Jul 13
The Tactics Board- Nine and a half
Wayne Rooney had a good season for Manchester United, but it’s hard to define what role he plays for the team. Playing in the deep-lying forward role in United 4-4-1-1 system, he functions as both the main creator and a dangerous goal scorer, but that hasn’t always been his role. In 2011/2012, he was responsible for 35 goals and 4 assists. With these stats, many people think he’s a more dangerous goal scoring threat than creating, but that’d be a mistake. In 2010/2011, he struggled in the early half of the season, before making a good partnership playing behind Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. In that season, he managed to score 11 goals and contributed another 11 assists, proving that he is as dangerous setting up goals for others as he is scoring them himself. In 2009/2010, he played a different role. He was the main goal scoring threat, scoring 26 goals as his club just missed out on the title.
It’s hard to define exactly what Wayne Rooney is. Many people have tried to define him, but his play at Manchester United has made it a difficult task. Some people try to define him as a classic ‘Number 10′, who’s main job is to create chances for others and playing deep into the midfield. Their ability as a direct goal scoring threat is reduced, as they are responsible for setting up their teammates with clever passing and link-up play. His play in the 2010/2011 season would fit well into this definition.
Others try to describe him as a classic ‘Number 9′, the front man for his side’s attack and the most dangerous goal scoring threat. With most teams playing only 1 striker, that is where you find the team’s ‘Number 9′. These players have some passing abilities, but their main skills are their shooting and ball-control. In 2009/2010, he played as almost a perfect ‘Number 9′. He frequently played alone up front in a 4-2-3-1, or alongside Dimitar Berbatov in a 4-4-2. When he played alongside Berbatov, he typically played as the more advanced striker while Berbatov played deeper as the more creative striker. This past season has made it hard to define what role Wayne Rooney plays, is he a ‘Number 10′ or is he a ‘Number 9′? Perhaps he is something in between.
Nine and a half-
In the last season and a half, Wayne Rooney has made the deep-lying forward position his own. Sir Alex Ferguson has made the 4-4-1-1 his dominate formation. Wayne Rooney plays as the deep-lying forward, with Javier Hernandez or Danny Welbeck working in front of him. This allows Rooney to drop deep into midfield, and spread the ball out to the striker and wingers in front of him, while also remaining an extremely dangerous scoring threat himself. He’s able to be both a creator, and scorer.
Rooney plays a ‘Number 10′ extremely well. He is good with the ball at his feet, and he’s able to play quality short passes. In addition, he has a great tactical sense to pick out the right pass to create openings for others. The only problem is, his goal scoring abilities go to waste as a straight ‘Number 10′. In addition, he’s equally skilled as a ‘Number 9′. He’s got a lethal shot, and the strength and agility to work against defenders in the box. But, again, the problem is that his creative abilities go to waste as a straight ‘Number 9′.
Wayne Rooney is equally dangerous as a goal scorer, and a creator, making it hard to classify him. He is too complete a player to be classified as either a ‘Number 9′ or a ‘Number 10′, which leads him to be classified as something extremely rare: a ‘Nine and a half’.
Wayne Rooney isn’t the first player to be thought of as a ‘Nine and a half’. Marco Van Basten is one of the most common examples, but there are few players who have the skills and abilities to play this role. It’s hard to find a player that can both create chances for others, while also retaining a dangerous goal scoring threat. While these players are extremely rare to come across, they have become slightly more common now. With Dutch ‘Total Football’, and the playing style of the current Barcelona and Spanish National team, players are required to have better all-around skills. They are no longer allowed to just specialize on one typical playing style. Robbie Fowler is an ideal example. He was a dominate goal scorer. He didn’t have good pace, or speed, or agility, or ball control, but he could put the ball in the net. This type of player is no longer used, as Fowler is only 37 and last played for a team in Thailand.
The trend now is towards more complete forwards, in the mould of Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi. They all qualify as ‘Nine and a half’s, as well as being world class strikers. They are great goal scoring players, but they are also creative threats. Their creative abilities are great, and that makes them extremely valuable. Having the creativity, vision, passing ability, and tactical awareness necessary to create goal-scoring chances for their teammates, as well as being top notch strikers, makes them the key to their teams attack.
