Date: 17th November 2012 at 11:55pm
Written by:

Lindegaard – Couldn’t do much about the goal but always looked nervous when dealing with any aerial threats. His passing was all over the place, as per usual. 5

Rafael – Pegged back well into his own half and was unable to play his usual dynamic role of bombing up and down the touchline to support the attackers. 5

Smalling – Grew into the game and made several key interceptions. He looked miles better than he did against Villa. A few more games under his belt and he’ll be back to his best. 6

Ferdiand – Not his usual composed self as he was caught napping on more than one occasion. His legs seemed to be even slower than usual. 4

Evra – Not much wrong from him tonight when compared to his teammates. Didn’t look a liability which is something to be happy about since it’s not often you can say that. 5

Valencia – Can someone explain to me what he’s actually good at? He can’t shoot or score, his crossing is extremely inconsistent, he can’t beat a man, he doesn’t win you a match. ‘He tracks back’ I hear you ask? Well fuck-a-doodle-do. United’s #7 my arse. 3

Carrick – Not for the first time this season he has been a complete bystander. His brilliant form of last season looks long gone. 4

Giggs – I love Giggs. I really do. I just don’t know where his best position is though. He’s too old and slow to play in a midfield two, and not quick enough to play out wide. He shouldn’t be starting games in my opinion. Should only be used as a game-changer late on. 4

Young – Unlike Valencia, he very rarely gets hold of the ball. Also unlike Valencia, when he does get hold of it, he does look capable of producing something out of nothing, such is his ability to use both feet. 5

Van Persie – Looked out of it today without Rooney. He needs to be able to influence the game more when dropping deep as his job required he do more than just get us a goal. 4

Hernandez – Worked hard and always created space with clever movement. His effort in tracking back to help the defence was admirable. 5

Subs:

Scholes- You know we were dreadful when even Paul Scholes couldn’t help us. 6

Welbeck – Why would you take a striker off who can’t stop scoring for another who hasn’t scored for United in quite a while? 5

Anderson – Meh. 5

(A lot of people tend to comment on these posts but I’m unable to respond to them via mobile. If you want, feel free to tweet me @Nashat_Hassan so I can answer your questions or reply to you comments. Thanks)

 

19 responses to “Player Ratings: United vs Norwich”

  1. timbo says:

    Yeah Right, Rooney the savior would have made a difference!

    We lost today because of a manager who’s becoming so out of touch that he continues to give Ryan Giggs starts even though the evidence has long been in that he simply doesn’t have the pace anymore to play out wide nor does he have the skills and consistency (and most of all the ability to RETAIN possession!) to play a midfield role. The worst thing that ever happened to United in recent years was the game-winning display Giggs put in against Chelsea a couple of years ago while playing in the midfield. Fergie has banked that one away and set it as his benchmark for Giggs as midfield general. Never mind that it’s proven to be a complete one off ever since!

    Then there is the question of Valencia. The guy is SO one-footed that it makes him a complete joke these days on the wing, as every man and his dog have realized that United, in lieu of any creativity or drive through the middle of the pitch, constantly bomb it out to the Ecuadorian to bring it up the pitch and cross it in. United have become so one-dimensional with their wing play, and especially up the right, that teams know that all they have to do to stifle United is to shut down Valencia, and the fact so much of the ball goes to him make sit extremely easy for defenses to plan for it. United blew the title last season because teams gradually began to realize how Valencia-focused the team had become, and it was no coincidence that his increasingly poor play ran parallel with United’s dip in form during the last month.

    The point about how conservative and out of touch Fergie has become compared to his old self is exemplfied by the stand over Valencia over Fergie, especially when his argument about percentage football and playing smart goes out the window via the inclusion of players such as Giggs, Rooney, and Young who are easily the three greatest wasters of possession in the team, especially the first two.

