Johno's Kleberson analysis

[Potomac Red Devil]

Okay, johno...I can't wait anymore. Post it here!

[Soccerholic]

Okay, johno...I can't wait anymore. Post it here!
As co-pres of the KFC, don't you have to approve all Kleberson related diatribes? :D

[50 Euro]

Okay, johno...I can't wait anymore. Post it here!
Well, I'm certainly on the edge of my seat... :rolleyes: ;)

[johno]

here it comes....

I've stated numerous times that Klebs is our midfielder for Europe... so I tried to find a game that he played in Europe in its entirity (I cant spell)... so I came up with United vs. Fernerbache, leg one...

Ok, I will admit, i was feeling down and watched the match and then decided to follow Klebs around... the following is everything he did during the match... defensively and on the attacking side as well...

Kleberson vs. Fernerbache

6mins... 5 touches, never gave the ball away, made 3 lateral passes and 2 forward passes 1 back pass and 1 cross to set up giggs... eluded 1 tackler, won 1 50-50 and had 1 tackle attempted and won it to spark counter...

got ball mostly in middle 1/3 of field and once came back to cb's... oh, set up Giggs header goal (left footed, the tackle he won helped set up goal)

won another tackle

fired a volley into the 50th row after a corner was headed clear

was in good position to deny a fb player a shot, forcing a lateral pass instead

kept in wayward cross with a great first time falling down pass to Heinze (12:20)

pressured defender to play back to keeper

came back for ball played 1st time square ball to Heinze

on Rooney's first goal when we broke forward and had 5 players streaking accross the half line at the time and he had the sense to know he was surplus to need and stayed near the center circle to stop a counter if it came.

played cross field ball from lw to rw straight to bellion
received bad pass from rio used first touch to knock it to GN thus keeping possesion
got pass played first time to Rio, a bad pass, but nothing dangerous
yet another first time ball, this time to djdj
pressured alex who lost possesion, leading to a united break but Rooney's pass to Ruud was overhit
received throw in with a man on him.. won another by hitting it off him

played 1-2 w/ giggs and then another w/ djdj and then amazingly another with Bellion, all in one sequence to get some space and then found GN on the wing with an accurate pass

played a pass to silvestre... it was back, but gave him lots of time on the ball (he wasted it, but still he had the time)

Another thing I noticed is how good a passer Ruud is and how well he plays outside the box... he might only score inside but his holding up play, vision and passing are excellent as well.

Yet another thing... Rooney is so damn good!!! man, he proved his worth early on no?

Kleberson takes a ball that went about 25feet in the air and first times it back to Rio, perfect pass... again, helping us hold possesion

Kleberson after Ruud chested down a throw in plays Giggs through after guess how many touches? 1. Giggs' touch was a bit heavy and was cleared by Deniz

Until this point although he'd only gone in for 1 or 2 challenges every time FB got the ball in midfield and no one had the man w/ the ball he picked that player up, never rushing in and getting beaten, but taking away room for a forward pass.

failed to make a tackle, however the ball was going away from our goal

found djdj after spending an eternity on the ball (2 touches)

plays looping first time leftfooted crossfield ball to GN, it got to GN but his 1st touch was poor... perhaps one could fault Klebs for not thinking of who he was passing to

pressured alex into a back pass... mostly due to good marking from klebs alex has had maybe 5 touches in attacking positions all game long...

sigh... another on the money first time ball

heads a high ball into Ruud's path

lateral pass to djdj

picked off errant pass and eludes 2 fb tacklers then slides a pass to Rooney who is in miles of space (rooney then played it to GN who made a poor cross)

Most importantly around the 50th minute the commentator makes a cricket reference... he said Rustu's save on Rooney's 30yard crack was like a tailender facing Steve Harmison, he just about got something in the way

It finally happens... Klebs had time and space with the ball and perhaps was looking for Bellion to make a run, but his pass was poor... so after about 20 errorless passes he gave the ball away...

soon after ferner make it 4-2 he makes a tackle/passes to djdj

fletcher enters for giggs on 62 mins

2 touches klebs finds djdj behind him with time and space

Fletcher takes 1 touch loses the ball i'm not kidding, next time though he finds rooney with a good pass

klebs heads clear... wins tackle then gets fouled, although there's no call and concedes a corner

Klebs w/ good over head clearance after we were under some pressure

Klebs takes bad pass holds off tackle, finds djdj

nice b-heel 2 heinze who eventualy wastes it
Klebs loses ball but on his way back intercepts pass and plays it all in one touch into the path of Rooney who had options but also a poor first touch... amazing from klebs

gets passes from 2 diff players in c circle

1 more 1st timer

pass2heinze a bit risky we lose ball after bad dec by heinze

wins tackle finds bellion

well weighted out to gn in space

1 more good pass

at this point Kleberson's defensive work comes to fruition... Alex had only been able to affect the game off set pieces thus far w/ klebs shaddowing him... Alex moved to DM to get touches and P-Air is now marked by Kleberson when he drops back into midfield

OK... match is done now... overall analysis? Klebs was brilliantly efficient... created a goal and saved possesion numerous times and he aided our attack by passing to players as they needed to be passed to.. in other words... he gave Silvestre and DjDj time when he passed whereas he might have passed to someone with better technique like Rooney or Ruud in a tight situation he with one exception passed to players in situations where they could keep the ball easily (a pass he gave to Neville was not wayward, but he did not have the requisite space to hold possesion).

