Manchester United expectedly clinched their place in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup with a 2-0 victory over struggling Championship side Barnsley on Tuesday with goals from Welbeck and Owen ensuring a return to winning ways following a highly disappointing result against Liverpool. Continuing with the tradition of using the Carling Cup as a platform for fielding young talent, Sir Alex handed out starts to the likes of Welbeck, Macheda, the Da Silva twins and Gabriel Obertan, who was making his debut for United. Others like Joshua King, Ritchie De Laet and Zoran Tosic were booked seats on the bench. Michael Owen got a start presumably to increase his match sharpness while Jonny Evans, Wes Brown and Gary Neville were roped in to lend an air of experience into the line-up.
Casting everything aside, let’s get straight to the point here which is player assessment of course. Since Obertan was making his debut, the spotlight was very much on him especially in the earlier stages. For me, he did not disappoint. From what I saw, he looked like a neat little player with some good, intelligent touches and passes. It was his quick one-two with Neville and a subsequent cross that earned us our first corner which subsequently led to Welbeck scoring our first. His raw pace was also on display in the first half and on two occasions it brought out late challenges from the Barnsley players leading to two yellow cards for them. Obertan did fade out in the second half but seeing as he is still feeling his way back from an injury, that was only expected. I know people seem to like Welbeck a lot, and his scoring a goal would have surely stoked their admiration, but somehow he does not manage to convince me. Sure he has pace and sure he makes some good direct runs but he is a very selfish player and his first touch is like that of an elephant. He gives away the ball quite frequently, something that might not hurt us against the likes of Burnley but something that would hurt us a lot if repeated at the highest level. Macheda, on the other hand, was far more composed yesterday but still needs to work a lot on polishing himself. With a physique like his, he could grow into a monster of a player. Owen scored a wonderful goal, turning back the clock by dancing through the defence and placing a precise shot past their ‘keeper. It should do his confidence a world of good and propel him to a few more Premier League goals.
As for our midfield, only Sir Alex can explain the reasons behind using Rafael as a center-midfield player. His positioning was suspect on a number of occasions and he was easily pushed over by the robust Barnsley midfielders. Anderson was decent for me, but not as good as I expected he would be. The defence, for me, was our biggest disappointment. Gary Neville yet again proved that he is not fast enough to command a regular right-back role in our first XI and jeopardized his future prospects by getting himself sent-off. He will now miss a total of three games and it is a sad assessment of his value when I say that he will not be missed. Wes Brown, on the other hand, was hard to categorise. He was a monster at times and there were other moments when he looked afraid of hurting himself and thereby, pulled himself out of challenges. Evans was mostly his reliable self except for a couple of instances when he lost out on aerial battles with their players. Fabio was well, Fabio. Energetic, eager to venture forward but almost always caught at the back. Foster was a muppet and apart from one world class save he was a joke. It says a lot about our defence when Barnsley had a mammoth 17 shots on goal and frankly, the 2-0 scoreline was a little flattering on us. Of course, the midfield hardly provided any cover for the defence and the blame should be apportioned. De Laet was also uninspiring in his substitute appearance while Tosic’s case was not helped by Neville’s sending off as he saw very little of the ball during the later stages.
We did win after all, so clearly we did not do everything wrong. Owen I thought was class, Obertan one to watch out for and there were some others calling out for a first-team selection. Foster was obviously not one of them and the time has come for Fergie to buy a new ‘keeper. Welbeck and Macheda were decent and need to be given more such run-outs. Brown, I think, deserves a role in the first team as does Evans. The Da Silva twins will need to work on their defensive abilities and if they do, we have some real potential there. Gibson, who was injured yesterday, is another who seems to catch my eye. Also, I implore Sir Alex to be fair on Tosic. Either play him or sell him. There is no point in destroying the career of a significantly talented lad simply because you do not seem to fancy him.
There you go. That’s my assessment. Feel free to agree or disagree.
P.S. Some of our supporters indulged in acts of vandalism last night which needs to be criticized. So here’s to doing away with hooliganism in football.
