In the third part of this featured edition, player ratings for Manchester United’s goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar and his defensive line-up were discussed. Now it is time to pay some attention to the Red Devils’ midfield and attacking players.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Carrick-c25282
Off with his head have been the cries from some sections of Manchester United’s support after the Englishman’s lackluster display for the Red Devils against Marseille. Carrick has truly dwindled as a player in the past two seasons. On Wednesday night, Michael
was wasteful in possession in the first half. He found it hard to find a Red shirt with his Hollywood style balls and also lacked the legs which were needed to make intelligible runs in order to support http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dimitar-Berbatov-c11254 up front. Perhaps the most disappointing
of Manchester United’s midfield three on the night, Carrick now faces an uphill battle to save his United career in the 2010-2011 season.
Rating: 5/10
Darren Gibson
After his impressive display for Manchester United in their win against Crawley Town over the past weekend, Ferguson entrusted Gibson with a starting role against Marseille. It can be said with surety that the Irishman did himself no favours. The young midfielder
looked out of his depth against Marseille as he gave the ball way time and again in the midfield area. This prompted Manchester United to play in their own defensive shell which worked against their philosophy of capturing an elusive away victory. One of the
favourites to exit Manchester United in the summer, Gibson’s performance on Wednesday night sure that he won’t be missed by the Red Devils’ faithful.
Rating: 5/10
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Darren-Fletcher-c10361
Another average performance by the Scottish midfield general made sure that Manchester United didn’t concede an unwanted goal on the night but Fletcher lacked imagination with his passing. Most of his diagonal balls towards the likes of Rooney and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nani-c27299 lacked
accuracy which defined United’s performance on the night. Nonetheless, it can be said that Fletcher was best of the worst in United’s three man midfield.
Rating: 6/10
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736
Utterly woeful at his left wing position for Manchester United, Rooney’s cause was not helped by the fact that the Englishman is not at all comfortable coming in on his left foot. This tendency to be a one-footed pony made it easy for Marseille to defend
against United’s star striker who was playing out of position at Stade Vélodrome. The English national did put in a good shift for the Red Devils but in all honesty, he should’ve contributed more to the game over the course of 90 minutes in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899.
Rating: 6/10
Dimitar Berbatov
Another anonymous performance in European football by United’s top goal scorer this season meant that the former champions of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 had to settle for an away draw. Some night argue that Berbatov is not comfortable whilst playing as a sole striker but in
all reality the Bulgarian target man was totally absent on the night. It seemed as if that the real Berbatov had not walked out of United’s team bus or better yet stayed at the hotel. Dimitar’s lack of involvement in the game made it harder for Manchester
United’s midfielders to pass their way around. It still remains to be seen whether Ferguson will start with the former Tottenham striker on 16th March when the second leg takes place at Old Trafford.
Rating: 5/10
Luis Nani
Perhaps Manchester United’s only real offensive threat on the night, Nani troubled http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gabriel-Heinze-c14310 in Marseille’s defence all night long on Wednesday. It was the Portuguese winger’s direct approach which reaped dividends for him throughout the encounter.
However, his poor decision making cost Manchester United possession and goal scoring opportunities in the final third of the field against Didier Deschamps’s team. Nonetheless, this massively improved player needs further progress to earn respect at the European
level of football for United. Rating: 7/10
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