De Gea – Looked good all game bar the goal. Normally I wouldn’t pin that on him and label it as a ‘mistake’ but it is happening far too regularly for my liking and is something which should be addressed. He needs to learn to palm the ball and curl it around the post, or get a strong fist to it. Having said that, he did well just to get a hand on it for that particular save today. 7
Rafael – Looked sloppy at times and even careless with his clearances. Also slow to react for their goal. Expected more from him. 6
Vidic – A colossus at the back, his presence alone was enough to keep the Liverpool attack lifeless. Also managed to nick himself a goal which is nice to see. Great to have our captain back. 9
Ferdinand – Another great game for Rio, he once again gave a commanding performance which reminded us all of just how good a defensive pairing we have with Nemanja and himself. 8
Evra – Arguably one of our best attackers today with him beating men with ease and grabbing and two assist too. A real astute performance from someone currently under the stoplight due to that Suarez affair. Needs to tighten up at the back now. 8
Young – Saw little of the ball and failed to get involved when needed, his defensive responsibilities looked nonexistent. Produce one or two moments of quality though. 5
Carrick – Left the field at half-time knowing he was our best player but seemed to fade away in the second half which resulted in the team losing momentum and surrendering control of the game. 7
Cleverley – Our first 45 minutes were probably the best I’ve seen him play for United but, like his midfield partner, he was completed invisible in the second half and made a costly error which resulted in us conceding. Has a lot to learn yet. 6
Kagawa – The lack of physical players in either teams midfield made it a dream for him to weave his magic in and he did just that. At times his movement off the ball was sensational. 8
Welbeck – If you take into account everything he did only in the first 3/4 of the pitch, he was probably the best player on there. Offers so much in every department but is currently lacking in confidence to the extent that he’s scared to have a shot in front of goal. 8
Van Persie – Out of this world. Not much more I can say about him other than he’s quite simply the best centre-forward playing football on Earth today. The number of times he did something and had me wondering “how did he manage that!?” was astonishing today. 8
Subs:
Valencia – Never added much to our play going forward but supported at the back a lot more than Young did and helped that clock tick down towards the end. 6
Jones – Added some steel to our midfield after Liverpool started attacking our half and did a lot defensively. 6
Smalling – Slotted in seamlessly for Vidic in defence and helped us clear those dangerous crosses. 6
My Comments:
De Gea – Same thoughts. His reaction was not bad, but his save was not solid. He could block the shot but he couldn’t place the ball in the safe area. That always occurred in many games. 6.5
Vidic – The game last night was a fantastic game for him. He used to perform superb with Rio besides him. I hope he will keep his performance consistent and solid upcoming. 8
Rio – I am a big fan of him although his performance is going downturn due to his age. His experience is great and he knows how to hold the ball and control the rhythm of the game. His performance last night was terrific. 9
Young – He plays better on left side than the right. He knows how to work with his teammates in which I think Valencia still doesn’t know how to do that. His performance was just so and so last night. He was changed out propably was because he got hurt in the first half. 6
Carrick – Some thought as stated above. His careless passes nearly play for price in the 2nd half. The good thing is he is getting more independent than before that he played besides Scholes. 7.5
Kagawa – Still don’t think he was fit to the team. Couldn’t see many nice passes or magic passes that I was expecting for long. Too easy to lose the ball that could pay for price to the team. Both offense and defense weren’t performed well from him. Hard to find a position that can fit him right now. 5.5
Wellbeck – He did pretty good last night but showed lack of confidence and experience. Wasting 3 great chances in the 1st half. Trying to operate with RVP but failing to pass the ball to the right positions. A lot of things need to be learned if he wants to get chance in the first team. 7
Valencia – He did better last night than the previous few games. But, still didn’t know what to do when holding the ball. That made everybody feeling nervous when passing the ball to him. 6
Jone – He helped to make the defensive better after Carrick and Cleverly getting confusion in the 2nd. I still don’t think he is good at playing midfield. Fergie needs to hurry to decide where to place him and make him growth on that position. Otherwise, he will be wasting at the end. 6
Disagree with u about young and carrick. Young did pretty well in that game. Carrick should have better ratings. young 7 carrick 8
Don’t agree that Carrick is not careless with his passing. Far from it, he’s extremely tidy – that’s one of his strengths. Cleverly and Kagawa did seem to tire a lot in the 2nd half though.
Rafael is frustrating. 90% of what he does is great, and he is getting better, but every few matches he has these lapses in concentration. The goal we conceded reminded me of the 4-4 Everton game from last season when he was at fault for two of the goals, not reacting to a rebound from a saved shot. Unfortunately all of our defenders are guilty of this, we’ve also seen clangers from Evans, Rio and Evra.
We have to tighten up for the Madrid games.
Also I agree with dk that Young did well and we missed his workrate in the 2nd half. Defensively he really helps out and I think that’s one of the reason Fergie bought him.