Authors: Doron, Written Offside, Nik and Rob

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Here arriveth the third installment of the “Things” column, covering random highlights and lowlights from last weekend’s football. Musings this week are brought to you as ever from Nik, Doron and Rob (he’s the funny one); with the added treat of James from Written Offside sharing some thoughts on Aston Villa. Enjoy.

Owen Coyle is being found out

Bolton Wanderers are in a perilous state right now, and nothing sums up their season’s woes more than the 1-2 defeat to Martinez’s side at the weekend. If ever there was a true ’6-pointer’ then this was it, and surely Bolton fans had every reason to expect a performance against a side who have managed just 2 wins in their last 11 games. The bigger question however is subsequently emerging; at the highest level, given the sinking ship at Burnley, and last season’s incredibly poor finish (2 wins in last 9), has Owen Coyle finally been found out?

It’s far from a new concept (see this very good piece here by the Ghost Goal blog) but what is clear from their position right now (2nd from bottom having lost 17) is that it was Coyle’s ability to ‘man manage’ and get the best out of what he had last season that allowed him to ‘thrive’. And Stuart Holden. The football certainly wasn’t ‘attractive’ as his side had some of the least possession and pass completion ratios in the league. But Bolton fans remained optimistic that the gaffer could continue his tactical evolution this term. Coyle has since dispatched with the highly functional Elmander; seemingly adjudged Kevin Davies’ effectiveness to be on the wane (N’Gog clearly isn’t ready to replace Davies just yet); and Bolton’s overall application has been entirely devoid of shape and direction. Additions such as Eagles, Prately and Reo-Coker have all shone in patches but have failed to embed, and were never going to produce instantaneous reward (unsurprising when you consider their previous output). Aside from the attacking quandary it is when you fail to replace a key position such as the goalkeeper (Jääskeläinen is now plainly a liability) that you can’t blame your misfortune on bad luck/ lack of finances alone. A largely unavoidable circumstance for Coyle then (who now has a worse league ‘win ratio’ than Megson) and Bolton join fellow North West teams Wigan and Blackburn in battling for survival alongside likely candidates Wolves and QPR. He must act fast if his side are to turn this turgid mess around and stay in the Barclays Premier League.

Evans versus Holt: an intriguing battle awaits

Grant Holt is having a fabulous time for the Canaries this season, and this despite falling briefly out of favour with manager Paul Lambert. Back in the side, and indeed captaining a Norwich side that is playing some silky football and showing some defensive grit to boot (like a more sophisticated Blackpool from last season then), Holt is in the form of his life. Standing at 6’1” his obvious threat is in the air, but he has also excelled in hold-up play with great upper body strength – and he can finish too, as goals against Chelsea and Everton maintain. Long gone are his more static and one dimensional days of Rochdale and Nottingham Forrest, the striker can be found linking the play and running the channels, allowing the likes of Hoolahan and Jackson to exploit the space in behind. On Saturday he scored two goals in a very impressive 2-3 away win at Swansea, and generally performed the lone striker role with aplomb. Next up is United at Carrow Road, and he will come up against a United defence that has struggled to find cohesion (having used 8 different central defensive partnerships is testament to this). However, Holt will come up against the one constant in this position for United, Ulster-man Jonny Evans, who himself is enjoying a rich vein of form. Turning in a man of the match performance versus their old rivals Liverpool last weekend, Evans was practically bounding around the pitch, tackling, blocking heading and passing anything that came his way superbly. Whilst not as commanding in the air as captain Vidic (as his weak attempt to avert the danger versus Carroll at Anfield in the F.A. Cup highlighted), Evans is however a great reader of the game, and relies on a lucid anticipation and agility in order to win his aerial duels. It all points towards a fascinating battle ahead; one of the league’s form strikers comes up against one of the league’s form defenders – the duel being pivotal to the outcome of the game.

Villa fading as McLeish struggles to re-align club’s ambition

It was not so long ago that a visit to Villa Park was one of those away games to fear with the home side bristling with attacking intent and stout defence. Despite an excellent record there, it was always a fixture where you knew dropped points for United were a possibility. Since the departure of Martin O’Neil, this historic club has become a shadow of its former self. Firstly, the misguided appointment of Gerard Houllier led to deep splits in the dressing room thus eroding what was left of any semblance of team spirit nurtured under O’Neil. Coupled with a tightening of the purse strings by owner Randy Lerner, Villa hobbled their way to mid-table where really a top 6 finish should have been their ultimate aim. The summer led to departures for influential players such as Downing and Young and the dubious appointment of Alex McLeish. Secured from their bitter City rivals, this was unacceptable in the eyes of most supporters but the fact that “Big Eck” had taken them back to the Championship further alarmed the Villa fanbase, leading to pre-season demonstrations.

The final straw may well have come yesterday when the home side were impotent for all but the last few minutes against a Manchester City side expecting a much tougher challenge. It almost seemed as if McLeish set out his side to play for a goalless draw and when their defence was breached there was no ‘plan b’. The defeat leaves them teetering on the brink of a relegation battle and the prospect of a long hard fight for survival. Coming fresh on the heels of the meek surrender at the Emirates in the FA Cup the week before, the natives are getting restless. No team that can boast the talents of N’Zogbia, Keane, Bent, Agbonlahor and Petrov should be in such a predicament, leaving McLeish and his negative tactics in an almost untenable position.

Danny doesn’t need to defer

One of the best things about this season for Manchester United, in keeping with the club’s traditions, has been the emergence of bright young players all over the pitch: Phil Jones has settled in beautifully, Smalling’s improved even more since his breakout last season, Rafael’s been impressive of late, Clever Tom’s been a revelation when in the team, Pogba made a stunning cameo against Stoke, and this little Paul Scholes guy seems like an intriguing signing. But the most impressive of the young players for me has been Danny Welbeck. Strong, fast, positive and blessed with delightful touch, Danny’s quickly becoming one of my favourite United players*. That he wears Dwight Yorke’s old kit number and comes across as genuinely humble and nice only adds to my burgeoning love for the kid.

His performance against Liverpool exemplified all these qualities, with Danny running hard, closing down Agger right up to the final whistle, dropping into good positions, exhibiting some outrageous pieces of skill and control (especially in the first half) and constantly linking up well with Rooney.

One thing he definitely needs to improve on, though, is his confidence in front of goal. A lot of Danny’s goalscoring opportunities go to waste because he often chooses to pass timidly when he’s better placed to shoot. A few times in the first half against Liverpool, and against Arsenal recently, hesitations like this have crept into his game, and have prevented him from adding to his (admittedly decent) goal tally. I’ve noticed this especially when he’s partnered up with Rooney, and it seems to me that he’s eager to defer to the senior players when these situations arise. What he needs to realise is that he’s one of the senior players now! It’s a problem that will no doubt fade as he grows into his first-team place, but at the moment, it’s something to watch out for.

* In fact, if he starts rocking the full-on Kid n’Play hi-top haircut, he might very well become my favourite footballer of all time.

The Lonesome Death of Andy Carrot, and other thoughts

All the excitement, emotion, wildness and sporadic good football of the United-Liverpool match shouldn’t obscure the bigger picture: during ESPN’s coverage, Steve McManaman called him “Luis Carroll” at the start of the match, and Ian Darke called him “Andy Carrot” coming down to the end. McManaman calling him “Luis Carroll” cannot be improved on as a piece of commentary. This is the image it created in my mind: a drunken, racist writer of children’s fiction and nonsense poetry.

In other news, the 5’8” behemoth Rafael da Silva beat Mr. Carrot to not one, but two headers late in the game. Also, look at this picture.

Chelsea are looking and playing like a dishevelled raccoon whose house has just been repossessed.

Swansea-Norwich was by far the Premier League game of the weekend. Brilliant stuff. Our next league game away to the Canaries is going to be very, very tough.

Whatever you think of ‘Arry, he’s helped turn Spurs into a genuinely excellent side. This season they’ve been absolutely thrilling in attack, and far less kamikaze defensively than they’ve been in past seasons. Personally, I think it’d be a shame if he left Spurs for the England job.

Finally, Jay Spearing is/was the Dancing Baby. Those of you who were on the Internet in the mid-1990s would know what I’m talking about. Ooga Chaka.

That boy Ronaldo…

He’s one scary mo-fo. His sixth hat-trick of the season last weekend for Real Madrid saw him equal and then surpass the number of goals he scored for United – 118 in 292 games. Unbelievably, the Portuguese machine now has 120 in 122 games for Real. It sounds even better when you consider 93 of them have come in the league… in erm, just 85 games. Maybe La Liga is too easy for him but he’s still producing moments of magic that are too good for any league.

His transfer was a bargain. £80m just isn’t enough for someone who gets near enough a-goal-a-game for three consecutive seasons; and, at 27, he’s probably still not at his peak. What a footballer!

