Dark Savante
03 May 2007, 09:35 AM
I remember doing a ‘post mortem’ write up some time ago. The morning after the night before (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175140&highlight=morning) which was also after we’d been bashed up and bumped out of Europe.
I think one thing that a side like us has to take out of matches like these is that the PL and the CL are two different entities that demand a different level of composure, class and squad to prevail in. You also have to prioritise. Focus on one or the other or come up short; unless you have a vast squad of players good enough to be rotated in and out of both competitions whilst keeping you in the hunt for both. What you simply cannot do is rely on a few players to carry you through both. After 50+ games, they get to May and they are fatigued and in desperate need of help from the rest of the team.
I think we learned a fair few things about this side once again via a European examination. I think we’ve seen who can and can’t cut the mustard in the CL whilst being perfectly apt for us in the melee of a PL campaign.
In Europe, your weaknesses are amplified. Any faults you have as a side will be exploited and exposed somewhere along the road to the final, unless you jacksy your way to the final and catch a host of teams at the right time. What I thought was ultimately obvious from our away game is that we are desperately…mild… through the heart of the team; tepid defensively and unsure offensively.
It is from the heart of your midfield that games are won or lost. There cannot be a doubt about this and it is probably the only definite you will see in every single CL finalist since the tournament’s inception. The driving force at the heart of the midfield determines the entire sway of the game. Mascherano was absolutely key for Liverpool in their SF, Gattuso was the deciding factor for Milan against us, not Kaka’. It is not coincidence that teams with the strongest central core make that push on. I very much doubt we would’ve got anywhere in Europe without Keano, we missed him in the final, and that’s why we ended up having to knick that game at the end rather than stomping Bayern out during the 90.
A strong heart buoys up the rest of the team. The players behind them become relaxed knowing full well that the guy(s) screening them give them every opportunity to organise themselves and discern when to make their own moves, rather than being forced along and subsequently out of position and into numerous mistakes. A proper DM or DCM will also control his men in midfield – he will never let them ‘sit’ on top of their own backline – therefore, a midfield with a proper organiser in it will never give the opposition the chance to pile pressure on the team because he will force the rest of his charges to stop midfield threats early and high up the pitch.
You nullify threats at their source, you do not give them time to build up a head of steam and we frequently saw our creative sparks being crowded out by 2,3 even 4 Milan players whilst those with no technique were allowed to ‘play’ pass after pass. I made note of Ronaldo’s dribbling here (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=503318) in the dribbling section and it was again evident that in Europe he is going to have to improve his conventional dribbling to really kick on and take his game up to the next level. What you saw repeatedly last night is that as soon as Ronaldo tried to ‘kick on’ the ball was taken off him without hesitation. This is nullification at source and it really frustrated the kid and left him perplexed with no other avenue to go down as he is not used to this kind of cancelling.
I’ve said it time and again that Milan have and still do have the best midfield in the world. It has all the ingredients for success in Europe. Familiarity of the highest order, technique, control and synergy; all of its pieces are ‘correct’ and each player has a clear and defined role to play. They have two weaknesses, one being they are ‘one-paced’ and aim to do all of their damage early and the second being a lack of stamina deep into a game (Which is why Gattuso is so vital to them) it’s no coincidence that about 85% of their Euro goals come earlier in games. In first halves and up to about 60 minutes they put on a display that few midfields can combat. If we want to get up to that level on a regular basis there can be no doubt that a huge upgrade is needed in midfield, an upgrade of cataclysmic proportion actually.
What we must all remember is that this European run has come early. I’m sure Fergie had no plans or aims for us to be anywhere near a CL SF this term; I’m sure the manager would have bitten your hand off at the start of the season if you’d told him we’d be 5pts up and oh so close to the PL title with three games to go – to hell with the cups..this year – so we have to take into consideration that this team wasn’t ready for the CL and was and still is a work in progress. The last time we won the CL our team, our squad, were complete. That season you couldn’t say ‘we need’ because we did not. We can be proud though, even though we’re a few tweaks away from again being ready to expect in Europe, we gave a solid account of ourselves and but for key injuries may well have gone all the way. This team was set up to compete for the PL first and foremost, and that is precisely what it has done. It’d be apocryphal to suggest it was intended to take us to European glory.
It’s alarming to think we are always a few injuries away from total collapse though; Rio, Rooney and Ronaldo are relied upon too much for a club of our stature. Scholes and Giggs are here, but they are not ‘go to’ men anymore in Europe. Rather, they play their part as cameos who can do a marvellous job and take the team onto another level when we’re playing well. Indeed, Giggs was key piece in the destruction of Roma at home, both are and have been absolutely vital to our PL campaign, but I’ve felt that in Europe they’ve been a mixed bag overall. When Scholes was removed in Rome, we managed to muddle by without him. When he didn’t play the 2nd leg, we, well, you know.
