Over the past few weeks I've been trying to get the point across that picking midfield plodders who are there to stick the boot in, are limited footballers who offer little going forward and will therefore ultimately only invite pressure on the defence. It becomes a catch 22 situation, and people then argue these players are needed because of the pressure on the defence despite being partly responsible for the cause of it. Today demonstrated the point perfectly. Why players like Mata, Carrick, Herrera - players who play possession football actually relieve the pressure off the defence. In fact I'd go as far as to say they relieve the pressure off Fellaini who, by far and away, had his best game in a United shirt today. It's not rocket science, our midfielders pressed all over the pitch, they passed and kept the ball brilliantly...and quelle fcking surprise, our defence had a much easier day. To anyone who thinks that playing badly and winning is better than playing well and losing.... playing well and winning is better than both
Which is why a winning streak builds confidence and stops the nervous play. Not rocket science, but it is so much easier when the players understand each other better. Considering our ongoing injury problems, the team is doing far far better than under Moyes.
There are still a couple of problems in the outfield - it's a shame that Valencia and RVP have been the weakest link in terms of holding on to possession. Hopefully Rafael when he's fit will fix one of those problems, and I still want to believe in RVP who seems to be lacking confidence more than anything. Hopefully he'll be boosted by his goal today.
Hes very suspect defensively if we dont have it. However in most games i doubt the opposition will get much more than 25% of the possession.
This is it UIR, if we play Mata, Herrera, Carrick we hold possession. If the oppo don't have the ball, they can't score. Also think the accusation about him being suspect defensively is irrelevant. We used to hear this about Ronaldo. Or it's like saying Scholes was suspect because he couldn't tackle. It's a moot point bcos what Mata offers creatively far outweighs any of that.
Depends how we set up. Fellaini has played primarily when weve had no defence and just need to stutter the opposition. A short term plan as it was due to circumstance. Lvg didnt want us getting caught on the break again.
OK, Hull were not exceptional, but we would have taken a 3-0 win at kick off. In all fairness, our injury list has been heavy to say the least, but as players recover, no one is going to fancy playing against us. Future looks good PROVIDED we dont get another massive injury list
You look at the best team in the world at the moment Real Madrid, who rarely concede a goal, and there so called holding players are hardly what you'd call defensive players. Modric and Kroos are much better recognised for there attacking play rather than there defensive play. If your opponent doesn't have the ball they can't hurt you.
It could well be the opposition being timid but this was the best performance by an LVG team this season. That we played well without Di Maria augurs well. There was the swagger and the possession football that the OT crowd was accustomed too. And the uncertainty of the team when playing at OT last season (hopefully) has gone. Mata and Herrera had both a good game. It may not be possible to always playMata and Herrera together but they seemed to have transformed the midfield yesterday.
