchester United. Check out his full blog at http://milesduntonmufc.blogspot.co.uk/.

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Arsene Wenger Demands UEFA Rule Change Over Drug Cheats

Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger recently went to the press calling UEFA to change their doping rules. Wenger claims that the regulations in place are not strong enough to deter players from cheating.

The outstanding coach has come out to speak against doping and had problems with UEFA’s ruling. UEFA claims that it cannot disqualify a team from participating in continental competitions not until when three or more players fail a drug test.

Wenger’s frustrations have come to the light the other day after Arijan Ademi, who plays for Croatian team Dinamo Zagreb was slapped with a four-year ban. The midfielder was part of the team that defeated the Gunners in the September Champions League match.

The Away Match Defeat

Dinamo Zagreb Fc managed by Zoran Mamic beat Arsenal FC 2-1 on their home turf Zagreb. 24th November things were different. However, Arsenal turned the tables on Dinamo Zagreb and bagged in 3-0, securing their way out of the group stage.

But before the match on Tuesday, Arsene Wenger held a talk with reporters on Monday morning. He confessed that he found the regulations to be very strange.

The new rules on the drug ban can be related to the changes in the betting world. In the past, profitable betting was a direct result from well calibrated successful betting strategies.

Arsene said that the rule was surprising. UEFA applied a rule that he didn't agree with whatsoever. Arsene Wenger is frustrated that UEFA is accepting doping, and since it's now a rule, all teams have to accept and abide by the law.

Acceptance and Moving On

The Frenchman (Wenger) ended his rant by saying that with the new rule, the Gunners have to evaluate its gameplay and deal with their performance. Re-evaluate they did and Tuesday night they overcame their away defeat and delivered a stunning 3-0 at Emirates Stadium.

In a nutshell, Arsene Wenger holds the belief that rules ought to be altered; he, however, admitted to not knowing the kind of backing he will receive after UEFA’s doping team graced Arsenal’s training. The anti-doping team visited the Gunners soon after Arsene Wenger criticised the new rule.

Arsene Wenger decreed that he didn’t have a clue whether he would gain support from anyone. Wenger however, said that right after expressing himself the doping control unit from UEFA visited them during the training session last Friday.

The Ten Man Squadron

The UEFA doping control unit that landed on Arsenal’s training ground was a ten-man strong squad. Arsene Wenger had a reason to be angry with the rule because its effect cost Arsenal to lose to the Croatian team in September.

He admits that Arsenal’s performance was not the best during the match and also the fact that the player was on drugs could have contributed to their defeat. Wenger cries that in the past, techniques such as random testing and banning of players found to have doped a better method.

Just like old doping methods, successful betting strategies are carefully chosen and executed, after considering various options to ensure profitable betting becomes a reality.

Despite Arsenal’s win on Tuesday night, their best betting strategies to win the Champions League are still sidetracked by the loss to injury of French midfielder Coquelin who is out of play for two months after suffering a knee injury.

Arsene Wenger is trying to keep everything in control despite the midfielder’s absence; he is sure that he has to fill in a player to hold off for the two months until Coquelin makes a full recovery and come back!

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Mind The Gap - What Gap?

Much has been made of the apparent failure of many of the big teams and success of the so-called smaller teams at this summer's world cup. However, when you look closer, the failure is more accurately defined as European failure as opposed to big team failure. Yes, both Brazil and Argentina have at times struggled, with Brazil failing to beat Mexico and Argentina struggling to beat Iran. They appear to have been caught out by the pace and organisation of their opposition's defending.

 In contrast, the European team's struggles have gone beyond struggling to win. In many cases they have jumped all the way to struggling, and often failing, to avoid defeat. It is easy to complain and roll out the usual clichéd responses to world cup disappointment, but should the performance of European teams at this World Cup be a shock to anybody other than those who do not understand football.

 European teams had always failed to win the trophy outside of Europe until four years ago, and have never won in South America, (just as the process is true in reverse). However, they still managed to compete well, providing semi-finalists and finalists on numerous occasions. The lack of international teams at a competitive level outside of Europe and South America allowed this to happen. The sheer number of European teams competing ensured some level of success.

The last time the competition was held in South America, Argentina 1978, 10 of the 16 competing nations were European (62.5%) and 3 were South American (18.75%) with one each from Asia, Africa and CONCACAF (6.25%). Those three teams combined only managed to take one point from games against European or South American opposition (Iran v Scotland). They were there to make up the numbers and give credibility to the competition being a World cup.

That was then. This is now.

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