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| I'm gonna have to go with this guy though.. |
Every match with Liverpool is treated like a derby and this time is
going to be no different. Last season’s matches against Liverpool were
highly charged due to the Evra-Suarez controversy and both players were
booed and jeered at their oppositions home ground. Despite appeals from
both teams calling for their fans to behave, I’m not sure how well this
will be followed. I fully expect Evra to be put under pressure by the
Liverpool crowd.
However, this is not the only reason I think Butnner
should be playing instead of Evra. I’ve watched Liverpool’s last few games and there is one name that
has consistently impressed: Raheem Sterling. While Sterling does have
his flaws (but he’s only 17) he is a great talent and his positives are
many. His biggest positive, and one that I feel will severely expose
Evra, is his pace. Evra seems to have lost his legs and leaves yards of
space behind him that wingers and fullbacks alike exploit to the
fullest. Big games are often decided by one goal margins and we wouldn’t
want to enter the match being vulnerable. There’s also the presence of
Glen Johnson down the right hand side to contend with. He regularly
bombs down the right flank and has been one of Liverpool’s better
performers this season. If Evra can’t win his defensive battles, which
most likely he won’t, then it’s going to be difficult for him to attack
down the left wing because he is going to be too preoccupied with
defensive work in his own half.
Alex Buttner had a fantastic debut game against Wigan. But make no
mistake about it, Wigan (even though I like their underdog style
resistance) are a weaker opposition than Liverpool. Buttner almost spent
all his time attacking and taking on the Wigan fullbacks on Saturday;
however, the few times he was called upon defensively he did an
admirable job. Sir Alex said he was rash at times but his doggedness is a
good quality to have. Particularly against Liverpool, I think his tough
attitude and game play will be an asset: You always have to put up a
bit of a struggle and exert yourself in a highly charged game. Most
importantly, from a tactical perspective, he won’t get outpaced by the
likes of Sterling and Johnson. So there won’t be enough space to exploit
behind the left fullback and this should tighten things defensively.
Another advantage of playing Buttner is that we can then have Giggs
playing on the left wing. Nani has, once again, had a mixed start to the
season and Sir Alex will want at least one of his experienced boys to
be on the pitch against Liverpool to instill a bit of calm in the
midfield (I think Scholes will have to sit out of this one; his age
won’t permit him to play three games in one week and this will see
Cleverley return to the starting lineup). With Evra on the field it’s
better to have Nani on the left wing because his pace allows him to
track back and defend (whether he defends well is an argument for a
different article).
One might argue that Evra’s experience should see him get the nod
ahead of Buttner for this big match. However, Evra hasn’t really used
his experience well. Rio Ferdinand has lost his pace as well but he’s
used him experience to improve his positioning and his reading of the
game to come out on top; Evra has just been deteriorating in quality. I
say we go ahead with Buttner. If nothing else we will at least be able
to gauge whether he can do a job defensively against the bigger teams.
The signs look good though.
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