Thoughts On The Game
So after a shocking display at Anfield, a defeat every bit as painful as that 4-1 hammering we were subjected to at the hands of Torres and co in 2009, I was so incensed at the manner of the defeat and its aftermath, that in a private yet ultimately pointless protest I was unwilling to do my usual ’5 Things’ piece knowing fully well I might have written something I shouldn’t have.
A number of things regarding the match in question which irked me included certain United’s fans unsympathetic jeering reactions to Nani going down and the growing grievance with them was exacerbated by the general tone of the media and its response to Carragher’s challenge. If you’d missed the game and had for instance relied solely on MOTD2?s coverage of the game, you wouldn’t be blamed for assuming that Rooney’s Elbow a week prior was still the most villainous act of thuggery on a football pitch ever seen and that Phil Dowd had excelled in his handling of the game so far as to be a cert to be the next Englishman to referee a World Cup Final.
These gripes aside, it was clear that despite the fervent level of antagonism from all corners, United ultimately had themselves to blame for the defeat and didn’t perform anywhere near good enough to earn anything from the game. There were decent spells of passing and the Red Devils started the game off well enough but it soon became apparent (after 20th Min) that whereas Liverpool looked menacing when in possession – full of ideas and penetration, United were going through the motions, no real conviction on the ball or off it. It is why many of us (the non-idiotic majority) felt emotional at Nani getting hurt or Rafael rising above the venomous atmosphere at Anfield and demonstrating his courage, likewise with Hernandez’ excellent consolation goal.
These three young players ooze United quality, they have the skills but more importantly the heart, put simply when they play these lads have purpose and drive. They want to be the best in the world in their respective positions and they demand the ball under any circumstance (hallmark of players destined for great things). Yes they might make mistakes, but these are players worth of persisting with, they’ll come good and when they do, the world better watch out.
99 Problems And The Midfield Is One!
So courage, conviction, flair, dynamism – throughout most of this United side we either have players in or coming through that possess these attributes. In defence we have Vidic, Evra, Rio not to mention the aforementioned Rafael as well as Chris Smalling, on the wings we have Giggs, Nani and Valencia, complemented nicely by the brave underrated Park and up front we have Hernandez challenging the established heavyweight duo of Rooney and Berbatov.
Yet in the most crucial area of all when it comes dominating elite encounters – the midfield – we are second rate, devoid of all those attributes associated with United. It has been an area disguised by the strength of our rearguard and our forward line. When the others falter it rarely steps up to the plate nor has it ever been lauded as a component to be feared. From Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs in their pomp to this. No doubt this current midfield is a step above 03-05, but barely.
Every other major side in Europe seems obsessed with creating a strong midfield, variants of 4-3-3/4-5-1/4-2-3-1 seem to be all the rage and whilst Fergie has adapted to the fashions of the time, he has failed to sign the appropriate personnel to suit and make a success of these formations. The likes of Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter, Liverpool, Bayern Munich keep the ball well and there is never a debate amongst their fans of the folly of playing 4-3-3, it is the accepted formation and none of these sides have major gripes with their midfield area. Not to mention that none of these sides make the 4-3-3 look rigid, unnatural and overly functional. United on the other hand always make it look like an effort, keeping the ball seems like a chore, we rarely create any chances of note despite the artistic licence it affords to the most advanced midfielder of the trio whomever it may be and as for goals from midfield, forget about it. The only purpose this United midfield generally serves is to congest midfield and give the back four some protection, unless of course Anderson and Scholes have the requisite energy on any given day to put in performances worthy of the United shirt.
But why does our midfield malfunction? Click here to read more.
your journalism is as shit as your team’s performance.
Raphael “courageous”??? Don’t quite understand how you manage to describe yourself as “the non-idiotic majority”. Raphael was as culpable as Carragher. Both should have been sent off. And Nani did not help himself with his histrionics.
It was Rafael who was fouled first by Maxi Rodriguez. Didn’t u have the eyes to see that ?
Doesn’t make what he did right…..
suarez should have been sent off too
Doesn’t make it right, but makes it understandable. Rafael’s was a) not as bad as Carragher’s (foot height not shin height) and b) it wouldn’t have happened if play was stopped and Maxi was dealt with.
Crikey, I’m looking track here, what should Suarez have been sent off for? And you cannot say Raphaels tackle was not red simply cos it wasnt as bad as an earlier tackle, a red card is a red card. There’s too much emotion here, you need to see things for what they are Fergie simply got his tactics wrong on the day and we got outplayed by a more motivated team…end of.
becuase suarez the bitch took a grab of rafaels hair wen rafael was being held back . The perfect scumbag signing for the scouse he might learn a few things of gerard.
Evra apart, not one of our players really fought for Nani while he was down… Scholes got abit feisty but if that had been Giggs that recieved a tackle like that during a game in the late nineties you can bet your bottom dollar that Keano would’ve blown his top and protected his fallen team mate and showed some guts. We just didn’t have any courage on the pitch, which is why Rafaels tackle (please take the effort to spell his name right) whilst it was reckless it showed abit of ‘fuck you I am hard and what..you don’t intimidate me’. You need that sort of fight in your team if you want to be successful and its a hallmark of United to get dirty if they need to.
Nani’s histrionics… it was an horrific challenge and the result was there for all to see, yes he’s not the bravest of players when experiencing pain but clearly the lad was in distress so stop trolling.
out with carrick and in with De Rossi and then let the youth come through!
