United vs Schalke 2nd Leg Thoughts

Manchester United duly reached their third Champions League Final in the last four years with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Schalke at Old Trafford. Pre-match there was widespread concern at the nine changes made by the boss from the first leg with an eye on Sunday's pivotal league fixture against Chelsea. His unwavering faith in his squad players was rewarded by a vibrant and energetic display with the midfield trio of Scholes, Anderson and Gibson to the fore. First half goals by Valencia and Gibson made the tie safe before a second half brace from the left boot of Anderson put the icing on the cake. A fine strike by Jurado was the German side's scant consolation.

United now march on to Wembley for a meeting with Barcelona on May 28th. Sir Alex is sure to leave no stone unturned in his quest for victory. To guide yet another United side to a final is a fantastic achievement and one that has based itself on the strength in depth of his squad. A grand total of 28 players have participated in the run to the Champions League Final and helped contribute to clean sheets in every away game. These figures are a true testament to the ability of the manager to rotate his playing staff whilst ultimately still getting the job done.

A few thoughts from last night's game:

Goal Analysis 1 - The opener
The quality in this goal was clear to see. The way that the team capitalised on a mis-placed pass was devastating even allowing for Anderson's pass to cause Gibson to check his run ever so slightly.

The picture below show the moment when Anderson is about to pick up the loose pass. Gibson (circled) is free in the centre and look just how deep Valencia is at the time on the half way line expecting to help out Rafael as Schalke break. The instant he realises the Reds have possession, he sees his opportunity and makes great strides to get himself into the penalty box.

Valencia shows his pace to get into a goal scoring position from the half way line

The perfect defence splitting pass from Darron Gibson left the Schalke defence trailing.

The pass from Gibson was sublime and the key was that it was weighted perfectly so that the on-rushing Valencia did not have to break stride before shooting past Neuer. If the Ecuadorian had had to check his stride then the defender may well have been able to prevent the strike.

Goal Analysis 2 - Anderson's desire
After finding himself in the penalty box and being able to fire in a shot for his opener, it would have been easy for Anderson to rest on his laurels and admire his night's work. What I liked about his second is the drive and determination to get into a goal scoring position, a trait that has often been lacking from his play over the course of his Old Trafford career.

As Valencia receives the ball on the right with the counter attack in full flow, check out the position of Anderson on the half way line. He shows good pace and energy to assist Berbatov and capitalise on some poor German defending once more. Doubling your United career goal tally in the space of a few minutes will hopefully do wonders for his confidence in front of goal.

Squad rotation
As mentioned earlier, this was a triumph for the manager. He admitted afterwards that he had deliberated long and hard the previous night over which side to pick with the challenge of Chelsea looming on Sunday. In the end he decided to place his faith in the members of his squad to get the job done against admittedly weak opposition. This was vindication for the boss with numerous observers taking great joy in pointing out the alleged weaknesses since the departures of the likes of Ronaldo and Tevez. What cannot be denied is that United look a better "team" this time around as they prepare to face Barcelona. The focus will not be solely on one man (Ronaldo) with plenty of candidates available to be the match winner if required.

It was also perfect for the reason that it gave match time to a few that needed it and allowed those who have had a heavy workload recently to recharge their batteries in the stands. The next few days will all be about putting the masterplan into action that guides the club to the glittering prize of league title number nineteen.

Gibson & Anderson - Credit where it is due
Two of the often maligned squad members showed their worth at Old Trafford last night. Both have been subjected to heavy criticism by various sections of an unforgiving United faithful over the last year or so and at times it has been justified. However, when their club needed them, both stepped up to the mark on the big stage and saw the team to the final.

Darron Gibson has had an improved season and has not let the team down this year. Although he is not of the highest quality in any department, he has shown signs of improvement recently. Regularly described as a "one trick pony" and derided with a "shoot" cry from the crowd, one wonders if this affected his confidence. He now seems to have learned that firing at goal at every opportunity is not the way to endear yourself to the fans especially if the resultant effort ends up in row Z! His movement around the pitch yesterday seemed to be more noticeable with regular attempts to break up the opposition's play. The vision and execution displayed for Valencia's goal was worthy of the likes of Iniesta and should help raise confidence levels still further ahead of the rest of the season.

Anderson seems to be a Jekyll and Hyde figure in terms of performance. At home, it is often hard to fault him which was shown both last night and in his effervescent display against Everton. Intertwined with these are his away performances that lack the necessary drive and energy required to make his mark. This often results in a substitution and growing frustration. One hopes that a full pre-season will lead to greater consistency in terms of fitness and quality.


Team selection for Sunday

The big conundrum for this weekend's game against Chelsea is whether to play both Rooney and Hernández or go for simply one up front to flood the midfield. My thoughts on this change regularly. On one hand I would love for the manager to be bold and go for the win that will surely seal the title. On the other, I recognise that a draw will be sufficient to keep the current champions at arms length. The Londoners will arrive knowing that nothing other than victory will be acceptable and I would be amazed if they do not go with their tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation with Drogba as the spearhead. If they pick Torres as well then the initiative is handed to United straight away. I am sure the temptation will be for the boss to go for the Champions League formation of playing both his in-form forwards. He has proved it can beat Chelsea (twice) and caused them no end of problems. The worry will be that there will be no surprises this time for them and that they will detail Mikel to patrol Rooney (similar to Song for Arsenal last weekend) with the notion that stopping the Englishman will hugely diminish the home side's effectiveness.

What is for sure is that both managers press conferences will be fascinating tomorrow. Due to the massive experience that both possess, the usual mind games are unlikely to be in operation but I would look for the odd telling comment in a vain attempt to increase the pressure. 

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