As i saw it, there were two glaringly obvious problems yesterday.
1. Lack of width: Park was more often than not in the middle than out wide. Infact i don't think i remember him getting the ball on the byline and then cutting inside. with their central midfielders closing our duo down all the time, the better pass would be to the flanks and as i saw it only obertan was available for the pass. Rafael did try to make an Evra impression but he lost the ball very often and that caused us problems in the night.
The Hollywood Pass: Maybe due to the lack of width or maybe because they thought they'd do a Stevie Me impression, both our midfielders sought to pass that long pass from the half yard line which either went for a goalkick as in Anderson's case or went to the opposition in Gibson's case. Don't get me wrong, but Anderson's biggest strength is his ability to run with the ball and yesterday there was only two instances of him running with the ball and in both those instances he created chances, the cut back for Macheda to head and the free kick which Gibson sent to the stands. His passes didn't connect well and he was not in the same wavelength to his team. But he seemed allright/good once carrick came on. Coincidence?
As for Gibson, i unfortunately didn't see him on the ball very often, infact in the first half he was invisible almost. That isn't a good sign for a central midfielder and he takes way too many shots when he could have passed.
All said and done, i think we're being far too critical of our team here. The forwards and the midfielders have never played together before as a unit. It would be hard for any midfielder to understand his winger's game without even playing with him in match conditions. Park,Obertan,Macheda,Welbeck,Gibson and Anderson have never been on the same team and they didn't click the first time they were. I still have very high hopes for Anderson and the kids we played out there.