Reading v United: Player ratings

February 28, 2007

PLAYER ratings from United's fifth round FA Cup replay at Madejski Stadium.

8 Van Der Sar: Who'd have thought after six minutes that he'd be United's star man but he had some suspect moments as well as Reading staged a storming second-half fightback

5 Brown: Had a real struggle on his hands containing Seol with the Korean having the ascendancy in their personal duel

6 Ferdinand: Searching passes out of his defence were a success though defensively he wasn't his usual self

5 Silvestre: Had a few too many uncomfortable moments when Reading stepped it up

6 Heinze: Got United on their way with his second minute goal and defensively he did a decent job but was caught occasionally as the nerves began to tell

6 Park: Buzzed about as he usually does however didn't really hurt Reading much

5 Fletcher: Midfield battle was a wide open affair and he struggled to win it for the Reds

5 O'Shea: Played the anchor man midfield role but didn't really shore it up for United when needed

5 Richardson: Never really put his mark on the game and was often caught in possession at crucial times

6 Solskjaer: Improved form from the Norwegian was welcome and hit a great goal

6 Saha: Battled hard for everything and was a constant worry for Reading

Subs: 5 Rooney (sub Saha 76): Had a couple of runs

5: Ronaldo (sub Solskjaer 90): Too late for mark

Reading: Federici, Shorey, Sidwell, Gunnarsson, Doyle (Lita 71), Oster, Kitson, Ingimarsson, Seol (Little 68), Bikey, De La Cruz

Bookings: Reading: De La Cruz (20), Bikey (62) United: None

Referee: H Webb - No problems to concern him 6

Attendance: 23,821

Do you agree with our ratings? Have your say.

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bobbydazzler (28/02/2007 at 10:44)

i am not suprised by this performance as it has been the norm for the last few seasons . cant wait to read alias and tooth and mclaw comments they will be still telling us we have got good cover in midfield. our scottish friend will soon be on telling us what a good player df is. last night showed us once again that kr df and jos are not up to standard , when they cant cut it against a reserve side

TMUF, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 11:00)

bobbydazzler seeing as they haven't, I will. Fletcher had a good first half and faded in the 2nd, yet he has been good this season the majority of the time when played with Carrick or Scholes. Why are you so negative all the time? I can almost guarantee that given that team sheet, you would have expected us to lose. Is it really that difficult to get behind OUR players when we are in such a promising position in all competitions, with our fringe players playing a big part in that. The fact we were poor in the second half, shouldn't deflect from the fact we were brilliant in the first. Saha was MOM IMO and should start against Liverpool, but wouldnt be surprised if Larsson is given the go ahead. I was expecting at this point of the season in such a promising position that most fans would be supporting the team. Instead we get the usual doom and gloom merchants who cant find a reason to be happy in our best ever season in many many years. If you cant be happy now, then you never will be. Make the most of it while we are in such a promising position!

bobbydazzler (28/02/2007 at 11:50)

tmuf, i am very happy overall with the team this year. the problem arises when we introduce our so called fringe players how you can be happy watching the three stooges in our line up is amazing they are not good enough for uniteds reserves. if vds had been in the reading team we would have lost last night

Mick, Dublin (28/02/2007 at 12:05)

I think you're harsh to tar John O' Shea with the same brush as some of the other midfield efforts. He actually did quite well, without him we would have really been overrun, that's for sure. Fletcher was very good for an hour but atrocious for 30 minutes. Richardson was Richardson - surely this is his last season at the club. My biggest disappointment was the performance of Wes Brown, he was one of our best players last season but was appalling last night. Gave the ball away time after time, never posed an attacking threat and was roasted by his opposite number every time he got forward. I also thought Gabby was poor, a slight improvement on his last performance but the gap in class between him and Evra is a bit of a worry. I'm not going to discuss Silvestre, I'll only get angry. He as an uncanny ability to not only play badly himself but inflict the heebie jeebies on everyone else around him. Please, never again. Finally, I cannot believe you only gave Saha a 6! He was our best player by miles and gave Reading the runaround all night long. I still think he's a wee bit of his form from earlier on this season but he's well on his way and that's a massive plus for me.

