SAF this season

[marjen]

IMO he's having an absolute blinder in terms of squad management.

This is not a thread for criticizing our transfer policy. Leave transfers out of it.

Taking into account the squad he has at his disposal, the injuries we've suffered.. Has this been his best season ever in terms of managing a squad?

Okay, I know we've been knocked out of the CL, but that was as much to do with player's attitudes as the selected teams. Those teams should have been strong enough to take us through, if the players were doing their job. Basel and Benfica at home.. God.

Anyway, we lost 1-6 to City in a freak accident of a match, and look what he did. Back to basics, Vidic marshalling the defense, setting us up in a 4-3-3, and grinding out 1-0-wins. Then, when our confidence again was where it should be, we've went for the jugular, and has delivered some great performances these last four matches, and looks set to pick up maximum points over the christmas period.

Overall, two draws and a loss so far this season, and a fantastic away record - it's been a pretty wonderful first half, hasn't it? All the while, injuries has decimated our squad.

I think SAF's been pretty extraordinary this season, particularly in the way he's solved our different injury crisis in CM and defence.

 

[BaldwinLegend]

I think the thought of coming out on top of City's money at the end of the season will be an incredible motivation to him. I've realised I actually don't care about the early European exit because it means we can direct more of our resources towards the league and ensuring we come out on top at the end of it.

Really pleased with today - good example of rotation coming off well. We'll benefit from that in the coming weeks by having the likes of Rooney at their best when we need them.

The City FA Cup game is huge - I'd think Fergie is dying to win it and I can sense a swing in momentum towards us...

 

[mjs020294]

We are on pace to get over 90 points, which is amazing considering the injuries and dip in 'form'. Can't really have anything other than praise for SAF's management and the squad's resilience.

 

[CapeTownRed]

IMO he's having an absolute blinder in terms of squad management.

This is not a thread for criticizing our transfer policy. Leave transfers out of it.

Taking into account the squad he has at his disposal, the injuries we've suffered.. Has this been his best season ever in terms of managing a squad?

Okay, I know we've been knocked out of the CL, but that was as much to do with player's attitudes as the selected teams. Those teams should have been strong enough to take us through, if the players were doing their job. Basel and Benfica at home.. God.

Anyway, we lost 1-6 to City in a freak accident of a match, and look what he did. Back to basics, Vidic marshalling the defense, setting us up in a 4-3-3, and grinding out 1-0-wins. Then, when our confidence again was where it should be, we've went for the jugular, and has delivered some great performances these last four matches, and looks set to pick up maximum points over the christmas period.

Overall, two draws and a loss so far this season, and a fantastic away record - it's been a pretty wonderful first half, hasn't it? All the while, injuries has decimated our squad.

I think SAF's been pretty extraordinary this season, particularly in the way he's solved our different injury crisis in CM and defence.

He took the piss a bit with his selection in the Basel home game and we paid for it, but otherwise he's been very good, agreed.

 

[I'm always right]

Praise to the squad too.

Rooney, Smalling, Valencia and Jones in particular.

 

[marjen]

He took the piss a bit with his selection in the Basel home game and we paid for it, but otherwise he's been very good, agreed.

That Basel game, we played Ferdinand and Jones as CBs, De Gea in goal, Valencia, Young and Welbeck as a three up front, and a midfield consisting of Carrick, Anderson and Giggs.. we should've pissed all over Basel, and to be fair, we did for the first half an hour, being two-nil up. Then Anderson, Fabio and Evra completely shut off, and we paid the price. Nothing really wrong with the team.

 

[marjen]

Praise to the squad too.

Rooney, Smalling, Valencia and Jones in particular.

and Berbatov....?

 

[I'm always right]

and Berbatov....?

??

 

[BaldwinLegend]

Praise to the squad too.

Rooney, Smalling, Valencia and Jones in particular.

And Giggs too - no surprise we've looked more like ourselves since he came back.

I remember SAF saying last season that when he brings Giggs on as a sub he sees it lift the others and see how much they love playing with him.

I'd say Carrick's been important too. Getting him, Giggs and Valencia back has been massive, and getting the others back will be fantastic too. No need for real new signings in January when we've so many 'like having a new signing' moments to come as Cleverley, Anderson, Vidic and others all rejoin the fray.

 

[marjen]

The best thing so far is our "dip" in form has coincided with us taking maximum points from those very matches we struggled, except for City and Liverpool.

