A Game of two halves - Chelsea 3-3 Manchester United

Not so many years ago, this fixture would’ve had the country enraptured – streets would’ve been deserted, cars abandoned with their engines idling, their owners pressed up against TV rental showroom windows, babes left crying in their cots, dogs left scratching at the back door wanting to be let out – everything had to wait. But the days of Chelsea being title contenders have gone, for now at least, and Chelsea’s home record is not what it was. Chelsea are not in the two horse race for the title, they are six points behind Tottenham who play tomorrow, and they went into this game twelve points behind their former sparring partners. Perhaps only Arsenal’s patchy season is saving Chelsea from more derision than they are getting – the thoughts are though, that this is a team in transition which will come good again.

Chelsea and Manchester United are both sides who have had injury problems of late. Manchester United could put out a fairly decent side made up of all of the absent players. Lindegaard in goal, Smalling, Phil Jones, Vidic and De Laet make up a serviceable back four, across the midfield you could have Nani, Cleverley, Anderson and *cough* Bebe *cough*, with old Mickey Owen running around quite slowly not winning headers up front. Seriously though, six of those eleven would’ve been considered for the starting eleven had they been fit.  Chelsea are not quite as crippled as United, but were still missing the spine of their team. Terry, Lampard out injured, along with Ramires and Mikel - and Drogba still away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Chelsea lined up in a now familiar 4-3-3, but with a few subtle tweaks. Villas-Boas has shown some compromise in his footballing beliefs, but is still a man who trusts his philosophy of pressing all over the pitch and a high back line. The compromises came in the positioning of the two wingers Sturridge and Mata. Mata in truth played more centrally, allowing Malouda to push up the left wing, although there was interchange between the two. Malouda had ostensibly been included as one of the midfield three along with Meireles and Essien. It could be described as a 4-2-3-1, with Torres ploughing the lonely furrow on his own, but Sturridge’s attacking instincts had him in a striking position, while Torres often drifted wide to the right.

John Terry has looked to be one of those Chelsea players who struggle with the new system, and whether the acquisition of Gary Cahill from Bolton was a short-term measure with an eye on court proceedings (Now a mute-point as Terry’s court date has been set for after the season has finished) or whether he’s been brought in to provide a long-term replacement for Terry, Cahill’s style should suit that high line better than Terry. He’s more mobile and quick-witted too, he’ll suit the style – whether he has the quality to help turn Chelsea back into contenders is still in question.

There were no surprises in the back five – although any line up with David Luiz included has the potential for surprises at any stage. Ashley Cole missed the game through suspension, so Bosingwa filled in on the left. Manchester United fans will have been licking their lips in anticipation of an in-form Valencia up against Bosingwa playing on his less favoured side.

How did Manchester United line up? Well… was it a 4-2-3-1 with Giggs and Carrick as a double-pivot behind the trio of Valencia, Rooney and Young in support of Welbeck? Or was it a 4-4-2, or a 4-4-1-1. Rooney is the x-factor here. He prowls the field of play almost in a free role, confusing opposition markers and confounding pundits by popping up all over the place. The concern for United fans won’t be at which string of numbers best represent the formation, but at the names at the heart of the defence. Ferdinand is not having a good season. He’s not got the get-out-of-jail pace he used to have, and Johnny Evans will have to produce a large number of outstanding displays before he will ever be trusted as a first choice centre-back for United. Let’s call it a 4-4-2 for Sir Alex’s sake.

The first half was in a way reminiscent of a Mourinho era Chelsea. Functional, disciplined, and effective. They were perhaps fortunate not to concede one penalty, and also perhaps fortunate not to have Gary Cahill sent off for felling Welbeck just outside the box with no other defender looking in a position to trouble the attacker. As it was both decisions were called no fouls, much to the annoyance of the men in red. These things have a way of evening up over as season, but rarely do they do so over the course of the same game.

Although, as mentioned above it looked on paper that the most easily won duel between player could have been Bosingwa up against Valencia, it was on the other flank and in the favour of the other team that the mismatch actually presented itself. Captain Patrice Evra was given a torrid time during the opening half, and for large periods of the second. Evra isn’t one of those modern attacking fullbacks who can’t defend – he’s a good defensive player who is also adept at overlapping on the attack, but he was out of sorts for much of this match. Two of Chelsea’s goals came about because Evra couldn’t deal with Sturridge. Capello take note!

