A hat trick from Dimitar Berbatov and goals from Ji-Sung Park and Anthonio Valencia sealed a 5-0 victory for Manchester United on the 26.12.2011 against Wigan Athletic. With United going on to win the last 4/4 games since the defeat to Basel, they now look to hold down a decent league table position going in to the second half of the season.
A loaded schedule meant that Ferguson always was going to make at least a couple of changes to the starting line-up. Even more so with the likes of Anderson, Fabio, Vidic, Ferdinand, Young, Owen, Cleverley and Fletcher unavailable for the game. With De Gea getting a breather Lindegaard continued in goal with a backline consisting of Valencia, Carrick, Evans and Evra in front of him. Nani, Gibson, Giggs and Park started in midfield with Berbatov and Hernandez playing up front.
Moving on from defeat:
"As I said some weeks ago, somebody was going to suffer," Sir Alex told MUTV. "We're really hitting good form now and there's a real goal threat about us from all departments. If we're top of the league or joint top with City by New Year's Day I'll be happy."
United moved level on points with City after they drew against WBA, with a total of 45 points from 18 games, moving on from the Carling Cup and the Champions League exits have really proven an important and motivating factor for the team. Ji-Sung Park commented after the game that: "It's our aim to be at the front. We always try to perform in this period of the season and we're just trying to make our performance higher". He continued, "we're still only halfway through the season and we will continue to press City.
Quite a few players changed compared to the last game, but we still kept up the same performance as we did against Fulham. It's good for the team and proves that our squad is strong".
Patrice Evra added that: "I think it was a big disappointment when we went early in the Champions League but it was a wake-up call, because everyone looked at themselves in the mirror and said 'we can do much better' ".
Michael Carrick - The defender
With Michael Carrick playing at a makeshift role in central defense United's possession of the ball was even more distinct than usual. As seen below from Carrick's two passing charts from the Fulham and yesterdays game against Wigan, he could have been argued to have been more direct in his play. This of course as a result of him getting more time on the ball and more space to operate in. The one area were Wigan was causing United's defense, and especially Carrick, problems was when crossing the ball.
Patrice Evra made a great point in the his post-match interview when speaking of the United spirit. He noted that: "This is the United spirit; you can play everywhere. If you want to win, you have to accept it. You can see Antonio Valencia playing right-back as well. Only because United play like a team. The team is the star, not only one player and that's why you can put me and Michael Carrick at centre-back, we're going to win because it's the team effort and team spirit".
Nani & Valencia
United's right wing consisted of Nani and Antonio Valencia and was of special interest as the former wasn't really playing as a traditional winger but more so as an attacking midfielder with freedom to roam around. The offensive play of Valencia was especially visible yesterday as United were given time and space to keep the ball under control in the opponents half for large parts of the game. As Wigan's starting lineup consisted of three central defenders and wingers dropping back as extra defenders, United's possession dominance became even more distinct. This served a player like Nani fine and gave him time to move around without the ball, mostly moving inwards giving Valencia room to operate on the flank.
Outstanding game from Park
Ji-Sung Park is hitting form at the moment and was really a vital piece of United's victory. His work rate, movement, defensive play and penetrating runs made him the standout player he was. Park had a total of 3 shots, 4 tackles and 3 successful dribbles, played overall in a rather free role and as seen below far more active than against Fulham. Especially getting him the possibility of moving around behind the opponent's midfield seems to be a good recipe for success because he is still going to be a solid defensive player no matter what role he plays. Or as @thebusbyway puts it in his post on the game "Park can often be the forgotten man and is criminally underrated but he offers a lot to United and is usually dependable when called on".
Other observations:
* It is really enjoyable seeing the likes of Ezekiel Fryers getting playing minutes.
* Interesting to see Federico Macheda being deployed out on the wing as he needs both playing minutes and especially development triggers.
* It is really enjoyable seeing the likes of Ezekiel Fryers getting playing minutes.
* Interesting to see Federico Macheda being deployed out on the wing as he needs both playing minutes and especially development triggers.
* Darren Gibson had a total of 90 touches, completing 96% of his passes and getting the one assist.
* Anders Lindegaard is commanding the area and feels a lot more comfortable with the ball at his feet than Tomas Kuszczak does.
* Anders Lindegaard is commanding the area and feels a lot more comfortable with the ball at his feet than Tomas Kuszczak does.
What were your thoughts on the game? Did United convince you of similar dominance against other teams?
By Magnus Nordman (Follow me on Twitter)
Enjoyed the post. I've never been a one of the doubters on Carrick. His passing has always been up there with the best in the EPL. However, over the last few games he has been pressing and tackling with a new sense of energy and urgency. And while we didn't need him against Wigan, we will need him back in the midfield against bigger teams. (Plus I am slightly worried about a Evans/Carrick pairing against Blackburn because they didn't deal with Wigan's crossing well and this is Blackburn's only threat).
ReplyDeleteIf Carrick keeps up his high performances, and Cleverley returns the player we saw in the first few games. I'd be confident we will win the league.
Thanks for the comment ;)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. When speaking of Carrick's pressing and tackling i think this has been an agenda for the whole team. Even Evans has been playing rather aggressively by trying to create steals by intercepting passes before opponent's are able to receive them.
The defending areal threats is never going to be Carricks strongest attribute but at the same he could make it up by better positioning than against Wigan.
Getting him in at central defence poses an interesting idea when it comes to controling games, and then again a possible awkward idea against teams that are going to press ut down to our own 16 yard line.
An additional thought about Carrick: I don't think it is a coincident that Valencia's form has returned recently too. Valencia is a player that thrives on early and accurate service from deep (exactly the type of ball Carrick supplies). Simply put; Carrick has been making this team tick recently. And had he not picked up a harsh yellow against Benfica, I would imagine we would be in the CL round of sixteen. Oh well, I actually hope the Europe League is used to blood in our young talent. They showed their inexperience in this years group stage. Plus Progba, Morrison, Macheda, Brown and Fyers need the games too.
ReplyDeleteDue to our injury crisis, I hope we sign atleast one player to help us in the title run. My dream player is Danielle De Rossi. He is probably the most complete midfielder in the world (Schwientiger the only competition). And since Fergie prefers a 4-4-1-1 with Rooney as the number 10, a natural playmaking midfielder like Modric might upset the balance of the team. Rossi's wages are probably too high, but I can hope.
Helllo Grubbsbl and thanks for the comments ;)
ReplyDeleteWith Valencia and Carrick hitting form i think "our" team is finding it's soul once again. As you say, Valencia is really in need of space to operate in. In fact i think his strenghts as an offensive player is challenging to defender and using his speed. He is very much right footed so getting the defender to buying into him moving centrally with the ball is of vital essence.
I've myself said it all along. I think we are 1-2 midfield players short, talent-wise speaking. I love the SAF handles rotation and how he gives everyone that is deserved of a chance playing time and still has demands on them.
When speaking of midfielders, United tradition is the box-to-box type of player and i'm unsure of us moving away from that type of player as long as SAF is in charge. Would a Sneijder player be suitable for United? Don't know? Only time will tell. Moving in for Rasmus could be interesting and typically SAF.