Authors: Doron and Nik

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United travelled west to Liverpool for a 4th round FA Cup game at rivals Liverpool. With injuries yet again hitting the side hard, they lined up in a 4-5-1 without key creative players Rooney or Nani. Rafael returned at right back whilst Carrick was joined in the middle by the oldies, Giggs and Scholes. Welbeck was asked to lead the line and at the back, De Gea was brought in at a ground he did well at last time out. Liverpool matched United’s formation with Carroll leading their attack and Carragher sitting in front of the back four.

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

Carroll and Welbeck isolated

For the most part, Carroll’s selection ahead of Bellamy seemed a strange one. He was isolated, and was only found once from a cross from wide, with Downing playing as an inverted winger on the right hand side. United dealt with his threat superbly, until of course the last minute. Smalling adopted his usual tactic of following the centre forward ‘out’. He kept in close vicinity to Carroll, pressed the space and tried to keep his back to goal. Evans, when called upon, often won the aerial duel with the big Englishman; his height often betrays his aerial ability and has the anticipation and agility required for these types of battles. The Kuyt winner was strange in that it was the first time in the match that Evans lost the duel with Carroll, but given the poor communication between the back four at that point, Carroll was given far too much space to manoeuvre. Perhaps a symptom of poor concentration late on in a frantic game, the defending was of the proverbial ‘schoolboy’ sort. Smalling starts too far right, Evans is pulled towards Carroll, and Evra makes the covering run just a fraction of second too late. De Gea may well have narrowed the angle to a greater extent too for Kuyt’s shot.

For United, it was a frustrating afternoon given their superior possession. Rooney’s industry was hugely missed, and thus the gap between Welbeck and the midfield was far too large, despite Giggs and Park doing their best to link the play. Giggs’ swap with Park on 30 mins seemed to have the desired effect of United keeping width on the left with an already congested middle, and Park able to work in between the lines and get closer to Welbeck. But despite the wonderfully taken goal (and a fantastic assist from Rafael who was superb throughout), the team didn’t create enough in the final third. Valencia was kept reasonably quiet, especially in the second half, especially given Jose Enrique’s instruction to stay deep; and with a similar scenario on the opposite side of the field, where Evra was sitting in and keeping the defensive shape, United’s usual threat from wide areas remained negligible. If just one of Young or Nani had been available, they would surely have been called upon relatively early from the bench.

Carragher struggles, Scholes dictates

Carragher struggled with pace of the game and was second best to every ball. Selected in the ‘Lucas position’ to presumably counter the (pre-empted) deep lying Rooney, the Liverpudlian was finding it hard to track Giggs’ runs from deep and Scholes’ clever movement. Liverpool’s fluid midfield didn’t help however, with Gerrard pushing on and Henderson interchanging positions with Maxi. When attacks broke down, United found it far too easy to spot the gaps on the counter. Carragher looked flustered on the ball, and lacking the energy to play in such a vital position.

Scholes sought to capitalise, and conducted proceedings with aplomb – 97% pass completion in first half, completing 75 (nearly 3 times as many as Gerrard). And he wasn’t just stationed near the centre either, Scholes and Carrick both took turns in getting forward to support the attack. When Scholes was found in deep positions, his tackling and intercepting was good too. United’s midfield controlled possession and took the game to Liverpool once they had gone one goal down. But it is what you do with the possession once you have it, and Welbeck’s isolation, and Valencia’s diminishing influence in the game proved too much for the Manchester side, as both sides seemed to be settling for a draw and a replay at Old Trafford.

Dalglish’s subs make impact

Dalglish must take credit for turning the game in their favour, roughly around the hour-mark. On 62 mins Kuyt replaced the hapless Carragher, and Adam came on for Maxi. This allowed Kuyt to drift in from the right to support the previously isolated Carroll as Liverpool pretty much maintained the 4-3-3 shape. Then on 72 mins, Bellamy came on for Gerrard, and the set up was basically a 4-4-2, with Downing going left and Carroll working more closely with another centre forward. United had coped well until this point, always having an extra man, and both fullbacks remaining largely un-ambitious. But now they had two extra problems: Bellamy moving horizontally across the field and Kuyt playing a slightly more central right midfield position. Liverpool’s backline moved forward (with United’s concomitantly retreating) and they took a greater control of the midfield, with Adam getting on the ball. That said, Ferguson didn’t help matters in replacing Schloles. United lost the momentum, and Carrick, who didn’t have his best game, was left stranded in the centre.

De Gea

When you find that you’re having to regularly defend a player, regardless of what you think, there’s probably a problem. De Gea was on the end of a lot of harsh criticism yesterday – a game where he had little to do and actually was relatively assured on most crosses. Agger’s goal though was the perfect example of David getting nowhere near where he should have been. He seemed pre-occupied with Andy Carroll rather than the ball and ended up neither going to claim the corner nor staying on his line.

The real crime in that goal though was that Agger was easily able to head the ball towards the goal anyway. For all the blue United shirts around him, none of them jumped to challenger his header and the only player whose feet did leave the ground was Agger. An avoidable goal both from the defenders and De Gea.

Oddly the goal that worried me a bit was the Kuyt’s winner. De Gea seems to have a strange habit of going down to make a save with his feet in front of him. It not only means he doesn’t spread himself as wide as possible but it’s not a very flexible position to be in if he has to get up quickly and certainly doesn’t look like a balanced pose. There is a time to use that kind of save and it’s normally when coming off your line to make yourself appear ‘big’, as perfected by Peter Schmeichel. When rooted to your line though, it doesn’t seem to really do much – it’s not as if Kuyt found the corner of the net, it was a savable shot.

League focus

Defeats are never good but this will allow United to focus on the league. Ferguson has already said that if he has a big enough pool of available players then he’ll rotate the team for the upcoming games against Ajax. With so many players out injured, fewer games is probably a good thing. On the subject of injuries, it looks like Young, Anderson and Cleverley are both close to returns whilst Ferdinand, Rooney and Nani’s injuries appear to be less serious than initially feared. Players are slowly returning and lord knows United are due some luck in that department.

Summary

United’s FA Cup campaign is over after something of a dull affair at Anfield. Despite dominating and controlling the game, United (and Liverpool) had few ideas in the final third of the pitch.

Liverpool took the lead through Daniel Agger’s unchallenged header from a corner. Fingers were pointed in De Gea’s direction as he failed to decide whether to come or stay for the ball but the United defenders were equally as culpable for not challenging Agger. United could have actually taken the lead – a surging run in-field by Valencia ended with a powerful dipping shot hitting the post with Reina beaten.

United did go in level at half time, Rafael won the ball inside the Liverpool half and cut the ball back perfectly for Park to clinically fire the ball past Reina. Through Scholes, United had controlled long spells of the game with Gerrard in particular playing a very peripheral role. After an hour, Dalglish brought on Kuyt and Adam and Liverpool started to see more possession.

The winning goal came late on in the tie – a long ball was headed on by Carroll and fell kindly into the path of Kuyt who’d been left totally free by Evra. Kuyt took the ball into the area unchallenged and fired past De Gea. The goal came too late for United to respond and Liverpool face Brighton next in the cup. Stoke are the visitors to Old Trafford on Tuesday as attention shifts back to the league and the title race again.

Author: Nik

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United travelled the short distance to Man City today in an eagerly anticipated FA Cup 3rd Round game. Having lost two games in a row and conceded six goals in the process; fans, staff and players were hoping for an improvement and change of fortunes. City were defending the trophy they won last year.

We invite both City and United fans to discuss the game below.

Team selections and formations

Both teams were missing key players, City with the absentees of Balotelli, Barry and Toure, with Mancini electing to rest Hart and Clichy; United were still missing Vidic, Cleverley, Young, Evans and Fletcher – all due to injury or illness.

United set up in somewhat of a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Rooney starting in a deeper position than his normal ‘number 10’ role, with Welbeck selected in a lone striker role. Carrick dropped slightly deeper than we have been used to of late, with Rooney and Giggs just ahead, Nani left and Valencia right. At the back Smalling replaced Jones at centre half with the latter pushed over to right back.

