Tuesday 26 January 2010

Can the defence please call for Ferdinand and Vidic

Throughout Sir Alex's illustrious managerial career at Man United, he has owed much of his success to his central defensive partnerships: from Bruce and Pallister in the early to mid 90s, then Johnsen and Stam and now more recently Ferdinand and Vidic. The performances in recent games against Burnley and Manchester City suggest that they are there to be shot at with a Kalashnikov and not a Magnum!! Burnley where presented with at least three glorious chances to score last Saturday week, all made possible by schoolboy defending from Evans and the very experienced and internationally capped Wes Brown.

Manchester City - and more notably Carlos Tevez - took full advantage of this in the league cup semi-final 1st leg at Eastlands, showing Fergie that United should have paid the money and kept him, to give support to Rooney up-front.

This is a Man United team that is in transition and clearly playing below par, dogged by injuries to key players - none more notable than Vidic and Ferdinand. They are the cornerstone of the Man United defence and provide Van De Sar with the protection that led them to a third consecutive league title and a Champions League Final.  In reserve Wes Brown can provide cover but becomes a better centre-half when he plays the number two position, and not lead. He has also been hit with injuries over the last few seasons.  Johnny Evans is definitely a player for the future, played wonderfully well in the Carling Cup ’09 campaign including the final itself, but again he is still raw and needs to be nurtured around a more established defender.

This is why getting Ferdinand and Vidic back is so crucial to United winning silverware: without them they’re vulnerable to being hurt by top quality opposition, especially in Europe.   Question marks are being asked about whether United are strong enough to win trophies this season or if the cracks starting to show in their once formidable stature.  Yes, they won 4-0 on Saturday against a struggling side Hull, relying on Rooney to score the goals, but they have lost the ‘fear factor’ they are there for the taking, that would be music to the ears of their rivals, waiting to pull the trigger. 

Yes, they won 4-0 on Saturday against a struggling side Hull, relying on Rooney to score the goals, but they have lost the ‘fear factor’ they are there for the taking. That would be music to the ears of their rivals, waiting to pull the trigger.

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