Striking the right balance

[johno]

We now have more options up top than we've had for many a year and some would say even more than in the treble season. Here's what SAF has to say...

“Clearly I have four top-class operators with a host of options because I think they are all capable of partnering each other. So that means I can easily spread the load.

Louis and Wayne have already struck up a great partnership. Louis has been a revelation and I’m absolutely delighted to see Wayne playing so confidently again after a relatively quiet time through the Christmas period. His work-rate in both matches against Villa was unbelievable and he supplied the assists for our two goals in the cup match.

Ole has played more of a support role so far in this campaign, but his strike rate from limited appearances has been phenomenal, especially when you consider that he has had two and a half years out with injury. However, there will be plenty more opportunities for him.

Henrik is a player I enjoy watching, even in training. He has such shrewd movement in the last third of the pitch. His debut goal for was typical, with hardly any draw-back for his shot – so quick and deadly.”


Rooney - Golden Boy and seemingly undroppable despite spotty finishing
Saha - started blazing hot but has cooled to 4 goals in 10 appearances
Ole - probably the best form of the lot but so very good off the bench
Larsson - won't be here long it seems so best to strike while iron is hot
Rossi - needs his shot or will he be loaned?

Who do we favour in the upcoming matches? Which duo?

We can work via process of elimination or just pick the pairing we think will have the most chemistry.

Different combos for different opponents?

Many questions to be asked. Who has the answers? Who would your default number 1 pairing be and who would be on the bench for most games and who would get the games when #1 pairing is recovering?

[tscboys]

Right now with Rooney's bad form, I think it's saha/larsson, Ole has been deadly off the bench it's rather mesmerizing how he is doing so well after so long out. I say keep him coming off the bench along with Rooney, and when Rooney finally get's one switch him and larsson up. Poor Rossi doesn't look like he will be getting many opportunities this season as far as upfront goes.

[Joelzinho]

This is a tough one. Just on sheer potential I want to go with Rooney and Saha.

[benni...]

I have to watch more games...

[yikchi]

Based on the last few games, I say Rooney/Larsson.

It is hard to consider Rossi when he hasn't played any meaningful games for us, though I would love to see SAF rests Rooney and plays Rossi as our SS just to see what Rossi could do in a first team game as a starter. So Rooney is an automatic for me at the SS role.

I picked Larsson over Saha because Larsson can provide for others as well as score goals. To me, Saha is a little bit selfish sometimes, but I guess that is his style. He will try to hit a 30 yarder sometimes instead of laying the ball off for a teammate.

[Vermont Red]

As there is no real basis to select any other combination, I chose Saha/Rooney.

In theory, each of the other combinations have their strengths, not including any of the ones including Rossi as he is unproven. (Note that I believe in Rossi, but he has to demonstrate that he can be successful.)

In the Prem, I'll take Saha/Rooney as the default. Against most of the teams in the league, this pair's combination of pace, strength and aggression is more than enough to lead United's attack. They provide lots of space for the other attacking players and score goals, albeit not clinically.

In the Champions League, at least on the road, I may opt for either Larsson or Solskjaer alone up front. Both have enough experience and guile to lead the line against a disciplined Continental defense.

One final thing. As good as Larsson has been since coming into the lineup, its not exactly the most difficult ask for an experienced and talented forward to slot into the United starting XI. This is no slight on Larsson. Its just that when you look at the quality surrounding Larsson it cannot come as a surprise that he's looked good. I'd like to see some more from him before I was ready to make he the default starter. Also, let's not forget his age. His days as a regular starter up front may be past.

As for Solskjaer, when he is so good as a super sub and spot starter, why change it?

[SirManchester]

I agree with VR, it's probably best to rotate in regards to different opposition and competition. The problem with that is that we'll lose out on forming a solid partnership. Saha and Rooney became so effective only because they were able to play together for a long stretch.

However I still believe that our best possible partnership is Rooney/Larsson. And this is based purely on footballing intelligence. Clearly the team this season doesn't only click because we're so quick with our counterattacks and whatnot. We're playing smart football. Our defense knows exactly what to do (slip ups of course are inevitable) our fullbacks are doing the right amount of going up and tracking back and most importantly our central midfield is clicking more and more. Scholes and Carrick, probably the smartest midfield in England are beginning to strike up quite the partnership. So it's only logical that our two strikers reflect the rest of the team.

