Manchester United: Toss the Shackles, Fergie

It is quite frustrating to see Man United play the way they played against Barca at the Camp Nou last week. The tactics employed by Fergie were clear, sit back and defend. The most anticipated semifinal of the season fizzled out to become one of the most boring semifinals. Barca couldn't make anything out of the possesion they had and United refused to attack.

The talking point here is, is Ferguson's strategy really helping him..??

Gone are the days when United would attack with full force no matter what the situation. Today's United look more like a sedated team in away games than the explosive, attacking side they used to be.

The question though is that whether this strategy has actually worked in away games..?? In the short run yes, but in the long run, I guess no.

In the 1990's, the glory days of Manchester United, Ferguson used to employ a 4-4-2 in most of the away games, with Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, Mark Hughes or Ole Solskjaer upfront.

With the arrival of van Nistelrooy, we saw him adapt a more defensive 4-5-1 formation with Van Nistelrooy playing alone upfront. During the days of Van Nistelrooy it worked, as he pounced on every loose ball and every error and scoring at every shot he got. But with his departure, Wayne Rooney has been deployed in that lone position.

It is well known that alone upfront he is like a fish out of water, but even then, Ferguson uses this formation.

Without a hitman like Van Nistelrooy in the side, United have not been scoring as frequently in away games as they used to. And maybe it's time for Fergie to re-think his strategy. United were absolutely rocked by Roma in 2006/07 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, this was when Fergie employed the same defensive formation.

This tactic did work this season against Roma and Lisbon but hurt us against Lyon, United look like a side who rely too much on home games and are almost non-present in away games.

Back in the treble winning season of 1999,the 4-4-2 worked brilliantly for us in away games as we played teams like Juventus and Barcelona, even though we conceded a few, we scored a lot as well, thus helping us on our away goals tally.

But one might still argue, what if you concede very few and score more..??? Yes that would be good, but without a sure shot goalscorer like Van Nistelrooy it would be hard to guarantee goals. And United are notorious for having those "off-days" where nothing seems to go in.

As a United fan I would love to see United win, but I would enjoy it more if we won it with the flair of '99. And now we are forced to win the coming fixture against Barca whereas all they need is a goalscoring draw at Old Trafford, which looks quite a possibility given the fire power they have.

Maybe due to that same away game strategy, Barca are favourites to go through even though United have home advantage.

If I had a chance to do so I would tell Fergie to loosen the shackles and play the free flowing football that United are known for, because we have lost many a semifinal playing the defensive way.

I'm hoping for a renaissance in the playing style of at away games. I guess that is not too much to ask for. Or is it..?