Manchester United staged another master
class performance on Boxing Day to defeat Newcastle 3 – 1, in a game that
United could have won with a wider margin and that continued United’s fine home
form this season.
It was a game with many positives
for United, though the game also came with a few negatives. Redly United
highlights five of those salient lessons.
1. Mata Mattered: Manchester United against Aston Villa had the
problem of unlocking the well organised Villa defence, in a match where Mata
and Rooney were not with their keys. But
the game against Newcastle was in every ramification different. Mata was at his
best, with two killer passes that lead to United’s first two goals, both were
defence opening passes and his moves in the final third were laudable. Always looking
to put in that final pass across to the strikers and he looked dangerous
throughout the game. It was a Mata performance the United fans would wasn’t to
see more often. His performance made the fans forget the absence of record
signing Di Maria. The only downside of Mata’s performances this season is that,
most of his best performances have been at Old Trafford. And with United’s next
three games being away games, it’s an aspect of his game he should and can
improve.
2. Falcao – Van Persie combination looking promising: When Falcao
joined United, everybody knew that his combination with any of United’s top
strikers in Rooney or Van Persie would be a treat to any team. Though the
Colombian didn’t settle in early with injury and fitness problem, he is gradually
overcoming that and proving his worth, in the last two matches, he’s started alongside
van Persie and their combination is
looking good. Against Newcastle, their movement on and off the ball was great
and caused the Newcastle defence a lot of problems. All the three goals were results
of their instinctive movement. The first and second goals in particular. With
Rooney finding it comfortable in the attacking midfield role, the Falcao – RVP combination
is one fans would want to see more.
3. Where’s Wayne Rooney’s Favourite position? We all know he is a
striker and a great one at that. But for tactical reasons, even under Sir Alex
Ferguson, Wayne has played and excelled in the midfield severally, and on some occasions
drawing comparison with Paul Scholes. With his long passes and match reading ability.
Under LVG, he’s had to take up a role in the midfield for most of this season,
and has performed beautifully well. But his performance against Newcastle is
one that certainly brings up that lingering question again, Where’s Wayne
Rooney’s Favourite position? He was at
his all round best controlling the game, and still scored two goals. His movement
each time into the Newcastle box was predatory, and his movement with Mata
couldn’t have been better. Van Gaal has voiced out that he loves multi
positional players, and you can bet that with his performance against Newcastle,
Rooney would be one of LVG most priced assets.
4. Fletcher’s performance still raising doubts: he came on a replacement
for Michael Carrick, who Van Gaal must have substituted because of United
oncoming busy schedule. But his performance was still not convincing. In the
game against Villa, he was not at his best, giving the ball away easily. And in
the game against the magpies, he continued that below par performance, giving away
the ball on a few number of occasions, one in particular in a dangerous position.
With such performances, and the return of United injured midfielders, it’s most
likely he’ll have to settle for a peripheral role in the team.
5. United dominating, but not killing off games: with scores at 3 – 0,
everyone knew united had the game in their hand and might even go for the jugular,
winning with a wider margin, thoughts of the 6 – 0 bashing of Newcastle some
years ago came into the thoughts of many. But somehow the team took its feet of
the pedal, reduced the momentum and then gave away a sloppy penalty. Against a
better opponent, a dwindling performance like that could be of concern and costly,
and with a lot of away games coming soon, the team better up their game.
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