Another thing... Kleberson took 3 touches on a ball once in the entire match... he held the ball for 3 seconds maybe two or three times and yet still after he passed the ball to a player United lost possesion imediately after only about three times... and he had alot of touches... that's the kind of play we saw from the Milan midfield... that's the type of player he can be, if we allow him to be our playmaker and allow him time on the field where he does not feel like he has to defer to Scholes or Keane... in that match he knew he was the best midfielder on the field, but the other players knew it too, so he got the touches necessary to impact the game... when a player is invisible sometimes you blame the player... but most times the team is to fault for not finding that player... and Kleberson never stops working...

[Achtung]

Can't this just be the thread where all official KFC business is conducted?

[Potomac Red Devil]

Great read, johno!

[Ronaldo07]

From reading your report on Kleberson, i get the impression he would be alot more effective in the Arsenal midfield.

Imagine if he got a few games under his belt and got his match fitness up? he would be superb. I hope we keep him, and give him a chance.

Great report btw, thanks for doing it.

[johno]

From reading your report on Kleberson, i get the impression he would be alot more effective in the Arsenal midfield.

Imagine if he got a few games under his belt and got his match fitness up? he would be superb. I hope we keep him, and give him a chance.

Great report btw, thanks for doing it.

you are most welcome... funny you should metion Arsenal because I was thinking to myself... he's the only player we have who would fit into their team... not that we aspire to be like them, but they are one of the smoother teams in the EPL in terms of passing...

[United Forever]

you are most welcome... funny you should metion Arsenal because I was thinking to myself... he's the only player we have who would fit into their team... not that we aspire to be like them, but they are one of the smoother teams in the EPL in terms of passing...

I guess that this is a forum fad now. Bigging up your players. I am the president of the CR7 Council. Sitati is the Pres. of the Saha one. The FUCCOFFS :D and now two you all the KFC! I guess it is better than the off topic junk by the Arses and the deadness of the Chelsea one except the Kezman thread ;)

[johno]

no.. this is something that was long in coming... its just about time people stop hating on Kleberson, that's all.

[Potomac Red Devil]

Yeah, johno and I are the first ones out of the gate in praise of CRon, etc. Maybe not Fletcher, but that's a friendly rivalry, since SAF kept mistaking him for our attacking midfielder last year.

[United Forever]

no.. this is something that was long in coming... its just about time people stop hating on Kleberson, that's all.

Well I know all about people hating players if you know what I mean.

[hawk_claw]

IMO we have played him enough to sell him, give him a better chance to prove himself, im sure hes great

[Dark Savante]

That's a lot of work there Johno. Well done.

All you need to do now is get it sent to Quieroz or Fergie :p

[johno]

That's a lot of work there Johno. Well done.

All you need to do now is get it sent to Quieroz or Fergie :p

I figure Fergie won't listen to me, after all with my 0 trophies compared to his truckload full... I'm just going to work on my mind control device...

"You will START KLEBERSON... you will sell Fletcher" ;)

[johno]

What the hell with all the lurkers... 163 views and a handful of posts... mostly by me and PRD... come on you reds... GET IN!!! lol... literally... get in and type... I want responses...

[Vermont Red]

Thanks for the analysis. I'd love to see Klebs play in the rest of the games this season. We already know what we have with everyone else. Let's see if we can figure out what we have with him.

[van_da_man]

ive always been a firm believer that if given a run of games, in his preferred position, he will produce. Ive seen too many flashes of potential from him, to think otherwise. Would be a huge mistake to ship him out, without giving him a fair assessment.

[Rei de Boston]

Great work and analysis!

I have always thought that Kleberson would be magic for us in Europe, and eventually he could be the same in England.

Kleberson has been unfairly lumped with other buys that didn't work out (Forlan, DjDj, Miller). The difference between him and them is the level of skill he has and the position he should play for United.

IF SAF played him in the Scholes role, his lack of physical size wouldn't be as great a problem. His vision and passing ability will keep him from having to hold the ball for long periods, helping him avoid some contact there. Also, his defensive responsibilities would not be as great so the physicality of defense wouldn't be a problem.

As johno's analysis shows he is not without defensive skill so having him on the field is not a defensive liability.

Now if he could just stay healthy and get a run of games.

[Achtung]

I'll add my $.02 by saying that I don't disagree that Kleberson is a potentially great player if given a solid run of games. But he really needs to sort out the injury situation. After a couple of injuries, you feel bad for the guy. After that, you wonder what he's doing that's causing his problems. If he ever wants to make it at United, he has to take it slow and make sure he's ready when he comes back.