Were has it all gone wrong for Manchester United?

Manchester United suffered a 2-1 defeat at Swiss side Basel last night and were dumped out the Champions League.

There wasn’t any doubt before the tie in Switzerland that United could get through because of the perceived gulf in class.

Embarrassed

Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra stated after the game that he felt embarrassed by the teams performance and I’m sure a lot of his teammates are feeling the same way.

Basel are a decent side but nobody expected United to struggle to beat them in either of their encounters.

Midfield

As we all know Manchester United have had problems in the centre of the park. United started with a midfield three of Park Ji-Sung, Phil Jones and Ryan Giggs. I wouldn’t say any of those players are actually central midfielders.

Giggs has had to revert to the centre of the park because he hasn’t got the pace to play on the wing anymore. Young Phil Jones will no doubt become a great player but at the end of the day he’s probably going to end up a centre-back.

And I’d say Park Ji-Sung is also a wide player. That’s where the South Korean has been most effective in recent years anyway. All three are decent players but they are not the quality of central midfielder Manchester United need.

Like lots of people during the summer I questioned United boss Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision not to sign a central midfielder. I really thought he had something up his sleeve. It turns out he didn’t and United are now struggling in the centre of the park.

The Manchester United midfielder can usual cope against weaker teams in all competitions but they have been exposed in recent weeks. United can’t rely on young midfield Tom Cleverley to provide the solution to his problems because he is currently injured and could be for sometime yet.

I’m sure United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will now be looking to strengthen his central midfield area in January, he really has to if the club are going to turn the season around.

Defence

The United defence looked very shaky against Basel, especially when Nemanja Vidic went off injured. I don’t believe that Jonny Evans is good enough for Manchester United. He just hasn’t got the class that is required from someone playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Rio Ferdinand is also looking really poor at the moment. At 33 years of age he isn’t getting any younger and he is starting to show it. Sir Alex Ferguson has brought in the likes of youngsters Chris Smalling and Phil Jones but neither have spent much time at centre-back.

Both these youngsters have immense potential but lack experience because they are being played out of position at full-back or central midfield. They are not going to fulfil their potential as centre-backs if they never actually play in the position.

Turnaround

I recently wrote an article about not writing Manchester United off. And I will stick to that but questions will be asked about what is currently going wrong at Old Trafford. I’m sure United boss Sir Alex Ferguson won’t panic though, he is too experienced for that and somehow try to turn the season around.

What is going wrong at Manchester United?