African Cup of Nations: Zambian uplift, superb spot-kicks, and maybe good news for United

What a thrilling, emotionally perfect ending to the African Cup of Nations that was. While the 90 minutes and extra time on Sunday were by no means classic, and ended 0-0, the game always had an element of intrigue and action at both ends. Zambia looked the more fluent side but Côte d’Ivoire threatened on the break at times, especially during the second half of normal time. Fatigue more than nerves kept things back.

After 120 minutes came a penalty shootout of immense quality, which ended 8-7 to the underdogs. With most of the spot-kicks flying unstoppably into the top corner, it showed again that far from being a “lottery,” a shootout is just as much a test of skill, nerve and cojones as the game that precedes it. If England are to have any hope at the Euros, they would do well to watch and try to learn from this shootout.

Bringing things a bit closer to home, I found it interesting that of the four most high-profile players in the final, all Premier League players, three of them missed penalties for Côte d’Ivoire – Drogba skied one in normal time, Kolo Touré and Gervinho missed in the shootout. I briefly wondered if “bottling it” was a thing that footballers learn only when they come to Europe. The fourth of the Ivorian superstars, Yaya Touré looked shattered, had a poor game and was subbed off around 70 minutes. While a lot of pundits are expecting the younger Touré brother to return to Manchester City and push them over the line, things may be a bit more complicated than that, especially given the typically energetic performances he put in for most of the tournament.

But back to the real highlight. You could not write a better story than Zambia winning this tournament in Gabon, the scene of their nation’s darkest footballing moment 19 years ago. The parallels with United’s triumph 10 years after Munich should be acknowledged, but to compare the two remarkable triumphs would be missing the point. After the immaturity and sheer unpleasantness we witnessed during and after Saturday’s United-Liverpool game, this was a reminder that sometimes, football can be truly uplifting.

Author: Doron

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United were looking to build on the nervy but morale boosting win at City last weekend. Bolton meanwhile, despite being at the wrong end of the table had managed to win their last two away games but would have to be without Gary Cahill who was in London to complete a move to Chelsea. United kept Lindegaard in goal and brought Rafael and Evans into defence whilst Scholes was given a start in midfield.

Below, we discuss the talking points and invite Bolton fans as well as United fans to join in the discussion.

Ferdinand and Evans are solid (Rafael and Evra aren’t bad either)

With Jones and Smalling both injured, Evans was recalled after his brief spell out also due to injury. He partnered Ferdinand at the back – a pairing that previously has been assuring and impressive. Evans has been something of a boo-boy – unfancied by a lot of fans because of a dip in form last season and because ‘he always has an error in him’. This year, his red card which lead to the embarrassing home defeat against City hasn’t helped him and it’s sadly what many will associate his season with.

The reality however is somewhat different. Evans has been excellent for United on a regular basis and whilst many will scrunch up their face to stats, he has the best clean sheets to games ration/percentage of our centre backs with 60% of the games he’s played in this season ending up with United keeping a clean sheet. Coincidence? Maybe but I’m inclined to believe there’s something in that stat.

Against Bolton, United’s defence had little to do but generally handled any problems well – with the exception of one sloppy pass leading to N’Gog firing a shot way into orbit. Evans and Ferdinand only had 16 clearances to make whilst Jonny won all of his tackles. As a pairing, they compliment each other quite nicely. Both are ball-players and whilst Rio prefers to coax a defender into an error, Evans would much rather get tight and make an early tackle. Both at various points even went on Jonesesqe runs forward in and out of possession.

They were flanked by Rafael, making his first start of the season in the right back position, and the ever-present Evra.

Chalkboard 1: Evra passing and Rafael tackling heatmap

Evra, as ever played high up the pitch and was accurate with his passing. It’s interesting to see that he didn’t attempt a single cross all game – this coupled with Valencia’s dominance down the right shows how United had clearly highlighted Bolton’s left side as a weakness. Evra’s performances have often been highlighted as below-par this season but recently he seems to be back to the level we’re all accustomed to.

Rafael understandably appeared rusty but 90 injury-free minutes were a welcome and encouraging sign. He is a super young player who, like Evra, likes to play in the opposition’s half. Yesterday was a good example of his attacking defensive play (!) – he made 10 tackles with half of them inside the final third of the pitch. Smalling and Jones have both been excellent as stand-in right backs but you cannot beat a natural and Rafael’s got all the hallmarks of a great full back.

One midfielder grabbed the headlines but his partner was the star

Paul Scholes completed his remarkable return to the side with a start and a goal. Even the fans who were dismayed by the club’s readiness to welcome him back couldn’t help but feel a little fuzzy inside when he scored just before half time. His performance wasn’t as bad as Match Of The Day suggested but also not really headline worthy. Yes, his passing accuracy was again above 90% but only a couple were telling and early on a loose ball nearly played United into trouble. A couple of classic cross field passes didn’t come off for him but for an hour he kept up with the pace enough and offered a good outlet next to Carrick. Goal aside, he even found himself making late runs into the box on other occasions.

His partner though was the stand out performer in the middle of the pitch. Despite missing eight of United’s league games this season, Carrick’s arguably been the most consistent and best performer. Carrick of course is a statistician’s dream – makes more passes than anyone else, has a higher accuracy than anyone else, makes more interceptions than anyone else etc but he’s also a fine footballer.

Chalkboard 2: Carrick passing and interceptions

Passing accuracy means your opposition don’t have the ball and therefore can’t score but the ‘sideways/backwards’ label that many throw onto Carrick is indeed unfair. That myth has been somewhat dispelled this season and yesterday would have seen maybe the assist of the season had Welbeck’s shot found the net. Whilst United lack true world class quality in the middle, they have arguably the best reader of the game there in Carrick. His 6 interceptions were nearly half of all the interceptions made by United and he’s the only player in United’s side to have made more than 35 this season; averaged more than 3 a game; and averaged making one more regularly than every 30 minutes. These stats and facts may not be fancy but they’re crucial to the team.

It’s hard not to agree with Fergie who said after yesterday’s win:

“His (Carrick’s) form in the last few weeks has been pivotal to all of our performances”

Maybe the only thing I’d say is that “weeks” should have been “months”.

Form: Valencia and Welbeck

In recent weeks Valencia has propelled himself to the top of United’s assist charts – joint top with Nani in the league (7) and in all competitions (9). He was described by Fergie as “absolutely brilliant” yesterday and Evra suggested that Bolton’s left back (Ricketts) must have had a problem with his abductor muscles by the end of the game because Antonio’s so strong.

He tormented Bolton all afternoon whether he has running from within the United half and powering past players or receiving the ball wide to get a cross in. It was also his clever pass that set Welbeck clear from which a penalty was won.

Chalkboard 3: Valencia crossing

Some of his crosses yesterday where unbelievable – it’s amazing he ended the game without an assist. Time and time again he got to the byline and whipped in a low ball with pace on it forcing either a good block or Bogdan to make a parry. One can only imagine the fun Hernandez may have had getting on the end of the crosses had he come on earlier than the 78th minute.

The other player who’s form is good and in his case has never really dipped this season is Welbeck. His energy, enthusiasm and movement is so mature – he’s like Tevez in that respect but more in control and more comfortable when on the ball. His style remains languid but at only just 21 he’s already a strong young man, not easily shaken off the ball and his pace is deceiving – long strides easily take him away from defenders.

Welbeck, as has been hinted before, tends to bring the best out of those around him and for that he maybe hasn’t quite received the plaudits he should have done so far this season. His goal yesterday, his fifth in the league this season was richly deserved. His determination to get to the ball first and then have the ability to get a shot away whilst falling backwards under pressure showed he’s not all about style. His goal return maybe should be better but there’s no doubting his influence is being felt beyond goals.

He has his doubters, particularly those who felt he should have flourished aged 17 after his wonder-goal against Stoke but once again he’s proving that with patience comes results. Danny’s the future of United and he’s going to be a star.

Time to define our season

At the end of the first weekend in March, we’ll have a good idea of how successful this season will be. United’s next nine games include away trips to Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs in the league; Liverpool in the FA Cup and Ajax in the Europa League – whilst Liverpool also come to United in the league and Ajax have their return leg at Old Trafford.

Wins against City and Bolton are perfect to get a run of form and momentum going. With big game after big game set to come momentum may be crucial in carrying United into each test. Defeats can see confidence spiral out of control.

Fergie’s use of the squad in particular will have to be clever with easier games such as Stoke at home and Norwich away maybe used to rest key individuals. Even the Europa League may have to be treated somewhat as secondary as the importance of regaining the title comes to the fore.

Summary

United went joint top with City after beating Bolton 3-0 at home. City play tomorrow at Wigan whilst Spurs surprisingly dropped points at home to Wolves.

It was a routine win for United with few scares but the game should have been finished by half time. Chances were missed including a Rooney penalty for the second game running after Welbeck was fouled. Knight was lucky to only see yellow for his foul on Danny whilst Bogdan in goal made a good save. Bogdan was finally beaten by United’s own ginger just before half time. A Nani cross was blocked and Rooney rolled the ball across the six yard box to an unmarked Scholes who couldn’t miss. An amazing moment that would have seemed impossible only a week earlier.

