Aug 24
United warmup for Arsenal with second half blitz
Wigan were given a right thrashing in a second half rout which saw first goals of the season for Nani and Berbatov and a debut goal for Owen.
There were plenty of positives to take from a match where we scored 5 goals — it is a gross understatement; after all, following the sluggish start, one can only take positives from such a result — but the most intriguing thing about the match for me was the absence of Michael Carrick, who didn’t even make it to the bench.
I don’t want to make a big deal out of all this (thus pouring cold water over our win) but I find it rather curious now that, for the second time this season Carrick hasn’t made the bench. This is a player who made about 50 appearances for us each season on average. When rumours circulated during the Birmingham game about him not being on good terms with Fergie, I was quick to dismiss them as idle gossip. I find it hard to ignore this now because Carrick has been the mainstay for much of his United career when Fergie used to rotate the side. More often than not, you’ll see Carrick make the starting XI. I find it surprising, to say the least, that he does not even make the bench. It just doesn’t add up to me. I won’t make wild assumptions and speculate too much on this, but it has been gnawing at the back of my head for a while now, and I had to let it out.
Anyway, on to brighter things, the match was a strange one for me despite the massive win. We started out well, but tailed off as the match wore on in the first half. Our best chances of the first half were through Nani and Berbatov and they weren’t converted. But other than that, I found us quite static. Wigan did well to hold their own in the first half, but they still did afford our midfield a lot of space to work with. Especially considering they had three midfielders to our two, I felt they did a poor job of making that extra man count. But more on the midfield in a bit.
The second half was also more of the same. We continued to huff and puff, and despite the domination, I found it hard to see where we were going to get a goal until it actually arrived out of the blue. From then on however, we were completely transformed. It’s a funny thing, they say, how goals can change a team. However, credit should go to our best attackers on the day, Nani and Berbatov. Berbatov especially, after the stick he’s had from a lot of people, including some on this site. It felt like we were watching an imposter — an imposter with the same silken touch, but an aggressive edge that gave it away. He went for tackles, won the ball on countless occasions and spread it well. And then came his goal. Whilst he did superbly to lob the ball over the ‘keeper and scramble it into the open net, what made this more special was his celebration. Like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and someone walked by and offered to relieve him of his burden. He celebrated like he won a £20m lottery — I suspect that’s high even by footballer standards — which gave me the biggest high watching the goal. That, and the celebration of all the players following the goal. This is about the team, and as much as we recognize the importance of Ronaldo’s contribution, this right now, is about the collective.
At least that’s what I saw. I could, of course, just be hallucinating.
Wayne Rooney was once again above adjectives. If he stays injury free, and is played upfront, this will be his break out season. There are two big ifs there, but they are plausible hopes, I hope. He’s also shown marked improvement in his heading ability.
Michael Owen, scored off the toughest chance he’s ever had this season. It was the finish of a seasoned striker, and he’s impressed me with his movement in all the minutes he’s played since Birmingham. He needs a midfielder who can go forward and provide him with a telling pass. Which is what’s impressed me about Nani this season. He’s always been talented, and always had the gift of providing good crosses. But this season he’s shown a big improvement on his decision making. It’s all part of the learning curve, and hopefully this is a start of better things to come.
Cautionary tales
There has to be some, and what concerns me is the central midfield. Scholes was excellent on Saturday, but that was because he was allowed enough space. Fletcher was fantastic, but my concern rests with the fact that we need to have a settled lineup if we are to come through our next three matches (Arsenal, Man City and Spurs) unscathed. Scholes cannot, and I maintain, cannot be expected to produce standout performances against more physically imposing midfielders, or simply opposition like Arsenal who love to keep possession. Carrick, despite being poor so far, is our best bet alongside Fletcher. Fletcher deserves to lock in his midfield spot purely on merit. I am — and this might annoy a lot of his fans — not completely convinced about Anderson. He is still far too inconsistent.
A 5-0 win sets us up nicely ahead of the Arsenal game — a side that just pummeled Pompey into submission. But we need to be wary about not getting too ahead of ourselves. We aren’t necessarily “back on track”. If Burnley put us off our path, Wigan got us in sight of it. The next three matches will test us if we can get back and stay on it.
Related items from Red Rants:
- FC Seoul 0-4 Manchester United: First Half Blitz
- Nani Stars As United Easily Dispatch Fulham In Chelsea Warmup
- Chelsea v Man Utd: Preview
- Man Utd 5-2 Spurs: Were you watching, Merseyside?
- Mystery Man Advised Not to Leave United | SAF’s Big Interview | Right Backs, Anyone?
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (542)
Stephen (500)
RedDevilEddy (463)
Craig Mc (349)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Anthony Los: Mate I ended this. I said no more of this nonsense. Red Rich was right to say what he did. Do you need me to personally tell you to get back to talking football? Are you that thick that you won’t get what I was telling Eddy? So if you want to throw insults, you know the exit door.