Newcastle at home, we basically dominated and were a bit unfortunate and wasteful in front of goal. Liverpool away is always a decent point in the bag.

 

[Maciej]

He took the piss a bit with his selection in the Basel home game and we paid for it, but otherwise he's been very good, agreed.

De Gea - Fabio 69', Ferdinand, Jones, Evra - Valencia, Carrick, Anderson 82', Young - Giggs 61' - Welbeck.

Park 61', Nani 69', Berbatov 82'.

The piss. A bit. Yeah.

 

[marjen]

??

Pulling your leg, mate.

 

[I'm always right]

And Giggs too - no surprise we've looked more like ourselves since he came back.

I remember SAF saying last season that when he brings Giggs on as a sub he sees it lift the others and see how much they love playing with him.

I'd say Carrick's been important too. Getting him, Giggs and Valencia back has been massive, and getting the others back will be fantastic too. No need for real new signings in January when we've so many 'like having a new signing' moments to come as Cleverley, Anderson, Vidic and others all rejoin the fray.

I meant more as in the fact that Jones, Smalling, Rooney and Valencia have all stopped into unfamiliar positions for a few games and done us proud. Without them adapting as well as they have, it would've been much harder for SAF to "manage the squad" through the injuries etc.

 

[marjen]

I meant more as in the fact that Jones, Smalling, Rooney and Valencia have all stopped into unfamiliar positions for a few games and done us proud. Without them adapting as well as they have, it would've been much harder for SAF to "manage the squad" through the injuries etc.

Of course, praise should also be reserved for Berbatov - who's brilliant moonlighting as a CB secured us safe passage through at Leeds.

 

[I'm always right]

Of course, praise should also be reserved for Berbatov - who's brilliant moonlighting as a CB secured us safe passage through at Leeds.

And Carrick for today etc...

But the players mentioned really do deserve extra special credit, they have made the job much easier for SAF.

 

[Sarni]

De Gea - Fabio 69', Ferdinand, Jones, Evra - Valencia, Carrick, Anderson 82', Young - Giggs 61' - Welbeck.

Park 61', Nani 69', Berbatov 82'.

The piss. A bit. Yeah.

Aye. Our strongest team at the time apart from Nani and Rooney who we didn't really need as we scored three anyway.

 

[marjen]

And Carrick for today etc...

But the players mentioned really do deserve extra special credit, they have made the job much easier for SAF.

Breaking my own rules here as I'm not supposed to talk about transfer policy - but I think it's one aspect SAF looks at with keen eyes when weighing up a transfer. The players versatility. Jones, Smalling, Valencia etc has proven to be pure gold for this, and saved us from a rather tricky situation.

 

[charlenefan]

IMO he's having an absolute blinder in terms of squad management.

Sorry but when you're out of the Champions League before Christmas you cant say Fergie has had a blinder whatsoever

In terms of squad management it took until the last game of the campaign away from home in a do or die situation for us to select our strongest available XI. Had Fergie done that at home to Basel (regardless of whether the team he did play underperformed or not) we'd be through

This isn't me being anti Fergie or a Fergie bashing post more that I dont understand how you can think he's having a blinder? I'm fairly sure he wont be sitting at home thinking likewise.

 

[marjen]

Sorry but when you're out of the Champions League before Christmas you cant say Fergie has had a blinder whatsoever

In terms of squad management it took until the last game of the campaign away from home in a do or die situation for us to select our strongest available XI. Had Fergie done that at home to Basel (regardless of whether the team he did play underperformed or not) we'd be through

This isn't me being anti Fergie or a Fergie bashing post more that I dont understand how you can think he's having a blinder? I'm fairly sure he wont be sitting at home thinking likewise.

Our joint best start in the PL ever, with the injury crisis we've got, and the perceived weakness in central midfield/the full back positions...

I'd take that before the season started, even if it meant crashing out of the CL, any time.

 

[BaldwinLegend]

Sorry but when you're out of the Champions League before Christmas you cant say Fergie has had a blinder whatsoever

In terms of squad management it took until the last game of the campaign away from home in a do or die situation for us to select our strongest available XI. Had Fergie done that at home to Basel (regardless of whether the team he did play underperformed or not) we'd be through

This isn't me being anti Fergie or a Fergie bashing post more that I dont understand how you can think he's having a blinder? I'm fairly sure he wont be sitting at home thinking likewise.

