1. What we wanted to see today was a reaction to last weekend’s disaster. A 1-0 win at Goodison Park, a ground we haven’t won at since 2007, is a good result. Of course we all wanted to see United come out and rip Everton apart, the way we did Bolton and Arsenal earlier this season, but that isn’t necessarily a realistic expectation. We got the three points, we put distance between ourselves and the teams below us and you can’t ask for much more than that.
2. The players put in a more professional performance today and made sure De Gea was better protected. It was alarming to learn last week that we’re up there with the teams who have allowed the most shots on their goal. Today, any efforts that did get through were straight at our keeper, who seems to grow in confidence every game. He picked the ball out of his net six times last weekend, none of those goals his fault, so it was nice for him as much as anyone that we kept a clean sheet today.
3. Whilst of course we can congratulate De Gea on stopping Everton from scoring, we should not ignore the impact of Nemanja Vidic, easily the Man of the Match, who was there to sweep up any problem that came his way. Him being fit this season could make the difference between us winning the league and us not. He steadies the players around him and will go toe to toe with any opposition striker. It’s great to have him back in the team.
4. For the first 35 minutes though, the player on the receiving end of most of our praise, was Tom Cleverley. The temptation is to get carried away and lost in celebrating this fantastic youngster of ours. Our passing was crisper and faster today, we were moving the ball around with much more urgency and looked more in control of midfield than we have in a while. Can we credit Cleverley, who did play well, with this? It lasted for about 35 minutes until Everton grew in confidence and came back at us for the last 10 minutes of the half. Unfortunately, he only lasted ten minutes after the break though and United were second best for most of the second half. Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed his injury is nothing serious, just a tight hamstring, and he will be back in action next weekend.
5. Chicharito’s offsides puzzle me. Before his goal, the ball must have come through to him three or four times and he was offside every time. Is this necessary? I’m sure he will be faster than any defender he comes up against, so why play so close to the shoulder all the time? He could be a yard or two onside and he would probably get to the ball first. I don’t mean to whinge, he’s scoring important goals for us all the time, I just think he’s selling himself short by denying himself, and the team, opportunities to score more by failing to pay attention to where the defensive back line is. It was great positioning for his goal today and a top cross from Patrice Evra.
6. There was a lot of fuss about Jonny Evans ahead of kick-off, with some fans claiming they wished he was on the end of a three match ban following his sending off last weekend, rather than just the one game suspension which he served midweek. There were still a couple of errors, one which lead to Vidic heading our for a corner before tearing a strip off him, but he did alright today. I’m sure Chris Smalling would have got the nod ahead of him if he was fit, but what is more newsworthy is the absence of Rio Ferdinand. The manager is suggesting he is more angry at Rio for not taking control of our defence in injury time last weekend than he is at Evans for getting sent off. What does this mean for Rio’s United future?
Man Utd News 24/7
now this is quick reaction – keep up
6. Magaye Gueye lucked out when he was named.
Lets hope Cleverley gets over his injury problems for good and we get an established partnership at the centre. Unfortunately, he won’t escape Capello’s call up next week.
I said to my friends today, a clean sheet and 3 points were by far the most important statistics to come away with today.
Gutted with my dream team! Ivanovic is being dropped in the morning…..and why oh why oh why did I take the captaincy off van Persie this morning?! Just cost myself an extra 19 points!!
It was never going to be easy. Three big points and a professional performance. A professional performance -Right To The Final Whistle-. Which is what we often lacked last season on the road. There is nothing to complain about taking a three points out of a hard fixture. Just hope Cleverly is okay because he gives us a bit of something extra in midfield. Not sure what it is exactly, but you can see when we lack it what happens.
Somewhat annoyed by the scheduling for this though, missed a lot of the London Derby in order to watch it, and I would have liked to have seen the whole game, because from what I did see it was a laugh riot. Especially seeing White Cunt Terry fall on his face for Van Persie’s second. Also notable how the press love to snipe at De Gea in our goal, yet the collapse of Cech as a stopper is never mentioned. He was done on his near post twice today, not to mention being skinned alive in a one on one. I think he’s broken.
before reacting to our victory:
JOHN TERRY SLIPS WITHOUT RAIN!
Sorry, but really i received so much of pain over the week that i don’t even mind saying a big thank you to arsenal.
Lets be honest. You don’t go from a thrashing like the one last week, to a thrtashing of your own at Everton. We were always going to struggle. Thankfully we didn’t implode like we did at Fulham after the Liverpool defeat in 2009.
It was nice to see some desperate defending out of the lads. But from now on, hopefully it will be more assured too. We still haven’t addressed the issue of teams getting shots at De Gea for fun.
Great result for us.Any other team would have dropped points after a defeat like that in previous week. Keep it up guys.My MOTM is Vidic. He is back.
Also happy that de gea got a clean sheet atlast.
This is why premiership is miles ahead of other leagues. Well done arsenal.
I still believe tittle can be won by any of top 7 teams provided they show consistency
VIVA HERNANDEZ.
What happened to Tom? Missed the injury and the substitution because I needed a shit
Was it the ankle again or summat different, did it look bad?
———————————————————————————-
Glad to see us defend well and win 1-0, scrappy but needed.
Tbh, Evans was aweful,
So was Jones at Times getting dominated by fellaini and stretched by baines.
Evra was defending for the first time,doesn’t deserve any special recognition though, average.
Vidic is the FUCKING MAN ! Our Capitan is Back !
Cleverley is our chosen one, he will bring balance to the Universe and Unite our Team. “They boy who lived” can fuck off, it was prophised that this lad will save Us and rid the world of evil.
Tooney was great aswell, found it hilarious when he got a cramp, looked like a baby.
Welbeck was BEAST!, Chico has scored against ya….watcha gonna do !!!!
Park is my Man Of The Match
STR!!!! I’m with you spot on in 4-5 and 65% on Lil Pea!!!!
@Papii
Tight hamstring for TC. He should be fine for Sunderland. And next time try not to eat too many beans.
#CH3L5EA vs. #AR53NAL! :8
Speaking of Chicharito, he’s one of 6 United players to have scored at both Merseyside grounds in the Premiership. The last was Sheasy.