United started the second half sluggishly and it wasn’t until Nani, who’d tried hard but had a poor game; and Scholes, who’d tired were replaced that the game was out of sight. Rooney’s exchange with Giggs saw him slip through Welbeck who toe-poked past Bogdan to make it 2-0. Rooney injured his wrist in the build up but played on – Welbeck though had to be subbed off after slightly twisting his knee (he’ll be ok for Arsenal said Fergie). The win was sealed as Carrick added a third late on – a passed left footed finish from distance allowed him to enjoy a moment with the Stretford End – his first goal at home for two years.

Encouraging performances from various players, most notably Valencia as well as a good 90 minutes for Rafael and the the return of Evans were positive signs. Ferdinand got concussion but it would see everyone who played should be fit for the big game next week. After a recent blip, United appear to be back in some control again. Here’s hoping City slip up at Wigan tomorrow!

Authors: Nik and Doron

Follow Nik and Doron on Twitter

United retained top spot and won a second successive away game of the season. A potentially tough trip to Bolton was navigated with ease as the Reds ran out 5-0 winners, a scoreline that could have been even more emphatic. Despite losing Tom Cleverley to injury, United continued to perform with flair and it was yet another entertaining showing. Wayne Rooney got his second hat-trick in a row and Javier Hernandez marked his first start of the season with two goals.

With Benfica away midweek and then Chelsea at home next weekend there are a couple of big tests ahead but the start to the season could hardly be going any better. Here we discuss some of the key talking points from the game and welcome discussion from both United and Bolton fans.

Contrasting goalkeepers – (Doron)

It was pointed out in the match preview that Jaaskelainen vs. Rooney might be the key battle. As the game panned out, it was, but not that Jaaskelainen could do much about any of the three goals Rooney scored. The question with Jussi though is a deeper, more long-term one. By appearances, he’s not quite Bolton’s longest-serving goalkeeper, that belongs to Eddie Hopkinson – Bolton’s record appearance maker. Jussi has made more appearances than any other foreign player at Bolton and is, as of yesterday, now 6th on a list on most appearances with 513. His contribution to the club cannot be underestimated.

Yet, there comes a point where the gloves have to be handed over to someone new. Jaaskelainen has often been a source of frustration for United – either saving points for Bolton or restricting leads. His form though at the start of this season has been questionable with basic errors creeping into his game. Not all goalkeepers can be a Brad Friedel and play on to the age of 40 at such a consistent level. In Adam Bogdan, Bolton have a hungry young goalkeeper who maybe should be given a chance sooner rather than later. Bolton sold Ali Al-Habsi to Wigan over the summer following a good loan spell, it’s easy to say so now but that potentially is starting to look like a bit of an error.

Any goalkeeper does of course need a competent defence in front of them. Yesterday, Jussi was not helped as even the much sought after Gary Cahill made basic errors. By contrast, if there’s something that David de Gea can rely on, it’s a consistent defence. Despite the introduction of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in an unfamiliar right back berth, and the loss of both Vidic and briefly Ferdinand, de Gea has been well protected. He was rarely called upon yesterday but his handling on low shots and authority when punching and catching crosses was sound. Assessing de Gea post-match, it wasn’t his hands that draw attention, instead it’s with his feet that he impressed.

Chalkboard 1. De Gea’s distribution and passing

One of the things United were looking at when seeking out a replacement for Edwin van der Sar was a goalkeeper who, like Edwin was a good footballer too – comfortable in possession and happy to get involved in open play to become an 11th outfield man. De Gea had a 77% pass completion rate yesterday, an exceedingly good percentage for a goalkeeper; made all the more impressive when one considers that he had 57 passes to make in the game – he was more involved than plenty of outfield players on either side were. Looking at the graphic just above, it’s clear to see that with 31 successful passes in open play, de Gea was indeed used as an 11th outfield man and has the trust of his team-mates.

It is such a bonus that de Gea clearly feels comfortable in the team already and his passing is ever so accurate and incisive – he hates to waste time on the ball. So many of his passes were lofted and 35 yards of more to either a high full back or one of the wingers. It’s incredible to think that there were rumours before the match about Lindegaard coming in for de Gea but one theory is that the club or Ferguson leaked those rumours just so he could publicly back his goalkeeper, de Gea by picking him in the game. In terms of possession and using the ball, United have seemingly replaced Edwin, the transition couldn’t be any smoother.

Defensive Ambition – (Nik)

Fergie currently has unequalled defensive resources at his disposal despite even the sales of seasoned pros Brown and O’Shea. Many thought that the signing of Jones (i.e. defensive addition) was slightly surprising given the recent acquisition of Smalling and the fantastic progression of the Da Silva twins, but Ferguson has supplemented the defence with impeccable timing. United now have two fabulous back-lines; the one that started the Champions League Final (Fabio, Rio, Vidic, Evra) not to mention Rafael, Smalling, Jones, and Evans. The interchanging of these players across the back has been crucial thus far this season. Ever since the early injuries to Ferdinand and Vidic, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans have stepped up to the plate with great aplomb; and yesterday was no different. Each of the back four contributed to the win, with Evans and Ferdinand easily able to diminish the influence of Davies and Klasnic, Evra strong down the left, and Jones, who we will come on to later, having the best game of his United career so far at right back.

Chalkboard 2. Ferdinand and Evans distribution (3 misplaced passes)

From a tactical viewpoint, as well as providing Fergie with some great options, each defender bringing something different to team, there also seems to have been a slight shift in emphasis in United’s approach play. We mentioned United’s improved urgency in last week’s column (http://www.stretford-end.com/2011/08/talking-points-united-8-2-arsenal/), not only in taking the ball forward, but in working hard to press and tackle the ball once relieved of possession. Further then, it has been notable how each of the back four has sought to take the ball forward with confidence – Smalling and Evra have picked up the mantle from last year at fullback but Evans and Jones in particular have moved into midfield with the ball at a much higher frequency than did Ferdinand and Vidic last season (Evans seems well and truly out of the mid-season rot he suffered last term with three consecutive assured and authoritative displays thus far). Yesterday, Anderson and Carrick were frequently able to exchange passes with both centre halves and collect the ball further up the pitch than usual. Looking at the chalkboards across the four league games, we see a pattern emerging to this effect. Fergie doesn’t need a coaching lesson from Guardiola, but it is certainly something Barca have brought to the fore in recent seasons -with Pique, Abidal and Mascherano in particular being fantastically adept at bringing the ball forward with attacking intent through the centre of the pitch; and the dual role of the central midfielder (Busquets usually), able to tuck in comfortably to cover for any counter-attacking eventuality. As well as Ferdinand then, United are now seemingly able to call upon Jones, Evans and Smalling at the heart of the defence to perform this role, and the slightly higher line has improved the attacking approach-play by narrowing the lines between defence and midfield.

The ‘Right’ combination – (Nik)

United’s recent history has provided us with some top quality right side ‘partnerships’, from Neville and Beckham to Brown and Ronaldo, and the trend seems certain to continue; last season saw the continuation of good form for Rafael and the emergence of his brother at right back too, both of whom showed great ability in tandem with either Valencia or Nani on the right side. Smalling and Nani have both started excellently this season and yesterday it was Jones who slipped perfectly into this position, with Smalling rested after two outings for England last week (meaning a return of the calming influence of Rio Ferdinand).

Chalkboard 3. Jones and Nani combination

From the chalkboard, we can see how Jones and Nani worked in tandem fantastically well down Bolton’s left side, much to the detriment of Paul Robinson in the main, but also left centre-back, Zat Knight who was being pulled across, with Petrov not too keen to put the defensive work in. Four of the five goals today originated down this right channel, from Nani’s early cross to Hernandez after 5 minutes to a sumptuous cross from Jones for Rooney, followed by a marauding run from the half-way line that Giggs would have been proud of. Jones carries the ball with aplomb having made numerous appearances in the middle of the field for Blackburn Rovers in the last 18 months or so; today he intercepted play early and high (7/8 successful tackles), and sought to run at Robinson, allowing Nani to come inside for the ball, or at times, angling his approach meaning Nani could utilise the width on the overlap. But as with the thriving Evra-Young partnership on the left, it is the dynamic of the combination which allows each to perform with such authority; Nani has been a joy to watch this season, and yesterday he was remarkably involved in all five of the goals, with two direct assists and contributing heavily to the other three, allowing Jones’ performance stand out. As with the centre half position, Fergie can now call upon four right backs, each able to work with their midfield counterparts offering unique approaches.

Kevin Davies (and Tom Cleverley) and Andre Marriner – (Doron)

It may sound like a strange opening but I’ve always quite liked Kevin Davies. His style is not that of a natural ball-player and he is rough and puts himself about but that plays to his strongest abilities. However, there’s putting oneself about to disrupt defenders and then there’s recklessness.

