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Manchester United have been granted a brief reprieve with their 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Stoke City today. But for many supporters, the performance of the team for the majority of the match was extremely poor. If it weren’t for the efforts of Wayne Rooney, Adnan Januzaj, David de Gea and Chicharito, the Red Devils would have been answering some serious questions following the match at Old Trafford.
For die-hard United supporters, they will be hoping this match is a turning point in the season and the post-Alex Ferguson era. Perhaps the game is invoking thoughts of past United squads who played poorly, but still found ways to leave with the three points. But that answer won’t be clear until the club puts a string of wins together.
As stated in earlier articles, <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/2013/09/28/why-manchester-united-are-having-their-worst-start-for-24-years/">Manchester United’s issues are numerous</a> and have been progressing over time. The retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, a lack of activity in the summer transfer window, and David Moyes’ inexperience at a ‘big’ club have all been excuses used by supporters and members of the media.
United has staggered through the early parts of the Premier League season. Stories have been floated by news outlets stating that Manchester United will be investing heavily during the January transfer window. But as most football fans are aware, it is rare and difficult for a club to improve its squad in the winter market.
So for United supporters hoping for a January windfall, here is a message: “Get used to the current players in Manchester United’s squad”. The names won’t be changing and this is the team who will be responsible for any success this season.
The early failures at Old Trafford are not the fault of David Moyes or his tactics. The negative product is direct result of management’s inability to buy top flight talent and the complacency/lack of focus of United players’.
The majority of blame lays on the squad’s shoulders. They openly accepted the challenge after the club’s failure to add quality.
Just after the summer window closed, Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said: “We’ve got a strong enough squad to win everything.” He went on to say, “We have quality at our disposal. We won the league at a canter last season and we’ve not become a bad team overnight. We believe strongly in what we have got.” His words were echoed by teammates and management.
To their credit, Manchester United players haven’t made excuses during their worst ever start to a Premier League season. Jonny Evans gave an interview to the Daily Mirror this week and said this:
“We are disappointed with our performance – we watched parts of our game back and we know our performance level wasn’t up to scratch,” he explained.
“I think the onus is on the players to step up, and show what we are capable of, as individuals and as a team, especially in possession.
“We have been giving the ball away too sloppily, and we know that as Manchester United, we need to control games in possession. We have to do better.
“As players know we haven’t played well enough, both as individuals and as a team. We have to look at ourselves and raise our performances,” he said.
But these words appear hollow…or a significant portion of the squad just doesn’t feel the same way about things.
These comments were made prior to Manchester United’s game against Stoke City. For the better part of the match versus Stoke, the majority of United player had been continuing to underachieve.
All the motivation and positive quotes are not going to save Manchester United’s season. These players have to regain the fire that was lost. United are being attacked and outworked by their Premier League opponents match after match.
The few positives for the club (the consistent performances of Wayne Rooney, David de Gea, and Adnan Januzaj) have been overshadowed by inconsistent performances, lack of focus, and erratic decision making of players such as Patrice Evra, Phil Jones, Tom Cleverley, and Nani.
Injuries to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have also affected the squad. Manchester United’s defense has been extremely disorganized in their absence. If those two players are going to miss an extended period of time, United supporters had better be patient while the new defensive unit learns to play with each other.
Bottom line for Manchester United is “talk is cheap”. At some point these players are going to have to back their words with strong performances. This doesn’t mean a stretch of good play for 15-20 minutes. The club needs to start stringing concentrated efforts for ninety minutes over a span of five or six games.
The answer to Manchester United’s season lies within the players.

Only The Players Can Save Manchester United’s Season - World Soccer Talk

Only The Players Can Save Manchester United’s Season

If today’s PFA Player of the Year shortlist shows us anything, announcing the player of the year with almost 6 weeks of the season left looks a stupid decision. With only Steven Gerrard not from Manchester United on the six player shortlist, it just shows how quickly things in football can change. What if Frank Lampards goals fire Chelsea to a treble this season? What if Arsenal win the Champions League? Could Manchester United miss out on the Premiership, F.A. Cup and Champions League yet have a player win the PFA award?
Has Edwin Van Der Saar really been the best Premiership goalkeeper this season? Surely Mark Schwarzer’s contribution for Fulham has been more important between the sticks, as perhaps Shay Given at Newcastle and Manchester City this season can claim too. Manchester United could play a snowman in goal sometimes and no-one would notice.
Liverpool have now only got one chance of silverware after Wednesdays classic Champions League Quarter Final say Chelsea edge them out, with Lampard once again dragging the Blues through. Lampard has now scored 19 goals in all competitions, 2 less than Gerrard and Ronaldo but has set up more goals for his team mates than those two put together.Ferdinand has been superb all season, Vidic has seen his form drift away since February.
I don’t understand why the PFA awards have to be announced so soon and the voting to be concluded before all the major trophies are handed out. Last season, it was obvious that Ronaldo was head and shoulders ahead of anyone else, won all the domestic player awards and then failed to deliver once again for Portugal, spent all Summer flirting with Real Madrid and then missed the beginning of the season through injury and still won the World Player of&nbsp; The Year Award.
This year, there is no stand out candidate, but for Lampard to be omitted is beyond a joke. During the final weeks of Scolari’s reign at Stamford Bridge, Lampard carried them single handed it seemed to try and keep them in as many competitions as possible, showing&nbsp; guts and determination throughout the chaos that seemed to be going on all around him. Are professional players that daft that they couldn’t see that?
The Young Player of the Year award seems even more ludicrous, only 3 of the candidates have truly played well all season. Ireland, Rafael and Lennon have been head and shoulders above the other 3 candidates, with Ireland being the stand out nomination. Of the other 3, Agbonlahor has scored 3 goals since Christmas, has Jonny Evans been that good all season&nbsp; and Ashley Young has been so inconsistent as to be almost laughable to be included in the final six.
How two Aston Villa players could be included when they’ve won 3 games out of their last 15 matches makes me think that the nominations must have been done on New Years Eve because Villa have fallen away so far and are in danger of finishing 6th when they had a good chance of finishing 3rd. Are there so few young players kicking around? Where’s Jack Rodwell? Mark Noble and Jack Collinson from West Ham have both had excellent seasons yet don’t feature at all.
Hopefully Ferdinand and Ireland will win the awards, but the nominations themselves just don’t make any sense at all. It’s time to move them to the end of the season when it actually matters.

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Leagues: EPL

Only The Players Can Save Manchester United’s Season

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The PFA Player Of The Year Shortlists Are A Joke