Player ratings: United 1 Birmingham 0

Stuart Mathieson

January 01, 2008

Kuszczak: Fumbled a couple of long-range efforts when called upon, but never costly. 5

O'Shea: Did get drawn out of position into the central action at times, but Birmingham couldn't make him suffer. 6

Ferdinand: Handled the awkward threat of Jerome very comfortably, but it was tougher when Forssell came on. 7

Vidic: Birmingham offered nothing that could unsettle the Serb. 7

Evra: His thrusts down the left flank caused Brum untold problems and he defended resolutely. 8

Nani: Went close with one trademark shot cutting in from the wing, but otherwise a touch disappointing. 5

Carrick: Effective without truly stamping his authority on midfield. 6

Anderson: Not a stand out performance from the Brazilian, but showed flashes of class. 6

Park: His energy was just what United needed at times. 7

Ronaldo: Several moments of quality helped keep the Reds on top. 7

Tevez: The lively South American kept Birmingham constantly on back foot. Hit post twice and scored. 9

Substitutes:

Saha (for Tevez, 71): Little spark. 5

Hargreaves (for Park, 75): Quiet cameo. 5

Brown (for Evra, 84): Solid few minutes. 5

Not used: Pique, Heaton

Birmingham City: Taylor, Kelly, Ridgewell, Larsson, O'Connor, Jerome (De Ridder 66), McSheffrey (Forssell 66), Nafti (Palacios 81), Queudrue, Jaidi, Muamba.

Bookings: United: None. Birmingham: Ridgewell (33) Queudrue (49) Nafti (73) Palacios (90)

Referee: Peter Walton - A comfortable one to control. 7

Attendance: 75,459

Do you agree with Stuart's ratings? Have your say?

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reuben, Malta (01/01/2008 at 17:37)

sometimes i wonder if i've been watching the same game.. anderson and carrick both getting the same score??

Devil's Own,, malaysia (01/01/2008 at 17:43)

Too generous rating, I would saw its a well below par performance by almost everybody, with the exception of Tevez maybe.

Nani works hard, but looks a bit lost and lack understanding with others.

The are still plenty of hardwork ahead if we are to succeed retaining the title.

unitedandproud (01/01/2008 at 17:47)

kitkat still scares the hell out of me. One on One he's one of the best in the world, everything else...well! Nani is going to become good but it's going to take a long long time, Anderson was great as usual, class player, Tevez back to his usual hard work and did well, as did Park who I feel is a much better player than people give him credit for. Saha was poor again but give him time.

Dev, Johannesburg (01/01/2008 at 17:47)

Much better ratings. Tevez definitely MOM, hope his injury is not serious. Overall, we showed our tiredness, which prevented us from wrapping up the game by half-time, or during the first part of the second half. We created fantastic openings but just lacked the precision upfront. As the second half closed we almost lost it - with even Ronaldo giving the ball away. It almost became shambolic and, instead of beating Birmingham down for the second goal, we began to pay for time - at home! Nani was brilliant at times in winning the ball, and dribbling through the defence. However, his final pass was lacking in precision, and he also lost the ball a few times. Carrick was weak, losing the ball often, at one moment right outside our penalty area (although he did make a few telling passes, and one or two crucial tackles). I have yet to see Carrick live up to his price tag this season, so maybe its time to part ways (hopefully as a partial swop for Berbatov). HE cannot say he was tired....

Iben Wong (01/01/2008 at 17:49)

Well undoubtedly Fletcher deserves a 7...what's that?...he didn't play!....Oh a Oh!
Well I thought if he had played it would be a 7...no question.
These ratings are a joke!!! Obviously done by some imbecile.

Christer, Norway (01/01/2008 at 17:52)

Terrible ratings, again... Carrick was underperforming throughout the game, giving away the ball on several occasions. Anderson was way better. He should be allowed an off game once in a while, though. Nani deserved a bit better as well, he put himself about..

DC, Amsterdam (01/01/2008 at 18:03)

The defence have zero confidence in KitKat, that is obvious by their reluctance to pass the ball back to him. Today, under pressure on the right wing in the second half, ferdinand opted to hook the ball into touch rather than pass to the keeper. He did the same a couple of times against West Ham. Whatever about KitKat being a shotstopper, unless he can master the technical aspects of goalkeeping he shouldn't be there IMO.

Carrick - any PL teams looking for a midfielder to bolster their bid to avoid relegation/fight for Uefa Cup?? I still can't quite figure out what he brings to the team. He makes interceptions???

Tevez played really well, one of the best matches I've seen him play.

