Man United 2 – Liverpool 1: Sir Alex Chooses Control Over Classic

Thoughts on the Man United 2-1 Liverpool

There are days when you want a swashbuckling, buccaneering performance, taking the opposition by storm and wiping the floor with them. Since Liverpool’s dramatic 4-1 win at Old Trafford, Man United fans have been wishing for such a performance against the Merseyside rivals. Sir Alex, the games most seasoned campaigner, knows that emotion can be a liability in a key game like this. And in today’s game, the emphasis was always on control over flair. And though the game was no classic, it was always about control, and from the point when Man United equalized, we were always in control.

1. Vidic won an important victory over Torres and banished some demons. Torres had 2 great chances apart from his goal, but both were fox-in-the-box opportunities that had little to do with Vidic. Even for his goal, Torres should have been picked up by Ferdinand or Neville. Vidic did pick up a yellow card but managed to stay on the pitch comfortably. Did not get caught out of position, made his usual quota of headed clearances and it looked like it would be Torres who might not make it through the game.

2. In fact, Torres was lucky to not pick up a booking for scuffing the penalty spot, which given his other booking means he was a lucky boy to stay on the pitch.

3. Which brings us to the penalty. It could be argued that it was a poor decision because the foul happened outside the box. But the best explanation probably came from Michael Owen, in the Sky commentry team. Mascherano’s objective would be to impede Valencia as much as he could outside the box but let go before Valencia reached the box. Valencia’s plan would be to keep running till he reached the box and go down once he reached if Masch was still holding on. A fine balance, and if Masch held on to Valencia for a split second too long, he would concede the penalty. As it turned out, the ref thought he had. Not too many observers seemed to object to that. Reine went early as he does, and made a terrific save going the right way but unluckily for him parried it back into Rooney’s path for a simple tap in.

4. Great come back after having been stunned by an early Torres goal. The one excellent move that Liverpool strung together pretty much all game, saw Gerrard slip the ball down the right, for Kuyt to reach and cross. Torres had slipped his markers and found the space to rise majestically and power a header into the corner.

5. Ji Sung Park spent most of the first half looking like he was having an off day but a vastly improved second half saw him increasingly strong on the ball, effective with his passing and of course, in the perfect place to dive in to Fletchers cross for the winner.

6. Darren Fletcher, man of the match and provider of the match-winning cross, and Carrick, made sure that Gerrard never had time or space with the ball and snuffed out Liverpool’s biggest threat. Fletcher has missed United’s last 3 games against Liverpool and Liverpool have won those 3 games. Enough said!

7. Valencia and Nani were instrumental in keeping Insua and Glen Johnson tied to their defensive duties and unable to venture forward to help the front two which cut off the supply lines.

8. Rooney had a quiet game in front of goal, but he got on the scoresheet, and made himself more than useful across the pitch through the game. He also created space for Park’s goal and provided excellent possession in the United half in the last 20 minutes of the game. When Rooney was on the ball, he couldn’t be shaken off.

9. Liverpool had more than one reason to try to win this game. Prevent United’s title #19, stay in the race for 4th place, retain bragging rights by doing the double. None of them really worked. Perhaps Liverpool’s thursday exertions against Lille proved to be a factor.

10. Benitez did actually abandon his defensive mindset and throw on Babel, Benayoun and Aquilani while keeping Gerrard and Torres on, but the United rearguard held firm, barring a couple of late chances that both came from Gerrard darting in and squaring the ball from Torres. Uncharacteristically, Torres missed both of them and the scoreline stayed at 2-1.

11. Bench-strength was a good indicator of the quality of personnel available to the managers. United had by comparison brought on Giggs and Scholes, and had Berbatov available as well.

12. 2 shots on target for Liverpool gives a good indication of the control exerted by United on the game. It was a measured performance, and the need of the hour.

There’s Something About Gael Clichy

Gael Clichy became the youngest player to win a Premier League medal in 2004 at the mere age of 18. Wenger’s scouting system had spotted the young Frenchman in 2003 when he was playing for Cannes, and relegation woes with the club led him to signing for the Gunners later that year in August. Speedy, technically gifted, with a good eye for the ball and with decent ball control, he was one of Arsenal’s brightest prospects … and started to fulfill this potential when Ashley Cole left for Chelsea in 2006. But his blossoming career is littered with injuries, big and small and for me, they are a part of the larger ‘problem’ where the transformation of Gael Clichy, from a brilliantly promising youngster to a mature, world-class player, is concerned.

