₦airaland Forum

coogar:
2 goals down against man city in wembley. . . .and don't kid yourself about that being a friendly. a derby game is a derby game
fergie knew where the problem was - carrick was too pedestrian for anderson to support the attack. so he took carrick off and brought in a more mobile cleverley and the rest was history. i have never seen yaya toure, david silva and gareth barry so outplayed!

coogar:
which peace of mind? we lost a 3-1 lead at everton in the 90th min to draw 3-3.
we lost leads at fulham too. we were leading 2-1 before they equalized. bolton battered us 2-2. west brom nearly got a win at old trafford 2-2.
united were shyte home/away in spite of their conservative football. we conceded loads too. 2-0 against liverpool and they got back 2-2 before berbatov's late winner. it seems you have forgotten how shyte we played last season, i have not!

coogar:
bayern lost their first game at home.
barcelona were outplayed by valencia few weeks ago where they were lucky to get 2-2.
real madrid lost to a no-mark team few weeks ago as well. so what are you talking about?

coogar:
clean sheets don't win the premier league - getting 3 points is the ultimate! citeh had the best defence last season, where did they finish?

coogar:
i am confident - if we play our strongest team and they play theirs, we would be fine.
very fine!

mbulela:
you did not get my point.
he is the best cos he gives you both; the speed of light and that of a snail.

coogar:
he looked world class when he battered iniesta and busquets in america!

coogar:
majority of the united fans complained. . . . .whole loads of them did that the team has regressed and it's the worst united team under fergie.
that we play within ourselves and we only play very well when chasing a game and blah blah blah. we only won 5 away matches in 19. united's rivals called us crap invincibles

mbulela:
stop complaining,only the best midfielder can give you the best of both worlds like you just described.

montelik:
ROTFLMAO . But seriously when we were playing dull & unimaginative but effective and defensively solid footie last season, most complained incessantly. Now we have dropped d likes of Carrick and are playing with more openness and verve, yet still problem.

Sijo01:
^abeg nor call am come here oo. lol

@Ruudie, wt of if she finally get married to d dude, dat means u waited in vain.

Eko Ile:
Any reason why we should lose sleep over what private companies spend on their projects? Are private companies answerable to tax payers or their own board which I'm sure approved the funding to start with and maybe their shareholders if they have any.


What's really our business?

montelik:
Just to keep d interesting Anderson debate going, here


[url=http://redflagflyinghigh.com/2011/10/blogs/mr-inconsistency-simply-cannot-be-dropped-yet][/url]

Let d debate continue,

Why are Manchester United allowing so many shots on their goal this season?

----excerpts

To return to the question – why? Or, to rephrase the question with the evidence from above, why are United conceding so many shots from long range? There are a few possible answers.

1. David De Gea’s perceived weakness from long-range shots?

After letting in Edin Dzeko’s long-range strike in the Community Shield, there was a lot of attention paid to De Gea’s ability to deal with long shots – in particular, his footwork was questioned. Meanwhile, Opta put out a stat that suggested he had a poor record from long-range last year in La Liga. Is De Gea weak from distance? In this case, the true answer isn’t really relevant – the key is that opponents think he is, hence why they’ve been peppering him from 20+ yards. He’s yet to concede a goal from outside the box in the Premier League.

2. Defensive injuries?

Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have both been injured, whilst Chris Smalling and then Antonio Valencia have been played out of position at right-back. United’s defence has coped well in the circumstances, but there is still a question mark about how much of a solid partnership there is at the back, particularly when one centre-back needs step forward and the other needs to cover, as Fernando Torres’ goal at Old Trafford showed. Ferdinand and Vidic had that art perfected, although United have learnt to cope without the former.

[b]3. No true holding player?

It’s arguable whether Michael Carrick is a holding player or not, but he’s certainly more of one than both Anderson and Tom Cleverley, Ferguson’s favoured midfield partnership so far this season. An interesting feature of United’s 4-4-2 last season was the use of one calm, intelligent passing player who would remain in front of the back four (Carrick or Paul Scholes) and a runner who would break forward (Darren Fletcher or Anderson). Ferguson was reluctant to use two passers or two runners together.
Cleverley is an altogether different player – more attack-minded than any of the players mentioned above, and the use of him and Anderson leaves too much of a gap between midfield and defence, with no-one screening. Carrick, whilst far from the tough tackler some still favour in that position, is very good at tracking and intercepting. United might well be a better side overall without him, but defensively they’re not as solid.[/b]

4. Rooney working less?

As Stewart Robson recently mentioned, Rooney’s run of form as a true number ten has coincided with him running less without the ball. He worked extremely hard when fielded wide as United were dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo, and did the same when used as a lone forward. Now, epitomised by his lax tracking of Sergio Busquets in the Champions League final, the start of United’s problems in midfield in that game, he doesn’t work as hard to close down. As a result, the midfielders have to do more work higher up the pitch, and leave gaps in behind.

5. More fluidity = less structure?

The Community Shield performance was a marked difference from United last season. In 2010/11 they were linear, well-defined and organised. Now, they’re much more free-flowing and flexible. As a result, they’re more likely to put together great attacking combinations, but also more likely to be opened up by opponents in midfield. The identity of players as a result of this change has also contributed – with a fluid system you’d favour Ashley Young and Nani over Park Ji-Sung and Antonio Valencia, but the latter two are clearly much more disciplined players.

Conclusion

Five possible answers that all have their merits. De Gea’s reputation as being dodgy from long-range is clearly a contributing factor, but the combination of the final three points, which are all interlinked, is also worth consideration. If Rooney doesn’t close down, then Cleverley and Anderson will surely be exposed by top-level opponents at some stage.

Perhaps the most obvious reason initially, the defensive injuries, seems less of a factor. Evans, Jones and Smalling have all impressed – the issue is higher up the pitch.

Still, United’s defensive record is nothing to worry about so far, and the improvement in attacking potential compensates for the question marks when United don’t have the ball. Still, we can’t rule out the odd game where United’s defence looks vulnerable, and they end up conceding a few goals.

nateevs:
Sky Sports didn't show the hand ball in the build up.
They must have missed it. . .

They decided to show VDV chest the ball and shoot. . .
Useless Sky Sports.