    That’s why Nani’s ongoing exclusion is so ridiculous. He’s no worse than some of the established players in the team when it comes to coughing up the ball and making errant decisions – it’s standard play with Rooney – yet his pluses are so far and away above those of anyone else in the team that they virtually demand his selection (at any other team but United) for what they bring to the table. He can kill an opponent from long or short range off either foot, is Messi-esque in his ability to make defenders look foolish via his exceptional and rare dribbling skills, can jink his way past defenders through his sideways movement and change of pace, and when all else fails can lay on a killer pass or cross to set up a team mate to score, having drawn in any number of defenders because of the danger his runs present. There is absolutely NO ONE at Old Trafford who presents such a menace coming forward with the ball, who can leave multiple defenders second-guessing his every move, and who can scythe his way through to score from anywhere on the pitch. He should clearly be the number one choice on the right, is asked to compromise by playing on his less favored left side to accommodate the extremely limited Valencia, and has suffered a crisis of confidence because of all the indecision over his playing.

    As for his mistakes? Are you kidding? How many did we see today from established players, how many do we see week in and week out from the stalwarts, yet its all accepted in the name of this ridiculous notion of playing smart and with the percentages – even though there’s no real evidence to support it.

    No one except an aging Scholes is providing any drive or invention through the middle of the park, and he’s too slow these days to really be effective against defenders willing to press him. Today’s play was so pathetic that I switched off after 25 minutes, knowing the team was likely bound for a loss. Norwich were easily the more creative and dangerous going forwards and should have scored at least a couple of times, while United looked utterly bereft of ideas and did what they always do in the opponents half – pass the ball about vaguely in the forlorn hope that someone might actually get some spark of an idea of what to do with it, and when that had run its course take the safe route of passing it to Antonio again – and again – and again – and again – and again, etc. It got so nauseatingly predictable that it actually began to resemble some kind of comedy routine – is this really how utterly lacking in options United really is – highlighted by a couple of occasions when the ball came to United players near goal and in promising positions, who, rather than try and make a clever play for goal or to set up a team mate via an adroit one-two, bombed it out to Valencia for the obligatory cross back to them.

    Going to the top of the table last week was a false dawn, and any United fan who really thinks the team will challenge for honours this years is living in dream land. It’s one thing to be a diehard supporter blindly believing in your team’s supremacy no matter what. But no amount of belief is going to get a Gillingham supporter to the pinnacle of the EPL, and likewise no amount of diehard support is going to get around how seriously flawed United is this year, and how much Fergie is starting to show both his age and deadly belief in his own preeminence and infallibility, sure signs of a man who’s been at the top for too long. United have been abysmal for much of the season, absolutely porous in defense, bereft of ideas going forward, and just too reliant on coming on constantly coming from behind to salvage games. That might make for exciting outcomes, but masks genuine deficiencies. The only real string to our bow this year has been Van Persie, but in all seriousness I think United would have been far better served taking the money they spent on his contract, and that of Kagawa, and laid it down for Hazard, who would have been of far more value to the team given the parlous state of the midfield.

    • chrisaus88 says:

      You make some good points but i can’t remember the last time Nani had a good game, it was probably two years ago. Valencia & Young have had some excellent games during that time. Kagawa will end up being great when he comes back, don”t forget Hazard has been doing nothing lately.

  2. timbo says:

    PS – Sorry for the mistakes. I haven’t slept in 36 hours and I’m a little groggy! I usually proof read everything before I post, but forgot. Mistakes happen when you go back, change a sentence or two, and forget to make appropriate deletions or corrections!