First, Evra allowed Sturridge to skip past him and cut a ball back across from the byline, which ricocheted off De Gea and Evans into the net. Perhaps that should read “the hapless De Gea and the hapless Evans”. The third goal – not entirely Evra’s fault – but his foul on Sturridge, bringing the Chelsea player down as he went by again, gave Chelsea the free-kick from which Mata set up David Luiz to head home. The David Luiz surprise element in this story is that he was almost completely unmarked, Ferdinand trying to look stern after the event when everyone knew that sheepish would have been more apt. Between Manchester United’s calamitous concessions was the pick of the goals, what was missing from forty five minutes of the first half came to fruition just forty seconds into the second – a moment of genuine quality - Torres showing his team mates how to assist a goal with a wonderful cross to Mata who slammed a thundering volley home with his left.

When the third went in, Sir Alex Ferguson had to act. The ineffective (some would say woeful) Ashley Young was replaced by Javier Hernandez who went up top alongside Welbeck, with Rooney pulling the strings just behind. This gave Evra the impetus to drive forward more. Sturridge had inflicted real damage on the United left-back, and it was his turn to be on the back foot. An Evra run into the box highlighted the fact that Sturridge is a striker, converted to a winger, asked to contribute defensively – it was a clumsy tackle in the box.

Rooney duly equalised form the spot, and the comeback was on. Not many teams would even consider fighting back from 3-0 down at Stamford Bridge, let alone be able to – but a team like Manchester United wouldn’t consider not fighting back. Ferguson appraised his bench and sent on another attacking substitution. Paul Scholes came on for Rafael, Valencia switched to right-back as he has many times now, and Giggs was shuffled out to the left. The old master proved his worth yet again with the cross for United’s equaliser. At the time of the tactical switch, a comeback had seemed improbable.

Clumsy defending might have been to blame for two of Chelsea’s shipped goals, but the tactical changes made by Ferguson forced pressure on Chelsea, who really didn’t have an answer. Chelsea had found themselves 3-0 without really playing that well – Mata’s goal aside – and in the end might be considered lucky to get a point which is a ridiculous situation to find themselves in after leading by three clear goals. The instructions given to Villas-Boas' men are to press and look for interceptions all over the pitch. Once the comeback had begun, his players just didn't perfrom this as well as they had in the first half, which barring two penalty claims, was a pretty barren period of football for Manchester United.

Chelsea's interceptions where down from 19 in the first half to just 8 in the second. Ferguson removed ineffective players, shuffled players of influence into more dangerous positions, and clawed back a three goal deficit.

Football And Alcohol

This post first appeared on Football Speak

              “When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.”

Football and booze go a long long way back, in 1893 an Anglican Vicar said,”football is a fascination of the devil and a twin sister of the drink system."And that devilish  twin sister of the sport we all love,is still alive and kicking. Back in the 19th century there was a close connection between most of the football clubs and local pubs. In those days with no televisions,the only way to see a match was to go to the stadium. Else you could visit the local pub where match updates would be sent via telegram. And when the clubs won trophies,the first place they showcased it was,the local pub. So pubs became a focal point where supporters,players and even managers gathered to discuss the usual football talk. The players also got a reputation of spending all their free time at the local pubs, but reckless drinking and late night binges always had an effect on a player’s career. We had managers who tried to stamp alcholism out of the game,but to of no avail. Herbert Chapman manager of Arsenal in the 1920s tried his best to sign players who were teetotallers. The legend goes that he always used to ask player if they smoked or drank and if they said no,then he would ask them,”Would you like to sign for Arsenal?”.


The moment you see the two words Manchester United and alcohol in a sentence, you assume it is about George Best. True Best’s career and his life were cut short due to his lifestyle. He once famously said:

In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life. 

Ironically,here Best is the only one not drinking

But Manchester United go further back with their connection with Alcohol. In 1902 Newton Heath was £2,670 in debt and if they couldn't raise the money,they had to close. At a shareholders' meeting in the New Islington Hall, the local Manchester brewer, John Henry Davies said that he was willing to takeover the club's debts along with three other business men. And the plan was approved and John Henry Davies along with his partners renamed the club to Manchester United.
25 years ago,when Sir Alex Ferguson first arrived at Old Trafford,they were languishing at 17th in the league and the club had a big drinking problem. Gordan Strachan had warned Alex Ferguson that alcohol was a big problem at United even before Ferguson had contemplated moving south form Aberdeen. Strachan was a Aberdeen player under Ferguson and later moved to Manchester United and again played under his old boss when the latter became the gaffer at Manchester. During the numerous phone calls which Gordan made to Sir Alex when he first moved to Manchester,he often said that the whole club was talking about him(Sir Alex) being their next manager,and warned him about the drinking problems at the club.
When he first arrived at the club,the chairman Martin Edwards confirmed all of Strachan's accounts. Ferguson has an interesting theory on why British players booze a lot,certainly a lot more than their continental counter parts. He said in his autobiography that the English players had this “shift-worker's” mentality of working hard all day long and then boozing hard into the night. Whatever the reason was for the excessive drinking,it still exists today in the Premier League.

