Dark Savante
26 Dec 2007, 12:16 PM
We’re at the midway point in the season now and a few things have become clear about our side and the individuals in the squad.
Strangely enough, we’re almost at the end of December now and we still don’t know our best xi, our big European xi starting team nor have we seen the team play particularly well for 90 minutes over a number of games yet.
Are we a one (Ronaldo) or two (+ Rio) man team is the question being asked of us now such has been the general contribution of others in the side. Not to say they’ve been poor, far from it, but how many are performing to the standards being set by Rio and Ronaldo so far?
I did one of these Good, bad and ugly things on here a few years ago. It’s basically a thread where you list what’s fit into these categories for each of our players and the team as a whole. It would be nice to see people having a go at their own rather than picking at other people’s without offering their own thoughts.
Anyway, mine:
VDS
Good: VDS hasn’t been overall shaky like he was at in the second half of last season. He and the backline are comfortable with each other.
Bad: His decision making on cross collection and jumping into melees at the wrong time. He’s prone to more errors now than he was a few years ago, which is understandable with his age.
Ugly: I personally believe he bottles it in the huge games. It was alarming to see him flapping all over the place at Anfield and I pray he’s not responsible for any woefulness in the CL’s KO stages.
Wes
Good: Has slowly developed his game at RB. He’s still not comfortable there, but he’s less of a liability now, particularly when going forward, then he was a few months ago. His height, strength and extremely hard tackling are great in defensive situations.
Bad: His crossing still needs to go up a few notches, although I doubt it will, he’s not FB. His offensive ended game still stifles us down the right.
Ugly: A very ba tendency to switch off in threatening positions where he is the loose man and Rio is point-clicking him because he himself is occupied. In those situations Wes can be seen ambling along completely oblivious to clear and present dangers like deep runners from midfield and late arrivals to the back post which he should be alert to.
Rio
Good: Has been immaculate at the back. This is his best half-season at the club to date, I think. His leadership, concentration, aggression and focus on the pitch have all be exceptional and it’s not a stretch to say he’s the best defender on the planet at this moment in time.
Bad: ‘The Party’ isn’t going to do him any favours with those who already have a perception of him and his alleged extra curricular activities..
Ugly: Our backline when he doesn’t play is a catastrophe. We had better pray he stays fit this time out, especially for the CL.
Vidic
Good: Very comfortable as part of a pairing with Rio. Imperious in the air in both boxes and steadfastly does his job.
Bad: Not aware of his limitations at times, which gets him caught out. As a so-called hard-man, he’s easily felled by strong CF’s and goes to ground looking for the refs call.. Stam would never do that. :p
Ugly: He is diabolical against pace. Between that and not being aware of his limitations, he gets caught in no-mans land in our half at times where you will routinely see him pawing wildly at the quicker striker with all he has – this is a red card in a big game waiting to happen. He should look to clatter or shoulder charge them with cynicism well before it gets to the point where he’s an arm’s length away from his man.
Evra
Good: The best attacking full-back in the league. His consistency and aggression on the attack alarms the sides we play and has him overlapping and flooding the left side time and time again. He’s much better defensively this season and is up for the fight that is the PL.
Bad: Goes forward irrespective of the situation. Sometimes holding his position would be the smarter move – in this way, his flank is something which we’re going to be hit on the counter with against the elite sides, particularly in Europe.
Ugly: Exclusively in high profile games he does spastic things like clattering into his own man for no particular reason at all. He did it when we played Milan last season and has done it a few times this year to somewhat less devastating effect this term. I worry about that with him in the biggest games.
Ronaldo
Good: He’s on the way to becoming an all-timer at the rate of progression we’re seeing. Has improved in every aspect from this season to last. People saying he’s not doing as well as last season, aren’t getting that the greatest players do a lot more with a lot less and don’t have to be ever-present during a game to be absolutely stellar. His shooting has improved, his timing of runs into the box as well as when to go it alone have come on a great deal. And even with the conventional winger stuff he’s better at crossing and putting the correct balls into the box to fit the situation (i.e low drives, cushioned cut-backs to the edge of the box, back or near post crosses, in or out-swingers) very nice to see.
Bad: His conventional dribbling has some way to go and at times he’s struggling to take on men quickly and succinctly when his man/men aren’t falling for the tricks. His free kicks: For the most part they aren’t good enough – needs to hit more of them the proper way, which he is actually quite good at, and develop that into an art from – not spastically blast the ball into tier 3 every shot or other.
