De Gea 6: Understandably shaky considering he’s been doing the hokey cokey with Anders Lindegaard. Saw the best and worst of him when it came to scrambling Papiss Cisse’s header off the line, rescuing himself and the team after failing to claim the cross that lead to the chance in the first place.
Rafael 7: Despite some early trouble managed to keep Hatem Ben Arfa quiet as a church mouse, read the Frenchman well and was a step ahead to neutralise the threat he posed.
Patrice Evra 8: Best performance in a long time. Saw a header saved last week against Spurs but made no mistake burying one today to double United’s lead. Defended well against Santon, got forward to aid attacks too. More of this please.
Jonny Evans 8: Opened United’s scoring with a powerful header early on and was largely comfortable. Surged forward late on and showed good feet in setting up Danny Welbeck early on too.
Rio Ferdinand 7: After last weekend’s horror show, Ferdinand coasted through this one and answered most questions posed to him resoundingly. Impressively closed the door in Ben Arfa’s face at one point in the second half then prevented a corner, instead putting the ball out for a throw in.
Michael Carrick 7: Will never get the praise he deserves but went about this game quietly but impressively. Fears that he would be out done by Newcastle’s midfield proved unfounded as he calmly controlled the game.
Tom Cleverley 8: Energetic and always looking to get onto the ball, Cleverley ran Newcastle ragged. His goal will be debated with both Pardew and Sir Alex saying they thought it was a cross, but if he says he meant it, who can argue?
Shinji Kagawa 6: Another quiet game from the Japanese international, disappointing as it was one many had hoped he would be able to showcase his full arsenal. Hopefully he gets back to his early season form soon.
Danny Welbeck 6: It was said he needs to be more clinical in front of goal but wasted two massive chances early on, tamely shooting at Harper and then missing an open goal whilst slightly off balance. His work rate, work outside the box and defensive side of the game is always top notch but as a striker he will inevitably be judged on what he does inside the box, and today he was poor.
Wayne Rooney 9: Carried on his excellent showing against Spurs here today with a brilliant performance. Quality going forward and defensively reliable, Rooney shone in a deeper role and almost added his name to the scoresheet with a well saved freekick. Amzaing to think some felt we didn’t need him.
Robin Van Persie 7: A quiet afternoon for the Dutchman who didn’t see enough of the ball in the areas he would have liked. Set piece magic helped give United the lead when he said he would like to create more goals, so can’t complain!
Subs:
Valencia 6: Energetic return from the winger, will get better after missing a few games.
Scholes N/A: Just enough time to get a customary yellow card.
Giggs N/A: Not enough time to do anything.
I agree that Welbeck finishing was off and he needs improve that side of his game. However I thought he did really well and his work rate and tireless running should not be underestimated. He is doing a very necessary job in order to allow Rooney, Van Persie and, in time, Kagawa to flourish. I think if he keeps that work rate going then he will be in the team in this diamond formation.
Speaking of the diamond formation I think Ferguson deserves praise for taking the risk. I have felt for a while that we where lacking in terms of risk taking and experimenting. I feel our dependencies on wing play was starting to hinder our football. Yesterday though was our best performance for a long time, and its because we tool control of the football match again.
Cleverley, Kagawa, Carrick and Rooney where terrific and they never stopped working. Kagawa may have been quiet in terms of attacking but he did a good job and he will improve in this style of formation in the coming weeks. The problem he has had is the opposition have been marking him out of the match. They have been able to close his space too often and quickly. We need to drop him off deeper to do damage, but with bodies around him. This formation allows Kagawa and Rooney to flourish together.
We have the option of tightening up the diamond as well. We can bring Valencia in who, in my opinion, is the most intelligent winger at Old Trafford. He can play on the right side of the diamond because of his work rate and ability to run inside and out. He is also a soldier and will protect Rafeal and work hard for the team. Young could have success also, but would need to work harder for the team defensively. Nani will be lost in this new style.
Anderson is another who can play this formation and may have more success. Cleverley was very good yesterday and seemed more comfortable his his play. I sense Anderson would enjoy having more of the play coming through the middle. The key is work rate. We have been bad defensively this season because we don’t defend as a team. Last week Ferdinand and the defence took the blame, but it was the players in front of them that let them down.
Carrick showed yesterday that his best position is in front of the back four. He doesn’t want to play a 4-4-2 formation. He is more comfortable sitting and controlling the game from deep. He wants midfield runners in front of him to pass to. Yesterday he has Cleverley, Kagawa, Rooney and Welbeck all working in front of him and that’s what he wants.
I really impress now that the system fergie should used not 4-2-3-1 and after long time we kept a cleansheet p evra,cleversly,rooney was terrific thanks to sir fergie but only thing i think that kagawa should play in the left wings and welbeck in right and was hoping that anderson make his apearence in second half because he is a strong midfider and as player to tackle or intercept ball from other player.
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