Player ratings: Bursaspor 0 Manchester United 3

Ikam had written about energy levels in the preview. United showed amazing energy levels in this game, especially the two fullbacks and the midfielders. Fergie employed a 4-2-3-1 making only 3 changes from the team that started against Spurs; Carrick and Scholes doing the holding role, Fletcher in a more advanced role beside Nani and Obertan forming a narrow 3 behind Berba. Nani and Obertan were cutting in to allow Rafael and Evra to overlap. Fletcher and later Park were given license to roam and they often found themselves in acres of space. Bursaspor, despite playing a high-pressure game, couldn’t dispossess or force the United central midfield duo into making mistakes which was were the game was won.

Vandy (7) – Perfect game but for one poor clearance which landed on the foot of a Bursaspor player just outside the box. Made a good stop on a one-on-one. The great man has no ego whatsoever; ran till the left end of the box to run the ball out of play rather than letting Fabio handle it.

Rafael (9) – Great performance. Wonderful positioning and tackling. We already know what he can do on the attack; pleased to see him do well at the back too, which is more important. Has put in two good performances on the trot. Would have picked him as the Man of the Match had Scholes not been at his imperious best.

Smalling (7) – Calm while defending, confident on the ball, he is of the Ferdinand mould. Might be preferred over Evans when Rio/Vida gets injured/rested.

Vida (8) – Dealt with ease everything that came his way.

Evra (7) – Played a sloppy pass which led to a one-on-one which Vandy saved. Made numerous overlapping runs and put in quality crosses. He was more excited than his compatriot Obertan when the latter scored.

Carrick (8) – Classy. Was happy to play second fiddle to the majestic Scholes. Played a lovely ball to Fletch who broke the deadlock early in the second half.

Scholes (9) – If we can keep this man fit, we can go all the way in the competition. None better when he is on song, like he was last night. Man of the Match.

Nani (7) – Hope his injury does not keep him out of the team and break his momentum. He displayed maturity by coming off early in the game. He could have overdone his injury if he had not curbed his enthusiasm, and United, at this stage, cannot afford an injury to Nani.

Fletch (7) – Good finish from a difficult angle to put United 1 nil up.

Obertan (7) – Good pace and aerial ability. Touches are a little too heavy. Stunning shot from outside the box to cap a good game. And, delivered a couple of good corners!

Berba (6) – Inconsistent performance. There were some moments of Berba magic midway through the first half, but, overall a disappointing performance.

Park (7) – 3 good performances in 7 days. Three-Lung Park is back!

Bebe (7) – A goal on his first Champions League appearance and his second in the space of 1 week. The whole squad looked happy for him when he scored. Ran all the way to the bench to hug Chicho. Glad that the two have gelled well so soon. Hope they do that on the pitch as well.

Fabio (6) – Fergie should give him more time on the field. Rafael and Fabio bombing forward on both wings gives me wet dreams.

Preview: Bursaspor vs Manchester United

Anderson, Darren Gibson, Johnny Evans, Rio Ferdinand, Federico Macheda, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves are not in Turkey at the moment. The first two starting in a 2 man central midfield would be, for me, a sign from the Gods to switch off my TV. Let’s leave them be, I will probably write some choice words about them another day. So, we are carrying a very limited squad to an away game which we do not need to win but would virtually guarantee us qualification if we do and enable us to concentrate on the league for the next 3 months. We only have 2 strikers, Berba and Hernandez, and 2 central defenders, Vidic and Smalling,available and by my reckoning, only 1 in the former and both in the latter category will play. The Bulgarian could be the one given that he was subbed in the Tottenham game relatively early and Chicharito put on the bench to give playing time to Obertan or Bebe. Carrick is slowly finding his feet again and should join Scholes and Fletcher to form a trio in the centre of midfield. After a fabulous game at the weekend, our player of the season so far is expected to start on the right and we can look forward to some more sparks of brilliance from Nani to put us in the knock out rounds. John O’Shea, unfortunately, may be seen on the right side of defence owing to Sir Alex’s tendency to give everyone a chance and Evra on the left. Kusczak will be hoping he gets a run out in this game though he knows his days are numbered at Old Trafford especially when Amos gets a game and he does not.

