Whilst I thought Nani was definitely man of the match last night (and I'm delighted to see him putting in a good performance, fingers crossed he'll keep it up), I feel an honourable mention should go to Tom Cleverley.
With the likes of Rooney, RVP and Carrick being rested United were missing a few of the more senior players last night, Vidic aside obviously. But I felt Cleverley handled the responsibility well, took control of the midfield, was always looking to make himself available for a pass and kept things ticking over in general. With Ando beside him Cleverley had to be the more disciplined of the two and he didn't disappoint at all. Furthermore, in the minutes leading up to the first goal I felt it was him who was doing his best to up the tempo and press the ball at every opportunity. If you noticed how he celebrated Nani's goal it's also obvious to see how much it means to him too.
I don't know how far Cleverley will go for Manchester United or if he'll ever be a guaranteed first team starter but I do feel that some supporters underrate his abilities and role in the team. I love his ability to work with the ball in tight spaces and one touch passing and can only really see him getting better with the more experience he gets.
Cleverley
posted on 19/2/13
comment by The_Red_Cognoscente (U9741) posted 4 seconds ago
Macca, you a re a tad harsh on Hernandez.
He might consider the offside rule to be a form of guacamole but his link-up play has improved a bit and he also runs down the channels quite well now, playing with his back to goal and even contributed to an assist or two this season - his crossing is very accurate.
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He used to do all that when he arrived for me anyway. His first season with us was a shock to everyone even though he probably regressed second season. This season though he's looked good gain, particularly from the bench.
Danny is the much better link up player but he too had an off night last night. Danny however is not a goal poacher in the mould of Chich notwithstanding his excellent headed goal v Madrid
Chich and Danny should be a match made in heaven for me. Sadly, it looked anything but that last night
posted on 19/2/13
Culminating in last night
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???
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Pasted the wrong bit Bud
Don't worry about it, I've made the point I wanted to
posted on 19/2/13
Ok, it confused me. Trying to think when Hernandez was injured! I think I get what you meant though. I actually meant to type that I wasn't sure that it was injury that had kept Nani out of the team for the last few weeks (not months).
posted on 19/2/13
I'd have to check back but from memory, Nani was out for at least 2 months I think, if not even longer
posted on 19/2/13
Macca
He was out from Braga 7 Nov until the Hammers 16 Jan.
In the early part of the season he was playing a game and missing the next two or three.
posted on 19/2/13
Yeh he was injured for about 2 months, then came back in the middle of Jan, so he has been back for just over a month.
I think we might be getting muddled up here, but my point was that I wasn't convinced that Nani was still injured, or looking to regain match fitness after his injury. It seemed to me that SAF was using him for the least important games. He had managed a full 90 mins against Fulham in the cup and about 80 mins against them in the PL, so I find it hard to believe that he was still struggling for match fitness in the last couple of weeks. Then when he is left on the bench against Everton and not even in the squad against Real, it didn't look good at all. But maybe he had a slight reaction to his injury and it was precautionary.
posted on 19/2/13
comment by Vidicschin (U3584) posted 8 minutes ago
Macca
He was out from Braga 7 Nov until the Hammers 16 Jan.
In the early part of the season he was playing a game and missing the next two or three.
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And people wonder why he's not consistent
posted on 19/2/13
I think we might be getting muddled up here, but my point was that I wasn't convinced that Nani was still injured, or looking to regain match fitness after his injury. It seemed to me that SAF was using him for the least important games. He had managed a full 90 mins against Fulham in the cup and about 80 mins against them in the PL, so I find it hard to believe that he was still struggling for match fitness in the last couple of weeks.
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nani said quite clearly in the Summer that it takes him 4 or 5 games to get fully fit and match sharp after a lengthy injury and getting constant niggles were preventing that from happening.
He's been back a month, had some game time and has clearly been putting the work in in training
Personally I'm excited about him for the rest of the season although that is tempered a tad by the fact I'm not that certain SAF will give him that chance considering he couldn't even make a weakened team in the cup
We'll see this weekend won't we I guess but if he does have a bad game, one thing is for sure, he won't be afforded game after game of poor form like he seems to allow other players like Welbeck and particularly Valencia
posted on 19/2/13
Yeh I am hoping that he will get a good run of games now on the right wing. If he can deliver like he did last night then he would give us a huge boost going into the business end of the season. It would be great to have just one winger in form.
posted on 19/2/13
comment by Statman John (U7425) posted 6 minutes ago
Yeh I am hoping that he will get a good run of games now on the right wing. If he can deliver like he did last night then he would give us a huge boost going into the business end of the season. It would be great to have just one winger in form.
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have a hunch Young will finish this season like he started last
There were signs of that last night albeit sporadic
Again though, Kags who hasn't pulled up any trees this season may get the nod over him seemingly, particularly in the bigger games
We're gonna need our whole squad and a fit Nani and Young is going to be very very useful to us