When Ferguson first arrived at United there was a club rule that forbade players to drink 2 days before a game. He immediately changed the rule to make it an offense for a player to drink while he was in training. He understood that the problem was very serious when in his first match in charge against Oxford,which they lost 2-0 primarily due to poor fitness levels,that the previous Thursday the players had been boozing at Ron Atkinson(Who was the manager of Manchester United before Sir Alex Ferguson)'s farewell party.
Bryan Robson,Paul Mcgrath and Norman Whiteside formed a troublesome threesome when it came to drinking. Those three were the most talented among the players United had at that time. Bryan Robson had a fierce determination to do well and the whole team looked upon him as a hero. So a sense of responsibility and his desire to perform to the limit when he was on the pitch limited his alcoholic escapades. But the two Irishmen Mcgrath and Whiteside were a serious problem to Ferguson. Norman Whiteside was a “wonderkid” as Football Manager Fans would call him. Introduced to the Northern Ireland team at 17, he played at the 1986 World Cup. At least Whiteside accepted that he had a problem and he tried to listen to Ferguson when the Scotsman would talk to him about his drinking binges. But Paul Mcgrath was a different case altogether.
Paul Mcgrath whenever confronted by Ferguson, didn't seem to accept that he had a problem. Even worse was the effect he had on his mate Whiteside, both regularly had late night binges which drastically effected their game on the pitch. Even Sir Matt Busby tried to talk to Mcgrath,but he seemed impenetrable. Eventually Ferguson decided to sell both of them and bring some sort of a control to Mancheser United ‘s social life. Both of them were quite popular with the fans and when they were sold, there was a lot of public anger. But Ferguson went ahead and got what he wanted. As far as Bryan Robson was concerned,his occasional late night travails was a small price to pay for his brilliance on the field.

1958 FA Cup Final-Bolton 2-0 Manchester United

On the 3rd of May 1958,Bolton Wanderers played Manchester United in an emotionally charged atmosphere at Wembley with a crowd of almost 100,000. Months earlier Manchester United were involved in the Munich Air disaster which meant they could field only four of their players who were involved in the accident. After the accident Jimmy Murphy took over the reigns at Old Trafford as Sir Matt Busby was recovering in the hospital. Largely with a reserve team they made it to the final at Wembley beating Fulham 5-3 in the Semi Final replay. And their run to the final saw them capture the hearts of the nation and almost everyone was rooting for them to win. There was strong public sympathy for a team which lost 8 of its players in the crash. But the final didn't go to script as Nat Lofthouse inspired Bolton to a fourth FA Cup win,scoring both the goals. The second goal was a highly controversial one as Harry Greg was bundled over the line by Lofthouse. This resulted in a great public debate after the game and was one of the incidents which led to a stricter policy where,no contact with the opposing goalkeeper is allowed.

Sir Alex Ferguson Completes 25 Years At Manchester United

Remember Remember,the sixth of November,for on this day way back in 1986 Sir Alex Ferguson signed for Manchester United thereby ensuring 25 + years of pain and despair for the supporters of  Liverpool.

On this glorious occasion we would like to present him with a gift, at first we thought of giving him a central midfielder,but then we heard Darren Gibson was back in training,so instead we decide to give him this.

John O'Shea-Legend

When someone who can do this

can also do this

then he is a legend.

When Fergie Lost by 9!

This post first appeared on BackPage Football.

I'm shattered, I can't believe it. It was our worst ever day. It's the worst in my history, ever. Even as a player I don't think I ever lost 6-1. That's a challenge for me too

Ferguson might have been wrong with his team selection and his tactics for the Manchester derby,but as far as we are concerned his biggest mistake was the statement he made above.As we see below the 6-1 defeat was certainly not the biggest of his footballing life.(Small consolation for grief stricken United fans)

Back in 1960 Sir Alex Ferguson(Just Alex Ferguson back then) was plying his trade for St Johnstone in the Scottish League. Those days Ferguson was a striker at his second club(His first was Queens Park) and was struggling to break into the first team. His first season for the club was a quiet one for him as a player,but it was a good one for the club's reserve side,as they beat Falkrik to win the Reserves cup.