Being level on points at Christmas with a City indulging in unprecedented spending is a blinder imo, undoubtedly so when you factor in the what may be the worst injury crisis of SAF's era.

I can't think of another manager who could have overseen the reaction we've seen to the City game. Quite brilliant.

 

[Skholesy]

He took the piss a bit with his selection in the Basel home game and we paid for it, but otherwise he's been very good, agreed.

I'd say he took the piss out of the away Basel game instead, though we did have some injuries at the time, so it was forced on him.

Playing 4 wingers (Giggs, Park, Nani, Young) and Jones in midfield was not a good move.

As i said, there were circumstances around it but i thought that if that midfield selection was a little better it may have made a difference.

 

[Sarni]

I'd say he took the piss out of the away Basel game instead, though we did have some injuries at the time, so it was forced on him.

Playing 4 wingers (Giggs, Park, Nani, Young) and Jones in midfield was not a good move.

As i said, there were circumstances around it but i thought that if that midfield selection was a little better it may have made a difference.

We had no fit midfielders, didn't we?

 

[marjen]

I'd say he took the piss out of the away Basel game instead, though we did have some injuries at the time, so it was forced on him.

Playing 4 wingers (Giggs, Park, Nani, Young) and Jones in midfield was not a good move.

As i said, there were circumstances around it but i thought that if that midfield selection was a little better it may have made a difference.

Fletcher's situation taken into consideration, and Carrick being suspended, what else could he have done?

 

[gooDevil]

If SAF gets us to 90 points with Vidic playing 6 league games all season, it will be a miracle.

There have been a few problems, but he's certainly performed amazingly in dealing with our injuries. Sticking by Carrick and Evans as well as giving Jones a run out has been great, and playing Welbeck has paid off quite well.

 

[Amir]

I'd take that before the season started, even if it meant crashing out of the CL, any time.

Would Sir Alex take that?

He, and us, dropped a major bollock in the CL.

In the league, it's certainly been class management.

 

[charleysurf]

Fergie is undoubtedly doing well to have the team level with City at this stage despite Citys massive spending and Uniteds injuries.
However, City must still be strong favorites for the title. United have to play so many tough away games compared to City.

 

[The White Pele]

I can't remember us ever having a first half of the season as strong as this. Only 2 disappointing results in the league - it's just a shame that one came against our title rivals.

 

[Skholesy]

Fletcher's situation taken into consideration, and Carrick being suspended, what else could he have done?

Yeah, i did say he was forced into it, but my opinion - and this is amateur hindsight, and who knows what would have happened - we could have played two up front instead of the five in midfield, so perhaps drop park and play nani-giggs-jones-park/young with welbeck and rooney. Ie, maybe we should have just gone for the win rather than being cautious. That said we could have been overrun in midfield with that formation but for me park was lost out in central midfield and young was out of form, so i thought two up front would have been better.

I'm not sure where Gibson was either, but maybe nani-gibson-jones-giggs perhaps? Don't know.

I just thought nani-giggs-park-jones-young with Rooney isolated on his own wasn't the best really.

 

[noodlehair]

Those teams should have been strong enough to take us through, if the players were doing their job. Basel and Benfica at home.. God.

Marjen, this statement and the countless, countless variations of it is probably my biggest pet hate about this forum.

If the team was good enough to win the game, it would have won the game, or at the very least been noticably unlucky not to. This was not the case in any of our CL games. The performance and concentration levels of the players is also often a reflection of the team selection. Fergie fecked it up, as he did in the admittedly less important game vs Palace. Also worth noting that even a win against Benfica at home would have left us needing a result against Basle, so no dice on that one. The damage was already done in the first couple of games.

We also selected a daft team and bottled going for a win at Anfield against a poor Liverpool side, in order to, as it turns out, better prepare for a meaningless CL game and home game against City which we lost 6-1. Again, in hindsight, daft.

We've been largely excellent since the Basle game, but it's since then that Fergie has stopped fannying around and just stated selecting our strongest team. Up until then the players were digging the results out through determination and they deserve the credit for that...although that's also where Fergie's genius comes in, in being able to build a team/squad of ecelent footballers with the strongest mentality in the league, year in year out.