I have nothing to say about Bursaspor. Erm, I have something to say about Bursaspor after reading what Sir Alex had to say to the press. He is still going on with comments about Rooney when he usually shuts the door to the journalists in similar cases and I do not remember him being so open about any affair related to the club. I forgot, Bursaspor then. Their stadium is located somewhere in the mountainous areas in north-west Turkey. The visiting fans at OT would have been seriously pissed off by their team’s insipid performance and aversion to giving any trouble to the home defence on match day 3. They only hope that it is better tonight. That’s it about Bursaspor. Sorry.

The previous game between these 2 teams was played in the shadow of one Wayne Rooney and lacked any sort of momentum after the early goal was taken beautifully by Nani. United, in previous years, in these sort of away games with a depleted set of players has lacked the energy levels we are used to seeing, and usually huffed and puffed their way to one goal margin victories which is great from the point of this tournament. And that is what I expect will happen tonight in a 1-0 victory for us.

Probable Team(Manchester United): Kusczak, O’Shea, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Obertan, Carrick, Fletcher, Scholes, Nani, Berbatov

Probable Team(Bursaspor): 11 people, I know none of their names

Man to watch(Manchester United): Brilliant goal scoring and assists run should continue for Nani

Man to watch(Bursaspor): The keeper, who hopefully should be kept busy

Prediction: 0-1

Interesting Manchester United connection to Turkey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=aqTcL1A3fNM

Player Ratings: Manchester United 2 Tottenham 0

Vandy (7) – Dived full stretch to stop Modric (should sign him). 40 years old!

Rafael (7) – Did very well against the in form Bale (should have signed him). Made a Messi-like run past 4 defenders before shooting wide. I thought he should have played the full 90 minutes.

Rio (7) – Didn’t sort out the problem of players dropping into the ‘hole’. Or is it Fergie’s duty to help the players sort it out? Van der Vaart (should have signed him; should sign him) and later Pavlyuchenko both dropped in between Carrick-Fletcher & Rio-Vidic to take shots at goal. Good game otherwise.

Vidic (7) – A couple of major errors that could have cost us the game. Compromised with that thunderous header.

Evra (6) – Wasn’t comfortable against Lennon; was beaten a few times by the pacy winger.

Nani (8) – He should have grabbed the headlines for the right reasons. But that incident ruined it. You can’t fault Nani though. He tapped it in only after confirming with the ref if he can play on. It took the sheen out of his Man of the Match performance.

Carrick (6) – Was marking Van der Vaart (not 100% sure) and didn’t do a good job of it. Passing was good. Will soon start fighting with Fletch for a spot in the first 11 alongside Scholes.

Fletch (6) – Was frustrating with his misplaced passes early in the game. Made amends and played some fine passes later.

Park (7) – Great movement. Unlucky not to get his name on the score sheet.

Berba (6) – Not really in the game. The Berb maybe didn’t want to hurt his former club.

Chicho (7) – Good game. Fergie opting to play him lone striker for about half an hour should have boosted his confidence, not that he is in need of any at the moment.

Obertan (6) – Didn’t do much. Good to see him get some minutes in League games anyway.

Brown (7) – Solid at the back. Supported Nani well on the attack. Played a fine chip that led to the Nani incident.

Scholes (8) – Magnificent cameo. United had complete control of the game once he came on.

Cornered

A corner is given for the most innocent of mistakes, but the consequences for the defending team can be disastrous. At United, we have quite a few tall players and, in Vidic, one of the best headers in the game. Yet, this season we have been very poor in converting corners to goals. Out of 75 corners so far this season, we have only converted 2. One of them was an own goal! Giggs was the provider on both instances.

Nani has to take some of the blame for this situation. For all the good performances he has put in this season, Nani has been terrible with corners. His corners don't go beyond the first man defending the ball. It doesn't seem to be a tactical ploy since it is usually O'Shea who is United's first man. Hardly the player you'll want to do the intelligent flicks across the goal mouth.

This inability to put in decent corners has affected the team already this season. In the game against Bolton, we had 12 corners and didn’t manage to score one. The team sheet that day boasted Vidic, Evans, O’Shea, Fletcher, Berbatov and Rooney. Players who are more than capable of sending the ball into the back of the net provided the ball gets anywhere close to them.