Fergie playing for St Johnstone

Over the next season,after becoming a professional,Ferguson began to play in the first team. And he did well ,scoring some important goals. There was drama on the final day of the season,as Ferguson's goal against Dundee was chalked off in a 3-0 defeat which led to St Johnstone's relegation. Ferguson and his teammates learned after the match that if the game had finished 3-1 they would have been saved by virtue of better goal average.

The next season the club managed to win promotion and before the start of the new season,St Johnstone recruited lot of new players,so that they don’t spend another season fighting relegation. This was bad news for Ferguson and he was not looking forward to play for the reserves. His coach Bobby Brown was talking to Doug Cowie,the manager of Raith Rowers regarding Ferguson. But before the deal could proceed any further Ferguson was put out of action by a facial injury.

During a reserve game against Airdrie,Ferguson jumped to challenge a ball in the air along with Jackie Stewart. Now, Airdrie had a mean reputation on the football ground and Jackie Stewart certainly took his club's principles to heart. Next thing Ferguson knew was that he was lying in a hospital with a fracture cheekbone and a broken bone above his eyebrow. For six weeks Ferguson had to wear a plaster to support his face.

Ferguson at that time had two jobs,one as a professional football and another in a factory. It was during this time that he met his wife Cathy Holding. After two months of pain and embarrassment,the plaster was finally removed and Ferguson was ready for action. And this was when Ferguson suffered his biggest losses of his career and they were in back to back games. In his first game after injury St Johnstone Reserves lost to Celtic Reserves 10-1 and in his second outing,Kilmarnock reserves thrashed them 11-2.And as far as we know he didn’t score any of those three consolation goals.

What Happened Next?

Ferguson's confidence in playing football was badly shaken and was contemplating on moving to Canada. The two comeback games he played for the reserves did him no good and there was a prospect of facing further humiliation as they had to face Rangers on the 21st of December.Ferguson had made up his mind that he was not going to play against Rangers,so he asked his brother's girlfriend,Joan Parker to phone his coach and pretend to be his mother and tell him that he had flu.

When his coach came to know of this,he immediately sent a telegram to his house saying,”call me”, Ferguson's dad was already using the “hairdyer” on his son after he came to know about the incident.When Ferguson called his coach he was shocked to know that he would be playing in the first team against Rangers as 5 players were out with real flu.

The next day at Ibrox changed Alex Ferguson;s life forever.Trailing 1-0 at half time,the future Manchester United gaffer scored a hattrick to take St Johnstone to their first ever win at Ibrox. Ferguson incidentally was a Rangers supporter all his life and he was the first player ever to score a hattrick against Rangers at Ibrox.

At the end of the 1963-64 season Ferguson moved on to Dunfermline and as they say rest is history.

All Manchester United supporters will hope that this time too,like the last time when Sir Alex Ferguson faced a crushing defeat, he comes back stronger and never looks back again. 

Ferguson after the famous hat trick against Rangers

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How Manchester City Ripped Apart A 10 Men Manchester United[Video]

Going down to 10 men doesn't mean you concede 5 goals like Manchester United did,against Manchester City. There have been matches were a sending off has galvanized the team,and they went on to win the match. Darren Fletcher's goal may have given United a false hope that they can produce another of their famous comebacks,but it proved their undoing as City's counter attack was too strong.

With both the full backs playing almost as wingers,they were leaving just three at the back and at times only two. This made it too easy for City's forward players as they found space and time to destroy Man United.The below video by JohnGME  clearly showcases all of City's attacks after United were down to 10 men as Jonny Evans was sent off.

Manchester Derby-Things We Learned

The Manchester Derby's first installment this season has finally come and gone, the result was a surprise as Manchester City made a huge statement of intent by completely destroying Manchester United; 6-1. This defeat was United's worst at home since 1955 and Sir Alex's worst at home since being in charge since 1986. 


After watching a magnificent City performance, a number of things come to mind and I will best address them;

• Johnny Evans is not United (not anywhere near world) Class

 A lot of attention is being given to the sending off of Johnny Evans as the chief reason for United's humiliation, let’s take his 47mins or so on the pitch into contest; a sloppy pass when caught in no man's land in central midfield led to the first goal coupled with a poor attempt at a block as Super Mario passed the ball to the back of the net. Fresh from the dressing room at half time, all plaudits to Silva for the pass, but come on Johnny the ball is there to be played, you make a school boy error, leave the ball and all of a sudden start a romance with Mario Balotelli by being all over him. I know a number of United fans whose hearts skip a couple of beats when they see Johnny Evans on the team sheet. To think United sold Gerald Pique because they had big hopes for Evans, seems like one of Fergie's biggest mistakes, just take a look at Pique now at Barca, it says it all; Johnny Evans is not anywhere near the kind of defender that should put on the Red strip of United.

