Cambridge United work hard to hold Manchester United to FA Cup draw
• Cambridge United 0-0 Manchester United
• In pictures: all the best images from Abbey Stadium
Cambridge United v Manchester United - FA Cup Fourth Round
By the end, Cambridge United were virtually encamped in their own half. The pressure was almost relentless and Manchester United had enough of the ball in that last half an hour to think they could have avoided cluttering up their fixture list with a replay.
Yet this had been another scruffy display from Louis van Gaal’s players and the team 75 places below them in the ladder of English football were entitled to those long, raucous celebrations at the final whistle.
They deserve their night at Old Trafford bearing in mind the spirit of togetherness they showed in those moments when their opponents finally started to produce the fully joined-up football that might be expected of a Premier League side. Cambridge were down to 17% of possession during the hardest moments but it was also true that they restricted the most expensively assembled group of footballers ever to visit this ground to only a couple of decent scoring chances throughout the entire night.
It was a prodigious effort from a team that did not cost a single penny in transfer fees and, incredibly, they could also reflect that they were the more dangerous team in a first half when their illustrious visitors never settled. Josh Coulson, the Cambridge defender, had the outstanding chance of the night and it would have been brutal if they had succumbed during the final exchanges. Cambridge were always going to have an aerial threat bearing in mind they had seven six-footers among their outfield players. Yet the more impressive aspect was the way they quickly demonstrated they would not be in awe of their opponents.
Ryan Donaldson set the tone when he tried a nutmeg on Daley Blind in the opening couple of minutes and Sullay Kaikai quickly showed that he also had enough confidence on the ball to run at the Premier League defence. The 12th-placed team in League Two played as if utterly immune to stage-fright.
Van Gaal had talked beforehand about suffering a modern-day version of squeaky-bum time on the occasions he chose an orthodox back four rather than the wing-back system that has led to mutinous chants from the team’s supporters. What he needs to realise, perhaps, is that many fans would argue a “twitching ass” is essential to the joys of following the club. Yet most of his twitching in the first half might have had more to do with his frontline on a night when Robin van Persie started on the concrete slab otherwise known as the substitutes’ bench and Wayne Rooney was given the night off.
Ángel Di María was particularly disappointing bearing in mind the shot that cleared the Newmarket Road End and the number of other occasions when he could be seen waving an apologetic hand. Radamel Falcao and James Wilson both found it difficult to have any significant impact on the pattern of the game and, by half-time, it was Donaldson who was responsible for the game’s more creative moments. There was also a sense of deja vu for Van Gaal thinking back to the third-round tie at Yeovil when it was again perplexing to see how difficult his players found it to demonstrate the gulf between the two sides. The same flaws were evident again and when Phil Jones could be seen making desperate clearances out of defence and with a player of Di María’s refinement struggling to find his usual deftness of touch, there were times when the home side were entitled to think the 11-time FA Cup winners might be ripe for an upset.
Donaldson’s running with the ball was a prominent feature but their extra height created its own dangers and Richard Money was off his seat after 31 minutes, convinced his team were about to take the lead when the ball dropped to Coulson from one corner. Coulson had inadvertently blocked the initial header from his team-mate Michael Nelson and was only a yard out when the ball came back to him among the pack of bodies.
In his defence, everything happened so quickly the centre-back maybe did not have time to twist his header on target. Yet, from that range, it was a bad miss and there was always the sense that Cambridge might eventually regret that moment.
No other team in League Two has scored more second-half goals than Cambridge but the tide did start to change after the break and Michael Carrick, with his first pass of real imagination, set up Falcao on the hour for a chance that Chris Dunn turned over the crossbar.
Finally, Carrick was starting to exert more of an influence in midfield. Van Persie had a reasonable chance soon after replacing Wilson and, gradually, Cambridge were retreating further into their own half. Blind was operating as a more advanced left-back and Antonio Valencia was also venturing forward from the other full-back spot.
Cambridge had lost their momentum but there were still moments when Van Gaal must have been startled by his team’s quality with the ball.
The ethos under this manager is that the ball should be brought forward from the back. The awkward truth is that on nights likes these we are reminded that strategy can be beyond Jones and Marcos Rojo at times.
Guardian
