Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/246133
23 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 JANUARY 2014 OPINION Making your own luck 77% in their favour United failed to register a single attempt on goal before Eto'o struck. A lack of confidence has crept into United and it looks like it is there to stay. I argue that confidence reflects luck and had Manchester United approached the game in a confident manner then perhaps their midfielders and forwards would have been tempted to have a few shots, even if from outside the area. Testing the goalkeeper early on is always a key to establishing dominance however under David Moyes that X factor has deserted them, and I believe this happens before a single ball is kicked. Pre-match buildups nowadays make up for a large chunk of what happens on the pitch and David Moyes seems to be getting them wrong again. He insists in using the word "try" over and over again and I believe his language needs to change if he is trying to raise heads. Blaming the refs afterwards won't do his case any good either. Manchester United fans may have been "unlucky" to have conceded in that matter however their response is totally up to them and in my opinion they folded. We were all used to seeing great teams respond well to conceding and United were themselves once hailed the comeback kings following a string of comebacks over the years. Folding after an early goal is certainly not a sign of good confidence. Chelsea were average on the day and in my opinion never even hit third gear. Mark Strijbosch THEY said that when your luck is down it's really down and at certain points in time nothing seems to be going right. Sound familiar, United fans? A fourth defeat in five for the Premier League champions sees them drift 14 points off the top and things are not looking good at all for Manchester United. Many neutrals would have felt a tad sorry for the manner in which United conceded their first goal against Chelsea on Sunday. They dominated the early exchanges however found themselves on the back foot after a wild deflection off Michael Carrick carried a weak Samuel Eto'o shot over David De Gea. It was 1-0 against the run of play and United fans had their hands in their heads cursing their luck. I have always believed however that in life you make your own luck. As I noted above, United dominated the game early on, pushing forward in good positions while moving the ball around comfortably despite playing away from home. For a second or two they looked like the team of yesteryear however something was missing. That spark was not there and despite possession stats showing a dominating They faced a team however who right now can not even seem to operate their own gearbox and they looked clueless at times. A 3-1 defeat can never be pinned down to luck, however I also feel that a last minute 1-0 defeat to an own goal is not about luck either. Football in truth is a simple game and if a team fails to put a team to bed over 90 minutes yet conceded later on is entirely their own fault because luck is what you make of it. Both teams go into the game with their own mindsets and goals, however I feel that fans blaming luck are just copping out. More fans are also blaming the lack of a penalty given for Manchester United and I feel that too is wrong. Blaming the ref is never wise, however people love hiding behind that excuse. Teams need to go into the game with the mentality that they need to rely on themselves to win the game, and not the ref. Playing against 12 men is the term and it needs to be embedded into a winning mentality. Losing to a soft penalty may not be nice, however you must put yourself into a better position to win the game than to lose by such close margins. Teams at the summit are on the other hand playing with supreme levels of confidence and Manchester City's approach is incredible to see. They seem to have a goalscoring mentality about them and we ask ourselves just how many goals they are going to bang in on a weekly basis. They have a superb goal count of 63 in the league and their 4-2 win over Cardiff saw them become the fastest team in English history to reach the 100 goal mark. Their strikers are as hungry as ever and that has nothing to do with luck. United's frontline, whatever remains of it, is showing no form of confidence while their defence is as leaky as a rusted pipe, and in my view that has nothing to do with luck. Each player and their manager needs to take a good look at himself in the mirror and must as the question: Am I doing the best I can for my team? Pursuits Across 9. Vertical (13) 10. Petroleum (3) 11. Personal (7) 12. Musical composition for one (4) 13. Fail or misplace (4) 15. Young owl (5) 17. Hedge (7) 19. Assumed name (5) 21. Plant juice (3) 23. Bird of prey (5) 24. One's own person (7) 25. Efts (5) 27. Observed (4) 28. Too (4) 30. 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