Much less a fan of all this tinkering bollocks...epecially when you've got players out of position as well as out of match practice. Fair enough we won by 5 today, but in all honesty, Wigan for three years now have been a nothing opponent. That was by far and away the worst opposition we'll face all season. Hopefully it's back to the method of recent weeks from now on in.

 

[marjen]

Marjen, this statement and the countless, countless variations of it is probably my biggest pet hate about this forum.

If the team was good enough to win the game, it would have won the game, or at the very least been noticably unlucky not to. This was not the case in any of our CL games. The performance and concentration levels of the players is also often a reflection of the team selection. Fergie fecked it up, as he did in the admittedly less important game vs Palace. Also worth noting that even a win against Benfica at home would have left us needing a result against Basle, so no dice on that one. The damage was already done in the first couple of games.

We also selected a daft team and bottled going for a win at Anfield against a poor Liverpool side, in order to, as it turns out, better prepare for a meaningless CL game and home game against City which we lost 6-1. Again, in hindsight, daft.

We've been largely excellent since the Basle game, but it's since then that Fergie has stopped fannying around and just stated selecting our strongest team. Up until then the players were digging the results out through determination and they deserve the credit for that...although that's also where Fergie's genius comes in, in being able to build a team/squad of ecelent footballers with the strongest mentality in the league, year in year out.

Much less a fan of all this tinkering bollocks...epecially when you've got players out of position as well as out of match practice. Fair enough we won by 5 today, but in all honesty, Wigan for three years now have been a nothing opponent. That was by far and away the worst opposition we'll face all season. Hopefully it's back to the method of recent weeks from now on in.

Well, to be fair I think what prompted me to make this thread was the way he's handled our defeat at home to City - now that would've killed off a lot of title challengers, having their arse handed to them in that fassion, at home to a bitter rival who's been the inferior side for what seems like an eternity.

But Ferguson used his experience, went with defensive solidity, got us back on the winning track and now we're starting to gel again.

As for the CL, well, I think that when you are 2-0 up at home to Basle, with a midfield three of Carrick-Anderson-Giggs, and experienced players such as Evra and Ferdinand at the back.. Well then the players bloody well should close out the game. We dominated the start of that match, why did we switch off? There's not really much SAF can do about individuals not concentrating, suddenly, and for no particular reason, midway through a match. Win that game and it's a different story.

Before the City humbling, our results was largely very, very pleasing.

 

[Randall Flagg]

We had lost our last 3 games at Anfield. How can you say we bottled it when we went there and got a point. That is a load of crap

We rested Rooney today, and have still changed the keepers around. So in your eyes we are still fannying about

As for that Basle game. Yes of course that side should have beaten them. We were 2-0 up. the players are 100% to blame for that night

 

[Randall Flagg]

Over the last few seasons Ferguson has proved to be the master of squad rotation. We really only have had that one big feck up in the CL this season. And it should not have happened.

I hope he doesnt change his ideas next season.

 

[Bryan_Munich]

We'll see the benefit of his 'fannying around' in the run-in.

 

[marjen]

I think having match-fit players who are hungry to compete for places, as opposed to 12-13 well-drilled, but tired players, will pay off towards the end of the season.

It's why you always see United going strong right to the end, while the title rivals more often than not falter when the finishing line closes. SAF's the master of "tinkering", as you noodle call it.

Okay, the CL went tits up, but that Basel game was the be all/end all of that group. Win that at home, which you do 99 out of 100 when 2-0 up, and it's a breeze.

 

[Randall Flagg]

We'll see the benefit of his 'fannying around' in the run-in.

Its simply something that our Noodle does not get. And I dont think he ever will

More often than not we look the strongest side in the run in. There is a reason for this.

 

[Rowem]

If the risk doesn't work out it doesn't always mean the risk wasn't worth taking.

 

[Ole's_toe_poke]

SAF has been having blinders in terms of squad management for the last 20 years.

 

[Rowem]

Not done bad at all when you think about it.

 

[Mick1991]

It's pure belief. Wherever, whoever he sends out he expects them to win.

 

[kietotheworld]

Too early to judge still, we've had all of our toughest games at home, and as much as you can say the 1-6 was a freak result (although personally I thought poor selection had a lot to do with our defeat), you can say the same about us roasting Spurs 3-0, and even moreso the destruction of Arsenal. We'll see at the end of the season how amazing his management has been, you don't judge a marathon at the half way point.