Playing a Nine and a half-
Teams struggle against a ‘Nine and a half’ for many reasons. The main advantage that ‘Nine and a half’s have is how versatile they are, and Wayne Rooney is a perfect example of this. In 2011/2012, he played as the lone striker up front, the deep-lying forward behind the main striker, the left-winger, and as a central midfielder. They are hard to shut down for the defense due to their variety of abilities, and it causes the defense many problems.
Try comparing a ‘Nine and a Half’, like Wayne Rooney, against a typical striker such as Demba Ba. Ba is a potent scoring threat with his strength, and size, and shooting skills inside the box. He can cause any defenses some serious problems, as he showed most of last season for Newcastle United. The first line of defense against a player like this is to play deep defensive line, in an effort to prevent him from getting room to play in behind your defense. You also mark him closely, in the hope that he will have to drop deeper to get the ball.
While this type of defense will do well to minimize the scoring chances for a typical striker such as Demba Ba, it wouldn’t work against a ‘Nine and a half’ like Wayne Rooney. By playing a deep defensive line, you give Rooney space deep to collect the ball and play passes to the wingers coming in. Rooney is as comfortable, and dangerous, playing with the ball from 35 yards out as he is from inside the box. This causes the defense serious problems.
A ‘Nine and a half’ is able to play a variety of positions, and offers a threat in both a chance creation role and a goal scoring role. When playing with an additional ‘Number 10’ or ‘Number 9’, this player causes the defense many problems. A good example of this was at the end of the 2011/2012 season, when Manchester City would have Carlos Tevez play as the deep-lying forward and he was supported by a dangerous ‘Number 9’ threat, Sergio Aguero. Teams had problems closing down the goal scoring threat that both Aguero and Tevez presented, while also dealing with Tevez’ ability to create chances for team-mates.
An interesting setup will be in this upcoming season for Manchester United, as it is expected at some times that Wayne Rooney will play as the lone-striker in front of Shinji Kagawa. How much better will United’s offense operate with two capable creators, while Rooney is also playing closer to the goal to present a more dangerous goal scoring threat? In this past season, Rooney was counted on as the only creative force for most games. Rooney is one of the best examples of a ‘Nine and a half’, and this season should give him plenty of opportunity to show this. He’ll have chances to play as a lone-striker up front in front of Kagawa, or playing a deeper role with Danny Welbeck or Javier Hernandez in front of him. His skills allow him to play both positions extremely well. He’s able to present just as dangerous a scoring threat, and a creative outlet, in both positions which makes it extremely difficult for teams to deal with.
By RangeRooney Follow @RangeRooney
Related Posts
Related items from Red Rants:
The_Philosopher (397)
Redrich (214)
Opti (203)
Moscow (147)
Stephen (144)
Good read, in short, Rooney is one of few elite forwards who can create and score. Currently, we rely a bit too much on Rooney and as a team our team attacking plan is a bit too simple, give the ball to wide and Rooney take up scoring position, cross come in and score.
I think we gonna need new forward, RVP could be dream signing.
Like?
0 
4
hahha everton are looking for 20million for baines
how much did ashly cole cost to go to chelsea?
Like?
1 
0
@ash is the man: It is called the English tax. Frankly we need cover…. in fact a challenger for the left back position. Let’s see which this one or two signings Sir Alex is talking about will be. unfortunately none of them will be a defensive midfielder capable of destroying our opponents attack
Back to topic. I think the appropriate term of Rooney’s role is Trequarista. A person who comfortably plays attacking midfield, deep lying forward and poacher roles. Assuming that Sir Alex will play Kagawa in his natural position i.e. Central Attacking Midfield, it will be interesting to see how the partnership will unfold. Valencia/Nani on the right, Young/Nani on the left with Kagawa center and Rooney up top, we can have one of the most potent attacking threats in the premiership ( Chelsea will be another assuming Mata, Torres, Hazard and Lampard click). Europe is another mater with Madrid and Barcelona, Bayern et al. in the mix
Like?
