I agree, to an extent. It may be semantics, but it's a toss up between you not 'getting going' and you 'not respecting teams enough'.
Either way that group should have been WON with a game or two to spare. It was a very easy group, in CL terms. A bunch of Romanian part timers who were there to make up the numbers, a Swiss team and a run of the mill Portugese side. ANY team with even a faint hope of winning the CL needs to be able to beat a Swiss side home and away. Ok, maybe one bad game, fluke goal, dodgey decision etc, but to get ONE point out of six!?
Ditto the Portugese. Ok they have produced a few fairly good sides over the last 10 years, but in general if you have aspirations to win the CL you need to be able to beat a Portugese side (4pts in two games, or maybe a comforable win a home and narrow defeat away, giving you an aggregate win). For Portugal read Holland, France, Russia, Turkey.
United have been here before and it wasn't exactly a prelude to a collapse (much to my disappointment), but it does shwo that they need some serious money spent on that team. Two central midfielders, one holding, one 'play-maker', an effective third choice striker if you're not going to let Berbatov play (Jury is still out on Wellbeck and Owen and Macheda are a waste of space). I'd also say the defence needs sorted out, but then I suspect it's just in transition ATM. Rio is on his way out and is being phased out slowly, while Jones and Smalling are being introduced. But Evra has stagnated over the last 3 years and them Da Silva twins are very hit and (more often than not) miss. As for Johnny Evans.............
Still, at least it gives me something to watch on Thursday nights now! Lol
Ohh and you prob won't even make the final of the Europa league as Fergie will (rightly) treat it as a glorified Carling cup/pain in the ass.