FAO SunderEire

1

Louis is back!!!

[img size=300]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44091000/jpg/_44091519_saha_getty300.jpg

Total domination of Sunderland by United. Passed off the park. When Saha came on the point of the attack changed and United started creating chances and one went in. Now hopefully Ronnie and Rooney and Gary Neville will be back for the next game against Everton. Evra was my man of the match. He should play on the left of midfield more often.

Post edited by: Captainshan, at: 2007/09/01 19:26

2

I watched this and thought Manchester United were awful and barely created a chance of note against what is frankly a collection of has-beens and never-were-anything-in-the-first-place-to-begin-with-beens.

3

Bandage wrote:

I watched this and thought Manchester United were awful and barely created a chance of note against what is frankly a collection of has-beens and never-were-anything-in-the-first-place-to-begin-with-beens.

Sounds like the Celtic team.

4

Flano wrote:

Bandage wrote:

[quote]I watched this and thought Manchester United were awful and barely created a chance of note against what is frankly a collection of has-beens and never-were-anything-in-the-first-place-to-begin-with-beens.

Sounds like the Celtic team.[/quote]

Oooh humour - I like it.

It was a turgid game with hardly a passing move of note so I don’t know agree with Captainshan’s post about passing Sunderland off the park. If Manchester United supporters were impressed with that display then they might be too biased and blind to their poor form.

Overall it was a case of one team passing it the odd time against a ragball team of journeymen who were concentrating on hoofing it up the park and then getting 10 men behind the ball.

The 3 points was what was most important though, especially having dropped 7 points out of the first 9.

5

I didn’t see the game but the possession stat from the game Man Utd 65% - 35% Sunderland looks like a domination from Utd

6

You can have plenty of the ball without hurting a team. Manchester United were completely ineffective in the first half and didn’t do anything despite those possession stats so it wasn’t a domination in that sense. They weren’t moving the ball with any pace and had no incision and Sunderland, playing 4-5-1, were satisfied to sit behind the ball and defend.

There was long periods where United didn’t have anyone in the box with Tevez dropping deep, Scholes and Hargreaves sitting in midfield and Anderson, Eagles and Nani doing nothing in particular and they didn’t look like scoring at all in the first 45 minutes.

Saha gave them a focal point when he came on (the fact he was sprung at half time having not even played a reserve game as part of his rehabilitation from injury emphasised how toothless they were in the first half) and hit an excellent snap volley that Gordon turned away and then headed in a corner. Bar that and a couple of Hargreaves long distance shots they still didn’t threaten and they were crying out for Ronaldo, Rooney and Giggs.

7

That was a common problem for United last season as well. There’s a misunderstanding in England (and Ireland) that the continental way of playing is just to hold onto the ball. Retaining possession doesn’t create chances if you don’t do anything with it.

The game United played in Celtic Park last year was a prime example. All the ball in the world United had but it was all lateral and tedious and just took all the pace off the game. They went away to Milan and went man for man against Milan and thought they’d match them. What they didn’t realise was that Carrick copping out of central areas and playing simple passes all the time into space and Fletcher dropping deep and playing the way he was facing the whole time achieves nothing.

Milan were masterful that day - not simply because they played lovely football but because they gave United a footballing lesson. All their players were so comfortable on the ball that they were able to keep possession in contact and in dangerous areas which lead to plenty of chances. Sitting back and playing in front of the opposing midfield is not brilliant, continental, modern football. It’s just failing to understand how the game works.

8

therock67 wrote:

That was a common problem for United last season as well. There’s a misunderstanding in England (and Ireland) that the continental way of playing is just to hold onto the ball. Retaining possession doesn’t create chances if you don’t do anything with it.

The game United played in Celtic Park last year was a prime example. All the ball in the world United had but it was all lateral and tedious and just took all the pace off the game. They went away to Milan and went man for man against Milan and thought they’d match them. What they didn’t realise was that Carrick copping out of central areas and playing simple passes all the time into space and Fletcher dropping deep and playing the way he was facing the whole time achieves nothing.

Milan were masterful that day - not simply because they played lovely football but because they gave United a footballing lesson. All their players were so comfortable on the ball that they were able to keep possession in contact and in dangerous areas which lead to plenty of chances. Sitting back and playing in front of the opposing midfield is not brilliant, continental, modern football. It’s just failing to understand how the game works.

That’s saying what I was trying to say initially in a much more eloquent fashion. Ya fook.

Getting back to Sunderland. Their side on Saturday was (playing 4-5-1):

Gordon;
McShane; Nosworthy; Higginbotham; Collins;
Chopra; Leadbitter; Yorke; Etuhu; Wallace;
Jones;

How fooking brutally bad is that side?

3 of the back 4 are total journeymen and the other, McShane, is a prospect at centre half but a makeshift right back.

As far as I could see Leadbitter ran around a bit and tackled. Yorke is knackered. Chopra, like McShane, was playing out of position. Etuhu is a big powerful athlete with no footballing ability and Ross Wallace didn’t stand out in the Celtic reserve side.

Then you had poor Kenwyne Jones, the GBP6m man, making his debut and spending the whole game looking at the ball either being lofted up over his head or dealing with ‘passes’ being drilled at his neck.

I acknowledge they were playing away to the champions but there wasn’t an ounce of football in them. They were fooking awful.

I really do worry about the Drumaville guys’ investment.

Post edited by: Bandage, at: 2007/09/03 23:46

9

I made the point to a friend that without Rooney and Ronaldo, United will struggle to score goals and that has been prooven with only 3 goals in 5 games. The fact is that teams like Sunderland and Reading will come to United and play a 4.5.1 formation to frustate the oppostion and it works. You have to be patient and hopefully take the chance and Saha did that. He runs in behind defenders which no other United striker does. Saha has a few weeks to get fit now along with Gary Neville who is badly missed as Brown cant put a decent ball into the box. I think when United get to full strenght they will be create more chances and score more goals.