The matches against Crawley Town and Marseille were unbearable for most Manchester United fans. Old Trafford, famous for fans loudly urging the team to attack, has become a boring place of late – a sad thought for anyone who has witnessed classic matches at the stadium. Despite United scoring more goals than any other side [...]
Monday, February 21, 2011
In American football, the “offense” and the “defense” form a line of scrimmage. The offensive line protects the passer, usually the quarterback, and clears the way for runners. Runners, usually receivers positioned wide, carry the ball forward. Despite the prevalent perception, Sir Alex Ferguson is quite a tactician. He has – perhaps anticipating upcoming European games [...]
Sunday, February 13, 2011
With Rafael da Silva in fine form, few expected John O’Shea to start yesterday’s Manchester derby. The Irishman, who is known more for his versatility than virtuosity, has been in poor form this season but his deployment was crucial to Manchester United’s 2-1 victory at Old Trafford. There is no doubting Rio Ferdinand’s importance to [...]
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Despite his crossing ability, Gary Neville has been more a full-back who can attack than a proper attacking player in the mould of Cafu. Yet, Rafael da Silva’s emergence this season has allowed Sir Alex Ferguson, perhaps for the first time in his Manchester United career, to depend on his right full-back to provide genuine [...]
Monday, December 27, 2010
This column previously discussed Manchester United’s new 4-4-2. The new system was still experimental at that stage but has come out kicking and screaming in recent games, with its notable lack of traditional width. This is to indulge the type of player that United has in abundance and to mask the Reds’ lack of a classy attacking [...]
Saturday, December 18, 2010
In the past, one could forgive Wayne Rooney’s lack of goals on the rationale that he adds much more to the game than pure goal scoring. No longer of course but it follows logically that one can also criticise a player for doing little but scoring goals. It is perhaps a little harsh to apply [...]
Friday, December 17, 2010
Manchester United fans have no reason to like John Obi Mikel, the man who forced a move to Chelsea in 2006. Even Chelsea fans are ambivalent about the Nigerian who seemingly does little but pass the ball to Michael Essien and Frank Lampard. However, Obi Mikel is as important to Chelsea as Jack Wilshere is to [...]
Monday, December 13, 2010
Normally one assumes that the central attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 is the most influential player. No longer necessarily so – this might be so in terms of assists and/or goals but not so if one is to canvass the game as a whole. Possession is not a luxury, but a necessity and in the [...]
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Wrong footed full-backs have always existed of course – Phil Neville, Dennis Irwin and John O’Shea – right-footed players, have often been deployed on the left. It didn’t matter all that much. Defenders did very little but defend, especially in the Premier League where the classical, rigid 4-4-2 has been the formation du jour. But [...]
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Two misleading assumptions in football surround Manchester United’s strike pairing Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney; assumptions that have grown despite evidence to the contrary. Yet, something happened at the weekend that hadn’t before – the pair took to the Old Trafford field ostensibly in their ‘correct’ positions. The widely held – arguably false – view [...]
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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