I had that thought during this game as well. Not the same player, but he's beginning to have massive influence on possession all by himself. Have to tip our hats to Wazza today, well taken goal, but he worked ever so hard for it.
He's certainly stepping it up this season, unlucky not to bag 2 or 3 today. Cudicini did well to parry them away.
Obviously it is exaggerating and being a little bit gay for him after his Arsenal game, but he's already a very solid all round midfielder. He's putting in the sorts of performances that, at this early stage at least, have made most of our worries about our lack of midfield go away. He has a few years of improvement still in him; it'll be interesting to see what he does become for us. Captain, most certainly.
not sure where that has come from, but that's hardly the case. I'm beginning to realize that few people pay attention to anything that happens off the ball defensively. We let Spurs have 3 or 4 shots from outside the D prior to Carrick coming on and after he did, I think they might have had one. Spatially, they no longer had the ball from the flank to the top of the box and the result was a load of deep crosses from Lennon. Now, he gave the ball away a couple times that I can remember but he also did a couple things ok. He wasn't brilliant on the ball but that wasn't his brief. He was supposed to come on and plug up the middle. That's what he did.
Was on for some time and gave the ball away three or four times in that period. Didn't do much else. Showed none of the passing we bought him for. Anyone could plug in the middle like he did today. We need a Manchester United player. There's a reason why we're still world-class without Ronaldo.
I think we clearly showed we were better team, even at 10 men. 3 points and derby day for top of the league coming up.... these are the days you miss during the summer.
No, anyone could not, we had 3 CMs for much of the day and we gave up those shots from the edge of the area and allowed them to work the ball back to the middle after getting it out wide. I'd be interesting to see his passing stats, because I'm sure he completed a decent percentage of passes and I'm convinced his positioning helped both Giggs and Fletcher do what they did on the ball and in defense as well. Carrick's inclusion magically turned Vidic from a bumbling idiot into a competent CB for the last 30 minutes or so and you don't think he had anything to do with it? A CB is quite often only as good as the man screening in front of him.
Best performance of the season so far. Really great that Anderson has joined Nani in upping his performance level. It's so important that we get more out of those two this season.
Pretty sure it was ma mams walking into the room at the last 30 minutes that changed Vidic from a a bumbling idiot into a competent CB. He ain't walking into the first XI with his displays, but Ferguson has his plans.
I know it is the reserves; but Anderson showed very good commitment and desire by not only asking to play in the reserves during the international break but also then going and putting on a very good performance capped by a goal. This could well be a turning point in his united career. Or maybe I am just over-analyzing based on 1 good performance.
I'll go with a little bit of both. I never thought his attitude was poor, but his playing in the Reserves was a big plus in my eyes. His performance today was great, but I wonder if we're going to use this formation that seems to suit him a bit.
Great result, I'm cautiously hopeful that we are witnessing the maturation of many right before our very eyes. I must admit I hesitantly gave SAF the benefit of the doubt with the lineup and tactics, but he nailed it. After the early goal, Spurs were completely overwhelmed. Keane, Lennon, Palacios = all anonymous (the latter very fortunate 'Arry took him off at the half or would've likely been sent off). Buzzing for next weekend, let alone the CL on Tues. Utd are set up well for the coming weeks, beyond any unseen knocks taken today. I would be very surprised if we don't see a midfield of Nani-Scholes-Carrick-Valencia against Besiktas; then again, Park's due for a run-out as well. Rooney is out of his mind right now; may it long continue...
Excellent performance today... I said in the England forum a few days ago that I believe Rooney might possibly be the best player in the World at this moment.. I stand by that opinion. Brilliant, and a fantastic game from Fletch as well...
You're right, I was happy when I heard he had asked to play in the ressies. I thought it was a great sign that he wanted to progress this season (I guess it is World Cup year after all )
God he was annoying when he was choosing his team to follow. It had to be a team in London because he couldn't be bothered going anywhere else in the UK.
No didn't you see we won 3-1 today? A team can only be as good as its midfielders and did you think Vidic would have not continued being a bumbling idiot if Carrick had not played? Teh boy is magik
His passing was off and he was a bit sluggish in releasing the ball. He looks pitiful at times, he needs psychological help.
It feels good to know that teams still can not afford to come at us. Wigan tried it and now Spurs and they both paid for it.
Yeah, definitely. We still are a class attacking side, even if we may have deficiencies on the pitch. Rooney is just something else right now, fingers crossed that we can keep him healthy and not burned out at all this season.