Aug 20
United feel the Blues at Goodison
Manchester United’s season got off to a bad start as the Reds succumbed 1-0 to Everton at Goodison Park. Marouane Fellaini headed the winner after 57 minutes and not even the introduction of new signing Robin Van Persie with 23 minutes to play was enough to give United a way back into the contest.
Despite all the talk being about Van Persie since he joined from Arsenal in a £24m move, the Dutchman started on the bench as Sir Alex Ferguson chose Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney up front, supported by a midfield comprising Paul Scholes, Tom Cleverley, Nani and debutant Shinij Kagawa.
Valencia and Carrick were makeshift defenders in a back four completed by Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra. Everton started brightly, outmuscling United in midfield and coming close with Fellaini and Jelavic. The former shrugged off Carrick down the left flank before rattling De Gea’s near post, the latter forced a good save from the Spaniard.
United’s reply was in a well struck freekick from Rooney that was palmed away by Tim Howard, before Nani’s effort whistled away from the post. With 32 minutes gone Pienaar forced an excellent save from De Gea with a curling effort, before Rooney saw his effort well parried by Howard at the other end. United’s midfield looked good going forward but suffered Everton’s size and strength and De Gea was superb again to deny Osman and Baines just before halftime.
Everton started the second half on the front foot with Pienaar rattling the bar after a flick on from Fellaini. The Belgian then climbed above Michael Carrick to net the winner after yet again exposing United’s lack of physicality at the back. Everton then basically gave up playing, inviting United on but the Reds could only muster one clear chance as Cleverley’s effort was cleared by Jagielka and not even the introduction of Van Persie, Young and Anderson for Welbeck, Nani – at his frustrating best – and Cleverley could change the tide. Not the start United wanted, but there were some positives nevertheless – Kagawa looks an exciting prospect, Cleverley played well and having Vidic back is a bonus.
Titles aren’t won in August but United better get back on track as early as Sunday as they host Fulham.
Dan (@MUFC_dan87)
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Tags: Manchester United · Match Reports
The_Philosopher (402)
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Stephen (146)
Everton have rapidly become our bogey team, I really thought we’d get 3pts tonight. On the plus side I’m glad the trip to Goodison is done for another season, a really tough place to go to start a season especially on a Monday night AGAIN. That’s 3yrs on the spin we’ve had to wait until the Monday to get going isn’t it?
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@Ian: is content still king? Not trying to have a dig but this place is devoid of community now. The site before you was too skewed towards the regulars, no w it seems to be too far skewed in the other direction. Somehow the answer seems to be in the middle. How do you achieve the perfect balance? I wish I knew.
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@johnsom33: Hows it going man, you still down in LA??
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I wish I knew but tbh I think it’s a better place now than when I started on it. I’ve tried to cteate a ‘regulars’ area but the powers that be won’t help me with a few of the things I want to do, so I’m trying to improve the quality and consistency of the content produced. I need to balance that with advertising etc and keeping/finding the best writers, it aint easy.
I’m open to suggestions how to find the balance if you or anyone else has any. I’m always listening.
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One thing I definitely believe tho mate, the atmosphere is a million times better now than it was back then.
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right on we stopped playing when we went 1 up.Howard didnt really have a save to make apart from a couple of routine saves nsno
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SAF got the team selection wrong,couldn’t have been more obvious.carrick needs to play in center-mid,even if that means blooding an inexperienced cb;who should be released from the club if hes not even good enough to play as a 6th choice cb…
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A good game but in a way a confirmation that we have massive holes in our line-up.
Rooney has gradually and methodically lost his ability to put a stamp on the game. His blase attitude toward it all is profoundly disturbing. Here we have a guy who would swing a left hand at anyone who would challenge his Alpha status but now he’s been tamed to that of a lap dog waiting for his next paycheck.
When he stood up to Ferguson, Ferguson backed down and it led the way for the first spoiled brat in the SAF era and in my mind, that poisoned the clubhouse. Make no mistake, Rooney, his massive contract, and his visibility as the United poster boy is creating a corporate diversion to the idiotic business plan that Glazers have in place.