City were set up in something of a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Nasri playing a floating role off Aguero, Johnson and Silva wide right and left respectively, De Jong and Milner in central midfield. At the back, Kolarov came in for Clichy, whilst the remaining three players remained unchanged.

Who won the tactical battle?

This is a tough one to answer, because although United ran out 3-2 winners, and could quite easily have gone on to score six or seven (Welbeck missed a glorious chance at 3-0), Mancini responded to the sending off astutely and allowed City to gain a foothold in the game. In the immediate aftermath of the red card, Richards played at centre half with Lescott and Milner was asked to slot in at right back, with Nasri coming deeper into the midfield. But it was at half time that he replaced Johnson and Silva with Savic and Zabaleta; and although it did look suspiciously like Mancini had resigned to defeat and wanting to save his star player (Silva was lively always seeking to release Aguero in the first half, Nasri was certainly more innocuous), his switch to 3-4-2 — with Savic, Lescott and Richards at the back, with Zabaleta and Kolarov flanking a middle three of Milner, De Jong and Nasri — worked a treat and City somehow found themselves back in the game.

Whereas United sought to soak up pressure in the first half and hit City on the break with some fantastic interplay in the middle third, often with the ball zipped out wide with pace (Evra and Jones were ambitious in attack), City responded in kind with a similar approach in the second. Zabaleta and Kolarov pushed high on Nani and Valencia, trying to force the error and then getting up in support of Aguero, with Nasri in behind. But overall it was clear that – in the most important area of the field, the centre (and an area where United are typically weaker than their Manchester counter-parts) – United out-fought and out-thought their opponent, with Fergie quick to capitalise on the loss of the excellent paring of Toure and Barry. With Rooney and Giggs close together, Carrick dropped very deep at times (astutely cutting up the play as ever), which subsequently allowed Jones and Evra to push very high and support the counter-attacks. The first two goals came from top quality wide-play from Valencia and Evra respectively, and Giggs was instrumental in the first and third goals from the centre.

Rooney and Giggs link up play superb

Fergie kept faith with the pair despite a poor showing in Newcastle midweek, but his gamble paid off. With the advantage he had from starting from a deeper position than usual, Rooney was able to benefit from being closer to Giggs (who started ahead of Anderson and Park) and Carrick, and the resulting link-up play, especially in the final third was the key to this result. Albeit helped by the loss of City’s regular holding two central midfielders in Toure and Barry (both have been superb this term), Rooney was able to constantly exploit the space between the lines, sitting on De Jong when without the ball, and moving away from him when in possession. (In fact, De Jong’s vertical movement and lack of overall midfield finesse is probably the reason he has struggled this season, especially in a midfield two, and Barry simply offers more variety in there.)

The first goal was a classic United goal, with Giggs picking up the ball deep and finding Rooney unmarked, the ball was slipped out wide to the oncoming Valencia who returned the ball with great precision (and yet another assist for the flying Ecuadorian) as Rooney was able to finish with his head in off the bar – a goal similar in style to the Scholes winner here two seasons ago. Giggs was also heavily involved in the third; finding Rooney again after a poor clearance from Pantimillon, then having received the ball again on the edge of the area, played a cute through ball into Welbeck’s stride which inevitably drew the penalty. Rooney missed, but then headed home the rebound for 3-0, and essentially game over.

Smalling outstanding

It was a timely return for Smalling who has been suffering from tonsillitis recently, and with United’s struggles at centre half in recent outings his performance alongside Ferdinand was commanding, and important to the outcome of the game. Smalling had to contend with some fantastic movement from Aguero who played somewhat of a false nine role, but the youngster dealt with him in much the same way as he did Tevez last season at Old Trafford, marshalling him away from goal; putting his foot in early; showing him out wide and generally winning anything that came his way in the air. The last minute of the game typified his performance, as he was first to react to another Lindegaard spill, twenty seconds later, rising high again to head the ball clear as Kolarov launched one final effort into the box. With Jones having played relatively poor in such a pivotal position of late (we have one won in the last six he has started at centre half), Smalling’s return will bolster the back line, and the former Blackburn man will seek to continue his education at right back (as well as perhaps enjoy an occasional outing in central midfield).

Red Card and Penalty Claims

Kompany’s red card, on the face of it, with some confusing commentary and analysis from ITV today, was a little harsh. However, by the laws of the game, Foy has to send the Belgian off for the challenge on Nani. He may well have led with one foot, but his trailing foot performs a scissor movement, and on the follow-through it is clear that both feet leave the ground, with studs showing. Harsh yes, given that Nani had pulled away and the directive has only been introduced in recent years, but other than that Mancini can have no real complaints when he sees it again. As we have seen recently with the Spearing tackle at Fulham for example, it is not about whether the ball was won or not, but the ‘endangering an opponent’ by conducting a tackle in this way. Referee’s must air on safety, and the law, every time.

In the second half there were two penalty claims. Firstly we had Kolarov’s challenge on Valencia just inside the penalty area, then we had a City claim for a Jones handball. Replays show that Valencia was beyond the defender before being brought down, and City were lucky to avoid conceding a second penalty with the score at 1-3. At the other end, Jones’ ‘natural’ position of his hand saved him from a potential spot-kick decision.

Scholes returns

There is no hiding away from the fact that Scholes’ return to the set up is somewhat worrying given our recent failed attempts to strengthen this area of the field in the transfer market (Nasri and Sneijder notably). It is clear that Scholes isn’t the answer to our midfield conundrum, but at the same time we must look at the move in the fuller context. Fergie has confirmed that it was Scholes who approached the club about a potential return, not the other way round, and has apparently been training daily since his emotional bow-out at Old Trafford in the summer. Fergie will know too well that – as per last season – Scholes’ use will have to be sporadic, and used in games such as today to ‘see the match out’. He has come back in with a passion that has seemingly not left him, at a time when Cleverley and Anderson have been out for lengthy bouts, and forays into the transfer market have failed to prosper – yet. United continue to search for the elusive answer in such a vital compartment on the field (no you can’t just name a decent mid-table midfielder and claim that he would ‘fit the bill’), and there are positive signs that the club are working hard behind the scenes. Some may say the move smacks of desperation, but it could also be a sign of the very opposite: not being forced into a signing that doesn’t make sense for either the club or player. The hope then is that big investment is on the way; surely, with or without Scholes, it can only be a matter of time.

In Summary

United needed to give a high calibre performance today, and for the most part they did. As ever in these fixtures, the first goal is of vital importance, and United took advantage of some slack midfield play by City, allowing Valencia and Rooney to combine so well. Mancini did miss the ever-emerging influence of Balotelli, but he especially missed the midfield duo of Barry and Toure – not only for their individual talents but also their combination play, which has been so crucial to their success thus far. Rooney and Giggs in particular were able to capitalise, and the performances of Welbeck, Evra, Valencia and Smalling were also encouraging given the recent ‘crisis’.

Fergie wasn’t happy with the cautious approach of his side in the second half, but you also couldn’t blame them given the 6-1 defeat and the fact that our relentless ambition then allowed City to open us up at the back so easily. De Gea will be wanting a swift return to the side after another edgy performance from the Dane and Nani is yet to re-find his mojo (the failed flick which ultimately led to the second City goal must have angered Ferguson). But United will look to respond now in the league having taken this psychological scalp, and Fergie will surely want to win the F.A. Cup this season given his love for competition and for the fact it has been a while. Next up, Liverpool away at Anfield.

AUTHOR: – Bricki

This weekend the two major trophies in the English domestic game have ended up living in Manchester for the next 12 months.

I want to say ‘Congratulations’ to Manchester City. I have quite a few honest football supporting blues who deserve some success finally.

At a time where the city as a whole should be celebrating you won’t hear many red cheers for blue or vice versa, yet it hasn’t always been this way. The older generation who remember the game in the 50s/60s/70s talk about going to see United one week and City the next. The players socialised together and generally the city enjoyed having two teams competing at the top of the league.