1 
0
@Nelson: do you honestly believe fergie will do the right thing and play kagawa behind rooney ???
Like?
1 
1
@ash is the man: Yes he can. in a 4-4-1-1 he will play behind rooney. if he adopts the 4-2-3-1 the results will be the same but if we play 4-4-2 , 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 then he will play as an inside forward attacking from the left hand side
Like?
1 
0
@Nelson: ya but him doing it is another matter
Like?
1 
2
@ash is the man: well he will have no choice. it’s not like kagawa is versatile like oshea
Like?
1 
0
@Nelson: It’ll be interesting to see what Fergie does. The only difference between 4-4-1-1 & 4-5-1 is who is playing behind the lead striker. 4-4-1-1 has a forward (Rooney) while 4-5-1 has a midfielder(Kagawa). 4-2-3-1 is similar, with a midfielder behind the striker but the wingers playing further forward than a 4-5-1 & 4-4-1-1.
The best thing we could do is pick up a physical CM. £30m for another CAM means no money for a CM. #1 priority should be somebody like Tiote, Asamoah from Udinese or Axel Witsel. Now they are talking about Christian Eriksen for £17m should leave money for a CM, but it still worries me.
Like?
1 
0
@RangeRooney: its obvious we are not feared any more. we have no tough man, we need to sort it out, why buy kagawa if we now want erikson?
Like?
0 
0
20 million for baines is ridiculas, insane infact, if he ends up being our last signing i will give up all hope, we need to buy a cm, why is fergie so reluctant, and would it not make sense to sell berba and buy demb ba for 10million which is his buy out clause
Like?
1 
1
@ash is the man: I would certainly sell Berba, but Ba is an injury waiting to happen.
Spending money on a left back is madness bordering on laughable. We have needed a centre mid for season and yet again we are being let down. I have stood up for the manager for seasons but if we fail to add at least one by the end of the window he would have let the club down.
It is so obvious the need for another striker and midfield player that Stevie Wonder can see it, Fergie is being negligent for me and we will struggle badly next season.
Having faith in that fucking th fat c@#t Anderson, a 37 year old, Cleverley and Carrick is a joke. Would City, Chelsea, Barca, Real, the two Milan clubs have that as their midfield line up?! Of course not, it is now getting beyond a joke.
Like?
1 
0
@Stephen: we are fooked, right up the arse
Like?
0 
0
@ash is the man: Seems so.
I can hear all the owners and chairman around Europe now, “We must give Manchester United value, we cannot ask too much for our World Class player”
Value?! What the fuck is value? Are we Arsenal?! Good players, oddly enough are not cheap, but they win you trophies, give me strength…
Like?
1 
0
@Stephen:
Seriously? You’re saying Fergies being negligent and letting the club down? Well then fuck me, cus who’s been keeping it up all these years? I thought it was him but it must obv be you right?
And have you seen the state the two milan clubs are in? That’s WITH the kind of financial backing they have. Barca and Real are also supported by their local govts and have insane amounts of cash to spend. Shitty and Chelsea have their sugar daddies. It’s clubs like these that have inflated the transfer market to crazy proportions. Now if you want to support a club like that I’d welcome you to join any of the names above or if you want I can throw some more names at you like PSG maybe? Pretty sure not many people have jumped on that bandwagon as yet so you still have time.
Like?
0 
0
@RangeRooney: It seems Sir Alex is intent on not buying a destroyer. the midfield chapter is closed and the excuse will be that he is waiting for Fletcher to recover and mind you Fletcher isn’t in the same mold as hargo, Keane. combative yes but not a natural destroyer
with the right training Jones can be a very good DM but you all know he will be shoved to right back
Like?
0 
0
@Nelson: ya but jones is 5 years off being any where near ready to be a midfielder, we need on now, tiote
Like?
0 
0
@ash is the man yes he is and the reason being that he is tossed around fullback center half and midfield. but if he gets settled in DM possession he can grow quickly
Like?
0 
0
@Nelson: haha no way, he is far too naive and is a long way off
Like?
0 
0
@ash is the man: I don’t think he is a long way off. give him two seasons and proper trainning he can be a good DM but this is all dreaming as he will be shoved around different position harming his development especially in positional sense
Like?
