Date: 8th March 2011 at 2:00pm
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Carrick has been singled out as one of our under performersThoughts 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.

40 responses to “M&M’s: is this duo the solution to our midfield woes?”

  1. RedRae7 (Rae M) says:

    By the way guys, which two players would you like to see signed if we had the choice.. stick to naming one DM and one AM.

  2. ross says:

    MIDFIELD ESSENTIALS THIS SUMMER HAS TO BE ANY OF THESE FOLLOWING PLAYERS:
    MAREK HAMSIK, BASTIEN SCHWEINSTIGER, ALEXIS SANCHEZ, ASHLEY YOUNG, DE ROSSI, JAVIER PASTORE……..WOULD BE NICE TO GET SNEIJDER BUT HES HAPPY PLAYING SHITTY ITALIAN FOOTBALL….LOL

    SPEND SUM FUCKIN MONEY IN THE SUMMER MR GILL AS IF WE DONT WE WILL BE STRUGGLING HARD ALL SEASON…….CARRICK NEW 3 YEAR DEAL……..FAAAAAAAAAACK ORF !!

  3. Cyrus says:

    I agree. Rooney has been playing some superb cross field passes this season.

  4. Adam says:

    We’ve needed to strengthen the midfield for a while now. This isn’t a new problem. I think most fans were crying out for an Ozil type signing. We didn’t get one and on top of that Tom Cleverly was loaned out. That lad should be playing for us.

    I was shocked to see Carrick get another contract, pretty upset about that really. However it might be part of the long-term strategy. Ferguson will want 5 central midfielder going into next season, and Carrick is a good SQUAD player to have around. I can see Scholes retiring and Gibson being sold. Hargreaves will leave when his contract is up.

    If we have Carrick, Fletcher and Anderson then we can add a couple of new additions. We’ve been heavily linked with Javier Pastore and, although I would be shocked if we signed him, it would be a great move by us. I could see the other midfielder to be signed being Jack Rodwell. He can also play center back if required, which is a good option to have.

    Then sell Obertan and loan out Bebe. I think this season shows we need more numbers on the wide. We should have Nani, Park and Valencia. Bring back Tom Cleverly and sign………….Alexis Sanchez. The boy is incredible and will bring the entertainment back to Old Trafford. Giggs should be a luxary player for us.

    Up front is sorted with Rooney, Berbatov, Hernandez and Welbeck. Sanchez can also play upfront as well if required. Owen and Diouf should be allowed to leave.

    Pastore (£32 million), Sanchez (£30 million) and Rodwell (£15 million) will be expensive. At least the whole of the Ronaldo money. But its required I think. Not forgetting a new goalkeeper as well. Manuel Neuer would be a great signing, again at least £12 million.

    Out of the door: VDS, Kuschazh, Brown, Gibson, Scholes, Owen, Obertan, Bebe and Diouf.

  5. Oliver says:

    First of all i am a United fan through and through but i acknowledge that this season we are not up to our usual standards, yes other teams are getting better but that dosnt mean we cannot dominate like seasons before e.g the Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez years plus all them before it!As much as i hate Liverpool we were beaten fairly on Sunday, and against Chelsea we were very unlucky not to leave with a draw. Our away form is poor and we would be away and clear had we been better if in only a fraction of these away games. We are still top, and i think we will stay there, primarily because no one else is playing well either or well enough to justify going above us. As for the squad, i have faith in my team and also the manager, that they will bring home the league in this final canter. The team do’s need adding to thoguh, a midfielder with attributes like Roy Keane is needed aswell as a very good 1st choice keeper. As for the current squad i dont want a team of superstars as it dosnt work, i want a team that plays well and for each other. I know every player cannot play at there very best all the time and some have limited chances but some players e.g Obertan, Evans, Brown, Carrick have all had very bad seasons, but it annoys me as i think all of these have talent and have showed it in the past, so i just hope they step it up a gear, not just them but the whole team and show why they play for a club like ours, a club every other club and fan hates because we are so succesful. UNITED!!!

  6. Yashi says:

    In answer to Rae, I would be happy with the brilliant Schweinsteiger although he recently signed an extension at Bayern. He is probably midway between a DM and an AM, i.e midway between a Masch and a Sneijder.

    If I had to go for 2 players, I would go for experience (although not too old) rather than the youthful promise. Realistically speaking, for AM, I quite like Gourcuff. As for DM, I can’t think of anyone in particular that I have seen recently. I think Masch won’t be that horrendous a choice people seem to think he is. He was great at Liverpool, with Alonso by him.

    • Yosh says:

      Lass Diara would be a better choice, better pace and less sloppy with his tackles than Mascherano. Gourcuff would be a quality acquisition. Paulo Henrique could be a shrewd bit of business to.

  7. Jonathan says:

    To answer Rae’s question, though I’ve said it in about 10 previous posts, I’m not sure how much of them you read so I’ll say again Pastore hands down as AMF. I realize that he very much puts the “attcking” in AMF so he would likely change the formation and approach of our team. But I feel he’s just that damn good and could have such an impact that any adjustment would be well worth it.

    I like Modric, but I don’t think he’s played so much as an AMF recently, but as a deeper lying, very much central midfielder. He course has many upsides including the fact that his arrival wouldn’t be quite the shock to the team as Pastore’s would be. He’s even better defensively too of course, but I don’t think he could bring the same “creative revolution” as Pastore.

    Which brings me to the DMF spot. My opinion is not quite as strong on this. Whoever it may be, I would base it on whoever would complement the incoming AMF (ideally Pastore). Any good DMF has to have good ball movement skills, but foremost it’s one who does the defense aspect of the position with excellence. I hadn’t even considered Masch, but since you planted the seed, you probably brought up the best candidate. Rodwell may reach those hights too, but that isn’t known for sure yet. Diarra is an alternate candidate.

  8. james holden says:

    Pastore amf and either diarra or rodwell dmf.

  9. Redrae7 (Rae M) says:

    Schwiensteiger is a great shout, played at a very high level.. would fit in well at Premiership level and would no doubt improve us on the european stage.

    Pastore I’m a fan of but do worry about whether he’s the player we need for say we want to go 4-4-2 against most opponents at home which is why the German is such a good idea.

    Defensive mid wise, Di Rossi would be better on the ball than Masch but I wonder whether a) he’d ever leave Roma and b) whether the italian league would prepare him for the cut and thrust of the premiership. Masch is experienced and I have a feeling he would be available for a cheaper price than the Italian.

  10. Yosh says:

    FORGET THE POLITICS GUYS WE WERE TRULY SHITE. I THINK IT’S MOSTLY BECAUSE UNITED FANS ARE THE MOST FLAT FANS IN THE PREM. THANKFULLY THE CLUB CAN’T TRANSFER LIST US, IF THEY COULD I’M SURE THEY WOULD. WE LET THE CLUB DOWN AS MUCH AS OUR MIDFIELD. WE ARE THE FANS OF TRU CHAMPIONS, SO LETS F*CKING ACT LIKE IT!