Ok game, and great 3 points! Rio and Vidic played fantastic, and kept us in it with some great defending.

But I just can't help worry about the way the key players looked very tired. I can't remember seeing Rooney and Ronaldos faces like that (tired) ever... Looked like they were about to give up, and then they go traveling to Saudi Arabia for a show game when they should stay home and rest, for Tottenham next sunday will be a difficult one...

Stuart Mathieson once again poor ratings. How Giggs got a higher mark then Carrick,Tevez,Ronaldo,Evra and Rooney is beyond me.

I would downgrade Giggs by 1 and move the others up 1.
If Carrick had scored when he should have I would have given him 8 and MOM.

I thought Carrick played really well today. His passes and composure in the middle was excellent. When I first saw that Anderson wasn't starting, I was kinda worried. Though Carrick lacks the forward driver that Anderson brings, his passes (when he gets it right) are truly outstanding.

Marks are harsh on Carrick and Ronaldo. We won 2 nil away from hom lest we forget

I really cannot agree with Stuarts ratings.

Actually I want to go back to the Carling Cup game against Coventry for a moment...

After that match, Fergie said that Anderson and Pique were our best players in the game. I fully agree with what he said there. Anderson was technically very good, did well defensively and did the job he was supposed to do, but sadly was let down by the rest of the team. In such a situation, it's the £17 million brazilian that grabs the headlines and becomes the scapegoat when the fact of the matter is he let down by the rest of the team.

Stuart said on MUTV that he couldn't believe what the manager said about Anderson after the game, because the way he saw it was that Anderson played very poorly, and that the manager only said he played well to boost his confidence.

If you watch Andersons performance closely in that game, he did play very well, and Ferguson wasn't just saying it as a confidence booster.

Now, back to the ratings.....

Tevez was our best attacker for the entire game, and it was his killer ball that led to Rooney's goal.

He definitely deserves an 8 for his performance, and was my man of the match actually.

Carrick deserved 7 as he put in a good effort, moreso defensively, but did play a few great balls to the attackers aswell at times.

Hargreaves played OK but was a bit rusty as you'd expect. Almost scored from a freekick, and would have only for the pace on the ball. Besides that he made some good tackles, so I think 6.5 would be about right.

Brown played very well and deserved 7 I thought.

Van Der Sar had one of his moments that almost cost us when he came for a ball that there was no need to come for, and then cleared it down field into danger when the ball should have went into touch. However, he did hold his ground when Kitson was through and attempted the lob. If that had gone in we could have lost the game. He was solid enough throughout aswell, so taking the Kitson save into account, I'll give him 7.

Rooney's work great was good throughout, but to no effect. However, the goal he scored was very good, so I think 6.5 would be about right taking that into account. He does need to improve though. Having one good game and five bad ones just isn't good enough, and the manager has to be concerned by it.

Park didn't play well and 5 is about right.

Nani did well when he came on - 6.

Giggs - Very little impact and squandered a great chance to score - 5

Fletcher - Solid when he came on - 6

Evra wasn't up to his usual standards - 6

Vidic - 8 (outstanding)

Ferdinand - 7.5

I think the marks for Hargreaves and Carrick could be higher. For the first time, they looked like the could form a reasonable partnership. Hargreaves patrolled the area in front of the back four and deserved to score with a quality free kick while Carrick pulled some strings going forward and helped out defensively when necessary.

Defence were solid, but we were wasteful up front so the marks should reflect those things.

Forgot to add Ronaldo.

6 is about right. Never troubled the keeper and shot wildly too often. It wasn't a good performance from him.

The goal he scored came on the break when Reading threw all they had forward, and with Rooney taking the last man away to provide Ronaldo with the space, it was a mere formality just to slot home.

We'll need more from Ronaldo against Spurs.