0 
0
this wont make good reading – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/14/us-manchesterunited-ipo-idUSBRE86D04C20120714
Like?
0 
0
Tired of refreshing bbc,dailymail,sky,goal etc to read United signed a well-known midfielder.
Like?
0 
0
breaking news united have signed jao mountinho for 28.5 million……………
oh wait that makes too much sense to happen
Like?
0 
0
Luka Modric welcome to Manchester United
*wakes up*
Like?
1 
0
@Moscow: wouldnt be a problem 10 years ago
Like?
0 
0
Berba wants out – http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2012/07/15/3243437/berbatov-its-better-for-everyone-if-i-say-goodbye-to
doesn’t know why he is still around when it’s obvious he won’t get a lot of first team football
Like?
0 
0
@Nelson: I really feel sorry for the guy, he is a top player and his treatment is laughable! I never liked him as I thought he was a bad buy for our club as he didnt fit into our dynamic play- but I certainly have grown to respect the man!
I would also like to point out that with all his talents would he not of been the better choice to play in the role rooney did last season and rooney up top? Just a thought……………
Like?
0 
0
@ash is the man: Agreed with you there mate. I called it 2 yrs ago in one of the discussions…many were in agreement. but sadly we are not the the ones who matter…oh well… better he’s allowed to leave now
Like?
0 
0
@ash is the man: yes he could have but for some reason he didn’t want to play him.
sometimes I think fergie likes to toy around with the power he has at O.T. like a spoiled child sometimes
Like?
0 
0
@Nelson: berba would of been such a potent playmaking forward and rooney would of been a more potent goal scoring forward
Like?
0 
0
Feel for Berbatov, I know why he was so reluctant to move away from club, He didn’t play too much in CL, It is a lot more easier when you win most possible things like Park’s case. I think rebuilding team cause few unnecessary casualty.
Like?
0 
0
Ferguson had to let Berbatov go after the season he finished top scorer in the league. We would have got a good price for him and he would have had a good chance of moving to a good club. We have an awfully bad habit of selling our players on the cheap. Now we will be lucky to get £7 million for him if and when he does leave.
There is an interview with Anderson with him saying this is going to be his season and saying he has just been unlucky with injuries so unable to show what he can do.
Another bad habit of ours: buying players before figuring out if they’ve fully recovered from major injuries. By all accounts Anderson has never been the same since that leg injury at Porto. And since Anderson has sustained major injuries every season he’s been at the club we may as well cut our losses. The sad truth of football is that some players are injury prone and if you get injured for long stretches of the season you can never realize your full potential.
Like?
0 
0
@colver: Many people criticize Ando’s fitness. Truth is that if you get injured at young age, there is great chance it will harm players level of fitness permanently. I hope that we use Ando sparingly and focus to build up his overall fitness level at first before we go further.
Like?
0 
0
@Yang: I hope we sell him…
If I hear the two words “Anderson and potential” again I think I will explode, he is useless.
Like?
3 
0
Hi guys.. are we really gonna sign any more players this season?? Normally we complete our transfers before the pre season starts…
with none.. 
Was SAF’s statement that we are going to sign one or two more players a complete bluff… Just to keep the fans quiet till the season starts?? Are we actually close to securing a deal with any players?? i just hope its not like the past few seasons where we are connected to the names of all the best players in market and we end up
Like?
0 
0
@RedUnited: Season ticket renewal time and all that mate
Word going round is were apparently after some brazilian- lucas. Havent seen anything of him, but i do find this rumoured move fits a pattern somewhat.
Another expensive £30m+ valued player were apparently really eager to bring in, working round the clock to try and complete, that inevitably breaks down, and we get the “we tried” as an excuse.
Could it not just be a ploy from the club to try and convince us that we are making big money moves for players, we actually have no intention of buying, just to try and convince people that we have the money to spend if we wanted?
I mean, hazard, villa, sanchez, nasri, sneijder, now lucas. It fits a pattern.
All expensive. All widely speculated (fergie actually openly commented on a few). And absolutely none of them actually coming to fruition.
