Manchester United
laid siege today on the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in North East
England, running riot with a devastating performance that would have
instilled the fear of God in all Geordies. It is fair to say that
revenge for the 0-3 humbling from way back in January has been
extracted, and things are looking bright for the 19 times English
champions once again.
We were so good, this is perhaps the happiest match report I’m doing
since I began doing match reports a while back. So here goes- a few of
my observations from this unbelievably impressive display.
1. Attack, attack, attack. Yes- Manchester United play the best
football when they’re following that philosophy. Attack is the best form
of defence and all that- but it still could have backfired
spectacularly, lining up with as many as FOUR forward minded players in
the starting XI! But it didn’t. It worked like a charm, mainly because
of the impressive defensive work of Rooney, Welbeck and Cleverley in
combination with the admirable shifts put in by our regular defenders.
There was a lot of youthful running about in midfield, which means Sir Alex has finally recognized why we were being overpowered there so frequently *cough Giggs* *cough Scholes*
2. Don’t get me wrong- I do still believe that GENIUS is spelled as
S-C-H-O-L-E-S. But the lesser we rely on him, the better it is for
United in the long run. We need to keep him as a weapon to be brought on
from the bench in case our midfield is in dire need of inspiration (as
it was against Southampton). Clever Tom simply has to become a regular
starter- and the boy did his chances no harm today. This was probably
his best performance in a Manchester United shirt-
the tracking back to defend, the sparking of counter-attacks, the eye
for good passes- well, it’s all there. His finishing is a bit shit- but
if he can score goals
like the one he did today (oof!), I’d rather his finishing remain as it
is. He has scored two goals for the club now- both against Newcastle
United, both coming in the last 10 days. Can’t help but be chuffed for
him. Carrick was his usual solid self, and there’s a case for
Anderson/Fletcher to slot in as a third midfielder when we are playing
tough away games (like at Stamford Bridge or the Emirates). Either way, I prefer if we start 2 or 3 out of these 4 and bring Scholesy/Giggsy on later if the need arises.
3. Wayne Rooney. People who say he’s still the best footballer in
England don’t sound as naff as they did earlier in the season. He was
bloody good today. And his tweet suggests, he’s “enjoying this new
midfield role”. Happy times? His servicing for Robin van Persie was
stunning once again, on the back of those two assists against Cluj in
mid-week. And to think some were worried the two cannot play well
together. It may be too early to make a sweeping statement- but in Wazza
and Robin, we have 2 of the world’s best strikers in our squad and IF
they continue to link up so fantastically with each other- we will be
unstoppable. Not to mention, we have 2 excellent strikers in Welbeck and
Chicharito as back-ups. Welbeck was lacking in his finishing today, but
the hard work he did up front was really crucial to the result. Chicha
must wait for his chances and grab them with both hands when he gets.
One problem we have is finding the best role for Shinji Kagawa-
who doesn’t deserve to be shafted around pointlessly like this, given
he’s our most gifted attacking player. Fergie needs to work that one
out.
4. Our defending today was gritty and resolute- reminiscent of the
Gauls fighting to protect their lands from being invaded by the Romans.
And for once, it wouldn’t be out of place to say that captain Patrice
Evra (!) was the Asterix of the army- perhaps our medical team (hardly
the equivalent of the druid Getafix, given their woeful record with
injury cases) has perfected the recipe for strength-enhancing magic
potion and given some to Paddy. Because he was well near flawless-
hardly ever out of position (yes, I was pinching myself too), clearing
well, and endearing himself again to United fans with a lovely headed
goal (off a corner!). Rio and Evans were at their very best, and they
needed to be against the might of Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse and Ben Arfa.
Rafael continued to show why he’s a worthy successor to Gary Neville’s
#2 shirt. The only concern was perhaps David DeGea- who played like a
man under pressure because of a needless rotation that doesn’t make
sense to anyone but one man. You listening Fergie? Play him regularly
and he’ll get better.
5. We scored two goals from corners today- it must be said that as regards taking good corners, we really have turned a corner this
season. Our best two best strikers are also our two best corner takers-
and Robin & Rooney provided the assists for Evans & Evra
respectively to head in powerfully and send us on our way. It’s ironic
that in a team chock-full of frighteningly good attackers, it was two
defenders who scored our first two goals! You don’t really consider Man
United a great threat when it comes to set-pieces, so it’s really a big,
big positive if we can add that to our game. Our task was obviously
made easier by the absence of Coloccini, Steven Taylor and Tim Krul- but
Newcastle away is still an insanely tough fixture where we tend to
struggle, so the 3 goals and the 3 points and the highly encouraging
performance is something that should keep us buzzing for quite a while.
6. The international break just takes the piss doesn’t it? Just when
we were beginning to play some delightful football. Well, we have to
look on the bright side. We are 2nd in the league table and finally
finding a way of overcoming physically intimidating opponents. Our last
three fixtures were difficult- and our next few are going to be even
more so. Hopefully, we’ll be up for it and continue playing with the
attacking principles on display in that second half against Spurs and in
today’s game. Upwards and onwards then.
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