Five Things We Learned – Manchester United vs. Manchester City
4) Is there an over reliance on the wings?
Going forward there was a lack of effectiveness, partly because there was a failure by United to establish themselves in midfield and because the wingers, Young and Nani simply could not create much out wide. There was a struggle all afternoon to through City’s back wall and much of the play was going out wide without much luck. Despite the flying start that Young got off to early in the season his impact has been dampened somewhat lately and Nani found himself unable to produce an attacking threat in the way he has often done. In fairness to Young he tried to find ways through, sometimes attempting to weave his way through with little success on the day. With the sending off, we found Rooney dropping further back into midfield with Danny Welbeck up front on his own, and although he tried to make the most of the situation when he found himself on the ball, it got to a point where the support was not there.
5) No, Pogba is not the answer, nor is a signing in January
A constant complaint, not just this season but last as well, is the lack of any real strength in depth in the centre of midfield, and in recent weeks, and definitely after the game, the name so often brought up over the Summer resurfaced via Twitter, Sneijder, along with De Rossi, two names of which United should sign at least one as the answer to all problems. In truth this is a bit short sighted, particularly given Ferguson’s reluctance to use the January window as well as the perceived instant impact that some clearly expect such signings to have, assuming such moves would be sanctioned in the first place. Secondly, the desperate idea that Paul Pogba, who for all his talent is still far too young to be gracing the midfield on a regular basis. Yes, it was an area of weakness once again against City, and perhaps the name so often chastised, Michael Carrick, should have warranted a place as well as Park, but the belief that Pogba will produce miracles is somewhat short sighted.
Final point – major games have been played
It is easy to forget that United have actually played the majority of their main rivals and competitors once already this season, with a tough period overshadowed by this defeat. The next few games are crucial as to the response of the side and the reaction to such a heavy defeat. There is the potential to go on a run of games in the next few weeks, notching up victories and it is important that Sir Alex Ferguson regroups his squad and allow them to move on from such a heavy defeat, one described by the manager himself as the worst of his career. One hopes that this spurs the start of an improvement on recent displays.
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Fair assessment – interesting point about United’s width and wingers (usually United’s ultimate strength) – I’m a ST at City and our lack of width has worried me but the system Mancini is using compensates for that by playing Yaya high and the likes of Silva, Aguero and Ballotelli to play off him.
One other point – you have played the top teams but it has all been at Old Trafford (Scousers aside)… so that should make for some tough games in the second half of the season – despite the win today I still fancy the return fixture at the Etihad to be the title decider
Indeed most have been at home but it is in relation to the first half of the season, with a good chance for a solid run of games coming up. Of course many of the deciding games will come towards the end of the season including said trip to Etihad.
evans ,fletcher and anderson are just not good enough for man utd …
Here is a good analysis of yesterday’s game:-
http://www.stretford-end.com/2011/10/talking-points-manchester-united-1-6-manchester-city/#more
I have said on numerous occasions that it was not Carrick that was the problem, it was the players around him. Scholes went up a level when Carrick joined five years ago. Carrick makes the other players look better than they are and gives them the freedom to express themselves. Without him, we have looked “rudderless”!
Admittedly Carrick is not a tough tackling type, but the game has moved on and we should be building the team around Carrick to suit his game, not asking Carrick to singlehandedly stop Barcelona as part of a one man central midfield!
Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets are not tough tackling types either and we don’t need a “Stevie-G” or “Fat Frank”, we need a Scholes-type. Pay up for Schweinsteiger, Ramsey or Modrich to play alongside Carrick. Maybe Cleverley can grow into the role, but we still need some depth.
Evans and Anderson should be moved on at the end of the season, and possibly Fletcher and Park too. Evra and Ferdinand are not getting any younger either.
I like Berbatov, but unless he is part of Fergie’s plans it would be fairer to let him move on also, he is too good to be stewing on the sidelines.
A lot of decisions to be made…
Lets hope Fergie isn’t heading for a Brian Clough style descent.
The closest Carrick has come to a PL start this year was when he came on at Bolton after seven minutes and we won 5-0.
He also came on as a sub against Chelsea after 62 mins and helped us to see out the game 3-1. Other than that, he has started four CL and CC games this year and we did not lose (W 2, D 2).
I don’t blame Fergie for looking at some other options in Anderson and Fletcher, but whether you love him or hate him, we are much better team with Carrick at the heart.
Sorry! 🙂
This was coming we all knew it. The defence has been shaky to put it mildly and the midfield has been nonexistence. All this bullshit about Carrick would have made a difference is just laughable; the man has been crap for a few years now. Fergie should have bought a quality central midfielder and we all know it so why did Fergie not add to the squad? Maybe the Glazers having a hand in it or simply not enough finance?
Another annoying thing after leaving Old Trafford which I always stay to the end is seeing all the day trippers with their pathetic half United and half City scarves with big smiles taking photos. I know they will never visit the stadium again but Christ smiling and laughing on a day like this?
I agree with every single thing you said. Shame on those cunts that left the stadium and shame on the players for this below average performance. Only the bday boy looked like he gave a rats ass. Its time to shine or find somewhere else to be mediocre. We’ve rellied on luck for far too long. I love united now more than ever.
Nice piece. Yesterdays performance by Utd was absolutely shocking. We can analyse all we want but all roads lead back to the midfield. Not strengthening our midefield during the summer was one of Fergies biggest mistakes in all his years at Old Trafford.
Positive, we play good passes and keep possession… Our midfield sucks though 🙁
Fact is: we have a mediocre team with a hell of a fighting spirit and a whole of a lot of luck. Luck ran out. Its time to do something about it.
Well, people may think this was a shock, but this was coming for about 1 or 2 seasons now. We have to look at the fact that United performances have been really average for far too long now. Even in this derby game anyone can see that we have a serious lack of creative midfielders. You can describe Young as creative, but apart from him and Cleverly i cant pick many. I honestly dont think we should panick buy and go after massive names like Inniesta, Xavi, Sneijder and all the rest of them. Unlike City the strength is in our academy, players like Ravel Morrison need to start making first team appearences now i think. He’s ready to make that step up. Tunicliffe’s, after he comes back from his loan spell should feature pretty soon as well. There are many others that can also make the step up.
Players like Evans, Ferdinand, Nani and Anderson really have a lot to answer for this defeat. Just how many seasons does Anderson need? He’s been here for over 5 years now and still he cant put in good performances in a string of games along with Nani. Its one step forwards and two steps back with those two.