Overall United probably just did enough but it was not a polished performance by a long stretch.
There are plenty of good and bad points to come out of last nights game. The defence was vastly understrength but was bolstered by good performances by both Bardsley and especially Richardson who looked comfortable at the back and his link up play with Giggs was very encouraging. On the other hand, O`Shea looks to be falling back into a slump, he seems to have huge problems with concentrating, very lucky not to concede a goal to one of his errors.
The Midfield is a huge problem in the centre. I know the centre isnt Alan Smiths preferred position but I honestly expected a lot more from him in there. His passing has been sloppy and his tackles have been rash, one of which cost a goal. Surprisingly his work rate has been poor enough too IMO. Along with the mediocre Fletcher I think the time has come to give Liam Miller a shot at it, he cant possibly do any worse than either of these two at the moment. At least Scholes woke up for the last 15 minutes, he looked like the old Scholes again for that short period, hopefully he can keep that up. The wide men should speak for themselves, I thought Giggs was man of the match, not only did he create chances going forward, he covered very well too. Himself and Richardson look a good combination. With Ronaldo for the time being you`ll just have to take the bad with the good by the looks of it, he can be quite wasteful but he`s too good not to be playing, simple as.
Ruud - well he did what Ruud does best, linked up the play very well and got the team out of jail in the end. He plays better with another striker no doubt but last night the personnel werent available and he fought hard throughout, deserved his goal.
There are plenty of good and bad points to come out of last nights game. The defence was vastly understrength but was bolstered by good performances by both Bardsley and especially Richardson who looked comfortable at the back and his link up play with Giggs was very encouraging. On the other hand, O`Shea looks to be falling back into a slump, he seems to have huge problems with concentrating, very lucky not to concede a goal to one of his errors.
The Midfield is a huge problem in the centre. I know the centre isnt Alan Smiths preferred position but I honestly expected a lot more from him in there. His passing has been sloppy and his tackles have been rash, one of which cost a goal. Surprisingly his work rate has been poor enough too IMO. Along with the mediocre Fletcher I think the time has come to give Liam Miller a shot at it, he cant possibly do any worse than either of these two at the moment. At least Scholes woke up for the last 15 minutes, he looked like the old Scholes again for that short period, hopefully he can keep that up. The wide men should speak for themselves, I thought Giggs was man of the match, not only did he create chances going forward, he covered very well too. Himself and Richardson look a good combination. With Ronaldo for the time being you`ll just have to take the bad with the good by the looks of it, he can be quite wasteful but he`s too good not to be playing, simple as.
Ruud - well he did what Ruud does best, linked up the play very well and got the team out of jail in the end. He plays better with another striker no doubt but last night the personnel werent available and he fought hard throughout, deserved his goal.