In a way this invalidates SAF’s desire for victory because the pure understanding of how to win a footy game has now been so influenced by the understanding of how to juggle all the balls.
Can anyone see that Nani, Evra and Young are not of United quality. To me it’s like a boil on the end a nose – you can’t ignore it. However they still get selected and they still use their spurious skills (sic) to abort everyone elses efforts.
Lets face it if you cant control, pass or cross the f******** ball, you have no right to be playing in the PL.
Can someone on the coaching team please point these deficiencies out publicly and have SAF make the necessary adjustments.
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Not a performance to show intent that we are ready to go for the title but still early days. My concern is that we are repeating mistakes of last season, primarily having no plan b as evidenced by our constant pinging the ball out wide to people that can’t fucking cross. We also take too long to make necessary changes when things aren’t working and biggest gripe is that we are a reactive team rather than proactive and I won’t be surprised if we get dumped out of competitions early like last season.
poor tactical choices (how the fuck was vidic not assigned to mark fellaini ?) and the lack of plan b might just be our undoing and the sooner sir Alex sorts that out the better. still early days but not the right signal sent
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Haha even Fergie seems to have figured it out moaning about the lack of service Van Persie received.
Still we always seem to struggle against physical teams who know how to press and keep things tight.
But our tactics and team selection were all wrong.
Kagawa was in no man’s land the whole game. He wasn’t helping out in midfield and he wasn’t giving Rooney any support. Yes he was tidy on the ball and created a few chances. But overall he was wasted.
Anderson should have been playing. He is the most physical midfielder we have. I’d have played him alongside Cleverley in the middle. This wasn’t the right game for Scholes.
I don’t know what we were doing with Nani and Welbeck. Neither tracked back so Everton’s full backs and wingers had a field day on the flanks.
We should have played either a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2. Not this 4-2-3-1.
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http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11667/8007384/
Pogba speaks
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Von Percy only scored a lot of goals because Arsenal have great midfield providers. Their new guys will score more goals than him this year. He was real shite for Holland who have a similar mentality to United with everyone trying to score rather than provide. SAF should have bought a midfielder. Percy is 70M down the gurgler in my humble opinion. He’ll likely spend his latter three years on the bench or physio’s table.
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Yeah I am afraid I sympathize entirely with Pogba. He had to witness Jones, Park even Rafael play in midfield instead of him and then with Scholes brought back the writing was all over the wall.
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Idiotic business plan? Well if it makes us the most commercially viable sports entity in history, I’ll buy their Idiot’s Guide on Running a Football Club.
On the game. It’s always a bit wearisome when you point out how weak Ferguson is technically and you get “25 years, 1 million trophies”etc. It’s abundantly clear he lacks technical wisdom. Let’s look at the opposition. They had a clear game plan. Fellaini. Everything went to him and through him. His wonderful ability to hold on to a football until he decides it’s time to release, was an incredible sight. They knew we had a weak defence, and an even weaker midfield and they researched the most effective tactic to exploit this. We were thoroughly outplayed, outwitted and undone. They also kept trying to go in between Valencia and Carrick and exposed them continuously.
But we could have come up with better tactics than “keep possession and play it wide to Nani”. It was clear after 15 minutes, our best outfield player was Kagawa. He could have been our own go to guy. His ability to keep possession in very tight spaces and link up intelligently through the middle, was not utilised at all. Everyone has already figured out that all we do is cross and cross all day,so the train for that. Both Nani and Valencia’s crosses were cut out easily and they were always under pressure from wide. Welbeck was hardly ever in the box, so what was that all about? But everytime we got the ball to Kagawa through the middle, something happened. A great chance was created or we would disorient their shape because they couldn’t touch him. It was so clear. Play through Kagawa. Both Welbeck and Rooney were poor and couldn’t hold the ball upfront. It was clear RvP should have been introduced early. I’d have taken both out and introduced Berbatov and RvP to get some technical upgrades upfront. Berba,RvP and Kagawa means stability through the middle.