Evans and Evra both got knocks in the game but the one piece of bad news came after half time when Tom Cleverley emerged from the tunnel on crutches and wearing a “Beckham boot” with fears he’d broken his foot. Disappointing for him given his form and coming two weeks after Welbeck had also picked up an injury it’s gutting for these young players to have their season disrupted after breaking into the first XI.

Tom’s injury came in the 4th minute when Kevin Davies tackled him from the a mixture of the side and from behind – it wasn’t horrendous, just a bad tackle and nine times out of ten Cleverley would have probably not had any injury but simply been sore for a few minutes.

Davies tackles Cleverley

As mentioned, it wasn’t an awful tackle by any stretch of the imagination and the reaction to it from both the club and fans has maybe been a bit over the top and more with the injury in mind rather than the tackle itself. It is though hard to argue against it being a yellow card – the fact it was four minutes into the game should have made no difference. It’s disappointing that Andre Marriner didn’t book Davies, especially given his positioning (see below). He had a clear view of Davies coming through Cleverley and taking the man before getting close to the ball – he should have booked him. Cleverley would last until the 24th minute before having to come off.

Andre Marriner’s position for Davies tackle on Cleverley

A mere eight minutes after fouling Cleverley, Davies should have been sent off. This time Andre Marriner did show him a yellow card for a reckless lunge on Evra – it should have been his second booking; that said, he could have easily been shown a straight red card and Evra was lucky not to have gone over on his ankle.

Davies late lunge on Evra

Once again, Andre Marriner had a clear view of the attempted tackle. He’d have seen how late it was and that Davies led with a foot on Evra’s ankle with raised studs.

Andre Marriner’s position for Davies lunge on Cleverley

Both tackles can be seen here at full speed:

Davies on Cleverley -

Davies on Evra -

Marriner had a strong game in general (despite waving play on when Nani had a head injury) as did the linesmen. Although the outcome of the game wasn’t impacted on by the non-sending off of Davies, tackles like his second one on Evra should be correctly penalised. For United and Cleverley, it’s a bitter blow to get so early on in the season when a winning formula had been found in the midfield. Fortunately, Cleverley will only miss four weeks with ligament damage and no break; yet where one door closes, another one opens for someone else…

Chance for Carrick? – (Doron)

Cleverley’s injury provided a first league appearance of the season for Michael Carrick. Renowned for doing the simple things well but also a constant whipping-boy of the team by fans, it’s understandable that there would be concerns about whether Carrick would slow the game down for United. Recently the team have been playing neat one touch football at a high intensity and pace – it is indeed a misconception to think that Carrick cannot do that and to think that he slows United down.

Intriguingly, Carrick was the most accurate midfield passer on the pitch yesterday with a 90% success rate and he won all of his tackles attempted. It’s a testament to his performance that no one seemed to think United were missing Cleverley, in fact he slotted in with ease and picked up where Cleverley had left off in previous matches.

As a way of comparing the two and pointing out the similarities take Cleverley’s masterclass from the Arsenal game. He was up against a fairly soft Arsenal midfield and often had freedom, time and space – something not afforded quite as much to Carrick yesterday. Nevertheless their passing chalkboards are similar; lots of short, quick incisive passes backwards, sideways and forwards as well as accurate longer passes and a few long balls that didn’t find their targets.

Chalkboard 4. Carrick passing against Bolton vs. Cleverley passing against Arsenal

The most interesting comparison comes in where they were positioned when passing the ball. The common perception is that Carrick is not a box to box player and cannot every be one, whilst Cleverley to an extent has been doing that role and therefore Carrick cannot take over from him without the team changing their style.

Chalkboard 5. Carrick passing heatmap against Bolton vs. Cleverley passing heatmap against Arsenal

Both players played most of their passes from just within their own half but it’s interesting to notice that Carrick played more balls in the final third of the pitch than Cleverley, who in fact rarely entered the area just outside the opposition’s box. Unsurprisingly, Cleverley drifts more out towards the wings than Carrick and played fewer balls from a deep screening position in front of the back four but I think many people would be surprised to see that Carrick provided more of an attacking option in the final third than Cleverley – particularly because Cleverley was playing at home against a poor Arsenal team who also had a man sent off.

I believe that if asked to play the same role as Cleverley, Carrick will have no problem in doing so. He’s a clever play who’s calm in possession and his tactical discipline will continue to allow Anderson to have some freedom. Cleverley of course has form on his side but it’s a real bonus if the two can become interchangeable without the team suffering any impact.

Rooney: World-Class status finally arrives – (Nik)

United fans have rightly hailed the talent of Wayne Rooney in recent years, so often the heartbeat of the team. However, even when he was combining so well with Ronaldo in 2008, or scoring 34 league goals two seasons ago, there was still something lacking in the Englishman’s play which discouraged experts to pronounce him the equal to the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi and Iniesta. Indeed, back in 2009 it was Sir Alex who commented:

“…there are some great players out there. Kaka, Ronaldo and Messi are the best three in the world right now and I think Wayne can get to that level if he keeps making progress.”

Two seasons on, and Wayne Rooney has seemingly turned that final corner, with the progress that Fergie predicted all too evident in the free-flowing play and panache we see on a weekly basis. Since Rooney’s return from a fitness camp in Oregon, his contribution to the team has been phenomenal. Last season, in the creative role in which he thrives he helped United ease past Chelsea both in the Champions League and in the League; he scored a hat-trick at West Ham in arguably the turning point in the title race and his partnership with Hernandez was the revelation of the season. Against Arsenal last week, and at Bolton yesterday, Rooney scored consecutive hat-tricks whilst being heavily involved in many of the 13 goals scored in both games (with 8 goals in total to his name already).

Indeed, it was his short-passing game in the final third which eluded him in seasons gone by, too often unable to pick the easy (and correct) option and seeking to spread play with overly ambitious long-range passes (or shoot from too far a distance). Today, Rooney’s approach play is simple yet sophisticated, working across the final third with great intelligence and playing with a verve and intensity that we have seen only far too sporadically since he burst on to the seen in 2003-04. Add to that his colossal strength on the ball and his vastly improved set-piece application, the 25 year-old is finally the leader of men the Old Trafford faithful hoped he would be. He is not Messi or Ronaldo… he is Wayne Rooney.

In Summary

It’s getting a bit repetitive to suggest Sir Alex will be wholly satisfied with the win but it’s a nice habit to get into. All round there were excellent performances and the sharpness of the forward players is a huge bonus this early on in the season. In the end Bolton didn’t put up much of a fight but four wins from four is a perfect start to the season. The injuries to Cleverley, Evans and Evra are the only sources of frustration – expect the pack to be shuffled for the trip to Benfica on Wednesday night.

Author: Doron

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Geographically speaking, this is a game well within the definition of a “derby”, yet for United anyway, it doesn’t quite have that edge or buzz that say a game against Liverpool or Man City does. Bolton represents a challenge however, an ever-changing brand of football and a squad full of hungry players hoping to prove themselves in the league.

It’s the start of a busy week for United; now football’s really back!

The opposition:

It seems like it’s almost a bit of cliché now to refer to Bolton as a team that have changed their style. Owen Coyle has been there over 18 months now and therefore their style is very much now an identity rather than changing. Of course, Bolton have been associated with long balls and physicality in the past and the ability to still do that remains, it is a weapon and a tactic. Yet, Coyle’s vision is one of closing down, passing and where possible, players expressing themselves.

It was a hard summer for Bolton; finishing 14th last year was unspectacular despite some good showings. Squad players like Taylor and Cohen whilst it seems criminal to think that Elmander was able to leave on a free. They received just over £6m in transfer fees and this didn’t leave a lot to be spent. Eagles, Mears and Pratley were all brought in from Championship teams for little money and Reo-Coker joined for nothing. David N’Gog, a player with something to prove, represents the only vaguely significant outlay of money. Loan signings have worked well for Bolton in the past – Wilshere, Weiss and Sturridge have all boosted their profiles as a result. This season it’s the turn of Boyata and Kakuta to show that they can play at the top level too. Tuncay was the one other player brought in, he joins on loan and despite never quite fulfilling perceived potential, he knows the league well and was successful in patches at Stoke.

The signings give Bolton a much larger pool of players this year, their squad certainly has more depth to it. They’ve been able to hold onto key men: Chung-Yong Lee, Stuart Holden and Gary Cahill remain at the club as the stand-out players. Kevin Davies is of course still there too, elbows and all. If they have a weak area it’s probably in defence. Gary Cahill is clearly a good footballer but it’s what’s around him and who partners him that is questionable. Even in goal there are question marks but that shall be discussed later on.

It’s hard to suggest what exactly would turn an acceptable season into a good season for Bolton. Potentially a cup run or I think they could come in the top 8 or 9 if they get lucky with injuries. Ultimately they want to avoid being sucked into any relegation battle that might form. Yet, in my mind they’re far from being one of the worst teams in the league and should be focussed on mid-table.

