Red Rants |
- United are playing for their future
- Moyes, Evra and the end of an era: five things we’ve learnt from Bayern vs United
- Analysing Guardiola’s Bizzare Tactics!
- Has Moyes Created A Monster He Can’t Control?
| United are playing for their future Posted: 11 Apr 2014 12:47 AM PDT
United’s shambolic campaign was brought to an end in Munich and the Reds enter the last five weeks with absolutely nothing left to play for apart from dignity and personal pride, a stark reminder of how low the standards have fallen in David Moyes’ first season in charge.
While Europa League qualification is still possible, though it would probably be regarded as a nuisance by many, the general consensus is that the next five games will only prolong United’s suffering this season. There are, however, different opinions as to how the Reds will tackle their remaining matches: will they approach them with a “nothing to play for” attitude or will they raise the bar in the hope to impress potential suitors? Fletcher made clear that him and his teammates must deliver performances that will convince David Moyes to keep them at the club this summer. “It is time to show the manager that you deserve to be at this club,” said Fletch. “If you get a chance to play, you have to go and impress the manager and show him that you are capable of being here next year. “Go and put in performances because the manager will be thinking of next season, no doubt about that. You have to make sure that you are one of the names that he still wants.” Unsurprisingly, Fletcher said he doesn’t require any particular motivation to put in a solid shift, an attitude which has been sorely missed by many of his teammates this season. “Personally, not for me, and I think everyone should have that mindset. You have to go out to try to win every game and finish as high up the league as possible.” “We now have five or six league games left with nothing really to play for. That is a unique experience for us and we are disappointed and hurting but we have to go into these games and we have to win them.” United will miss out on Champions League football for the first time in 19 years and the risk of seeing Liverpool winning the league, could make this campaign even worse. Fletcher has admitted this season has damaged the reputation of the club and of the players. “He will definitely look back on this season and realise it was a disappointment but I fully expect there to be some signings. People expect signings in the summer, there is no doubt about that, but that is always the case at Manchester United.” Fletch, however, refused to blame David Moyes for the team’s failures. “We lose as a team. It is a situation that everybody is affected by, not just one person, player, manager or anyone. We stick together as a club and we win and lose as a club and a squad. “I don’t think we are as far away as some people think. I think we showed that over the two legs. The club will always look to bring in top players and improve the squad and whoever the manager brings in, they will hopefully help us bridge that gap.” Fletcher doesn’t believe entering the Europa League could hinder United’s campaign next season and he’s stressed United should aim for the title, rather than simply being content with finishing in the top four to return to the Champions League. “The goal next season will be to win the Premier League, not merely to finish in the top four,” he said. “It would maybe make that challenge easier not being in the Europa League but there are two ways of looking at it. I am sure the club would rather be in it.” |
| Moyes, Evra and the end of an era: five things we’ve learnt from Bayern vs United Posted: 10 Apr 2014 07:38 AM PDT
Here’s five things we’ve learnt last night.
1) Moyes must go This Bayern Munich side is one of the finest teams European football has seen over the last two decades and bowing out to the Champions of Europe in their backyard wouldn’t normally justify claims for the manager to be sacked and David Moyes’ inaugural campaign been successful, he shouldn’t have been judged based on last night’s match. Likewise, had United reached the semifinals, Moyes shouldn’t have been considered a success. United performed well against Bayern, perhaps better than they have throughout the season, but the truth is that this Champions League run merely papered over some of the enormous cracks that have appeared since Moyes was appointed in July.
