Now i'm sure this will open up a can of worms and debate but lets see how people rate our players so far this season.
ive chosen players who have played more than a handful of games.
my ratings are
de gea - 7 - apart from the odd mistake looks to have improved on last season, looks more composed and less likely to make a mistake when coming for crosses.
Anders L - 6 - not really done a great deal wrong this season, very good back up as i now get the impression de gea has become number 1.
Rafael - 8 - revelation this season, improved so much on last year. more composed and less rash, seems to have matured tenfold.
Evra - 7- again some shaky points, but again on a whole improved on last season so far.
evans - 7 - been very solid at the back for utd, and is close to being utds first choice CB.
Rio - 7 - been solid despite his advancing years - get the impression he will start to be faded out now.
Smalling - 7- not played too often this season, but when at CB has looked composed - shaky at times at RB though.
Valencia - 5 - regressed so much on last season, always thought he was one dimensional, but this season he has become none dimensional ( if there is such a thing). seems to have lost the ability to beat a defender and slows down play which i never thought i'd say.
young - 6 - missed the start of the season but is starting to play a little better now, can still improve.
carrick - 7 - would have been an 8 had it not been for his slow start to the season, important cog in utds midfield.
clevs - 7 - been solid if not spectaular so far and has finally started to find the net.
ando - 7- would have been an 8 had he not been injured. great spell before his injury allowing us to see what he is capable of.
Rooney - 7- not a great season so far, poor first touch often lets him down, but a great team player who will sacrifice what he does best to help the team.
kagawa - 6 - top player struggling to find his feet and form due to injuries, can only get better and im sure he will.
Hernandez - 7- first touch and link up play has improved since last season, seems to have improved his overall game.
welbeck - 6 - often deployed out wide this season which isnt his favoured position, however never gives defenders time on the ball and defends well from the front.
RVP- 9 -always thought RVP was a decent player, but never realised just how much he has to his game, has been imense this season, and his set pieces have made us more of a threat - player of the season so far.
despite our hefty league position i dont think other than a couple of players, most have not done themselves justice.
ratings - the season so far
posted on 11/1/13
Also, when 5 people are throwing arguments at you it's very difficult to reply to them all with due care and attention!
posted on 11/1/13
Also, when 5 people are throwing arguments at you it's very difficult to reply to them all with due care and attention!
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especially when you struggle with just one
posted on 11/1/13
I'm trying not to do an obnoxious and sarcastic reply to that
posted on 11/1/13
Well Rob, at least you had two people backing you up on MUTV last night.... Maysey and Dion Dublin were as good as wánking each other off about the Giggs pass.
posted on 11/1/13
Ji
I know, I was their fluffer
I just think the pass was exceptional and had one of the favourites on here like Kagawa or Anderson done it then this site would go into meltdown.
posted on 11/1/13
It was, world class.
I've done some stunning things on a football pitch, played similar passes.... but I certainly take it account that I could not do it in front of 40,000 angry away fans and with very good players trying to get the ball off me or the person i'm trying to pass to.
posted on 11/1/13
Exactly my point from yesterday Ji.
If people on here underrate the pass because they think it was something even they could do then I just have to laugh out loud at their ignorance of world class quality
posted on 11/1/13
Right, here goes....
"also in regards to scholes and giggs, you mentioned in the past that playimg with those is part of the reason carrick looked poor at the begining of the season."
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Excellent point Dunc! Rob, you can't have it both ways. You clearly said that the poor form of Giggs and Scholes was the reason Carrick was so poor earlier in the season. If you now say that Giggs and Scholes have not been poor then that nullifies your earlier defence of Carrick.
"had our wingers been in better form this season then a lot of the problems we've seen this season would have been avoided."
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Now it's the wingers' fault instead? How convenient...Rob, you have now blamed everyone in the team this season apart from Carrick and Rooney. What a surprise...
"If it's that easy then why did no-one do that until the 92nd minute?"
