26 Sep 2013 00:51:12
Am I the only one who thinks Nani played well? He got dispossessed a couple of times and his shooting was way off but he certainly did work hard defensively, making 3 tackles and had a team high of 4 key passes. Considering that Ozil averages 3 key passes per game i'm ready to give him the benefit of the doubt in his first game back.

Kagawa didn't play to the best of his abilities, but playing for the second time this season he should get another chance. He also had a 92% passing accuracy and made 3 key passes, while also completing 2 dribbles.

The mom could be given to Rooney who looks like he's back to his best with 3 key passes, 2 dribbles and 5 shots. His work rate was also good to see after having played 3 games in a row or Evans who marshaled the young defense impressively and should replace Rio in the starting lineup.

Jones was a beast in central midfield and his defensive work is outstanding. 6 clearances, 2 tackles, 6 headers and 6 interceptions is beyond impressive. With an 85 % passing accuracy including 6 long balls, it looks like his distribution is improving.

I honestly would have loved to see a midfield combination of Jones and Fellaini. They would better any central midfield in the world in physical power but I'm not sure either possess the finesse to hurt a top side but atm neither does a static Giggs who was yet again average. But it was a young team so his involvement is understood.

Smalling and Rafael had good games while Buttner was decent, impressive going forward but a defensive liability ( not unlike a 32 year old Frenchman imo ) and while he is rather shaky against tricky wingers, at least he has the pace to recover if he is out of position and even if he gets dribbled, he would have someone covering for him by then, unlike Evra who rarely gets skinned but doesn't recover fast enough and leaves acres of space with no one covering it. I'd rather have Buttner when he learns when to release the ball in the defensive half.

That leaves Chicharito. Apart from his goal, he didn't have a tangible effect but his movement to drag defenders opening up space for Rooney and Kagawa to operate was immense. Also the way he turned Enrique inside out for his goal is not any less impressive than Rooney hitting a free-kick or Van Persie with his freaky strikes when he somehow turns away from the goal while releasing a shot ( his goal against Fullham is a prime example ).

1.) 26 Sep 2013
From the first whistle Nani linked our play fantastically. His one touch, quick passing his just what we are looking for and if we can get Kagawa, Rooney, RVP, Fellaini etc linking up with him then we will create plenty of chances. He has played very little football of late so he did seem to tire after 50 minutes or so but IMO he did well and more than showed that he warrants a place in the starting XI above Young and/or Valencia.

2.) 26 Sep 2013
Mick

Statistics indicated Fellaini had a better game than Toure on Sunday. So much for statistics.

Nani, well much ado about nothing, lots of show but no end product again.

3.) 26 Sep 2013
Mick

Stats often lie. According to the stats, Fellaini had a better game than Toure on Sunday. My eyes told me a different story. I thought Nani contributed little

4.) 26 Sep 2013
Agree with You on Nani, had a great game and kept the Liverpool defense on the back foot. Jones played well and maybe its time to give him a start instead of Carrick who sits too close to our back 4 and invites pressure. He can't tackle and is poor in the air. Look at Fergies attempt at playing him at centre half last year.Jones has a physical presence and not afraid to put himself about.

5.) 26 Sep 2013
Have you ever heard the phrase "lies, damned lies and statistics"? They mead nothing. Think back to the CL semi final earlier in the year. Bayern Munich V Barcelona. Barcelona had something like 63% or 65% possession over the 90+ minutes. Bayern won 4 - 0. Says it all.

6.) 26 Sep 2013
Mick

I thought he had a decent game as well. His decision making was much better and one of the criticism I have always had is he tries silly stuff when there is nothing there rather than choosing the simple pass and keeping possession and loses the ball.

Yesterday he did not give away possession when there was nothing there and made the the right pass at the right time most often but he is rusty like a lot of the guys and they need a run of games.

I think people can be quick to blast some of these guys but it is quite clear we are not a coherent unit and slightly disjointed. There seems to be large gaps in terms of player support and numbers when we go forward and hence most of goals are coming from set pieces and not open play.

I have seen this for quite sometime now where even when the wingers beat their man down the touchline, we hardly have numbers running into the box so your options are very limited.

I was watching city against Wigan (I know championship team) but they attack with 7 or 8 players in and around the box and so many making runs and had their defense in 6's and 7's. BTW the 5-0 score could have been a lot worse and I can see them scoring 7 or 8 goals in some games this year when things go for them.

7.) 26 Sep 2013
Statistics are a horribly bad way to judge a performance. I thought Nani was shocking last night. He caught caught in possession far too much & slowed play down in the final third.

8.) 26 Sep 2013
Mick - I agree with your post. I thought Kagawa looked much better than he did against Leverkusen, so hopefully he will keep it up.

Only issue aside from Giggs trying to play quarter back when he can't judge a ten yard weight of pass nowadays was how much space the Liverpool strikers had, I thought Evans and Smalling showed signs of not playing a lot and bad positional sense. Some great aerial ability when they actually jumped for the ball though.

I was pleased with the performance considering it was the strongest team Liverpool could play and nowhere near ours, plus Giggs in CM we are always going to be one man light. Shame Zaha didn't get a run out, how annoying for him.

9.) 26 Sep 2013
Nani did what he usually does. Show great promise, skill, speed, passing and the worst final product of any player I've ever seen. If he makes the second to last pass he's amazing, but if he has to make an assist or finish a chance, he's horrendous. How hard is it to at least hit the target on a shot?

10.) 26 Sep 2013
Nani was excellent on the ball. Not afraid to go past a player, not afraid to make a pass. Great first touch and can get out of tight spots. What is frustrating is his execution and decision making. I think he could work very well with Rooney and RvP if he isn't too selfish.

11.) 26 Sep 2013
I would rather have nani in somewhere and give the ball away a few times and create chances and score goals, than Cleverly in there trying to be xavi or iniesta by constantly playing 2 yard passes sideways or backwards to increase his pass completion percentage, and never creating anything!

12.) 26 Sep 2013
A great 1st touch and taking on and beating players is no use to any team unless you then create something with the ball nani just can't deliver the final piece he also ducked out of a couple of tackles last night which is poor