Reply With QuoteWednesday – Credit to them. They matched us up formation wise and defended well. I felt we played into their hands and did not do enough to stretch them. Still they got men in the way, tackled, fought and blocked. They were well organised, disciplined and did break a few times and could argue they had as many attempts as we did. They even made Moore make 2 or 3 saves. We only maybe offered 1 decent effort on goal (2 or 3 wide). They started the game poorly and we were well on top but we failed to create much and then the game became scrappy which suited them. They did not play much football I felt but still had a few decent long-range efforts and could have even nicked it. They were all workmanlike. The defence did not make many mistakes and the keeper was sound too. Most of the team were solid and professional. They fouled and were niggly but that is fine in the sense they were fighting for each other.
The new managers first job is to get them fit and organised. He needs players back and maybe needs to change the whole training regime if players are not fit or always injured. Maybe it is bad luck but often wonder when lots of players for the same club keep getting injuries. As for the rest of the season; they are too far off the top 6 and won’t be sucked into the bottom I do not think. Be interesting what happens in the summer – no offence to the new guy; but the appointment suggests they are not throwing as much funds at it as they have done and the lack of movement in January with all the injuries they have suggests FFP is an issue and will be in the summer. They have a lot of ageing or journeyman players on big wages and contracts that will be hard to shift and do not see many getting better. People like Jones, Butterfield, Fletcher, Rhodes, Hunt etc I am not sure are better than mid table Champ players at best. They have not the same production line as us from the Academy although the lad Clare came on (Hirst will move on for small compensation in the summer) so will have to wheel and deal a bit.
They do have some good players I admit that and many have badly underperformed this season when they have played. They can blame the previous manager all they want but individuals have to take some responsibility. The keeper Westwood is decent (had a poorer season) and they have some solid centre backs in Loovens, Lees and then some decent midfielders in the likes of Lees and Wallace (although was an arse last night). Their best players are Bannan, Hooper and Forestieri. None played last night so will point to that in the point they gained. If they get them three back they will move up the league but be too late for the top 6 I think. Their fans are still a bit deluded about how good they are and all this nonsense about how they would not swap any players for our eleven is biased rubbish. Certainly, whilst I admire the players I discuss above who may have better pedigrees or past, United have some players that may have come from the lower leagues but have proved this season they are good players and many can get even better as are good ages – the likes of Moore, Baldock, O’Connell, Fleck, Brookes. Add in Clarke, Duffy and a few others and our side and even squad with the new signings is certainly comparable to theirs despite their assertions it was all down the Carlos. The league table attests to this.
Opposition Man of the Match: Pudil played really well and headed and cleared everything and was first to the ball ahead of Clarke on a lot of occasions. He was maybe the stand out defender from a resolute back line. The two others both got booked and sent off but did well although Loovens was stupid to leave his feet twice. Joao worked hard and held the ball up quite well. He also chased the ball down a lot. Nobody was really poor for Wednesday and they all must have raised their games from some recent abject displays. They all put a real shift in last night and matched our work rate which has been one of our strengths but teams recently are matching us in that regard so we need to raise it again.
Opposition Weak link : Nobody was particularly poor. I felt the lad in midfield Jones was anonymous as Fleck and Duffy dictated for long spells in terms of ball possession. Palmer was someone who was sloppy a few times but did not take advantage. Rhodes was probably the quietest performer. Whether it was 8 million or 11 million; his signing is looking an expensive mistake. He had one flicked header wide but did nothing of note. He does not even work that hard. To be honest everything we have said about Sharp you could say about him. If he is not scoring then what does he actually do? Wallace was really poor I felt and other than one or two jinking runs resorted to fouling, arguing and trying to ref the game.
Moore 7/10 – Made a great save at the end when he hurt his back – mix up between him and Stearman. He made a few other more routine saves and kind of bobbed one from Wallace out which he got a bit lucky. Crucial save though that preserved a point at the end.
Baldock 6.5/10 – He was better than Stevens and a bit more composed on the ball but he too was a bit wasteful with the ball and I felt he rushed things or did not find the right quality when we needed it. He does keep going up and down the flank and has good energy but he needs to show more quality when it matters. Defensively he did ok and only once did they get away from him.
Stevens 5/10 – I think he continued his poor play from the last month or so. So sloppy on the ball and at times left gaps when he defended. He lost it twice setting them on the attack. His final cross/pass when he goes forward has been woeful. He kicks them too far, hits the first man rarely finds a red and white shirt. He may be better just trying to hit an area (penalty spot) as at the moment it is incredible how many times he gets in a good position but wastes things. Kept falling over too and was slipping and sliding all over.
Basham 5.5/10 – Defensively he was ok actually. He made interceptions and got his foot in and did not make any mistakes but when he went forward he was woeful. He overplayed the ball 3 times and then he kicked a cross into the Kop under no pressure. He has to do much better than he has been recently with the ball as he has been so careless. Technically he is very poor but not sure he will improve in this area. A great servant to United but at times you do wonder (tin hat time) if United want to keep moving on; that we need to upgrade especially with the type of football/formation we play which needs defenders to show more quality.
O’Connell 7/10 – Fine tonight and as at Derby he got back to standards of earlier in the season. Defended well for the most part and won his headers/tackles. He was a bit wasteful with some balls forward but kept plugging away. Another whose final ball was poor though. He also goes up for corners and gets his head on the ball but he has missed so many chances this season the odd time we get a decent corner in.
Stearman 7/10 – Might have been our best player. He was very good and as he has been last few weeks did not do anything wrong (maybe the mix up with Moore at the end but at least both went for it and not sure if a shout came or not). He played Rhodes really well and used the ball too when he could. He has been excellent recently. I also thought he passed it as well as anyone in the side. People forget that when they advocate Wright playing ahead of him but Stearman is more mobile and better with the ball. I do not think this bad run has anything what to do with this change in the side (Coutts, lack of form of others etc are the real reason).
Fleck 7/10 – Decent game. Not amazing and did bits in flashes with a few driving runs and decent passes but flitted in and out of the game. Probably wanted him to get on the ball more and drive at them even more as when he did they fouled him or were worried but another who played it sideways and backwards. We needed more forward passes. Still when he gets on the ball he is quality and you can see why a few Prem teams are allegedly looking at him. He is a classic box to box midfielder that can tackle, good on the ball, can pass and a decent athlete. Only weakness is he does not score enough goals.
Lundstram 5.5/10 – Not a great game. He is too inconsistent at the moment and has one good game and then one poor one. He has improved since he came in but we need much more than he showed today. He played everything at such a slow pace and needed several touches to make simple passes or tried that silly diagonal balls that comes off now and again but often allows teams to get players across as it is in the air for so long. He gave it away a few times too and just looked too slow in terms of how he moved and what he did. He is not strong enough for a lad his size too. His two shots were pathetic second half and wasted two decent chances we had to stretch them. With Leonard and Evans now here; he has to play much better than that to keep his place. Wilder will not drop Fleck or Duffy I feel so he is the most at risk in the midfield and the performance in a big game was very average at best last night.
Duffy 6/10 – Not really his night tonight. He never hid and I felt as always tried to get on the ball. He is clearly now a marked man and teams know most of the good stuff we do goes through him. At times his final ball was rushed and did not come off. His free kicks were also poor including a good chance first half when he floated over. Second half as they got more men behind the ball we were relying on him to make chances. If Brooks had been fit then he would have come on today. This is where Holmes also can help.