There is going to be a creeping need for the manager to assess and address this from next year’s CL onward I feel. These two are still good for one or two more PL challenges and they are also able to play a large role in our exploits in the CL, but I think from this point onward we’re going to have to look to other sources for inspiration as we cannot have such a fractious line where reliance is concerned. We’ve effectively seen that without Rio here, there is no backline, if Ronaldo and Rooney have no supply we are impotent and with no leadership through the heart of the side we struggle, badly, away from home no matter if Giggs and Scholes are on the field or not.
Michael Carrick has finally gotten a taste of a true, top notch European midfield and I’m sure he’ll kick on and learn from that experience. We’ve learnt (if anyone needed convincing) that he is not a DM or a DCM, he has no clue with regard to pushing out, for example, and lends himself to always sitting on top of his defence. It’s no fault of his though because for a DLP he does a quite fantastic job of defending, working and intercepting plays. What he clearly shows, however, is that he is never going to have the defensive positional awareness or aggression to be anything like our last line of defence through the heart of midfield and absolutely needs to be complimented by somebody who is all those things that he is not. Milan worked hard to cut him down on both the inside and outside lanes and not only snuff out his outlet balls to the wings but snuff out the basic passes on the inside as well and Carrick was overwhelmed by this. Only two midfields in the world could have done that with such quality – Chelsea’s and Milan’s – and it’s simply a matter of him learning from this. I will say though that to face these teams head on, matching them quality for quality through the middle is paramount. Say what you want about Liverpool, but through the heart of midfield Benitez has got the 2nd best unit in England and one of the best in Europe which kind of makes up for the ankle weights he has on the flanks supporting them, which leads me to:
Darren Fletcher. Fergie’s got a big decision to make here with regard to Fletch. It’s really down to what he thinks we can get out of the kid in the short term if he believes we are to make a serious challenge for the CL whilst also wanting to do well domestically. Fletcher surprised me last night. I won’t say disappointed because there were far more older heads out there looking poorer than he did, but year, surprised. Fletcher, for me, was always our most important player in Europe. I said it months ago, and at the time was probably being silently laughed at, but in this squad, and from what is here, he is our Gattuso – the player assigned with disrupting all and sundry from the opposing side, the thorn they can’t quite reach and the annoying fecker that makes life ‘unfair’ for the creators we face. In such a pivotal role it is essential that this player is always at the races, always there and a consistent annoyance, much like Gattuso was in both legs. Whilst the wide-eyed fans lapped up Kaka’s goals (rather than his performances) the more astute will note that it is Gattuso who determined both legs and it Gattuso that will decide where Milan’s chips fall in that final as he will be the one hammering away at Gerrard all game. This is exactly the same with regards to us. Whilst the mass media and wider-eyed fans where at their wits end trying to find superlatives for Ronaldo, the rest of the fans would note that it was Fletcher’s intrinsic base that got us to where we are and without him there’d have been no SF 2nd leg to concern ourselves with. That he was completely out of sorts in that game unsettled us as much, if not moreso, than Rio not being in the xi. Without him both Kaka’ and Seedorf ran riot for their allotted time of action (60minutes) and decided the tie.
Now for Fergie, the decision simply has to be whether he thinks that by next year Fletcher will be able to be our Gattuso on a full-time basis, or not. If he thinks he will be then going for an absolutely top notch DM or DCM will be a problem, as that hinders Fletcher’s development. If he thinks he won’t be, then we should go all out for a Daniele De Rossi*. I’m not quite sure what to think about Fletch. I made the Can Darren Fletcher (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=515937) thread precisely because we can all see, in glimpses what he may kick on to become. So there’s no knee-jerking needed here, but certainly a decision for the manager to make.
*Now with regard to a De Rossi over, say, a Hargeaves, there are many reasons to choose the former over the latter if the manager feels this is the route to go down. The first and most important one is that apart from being a vastly superior player, De Rossi is a leader and a ‘go to’ man through the heart of midfield. These are some of the most important attributes for that position and they come before skills, it just so happens that from time to time a very skilled technician, which De Rossi is, has all the heart in the world – that cataclysmic heart in fact. And anyone who was studying him in the Roma demolition game would have noted that he was one of very few who did not give in, scored a fantastic goal and played as well as circumstances would allow with almost no support at all – his technique was still there for all to see. This is what he has over Hargreaves before we argue about money and versatility and for my money, what we missed out there the most last night: heart enmeshed in quality and never-say-die spirit. De Rossi along with Essien, is clearly this generation’s truest actual midfielder to such a degree that you’d need not label him a DM or a DCM or whatever but could just call him a consummate central midfielder. If we want to settle this ‘Keano replacement’ once and for all, moving for De Rossi is the answer it’s as simple as that.