LOL Papii
Rooney Toon Loony.
Put a diaper on him and he is baby Hughy! The gangster baby from Loony Toon cartoons!
Fellini is a beast for anyone.
MG hope your having fun on your travels.
19
Now let’s hope Chelsea can thrash city. That would complete the circle of the top four teams of last year thrashing each other
Agree with u STR.
Off topic:
John O’Shea is captaining Sunderland now! Lol
Agree with the chicharito offside. Not so much with Evans. He’s not united quality. He’s a disaster waiting to happen. He mad a mistake after 5 seconds. He’s a liability. Decision making is poor. Evra was more solid than last week.
3 points and a clean sheet? Not much to moan about.
This win was similar to our last win at Goodison. We toiled that day, but got the win. Viva little pea!!
Fuck me that was a quick reaction!
Good point about De Gea, last weekend must have been hard for him to take, and he’s been quietly carrying the burden of us conceding so many shots. He’s already shown he’s got the bottle, and this clean sheet is exactly what he needed. After a slight early wobble he’s been class.
Cleverly back is a big deal, no doubt about it. Captain Vidic too. I know it seems we’re always complaining about injuries but we’ve had loads this season already! (Rio, Vidic, Cleverly, Welbeck, Smalling, etc). But its still early doors, and the team is slowly easing our way into the season. We’ve had harder games than anyone, and we’ve picked up some big points. Our best start to a campaign can’t be that bad can it? This upcoming CL game is huge, but going into it after this big win is the perfect preparation. Very happy with that.
Oh, and a special shout out to Terry… you daft dodgy diving cunt! STAY ON YOUR FEET!
Young is out for a couple of weeks according to SAF. So not 6 as it was rumored.
In wish he had any sort of update on Carrick.
After that horrible defeat to Shity, I was ill for week and half, seriously.but after that short post traumatic attack I was confident we will be right back on the track, and I guess we respond the best way…we defended very well and we played like a strong unit..I heard Fergie’s post match interview and Cleverly injury was not serious, although Smalling and Young both will be out fro four weeks and 2 weeks respectively…..now we must have a strong run….. come on you Reds
I can’t agree that Evans is poor. Just can’t. You watch any premier league side they’ll have defenders that make mistakes. Vidic makes mistakes. Rio makes mistakes. Smalling makes mistakes. Jones makes mistakes. When Evans makes a mistake it’s all anybody sees about his performance though, which is unfair, not to mention it’s a bit daft. This is a squad game, we can’t afford to lose a player as good as Evans and not replace him. And we can’t replace him for less than, what, ten million quid, plus wages? I see no reason to fork out that sort of money for a player who is already good.
You want to see what a really bad defender looks like, look at White Cunt Terry or Sideshow Bob at Chelsea, or any number of the clowns at the back for Arsenal. Or Tottenham. Or Liverpool. I mean yeah, gun to my head, I wouldn’t mind Pique or Kompany instead of Evans, but he’s still very good.
People need some perspective. To really understand how good United are, you need to watch other teams play. Evans would walk into any squad in this league.
The reality check of last week couldn’t have come at a better time. Gives us time to reevaluate and adapt and get back in the swing of things before the really hairy areas of the Xmas period of games.
Danny Mills said something about Jonny Evans always having a mistake in him. If he can fix that he’ll be alright. Midfield without Cleverley though was frightful. We went from being sporadically enterprising going forward to just flat out holding the fort after Cleverley came off. Worrying.
BTW – I bet King Eric had the right hump after last weekend Lol – this one’s been much better.
All the best mate!
We restricted Everton to half chances. Protected DDG in the process. As i said, not much to gripe about. 19!
Here’s a question for Cleverly fans though, what is it that he actually does that makes us so much better when he is on? Can somebody explain it?
I mean I see him on the pitch and we’re much better, then he’s gone and we look wonky. But I what is the mysterious quality he brings to our midfield? I mean what is it he can do that Fletcher, Ando and Carrick have not succeeded in providing?
He’s definitely got something about his play, I just can’t put my finger on it.
@Clev
You’re a liability on this blog. Evans has had his moments but the lad is 23, in the last 12 months has improved his game his several areas, and probably needs another 12 months alongside someone like Vidic. Don’t think for a second that Fergie wouldn’t sack him off to Sunderland if HE thought Evans wasn’t good enough. Point is, for now at least, he is.
The same goes for Paddy E. If he, or any other player wasn’t good enough they’d be gone. Fergie has an impeccable habit of pre-empting the form of players dropping with age – remember the way he dispatched Nicky Butt? Or Paul Ince? He’s rarely wrong in this area, RARELY.
I understand what a horrible result it was last week, but I think you need to have a bit more faith, rather than automatically bitching about which ever player isn’t giving us god-like genius this week.
Wasn’t able to watch the match but delighted to wake up and find 3 points on the board.
I am wondering if Hernandez’s offside “problems” are partly the result of opposition teams having had a little time to work him out — analyse what he does, his positioning and timing, and plan against it. If that’s the case, it will be interesting to see how he learns and adapts to counter this. Barcelona used offside as an effective weapon against him in the CL, as I recall, at least early on.
Yeah willie, but Evans is shite.
Not sure if it was posted but the Carling Cup draw is out. We’ve got Crystal Palace at our place:
Manchester United v Crystal Palace
Arsenal v Manchester City
Chelsea v Liverpool
Cardiff v Blackburn
This is a morale booster and also a mental victory for our defence. The importance of Nemanja Vidic can not be stressed enough. I like him, i really do but Jonny Evans is not a starter for United. Maybe he will be in the future but Like peter drury said last week there is always at least ONE mistake in him. today was no different. Smalling will get the start ahead of him when he comes back. Rio knows that he has to fight his way back into the team. No more automatic entries for anyone.
Cleverley was excellent. Only issue I might have is that he has to keep the ball closer to himself rather than over running at times but the boy is young and he will definitely learn with time. Good defensive performance 3 points. space between us and Chelsea. good day.
So shocked and numbed was I after last weeks result I couldn’t put pen to paper(I mean,fingers to keyboard). Great result today ,if not the best performance. That shite Davies should be banned from football for depriving us of Cleverly for so long. Hope his injury is not serious.
