United 2 Spurs 1: Player ratings

January 24, 2009

6 Foster: One or two moments when he seemed to lack vocal command but steady otherwise

6 O'Shea: Took his time to settle back into right back role but looked better when he switched to left

7 Neville: Another no-nonsense performance in the centre of defence

6 Vidic: Didn't pick up Pavlyuchenko in time to stop Spurs goal

7 Fabio Da Silva: Pressure on to emulate his brother but took it in his stride until injured forced him off

8 Welbeck: Particularly in the first half he was a dangerous thorn in Spurs side in unaccustomed right win role

8 Scholes: Wonderful and wayward. After early dodgy spell he pulled it together to help run show

8 Carrick: Two excellent from threaded ball and a corner set piece assists helped United turned the game around

6 Ronaldo: Never really managed to shift out of third gear and torment Tottenham

9 Tevez: Like the Duracell bunny he kept going and going and going. Chased down everything and never let Spurs settle

7 Berbatov: Lovely take down and sweet right foot to win it against old club

Subs: Eckersley (sub Fabio 52) Uncomplicated bow 6 Tosic (sub Ronaldo 72) Good promise 6 Fletcher (sub Welbeck 86) Steady late effort 5

Not used: Giggs, Possebon, Chester, Kuszczak

Tottenham: Alnwick, Bale (Taarabt 68), Zokora, Bentley (Defoe 72), Huddlestone, Pavlyuchenko, Modric (Giovani 45), Gunter, Dawson, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto

Referee: Peter Walton - No major decisions to worry him 7

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danny, WILMSLOW (24/01/2009 at 19:36)

6 Foster:
6 O'Shea:
7 Neville:
7 Vidic:
8 Fabio Da Silva: off

8 Welbeck: 7 Scholes:

7 Carrick: 6 Ronaldo:
9 Tevez:
8 Berbatov:

charbel (24/01/2009 at 20:59)

I cannot recall a more leisurely win.

To think we were missing Van der Sar, Rafael, Evra, Brown, Ferdinand, Evans, Hargreaves, Anderson, Giggs, Park, and Rooney; i.e. nearly an entire starting XI.

Is this strength in depth or what?

It is going to be hard winning the Quadruplet. Blimey, the Treble has only been done once in 46 attempts.
I'd settle for the title, and perhaps the Champions League as well.

I don't know about the Carling Cup. The 2 times we won it, we only finished 2nd in the league (1992 & 2006). On the other hand, whenever we lost the final, we went on to bigger success later in the season (1983, 1991, 1994, and 2003).

By the way, congrats to the lads on reaching a final for the 7th season in a row:

2003 Carling
2004 FA Cup
2005 FA Cup
2006 Carling
2007 FA Cup
2008 Champions Leage
2009 Carling

May the run continue...

Gerry, Glastonbury (24/01/2009 at 21:03)

Not a great game and United were very dull in the second half.
Wellgood (7) on the wing gave us a very disjointed look but he did well before fading in the second half.
Agree with ratings except would add:
Fabio - great little cameo and the twins should reinvent the Marks Brothers.
Scholes & Carrick - both 7. Decent but not great.
Ron 4. What the hell is wrong here and where's his blistering pace gone?
Tevez MOM again -8
Berb - 6 Nice goal but little else.

bobbydazzler (24/01/2009 at 21:04)

foster 6
fabio 8
nev 7
vidic 7
opie 5

ronaldo 4
carrick 5
scholes 6
wellbeck 7

berbatov 8
tevez 8

eckersley 6
tocsic 6
fletch 5

Sean , NYXMC (24/01/2009 at 21:11)

Pretty fair scores on the whole. Foster did nothing wrong, 7. Fabio was worth an eight - an exciting player: can't wait to see the twins playing in the same team. O'Shea 7 for me - good all round performance. Nev, 7. Vidic - a rare mistake, 6. How was Tevez worth a 9, though? Like Park, he virtually never stops running; he seems to chase the ball wherever it is, like a crazed Jack Russell - but to what effect? His first touch is dreadful six times out of ten. 9 for effort maybe, but 6 at best overall. Ronaldo, it seems, is being judged against his own standards - by anyone else's he was worth an 8. Carrick MoM for me: 9. Welbeck did well, 8. Berba: wonderfully taken goal, 7. And I was very, very impressed by Tosic in the last ten minutes - the future looks rosy...

Robbo, N2409, M16 (24/01/2009 at 21:33)

First half good, second half maddeningly pedestrian.

BF: 6 - At least he's not KitKat.

JOP: 5 - Why does he always run/lollop like a nervously self-conscious child learning how to ice skate? Should maybe fit him with some stabilisers.

FdS: 8 - Honestly, Mr and Mrs da Silva should open their own stud farm. Any more of these boys? Let's order another ten.

GN-is-a-Red: 6 - Solid-ish; clumsy distribution at times.

NV: 6 - Any second now Giovani will be landing back home in Mexico. Well and truly Vida-ed.

DW: 7 - Playing within himself, but still looks quality.

PS: 5 - Pains me to say it, but a total horror show first 30 mins. Improved.