Another player the manager is going to need to make a decision on is Gabriel Heinze the warrior who is espoused for his heart and wild style of play but is technically a degree or three below United’s actual standard of play. In Gabby you have all the cynicism and cunning you want to see in a fullback, he’s incredibly smart and knows just what he’s doing when he tugs on an opposing player’s shirt and then as the player falls looking for the FK, Gabby will bundle into him intimating he’s the one being fouled. From this bag ‘o tricks, Gabby has a ton. He puts his neck on the line everytime he plays and people love that about he and Smith in particular. But at base ends there are questions to be asked of Gabby. Offensively I think he’s atrocious, his passing; poor, his crossing; not MUQ, and his decision making; questionable. Now, for all the mistakes he makes and so on, Gabby is absolutely fine domestically. His mistakes are overlooked because in the PL he can often make up for them or they will go unpunished by a lack of clinical enterprise on the other team’s behalf, but in Europe and against the better sides he is sought out and attacked frequently because they know there’s a mistake or three to be had on his side of the pitch. Gabby is Gabby and rounding on him for things that were always there would be poor form, but as this is an analysis of us as a future European Cup challenger, questions will need to be answered. Does the manager stick by him and field him only in the league? Do we hope he regains his pre-injury ability and just kick on? I’ll say one thing for certain. If Tweety was making the same mistakes Gabby has the last few weeks ending with his capitulation for Milan’s second, the pitchforks would have been sharpened and greased up..
I do wonder if last night’s game has put Gabby’s time here in jeopardy. He ain’t young, he is not going to improve technically ( he gives his all and that is his technical level) and he will always be good for blunders in Europe up against that level of opponent. But in the PL for 90% of games he is fine. The manager has a tough decision to make here and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him sway in favour of Silvestre whilst getting rid of Gabby. Not because Silvestre is a better player, but because Silvestre will never complain about being a sub, has more pace and whilst he makes as many blunders (if not more) than Gabby, he actually has more technique and offensive prowess. :eek:
John O’Shea is yet another player who can be used domestically, but is a liability in Europe where mistakes cost goals and poor technique puts a side under pressure for minutes at a time. J’OS has scored some absolutely crucial goals for us in the PL this term, in fact, he is as deserving of a PL medal as Ronaldo or whoever else would be, because without his crucial goals we’d not be where we are (funnily enough) he’s also somewhat of a cult hero for being so cack yet so pivotal with his plays/goals. I’m not a fan of his, at all. But can say that he’s earned his paycheque this season with his odd gait and dopey play in most games somehow being slapped in the face of his detractors as they celebrate his goals like mentalists. But in Europe J’OS is another no-go car crash waiting to happen. His technique is on the lowest rung at the club and it frequently puts him in positions that cause him to flap about like a new born swan. No matter where J’OS plays if fielded, the opposition brief will be to swarm him and put him under as much pressure as possible. Like Gabby he guarantees you critical mistakes during a game, no questions asked and like Gabby, it is fair to say that he just cannot help it. I used to pan O’Shea for not being the player he debuted as. Over time I’ve learnt to accept that his debut season was the anomaly and that this is and has been the real O’Shea for a long time. Since achieving this enlightenment (heh) it’s been easier to accept him as a player – he’s trying, he just isn’t any good – where prior to that I was always ‘angry’ he wasn’t John O’Shea of space year 2002.. J’OS is likely to remain at the club. The utilitarian who has found his niche. His fans will say he’s done a ‘marvellous’ job as a stand-in and that without him we actually wouldn’t be in a position to win the league this term. Fair enough, but I would in turn say there is a better utility man in our ranks who could’ve done everything J’OS has done and more and wouldn’t have base technique that fails in Europe as he’s technically very distinguished, but no matter.
Louis Saha I feel there’s a certain apathy towards him here. I myself and furious with him and would like him gone in the summer. I got angry when he came on the pitch tonight. I wasn’t angry at Gabby’s blunders or our ineptitude, but Saha, made my simmering blood rise to the boil. To know that we needed him so badly and to be so close to a bloody CL final and have he himself declare he’s not fit?? To not play his part in our run-in, knowing it could all fall down without him… how must his team-mates feel? We got rid of one superb striker for being a strop who refused to be subbed and became a disruptive influence… are we now at a 180 where we have to get rid of another for not wanting to play and becoming a disruptive influence by not playing? Is this the Twighlight Zone?
Once the title is decided I have to say I’ll be totally unbothered if he never suits up for us again. The manager must be exasperated by him. We’ve never had a striker not want to play for us. I think it could even be at a point where Louis needs counselling because if our medical staff with all their technology have passed you fit, you’re good to go and if you don’t think you are, you’ve probably made your own bed of psychological nightmares to lie in. I like(d) the player and what he offers us, when fit, but letting the side down is a major bug-bear of mine and knowing he’s there and could decide the entire semi final but chooses not to play it, just boggles the mind and infuriates me no end. He’s not a player we can rely on for anything and as such, how can he remain here on a fat wage choosing when he will or won’t play?