Stateside, yes a hard fought 3 points. Great point about adjusting to adjustments. Pivotal in personal growth as well as team.
@Doghouse
His positional play is excellent, he seems to find gaps in front of, and behind, the opposition midfield with ease. When he receives the ball he’s always ready to move it forwards to a player in an attacking position. You really get the sense when the ball is on it’s way to him he already knows where it’s got to go, and puts it there with minimum fuss. Before he’s even released it, he’s making himself availble to receive again. With Cleverley in the side, the speed of our attack increases, without having to over-commit players going forward.
If you want some better examples of what I mean, study the later pre-season games in the US, and see precisely the reason why we didn’t go for Schneider in the end.
Lol, just saw Walcott’s goal where he slipped, got up and scored. Either he’s too fast or the Chelsea defenders are slower than Gareth Barry.
Doghouse … most likely it’s the “soft skills” of time/space management and vision, moving into the right places at the right times, anticipating where and when to run or pass, choosing exactly the right options at any moment, and putting precisely the right weight and angle on the ball. Those are rare gifts. They’re also very “European” in nature.
Then again, I could be talking through my arse!
Great to see the quick reactions back!
@Doghouse, Baliji had a great link on TC and just perfect to answer your question,
The quickest Quick reactions of the season. Hats off to you Scott. Nice ground out 1-0 win at a difficult ground. Vidic was awesome. As for Evans, he’s in Darron Gibson and Kieran Richardson territory with many of the fans. I didn’t have an issue with him starting today. Fletcher looked a lot better as well. Was always going to be nervy second half, good home game midweek and then Sunderland I believe.
Have a nice cup tie vs Palace to look forward to as well whilst the chelski and the vermin, cit-eh and l’arse kick 7 bells out of each other.
Costas – Apart from that!
RedNev hit the nail on the head. It’s results like this, that win you titles. Especially, squeaky bum time! 
Didn’t see the game. Hearing reports that Fletcher was utter gash.
What are people’s thoughts on this?
What formation did we play? Was Rooney in central midfield again?
@ doghouse
What I observe from Cleverley’s play that the others in midfield don’t do or do differently is that Clev’s is primarily a short “pass and mover” in his style of play. He’s never going to ping them around like Scholes or keep it as compact at the back like carrick or have a longer range of vision or whatever it is Anderson does.
The difference is Tom seems to prefer pushing about 2/3rds up the pitch, which is about where David Silva thrives, that seems to be where Tom likes to play. Also he gives and goes with the ball pretty quickly. Just his style of play encourages the ones around him to short and sharp play, which is what I think will get us past the opponent back line if our standard 442 winger press and cross approach doesn’t work.
That said, he did lose the ball a few times tonight but conversely the team lost their attacking impetus when he came off with the hammy.
Fibes and Stateside well said, on top of that it plays to the strength of Anderson’s game and Rooney’s 1-2 touch pass floating triangles of advantage. Welbeck does well with it also and SAF got him on the park as well today.
@Fred
Yeah, Rooney played in midfield along with Fletcher and Cleverley with Park on the right and Welbeck on the left. He did ok I thought. As did Fletcher I thought. For whatever reason, Rooney and Fletch lost control of the midfield after Tom went off.
Fear not, Cleverley is fine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnOYosud6Uc&
Thanks for the report, Costas. Much appreciated.
@Fibes … good response to Doghouse. I’m not sure how fast TC is across the ground but he doesn’t strike me as a speed demon, in the sense that Nani and some of the others are speed demons. When he’s at the center of it, our football speeds up … why? Because of his vision, positioning and the clever way he uses the ball. Because he has what Sir Alex calls “football speed”, which is not at all the same thing as running speed. I’d actually like to see Berbatov play in the hole between Cleverley and Hernandez or Welbeck, with Nani wide but roaming across the pitch. That could be interesting.
“Fox in the box at Crystal Palace. Fox run on pitch, shimmied past 3 Reading players, then went back to stand. Sign him up!”
Football – bloody hell.
Cleverley’s on speed? Who did he get it off, Cedars?
Sorry, Keith Richards. 
0-0 at the sold out Etihad stadium at half time.
There’s one lie in that last sentence.
0-0 go Wolves!
Hahaha Costas!
Now even Zibbie is mispronouncing my name.
Really solid performance overall. As I said during half time, and Scott has pointed out here, Vidic’s presence should not be underestimated. Since VDS left, he has become the leader of the defense. He is the who is constantly organizing the young lads like Jones, Smalling, and Evans as to where to play, who to cover during corners, and so on. It was again evident in this game where he was MOM. Rio has got the same qualities, but I think he has lost a lot of confidence in himself due to injuries, age, and not playing regularly. I don’t think he can do the same job that Vidic seems to be doing ATM.
As for Cleverley, it was pretty evident what he brings to the table. I think in the current mid-field, he has the quickest reaction time among all our MFs. The time he takes to get the ball at his feet and to release it (usually to a forward player) is almost non-existent. Unlike Carrick, Fletcher, and Anderson who all take/need their own cool time on the ball, Cleverley always seems to know who is available next to him and the pass he needs to play to get there. Once he has done that, he always takes up the next free position to receive the ball. Rinse and Repeat. Once he got injured, the lack of this was plain for everyone to see. Never mind us sitting too back in the 2nd half, sans Cleverley we lack the tempo to get at teams.
@Fred
No problem. Thanks the link too. You can easily identiy the typical Ingerlund reporter. He asks about Smalling, Young and Cleverley’s chances for the Otelul game and all the while, he’s really trying to find out if they’ll be ready for England. Carrick’s been missing for 2 weeks and no one’s bothered asking, lol.
Just seen the gaffers post match interview – Cleverly went off because his ankle was tight and Welbeck with a tight hamstring but nothing serious. He seemed satisfied with the result and the performance and second half said we were making sure we wouldn’t lose the game.
IMO In all honesty Everton didn’t create much that was clear cut. Results like these win you titles lets hope thats the case come May.
*identify*
http://www.soccerclips.net/videos/chelsea-3-4-arsenal-van-persie
Stay on your feet advert right there.