I kinda feel embarrassed for RvP. If its clear to ordinary fans that we’re technically poor, imagine how a technical player like him feels, playing inferior football. Yes we do win things but man our football sucks. As much as tactics were poor, the players last night were incredibly lackluster. Tactics or no tactics. In defence, Valencia and Carrick were exceedingly porous and lacked composure. Vidic and Evra were quite simply shocking. You can’t really solve that with tactics. Cleverly and Scholes don’t work. Simple as that. But Cleverly was just a spectator and Scholes was overrun. At least DDG was outstanding. It could have been worse. Credit to Everton for an incredible defensive arrangement.
All in all, disappointing. I did say, if we lose Carrick, we’re screwed. Well I just realised we lost him. For the next two months. Carrick in defence means no Carrick in midfield. No Carrick in midfield means we’re still screwed. Royally.it’s amazing really. Ferguson decides to get 6 forwards on the roster. We had 2 on the field and 2 on the bench last night. We used 3 and still had no answer. But we’re clearly short in midfield. We had one option on the bench. Is it not clear therefore that we need to get some midfielders in.
I was encouraged though by Kagawa and Nani’s understanding. Nani was poor, but they were on the same wavelength in the first half. Also Robin is just sure fantasy. I have no hope in our technical team but I can only hope these 3 can develop an understanding. It will be crucial.
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@Jay wire:
I thought I was the only who felt Kagawa was our main man yesterday. I was so damn impressed with the way he kept possession even when three or sometimes even four players surrounded him. I would rather say that Rooney should get some bit of a coaching on First Touch from this guy. Wait this is not knee jerk reaction. I mean, we all know Rooney lacks the First Touch and Kagawa showed yesterday what a first touch and close control can do. Add to that though I was happy we tried playing 4-2-3-1 in my opinion I would have preferred to see Van on top and MF three of Kagawa, Rooney and Nani. Before the Match I would have preferred to play Rooney behind Van but then after seeing Kagawa play I would rather like to play Rooney on the Left and Kagawa through the middle. I think the time has come for SAF to say that we should be building our Team around someone like Kagawa who can play through the Middle and through the old Cross the Ball funda out of the Window. I know I am trying to depend too much on the Kagawa after seeing just one outing for us but then in that one outing he unlocked the resolute Everton defense more than the entire MU team collectively did and that takes some quality.
I am happy that we are atleast showing signs of moving forward to some upgraded formation, now we should decide who is going to be our main man in that upgraded formation. My vote is certainly in favour of Kagawa.
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@Jay wire: I agree that in hindsight RVP and Berbatov would have been a better upfront option. I guess Ferguson had hoped on speed that Rooney and Welbeck were supposed to provide but they as most the team showed surprising lack of game fitness. United couldn’t keep up with the tempo and were always step behind util Everton decided to park the bus after they scored.
Rooney’s recurring fitness problems is separate topic though. He wasn’t game fit for England at Euros which maybe understandable. However, yesterday he looked noticeably overweight and was dripping with sweat after just 10-15 minutes. This lack of fitness discipline is simply not acceptable for a professional footballer especially star player like Rooney. Have you ever seen unfit or overweight Ronaldo?
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@Andrei: yes he is from brazil
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Who would you rather have? Pogba or Cleverly in last night’s midfield situation? Definitely the more physical, more technical and more skillful player. We screwed ourselves over with the whole Pogba issue.
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We could have played a lot better if we had our tactics right. Why is it season after season this issue seems to be going down the drain. I feel Fergie is the culprit here. We were lucky yesterday that Scholes wasn’t sent off but Fergie brings in Anderson for Cleverly who truly had a better game than Scholes who was just out of gas at the end. And fergie’s post match comments were a joke…to say the least
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@RMJ: Ever since the departure of Queiroz, our tactics have been hit or miss. It has never been consistent unfortunately, getting hold of someone with Queiroz’s ability is harder
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Imagine if we had Moyes guile with his spending. Instead of burned out strikers and never will-bes we’d have a team to be proud of. SAF is getting tired I think. Living on former glory. Time for a new manager IMO.