This over reliance on Rio Ferdinand has to end. It’s been this way for too long now and the team has shown time and time again that without him we have no defence. The argument that Vidic’s lack of match fitness swayed things isn’t a good one. It was the lack of organisation and composure at the back that broke us. I said before the game that if Vidic started he’d be the one Kaka’ would run at all night. Even if Vidic was 100% this would’ve been the case as he desperately struggles against fast players who dribble directly at him at pace. What was lacking was the organisation to cope with this. Slow vs. Fast is a classic confrontation in football. The slower player always has to have a barricade around him and the wits and organisational skills to command others into line to help him. Much like the vastly overrated Terry does at Chelsea. It is paramount that these slow CB’s are never isolated and never left at the mercy of a lightening quick attacker and the entire defence failed at that tonight. It’s partly because of having no leader in midfield, it’s also partly because there is no pace on our left side between Gabby and Heinze, but it is mainly because there was no organisation or composure out there. Like startled rabbits the pack split and did their own thing. Like Terry gets at Chelsea, our lot needed to tuck and huddle together to protect this weakness. Without Rio point-clicking the rest we had none of that out there.
The case for Jonathon Evans returning has probably increased greatly because of this game. This is what I wrote in the post(mortem) game thread.
Wes is a nightmarish CB. He ranges from immense to shambolic in the blink of an eye and at times you can say he is imperious and at others, he's Bramble-esque. What you don't get with him is that sense you can put your life savings on him in 9/10 games he plays. This was why Vidic was given the spot next to Rio, Vidic has blatant weaknesses, but out side of that he is solid and consistent. You know what will trouble Vidic and what won't, always. With Wes it's nearly always a case of him making his own problems. As such, you can't plan any contingent systems around him like you can with Rio and Vidic - you won't get this problem with Evans.
As well as what you've said, he is an incredibly consistent player, one you can trust who won't make textbook errors for no apparent reason. I think Wes can be relied on for PL games, but I honestly would not be surprised if Evans was back here and usurping him next term - you'll never get so many unforced errors out of Evans as you do out of Wes and Heinze - and that counts for a lot. He may be young and inexperienced, but his composure far outstrips that of any defender we had on the pitch tonight.
And as Seeing Red (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11432942&postcount=91) pointed out prior, Rio’s organisation was missed even more than his ability last night. Outside of Rio there is not a single organising centre back at the club this season whether that is as a 3rd, 4th or stand in CB. Think about it. This is our CB list, stand-in or otherwise:
Vidic
Brown
O’Shea
Silvestre
Heinze
Gaz
In fact, of all the defenders here, only Evra cannot play CB. And of all those listed, not a single one is an organiser. We simply have to address that this close season because this calamitous situation where Rio is out cannot keep happening. It’s a critical over-reliance and it has cost us. Jonny Evans is to Sunderland this season what Rio has been to us and whilst he may be but a child, I have 100% belief he would organise our sham of a defence if he were to deputize for Rio at any time in a campaign.
And with regard to defence, the right-back position is becoming a bit of a concern. Without Gaz we lost a lot in Europe, no offensive quality, no one to push on and up the flank, no defensive assuredness and most importantly no technique or composure. Gaz is aging, he is taking months at a time to recover from injuries that are penned in for weeks to recover from. It’s our folly if a proper replacement is not in place should (when) Gaz goes down again next season. And in his place should be a proper RB, a player who can do what he does and not make our flank so incredibly weak offensively. Like Jonny Evans, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see Danny Simpson brought back (perhaps) prematurely to deputise for the stalwart. The line of thinking is that he and Evans are too young but honest to goodness, they can do no worse than Heinze, Richardson and O’Shea defensively and I’m deadly serious about that. If you’d have asked me before the game had kicked off if I’d rather Simpson or O’Shea had started at RB last night I’d have said Simpson without a degree of hesitation. No one that’s stood in for Gaz at RB comes close to what Simpson has given this term, even if it was in the Colaship. There is no escaping base technique and he has more of it than any of the stand-ins.
Final thing to mention would be the obvious. Giuseppe Rossi’s guile and trickery is needed in this team for Europe. The slower paced, technical football that Milan played and the pressing they did right at the heart of the midfield is something Rossi has been brought up around since his teens. He’s thriving in serie A in a team that gives him about a quarter of the options that we would. There isn’t even the excuse of experience where Rossi is concerned anymore, after all he is actually getting his education in the country that has dumped us out of the CL twice in 2yrs; you can’t say much more than that on this score.
Like Evans, I have absolutely no doubts that Rossi can come in and do a big job for us as a stand-in and I fully expect him back here next term. I would not be surprised if he had an impact in our CL run next season either. He has the fantastista passing ability in a regularity that no one else at the club has and we desperately need some of that.
Alex has his hands full with who to bring in this summer. We need a striker a proper midfield general and a left winger. How he divvies this all up remains to be seen. Oh well, that’s Europe for ya, If a club that actually challenges for their league title wants to claim it these days there is a need for a huge interchangeable squad and until we have that we can expect the ‘either or’ scenario to keep rearing its ugly head.