Liam, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 12:23)

It's amazing that I feel the need to whinge after another victory but...
TMUF. There was a white balloon floating around the pitch that had more impact on the match than Fletcher or O'Shea. They were completely anonymous for about 70 minutes of the game. I'll always excuse O'Shea a little because it's not his position but Fletcher is unbelievable. Last night he managed to get mugged of the ball so many times while under no great pressure. Okay so he had a good start but so did the whole team but once Reading started to press us the midfield just dissapeared putting massive pressure on the defense. People talk about Scholes and Carrick's lack of tackling ability but they always get close enough to the player and in a good position to close down the attacking options. Fletcher and O'Shea seem to think that if they always stand 5 yards goal side of the attacker they'll be ok but all it does it give them the time and space they need to play the ball around. If I was someone like Sidwell who'd been let go by Arsenal and was playing for a smaller side I'd be absolutely gutted to see clowns like DF and JOS playing for Man U and probably getting a decent wage for it.
In two weeks it will be 4 years since Fletcher made his debut something like 130-140 appearances and I can count on one hand the amount of times I've thought he looked only OK. The rest of the time he's been appalling.
Of course with Fergie looking to bed in for another 2 years I'm sure I'll still be ranting on about him.
Did I mention great result by the way?

Liam, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 12:26)

Mick - I thought Gaby was much more solid than Evra would have been and made several important clearing headers and interceptions and more importantly played at left back which Evra never does. Maybe you could watch it again without the "I love Evra" glasses on (only kidding I know you're normally quite fair).

Kevin (28/02/2007 at 13:43)

Liam, if you think Gabby had a good game mate youre in need of stonger glasses. His clearing headers fell just outside the 18 yard box & his passing & clearances disintegrated during the second half making him as a big a liability as Silvestre.

TMUF, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 14:03)

Liam, Manchester obviously you cant say Evra would have been worse the Heinze because its impossible to tell, but one thing for sure is Evra seems a class above Heinze. I used to think Heinze was better defensively and Evra attacking, but Evra is better at both and the future looks bleak for Heinze. maybe you should take off your Heinze glasses! And BobbyD you say you can't believe I am happy with that midfield but we cant change them till the end of the season and YES considering Liverpool are our next game I was more then happy to see our 1st teamers get a rest. In the majority of games they have played this season, we have won. I agree Brown was poor for the 2nd match running. Richadson has the attributes to be a great player but never shows it. We lost the last 80 mins, SO WE WON THE GAME! We weren't out played for the majority of the game either. They never looked like scoring in the first half and it was poor goal to concede. van de Sar was poor for the majority of the game and its pointless to come out with the comment of him playing for Reading. I am sure I dont have to explain why that is! At the end of the day, at the business end of the season results matter. Through to the last 8 so although we idnt play well in the 2nd half, I am just pleased with the win at a difficult ground with most 1st teamers rested. Oh and BD thought it was quite funny mentioning the 60m starting line up, considering Ferdinand and Saha are pretty much 3/4 of that who are 1st teamers. Its relevant anyway!

Liam, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 14:16)

Oh nice one Kevin - so you prefer someone who's not there in the first place to clear it then? Those clearances should have been picked up and brought out by our midfield but we didn't have one. I think the whole defence were made to make poor scrappy clearances as the result of having no outlet.
By the way me glasses are pretty new thank ye ver much sir.

