‘Zeros to Heroes’ 5 Things I noticed – United v Valencia

  

  

1. The 2nd Coming

 Many United fans were secretly optimistic that Anderson Luis de Abreu Oliveira would rise from the ashes of his reckless car crash this summer and resurrect a career that was in danger of falling by the wayside. 

 

Since his breakthrough season in 07/08, where he looked the more promising out of him and his fellow young star Nani, he has been plagued by injury and rumours of indiscipline. Unable to cement a regular first team spot, his fitness suffered as a result which consequently lead to him failing to sieze the opportunities he was being given… leading to the likes of Carrick, Fletcher and Scholes having to share most of the workload. This year a leaner and meaner Anderson (by his standards) came back to critical acclaim due to his performance against Blackburn and was the only one to salvage some respect in the shock Carling Cup defeat against West Ham.

 

Yesterday in his toughest assignment yet since his comeback, he once again ran the show, putting in an arguable MOTM performance against the well drilled midfield of Valencia. It was a performance of Drive, Pace, Power and more importantly Creativity.. a quality lacking in the United midfield of late. He even managed to nick a goal, a miracle that goes far and beyond anything mentioned in the New Testament.  Perhaps the two best occasions which best depict what he provides to the United midfield came in the 48th minute and the 71st minute; the former being the moment where he was facing towards his own goal being pressured by the opposition and instead of doing the easy but negative thing of passing back, he turned in between two players, glided past a third and changed the whole momentum of our play, likewise in the latter stages where we were facing quite a siege on the edge of our own box… he had the strength and innate Brazillian confidence to just shield the ball, turn his man and then release Park with a forward pass.

 

 

This is what makes him so watchable and a cult hit, but he also has to sharpen up his fitness in general and not be so lacksadaisical defensively. Its fine to have Carrick doing your dirty work and reserving your energy for the attacking movements but  holding ones position, not letting an opponent trot past you and providing shape to the midfield out of possession is a fundamental feature of being a midfield player defensive or otherwise. He doesn’t want to fall into the Lampard/Gerrard trap of being unsuitable or too indisciplined to play Central Midfield.

 

2. Is the Big Man back?

 

 

Since his permitted excursion to the good old US of A, Rooney like Anderson has come back leaner… the question remained however, had he come back meaner? A series of listless displays followed by the transfer saga of the year had lead many United fans to question whether he had the desire to play his best for United, whilst some (extreme minority) were wondering whether he’d ever be the same player again due to his lifestyle excesses and catalogue of injuries since that game v Bayern Munich last year.

Well against Blackburn, there were glimpses of decent Wayne back… the one whose selflessness and ability to bring others into play always rises to the surface no matter what the situation. Yesterday we saw possibly the return of the real Wayne Rooney, the one who aspires to be the team’s superstar and tries things out of the ordinary.

A vintage curling effort from 25 yards which smacked the crossbar in the first half, was followed by a seriously sharp snap shot on the turn which went agonizingly wide  after from some great work by Park and this was followed by another thunderbolt punched away by Valencia’s keeper on the 61st minute. There was also countless instances of him taking men on and some orgasmic interplay with Berbatov for whom he laid on chance after chance only to see the Bulgarian fail to put it away.

 So some sparks of recovery for Wayne, not enough to be a ‘Hero’ once again in some peoples eyes yet… but the manager will look at todays performance and take great heart from it. If Rooney can continue this level of performance, expect United to be fighting on all fronts in terms of Trophies.

3. Enigma’s  

 

I’ll be careful not to be too harsh with these two as my mum has a soft spot for them both ‘Only two decent looking players in the United side’ or so I’ve been told on numerous occasions.

Regardless it wasn’t a night to remember for Michael Carrick who despite providing Anderson with the reassurance to roam further afield (due to him being employed as the defensive anchor in midfield) was unable to provide the defence with the protection it required.

