24 Mar 2015 11:03:34
Well that was a very satisfying win, and a well deserved one too. First off I would like to put to bed these ideas that we one due to long ball football. It is merely sour grapes. Only 17% of our passes were long balls, which compared to 14% for Liverpool shows we only played slightly more long balls than them, and considering how much more possession we had than them maybe it would have been closer than 3% difference if we had an equal amount of the ball?
Did we play long passes on Sunday? yes but certainly not enough to to brand us a long ball team, we played well, we kept the ball well, we linked up well and moved the ball with more propose and speed. Playing 433 with Mata drifting in and Fellaini playing between the lines completely confused Liverpool and they had no answer for it. Personally I would have preferred to see Januzaj come on instead of Di Maria but then we would probably not have had Mata's beautiful winner. So no complaints really.
What the main point of my post is though is the difference in recent weeks compared to what has come previously. So far this season if you were going to pick out our best performers you would come up with names such as Smalling, Young, Fellaini, Blind and of course De Gea. All of them are good players but none are world class, they are the players you expect to see solid 6's or 7's from but aren't the guys who wow you during a game and put on a performance. Up until recently our performances have been laboured but then only our labouring type players have performed. In recent weeks both Mata and Rooney have performed to a level we expect and suddenly we look a good team. We have several players who could be considered "world class" DDG, Di Maria, Mata, Rooney, RvP and Falcao. And over the season how many have consistently performed for us? Rooney has had a few games where he has had a 20-30 minute spell where he's played well, Di Maria has had a few good games at the start of the season. But what of Mata? of RvP? or Falcao? How can you expect world class performances when none of your world class players are performing? That is the key to us finishing in the top four and to perform well each week. We need at least one of our world class players putting in a performance that justifies that tag. Without world class players then we are only a functional team and can only expect functional performances.
So what do we do from here on? Well Falcao hasn't shown he is worth a start over any of our other strikers, which is a shame as he had such ability. RvP has been given chance after chance after chance and has only shown up once or twice at most if i'm being generous. That leaves us with Mata, Rooney and Di Maria. Well Mata has shown he should be playing in recent weeks, and Rooney is our captain and at the moment our best striker so they should both be starting. That leaves Di Maria, he should be handled carefully and slowly be reintroduced to help him build up his confidence. We have invested too much money in him to just cut him out now. Besides even if he is destined to move on we need him getting game time to try and improve his form and keep his value up. And as shown on Sunday even out of form he still creates 2/3 chances in a game. Januzaj also needs to be playing more, 433 should suit him well and he is one of our players who has the potential to become world class.
Onward and upward, we need to use these results and more importantly performances as the spring board to launch us as high up the table as possible and build confidence for next season. Not just confidence within our squad but confidence from players managers and fans outside of our club that we are moving in the right direction and on our way back to being a dominant force again. It will make Ed Woodwards job in the summer much easier.
24 Mar 2015 12:37:21
Fair point Shappy and some good analysis but when you speak of the no show from 'world class' players and the lack of 'world class' performaces this season I'll ask you this, what do you expect?
Rooney has been playing as a deep CM the majority of the year, Herrera and Mata have been overlooked on countless occasions, Di Maria (yes he has been horrid this year) has been shifted from wingback to striker to centre mid to number ten and then some throughout his first bedding in season. On top of that RVP could touch the ball once in 90mins and still be the first name on the team sheet the following week.
So if your theory is that 'world class' players on the pitch conjure up 'world class' performaces then who is accountable for those odd/poor/horrendous decisions?
24 Mar 2015 13:28:48
JMB, are you implying it is the manager's fault if our "world class strikers" can't put the ball in the goal when they have good chances, because that's been the situation with Falcao and RVP. The problem is the premise. RVP is no longer world class and Falcao has yet to reattain that status. Both have been very disappointing this season, even taking into account the not unreasonable criticism related to our tactics/slow build up play.
What I think is refreshing is that all of a sudden we are starting to see goals coming from our midfielders. That's the key to winning championships. Because once the rotation of attacking options becomes unpredictable, the defensive pattern becomes uprooted. That's the premise behind possession football. It's great to have a 25 goal a year striker, but if you get nothing from your midfield, it won't be enough. In the end it's a team effort, and we can but hope that finally, as we move into squeaky bum time, the squad as a whole will continue the improvement of the last 3 weeks (I'm including the arsenal game here because I thought we played quite well).
The best part of the whole shebang is seeing Dr. Phil so exuberant, slapping old Giggsy around.
24 Mar 2015 15:03:01
shawthing:"The best part of the whole shebang is seeing Dr. Phil so exuberant, slapping old Giggsy around."
. . .
LOL that made me laugh mate.
Giggs gave the manager a look that said: We have got these scousers by the short and curlys boss.
24 Mar 2015 15:57:37
Juan, It's not about stuffing all your best players on the pitch at the same time, its about finding a system to get the best out of them.
With all the injuries and lack of form it has been differcult to fully accertain what that is. Many people have had many different theories with formations, playing personel and tactics all debated. Should we play possession based football? Counter attacking? Pressing or sitting deep? Who should play upfront, Rooney? RvP? Falcao? In midfield, Di Maria? Mata? Hererra? Fellaini? Carrick? Blind? Januzaj? There have been so many opinions and so many options that it has been hard for anyone to truly point out which is best. I can't remember anyone coming up with the tactics/system/player combination we are currently using so we were all wrong.
What we have now is a system that in theory should get the best out of Rooney, Mata, Januzaj and Di Maria, while also keeping a balance between attack and defence So we can control games but also have the ability to open teams up.
Mata has been quality when he played as a No.10 but left us open in the middle, yet if played out wide he lost that ability to pop up and score or create that chance centrally. So now LvG has come up with a false winger type role for him where he doesn't expose the centre of the pitch with his lack of physicality but can still create and score those chances.
Rooney is back up top, mostly because of the injury to RvP and the lack of form shown by Falcao. Those two not being involved has allowed us to switch and play one up top which has given us more defensive balance.
Many things have come together at the same time which has led to us being where we are now. It's not as simple as getting your world class players on the pitch but putting things in place so they can make the most of their ability and therefore provide the most for the team.
24 Mar 2015 22:47:59
"I can't remember anyone coming up with the tactics/system/player combination we are currently using so we were all wrong."
Shappy I disagree. I think many, many folk called for this team and these tactics to be used, myself included.
25 Mar 2015 10:26:31
JMB,
You wanted Mata on the right side of a front 3? I have searched through the pages and can't see you or anyone saying that mate, show me I am wrong if you like.