Fulham 2-2
Everton 3-3
Bolton 2-2
Sunderland 0-0
WBA 2-2
City 0-0
Villa 2-2
7 draws out of our first 13 games. Surely not the stuff of champions.
Our first 3 draws were due to defensive lapses with the relinquished leads at Fulham and Everton especially tough to swallow. Nani missed a penalty that could have potentially sealed the deal against Fulham. It would have given us a 2 goal lead going into the final few minutes. But then, with the way we fell apart against Everton in stoppage time, maybe the 2 goal advantage wouldn’t have been sufficient.
Our 4th draw of the campaign was against Sunderland and we finally got Rio back fit for a full 90. Defensively, we looked more assured in this game than in any of our prior draws. Unfortunately, we didn’t start with Berba up front and Sunderland bossed our midfield with ease.
Our 5th draw was another 2 goal lead that disappeared. We were cruising at halftime completely dominating the game and the tables were flipped in the 2nd. West Brom came out and played incredible football putting us on the backfoot for the second 45. We were fortunate not to come away empty handed.
Draw # 6 was the midweek snorefest against City with the ball being clogged up in midfield. We gradually asserted ourselves in the 2nd half, but could find no way past the City wall.
Our latest draw was this past weekend where we found ourselves in the unfamiliar position of being 2 goals down and having to do to Villa what both Everton and WBA had done to us. In fairness, Villa’s young squad played with no fear against a more “established” United side and it was only once we found ourselves in a place of desperation that we finally decided to kick it into gear.
So where are we now?
1.Our defensive lapses are hopefully behind us as the early draws were primarily down to that (see J Evans and a loss of form). With Rio and Vidic reestablishing their defensive partnership and understanding, we no longer look as vulnerable at the back. I feel like we can actually go into games and entertain the possibility of keeping a cleansheet. That confidence wasn’t there with Evans and _____ in our backline.
2.Berba’s gradual loss of form and confidence. I believe that he’s the kind of player that has to play every week. Seemingly very emotional and sensitive, his mental state seems to play a large part in his performance on the field. He was undoubtedly hurt by Ferguson’s reliance on the 4-5-1 in big games last season that saw Rooney spearheading the attack and Berba only finding a spot on the bench. Dropping him out of the starting 11 against Sunderland when he was in the time of his life may have confused him as well. We need to play him back into form. Chicharito, unlikely Berba, can thrive as an impact sub.
3.Our overreliance on Nani was plain to see as our poor performance for the first 75 minutes against Villa coincided with a very subpar game for the winger. His touches and crosses were generally poor and not up to the standard we’ve come to expect from him this season. Hopefully, that game was just a one off and his form doesn’t start trending like Berba’s.
4.Carrick’s return to form has been a nice surprise. Hopefully, as the rest of our squad recovers from their various niggling injuries, we could see some healthy competition for spots in midfield. Park and Evra are starting to resemble their old reliable selves as well. If Ando can come back and replicate Carrick’s resurgence, then we have much to be optimistic about going forward. Unless of course…
5.We keep drawing games. In which case Chelsea will be so far ahead that we find ourselves fighting off City and Arsenal for 2nd place.
Some Related Man United Posts:Another 2 points dropped (v Sunderland)Perfect ending to a tumultuous week (vs Stoke)Draw # 7 (vs Villa)Not again?!?! (v West Brom)The Berba Show (feat. Liverpool)
Category: English Premier League, Manchester United
Tags: Berbatov, Dimitar Berbatov, English Premier League, Manchester United, Michael Carrick, Nani, Patrice Evra, Premiership« Draw # 7 (vs Villa) | Home | blog comments powered by Disqus
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LATEST COMMENTSAnti climatic affair (vs City)
Shaun: you and me both buddy.. Anti climatic affair (vs City)
Shaun: hindsight is always 20 20. looking back now, it seems like we should have brought on chicharito to p ... [read more] Anti climatic affair (vs City)
Kev: That's a good point. Just kinda sucks that we had to play so defensively. if we had taken the ri ... [read more] Anti climatic affair (vs City)
MIGUELITO: true that, i just cant wait till the transfer window to upgrade it a little bit Anti climatic affair (vs City)
Shaun: as per my reply to kev below, i don't think we could have started with both berba and chicharito ... [read more] Anti climatic affair (vs City)
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MIGUELITO: forget the end, i think they shuld've both been in the starting lineup. sure, it wuld have taken ... [read more] Anti climatic affair (vs City)
miele: If only SAF had put Chicharito together with Berba near the end......Never mind. But enough draws ... [read more] Anti climatic affair (vs City)
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