With the potential success of both sides in the near future, How should the fans and the city as a whole approach something we’ve not seen for many a year?

It’s looking likely that in the next few years we will be seeing a battle between United and City for the league title. The vast amounts spent by City mean they must start to show a challenge for the title in the next 12/24 months. That’s not a dig at City, the way the game has become money driven meant that the only way they were going to reach that level was a large cash injection. It is a fact though that they will be challenging and I am personally looking forward to it.

I have been going to Old Trafford since 1991 and been a season ticket holder since 1996. In my time of being a Red I have never had that genuine rivalry with the Blue half of the city. It’s not arrogance but I looked at the teams we were competing with, Arsenal, Liverpool, Blackburn and Chelsea as the clubs that were our rivals. The Manchester Derby was a game we didn’t like to lose (and during the 90s we didn’t seem to lose often) but it did not have the significance the way my Father, Uncles and Granddad spoke of.

The first Manchester Derby I felt nervous and worried about was last seasons 4-3 at Old Trafford. For the first time City were now a genuine rival and it wasn’t just a game about pride but it took on another level of significance. Up until then City appeared as if they were always in the shadow of the Reds down the road, they popped up twice a season but then went on to fight their own battles whilst we dealt with the serious business of the silverware.

Now we had the chance for a genuine rivalry again, not just one built on location but also because we were now true opponents for the prizes the game offers. I could now have discussions with my Blue friends where we were talking about the same thing, not talking about our battles and their battles.

I think an interesting point to address in the relationship between the fans is the ’35 Years’ ticker and everything that went with it. I cannot put it exactly but I think the ‘ticker’ only went up around the 30 year mark. From a personal standpoint I wasn’t a fan of the ticker and felt that any permanent flags displayed in the ground should reflect the achievements of our own club rather than the lack of another club. It became something that cropped up every game rather than just against City, taking up too much time when we could be supporting our own team.

The fact that nearly every media event before and straight after the FA Cup Final that involved anyone connected to City had questions relating to the ‘ticker’ serves only to remove gloss from their achievement. It also takes away from United becoming the most successful league side in English football. The week before we wrapped up title number 19 and we are discussing our rivals?

Going into next season both clubs will more than likely be at a similar standpoint. We will both be looking to compete for the League Title, which is unheard of for possibly two generations of fans. How both teams have arrived at this position is totally different. A lot of United’s’ development and growth has been organic, this is also to say that money the club has spent on players has been from the success on the pitch and development off the pitch. Citys’ has come from a sudden and large injection of cash, which for any club at their previous level to compete at the top needed to happen. This will be the 3rd season since the Abu Dhabi arrival and the money was spent to improve the squad. It would be fair to assume that with Champions League qualification (3rd place could be Citys meaning no qualifying) and the first trophy in the newly acquired cabinet (sorry couldn’t resist that) a tilt at the Title is now the next stage of making the club a big name again.

So where does this leave the relationship between the two clubs and its fans, players and managers?

A rivalry between clubs is expected and healthy, we have some fantastic derbies that take place in the British game. Derbies such as the Merseyside (Liverpool/Everton), Glasgow (Celtic/Rangers), North London (Arsenal/Spurs) are games that have gone done in folklore and are always looked forward to even if you don’t support either team.

It feels now though that the rivalry that was enjoyed between fans has given way to ‘hate’ and threatens to engulf the game at a time when we are seeing more families and women become involved in the game. As Manchester has the spotlight thrust upon it in terms of football coverage, it’s up to both sets of fans to step up and lead the way.

Just today the Manchester City coach David Platt has spoken in the press saying
“The end result isn’t necessarily to outdo Manchester United. The end result is to win trophies”

This is a commonsense view which both sides need to follow now. Sir Alex referred to City as ‘Noisy Neighbours’ in the early days of the Abu Dhabi regime. However when has “keeping up with the Jones” been of value further down the line? To look over the garden fence and be envious of what your neighbour has will not give you any of the success they have achieved.

Manchester City and United have their own identities and styles; Uniteds style has been honed over the years with events such as ‘Munich’, the Busby Babes and the Sir Alex Ferguson era. Which has brought unprecedented success, huge profits gained on the back of this success and the reinvigoration of youth development at the club? Citys’ style has been harder to define from a red perspective, with heroic failure appearing to be the order of the day. Not intended as a dig at City but the club has had to spend a lot of time in the shadow of United since the early 90s. Success that has been achieved, such as the dramatic Play-Off Final win of 98/99 has ironically seemed to coincide with major triumphs of United like the Treble and this season the FA Cup win on the same day as the 19th League Title. For your ‘rivals’ to be always able to outdo your achievements would be a frustrating feeling and one you want to rectify as soon as you can.

However since the injection of the new cash there appears to be a willingness to revamp the club from the ground up, in a similar way to how Ferguson approached rebuilding United when he arrived. Youth Development seems to be important and even if the reserves have been renamed the fairly ridiculous ‘Elite Development Squad’ an emphasis on developing their own players to compliment the new purchases does appear apparent, even if it may be a few years before the results are seen properly.

To round it all up there is a lot for both fans to be positive about rather than focus on the other side and what they are doing. The fans of both sides have shown that when in the public eye, such as the Munich match several seasons ago, we make this city proud of its’ football teams. When it comes to the game though, make your own garden beautiful and leave it to others to do the peering over the garden fence.

With the managers I don’t see a rivalry to match Ferguson and Wenger or Keegan. Mancini comes across as being a thoughtful man who knows the job he has to do and is concentrating on it. Sir Alex has been round the block, over the bridge and generally redesigned the whole city. He knows that Manchester United comes first and he looks out for their interests as his number 1 priority. When City appears on the horizon he will deal with them in the same way Mancini will approach United. The only team either can have an effect on is their own.

The same will go for the players, they may mention getting one over on the other side in order to get the fans onside, such as Dzeko when he arrived or Rooney and the overhead kick. Other than in the build up to games between the sides or in Rooneys case talk of a transfer you don’t expect to hear too much that isn’t ‘beige’ in opinion. Due to the cosmopolitan nature of both squads now and the many different nations represented at both clubs you wont get situations such as the good friends Best and Summerbee like in years gone by.

One of the more famous stories regarding these two was after City had won a trophy (apologies but what it was I cannot find) and prior to the game the pair had arranged to meet in their usual night club. Once City had won Summerbee did not expect to see Best in the club but he was there waiting with a drink in hand to congratulate Summerbee and help him celebrate Citys’ success. If United or City players were seen to be celebrating the others successes with them now it would be viewed as high treason by fans.

This is an exciting time to follow football in Manchester, the next decade could be all about both Manchester clubs. Regardless of how City have arrived at this point I am looking forward to competing against them for the prizes of the English and European game. We will almost certainly suffer some dark days to the neighbours in the coming years but they will also find that it will take more than 1 FA Cup to have legitimate claims to having the upper hand.

Its all set up for a fantastic few years for the city as a whole and both sets of fans can be proud that we are at the heart of the English game.

A tip of the cap to City for the FA Cup, long overdue it may be but if you want the big trophies then you’ll be in for quite a battle as we keep the Red Flag Flying High! (That goes to you as well Liverpool under the ‘Kenny Revolution’)

Game On…

AUTHOR: – Doron

Manchester City took a step closer to ending their 35 year barren spell as they defeated United 1-0 at Wembley. Both teams were missing key strikers but the game was won in the midfield with an error from United, pounced upon by City. Here we discuss the Talking Points of the game and encourage both United and City fans to leave their thoughts on an intense game.

Talking Points

Small margins

The build-up to the game was all fairly odd. There was pessimism amongst City fans, nervous confidence amongst United fans, and the media had United down as favourites given form and the loss of Tevez. Form aside, it was always going to be tight. There was little doubt that Fergie would match City’s 4-5-1 and given the games between the two sides already this year, this was hardly going to be romp for either team.

Games between United and City recently are seldom won by anything other than a moment of magic or an error. These fine margins are the difference between success and failure, today was no different. It was a shame that it was the combination of Edwin and Carrick – arguably two of United’s two best performers both up to that point in the game and in recent weeks, that were at fault for the City goal.