For the second match in a row I thought we were outfought, just lucky that the match was at OT and we overcame them with our football. Fergie, give your players the hairdryer treatment once more, and then turn it on yourself for 4-5-1, at home, to Birmingham City.

VALTINHO, LISBON (01/01/2008 at 18:08)

Ratings totally out of order the guy that gives them is joking with us.
Kuszczak:6(didn't have much to do)
O'Shea:4( did an ok job but this guy should never play at united) Bosingwa would put him in his pocket both at CB and RB. Buy him now.
Ferdinand:8( having a great season)
Vidic:7( not as good as last year)
Evra:8( the oposite of O'shea a genuine top player
Nani:8( great skills and worked really hard, the last touch needs to improve but what a future he has)
Carrick:2( my god, the millions spent in this guy...can he be slower?? and he misses more passes than Giggs..)
Anderson:8( on/off the game but when he was in the game he gave a lesson to Carrick of how to handle the ball, great futureand i love when he workes the ball but I don't when he tries to play like Scholes with the long passes)
Park:7( good to see him back)
Ronaldo:8( amazing pass to Tevez and unlucky to not be in the score line, proved that can become really good in the forward position)
Tevez:8( great goal and played really well with Ronaldo)

Peter Khoo (01/01/2008 at 18:11)

Kitkat doesn't seem to inspire confidence. I feel the problem in the last 2 games is in midfield. Against West Ham, Fletch , Giggs and OH didn't control the midfield. Today Carrick had an atrocious game! Anderson did much better, so they can't possibly be given the same rating! The sleak passing and off the ball running seems to have deserted them! Too much tinkering? Can't be tiredness, cos players had enough rest!

VALTINHO, LISBON (01/01/2008 at 18:21)

You will laugh now but I kind of enjoyed the game when United played their best today. O'shea and Carrick don't have the skills and understanding to follow the flow that Rio, Evra, anderson, Nani, Tevez, Park and ronaldo created at certain points. you could see how sad they were when Carrick misses passes after passes. the last 15 minutes were scaring as United dominated the game and was about to loose points to a quite poor team. I would be really happy if I was you because today United played with a very young team and with ups and downs as it is normal for young players but shows a lot of potential. Anderson/Nani were amazing at some points of the game. They missed simple passe but they threw themeselves into the game and for 19,20 years old....shows courage and determination...that´s not for everyone.

BrewDevil, Clemson,USA (01/01/2008 at 18:38)

Rater must have had one helluva new year's hangover to deal with watching the match.

Andeson and Carlitos share MOM for me. Anderson only a 6. Get real. He was the only one who would get stuck in and get physical while breaking up play, as usual.

Nani gets a 4. I start him out with a 6 for getting himself into dangerous positions and leading us out into dangerous breaks a number of times, but take 2 pts away for his poor touches and indifferent passing. Needs to get focused and get his head in gear.

Spot on for Park. Tireless worker on defense, gets technically better the more he plays, develops positive intuitive understandings with the strikers, and on his worst day harries the opposition as well as fletch on his best day. I see no reason Park's return can't make DF surplus to requirements.

Carrick. The experiment has failed. Cannot dominate a match, even at home against the likes of B'ham. You may as well ask him to start speaking in gaelic as to impose himself on a game. They are both foreign languages to him. For the amount of value he brings to the squad in comparison to his fee, he is every bit as much of a bust as Veron. Oh, he can make a pretty pass, but the lustre come off that when you consider that he makes about as many to the opposition.

Ronaldo. Bout right, but seemed to dribble into trouble and into the teeth of the defense to get his shots off when there were better options.

Saha. Why bother, We've seen his best. No longer has the ability to accelerate to the ball.

All in all another match with too many chances squandered. If we don't get it sorted out and get "The Party" cobwebs out of our heads, we'll pay for it andlose as many matches in the 2nd half as the 1st. FA Cup break comes at just the right time methinks. Lets see some of the youngsters.

ChrisMUFC9000, Dublin, Ireland (01/01/2008 at 19:27)

"Carrick: Effective..."

What game were u watchin, he was useless, sooner the better scholes is back, bring a bit of order to the midfield, back to london carrick your MUCK

Iben Wong (01/01/2008 at 20:58)

Val, Lisbon - have to agree with your assessment of players rating except I would give Carrick a 4. He was out of his league in 4 of 5 tackles and always a half step behind but fortunately Anderson, Nani and Tevez provided adequate cover for his lapses.
Good job Val!

red since i can remember (circa 1976), Malta (01/01/2008 at 21:38)

I hold my hand up. Carrick was way off form today. Then again he had a high fever just 48 hours ago and nobody (bar Tevez) really covered himself in glory today. Still, I'm glad he's with us because he's a decent player.