    • gombal mukiyo says:

      Couldn’t agree more with you Timbo. Fergie had lost the plot since at least 3 yrs ago: 1) Should’ve promoted Pogba and played him more in the first team last seaason, rather than recalling Scholes or playing Giggs in central midfield. Now it looks like the Pogba case will haunt us much like Pique. Fergie should face the reality that Scholes or Giggs are no longer world beaters that they used to. Anderson or Cleverley would’ve been a much better choice to be a starter. 2) I always prefer Nani to be our first choice right winger than Valencia simply because Valencia is one-footed and much too predictable. Valencia’s left foot was totally useless, even Kanchelskis (also predominantly right footed) scored a few great goals with his left foot. Totally agree that Nani’s form has been erratic but that was the result of being played on the left. Nani is a brilliant RIGHT WINGER…PERIOD. Don’t waste his talent by playing him on the left. Try play Valencia on the left and guess what would happen. Don’t get me wrong, I never dislike Valencia since on his day, he too can be unstoppable (albeit one dimensional). But I don’t like the unfair treatment and comments toward Nani and I hope we’ll never sell him. Nani and Valencia should take turns to play as right winger…and RIGHT winger ONLY (not as a left winger or as a full back). Playing players out of their favourite position would result in loss of form and confidence.

    • karlo mu says:

      i stoped reading half way through once you started criticizing rooney he`s one of the few who can link play with a great range of passing and was missed yesterday, but your point about giggs is spot on it`s a pity he didn`t retire in the summer and this is coming from one of his biggest fans over the years,maybe ando and cleverley were shit in training all week but i don`t believe this to be true so why were they not given a chance,we played four against five in the middle if your gonna do that you`d want to have some serious legs in the midfield fletch and ando for example not giggs and then expecting scholes to come on and save the day,didn`t work last season won`t work this season…that was our chance to start a run of games with a settled team before the city game hope we get our shit together soon…

      • Neutral99 says:

        Sorry but Rooney isn’t all he is cracked up to be as a midfielder. He is too slow and laborious; despite some cracking passes he evens them out with wasteful passes and play that just don’t cut it for one of the supposed best players in the world.
        I would take a fully functioning Kagawa, the one that was understood and trusted at Dortmund, as my Central Attacking Midfielder over Rooney any day, but I just don’t think he fits into the Man U squad because the rest of them are so one dimensional, apart from Nani and perhaps Van Persie every single player does the exact same predictable thing every game, it’s boring to watch as a neutral and it’s not going to get you winning titles.
        In an ideal world United would have been far better off with a 4-2-3-1 formation that consisted of Pogba as one of two DM’s and Kagawa as the CAM with Rooney up front, yeah Van Persie is great and it’s better for United that he is there than at City but he wasn’t exactly essential with players like Rooney, Berbatov, Hernandez and Welbeck.

  3. like a sir says:

    timbo- that post was spectacular, but I have to partially disagree on one point. A lot of people have been talking about Valencia’s poor performances recently. I think it is a devastating and inexplicable loss of form, more than a sudden realization that he is rubbish, a notion that I’m surprised to see bandied around everywhere. The thing about Valencia is that he actually found out in the last couple of seasons, how to completely destroy almost any opposition’s left defensive position (apart from barca), by running hard at them, with directness and force. At his best, he starts on the wing, knocks it forward at the right time, then all of a sudden he’s in the box, accelerating and either ready to shoot or square the ball hard and low. Nobody had an answer for that. And one day, all of a sudden, like Kaiser Soze, it was gone. He just stopped trying to beat his man that way. Unbelievable. Just inexplicable how he doesn’t do that anymore. It’s got nothing to do with defenders expecting it, because the way he used to play, he could tell the defender what he was about to do and still beat him.

    I have no explanation for this apart from a bona fide loss of form and/or confidence. The lad is still a beast, his problem is the dross around him. Away at Carrow road is no time to start giggsy in the middle of the park. Christ, what was going through the gaffer’s mind with that one?