WRONG ratings again and I don't agree with some of you. United played a quite good match against a typical british team that are allways difficult to play against.
Van der Sar 5: should have kicked the ball out instead of kicking to the middle.
Brown 5 nothing special from him
Ferdinand 7 solid and allways tries to play the game in a very neat way. Very few CB do that.
Vidic 6:under countrol.
Evra 6: still far from his best
Carrick 5:still not able to convice me
Hargreaves 6: would like to see him along Anderson
Ronaldo 7: Missed a few shots but still scores. Until the last minute you have the feeling that he will score.
Park 5: far away from his best.
Rooney 7: best along with Rio and CR. good goal and even if they not at their best they make the diference between teams.
Tevez 6: A bit tooo quite.
Fletcher and Nani came in really well.

VALTINHO, LISBON
completely agree with you with carrick, I am praying newcastle convince united to sell carrick and if we get the price that has been reported I will be more happy then when united won the title, and to put the cherry on top of the cake sell fletcher is well who is worser, you got it spot on with hargreaves people have battered hargreaves on the forums yesterday and today, not forgeting he has just yet again recovered from injurie he is rusty.

when hargreaves and anderson are playing in the middle hargreaves has been fantastic because hargreaves get's confused playing alongside carrick who is useless has they come, some united fans over exagerate what carrick does he can't tackle he hardly cover's ground has no threat going forward and hardly influences games and hardly create's chances plus anderson and scholes carry this waste of space, if fernandes shows his potiential sell carrick and sign fernandes who has year's on his side.

At least Valtinho makes sensible posts to this site. If he's not convinced by Carrick, fair do's. That's a personal thing. Stevemanu85 however, if you can't get down to OT or get hold of a telly near you to watch the game, please don't bother to post because it's pointless...Your comments "he can't tackle, hardly cover's ground, has no threat going fwd and hardly influences games, hardly create's chances plus A and S carry this waste of space" are not even close to reality...that 'aint Carrick! He managed to do all of the above and was one of our better players. I'm pretty sure most sensible observers (including those on here not big fan's of Carrick) will think that C and H formed a SOLID partnership which can only be good. Waiting for the deluge tho......

how park got a 5 is completley beyond me cant fault his effort but interms of actual contribution i would have given him a 3. when he plays on the left we end up with no width as he always has to come inside.

We played very well against a tough side that defended well, closing us down and getting behind the ball in in military fashion. That we still could create so many openings is testament to great approach play (despite missing the creativity and energy of Anderson in midfield). Giggs also made a difference in the second half, adding greater focus and tactical nous.

Of course, where we fell short was in the final ball. Somehow Rooney and Ronaldo just aimed too high, and instead of being 3-0 up by half time, we allowed the game to drift. But we were always going to score - the lads were up for it, the openings continued to be made, and sure enough two classy goals games from Rooney and Ronaldo (after a few scares at the back, yes).

So, while I think the ratings were OK, I tend to agree that they could have been a bit more generous esp regarding Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo. As always, I agree with the recognition given to Giggs - one or 2 slips but generally he made a decent contribution (but see that some of you still have it in for him.....).

2-0 then is a fair reflection, but could easily have been 4-0, esp if we got the early goal. Cannot be too hard on our front men when they just keep on trying when its not going for them, and eventually succeed. That just shows what classy players they are....

Jon S, Guernsey
I sometimes get down to old trafford I used to have a season ticket but I refuse to give my money to that glazer famly who remind me from the horror movie the hills have eyes, put carrick up against an essien gerrard fabrigas gattusso pirlo etc and he will be eaten alive.

carrick and hargreaves do not dove tail they are to simuler to play in the same team, only carrick is a fairy a lightweight in midfield he is useless and is the weak link in this man utd team, when fit he is fourth choice behind scholes anderson and hargreaves, and it is a joke he wear's the no 16 shirt from a player in keane that is everything that joke carrick is not.

Stevemanu85....