Hehe, I can hear the birds chirping, haven’t had an ounce of sleep thinking about City on Saturday and typing this out has alleviated some of my angst. .
I think one thing that a side like us has to take out of matches like these is that the PL and the CL are two different entities that demand a different level of composure, class and squad to prevail in. You also have to prioritise. Focus on one or the other or come up short; unless you have a vast squad of players good enough to be rotated in and out of both competitions whilst keeping you in the hunt for both. What you simply cannot do is rely on a few players to carry you through both. After 50+ games, they get to May and they are fatigued and in desperate need of help from the rest of the team.
I think we learned a fair few things about this side once again via a European examination. I think we’ve seen who can and can’t cut the mustard in the CL whilst being perfectly apt for us in the melee of a PL campaign.
In Europe, your weaknesses are amplified. Any faults you have as a side will be exploited and exposed somewhere along the road to the final, unless you jacksy your way to the final and catch a host of teams at the right time. What I thought was ultimately obvious from our away game is that we are desperately…mild… through the heart of the team; tepid defensively and unsure offensively.
It is from the heart of your midfield that games are won or lost. There cannot be a doubt about this and it is probably the only definite you will see in every single CL finalist since the tournament’s inception. The driving force at the heart of the midfield determines the entire sway of the game. Mascherano was absolutely key for Liverpool in their SF, Gattuso was the deciding factor for Milan against us, not Kaka’. It is not coincidence that teams with the strongest central core make that push on. I very much doubt we would’ve got anywhere in Europe without Keano, we missed him in the final, and that’s why we ended up having to knick that game at the end rather than stomping Bayern out during the 90.
A strong heart buoys up the rest of the team. The players behind them become relaxed knowing full well that the guy(s) screening them give them every opportunity to organise themselves and discern when to make their own moves, rather than being forced along and subsequently out of position and into numerous mistakes. A proper DM or DCM will also control his men in midfield – he will never let them ‘sit’ on top of their own backline – therefore, a midfield with a proper organiser in it will never give the opposition the chance to pile pressure on the team because he will force the rest of his charges to stop midfield threats early and high up the pitch.
You nullify threats at their source, you do not give them time to build up a head of steam and we frequently saw our creative sparks being crowded out by 2,3 even 4 Milan players whilst those with no technique were allowed to ‘play’ pass after pass. I made note of Ronaldo’s dribbling here (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=503318) in the dribbling section and it was again evident that in Europe he is going to have to improve his conventional dribbling to really kick on and take his game up to the next level. What you saw repeatedly last night is that as soon as Ronaldo tried to ‘kick on’ the ball was taken off him without hesitation. This is nullification at source and it really frustrated the kid and left him perplexed with no other avenue to go down as he is not used to this kind of cancelling.
I’ve said it time and again that Milan have and still do have the best midfield in the world. It has all the ingredients for success in Europe. Familiarity of the highest order, technique, control and synergy; all of its pieces are ‘correct’ and each player has a clear and defined role to play. They have two weaknesses, one being they are ‘one-paced’ and aim to do all of their damage early and the second being a lack of stamina deep into a game (Which is why Gattuso is so vital to them) it’s no coincidence that about 85% of their Euro goals come earlier in games. In first halves and up to about 60 minutes they put on a display that few midfields can combat. If we want to get up to that level on a regular basis there can be no doubt that a huge upgrade is needed in midfield, an upgrade of cataclysmic proportion actually.
What we must all remember is that this European run has come early. I’m sure Fergie had no plans or aims for us to be anywhere near a CL SF this term; I’m sure the manager would have bitten your hand off at the start of the season if you’d told him we’d be 5pts up and oh so close to the PL title with three games to go – to hell with the cups..this year – so we have to take into consideration that this team wasn’t ready for the CL and was and still is a work in progress. The last time we won the CL our team, our squad, were complete. That season you couldn’t say ‘we need’ because we did not. We can be proud though, even though we’re a few tweaks away from again being ready to expect in Europe, we gave a solid account of ourselves and but for key injuries may well have gone all the way. This team was set up to compete for the PL first and foremost, and that is precisely what it has done. It’d be apocryphal to suggest it was intended to take us to European glory.
It’s alarming to think we are always a few injuries away from total collapse though; Rio, Rooney and Ronaldo are relied upon too much for a club of our stature. Scholes and Giggs are here, but they are not ‘go to’ men anymore in Europe. Rather, they play their part as cameos who can do a marvellous job and take the team onto another level when we’re playing well. Indeed, Giggs was key piece in the destruction of Roma at home, both are and have been absolutely vital to our PL campaign, but I’ve felt that in Europe they’ve been a mixed bag overall. When Scholes was removed in Rome, we managed to muddle by without him. When he didn’t play the 2nd leg, we, well, you know.
