Man Utd v Real Madrid: Player ratings

Manchester United:

David de Gea

Good first-half save from Gonzalo Higuain and a couple of smart stops late on for a keeper whose stock continues to rise. Helpless to prevent either goal. 7

Rafael da Silva

Removed the defensive impetuosity that caused him problems in the Bernabeu. His surging run led to United’s goal but lucky to escape censure for blocking a goal-bound effort with his arm. 7

Rio Ferdinand

 

Let Higuain run off the back of him to force De Gea into a good first-half stop but otherwise steady alongside his old sparring partner Nemanja Vidic. 7

Nemanja Vidic

Surprise starter after featuring at the weekend but the United captain did not put a foot wrong at the back and was unlucky to see a first-half header rebound off the post. 8

Patrice Evra

Rash challenge on Angel Di Maria earned the Frenchman a caution before the break. More disciplined than in recent weeks but still question marks over his positioning and communication with other members of the back-four. 6

Michael Carrick

After an uncertain start, grew in confidence as the game wore on. Selected his moments to harry the Madrid midfielders and used the ball better than two weeks ago. 7

Tom Cleverley

Picked for his energy and propensity to produce a box to box performance, Cleverley’s display showed promise until his 73^rd minute substitution. 7

Nani

Caused Alvaro Arbeloa problems with his searing pace and did well to outmuscle Raphael Varane in the lead up to Sergio Ramos’ own-goal. Harshly dismissed after 56 minutes for a challenge on Arbeloa. 6

Ryan Giggs

A fitting match for the Peter Pan of English football to reach his 1,000^th career appearance. Utilised down the right to nullify the threat of Ronaldo, a couple of sloppy early passes were forgotten as he teed up van Persie with an exquisite outside of the left-foot cross. 7

Danny Welbeck

Justified his selection ahead of the dropped Wayne Rooney by showing the energy and pace to get beyond Real’s backline. Should have done better though when Robin van Persie’s shot was parried into his path by Diego Lopez. 7

Robin van Persie

Good and bad moments for the Dutchman. One attempted overhead kick was woeful but led the line with purpose and linked well with Wellbeck. Fierce right-footed drive forced Lopez into a smart save after Modric’s equaliser. 6

Subs:

Wayne Rooney (for Cleverley 73)

Will have been disappointed by his omission but did little to suggest his manager’s decision was wrong. A glaring miss in the 83rd minute won’t have helped his mood driving home last night. 5

Ashley Young (for Welbeck 80)

Little time to make an impact on the game after replacing the tiring Wellbeck. 5

Antonio Valencia (for Rafael 87)

Brought on to replace the hobbling Rafael. Added pace down the right but with time running out could not help United grab an equaliser.

Real Madrid:

 

Diego Lopez

Called into action to deny van Persie and Wellbeck in the first period. Then  in the right place at the tight time to save headers from Carrick and Vidic late on as United searched for an equaliser. Did struggle with crosses though as shown by his attempt to punch clear that nearly knocked Vidic out in the 33^rd minute. 7

Alvaro Arbeloa

Struggled to cope with Wellbeck and Nani’s runs in behind him but United failed to expose him often enough. Booked for a foul on Evra after trying to retrieve the ball from his own error. 6

Raphael Varane

Superb performance from the 19-year-old defender that United were keen on two summers ago. Only blot on his copybook was being outmanoeuvred by Nani in the build up to United’s goal. 8

Sergio Ramos

Marshalled the defence and read the game well but could’ve conceded a late penalty for cleaning out Evra with the ball out of sight. Unlucky to score 47th-minute own goal. 7

Fabio Coentrao

Not as effective as two weeks ago largely due to the wily Giggs. Allowed Rafael to surge down the right for the United goal but always willing to receive the ball. 6

Xabi Alonso

Kept Madrid ticking in the centre of the park despite being put under pressure from a combination of Wellbeck, Carrick and Cleverley. 7

Sami Khedira

Neat and tidy and mopped up well in front of Ramos and co. 6

Angel Di María

The skilful wide-man was unable to get into his rhythm before limping off just before half-time. 5

Mesut Ozil

Kept under lock and key until Nani was dismissed but the German international took control of the game once United were stretched. Surprisingly substituted, as he was the fulcrum to Madrid’s dominance in possession when replaced. 7

Cristiano Ronaldo

Largely subdued but great players have a knack of still producing vital moments in a game and the Portuguese star popped up to score the winner against his previous employers on 69 minutes. 7

Gonzalo Higuain

Preferred to Karim Benzema by Jose Mourinho, the Argentine repaid his managers faith. A constant thorn in the side of the United defenders it was his cross-shot that allowed Ronaldo to tap in the winner. 7

Subs:

Pepe (for Ozil 71)

With Madrid a man and a goal up and completely dominant in possession the defender replaced Ozil to shore up the Madrid backline however the change nearly back-fired as United gained a midfield foothold. 6

Kaka (for Di Maria 45)

Tidy in possession but not the player that once scored three goals against United for AC Milan in the 2006-07 Champions League semi-final. 6

Luka Modric (for Arbeloa 59)

With Real on top the Croatian was the perfect man to bring off the bench. Scored the equaliser six minutes after entering the fray. 7

Predictable United struggling to adapt to new system

Call it 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 (a more convoluted name for essentially the same formation) Sir Alex Ferguson may need to reconsider the system and personnel he deploys if his Manchester United side are going to have anything more than a passing interest come the business end of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur’s win at Old Trafford on Saturday, their first since 1989, only confirmed what many are starting to suspect. This United side is struggling to function with five in midfield.