Ugly: The diving creeping back into his game. Whether he feels it justifiable or not, it’s going to be something that needs reining in, lest it makes him the pantomime villain again.
Hargreaves
Good His free kicks, would be the first thing. I think he should take the majority of our FK’s around the box. His pace through the centre of midfield is quite special. You don’t see such players in the middle very often and along with Zakora, I’d not be surprised in the slightest if he’s the quickest central midfielder in the league. His running and pressing certainly proved effective verses Liverpool…
Very good at RB, gives us tactical flexibility.
Bad: He’s not comfortable with the demands of our passing game, nor with being a proper CM with two-way duty in a 4-4-2. Highly likely to neglect duties you’d expect of a central midfielder in a 4-4-2 i.e running towards the ball anywhere in his vicinity, even if it means he abandons his nominal position for period of time – all well and good when you have a more positionally aware midfield partner willing to sit for you, but not good when you’re the one who’s supposed to be sitting.
Ugly: His injury problems are quite scary. His positioning in danger situations badly needs work (Arsenal, both goals) as a runner, he’s fine, but outside of that role (Which we’ve asked him to play most times he’s fielded) he looks unsure.
Scholes
Good: His ball retention skills are still the best in the league. Still the man for us when it comes to keeping the whole side constant and fluid whilst maintaining high, meaningful possession stats.
Bad: With his new role, you’re just not going to get many goals out of Scholes, and our goal return from central midfield with a bunch like we have (Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson and Hargreaves) is going to take a monstrous dip without Scholesy contributing.
Ugly: N/A
Anderson
Good: Looks like he’s been at the club for years. Has been fantastic as a kid in his debut season in such an important position on the pitch. There’s clearly a lot more in his locker than we’ve seen. Tremendous body strength, clearly has pace and his tackling has been a real surprise. This is the kind of player you expect to pay £17m+ for.
Bad: His antics when going to ground, the posturing gesticulations to get others carded – basic cultural differences he’ll iron out with time in England.
Ugly: His shooting is atrocious, needs to work on that big time.
Giggs
Good: Given rest and the correct role in the side, he’s still a major influence on us and is still comfortably the best conventional dribbler at the club. Good communication with the youngsters is keeping them all in line.
Bad: Not really bad, per se, Giggsy just needs rest and correct utilisation these days otherwise he looks spent and aimless at times.
Ugly. Ryan Giggs doesn’t do ugly.
Tevez
Good: Thrown to the lions and survived, whilst returning to fitness and getting used to a new team without a pre-season under his belt. Tireless worker up-front who produces many turnovers from the oppos CB’s and CMs with his tireless work ethic. His link-up play and his ball retention are superb at times. Has shown in pockets of play what we can look forward to when he’s at his very best.
Bad: He’s had some shocking misses this season, real shockers and by rights, he’d be our league top scorer if he’d put them away. He takes far too many extra touches when the early shots are on and is not using Ronaldo as the open man enough on counters.
Ugly: Had a real stinker vs. Arsenal. Apart from that, nothing really.
Rooney
Good: His start to the season was looking like electric. Is adding more strings to an already considerable bow with his new position of #9, whether it’s working remains to be seen.
Bad: His goal return is off, again, and he’s really struggling to find even footing what with the:
Ugly: constant injuries. Really ruining the lad’s promising start to the season. His consistency is understandably blown right off course because every time he finds some form, he gets injured again. I hope that’s the last of the injuries for him.
Kuszczak
Good: A very good, head-on shot stopper. Anything he can follow decisively for trajectory, velocity etc, which requires no real thought, but a lot of reflex, he gobbles up very assuredly.
Bad: His decision making is poor.
Ugly: His kicking, cross collection and aura of confidence on anything other than shot-stopping is not MUQ.
O’Shea
Good: Has looked a much better player this season. I would guess part of that has come about with him no longer having to play in midfield, he looks much more accomplished at full-back. Although, he did have a proper O’Shea-of-two-seasons-ago half against Everton. O’Shea is one of the biggest and heaviest players in the league, and at long last he is using his size to his advantage. He honestly looks like the strongest man in the league next to Samba at Blackburn these days. The amount of players he has sent flying this season is right up there with the likes of Stuart Pearce years back. He even sent Yakubu flying on Sunday!
Bad: When he’s bad, he’s really bad.
Ugly : His half vs. Everton on Sunday.
Pique
Good: His heading is very good. Has grown into games after looking shaky at the start of matches.
Bad: His nerves. He’s a much calmer player than we’ve seen so far. His lack of pace is greatly overstated – he lacks acceleration, which is fair comment. Ends up flat-footed too often.