Call me paranoid, but i honestly think its a tactic the glazers PR men invent.
I reckon in relaity we’ll end up with baines if were lucky, and even thats a move thats taking a lot longer than it should which now makes you start to wonder.
So another season flies by where the real issues arent addressed again. Great.
Like?
1 
0
@RedUnited: The six weeks reaming, we definitely need some defensive covers at midfield area, imagine that Carrik get injured. We are not the type of club buying finished article to patch up squad but, at least, we need someone can play holding role and developing for future.
Like?
0 
0
Yeah we need a good defensive midfielder. Fletcher is not coming back and if I see Jones in midfield ever again I will top myself.
Last season we didn’t win anything because we conceded far too many goals. While our defense deserves some of the blame it was getting zero protection from our midfield except latterly once Carrick started to regain some form.
With Kagaya Valencia Rooney Chicharito Welbeck and Nani and Scholes we will not struggle to create and score goals. However as Carrick is the only defensive minded midfielder we have and often ineffectual against teams who press and move the ball quickly we could really do with another player to cover Carrick.
Like?
1 
0
@tonymontanna4united: makes sense. what is moura coming to do. we already have kagawa and Rooney filling the hole and Ashley young can play SS role when the above two are injured. you can add Powell and Giggs in the mix. 30 million for a guy guaranteed to sit on the bet in the first season + real and inter hovering + our precarious financial situation doesn’t equal good math. Just a ploy
Just read that Brady will be evra’s backup meaning that unless everton lower their valuation on Baines, we will end up with no reinforcements instead have square pegs in round holes as cover. At least Fabio will get match experience but we aren’t certain how many opportunities he will get there
quite a few days before the window shuts but I wouldn’t bet on us strengthening
Like?
1 
0
@Nelson: on the positive side we should maybe give Brady a chance. if he shines then we are going to save a few million quid. after all, what is the point of reserves and youth academy set up. win win situation for fabio and Brady in that they both gain experience and come next season we will have two challengers to the already aging Evra. long term investment at work
Like?
1 
0
@Nelson: Brady does look a good little player. Technically very very good, strong in the tackle.
Never really saw him as a LB though, even though he did feature there a few times for the reserves. But his performances for hull on loan last season, convinced me he would be a winger for the long term. Maybe not though.
Be good to see him getting a chance though. Likewise tunners and im hoping, petrucci, whose also a big big talent.
Like?
0 
0
@tonymontanna4united: with modern football, wingers and full backs are almost the same. I can see Fergie opting for a fast-paced team with speed on the wings and overlapping full-backs (kinda like Barca does with Alves and Alba).
Like?
0 
0
@Opti: True, but im very old fashioned, and i want my full backs to be actually able to defend aswell as attack (something that seems to be ignored with todays modern full back).
Neville, irwin, evra (in his first 3 years), cole, lahm, rafael (despite his criticisms) etc are capable of doing exactly that.
Brady might well be a good candidate though in the long term as hes always had a fantastic work rate, is extremely strong in the tackle, and is technically very very sound which will prove useful from an offensive viewpoint.
It needs to be seen however whether he has the positional awareness as well as the calmness to make that position his own, but he does look a real prospect, so we shall have to wait and see.
Blackett is another with a very very promising future.
You only need ask ian and how highly he rates him to know what potential this guy has.
Like?
0 
0
@tonymontanna4united: Well he might feature there today since evra is still on holiday. Will be interesting to see his sense of positioning as I expect a team such as Amazulu to counter attack
Like?
0 
0
@tonymontanna4united: it could also be a ploy to make. the IPO attractive. isn’t it funny that this rumors coincide with news that we are the most valuable club?
The glazers might use this report together with the moura rumors( I.e. we have money for spending power) so as to push through the already tough to sell IPO ( look for my comment earlier that gives a link to the article).
Like?
1 
0
@Nelson: Thats certainly my thinking mate. The IPO shout does seem to make alot of sense.
From what ive heard of this lucas guy, he is apparently an extraordinarily talented player. One of the types of players who dont come along very often.
If thats the case, then you can see why, if you want to believe these rumours which i dont, we might be looking at him.