There is going to be a creeping need for the manager to assess and address this from next year’s CL onward I feel. These two are still good for one or two more PL challenges and they are also able to play a large role in our exploits in the CL, but I think from this point onward we’re going to have to look to other sources for inspiration as we cannot have such a fractious line where reliance is concerned. We’ve effectively seen that without Rio here, there is no backline, if Ronaldo and Rooney have no supply we are impotent and with no leadership through the heart of the side we struggle, badly, away from home no matter if Giggs and Scholes are on the field or not.
Michael Carrick has finally gotten a taste of a true, top notch European midfield and I’m sure he’ll kick on and learn from that experience. We’ve learnt (if anyone needed convincing) that he is not a DM or a DCM, he has no clue with regard to pushing out, for example, and lends himself to always sitting on top of his defence. It’s no fault of his though because for a DLP he does a quite fantastic job of defending, working and intercepting plays. What he clearly shows, however, is that he is never going to have the defensive positional awareness or aggression to be anything like our last line of defence through the heart of midfield and absolutely needs to be complimented by somebody who is all those things that he is not. Milan worked hard to cut him down on both the inside and outside lanes and not only snuff out his outlet balls to the wings but snuff out the basic passes on the inside as well and Carrick was overwhelmed by this. Only two midfields in the world could have done that with such quality – Chelsea’s and Milan’s – and it’s simply a matter of him learning from this. I will say though that to face these teams head on, matching them quality for quality through the middle is paramount. Say what you want about Liverpool, but through the heart of midfield Benitez has got the 2nd best unit in England and one of the best in Europe which kind of makes up for the ankle weights he has on the flanks supporting them, which leads me to:
Darren Fletcher. Fergie’s got a big decision to make here with regard to Fletch. It’s really down to what he thinks we can get out of the kid in the short term if he believes we are to make a serious challenge for the CL whilst also wanting to do well domestically. Fletcher surprised me last night. I won’t say disappointed because there were far more older heads out there looking poorer than he did, but year, surprised. Fletcher, for me, was always our most important player in Europe. I said it months ago, and at the time was probably being silently laughed at, but in this squad, and from what is here, he is our Gattuso – the player assigned with disrupting all and sundry from the opposing side, the thorn they can’t quite reach and the annoying fecker that makes life ‘unfair’ for the creators we face. In such a pivotal role it is essential that this player is always at the races, always there and a consistent annoyance, much like Gattuso was in both legs. Whilst the wide-eyed fans lapped up Kaka’s goals (rather than his performances) the more astute will note that it is Gattuso who determined both legs and it Gattuso that will decide where Milan’s chips fall in that final as he will be the one hammering away at Gerrard all game. This is exactly the same with regards to us. Whilst the mass media and wider-eyed fans where at their wits end trying to find superlatives for Ronaldo, the rest of the fans would note that it was Fletcher’s intrinsic base that got us to where we are and without him there’d have been no SF 2nd leg to concern ourselves with. That he was completely out of sorts in that game unsettled us as much, if not moreso, than Rio not being in the xi. Without him both Kaka’ and Seedorf ran riot for their allotted time of action (60minutes) and decided the tie.
Now for Fergie, the decision simply has to be whether he thinks that by next year Fletcher will be able to be our Gattuso on a full-time basis, or not. If he thinks he will be then going for an absolutely top notch DM or DCM will be a problem, as that hinders Fletcher’s development. If he thinks he won’t be, then we should go all out for a Daniele De Rossi*. I’m not quite sure what to think about Fletch. I made the Can Darren Fletcher (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=515937) thread precisely because we can all see, in glimpses what he may kick on to become. So there’s no knee-jerking needed here, but certainly a decision for the manager to make.
*Now with regard to a De Rossi over, say, a Hargeaves, there are many reasons to choose the former over the latter if the manager feels this is the route to go down. The first and most important one is that apart from being a vastly superior player, De Rossi is a leader and a ‘go to’ man through the heart of midfield. These are some of the most important attributes for that position and they come before skills, it just so happens that from time to time a very skilled technician, which De Rossi is, has all the heart in the world – that cataclysmic heart in fact. And anyone who was studying him in the Roma demolition game would have noted that he was one of very few who did not give in, scored a fantastic goal and played as well as circumstances would allow with almost no support at all – his technique was still there for all to see. This is what he has over Hargreaves before we argue about money and versatility and for my money, what we missed out there the most last night: heart enmeshed in quality and never-say-die spirit. De Rossi along with Essien, is clearly this generation’s truest actual midfielder to such a degree that you’d need not label him a DM or a DCM or whatever but could just call him a consummate central midfielder. If we want to settle this ‘Keano replacement’ once and for all, moving for De Rossi is the answer it’s as simple as that.