Form:

For United, the start to the season couldn’t really be much better. Wins have been combined with entertainment as 13 goals have been scored in just three games. If the 3-0 win over Spurs was impressive then the 8-2 victory over a depleted Arsenal side would have only sent fans into over-drive. With a young core to the starting line-ups, the team has looked hungry and determined. It’s scary to think about the players sitting on the bench, missing out; many of them would walk into most sides in the league.

What is important now is that the squad is rotated cleverly. United are in Portugal to play Benfica on Wednesday night before hosting Chelsea next weekend – it’s a busy and tricky period.

Bolton are 10th but at this stage of the season, positions don’t necessarily reflect results accurately. They kept a clean sheet at QPR on the opening day of the season and won 4-0. However since then they’ve lost to Man City and Liverpool, and had to come from behind to beat Macclesfield in the League Cup. They’ve managed to score in every game so far and will hope to continue that run against United.

Team news:

The only fresh injury concern since the last game is Danny Welbeck – he is due to start training in a week or so. Vidic remains 2-3 weeks away and Rafael isn’t expected to play at all in September. Darren Fletcher and Antonio Valencia both have returned to the match squad though – Fletcher played for Scotland during the break and did well for them whilst Valencia has been training now for some weeks. Hernandez and Ferdinand are both fully fit and one may start.

Stuart Holden is on the right path pack from his injury sustained at Old Trafford last season but he’s not ready for the first team. Chung-Yong Lee is a long-term absentee with a broken leg and he’s joined by Ricketts, Mears, Alonso and Gardner on the physio’s table. Various new signings will be hoping to make their debuts with the young trio of Boyata, N’Gog and Kakuta all likely to be in the match squad.

United formation and starting XI prediction:

Stick or twist? I’m not sure to what extent there is a need to change a winning formula; yet, one rumour out of Carrington has been that De Gea and Cleverley may surprisingly miss out. That seemed unlikely having watched Ferguson’s press conference though. He hinted at few changes and pointed out that on Wednesday at Benfica he’ll probably call on some more experienced players.

De Gea should expect to be given some rough treatment, particularly from Kevin Davies; but this is an experience he needs exposing to and he’ll learn from it. In front of him I’ve brought in Rio for Smalling. It’s quite simple for me, if Rio’s fit he should play but disturbing the back four is hard right now. Smalling though was singled out by Ferguson for a rest though – he played 180 minutes for England and it was hinted that he’d miss out at Bolton. In which case it’s a toss up between Fabio and Jones. Given Jones’ form I’ve selected him at right back with Rio partnering Jonny Evans.

Unsurprisingly my midfield is unchanged and should be able to counter the challenge of Reo-Coker and Muamba well enough. It’ll be interesting to see who Eagles comes up against – he was a former United player and may feel like he has a point to prove against his old club. Nani and Young on the wings for the Reds though have started the season very well and it seems silly to change either of them even though Valencia is available again. Up front Hernandez is expected to partner Rooney with Berbatov possibly being used at Benfica midweek.

Ferguson has so far stuck by his flexible 4-4-2, which in reality becomes more of a 4-2-4 when attacking. There is a chance he may revert to more of a 4-5-1 against Bolton but it seems like negative tactics have little place in the early season games.

Key battle:

Jaaskelainen vs. Rooney – There’s an argument to be made that in fact the key battle may be United’s defence vs. Davies/Klasnic/N’Gog – there’s a lot of power there and with N’Gog there’s pace on the turn. However I think the key battle this weekend may be in beating the opposition goalkeeper. This may well be easier than it has been in past years. Jaaskelainen appears to be losing concentration more often and hasn’t looked sharp early on in the season. However he often plays well against United and is a goalkeeper capable of frustrating an opposition team quite easily.

Rooney has a decent record against Bolton – 6 goals in 9 appearances (7 starts). Record aside though, he’s in top form right now. There’s no doubt that he’s relishing the role of being something of a playmaker and senior man amongst the midfielders and forwards. He has a swagger about him that is giving him the confidence to try things that only the best players see and are capable of pulling off. He already has five league goals in three games this season and few would back against him adding to that at Bolton. Jaaskelainen and his defence will have to be on top of their game to keep Rooney at bay.

This isn’t necessarily the obvious key battle – United have to keep Bolton out too and then keep possession and/or get it to Rooney. However everything goes through him right now for United and given his current form this could well turn out to be the battle that potentially wins the game for United.

History and last meeting:

United have only lost once away to Bolton in the 12 previous Premier League meetings. Incredibly, Bolton have won more Premier League games at Old Trafford than they have at home to United! Four of the meetings have been drawn with the remaining seven games going in United’s favour. On average, United concede less than a goal a game and score just over two goals a game at Bolton. United have only failed to score there once but have been able to keep Bolton out 6 times. On four occasions United have scored more than four goals, with three 4-0 wins and one 6-0 win in 1995/96. Bolton’s one and only home Premier League win against United came in 2007/08 – the year United claimed a league and European Cup double.

Last season this fixture ended 2-2. United took the lead through a Nani wonder goal but had to rely on Michael Owen to grab a late equaliser. The fixture seemed to exemplify United’s away form last year – at times they were excellent and should have scored more but too frequently they switched off and conceded sloppy goals.

Prediction:

Bolton may have a few players making their debut and the team will therefore need a bit of time to click. That said, Davies is always a threat and I think the long-ball tactic may well be used. United have started the season superbly and have a whole host of players already ‘in the groove’. I think there will be goals scored by both sides and I am going to predict a 4-2 win for United.

Referee:

Andre Marriner – his first game of the season. He was the referee when the sides met at Old Trafford last season.

Quick facts:

- This is the 120th meeting between the two sides and United have won 11 of the last 13
- Bolton have the best conversion rate at the moment in the league – they score with 38% of their shots
- Two Bolton goals will see them reach the landmark of 300 home Premier League goals
- United are chasing their 200th away Premier League victory
- De Gea has made more saves than any other goalkeeper so far this season with 17

They say:

Owen Coyle on De Gea: “David de Gea is a top goalkeeper – there is no doubt about it. With Manchester United, it is difficult to find any weaknesses.”

Owen Coyle on Chris Eagles: “Chris is a terrific player, he makes goals and scores them. I called Sir Alex and he was very complimentary about him as a player and a lad. There is no shame in not being first choice at Manchester United. Sir Alex was a great help pushing the move through and I sold the idea to Chris when we met. Anybody leaving United is taking a backward step, but he took a rung down the ladder to take two up.”

Kevin Davies on Phil Jones: “He’s a big strong boy, so this is another one I’m looking forward to. I relish these kind of challenges, he’s coming on as a player and still young, so I’ll be trying to give him a going over.”

Forum links:

The Stretford-End.com team have each given a predicted starting XI and final score ahead of the game – give us yours here.

For all pre-match banter, tactical discussions, team and score predictions click here.

Videos:

AUTHOR: – Doron

Manchester United opened up a five point gap over Arsenal as an 88th minute winner by Berbatov was enough to see off a resilient Bolton team. United were looking to avoid a third straight league defeat and weren’t helped when Jonny Evans was sent off with the score still at 0-0. Here we discuss the talking points of today’s game and welcome and comments from both United and Bolton fans.

Talking Points

Michael Carrick

Michael Carrick has this season so often been the whipping-boy after a poor performance and today once again was another one of those disappointing games. However, Carrick was superb.

Lining up in the middle alongside Giggs, Carrick had to shoulder a lot of responsibility. For much of the game he operated deep, breaking up Bolton play and looking to shift the ball on to Giggs or out wide to one of the wingers. Indeed, Carrick did his job well – his 7 tackles are more than any of the other CMs (on either team) made and there were numerous crucial blocks.

It was though Carrick’s passing that ended up being ever so important today. He is much maligned for balls sideways however quite simply keeping the ball is better than giving it away. Indeed when comparing him with his partner Giggs, it’s staggering just how they compare:

Click on images to enlarge

Giggs passing vs. Carrick Passing

As shown, Giggs had a success rate of only 60% – granted, 6 of his unsuccessful passes were crosses, but even so that is an incredibly low rate for a central midfielder at United. By contrast, Carrick was up at 82% – consistent with where he’s been all season. Carrick is never going to be a flair player who does the extraordinary but as proven today he does the simple things very well. He was a vital part of our play and up against the ever-energetic Muamba and Holden, did well.

Smalling, Evans and the red card

In the match preview I alluded to how Bolton under Coyle play good passing football. Today however they reverted back to a lot of long-ball football. Kevin Davies and Daniel Sturridge started up front but with Sturridge taken off after an hour, Elmander moved off the wing alongside Davies.

Smalling and Evans will rarely face tougher centre forwards in terms of aerial ability and physical presence than Davies and Elmander but they countered the threat posed well:

Bolton successful vs. unsuccessful passes

As shown above, the majority of Bolton’s unsuccessful passes were long balls up to the strikers. Evans and Smalling both won considerably more aerial battles than they lost.