Come on, that's not fair on Carrick. Carrick had a solid game, not brilliant, but solid. And Carrick played an important role in us winning the premier league last year! Carrick and Scholes were brilliant last year, and when Carrick plays well (Rome, Newcastle, Chelsea, the list goes on...) United are fantastic! We should be glad we have 4 great CM, and if you want somebody out, sell Fletcher! I think everybody will agree with me on that one...

These are a disgusting disgrace. All our attackers and midfielders got 6 or less, yet we were all over Reading for large periods. OK we were wasteful infront of goal, but some of our aproach play was superb at times. Those 2 things don't stack up. Some games when we hardly produce a chance Tevez and co are getting 8's. It has now been proved beyond all doubt that Giggs score automatically defaults to a 7, regardly of how hopeless he is. Carricks passing was a joy to watch, and he defended excellently too. If he had converted his admittedly easy chance, he would have been a 9, missing it he was still an 8. Some of Carricks thru balls were oetry in motion, the fact that mainly Rooney failed to make anything of them wasn't Carricks fault. Peole who know football love Carrick. Most of the ignoramouses on here dislike him because they can't see past their adoration of Scholes. And Vidic 8? Kitson pushed him out of the way too easily at times (and would have scored on one such occaision if Van de Sar hadn't been as tall as he is!), and his distribution was awful. Too many time Vidic ran back towards his own line only to ta the ball into touch, when he had time to play forward instead like Rio would do. It was one of Vidas poorer games for us, not one of his best. Park was terrible tho, a 3 or 4, not a 5. I think he always has impact coming on last 20 minutes, but isn't good enough (or quick enough) for a starting place.

It must be all the wee ones voting for the players ratings because Roo & Ron were not at their best. If it wasn't for steady old Vidic back there we would have lost. EVD made some glaring errors and Rio & especially Vidic saved his bacon time and time again. Vidic doesn't get the glory but week in, week out he is a rock. I also understand that Giggs needs to have some games off to rest but breaking up a 6 - 0 team by putting in the likes of Park just confuses things.

a bit of a lack luster day, and the ratings reflect that. Carrick was awesome in the holding role, but a bit weak as he can forward. that being sais his reading Reading was awesome! 8 for me, and man of the match

Park 5, what a joke! 2 would be far more accurate. There's more to being a Manchester United player than just running and chasing. His first touch is terrible and there's never any end product with him. You can't to start with a player like Park and expect to gain the initiative. Authority must be stamped on the game from the first whistle. He's a lightweight. Okay, he's been out for a while but even on his better' day's he's never even hit a 5.

Cheers Jon S, Guernsey.
Can you all leave Park alone, he just came back from a long injury period. we all know that his contribuition to the team is to take some load from the other wingers( Nani, Giggs and CR), he works hard and in form can be a good substitute. the same goes for OH he needs time to regain his form. I agree with SAF that united doesn't really need to buy players in January as the market has allways prices above the real value. I would in future try to get read of some players like Fletcher, Brown, Carrick and Saha. I also don't like O'shea but I understand his role in the team and that makes him a very important player.
By selling them I would go for a top striker. Berbatov at 30 million is maybe silly money to pay for but his style would fit in and he is a finish product. Etoo would be a dream if Drogba joins Barcelona. A young top CM like Moutinho, Miguel Veloso or M.Fernades( needs SAF and CQ to show him the way but an amazing potential, for me the best of the three above but needs a lot of guidance). Deco is begging to leave Barcelona and he mentioned United a few times. Quaresma will leave Porto in the summer, if Ronaldo starts to take a free role Quaresma would be the player to replace in the wings.

VALENTINO, your lack of appreciation of Carricks qualities shows your total ignorance of football. Let me guess, you like the Nicky Butts and Alan Smiths of this world. All effort and kicking people in the air. Yes, that type of commitment catches the eye of the fans who don't really understand the game. But it's the contribution of QUALITY layers like Carrick that wins you titles. We signed one player in the summer of 2006 and won the title the the year after. That player was Carrick. Scholes had his best season for 5 years because of Carricks influence, ask him how good Carrick is. If it was all about effort and commitment, Wimbledon would still be top of the premier league. Go and watch darts if you have no understanding of football. At least you can use a calculator to help you out in that sport.