Last night proved yet again that Moyes is utterly incapable of changing the course of a game with his substitutions, which were both largely overdue and questionable. Danny Welbeck was inexplicably replaced despite having been a threat for Bayern’s defence, while Wayne Rooney remained on the pitch despite being clearly unfit, as Moyes himself admitted after the game. A manager who opts to field a half-fit player must be fully aware of the consequences. If Moyes knew Rooney wasn’t fully fit, then it’s preposterous for him to claim he was surprised by Rooney’s limited impact, while if he didn’t know Rooney wasn’t fully fit (which would be ridiculous for other reasons) then he should have brought him off once he’d realised so. 2) Time is up, Pat It’s painful to single out Patrice Evra for criticism, particularly after the thunderbolt with which he had put United in front, but Paddy was at fault for both Mandzukic’s equaliser and Muller’s goal that put Bayern ahead. Evra was too far away from Mandzukic as the Croatian was allowed to direct his header past De Gea and he should have done a lot better against Arjen Robben, who was allowed far too much time and space to cross for Muller. We’ve become used to Evra being out of position and far from solid at the back, but last night’s mistakes were unforgivable, given the circumstances and while the collapse of United’s defence means the blame must be shared, one gets the feeling last night could have been Evra’s swan-song. We’ll miss him, though. His celebration showed just how much he “gets” United and that’s what he’ll be remembered for.
3) Has Shinji been freed? Amid the disappointment that accompanied United’s capitulation last night, it would be easy to forget about Shinji Kagawa’s performance. Too often the Japanese was prone to let games passing him by, particularly when not deployed in his favourite role or during matches in which United did not enjoy a large share of possession, but last night Kagawa proved that he can be an asset even when United are set out to defend. Even though United were starved of the ball for large traits of the game, when they did have possession Kagawa’s passing was incisive and his movement precise and intelligent, much as they had been against Newcastle on Saturday. If the Japanese can continue his good run of form then it’ll be hard for Moyes, or whoever will be in charge next season, to ignore him. 4) Defending is mental “If you are a schoolboy you get told that if you score, make sure you don’t concede right away. We didn’t do an awful lot wrong tonight but it was just a couple of sloppy errors. The only crime was conceding a goal [so soon] after we had scored. That was the biggest crime,” said Moyes after the game. While it’d be hard to argue with him on this particular issue, questions ought to be asked of the way United reacted after conceding. It was almost as Evra’s goal disrupt United’s plan, rather than galvanise the players into action and as soon as Mandzukic equalised, heads started to drop on and off the pitch, despite the fact that United were still largely in the tie. Conceding a goal less than a minute after having gone ahead is indeed criminal, but the sight of Moyes slumped back in his seat after Muller’s goal – when a goal would have still taken United through – would have hardly filled his players with confidence and it symbolised how the mentality of this team has changed in nine months. 5) The end of an era Last night was, in more ways than one, the end of an era for Manchester United. Not only it was the final chapter of an uninterrupted 19-year long run in the Champions League, but it was also the last game in the competition for Ryan Giggs, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and, probably, Patrice Evra. There’s no place for sentimentalism in football, though Moyes’ decision to leave Giggs on the bench when an appearance last night would have allowed him to equal Raul’s all-time record of 162 appearances in the competition was rather puzzling, particularly given that even a five-minute cameo at the end of the game would have sufficed.
Giggs, Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra have been pillars of United’s European campaigns guaranteeing that it’ll take a huge effort to replace them and it was an incredible shame that their successful Champions League careers had to come to such an inglorious end. Whether David Moyes is the right man to guide the club through this rebuilding process remains largely debatable, but so far there’s been nothing to suggest that might be the case. |
| Analysing Guardiola’s Bizzare Tactics! Posted: 10 Apr 2014 06:32 AM PDT
Yes that formation is as ridiculous as it sounds! I hope the graphic below tries to explain it a bit better.
The Formation – A Throwback To The 50′s - The 2-3-2-3 The main aim of this formation was to help Bayern dominate possession. They did this very successfully by clogging up the midfield. They played 5 midfielders! Lahm and Alba were playing a dual role. When Bayern were in possession, which was 59% of the time, Lahm and Alba abandoned their full-back roles and joined Kroos in the center of midfield.