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@RedThru: It must be Mourinho, the greatest manager on the planet, conqueror of Guardiola.
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RMJ, his comments were embarrassing…..
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Lessons Learned:
1) Carrick and Valencia aren’t defenders. We have to do something about our defensive injuries. They happen every season. I honestly think we would have done better against Everton playing some reserves in defence and Carrick and Valencia in midfield. The pair of them are so important to the team they are wasted as defenders.
2) Kagawa is great in his favoured role. But do our staff have the tactical understanding to build a team around him? I cannot see him being anywhere near as influential shunted out wide which will surely happen once we go back to playing 4-4-2. And the guy clearly does not have the defensive ability to play as a central midfielder-I cannot remember him making a single tackle all night.
3) We need a ball winner in midfield. Scholes and Cleverley were never going to win a midfield battle against Everton. Anderson can still do a job for us if he can stay fit. But with Pogba done and Fletcher’s future uncertain we need to sign a midfielder.
4) We need to play with traditional wingers. Welbeck and Nani playing as winger-cum-forwards were total flops.
5) Until Rooney gets back into shape we should go with RVP on his own upfront and milk Kagawa’s ability as a central attacking midfielder
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http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/08/21/3321822/manchester-united-scout-claims-buttner-is-only-third-or?source=breakingnews
According to our Dutch scout we’ve signed the third best left back in the Dutch League!
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absolutely seething!!
Fergie full of shit again!!!
He stated city wont win this year on goal difference but we draw a blank in first game!
What is worst and gets me seething the most is when he brought rvp on he moved rooney to the wing!!!
For bloody sake why? I thought we were going to build a strike partnership and scare teams.
No bloody way am I putting up with fergie abusing rooney again and shoving him wide- if that is the case then why bother with rvp.
Not on fergie- not bloody on!!!
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Rooney was doing nothing, so yeah he was sent to the wing. Our players for some reason are not fit, and they cannot go a whole game and keep their stamina – what stamina. Scholesy has been a legend, but his time is up and he proves in games with pace he cannot cope or control MF. Giggsy is not far behind him because he is always conceding possession. How Rooney gets 250,000 a week for what he brings on the pitch, I am astonished, because he runs out of steam, has zero technical ability apart from his goalscoring, and has no presence anymore other than same goalscoring. I wonder if they do any stamina training any longer on the training field, because Tevez and Gibson said that they had NEVER worked so hard in training as they have at their present clubs, so what does that say about our clubs training. Why are we having the same problems over and overand over with injuries??? Rio’s body is knackered now, and I don’t understand why Fergie cannot see this. Evra can never take a simple throw in with out 9 out of 10 times conceding the ball to the opposition, I mean giving the ball away at freakin throw ins – WTF. All in all I will be astonished if we get any silverwear again this season, but Fergie has been a fortunate you know what in many a season, so who knows. I am more and more disenchanted with Fergie buys and tactical acumen and team choices. Sorry guys, but we have sorted nothing out, still the same old, same old!
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@Craig Mc: Because Rooney disguises his shit form with goals, which won’t be the case always!
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True that Craig.
I also remember Pique giving an interview saying that the diets of our players is absolutely shit-loads of junk food etc.
I also think there is something wrong with our stamina. We need to work on it especially as we can only play good football in top gear.
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Please read, THIS IS AN UPDATED VERSION of what i posted this yesterday after the game but it seems people are commenting more on todays post so here goes.
