FOUR Manchester United Players Who Should Lose Their Place After Cup Exit

Although Manchester United beat Sunderland 1-0 last night in the League Cup semi-final, the Black Cats’ aggregate score meant that it went to extra time. After both sides scored late on it then went to penalties, which Sunderland won 2-1. It was a largely uninspiring display from United, so here are four players who I think should lose their place in the team as a result.

1) Alex Buttner

The left-back was given the opportunity to impress and book his mark in the final of the cup, but he made a hash of it and did nothing but frustrate his team-mates and the fans. He continually gave away niggly fouls and his ball control looked shocking, and for me he needs to be dropped.

2) Shinji Kagawa

The Japanese playmaker is the one player who needed a performance last night as it seems as Chelsea playmaker Juan Mata could be coming in to take his place. He failed to impress though, having just 40 touches of the ball.

When he was in possession he looked short of ideas and generally rolled the ball to whoever was closest to him.

3) David De Gea

Not only did he fail to take command of his backline but his late, late blunder was the reason that Sunderland were allowed to take the game to a penalty shoot out in the first place. When Phil Bardsley’s limp strike looked to be going straight to the keeper, it flicked off his hand and crawled into the net via the post.

4) Darren Fletcher

Although he is still coming back from his injury, Fletcher still needs to step up to the mark to glue together what is a weak looking midfield. He was accurate with his passing but looked out of place on a few occasions and struggled to keep up with the pace of the game. I would suggest that Tom Cleverley comes back into the mix.