Reactions: Everton 1 Manchester United 0

To begin the season with a loss is never a good thing to happen and probably not a common sight in the camp of Manchester United but it still happened anyway. Before I carry on, I would like to say I am a Manu fan and have been one for more than a decade already therefore my reactions are more tuned to Manchester United rather than Everton in a sense that I would write less about Everton.

Match Overview  

In all honesty, Manchester United played a horrible game to say the least. The Red Devils never seem to hit top gear throughout the game but only manage to provide glimpses of what we might expect from them further in the season. From the get go, Everton seemed more eager with the match and soon took control of the game in the first half. De Gea had an outstanding game all round though he let in a single goal but the fact is if he was not between the post, the final score might have read Everton 5 Manchester United 0. United started the game slowly and seriously made little progress from the slow start they had and at half-time the score was 0-0. United went into the second half again with the same momentum and never really hit their stride. Everton showed signs of slowing down in the second half but whenever they were on the attack they looked really dangerous and threaten to score. Once again in the second half De Gea provided a series of stop before finally succumbing to a Marouane Fellaini header goal. And after that goal, Everton just parked the bus and defended for the rest of the game. Van Persie came onto the game around the 68th minute mark but unfortunately was not able to salvage the situation. Van Persie almost came close with an assist to Kagawa but unfortunately Kagawa did not convert. So the game ended at Everton 1 Manchester United 0.


Negatives (Manchester United)


1) 4-2-3-1 formation

United looked lost in the 4-2-3-1 formation. Its quite obvious to the observer's eye that some of the players did not exactly know what to do. Tom Cleverly looked completely lost in the first half, running around aimlessly and not contributing at all. Danny Welbeck looked so out of position that he might have thought it was a dream that he was in playing as left wing. The reason why this formation did not work for them is because with the current players (non injured) they simply are not able to play this formation. With Valencia, Carrick and Welbeck playing out of position it is no wonder why the entire team looked lost in the first half.
When all the entire squad is fit, the 4-2-3-1 formation would make sense but as of now I am pretty certain Alex Ferguson will not use this formation again until they have more players back from injury.

2) Paul Scholes and Tom Cleverly central midfield pairing

This was probably the biggest mistake Ferguson made in the entire game. First of all I would like to say that it is not that Tom Cleverly played too badly or Scholes played too badly but rather it is the pairing of these two players that will not work. First of all Tom Cleverly is not a midfield enforcer and coupled together with Scholes given his age and who is also not a midfield enforcer just made the entire central midfield as weak as piece of paper waiting to be squash! That is why when Anderson came on later on in the game, the central midfield finally took shape!

Secondly I do not understand what is Cleverly's role in the game. Tom Cleverly is a central attacking midfielder, and boy does that sound familar! It sounded familar because Kagawa is playing in that role! In the 4-2-3-1 formation the 2 midfielders just above the defenders have to be one of enforcer and the second midfielder a passer or facilitator and this is where Scholes's skills fill in. So if one of the midfielder has to be an enforcer type what in the world is Cleverly doing in the game? That was why Cleverly seemed so insignificant in the game because basically you have Kagawa playing the role of a central attacking midfielder in the "hole" role and therefore resulted in an overlap of abilities which was of detriment to the midfield and team yesterday.

3) Welbeck left wing position

Someone should just tell Fergie never to play Welbeck as left winger ever again. Nuff said.

4) Evra

This is probably the first time I have seen Evra looking so old and slow throughout the game. There were many occasions in the game whereby he was out run, out muscled and out tackled by Everton's right back and wing players. There even was an occasion in the second half whereby Evra was so outgunned and left in the dust by the Evertonian right wing that Vidic just cannot believe eyes and gave a "I cannot believe what is happening" laugh.  I guess it is time to find a replacement for Evra already unfortunately...

5) Stagnant attack

Last season Manchester United had a problem in trying break down defence because quite simply they did not really had a striker to make progress with the ball. As a result they were often stuck just in front of the opponent team's defense. Fast forward a few months, this problem is still persisting. And it is even more inexcusable now since Van Persie is a striker whom Manchester United had been lacking last season to pass the ball to is finally here now, the fix is here! Alex Ferguson also noticed this and made this comment when asked about his opinion about the situation and I quote "We played around him too much, we didn't show enough penetration, . With Robin in your team you know you want to use his ability against centre-backs in situations he is very good at - but we didn't use him enough". Notice the words "played around him too much", "didn't show enough penetration" and "we didn't use him enough". That was basically what United did when RVP came on, it's even more frustrating now because last season they didn't had the personnel whom they can look to but now the personnel is here but they are not making use of him at all.

