First up on the Super Sunday schedule was the Second City derby, the clash between Birmingham and Aston Villa, with a vital three points on offer for both teams to pull away from the drop zone. A game with more than its fair share of end-to-end action, the majority of attacking play came down the flanks.
And with the likes of Marc Albrighton, Stewart Downing,Gabriel Agbonlahor and David Bentley on display, this was largely predictable.
Wide Play the Order of the Day
Bentley had a fairly productive debut for Birmingham, showing an eagerness to get past and beat his man and get deliveries in, while Albrighton continued his impressive form this season and Liam Ridgewell struggled to contain the threat all afternoon. Ridgewell gave Albrighton far too much space to operate and, in doing so, gave the Villa youngster the option of cutting inside. Ridgewell’s shaky performance was a far cry from his performance during the week against West Ham, where he was one of the standout performers.
Albrighton completed 28 of his 44 attempted passes today with the majority coming in an advanced position on the right hand side. Ridgewell's inability to get tight on his man meant that Albrighton's potency was increased, causing Birmingham's central pairing to defend even deeper than necessary.
by Guardian Chalkboards
On the balance of play, a draw was a fair result, yet one that helps neither Birmingham nor Villa in their survival hunt. Fortunately for them, Wigan’s defensive incompetence, the rampant inconsistency of Wolves and Brady/Gold/Sullivan’s dastardly attempts to rot West Ham from the inside out may just prove to be their saviour.
Next up was the Merseyside derby, where King Kenny had the perfect opportunity to breathe new life into Liverpool’s season that, following losses against Manchester United and Blackpool, had continued to falter despite the King’s presence.
Midfield Anonymity Almost Cost Liverpool Dear
With Carragher injured and Gerrard suspended, Jay Spearing was called upon to represent the only city-born player in the Liverpool squad and the Gollum-esque midfielder struggled to have any discernible impact on the game. A passenger for the most part, Spearing appeared to be swept up in the occasion and beaten into submission by a rampant Marouane Fellaini.
Where Spearing faltered, Fernando Torres appeared to be revitalised and, for the first half, caused Everton’s defensive line significant problems and completely baffled Distin with one turn in particular, before bearing down on goal and crashing Howard’s far post. Meireles gave Liverpool a first-half lead, yet Everton responded after the intermission with a by taking the lead in a remarkable seven minute turnaround.
Victor Anichebe, originally partnering Jermaine Beckford in attack, switched to the left hand side and posed Kelly significant problems with his physical presence. After Distin powered home, converting a set-piece, Anichebe drew Kelly out of position and beat him in the air, knocking the ball down for Leon Osman. Osman cut inside and left Kyrgiakos, called in to replace Agger, turned inside out before sliding the ball into the path of Beckford, who shrugged off the challenge to curl past Reina from eight yards out.
by Guardian Chalkboards
NESV Must Speculate to Accumulate
Those seven minutes captured Liverpool’s frailties this season. Kyrgiakos is struggling to form any kind of understanding with Skrtel and was left flat-footed for Everton’s second goal. In Carragher’s absence Liverpool have lost their organiser and the defensive unit has looked lost at sea when placed under the slightest pressure. For Kenny Dalglish to avert disaster and rejuvenate their fortunes, Liverpool simply must bolster their defensive ranks in the transfer window and they could do far, far worse than the hugely under rated and undervalued Chris Samba, who is currently angling for a move away from Chicken Nugget FC.
Dirk Kuyt salvaged a point with a cooly converted penalty and arrested a losing streak that will have left Dalglish concerned. The fact of the matter is that this squad of players isn’t good enough to meet the Kop’s lofty expectations, and no manner of saviour can rectify the situation without reinforcements.
Anything But Super
Last in the Super Sunday line-up was the hugely anticipated contest between Manchester United and Tottenham in a game that, unfortunately for Sky, was anything but super.
Although fit, Jermain Defoe was forced to watch from the bench at first as Redknapp opted to include Crouch ahead of the diminutive striker primarily for Crouch’s uncanny ability to get the best out of Rafael Van der Vaart. Defoe and Van der Vaart have managed just one game together in the Premier League this season, and the familiarity between Crouch and the Dutch trequartista is an integral string to Tottenham’s bow.
The absence of Anderson in United’s midfield, paired with Rooney’s deployment on the left hand side, was met with the reasoned assumption that Ferguson considered this as a job of containment rather than entertainment and United attempted to bore Redknapp’s charges into submission.
The quasi-451 formation that United use almost religiously in continental competition has served them well in previous “Big Four” encounters, particularly in nullifying Arsenal’s forward momentum and, to an extent, it could be argued that the desired result has been gained. United remain unbeaten and haven’t lost substantial ground in the title race.
The tactic does, however, cause as many problems as it solves. By sitting deep, Fletcher and Carrick create a vacuum in the middle of the field that Tottenham could openly operate in and the vast majority of their attacking possession came within this pocket of space just in front of the defensive midfielders. With no quick outlet, pressure mounted on the United defence and it’s great testament to the impervious Vidic/Ferdinand partnership that a clean sheet was kept.
Imperial Vidic All Important
There are few superlatives that would do Vidic’s performance justice. He was absolutely magnificent in defence and has been for the entire season. Although the risk that United could lose him to one of his many admirers in Europe was substantial last Summer, his decision to stay will mean far more to Ferguson than any acquisition would. He has quickly, and rightly, become one of United’s most trusted players and has been the centrefold of an imperial defensive record, conceding just 19 goals in 21 games.
Today's stats are equally as impressive. Vidic made five interceptions, two within his own 18-yard box and made three vital clearances to keep his side within the game.
Dimitar Berbatov, hailed at Tottenham just a few years ago, was another casualty of the negative tactic, starved of anything closely resembling service by a dysfunctional midfield and misfiring partners in attack. It spoke volumes of his evening with Wayne Rooney being the only United player to have a shot on goal in the first half, responsible for all three.
Clogger Extraordinaire
The principle offender for United’s lack of cohesion against Spurs, however, was Darren Fletcher. Hailed by Ferguson as a big-game performer, Fletcher’s passing was atrociously astray and to the ultimate detriment of United’s fluidity. He persistently gave the ball away and drove his team far deeper than they needed to be… Not a game to remember for Clogger Extraordinaire.
Anderson, in comparison, was hugely positive when he entered the fray, picking the ball in the centre of the park and driving forward with conviction. Having seen his compatriot Rafael be dismissed for two shockingly soft yellow cards, Anderson will have been tasked with keeping possession and he succeeded where Fletcher failed.
Spurs will look at this game as a missed opportunity to end their United jinx. When playing against ten men, Spurs have the perfect ingredients to stretch a team in order to find a gap. Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon are devastatingly quick wingers, Luka Modric has the ingenuity to unlock defences and the Crouch/Van Der Vaart partnership has proved to be brilliantly potent when the need arises. Lennon struggled to get any change out of Patrice Evra, playing a reserved role to counter Lennon’s pace, Modric constantly ran into Vidic-shaped brick wall and Crouch was hugely ineffectual against Rio Ferdinand, losing the majority of his aerial challenges. Merked.
by Guardian Chalkboards
Another game, another deserved draw and certainly nowhere near the action Dwight Yorke’s scandalous shirt deserved.
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