Sep 03
Reds 1-0 Sunderland: The Late Late Match Report
For those interested, MOTD highlights is up on the stats page.
I am sure certain sections of regulars to this site might have been left wondering what really is up with the lazy author of this site. Admittedly there was a little slacking off from your’s truly. After all, waking up late, groggy-eyed, on a Sunday morning – when the lethargy was only mildly nudged out of the system while watching Villa beat Chelsea – should be enough cause for feeling generally happy through the rest of the day and forgetting one’s blogging commitments.
Anyhow, apologies. Here’s getting back to business…
The Sunderland game was significant for us, as United fans, due to a multitude of reasons. From the Guard of Honour for Ole, to Keano’s homecoming, to our need to be getting into some kind of a winning rhythm – thus building up some momentum, going into the game with Chelsea later this month – the match was extremely important. Also, it was the last game before we welcome Ronaldo back into our side to give us the much needed cutting edge and imagination we seem to be lacking in our final third, so far this season.
Also, all eyes were nervously awaiting the return of a long-gone, much-ridiculed, almost forgotten striker in Louis Saha. Even the fact that he did make it to the bench gave most of us a sense of relief – that there is someone genuinely capable of doing something when he comes off the bench. The sight of Anderson alongside Tevez gave us another feeling that we might get to see Tevez create more that he has done so far this season.
Those were our pre-match expectations. The match however started in a familiar breath. We hogged all the possession, made elaborate build-ups, made what seemed to be incisive forays, without really creating anything. Progressively, as the game went on the all-too familiar build-ups started getting worrying. At least in the past – against Reading, Portsmouth and Man City – we looked like we were going to score any moment. But on this occasion, there were hardly moments where we looked like carving out anything productive.
Tevez, once again, impressed with his work-rate but seemed to be unavailable whenever there was a ball played into the box that required the presence of a poacher of some sort. I have always been stubbornly against the signing a target-man (ever since we bought Tevez) despite seeing the obvious absence of that kind of a player, and plenty of fans demanding the signing of a target man. My reasons were more to do with the effect it could have in our side’s morale. Of course, a stop-gap arrangement would have suited me just fine, but then even he would need to be bedded into the side. It is a bad enough situation to be in, but that is how things have turned out, and a little patience in our transfer strategy as far as selling Smith and Rossi went, would have been a better idea. Anyway, I digressed a lot, but that about summed up our tepid first half.
The second half saw the introduction of Saha in the place of Anderson, who had a very quiet debut. The only highlight of Anderson’s debut was a weighted pass in the path of Tevez who blasted it with his first touch. Gordon held it comfortably. Saha’s introduction brought about a marked change. For the first time this season, we seemed to be winning headers from crosses. Okay, scratch that out. For the first time, we saw our wingers seem more confident about crossing the ball. They started bombing the ball in more often. Saha’s movement, ability to hold the ball and win headers created problems for the defence, which, until then, was well shepherded by Nosworthy and co.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait too long, when, in the 72nd minute, Saha headed in a Nani corner. He did well to force himself towards the ball, and mainly, jumped well. The ball, of course, hit the back of his head and went into the net, but that didn’t stop the Old Trafford crowd from erupting. Saha’s return, his goal, and that it was scored off his head could be some kind of a statement made to Fergie and co. that if we intend to win something this season, we must have several options of breaking down the opposition.
Anyway, the players went mad celebrating and pointing in the direction of the scorer, in case we had a doubt. What was worth noting about this celebration, and previous ones, was the ability of Ferdinand to magically materialise before the scorer and be the first to congratulate him. If it was a race, and there were points for that, Ferdinand would ace it. At least, he had the good sense of not jumping on Saha – fragile as he is.
Speaking of which, Saha has now declared that he knows how to avoid his injuries. Hopefully Fergie awards his new found enlightenment with a fortune cookie.
Anyway, well done Saha. The international break comes at the right time for him to get fitter – as long as that nut-job Raymond Domenech does not call him over.
Back to the match, there wasn’t too much forthcoming after the goal, apart from some late chances from Fletcher and Hargreaves. Earlier, Giggs was missing from the starting line-up with a hamstring strain and Eagles was preferred instead. Granted, Fletcher was a better player, but I personally laud Fergie for his faith in the young ones. Eagles, of course, was out of his depth, but the outing in this kind of a situation would have done him a world of good.
