Match ratings against man u

[elltrev]

yeah this was very apparent - parker went into panic mode and headed straight for the goal mouth to join the 4-5 others already there. he had cleverly in his sights but he made the wrong decision to defend so deep. being a shorty himself he would be more useful waiting for the "second ball" outside the box.

Agreed... In fact I think a lot of players were all over the place for this goal.

It starts with Bale closing down their CB and so leaving Rafael free, which leads Dembele to get dragged over to the left touchline and Parker to get dragged over too, leaving a gigantic gap in the middle of the park for Carrick to receive the ball in. Parker seems totally unaware of Carrick and follows the ball instead, then casually jogs back as the ball gets spread out to United's left wing... Dawson gets sucked out to the unmarked Carrick, thus leaving RVP free, but not sure that was a mistake - he was just outnumbered... Naughton does the right thing in my view by springting back to cover RVP and Kagawa in the middle, as they'd both got goalside of Dawson and Caulker respectively (who looked rather nonchalant in letting Kagawa run by him)... but this leaves Cleverley free, and I have no idea what Parker is doing in a) jogging casually back when he's supposed to be our DM, and b) eventually running towards Kagawa when there's already two players on him but no-one on Cleverley, and c) Not closing down Cleverley quickly once he receives the ball.

So overall I think Parker was the biggest culprit, though Dawson and Walker were both at fault IMO for not getting close enough to RVP and / or Welbeck once Cleverley received the ball in space.

I do think Parker had a good game defensively in terms of pressing and tackling, but was this goal indicative of his weakness in comparison to Sandro? I think Sandro's a bit more controlled in his positioning, in comparison to Parker who tends to run around a bit more maniacally (e.g. when following the ball to Kagawa rather than recognising that Caulker and Naughton were already near him and Carrick was in acres of space).

I actually think Parker and Carrick would compliment each other fantastically well; it's a shame they've never had a run together for England.

 

[nelto]

What does FM have to do with it?

I just don't think we were that good individually but it was a good team performance. Lennon 8, the rest 6 or thereabouts, overall team performance 8. I'm not sure how that works but that's how I saw it.

You have no idea how drunk I was when I posted that. Stayed in Rudolph's after the game, then Bell & Hare for another couple. Great day out!

Drunk in charge of a keyboard.

 

[clevelandspur]

Lloris 6 Not much to do don't think he could have done much for the goal
Walker 6 goal was partially his fault although he was left to cover 2 players, other than that did ok
Dawson 7.5 - solid
Caulker 7.5 very good
Naughton 7 - very good defending sacrificed for BAE
Lennon 9 - MOTM superb
Parker 7.5 - typical Scotty performance ran for days, broke up play as good as Sandro has been we didn't miss a beat
Dembele 8 - great game by the big fella, United struggled to cope with him
Bale 6 - Not his best match but still looked a threat when he was on the ball
Defoe 6 - worked hard but wasn't clinical
Dempsey 8 - worked his socks off deserved his goal, legend in the making

BAE 7 looked shaky right after he came on but settled in nicely and had hand in the goal
Huddlestone 4 - his touch was all over the place after he came on, seems to be heading in the wrong direction

Scoring in Fergie Time - 10 felt like a win

 

[chicken_badge]

Thought most our team did well. We pretty much outplayed Manu, can't ask for much more.

I think we dominated them in the first half at Old Trafford too , cannot remember the last time someone went there and did that.

 

[Bullet]

agreed... In fact i think a lot of players were all over the place for this goal.

It starts with bale closing down their cb and so leaving rafael free, which leads dembele to get dragged over to the left touchline and parker to get dragged over too, leaving a gigantic gap in the middle of the park for carrick to receive the ball in. Parker seems totally unaware of carrick and follows the ball instead, then casually jogs back as the ball gets spread out to united's left wing... Dawson gets sucked out to the unmarked carrick, thus leaving rvp free, but not sure that was a mistake - he was just outnumbered... Naughton does the right thing in my view by springting back to cover rvp and kagawa in the middle, as they'd both got goalside of dawson and caulker respectively (who looked rather nonchalant in letting kagawa run by him)... But this leaves cleverley free, and i have no idea what parker is doing in a) jogging casually back when he's supposed to be our dm, and b) eventually running towards kagawa when there's already two players on him but no-one on cleverley, and c) not closing down cleverley quickly once he receives the ball.

So overall i think parker was the biggest culprit, though dawson and walker were both at fault imo for not getting close enough to rvp and / or welbeck once cleverley received the ball in space.

I do think parker had a good game defensively in terms of pressing and tackling.......

thank the lord for your good sense elltrev - finally someone that realises that goals stem from mistakes further up the pitch, rather than from the defender nearest the goalscorer

and yes i am shouting!!!

Booo - that was all in capitals but your fancy software made it lower case

Damn you software, damn you to hell and back

 

[NWND]

I think we dominated them in the first half at Old Trafford too , cannot remember the last time someone went there and did that.

You read a lot of Man U forums they all think Dembele is some sort of super-being ha, obviously having his 3 best performances of the season against Man U help a lot (once for Fulham, twice for us)!