Well, say what you like about last week, this week, or any fucking week … but we have 23 points after 10 games. That puts us on track for 85-90 points. If someone had told me at the start of the season, that we’d have 23 after 10 including Spurs, The Arse, The Dippers, Shitty and Everton, I’d have said “That would be a job very well done.” So that’s what I say now!
There’s another 45 minutes to go at wastelands lads. My feeling is, if one goes in, the wolves will collapse like a deck of cards.
LOL Costas. That’s unfair, I believe the reporter is a commentator who was the voice of United games on MUTV for many years (I’ve forgotten his name.)
Good point about Carrick. Hopefully he’ll be back against Otelulz and put in a midfield masterclass that Fergie can’t ignore!
Aye Willie – but what if it goes in at the other end first?
@Stateside
When you look at the Barca-type stuff we were doing in pre-season especially and in the first few games also, with TC at the helm of it, our attacking play was immense, we found ourselves just breezing past sides on occasion. And definitely, it suits Rooney, who I see as more of a ‘vision’ player these days than the chaser of lost causes of old. TC buys a deeper-lying Rooney more time to pick out a killer ball. Likewise, Three Lungs feeds off the one-twos – he’ll get more goals with TC in the side than without, definitely. Ashley Young too seems to find the ball in more dangerous areas, likewise Welbeck.
Put simply, Tom Cleverley’s job is to make all of our other players look amazing
And Berbatov – i’m really suprised he hasn’t played more, but he absolutely must, especially with Tom in the side. All this bollocks about him ‘slowing our game down’ – not true, it’s not the same as holding the ball up, which is what he does brilliantly. Against Aldershot, he appeared to play the role I personally see Rooney playing, long term – following the ball from back to front, linking the play, bringing everyone into the game, and i’d like him to do that deeper thing more, we can leave the finishing to our speed merchants (Chicho/Welbs)
We got the result we needed. Job done!
Getting anxious re our injuries – every match we seem to lose a player to injury – what’s that all about?!
Is the pre season too much, are our players more fragile that others, not warming up properly, other teams are dirty?
Balaji sorry to miss spell your name.
OCTOBER 28, 2011 AT 22:37
Balaji Sivaraman says:
http://www.rambleunited.com/2011/10/the-phenomenal-rise-of-thomas-cleverley/
Absolutely brilliant article on the phenomenal rise of Tom Cleverley. Obviously I agree with it in entirety.
The return of Tom to the starting lineup tomorrow at Everton cannot come soon enough for me.
Fred – You drunk?
@Willie, I tend to think that Fred is always high.
TTS_bluemoon on Twitter: “Boos at half time at the Etihad directed at Stuart Atwell – 10 fouls to 1 against City, extremely harsh on the home side.”
Directed at the ref – a likely story! Spoilt, plastic, fairweather bastards.
I think there is some truth to the idea that players are getting the measure of Chicharito. If they can prepare to play against him then he can get into bother. It’s why I like him as a super-sub.
@Balaji Hello mate, my dyslexic nature once I got your name in my head wrong, so hard to reprogram mate.
I found that link any way.
Fibes … yes, exactly. I guess what amazes me most about TC is how he’s really come alive, so brilliantly and so quickly once he “came home” from loan. I didn’t see a lot of him at Wigan last year, because he didn’t play against us of course and they’re generally not a team I watch just for the hell of it. But from what some on here have said, his performances were impressive and encouraging without being brilliant, and there wasn’t much to suggest anything like what we’ve seen. I havr to assume it’s the result of being surrounded by a better class of player now.
Anyway, off for breakfast. Will catch up with the gossip later.
@Zibbie, LOL! I was just having a bit of fun mate. I really find it funny to see how innovatively people mis-spell my name.
The mighty Aldershot beating Crewe 2 1. Who rubbished our victory over them again?
Doghouse – I disagree, he got the only goal of the game today – what more can people ask? His frequent offsides are nothing new, he was the same last season.
And city score.
Doghouse @ 14:59: “Especially seeing White Cunt Terry fall on his face for Van Persie’s second.”
It seemed to me that TinyTears’ “slip” – or fall on his face – occurred when he realized that he had fucked up by allowing RVP to get ahead of him. Did my eyes deceive me or wasn’t this an attempt at a “professional foul” ?
Positional awareness of your teammates even when they are out of your visual view. TC has it in spades, knows his options and like pool or chess sees multiple moves ahead. These are Rooney’s strength’s. His vision of the game.
Stateside and I had a talk on night about this. Vision is only a small part of sight. Minds eye, mental picture of things.
Paul Parker @ 15:17: “Cleverly back is a big deal, no doubt about it. ”
I can’t – and won’t – argue with that but, for me, the key midfield-attacking player (again) was ThreeLungPark. This guy gets absolutely no credit whatsoever but he’s at the centre of the action whenever UTD play wall-passes or give-and-go. That said, it would be very interesting to see the two of them – YoungTom and ThreeLungPark played together in midfield (perhaps ahead of a sweeper like Michael Carrick)
I’m more pissed with Rio than Evans too. Evans was piss poor last week, but he’s got a fraction of Rio’s talent and experience. Rio was total shote last week.
They might have been “right at the ‘keeper” but we still gave up 18 shots, 8 on goal. By contrast, we only got 4 efforts on net ourselves. This back line needs to be tighter and, quite simply, needs to block more shots. Has any of those 8 not been straight at the keeper, they very easily could have nestled in the goal after arrowing through a maze of legs. It’s just not good enough.
In the end, the result’s the thing. Three points and a clean sheet are exactly what we would have hoped for before the match, regardless of what happened last week.
SB
Yeah, the opposition have worked out Hernandez so much so, he scored the only goal.
I think you’ll find more experienced strikers getting caught offside, and not just our little pea. Today proved a point for me. Get the ball in the box and this lad will score. We’ve got a instinctive finisher on our hands. The last 2 away games have seen United gain 4 points, because the lad was in the right place, at the right time. Lets not nitpick, eh?
StateSideAussie @ 15:29: “I am wondering if Hernandez’s offside “problems” are partly the result of opposition teams having had a little time to work him out — analyse what he does, his positioning and timing, and plan against it.”