Other analysts might disagree but I feel Kroos was the deepest of the Bayern midfielders. However on the rare occasion Manchester United did get the ball in the opposition half, Lahm and Alba simply shuffled back to their full-back roles. Alongside Alba and Lahm, Kroos formed the solid midfield base. I might add that Kroos was absolutely fantastic. He might not get all the headlines but I feel he was the difference tonight for Bayern. He kept the midfield ticking over and protected his back 2 valiantly. He completed more passes than anyone on the pitch and was joint highest tackler for Bayern alongside Lahm. In front of him in more attacking positions were Gotze and Muller. They played as the two CAM’s, particularly Gotze. The former Borussia Dormund midfielder had a disappointing afternoon despite having a 91% pass completion rate. His team mate alongside enjoyed a more successful match. Muller was causing problems as he played as a ‘False 9′ at times. He had quite a free role and drifted everywhere across the pitch. However his favoured role was often partnering Mandzukic, who was their only out and out striker. This gave our CB pairing of Smailing and Vidic an extra problem. Muller was often found inside the box however when needed dropped back and joined the Bayern midfield men. The Problems It Caused For Guardiola A major problem that Guardiola made for himself was that by playing Lahm and Alba in midfield he left his flanks wide open for attack. It allowed our pacy wingers, Welbeck and Valencia in particular, to run right at Bayern Munich. I felt most of our joy come from the wings and on the counter attack was where we were most threatening. The strength and energy of Welbeck and Valencia proved to be a handful for the Bayern defenders. On Valencia’s wing was where we caused a lot of problems. On Welbeck’s wing we were unable to cause as many because Welbeck tucked in and acted as the main target man quite a few times.
I previously said that Gotze had a bit of a disappointing game. This was not down to his personal performance but more of a result of the system Bayern were playing. Bayern clogged up the midfield area and Gotze simply did not get enough time on the ball due to there being so may options available around him! With Kroos, Alba and Lahm making up the midfield base and Muller sometimes dropping back as CAM, it made Gotze almost redundant. He was simply a cog in the efficient Bayern machine. For a player Bayern payed £32.5 million for, I expected a bit more. One of the biggest problems this formation had was that it forced Robben and Ribery to play by the touchline to provide Bayern width. Although still very effective, Robben and Ribery are at their best when they are allowed to cut in and have a shot at goal. which Robben did. They were unable to do this for the majority of the game because they had no overlapping full backs in Lahm or Alba. This is because they were in midfield.
The Solution To be honest, the solution was really quite simple! Stop trying to act so smart and start to simplify it! Pep did exactly that when he brought on Rafinha. When they brought on the RB, Bayern went from a mind boggling 2-3-2-3 to a modern 4-2-3-1. With Rafinha on, Alba dropped to his LB position and Lahm formed a midfield duo with Kroos. One of the major advantages it formed however was that it allowed the Bayern wingers to tuck inside as the full backs would be providing the width through overlapping runs. This little tactical switch allowed Robben to cut inside and score the third Bayern goal, It also meant that Bayern were able to step up the speed of the game. With less men in the middle of the park, the midfield became less congested and the game opened up. This played into the hands of Bayern Munich who enjoy high tempo games. It was the polar opposite of what David Moyes wanted. With tired legs, his defenders could not cope with the increased speed and momentum. The high tempo is what resulted in the Bayern goals. It was a clever change by Guardiola, a calculated change, but one that would not have been necessary if he had simply stuck to the basics! Thanks for reading my post and please feel free to leave me feedback and your suggestions in the comments! This post was written by Rafae Qazi and you can follow his Man Utd Blog here.
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| Has Moyes Created A Monster He Can’t Control? Posted: 10 Apr 2014 05:53 AM PDT
Simply that he is still a United player. At the point of taking the reigns, it seemed that Rooney was as good as gone after becoming disillusioned by life at OT having played second fiddle to Robin van Persie all last year.
