Mar 16
Lessons learned from Inter and Liverpool.
[Note to Liverpool fans stumbling onto this site through Newsnow: You lot are among the best fans ever and you will win the treble this season. Now go away and leave us in peace.]
Saturday was a terrible day. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this bad after a game. Even Chelsea away in the 05/06 season wasn’t quite as bad because, 1. we were playing away from home against a rather good team and, 2. we were a shite team in comparison then anyway, and 3. they weren’t Liverpool.
But rather than going about blasting every player that made it to the pitch it’s a far more constructive exercise to think about areas we could improve upon.
First, a positive, reassuring fact that ought to brighten depressed minds: we are top of the league with a four point cushion that could quite easily become seven if Saturday’s kick on the backside really meant something to the lads.
With that thought let’s move on to things that need to be worked on.
The defence has appeared strangely, for want of a better word, incoherent. For reasons, I can’t possibly explain, certain players have been ball watching far too much. Take, for example, Patrice Evra. I haven’t seen this drastic a slump in form as much as I’ve seen from him recently. [One can only hope that this is a temporary slump, and that he's not playing injured.] He nearly let Stankovic capitalise on his oversight, and made an ill-timed tackle on Saturday, not to mention the number of times he allowed players to surge forward on the left. It could be argued that we had ‘Pool on the rack for most part but we can talk about that later.
Still with the defence, Nemanja Vidic had a game he’d probably want to forget soon [and hopefully his suspension would help him with that] but I am slightly concerned about Rio Ferdinand. He wasn’t bad against Liverpool, but he hasn’t been close to his peerless self of last season yet. Once again, I want to hope this is mainly because he is yet to recover from a recurrent back injury. But it is surely a while since I’ve seen the Rio Ferdinand who, in his peak, would’ve had enough cherries in his pocket to keep El Nino busy.
About our midfield, I’ve heard tons of revisionist bullshit about how Fergie cocked up his selection of personnel in midfield. Well, we could have said something similar about our team selection against Chelsea. We thumped them spectacularly, and Fergie was hailed a tactical genius — something the man himself, along with his peers, says is not his greatest asset. The point I am trying to make here is this: we have come this far — despite losing home and away to Liverpool, we are four points ahead with a game in hand — brushing aside injury troubles, gruelling far-Eastern jaunts, winning Mickey Mouse cups along the way, and to say that all this was accomplished with a poor midfield; that, to me, is utter tosh. So I wouldn’t fault Ferguson’s selection either. We did have Liverpool under the cosh for a good 70 minutes, if my unspectacular powers of time estimation is anything to go by, with good possession. So I can’t fault the midfield. I do have questions of my own, such as why a big-match-player (in the words of SAF himself) like Darren Fletcher didn’t make it to the starting XI, but I would be cheating with my powers of hindsight. I’ll let that slip.
But this brings me to the third part of this belated outpouring that I’m subjecting you to, and it is in our attack. Again, I won’t question the man for picking the forwards that he did. What I would ask is — and I think, at this point in the season, it is safe to ask — is our system working? By a cursory glance at the league table, and a shrug of the shoulder, most would be compelled with a ‘yes, the league table doesn’t lie.‘ Sure, it doesn’t. And so far, yes, it hasn’t lied. And a couple of losses later, it won’t lie then either. But then what am I getting at?
When we bought Berbatov, we decided to sacrifice a player who was able to run at defences but unable to head, for a player who was composed and could head, whilst providing flick ons for our other gifted attackers to capitalise. What happened this season was, we took time for our system to get adjusted to the new arrival and, whilst goals have been forthcoming, they haven’t been quite as prolific, nor has the system been mouth-wateringly fluid. Berbatov’s arrival has improved our ball retention, and we have become a more considered team the way we conduct our build up play, but it also requires an excellent, water-tight defence to make up for the lesser number of goals we’re likely to get from this system. If our defenders cock up spectacularly, then our task would be far more difficult to get back than it was last season.
Berbatov’s arrival also meant we needed other players to come into play — and I am primarily talking of a central midfielder who could come into the box unmarked and score a few. We have midfielders who can pass at the moment, and Fletcher looks most likely to score goals from midfield. This is no fault of Berbatov, of course. Nor is he an unqualified success. He has done well, but we do expect more from the Bulgarian.