Rooney is extremely intelligent on the pitch and so is Larsson, the former can only benefit from being around the latter. It's clear that Saha hasn't learned a damn thing from being around Rooney and personally I believe Rooney must be suffering in one way or another from being around Saha.

Saha may learn a thing or two by playing with Larsson however, the former will rather weigh down the latter, and they would seem too distant to click properly. Ole/Larsson would work but neither is exactly a 90minute player so I'd rather not play them in a lot of games.

[bestbecks]

I'm going to have to say Saha/Rooney just because we've seen their potential and they have been effective up to this point in the season. To change it up now would be an arguable subject. Saha has been spotty at best within the last month and a half. He is not converting opportunities into goals as of late and it is a bit worrisome, however as I've mentioned earlier we have seen what he is capable of and he didn't manage to get 8 EPL goals by sitting on the bench. He offers great width to the side and helps to stretch out the other team's backline. I also believe his confidence will be damaged due to lack of starts which could place him into an even worse slump.

Rooney has also been in a slump lately. He has not been scoring goals which is ultimately his job as a forward, but he has been doing everything else correctly. His positioning has been remarkable, they way he recieves his passes and picks out a player to slide a through ball to has been his strong point this season, and it's been shown that with Saha this works best.

I do want to see Larsson start games just as much as the next person. In the cup game vs. Villa he and Rooney linked up wonderfully well to create opportunities which effectively led to the win. He has great lateral movement across the face of goal which is something that the rest of our forwards lack and he has experience beyond any of our other stirkers with the exception being Solksjaer. However I do feel that if we start playing him and Rooney together on a consistent basis, it could be very good, but what happens when Larsson goes back to Sweden in March? Rooney will have gotten too comfortable playing with him all the time and then to just throw Saha back in there after having played a limited number of games, and even fewer with Rooney could be detrimental to their partnership.

Solksjaer and Larsson would be a great partnership if this was 5-6 years ago. They don't have the legs to play a full 90 anymore and Solksjaer is just so effective coming off the bench that I believe he actually performs better like that. Solkjaer is our super-sub and should remain that way, although the odd start here and there would be good for him and the team.

With all that being said I haven't even began to mention possible pairings against tricky opposition, but I do believe that regardless the opponent if our strikers are on form it does not matter who we start.

Rooney and Saha is my choice based on the fact that they have been productive up to this point in the season, they are comfortable playing with eachother and they know how to play with eachother and the rest of the team knows how to play with them in the starting XI. Larsson and Rooney is a great partnership but Larsson cannot be expected to start consistently every game nor do we want Rooney to get too comfortable playing with Larsson on a regular basis due to the fact that he will be leaving soon enough. Saha and Larsson is a combination that I did not mention but I believe that it would not be as effective, Saha requires that one good through ball or plays more of a width game while Larsson is too much of a lateral player to be playing with Saha. A few games shared together wouldn't be a bad thing however.

[listen_up_fergie]

I'd like to see a Larsson-Ole partnership to see how the two Scandivanians do alongside each other. They won't have the pace of Rooney or Saha, but they're both excellent finishers with very intelligent movement. I could see that being quite an effective partnership.

As far as the best combo goes, so far it seems to be Saha-Rooney as that's been tried and tested. Rooney-Larsson has been a very promising combo, and with a couple more games it could prove to be more effective than Saha-Rooney. I'd still be interested to see more of a Saha-Larsson parternship to see how those two gel.

[johno]

Appropriate time for a bump.

With Saha's return to the injury room we've seen almost equal proportions of Larsson, Solskjaer and Rooney.

I think we've been above average up top and Larsson's definitely played a key role in Rooney's return to form.

I'm not sure I'd stick Saha straight into the starting lineup against Spurs on the weekend. In fact, I know I'd not start him and he'd probably struggle to make the bench if I didn't have one eye on the bigger picture (Larsson's pending exit and our need to have Saha in form for the run in).

Rossi has departed on loan so he's obviously out of the picture, regardless, with Rooney's return to form he'll surely be starting virtually every important fixture from here on out, fitness permitting.

That means, its a dog fight for now, between Larsson, Ole and Saha to partner Wayne.

Larsson has been Rooney's best partner but, like Ole he can't play 100% for the full 90 and we'd do well to rotate as well as sub him out regularly.

That leaves us w/ Ole and Saha as backups and w/ Ole's form off the bench, he would, for me, make the bench every time. The downside of that is that Saha MUST get a couple appearances off the bench to find his feet before Saha leaves. It will be a delicate balancing act and will leave lots of questions for Ferguson.

