I was really looking forward to last night's game, for the first time this season i was genuinely excited ahead of the game. And yet, I don't really know why, I'd read all the bloggers and journo's discussing how Moyes would use his new signing Mata. All the talk was of Moyes changing formations to a 4-2-3-1 or a forward line of Rooney, Van Persie, Mata and Januzaj. Which was pretty much all nonsense to my mind. All the evidence suggests Moyes is going to religiously stick to 4-4-2, and if that's so, he won't be pairing that four together too often. And with Rooney and Van Persie both miraculously back from injury just in time for Mata's debut, there was little likelihood of both of them starting. The only surprise to me was that it was Van Persie starting not Rooney.
The reason why I should have known better was that I've been saying all season, that one signing isn't going to make that much of a difference. And when I saw the line up, reality kicked in, and the giddiness evaporated.
United started well, but as I'd suspected it was a rigid 4-4-2, Young and Mr. undroppable Valencia on the flanks with Mata behind Van Persie. That's not really that much of an upgrade is it, but when the midfield two behind it is Giggs and Jones, you realise that Mata's signing is surely more about the future, than it is about the here and now. United's early pressure counted when at the third attempt Van Persie headed home, after Valencia should have opened the scoring himself.
United never really kicked on from there, sure they had moments where we threatened a second, but we never really bossed the game or laid siege to their goal. Mata had a reasonable debut, but with so much mediocrity around him, it would have been hard for anybody to truly shine.
Once again we couldn't dominate a bottom of the table side, and this is something that becomes more embarrassing by the week. The blame for that will be shoved at central midfield's door, and whilst that is a big part of the problem, it's not the total answer. It starts from the back, we are finding out just how indispensable Ferdinand was to our style of play, comfortable on the ball and bringing it out from the back.
We just seem to have too many players who are not as comfortable on the ball as a Manchester United player should be. I've never been sure whether Evans was really top draw or not, he seems to be a real confidence player, when he had Ferdinand astride him he looked a real United player, alas with Smalling at the side of him, he just, doesn't. And as for Smalling, he's a reasonable defender, but he really isn't good enough on the ball, which as I have said before is odd, because when he was first bought, that seemed to be one of his strengths.
Add an Evra that's sadly seen better days, a Rafael that seems to blow hot or cold and you see that the base or spine of the team is something that even bottom of the table sides shouldn't be and aren't scared off.
As with many others, I suspect, I felt relief as much joy when the second goal went in, mainly on the assumption that this was one game we weren't going to fuck up. It was a nice goal from Young, but whilst he didn't have a particularly bad game, he is one of the many players who I would describe as just not good enough to be a Manchester United player. On the other side Valencia was equally unconvincing, though he was unlucky not to get on the score sheet when he hit the upright in the second half.
As for Cardiff, under the returning hero Ole Gunnar Solsjaer, it's hard to see much grounds for optimism in their relegation battle. Yes they kept the ball well, when they had it, which was more than it should have been from our point of view. But they never really threatened to get on the score sheet, last night was one of the few games we've had this season, where you felt as confident as we are presently able to feel, that we would keep a clean sheet.
So three points and it's onwards and upwards, well, we can only dream.
The reason why I should have known better was that I've been saying all season, that one signing isn't going to make that much of a difference. And when I saw the line up, reality kicked in, and the giddiness evaporated.
United started well, but as I'd suspected it was a rigid 4-4-2, Young and Mr. undroppable Valencia on the flanks with Mata behind Van Persie. That's not really that much of an upgrade is it, but when the midfield two behind it is Giggs and Jones, you realise that Mata's signing is surely more about the future, than it is about the here and now. United's early pressure counted when at the third attempt Van Persie headed home, after Valencia should have opened the scoring himself.
United never really kicked on from there, sure they had moments where we threatened a second, but we never really bossed the game or laid siege to their goal. Mata had a reasonable debut, but with so much mediocrity around him, it would have been hard for anybody to truly shine.
Once again we couldn't dominate a bottom of the table side, and this is something that becomes more embarrassing by the week. The blame for that will be shoved at central midfield's door, and whilst that is a big part of the problem, it's not the total answer. It starts from the back, we are finding out just how indispensable Ferdinand was to our style of play, comfortable on the ball and bringing it out from the back.
We just seem to have too many players who are not as comfortable on the ball as a Manchester United player should be. I've never been sure whether Evans was really top draw or not, he seems to be a real confidence player, when he had Ferdinand astride him he looked a real United player, alas with Smalling at the side of him, he just, doesn't. And as for Smalling, he's a reasonable defender, but he really isn't good enough on the ball, which as I have said before is odd, because when he was first bought, that seemed to be one of his strengths.
Add an Evra that's sadly seen better days, a Rafael that seems to blow hot or cold and you see that the base or spine of the team is something that even bottom of the table sides shouldn't be and aren't scared off.
As with many others, I suspect, I felt relief as much joy when the second goal went in, mainly on the assumption that this was one game we weren't going to fuck up. It was a nice goal from Young, but whilst he didn't have a particularly bad game, he is one of the many players who I would describe as just not good enough to be a Manchester United player. On the other side Valencia was equally unconvincing, though he was unlucky not to get on the score sheet when he hit the upright in the second half.
As for Cardiff, under the returning hero Ole Gunnar Solsjaer, it's hard to see much grounds for optimism in their relegation battle. Yes they kept the ball well, when they had it, which was more than it should have been from our point of view. But they never really threatened to get on the score sheet, last night was one of the few games we've had this season, where you felt as confident as we are presently able to feel, that we would keep a clean sheet.
So three points and it's onwards and upwards, well, we can only dream.
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