The goal came shortly after half time yet United could have, and should have gone in ahead at the break. Fine margins again came into play as Berbatov missed two glorious chances – the second being pretty much an open goal. City ended up scoring the only goal after a poor kick from Edwin was badly controlled by Carrick. Yaya Toure pounced and finished well – from then on City were able to defend somewhat comfortably without truly looking threatening as their 2 shots on target suggests.

Paul Scholes

As Ferguson put it post-match: “he has these red mist moments and this was another one”. Few will doubt Paul Scholes is one of the finest midfielders to play for United and England but he has moments of madness that seem to take over him.

Actually, Scholes had started well. His radar was very much ‘on’ and unsurprisingly United players were seeking him out at every opportunity. Similarly, Carrick was looking comfortable – a reassurance given that in the absence of Scholes lately, Carrick had stepped up giving the perception that he’s better without Scholes. The problem in playing both Scholes and Carrick was a lack of thrust in the middle – until Anderson came on, this didn’t exist.

Already a goal down, the game became even tougher with Scholes being shown a straight red card. Scholes may have had eyes for the ball but he was late, he was high and he caught Zabaleta flush on the thigh with his boot. It didn’t really seem to change the pattern of the second half though – City were more than content to allow United to have possession in the centre of the pitch knowing that they had plenty of blue shirts back to defend.

The question now is, what next for Scholes? His suspension means he can’t play in the league again until the 8th May when United host Chelsea. With one goal, this is Scholes’s worst goalscoring season so far and as it stands would be only the 3rd time in 17 years that he’s played less than 30 games a season (currently on 27). In a frank interview with the newspapers, Scholes hinted he’s considering retirement with a testimonial game pencilled in for August. I don’t doubt that Scholes is one of the finest players I’ve ever seen but he’s often looked off the pace this year, if he did decide to retire he’d go out with his head held very high.

Berbatov, Chicharito and Rooney

Rooney’s unavailability gave Fergie a selection issue. He was always going to match City’s 4-5-1 so it was down to who was the ’1′ and who’d play behind him. He chose Berbatov with Park behind him. The problems with this were two-fold – when Berbatov held a high line no one really got up to support him and Park was dragged about by Toure and Silva hence not providing a link; however when Berbatov dropped deep, United’s play became too cramped.

Berbatov, whilst guilty of missing excellent chances and fading in and out of the game, did little wrong. The issue lay behind him. This was shown when Chicharito came on – he held a high line, playing off the last defender, but like Berbatov, he had no link man close enough behind him.

What this highlighted was just how important Rooney is to United when they want to play a system with one striker. If Rooney plays behind the striker, like he recently did against Chelsea in the Champions League, he’s unplayable. If Rooney plays upfront as a lone striker – he combines the best assets of both Berbatov and Chicharito to cause trouble and hassle the defenders throughout the game.

Against Man City, the best option may well have been a bold 4-4-2, against a physically strong defence a lone striker didn’t seem enough. Going 4-4-2 would have meant being outnumbered in the middle though – a gamble, but maybe one worth taking.

Match Conclusion

Both sides had key selection decisions to make ahead of this game – Manchester City chose Balotelli ahead of Dzeko to fill the void left by Carlos Tevez’s injury, whilst United went for Berbatov to replace Rooney. Berbatov nearly put United ahead early on – first he saw a one on one saved by Hart and then could only shoot over after Nani’s cross saw him with a near enough open goal just 2 yards out. United seemed to be comfortable and dominant in possession with Vidic and Ferdinand comfortably able to deal with anything City threw at them. However as half time loomed, City had chances through Barry, Balotelli, Lescott and then Kompany as they finished the game on the up.

City started the second half as they finished the first – on the front food. Their dominance was rewarded after 52 minutes – the goal came from a United error. Van der Sar cleared the ball only as far as Carrick (25 yards out) whose touch was poor, allowing Yaya Toure to pick up on the mis-control and he steamrollered past Vidic before slotting the ball under the on-rushing Van der Sar.

United’s response to the goal was somewhat anonymous. City seemed invigorated by their goal and lead by the outstanding David Silva, they could have scored two more soon after. Having fallen behind, United finally went to a 4-4-2 with Chicharito on for Valencia – he came on to see Nani’s free kick hit the crossbar. United were then reduced to 10 men as Scholes went in high and late on Zabaleta’s thigh – few could complain he deserved red. Despite further possession from United and only restricting City to two shots on target all game, United couldn’t come close to an equaliser and it’s City who progress to play either Bolton or Stoke in the final.

United now travel to Newcastle on Tuesday night in a must-win league game.

AUTHOR: – Doron

AUTHOR: – Doron

It’s 56 years since Man City beat United in the FA Cup, that was only a 4th round tie though. You have to go back 85 years to find the only previous meeting in the semi-final of this competition between these two side – City were victorious, winning 3-0 at Bramall Lane that day. Sticking with the years theme, City will be looking to reach their first FA Cup final since 1981 to give themselves a chance of ending the 35 year barren spell; whereas for United, the competition’s most successful side, a 4 year absence from the final would be ended. Oh, and these two sides happen to be pretty big rivals…

It’s hard to analyse City’s season so far, but I think it has to be deemed a success. More than £150m has been spent on new players over the duration of the past 9-10 months, it’s impossible to make that work straight away – a squad needs time to gel. Therefore I think any expectations associated with winning the league this year would have been a bit premature. The aim was surely Champions League qualification which they have a real chance of achieving (so long as they play like they want it(!), themselves and Spurs seem to be doing everything possible to not get 4th spot).

The disappointing thing in my opinion was the Europa League campaign – obviously for United fans it was a source of amusement – but in truth it probably represented a great chance to win a trophy. That said if you focus on Europe, the league form may suffer.

There are plenty of individual positives – players who have stood out and shone; yet also plenty who haven’t. It’s the team, not so much individuals where frustration must lie for Blues. There have been too many silly defeats (particularly away from home) and 14 points from 48 dropped at home is just too many to be challenging right at the very top for now, especially given how tight the league is. Similarly City’s results in the ‘big’ games haven’t been up to scratch – I can understand that setting up not to lose can see 1 point won rather than 3 lost but sometimes you have to take the gamble and go for a win. I think part of that ties in with a lack of ability to be flexible in a system – it’s the same criticism I’ve made of Wenger and Arsenal – they only really play one way… there isn’t a plan B.

It’s incredibly hard to judge the mentality at City at the moment. The news that Carlos Tevez would miss this tie and the next few weeks was met with an almighty grown and thoughts about this game immediately became pessimistic from their fans. Yet, this game should (and I don’t mean this sarcastically) be massive for City fans; there should be sheer excitement about the prospect of potentially beating their rivals and making a cup final.

City themselves must be given some respect. Despite losing their talisman, top scorer and hated former Red Carlos Tevez, they have some players who have had very good seasons. Vincent Kompany has arguably been the league’s second best centre back behind Vidic. Whilst in the midfield Yaya Toure has adapted to English football and is an important part of the team after a shaky start. David Silva in many ways has been one of the underrated buys of the season – he’s looked an exceptional footballer and is often at the heart of City’s best attacking moves. Silva’s ability to float anywhere across the pitch is something United will have to pay close attention to, certainly for the first 30 minutes of the recent derby match at Old Trafford, he was allowed way too much freedom. Although Adam Johnson isn’t likely to start I think he’s an exciting young footballer and certainly would provide an interesting challenge for whoever plays right back should he come on.

The Blues have few new injuries ahead of this game; missing are – Given, K Toure, M Johnson, Tevez and Boateng. Micah Richards should be fit for his first game in three weeks whilst De Jong and Silva will be fresh having been rested for the 3-0 defeat at Anfield on Monday night. Who replaces Tevez will be key, Dzeko has struggled to regularly find the net since his move yet Balotelli has a short fuse but scores goals.

