On United's win over Stoke

On paper, 4-2 seems a comfortable enough scoreline. In reality, it is an interesting riddle, really. On the one hand, apart from the opening half of the opening half, United were not really troubled that much. On the other, blips all the way through do raise questions; a whole lot of them. Some thoughts:

De Gea – getting there

After the Anders experiment, it seems that David De Gea is again the first choice. After flapping at one that he ought to have collected the last time out, many expected Sir Alex to hand the gloves back to Lindegaard but it seems that Sir Alex still has his hopes pinned on the young Spaniard. De Gea did come through admirably, with him hardly having any chance on either occasion that Stoke scored. Some might say that he might have done better for the second goal but it is indeed a little far-out criticism. He looked quite comfortable and pulled off a couple of excellent stops. It remains to be seen if he will retain his place mid-week or if Anders will be given the gloves.

The back four – not quite there yet

With Vidic out for a while, United’s starting back four of Rafael, Rio, Evans and Evra looks to be the back four of choice for a while to come. However, this still looks quite iffy, especially with a few communication errors that keep propping up every now and then. Perhaps the absence of one constant goalkeeper is playing a small part in it but realistically, that is no excuse. Getting away against Stoke is one thing but with the ominous Chelsea coming up next weekend, it is high time that the defence shapes up. If it does not, there is a high probability that Chelsea will cut through this shaky United defence like a hot knife through butter.

The midfield – jury still out

Again, it looks like Sir Alex has decided on a central two of Scholes and Carrick to control the midfield, with one wing being patrolled by a winger and the other by a forward. For most of the game, only Valencia held his position on the right hand side with Rooney, Welbeck and van Persie taking turns to do the duty on the left flank. When it worked, it really did work with some fantastic fluid movement but when it did not, United looked awkward. Another problem with this is that on the break, there seems to be a lack of alternatives out wide with all three forwards streaming through the center and peeling off at the last moment. To some extent, this seems to constrict the movement and a distinct lack of options forces Carrick and Scholes to look sideways more often than not. This dampens the counter quite a bit.

The forward line – fluid motion

Anyone who saw United today would readily agree that the fluidity of motion and the interchange of positions among the forwards was a joy to watch. Rooney, van Persie and Welbeck interchanged positions at will and aided some excellent play all over the sharp end of the pitch. However, this was not always as good as it looks on paper. On many an occasion, there were hardly any bodies in the box. There was a lot of cute interplay around the box but penetration was increasingly proving to be progressively difficult. Valencia seems to be a bit too single minded on occasion with Welbeck looking like he has forgotten his striking boots from time to time.

It is indeed heartening to see Rooney and van Perise linking up as well as they are, but the over-reliance on the pair of them cannot be too good.

In the end, three points is three points and with the Chelsea game coming up in a week’s time, it will be interesting to see who Sir Alex plays in midweek and who he rests. One can’t help but feel that more than just one eye of his will be on the encounter at Stamford Bridge. One thing is for sure, though. Quite a marked improvement is necessary, especially in defence if United are to get anything out of Stamford Bridge.