The reason I had to bring all this up now that we lost a game at home, is to give it some context. Speaking about this after a 4-1 romp at West Brom, for instance, wouldn’t resonate quite as well as now.
But all this negativity aside, I felt it was good that we got beaten by someone, although I didn’t want it to happen against Liverpool. It’s really hard to take a home defeat thumping against a rival that really wasn’t superior to us on the day. Three defensive gifts that they capitalised on would be the only credits attributable to them. And the red card did it for us finally.
I really think this backlash will wake up players who may have lapsed into smugland. Rio Ferdinand acknowledges it was a ‘rude awakening’ and Sir Bobby Charlton reckons this defeat could only help us. He still mentions the quintuple though, which I really don’t have much time for — unless of course we win that.
[Note to Liverpool fans who've actually read till the end of this piece: Get a life. Or better, get a tattoo]
Till then, I’ll look forward to our side winning, what they call in football, the next game.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Charlie Adam to Liverpool
- Manchester United and the Champions’ League
- Mourinho’s Inter, Liga de Quito and proof that Berbatov can be happy
- Man Utd v Inter: Preview
- Some reads to while your time…
Tags: Manchester United News
Craig Mc (195)
RedDevilEddy (170)
Opti (135)
Moscow is my heaven (96)
Ian (95)
@Fred The Red: Psychological disintigration??? Not quite sure what you mean Fred. I just think the wrong MF pairing was chosen for us on the day. I’ll tell you this, if Red Nev had been on that pitch, knowing what it means to United fans to win this one, some of our players would have got a right bollocking from him. We haven;t really got anybody in MF since Keane, who will tear the heads off players giving the ball away, or playing fancy Dan stuff, with flicks, one stepover too many etc. All in all, I think like you, that we were commanding the game, and L’fool didn’t win because of their superior play, but because of our comical defensive errors ON THE DAY. The performances of Evra since he returned though are causing me some alarm
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@Craig Mc: When Torres and Gerrard starrted to run at Vidic he completely lost his composure, he has many strong points to his game but when he gets turned by players with pace who try to run at him he doesnt like it and I can remember a few occasions this season were he has been exposed like this and and was fotunate not to have been penalised.
Michael carrick has not convinced me that he can step up to the plate when the heat is really on and there were times against Liverpool when he could have done more to prevent thier players advancing at our back four. I know he is not in the team as a midfield general, but on one or two occasions I thought he was jogging back when he should have been sprinting and also whenever he starts poorly in a game he seems to go into his shell and struggles to come back out.
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@Fred The Red: Vida hasn’t got a lot of pace Fred, that is the part of his game where he lacks. Also another weak area of Vida’s is that when under pressure from continuous traffic from opposing players coming at him, he panicks into either booting the ball into touch, or hoofing it upfield. Johny Evans on the otherhand is calmer, and is a footballing defender if you know what I mean. However Vida has played out of his skin for most of the season for us. I feel in the big games, our MF looks lightwieght, and doesn’t marshall MF, and so the defense is pressured with little help from a calm and commanding MF – little support mate. Our strikers too really struggle when tightly marked. Still all in all, so far we have kept ourselves in good position. We have to win the next three games though, they are VITAL. We MUST do so, to give L’fool and Chelski NO hope in their thinking they can catch us.
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@Craig Mc: I agree with evertthing you just wrote and its in games like these when an Owen Hargreaves type could have made a big difference
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@RedDevilEddy: See tht’s where we differ greatly. I love speed too but I do not like it all the time because finding precision and and finesse skills when going full speed is an almost impossible thing to find in a player. This is why Pele and Maradona are #1 and 2 all time. They could do incredible things at full speed. Other great players need to slow things in order to take a great shot, make a pin point pass, or dig down and come up up with a moment of vision and finesse like a chip lob pass into a strikers feet. This is why I love a player like Riquleme so much. He has the skill set of a true magician and artist but he lacks the speed and often the determination of an Anderson. But for me he has proven why all those other qualities are far more greater and more vital than speed. Because he has had great success without having to use pace and speed. Where he has failed in his career is in his lack of determination.
