My take on our strikers +other observations

I’m going to write about our strikers in order of my preference of what their ranks in the pecking order should be.

Rooney – Last night he reminded me of the player we had 15 months ago, at the time when he was at his worst. His touch was atrocious, he didn’t seem able to trap a ball and he lacked his leadership qualities that we are so used to seeing. He fully deserved to be taken off and I was impressed with his attitude afterwards, no tantrums and he shook hands with Fergie. He’s still undoubtedly our best striker and we need him to return to his form before the new year.

Danny Welbeck – What impresses me most about him, aside from his goalscoring ability, is his link up play and overall footballing ability. The flick back for Rooney’s goal line shot was sublime and we play so much better as a team when he does play. IMO he has the most potential out of all of our strikers and you could see this from the pre season tour. I think when we play 2 strikers he should be starting as the second striker without a doubt.

Berbatov – Should have been one of the greatest strikers in our history, certainly is the most talented striker we’ve ever had. But what frustrates me with him is his placidness(If that’s the correct word.) Yes he scored a hat trick, and he followed on with 2 goals against Blackburn. But Valencia put both those goals on a plate for him. We need him to perform when the rest of the team aren’t, we need him to inspire and take the game by the scruff of the neck. I have no problem with his style of play if the team around him are playing well but he is our most experienced striker and we should be looking to him for inspiration and I think there are times where he needs to take his game to the next level.

Hernandez – Last year was a revelation, this year for me has been nothing but frustration. What’s annoying me the most is his inability to stay onside. Every time he gets the ball I fully expect the offside flag to go up as we kept seeing last night. Last year he mastererd the art of beating the defensive line, this year it seems as if the whole of the premier league have sussed him out and he keeps getting caught. Right now I think he fully deserves not having a starting berth and he needs to not rest on his laurels and continue to work hard.

To not seem like I am only saying negative things about him, I do still think he is the best finisher we have at the club and once he can recapture his form then I do think he will have a good future for us, he just needs to stop getting caught offside.

Phil Jones – Undeservedly getting criticism IMO. People need to remember he’s only 19 and has absolute bundles of potential. I think he’s great at his last ditch tackles and he is strong, yes he will make mistakes but he’s only 19, there is no reason for us to suggest we should give up on him. There are some fans who thinks he should not play for us and that we should sign Cahill, the biggest load I have ever heard. He’s played the most fixtures this year out of all our players and making a mistake here and there shouldn’t be held against him, it’s not as if he’s a 26 year old experienced defender. He will only get better and we need to keep our faith in him because him and Smalling will go on to become great a great defensive unit for us.

Last year Smalling was amazing for us, last year Smalling had VDS behind him, something Jones has not had the luxury of having which brings me to my next point.

Goalkeepers – This year our keepers have been rotated and we haven’t had a natural leader from the back. Last year we had VDS to organise the back line and I don’t think enough emphasis is put on that. De Gea’s problem for me is he’s not vocal enough. He’s got great potential but how can you expect the defence to perform to their best if they don’t have the keeper organising them. De Gea will learn this I’m sure, we shouldn’t get on his back, he’s still adjusting to a new climate, a new country, a new language and is playing in a position that is the hardest considering how vocal you need to be.

We have Lindergaard who everyone seems to want to start the games now, but until yesterday he was involved in games that we dominated so hasn’t been under the same kind of pressure as De Gea. I can’t fault him for the free kick or the first goal, but for Jones’s own goal, surely he should have seen that he was under pressure and been vocal enough to communicate with Jones. This is the problem with not having a solid settled keeper, there is no mutual understanding.

These points surely must go against Jones’s progress and he should not be held accountable for it.

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