Arsenal Aftermath

The Good

Could just write up the 90min match report in this section....but will try to keep it brief ;-)

Andos Assist: The ball falls to a midfield player, 30-odd yards from goal many would shoot, a lot would pass to the wings but very few would try the lobbed pass that Anderson played today. I will admit that the Arsenal defence really should have handled it much better, but it is not our fault they didn't. The assist was hit into the danger area and towards Welbeck, great vision from the young Brazilian in my opinion, anyone who calls it lucky, I say you make your own luck!

Double de Gea: Looked a lot more solid in goal today! Particularly impressive and sticking out in the mind, was the double save, shortly after the penalty save (obviously impressive in itself)  But on a whole, de Gea looked so much more confident, surely starting to win over many of his doubters. And who knows what way the game may have turned out if Van Persies penalty or the efforts shortly after had of found the back of the net!


Super-Strikes: If anybody was still thinking United where lucky to be in the lead after Welbeck's goal, the other two goals in the first half surely dispelled that thought. Ashely Young with a magnificent curling effort, finding the top corner. He then repeated the feat at the end of the game, from inside the box this time, it as almost unstoppable! Great to see him settle at the club so well. I said, when he signed, he is a player who seems made for United, but I am sure he has exceeded even his own expectations at the start of this season. Maybe unlucky not to get the Man of the Match award today.

Set-piece Hat-trick: What can I say about this other than Wayne Rooney...take a bow. The two free-kicks looked directly off the training ground. The first one looked pretty unstoppable, but I think Szczesny should have been doing better for the second free-kick. From the opposite side of the pitch perhaps the Arsenal keeper thought Rooney would try to find the opposite corner, rather than shoot across the goal, leaving the goalie stuck in the mud it seems.

The Bad

Welbeck Injury: After an excellent start to the game unfortunately Danny pulled up with what seems to be a hamstring injury when chasing a long ball on the counter attack, such a shame that he only got 35mins under his belt today. It looks like it could be a month or so before we see Danny back in first team action again, which is a shame and we wish him a full & speedy recovery. Of course the silver lining is we seen almost an hour of football from Chicharito, who did well, unfortunately unable to find the net himself! But it goes to show, with Sir Alex speaking of selection headaches leading into the game, it is shown why the full depth of the squad is required. I dare say Wenger would have liked the same strength in numbers as we hold.

The Ugly

Arshavins Tackle: Leaving a bitter taste in many reds mouth, Arshavin can count himself lucky to have stayed on this pitch with a horrendous tackle on Ashley Young. I suppose Young can also count himself luck that he was not seriously injured by the tackle. Arshavin's foot was high  with studs showing and could have cause much more damage than it did in the end. Arsenal eventually did keep their record for a Red Card in every premier league game so far this season, with young Jenkinson picking up two yellows. Although the two bookings were fully deserved you almost felt sorry for the young gooner as he was tortured the whole game by Ashely Young on the wing and offered no help or protection from the Arsenal midfield!


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Return of the Little Pea

Javier 'Chicarito' Hernandez returned to first team duties during the game on Monday night against Spurs. With I imagine everybody involved in the club being ecstatic to see the little pea back to full fitness....except perhaps Danny Welbeck & Dimitar Berbatov.

With Welbeck, easily being the most impressive striker on the pre-season tour, with some very strong performances. He has been rewarded early this season, earning two starts in the Premier League ahead of Berbatov, proving himself worthy by scoring a goal & creating an excellent assist in the game against Tottenham on Monday night. I know its only been a few games but I feel we now need to stop considering him as a young reserve getting a run out, he is a fully pledges first team member & should be fighting for his place and in contention for starting place throughout the season. Though with the return of Chicarito this may be easier said than done! In the second half of last season it became clear that his partnership with Rooney moved him above Berba in the pecking order at United. It will be interesting to see if Hernandez is now put in along with Rooney for the Arsenal game on Sunday, or will Fergie stick with Welbeck, perhaps introducing Hernandez slowly due to his lack of pre-season.

Then the next step we look at has to be does this force Berbatov to fourth in the queue? If it does it would be a crazy outcome, the season after he shares the golden boot in the Premier League, he falls to a bit-part roll by the start of the next season. To be honest, I like Berbatov, but will always prefer to see Welbeck and particularly Hernandez starting. I like the youth, pace and the hard work of these two and feel it serves the team better than Berba's more 'relaxed' style. Dimitar has undoubted skill and when he's confident & on form it is amazing to watch. Unfortunately, it doesn't really lend itself to the wide attacking, pass and move style of united when we play 4-4-2. Having said that, SAF could turn around and hand Berbatov the start against Arsenal, he certainly has the ability to hold the ball up more than the two young strikers, so depending on tactics and how the manager feels the game will pan out Berba could even get the nod. SAF spoke about the problem in an interview stating;

