O'Shea up the pecking order? 2-6-2?

[benine]

Watched the full replay of saturdays match last night. I have to say that it looks like O'Shea is moving ahead of P.Neville in terms of favor in the lineups. Both Silvestre and Neville came off rather than him, something that is totally bizzare. Also, didnt it look like the 2-6-2 (?) that was being played toward the end of the match was much more natural for united? I know it would be crazy to propose such a lineup for a european match up, but maybe for the preimership its the way to go with Blanc/Ferdinand in the back, Butt and Keane in front of them, playing a halfback type slot, then Giggs, Veron, Scholes, Beckham, with Ole and Ruud up top?
But most striking was how composed and sound O'Shea played compared to Silvestre and Neville...and Blanc, for that matter. Could we finally be seeing a new developed player cracking the squad? I say O'Shea over Escude at this point.

[TravisMinor_23]

Well...for the record the reason Nelville and Silvestre were brought off because they were playing the outside defense, you can't really have Phil Nelville running up the flank and leaving Blanc as the only one back in a 2 man backfield.

As for the 2-6-2 (actually, it was mostly a 2-5-3 as Ole Gunnar and Forlan both came on as forwards), the reason it looked good was first of all because Man U outclasses WBA, as well they should, there are a number of players on Man U who are valued at more then WBA's starting lineup combined. On top of this is the fact that WBA had already had a player sent off and was playing 10v11. Honestly I didn't see all of the game, but what I saw was far from impressive, really should run a team like WBA off the field and were lucky to escape with the 3 points.

[Slash/ED]

As an Irishman I watched O'Shea today, took notice of everything he did. He was nothing short of brilliant, won man of the match and had, imo, the best striker in the premiership in his back pocket, reducing him to one shot on target and that a long range effort. He looked unbeliveble, had the lot, tackling, pace, strenght, composure, passing, presence and intelligence. I can't see him being dropped after a preformance like that and Fergusson himself said O'Shea saved him spending another 20m on a centre half.

[prk166]

O'Shea's been an up and comer for awhile now. It's good to see him stepping up and performing. He's played well in the first 2 games of the season. Question is, what happens when the defence is fit? Who sits?

[MikeyM]

O'Shea hasn't done anything to play himself out of getting playing time. Against West Brom, he was more solid than Blanc. I haven't seen the Chelsea game yet, therefore, I have no opinion on how he played in that game...

[Slash/ED]

He was man of the match marking Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink, the man I consider the best in the EPL if not Europe.

[Mac_Howard]

Two at the back as a permanent tactic? Love it! ;)

Did you notice how hairy it became when Utd scored and WBA suddenly became interested in scoring? :)

[MikeyM]

Yeah, I saw Blanc almost take a penalty & then later he fell down.

[MyHouse!]

Originally posted by Slash/ED
He was man of the match marking Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink, the man I consider the best in the EPL if not Europe.

He had JFH on lockdown, no doubt.

If he gets a start tonight at OT it'll do wonders for his confidence if he plays well.

Sometimes inexperience is a good thing because you don't know you're supposed to be nervous/scared.