Michelle: 8 - Very good first half, became focus of crowd frustration second 45. To be fair, most of his dawdling was due to a complete lack of movement from the forwards.

CR: 6 - Was going to slate him but I believe he was unwell.

DB: 7 - Carrick to Berba... GOAL! Right in front of the Spurs fans, too. Must be hard supporting a feeder club. Ps Note to Berba: "You're quite good, so... SHOOT!!!"

CT: 6.5 - A rich man's Alan Smith. Lots of crowd-pleasing pointless chasing. Still, it's hard not to like him. AR-GEN-TINNNA!!

AE: 6 - Looked confident, I thought.

Bambi: 6 - He's tiny! Basically a head attached to some little legs with a two-inch torso in between. Kept it simple, but whipped in a lovely free kick.

SF: 6 - Translucent.

Truly, the FA Cup is dead. Bar a brief late frenzy, the game was a testimonial second half. Tottenham would have been gutted if they'd scored. Not that they even tried.

keithmat (24/01/2009 at 21:43)

Carrick deserves a 10 for that one first time pass to Berbatov for his goal - that was some pass!

Where exactly is the OFF switch on this team? Woken up by an early goal they then played great until the scored the second then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz someone hit the off switch! and we nearly paid for it.

Good debuts from Fabio and Tosic.

We could play Raphael in one half and Fabio in the other in the same kit and get a free substitution :-)

I saw Duncan Edwards play, Walton Le Dale (24/01/2009 at 21:51)

Well, well! We were at the same match. I must, on the whole, agree with your ratings/comments. I was very pleased with our first half performance, second half went a bit 'iffy', but we did enough to justify the result. Enjoyed especially the debuts of Fabio and Tosic. Roll on Tuesday.

keen bgood (24/01/2009 at 22:34)

Wellbeck has a long way to go....giving him an 8 is far too generous....he gets no higher than a 6 for me. Having said that I love seeing these you lads...while not the finish articles they have great commitment and wonderful skill. Tevez was once again impressive...I hope his agent/owner will lower that 30 mil. Say 20...that would work ...yes?

Dickson (24/01/2009 at 23:17)

Ratings are spot on especailly with regards to Tevez. He really works for the team and for me he was MOM.It will be a pity to let him go and the end of the season. That said,there was nothing to write home about in the second half of the game. United seem content with clinging onto a 2-1 win and Spurs didnt threaten to score either. It was a dull 2nd half to be honest.
Dickson, Italy

Steve, Glossop (24/01/2009 at 23:30)

Generally agree with the ratings. Great stuff from da Silva & Wallbeck methinks GNev is our Maldini. Tosic looked ok a disciplined performance. Tevez was MOTM no doubt get him signed Alex. Carrick made 2 good passes in a game he had all the space to die for but still chose to mainly stay safe & paperweight in a challange. Foster didn't look impressive but can't be easy for him. A Quadruple hey what a way to go!

Marc Young (25/01/2009 at 01:00)

6 for Foster? More like a 4. Didn't take command of his area. One of the defender had to shout at him to collect the ball when it's he who should've taken charge there. A couple of mistimed efforts to collect crosses.

6 for Scholes? More like a 5 (a 4 if not for the goal). Couple of stray passes could have cost us dearly.

Jim Polley (25/01/2009 at 04:49)

Just because he is so new and young, I would give Wellbeck the nod for MOM over Tevez, No doubt that Tevez made a solid return to the Tevez we know and love!. I also think Berba rated a bit higher than a 7. Spurs were absolute shite today

Dev, Johannesburg (25/01/2009 at 09:44)

Tevez definitely MOM for his effort - and he almost got a great goal had it not been for an equally great save. Now that he is getting regular games, he is rapidly becoming as effective as he was last year - no longer the headless chicken. If he keeps this up, and gets the goals, Fergie will have a selection headache when Rooney returns.

TYhe youngsters were all great - but not so sure if Scholes deserved an 8, as he gave the ball away too often in the early period. Still, a great goal from him.

TMUF, Manchester (25/01/2009 at 12:53)

Tevez did chase the ball down alot but is that really worth MOM?

I no people like to see players giving everything for the team but like someone mentioned before, we had Smith and have Park and neither player was close to 30m and IMO neither is Tevez.

He barely provides any threat attacking wise and his greatest attribution seems to be winning the ball back in our half, which is great, but not what you pay 30m for.

He couldnt handle a few passes to feet under pressure from Carrick and seems to be a Wayne Rooney with no goal threat, may aswell sign Essien and stick him up front!

Very rare for me to criticise a player, especially one who clearly puts 110% in every game but if the options are pay 30m for tevez, play wellbeck or sign another 30m striker then for me signing Tevez is the worst option by a distance!

11 out of 10 for effort, a 6 for quality, and a need to find his attacking skills for any chance of a signing!

Still while he is here you will still hear me screaming ARGENTINA!!!