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Erm...maybe because that was wasn't on until the 92nd minute....You do realise that the positioning of the opposition defence and the run from RVP were important contextual elements to Giggs being able to play that ball...right?
"its only a matter of time before scholes costs us big time with his rash challenges, he no longer has the energy to compete and instead gives away stupid free kicks to compensate for this."
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This is my main issue with Scholes these days. He is guaranteed a booking. In the last game he was lucky not to have been sent off after 20 minutes for two completely pointless challenges.
"Whether it was Nani/Hernandez or Wooton's fault we conceded so late it would be silly to forget how well we played up until then."
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No. It is silly to pretend that the game only lasted 90 minutes when it lasted another half hour after that. Playing well for 75% of the game is nothing to crow about. We aren't Liverpool...
"Well known fact Giggs has never been a great crosser."
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To be fair, he was never a great crosser at his peak but he improved massively in this regard throughout his 30s. I'd say that his crossing now is as good as anyone's at the club, with the possible exception of RVP.
However, let's stop talking about that bloomin 40 yard pass. Can anyone even remember Giggs doing that before? It's not a regular contribution from him is it? I've even seen Fletcher play inch perfect 40 yard passes in the past - and his technical ability is gash! Even Gibson has played some tidy long balls.
Dwelling on that pass from Giggs is like saying that Evra is world class in the air because he scored a couple of headers this season!
"You're missing the point. Giggs is at a class you or your teammates could never reach because he had one chance to make that pass and he did it."
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No, YOU are missing the point! Giggs has had over 20 years to play passes like that and he's done it ONCE! FFS, do you even know why you keep going on about this? Nobody is saying that Giggs is incapable of producing anything good - just that he cannot be relied upong to do so regularly. The fact that you keep banging on about one pass would seem to demonstrate that point very well.
"It's amazing the amount of misdirected bile aimed at Giggs.... He obviously still thinks he can perform, so it is not his fault (and played on the left, i think he can still do pretty well)."
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Nobody is disputing this. Giggs is as good as any of our wingers imo but he should not play in the centre any he should not start many games. If he just cam on as a sub on the left wing then I doubt anyone would complain.
"They're there because Fergie hasn't replaced them."
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Exactly. I don't take issue with Giggs/Scholes keeping youngsters out of the squad. If the youngsters were consistently good enought then that wouldn't happen. My issue is that these players should have been replaced - there are plenty of far better players around the world! Even SAF said a few years ago that he would sign experienced players to replace Giggs and Scholes when they retire. I'm starting to wonder whether he only said this because he intends to keep them until he retires himself - i.e. he would never have to 'make good' on his promise.
"a bit harsh to be fair, i may not agree with what Rob says a lot of the time, but at the end of the day he believes what he says and tries to back it up."
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Again, well said Dunc. There is no need for petty name calling and well played to Rob as usual for not doing the same.
posted on 11/1/13
God bless you Redmisty. Everytime I scroll down and see loads of individual points answered I always know it's you without looking at your name!
Without responding to all the points, there is one thing that keeps being brought up which is important to say.
Regarding Scholes/Giggs and Carrick, I fully admit that when Carrick plays with them, we don't have as mobile a midfield and they do bring Carrick's level down. But what i've always said, that is just a necessary evil when using squad players in the odd game. But Scholes and Giggs aren't so bad in CM that other teammates poor performances should be overlooked.
In short, Giggs and Scholes next to Carrick might bring the teams performance down from 7/10 to 6/10 but with the quality in the rest of the side we should always have enough.
Playing Giggs and or Scholes next to a misfiring Valencia and Rooney and that is asking too much.
posted on 14/1/13
Yeah, I can't help it...Recently I've only been checking this forum every few days by which time there are about 8 pages of comments for me to respond to!
Only one to respond to this time though....
"Playing Giggs and or Scholes next to a misfiring Valencia and Rooney and that is asking too much."
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Fair point.