Going into the game Andre Villas-Boas wouldn’t have needed to study hours and hours of video to work out how to beat United. It has been evident for a while.

At the Etihad in April a five-man United midfield laboured to the extent that had the game been over 180 minutes they still would have failed to create a goal-scoring chance. That meek surrender angered many United fans, who were as confused then as they are now about the employment of a system that renders their side impotent in attack while affording minimal protect to a fragile back-four.

And while the players might have changed over the summer, the recruitment of Shinji Kagawa and Robin van Persie has done little to solve the problem.

At Goodison on the opening day they struggled to create any real chances of note and continued to look vulnerable in defence. The result, a battering at the hands of a Mourane Fellaini inspired Everton.

They got lucky at Southampton, with a combination of factors, including a second-half switch to 4-4-2, the introduction of Paul Scholes and clinical Robin Van Persie finishing coupled with naive defending on the part of the hosts helping to avert disaster.

Galatasaray out-passed and outplayed them in the Champions League, denied only by errant finishing and dubious refereeing. Then just over a week ago United were second best for long periods against a Liverpool side that played 51 of 90 minutes with ten-men following the sending off of Jonjo Shelvey.

So what exactly is going wrong? Sitting in the press box before the home-game against Fulham (another far from convincing display) one journalist told me that United could not afford to be caught using two forwards or playing 4-4-2 against any of Europe’s or the Premier League’s top sides. His view was and still remains that playing two up front would leave United’s midfield over-run and undermanned.

After watching two distinctly different 45 minutes of football over the weekend I would contend that United can ill afford not to return to what they know best.

Playing with a five-man midfield produced just one 20-yard shot via the boot of Nani in a miserable first period and with Carrick and Scholes drawn ever further forward to support a light-weight Kagawa, isolated Van Persie and a wastefully lethargic Giggs, Tottenham were able to capitalise and use the pace and power of Dembele and Bale to great effect and lay the foundations to their success.

Around ten years ago Sir Alex broke with tradition and opted for a midfield quintet in a bid to shore up his defence and make them more unpredictable in Europe.

Back then the Keane-Scholes axis was supplemented by the mercurial Juan Sebastian Veron, however despite the undoubted talents of that particular triumvirate it failed to necessitate the spark and solidity that Ferguson had hoped for.

A ten point title winning margin in 2000-01 turned to a ten point deficit in 01-02, with United trailing home behind Arsenal and Liverpool. The same season they also suffered the ignominy of an away goals defeat to an average Bayer Leverkusen side at the semi-final stage of the Champions League.

And 02-03 looked to be running along the same lines, that is until Laurent Blanc and Veron both picked up injuries that tellingly ruled them out for a significant chunk of the title run-in post Christmas. Without that duo, Ferguson switched back to a tried and tested team and formation. Paul Scholes and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer were used as foils to Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Ferguson’s men collected 51 points from a possible 57 to storm past Chelsea, Newcastle and Arsenal to yet another title.

Of course it’s easy to blame tactics, formations and individuals for poor performances but while Sir Alex would likely not admit it, but for those injuries United wouldn’t have come anywhere near winning the league that year. Many fans believe that but for those timely (or untimely – I suppose it depends on your particular allegiance) crocks Veron and Blanc would have continued to have been picked partly out of blind faith and due to the stubbornness of the manager to admit a failing on his part – i.e. in tactics and team selection.

So fast forward just over a decade and here we are again, except the midfield line-up is nowhere near as impressive. The consistent failing of this season has been predictability and defensive insecurity, the exact issues playing five across midfield is meant to eradicate.

The predictability of:

• Scholes, Carrick et al having to try and force the ball through congested areas of the pitch to try and find Kagawa or Van Persie.
• Van Persie & Kagawa being hopelessly outnumbered and isolated when they receive the ball in the final third.
• United being unable to stretch and get in behind teams.
• The central midfielders pushing on to try and add their weight & other options to the outnumbered Van Persie & Kagawa.
• Having redundant wingers who often pick up possession in dead areas or once their opponents are set behind the ball.
• The restrictions it places upon United to counter quickly by effectively only having one forward option to play through.
• The open spaces it leaves behind the central midfielders for players to run into and get at the back-four.

Time will tell if tradition or Wayne Rooney come riding into the rescue but most fans will hope that it doesn’t take too many more inept performances or any injuries before Sir Alex considers, that it might just be time for a change.