Liam, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 14:28)

To be honest TMUF I don't have that great a soft spot for Heinze - I think he prefers to play centre half anyway - and if we had a top quality left back come in then I'd accept it but Evra seems to have fooled people like yourself into thinking he's a great defender because he's good at winning the 50/50 balls but these are rarely crucial last ditch challenges because often if he's caught out he's caught out big time and will not even try to get back and defend. One thing I will say though is that positioning and discipline can be taught and he obviously has better technical ability than Heinze but I'm sick of watching matches where Vidic and the midfield are constantly pulled out of position to cover for Evra just for everyone to go on about how great he is defensively. Simple fact is that Vidic is forced to come out to the left a lot more that Ferdinand has to go out to the right and if someone gets a cross in while one of the centre halves is out of position then it causes problems. I'm just amazed how many people can't see it but like I say - hopefully he can sort it out and we can agree on him being a good defender then.

Lee , Heywood, Heywood (28/02/2007 at 14:45)

Would hate to see our second string take on Arsenals second string ours are complete garbage the sooner SAF and a few on this site open there eyes and see that the sooner we can move on as a club and move on Oshea Fletcher Richardson and a couple of others to where they belong ie Barnet Southend etc.

TMUF, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 14:50)

Liam at United we have always had attacking fullbacks and the only time evra attacks is when we need him too. To say he doesn't rtrack back after is ridiculous as sometimes it has amazed me the fitness and pace of the guy to get back in position and disposess their winger. As for people covering Evra, same goes for Gary Neville. Infact ever since I have been watching United, this is exactly what happens when the wingbacks attack. Giggs often switches when Evra is attacking which is vital for any team. Unless you want us to play like Chelsea where the wingbacks just defend. I think you probably disliked Evra from day one and find it difficult to be proved wrong.

Birdy, Ireland, Ireland (28/02/2007 at 14:58)

I think last night DF, JOS and KR showed that they're never going to have much impact at Utd. They all struggled to varying degrees. However we have to be realistic, every club has its squad players that make the fans shake their head in disbelief. I think in our case we have more than necessary though, and i would hope that a few of them are sent on their way in the summer. I think the real test as to how good they are is if and when they are sold. If JOS was playing misfield for Boro for example he probably wouldnt stand out. ITs only when these guys are kicked out of their comfort zone and are no longer carried Scholes, Ronaldo, Rooney etc that we'll see for certain what theyre made of. Outside of the usual suspects I was disappointed with Heinze last night. He's not the player he was 2 seasons ago. He's much more sloppy in possession and late and less decisive in the tackle. I do think he can get back to what he was though. As for Saha, i thought he looked worryingly rusty. He took his goal well but his first touch was way off. We need him back to his pre Christmas form for when Larsson leaves

bobbydazzler (28/02/2007 at 15:11)

liam a brutal but accurate analysis of the favoured one. i agree with you completley he has not had half a dozen good games in his 135 appearances. there are guys on here who because he plays at united say he must therefore get our support. he needs to earn our support first and he will never be able to do that as he just does not have what it takes.

Liam, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 15:13)

Ironically TMUF I liked him from day one and now find it hard to be proved wrong.

bobbydazzler (28/02/2007 at 15:38)

birdy i am sure that you have read dozens of my postings criticising out tremendous trio. i do howhever have a bit of sympathy for oshea as when he is asked to fill in as a defender he does ok. fergie has done him no favours playing him in midfield. but in the summer we must have a big clear out and give opportunities to some of the younger lads

Liam, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 15:41)

Birdy - That's an excellent point but for one thing. We can't compare ourselves to all clubs, we have to compare ourselves to the top teams and if you look at Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool who are our main rivals there are no players that I can pick out and say - yep they're as bad as DF, JOS or KR. Players like that don't make it into those squads so if we are the best then they shouldn't make it into ours.

chris, oxford (28/02/2007 at 16:13)

Good points both Liam and Birdy. Another telling factor in how our fringe players are regarded is that you hear the likes of Newcastle and Boro sniffing around Wes and O'Shea, West Brom wanted Richardson, but who has ever expressed an interest in the favoured one?