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@michael: Hey, what you think about the lineup for Saturday. I just hate to see United go one-on-one with that Arsenal attack!
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@Red Ranter: Alright RR, didnt read the previous posts just read the last one so take it easy cause i didnt ure post
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@Footy4Eddy: My pleasure mate.
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@Anthony Los: Maybe you should read them more often before telling people to ‘fuck off’.
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Watching Liverpool choke the chicken at Anfield was sweet. Already they have matched their loss total of last year. They aren’t that good and I never thought they were especially after losing Alonso. He wasn’t world class but he was vital to their midfield and now they have a hole there because Lucas Leiva is just a frakken joke. The other problem with them is that they have no depth. Unlike us, they have nobody on their bench that can come in and do a job. That is why I have picked Chelsea and Arsenal to finish 1,2. Can we finish 3rd? Yes, we can even finish second if Berba and Owen continue to get better but as along as we have to put up with our central midfield as it is, I think we will struggle for better than third. Liverpool still have Gerrard and Tores and that still makes them a threat but I they aren’t good as last year.
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@Craig Mc: What are you hearing about Anderson?
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@Red Ranter: It’s OK, skin is thick right now!!
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@Grognard: Grog, go to the UK press sites. SAF has apparently fallen out with Ando.
Not good news for Ando!!
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@Grognard: Yep, put in a better CM and we would contend at a much higher level!!
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You must watch this fascinating Brian Clough and Don Revie interview (following Clough’s sacking at Leeds)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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@Red Ranter: Its aright mate, I see your point.
Just that my mates couldnt help me, and I do not wanna tell my parents about this! 
So I wanting to hear with some adults, who may give me a better perspective. It did, I got my mind sorted out and it wont happen again. I swear! 
NOW LETS CELEBRATE LIVERPOOL LOSING TO VILLA!!!
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@Anthony Los: Yeah, I know, Liverpool suck! After what I saw yesterday the rely too much on their CMs to do the dirty work, and Lucas and Mascherano seems to be afraid to give the ball to the wingers because
a) Kuyt sucks
b) Rat Face Yossi sucks
c) Their only good winger is Babel
Johnson seems good against Spurs and Stoke, but you saw agaisnt Villa that he was exposed too many times going forward. His defending was awful, and if Liverpool cant fix that then they are in major trouble! Which thanksfully for us, looks the case!
Villa 0-2 Wigan
Wigan 0-5 United
Liverpool 1-3 Villa
DATS A FACHT RAFA!!!
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@Craig Mc: Everyone is ditching me these days…
Thought Andy was better than that. Of cource, it may only be Media bullshit but in the end something must have happend because Andy has been left out of the squad in 3 of our 4 games. And in the game he played, he was LW. Didnt seem to happy to come off either…
If true, then he can fuck off because no player is worthy of critisising Fergies choices on the pitch. I love Andy, but United>Any player in the world.
Would be nice if he could just follow Nanis advice from last season and just deal with it when being benched…
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I am really worrying that there will be a mayhem if SAF chooses “Rafael and Brown”. I would risk O’shea/Evans there. Rafael is forward thinking and the gunners’ wide attack may find a hole there, also Brown is half fit and cannot cope with Eduardo/Van Persie/Arshavin/Bendtner/Fabregas combination.
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@Footy4Eddy: Eddy, you still virgin???
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@TATH: Our defence is my concern right now, because we have so many players injured. Evans is OUT now, so it will be patchwork defence. I believe that SAF will plump for experience with Brown, O’Shea, Evra and Red Nev against Arsenal. We need a speedy, mobile defender, but Fabio cannot defend well enough yet IMO, although he is brilliant going forward! It will also depend on our MF, and how they perform. One thing is for sure, we can’t afford to be tentative, we HAVE TO ATTACK. Attack the best for mof defence
.
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@Red Ranter: It’s really well recreated in the film the Damned United by Michael Sheen and Colm Meaney. Excellent stuff.
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@Craig Mc: Last year, Gooners had the worst defense in the big 6, but it looks as though they sorted something this year with their Vidic-clone new boy and lucky Gallas. I think their massive attack covers their defense like Barcelona. I have watched them and they learned a counter football, long passes, dirty stuff, etc…
I would choose 4-5-1 with only Rooney upfront to prevent Fabregas and company from conquering our midfield.
Anyways, do you think they are title challengers this season? And which one do you think will finish top 3 either them or Liverpool?
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the midfield is certainly a problem at manchester united. As much as i like fletcher and carrick you need a more attacking and goal scoring midfield. a central player that can rescue the team on days the strikers dont click
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Red Ranter, I can’t post in other thread, because it keeps saying DONE but with error on the page
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