Ugly: The mistake he made at Bolton.
Simpson
Good: His attacking game is much better than any other RB we have except Gaz. Runs both the inside and outside lane of his RM as a support and will always offer the overlap.
Bad: Ball watching. He looks nervous and so wary of making a mistake that at times rather than be decisive defensively and make a mistake he’d rather stand off and do nothing. He’ll learn with time, but situations like the Everton must be much fewer and further between.
Ugly: His positioning defensively has been really poor. Needs games and experience to iron that out.
Nani
Good: Looks like Michael Jackson c. 1984. Has a very dynamic edge to him offensively and a good deliverer of crosses from corners. Has a long range bomb of a shot on him that may well prove to be the best at the club by the end of the season. Very good at direct running and a solid conventional dribbler.
Bad: He’s so erratic. As to be expected from the youngsters there’s sporadic periods in games where he looks like a petulant child in a playground playing on his own. Nothing maturing won’t iron out.
Ugly: He’s our Eboue with his antics. All of them need to be ironed out or he’s going to become a hate figure for the league at large.
Carrick
Good: vs. Chelsea
Bad: in nearly every other game he’s played.
Ugly: that loss of confidence is quite alarming. Come on lad, you’re a Utd player and were an integral part of a PL winning side last season, have more belief in yourself, ffs and fight for your place.
Eagles
Good: close control, long range shooting, finishing.. he has these things in his locker.
Bad: I have paperweights heavier and stronger than he is.
Ugly: watching him get man-handled by stronger players. Won’t make it here.
Fletcher
Good: ??
Bad: He’s been shafted.
Ugly: How he’s been dumped to the periphery of the squad off the back of looking like a player coming who was starting to look the part at the back end of last season for us.
Saha
Good: Shows in pockets of play what he could and should be for us.
Bad: No one knows what to expect from him anymore. Not many have faith he’ll remain fit for any stretch of games.. he’s vital to us if we don’t buy another striker. All feels like a huge crapshoot.
Ugly: Too much pressure on Tevez and Rooney to carry the team because Saha can’t be relied upon.
Manchester United
Good: we’re chasing the top spot whilst not playing anywhere close to our best.
Bad: our frontline is threadbare.
Ugly: the complete and utter dependence on Rio and Ronaldo – if either go down, will we still be in the running for the cups or the harder games in the PL?
Strangely enough, we’re almost at the end of December now and we still don’t know our best xi, our big European xi starting team nor have we seen the team play particularly well for 90 minutes over a number of games yet.
Are we a one (Ronaldo) or two (+ Rio) man team is the question being asked of us now such has been the general contribution of others in the side. Not to say they’ve been poor, far from it, but how many are performing to the standards being set by Rio and Ronaldo so far?
I did one of these Good, bad and ugly things on here a few years ago. It’s basically a thread where you list what’s fit into these categories for each of our players and the team as a whole. It would be nice to see people having a go at their own rather than picking at other people’s without offering their own thoughts.
Anyway, mine:
VDS
Good: VDS hasn’t been overall shaky like he was at in the second half of last season. He and the backline are comfortable with each other.
Bad: His decision making on cross collection and jumping into melees at the wrong time. He’s prone to more errors now than he was a few years ago, which is understandable with his age.
Ugly: I personally believe he bottles it in the huge games. It was alarming to see him flapping all over the place at Anfield and I pray he’s not responsible for any woefulness in the CL’s KO stages.
Wes
Good: Has slowly developed his game at RB. He’s still not comfortable there, but he’s less of a liability now, particularly when going forward, then he was a few months ago. His height, strength and extremely hard tackling are great in defensive situations.
Bad: His crossing still needs to go up a few notches, although I doubt it will, he’s not FB. His offensive ended game still stifles us down the right.
Ugly: A very ba tendency to switch off in threatening positions where he is the loose man and Rio is point-clicking him because he himself is occupied. In those situations Wes can be seen ambling along completely oblivious to clear and present dangers like deep runners from midfield and late arrivals to the back post which he should be alert to.
Rio
Good: Has been immaculate at the back. This is his best half-season at the club to date, I think. His leadership, concentration, aggression and focus on the pitch have all be exceptional and it’s not a stretch to say he’s the best defender on the planet at this moment in time.
Bad: ‘The Party’ isn’t going to do him any favours with those who already have a perception of him and his alleged extra curricular activities..
Ugly: Our backline when he doesn’t play is a catastrophe. We had better pray he stays fit this time out, especially for the CL.
