Reds Could Not Get Pass-ed Marseille

Manchester United scored a nil-nil away draw against Olympique de Marseille, and a lot of the talk has been about Sir Alex Ferguson's midfield selection.

Fletch Was Frequently Chasing The Game

Sir Alex Ferguson decision to start Darron Gibson instead of Paul Scholes certainly raised quite a few eyebrows ahead of the match, but he was not the only player that misplaced a pass or two, or lacked of imagination that ultimately confined the Reds to a dour draw with Marseille.

The heavy, patched-up Stade Vélodrome pitch was always going to disrupt United's precise short passing game, but the way that the Reds could not make a pass, Darren Fletcher and Wayne Rooney in particular, was a major disappointment.

Playing away from home in Europe is always a tough task, especially against a well-disciplined, defensive-minded team like Marseille, but the attack was killed off countless times by poor passing.

Marseille certainly did not do anything special with their defending - the home side simply allowed United to make a mistake, and they would break forward from there.

Use as many excuses or reason as one would like, but if you only complete 50% of your passes, your club is never going to win - especially in the Knockout phases of the UEFA Champions League.

Granted, when Scholes did eventually come on for Gibson, it seemed to settle the anxious passing down a wee bit, but it still did not look as though United were ever going to ask more of a question to the sturdy Marseille defense.

In the first half, it was apparent that the most success that the Reds was having in attacking sense was down the right-hand side with Nani taking on Gabriel Heinze.

Down that same side, a no-call by the referee, Felix Brych, and one the assistants on the touchline denied United a clear penalty claim, after a flailing arm from Heinze blocked John O'Shea's cross from entering a dangerous area.

Nani was terrorizing his Marseille markers with his trickery in the first half, but failing to get him the ball after the interval saw the Reds lack any options going forward.

Marseille's manager, Didier Deschamps, claimed that there are weaknesses in the United defense which he planned to expose, but there was no evidence of any kinks in the Reds' armor during this performance.

To get a clean sheet away from home in the knockout stages is certainly not an easy feat, but United's accomplishment was due in large part to the impressive partnership struck in the heart of Reds' defense.

Chris Smalling and Nemanja Vidic both put in quality performances to deny Marseille many glimpses at goal, and when they did decide to shoot - mostly from distance - the towering center backs put their bodies on the line to get in the needed blocks.

The emergence of Smalling over his last two starts has made many forget the three-week long absence of Rio Ferdinand, and he has shown great promise to become a long-term fixture in the United back-four.

If Smalling was not struggling with a back injury prior to the match with Wolverhampton, and started instead of Jonny Evans, would United still be unbeaten in the Barclays Premier League?

Priority
There is no question that Sir Alex had an eye on the three consecutive Barclays Premier League away matches to come in the next nine days.

Wigan Athletic, Chelsea and Liverpool await the Reds, and Scholes' experience, creativity and craft led more than likely led to his limited role against Marseille.

Scholes' exclusion was down to the fact that heavy pitch was going to wear him out faster than it would a younger Gibson, and it shows that Ferguson may just value No. 19 over No. 4.

The dour draw was by no means a poor result for Manchester United, but as Sir Alex Ferguson said following the game it could a dangerous one, which means that the Reds need to be fully focus on the task at hand when Olympique de Marseille come to Old Trafford in two weeks.