Couple of pointers lads,
1. What a player Marouane Fellaini is! he seemed like the best target man in the world today, he won 90% of his headers and linked up play very well. He defineatly would give Yaya Toure a run for his money. I’m not interested Kaka- Sign either him or his compatriot Alex Witsel up. This was a defensive/central midfielder being played upfront. Even Rio would have had a hard time. Well done Carrick- you did your best
2. I am a firm beleiver of kagawa. I can go as far as to say i was thoroughly impressed. What impressed me the most was his ability to play people in through the middle and retain possession in tight spaces PLUS he linked up well with Nani and Wazza. One thing i did notice is he preferred to keep possession rather than cross the ball ( i am ecstatic about that, i did find myself screaming at him to cross the ball- then it dawned on me that its time we think outside the freaking box and stop being so damn predictable) That ability to play people in through the middle like Guti, Fabregas et al has been severely lacking in Manchester United. He held his own against a physical Everton side. Special praise reserved for our Man of the Match- DAVID DE GEA ( he single handedly kept us in the game)
3. Wayne Rooney- Well the less i say about him the better. He was slow, lethargic and UNFIT…. First game of the season though.. On that note, all our wingers were dismal as well. No exception! Poor crossing, poor passes, they never beat a man, never gelled with the full backs… All in all POOR PERFORMANCE UNITED. I will agree with Jaywire when he says its so embarassing to watch our inability to create half a decent chance for Van Persie, Yes he has come from a team that have not won any trophies recently but at the same time he came from a club that played great football and fashioned out clear goal scoring opportunities for their strikers. Our most successful strikers in recent times seem to be hustlers and grafters (its one of the reasons why Berbatov wasnt so successful). On that note, please stop calling for Berbatov, the genius is on his way out… My heart would love him to stay but he does deserve better but more importantly game time!
4. Our Midfield- Well put it this way, how is cleverly an upgrade? Why do we all believe his our saving grace. I see nothing but a safe midfield player that can and will be bullied. His passing is average, he’s not willing to have a shot, in fairness to him- he is good at keeping the ball ticking BUT when the going gets tough, we need a bit more than that. lets all come down to earth and realize that for now TOM CLEVERLY IS AVERAGE and as good as Scholes is – he is OLD. Fergie no excuses we need re enforcements. I would love a belgian contingent of Marouane Fellaini, Alex Witsel and Moussa Dembele at the expense of Giggs, Scholes and Fletcher( i love them to bits and i’m grateful for their service) BUT who am i kidding, not one of the three would be bought moreover buying all three right now would destabilize the squad as its too many signings too late. I wish we could look at them though. Big, young, strong, energetic and experienced with bags of potential yet to be tapped. Yaya would brick himself at the thought of facing them as a midfield trinity or duo even. I would still keep Anderson, Carrick and Cleverly, bearing in mind that carrick isnt getting any younger
But lets put things into perspective- Its the first game of the season, there are 37 games left and we will only get better, MUCH BETTER.
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@One United: What a great post mate – I agree with all you have said. Some of us on here have been crying out for United to go out and buy Fellaini, and at least one other star MF. Fergie has always in past days, when any player has been a total thorn in United’s side, and stood head and shoulders above us, gone and got them for our team. Fellaini would be to us what Yaya Toure is to the wastelanders, he did us yesterday in that game, and he was masterly at OT in the 4-4 draw. Fergie will not go out and buy these stars until he settles in his mind that Scholesy, Giggsy and Rio great players as they have been, should be retired now. I think scholesy made the right decision when he hung up his boots, because he retired on a high. Giggsy will be playing til he is 50 if he has his choice, but he is not the player he was. Todays game is very physical, fast and demanding, and United are still playing old system and SNOOZE football ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. If scholesy, Giggsy and Rio retired, we would save a hell of a lot of money in wages. Fergie has failed in that he has not got anybody to replace any of these players, and Fergie is retiring in 2 years. Oh how I would love Fellaini to come to us, but Everton will be loathe to lose him.
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Danny Welbeck is always looking to go down in the box, not deliberately for penalties, I am not saying that, but he doesn’t fight to stay on his feet, to be strong, and determine to get that ball in the net. He is not commanding enough, and so easy to be robbed of or pushed off the ball! Sorry guys, but that’s my honest opinion. Young apart from the very occassional great goal, offers nothing else of note, he is totally a spare part most of the time!
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Yeah I don’t know why we wasted £15 million on Young. He isn’t even left footed. And the definition of an overrated average English player.
