Adam Dennehey WAFU manager
Now that the dust has settled from another top season for us, I’ve thought it would be a good moment to look back 2010/11 and give my player ratings over the course of the season.
I thought it would be sensible to only give ratings to players who have made a minimum of 5 appearances for us, so sadly that means players who failed to play that many times such as Gary Neville or Owen Hargreaves (for instance) will not get a mention.
26 players played for us more than 5 times last season, so going on from the previous articles – which you can read by clicking here and here – here’s the final batch of player ratings for the season just gone, listed by squad number. Part 3 containing the remaining players not listed here will follow soon.
20) Fabio da Silva: Fabio emerged out of his twin brother’s Rafael’s shadows this year, showing that he is more than capable of doing a good job at United in either full back position.
Our no.20 impressed towards the end of the season and when Rafael got injured towards the end of the season, Fabio took full advantage. His performance at home to Chelsea earned rave reviews at right back where he shone in the ‘title decider.’
The future at Old Trafford looks a bright one for Fabio who just like Rafael looks dangerous going forward. Next season expect to see more of Fabio and more of his swashbuckling runs forwards which saw him score twice this year.7/10
21) Rafael da Silva: Speaking of Rafael, injury may have presented him from playing as many games as he would have liked to have been involved in this season.
However that didn’t stop his form getting even better for us this season as his all-round defensive abilities have improved greatly. As ever he’s keen to go into any challenge and isn’t intimated by anyone which probably is his best quality as a defender.
His spat with Carlos Tevez at Eastlands during our 0-0 draw with Manchester City was one of our most memorable images of the season, which adhered him to the fans greatly. An injury-free season next year and we’re see the best out of Rafael again. 7.5/10
22) John O’Shea: Injury and the form of the other defenders at the club kept United’s best utility player on the sidelines this year.
Despite that though O’Shea racked up 29 starts this year for us and is still a solid and popular member of our squad who has always given 110%
John though at 30 now, does perhaps need to consider his options as with young players at the club competing for his place, it might be best for him to move on. Whoever he goes to – if he does leave United – they will be getting a quality player whose experience is second to none. 6.5/10
23) Jonny Evans: Inconsistent sums up how Jonny’s year went as we didn’t really see the best out of him this year, which started dreadfully to be brutally honest.
There’s no doubt that he has the potential to be a proven centre back in the Premier League and for Northern Ireland for many years to come, but in the early stages of the season he looked anything but the kind of player he can be.
To be fair to Evans though, at the start of the year we were leaking goals and often he was only caught out of position due to other people switching off in front of him.
That being said, he came very close to going out on loan in January and although he did get back into the team towards the end of the year, the form of Chris Smalling and the signing of Phil Jones put a big question mark on his long-term future at the club. 5.5/10
24) Darren Fletcher: This year was probably one of Darren’s toughest years at the club. Despite starting the year in the same manor that he ended the 2009/10 season, injury sadly made his year a forgettable one.
The mysterious stomach bug that caused Fletcher to lose weight really hit him hard and he when he did come back into the side afterwards, he really did look half the player that he was.
There’s no doubt that though he’ll be back next season as his hunger, determination and versatility in midfield usually makes him one of the first names on the team sheet. 6/10
25) Antonio Valencia: Whenever a player gets badly injured at any club it’s a blow, as you never know if they’re going to come back and be as effective as they were beforehand.
It’s a credit to Valencia and our backroom staff that our Ecuadorian came back into our side in the closing stages of the season and played such an important part after that horror injury he suffered against Rangers
Antonio played so well that he came back that he kept Nani out of the side towards the end of the season which was no easy thing to do. His performances also at right-back away at West Ham and Chelsea (in the Champions League) were brilliant to say the least.
Alike Nani, he will have direct competition for his place in Ashley Young next season, but after coming back from injury you get the feeling Antonio will not be bothered by that. 7/10
26) Gabriel Obertan: After a difficult first year at Old Trafford, this was meant to be the year that Obertan became an important member of our squad.
Sadly for Gabriel he fell back even further out of contention and when he did get opportunities (like at home to Crawley in the FA Cup) he failed to make the most of them.
He just doesn’t look like the kind of player who has a long-term future at the club. Despite doing well in our reserves, a fresh start elsewhere is what Obertan needs to get back his confidence which looks rock-bottom at the moment. 4.5/10
27) Federico Macheda: It was abit of a frustrating year for Kiko this year, as he surely would have liked to have played abit more this year and scored more than the one goal he got against Aston Villa away at Villa Park.
There’s no doubt he’s got the ability but he needed to play first-team football on a regular basis, which with the emergence of Chicharito this season wasn’t going to happen.
Whilst he suffered relegation out on loan to Sampdoria in Serie A, the experience of playing on a regular basis will have benefited him. It will be tough for him to break into our team again next season but he will be looking to impress when he gets a chance. 5.5/10
28) Darron Gibson: Without being harsh on Darron, a lot more was probably expected of him this season even with the competition for places that midfielders have to put up with at United.
Gibson neither played badly or brilliant for us this season, which was probably due to him suffering from not playing regular first-team football. He’s rumoured to be keen on a move to Sunderland which will no doubt please his national manger Giovanni Trapattoni.
If he does move there, it would be a great move for him to play regularly and improve even more as sadly his future does not lie at United, which is through no fault of his own. 5.5/10
29) Tomasz Kuszczak: Last season should prove to be The ‘Pole In Goal’ last year at United as despite Edwin Van der Sar’s retirement Tomasz appears to be way down the pecking order.
It’s not that he’s a bad goalie, but with the January signing of Anders Lindegaard and the likely arrival of David De Gea, there’s simply no need for Tomasz at us next season.
Tomasz understandably grew frustrated at us last season, which probably reflected in his nervous-looking performances when he did get chances. He would still be a good signing for one of the mid-table sides in the Premier League and deserves to move on to play regularly. 5/10
33) Bebe: Very little was known about Bebe when he joined other than the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson signed him after seeing his skills on a video tape. After a season at Old Trafford, still very little is known about Bebe.
Yes some of the criticism in the media at times has been unfair on Bebe, who given his circumstances has found it hard to settle into life in Manchester despite the club doing all they can to help him.
Despite only making 7 appearances in the first team, he still scored twice and did more than ok for our reserve side. His move to Beskitas on loan next year will be good for him to play regularly but it’s unlikely he will ever become a regular at Old Trafford. 5/10
By Adam Dennnehey – @ADennehey87