The way Chicharito plays, he’s always going to provoke the opposition into trying to catch him off-sides. But you’ve also got to “point a finger” at UTD’s forward-passers who are often too slow to figure out his movement; there was an excellent example of this just moments before he was subbed (why ?). TheWayneBoy, who was in a midfield role today, was just too slow and when he released the ball Chicharito had crossed the mid-line; if Rooney had been a bit more attentive then Chicharito would have been free with half the pitch ahead of him.
My reckoning is that by trying to play Chicharito off-sides, the opposition are playing-with-fire. Sure, they’ll catch him out some of the time but when they don’t he’s going to have a free run on goal, just like he did last April/May to slay the RentBoyz at OT.
I know that you’ll think I’m one-eyed, but I really couldn’t see the point of subbing Chicharito and bringing on Dimmy, whose only significant contribution was a defensive header. In the last fifteen/twenty minutes, TheLads were pinned back and there were a couple of opportunities to hit Everton on the break. My reckoning is that this is the situation that is best-suited to Chicharito. Antonio Valencia basically wasted one opportunity and I seem to remember a couple of others that just sputtered out.
Finally, what’s with this sleeping in – and missing the match ? C’mon, man up and don’t shirk your duty as a rabid fan.
Dzeko FFS – all of his goals are shit. What a chancer.
StateSideAussie @ 15:47: ” I’d actually like to see Berbatov play in the hole between Cleverley and Hernandez or Welbeck, with Nani wide but roaming across the pitch. That could be interesting.”
And TheWayneBoy in midfield in some version of a 4-1-4-1 ? Possibly – something has to be done to unlock Dimmy’s silky skills. Basically the guy has been largely “wasted” in most of his time with TheLads. AND THAT”S JUST A PITY because I was hoping when he was signed that he’d be TheNewCantona rather than the TheNewVeron.
Sadly, SAF just hasn’t been able to find a way to get the best out of him, with the exception of the first months of last season when he was the main-man up-front and tasked with bringing TheWayneBoy back to match-sharpness. No question, Dimmy was then playing with confidence, in a system that complemented his silky skills and the results followed on.
Come on you Wolves.
2-1 Kompany off Game on!!!!!
It’s on like donkey schlong.
Seriously though, we had a chance to take three points off City last week, and we blew it spectacularly. We have no right to hope other teams can do it for us now.
3-1, there you go.
Motherfuckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Denton … I only “slept in” because the match wasn’t available on TV here. And it was on at 4am my time, which is a bit early to be rooting around the internet to see if there’s a stream that actually works and doesn’t crap out just when things get interesting. But with this dispute between DirecTV and Fox, I am going to lose all my coverage (apart from Champions League and whatever ESPN show) as of Tuesday.
Slow down guys, I wasn’t nitpicking Hernandez or criticising him in any way. I am simply pointing out that it’s inevitable that other teams will get better at countering any hot new player, once they have time to gather their data and analyse it. That doesn’t mean he’s at fault!
Stateside – Opinions are like backsides. We’re not always gonna agree lol.
People seem to give Evans a lot of stick, along with Fletcher (atleast some of the guys at the pub).
Fletcher, I will not go on about. He has been sick for 2 years almost, and he needs some time to get back to his full game. No doubt he is a good box to box player when he is fit, works his socks off!
Evans on the other hand, I feel someone has to stand up for! First, he’s a local lad. Big plus to have with the new rules. And, as someone else pointed out, it seems to be blown up when he makes mistakes! (Just as with De Gea, if he had the game Cech had today vs. Arsenal, he’d be hanged by the press)
And it’s not like we should keep him just because he is local. Look at the way he reads the game! Immense quality to have, especialy with the way we (usualy) defend. And the way he bitches around with Drogba, money can’t buy you that. Add to the equation that he is (although one of our older defenders!) YOUNG, and will learn. Fergie clealy showed that he’s going to put faith in Evans (along with other local youngsters) when he gave him the 6.jersey, and gave him this much playtime. He’s showed his qualitys vs Ibra, Drogba, Adriano and other big guys. I have faith in him, and i will continue to do that as long as he wears our jersey. As for you who don’t, at least get behind him!
Well done United. Not an easy fixture for any team. Most important besides the points is the character and belief shown within the team, not many teams bounce back that quickly.
T akes a team with a champions history to do that , goes for Arsenal too – congratulations Gunners-. I wonder if shitty possess that ?. Terry slipped up again!!!!! > Did he cry kissing his badge again/
@ catotraa: I had no clue Belfast was that close to Manchester. I need new maps.
Yes, the closer you get to your own goal, the more glaring a mistake looks. But that’s the same rule for all defenders and Evans has been sub-standard for the second consecutive season.
Honestly, it’s not even the sub-standard play that bothered me so much vs. City as it was the laziness in his response to Balotelli getting in behind him. Instead of trying to get back, sliding a tackle in and maybe stripping the ball off the forward, he went for the lazy pull-down. That’s a quitter’s response and quitter’s behaviour is not acceptable at Old Trafford. Simple as.
SB
Bishopville Red … lol about Belfast, but there’s local and then there’s local. I believe that for football purposes — in regards to the rules about “local” players — Evans does satisfy that condition because of how long he’s been at the club. I think it’s based on how many years you are there before the age of 21. Something like that, anyway.
It’s funny how different people interpret the same events in completely different ways. I didn’t see Evans’s respons to Balotelli as that of a quitter. Balotelli was through and right on the edge of the box. (Perhaps Evans was at fault for allowing him to get through, but it’s happened to better defenders than him. Not every instance of a striker getting through is down to the fault of a defender.) But once he was through, Evans didn’t have a whole lot of time and space to play with — another step, and Balotelli would have been in the box. I don’t think Evans had time to chase after him, to be honest. My problem with what he did was that it reeked of panic. What he should have done is left Balotelli 1-on-1 with DDG. Sometimes you just have to trust your keeper, and going another goal down at that point would have been better than losing a man.
