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After Losing To Norwich, Sir Alex Must Take The Little Teams Seriously!

This weekend was the Formula One Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. This was the first time the race was run in the US since 2007 and I was there, watching Lewis Hamilton win a race full of drama and excitement.

The preparation, meticulous planning and then flawless execution is what it takes to win in this sport. The best teams leave nothing to chance, except chance itself. Luck is the only variable.

Comparing this to Manchester United, a team sport like F1, the pit crew are the defence, the tactician team are midfield and the driver is the striker. The one who gets the plaudits from the win, while the hard-work was put in by so many others before he can do his job well.

Like the Premier League the race won by Hamilton won’t win him the trophy as Sebastian Vettel is the more consistent points scorer and Hamilton has lost too many points on the road he should have bagged.

So goes Man United. Norwich City away is like Wigan Athletic away last season and the result was the same. Playing the back four that is our best right now but resting David De Gea, exposes the less impressive shot shopper in Anders Lindegaard. Reverting to 4-4-2 with only Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick in the centre leaves our 70 year old heart struggling for pace. And so exposes Rio Ferdinand to being turned by runners through the middle.

The strikers left detached by the need for the slow midfield to stay further back to catch their breath, the wingers useless without the supply from players pushing up thru the middle and Norwich having a ‘what the f***’ day and just going for it.

Sir Alex Ferguson got the tactics wrong. This game was lost on the piece of paper pinned to the dressing room wall, another case of taking the opposition too lightly in a week where we can play who we like in midweek. What was he thinking?

Norwich are by no means a great team but they work hard and like his Newcastle United team before this, the manager knows how to play. Fergie was beaten by a younger opposition manager as comprehensively as his midfield was overrun by younger legs. Fair play to Chris Hughton.

When will he learn? Maybe he is too old to change but Sir Alex has always played teams that do just enough against weaker opponents. On Saturday evening they did too little.

I don’t understand why we didn’t play our best team and just beat them, rest in midweek if we have to, and then play hard again next week. Tom Cleverley and Anderson would have been much better in midfield. Changing to 4-3-3 long before the final hurrah would have shown Sir Alex saw the problems he had created, being more like an F1 team and less like a Ford Mondeo team would have shown we care about every league point.

This ageing United midfield set-up is proving Giggs and Paul Scholes are soon going to have lots of time to rest. It proves that Rio needs cover, Carrick is indispensable but now needs two others with him in midfield and that Sir Alex is starting to show signs of his age.

He said he didn’t remember Anthony Pilkington at United, well he does now.

For a man whose career is based on giving youth a chance we have seen Paul Pogba walk, watched Giggs labour and wondered why we threw so much money at a striker when the biggest problem is midfield. I am a Robin van Persie fan, who wouldn’t admire this elegant striker, but it’s a lot of money for a man his age when the need is midfield.

Moussa Dembele remains one lost to the United budget limit, Luka Modric was out of our each despite us being as rich as Real Madrid we have nothing like the spending power as our money pays the owners interest bill.

Norwich taught us a lesson, and punished our choices.

I chose the right place to be this last weekend as Sir Alex made a mistake and cost us 3 points that could give our noisy neighbours all the encouragement that our Wigan result did last year.

I really hope not, I couldn’t stand it, come on Fergie, take the smaller teams seriously!

By Steve Burrows CBE @ifollowsteve

2 Comments

  1. Sir Alex got it wrong a few seasons ago taking Norwich too lightly, again we came out winners, last season we were only beaten by a late Giggs goal after matching throughtout the game.

    As you say we aren't a great , but we are a team in the true sense of the word. sometimes that has been the difference, certain players in the Premier league do not show enough respect at all for the lesser unknown players.

  2. SAF will never learn, if he did, he would not have done this again and again. He is and had never been good at tactics, so while his stoogies, assistants, say nothing but just sit there taking orders, nothing will change. Finally, I hope for the sake of United, he will retire and let someone with the tactical know-how to take charge.

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