6) Nani

Nani had a poor game, he looked lost and indecisive with the ball at times. To put it in simple terms he left his boots in Manchester. His corners were poor yesterday and it was so frustrating that it came to a point whereby I posted this on my facebook wall "someone should stop nani from taking corners".

7) Valencia at right back position

I still cannot understand why Manchester United have not learnt their lesson from last season? That lesson is never to play Valencia at right back! Valencia at right back looked horrible. Valencia in this morning game looked as if someone just shackled one of his leg and he is only playing on one leg! To be quite frank he cannot be a right back. His positioning as a right back was horrible, and many times he was exposed repeatedly. He is basically playing a right winger role in a right back position and that is the problem as both roles are different!


Positives (Manchester United)

1) Shinji Kagawa

Kagawa was probably the only person in the starting XI that felt like playing soccer yesterday. The skills which Manu bought him for were on display and boy did he not disappoint. Speed, defense splitting passes, movement off the ball and vision where all displayed by Kagawa this morning. Those exquisite passes he made yesterday were something to drool at.

2) Robin Van Persie

Van Persie only played 22 minutes in this morning game but I thought he was the best United player this morning together with Kagawa. He look sharp and quick. This can only mean good news for Manchester United. His movement off the ball was pretty good as well but unfortunately he was not given the ball to do something about it.

3) David De Gea

I think the goal keeping race for Manchester United is officially over. And to be frank it should have ended last season. De Gea has proved to be a gifted natural shot stopper. Time and again he has shown us why he deserved the transfer tag that was put on him. He was the only reason why Everton did not score more than 1 goal yesterday and could have ended the game 5-0 in Everton's favor. Yes he still might have some weakness in his game but given his age and there are still lots of room to improve. Sorry Lindeggard! The first choice goal keeping job goes to De Gea.  

4) United's frontline

This morning game, showed glimpses of magnificent attacking football played by United's frontline especially between Kagawa and Rooney. Robin Van Persie seem to be fitting well and I certainly expect Kagawa to link up with RVP as well as when he links up with Rooney. I guess as the season progress when these three players here gel together and got used to each other we will be to witness the most feared triangular attack in the EPL.


Conclusion

This morning game felt like Manchester United was treating it as an exhibition game. Alot of experimenting going on and there seem to be the lack of urgency and spark in their game. Fergie does not seem to be making a huge fuss about the loss, I myself isn't making a huge fuss out of it as well since its only the FIRST game of the season. But with that said, it's never a good thing to start the season with a defeat for obvious reasons. Everton played well throughout the game, and hopefully they can maintain this form throughout the season and hopefully this morning's performance was not a one off kind of thing.

Roger Federer vs Juan Martin Del Potro (Olympics Men's Tennis Semifinals 1)

Ah! Who would have seen this coming! A 4 hour and 26 minutes tennis match, ah truly who would have seen this coming! And once again the eventual winner was Roger Federer who in my opinion is the greatest tennis player of all time. Now lets break down the three sets that was played out and after that my thoughts on certain aspects of the match.

First Set


First set was a sleeper, and I personally did not watch the first set entirely. But what the score suggest is plain for everyone to know and that was Federer came out of the blocks slow and Del Potro just took advantage of it. Federer looked tired and I guess the primary reason for it was because the Olympics men's tennis singles came so soon after Wimbledon (Federer won). Del Potro got out in the fourth round of Wimbledon but Federer went all the way to the finals and completed it. That itself would be a prime candidate explain the sluggishness in his play and of course father time is another reason for the apparent sluggishness in his play in back to back competitions.

Second Set

This set was really like a tug of war whereby both players did not look like giving up their service game, going pound for pound at each other. Del Potro seems to show some cracks in the set towards the end and his frustrations were pretty apparent. Went into a tie-breaker and again the cracks became obvious, and seizing the chance, Federer won the tie-breaker. Frankly speaking if the cracks did not come, Del Potro would have wrapped up the men's semi finals and moved onto the finals.

Third Set


The early stages third set looked pretty similar to the second set, both players going pound for pound. Several times in this set Del Porto looked like the one who would break first but once again Federer who brought his serving game to the match manage to hold out. But what can be certain is, Del Portro looks like the one on the back pedal as the set progress. Causes of his frustrations were because first of all his failure to seize chances in this set to break Federer, many errors (first serve drop in percentage, unforce etc) in this set by Del Portro and lastly to put in accurate terms Federer kicked up a notch in his play

Extended Third Set


I find this ruling in Olympic tennis very intriguing. I can't figure out the reason for this special ruling other than because they choose to make the man's singles a 3 set game. So to drag on a little more this extended third set rule came along.