• David Silva, PFA Player of the year

It may just be October, but can the award be given already? David Silva, absolutely world class; his movement, passing, use of space and vision is really, really unmatched by anyone in the premier league. What's even more amazing is the way he goes about it in an unassuming manner like he's not doing anything spectacular. If any team wants to get the better of City, Silva is the man to put in check.

• Super Mario- 'Why Always Me?'

In previews before the game, a lot was said about the impact Mario Balotelli may have on the game; he was superb for City and showed why he is in such good form. The first goal was absolutely fantastic and the T- Shirt said it all. Balotelli with his temperament in check can go on to have a great career.

• United's new approach leaves huge gaps

Manchester United, this season have decided to play with a lot of pace especially from the wide areas, this somewhat shapes United in an open 4-2-4 formation, they may have gotten away with it against certain teams but City truly punished United with their numbers in Midfield. For instance, Sir Alex may have a rethink in playing Nani in the big games, take for example the first goal, James Milner takes the throw to Yaya Toure, Toure to Silva; within a twinkle of an eye James Milner moves into space passing by Nani who fails to pick up his run, hence isolating Smalling and the rest is history; same goes for the other two city goals by Balotelli and Aguero. The Full Backs clearly need help as the central midfield is clearly lost and confused (more on that later), so Nani and Young need to track back. After United went a man down, Micah Richards had the freedom of the right flank as Ashley Young was nowhere near him, more so Evra obviously needs some time off, he's completely off the pace; now the sale of O'Shea seems like a mistake as there's little cover in that position with Fabio injured.

• United's Slow and Sloppy Central Midfield

Whilst the 4-4-2 formation may not be dead after all, but it begs the question why Sir Alex has all of a sudden abandoned his 4-3-3/4-5-1 (although he tried it at Anfield) as he seems content to approach games with a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 with Rooney dropping as the spare man in midfield. The truth is the two members of the central midfield (in this new look 4-4-2) have to put in a hard shift especially when outnumbered, but the same cannot be said for United's midfield pairing particularly Anderson. Anderson was interestingly sluggish, out of pace, annoyingly one footed and rash in his decision making. His failure to pick up the run of Silva into the box for the second goal and the eventual allowance for him to make a pass to Milner just seems elementary; at some point during the second half there was a time Aguero just strolled past him, Anderson just strolled alongside him.

Picture Courtesy-David Vandepeer

Fletcher was ok, his goal gets him some level of exoneration, but a lot depends on the wingers’ involvement in the defensive side of the game. The build up to the sending off illustrates the sloppiness of the United Midfield, United were set up in two banks of fours, City had five players behind the ball and just two advanced against United's second bank of four, good use of the ball, players swift movement the difference and Balotelli is one on one with Evans.



What does the future hold?

Manchester City's victory is definitely a huge statement of intent, they'd take some stopping right now, but it’s a long way yet, a marathon not a sprint, a five point lead in October can be over turned anytime; with games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal still to come, it’s going to be a really interesting season.

For United on the other hand, a serious appraisal/post-mortem of  yesterday's collapse needs to be done and fast too; I believe it is safe to say that Rio Ferdinand's days as a sure starter may be numbered as Smalling and Vidic (as they displayed for most of last season) may just be the way forward. United need to sort out their midfield problems and fast too as well; Anderson is too sluggish and sloppy, maybe the return to full training of Tom Cleverly may be the answer.

It’s still a long way to go yet and United have come back from similar situations and still ended up winning the league; 5-0 loss to Newcastle, 5-0 loss to Chelsea and 4-1 loss to Liverpool some seasons ago are a number of examples to show United can still get the job done in the long run.


P.S. 

Levante are top of La Liga, who would have ever thought that would happen.

-Adeyemi Adesanya

Is Cleverley Suffering From The Fletcher Syndrome??

Darren Fletcher dubbed by some as the Scottish “Lampard” in his teens was one of the most hated Manchester United player in the early part of his career. While some sections of the fans suggested that him being Scottish was the only reason he was selected in the team others called him as Sir Alex’s son. United’s former captain and midfield general Roy Keane too had blasted Fletcher in his notorious MUTV interview in wake of United’s 4-1 defeat at the Riverside. Espn football pundit Steve Mcmahon used to use the phrase “the Fletchers the O’Sheas and the Wes Browns of this world” when he used to criticize United’s lack of depth in the squad during the 2006-07 season highlighting the fact that Fletcher was not good enough when called upon in place of Scholes or Carrick.

