Man Utd 1-0 Tottenham: Player Ratings
After 2 consecutive clean sheets and 2 goals for Miki, It’s certainly been a better week for MUFC than we’ve had for a while. United were convincing in the Ukraine on Thursday night, and equally impressive against Spurs yesterday, where the scoreline could easily have read 3-1 to United. Pogba had a great chance in the 2nd minute, and his free kick was unlucky not to have found the back of the net, whilst Wanyama should have scored with a free header for Spurs in the 2nd half. Below are my player ratings for the match – share your own thoughts in the comments!
Player Ratings
De Gea – steady as ever and made couple of important saves. 7/10.
Valencia – played well overall, but lost Wanyama and could have cost us the 3 points. 6/10.
Jones – have been really impressed with his form, and if he can stay fit, could save Jose £50 million. 7/10.
Rojo – looking like a player reborn at centre back, kept Kane completely out of the game. 7/10.
Darmian – whilst he defended OK, Sissoko caused him some real problems. He’s not much threat going forward, and there’s always a sense he’s going to make a mistake or give away a foul in a dangerous position. 5/10.
Herrera – the Spaniard was all over the pitch with another high-energy performance. 7/10.
Pogba – starting to look more and more like the player we bought, dominating games. 7/10.
Carrick – another solid performance from Mr. Reliable. 7/10.
Martial – not at his best, but I don’t think it helps having Darmian behind him, and he’s simply not a natural left winger. 5/10.
Mkhitaryan – great goal, busy throughout the game, always looking for space and was a threat until he went off injured. MOTM – 8/10.
Ibrahimovic – held the ball up well and is always a danger. 7/10.
Looking ahead to January
So do we need reinforcements in January? Personally I would argue not; we should wait until the summer to buy, and identify who we want early so they can have a full pre- season with the rest of the squad, which can help the lads get off to a flying start next August.
And what about the oft-mentioned “dead wood”? The reality is that, as a selling club, you can often get more in January than in the summer, as some clubs are so desperate to strengthen to try to ensure they stay in the top flight. With that in mind, I would probably sell Ashley Young, Memphis and Schneiderlin, as these players don’t seem to be on Jose’s radar, and if we can get around £60 million for these 3 combined, that would be great business that could give us more to play with in the summer.
Two big away games await
United have 2 big games coming up away from home this week, with visits to Crystal Palace on Wednesday and West Brom on Saturday, and if the 11 Jose picks give it their all out there on the pitch, I see no reason why we can’t pick up another 6 points and close the gap on City, who don’t look too convincing right now, and may well end up in a scrap with us and Spurs for that 4th place.