"Chicharito came back on Monday which gives me a tremendous problem for picking a side, But that’s the kind of problem we want" Sir Alex Ferguson

Regardless of who starts on Sunday, it is great to have the little pea back in the mix and I personally believe that he will be Rooney's partner in attack this season once the staff are confident he is fully fit and prepared! He himself seems to be as keen as ever, speaking to MUTV about being back in the first team squad he spoke of how difficult it was not playing football for two months & had this to say about the game against Spurs;

"It was great to play again, unbelievable" Chicharito

Chicharito won't be the only player fit to return to action this weekend, with SAF confirming that Darren Fletcher is ready to return to first team duties and will be in consideration for the side vs. Arsenal on Sunday. More good news for United fans and usually we would see the Scot returning to being the first name on the team sheet, but it could be much harder for him to break-back into the set-up with Anderson & Cleverley playing so well in the centre of the park. It will be another interesting selection problem for the manager, let the youthful pairing gain more experience together on the pitch, or bring back in Fletch who imo over the past few years has been our strongest CM. 

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The Future is Bright....

Towards the end of last season there was once more chat of Sir Alex hanging up his managerial boots. However, slowly and right under our noses, quite the opposite was happening. Fergie has been setting up a brand new generation on Man Utd players and is laughing off reports that he is ready to retire. 

As Fergies first generation of players reach their twilight with only Ryan Giggs remaining, the current now squad has a strong backbone of youth within it. Disregarding Rooney (25), Nani (24), Valencia (25), Fletcher (27), Young (26), who all have a great deal of experience in first team football (although Young's was at Villa). These five players can all be considered senior players and still all have many, many years ahead of them in their career. In this post I want to focus on the mainly on the players who are just breaking through, gaining first team experience and clearly showing the potential to become the future on Man Utd. 


The most obvious and exciting area to start is with our potential future back five;

1

de Gea

                21                                  4                                            12                                       20

             Rafael                            Jones                                      Smalling                               Fábio

Clearly with Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra still at the club these players we may only see this formation in the Carling cup this season but a few years down the line as each of them learns from those around them, and gains priceless first team experience this could be the leagues most formidable back-line for season after season. The da Silva twins (21), Smalling (21), de Gea (20) and Jones (19) have the potential to be together in this Man Utd squad for more than the next decade together. Obviously I am making a large assumption that they will all continue with Utd for this time but if they all fulfil their potential, each of them has the opportunity to be one of the top players in the world in each of their positions.

In midfield we have Anderson (23), who many feared would never make the grade. In the second half of last season where Fletcher's illness allowed him the opportunity to get into the first team again. He seemed to take the opportunity well and impressed enough to earn a new 3-year contract extension. The new season will be a massive one for Anderson, especially if we don't bring in Nasri, Sneijder or another central midfielder. He will be expected by many to step up and continue his good form and attempt to fill the boots of the mighty Paul Scholes.

Tom Cleverly (21) has also returned to the squad after spending two and a half seasons on loan and along with Danny Welbeck (20) who spent last season on loan with Sunderland. Both of these young reds will be hoping to have a number of chances to make their mark this season. With a hint from Sir Alex that this may be the case as he stated, while announcing that neither of them would go on loan again this season

"Going on loan only serves one purpose; keeping them happy by playing all the time. At their ages, it wouldn't do us any good because other clubs would be benefiting from what we could be benefiting from" - Sir Alex Ferguson on Cleverley and Welbeck

Another player who returns from loan with high hopes of making an impact at United in the future is 'Kiko' Macheda (19). Never one to lack confidence but 'Kiko' admits he struggled on loan last season and that he now knows that Manchester United is the greatest club in the world, and it is where he hopes to stay.

"I really wanted to have an experience in Italy, but I now hope to stay in the Premier League." - Federico Macheda on his future

With the players I have highlighted in this post, I think it is fair to say Sir Alex has built a squad with the potential for greatness around a nucleus of top quality players....and I think he will want to hang around to see the outcome of his endeavours. 

One thing is for sure at Old Trafford, The future is bright......the future is Orange Red!

Edit: Cannot believe I posted this to my blog without even mentioning Chícharito. Hernandez only 23 and after his first season with the Reds has proven himself to be more than capable of finding the back of the net on a regular basis. Something which Kiko and Welbeck will have to prove when they are awarded chances this year, if they are to knock the 'Little Pea' down the pecking order. Nevermind contending with Berbatov who was top goal scorer in the premier league last year and looking to prove a point after his heartbreak of being left out of the champions league final squad. Hernandez has the speed and brains to make sure he will be in the right place at the right time and I just hope he improves the number of times he gets caught offside. Although I do accept no matter how frustrating it may be at times, this is the risk he has take when he plays off the back four as he does.

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