Adam Dennehey WAFU manager
At the start of the 2012/13 season teams and players begin with hope and expectations and I thought it would be interesting to review the players who least met expectations this season.
Of course Newcastle United and Liverpool entered the season with Champions league hopes which faded by November, but there were also more realistic ambitions from Chelsea as European Champions with title hopes, which faded fast.
The last minute survival of Wigan might happen as usual and Spurs fading away at the last seems equally predictable but within the squad of Manchester United which players have disappointed us most?
I decided to rank the entire first team playing squad based on judging how they fared relative to expectations. For example if a player was expected to be a bit part player, and so it proved, then that’s average. If its a star who was expected to star and he didn’t then that’s bad, and if its a player who emerged then that’s good.
Based on this scoring system I ranked the top 5 players as follows:-
1) Carrick
2) van Persie
3) Rafael
4) Ferdinand
5) Hernandez
And my bottom 5, in order of worst are
1) Rooney
2) Anderson
3) Nani
4) Lindegaard
5) Young
The bottom 5 are where I want to focus as it is rather unusual to comment on poor performers when we are Champions, but I’m going to do exactly that.
5th last is Ashley Young, clearly a very talented player who was expected to build on a strong start to his first season at United where his performance in the Arsenal rout at Old Trafford made me believe he could be a brilliant buy. I liked that he could go outside or inside, his curling shots, his ability to beat the first man and his link up with Patrice Evra. All excellent.
Yet this season we have a player who has been injured, has stopped shooting, who doesn’t take on his man much and frankly the decision to play Shinji Kagawa wide left or sometimes Nani really shows that this man has lost his confidence and with it his way in the squad. He is on a long term contract which means we have to find a way to get him back to form but the purchase of Wilfried Zaha will put his place under pressure next season.
4th last is Anders Lindegaard. His performance at Reading was reminiscent of Massimo Taibi, and the outcome is likely the same. Asmir Bergovic is a target to share the no.1 spot with the player I ranked seventh-best in the squad, our increasingly confident David De Gea.
The Scandinavian stopper can’t complain about having chances as De Gea lived up to his Dracula nickname due to his fear of crosses. However he didn’t excel and at this level he is a bundle of nerves and we know from the succession of goalkeeping failures from Mark Bosnich to Fabien Barthez that this is terminal to a United career.
3rd last is Nani, who has a contract reaching its conclusion and at his age he needs regular football, and that’s not going to happen at Old Trafford. He can be brilliant on his day but those days are now as regular as birthdays and that’s no good. He has the skill and ability to succeed but he doesn’t do it enough to warrant a place in the team, and his unfortunate sending off against Real Madrid was probably his last big event in our Stadium.
2nd last is Anderson who also has ability, as proven by some sweet passes against Arsenal, some goals in the League Cup and the ability to pull that large midriff around the field with impressive stamina. In a midfield short on numbers he should be a regular partner to Michael Carrick but often Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs were preferred despite being old enough to be his Dad.
His fitness levels suggest he lives the high life and given the huge fee we paid he is now firmly alongside Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba as a Fergie failure. This season he has faded away and like the 2 players above he is likely to leave the Club this summer.
1st is Wayne Rooney who has some stats that will make some people question my choice but given the expectations at the start of the season for a RVP-Rooney link that ripped teams apart it just hasn’t happened for the hair transplant family man who forced United to pay him quarter of a million a week to stop his mercenary driven move to Manchester City.
Last week 5 bookings for United from a card happy Ref didn’t include one for Rooney who was asked to mark Mikel Arteta. I watched this carefully and he was regularly found walking while Arteta ran, as though he couldn’t be bothered or was tired.
His passing was awful and then the occasional good pass has the commentator purring. This man who scored 3 wonderful goals on his European debut now can’t make the team on the big Euro nights. His technique is being found out as his pace disappears under the increasing bulk created by his lifestyle.
A rich man now, the drive that drove the blue Liverpudlian to be a star at 16 is now a family man with a villa in Barbados and the best seasons behind him. This summer should see United trying to persuade PSG to part with £20m and United offloading a £13m annual wage to make way for Robert Lewandowski and a first class midfielder.
For those who are interested in my complete scoring of the squad I list them below. Some notable failures to impress include Antonio Valencia, Paul Scholes, Tom Cleverley and Nick Powell. Surprisingly for me I generally felt the defenders did ok despite the goals against record, I still assert that when we play with defensive midfielders the defence does its job and when we don’t we are often overwhelmed 3 vs 2 in midfield and the crosses scare De Gea and the goals leak.
Take a look, and add your view to who were the worst 5 players in a season we can generally call a success.
1) Carrick
2) van Persie
3) Rafael
4) Ferdinand
5) Hernandez
6) Evans
7) De Gea
8) Evra
9) Vidic
10) Kagawa
11) Jones
12) Smalling
13) Welbeck
14) Cleverley
15) Giggs
16) Scholes
17) Valencia
18) Powell
19) Young
20) Lindegaard
21) Anderson
22) Nani
23) Rooney
By Steve Burrows CBE @ifollowsteve
1. Carrick – Our best player undoubtedly
2. Van Persie – Dip of form keeps him off top
3. Rafael – Exceeded expectations, great going forward and very improved defending
4. Vidic – Wasnt expecting him to return well but he was key to our run of important clean sheets
5. De Gea – Improved majorly, very reliable
6. Ferdinand – Best he's been in a long time, shaky start but grew better and better
7. Evra – Consistent at left back, major improvementfrom last tears disappointment
8. Evans – Great when played, very reliable andone of leagues best defenders
9. Jones – Became a key player
10. Hernandez – Didn't play a lot, not really his fault
11. Kagawa – Below expectations, but needed settling in
12. Giggs – My Man of the Match in a lot of games, but I was unimpessed in big games
13. Welbeck – Very improved but I'm still not very fussed
14. Rooney – This low due to high expectations. Started quite well before being injured, looked good returning but grew worse towards the end. Never formed the expected partnership with RvP
15. Cleverley – OK, did his job well most of the time
16. Smalling – Solid when playing
17. Scholes – Didn't live up to expectations die to injuries. I was expecting him to be what Carrick turned out to be
18. Anderson – Impressed at times but overall a disappointed
19. Lindegaard – Meh
20. Powell – Didn't play a lot, not his fault
21. Young – Our best winger (just not as bad as others). Quite terrible
22. Nani – Even more terrible
23. Valencia – Everything he had has gone. Pace, strength and crossing were what made him great last year, he doesn't show any of these nearly as much now. Pathetic season
Some how, this 'writer' feels antonio valencia contributed more to united's cause than wayne rooney? Ridiculous
No Edward – you really must read the rating system.
Rooney was expected to star, he didn't. Valencia was very poor all season and is in my bottom list.
Frankly from 14-23 we have a poor list in which Adam and I generally agree.
This writer is an idiot. Valencia, Nani, Young were the worst players
So Lindegard and Anderson were better? You're a genius.