I think of two of my all time favorites Franz Beckenbauer and Johann Cruyff. Both capable of running fast but also two players that rarelty ever gassed it to a ball or with the ball. Controlled, almost static at times, they let the ball do the traveling for them. What they had was a delicious sense of timing and vision coupled with golden feet that would allow them to make all kinds of passes to teammates. And when they shot the ball, their shots were lasers designed to kill on contact, they were controlled well placed shots that keepers had no chance on.
So many midfield players of the past with that quality to offer up as examples of what I am talking about. Zidane, Platini, Rivelino, Charlton, Hoddle, Gasgoigne, Netzer, Hoeness, Breitner, Neeskens, Ardiles, Riquelme, Maradona, Baggio and Hagi. All capable of moments of brilliance and vision. Imagination with a great touch and rarely at full speed. Always under control. Lets not forget Scholes in that.
Now as for speed, pace and drive, well that’s what wide wingers and wide midfielders are for. Which brings me to a major point. Although I do not like to blame Ferguson for what has happened to Anderson, it is important to note that Andy was an up and coming star LW/LMF back in 2005 when he was one of the great young players of the year. So why is he being turned into Scholes and Roy Keane on this team? I hate to say it, but maybe Fergie is most to blame for Anderson and even Nani. Play them at their position for Christs sake. If Anderson is a winger, why the Hell are we playing him a position that does not take advantage of his best tools? His speed, drive, dribbling ability are what we need on the LW. I honestly don’t know if he can cross a ball because he gets very few chances in a game. His corners are pretty shitty but still, playing him away from his natural position seems like a selfish and very narrow minded thing for Fergie to do. And it’s not the first time he has done that with players. All the more reason for Anderson to move on to a team where he has a chance of regaining the form and the confidence he had before United got a hold of him.
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@Craig Mc: “Very uncharacteristic” is why I am concerneed. Because it didn’t happen once in the game, it happened at least a half dozen times and we got burned 4 times. As for the Voyeur, he has been kissing Fergie’s ass a lot of late and it’s starting to disturb me. It’s clear his dislike for Liverpool and Chelsea as well as Mourinho is much greater than his long and bitter rivalry with SAF. So I would take anything he says with a grain of salt. He is obviously trying to piss off Benitez with his comments.
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@Craig Mc: Yes but that dog had to wait 73 years for it’s day to look so good and 17 years for it to happen at OT in the Prem.
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@Craig Mc: Whatever mind games you guys need to play on yourselves to numb away the reality and the pain is OK by me.
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@Craig Mc: He is known as the Goateefather because of that goat hair on his fat festering pock marked mug.
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@Grognard: You would, I wouldn’t. But then we have not agreed on a lot of things since the Lfool game. That’s life, and I see the game in agreement with Fergie and Wenger. Mind games MY ARSE.
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@Fred The Red: Yeah Fred, I love Owen Hargreaves
. I would like another really commanding MF enforcer to compliment Hargo though Fred 
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@Craig Mc: He wants war, perhaps it’s time for Fergie declare war right back and get the boys ready to go to the mattresses on this. If he wants war, he will lose. So he won the battle, so what, he will lose the war and he will then go into his bunker with his ugly dog and uglier wife and shoot himself and then Gerrard and Torres will take his limp carcass out of the Anfield bunker where they will be thrown in a pit near the Kop end, gas poured over them and then a lit on fire.
A fitting end to an evil fat and ugly tyrant who lisped his way into power and tried to systematically and technically destroy the game of football with his negative mind and manner. And lets not forget about his latent homosexual tendencies towards little Lucas Leva, Fabio Aurelio. the masculine Mascherano and of course his favorite little boy toy, the shemale Fernado Torres. Now that’s a FACT. Beliebo me.
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@Fred The Red: And were losing it and we end up losing it big so yes, the game was ours to lose and we did it in style.
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@Grognard: Blimey Grog, that’s a bit lurid. Sounds horrible mate. I think all this real HATRED towards Fergie by Benitez is wolfish, and a little disconcerting. I mean lets win the WAR? When we start talking about football games as WARS, there is definately a serious question as to Rafa’s mental state.