  4. like a sir says:

    I meant he is physically still a beast, so it’s not like his loss of form is through a new injury

  5. gombal mukiyo says:

    Couldn’t agree more with you Timbo. Fergie had lost the plot since at least 3 yrs ago: 1) Should’ve promoted Pogba and played him more in the first team last seaason, rather than recalling Scholes or playing Giggs in central midfield. Now it looks like the Pogba case will haunt us much like Pique. Fergie should face the reality that Scholes or Giggs are no longer world beaters that they used to. Anderson or Cleverley would’ve been a much better choice to be a starter. 2) I always prefer Nani to be our first choice right winger than Valencia simply because Valencia is one-footed and much too predictable. Valencia’s left foot was totally useless, even Kanchelskis (also predominantly right footed) scored a few great goals with his left foot. Totally agree that Nani’s form has been erratic but that was the result of being played on the left. Nani is a brilliant RIGHT WINGER…PERIOD. Don’t waste his talent by playing him on the left. Try play Valencia on the left and guess what would happen. Don’t get me wrong, I never dislike Valencia since on his day, he too can be unstoppable (albeit one dimensional). But I don’t like the unfair treatment and comments toward Nani and I hope we’ll never sell him. Nani and Valencia should take turns to play as right winger…and RIGHT winger ONLY (not as a left winger or as a full back). Playing players out of their favourite position would result in loss of form and confidence.

  6. Greatman says:

    Totally agreed. Giggs is too old to play midfield especially for defensive. When Fegie find there is no goal creation from him, he should find someone else to replace his place like Anderson or Scholes. Valenica is quick on his pace, but not his brian. That’s why he is not a good winger. He should play right back. Hernandez is a guy only knows shooting but not passing or dripping. Also, he needs support from 2 wing as well. I couldn’t see any support find Young and Valencia. They are both not a decidable wingers.

    • chrisaus88 says:

      Valencia, not a good winger. You are pissed off at the loss & now talking complete shit. He’s just out of form.

  7. PaulC says:

    IMHO, i think Giggs was absolutely dreadful today. Fergie’s insistence to start Giggs ahead of Cleverly is utterly baffling.

  8. @seunmike says:

    Fergie has gone absolutely bonkers! Why were anderson, cleverley and scholes on the bench? I just hope giggs and scholes retire for good at the end of the season. This silly idea of passing the ball to Valencia everytime is nauseating as hell. He couldn’t beat a man to save his own life and he wears the United #7 jersey? What a joke! With good service from the central areas, Chicharito can start games cos his movement is superb and he will score. Ashley young is another clown and deserves a rating of 3. He barely crossed a ball all game. He also struggles to beat a man.He gets the ball and then pass it backwards. Whenever Young is going forward, he looks like a man about to fall on his ass. Man united now play with 2 extremely limited defenders. I’ve been saying for a while now, how many big teams play with traditional wingers anymore? Talk more of playing with extremely limited versions like young and valencia. If Nani did what Valencia has done in the past few games, he would be crucified. Finally Man United badly need a central midfield playmaker like Cazorla or Mata who will keep things ticking in midfield and not pass the ball to some clown on the wings at every opportunity! By the way, no one has really been able to tell me what Carrick is doing in the United team. He has no creativity neither is he a holding midfielder

  9. alexius says:

    Thank thank u, u are th of the few who understaand football especially about nani tembo knowz his football, the only thing I would add is that fergiez foootball brain in terms of a 1st 11 has not been amoung the top 10 mamagers, but his grooming of players n eye 4 them eg cantona, beckham, scholes, yorke, cole ole, is what I aadmire, otherwise assistant managers and the team coaches aree what got united their toophies more than anything, 4 every trophy we lost since 2009 fergie is to blame, his phelan is a blind bat, just there to help fergie walk, aint lyk carlos quirez

  10. lamar says:

    I can’t help but wonder: For how long can we afford to have a useless player like carrick? I mean, seriously. When was the last time he scored? Assisted? Passed forward? Intercepted the ball? Won a game? Inspired the team? Rallied the troops? When was the last time you said “thank god we have carrick”? Why does he play 90 minutes? When was the last time he won player of the month? Man of the match? Was does fergie see in him? Why did scholes called him a “rolls royce of a player”? Carrick sucks.