                           Fast forward a couple of years and the Red Devils are playing Arsenal in the Champions League semi final where Darren Fletcher puts in the performance of his life where he covers every blade of grass, shows his ball winning skills by stopping Arsenal play their tiki-taka passing game. His determination was lauded when he made a superb tackle on to stop Fabregas from scoring (when the game was already done and dusted) that the referee thought otherwise and sent him off, which resulted in him missing the final against Barcelona (this drew comparisons with Roy Keane’s monster performance at the Stadio Delle Alpi where he too got booked and missed the final in Barcelona).

Although United were humiliated by Barcelona in the final, many stated that it was the inclusion of Ryan Giggs for the suspended Fletcher that had weakened United’s midfield where they lacked their enforcer’s stamina and box to box abilities to win the midfield battle. Good players become legends by performing at the biggest stage of em all, but for the first time it was a player’s being absent on the big stage that had made him a legend and a fan favourite. Fletcher although disappointed at not playing a part in the last two champion’s league finals, took heart from the positive publicity he had earned after that night in Rome and went on to earn a place in the PFA Team of the Year the following season at the expense of Lampard.
Fletcher may have become a more integral part of the squad now but hasn’t improved much as a player. Various injuries drop in form and illness resulted in him missing the re-match with Barcelona, where the same question was asked “would a fully fit Fletcher have given United a chance”.
After suffering 2 humiliations at the hands of Barcelona, United fans wanted Sir Alex to sign a world class midfielder like a Modric or a Sneijder who would help bridge the enormous gap that had been created between themselves and the Catalan giants. Many remained apprehensive when a young United team containing Tom Cleverley who had yet to make his United debut, a player who was nearly released by United as a teen because they thought he wasn’t good enough defeated Barcelona in a pre-season match at Washington DC. Cleverley’s energy was refreshing to many of the supporters who only had a few glimpses of him during his time at Watford and Wigan.

Good performances against Tottenham and Arsenal where United blitzkrieged their opponents with their mesmerizing football earned him a call up to the England squad and his movement and quick passing resulted in the formation of the slogan “Who needs Wesley when we’ve got Cleverley” an indication that the fans had forgotten all about the Sneijder saga; until he suffered from the “Fletcher Syndrome”.  A Kevin Davis challenge ruptured his ankle and he would be out for 4-6 weeks that coincided with United dropping a gear or two and looking pedestrian at best. This has raised the question where people have begun to believe that Cleverley was the messiah that kept this team ticking and on his absence the team has summoned back the labored performances of last season. 

As I was reading some posts on twitter after yesterday’s drab performance in Romania, some fans almost expect a Cantona-esque return from him which is too much to expect from a 22yr old who has played 4 games for United as his stock has risen since his injury. He maybe a talent but fans need to give him time to fulfill his potential.

On further note Wayne Rooney had claimed that United had adopted Barcelona’s pressing game to win the ball back quickly:-
"I think when you watch Barcelona a lot of people go on about their passing and the skills and how they keep the ball
"But, for me, when they lose the ball, how quickly they all defend and try and win the ball back, that's the biggest asset they've got, I think.
"They win it back so many times in the opponents' half and attack from there, so we've started trying to bring that into our game and thankfully that's started paying off for us."

But to defend like Barcelona one must not pass the ball more than 10-15 yards therefore it is easy to win back possession as you always have players close by to play a pressing game. With the loss of Cleverley Manchester United lose that quick one touch short passing game that Cleverley was able to forge with Anderson and therefore were unable to win the ball back high up the field something they were successful at, at the start of the season. Jones too who is comfortable with the ball at his feet offers an extra man in midfield with his marauding runs hence increasing the chances of keeping the ball in the oppositions half.
But with Fletcher in the team Anderson plays a much deeper role and Carrick basically just screens the defence by making interceptions hence the slow build up in some of the more recent games as all three of them lack the precision passing of Scholes to play that deeper role of switching the direction of play.
With the fixture list piling up and pressure building at the top of the Barclays Premier League it will be interesting to see how Sir Alex uses his man management skills to reduce the pressure on his fledglings as they play catch up ahead of the must win Manchester Derby.


-Rohit Shankarmani

Javier Hernandez-Catch Me If You Can!

Picture Courtesy-David Vandepeer

Javier Hernandez's goal against Liverpool rescued a point for Manchester United. Hernandez was the lone bright spot in an otherwise poor afternoon for United.The finish was easy for the Mexican,but his movement before the goal to get rid of his marker was exemplary. Martin Skrtel was left with twisted blood as Hernandez ran a circle around him to head the ball into the net.