Let’s not forget too that a very incident occurred against the dippers only a year or so ago. The only significant differences then were that (a) it was Torres, not Balotelli, (b) the defender was Vidic, not Evans, (c) our goalie was the vastly experienced VDS, not the new lad DDG, and (d) the incident occurred up near the half-way line. Vidic was also sent off, yet has not copped anywhere near the criticism that Evans has suffered. And let’s face it, if either of the two incidents smacked of a defeatist attitude, it was one against the dippers. Because unlike Evans, Vida had plenty of time and space to attempt to chase Torres down. To be consistent about it, we need to blame both, or blame neither, is what I’m saying.
@StatesideAussie: Panic is a good way to put it. He went directly to the obvious foul vs trying to recover the situation (individually or as a team). I agree that Evans has lower threshold of tolerance among United fans, but to go for the obvious foul immediately sits poorly with me.
Without context, both sound similar – Vidic’s perhaps worse. But considering Who Vidic is, and what he’s done in the past (not to mention since), and considering Torres who flops like a landed trout if anyone sneezes near him, Vidic’s transgression went down as a great player making a bad play vs a wayward player making a typically wayward play. Vida will have to make a habit of blundering before he’s called to task for a habit of blundering. And even though he’s still highly regarded, there are those who are quick to float the “Vida can’t defend Torres” line because of some recent matches between the two. History clearly counts!
Bishopville Red … that’s fair enough. It sat poorly with me too. More importantly, it sat poorly with the gaffer as well.
Cleverley made all the difference despite going off injured and is so important, just worried he’s a glass player as he seems to get injured easily.
Expected us to be 8 points behind City so this was uplifting and now we need to kick on and get some momentum in the coming weeks and months.
Our medical staff must toughen up our lads. It is not acceptable to always have 4-5 players in the phsysio-room. Carrick, Smalling, Young, TC, Gibson, Macheda and I guess the twins right now. Even worse before.
It´s hard to get any continuity in the team whit all those missing, Not that our holy father is famous for continuity in the last seasons anyways. But at least the central line should be kept as intact as possible at all times.
Vidic was different class, we NEED him fit and firing this season. On a related note….Wednesday will show us how much Fergie is “punishing Rio”. Vidic is suspended, so you’d expect him to come back in. But Fergie could easily shift Jones into the centre and bring Fabio in at RB….
The other difference maker is Cleverley…the speed of our passing and movement was excellent for the first 40 minutes and he played a big part in that, has anyone got a link to Fergie saying his injury isn’t too bad?
We actively dropped VERY deep for the last half an hour….at times their midfielders were picking it up and had 20 yards of open space to run into. I’m guessing this was a reaction to last week in particular, natural instinct is to protect your goal after a drubbing like that.
One big change this season has been how proactive we’ve been in winning the ball back, we’ve been pressing really high up. Today was almost like last season in terms of us being happy to soak it up. I don’t mind that, coz we’ve been shoddy at the back of late…but hopefully once we get a bit of confidence back, we’ll go back to the high pressing game (apart from in European away games, where it makes sense to be a bit more cautious). Whether this suits Vidic though is a different matter!
I think we are forgetting that Vidic is an experienced veteran and Evans is still a young pup. No disrespect to anyone here who is that bit younger but once you get to your mid to late 20s you tend to look at players who are younger than you and be amazed by what they are achieving.
Even players who we regard as complete veterans in football terms at the age of 28-30 are still fairly young people in the grand scheme of things.
I think Evans is a very fine defender and inevitably it is difficult for a play to be the best of the best simply because they are at united. As we aren’t really in a position to spend 30-50m feplacing very good players with slightly better ‘excellent’ players then we’ll have to be happy with what we have.
His always offside cause of a slow Midfield that doesn’t reach to his movement. I seen him making perfect runs only to pass it to the side or been passed to late. Put him in Barca or Real Madrid this boy would be getting hat trick often.
DID ANYBODY SEE HIS CROSS TO WELBECK? OMG………
Hi guys. How is the good ship Delusional?
StateSideAussie @ 16:55: ” But with this dispute between DirecTV and Fox, I am going to lose all my coverage (apart from Champions League and whatever ESPN show) as of Tuesday.”
Man, I feel your pain. TIme to get a better satellite dish ?
StateSideAussie @ 17:47: “My problem with what he did was that it reeked of panic. What he should have done is left Balotelli 1-on-1 with DDG. Sometimes you just have to trust your keeper, and going another goal down at that point would have been better than losing a man.”
I disagree with your argument about Jonny Evans’ red card, because:
First, in my opinion, he actually did the right thing – going down nil-2 would have been worse than being nil-1 and down to ten men because Mancini would have shut-up-shop with a 2 goal lead.
Second, the red-card meant that UTD didn’t concede a goal and Evans didn’t concede a scoring chance so he “protected” the keeper (and the goal).
“Panic” is one way of explaining his response. From watching him today, I think his problem is that he’s thinking about what he’s going to do rather than just doing it. To me, this is a sign that he has lost his confidence and is just a bundle-of-nerves.
AND, by the way, why was Evans allowed to play today after getting a straight red card last week-end ? I thought he was liable to a three-game suspension.
Denton Davey you are GOLD!
No way is 0-1 down with only 10 men against City a better position than 0-2 with 11 men. No way.
As Scott said at the time, 0-2 down with 45 minutes to go is the exact scenario we found ourselves in at the Community Shield – and we won that 3-2.
With 10 men, we lost 1-6. Work that one out.
Hence why you are gold (gold!) wavey ravey davey. How on earth could it be worse than the scenario that ended up 6-1?!?!?!?
@Denton – He served his 1 game suspension against Aldershot. No additional 2 game as it wasn’t for violent conduct only last man back/denying a clear goal scoring opportunity.
denton davey says:
Paul Parker @ 15:17: “Cleverly back is a big deal, no doubt about it. ”
I can’t – and won’t – argue with that but, for me, the key midfield-attacking player (again) was ThreeLungPark. This guy gets absolutely no credit whatsoever but he’s at the centre of the action whenever UTD play wall-passes or give-and-go.
__
Didn’t see the game live, watching it now with Sara Jane Mee Lol. But MOTD showed Park in a good light. Agreed on him partnering Cleverly as an option, he does have brilliant feet and vision in addition to good stamina. Gotta say, Welbeck is looking better and better each game as well. His control of the ball is ridiculous. The way he broke into space to find Park for our first shot was class, and the way he chest the ball down when his shot was saved was a touch of something special. Aguero does it and he’s “justifying his price tag”. Wait till Danny’s a proper seasoned striker. I don’t think gets credit from the ABU media for his current ability, but pretty soon they’ll have no choice with the Euro’s coming up, he’s that good imo.