Get off Carricks back! If any of you knew anything about football you would realise he has been one of our best players recently.
Also players out injured for a long time need to get match fitness and that takes time. SAF knows what he is doing, when i read some of the comments on here i know you couldn't even manage a pub team.
As for the match against Reading - Utd had 19 attempts on goal Reading had 9 - thats a fair reflection on the game Utd were the better team and won. Better finishing was all that was required to make the scoreline even better.

One of the big criticisms of Carrick is an inability to take a game by the scruff of the neck. I thought he did exactly that against Reading and really forced the pace in the second-half. He didn't play brilliant in the first 45 but was behind everything we did right when we finally tightened the screw on them.

Hargreaves did ok. Nothing more. I still think he needs games to really get going. Great free-kick though and worked hard defensively.

Rio and Vida were superb, our best two players on the pitch (how many times have we said that, this season?)

Roo and Ron are getting most of the plaudits in the press today but I thought they both had very average games, by their own high standards.

Ronaldo was much better than Rooney, mind you, who would be pushing Park hard for the award of worst player on the pitch. I can forgive him, though, because of THAT goal. It was just one of those days for him, where nothing he did came off. If the angry celebration is anything ton go by, I'm sure he would agree.

valenthino few manchester united fans i have met actually dislike park, and i would go as far too recognise that he is in fact very popular indeed. what most fans do realise though is that he will never ever be able to play on the left wing. for some reason giggs is no longer allowed to play out there for more than a few minutes in any given game and saf now sees him as a centre forward. the only other player in the squad who can play that role and have any effect is ronaldo. its not parks fault fergie plays him in a position he cant play.

It's highly amusing how Carrick's detractors still find issues/fault with him, when he plays the type of game they've been demanding. I thought he worked hard, broke up play well, got about the pitch well & obviously passed pretty well. He even made some good tackles, one just inside our box late on was vital. If you don't like him 'cos he's not Roy Keane, fine, but don't criticise him blindly. Make points as to why he was poor not just say he's useless!! Some also couldn't wait for Wes to be back in the side just to point out how he isn't good going forward! ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET !!

Most are saying Fletch did well & thats as maybe but i thought he nearly cost us the game. He lost the ball badly on a couple of occassions & then for someone who was supposedly fresh, let a player (Harper)he was marking run from deep, past him, receive the ball on the edge of the box & hit a good shot only millimetres wide! VdS was not happy. At 0-0 it would have been a disaster!

@Khalad Mahmood: Why do you always turn your posts into personal attacks? Although I don't agree with Valentino on the Carrick issue, he's still a quality poster, and has proven on several occasions that he's got an eye for the game. Let the man have his own opinions, without you disrespecting him personally for not having the same views as you. The whole point of this forum is to exchange opinions and debate on different issues, not to go slagging off on anyone who disagrees!

Now, "stevemanu85": Did you watch the game, or are you posting based on a predefined opinion on Carrick? Carrick had a solid game, doing everything we was expected to do. He IS NOT the new Keane, and wasn't meant to be either. What he lacks in the physical department in ways of tackling and action-radius, he makes up for with brilliant positioning, mind-blowing vision and nearly flawless distribution. Every player varies in form, more or less.. and Carrick had two horrifying games when he returned from sickness. After this, his performances have been up to the expected standard. Fantastic against Newcastle, and solid against Reading. Give the man a break, and try to enjoy the other things he brings to the table. We're not playing like Blackburn or Bolton, we have a much more sophisticated, continental approach; with precision-passing and constant movement being the key factor. United are playing by definition playing attacking football, and this will naturally reflect our transfer policy.