TMUF, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 17:01)

Well from Liverpool- Dudek,paletta,Aurelio,Gonzalez,Zenden,Guthrie,Harry kewell,Pennant,Fowler, even garcia and Crouch. Arsenal- almunia,Senderos,Traore,Hoyte,Flamini,Baptista.Chelsea-Hilario,Boulahrouz,Ferreira,geremi,Obi,Kalou,Shevchenko all of these players IMO have done no better then our squad players. OK some are young but so is Richardson! Birdy's point was spot on, besides we cant get rid until the summer. Surely with Liverpool and Lille coming up it was the correct decision to rest most of the team. All I am saying is where is the need to slate our players on pretty much EVERY story. Nothing can be done about it and there are benefits in playing in them as we saw against Reading. Everyone goes overboard when they play. Birdy I think Saha was our MOM. I remeber when he mis controlled once but thats all I can remeber. His touch was brilliant for most of the game as shown by the goal from a difficult ball. I think there is a tendency to on this website to concentrate on the negatives. OK its your opinion and I suppose your either proved right or pleasently surprised but wouldn't it be alot better if when things are going well(like kast 8 in FA Cup, last 16 in CL and 9 point PL lead) that people would begin to look at positives. Its like every one is lookin though blue tinted glasses. We're fans aren't we supposed to be biased towards our team?!

TMUF, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 17:04)

chris, oxford who has ever expressed an interest in Gilberto Silva, or Terry, or Carragher,Scholes,G Nev even Rooney. Ok I shouldn't really be mentioning Fletcher's name amongst thes players, but you get the point right

bobbydazzler (28/02/2007 at 17:14)

chris he could do a job for queen of the south or abroath but then again

stu, london (28/02/2007 at 17:54)

Good fair comments from many here. Don't really need me to add to the tsunami of, ahem, critical opinion being levelled at O'Shea, KR and Fletch - we've heard it all before and we all (well, most of us) know that they are not good enough. I honestly believe that Fletch can do a job for an odd game, and stay loyal and be happy to be a 'bencher', as Butt was. But O'Shea and KR are lazy and that's a cardinal sin at United. They must go this summer and the kids be given a chance. I think we'll see some investment in the squad (OH and a striker) so it's difficult to see a place for OS and Smith. KR would fetch 5m at West Brom for example, so we should cash in. On the ratings, rather fair from MEN this week. Blistering opening minutes but credit to Reading for not getting down and conceding 6.

cantona's upturned collar, at home (28/02/2007 at 20:11)

I can just about accept somehow everyone slagging off Fletcher, O'Shea and Richardson on here, but to pick on Saha is downright incredible. How can anyone criticise Louis Saha? Yesterday (and not ony yesterday, mind you) he was AWESOME! For me he has to start at Anfield....LOUIS SAHA, LOUIS SAHA...EH..EH..EH...LOUIS SAHA! (to the tune of na na na na hey hey)

TMUF, Manchester (28/02/2007 at 22:01)

We played Fletcher, O'shea,Richardson etc at a difficult away ground. Arsenal did the same with their fringe players. Difference? We're still in the Cup! I bet there isn't half as much whinging on the Arsenal message boards after there loss even though judging on the 2 performances, we were far better! Anything can happen in the cup so we should just be grateful we're still in it!

COLIN, CANADA, Canada (28/02/2007 at 22:13)

Second attempt. The obvious conclusion is that this summer Sly, Richardson and probably Smitty will move on. JOS should go just to get regular games and several teams will go after him. I think he is too slow for our system and to be fair to him, he is a decent defender but no mid fielder. Fletcher can play when he has strong support. On his own he isn't strong enough. Personally I think he will be one day but United fans want class in every position including back up and they want them NOW. Arsenal are out of the cup and either Spurs or Chelsea will be gone in the next round so we have a real shot at the double. Reading the comments nobody thinks we have the squad to go very far in the CL but next year we will. A good house cleaning plus three good buys in the summer and next year it will be United and Arsenal. One two. Chelsea could implode this summer if they don't win the prem or the CL.

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