There were quite few occassions where he was caught in possession particularly by Banega in the first half due to him once again being found wanting when the opposition closes him at pace. This was followed by him losing the ball on a few occassions in the second half – failing to recycle possession accurately once it had been cleared from Valencia’s box which was most unlike him. It was his first bad performance in a few weeks and whilst there has been a noted decline in the quality of his play since 06/07 its important to state the balance he provides to the midfield especially if we are going to see the best of Anderson. His ability to read the game is second to none in this United squad in a midfield sense and that makes him an automatic inclusion in the majority of United’s games this season, so for those who are not fans.. live with it. He may not be Keano but thats greatly overlooking what he does bring to the side.

As for Berbatov it just wasn’t happening for him tonight in front of goal, despite being provided with plenty of opportunities to open his account in the CL for the first time this season.

His hold up play was typically elegant with moments of sublime skill, but there were a few uncharacteristic errors in possession tonight which even on his worst days during the past few years he hasn’t committed. Its a case of ‘trying too hard’ at times for him, ironic as it sounds but he can be too harsh on himself and as a result lambasts team mates unable to contain his frustration.

One was hoping that Liverpool game would finally settle him down, i.e. his first landmark performance in a big game but that hasn’t been the case and he still remains very much a confidence player… an early goal in a game results in a huge burst and if he struggles to put them away in the early part, he seems unable to regain composure for the rest of the game. My own personal prediction is that he is saving 8 goals for the final at Wembley v Barcelona, though I’d rather he distributes his goals more evenly.

3. Can he kick it?

It was decent game for Ben Amos in his first real outing in a high profile game. There were moments of composed handling, good positioning in general and he was even comfortable in coming out to claim a ball either in the air or along the ground which was positive to see.

The only slight gripe was the quality of his kicking under pressure, he was prone to hitting daisycutters along the ground and it led to Valencia having several opportunities to spring a counter-offensive. Its one of the reasons why Foster was let go in addition to his bizarre decision making at times and its not a path young Amos wants to tread.

Hopefully it was a one off bad kicking performance which we can put down to nerves and the more he becomes accustomed to featuring in big games he will be consistently punting the ball downfield in the manner of VDS. He certainly can produce alot of distance when he connects, so the potential is there for all to see.

5. Opposition MOTM: Guaita (GK)

Whilst we’re still on the subject of goalkeepers, my MOTM for the opposition was their custodian Guaita who seemed to be on a personal crusade to keep Berba from ending his CL drought which stretches back to his goals v Celtic in 08/09.

He was very brave in the air and punched away any signs of threat from United crosses and his shot stopping from Rooney, Park, Berbatov and erm.. Anderson was top notch and he did well to keep Valencia in it.

He is 6ft 3 inches and is only 23, so clearly he has a bright future if he can take the opportunities that come his way at such a well reknowned club like Valencia. Good luck to him.

Conclusion

Overall it was a riveting game, both sides despite not really needing the win went all out for it and that from a United perspective is one the most exciting lineups we can put out so its great to know it doesn’t just excite on paper but is capable of producing on the pitch too.

Anderson and Rooney will be crucial to our title and CL aspirations for the remainder of the season.. but whilst their swashbuckling crusades catch the eye, its the enigmatic figures of Berbatov and Carrick who are just as key to our trophy aspirations.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – Match Facts
Score: 1-1Venue: Old Trafford Date: Tuesday 7 December  Kick-off: 1945 GMT

Man Utd: Amos, Rafael Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio Da Silva, Nani, Carrick, Anderson, Park, Berbatov, Rooney. Subs: Kuszczak, Giggs, Smalling, Hernandez, Fletcher, Obertan, Macheda.

Valencia: Guaita, Miguel, Ricardo Costa, Dealbert, Mathieu, Pablo, Banega, Albelda, Jordi Alba, Dominguez, Aduriz. Subs: Cesar, Maduro, Soldado, Mata, Feghouli, Costa, Isco.
Referee: Pedro Proenca (Portugal)

 

 

Written by

Raees Mahmood