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@Craig Mc: Midfield paring had nothing to do with the serious gaffs pulled off by Vidic and the lack of support by Rio. Midfield gaffs never caused Evra to stick a blind foot out and trip Gerrard and midfield gaffs weren’t to blame for a long ball down the middle that John O’Shea got caught taking pictures of as Dossena chipped over a useless and fully unconscious EVDS. Also, our midfield was not to blame for the free kick that slowly found it’s way int the goal while EVDS was sitting taking a crap and looking for toilet paper. And was our midfield to blame for the time Gerrard should have made it 5-1 but blew his shot or the time a ball was centered poorly to a wide open player in the box who would have tapped it in if had been directed properly. None of these plays had anything to do with our inept and clueless midfield. Because as bad as they were and as void of ideas as they were, they were far from the abysmal and folly filled clown act that made up our back four and goalkeeper. A tremedous display by our midfield may have allowed us to score a goal or two more but it would not have prevented the calamity of errors that led to all Liverpool’s goals on Saturday. I just find it shocking the way some of you direct your blame at the wrong parties in all this. It’s the midfield, it’s Anderson, it’s Tevez, it’s Berbatov, it’s Fergie not making changes fast enough, it’s Park etc etc. Do yourself a favor and watch the game again and pick out who is to blame by studying the goals.
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Also shit head Gerrard asking FIFA and all football world to show respect for Hillsborough disaster, and let Lfool mourn for their day, and have FIFA change their CL game so that they can do it. Then their fans came to OT with blow up aeroplanes, throwing them at United supporters, and chanting continuously anti munich songs, bastards! So Gerrard needs to talk to his lacking in respect KOP idiot, and crass fans.
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@Fred The Red: This is why I blame either fatigue or he was carrying some kind of injury. His hesitation on the first goal was just shocking. Their were three or four things he could have done and instead he allowed himself to get overrun. If he was a talentless moron we could say that was the reason. We know better though don’t we. Those mistakes and that reaction was of a player who is mentally and possibly physically tired and spent.
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@Craig Mc: Booting the ball into touch on the first goal would have been just fine.
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@Fred The Red: Yes because he would have prevented Vidic from fucking up as well as Evra, Rio, O’Shea and EVDS. Honestly guys, your analysis of the game is seriously wanting. Sure Hargreaves would improve a lot of things but the goals were not mistakes created by the midfield. Our back four just decided to implode in one game. Hopefully it was a one time occurrance but the nature of the implosion leads me to believe that fatigue and possible lingering injuries to players like O’Shea, Rio and Evra have led to their fall from grace. As for Vidic, hopefully it was just a freak of nature. But EVDS I believe has been protected by these guys all season and his flaws have been well hidden until Saturday. Hell if it wasn’t for goalposts and Ibrahimovich’s uselessness, Inter would have beaten us and EVDS too. That’s two games our defense sucked in, not just one. Trust me, Hargreaves couldn’t have prevented anything on Saturday unless he played goal.
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@Grognard: Errr we had lost Vidic and and were playing a man short. For most of the game, the defence was put under pressure, because our MF was not in control in MF. In todays press Benitez is stating that they worked on not allowing our MF to be in the game by pressuring them. Also he told all his players to work on VIDIC. Vidic was their target. Anyway, I am tired of this talk now. I want to MOVE on, and be there for my time for the remaining games this season, where Benitez is DEMANDING, yes demanding that all other teams use his tactics of working on Vidic, and pressurising our MF. Fergie needs to realise, as do our players, that Benitez is AT WAR with us, and we should SEE and get our lads and the fans tanked up.
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@Craig Mc: Bro, why are you hiding behind the words of two used car salesmen? Those guys would lie to both their mothers if it got them an advantage.
Think for yourself. I know where you stand but I totally and 100% disagree with you mate. In buddies can have a difference of opinion from time to time. Just don’t hold it against me. I need time to recover form this disappointment, 
PEACE.
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@Grognard: And thats what Vida was trying to do, or did that escape your intellectual notice? Right I am leaving this thread, because it is boring me. Lpool is behind, we have all the games ahead now, and I will give them my attention. So bye bye this thread
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@Craig Mc: Benitez is an uneducated little piece of shit of a man who suffers from Napoleon complex. What he needs is his own personal WATERLOO. And hopefully Fergie (aka Lord Fergie Wellington) will arrange it for him. Perhaps that is what we need in the Champions League. I’ve always felt the draw was fixed. I think that the two will meet much like we met the team that was on our heels all of last year, Chelsea. Lets hope we have our day of sweet revenge. He wants war, he wants to talk war, I say we blitzkrieg his Spanish Waiter ass. Show no mercy and take no prisoners……unless Torres wants to change sides.
