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The weekend saw United take on Everton at Old Trafford, a fixture now etched in the memories of United fans and players alike. The corresponding game last season saw Everton fight back to square the game at 4 apiece after being down 4-2 with about 10 minutes to spare. That draw knocked the wind out of Manchester United‘s sails, and the momentum shifted across Manchester to the blue half of the city. And since then, they have been waiting for this fixture to turn up. The spirit of revenge and reclaiming their pride back seeps through the club’s history, and is what bestows upon them their indomitable spirit and the never say die attitude. If there is any manager on the planet who will make sure his team is ready for a grudge match, it is Alex Ferguson. And his thought process was aided by the fact that Manchester City had been comprehensively beaten by Southampton, and that victory against Everton would be a giant step towards reclaiming the Premier league title.
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Everton came into this fixture having lost only 3 games all season, and yet found themselves out of the Champions league places. Their inability to convert draws into victories has caused them a lot of suffering, and is what might keep them from making the top 4, despite their massive improvement this year. Equipped with personnel to threaten opponents with both an aerial assault and/or a smooth passing game, Everton were a formidable opponent. Manchester United, on the other hand, could have been excused for not focusing completely on this game. With the midweek Champions League knock-out phase fixture against Real Madrid just around the corner, their primary aim would have been to get through the game without any injuries, and retaining a comfortable lead over City in the title race. Ferguson had his teams for both the games decided, but City’s loss to Southampton forced him to go for the jugular against Everton, and thus erase the memories of giving the title away to City after the draw against Everton.
The game itself saw Manchester United impose themselves on the game comprehensively, save for a 20 minute period towards the end of the first half. The rest of the game saw United exhibit some great attacking football, defensive fortitude and intelligent hold of possession as they restricted Everton to one off chances. The 2-0 victory, courtesy of right footed strikes by two left footed attacking players, Giggs and Van Persie, saw their lead at the top of the Premier league swell up to 12 points. At this stage of the season, it does seem pretty insurmountable, but after last year, its true to say that it isn’t over till it is truly over. And finally, a look at the specific talking points of the game.
Phil Jones might not know it yet, but his best position as of now is defensive midfield. Last season, his best games for United were in that position, as he put his strong physical attributes and his eagerness to run with the ball to the best use. However, his positioning as a central defender still leaves a lot to be desired, and speaks of his immaturity to deal with all that is thrown at him in that position. A couple of stray passes from midfield, which allowed Everton to counter immediately, were a shining example of that. But his defensive performance last night against Fellaini was admirable, as the big Belgian was not given any chance to showcase his aerial prowess and his offensive game in general. Jones made sure he was always in front of Fellaini when the ball was lumped forward in his direction, thus preventing him from using his major weapon, his barrel of a chest, and didn’t give him an inch to muscle his way around. When the ball was played on the ground, where Fellaini went, Jones went too. Fellaini could not have any impact on the game, and just like the Tottenham game, when he helped Rafael control Bale, Jones did an impeccable job in controlling the opponent’s major offensive weapon. His role as defensive enforcer has earned him a lot of plaudits, and hopefully his injury scare is just that, a scare.
To say that Ryan Giggs has had an exemplary playing career is putting the sentiment in as simple words as possible. His achievements are nothing short of stupendous, like his feat of having scored in each and every one of the Premier League seasons. The expressions ‘breaking his neck’ or ‘lung busting run’ do not apply to him, as one glance at his movements on the pitch and you realize the only word that describes it is gliding. His season so far has been limited to sporadic appearances off the bench, or a few starts in between, as Ferguson tries to manage his minutes the best way. And yet, both his major contributions this season have been memorable. The first was the 50 yard pass for Van Persie to equalize against West Ham in the FA Cup, breathtaking in its easy on the eye execution and the pass into the goal against Everton, with his right foot, both done with a nonchalance that typifies the footballer that Ryan Giggs is. He was a constant thorn in Everton’s side last night, and his movement and neat possession play helped United control the game effectively.
Post match interview
Maybe it was his curly locks that were holding him back from becoming the player that he is taking giant strides towards becoming. The loss of his curls, the separation between his brother and him, and the realization that he plays at a club as massive as Manchester United have all come together to transform a talented attacking full back to a full back who knows how to balance attack and defense, and has limited his rash tackling, instead relying on timely interceptions and exceptional positional play. He was defensively excellent against Everton, as he kept the normally rampant left flank combination of Pienaar and Baines very quite, thus making most of the Everton attacks toothless. His crucial interception helped prevent Anichebe from scoring, and it was his nicely disguised pass that created United’s second goal. His growing maturity can only help him in what will be the biggest test of his career so far, as on Wednesday night, he has the easy task of stopping Cristiano Ronaldo.
David Moyes will be worried by Everton’s slow start to the game against United. It has been a trend that has been repeated in their last few games, as they have failed to win games against Southampton and Aston Villa, both being games a team wanting to make it to the top 4 should be winning. Their performances against the big teams have been very good, which has been their calling card, but their inability to put the so-called smaller teams away will prove costly in the long run. The offensive fluidity that characterized their game early in the season has been slightly under par of late, with the injury enforced absence of Kevin Mirallas a big factor in that. Although he did play against United, he was nowhere near his best, and couldn’t add much in terms of offensive input. Their dependence on Fellaini is also well documented, and is another facet of their game that needs work. Add to that their defensive troubles of this season. Historically a strong defensive outfit under Moyes, this season has been sort of an aberration with them having conceded 32 goals already, as compared to the 40 that they conceded in the whole of last season. The next few games will tell us if they have the wherewithal to stay in the hunt for the top 4, or if their season will peter out into competing for a spot in the Europa League.
Watching City get pummelled by Southampton forced Ferguson to make some changes to his planned eleven against Everton, thus resulting in him putting out a stronger line-up than expected. This change in thought had a dual purpose, one to convincingly demoralize Manchester City by putting them 12 points behind, thus establishing their undoubted supremacy over the noisy neighbours. The second was to send a strong message to Real Madrid and their coach Jose Mourinho. United might not be as defensively strong as they have been over the years, and their midfield might not be as physical as previous years, but they are still a force to be reckoned with, and will not budge for Madrid and their eclectic group of talented individuals masking the lack of team effort. Getting the job done with authority against Everton also made sure that the scars of last season have completely healed, as it was this fixture last season that gave the advantage in the title race to City. Buckling under pressure is alien to the club’s DNA, and this season has proved that they are back on track to finding their way to the top, both in the Premier League and in Europe.