He’d be an investment afterall. The thought of another ronaldo who we could possibly sell on in a few years for £60m+ would obviously appeal to the glazers.
Personally whilst i think we all know our CM is the major point of concern that needs addressing first, i do like the thought of adding a player with a bit of star quality, something weve lacked since ronnies departure.
I still wouldnt put that above bringing in a martinez, sahin, or LB however, but i can see the thinking behind it somewhat.
Anyway it seems like its something thats not progressing as of right now. Word is weve pulled out, as we dont want to deal with the club anymore as their valuations are crazy.
Nothing to do with the fact that the supposed bids we made were below that of an actual offer that chelsea made for him a few months ago which wasnt deemed good enough eh.
Once again as predicted, seems like its been a big load of crap. Another to go in the pile along with villa, sanchez, sneijder etc of players that we “bid” for but didnt get
Yeah right. Hope it convinces some of these potential investors more than it does the likes of you and me eh nelson.
Like?
0 
0
@tonymontanna4united: According to the Club, we did actually had a bid made is just that it wasn’t enough especially if you consider Madrid and Inter are hunting for his signature. If he were to chose, I think he would have opted for inter due to the amount of success brazilian players have had at inter
Like?
0 
0
@Nelson: Situation as ive heard it is we have indeed made 1, possibly 2 bids for the guy, both in the region of 30-35m euros, which is what, £25-28m pounds?
Now considering chelski made a formal offer for him last summer of something like £32.5 pounds which was rejected, why now do we expect them to accept an offer from us less than that?
Its all just spin from glazer/united, of that i am positive.
This clubs president has apparently said if we offer a couple of million euros more, they’ll accept and the boy will be ours.
Now whats the betting we dont meet that and walk away from discussions.
Like?
1 
0
How much did the SA fans have to cough up of their hard earned cash to watch the United brand of SNOOZE football of the highest order. Nobody does this brand of snooze football better than Man Utd, with stream after stream after stream of back passes, and they have even got our reserve kids to be expert at it. I didn’t see anybody on that pitch who wanted to take the game by the balls, and take it forward, although Brady tried his best. The crowd was asleep, United have become that good a sedative, the commentary team sounded like they had been hit by zombie-ism, there wasn’t anything that exciting to think about. I truly wonder what possesses the crowds to turn out when we go on tour, because we certainly droll out games. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.I don’t care if I get a million thumbs down, but I am hoping we are not in for this again this season! We are supposed to be the mighty Man Utd, the best of the best where our brand of football used to be so highly entertaining, and now we droll our way thru games, and hope to sneak the odd goal or too, the exact thing that cost us the PL last season, not enough goals! The SA came out to watch the magic of Man Utd, they went home wondering what all the fuss was about!
Like?
5 
0
@Craig Mc: Pre season it may have been, but your absolutely right mate.
Unfortunately this brand of snooze ball is just the way we play these days. Have done for a few years now too.
And the people responsible for this without a shadow of a doubt are phelan and our coaching staff and their lack of any real coaching ability.
Dont want to overplay the importance of quieroz here, he was just 1 bloke at the end of the day and not everything was devised by him and him alone, but without doubt weve lacked his tactical nous since his departure.
Likewise our attacking movement, and anything technical seems to have gone to hell too since he left us. Coincidence?
I sometimes wonder what exactly our coaches do in training with the players.
From the look of phelan, sitting about smoking cigars and playing poker all day seems to be pretty accurate
Fergies said himself he does very little in regards to training. Infact he apparently does none of it, and very rarely sees his players apart from on matchday.
Therefore its imperative we have some competent people, not yes men, with brains and modern day coaching techniques, for us to be able to keep up with everybody else.
Weve been tactically out maneuvered too many times for my liking, and our only answer seems to be to buy more wingers and cross the ball more often.
Ive heard brendan rodgers at liverpool has been implementing some of his ideas there. Including a rule whereby they have to make sure they win the ball back in less than 7 seconds everytime they lose it.
You just couldnt ever see something like that being done here could you?
Thats far too modern for us as we still seem to think its 1990
Like?