There were, of course, lots of things that were not right about this match. United’s passing was terrible. Balls were given far too often. If there was one thing Roy Keane would have done if he was captaining the team on the pitch, it would be skinning each and every player that gave the ball away. Meaning, he would have had a lot of work to do. Some of the passing were jokes. Wes Brown, while defensively fine, never seemed comfortable going forward.
But thankfully, there were positives from the other side. Evra was simply magnificient. The number of times he bombed forward showed the wingers what they weren’t doing. It also showed us how much we were missing Neville on the right. Of course, his return is not going to guarantee the surging runs of old, we’ve so grown used to seeing. He is ageing and we need someone who can show some initiative. I am not yet prepared to fault Brown, because, for all his failings going forward, he is solid in the tackle and that would be useful in Europe. Evra has also improved in his defensive awareness, and he’s shown ample amount of that with a couple of savage tackles.
Paul Scholes was good. He wasn’t at his best, but good enough. He was in the box more often than Tevez. Hargreaves has seamlessly integrated into our side, and he’s a quiet operator who can, at times, unleash powerful volleys. His tackling is clean, and that says a lot about his positioning. All in all, our best purchase so far. Nani is integrating well. His outrageous skill is not in question. All he needs to work on, is his decision making. That will take time, and, in a way, it is a blessing that Nani was forced into the side with all the injuries and suspensions. He will only improve, and we need to be patient with him and Anderson.
Michael Carrick showed his displeasure at not being brought in ahead of Fletcher and O’Shea. I was genuinely disappointed with his reaction. While it is okay for a player to feel bad at not being allowed to play, I would expect him to show more fight in the training ground and force his way into the side. Not show his petulance. O’Shea and Fletcher, while being relatively limited players, have earned their runs in the side with their hard work. Carrick’s recent performances weren’t particularly spectacular, and if this small kick up the arse by Fergie spurs him on (no pun intended), then it will be better for the side. I just hope I am not making too much of all this.
Keano was cheered by everyone in the crowd, and he acknowledged that with a wave. Things have been a little rocky for him this season, but we hope he bounces back and proves the doubters wrong. Here’s wishing a successful season to him and Sunderland.
To sum-up, what has been a long drawn match report, United’s win was relieving, once again. But the cracks are still apparent. We have Everton, who are certainly no mugs and are doing pretty well at the moment. They are also a dogged side. Sporting Lisbon should be another testing game, followed by the biggest test we will face, Chelsea.
As an aside, Chelsea’s slip against Villa didn’t surprise me too much because, as I’d said in an earlier article, teams have improved vastly, and even the so-called Big Four will drop points. It will be a much closer title race, and we should be there and thereabouts when points are there for the taking.
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Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd 2-0 Chelsea (FT) : Tevez, Saha Score
- Reds vs Spurs: 26 Aug, 2007 4pm BST
- United 4-0 Wigan: The Goals Are Coming!
- Reds Maul Airtricity XI
- Reds 1-0 Sunderland: Full Time | Saha Saves the Day
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (542)
Stephen (498)
RedDevilEddy (462)
Craig Mc (349)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
About time U lazy BUM hehe
the ability of Ferdinand to magically materialise before the scorerI ‘ve been saying this all the time he is a gr8 assest to the team because of how he boosts players morale
overall a good game
and i still maintain tevez is shite shite shite
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on spot much report,
What was worth noting about this celebration, and previous ones, was the ability of Ferdinand to magically materialise before the scorer and be the first to congratulate him. If it was a race, and there were points for that, Ferdinand would ace it. At least, he had the good sense of not jumping on Saha – fragile as he is.
that got me cracked up! nys one red ranter. i already posted on the other artcilce bout the match
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It’s a wonder that Ferdinand doesn’t score 10 goals a year with his ability to anticipate where a goal will be scored so he can be the first into the celebration!
On selling Smith and Rossi I’m not sure either would be particularly helpful at the moment. As good a player as he is Rossi would have been another player wanting to ‘play in the hole’ (on a side note are we going to be the first team to field 11 players who want to play in the hole). Smith would have provided some presence in the middle but then again so would a carefully positioned traffic cone! In hindsight though, one should have been kept for the sake of numbers.
I feel your being a bit rough on Carrick, he was peeved because he was set to go for Hargreaves before SAF changed his mind. He seems to be getting turned into a bit of a scapegoat despite the fact his performance levels have been on a par with Scholes and better than Giggs, Tevez, Brown and Eagles.
Other than that the 2 week international break should hopefully see the return of Rooney, Ronaldo, Giggs and Neville along with improved fitness for Saha and Anderson which should make the team a completely different proposition against Everton.