Jury is out on Welbeck. But presumabely that is why we bought RVP. I don’t think Welbeck is much of a big game player but he is only 21. Like a lot of our players he does best in games where he has a lot of space. Not against a team like Everton which can press and deny players space.
Scholes is a useful player to have and it is too soon to write him off. Against weaker opposition he can still run a midfield like no other player. But for the big games he should be rested. He simply doesn’t have the legs anymore.
What I do not condone is Ferguson using Scholes as an excuse not to buy a central midfielder.
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@colver: I see where you are coming from Colver, but with the Glazers it is often sell before we can buy at OT. So before Fergie brings in top MF’s like Fellaini, he will have to let go of scholesy, giggs and Rio. I am still waiting to see which players are released following Van Persie and Kagawa purchases – we will have to sell some and bring some money in.
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@Craig Mc: Yep time to clear out the dead wood.
I agree with you about Giggs – his day is done. Scholes still has a role in selected games and as far as Rio is concerned, he needs way too much careful packaging for a CB. Evra lost the the plot a year ago and I’m afraid he’ll never get it back.
I wish that players were held accountable for below par performances. Rooney should serve a mandatory 2 match ban for his performance yesterday
, and so should Nani for that matter.
I don’t see how you can run a quality team in any league when you allow players to continually make fundamental mistakes and perform below the level to which theyr’e valued at. We have been so let down by the same players that seem to be the core of this squad that it seems time to hold some feet over the coals.
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@Craig Mc: I think this will be last season for Scholes and Giggs……. unless Sir Alex gets sentimental and adds another year to the contracts
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These days it appears more and more that Fergie is watching different games from many of us. His comments after the match were embarrassing for someone with his stature and experience in the game:
“We were the better football team, they had eight shots on target and David de Gea did very well for us in that way. But we had the possession and made some great openings without actually finishing it.” (Reality: Everton hit the wood work twice and forced 3 great saves from DeGea vs our hardly working Howard – maybe 2 fairly routine saves??)
“they just lumped the ball forward to him, that’s all they did” (their lumping the ball forward was accurate and very effective, whereas our constant lumping it into their box rarely cleared the first defender, and even when it did, we don’t have a big centre forward to do anything with it, so why persist? That is just brainless tactics on our part).
It’s sad that instead of admitting that we did not deserve to win and instead show some honesty and humility in defeat to tactics that were played to perfection by Everton, Fergie honestly cannot see what most of us saw, in terms of tactics, fitness and will to win. I truly believe he thinks all was ok and we were just unlucky and victims of bad refereeing. In my humble opinion, these blinkers are now affecting judgement & decisions at many levels – team selections, coaching staff, training (corners, set-pieces??)/fitness routines, transfers…
Don’t get me wrong, Fergie has been the best thing that has happened to the club since Busby – we have been well and truly spoilt. But is it unreasonable to make comparisons to his past teams that played with pace & were exciting to watch? We’ve not changed managers. We’ve had unprecedented continuity to fully anticipate the cycles in players’ careers and evolve the team on an ongoing basis. I also don’t completely buy the argument that we haven’t had the money – Jones and Young in my opinion were not what the team most needs NOW and that 35M could have got us a top notch CM/CB (or maybe 2). And let’s not go into the 30M Berbatov saga.
We do have some really good players (as well as some who should not be getting regular starting spots) and undoubtedly we’ll have good wins and be there or thereabouts in the PL at the end of the season. Kagawa for one does look a really good buy. But are we closer to Barcelona (or now, even other good European sides) than we were 3 years ago? Do we display the tactical flexibility to counter other teams’ strengths (& exploit our own) as others’ seem to be able to do to us? Do we have an inspirational on-field leader who can drag the team out of their malaise and transform a potential defeat into a draw or win? Do we give youngsters a chance to prove themselves in their preferred positions when the opportunity arises, or play other favorites out of position instead? Why is our response to a system that isn’t working to wait for a lethargic and unproductive 70 mins and then predictably throw on another striker/winger (or 2) move the deck chairs around and hope for the best, ignoring the fact that tactically we don’t seem have a real plan B when the other team has us sussed? (and I’m not just referring to last night).
