Adam Dennehey WAFU manager
I hate people who say ‘told you so’ but as certainly as I am turning into my Dad, I am also going to say told you so, again after Manchester United’s defeat tonight to Basel!
Sir Alex must have a really good long-term memory, when he picks players who haven’t performed in weeks, in a crucial game, and sends on Federico Macheda as though it was the Aston Villa game in which he scored to save us, was yesterday.
I have been hammering the performance of Ashley Young, Nani, Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney in recent weeks, and Nani did at least give a performance that suggested he wanted to win. The other three in my honest opinion were rubbish.
I counted six Rooney chances, of which only one was difficult, the first miss from a yard was as bad a miss as I have seen, and I saw Garry Birtles playing in most of his home games for United. I also saw the end of Dennis Law, and alongside Carlos Sartori, Rooney’s was as poor a miss as I have seen from a Manchester United striker.
Out of form, out of ideas, one trick (right shoulder drop and slow drift onto his right foot before he skies it into the stands), not challenging for headers outside the box, over-hit passes and moaning from start to finish – that’s all his did (again).
Evra is neither attacking fullback or defender, Xherdan Shaqiri ran past him with ease, best tweet on the night was one saying his hips don’t lie as he glides past Evra, you’ve gotta love that one! But our former reliable fullback has gone MIA in the last 6 weeks, and form is why people get picked, not nostalgia.
Young has gradually descended into a player who seems to have forgotten how to cross a ball, can’t even take a corner and can’t beat a man. Where did his pace go? Surely he is injured; I do hope he is playing hurt as any other excuse means we bought badly.
Injuries explain some of what we saw. The Da Silva’s must have bedsores from the time they have spent on the physio table, Nemanja Vidic looked badly hurt, Javier Hernadez freak injury was as painful to watch as Vidic’s, the midfield is decimated with Anderson and Tom Cleverley out never to mind with Michael Carrick being suspended for tonight, it’s easy to forget that the likes of Ravel Morrsion, Paul Pogba and Darron Gibson just aren’t good enough at the moment.
When you think Sir Alex selected Phil Jones and Ryan Giggs in the heart of midfield for us tonight, it’s a worry. Really? A winger and a centre-half, can’t he remember how bad it was when John O’Shea was in midfield. I still think he remembers Patrick Viera in his prime and wants to find a new Michael Essien in his squad, maybe Smalling’s next? Who knows? Why wasn’t Darren Fletcher brought on?
David De Gea didn’t have his best night for us and was punching and kicking like a pub goalie. His decision to kick the ball for the first goal was daft to say the least. For me he remains unproven and his history in Spain suggests what we are seeing isn’t new.
I watched the 1968 European Cup winning team fall apart into the 1974 debacle, as an ageing manager picked put of form players who lost more regularly and eventually faded away. The end of the Ferguson’s Fledgling’s glory years are here and the League Cup team is the future.
If that last sentence scared you then realize its true. In 2 years the team could be:
De Gea,
Rafael, Smalling, Jones, Fabio,
Valencia, Pogba, Cleverley, Young,
Wellbeck Hernandez.
These guys need to play more now because the players I haven’t listed are generally fading fast, and one year in the Europa League with Stoke City is enough for me.
Manchester City relegated us once, and a long-term memory of 1970 might just serve Sir well to avoid the pain of disappointment repeating itself.
Give youth a chance and pick on form, it’s our only hope in a season that promised so much but is now a season in which City can end our FA Cup hopes and take our Championship, the rest is already gone and its only just December.
This is how it feels to be Liverpool.
By Steve Burrows CBE @ifollowsteve
