Ok, so Manchester United didn’t exactly shower themselves in glory in the opening fixture against Everton. It was one of those performances where Manchester United just don’t seem to wake up until they have conceded. Even after going one down they didn’t exactly explode into life, on this occasion. Many fans were frustrated that a team lacking teeth in the final third didn’t give more game time to new signing Robin Van Persie.
But, as the cliche goes, it’s a marathon not a sprint. Far be it for me to start questioning to righteousness of SAF’s decisions at Everton. Let’s not get carried away with the result. A defeat so early leaves even less margin for error for the rest of the season but it may just give this team the kickstart that it needs. Perhaps everyone has been revelling a bit too much in the signing of RVP to realise that there is a highly stern challenge ahead of the team this season. They need to reclaim their title and do much better in Europe than last year’s debacle.
But I still believe that this is the best squad that Manchester United have had in years. There are big injury problems at the back but United have so many good central defenders that it would be silly to buy more for the short term. A left back has been added as cover for Patrice Evra and the defence will be fine. In midfield Manchester United have Cleverley and Anderson back in the engine room after a season of injury. And everything that Kagawa does smacks of class. He could be the find of the season.
The attack speaks for itself. Including Berbatov, Manchester United have 5 strikers who can do the business and two, in Rooney and RVP, who are world class. Macheda doesn’t really count and Henriquez may be loaned out. All in all United have a terrific amount of firepower to play with.
Everton played brilliantly against United and David Moyes expertly preyed on United’s current paucity of centre-backs by deploying Fellaini further forward than usual. He caused Manchester United all manner of problems and was ultimately the match winner on Monday. It certainly won’t be the last time that the human microphone out-jumps, out-muscles and generally annoys the opposition.
But there were some signs of great promise for United. When they did pop the ball around the midfield looked slick and, with a bit of tinkering, this could be the best team United have had in a long time. I believe that the following line up will soon start battering allcomers. When the centre backs recover Micheal Carrick will return to the midfield in what will be a loose 4-4-2 for Manchester United. The one area of slight concern is Nani’s continued profligacy. Will he ever mature into a finished article? For now I will give him the benefit of the doubt, but if he continues to fluster the fans then I would have Scholes or Cleverley back in the middle and Kagawa out left.
So here it is:
De Gea
Rafael Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Valencia Carrick Kagawa Nani
Rooney RVP
That team is mustard. What do you think?
Follow us on Twitter @soccersweep10
Oladipo nurudeen adeleke
Aug 22, 2012 at 5:07 pm
This is the best line up
Dec
Aug 23, 2012 at 11:09 am
I say same team jut play 4-4-1-1 with Rooney cam and rvp cf
darren
Aug 22, 2012 at 5:11 pm
even better with kaka!!!!!!!
Oladipo nurudeen adeleke
Aug 22, 2012 at 5:13 pm
This is the best line up for united
William
Aug 22, 2012 at 5:20 pm
With a 4-4-2 sytem united will be overran in midfield and end being thrashed as they were last season plus Kagawa is not an orthodox box to box midfielder (they should play to his strength and not force issues on him). United needs to embrace change and learn that games nowadays are being won in midfield and not through the traditional wingplay and crosses which are aimed at no one in particular. A 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 or even a 3-5-2 sytem will be appropraite with Anderson and Cleverly as the holding midfielders (they linked up well with their tiki-taka style of play early last season) and Kagawa as an attacking midfielder. The team should learn how to move the ball swiftly while forming effective triangles around their opponents and also train hard on how to make potent through passes and runs instead of just crossing the ball aimlessly like its 1950. Pressing high up the pitch when they lose possesion should be a preriquisite as most of the players are so accustomed to ball watching which has no place in modern football.
agent james
Aug 22, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Are you interest of a good and high reputable sugar mummy contact Agent James of the Hawai Agency via 08166530852 .please note with attend to reasonable and average reputable people and not tarts.
hassan
Aug 23, 2012 at 11:31 am
you peoples are fraudster, you use to request money from people without providing them any sugar mummy, but i know you’ll be catch one day.