Finally, how on earth have we managed to START the season with only one half fit CB? Despite these injuries being known for weeks (except Rio, though this not a complete surprise), we’ve bought 4 attack minded players to add to those warming the bench, yet no established defensive cover (until today’s foray into the Dutch league for an unknown LB). It defies logic that Manchester United have to resort to using Carrick and Valencia as makeshift defenders for the opening game of the season.
Enjoy the ride fellow Reds – it’s going to be an interesting season!
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@ForeverRed: I agree with a lot of that mate, however I would not make SAF the only flavor du jour for our venom.
It does seem odd that we present our new season with a crocked squad, and it seems obvious that Rooney has started the campaign way less fit than should be expected. I cannot answer any of this in a positive way, so there has to be a lack of attention within the coaching staff – and ultimately that’s on Ferguson’s shoulders.
We can be thankful for all he’s done, and lets face it, the man is an icon and a true leader. But there is mounting evidence that the game is slipping away from his grasp – and with it, so is our chances each year.
If he needs 2 more years to phase himself out, OK we owe him that, but he needs to start to delegate more of the coaching and player evaluations to his contemporaries.
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@ForeverRed: Absolutely agree. For a top team such as us, our tactical inflexibility is just mind boggling and actually cost us the league last season. It is depressing to see the technical bench just sitting there without anyone bothering to come to the touchline to switch tactics when things aren’t working: they just sit there and wait for half/full time to arrive, walk off then make statements that are in complete contradiction to the flow of the game, as you have pointed out above
Since Queiroz left, we have been hit or miss with tactics since the remaining bench just seem to be a bunch of yes men. We have basically become a reactive team (notice majority of the games where we come to life only after conceding.)
It also surprising how our defence, season in season out, is the most injury hit. Only God, Sir Alex and the physios know what goes on because I can’t understand. I don’t rule out the same problem around the January/February mark. It is almost a standard occurence
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@Nelson: You got good points there mate. In how many games in the past 2-3 seasons have you seen out team instead of the opposition play A PRESSING GAME. Somebody who is good at stats, should anylyse those games, and see how many times our forwards/MF’s actually got into the box per game, and how many shots per game our players made on goal, particularly those shots that actually were on target – I would be interested to know if I am wrong or not
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@Craig Mc: That is the work of Range Rooney (ask him on twitter : @rangerooney)
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@Nelson: I am not on twitter mate – soz!
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Rooney needs to be benched to see if it fires him up. He was wasteful in the game! Berba-RVP might be worth a try to be honest. OUr lil man Nani’s head seems messed up because of the new deal. He does have to prove that he warrants a good new deal. 2 years many of us having been crying out for buying Fellaini and then Rodwell gets sold for 12 MM. Unbelievable. If we are this terrible in the next game, RVP should submit a transfer request
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@godzilla: Rooney benched what on the strength on one game? Berba will never play for united again and will be in Italy this time next week. When I said Nani was inconsistent, the Nani fan club jumped down my throat, well Monday proved this fact.
Welbeck for me showed why he isn’t United quality, Kagawa looked like a true player, great feet and never gave the ball away.
We still need Tiote this Summer, his physical presence was much needed against Everton. We did in spells control the game, but we are in much need of a ball winner.
We seem to forget the fact we had four centre half’s out, this seems to be a reoccurring theme every season now, which is concerning. The thing which concerned me was playing a right mid at right back, when you are already playing a midfield player at the back. Also why wasn’t Vida picking Side Show Bob at set pieces?
The usual knee jerk reactions to a defeat as always are being displayed on this site, we need to get are defence fit and RvP up and running, but a centre mid is a must for me.
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definitely agree with some of the points with the seemingly fitness standards and dedication of players like Rooney. I dont think it is upto the standards, maybe we are missing the task master / tactician badly required by the team. Phelan himself looks like a junk-good eater and hardly someone who seems to inspire tactics !
