The UEFA Super Cup is over, and Zenit St Petersburg had a relatively easy win over Manchester United, in the sense that they showed how you could beat Manchester United systematically. The Red Devils have lorded over the English Premier League and Europe for much of over the past decade, and that form generally shows no signs of abating. Many teams come up against them and have a form of stage fright or mental block, especially at Old Trafford where the atmosphere hardly counts as one of the most intimidating with home fans preferring prawn sandwiches than cheering their team on. Especially in the English Premier League where genuinely good sides like Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have hardly made a dent in their record over the last ten years.

But with Zenit’s win on Friday, where the scoreline flattered Manchester United, the football world should have taken note of the Red Devils’ weaknesses. Even with the reintroduction of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has announced that he will be ready by the end of September, these weaknesses will remain unless a major transfer spree is undertaken by the Old Trafford outfit. This will be unlikely given that the owners are highly conscious of spending patterns and it just is not the club’s usual way of operating in the first place. The major weakness is so simple that it borders on the ridiculous, and perhaps the reason why most clubs have never really tried it (apart from the lack of players to do so).

Zenit St Petersburg players constantly ran at the Manchester United defence in the UEFA Super Cup and showed that even with Vidic’s valiant efforts in shielding his error prone partner in defence, Rio Ferdinand, the English champions’ defence is extremely vulnerable to constant pressure via the wings. You would probably have lost count the number of times the Russian players got behind Manchester United’s defence, and sent in low crosses that split them further. While the two Zenit goals did not result from these moves, it showed the potential the same tactics could provide. But these same vulnerabilities that could prove the constant undoing of Manchester United are still unlikely to be heavily exploited, as many teams have some form of mental block when asked to have a go at the English and European champions.

Zenit St Peterburg’s win also raised some interesting questions, especially with the looming probability that Andrei Arshavin will stay with the club. If he retains his professionalism on and off the field, his presence in the Russian side, together with sensational new midfielder Danny Alves, could lead to a continuation of their European dream adventure from last season. They have landed in a tough Champions League group with the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus making up the rest of the teams that they have to overcome in order to progress to the next stage. But their win over Manchester United would have fanned the hopes again after a difficult few months since their UEFA Cup win. Their priorities are likely to remain with their domestic league for now, as they still trail league leaders Rubin Kazan by a massive 11 points. Based on their performances in Europe so far though, they have a high chance of beating both Real Madrid and Juventus both home and away.