Manchester: Edwin van der Sar believes Manchester United's midfield must scrap a long-ball approach if they are to conquer Barcelona this season. The Dutchman's last match as a professional came in May as Sir Alex Ferguson's side slumped to a 3-1 defeat in the Champions League final at the hands of Pep Guardiola's charges.
Even Ferguson conceded the loss at Wembley was one-sided, and with Barcelona completing 662 passes during the tie, over double that of United's 301, Van der Sar maintains the Premier League champions must rethink their playing style if they are to succeed in Europe this term.
"We need to play more touches on the ball, personally speaking," Van der Sar told Goal.com.
"Not playing long anymore, we need to have more touches on the ball, especially in the midfield. Hopefully, if we do that, we can beat Barcelona this year. We lost this year in the final against Barcelona and hopefully this season we can improve."
Despite a strong start, United's season was temporarily rocked by the 6-1 defeat to title rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford, and United's former goalkeeper felt the derby would have been more tightly contested.
"I was very surprised by that result, very much," said Van der Sar.
Another early cause for concern were the blunders from David de Gea during United's Charity Shield win over City and the victory at West Brom in the Premier League. But the Spaniard has since eradicated glaring mistakes and Van der Sar has backed his successor to flourish at Old Trafford.
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