Steve, Glossop (01/01/2008 at 22:59)

Tevez -9 Ronaldo -8 top dogs again. Anderson -7 continues to prove how average Carrick -5 is I mean sorry but what a jammy git getting ?50K/wk for 1 good pass a game? Sorry face the truth Carrick is out of his depth for what United demands. Park looked ok -7 but methinks Saha -5 better pick up or it's his last season.

NZ_Exile, NZ (01/01/2008 at 23:33)

The lacklustre performance is a concern. There are a lot of games at Xmas but even so... Carrick does not appear to be up to the job and given the other CM's we have, surely we could use him in a trade for Mr Berbatov?!

Alias Smith, over the moon (02/01/2008 at 00:08)

The scoreline flatters Birmingham, we could have scored so many more although our play was sloppy at times, it was also sublime in parts. In the end, it was tense because we held a slender lead and Forsell caused us problems in the last 20 minutes.

Anyhow, my ratings; KK 6, JOS 6, Rio 7 (solid defending and some classy forward balls), Vidic 6, Evra 7 (always a threat down the left)
Nani 6, Carrick 6 (could have been 5 because his passing was overall below his usual standard but he played two key passes in the 1st half, one leading to the goal), Anderson 6, Park 7 (great energy caused Birmingham problems)
Ronaldo 8 (quality as usual plus 10 attempts on goal!), Tevez 8 (scored the winner, unlucky not to have a hat-trick).

I really don't understand all the doom and gloom and the sudden claims that we don't have a strong squad or that SAF is going to cost us the title. Talk about fickle! 15 wins in the last 18 games folks, best defence in the PL, second highest scorers, Rooney, Scholes and Neville to come back, it's all rosy.

Ray (02/01/2008 at 02:02)

Carrick was awfull. More of his passes went to Brum players than to UTDS. Pawn him off back to Spuds for Berbatov before he becomes worthless.

Suhaima Samsudin (02/01/2008 at 02:05)

Valtinho, Lisbon. Spot on ur rating mate. How old is Carrick anyway? He seems to be older than Giggsy. Get him off asap. I can't stand him!

pok, singapore (02/01/2008 at 03:58)

The amount of possession lost or given to Birmingham and WHU is indeed a worrying sight.SAF-you are warned or else Arsenal will run off with the title. Upfront, Saha is not the player he once was.
Pok, S`pore

Red-Brit-in-It (02/01/2008 at 09:40)

What United really need to quell average teams is an Essien- or a Vieira-type player: someone who really battles in midfield. I like Anderson, but he's alone as a battler, since Hargreaves doesn't seem to be able to passthe ball after he's won it.

KingCantona7, Ashton (02/01/2008 at 09:59)

Watching the game live is different to on telly, Ronaldo granted layed on a great ball for Teves goal but on many other occassions was greedy when others were in better positions. Anderson was strong yesterday and Saha in fairness to him was just given high balls to get onto. Park tries hard and had a couple of moments of doing well but hes always falling over and is a squad player at best. Scholes and Anderson should be our starting central mid partnership and Hargreaves should be given a few games at right back. Proper ratings
KK -6, Evra -8, Vidic -6, Rio -7, OShea -6, Park -6, Carrick -5, Anderson -7, Nani -6, Ronaldo -6, Tevez -8, Subs Saha -5, Hargreaves -5,

Frank Old Trafford (02/01/2008 at 10:35)

There have been thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of words written and posted on this site defending our 4th choice midfielder(that's Michael "is it time for bed yet" Carrick), even suggesting that he should be in the first choice. To all those words I have only one thing to say; HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !!

VALTINHO, LISBON (02/01/2008 at 10:50)

Suhaima Samsudin and Iben,
thanks for your comments. Carrick had some spells last year that made me believe that maybe he just needed time to settle in but after one season and with a lot of competition around he looks very poor. Mind my words because he costs millions...too many millions!! I would get rid of him and go for a foreigner player as the best British are already in top clubs. Pirlo, Deco( heard that he would like to move to United) would be great. M. Veloso or moutinho would be good for the team( in a year time if they can wait). Today I would go for a player with more Routine to have him along Anderson. Deco has something that other players don't at that position. He is an AM but plays at Barcelona as a CM and like Anderson can work really hard but provides creativity at the highest level. Offcourse having some many portuguese/foreigners in the team is allways a open discussion....
United has this year a good squad and doesn't need to stress to get other players in January. If buying RB, CF and F are the main priority

Eric Gibbon, Altrincham (02/01/2008 at 11:31)

Surely Carrick's days are numbered. A woeful player. A midfielder that hides and does not want the ball, the total opposite of Anderson.

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