Lindegaard – Again, he didn’t have much to do, nor did he do anything wrong, but I’d still rather see him on the bench behind De Gea. 6
Rafael – By far our best and most consistent performer this season. Constantly fighting for the ball, attacking the opposition’s fullback and showing for the ball, his hunger, drive and commitment has been inspirational to watch. 9
Smalling – Looking a lot sharper at the back now that he’s getting more games under his belt. Calm, confident and controlled at all times. 7
Evans – A big performance was needed from him, and he didn’t disappoint. With Rio out, he had to show real leadership to control a fairly unfamiliar back five. 6
Evra – Fairly solid at the back despite that one silly mistake at the end. His runs say him involved in most of our attacks down the left hand side. 6
Anderson – He came on as a substitute against QPR and changed the game, and so I was delighted to see him start tonight. His dribbling and power provided something completely different from what the rest of our midfielders had to offer. 7
Cleverley – His energy, speed and vision was exciting to watch as he kept control of the ball in tight spaces. Good to see our midfield not relying on simple back passes as the usually do. 7
Carrick – Provided a solid foundation for his midfield partners to play their free flowing football with. Stopped any passes from exposing our relatively inexperienced defence. 6
Rooney – Played as our creative midfielder but provided nothing of the sort. Whenever the ball was played to him, he was flat-footed and slow which caused him to lose the ball too easily and too often. 5
Van Persie – Played deeper than usual and acted as a creative outlet by collecting the ball and keeping possession. 6
Hernandez – Big fan of his recent performances but not utterly convinced he should be starting matches for us. He didn’t do much to prove me wrong either. 5
Subs:
Young – I don’t hate him as most United fans do, but he was an absolute disaster today. Offered nothing to the team whatsoever. 4
Welbeck – Don’t understand why he was brought on and forced to play out wide. His attributes are simply not compatible for him to play as a winger. 5
Jones – N/A
(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)
I seem to be the only one who thinks Hernandez was one our best performers. His all round game has come along so much.
Pretty well agree with you on all fronts. Rafael was clearly the MOM, and it’s nice to see the kid come along so well after the numerous setbacks he’s had. Now if only his twin, who was always touted as the better of the two, can gain enough match experience elsewhere to challenge for Evra’s spot, because the Frenchman’s time is surely coming, though he played reasonably well today other than the one silly gaff that could have cost United dearly – thank goodness for Evan’s timely clearance!
Cleverly I thought was a little flat and patchy today, while Rooney basically gave a master class in his many deficiencies, not least the point at the 60 minute mark where he was delivered a very promising pass to the left of goal, only to make a heavy-footed hash of the trap, sending the ball bouncing a few yards away, which caused him to lose precious time retrieving it and gave the defense a fraction more time to set. No surprise that he therefore rushed the resulting shot on goal and skeweed it to the right of goal. A Player of van Persie’s fine touch and quality would doubtless have nailed it towards goal without even pausing to try and trap the ball, but that’s Rooney for you. Then of course there were the numerous and obligatory blasts over goal (how many was it 3 – 4?) lame passes laterally and backwards, countless passes forward intercepted, and the usual smattering of lame dispossessions and the resulting histrionics.
I hate to be critical. I’m just not enjoying this manchester united. To state the obvious rafa and ando were a joy to watch. Rooney, my favorite player , looked completely out of position. He shouldn’t be playing SO deep. When will kagawa return?
” I’m just not enjoying this manchester united.”
I know what you mean. Top of the league but can you name one outstanding game we’ve played yet this season?
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