Manchester United: 5 Reasons to Worry After Narrow Galatasaray Win

Manchester United got their Champions League campaign underway tonight with a closely contested 1-0 win over Galatasaray.

While United fans will welcome a win in the wake of last season's debacle, we have to look at the bigger picture and asses how tonight reflects United's chances of winning the tournament outright.

United's lackluster performance tonight showed a side that is well short of the levels required to win this prestigious competition.

United will be happy to have three points on the board, but tonight they gave fans huge cause for concern.

Here are five reasons that United fans should worry about their club's chances in the 2012/2013 Champions League

Nani's Continued Poor Form

Readers of my work will be aware that there is no love lost between me and Nani. I don't doubt his talent, but I do question his commitment and work rate.

Once again tonight he showed why he is thoroughly undeserving of the substantial pay raise he is rumoured to be chasing.

Antonio Valencia's form has forced him to move from his favoured right wing, but that doesn't explain his lack of form or shocking attitude.

He still flashes brilliance and some of his play tonight was exceptional, but these moments are too often followed with moments of poor play. He has never been consistent but he has become less and less so with each passing game.

He has never been a hard worker and this lack of work rate has left Patrice Evra exposed, and open to huge criticism. Evra is not the player he was, but a bit of help would lessen the impact of this demise.

His saving grace down the years has been his ability to conjure up goals from nothing. His finishing this season leads me to question if he is the modern day incarnation of Billy from Billy's Boots fame, and if he has lost said boots.

He has had numerous chances to get on the scoresheet this season and failed on every occasion, due to either poor shot selection or just poor finishing.

Tonight he was gifted, at the expense of Robin van Persie, a chance to break his duck. Instead of just smashing the penalty home, he embarked on one of those stuttered run-ups that so often end in failure. The result was a poor shot that was easily saved.

On top of his physical failings his attitude has been less than stellar. At one stage this evening he was fouled in the box, but instead of playing to the whistle he started rolling around complaining. As a result, Galatasaray were given the time and space to counterattack, and only two fine saves from David de Gea saved United.

United's game relies on creativity from the flanks, and an out-of-form Nani has huge ramifications for United's attack.

United's Lack of Midfield Dominance

Earlier this week I highlighted United's midfield as an area of huge concern. Tonight added further weight to those claims.

The first 20 minutes showcased all that is good about United's midfield; it was full of quick one-touch passing and clever passing.

It appeared for a while as if we would over-run Galatasaray but then something changed. Galatasaray's more physical midfield begin to exert themselves and pressurise Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes.

And this pressure forced bad passes, which allowed Galatasaray to hit United on the counter. Scholes and Carrick were unable to compete with the pace and power of their opponents and United found themselves stretched at the back.

Time after time Galatasaray's midfielder's found themselves in great positions with time and space to pick passes and take shots. Only some fine goalkeeping and the width of a post saved United on numerous occasions.

Don't get me wrong—this wasn't a bad performance. Michael Carrick was thoroughly deserving of his Man of the Match award for a fine game, but was it good enough to inspire hope?

Given that this is hardly the most powerful midfield United will face this season, one must worry what will happen when United come face to face with the likes of Yaya Toure.

This worry may be tempered by the return of Darren Fletcher from serious illness. If he regains top form, he will provide the bite and presence United need in midfield.

Continued Penalty Taking Woes

Rival fans have long argued that referee's have a habit of favouring United, particularly at Old Trafford. They say this has manifested itself in the number of dubious penalties awarded to the club in front of their home fans.

Could it be that United, in the cause of fairness, have decided to even these bad decisions out by spurning every penalty chance they get.

They have already missed three this season, and if you include preseason they have missed six of their last six in all competitions.

I'm not sure what the statistical chances of converting a penalty are, but I would assume they are in the 70 to 80 percent range. Therefore you could pass off missing one or two, but six in a row is simply unacceptable.

What bothers me is that United have seemingly used penalties as a way of playing out-of-form players into form. 

Both Nani and Chicharito were out of form when they stepped up to the spot, and as confidence is key when taking a penalty, their misses seemed almost inevitable.

Thankfully we are yet to be made to pay for our misses, but better teams will make us pay.

Failure to Get Robin Van Persie Involved

When Manchester United paid £22 million for Robin van Persie, it was so that he would be the focal point of their attack.

So far he has delivered in spurts. He was masterful against Southampton and scored a beauty against Fulham, but he was anonymous against Everton and again tonight against Galatasaray.

I wouldn't place much fault at the feet of RVP; he has continued to make the runs that made him so deadly in recent seasons.

The issue is that United have constantly failed to pick him out when he finds space, often playing the ball too early or too late.

If United are to advance in the competition, they will need RVP to develop chemistry with those around him. A striker is only as good as he is allowed to be by those supplying the ammunition.

Shinji Kagawa impressed again tonight but seemed to be out of touch with RVP. He in particular will play a key role in getting the best out of van Persie.

Continued Complacency in Europe

When United crashed out of Europe last season, the blame was placed firmly on the complacency of those involved.

Ferguson had underestimated the opposition and picked weak teams, while his young stars had taken their foot off the gas allowing teams back into games that should have been killed off.

The talk all week was that this could not happen again. Ferguson came out saying as much, as did Anders Lindegaard and Michael Carrick.

Tonight would show that United still have work to do to avoid complacency. 

We almost shot ourselves in the foot before the game even got going, when only a poor no-call from the referee saved us from a certain penalty.

But we overcame that and began to dominate the game, with Michael Carrick giving us the lead in the seventh minute.

We were up 1-0, in complete control with the game at our mercy. But instead of going for the kill, we took our foot off the gas and allowed Galatasaray back into the game.

Going forward, we will need to develop a killer instinct to kill games off. It was our Achilles' heel last season and will continue to be unless we do something about it.