A game that Man Utd scored four goals yet again for the 4th consecutive time, thus equalling a 100 year old record, that will not be broken next week against Arsenal (I hope otherwise!).
To be honest (I watched this game from a coffeeshop), Man Utd just scraped through this game again with only the two Tevez goals worthy of being called team goals.
The first two goals were somewhat opportunistic goals caused by some slack defending. Not to take any credit away from Nani's beautiful 30yard screamer (which eclipsed his first goal against Tottenham) nor the way Rooney coolly slotted home the goal that gave Man Utd the lead after Aliadiere punished Ferdinand and Vidic with an equaliser, but it was not really vintage Man Utd as they played the ball around waiting for things to happen instead of truly creating chances.
It could be that Middlesbrough defended deep and tried to cover up any gaping holes in defence with 8 or more men, but Man Utd were simply not excellent last night. But before I start to criticize more....
One encouraging sign was the crisp and pacy interchange of passes, which reminded me of Arsenal's free-flowing style. Another was the telepathic understanding between Rooney and Tevez. Lastly, but not least, was Hargreaves' presence in midfield.
Middlesbrough, unashamedly, knew their weaknesses, given the squad at Southgate's disposal. There was no creativity in midfield and there were some haphazard tactical discipline.
To be honest (I watched this game from a coffeeshop), Man Utd just scraped through this game again with only the two Tevez goals worthy of being called team goals.
The first two goals were somewhat opportunistic goals caused by some slack defending. Not to take any credit away from Nani's beautiful 30yard screamer (which eclipsed his first goal against Tottenham) nor the way Rooney coolly slotted home the goal that gave Man Utd the lead after Aliadiere punished Ferdinand and Vidic with an equaliser, but it was not really vintage Man Utd as they played the ball around waiting for things to happen instead of truly creating chances.
It could be that Middlesbrough defended deep and tried to cover up any gaping holes in defence with 8 or more men, but Man Utd were simply not excellent last night. But before I start to criticize more....
One encouraging sign was the crisp and pacy interchange of passes, which reminded me of Arsenal's free-flowing style. Another was the telepathic understanding between Rooney and Tevez. Lastly, but not least, was Hargreaves' presence in midfield.
Middlesbrough, unashamedly, knew their weaknesses, given the squad at Southgate's disposal. There was no creativity in midfield and there were some haphazard tactical discipline.
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