Cole’s 20 year old understudy finally got a chance to prove his worth when Ashley Cole fractured his metatarsal in 2005. But a similar injury saw him out of action while he underwent an operation on his fractured foot. When he finally got a chance to play regularly for the first-team after Cole left for the blue shores of Stamford Bridge, he started to fulfill some of that potential, and very soon was considered a guy on his way to becoming one of the best left-backs in the world. But it has been a couple of years since then and not only has he not reached that level, but he has also maybe retreated a few steps. The Gael Clichy of today, though still fast and committed on the left wing, is prone to defensive errors, guilty of wrong positioning and also failing to defend successfully against the stronger, pacy wingers and players (Nani in the recent 3-1 loss to Manchester United is just one of the examples.)

There is likely to be a combination of factors involved in this, rather than one major, pressing issue. Injuries seem to play a big role in this. Clichy’s first-team career has been interrupted with enough injuries that have pretty much ensured that he spends an awful lot of energy in returning to full-fitness and settling in to first-team action, only to be back on the treatment table just when he is starting to get into the groove and show signs of improvement. And maybe this is the reason he has lost a bit of his earlier pace too.

Strength, I feel, is another issue. He’s not exactly the smallest of guys, and has always been more pacy than muscular but he used to be able to hold his own against his opponents when he started out. In the last few years however, the ever-present physicality in the English game has only increased and this, coupled with his injury problems seem to be valid reasons for his relative under-performances. Perhaps a better defensive coach, or newer defensive training techniques might help. Not only Clichy, but all of the Arsenal back-four, who despite better performances this season, have always been shaky and unpredictable, especially with set-pieces and long ball situations.

Defensive duties aside, forward runs down the flank, forays into the box as well as well-timed and well-aimed crosses have always been a part of Clichy’s repertoire but of late, he also seems a bit out of sorts in those areas. (Maybe it’s due to the new 4-3-3 formation the Gunners have been using this season, where a lot of the work is done by the midfield and the wingers)

It seems to be a case of Clichy lacking confidence and a steady run of matches with decent performances more than anything to be on the way to becoming the Gael Clichy all Gooners know he can be. And hopefully, a bit of competition in the form of very promising youngster Kieran Gibbs (who is currently out with a metatarsal injury) will boost his motivation to be back to his best and more!

West Ham v Arsenal Thoughts

1. This is the second time in as many games that Arsenal extricated themselves from a sticky situation and got the win they needed. So is this the stuff of champions? Well, Arsenal definitely held their nerve and yesterday, even with 10 men, they were vastly better than West Ham. But, to get into the situations they did, against Hull and West Ham, suggest that this team is definitely capable of dropping points – so the games against Birmingham, Man City and Spurs should be interesting indeed.

2. Abu Diaby and Alex Song – give Arsenal an fantastic 4-2-3-1 option, with Diaby at times unplayable and Song impenetrable. Along with Fabregas, these 2 are Arsenal’s biggest gems who can go on to great things, if they keep improving.

3. A caution: West Ham yesterday gave a demonstration of the most tepid, incompetent and incoherrent football I have ever seen in the Premiership. They could not string 2 passes in succession, they were alternatively ponderous and wasteful in possession and played like a amateur side. Even when up a man, Arsenal ran rings around them! West Ham made Eboue look like Cristiano Ronaldo, they couldn’t get anywhere near Diaby and could rarely find their extra man at any point in the second half. They fumbled the ball under no pressure, made and endless stream of poor choices. If there was a player free on the far side, they made sure that they needed 6 passes to get the ball to him by which time Arsenal had snuffed out the danger!

4. Vermaelen’s sending off and the penalty was about as soft a pen as you can imagine. Franco went down at the faintest of contact from Vermaelen but the referee had almost as bad game as West Ham. To balance things, he also gave Arsenal a weak pen at the other end when Fabregas almost played the ball into Upson’s hand from a yard away.

5. I’ve always liked Zola’s style and in the past been very impressed by the positive and smooth play that West Ham have displayed on occasion. Sadly that side of West Ham lasted about 15 minutes in the first half and then morphed into something unrecognizable as premier-league football. Zola was recently quoted as saying “People think I’m weak because I’m nice” – on the back of this evidence, they’re right. They’re not likely to escape relegation on this form.

6. Diamanti missed a penalty. Or to be fair, Almunia saved it. You know it’s your day when you’re best deadball specialist fluffs a penalty.

7. Unless Vermaelen’s red card is rescinded, they will play Birmingham and Wolves without him and both will give Arsenal a sterner examination than Hull or West Ham could muster.