Five Talking Points from Manchester United's 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk

Age looks like it is finally catching up to Rio Ferdinand

They say familiarity breeds contempt. But the United back-line wouldn’t know about any of that, because of the amount of chopping and changing that has been going on at the back. For the game against Shakhtar, Rio Ferdinand, who had previously criticized the manager for his penchant of announcing the team late, was back in the starting lineup and replaced Nemanja Vidic. And the Englishman didn’t cover himself with glory with his performance.

Barely a few years ago, he was hailed as one of the most skilled defenders at bringing the ball out of the back, but now, with his pace deserting him, his ability to do just that, has been vastly diminished. On far too many occasions, he was caught asleep on the ball and was lucky that there were players back to snuff out the danger. Although he made some telling clearances and blocked a couple of shots, Moyes wouldn’t have been pleased by the manner in which, he gave possession away on more than a few occasions.