City will no doubt stick to the 4-5-1 formation that they’ve played all year. Having been so defence in that system at Eastlands earlier in the season it was a surprise to see them play that same way yet look positive and attacking a couple of months ago at Old Trafford. It goes to show the flexibility of the formation and Mancini will have a big decision to make in how he tells his team to play.

Monday was when City last played, so they will be one day fresher than United. They lost their last game, a crushing defeat away at Anfield and incredibly they haven’t won away from home since Boxing Day. City’s record against fellow Premier League teams in the FA Cup is not good, they’ve only won 2 of their last 7. To get this far they’ve beaten Reading, Aston Villa, Leicester and Notts County – they needed a replay to beat Leicester and Notts County though. Impressively, City have won 8 of their 10 previous FA Cup semi finals.

As form goes – City have been erratic, in the league it’s only 7 points taken from a last possible 18, away from home in the league incredibly that becomes 2 from a last possible 18. In all competitions their form becomes 3 wins and 3 defeats in their last six games.

Enough on City though…onto United and my predicted line up:

What a time to be a United fan eh!? The club reached the semi-finals of the Champions League this past week and are 7 points clear at the top of the league. There are even mutterings of a potential treble – but before dreams can become a hopeful reality, this semi-final needs to be addressed. United are due some FA Cup success – it’s 7 years and two unsuccessful finals since the last cup-final win, a victory over Millwall.

The problem with team selection ahead of this one is firstly the absence of Rooney (suspension) and secondly the matter of a tough away game on Tuesday against Newcastle. Firstly, the missing men: Amos, Lindegaard, Evans (suspension), Fletcher, Hargreaves and Rooney (suspension). Considering I expect City to play a 4-5-1, I think United will match them in a a fluid system. Ahead of Edwin, I’ve gone for the ‘first choice’ back four with the fit again Rafael replacing O’Shea – the only concern is that City have some big players so O’Shea’s extra height could be needed. Rio said he’d be fit having shaken off a knock to the knee he picked up on Tuesday. Vidic and Evra are mainstays of the team.

The area up for most debate will be the midfield. I’ve picked a midfield capable of defending as a solid 5, but able to attack with men forward to support the lone striker. Valencia is fresh having not started on Tuesday and his battle with either Zabaleta or Kolarov could be key for both sides. In the middle, Scholes should start, he tends to play well against City, controlling the game. Alongside Scholes, the in-form Carrick I should imagine will be tasked with protecting Scholes and getting the ball to him at every possible occasion. On the left – Park – his energy and tactical discipline will go a long way to helping the midfield out. Ahead of the midfield, linking them to the striker, I’ve picked Anderson. He played this role against Arsenal and City this year and did well both times – he likes big games, so this could be right for him. It seems harsh to leave out Giggs and Nani but they’ll provide great options on the bench.

Up front, I’ve selected Berbatov. He can do the lone strikers role – he lead the line well away at City in the league this year. His selection will be key to keeping possession but will also rely on the midfield to supply and help him. Chicharito may struggle on his own against a strong City defence and off the bench would be a dangerous option. One shouldn’t totally rule out the possibility of a 4-4-2 and therefore a start for Chicharito or maybe even Owen.

United are on a run of 7 games won in a row and appear to have hit form at the perfect time. They are in fact only the 4th most in-form side in the league but the third most in-form away from home. So far to reach this stage in the cup, United have seen off Arsenal, Liverpool, Southampton and Crawley Town. It’s a competition that has alluded the club since 2004 when a record 11th FA Cup was won. A win would see United make a 19th final in the competition – this is a record 27th semi-final appearance. If Giggs plays he may be a lucky omen, he’s played in 7 previous FA Cup semi finals and never lost.

This will be the 8th meeting between the sides in the FA Cup. United hold a 5-2 advantage in the win column however, they have never scored away against City or at a neutral ground against City in this tournament. The most recent Cup meeting came in 2004 when United ran out 4-2 victors. In both 2004 and 1996, having knocked City out the cup, United went on to win it.

United have struggled for goals in the cup this year, just six in four games. However, they are 4 games unbeaten vs. their rivals and have only lost once (in the League Cup) since City were taken-over. This season United have drawn 0-0 at City but beat them 2-1 at Old Trafford and therefore have the edge in the head-to-head record. I believe that Tevez will be missed more than Rooney will be and that could be key. Both sides will be hungry to reach the final and ‘get one over’ their rivals. Therefore I shall predict a nervy 2-1 United win.

You can share with us your thoughts ahead of the match and your favourite moments from FA Cup games against Man City on our forum. You can read the City perspective on the game from our friends over at View From A Blue by clicking here.

These weren’t FA Cup moments, but I doubt anyone will complain…

AUTHOR: – Doron

Further Reading:
- Manchester City’s emphasis on a flat back four & getting the early goal

Manchester United booked their place in the last four after a 2-0 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford. Brazilian full back, who was operating on the left hand side of midfield, scored the opener midway through the first half before Wayne Rooney scored a header early in the second half. Both Arsenal and United had good chances throughout the match – however Edwin Van Der Sar put in a great performance to deny Arsenal time and time again. Many Reds are hoping that Sir Alex Ferguson can convince the Dutchman to change his mind on retirement and sign for another year. Here we discuss the talking points of today’s game and welcome and comments from both United and Arsenal fans.

Talking Points

Team Selection

With the exception of Alex Song and Cesc Fabregas – the outfield ten looked pretty much the strongest side Arsenal could pick, whilst United fans were left scratching their heads when it was announced that Rafael, O’Shea, Gibson and Fabio would make up a four man midfield. If starting O’Shea, who hasn’t played in the centre of midfield since the 2-1 victory over Wolves, in midfield along side an under fire Gibson wasn’t enough – then the thought of two fullbacks pushed on into wide left and right areas maybe didn’t fill me with great confidence to be honest. However, all four put in decent performance to combat Arsenal’s passing style through the middle of the park.

United’s first goal was made in Brazil, as Rafael and Fabio exchanged passes on the edge of the Arsenal box before a Hernandez header was parried into the path of the onrushing Fabio who smashed the ball into the top of the net. Fabio’s first goal for United only came last month in the 4-0 victory of Wigan Athletic and brother Rafael’s first goal for the club was against Arsenal in the 2-1 defeat back in 2008 at the Emirates. Fabio was withdrawn at halftime, and I have spoken before about a little concern that Fabio hasn’t completed the majority of games he has featured in for the first team.

The shape of United changed in the second half due to the introduction of Antonio Valencia – who has been out of action since September last year – as Ferguson shifted to a 4-3-3 with Rooney operating on the left hand side, Hernandez through the middle and Valencia on the right. United’s central trio was changed from O’Shea, Rafael and Gibson to Giggs, Scholes and Gibson – with O’Shea dropping back into defense. The team selection was an eyebrow raiser at first but looking ahead to Marseille, Ferguson made the correct move to rest players that will be involved and demonstrate that he believes he has a squad capable of challenging on multiple fronts.

Edwin Van Der Sar, Wayne Rooney & Jack Wilshere

We are massive supporters of Edwin Van Der Sar at www.stretford-end.com, and his retirement at the end of the season is a massive blow to United who will have to try and find a replacement for one of the best goalkeepers ever at the club. Against Arsenal he demonstrated he still has superb reflexes, distribution and is an still an assured shot stopper. Chants of ‘one more year’ and ‘Fergie sign him up’ rang around Old Trafford in the hope that Sir Alex Ferguson may be able to change his mind. Marouane Chamakh should have beaten him from a header, however Van Der Sar got across to his right to stop, what turned out to be, a tame effort from the Arsenal substitute. A superb performance from United’s number 1 and a reminder that he still has so much to offer at the top level,

Wayne Rooney’s has at an awful season in comparison to previous years – however, I must say that he was excellent against Arsenal. Rooney got on the score sheet early in the second half with a header to the far post that spun off the surface. His distribution, vision, selfless running and tracking back on the left hand side was exceptional. Glenn Hoddle or David Beckham would have been extremely proud with some of his cross field passes from left to right to find Valencia, whilst his deft touches and through balls were a constant worry for Djourou and Koscielny. Hopefully Rooney can find some consistency and hit top form as we approach the business end of the season.