Here's how I see it.

Saha will see time off the bench against Spurs because w/ Ledley King missing, his pace will be a big asset to United.

After that, Saha will probably get a spot in the side again for the Charlton match at Ole's expense (Saha may start depending to Larsson's fitness).

Ole should then get into the XVI for the Cup tie against reading, possibly a start to be replaced by Henrik or Louis, depending on who needs the minutes most.

After that, we'll really see the begining of the end. Larsson will nearing the end of his loan and the CL will be back on.

The match against Fulham on Feb. 24th is the deadline imo for Louis to hit full match fitness. After this we'll have very tough matches at the business end of the season. Liverpool, 2nd leg against Lille, Bolton, Blackburn, Pompey and soon after Chelsea.

Fergie is very good at rotating the squad to get the most out of the players when needed, he'll have to be at his best to cope with a very very unique situation.

Louis rehab, Ole's rehab in progress, Larsson leaving and Rooney...

[sdotsom]

I know you don't intend it, but it's sad to see that Smith isn't even the above post. Not that it's you only, the club seems to think he's vanished as well.

This is why I'd like to see Larsson stay here till season's end. Imagine if he wasn't here right now. We'd be playing Rooney in every game, running Ole absolutely ragged, Saha would be typical glass self watching from the bench, and Alan Smith would be thrown into the mix, most likely unfit. By loaning Rossi, we've really cut down our striking core. After March 12, all we'll have is Wayne, Saha, Ole....(and Smith). Not very inspiring, especially if Saha goes down with injury again. Furthermore, we'll need these players because from March on is our run-in for the 3 (hopefully) competitions that we are still in.

Either we keep Larsson, or Smudger starts getting Premiership time again.

[benni...]

Personally, I dont feel right having Saha come off the bench. I'd definately like to have Larsson coming off the bench. It just seems that Saha's deminour (sp) has changed. Like he's not hungry anymore. He felt that he was the shit when he benched Ruud (even though we know it wasnt for footballing reasons), he was hungry then. He pressured their forwards, and made a lot less mistakes than he's been making since December.

[433tom]

Personally, I dont feel right having Saha come off the bench. I'd definately like to have Larsson coming off the bench. It just seems that Saha's deminour (sp) has changed. Like he's not hungry anymore. He felt that he was the shit when he benched Ruud (even though we know it wasnt for footballing reasons), he was hungry then. He pressured their forwards, and made a lot less mistakes than he's been making since December.

I agree that Saha deserves to start at least half the matches while Larrson is here. His goals in the first half of the season were crucial to our success. And when Larrson leaves, we will be looking to him again. Larrson gives Fergie the option to rest Saha for the run-in. But he needs some matches to maintain his fitness. We don't need him sitting on the bench for three months only to find he has lost match fitness and form when we need him in March and April.

[sdotsom]

We are going to spread thin once Larsson is gone, that's for sure. So I agree with you guys, whatever it takes to keep Saha in shape through May is the right decision. He is more important than Larsson, because we know he'll be with us till the end.

[SirManchester]

Before Larsson's first game I said a Rooney/Larsson partnership is and will be the best partnership until the end of the season. I'm glad I'm being proven right every week.

[benni...]

Well thats because we havnt seen most other partnerships, like Saha/Larsson, Saha/Ole etc in an extended period.

[Stud83]

I think SAF is worried with a good reason that Saha is not fully healthy. Thus, every minor injury, and SAF feels the need to rest him, give him a chance to fully heal. I think that's smart on his part - we'll need him to play the way he started the season soon enough.

[johno]

Personally, I dont feel right having Saha come off the bench. I'd definately like to have Larsson coming off the bench. It just seems that Saha's deminour (sp) has changed. Like he's not hungry anymore. He felt that he was the shit when he benched Ruud (even though we know it wasnt for footballing reasons), he was hungry then. He pressured their forwards, and made a lot less mistakes than he's been making since December.

Wait, you want to reward lacklustre effort and crappy play with more PT???

I think he needs to be worked back into the team with a few sub appearances first.

[benni...]

It wasnt a reward type thing, I didnt gather my thoughts right. Saha doesnt look good coming off the bench. Thats one.


His attitude was a whole other point on its own.

[listen_up_fergie]

I agree that Saha is not as effective coming off the bench, but I'd still prefer to see Larsson start this one. I think an early goal will be crucial in this game, and I'd rather have us start the game with our strongest line-up.