Opposition	Score	# Corners	Goals	Scorer	Assist
Newcastle	3-0	3	0
Fulham	2-2	6	1	Hangeland (o)	Giggs
West Ham	3-0	9	0
Everton	3-3	5	0
Rangers	0-0	3	0
Liverpool	3-2	6	1	Berba	Giggs
Scunthorpe	2-5	5	0
Bolton	2-2	12	0
Valencia	0-1	3	0
Sunderland	0-0	4	0
West Brom	2-2	3	0
Bursaspor	1-0	6	0
Stoke	1-2	6	0
Wolves	3-2	4	0
Total		75	2

Even in past seasons, Nani’s corners were generally below par. It used to bewilder me how this could go unnoticed with Fergie. But in the Stoke game, we finally saw a change in approach. 5 out of 6 corners were taken short. And one of them led to a goal. Nani exchanged passes with Evra and his left foot cross was met by Vidic, and Chicharito knocked it in with a reverse header. The actual problem hasn’t been addressed, but at least the problem has been acknowledged.

When Valencia is back, he’ll be doing the corner duties. Gibson, in the game against Wolves, delivered a few fine crosses from the corner spot. But Nani having clearly been earmarked for taking corners in the absence of Giggs, should be working harder in the training ground. Mastering the art of corners is crucial to any attacking player and Nani will be a better winger if he can add this to his repertoire.

Do you think we should try other players or should we persist with Nani since he has a guaranteed spot in the starting 11?

The importance of corners cannot be emphasized enough. After all, the most important goal in United’s history was scored off a corner!

Player Ratings: Manchester United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Amos (6) – At fault for Wolves’ first goal. Looked nervous and shaky initially. Grew in confidence as the game progressed and kept shouting instructions to the defenders. Good distribution with both legs. Little too harsh to say he’ll never be No.1 for United.

Brown (6) – Put in some solid tackles throughout the game and supported Bebe well on the attack. Was troubled by the excellent Jarvis and one of his slip ups nearly cost us when Hunt’s shot clipped the crossbar.

Smalling (6) – Very comfortable on the ball; delivered a few quality long balls early in the game. OK defensively.

Evans (5) – Not a great game. Made a lot of unnecessary fouls.

Fabio (6) – Most of Wolves’ attacks came through their right flank and Fabio dealt with them pretty well. Didn’t offer much on the attack though.

Bebe (7) – A goal on your first start, not bad at all. I was so looking forward to watching him and he didn’t disappoint. Ran at the defenders and got into good positions to cross. Scuffed a few crosses and lost the ball on a few occasions while attempting to beat the defender. Used his strong physique well to win a lot of 50-50s. We can expect him to make a few Premier League appearances this season.

Carrick (7) – Huge improvement from his past games. One touch passes, through balls, shots from distance, looked very much in form!

Gibson (7) – He was responsible for both goals United conceded. He was marking Elokobi who scored Wolves’ first; lost the ball just outside the box and it led to Wolves’ second. Yet, this was probably his best game in a United shirt (No, I haven’t forgotten the Bayern game). Along with Carrick, ran the game from midfield. Unlike his previous games, dropped deep to collect the ball and controlled the tempo of the game. In spite of the crowd calling him to shoot, on many occasions, took the right option of passing it to a player in a better position.

Park (8) – Man of the Match. Deserves a start against Spurs this weekend.

Obertan (6.5) – Made a few penetrating runs, showed good dribbling skills, good bursts of pace but poor close control. Lot of rough edges to be sharpened. Had a good first half but faded away in the second. Should work on his stamina.

Macheda (6) – Was caught offside a few times, when, if he had remained onside would have had acres of space to exploit. Credit to Fergie for letting him start as lone striker; will do a world of good to his confidence.

Neville (6) – With all due respect, his appearances should be restricted to cup games.

Chicharito (9) – Ole reborn!!!

Morrison – The 17-year old is tipped for greatness. Fergie is on a mission to prove that United's future is indeed safe!

Preview: Manchester United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

The Carling Cup is back and the youngsters would be rubbing their hands in glee knowing full well that they will get an opportunity to impress tonight. Sir Alex has put complete faith in them for the cups in the previous years and the reward has been the wins in the last couple of years. And United must be fancying their chances given that Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City are already out of it. United legend Bryan Robson thinks that we are on our way to a hat-trick of titles but Arsenal are still in with a shot with a difficult away trip to Newcastle and Wolves are no pushovers as their display against Chelsea on the weekend showed. Wolves have had a bad start to the season and are just ahead of West Ham on goal difference in the table and they have City visiting them next. So, there is a decent chance that Mick McCarthy could field a weakened starting line-up making survival in the league his priority as he did at Old Trafford last season, choosing to virtually lose the game before it started. But let us assume that he will not do the same. Stephen Hunt returned from injury to make his debut for the season against Chelsea and will start. So should Serbian midfielder Milijas who had a good game at Stamford Bridge. Kevin Doyle remains a threat to any defence with his mobility and predatory instincts and he scored twice in the previous round to put them through.