No doubt Hernandez is a great finisher,but his movement is even better. Always looking for space and trying to avoid defenders,the below video by JohnGME clearly shows his ability to avoid defenders and his knack of finding space.

Why Manchester United Should Sign Lassana Diarra [Video]

After Roy Keane,Manchester United haven't had a world class defensive midfielder,except for the 2007-08 season when Owen Hargreaves was fit.Well,one wouldn't say they have missed him as United in the next three seasons went on to win 2 Premier League titles and played in 2 Champions League Finals.But if you look at both the finals United lost,it was certainly the lack of a defensive enforcer which hurt them the most.Michael Carrick is not a hard-tackling defensive midfielder and he was the main culprit in both the finals allowing Barca's midfield to overrun United.

In the above video JohnGME analyses why it would be perfect for Manchester United to sign him.

A Comprehensive Analysis Of All Goals Conceded By Man Utd This Season

Picture Courtesy-Graeme Bandeira

Manchester United have played 11 games this season and have conceded 11 goals. While they look brilliant going forward they have looked shaky at times at the back. Their opponents have had an average of 15 shots on goal per game, while the policy of you score 3 we score 4 might provide classic entertainment,but the great United sides were always built on a strong defense. Some still blame the midfield, some blame the loss of United's “Captain marvel” Vidic and the rest just blame Carrick, Berbatov or Gibson. Let’s investigate the crime scenes and find out the culprit.

Manchester United Vs Manchester City

1: Dzeko (2-0, 45+1min): With nobody in a red shirt within 15 yards of Carrick, he attempts to make a pass to Welbeck which gets intercepted. From there on City make a couple of passes and United’s midfield now lacks shape as Anderson is too far away from his midfield partner leaving united with a front 5 and a back 5 with Dzeko having all the space and time in the world to let fly from 30 yards. De Gea who was on his United debut,fails to get down quick enough to stop the shot from finding the bottom corner.

Verdict: Carrick and Anderson were too far apart,therefore Carrick had to aim an ambitious pass, and when City launch an attack United are left with a flat back 5 and no one even tries to close Dzeko or get in a block. De Gea who was making his debut and that too in a Manchester derby at wembley was bound to have nerves.This shows that the simple passing game of Michael Carrick is highly effective in retaining possession and building momentum,even though Cleverely's been in good form,i doubt that in the tough away fixtures in the Champions League,Carrick will be watching the game rather being on the pitch.

West Brom Vs Manchester United

2: Long (1-1, 37min): Smalling heads a long ball into the path of Ferdinand who heads it into the path of Fabio who is in the center of the midfield alongside Anderson, with Cleverley nowhere near. Fabio has a poor first touch and gets dispossessed. To be fair Fabio does come back to help out the defence but is easily shoved away by Tchoyi. By the time Tchoyi’s ball comes to the feet of Long,Cleverley comes back to help out the defence and Albion manage to get five players forward. Long plays a one two with Brunt and the move creates a yard of space for Long to hit a shot before either of Smalling or Cleverley can get in a tackle.The shot beats De Gea,who clearly failed to get down quick enough.

Verdict: Cleverley returns slowly and therefore Anderson is left alone in midfield. Fabio has a poor first touch and therefore United concede possession cheaply and are short on numbers at the back. Fabio lacks the upper body strength to make a proper challenge,so he fails to make amends for his mistake and De Gea  makes his second blunder in 2 matches.

Manchester United Vs Arsenal

3: Walcott (3-1, 45+3min): With 2 mins of stoppage time already played and United leading by 3 goals Anderson tries to find Rooney with a through ball that is over hit. Szczesny then finds an Arsenal player and they build an attack, Arshavin’s cross is chested down by Evra but his right foot clearance lacks distance. Ramsey wins the aerial battle against Anderson and slips the ball into Arshavin who finds Rosicky. Now Cleverley, Jones and Evra are close to the midfield two of arshavin and Rosicky thereby leaving plenty of space behind them and no one to mark Walcott as Evra is completely out of position. Rosicky manages to pick out one of Walcott and Van persie who are in acres of space. Walcott fires a low shot from a tight angle that goes through the legs of De Gea.

Verdict: With a minute of stoppage time remaining and United leading 3-0 it was foolish on Anderson’s part to attempt an ambitious through ball and give possession away. Evra makes a poor clearance with his wrong foot and Anderson makes no effort to win the aerial challenge. Evra and Jones both go to close down Rosicky and that results in the defence losing its shape.Clear lack of communication between the defenders.