Smalling’s recent form has been excellent however Evans who has been out for some time with an injury has had a very up-and-down season. Yet, today the pair, backed by a vocal van der Sar behind them did well. United certainly benefit from having two young centre halves who read the game so well – their interceptions made up nearly half of the total made by the entire team:

Evans and Smalling interceptions

In the first half particularly, Bolton kept United busy and Smalling and Evans had to be kept alert to the danger. Today was often as much about simply ‘hoofing’ the ball clear as anything else. Between them, the centre back cleared the ball 18 times – over half of the clearances made by United today.

Evans and Smalling clearances

There was potential for the game to turn after 75 minutes. A 50-50 tackle – Evans vs. Holden was won by the former however in a reckless manner. Both players dived in but Evans got their first and after winning the ball naturally followed through and caught Holden on the knee. Upon seeing a replay there’s no doubting the red card shown to Evans was the correct decision. There was no malice in the tackle, he had only eyes for the ball but it was a poorly executed tackle. Holden went off on a stretcher with a bad cut to his knee – hopefully the injury is no worse than that as he played well.

It was a sad ending for Evans who, like Carrick, has often been the scapegoat this season when he’s played and has certainly had a dip in form. Today though, alongside Smalling he looked impressive and assured. It was a very positive return for Evans after so long out.

His suspension coupled with an injury to Brown leaves only Fabio, Evra and Smalling as ‘available’ defenders at the moment. The international break couldn’t come soon enough for United.

Striking options

It was, once again Berbatov who missed out on a starting spot in the side today with the in-form pairing of Chicharito and Rooney favoured. A first half in which United struggled to threaten saw Chicharito swapped with Berbatov at half time. In truth neither had a good game. Chicharito put a good chance just wide in the first half, as did Berbatov in the second.

The winning goal was scored by Berbatov. Having been offside all of the half, the one occasion the Bolton defence played him onside he was unmarked to scuff in the lose ball after Jaaskelainen spilled a Nani shot. The beauty of the goal was that Berbatov, who’s often criticised for having little impact when he plays poorly did this time have a positive impact and game up with the goods despite a nothing performance.

United’s star man though was once again Rooney. His return to form whereby he has a positive influence on the side has been coupled with a deeper role. He spoke after the Arsenal game about how it comes naturally to him – how when he first broke through at Everton it’s the role he played there. Rooney’s partnership with Chicharito has allowed him to flourish as the Mexican plays off the last man and moves about so much creating space for Rooney. Berbatov naturally likes to come deep but was disciplined to try to hold a high line too today (and ended up being offside most of the time).

Rooney’s all-round display of passing, tackling and hassling the opposition is shown by his passing chalkboard – he’s all over the pitch:

Rooney passing

Rooney can be a driving force for United. The French media were full of praise for him after our game midweek, and rightly so. His passion has been criticised but one only needed to see his celebration when Berbatov scored today to see that he’s playing with his heart at the moment. Whether he’s ‘back-to-his-best’ or not remains to be seen but of late, along with Smalling, he’s been a star performer for United.

Match Conclusion

An injury depleted Manchester United came into the game knowing that it was imperative to win every game now to try and secure a 19th title. Once again Chicharito was favoured ahead of Berbatov and there was a first start for Antonio Valencia since his injury. At the back, Evans came in from injury to partner Smalling.

The first half probably belonged to Bolton. Whilst van der Sar was never tested and only really had a tame Petrov free kick to deal with, the United defence had to put in countless blocks. United felt they should have had a penalty midway through the first half – Cahill blocked a Chicharito shot with an outstretched arm but Andre Marriner waved play on. Two further chances fell United’s way before the break – a Rooney volley was comfortably saved and Chicharito put an effort just wide after being picked out at the near post.

Wes Brown was replaced at half time by Fabio because of an injury and Berbatov came on for the ineffective Chicharito. Berbatov’s introduction failed to put any spark into the game and he was guilty of missing a good chance after being picked out by Rooney before being tackled by Cahill when clean through. United had upped the pressure in the second period and Bolton were on the back foot.

The game changed though when Holden and Evans collided in a 50-50 challenge. Despite winning the ball, Evans went in recklessly and was shown a red card whilst Holden was stretched off with a bad cut to his knee. Holden’s replacement, Taylor, then had the best chance of the game – he was picked out unmarked by Steinsson but could only head the ball straight at van der Sar. The sending off seemed to give United a kick up the backside and Nani started making driving runs forward. Having seen Jaaskelainen deal comfortably with his shots, Nani’s effort on 88 minutes was surprisingly spilled by the Bolton keeper and Berbatov was able to scuff the ball into the net. United held out to go 5 points clear of Arsenal who could only draw at West Brom

United’s next game is away at West Ham in the league on Saturday 2nd April.

AUTHOR: – Doron

AUTHOR: – Doron

After successful FA Cup quarter final wins last weekend, United and Bolton return to league action at Old Trafford. Surprisingly, Bolton are the more in-form side and one has to go back 6 weeks to find their last defeat. United need to return to winning ways in the league after two straight defeats and must continue to keep a gap between themselves and Arsenal.

Bolton’s transformation under Owen Coyle has been in a word, outstanding. Coyle joined just over a year ago and lead Wanderers to safety and 14th place in the league. Already this year, with 9 games still yet to be played, Bolton are one point ahead of their end of season total last year (39 points). One of the big turnarounds has been scoring more goals (42 so far, the same as the total scored last year) and conceding fewer. At present they’re 7th, just two points short of Liverpool and a European place. One area where they do still struggle is away from home – only a handful of teams have a worse record this year (11 points taken from 42).

It’s bizarre how quickly football can change. Only 15 months ago one would have associated Bolton with the long-ball game. Whilst still having that option available, it no longer is the style in which they play. Today Bolton are a team who pass the ball around comfortably and like United, they’ll try and get it wide where possible. More often than not, they line up in a 4-4-2 with Davies very much as a focal point and either Elmander or Struridge working off him. They are able to go 4-3-3 too with Sturridge, Elmander and Davies all starting – that’s how they lined up at Spurs recently. The loan signing of Sturridge in January has been a master-stroke from Coyle. He has four goals in his five PL games but it has also been good for competition with Klasnic’s form picking up too.

Bolton are on a high at the moment. To go along with their 7th place in the league, they are in the semi finals of the FA Cup having beaten Birmingham last weekend. They are unbeaten in their last three league games, the most recent being a win against Aston Villa. Whilst Bolton’s league form has them down as the 6th most in-form side with 10 points taken from a possible 18; their away form is awful. Only 1 point from a last 18 away from home has been taken and this is only beaten (or worsened depending on how you look at it) by Stoke. Their problem has been scoring goals away from home – they only average 1 a game. Conceding them away fro home isn’t the issue, Arsenal are the only side to have scored more than 2 against them.

Joining the list of defenders and midfielders who aren’t fit for tomorrow’s game (S Davis, Knight, J O’Brien, Gardner, Ricketts, Samuel) is Mark Davies. The midfielder has been in excellent form lately but injured his ankle last weekend and is a big doubt for the match. However Gretar Steinsson is expected to be available after missing training this week with a stomach bug.

Bolton’s record at Old Trafford isn’t bad compared to some teams. In the Premier League years they’ve managed 2 wins from 11 games and only conceded 25 goals. The wins came in back-to-back seasons, 01/02 and 02/03. Since then, United have won 7 in a row and only conceded three goals. Last year’s game ended 2-1 to United with Valencia getting his first goal for the club.

Enough on Bolton…onto United and my predicted line up:

An injury crisis is upon us! The easy part of this match preview should be telling you who’s out of the game but with Fergie you never know. Based upon what he’s said we’re missing: Lindegaard, Rafael, O’Shea, Ferdinand and Vidic. Scholes is suspended. Then there is a handful of players who are back in training but may or may not be fit enough for a place on the bench, they are: Anderson, Evans, Park, Hargreaves and Fletcher.

I’ve gone for a 4-4-2 – the preferred formation for home games. In front of Edwin the back four rather picks itself due to injuries – Fabio, Brown, Smalling and Evra. Evans has been training but I should imagine he’ll only be on the bench. As with all the doubtful or unfit players, there is no point taking any risks as there is a two week break after this game where they’ll have time to make sure they’re fit for when comes recommence. I think Rafael will be favoured over O’Shea, but aside from that Smalling should line up next to Vidic with Evra at left back.

For a change there are options out wide. I think after their injuries, both Nani and Valencia will start and should either tire (as expected) Park who needs minutes himself and Giggs who probably needs a mini break after Tuesday would be able to come on. In the middle there is no such luxury of having options. Only Carrick and Gibson are fit and whilst this may seem like an obvious pairing, I can see Carrick anchoring the side with Rooney going up and down the pitch next to him. Rooney’s deeper role lately seems to have allowed him to play with freedom and recapture some form. This of course leaves Berbatov free for a start after a while on the side and Chicharito with him. Owen could be free for a place on the bench. All the injuries may well give some of the Reserves or U18 starlets an opportunity for a place amongst the substitutes. Certainly, Morrison and Tunnicliffe have earned the right to be considered of late.