Federer in all honesty controlled this extended third set and it was only towards the end probably like the 18th game of the extended set did he finally show visible signs of tiredness and fatigue. His service game was right up there and probably only drop in percentage came in the 17~18 or so game in the extended set. Federer would have won this game in the third hour if not for some sloppy finishing. He managed to break Del Portro (I can't remember which game it was in the extended set probably the 12th game) but he failed quite dramatically in his service game to close out the game. And as the set dragged on, it seems like this could go on forever. Federer did had control in the extended set, with Del Potro seemingly most of the time on the verge of defeat but as the game ensued it was Federer who finally showed visible signs of tiredness and fatigue. And it was Del Potro who came back and looked likely to be the winner of the game. But then the second break came and this time, Federer did close out his service game though not clinically but quite sloppily to be honest.



Thoughts on the game

1) Federer never hit top gear 

Quite frankly the Federer that played yesterday was pale in comparison to the Federer we saw in the Wimbledon finals. He looked slow and sluggish at the start of the game and even towards the end Federer didn't look like hitting top gear. His forehand was surprisingly sloppy and lacked punch, his volley execution was also surprisingly sloppy and badly executed at times as well given how Federer himself had given Andy Murray a volleying clinic in the Wimbledon finals. So in short Roger Federer did not bring his best to the game

2) Del Potro's effort

Del Potro played wonderful tennis. And given he is only 23 years old and look to have put his injuries behind him, I would say Del Potro would win at least one more Major in his career. Del Potro needed to play near perfect tennis first of all to win the game and secondly to stay in the game and he almost did just that. In the extended set Del Potro showed to the world besides him having talent, he also has grit, determination and nerves of steel. The diving net shot in one of the game in the extended set is just one example of the grit and determination this young man has. Del Potro also displayed nerves of steel as well, there were a couple of times he fell 0-40 behind in the extended set but manage still manage to hold his service.

3) Del Potro's defensive game


Del Potro played some stellar defense yesterday to keep Federer out. Many a times where it seems like Del Potro's back was against the wall, he defended brilliantly. One has to watch this game to see how brilliantly Del Potro defended and it would be a pity not to see it. Not only did his defense kept Federer out but at times it turned into an offense and threatened Federer.

4) Roof

Ah... Federer's detractors has always found ways to criticize his game unfairly and lately it was the Wimbledon's court roof. What Federer shown in this game was he is equally capable of playing great tennis without the roof even when he did not have his best stuff with him. These detractors also conveniently forget most of Federer's majors that he won was without the "roof". The only time which I can remember where he won a major with a roof on was the very recent edition of Wimbledon.

The wind at Wimbledon yesterday was pretty strong and rough but Federer dealt with it quite admirably and well, so too with Del Potro. And certainly there were many times in yesterday's game that the wind was the culprit for some lost points for both players.

5) Great strategy by Federer


This year especially Federer has shown to plan and strategize his game quite deeply. I guess as father time catches up with an athlete of that stature, strategies are probably one of the things that can help Federer keep up with times. Federer shown in the Wimbledon finals against Andy Murray that his strategy was to tire Murray down to a point of frustration with a wide display of shots and placement of shots. This time against Del Potro, Federer's strategy was to keep his service game short and to execute it in clinical fashion. One cannot help but notice how efficient and clinical Federer's service games was yesterday. It was fast, efficient and assassin like. Logically speaking it's quite easy to see why Federer had this strategy, he knows that if he drags his service game he is more likely to lose. With Del Potro powerful forehand and backhand it is more likely Federer would be broken in his service games if he were to drag it out.

6) Federer's serve

Federer's serve in yesterday's game was one of the better ones which I have not seen in a long time from the man himself. And his serve was probably the only reason why it kept him in the game long enough for cracks to appear in Del Potro's game.

7) Federer edge in extended set


Federer seem to have the advantage in extended set and this advantage look more and more certain in Federer's favor. This is so because Federer himself been through something similar in the past. And that is the 2008 Wimbledon finals against Rafael Nadal. It is probably the greatest match in Wimbledon's history,  lasting 4 hours and 48 minutes. But unfortunately in that game Federer lost. And 4 years on, this time was the Olympic semis finals in the same venue, Federer himself would have the mental edge in facing this type of matches and it clearly showed in the extended set. Though Del Potro lost, I believe he has gain something few tennis player had in their arsenal and its something Federer had gained 4 years ago in the match which he lost.


Conclusion


Federer has once against defied father time and showed he could still beat younger and more powerful opponents and its no wonder he is currently the world No. 1 tennis player. Del Potro played really well in this game and now it has put me into thinking how he would perform in the upcoming U.S Open.

Oh well, that's all from me once again! Signing off!