Expected Team(Wolves): Hennessey, Ward, Stearman, Foley, Edwards, Berra, Jones, Jarvis, Milijas, Hunt, Doyle

United will certainly continue with fielding youngsters in the team and Obertan, Bebe, Gibson, Amos and Macheda should start. Owen is back and could be making his first start in a while. We could also see Hargreaves in the first team for the second time in 2 years after his prolonged battle with knee problems. That would be a big boost for the team in terms of not only this competition but also the league where we need to strengthen our midfield.

Expected Team(Manchester United): Amos, Brown, Smalling, Evans, Fabio, Obertan, Anderson, Gibson, Bebe, Macheda, Owen

Wolves passed the ball pretty confidently against Chelsea and kept possession for significant amounts of time. They could do the same especially if our midfield does not hold the ball which is certainly a worry but we have pace upfront which will trouble them. The defence also is pretty strong and can hold against the Wolves attack. Overall, we have too much quality all over to see beyond a win for United.

Prediction: 2-0

Preview: Stoke City vs Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson would be glad that the Rooney affair has been put to rest after a harrowing week and the players can focus on the business at hand. But it won’t be easy. As it is not only Wayne who has to prove himself to the fans all over again when he returns in 3 weeks, but the squad, whose potential and capability have implicitly been questioned by Rooney, will look to show they have what it takes to win titles. Stoke City can be expected to make them work hard every inch of the way. Britannia stadium is a tough place to look for our first away win of the season though we have to go all the way back to 1993 when Stoke City took points off United so we at least have that working for us. As always, Stoke can be expected to be tough all over the park, maintain their structure and use their big strikers. Oh, and the very very long throws from Delap. Ricardo Fuller is a major doubt for the game, but otherwise, they have their whole squad at their disposal. Etherington has been a crucial player for Stoke this season providing half of the assists which is the best record in the league by proportion. Kenwyne Jones, bought from Sunderland this season, has gelled well with his new team mates and scored 4 goals already. The Potters would be hoping to route their attacks through him and his strength could be a handful for the United central defensive pairing.

Expected Stoke City Team: Sorensen, Huth, Faye, Collins, Shawcross, Delap, Etherington, Pennant, Whitehead, Walters, Jones

This is the second least productive beginning to a Premier League season for United. With Chelsea winning last evening, the gap between United and them is 8 points. Three draws in the last 3 games have dented hopes of a record 19th title and except the Sunderland match, those have been points that have been thrown away. Clinical is a word that has been conspicuous by its absence this season for United and they have to take their chances to maintain their hopes of chasing down Chelsea. Sir Alex has been giving opportunities to the hitherto overlooked pair of Anderson and Carrick in the last few games and Scholes has been rested (he did make good use of that rest, allegedly injuring Rooney in training that will keep him out for some time). Expect Scholes and Fletcher to be given preference for this game along with Nani and Park in midfield. Ferdinand has been given the nod by the manager a couple of days back ahead of Smalling who started in the Champions League. The attacking pair of Berbatov and Chicharito is likely to be retained against Stoke but Rafael could be sacrificed for the more solid right back in the form of John O’Shea. Giggs, who provided both the assists for the 2-0 win at Stoke last season, is a big miss and limits the attacking options for us, should we need a goal from the bench. Tony Pulis has said that Rooney signing a new deal is a big lift for United and would encourage them but I think that players would be a bit shaken from all that happened last week and therefore, predict a 1-1 draw.

Expected Manchester United Team: Van Der Sar, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Scholes, Fletcher, Park, Hernandez, Berbatov

Player to watch (Stoke City): Kenwyne Jones – Ability in the air, strength and form make him a danger to United

Player to watch (Manchester United): Dimitar Berbatov – His creativity could be the difference between 1 and 3 points on a day when space will be at a premium

Form (Stoke City): L W D W W L

Form (Manchester United): W D W D D D

Prediction: 1-1 (the fan in me is screaming a 1-0 win)