Not Good Enough

Well, what do you say after today?

I was fully prepared to acknowledge Villa's supremecy and bemoan United's tired and lethargic performance today. Tight possession. No Red Devil shots on target in the first half. Berba and Nani frustratingly off. No cutting edge with a derby hangover. Sad to say we need the White Pele.

Or, do we?

I'll return to Macheda's and Obertan's strong performance in a minute, but first, two critical questions beg asking.

How is United contained by a weakened Villa side with two kids in the center of midfield?

How do Villa display more width and dynamism than United for 79 minutes?

The commentators were right with their repetitive quips that John Carew probably would have Villa ahead due to the quality and quantity of crossing through the first half.

In the second, Aston Villa must have felt hard-done, especially after hitting the woodwork twice inside of two minutes. Then, it all went pear-shaped for Sir Alex's men, as they fell prey to Villa's pacey counter-attack, not once but several times.

First, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young combined nicely to carve apart the United defense, leaving Wes Brown to clattered Ashley Young into Rio for a sandwich-penalty in the 72nd minute. One-nil Villa in front of the Holte End – a much overdue lead.

Second, as the Red Devils pressed forward without Berbatov and Hernandez, getting used to Macheda and Obertan upfront, the two central midfielders get caught flat moving too far forward and it's another beautifully executed counter-attack. It's 2-0 in the 76th minute.

Would the cliché hold true, that two-nil is the most dangerous lead in football? How would Villa's kids respond to the inevitable pressure to come?

A few minutes after the second goal, United's attack gained an edge, with Macheda leading the line, Obertan in the hole, and midfielders alternating runs at goal from various angles.

A Macheda laser-job from the top of the box makes it 2-1 in the 81st minute. Game on, as United now have momentum against a young-and-exhausted side.

Pressure begets more pressure, eventually leading to a brilliant cross by Nani that finds a diving Captain Vidic on the far post and it's 2-2 right in front of the away supporters, who now feel obliged to taunt Villa supporters for the manner which they lost the lead.

Now it's only a question of will United win or will Villa hold?

Ultimately Villa deserved a point from this match. They played well no matter what Sir Alex thought of their tackling, as the United midfield never adjusted to the refereeing being offered on the day.

What's so troubling is the wild swing in United's ability to generate an attacking edge. Certain games during the season become difficult for one reason or another, whether it's an injury crisis or the opposition plays out of their minds.

Today was not one of them.

Sure, Villa played well, but United showed how easily the inexperienced side would crumble at the feet of a quality attack. Literally, you felt that one goal would douse the Villan's confidence and composure.

Too bad that chance came to Berbatov in the 16th minute, as Chicharito played the striker in alone on goal where, instead of a first-time shot with his right boot from ten yards, he dragged the ball to the left which allowed Friedel time to close the angle as he shot wide from five yards out. A sure sign of a striker lacking confidence.

This was THE moment to stick the knife in an immature side. This was THE moment United paid huge sums of money for clinical finishing. This was THE critical chance missed.

You simply must wonder what the other United players think of Nani's and Berba's road-to-nowhere dribbling and inconsistent form.

This frustrating habit kills the attacking verve of the side, as you never know what each will do with the ball. Once players start thinking too much during their attacking play, thoughts like “Why didn't you pass it to me?!” after making a well-timed run, or worse, hesitency creeps in with a “Should I or shouldn't I make that run?!” It all breaks down as we observed today.

Sure, United must be tired given the midweek derby, injuries and the flu-bug that's gone round. Sure, Villa played well.

But any team with real title aspirations would have killed off this undermanned Villa side inside of 30 minutes with a goal. One quality strike and the house of cards would have fallen. A splendid opportunity missed.

Through the first third of the season, the verdict is clear: United are not good enough to win the title, as evidenced by this smash-and-grab point for the seventh draw from first thriteen games. The lack of clinical, well-timed finishing to put away the opposition haunts United. Oh, what we'd give for Cantona's edge right now.

Thank God for Kiko's and Obertan's inspired play today, as without it, United were sunk. They've certainly earned more minutes at the expense of Park or Nani and Berbatov during our home match versus Wigan next weekend.

Hmmm... "Oooh-aaahh Maa-che-daaa (Maˈkɛːda)" has certain ring to it, don't ya think?!

Back at you next weekend. Cheers.