Exeter Blue I am here
Well-Known Member
One thing struck me after sitting and analysing their games in such detail. There is no joyfulness in the football of Manchester United. There is very little expressiveness, none of their players seem to be enthused and they are disciplined. Much of their chances are created from well drilled patterns of play emanating from (I imagine) months and years of hairdryer treatments on rainy, muddy pitches at Carrington with their stern eyed Scot overlooking their every move. Ferguson knows how to be successful and it shows in their organisation. They are a very well oiled machine, moving not only in the blocks mentioned earlier but these blocks then moving in relation to other blocks. It’s the footballing equivalent of Ivan Drago; all disciplined strength but seemingly no love for the game or self awareness. David Silva could not play in this system; it would kill him just like it killed Juan Sebastian Veron, another player who required the trust and expressiveness that Manchester United do not allow their players to have. At their highest levels with the triumvirate of Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney, they allowed their players to shine and shine they did but as their flair players moved on they were replaced with “efficient players” like Valencia and Young. Over the last 5-10 years, United have created Picasso and made him paint commemorative plates with cats on.
Absolutely spot on, Damocles. Something I've been saying for years is that United are little more than a glorified version of Stoke. You just have to replace the long throw-in routine for a similar regimen based on whipped crosses, which they use like a set play. I wouldn't necessarily agree that they put most of these crosses in at knee height, although they certainly mix them up a bit, but what is noticeable is their accuracy, whether they're delivered along the floor or in the air. They are all perfectly placed across the edge of the 6 yard box and they come in with whip and pace taking away all of the defender's natural advantages. The head height ones are particularly awesome, seldom over or under hit, and they have enabled the rags to score no less than 15 headed goals this season, and you can add probably another half a dozen that Hernandez alone has clipped in with his feet at the near post.
What they also do as part of their crossing party piece whenever possible, is have 3 men attacking the front post, middle and back post of the goals respectively. This is again no more than a percentage play, ie if the ball is fractionally too high for the front post man, there's a good chance the one arriving in the middle of the goal will get a nick on it and the pace already on the ball from the cross will do the rest.
I watched United closely against Blackburn, where Valencia's delivery in particular caused chaos. Every cross had the Blackburn defenders scrambling under tremendous pressure, with very few of the headers made under any kind of control. Instead, if they didn't ricochet out for corners, they either sailed straight back to Valencia or barely cleared the edge of the box......which of course is where phase 2 of the set play takes place, ie Scholes and or Carrick following up unchallenged (with everyone else having been sucked into the 6 yard box to deal with the initial cross), to rifle in low shots at the corner of the goals. Either way, Blackburn couldn't ever clear their lines properly, with the result that the ball was eventually recycled to Valencia or Young to have another crack. As a tactic it enables the rags to turn the screw in a way we can only dream of, and the number of times it pays dividends in the dying seconds of games against mentally shattered defenders is nobody's business. It's also a highly effective way of undermining the bus parkers that we don't have in our armoury at all.
That the rags are top of the league owes little to them being the best football team, cos they aren't. What they are though is a side who have perfected the most efficient way of playing, over many years. They have good enough forwards to beat most sides up the middle, but if that isn't working, then they've had first Beckham and Giggs to whip it in, then Ninny and the Ladyboy, now Young and Valencia. We are going to have to be mightily switched on to stop them on Monday and I think we may have to ditch one of the fluid Nasri, Kun, Tvez, Silva, quartet to achieve it.
Absolutely spot on, Damocles. Something I've been saying for years is that United are little more than a glorified version of Stoke. You just have to replace the long throw-in routine for a similar regimen based on whipped crosses, which they use like a set play. I wouldn't necessarily agree that they put most of these crosses in at knee height, although they certainly mix them up a bit, but what is noticeable is their accuracy, whether they're delivered along the floor or in the air. They are all perfectly placed across the edge of the 6 yard box and they come in with whip and pace taking away all of the defender's natural advantages. The head height ones are particularly awesome, seldom over or under hit, and they have enabled the rags to score no less than 15 headed goals this season, and you can add probably another half a dozen that Hernandez alone has clipped in with his feet at the near post.
What they also do as part of their crossing party piece whenever possible, is have 3 men attacking the front post, middle and back post of the goals respectively. This is again no more than a percentage play, ie if the ball is fractionally too high for the front post man, there's a good chance the one arriving in the middle of the goal will get a nick on it and the pace already on the ball from the cross will do the rest.
I watched United closely against Blackburn, where Valencia's delivery in particular caused chaos. Every cross had the Blackburn defenders scrambling under tremendous pressure, with very few of the headers made under any kind of control. Instead, if they didn't ricochet out for corners, they either sailed straight back to Valencia or barely cleared the edge of the box......which of course is where phase 2 of the set play takes place, ie Scholes and or Carrick following up unchallenged (with everyone else having been sucked into the 6 yard box to deal with the initial cross), to rifle in low shots at the corner of the goals. Either way, Blackburn couldn't ever clear their lines properly, with the result that the ball was eventually recycled to Valencia or Young to have another crack. As a tactic it enables the rags to turn the screw in a way we can only dream of, and the number of times it pays dividends in the dying seconds of games against mentally shattered defenders is nobody's business. It's also a highly effective way of undermining the bus parkers that we don't have in our armoury at all.
That the rags are top of the league owes little to them being the best football team, cos they aren't. What they are though is a side who have perfected the most efficient way of playing, over many years. They have good enough forwards to beat most sides up the middle, but if that isn't working, then they've had first Beckham and Giggs to whip it in, then Ninny and the Ladyboy, now Young and Valencia. We are going to have to be mightily switched on to stop them on Monday and I think we may have to ditch one of the fluid Nasri, Kun, Tvez, Silva, quartet to achieve it.