That boy Vidic is a Gangsta!
@Denton, gotta agree with the others about the red. Even if we’re battered 3-0 by half time, I’d still expect us to rally because its only half time. But when you’re a man down for a whole half, you’re fucked basically. I wasn’t worried in the slightest going 2-0 down last time with City, because we always look like scoring. The 6-1 was only possible with a red card mate. Chelsea today have no excuses, and Arsenal didn’t have any excuses for the first 6 goals, but we have to give ourselves credit and not listen to the OTT punditry. One too many talking heads took pleasure in the defeat, and its pathetic really, because anybody bothered enough to look up that result in 50 years will discover we played half the match with ten men against very good opposition, and we still put hearts in mouths when we scored at 3-1.
The CL final is the only embarrassment I care to remember, and that was to the best Club in the world at the time. But the 6-1 doesn’t compare to that imo, that was just a fucked up day at the office. Evans was better off letting Balotelli take a shot, at least we had a chance to save it, or to come back from 2 down. Once he saw red so early on the tie was practically over. I hope he learns from it.
Exactly, PP. Not to mention that with Balotelli, anything’s possible. Remember in pre-season when he was through on goal and he suddenly span around and backheeled the ball wide?
There’s no way you can justify Evans’s actions by saying he saved us a goal. As I said to someone last Sunday, he saved us one goal at the cost of five more.
Then again, I suppose you could say that if Sir Alex had reorganized the team better after we went down to 10 men, we could have made it a lot more difficult for City. How often do you see a team become more difficult to break down after they go down to 10 men?
However, I can’t remember many examples of us defying the odds to win a game with only 10 men on the field – the smash and grab at Anfield in 06/07 the only one that comes to mind.
We’ve come down from two goals down a number of times though. So once again I’ll say that 0-2 down with 11 men is a much more retrievable situation for our team than 0-1 down with only 10 men. Especially against Mancini’s City.
One more thing: Evans’s foul could have easily resulted in a penalty kick, or they could easily have scored from the free-kick they got on the edge of the area. So quite frankly, he could have cost us a red card AND a goal with that little moment of madness.
Denton … “going down nil-2 would have been worse than being nil-1 and down to ten men because Mancini would have shut-up-shop with a 2 goal lead.” Am I reading that right? City taking a 2-goal lead and then shutting up shop would have been worse than us going down to 10 men and City winning by 5? On what planet is 0-2 worse than 1-6?
Oh, I know you’ll say that Evans couldn’t have known it would end like that. And you’re right. But Evans knew he would get sent off, and he knew it meant making his teammates play a man down for half the match when they were already behind. He knew — must have known — that being down to 10 for that length of time meant either leaving us short at the back with a gaping hole where he should be (thus increasing the risk of them scoring again), or it meant reshuffling things to fill that hole (thus decreasing the chance that we would be able to score ourselves). If we had had a lead or even been level, or if it had happened very late in the match, that would be one thing. I genuinely like Evans, and he certainly isn’t the first to have made this particular mistake. That doesn’t change the fact that he did fuck up.
@Fred – yeah, Balotelli is known to be off with the fairies. Evans just had a rush of blood to the head, but if he thought about it, De Gea had half a chance to keep it out. Next time he’s in that position, lets hope Evans does his best to put the striker off and nothing more. Vidic and Rio make those same decisions all the time. Still, Evans was faultless for most of the match today. More experience under the belt.
@Fred – re: Alex, I know he said it was cray football afterwards, but look at his substitutions on the day. Personally I think Alex said fuck it. Fair enough he claimed our experienced heads should’ve known better, but he did keep us set up to attack, and I really didn’t mind that. I’d much prefer a 6-1 to 4-0 against CIty, even though the goal difference is worse. Bottom line, if we sat back with 10 men they would’ve battered us eventually. They ain’t that shit, so once the 3 points were gone we may as well gone out swinging imo,
Laters RoM
Am really pissed by the blind loyalty exhibited by some fans, damn! They’d still be singing silvestre’s praises if he was still around. My point is this is the second season running with poor performances from Evans, sometimes it pays to be not so hopefull that you’ll turn a corner and see the light at the end of the tunnel, what if all u get is a wall at the end of the tunnel? Remember fergie almost costing us the league trying to be hoefull about Ben foster. With Evans in the side the opposition are already guaranteed a goal, they only need to turn up in the box to claim it.I say Evans is a lost cause, Fergie cut him out before he causes a disaster. Oh, and while at it you could give a similar thought to Gibson too.
Jon Phillips @ 22:56: “Denton Davey you are GOLD!”
Either you’re being ironic or else you are disproving the old saying that “no man is a prophet in his own land”. Either way, thanks.
Fred @ 22:10: “No way is 0-1 down with only 10 men against City a better position than 0-2 with 11 men. No way. As Scott said at the time, 0-2 down with 45 minutes to go is the exact scenario we found ourselves in at the Community Shield – and we won that 3-2. With 10 men, we lost 1-6. Work that one out.”
OK. Bring it on.
The Community Shield was an exhibition match played at a neutral venue and the only thing at stake was bragging rights.
Last Sunday was an EPL match – an away match for ManShitty – and, like I said, Mancini would have had his players “turtle” to protect their two-goal lead AND take all three points from an away match. A derby match – and let’s not forget that ManShitty have lost at least three of the most recent derbies to last-minute goals (LittleMikey three years ago [ "4-3,mate !"], Scholes, two seasons ago and TheWayneBoy last year). With a two-goal lead in a derby match, an away match at OT, and with “six” EPL points at stake, ManShitty would have “played-for-time”, knowing that they could probably keep UTD at arm’s-length and maybe even hit UTD on the counter.
Finally, at nil-one – with ten men – Ashley Young had a great, great opportunity to even the score. Then, SAF would have probably shut-up-shop and played for a respectable draw. I should have mentioned this in my reply to StateSideAussie (@ 21:34).
