Reds Masterclass destroys Schalke fortress
What they said
19 shots, 10 on target, 67% possession, 86% passing success rate... All of these figures mean nothing. The ones that matters are these:
Schalke - 0 goals
United - 2 goals
Make no mistake about it, like or loath us, last night was one of the finest European performances to be produced by United in a long time. At no point were we ever threatened at the back.
The build up to the game made it sound like a potential banana skin. The crowd were noisy, the pitch intimidatingly close to the fans and as for their home record in the CL this season?
Schalke 2-0 Benfica
Schalke 3-1 Tel Aviv
Schalke 3-0 Lyon
Schalke 3-1 Valencia
Schalke 2-1 Milan
That's 6 WINS, 13 GOALS FOR, 3 GOALS AGAINST.
Before anybody suggests Schalke are not worthy of playing at this level and are poor think again - nobody at this level of a competition is poor.
We must truly appreciate the performance we had the pleasure of witnessing.
Team
Very pleased with team selection. Interesting to see Fabio was retained instead of Rafael coming back into the fold. Can see a twin battle emerging there. Question is could they play together as a winger/full-back combination down one side? Would love to see it but we'd have difficult working out who's who! Elsewhere the bionic Ryan Giggs partnering Carrick in centre midfield with two DEFENSIVELY able wingers picked ahead of Nani, who generally operates a third striker was wise. Finally, the growing partnership of Rooney & Hernandez was displayed once again. No Michael Owen on the bench - pity as would have loved to see him get a few mins at the end especially with being 2-0 up.
Neuer(ly) 6, 7 or even 8!
For all the good points I've mentioned so far and will continue to do so below, there was a point last night, several actually, where I was getting very frustrated! For all of our exceptional passing and free movement we were severely lacking an end-product. Arsenalesque you might say.
This was down to non-clinical finishing but also to, in my opinion, the best goalkeeper in world football at this moment in time. I've never seen Hernandez have that many shots before and not score! Neuer's double save from Park & Hernandez in the first half (that was unbeknown to the players offside) showed this keepers true power, spreading himself & narrowing the angle. I read several discussions suggesting his communication is lacking somewhat but the way their CBs played I'm not too sure what difference this would have made. His throwing ability brought back memories of a certain Great Dane. After the game did you see Fergie have a cheeky little conversation? He has stated he has no intention of playing for us so we'll close that Chapter but what a phenomenal goalkeeping performance we witnessed.
I honestly felt the turning point happened when Hernandez had his goal rightfully ruled offside. At that point there was a belief that we could actually beat him.
Goals
1 - There are certain moments in football where you truly appreciate a pass is as good as, if not better, than a goal. The finish from Giggs was simple - through the legs of Neuer but let's take a step back. Rooney picked up the ball side on to goal, managed to shrug of the first tackle and played a perfectly weighted, reverse pass that deceived an entire GERMAN defence to put Giggs in. Absolutely magnificent!
2 - "Route 1". Watch the goal and count the touches from VDS-Goal - 5! VDS, it bounced, Valencia helped it on and there was Hernandez to tease the defender before threading in Rooney who finished first time to well and truly bury the memories from 06 at this stadium but more importantly Schalke out of the game. Both goals came less than 3 minutes apart and Schalke looked like a truly beaten side - if they weren't looking fatigued already.
I don't think we've ever had a more difficult game to choose a man of the match: Hernandez's tireless work-rate causing nightmares, Valencia's constant threat down the right, Fabio's continuous overlapping, Park's nuclear powered engine, Giggs' dictatorship in midfield or Rooney's performance that somebody quoted last night to be "that good you can't put it into words"? So many choices. My vote goes to... none of the above. Yes everybody was remarkable but there was one player that allowed this to happen: Michael Carrick.
Last night, Michael Carrick had a pass success rate of almost 90%, having passed the ball over 110 times. That, in a CL semi-final, away from home is unquestionable. The fact this consisted of both and long/short passes with either foot is all the more impressive. He was always there available to receive and collect. He sat back, protected Vidic & Ferdinand, consequently allowing Giggs to burst forwards as we saw on several occasions.
For me, the only difference between Michael Carrick and a world class holding midfielder is he has the ability in his locker to well and truly [Insert Expletive's Here] so badly it can change the course of a season in big games.
Chelsea a couple of seasons ago and City this season spring to mind.
Nonetheless, he is the first name on the team shirt regarding central midfield right now and assuming he stays both injury and error free could be the difference between 0, 1 or even 2 trophies come-what May. Watch this space.
Final Thoughts
I said on Twitter before we played last night I was worried about the game. I genuinly was but after 5 minutes I realised Schalke were there for the taking and we rightly completed a professional job in a full-hearted display.
If we progress to the final, which I fully expect us to, we will be the first side in history to do so without conceding an away goal. Even more impressive is we have won as many away games in Europe as the Premier league!
Funny how the attacking flair, movement and resurgence of our best player has coincided with the recent documentary United. Last night was an away performance fitting to the Babes' of 58' - the icing on the cake is just 180 minutes away.
COME ON BOYS!!!
Brilliant game and a well deserved result, best Man United performance I have seen in Europe for a long time. Maybe this will be a season to remember and we will only get stronger, considering they are changing the rules for Europe. I think we can dominate for years to come with Macheda coming back too, things can only get better :)
ReplyDeleteYep an absolutely fantastic result. We really did deserve it and more if it wasn't for Neuer!
ReplyDeleteSo many things I didn't get in there though - such as would looking at singing someone such as Sneijder disrupt the way Rooney plays? I mean the way in which he dropped deep last night was like watching a kid in the park. Him & Hernandez are a partnership made in heaven.
Interesting you mention Macheda though - you think he'll come back and command a place? What about Wellbeck who's been equally as good?
Thanks for taking the time to read & post a reply :)