There is no doubt that that was a role placed upon him because Robin van Persie was the one man who could lead United and Sir Alex to title number twenty. He is not as good a striker as RVP is and found his place in the team adjusted accordingly. Sir Alex was quite prepared to see Rooney leave the club and, had he remained in charge this season, there is no doubt that he would not have been donning the red of Manchester United this campaign. Had that been the case, I am in no doubt that the club would have survived, as Sir Alex proved time and time again that no player is bigger than the football club. What a difference a year makes. Undoubtedly, Moyes did exceptionally well to keep Wayne Rooney at the club. But at what cost? He has been one of the few players that have done reasonably well this campaign. But all this season has proved is that Sir Alex was absolutely spot on with the pecking order he created at the club. With RVP pushed to the background and seemingly unhappy, Rooney has taken the mantle and United sit seventh in the league. Now of course the squad is nowhere near strong enough to win the title so I'm not going to say Wayne has failed us because we aren't top of the league. But we certainly aren't bad enough, on paper, to be sitting where we are. The importance surrounding Wayne Rooney, an importance created solely by David Moyes, has gone to the player's head and, if I were sitting in the dressing room, I know I wouldn't be happy. This is a player that questioned the club's ambition, embarrassed Sir Alex Ferguson and behaved like a spoilt child. Granted, Sir Alex rewarded Rooney with a new contract and a pay rise, but their relationship was never the same and his role in the team changed. It was said that you never cross Sir Alex and get away with it and, although Rooney stayed, Sir Alex most certainly knocked him down a peg or two. Now I fear that Moyes has created a monster he can't control. I will not for a second question the player's ability, he is a fantastic footballer and we are ten times stronger for having him on our books, but my goodness he knows it. The problem became obvious after the arrival of Juan Mata. He is a world class number ten, he needs to play in behind the striker. However, Rooney appears to have decided that that is where he needs and wants to play. The problem with that is that Juan Mata is a better player in that position. It's no surprise to me at all that since RVP's injury, Juan Mata and Shinji Kagawa have thrived. They are now getting to play as part of the three behind the centre forward and are doing it majestically. It's truly been a joy to watch both of them playing with flair and skill together in recent weeks. It's a major dilemma for Moyes. How do you field a team that includes Rooney, RVP and Mata effectively? It always seems to be that one or two of the players from that three suffer when all are selected. Rooney never appears to be the one that suffers. His desire to chase the ball all over the park is admirable, but it's not beneficial. For a 4-2-3-1 formation to work, the three behind the striker have to be fluid, they have to be prepared to interchange and work together. Rooney, in his attempts to play for the team, is actually being more of a hindrance. One possible solution is to play him as a centre forward. His understanding of that position has really improved thanks to Sir Alex and, when played there, he is extremely effective. Otherwise, I'm not sure how any of the other attacking players can get a look in. I think back to Robin van Persie's interview following the first leg against Olympiacos where he stated that players were playing where he wanted to play and this is exactly what I'm getting at. For a team to work efficiently, everyone must have their role and must stick to it. I'll say it again, I love Wayne Rooney's hunger to have the ball, but he has to learn to trust his team mates and confine himself to attacking quarters only. If Rooney is happy to adapt to the fluid number ten role where he interchanges with his two team-mates, (like the example set by Hazard, Oscar and Willian at Chelsea) then we really will be quite an attacking prospect because I think he would be fantastic at doing it. Should Wayne Rooney be serious about being a number ten then he needs to learn how to play that position properly. The signing of Mata was an indication from Moyes of how he sees the club progressing and so Rooney must also now adapt (or be adapted by Moyes) and we will reap the rewards. There also needs to be a serious increase in David Moyes' bravery when it comes to making in play decisions. Rooney was clearly not match fit last night and fluffed his lines on more than one occasion. Sir Alex would have had him off, no question. I worry that David Moyes is scared to rock the Rooney boat. Every club needs an alpha male and that must be its manager. David Moyes is nowhere near being it at United and the sooner he toughens up and makes the correct decisions for the club's sake and not Wayne Rooney's, the better. Greg |
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