Another trip to Old Trafford, and another loss. Same old story. The problem is, were we ever even thinking of doing anything but lose? It's hard to believe we were.
Roeder has defended his decision to go along with a packed midfield and try to "hold out". Even though we didn't do that he almost sounded pleased that we'd lost 2-0, perhaps happy at avoiding a higher scoreline (which really only happened thanks to Harper's recovering form and some good fortune). That's all right then. No, it bloody well isn't.
First, even though Man U haven't been firing on all cylinders recently they are still too good a team to be held at bay for 90 minutes by a weak defence. Given that we have a weak defence it becomes self evident that the only way to get anything from the game is to actually score ourselves. That's not going to happen with Parker and Butt holding in the midfield and Ameobi lumbering half injured up front by himself. Try as hard as he might (and credit him that he tries) Ameobi is no Shearer (an inevitable comparison, but in this context justifiable). Where as maybe, just maybe, the genius of Shearer in holding the ball up might have made this work Ameobi isn't capable of doing that in the same way (and very few are, to be fair). So even with our one out ball finding its target, too often it's not going to stick long enough for support to arrive.
Then there is the squad fit and available. Not replete with world class defenders when fully fit and available, Roeder basically went with the only back four he could with what he had. It must be asked, why? He's obviously prepared to change the formation, it's just he's gone the wrong way. Given that even he seems to have been resigned to Man U scoring we should have played the best players we had available---those who attack. The way to get something from this game was to take the game to an off form Man U, whose star is badly misfiring, not sit back and capitulate to their perceived right to a victory. Of the four defenders available three were really centre backs. Play those three then. Duff can certainly play a "wing back" role, then find Milner or N'Zogbia or even Pattison to do so on the other side. Martins (a player who has still far from convinced me), high from his first home goals in mid-week, could get his chance to see how fast the opposition back four are, and Ameobi is a much better player with someone along side him. It's then even possible to play Butt and Parker still, in a nod to keeping things tight, whilst Emre runs the show. We might still have been hammered five or six, but we very nearly were anyway, and at least we would have tried, rather than blindly accepting our fate.
(@15:10)