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good report, and indian punk, in a way i gree with you, i’ve noticed tevez needs to be the centre of attention in a team in order to excel, he did that in corinthians, and as time grew on in west ham, in the argentinan national squad however, he does seem to play okay, having to play second fiddle to messi, riquelme and crespo, but when the manager of argentina, made tevez the main man of the squad argentina did well, then in the final against brasil he made riquelme the main man, tevez was incredibly quiet, and the great canarinha won 3-0, o to put it short, tevez needs to learn how to play second fiddle and not be the main star in a team, otherwise he may become the next shevachenko (if thats how you spell it)
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Interesting observation adil
But my main concern over tevez is he is not quick and get closed far too often by defenders and somehow i feel he is Not Man Utd Class and he nees some tips from evra he is running and cutting all over the place and still impresses i’d like to see more goals from him
But i’d love to see tevez proving me wrong coz i love the club more then any players so if we are winning then who cares who scored and who sucked
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Ferdinand’s gusto aside, I’m pretty sure Hargreaves took atleast a couple of shots on goal, and from quite some range. The scond one, infact, was pretty close. The range finders are well set in the midfield. Scholes, Carrick, and Hargreaves. Oh Joy!
By the way, fletcher did an impressive job of horsing around and jacking up the teams work rate a notch. He’s become one good player. The academy has done it yet again. If only he finds his passing range, I’m sure Carricks tantrums will become more frequent.
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Carrick was angry because he was told he was coming on and had gotten ready to come on only to be told that the substitution was cancelled. I’d be pretty pissed off too if it happened to me.
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I too have noticed Ferdinand’s uncanny ability to be first on the scene for a celebration. He usually does the whole pointing to the scorer thing as well. Very amusing Rio.
Alot of positives to be taken from the victory, although the performance wasn’t great.
Hopefully the return of Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs and Neville will kick this team into shape.
The league starts now.
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i urge u guys 2 visit the chelsea blog site (bluechampions). what a joke. the majority of them on dat site have only been “supportin” chelski sine 2003, bunch of glory hunters.
they make comments lyk joe cole would be as good ifnot better thn ronaldinho if he was allowed 2 do skills by mourinho. tht made me laugh 4 ages. still laughing now
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[footballguy]
Yes I did check it out, although you shouldn’t be winding them up too much there. Nothing good will come of it. Fan blogs are fan blogs, and if you say their club is shit or whatever, you are not going to be welcomed with open arms.
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RED RANTER
i never said theIr club was S, in fact ive been involved in great discussion in thier site. n this is da point of football rememba, differents supporters comin 2 gether 2 discuss n wind each other up. we can always b serious all the tym, and only tlk tactics. COOMMON. (THT WILL BORING)
i was just sayin the site personifies chelski “fans”. people bcome supporters only whn thy strt winning, and chelsi fans trying 2 run b4 thy cn wlk.
r u sayin the similarities drawn between j.cole and ronaldinho, isnt a joke, and doesnt deserved 2 b laughed at, and a comment made about it.
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I didn’t say that you said their club is shit. I was making a general remark. Oh well, wind ups may be fun. But I’ve kind of gone tired of that!
Been past it. Wears me out personally. 
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True Evra was fantastic with his runs on the left wing. My only worry is Tevez since he seems to be falling back too far and more too often. Saha will in the meantime, provide the fox in the box approach until Rooney returns. Both Rooney and Saha are amazing. A question: Why did Ole Gunner announce his retirement only three days to the transfer deadline? Couldn’t he have done it earlier, say like June 30th, and so we could not have off loded Rossi?
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Can some of u guys please give that Tevez some time?I wud even say he is a better player than rooney . he is not a target man he needs a free role !!! he was more active when Saha came ,.got a shot on target…gave a good pass to scholes after which Fletsher missed it….Dear fans please please lets give new signings some time!!tevez is class and we will get him gradually !!!! so patience is wat required…
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I’d like to ask a question to all of those people who ‘prayed’ that
we wouldn’t sign Hargreaves. Who wanted Rossi, Gattuso, anyone but
Hargreaves really.. What do you think now?
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[De_Roiste]
Really? Were people actually saying that? I guess they might have thought Gattuso or de Rossi as cheaper options. (Gattuso is still good nonetheless.) I guess they looked at other options when Bayern were haggling over a price for Hargo. I must admit, Bayern did get terribly annoying at one point.
Anyway, the guy has been brilliant so far.
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