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@Grognard: Look Grog stop talking garbage please, you know all to well that I said those things BEFORE Fergie and Wenger came out with them. Or was that something else that escaped your notice. I was saying this from almost my first post. I don’t need them or YOU to tell me what to think. Just because I don’t agree with you on this game, doesn’t mean I am not thinking for myself. In fact it means I am thinking what I think about this game, and my opinion hasn’t changed from the beginning. I don’t want to argue the toss anymore though Grog. I have my own opinion, and you have yours. Our opinions are not in accord on this issue, and that is ok with me, and should be OK with you.
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@Craig Mc: Yes, he should also ask for the same respect for the mess death his horde created at Heysel too.
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@Grognard: At last we AGREE on something today
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@Grognard: That was just awful Grog, and if I remember correctly, it caused English teams to be banned from Europe.
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“For most of the game, the defence was put under pressure, because our MF was not in control in MF.”
So please tell me mate if what you say is true, how on Earth do you as well as Fergie and Wenger explain the fact as you put it that we had them against the rack? Seriously mate, if we were so bad in the midfield, why were you so certain that we would beat them despite being down 2-1 and lacking any midfield play?
Inquiring minds want to know??? 
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@Craig Mc: I know you said those things before them Bro but now you are using them to back you up and I just don’t see it mate. No need to get all hot and bothered though. I’m asking serious and valid questions of you mate. Anyway, forget about it. It’s not worth us getting all upset over this. Obviously this game has got all of us fighting in the terraces of the Internet as well. We need to get back to our winning ways and hopefully forget a nightmarish Saturday. Cheers and goodnight.
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@Craig Mc: Yes it was awful and to this day Liverpool fans are still remorseless about it. The evidence was clear that they were to blame and not the Juve fans. But they always ignore it and forget about it and always like to bring up Hillsborough as their choir song. They are all pathetic Scouser filth
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@Grognard: 1. Cracking up would be over a series of matches, it’s possible, I don’t think it’s happened just yet though…
3. No panicking here, they are getting a little closer, it’s not bothering me any, it will just make Fergie mad and make United stronger. The reason the team is so strong right now is directly linked to Chelsea improving their squad. Like in business you shouldn’t shrug off the opposition saying they are crap, you need to keep improving, especially when you are on top.
4. What the hell is this fickle shit, I’ve never said he was good or shit. It’s not his fault he has to do the dog’s work instead of others.I just hope he never read this this blog to hear what you’ve had to say about him. That’s rich coming from you!
5. I like Nani, and a midfield that can run as well as walk, Park can be useful sometimes too.
6. Well seeing as Evans didn’t play on Saturday he should be free of the cracking up syndrome, let’s hope so…
7. Did I say he was one of the the world’s greatest striker ever? Where did you get that from? And who the hell are these great forwards that United have come up against this year? I’m not bigging up Torres, I’m talking about the rarity (in a big match situation) of excellent strikers testing Vidic. That little bit of extra trickery seemed to take him by surprise.
And please don’t call my opinions bollocks.
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@magno: Sorry for the bollocks comment mate, but that is how I felt at the time about what I read. Lets just say I disagree with the comment.
And the fickle comment is directed at you and a lot of others who love to put Park down in a game when he is ineffective but who build him up into something godly when he plays well. If that isn’t fickle, I don’t know what is. And if you think that’s rich coming from me, fine, I never ever said that I am incapable of being fickle. It’s the nature of being a fan and dealing with highs and lows. So if that’s rich, I’ll go on a spending spree.
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@Grognard: It’s okay man, just came across as a bit piqued.
And just so people know where I stand on it: my views on Park have been constant from the start. I would never criticise the guy, he should be a sub or played in specific cases. These specific cases are happening far too frequently for my liking though…but are they are definitely necessary due to lack of bite elsewhere.
When called on he always gives his all.
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