Vidic
Good: Very comfortable as part of a pairing with Rio. Imperious in the air in both boxes and steadfastly does his job.
Bad: Not aware of his limitations at times, which gets him caught out. As a so-called hard-man, he’s easily felled by strong CF’s and goes to ground looking for the refs call.. Stam would never do that. :p
Ugly: He is diabolical against pace. Between that and not being aware of his limitations, he gets caught in no-mans land in our half at times where you will routinely see him pawing wildly at the quicker striker with all he has – this is a red card in a big game waiting to happen. He should look to clatter or shoulder charge them with cynicism well before it gets to the point where he’s an arm’s length away from his man.
Evra
Good: The best attacking full-back in the league. His consistency and aggression on the attack alarms the sides we play and has him overlapping and flooding the left side time and time again. He’s much better defensively this season and is up for the fight that is the PL.
Bad: Goes forward irrespective of the situation. Sometimes holding his position would be the smarter move – in this way, his flank is something which we’re going to be hit on the counter with against the elite sides, particularly in Europe.
Ugly: Exclusively in high profile games he does spastic things like clattering into his own man for no particular reason at all. He did it when we played Milan last season and has done it a few times this year to somewhat less devastating effect this term. I worry about that with him in the biggest games.
Ronaldo
Good: He’s on the way to becoming an all-timer at the rate of progression we’re seeing. Has improved in every aspect from this season to last. People saying he’s not doing as well as last season, aren’t getting that the greatest players do a lot more with a lot less and don’t have to be ever-present during a game to be absolutely stellar. His shooting has improved, his timing of runs into the box as well as when to go it alone have come on a great deal. And even with the conventional winger stuff he’s better at crossing and putting the correct balls into the box to fit the situation (i.e low drives, cushioned cut-backs to the edge of the box, back or near post crosses, in or out-swingers) very nice to see.
Bad: His conventional dribbling has some way to go and at times he’s struggling to take on men quickly and succinctly when his man/men aren’t falling for the tricks. His free kicks: For the most part they aren’t good enough – needs to hit more of them the proper way, which he is actually quite good at, and develop that into an art from – not spastically blast the ball into tier 3 every shot or other.
Ugly: The diving creeping back into his game. Whether he feels it justifiable or not, it’s going to be something that needs reining in, lest it makes him the pantomime villain again.
Hargreaves
Good His free kicks, would be the first thing. I think he should take the majority of our FK’s around the box. His pace through the centre of midfield is quite special. You don’t see such players in the middle very often and along with Zakora, I’d not be surprised in the slightest if he’s the quickest central midfielder in the league. His running and pressing certainly proved effective verses Liverpool…
Very good at RB, gives us tactical flexibility.
Bad: He’s not comfortable with the demands of our passing game, nor with being a proper CM with two-way duty in a 4-4-2. Highly likely to neglect duties you’d expect of a central midfielder in a 4-4-2 i.e running towards the ball anywhere in his vicinity, even if it means he abandons his nominal position for period of time – all well and good when you have a more positionally aware midfield partner willing to sit for you, but not good when you’re the one who’s supposed to be sitting.
Ugly: His injury problems are quite scary. His positioning in danger situations badly needs work (Arsenal, both goals) as a runner, he’s fine, but outside of that role (Which we’ve asked him to play most times he’s fielded) he looks unsure.
Scholes
Good: His ball retention skills are still the best in the league. Still the man for us when it comes to keeping the whole side constant and fluid whilst maintaining high, meaningful possession stats.
Bad: With his new role, you’re just not going to get many goals out of Scholes, and our goal return from central midfield with a bunch like we have (Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson and Hargreaves) is going to take a monstrous dip without Scholesy contributing.
Ugly: N/A
Anderson
Good: Looks like he’s been at the club for years. Has been fantastic as a kid in his debut season in such an important position on the pitch. There’s clearly a lot more in his locker than we’ve seen. Tremendous body strength, clearly has pace and his tackling has been a real surprise. This is the kind of player you expect to pay £17m+ for.
Bad: His antics when going to ground, the posturing gesticulations to get others carded – basic cultural differences he’ll iron out with time in England.
Ugly: His shooting is atrocious, needs to work on that big time.
Giggs
Good: Given rest and the correct role in the side, he’s still a major influence on us and is still comfortably the best conventional dribbler at the club. Good communication with the youngsters is keeping them all in line.
Bad: Not really bad, per se, Giggsy just needs rest and correct utilisation these days otherwise he looks spent and aimless at times.
Ugly. Ryan Giggs doesn’t do ugly.