2 
0
@tonymontanna4united
Excuse the newbie here)… Your reference to Phelans role is interesting, as I recall the clubs explanation for his appointment after CQs departure was “the club now had a policy of bringing up coaches from within Manchester United similar to the coaching policy of Bayern Munich “(as heard on BBC sport news at the time).Phelans appointment was A)SAF really wanting him ( a yes man) or B) Glazer- influenced (wanting someone on the cheap). The Glazer ownership of the Tampa Bay Bucaneers has plenty of clues as to what may be gradually happening at United…
Like?
0 
0
Also watched the game earlier and its a shame that Berbatov was the player who shown the most skill on the ball but will be gone any time soon. I know that team is nothing like what will start the season but it really does seem like the dull style of play is being passed on down the entire team. I watched the game with a few mates who are not United fans and they were in hysterics laughing at how massive Anderson looked when he came on off the bench. Just embarassing.
Also I would get used to that Scholes and Carrick pair in the midfield as it is what we will be getting every time we play a team in the top half.
Like?
2 
0
@RedOrDead: Berba created a few sitters for our other world class forwards which our midfield fails to do. Shame really…
Like?
1 
0
@AndyCR7: Berba our midfield saviour????
Probably an element of truth there too, cant imagine he’d be much worse than most of our so called midfielders. Least he’s never under pressure and always keeps the ball.
Hell, his languid style might even suit it and a spot next to carrick.
Like?
3 
0
@tonymontanna4united: He does lack the urgency/work ethic for a midfielder but if two workhorses are played behind him then he can be better than any of our midfielders. But you know what, fergie would rather play park and rafael in midfield because they run a lot.
Like?
3 
0
@AndyCR7: Meh, who knows mate.
Scholes lacks any real sort of mobility, his tackling, need i tell anyone, is atrocious, and with his legs going years ago, from a defensive view point he doesnt get around much.
He relies however on his footballing brain, and his passing, to keep him out of trouble.
Berba in a way is very similar.
Of course he’d have to be encouraged to cut out his attacking instincts somewhat and stick to his position a little more, not letting carrick get isolated and over run, but who knows, in theory it could actually have been a decent idea.
Certainly no worse than the park/rafael idea, or giving gibson the half dozen or so games he got last season.
Sounds pathetic but we really are that desperate, id have given it a try.
Like?
2 
0
I hope people stop complaining about tour, It is necessary one, otherwise how can the club make money for running as a big club? Performance is poor but it is same as league cup match. The disjointed mishmash team can hardly play well against any sort of decent pro team. anyway, I heard that we are chase RVP, nice firepower if is is true.
Like?
0 
0
Yang we are supposed to make money by putting on a superior product type football. United are getting by when they go on tour on their past reputation, and not on the droll football brought on the pitch these days. Making money to United means they just have to turn up and fill their coffers. No mate, people had to pay through the nose no doubt to have the privilege of watching sub standard brand of football for a team of Man United status. A lot of them had payed trsvel and hotel costs on top of that. If the amazulu strikers had been more efficient they would have walloped us yesterday. I am not blaming the kids either, because they are being taught the backpassing way of football, and we don’t seem to be able to get forward because of this. I feel for Chicharito and Nani, because when they play for their countries they are great scorers, because their teams keep the ball going forward, they are not looking for backpassing, so this brand of football is hurting their game. The only time United should be looking to back pass is when we are a few goals up, but we play like the Italian teams of old. That crowd was so subdues and bored to death yesterday, because there was little to shout about. Brady tried his best to keep going forward, I liked the look of Tunnicliffe when he came on, and BERBA WAS the best player on the pitch.
Like?
3 
0
So United launched credit cards in Japan. Funny how it coincides with Kagawa signing…
Like?
3 
0
I reckon SAF will contine to play Rooney in the ‘number 10′ or the ‘nine and a half’ role next season. Which could be the reason SAF has made a bid for RVP.
Although Hernandez and Welbeck have potential to be top strikers, they haven’t yet got that fear factor as say RVP would have if he was to come.
Imagine a front four of:
………….RVP………….
Kagawa……Rooney…….Nani
One word = SCARY!
Like?
0 
0