After Kiko Macheda made his debut in April this year at Old Traffor and grabbed a 93rd minute winner against the Villians, I didn’t foresee something as dramatic as this happening for a while. And how about the numbers of goals we’ve been getting lately (without Ronaldo)? 3 against Tottenham and 4 against Manchester Shitty – and these are not the worst teams in the league either. Rooney has been an absolute predator, grabbing 6 goals in 6 games this season so far. But, in spite of his finishing, I still think that Rooney needs to play in a deeper (although still central) role. Rooney likes to play - he doesn’t like to stand up front on his own, with his hands on his hips and wait for the ball. He wants to win that ball and is undoubtedly the most unselfish player that we have. He likes to create as much as he likes to score. So why not allow him to play that role? Rooney has the potential to be a Zinedine Zidane or a Paul Scholes (in his prime), but one who scores far more goals then either of those legends ever did. So far in his United career has been utilised as a striker, a forward, a left winger, a right midfielder and once even as a goalie. So why not try him as an attacking midfielder? Scholes is aging, Anderson is still growing up, and I feel that Rooney needs to be tried out as a playmaker who can orchestrate our play. At the very least, please Sir Alex, play him in a supporting forward role. When Rooney plays as a striker, he delivers the goals, but loses the opportunities to create. He himself at times seems uncomfortable in that position, dropping back or to the left wing in an attempt to win the ball. Unfortunately once he does, we no longer have a player waiting in the box.
As much as Rooney has impressed this season, Berbatov has disappointed. Unfortunately the man simply does not have a goal-scoring touch. Three clear headers in one game and not a single goal. And all that while our work-horse Fletcher gets two chances and puts both away. Admittedly, Berba was unlucky, especially with the last header, which was miraculously saved by Given, but to me he is still not United quality. Yes, he does have a brilliant first touch, yes, he can produce a moment of magic. But while a player like Ronaldo can produce a moment like that in every game, Berbatov rations his moments out during very long periods of time. Goal scorers are born and not made. Berbatov has never been a prolific goal scorer and he never will be.
Talking about natural goal scorers… roll out the red carpet and bring on our new number 7 - Michael Owen! When he came on as a substitute, I told my mate “Watch him score the winner and become an instant Old Trafford favorite.” And he did! Scoring the winner in the 96th minute of a thriller, getting us the three points and showing everyone that there is only one team in Manchester that is capable of a performance like that. Going back to my earlier point about Rooney being utilised in a deeper role – if Michael Owen can keep scoring and stay injury free, I really hope that the two will form our new striking partnership. Owen up front and Rooney just behind him. Unfortunately, Sir Alex has recently said that he wants to use Berbatov and Rooney as the main striking duo, with Owen merely used as an impact substitute. However, if Owen keeps scoring and Berbatov missing, he might just reconsider.
I think that two other players deserve special attention after Sunday’s game: Foster and Fletcher. The former has been disappointing this season to say the least - apart from his brilliant fingertip save against Tottenham that is). Clearly nervous, indecisive when coming out for crosses, making positioning errors – is that the successor to van der Sar? Maybe, we never know. Foster clearly has talent, but after 7 games (including the Community Shield) I would have thought that he would get over his debut jitters. I really find it worrying that the man who is supposed to be our next ‘keeper makes errors like that. Kuzshchak inspired far more confidence. The tall Polish dude is an excellent second keeper – he will never be your number one, but when called on he gets the job done. Sure, he had come blunders, but never as bad as Foster’s and overall he has been a reliable goalkeeper that helped us out when van der Sar wasn’t able to play. Maybe the rumours linking us with CSKA’s Igor Akinfeev are surfacing for a reason?
Finally, Darren Fletcher. What a player! Beginning his United career in the same season as Ronaldo, he was the United player that fans love to hate. Geeky, unconfident, slow and losing the ball more often than winning it, Fletcher was simply terrible. Conspiracy theorists even speculated that Sir Alex only plays him because he is also Scottish. Fletcher first truly impressed me in our 7-1 thrashing of Roma in the quarter-finals of the Champions League a few seasons back. I then realised that his true talent is being able to take the ball away from the opponent. However, for a while still that was his only true talent – I felt that even though Fletch was good defensively, he was absolutely useless going forward. His shooting wasn’t up to standard and his passing was mediocre at best. Fast forward to an assist to Rooney two weeks ago and 2 goals this weekend - Fletcher is now an automatic pick for central midfield. However, he needs to work hard, as soon my personal favorite Owen Hargreaves should be back from a year-long absence and I’m not sure that Sir Alex would play them together.
Overall, apart from blunders by Foster and Ferdinand and an indifferent performance from Park, everyone was pretty much amazing. Can’t wait for this Wednesday (league cup game against Wolves) – hopefully we’ll see action from Macheda, Welbeck, Gibson, Fabio and De Laet. Final thought – how many other teams out there fight until the last second and (often!) score when no one expects them to? We will forever be THE team that scored 2 goals in the injury time of a Champions League final to lift the trophy, and games like these serve as a reminder that it wasn’t just luck.