Tevez
Good: Thrown to the lions and survived, whilst returning to fitness and getting used to a new team without a pre-season under his belt. Tireless worker up-front who produces many turnovers from the oppos CB’s and CMs with his tireless work ethic. His link-up play and his ball retention are superb at times. Has shown in pockets of play what we can look forward to when he’s at his very best.
Bad: He’s had some shocking misses this season, real shockers and by rights, he’d be our league top scorer if he’d put them away. He takes far too many extra touches when the early shots are on and is not using Ronaldo as the open man enough on counters.
Ugly: Had a real stinker vs. Arsenal. Apart from that, nothing really.
Rooney
Good: His start to the season was looking like electric. Is adding more strings to an already considerable bow with his new position of #9, whether it’s working remains to be seen.
Bad: His goal return is off, again, and he’s really struggling to find even footing what with the:
Ugly: constant injuries. Really ruining the lad’s promising start to the season. His consistency is understandably blown right off course because every time he finds some form, he gets injured again. I hope that’s the last of the injuries for him.
Kuszczak
Good: A very good, head-on shot stopper. Anything he can follow decisively for trajectory, velocity etc, which requires no real thought, but a lot of reflex, he gobbles up very assuredly.
Bad: His decision making is poor.
Ugly: His kicking, cross collection and aura of confidence on anything other than shot-stopping is not MUQ.
O’Shea
Good: Has looked a much better player this season. I would guess part of that has come about with him no longer having to play in midfield, he looks much more accomplished at full-back. Although, he did have a proper O’Shea-of-two-seasons-ago half against Everton. O’Shea is one of the biggest and heaviest players in the league, and at long last he is using his size to his advantage. He honestly looks like the strongest man in the league next to Samba at Blackburn these days. The amount of players he has sent flying this season is right up there with the likes of Stuart Pearce years back. He even sent Yakubu flying on Sunday!
Bad: When he’s bad, he’s really bad.
Ugly : His half vs. Everton on Sunday.
Pique
Good: His heading is very good. Has grown into games after looking shaky at the start of matches.
Bad: His nerves. He’s a much calmer player than we’ve seen so far. His lack of pace is greatly overstated – he lacks acceleration, which is fair comment. Ends up flat-footed too often.
Ugly: The mistake he made at Bolton.
Simpson
Good: His attacking game is much better than any other RB we have except Gaz. Runs both the inside and outside lane of his RM as a support and will always offer the overlap.
Bad: Ball watching. He looks nervous and so wary of making a mistake that at times rather than be decisive defensively and make a mistake he’d rather stand off and do nothing. He’ll learn with time, but situations like the Everton must be much fewer and further between.
Ugly: His positioning defensively has been really poor. Needs games and experience to iron that out.
Nani
Good: Looks like Michael Jackson c. 1984. Has a very dynamic edge to him offensively and a good deliverer of crosses from corners. Has a long range bomb of a shot on him that may well prove to be the best at the club by the end of the season. Very good at direct running and a solid conventional dribbler.
Bad: He’s so erratic. As to be expected from the youngsters there’s sporadic periods in games where he looks like a petulant child in a playground playing on his own. Nothing maturing won’t iron out.
Ugly: He’s our Eboue with his antics. All of them need to be ironed out or he’s going to become a hate figure for the league at large.
Carrick
Good: vs. Chelsea
Bad: in nearly every other game he’s played.
Ugly: that loss of confidence is quite alarming. Come on lad, you’re a Utd player and were an integral part of a PL winning side last season, have more belief in yourself, ffs and fight for your place.
Eagles
Good: close control, long range shooting, finishing.. he has these things in his locker.
Bad: I have paperweights heavier and stronger than he is.
Ugly: watching him get man-handled by stronger players. Won’t make it here.
Fletcher
Good: ??
Bad: He’s been shafted.
Ugly: How he’s been dumped to the periphery of the squad off the back of looking like a player coming who was starting to look the part at the back end of last season for us.
Saha
Good: Shows in pockets of play what he could and should be for us.
Bad: No one knows what to expect from him anymore. Not many have faith he’ll remain fit for any stretch of games.. he’s vital to us if we don’t buy another striker. All feels like a huge crapshoot.
Ugly: Too much pressure on Tevez and Rooney to carry the team because Saha can’t be relied upon.
Manchester United
Good: we’re chasing the top spot whilst not playing anywhere close to our best.
Bad: our frontline is threadbare.
Ugly: the complete and utter dependence on Rio and Ronaldo – if either go down, will we still be in the running for the cups or the harder games in the PL?