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Frustration As United Secure First Draw Of Season At Swansea

So we had to wait until the last game before Christmas to finally draw a game. It was always going to happen eventually. Not even Manchester United can go through a whole season without drawing a game.

In truth Swansea probably did deserve something from a point, despite the fact a certain Robin van Persie was fouled in the build-up to Michu’s equaliser.

Michael Laudrup was under pressure to keep the Swans progressing in the Premier League and he has taken on where Brendan Rodgers left off, with his team playing a terrific brand of football that is not only entertaining to watch but tough to beat.

Ashley Williams bar his moment of madness was rock-solid at the back with Wayne Routledge again impressing. The dramatic improvement in the former Crystal Palace winger’s game is there for all to see and since his move to the Liberty Stadium he’s hardly put a foot wrong becoming one of the Welsh club’s most consistent players. And to think he wasted several years of his career after flopping at Spurs.

For United, it was a day that Patrice Evra in particular will want to forget. Yes he scored his third of the season to put United in front, but he failed to track Jonathan De Guzman for Michu’s goal and at times looked sluggish to say the least.

Going forward he was still a threat and his partnership down the left side with Ashley Young is only getting better and better. Young looks to have got his confidence back after a slow start to the season curtailed by injury and a hangover from his exploits with England at Euro 2012. He clearly has Sir Alex Ferguson’s trust.

At the back it was good to see Nemanja Vidic back. He looked rusty early on when dealing with Michu but was rock-solid afterwards. If he can stay injury-free for the rest of the season, our defence is only going to get better and we shouldn’t be conceding goals from set-pieces nor alone looking anywhere near as vulnerable at the back as we have been.

Probably the only United player who suffered a worse day than Evra was Wayne Rooney who after a bright start nosedived completely. At times in the second-half it was puzzling to see him fail to string a simple 5-yard pass together and his ruthlessness in front of goal vanished completely.

Of course every player can have a bad day but after the way his replacement Ryan Giggs played, you can’t help but feel that perhaps Sir Alex should have made the switch 10 minutes earlier. Giggs looked sharp and whilst it’s a positive that we have options on the bench again it can be a bit of a worry that we have to rely on a 39-year old to get us come on and try and get us out of jail again.

Overall though a point at Swansea come the end of the season may not be a bad result. Yes it would have been nice to have gone 6 points clear of Manchester City, especially after Roberto Mancini’s side grabbed a lucky win at home thanks to a late controversial goal from Gareth Barry. Football tells you though that you can’t have everything. United would take City beating Reading late-on if they can pick up maximum points over the festive period as well as a record-breaking 20th league title come May.

Let’s hope it will be a Merry May as well as a Merry Christmas.

By Adam Dennehey @ADennehey87

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