All in all, cracking game. I don't care if it was just a draw. The vast majority of people were expecting less. You only have to look at the sheer quality they have in their attacking force and even on their bench to realise that a draw is something to be pleased about. We dealt with their counter-attacks well and nullified threats. Many of the chances they had appeared to come from mistakes we made as opposed to them out-playing us. We also held on through the relentless pressure. That's the thing with Man U. As time draws to an end, they seem to get stronger and more forceful, so any team has to deal with that. Defence was good and midfield was good. Disappointed in our attack yet again though. Some thoughts on the players: - Ranger is starting to annoy me now. He's a frustrating player. He's overcome too easily, makes pointless mistakes and never, ever tries to bloody win the ball in the air. He does remind me of a faster Ameobi. - Ireland looked sharp. He seemed to be in the right place at the right time on numerous occasions. I look forward to him playing in future. - Gutierrez played really well in the first half and decent in the second. MOTM for me. His first half performances were great, and he always seemed to be leading the attack. - Tiote played a very important role. You can just see the difference he makes to our midfield when he's in. Anyhoo, 40 points now, with an extra point from a team very few people expected us to get anything from. Positive result, good performance and the avoidance of another loss to deal with. We should hopefully go into our next match in good spirits.
I wouldn't fault anyone today, Williamson was suspect on a couple of occasions and Ranger didn't have much of an impact (apart from on Vidic's head...lol) but overall the team were great. Big shout out to Krul, fantastic couple of saves.
Aye he's definitely improved. Willo did annoy me as well. He made up for it later on a couple of occasions, but I still think that he's the weakest point in our defence.
He performed well I thought. Moved well, passed well and performed his duties. He did pretty much everything Nolan would do. The only thing he didn't have the same was Nolan's threat in the box.
IMO Guthrie's more technically gifted(better mobility, more active and a better passer) but Nolan's goal threat, leadership and experience is vital to us so y'know Different types of CM's IMO. Guthrie's more box-to-box.. Nolan's a threat in the box and has better finishing ability(attacking mid) although his lack of pace is his only downfall. Who would be your team on Sat?
Aye it's a tough call isn't it. Shola doesn't deserve to to keep his place over Loverman but can you see him being the lone striker
Shola may struggle to play 2 games in 5 days, and Lover can't play up front alone, so maybe Nolan off Ranger/Kuqi
I put my team up in some other thread. Guthrie in CM with Tiote, and Nolan behind Lovenkrands. Guthrie and Nolan both offer so much more to the games than the likes of Ameobi, so I'd have them both on over him. In the second half, Ireland can replace Nolan, or Ireland can replace Guthrie and go into the role behind the striker, while Nolan goes into CM.