Paul Parker @ 0:16: “I wasn’t worried in the slightest going 2-0 down last time with City, because we always look like scoring. The 6-1 was only possible with a red card mate. ”
This statement smacks of special pleading. “we always look like scoring” – but TheLads didn’t before the red card and actually could have afterwards (see above). Besides, what led to the embarrassing 1-6 scoreline was not the red card but, rather, a complete defensive breakdown from the 89th minute onwards. THAT display of defeatism by Rio/Evra was truly embarrassing – and that’s what SAF said afterwards.
StateSide Aussie @ 1:01: “Am I reading that right? City taking a 2-goal lead and then shutting up shop would have been worse than us going down to 10 men and City winning by 5? On what planet is 0-2 worse than 1-6?”
There’s no problem with your reading ability. But the nature of your response is myopic, to be charitable. Like I wrote above, eight/nine minutes after the red card – and down to ten men – AshleyYoung could have/should have levelled the scored. Then six minutes later ManShitty scored two quick goals to essentially end the contest. When DarrenFletcherinho got UTD’s first (and only) goal that made the score 1-3; the floodgates only opened in the 90th minute – and THAT was “worse”, THAT was embarrassing.
The notion that Jonny Evans red card INEVITABLY and INEXORABLY LED TO the 1-6 trouncing is the worst form of revisionism. It’s a line of thought that mixes up sufficient and necessary causes. In no way was it “necessary” that TheLads would go on to surrender five more goals when they were one man down. Indeed, considering the chance that Ashley Young missed (actually, a double-miss !) in the 54th minute, it was hardly inevitable (or even inexorable) that TheLads couldn’t have gained something from the match.
From my vantage point, it’s better to be down nil-one with ten men than down nil-two with eleven. Sure, I know that there have been instances (famous ones against Spurs) when TheLads have rallied from a two-goal (or even a three-goal deficit) but if you look at the precise situation then I’d wager that against a very well-organized ManShitty defence the odds of doing that would be very close to zero. Not impossible – but much more difficult than getting one goal and then hanging on for a draw.
In any event, thanks for the critical comments. I enjoy exchanging opinions – in the sure-and-certain-knowledge that mine are “GOLD!”.
ps in response to StateSide Aussie (“he [Jonny Evans] certainly isn’t the first to have made this particular mistake. That doesn’t change the fact that he did fuck up.”) OK. But he was not alone in fucking up – whoever (Rio ?) marked Aguero didn’t close him down and so he was able to make a pin-point pass that cut Evans out of the play by allowing Balotelli to run a circle around him. If we’re going to apportion blame then not all of it can be landed on top of Evans – the other guy (Rio ?) didn’t exactly assist Evans in playing team-defence. And, where was the left back ? Gone walkabout again ? or playing so far away from Evans that he was alone on an island ?
@Denton – clearly we agree to disagree on this one Pal, but your wrong to assume that our chances of beating this City side at 2-0 down are “very close to zero”. Come on mate thats bollocks, we’ve already done that within the last few months ffs! We can come back against anyone with 11 men on the pitch, because thats ingrained in the Club AND thats who we are. Very close to zero my arse, thats why everybody expected a comeback even at 3-1 down with 10 men and 10 minutes. And thats nothing to do with rose tinted anything, its everything to do with the Club’s tangible history. Its really not rocket science to know that, with 11 men on the pitch, Manchester United always stand a chance against anybody, so we can disagree on that one all day long. We were much better off going 2-0 down and keeping Evans imo. It was only half time after all.
As for us shipping those goals after the red card – once we lost a man with a whole half to play, the worst thing we could’ve done was sit back and defend. I don’t know what sports you can do that in, but against quality opposition you can’t do that in football for 45 minutes. Your lucky to hold on for the last 10 minutes of a match once you see red. Even with 11 men on the pitch, if you curb your attacks and keep all your players behind the ball, you’ll gradually be worn down by top teams if you gift them possession, and you’ll eventually concede goals.
At 1-0 down with 10 men we couldn’t defend against City for 45 mins without conceding again. Thats just being honest mate, and if it was any other derby, less biased punditry would admit that a sending off just after half time will decide 9 out of 10 matches. Defending deep and gifting a team like City possession would be suicide with 11 men, let alone 10. Imo our only chance to last the half was to give them something to think about, and that was reflected by us bringing on Hernandez and Jones instead of 3 defenders. There was no chance of keeping this lot out for 45 minutes, maybe against a lesser team and with a lot of luck, but not against this seasons leading goal scorers. Expecting us to defend for that long without conceding is a rose tinted opinion, imo.
All im saying is, the card can’t be over looked or down played Pal, because in EPL against quality opposition you are pretty much fucked once you go one man down with a whole half to play. The only people I know trumpeting the 6-1 are City fans, because everybody else knows full well the match was over after a sending off so early in the game. Chelsea conceded 5 with 11 men, and Arsenal conceded 6 with 11 men. We only conceded 1 goal with 11 men, and the only reason a further 5 came was due to the card and the quality of the opposition. Could we have defended better for the last few minutes? After chasing sky blue shadows for 45 minutes with 10 men, I think I can forgive our knackered team for conceding those final three goals, esp considering Dzeko was fresh off the bench and our defenders weren’t. Thats how I see it anyway mate, and its not rose tints. I’d be much more disappointed if we sat back and defended after the card, and lost 3-0 without putting up a fight. Im happier we attacked and scored with 10 men, and lost 6-1. Still gutted with the result, but if we went out without a fight I’d feel worse, so im glad Fletcher scored an absolute belter that shut them up. Some might not agree with the logic but we’ve all got our own outlooks and opinions.
Not read through all the comments but, regarding Rio – need to realize we have a CL game coming up for which Vida is suspended. Having at least one of Rio or Vida is very important for us. I very much doubt that SAF was more angry at Rio than anyone else and more to do with making sure Rio is available for our mid-week game.
Unless we have Cantona in the team. How many times have some of us seen him mastermind absolutely incredible turn-arounds with 1 man down, unless it was him that’s off to catch an early shower? Those years, commentators all like to say that United play better with 10 than 11. And those years instilled that belief into United that yes, even at 10-men, we are capable of doing it.