Lastly, I was again very impressed with Arsenal’s youngster Jack Wilshere – who must surely win the PFA Young Player of the year award. Although some his Twitter ramblings (as with many players that sign up to the social networking site) may appear somewhat juvenile at times, his talent and style of play resembles that of a player who has played first team football for many years. What I like about the lad is his acceleration to get away from his marker into space once he has played the pass. These driving runs from midfield draw players into him, which allows him to dribble or pass to a team mate. If Fabregas does leave in the summer for Catalonia, I doubt Arsenal fans will be as concerned as they were last year after the impressive emergence of Wilshere.

Valencia back & Smalling impressive again

What a great sight it is to see Antonio Valencia galloping again down the right hand side of the pitch. The Ecuadorian winger suffered a horrendous leg break in September in the 0-0 draw with Rangers but made his comeback at half time against Arsenal. Valencia had an impressive debut season at Old Trafford, hitting the back of the net six times and accumulating twelve assists. He was expected to be a big player in United’s season – however, progress was halted due to his injury. Stretty Rant blogger Bricki wrote an informative piece on Valencia being United’s ace in the pack for the season – sooner rather than later, we are going to find out.

Chris Smalling continues to impress with his reading of the game, anticipation and composure – which were all on show against Arsenal. His ability to step into midfield and provide a counter attacking option is a signal that the boy is growing in confidence and can provide a useful counter attacking option when required. He was very unlucky (although I thought it was a penalty) against Chelsea two weeks ago with the challenge on Zhirkov, but he will learn from the experience and although I have no doubt that Ferdinand will partner Vidic if fit this season – next term may be a different story.

Match Conclusion

Manchester United were worthy 2-0 winners despite Arsenal having more chances. Edwin Van Der Sar put in a good performance, although United’s tactic of sitting deep and restricting Arsenal to wide areas worked yet again for Ferguson. Fabio’s opener highlighted the Brazilian’s urge to get forward and showed good anticipation to follow up on Hernandez’s header. Rooney’s header skimmed off the Old Trafford turf to slide into the far corner, with Almunia scarpering on the floor.

Ferguson’s decision to go with a makeshift midfield in preparation for the Champions League tie with Marseille worked a treat – with the versatile twins impressing. Arsenal now only have the Premier League to concentrate on, after being eliminated from two cups in a week – something that could bode well for the North London club when the games start to come thick and fast for United. I wouldn’t swap our position for Arsenal’s at all – however, I remember in 2007 when United simply ‘ran out of steam’ and were eliminated from the Champions League by Milan and lost to Chelsea 1-0 in a dire FA Cup final. The games do stack up but hopefully with Valencia’s return, Hernandez’s continued form and players eager to prove their worth – we won’t have a repeat of the rainy night in the San Siro.

United’s next match is at home to Marseille on Tuesday.

AUTHOR: – Doron

Manchester United and Arsenal have played out some classic FA Cup fixtures in the past 20 years. United fans will naturally think back to Giggs at Villa Park, whereas Arsenal fans may remember Edu’s deflected free kick and Giggs open goal miss in 2003. Tomorrow’s game comes at a tricky time for both sides and in many ways the FA Cup this year may represent the best chance of a trophy for either side, with neither seemingly wanting to put a firm grasp on the league.

Arsenal’s season to date has been a mixed bag. There have been stunning performances, crumbling defeats, maturity, immaturity and ultimately so far disappointment. That said, they’re still very much in the race for the league title and are potentially 90 minutes from Wembley and an FA Cup semi final. The recent loss in the Carling Cup final was quickly glossed over as attention turned to trying to beat Barcelona in the Champions League. Injuries, refereeing and ultimately being outclassed saw them lose in Spain and has given this tie against Man United a bigger importance.

It’s incredibly hard to judge the mentality at Arsenal at the moment. There is no doubting that the players feel sorry for themselves, various comments on Twitter prove that. Wenger has taken a leaf out of Ferguson’s book and expressed his real feelings towards UEFA, branding them “arrogant”. Yet, this game is the perfect opportunity for the club to rally round, go to Manchester and get a morale boosting win whilst also making United suffer a third straight defeat. What’s more, despite Ferguson this morning denying that the result would have any effect on the title, defeat for either side would certainly give their opposition the psychological edge ahead of next month’s crucial game at the Emirates.

Arsenal didn’t invest in January but have instead seen new summer signing, Laurent Koscielny grow in confidence as he learns the English game. Lately his performances have been increasingly solid and he has certainly played a part in helping Arsenal to have the third best defence in the league (behind Chelsea and Man City). Like Koscielny, Nasri has matured this season and become a tricky inside winger. His performances have been so good that he’s hotly tipped for the Player of The Year award. It would be wrong of me not to highlight Jack Wilshere too. Surely the Young Player of The Year award will be his. He appears never to be fazed and rarely a game goes by now where he’s not Arsenal’s best performer. His ability to pass, dribble, surprise and make the correct decisions are reminiscent of a young Paul Gascoigne.

Yet, for all the positives, the same old problems remain for Arsenal. The most striking is the lack of a natural leader. Fabregas at times looks like he needs someone leading him and there always seems to be an implosion around the corner. The goalkeeping area still provides problems. The prodigious talent, Wojciech Szczęsny has taken his chance well but it hasn’t been error free. Almunia appears to be close to the exit and Fabianski has done well in patches but like Szczęsny, he’s fallen victim to another problem – injuries. For whatever reason, be it bad lack, injury prone players, or something in training; Arsenal seem to always have injury problems. These injuries will force Almunia to start in goal tomorrow and youngster James Shea has had to be recalled from a loan as cover. Walcott, Song, Vermaelen and Fabregas all would have possibly started will miss the tie too. On the plus side, Van Persie does seem to be fit and will captain Arsenal.

Arsenal’s style is unique in English football. Their formation, a 4-2-3-1, enables them to play short passes, have clever movement, sees pace throughout and their ability to keep the ball can all be associated with how they try to play football. United have struggled this season when playing teams who have men moving between the lines – only last weekend did Suarez and Kuyt highlight this frailty. However, tactically, Ferguson got it spot on against Arsenal back in December and Arsenal didn’t really ever threaten the United goal.

United have had six days to prepare for this game whereas Arsenal will have only had four. Arsenal’s form in all competitions has seen only two wins in the last six games (against Leyton Orient and Wolves). However, taking league form alone, they are the most in-form side, taking 14 points from the last 18 available. Similarly, away from home in the league, they are the most in-form team too, with 11 points taken from the last possible 18.

Arsenal are yet to face a Premier League side in the cup. This will be their sixth game after both Leeds and Leyton Orient took them to replays. Those ties were broken up by a narrow victory over Huddersfield. For the past six years Arsenal have gone out to opposition in the top flight – victory for either team would see a record 27th semi final reached in the competition.

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

Despite Sir Alex telling the press today he’d play his “strongest team”, I have my doubts. He was very quick to suggest that the result of the game would mean little in the title race which seemed to me to be covering already in case of defeat. The 4-5-1 we played in December worked well against Arsenal and despite wanting to see a 4-4-2 at home, I think we have to match how Arsenal will set up. With a game against Marseille just three days later on Tuesday, I think players will be rested with that in mind – Giggs and Scholes notably.

So with Tuesday in mind I’ve picked a very changed line-up that I expect may people to disagree with. I’ve picked Lindegaard in goal, in front of what should be a solid back four of Rafael, Vidic – fresh from his suspension, Smalling and young Fabio. Evra needs a break, at Anfield he didn’t look fit and at times made running look awkward. Rio Ferdinand remains absent and it’s not clear when he could return – be it on Tuesday or in a month.