Another player the manager is going to need to make a decision on is Gabriel Heinze the warrior who is espoused for his heart and wild style of play but is technically a degree or three below United’s actual standard of play. In Gabby you have all the cynicism and cunning you want to see in a fullback, he’s incredibly smart and knows just what he’s doing when he tugs on an opposing player’s shirt and then as the player falls looking for the FK, Gabby will bundle into him intimating he’s the one being fouled. From this bag ‘o tricks, Gabby has a ton. He puts his neck on the line everytime he plays and people love that about he and Smith in particular. But at base ends there are questions to be asked of Gabby. Offensively I think he’s atrocious, his passing; poor, his crossing; not MUQ, and his decision making; questionable. Now, for all the mistakes he makes and so on, Gabby is absolutely fine domestically. His mistakes are overlooked because in the PL he can often make up for them or they will go unpunished by a lack of clinical enterprise on the other team’s behalf, but in Europe and against the better sides he is sought out and attacked frequently because they know there’s a mistake or three to be had on his side of the pitch. Gabby is Gabby and rounding on him for things that were always there would be poor form, but as this is an analysis of us as a future European Cup challenger, questions will need to be answered. Does the manager stick by him and field him only in the league? Do we hope he regains his pre-injury ability and just kick on? I’ll say one thing for certain. If Tweety was making the same mistakes Gabby has the last few weeks ending with his capitulation for Milan’s second, the pitchforks would have been sharpened and greased up..
I do wonder if last night’s game has put Gabby’s time here in jeopardy. He ain’t young, he is not going to improve technically ( he gives his all and that is his technical level) and he will always be good for blunders in Europe up against that level of opponent. But in the PL for 90% of games he is fine. The manager has a tough decision to make here and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him sway in favour of Silvestre whilst getting rid of Gabby. Not because Silvestre is a better player, but because Silvestre will never complain about being a sub, has more pace and whilst he makes as many blunders (if not more) than Gabby, he actually has more technique and offensive prowess. :eek:
John O’Shea is yet another player who can be used domestically, but is a liability in Europe where mistakes cost goals and poor technique puts a side under pressure for minutes at a time. J’OS has scored some absolutely crucial goals for us in the PL this term, in fact, he is as deserving of a PL medal as Ronaldo or whoever else would be, because without his crucial goals we’d not be where we are (funnily enough) he’s also somewhat of a cult hero for being so cack yet so pivotal with his plays/goals. I’m not a fan of his, at all. But can say that he’s earned his paycheque this season with his odd gait and dopey play in most games somehow being slapped in the face of his detractors as they celebrate his goals like mentalists. But in Europe J’OS is another no-go car crash waiting to happen. His technique is on the lowest rung at the club and it frequently puts him in positions that cause him to flap about like a new born swan. No matter where J’OS plays if fielded, the opposition brief will be to swarm him and put him under as much pressure as possible. Like Gabby he guarantees you critical mistakes during a game, no questions asked and like Gabby, it is fair to say that he just cannot help it. I used to pan O’Shea for not being the player he debuted as. Over time I’ve learnt to accept that his debut season was the anomaly and that this is and has been the real O’Shea for a long time. Since achieving this enlightenment (heh) it’s been easier to accept him as a player – he’s trying, he just isn’t any good – where prior to that I was always ‘angry’ he wasn’t John O’Shea of space year 2002.. J’OS is likely to remain at the club. The utilitarian who has found his niche. His fans will say he’s done a ‘marvellous’ job as a stand-in and that without him we actually wouldn’t be in a position to win the league this term. Fair enough, but I would in turn say there is a better utility man in our ranks who could’ve done everything J’OS has done and more and wouldn’t have base technique that fails in Europe as he’s technically very distinguished, but no matter.
Louis Saha I feel there’s a certain apathy towards him here. I myself and furious with him and would like him gone in the summer. I got angry when he came on the pitch tonight. I wasn’t angry at Gabby’s blunders or our ineptitude, but Saha, made my simmering blood rise to the boil. To know that we needed him so badly and to be so close to a bloody CL final and have he himself declare he’s not fit?? To not play his part in our run-in, knowing it could all fall down without him… how must his team-mates feel? We got rid of one superb striker for being a strop who refused to be subbed and became a disruptive influence… are we now at a 180 where we have to get rid of another for not wanting to play and becoming a disruptive influence by not playing? Is this the Twighlight Zone?
Once the title is decided I have to say I’ll be totally unbothered if he never suits up for us again. The manager must be exasperated by him. We’ve never had a striker not want to play for us. I think it could even be at a point where Louis needs counselling because if our medical staff with all their technology have passed you fit, you’re good to go and if you don’t think you are, you’ve probably made your own bed of psychological nightmares to lie in. I like(d) the player and what he offers us, when fit, but letting the side down is a major bug-bear of mine and knowing he’s there and could decide the entire semi final but chooses not to play it, just boggles the mind and infuriates me no end. He’s not a player we can rely on for anything and as such, how can he remain here on a fat wage choosing when he will or won’t play?
