Following the 1-1 draw at the Liberty Stadium only one sentence remains on the lips of every United fan across the country; How did we not win that?
19 shots on goal with 16 on target. Hitting the woodwork on numerous occasions. Vorm back in the Swansea side and in fine form. Last gasp clearances and last ditch tackles – and a defence continuing to leak goals. There’s your reasons.
Swansea are a good team, there is no doubt about that. Not many sides come away from Wales with all three points due to their ability to not only play attractive ‘total football’, but also mix it up and get stuck in where necessary.
With David De Gea growing in confidence and stature after every game between the sticks coinciding with the return on Namanja Vidic, United look far more confident at the back and limited the Swans to half chances. I feel Evans could have reacted quicker for the Swansea goal – however if I were in charge, Evans wouldn’t be near the starting line up when everybody is fully fit.
Wayne Rooney had an off day; giving the ball away too often and missing a very good chance before half-time. On the plus, he always showed for his teammates and never shied away from wanting to be involved – I do not think he was deserving of the criticism directed at him from a lot of the media – everybody has a bad day.
For me if Manchester United are going to win the Premier League, Michael Carrick has to stay fit.
Never losing the ball, protecting the defence and creating openings for the attackers, the problem that Sir Alex has is finding the correct partner for Carrick.
With Scholes or Giggs in the side, Carrick’s game seems to be watered down – however with Cleverley or Anderson doing the leg work, Carrick is given the freedom of the midfield – and it makes a massive difference.
For months United have been linked with tonnes of midfielders across Europe – probably a partner for Carrick rather than a replacement.
Overall it was a very good team performance and a game which shouldn’t have ended in s draw; Evra and De Gea played well, but Carrick, not for the first time this season was the pick of the bunch.
Did you know that Adrian Durham of TalkSport has introduced a weekly supplement called the Michael Carrick Moment?
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