Manchester United are again on top form after dismissing Wigan Athletic 5-O at Old Trafford in a parked boxing day schedule.Earlier kick off match saw title contenders Chelsea held to a one all draw by a much improved Fulham after their last week drubbing in the hands of United.The biggest surprise of the day came at the Hawthorns where West Bromwich Albion became the first team to keep a clean sheet against big spenders Manchester City in a 0-0 draw.
Here is what I observed from the Manchester’s United match against Wigan
Berba show
Four goals in the past two game is not a bad return from United’s forgotten man.It is easy to forget that Dimitar Berbatov was last season’s top scorer in the premier league as he suffered from loss of confidence towards the end of season which saw him omitted from the squad that faced Barcelona in the Champions league final.This season has seen him fall from pecking order and he is now the fourth choice striker after Rooney,Welbeck and Chicharito.With all due respect to United’s other strikers Berbatov should and must start as his quality is that he can walk into any other team and offer something different. Today’s hat-trick against Wigan proves just what the super Bulgarian needs “minutes in the field”.
Dig deep in January
Injury list on the United treatment table is increasing and the latest casualty is Jonny Evans.The manager took a risk today in playing Carrick and Valencia out of position and the gamble paid.However,a repeat of the same gamble may not pay off against a more technical astute team as it happened two years ago at Craven Cottage which saw Carrick and Fletcher played at central defence;in an unfamiliar fashion United lost 3-0. With Vidic out for rest of the season,Ferdinand,Rafael.Fabio,Cleverly,Young,Anderson and Evans all out injured bolstering the squad in January window will do more good than harm.
Playing Rooney in the midfield is not working
It has been an on going debate in the football circles that Wayne Rooney may develop to be a world class midfielder.It is clear that his range of passing and understanding of the game is as good as there is but Rooney’s attacking potent and threat around the final third is missed as we saw today as he replaced the Giggs.Rooney needs to play as a striker or a false number 10 but playing him in the midfield makes him look so ordinary.
Things could not have looked much brighter for United as rivals dropped important points and with half of the season games played Manchester United are in a familiar position.