Manchester United vs Sunderland, 5th Novt 2011

Old boy saves Sir Alex the blushes !

By Sahil

What started out promising to be an almost festive occasion turned out into a dull and drab affair. Much of the focus before the game was on Sir Alex Ferguson’s 25th Anniversary celebrations. The Manager however was much more focused on the game, although, the occasion seemed to have gotten to his players who just couldn’t seem to get out of first gear throughout the entire game.

Sunderland, managed by former United Captain Steve Bruce were looking to spoil Sir Alex’s party. But the United backline was never really tested with Vidic and Co. having hardly anything to do. De Gea was rested for the game, giving the Dane, Lindegaard, precious match time. Anderson, Young, Cleverly and Smalling missed out due to injury with Rafael returning to the United bench. Ferguson yet again resorted to playing Rooney in midfield alongside Fletcher with Welbeck and Hernandez in attack.

Sunderland on the other hand went for the Arsenal loanee, Bendtner in attack and packed the midfield. Former United players Richardson and Wes Brown made the starting XI with O’Shea missing out due to injury.

Far and few chances were created by either side during the entire 1st half with the United attack looking blunt without the presence of Rooney who was playing a deep lying role just in front of the United back four. The United midfield and attack looked devoid of ideas on how to break open the Sunderland defense, who were easily able to deal with the insignificant United attacks. On nearly the stroke of half time, a gentle corner floated in by Nani was deflected into his own goal by the hapless Brown.

The 2nd half started off in similar fashion to the 1st with United restricted to long range efforts and Sunderland happy to sit back and defend and attack on the counter. A well struck bouncing ball by Phil Jones went just above the Sunderland cross bar. Then came a frantic moment for the Sunderland defense with Evra powering into the opposition box and firing a low left footed shot which was blocked but only cleared back into Evra’s path who cut back to Vidic who squared the ball to Rooney who hit a sweet left footed strike which seemed destined to double United’s lead only for the Sunderland Stopper to come up with a very smart save. The ball however fell to Evra’s feet, who was just 3 yards from goal, his shot brought out the save of the game from the goalie, leaving the French left back with a bewildered look. The game ended 1-0 to the home side with the majority of the crowd just happy to hear  the final whistle of this lackluster encounter.

Both Managers have lot to ponder upon though. Sunderland look certain to be embroiled in a relegation dog fight unless there’s a drastic improvement in their form. United on the other hand know that these sort of performances just won’t do if they are to catch their neighbours who showed great character in coming from behind to win at Loftus Road against a very spirited QPR side. United’s swash buckling style which characterized the opening couple of months of the season seems to have been replaced by their workman like performances of previous years. This a cause of concern for both the fans and Sir Alex , who had bolstered his squad at the start of the season and brought back quite a few promising young loanees after he had publicly stated after the Champions League Final debacle against Barcelona at Wembley that United had quite a way to go before matching their Spanish counterparts.

Since the humiliating Derby defeat United have played 4, won 4 and conceded 0. This can chiefly be attributed to the return of their talismanic defender, Vidic, but what appears to be the matter of concern is their lack of goals. They have scored just 6 goals in this spell ( an average of 1.5 goals per game )which is way below their average of 3 goals per game this season. Several reasons have lead to this drought in front of goal. Lets look at few of these in detail :

• Young’s dip in form

Ashley Young, the pacy and tricky English winger made his dream move from Villa over the summer to directly command a place in the United starting line up. He started off the season with a bang and was at the heart of everything good United created alongside Rooney, Cleverly and Welbeck. Although Rooney grabbed all the headlines for his hat trick against old foes Arsenal at the Theatre of Dreams, it was actually Young who was orchestrating the opera and scored a fine brace and set up a further two. He was also in thick of action at the Reebok where United over powered Bolton 1-5. Then all of a sudden there was a drastic dip in form and the winger seemed to be in and out of many games, only to get dropped and finally injured. Ferguson has to instill confidence back into his £16 m summer signing to kickstart his United career again.

• Cleverly’s injury woes

Described as the most talented youngster to emerge from United’s youth ranks ( this includes Welbeck, Evans, Pogba etc. ) since Scholes and Co., Cleverly spent the whole of last season on loan with Wigan and created a name for himself with his smart play, level headedness, ability on the ball, eye for goal, uncanny ability to unlock opposition defenses and link up well with his team mates. United were playing sparkling football until Cleverly was laid low by a rough tackle on him by Kevin Davies. He had seemed to form a very good understanding with Anderson in the centre of midfield and was also bringing out the best from the highly rated but under achieving Brazilian. Cleverly’s injury has also seen a dip in the form and confidence of Anderson. Cleverly’s return against Everton looked promising with United passing the ball around with ease in the first half and Cleverly being heavily involved in the build to the first goal, but another injury forced him off the field and he hasn’t featured for United since. Sir Alex will be hoping for an injury free season from now onwards for his blue-eyed midfield lynchpin.

• Rooney’s Amazing Run seems to have hit a road block

The United No. 10 was unstoppable during the opening month of the season hitting back to back hat tricks against Arsenal and Bolton and notching up 9 goals in 5 games. But in usual Wayne Rooney’s style, he got injured and was on the sidelines for a couple of weeks. Then he stomped himself out of the Euro 2012 group stages and was forced to play in the United midfield owing to multiple injuries in the United squad. He is still scoring with ease in the Champions League, albeit against Otelul Gulati, but his lack of sharpness in front of goal is causing the Premier League Champions dear in their effort to catch up with their neighbours. United need their hitman to fire on all cylinders if they want to go into Christmas with City in sight.

• Evra & Rio’s Incredible Fall from Glory

Part of a back four that has been undoubtedly the meanest in Europe for several years now, both these veteran defenders have faced rough waters for both club and country. Evra was axed as the French Captain and Rio was dropped from the English squad. Both were publicly blamed by Fergie for the Derby Debacle. Now both face a real dog fight to keep their place in the side with Jones, Evans, Smalling and Fabio knocking on the doors. The return of Vidic has had a reassuring influence on the back four but nothing can be taken for granted in Ferguson’s side. Evra has lost a yard in pace and is caught out high up field and doesn’t seem to have the legs to get back in time, thus leaving his position exposed. Rio too has lost quite a bit of pace and his reading of the game doesn’t look as convincing as before. Age seems to be catching up with some of United’s senior men.

Sir Alex has stated that he plans to carry on as the United Manager for another 3-4 years, but if he wants to remain as successful as he has been so far, he has quite a bit of introspection to do and some tough decisions need to be made. Clubs like City, Liverpool, Newcastle and Spurs have taken steps in the right direction and United need to get things right and fast. A few world class players need to be brought in either during winter or next summer. Rafael has time and again proven that he’s extremely injury prone, so a solid right back might be looked at. Ferguson has sent scouts to Spain to have a close look at Jordi Alba, the exciting Valencia left back who has made waves this season and broke into the La Furia Roja starting XI. Sneijder continues to be linked with Old Trafford and has long been considered as the ideal successor to fill the gaping hole left by Scholes’s retirement. This, coupled with some solid mentoring of the next generation of United young guns should see United back on their quest for dominance in the British game.