4: Van Persie(6-2, 74min): United get caught on the counter attack with Smalling on the right wing. Arshavin finds Jenkinson with a superb ball that Young can’t reach and as Evra is infield he is caught in no man’s land. Jenkinson puts the ball into the box and Jones gets his head onto it but his clearance goes straight back to Jenkinson who heads the ball into the path of Van Persie. With Jones’s momentum carrying him into the goal, Van Persie who is onside slams the ball into the net from a couple of yards.

Verdict: It was a superb counter attack from Arsenal who had managed to catch Evra out of position. Jones should have headed the ball out for a corner, but showed his lack of experience by trying to keep the ball in play especially when United were short on numbers at the back and were caught on the break.

Manchester United Vs Chelsea

5: Torres (3-1, 46min): Chelsea start the second half and manage to keep possession for 30+secs. Mata finds Anelka on the left wing and Cole makes an overlapping run to take Smalling with him. Nani is a little infield therefore Anelka has enough time to measure his pass. Torres makes his run in between Evans and Jones who are ball watching and dinks De Gea with a superb finish.

Verdict: Maybe Nani could have closed Anelka down quicker, but Jones and Evans should have kept an eye on Torres instead of looking at Anelka. Jones will get better with experience,but this goal shows clearly why Ferguson prefers Valencia to Nani in the big games.

6: Torres (3-1, miss): United have a have a flat back 6 with Fletcher and Young filling in, but all are ball watching and nobody follows Torres. Carrick too doesn’t get tight on Ramires to prevent him from picking a pass.

Benfica Vs Manchester United

7: Cardozo: (1-0): The goalkeeper finds the left back, who passes it towards Gaitan. Fletcher gets easily turned by Gaitan who sends a superb ball with the outside of his left foot towards Cardozo. Evans gives the striker too much time and space to turn and shoot across goal that gives Lindegaard no chance.

Verdict: Fletcher is not a proper CDM and therefore doesn’t get a tackle in on Gaitan who easily turns him. Evans gives too much space to Cardozo and although he shows him onto his weaker foot, but when you are playing at highest level you would expect the strikers to score with either foot.

Manchester United Vs Basel

8: Frei (2-2): Evra makes a run from left back but doesn’t release the ball soon enough and therefore loses possession. When he does return back to his positon, he is not close enough to prevent the cross. Jones is caught out of position too as he doesn’t know whether to go close to Evra’s man or to come back to help out Rio. When the cross is whipped in Fabio is on the edge of the box and Rio is caught in no man’s land leaving Frei to score with a free header.

Verdict: If the full backs and Jones are going to go on marauding runs into the opposition half,United will need a specialist CDM who just sits in front of the defence and slots in to fill the gaps. The midfield cannot be blamed if the full backs go forward and lose the ball.

9: Frei (2-3, pen): Their midfielder just ghosts past Park and Carrick as if they don’t exist. Jones is on his European debut and doesn’t know whether to close down or to stay back and does something between the two. Although he reads the one-two very well and intercepts it, he tries to be too cute with it and instead of sending the ball into row z, he plays a 5 yards pass into the make-shift right back (Valencia’s) path, who fails to control it and ends up getting the wrong side of the attacker and making a challenge from behind thereby conceding a penalty.

Verdict: Jones will learn from this type of experience that although he is a ball playing defender it isn’t a bad thing to clear the ball when under pressure to take the sting out of the attack.

10: Set Pieces: United conceded 3 goals from set pieces out of the 10 goals conceded ( I am excluding the penalty against Basel over here) - One against Man City when Lescott made a run in front of the defender.  The goal conceded against Stoke was due to Crouch’s movement and the height difference between him and Jones(Vidic was needed in that game or Rio should have taken up the responsibility of marking Crouch). The third was against Basel where in De Gea saved the initial shot from the corner but the snapshot from Frei went in off the post (no one was there on that post to save it).

FINAL ANALYSIS:

1: Jones is inexperienced and is bound to make a few mistakes, but he should know when to clear the ball and when to play it from the back (Van persie goal and penalty to Basel).

2: Evra hasn’t been at his best since his debacle at the world cup and it is wrong to tell him to lead that young and inexperienced back four especially as he is caught out of position so many times.

3: United defenders are the ones that bring the ball into midfield and concede possession and as we don’t have a natural CDM those gaps result in goals.

4: The fitness of the Da Silvas and Rio are a major concern.

5: Some of the goals conceded or the attemps on goal are due to the lack of closing down of the opposition attackers. United players do come back to help out the defence but it often results in them having a flat back 5 or back 6 (Dzeko goal and Torres miss) and there is lack of communication on who should sit back and who should go in and make the tackle (Walcott goal).

-Rohit Shankarmani