The midfield area causes some problems. Anderson remains out, as does Hargreaves. With Scholes needed on Tuesday, I’ve picked Carrick sitting deepest with Fletcher and Gibson ahead of him. One feature of Gibson’s game we’ve seen lately are surging runs forward. Away at Marseille he was often the man getting high up to join the striker. There’s no reason why he can’t do this again. However this will no doubt come with big responsibility as it may also be his job to try and keep Wilshere quiet. On the wings, only Giggs is fit. Neither Park nor Valencia are ready for returns and Nani is out for an unspecified length of time. Like Scholes, Giggs will be needed on Tuesday so this provides a chance for Obertan to impress in a big game and in a strong line-up. On the other side, I can see Rooney being asked to do a job on the wing. Up front, I’ve selected Chicharito ahead of Berbatov as I think his movement could cause Arsenal problems and Berbatov is likely to start on Tuesday.

United are looking to try and avoid three defeats in a row having lost at Anfield and Stamford Bridge. They are in fact only the 9th most in-form side in the league but have won the last 8 games at Old Trafford. It’s 23 games in total since they last lost at Old Trafford. So far to reach this stage in the cup, United have seen off Liverpool, Southampton and Crawley Town. It’s a competition that has alluded the club since 2004 when a record 11th FA Cup was won.

This will be the 14th meeting between the sides in the FA Cup. United hold a 6-5 advantage in the win column however, one of the drawn games was won by Arsenal on penalties – an infamously one sided final in 2005 that haunts United fans. The most recent Cup meeting came in 2008 when United ran out 4-0 victors. There is a lot of history associated with this fixture and the videos at the bottom will recall some highlights for Reds.

United have struggled for goals in the cup this year, just four in three games. I think both sides will be hungry for success but I think United will have more than half an eye on Tuesday’s game. Based on my predicted team, call me a pessimist but I can see this game going to a replay. Hence I shall predict a 1-1 draw.

You can share with us your thoughts ahead of the match and your favourite moments from FA Cup games against Arsenal on our forum.

As promised, here are some of the better memories from FA Cup matches against Arsenal:

1982/83 FA Cup semi final win:

That semi-final in 1999:

“It’s a wonderful run from Giggs…”:

2004 semi-final triumph with Fletcher at the heart of it:

Crushing 4-0 win in 2008:

AUTHOR: – Doron

There’s a place in the quarter finals of the FA Cup available as United host non-league Crawley Town. This is a new fixture for United in competitive football as Crawley will be the 205th team they’ve ever faced. Is a shock on the cards?

Crawley Town can potentially cause the biggest upset in the FA Cup ever. United are 93 places about the Blue Square Bet Premier team but do have experience playing against lower league teams having faced Burton Albion and Exeter City in recent years.

Crawley have built up a reputation for being aggressive, cocky and having a care-free attitude towards larger teams. In a Garry Cook style, manager Steve Evans (a United fan) has announced that his side will cause the “biggest shock the world has ever seen” and said after, “I think that we are genuinely one of the teams that could possibly get a positive result there”. To get to this stage Crawley have already played 6 cup games, beating Newport County, Guiseley, Swindon (with the help of a replay), Derby and Torquay.

For a non-league club, Crawley have been able to spend as much as the whole of League 2 combined in transfers. So much so, that they are 2nd in the Blue Square Bet Premier, 3 points behind AFC Wimbledon but with four games in hand. In the league, Crawley have only conceded 20 goals in their 28 games, the best defence in the league. It’s been in front of goal though that one of their players has made a name for himself. Matt Tubbs, once of Bolton has scored 25 league goals in the 27 games he’s played this season. He got the winner at Torquay to take his tally to three in the FA Cup. His excellent goalscoring has seen him linked with various Championship clubs.

Crawley only have a few players unavailable for this tie – midfielder Scott Neilson will miss the game having failed to recover from a foot injury. Pablo Mills was rested for Tuesday’s draw against Wrexham but is expected to return, whilst John Dempster and Josh Simpson are both cup-tied having played in previous rounds for Kettering and Southend respectively.

Crawley’s form this season has been excellent. In 2011 they are unbeaten and will come into this game having drawn away at Wrexham on Tuesday night. Their last defeat came over 2 months ago against Dartford in The FA Carlsberg Trophy. Before that one has to go back to the 16th October to find their last league defeat. Progress to the quarter finals will see Crawley become the first non-league side ever to reach that stage of the FA CUP (NB in 1978 Blyth Spartans were in the hat for the quarter finals but only because they drew their 5th round game, they didn’t win the replay).

Enough on Crawley town…onto United and my predicted line up:

Fergie has either given it all away or told a massive lie in the build up to this one. In this morning’s press conference he pretty much named his starting XI but even so there are a few question marks over the formation the team will play and just who might start where.

In terms of who won’t play; Evans, Ferdinand, Park, Hargreaves and Valencia are out. Valencia is though due to start training with the first team soon. Michael Owen would have started but he has a groin injury and Fergie has said the club have no need to risk him in this game. Edwin, Giggs and Scholes are likely to be rested altogether along with other first team players.

Lindegaard is expected to start in goal with Kuszczak seemingly demoted to 3rd choice. Ferguson has confirmed that Rafael, O’Shea, Brown and Fabio will all play but hinted that Smalling could too. To me it seems strange that the right back who’d start against Marseille will play as the risk of injury isn’t worth it. Similarly, if Rio is not going to be fit for Marseille, it makes little sense to play Smalling. Should Smalling play and partner Wes it leaves three genuine options available: 1. Rafael goes to right back with Fabio left back and O’Shea is rested for Marseille; 2. O’Shea goes to right back with Fabio left back and Rafael is rested for Marseille; or 3. Rafael goes to right back with O’Shea left back and Fabio plays either on the left wing or as a central midfielder – a position he’s been playing in lately for the Reserves.

Like Ferguson named his defenders, he also named the midfielders – Carrick, Gibson and Anderson are likely to start in the middle with Obertan and Bebe as wide forwards. Chicharito will play as a lone striker. Alternatively, one of Bebe or Obertan may play with Chicharito in the middle and one of the central midfielders could be asked to play wide. Again, with Marseille coming up it would make sense to keep one of Carrick or Anderson free if United are going to play three in the middle in France too. Many fans will hoping to see some of the kids named on the bench for this one – Joshua King, Ravel Morrison, Paul Pogba and Ryan Tunnicliffe all stand a decent chance after impressing in recent weeks.

United come into this game after a huge 2-1 victory over Man City last weekend. Untied have won five of their last six games and are searching for an 8th straight home win in all competitions. United are in fact unbeaten at home in 22 games, stretching back to the visit of Chelsea last April. So far to get to this stage they’ve overcome Liverpool and Southampton. No team has won the FA Cup more than United and they’ll look to extend that record to 12 wins this year (and a first since 2004). Last year’s cup-run ended before it had started with a 3rd round home defeat against Leeds – the one defeat to lower league opposition in the last 30 lower league ties. Burton and Exeter both managed to take United to replays in 2005 and 2006 – United will be hoping to get the job done inside 90 minutes tomorrow.

Despite the magic of the cup, I think United will be too strong for Crawley with fitness levels in particular being the key difference. I therefore predict a 5-1 win for United.

You can share with us your thoughts ahead of the match and your favourite FA Cup moments from games against lower league teams on the forum.

In the past six years, United have now traveled to St Mary’s three times to face Southampton in the FA Cup. On the two previous occasions (in 04/05, 08/09) United won handsomely; 4-0 and 3-0 respectively. However, last night United made it hard work for themselves in booking their place in the 5th round. A second string side, a rare tactical blunder by Fergie and the inclusion of some players that are getting a little bit of stick a the moment all contributed to the poor showing in the first half. The second half, after the inclusion of Giggs and Nani, was much better – with Michael Owen and Javier Hernandez getting on the scoresheet.

Talking Points

Darron Gibson

Not since the 03/04 season has a player come under so much scrutiny at Old Trafford. Darren Fletcher, Kieran Richardson and Diego Forlan were just some of then names that United fans weren’t too keen on when comparing to the Robsons, Keanes and Cantonas of days gone by. Darren Fletcher went on to become a key member of United’s squad, Richardson was sold to Sunderland and Diego Forlan proved many doubters wrong twice winning the European Golden boot, in 2004/05 and 2008/09. Darron Gibson made has first team debut in the League Cup back in 2005 against Barnet – has the Irishman done enough in the past six years to warrant a place in United’s first Xi or squad?