Greef, Salford (25/01/2009 at 14:06)

Im very disappoointed with Foster, he looked half asleep, poor kickng, flat footed and there was no command of his area, he aint no first choice and can't really see it happening in the future. Hats to Spurs young lad, some great saves and couldn't do much about the goals. Fabio was excellent and Wellbeck is encouraging. Scholes was shash!! and 8 is too high. But the red machine go marching on and all is forgotten. I look forward to the league cup final team selection.

roger of norway (25/01/2009 at 14:16)

Can't understand why so many rates Tevez for THE EFFORT? I've asked before and didn't get an answer: What's the issue about Argentina-players in England? Last night Tevez was good, not brilliant. He and Berbatov seemed to develop understanding between each other and that's great. But the for the effort-thing annoys me because it seems that no matter how bad he plays (not this game, mention) there's always this 'for the effort'-points to be given. MOM last night: Carrick. His pass for Berba was incredible.

Adeyinka Akinsanya (25/01/2009 at 15:39)

I understand Tevez does not play like an out-and-out striker but he put up an inspiring display to silence tottenham yesterday in defending and assisting up front and he looked a lot more dangerous last night in front of goal. unlucky not to have a goal to his name.

roger of norway (25/01/2009 at 16:51)

To my last post about Tevz: I like the player and he, as so many others in our squad, is very important. My blow out wasn't towards Tevez, but againts the 'for the effort'-brawl. During the time Tevez has been at Unitd, I can't recall seen many give Park nor Fletcher much credit 'for the effort'. As a matter of fact, it has rather had a tendency to be used against them.

tripone, canada (25/01/2009 at 16:59)

TMUF, Manchester, Well said.
Tevez is a great player but he is not worth 30m . As for PPL who always critisize just for the sake of it, no more, O'Shea was excellent and looked very confident there, I disagree here, he is better on the right than left. also the other day someone said he is another Fletcher at best, as if to say Fletch is no good, will listen to this, Fletcher and Park are 2 of the best for us and U know nothing about football. Berba is Great, PPL should see how he saves his team-mates by being open for the pass when they get Jammed, also how the ball sticks to his foot, fantastic, he is the closest we had to Cantona. Wellbeck did actually play well on the right and i think that is better for him than the middle. Tosic did well too but i was not expecting him to that small in size !? Nani ok he did not play but i can't not say something about him, or me on him, I only say what i say about him because, he is not so young(23)he has been here for almost 2 yrs, he cost 17MILLION PPL, and he Frustrates the living hell out of anyone almost 99% of the time.

keen bgood (25/01/2009 at 17:08)

I would suspect Tevez's teamates would give him a much higher rating than even some of his supporters. He scores important goals, works hard to the final seconds, harrasses the arse off the backs, gives them no rest, he's tough on the ball, quick footed, wonderful technical skill, comfortable running at defenders, reads the game well and would be a pisser to play against! Makes others make mistakes. The only reason we haven't signed him is the 30M....that's too high for almost anyone in this market.
Keep giving your all for United Carlos...we love ya! Your Teamates

Jig3000, Dublin (25/01/2009 at 18:48)

Genuinely felt embarrassed for Tevez yesterday. His commitment is fantastic but the mindless running is absolutely ridiculous. He spent so much time and energy chasing shadows that when a genuine opportunity arose (Return ball in the box from Berb, I think) he had run out of steam.

I do like the guy but think we should hold onto the cash, give Welbeck and Campbell a shot (considering we have Rooney, Berb, CR7 and Giggs) and see what other possibilities arise.

For me Benzema is the best bet for investment. Even if he wants to end up playing in Spain/Italy in 5/6 years time it gives us the opportunity of some fantastic years and a mind-boggling transfer fee at the end of it all. And lets be honest; once he sticks on the jersey he'll never want to leave, remember the last French-man to play up front for us? { Oh, and Bellion doesn't count ;) }

Fergie hasn't a CLUE, Madoc Ontario Canada (25/01/2009 at 19:07)

Agree with most of the comments on here. Fabio's debute was a dream, never put a foot wrong. Welbeck, for all his gangliness, made himself available both inside and out wide on both wings. Tevez and his non stop running was brilliant. He was very unlucky not to score. It's a real pity that some of his enthusiasm and workrate doesn't rub off on the other players. Not going to be negative on any individual because considering the new faces put in there, it was a great result. Even if the Spurs didn't really turn up. The future really does look good.

AS, Ipswich (25/01/2009 at 21:29)

I can officially say that bobbydazzler and Danny will never rate Carrick. For both to say that Scholes was better than Carrick just proves it. PS had a nightmare 30 mins.
I happy that at least some fans can see that Tevez MUST improve the attacking side of hos game(he is mainly paid for it, workrate is just a bonus).
Fabio was just superb and had a better debut than his brother as he was more steady and knew when to go forward. I was impressed too to see him not afraid to use his left foot( not his favourite).
Tosic delivered the best cross on the freekick since Beckam left. I hope he works his way in the team by keeping steady and not follows Nani path of thinking that he s the King when he's not.

Dev, Johannesburg (25/01/2009 at 21:32)

Roger - I generally agree with you; Tevez, despite his effort this season, has apart from one game been like a headless chicken - directionless, with little end product. However, I do think that you're being too harsh this time round - he was much more effective in this game, and with more games his effort will have much greater purpose, like last season....

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