United remain top despite losing two league games in a row. However since defeat at Anfield there has been a morale boosting win over Arsenal in the FA Cup and Champions League success over Marseille. United are entering a crucial run of very winnable league fixtures. There is no margin for error anymore.

Recent form shows United sitting a lowly ninth in the form league with 9 points taken from a possible 18 in the last six games. However, at home, it’s a different story. United have won 13 of their 14 home games scoring 39 goals (the most in the league) and conceding only 9 (the fewest in the league). This match therefore pits the best home run against one of the worst away sides.

In Dimitar Berbatov United have the league’s top goalscorer (19 goals) and in Nani the league’s top assister (15 assists; Rooney is joint 2nd with 11). Rooney likes playing Bolton, he has 6 goals in 8 league games against them for United. Two more would also see him reach 100 Premier League goals for the club.

It’s just over 9 years since United lost three league games in a row and I don’t think that will happen again tomorrow. Despite injuries, I think United will offer too much going forward however I can see us conceding. Therefore I predict a 3-1 win for the Reds.

You can share with us your thoughts ahead of the match and your favourite moments from games at home to Bolton on our forum.

The trauma of being three points off the leader in the race for the Premier League is just too much for some Reds, especially given the below par performance of the side away at Bolton today. United looked nervy at the back, with Elmander and Davies causing problems for both Nemanja Vidic and Jonny Evans – a far cry from the 4-0 drumming United handed out last season. Many people may point to Evans as the guilty party, however if Patrice Evra stays on the post – he clears it. The second was a quick counter attack from Bolton, a far cry from their usual direct outlet, and Fletcher was powerless to stop the ball deflecting off of him.

Although a 2-2 draw may seem a disappointing result considering our dominance last season there, previous Premier League starts compared to this term may surprise you.

Firstly, lets get onto this seasons start. It has been disappointing away from home – no doubt. We had a chance at Fulham to go 3-1 up, but missed a penalty before conceding an equalizer late on. The horrendous implosion against Everton will no doubt be a fixture we will look back on all season, considering how we could have extended the lead further and now the loss of two points when both Chelsea and Arsenal dropped points yesterday. There is no doubt that we should have accumulated more points by now, however looking back at successful seasons – we aren’t doing too bad.

After six games we have twelve points from a possible eighteen – all lost away from home. Below us a list of season starts over the years that you may find interesting:

95/96 - 15 points – 3 home games 3 away games (Premier League title and FA Cup)

97/98 – 16 points – 3 home games 3 away games (Nothing)

98/99 – 11 points – 3 home games 3 away games (European Cup, Premier League title and FA Cup)

01/02 – 11 points – 3 home games 3 away games (Nothing)

02/03 – 8 points – 3 home games 3 away games (Premier League title)

03/04 – 13 points – 3 home games 3 away games (FA Cup)

06/07 – 13 points – 3 home games 3 away games (Premier League title)

07/08 – 11 points – 3 home games 3 away games (European Cup and Premier League title)

09/10 – 15 points - 3 home games 3 away games (League Cup)

Now i’ve picked these seasons (where we’ve won something) at random, as I know someone will pick me up on the order of it and I welcome any discussion on this. We’ve got more points that in 98/99 and 07/08 where we won both the League title and the European Cup, whilst we have less points than we had in 97/98 and 03/04 where we won the FA Cup (in the latter season). The point of this exercise is to demonstrate that although it is disappointing as on a few occasions this season it appears that we have ‘thrown away’ some points to teams we should beat – however football has a funny way of working out. Beckham scoring a last minute freekick in our opening fixture in 1998 is a far cry from Ole sliding on his knees in the Nou Camp ten months later isn’t. Disappointing, but not all doom and gloom yet.

Bolton wanting it more

I don’t know if ‘wanting it more’ is the right title to use, however if you compare the ‘headers won’ from last season compared to today – it makes some interesting reading. Below is Edwin Van Der Sar’s distribution (mainly from goal kicks) last season (when we won 4-0):

 by Guardian Chalkboards

If you compare the above passing stats to his stats today, you’ll see that United only won a single header from his goal kicks:

 by Guardian Chalkboards

So why weren’t we as competitive as we were last season there? Gary Cahill was playing last season aswell, who you could argue is better in the air than Ricketts. United’s setup was more 4-2-3-1 last season, however should we have competed more for headers from Van Der Sar’s distribution? We won seven times more headers in 09/10 vs. Bolton than we did today. If we look at the inverse and see how we dealt with Bolton’s direct setup, it shows we struggled much more than we did last term. Below are Jussi Jaaskelainen’s passing stats:

 by Guardian Chalkboards

The majority of his passes were won by Elmander or Davies, with Jonny Evans and Vidic losing out, although based upon the stats above, it would appear that Evans was being targeted more so than Vidic by Jaaskelainen’s long balls. In comparison to last season, where Vidic and Evans both played – you’ll see a much different picture:

 by Guardian Chalkboards

Although Jaaskelainen did attempt more passes (all long balls) the ratio for successful to unsuccessful passes shifts dramatically. Bolton’s style means that they will, or should, win more headers from their direct approach than they lose. Elmander and Davies are big strong players, who do attempt to bully defenders around – with Davies being the main focus.

This isn’t a criticism of their style, it is just an observation of the two conflicting graphs above. It is perhaps ironic that both goals didn’t actually come as a result of this approach, however it could well demonstrate why United failed to convert all three points. There is no doubt United played the better football (outpassed 373:181 also) and were the better team, in the first half at least, but did Ferguson’s men compete enough and adapt to Bolton’s style? What are your thoughts on this theory?

Premier League away-day frustration continued for Manchester United as they failed to take advantage of defeats to Chelsea and Arsenal yesterday. Worse still, their 2-2 draw at the Reebok against Bolton was played out in limp fashion, with Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney coming off with knocks. Dimitar Berbatov was virtually anonymous; Nani and substitute Michael Owen twice brought the visitors level, but this come from behind result was anything but heroic.

The worrying trend from United away games in the league this season is their terrible defensive record. It was even apparent at Scunthorpe in the league cup but with a regular back line in the league, alarm bells must be ringing for Sir Alex Ferguson. The switch to captaincy for Nemanja Vidic was supposed to inspire the supposed want away Serbian defender, but the lack of organisation that has been clear to see on the road this season is certainly a cause for concern.

Bolton took an early lead from a set piece – South Korean midfielder Lee won a corner, and former City winger Martin Petrov swung it in towards Zat Knight. The huge defender didn’t even need to use his height and Jonny Evans’ positioning was awry – Knight cut in front of the out of form defender to flick cleverly with the side of his foot into the corner, beating even Patrice Evra’s attempt to clear it from the line.

United were, in the final third at least, looking good. A chance was squandered by Berbatov before the Bolton goal, before several end to end surges from midfield from both sides threatened to change the scoreline – notably, Darren Fletcher’s unchallenged run that drew a smart save from Jussi Jaaskelainen, and then defender Sam Ricketts was allowed to carry the ball for an obscene amount of time before testing van der Sar. The Red Devils’ equaliser followed the trend, with Nani picking up a Rooney pass in the centre circle, then breaking over halfway and beating 2 men before lashing into the corner from 20 yards.

The 15 minutes before halftime saw the game played almost entirely in the hosts’ half as United peppered a series of corners and exerted territorial dominance; that quickly evaporated in the second half when the shape of the game was altered, following Ryan Giggs’ injury. He was brought off for Ji Sung Park; a player, who with the best of will, is not a game changer, and was never going to change that reputation in this game. Wayne Rooney’s knock a few minutes later – which saw Federico Macheda come onto replace him – was almost a blessing in disguise. The England striker had admittedly had a smart shot just over and did assist the opening goal, but was clearly out of sorts and not enjoying his football.

The substitutes meant that any creative responsibility was placed on Scholes and the inconsistent Nani, who – maybe after already believing his own hype – seems to be going backwards after a thrilling end to last season. Bolton had an easy answer to that, by marking Scholes and simply relying on Nani to screw up his crosses. The Trotters took a lead midway through the second half when Petrov finished a move he had started, on the break. His crossfield path found Lee, who fed it into Elmander. The Swedish forward had, bizarrely, attracted the attention of O’Shea in the middle, which meant Petrov had the relatively simple task of cutting inside Park – and the Bulgarian’s shot deflected off Darren Fletcher to restore the advantage for Bolton.

A 2-1 lead for Bolton was probably against the run of play but only in the respect that they were happy to patiently wait for a chance that would inevitably pop up – with an unsure back line to run against, they were certain to cash in.