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Rooney seems to be able to escape with getting away with so many below par performances, and out of shapeness, because he does score goals, and has carried the team goal wise for last two seasons particularly. However to me, for a 250,000 quid a week footballer, his overall performances in games has gradually gone downhill. It is not just with United, but his sub standard performances for his country and in europe have been deflated on a continual basis. Those who think folk are just having a go at Wazza because of his game at Everton, newsflash – Wazza has a poor all round game in many a match, and it may be controversial to say, but if he wasn’t getting the all important goals, he would not, or should not get in the team in his outfield play, not for me anyway. He is not on his own by any means, because too many United players have become accustomed to just swanning around and playing anywhere but where they should be playing in the opposition box. Some of our present crop of players have not got the win at all cost mentality, or die doing it, as our teams of old have. Our football has become predictable and boring for a while, and certainly for the last two seasons. I am sorry guys, but that is just my honest opinion, and it is going to be horrible sitting/standing on the terraces this season to watch a brand of bland football that United would have died rather than give in seasons past. I truly want to see our continual stream of BACKPASSING the ball, at which we have become the kings of the prem at doing, kicked into touch, and see if we can’t find any of our players who want to take the ball forward as their 1st option again.
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@Craig Mc: So mate 35 goals in 44 games now isn’t goos enough, does he need to go in goal as well? Ruud did nothing bar score goals, Rooney has more to his game than the Dutchman.
A lot of people do not like Rooney which is up to them, I am not a massive fan of him personally but I won’t dig him out for the sake of it.
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@Stephen: I mentioned his goals and have always done so mate. That doesn’t diminish the facts of his poor outfield play though, and I wait to see how he will do this season re his goals, a lot scored from penalties. I have a feeling United will not be getting as many penalties or free kicks this season, but as I don’t have a crystal ball don’t take that as gospel
. I disagree about Ruud though, because Ruud learned to play alone up front and HOLD THE BALL UP, something Wazza can’t do – soz mate. I don’t dislike Wazza, but I am not going to sit here and defend his all round game, which really doesn’t exist. When Wazza first came to us, he had great pace, could dribble and actually beat a man, and could take shot after shot and put them all on target. Yes he is a great goal scorer, but I want to see what he does this season goals wise, because I think he might struggle, well he will definitely struggle if he doesn’t get himself fit and in shape. Stephen its the same old story every summer recess, he comes back after it totally not in shape. I hope he gets it right, and comes back to haunt me and make me eat my words Stephen, because I would love Wazza to hit top form and prove doubters wrong, and so would the team. Nani is supposedly frozen out now according to the press, so expect him to ship off to another club in the not too distant future.
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@Craig Mc:
Ronaldo scored a lot of goals and so does Messi don’t they count mate? I agree with his fitness, he lets himself go badly in the Summer. Going to Vegas before the Euros was frankly stupid, then to LA. He needs to be more professional as he is susceptible to gaining wait and loosing fitness. Nani is a cracking player but does frustrate many, including me! His contact issue is getting protracted, for me it looks like he wants out which will be a shame.
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@Stephen: Mate you are not saying that Ronnie and Messi only contribute goals, and do not have an all round game, are you? To put it simply Stephen, in case I am making a mess of my logic, all I am saying, is that if Wazza was not scoring the goals, and as somebody mentioned in their comment further up the thread – he may not always continue getting the goals, so if his goals were absent, would he on all round play merit a place in the team, for me he wouldn’t. That’s all I am questioning mate. As for Nani, he feels unwanted at OT, and has said so when asked by the press, because he states Gill and Fergie, he believes, are trying to force him out, because he has twice reduced his wage demands. Fergie would rather keep the useless Young, but then that’s Fergie. Fergie thinks disconsolate players should not talk to the press, but those days are gone when players feared Fergie or allowed themselves to be intimidated. Even the young players are answering Fergie back thru the press now – times they are a changing. Fergie needs to change with them – fact mate.
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I hope Sir Alex is not turning out to be football’s Lee Iacocca
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