This over reliance on Rio Ferdinand has to end. It’s been this way for too long now and the team has shown time and time again that without him we have no defence. The argument that Vidic’s lack of match fitness swayed things isn’t a good one. It was the lack of organisation and composure at the back that broke us. I said before the game that if Vidic started he’d be the one Kaka’ would run at all night. Even if Vidic was 100% this would’ve been the case as he desperately struggles against fast players who dribble directly at him at pace. What was lacking was the organisation to cope with this. Slow vs. Fast is a classic confrontation in football. The slower player always has to have a barricade around him and the wits and organisational skills to command others into line to help him. Much like the vastly overrated Terry does at Chelsea. It is paramount that these slow CB’s are never isolated and never left at the mercy of a lightening quick attacker and the entire defence failed at that tonight. It’s partly because of having no leader in midfield, it’s also partly because there is no pace on our left side between Gabby and Heinze, but it is mainly because there was no organisation or composure out there. Like startled rabbits the pack split and did their own thing. Like Terry gets at Chelsea, our lot needed to tuck and huddle together to protect this weakness. Without Rio point-clicking the rest we had none of that out there.
The case for Jonathon Evans returning has probably increased greatly because of this game. This is what I wrote in the post(mortem) game thread.
Wes is a nightmarish CB. He ranges from immense to shambolic in the blink of an eye and at times you can say he is imperious and at others, he's Bramble-esque. What you don't get with him is that sense you can put your life savings on him in 9/10 games he plays. This was why Vidic was given the spot next to Rio, Vidic has blatant weaknesses, but out side of that he is solid and consistent. You know what will trouble Vidic and what won't, always. With Wes it's nearly always a case of him making his own problems. As such, you can't plan any contingent systems around him like you can with Rio and Vidic - you won't get this problem with Evans.
As well as what you've said, he is an incredibly consistent player, one you can trust who won't make textbook errors for no apparent reason. I think Wes can be relied on for PL games, but I honestly would not be surprised if Evans was back here and usurping him next term - you'll never get so many unforced errors out of Evans as you do out of Wes and Heinze - and that counts for a lot. He may be young and inexperienced, but his composure far outstrips that of any defender we had on the pitch tonight.
And as Seeing Red (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11432942&postcount=91) pointed out prior, Rio’s organisation was missed even more than his ability last night. Outside of Rio there is not a single organising centre back at the club this season whether that is as a 3rd, 4th or stand in CB. Think about it. This is our CB list, stand-in or otherwise:
Vidic
Brown
O’Shea
Silvestre
Heinze
Gaz
In fact, of all the defenders here, only Evra cannot play CB. And of all those listed, not a single one is an organiser. We simply have to address that this close season because this calamitous situation where Rio is out cannot keep happening. It’s a critical over-reliance and it has cost us. Jonny Evans is to Sunderland this season what Rio has been to us and whilst he may be but a child, I have 100% belief he would organise our sham of a defence if he were to deputize for Rio at any time in a campaign.
And with regard to defence, the right-back position is becoming a bit of a concern. Without Gaz we lost a lot in Europe, no offensive quality, no one to push on and up the flank, no defensive assuredness and most importantly no technique or composure. Gaz is aging, he is taking months at a time to recover from injuries that are penned in for weeks to recover from. It’s our folly if a proper replacement is not in place should (when) Gaz goes down again next season. And in his place should be a proper RB, a player who can do what he does and not make our flank so incredibly weak offensively. Like Jonny Evans, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see Danny Simpson brought back (perhaps) prematurely to deputise for the stalwart. The line of thinking is that he and Evans are too young but honest to goodness, they can do no worse than Heinze, Richardson and O’Shea defensively and I’m deadly serious about that. If you’d have asked me before the game had kicked off if I’d rather Simpson or O’Shea had started at RB last night I’d have said Simpson without a degree of hesitation. No one that’s stood in for Gaz at RB comes close to what Simpson has given this term, even if it was in the Colaship. There is no escaping base technique and he has more of it than any of the stand-ins.
Final thing to mention would be the obvious. Giuseppe Rossi’s guile and trickery is needed in this team for Europe. The slower paced, technical football that Milan played and the pressing they did right at the heart of the midfield is something Rossi has been brought up around since his teens. He’s thriving in serie A in a team that gives him about a quarter of the options that we would. There isn’t even the excuse of experience where Rossi is concerned anymore, after all he is actually getting his education in the country that has dumped us out of the CL twice in 2yrs; you can’t say much more than that on this score.
Like Evans, I have absolutely no doubts that Rossi can come in and do a big job for us as a stand-in and I fully expect him back here next term. I would not be surprised if he had an impact in our CL run next season either. He has the fantastista passing ability in a regularity that no one else at the club has and we desperately need some of that.
Alex has his hands full with who to bring in this summer. We need a striker a proper midfield general and a left winger. How he divvies this all up remains to be seen. Oh well, that’s Europe for ya, If a club that actually challenges for their league title wants to claim it these days there is a need for a huge interchangeable squad and until we have that we can expect the ‘either or’ scenario to keep rearing its ugly head.
Hehe, I can hear the birds chirping, haven’t had an ounce of sleep thinking about City on Saturday and typing this out has alleviated some of my angst. .