There is no doubt that Gibson has a fierce shot on him, that is obvious. However, there has been much criticism against him for his all round game – but is it justified? Gibson has been substituted in his last two games for United, both away games to Blackpool and Southampton. You could argue that Gibson was indeed a casualty of Ferguson getting his system wrong on both occasions. Gibson was replaced both times by Ryan Giggs as Ferguson changed the system. Giggs is clearly much more at home in wider areas that Gibson will ever be. So should we be so harsh on Gibson considering he has had to try and adapt to a position or a system alien to him? His best position is clearly in a midfield three where he can get forward and get strikes on goal.

Regular readers of www.stretford-end.com will know that we store stats and present all appearances, goals, assists in our Manchester United statistics section. You can view Darron Gibson’s profile also and examine his appearances and goals for the 2010/11 campaign:

We can’t assess his passing/shooting stats in the cup games his has played in (3 in domestic cup and 1 Champions League appearance against), however we can do for the Premier League:

Ok, hands up – who is a little surprised with his passing ratio? Forget the Liverpool game as he was only on the field of play for two minutes with United leading 3-2 through a superb Dimitar Berbatov hat-trick. What this table tells is that Gibson’s passing and ball retention is no where near as bad as some Reds make out. He has not yet completed a full 90 minutes for United in the Premier League so far, which is a huge factor for a player trying to establish himself in the first Xi. When he has come on as a substitute there is no doubt he has specific instructions from the coaching staff, which will impact his natural game. Every game that Gibson has come on in the Premier League, United have been winning and have gone onto win – with the exception of WBA, which saw Edwin Van Der Sar gift the Baggies a second goal.

His one assist has came in the 1-1 draw with Birmingham City, which United led until the 90th minute before a Lee Bowyer strike. So if we look at the games Gibson started in: Birmingham away, Stoke City home and Blackpool away – the result when Gibson was on the pitch is – 1-0 United, 1-1 and 2-0 Blackpool. United went on to draw the first game after a controversial goal, beat Stoke City 2-1 (after a Nani goal a minute after Gibson was substituted) and beat Blackpool 3-2 after a superb second half come back. So after reading all of this, seeing the stats and the fact that Gibson hasn’t yet completed 90 mins, aren’t we being a little harsh on him? Surely, Ferguson is to blame for the two starting formations in the recent games – which saw Gibson’s arguably worst performances. Is he United class? For me the jury is still out, but I think many fans are being far too critical of a player who is still trying to establish himself in the first Xi. Fergie obviously still has doubts, considering he can’t trust the Irishman for a whole Premier League fixture. What do you think?

Michael Owen’s deep role

Michael Owen has only started four games this season for United (with one of the games being in the Community Shield), however his performance yesterday highlighted that the former England striker still has a lot to offer, even if as a bit part player. When Michael Owen was being offered around Europe after his indifferent season at Real Madrid, it was quite strange that not one top European Club (i.e. of Champions League pedigree) went in for Owen. Could it have been that more was required from a forward than the artillery in Michael Owen arsenal? Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Dimitar Berbatov all made big money moves over the past decade as the shift towards a powerful dynamic centre forward surpassed the need for the ‘goal poacher’ of modern fay football.

In the past year and half, Owen has worked on his link up play a lot more and yesterday was an example of what he still has to offer to Manchester United, albeit against lesser opposition. As defences reduced the space in between the goal keeper and the backline, there is far less room for the Inzaghi’s of this world to work in. Owen will get you goals, as was demonstrated with his excellent header yesterday. He has all the natural instincts still in front of goal – even if he pace has declined somewhat over the years due to his injury woes. I was impressed with him yesterday and I think it is a credit to him that he has worked on his game to adapt to the demands of what a modern day forward now needs to offer as well as provide an alternative option in a deeper role behind the traditional striker’s position.

You can view Michael Owen’s 2010/11 stats here.

Ferguson getting tactics wrong

Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday admitted that he got his tactics wrong at St Mary’s, which could probably have been said for the poor first half last Tuesday against a high tempo Blackpool side. United have always been renowned for their width and have had some fine wingers over the years including – Cristiano Ronaldo, Andrei Kanchelskis, George Best, Steve Coppell, Gordon Hill, Lee Sharpe and of course Ryan Giggs – however, United’s diamond formation was a shift away from United’s usual setup. Ferguson was quoted as saying:

“Sometimes we make it difficult for ourselves but, in fairness, I maybe meddled with the system too much We tried a diamond in the middle of the pitch and, of course, Manchester United are used to playing with width all the time and I think that was a problem for us. It wasn’t working at all. We had some possession of the ball but we never threatened. The goal we lost right on half-time motivated us to do better.”

Although the setup wasn’t a raging success yesterday, can you see the diamond formation working sometime in the future?

Match Conclusion

Manchester United fought back for the second time in the space of a week to beat Southampton at St Mary’s at march on to the 5th round of the FA Cup. Southampton went 1-0 up just on the stroke of half time after an impressive strike from Chaplow. Chaplow burst into the area to smash a right footed shot past United’s debutant Anders Lindegaard and round of a miserable first half for a toothless United. Ferguson changed the formation and brought on three experienced players in Brown, Nani and Giggs – which made a massive difference to United’s play. Michael Owen scored a superb header to equalise in the 65th minutes after a deflected cross from Gabriel Obertan. Ten minutes later Giggs intercepted a Dickson pass and fed in Hernandez, who struck a right footed shot past the trailing Bialkowski. Hernandez scored his 11th goal of the season and 2nd in two games – which proved to be the winner for United.

Next up are Aston Villa on Tuesday, who appear to be coming into a bit of form of late. Villa beat Blackburn Rovers 3-1 in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Manchester United will travel to Southampton on Saturday to continue their FA Cup campaign. United have officially made it one round further in the FA Cup than they did last season. Everyone will of course remember last season’s heartbreaking exit in the third round against Leeds United. However, a win over Liverpool at Old Trafford means United is now onto the fourth round.

The last time United met Southampton was in this very competition two season ago. On that day United took the spoils with a goal a piece from Danny Welbeck, Nani, and Darron Gibson. Although Southampton are currently only in League One does not mean they should be underestimated. The Saints occupy fourth place in League One and are among the favourites to earn promotion to the Championship this season. Southampton is also home of one of this transfer window’s most coveted youngsters, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The midfielder has become well-known for his deadly pace which has seen him linked to Arsenal, Liverpool, and even Manchester United.

Although Southampton should not be underestimated, I think that Sir Alex Ferguson can still afford to rest a few of his big names. And after the miserable first half performance on Tuesday, I think avoiding the 4-3-3 may be our best option. This, admittedly, is wishful thinking, but I would like to see Anders Lindegaard make his debut in this fixture. Rafael has been ruled out after suffering a concussion against Blackpool, so I expect to see Wes Brown deputize. Rio Ferdinand has also been struggling with injury, so rather than risk him, Chris Smalling deserves to continue his run in the team. Patrice Evra has been ever present in the side and could do with some rest, so Fabio may get a rare chance in the first team. Nemanja Vidic should stay in the side to provide leadership and offer an experienced head in the defence.

In midfield, I would restore Anderson and Michael Carrick to the first team, assuming the Carrick has recovered from his injury. The midfield struggled against Blackpool and needs a facelift ahead of this fixture. Ryan Giggs was the saving grace when he came on at halftime on Tuesday, and that should earn him a spot in the XI with Nani on the opposite wing. As for the strikers, why fix something that isn’t broken? Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez are in form and should be the forward duo to face Southampton.

United’s last FA Cup success came in 2004, which is far too long ago for my liking. With 11 FA Cup titles to their name, United is the competition’s most successful club. It goes without saying that winning a record 19th league title is the focus, but I’d love nothing more than for United to bring the FA Cup home once again.

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