Manchester United’s wavering performance, Ferguson’s unjustifiable moves
This season has not been great for Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Home fixtures have not been a problem for Ferguson so far, as his team managed to get victories in all three games. However, the players seem to be struggling in away fixtures and Ferguson does not have many options on the table. In the four matches played away from home, Manchester United has drawn all of them, with quite an ordinary performance.
This Saturday, United played against Sunderland, at the Stadium of Light. Because of their past performances, this match seemed to be a difficult job for Alex Ferguson. Making matters worse, Sunderland was going quite well, as they gave a tough time to all the big teams that played against them. Steve Bruce’s side had won their match against Manchester City, while they got a point against both Liverpool and Arsenal. They displayed quite a physical game, creating problems for all the teams.
The major problem for United’s manager is that his star player Wayne Rooney does not seem to be getting back in form. On the other hand, this season is going pretty well for his other striker, Dimitar Berbatov. Like always, luck has been favouring Ferguson and a door has opened, when one closed.
However, Ferguson made some very tough decisions regarding his team’s selection. He dropped Wayne Rooney from the squad, despite of his consistent appeals to play for his team. The reason given by Ferguson was the fitness problems faced by his strikers. Also, Rooney was motivated primarily by his desire to play for England in the midweek, rather than playing for Manchester United. Also, the concentration problems are an issue with Rooney, due to which Ferguson did not hesitate to make his decision.
But, Ferguson made some other decisions as well, which did not seem justified. He decided to play Michael Owen alongside Federico Macheda, resting Berbatov on the benches. The game did not go well for Ferguson as he had planned, while there was an obvious lack of quality on the pitch as well. Things did change for him as soon as Berbatov made his way on the pitch. The difference was so obvious that United went on attacking runs with Berbatov involved in many moves.
Furthermore, Ferguson decided to keep Patrice Evra on the bench, while Rafael played in the starting line-up. This was another decision which cannot be justified, as the young Brazilian looked sloppy in defence. Sunderland had many chances but they failed to convert, while Van der Sar played an important role in keeping the opposition at arm’s length.
Apart from a few unjustified decisions, Ferguson faced many problems, especially in the midfield. Right now, the United’s manager has a few options in the midfield because he is tactically very limited in selecting his starting XI and making his substitutions. Ferguson started the match with three defensive styled players, i.e. Paul Scholes, Anderson and Darren Fletcher. The fourth player in the midfield was Nani, who was the only one with the potential to provide an attacking threat.
The passing in midfield was extremely poor, and Anderson was the poorest of all the players. Many moves ended prematurely because of the reason that the young Brazilian could not provide a good pass to his players. Moreover, when there was a time to make substitutions, Ferguson had no option in the midfield area. Three substitutions were made, where two starting strikers were replaced by two fresh strikers, while Anderson was replaced by the striker Bebe. This was a clear indication of frustration faced by Ferguson, who had no other options available to him.
United’s problems would grow with the passage of time, when the schedule would become harder and harder. Now is the time for Ferguson to understand the gravity of his problems, which can only be solved by spending in the winter transfer window.
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