Jermaine Beckford put the Red Devils to rest at Old Trafford
Manchester United gave another strange performance, this time in the FA Cup third round when they lost to Leeds United at home, 1-0. It is obvious the Red Devils miss Ronaldo and no matter what Ryan Giggs said, Ronaldo is still a valuable loss. But this United team is not just about that any more, for a few matches now United have looked out of sorts by giving the ball away and being caught by bad positioning.
To add to this they have played some strange passes in the Premier League and some players are just not bucking up, United might not be the swasbuckling team that they were the last three seasons with Ronaldo, but the main problem here seems to be the centre-backs and their goalkeeper. The usual flowing style of United and distribution for attacks starts from the back, when Van de Sar, Ferdinand and Vidic are there, United dictate the flow of the game. Van De Sar even distributes and kicks or "passes" the ball and has been involved in direct assists for United, this attacking philosphy of play was coached to him at Ajax . Ferdinand and Vidic meanwhile not only provide a defensive rock but time their runs for attacks and set-piece wonderfully, Obertan the new siging from Bordeaux should try to play more into the midfield instead of playing on a very withdrawn position.
Ferguson will of course notice these fallibilities, but with the injury list looking like a long grocery item, it will be interesting to see how United cope with the remainder of the season. Having said that, Leeds played a fantastic match and were in the Red Devils' faces and they did not give United time to settle on the ball and Jermaine Beckford might just be a Premier League player in the near future.
Comments