Graeme
Aug 22, 2012 at 7:07 pm
Replace evra with buttner if he’s that good he should be able to cope carrick out as well as nani replace them with Ashley young and nick Powell again if he’s good enough let him play
Graeme
Aug 22, 2012 at 7:11 pm
On another note did any see how many fans turned up for Scottish football matches at the weekend with rangers playing from div 3
Gaz T
Aug 22, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Think I’d rather have a roaming Kagawa from the left. Nani does nothing for me these days other than frustrate. And Cleverley in the centre, energys tremendous. Other than that, yeah would be good and less rigid.
Anyio mathias
Aug 22, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Up man u,d only problem we have in d team now is defance bcos of injuris and we should stop decievin ourselvs about Anderson and cleverly we nid a strong midfilder like Dembele to b our fellaini.
Emmanuel
Aug 22, 2012 at 9:18 pm
I wud prefer Rooney nd RVP play mor nd wish all de injued plyers speey recovery
mustapha Adeshina
Aug 22, 2012 at 10:18 pm
pls help tell rooney to stop beaf play RVP. he is part of d strugle. he should play wit RVP.we all saw what they did to him last match. rooney/van persei partnership is hell. up united.
timbo
Aug 22, 2012 at 10:47 pm
William got it dead right. I’ve been saying the same thing for years, that United are out of touch, predictable, and one-dimensional. Because of the obvious weaknesses in midfield United have spent the past few years either trying to catch opponents on quick counter-attacks, or resorting most of the time to banging it up the wings and thumping in hail-Mary crosses, which, when you consider how short a player like Rooney is, makes the process a little pointless at times. They completely lack any kind of imagination, creativity, or purpose through the midfield and, as with the game against Everton, look utterly bereft of ideas in the final third of the pitch, aimlessly passing the ball backwards and forwards hoping that someone – anyone – can figure out what to do. This crap gets passed off lamely as possession football. Teams like Barcelona play possession football, prodding and probing before pulling the trigger and unleashing a devastating pass, cut-out, or run to break through defenses. United’s version simply looks like clueless football, at least until they give the ball to ‘world class’ Rooney, who can invariably be relied upon to hand the ball back to the opposition or launch the ball into the stratosphere in yet another radar-less display of his erratic shooting.
United’s biggest problem is that they’ve got a manager who’s stuck in the past and can’t come to terms with the fact that graft and hustle (a la Rooney, Fletcher, etc) does not denote class and that midfield is the key component to controlling and winning matches these days, not a raft of strikers who are completely useless unless they’re getting consistent quality service from the engine room. Simply put, United haven’t had a quality midfield since the salad days of the Scholes/Keane partnership, and it will continue to tell against the better teams, against whom United will have to consistently concede most of the possession and control of their games.
What’s particularly galling in all this is to see how much money United have spent so far this off-season and realize that the money spent could easily have been enough to land Hazard, who has lit Chelsea up since his arrival. We can only hope that Kagawa can overcome his defensive deficiencies enough to prove a worthwhile investment for United, because other than the return of Cleverly the team has no other players of note to throw into a creaky midfield that is looking more and more out of touch with the modern game. Carrick s a flat track bully why generally can be relied upon to go missing against quality opponents, and Scholes is so far past his best that he has to play deeper and deeper to try and influence a game, with better opponents knowing that he’s easier to press and shut down then in years gone by.
Ryan
Aug 23, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Wow, you have hit the nail squarely on the head. I could not agree with you more. Nice one Timbo
Wudzi
Aug 22, 2012 at 11:09 pm
Best team is d.g evra Ferdinand vidic Rafael Valencia kagawa cleverly ash y or nani both nOt to clever Rooney van persie wot use all think
Al
Aug 23, 2012 at 3:29 pm
William is spot on. Many teams still give United too much respect .As soon as they start pressing in midfield United are seriously exposed. It will be a very difficult season for ManU. RVP will never score as many goals as with Arsenal where all midfield and full backs were working for him. I think 3rd place behind ManCity and Chelsea with Arsenal 4th.