Fletcher was replaced by Michael Owen who followed up his two goals in the League Cup with a goal scored with his first touch here, flicking a Nani free kick in off the post with his head. This was very much the exception to the rule from here on as the Red Devils failed to push any kind of momentum and looked desperately unrecognisable in formation. Indeed, no concerted effort towards the end of the game and worse, the late Bolton pressure, were indicative of the lack of incisive ability from the players that ended the game for United. Scholes apart, the visitors had little that was likely to create anything, and highlighting Nani as the best player for United after such infuriating inconsistency only exacerbates the problems.

This isn’t meant as a scathing attack; Park is an effective player when dealing with a team who are dangerous all over the pitch, such as Milan, or Chelsea, where his deployment can be considered a tactical decision. Berbatov is showing signs that he can run a game but against Fulham and again today he was, for the most part, almost completely ineffectual. Jonny Evans’ lack of form is surely only being saved by Sir Alex’s lack of faith in Rio Ferdinand’s fitness, or Chris’ Smalling’s ability to step straight in. Rafael’s progress is not being helped by his spell on the bench and John O’Shea has not really put a compelling argument across for his continued selection. The lack of options in central midfield don’t immediately strike concern but it should, Fletcher and Scholes can run a game but with Nani reverting to type and our other wingers dropping like flies to leave an energetic but ineffectual Park? Macheda’s introduction seemed promising but when he was shifted to the wing to accommodate for Owen up front, with Park moved central after Fletcher’s removal, a look at the bench to see Anderson as an unused option could only have provoked a scratched head.

Worse, still, was the fact that United’s inability to win this game was evident as soon as Rooney left the pitch, even despite his own clearly below par form. Chelsea’s own below par display is enough to not throw in the towel in our title challenge, but at this stage, with 3 away games thrown away that should have seen maximum points, the only saving grace is that a late goal to lose this game wasn’t conceded.

Ratings : van der Sar 6, O’Shea 5, Vidic 6, Evans 5, Evra 6, *Nani 7, Scholes 7, Fletcher 7 (Owen), Giggs 7 (Park 5), Berbatov 5, Rooney 5 (Macheda 6)

Manchester United have failed to capture all three points in any of their away fixtures this season, but Sunday’s trip to the Reebok Stadium will give the Red Devils another opportunity to finally secure maximum points away from Old Trafford. Bolton currently reside in 13th place in the Barclays Premier League having managed only one win all season. United may have struggled away from home this season, but recent history suggests this may be the turning point as United have beaten Bolton in all five of their previous meetings.

Draws at Fulham and Everton have haunted United as title rivals Chelsea experienced a perfect start to the campaign in their first five fixtures. Victory at the Reebok will be United’s first away win of the season, and although it’s still early days falling further behind Chelsea could be cause for concern. Bolton are also coming off a Carling Cup elimination at the hands of manager Owen Coyle’s former club Burnley, a fact which will likely play in favor of United.

At this point, Dimitar Berbatov is surely the first name on the team sheet. If you had told me I’d being typing those words last season, I’d have believed you to be crazy. The Bulgarian’s form this season has been nothing short of incredible which has included a hat trick against Liverpool. Pairing Berbatov in attack will surely be Wayne Rooney. Despite the Englishman’s dip in form this season, he still remains nearly undroppable. There’s no telling when he’s going rediscover his form. Rooney has scored once this season, but is still goalless from open play. Although, Rooney ended his goalless drought in 06/07 with a hat trick at the Reebok. Could history repeat itself this season?

If Berbatov isn’t the first name on the team sheet, then the only other player it could be is Paul Scholes. The 35-year-old midfielder has been brilliant this season becoming the Premier League Player of the Month for August. Partnering him in the centre of midfield is likely to be Darren Fletcher. We’re currently lacking options out on the wings due to Antonio Valencia’s injury. I believe Nani will be given a chance on his favored right wing with Ryan Giggs out on the left.

For once I am hoping I’ll get this prediction right: once again I am picking Rafael as right back. John O’Shea has failed to impress so far this season and surely it’s only a matter of time until the Brazilian gets the chance to establish himself at the right back spot. There is little doubt that Patrice Evra will be in the other full back position, with Rio Ferdinand and newly-appointed skipper Nemanja Vidic partnering in the centre of defense. And, of course, in between the posts is likely to be Edwin van der Sar.

Bolton typically have key players at both ends of the pitch, but will be missing one of their star men through suspension. Gary Cahill would’ve hoped to stop Berbatov’s run of form at the heart of the defense for Bolton, but he’ll be forced to miss out. That leaves Kevin Davies and his physicality to cause problems for the United back four. Coyle has also earmarked Johan Elmander to make an impact this season in the build up to United’s visit. The Red Devils have yet to manage a clean sheet away from home; and while I think United will finally claim victory on the road, I also believe Bolton will manage at least one goal.

I’m counting on Berbatov to continue his goalscoring ways by bagging one against Bolton. I’ll also go (somewhat) bold by predicting that Rooney can finally reach last season’s levels by grabbing two goals at the Reebok. I think there is another goal in the squad, but I’m not entirely sure where it’ll come from. Simply out of my desire to see him continue his brilliant improvement, I’m singling out Nani to get himself a goal as well.

Prediction: United 4, Bolton 1

A Saturday of shocking results means victory at the Reebok would see United jump to second in the table and within one point of Chelsea. The league leaders fell to their first defeat of the season against Manchester City. It was a close affair, ending 1-0 in favor of the home side thanks to a goal from former-Red Carlos Tevez. Elsewhere on Saturday, other top sides suffered shock results. Arsenal suffered a 2-3 home defeat against newly-appointed West Brom, while Tottenham became West Ham’s first victory of the season. Hated rivals Liverpool could only manage a 2-2 draw against Steve Bruce’s Sunderland.

While getting back to winning ways away from Old Trafford is crucial, the results of Saturday has added extra significance to the fixture at the Reebok. Sunday’s match now gives United the opportunity to move ahead of Arsenal in the table and within striking distance of Chelsea.

*Updated to include significance of Saturday’s results.

Discuss this match in the forum.

You can follow Kyle on Twitter at KDill_MUFC.

After Chelsea had hit Aston Villa for seven and Arsenal had got a point at Birmingham, Manchester United – minus leading scorer Wayne Rooney – secured a massive result at the Reebok Stadium, beating local rivals Bolton Wanderers 4-0 to move back to the top of the table.

After a Jay Lloyd Samuel own goal had given the visitors the advantage, Dimitar Berbatov scored twice and Darron Gibson wrapped up an emphatic result from a potentially tricky obstacle.

The on-paper-defined difficulty – particularly given the absence of Rooney and Rio Ferdinand – was never really represented in reality as the Champions displayed all their experience and ability to make the fixture as much of a procession as it could reasonably be. Darren Fletcher set up two early chances, first for Berbatov and then for Jonny Evans – the Bulgarian’s excellent shot from an angle was well saved, and Evans’ left foot shot with an inviting goal went over.

Bolton’s best chance came in the 26th minute after on loan Arsenal midfielder Wilshere brilliantly played in Elmander, but van der Sar made a smart save. Five minutes later the returning Ryan Giggs could have scored but his shot went over, despite the legend having done great work in the build up. The Welshman was to prove the defining factor in this game, however, and it was his contribution in the 38th minute that swung the match in Uniteds favour. Nani did fantastically well to give Giggs the ball, the United veteran provided a trademark pass into the area – Samuel was unfortunate that he was the one to connect but still probably will feel he could have done better, as the ball rolled into the corner of the goal.

The big chance to equalise came right on half time, through another ex-Gunner, Muamba, but van der Sar made an exceptional save to preserve United’s half time lead. The stakes were high in the second half – Boltons combative attitude never reflected into any worthwhile chances, and the result rested on the Red Devils desire to finish the game off. Fortunately for the visiting faithful that desire was in abundance, and after Berbatov had fallen over and Valencia had shot wide to give the hosts early threats, a flurry in the final quarter of the game left no-one either inside the stadium or watching in London (or Birmingham) any doubt.

Giggs’ return had been a real telling contribution to the cause and it was his smart pass inside to Fletcher that created all the havoc for the decisive second – Fletcher’s shot from distance was saved, but only parried towards Berbatov, who finished easily.

Nani has been making the headlines for his sensational form on the pitch as of late but on Friday celebrated that with an improved, elongated contract – he burst into life to show just why his career at Old Trafford has been extended with two individual examples of his vastly improved intelligence. Both goals originated from the Poruguese’s position on the left hand side, and after first skinning his marker in the 77th minute to casually play in Berbatov for his second and the team’s third, Nani did the same trick 5 minutes later, this time gifting substitute Gibson a goal just a minute and a half after coming on.

It was the perfect response to the earlier results and leaves United in a great position heading into next Saturday’s crucial encounter with Chelsea – win that, and the Champions could even afford a slip up elsewhere.

Ratings : van der Sar 8, Neville 7, Evans 7, Vidic 8, Evra 7, Valencia 7, Fletcher 7 (Gibson), Scholes 7, Giggs 8 (Macheda), *Nani 9, Berbatov 8