For christ sake fergie will you make rooney scholes replacement.He can tackle,has vision and can score.In fact he spends most of his time now in midfield tracking back.Berbatov and hernandez upront.And rooney feeding both.Its a no brianer.
I DOUBLE THAT !!!
You don’t mention Fletcher in your list of determined United players. Mistake? Or do you consider him one of the poor ones? What do you think of Fletch and Carrick having signed new contracts? And do you not think a MF 3 of Carrick, Fletcher and Anderson can provide the goods? I think it can. Supplemented with some more depth, we could have a very strong midfield, it is only Gibson of the current crop that I would want to lose, provided he is replaced. We do need a Scholes and Hargo replacement though (Rodwell and Modric would be ideal, if a little fanciful).
‘Supplement’ being the operative word. Fletch and Carrick do not need replacing, they’re still valuable members of the first team squad but i do not consider them good enough to be regular first team midfielders at a club like United, in the premiership maybe but I think in comparison to the elite midfields in Europe no doubt ours is one of the poorest and it has long been disguised by the plethora of talent in other positions.
Likes of Modric and Mascherano would bolster our first team and put players like Carrick and Fletcher in the backseat, ready to cover when need be or used when we’re changing shape to cope with certain sides.
you got beat deal with it and leading at chelsea your fans sung we do wot we want but on sunday you did as you were told at least carra tryed to say sorry unlike roy keane on alfie in the derby and these tackles are nothing to wot u did to david busst you get away with rooney as well we were the better team are the better and will be a force again thank roy hodgson if you get 19 but we will get 20 b4 you
What a clueless, bin dipping, rat eating, granny stabbing c*nt u r!!
Quote – these tackles are nothing to wot u did to david busst
Have you ever seen that incident dickhead!?!?
It wasnt even caused by a foul on the player!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byOKCMQpxKo
Watch and educate yourself YSB!!!
hum… the two fellows above should go and realise that dwelling on united blogs does nothing but highlight their need for instant reassurance and hope of seeing any sign of a Red demise. They should focus on their team who’ll try to repeat sunday’s performance, with a little help of the all too inapt and red-hating referees.
As for our midfield, good point on Rafael, Nani and Hernandez – I’ll ask this question though : their ability to perform on Sunday shows in my opinion that they simply don’t let that “historic clash” and “cauldron heat” shit get to their head, as opposed to our veterans (maybe they’re starting to doubt their capacities and are remembering defeats instead of focusing on futur victories, I don’t know).
The three youngsters are hungry, challenging and in so, have the needed dose of irreverence towards this kind of pressure that allows them an energetic and daring display… Exactly what Liverpool throwed at our face.
The two fellows above being Full Of It and Don Phelan although I understand the latter is rather a strange Red
do what???
Spot-on. I fully agree. Fergie, as much as I have respected him as a manager, has never shown a liking for players with “flair” in central midfield. This is why we have Carrick, Fletcher, Gibson etc. He doesn’t seem to trust Anderson, released Possebon too soon and quickly “moved-on” Veron and Kleberson (both World Class, 1 the WC winning captain of Brazil!!) He passed on the chance to sign Van der Vart and Meireles for peanuts, both have proved to be solid Premier League players. That’s why we can’t make a telling pass from midfield to the strikers.
I am a Liverpool supporter and find myself supporting them through this difficult period in our clubs history, although i do see as things are on the up!
Just like ANY great side in ANY sport, you will have your ups and downs… I think Man U are just having that!
Look at Inter at he beginning of the season… So many injuries and they were in 8 position… After new year when all of them are back, they are fighting for the championship!
I hate to say but Man U do not know what losing is even though they have recently dropped games! I think it is great for the league that all top 6 teams drop points as it makes it more interesting!
As a Liverpool supporter i am extremely happy with the teams effort! The only thing that dampened the mood was Carragher’s tackle… Unfortunately for Nani it was the boy who cried wolf scenareo i think that kept Carragher on the pitch!
Two wrongs dont make a right, but i am glad that Rafael did not get sent off as it would have been unfair!
On an other note… Why does Sir Alec Ferguson not speak to media even after a disappointing game… I think as a gentlemen of the sport, he owes it to everyone to say something! Come out for once and be honest and just say the boys played disappointing and we were beaten! I know it has happened two weeks in a row, but you still are on top with players to come back and possibly and easier run home that Arsenal!
I hope there will be more great games and less fouls to take away from what is always a great dog fight with the 2 biggest clubs in England!
The reason Inter were rubbish was one man and one man only. That is a Rafa FACHT!
Thanks for the post Steven, well measured response and Carragher’s tackle apart, your side fully deserved the win and in my Rival Perspective Blog I predicted a Liverpool resurgence under King Kenny and nothing I’ve seen since has changed my mind about that. You lot are on the up and you finally have the right man in charge, I look forward to seeing you guys challenging us in the future and I just hope we can overcome this transitional period and come out as strong as we were in 07/08.
Masch?? Never he’s not a good enough footballer he’s just a defender before the defenders.
To replace Hargreaves there is one man only Daniele De Rossi …passion/tackles/goals/creativity and a much needed free kick tacker. You can’t really get much closer to Hargreaves, he’s just made of steel instead of glass
Not a chance of signing De Rossi though, a Roman through and through.
One thing Rae said here that is being ignored is ‘Available’ and having seen no play time at Barca he is.
Modric is quality and could replace Scholes.
Top piece mate, keep them coming
Cannot stand Mascherano, but is a better holding cm than De Rossi…….by a LONG way!!!!!