United Stays Top

Leicester City went top and then it was the turn of Manchester City. The gauntlet was thrown down to Manchester United. Can they match that? I say we did well to show character and mentality to match that.

Shocking Start

Playing Fulham at Craven Cottage always brings back memories of some narrow 3-2s when they just got promoted into the Premier League and a season before that. Also a very significant hard-fought 2-1 win on our way to the league title in 2006-07. We got off to a horrible start in our latest encounter. Fulham needed all of five minutes to take the lead. Like the United players, I thought Ademola Lookman was offside for the goal but to my astonishment, it wasn’t reviewed and disallowed on VAR. As it turns out, it was just a bad goal to concede. They caught us napping.


Strong Response But Disjointed Attack

On the hindsight, it was a good time to concede because it woke us up and we started battling with them for the ball. Slowly, we got more control of the game. While we grew into the game, our attacking play was disjointed. Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw were playing like strangers, not on the same wavelength for most of the game. Mason Greenwood was playing without any confidence. It’s sad to see a promising youngster playing like that. I am still holding out hope that he would be able to re-discover his confidence very soon. As Bruno Fernandes’ influence grew into the game, so did United’s. He was unlucky to see a shot crash off the post but was instrumental in our equaliser. He put in a hopeful cross that was fumbled by Alphonse Areola and his former Paris-Saint Germain team-mate, Edinson Cavani was on hand to produce a typical poacher’s finish.

Cavani & Pogba

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer has repeatedly described Cavani as someone who offers something different in the forward line. I believe that he is the only one that offers what a striker should provide for a big club like Manchester United. He should be starting more matches than not. Paul Pogba got us the winner with a moment of quality. It is encouraging to see that someone other than Fernandes is proving himself to be a match-winner. Pogba has the quality to do it, now is a matter of achieving consistency and maturity.


Missed Chances, Saved Attempts & Luck

We could have scored more than the two goals we scored to give us a comfortable end to the match. Harry Maguire was guilty of a poor miss from a free header. Cavani had a header well saved by Areola but besides that, there were some half-chances that maybe we could have done better with. Fulham is a well-organised, physical side and they made it difficult for us to find a way through. We helped them too by giving away possession cheaply on more than one occasion. We had David De Gea to thank for saving a shot from Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Loftus-Cheek was a handful for Fred and Shaw on at least two occasions. We were also lucky that Aleksandar Mitrovic’s header deflected off Eric Bailly and trickled wide of the post.

One Game At A Time

We could have played better but I feel we showed great spirit and strong mentality to bring home the three points and regain the lead on top of the table. I conclude by saying that there is still room for improvement. One game at a time.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Italy, The Tragedies

Image
USA 94 USA 94 and Italy’s USA 94 team will forever hold a special place in my heart. USA 94 was the first World Cup I watched and there were some memorable games and players from this tournament. Italy’s progress just fell short of being a feel-good Hollywood film. It was sweet until we met a tragic end. This was also a tournament where my all-time favourite player, Roberto Baggio was at the peak of his powers. Italy made it out of the group stage by the skin of the teeth as one of the best third-placed qualifiers. Baggio entered the tournament as the best player in the world but was below-par. He chose the right time to rise as all special players do, scoring the equaliser two minutes before the end in the Second Round match against Nigeria. Italy clicked into gear after that with Baggio back at his best, playing the heroic role. He scored the late winner against Spain in the quarter-final and two great goals in Italy’s best performance of the tournament in the semi-final against Bulg...
Read more

Manchester Bore Draw

Image
A trend is emerging this season involving Manchester United and big games in the Premier League. I am afraid the effects of that crushing 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur has meant a change in tack in approaching these games. In three games after that hammering, we have scored zero goals and conceded once. All three games have been dour, tentative and cagey. The focus is to protect the defence first and foremost before going forward. If we go forward and nick a goal, all good, otherwise the team is happy to keep a clean sheet and draw. Not A Good Point To Gain As a fan, it is frustrating to watch. It’s a throwback to Jose Mourinho days where we defended deep, went forward in hope rather than with a defined strategy. This I feel is a regression in our approach from last season where we did quite well in the big matches. I am not buying the argument that this is a good point to gain. It would have been if we were injury-hit, coming into the game in terrible form or were just not good en...
Read more

Under Pressure United

Image
Under Pressure – that’s a song from the British rock group, Queen featuring David Bowie and that is probably what Ole Gunnar Solksjaer is feeling right now after another poor performance and result yesterday against Leicester City. One win in 5 games across all competitions for the Red Devils is not acceptable form. Manchester United’s long inconsequential run of unbeaten away matches is over and just as well I say. Inconsequential because it didn’t lead us to any silverware. The team and manager were already under pressure before the international break and this defeat has intensified that pressure on United. Midfield Pairing Not Working No matter which centre-midfield pairing the manager puts out, it is easily bypassed; Fred, Scott McTominay, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba have all got a run in the centre of the park but no one can exert control there. In the last 5 matches, I have seen Aston Villa, Villareal, Everton and now Leicester City overrun and outplay us in midfield. Defen...
Read more