Foster - will have been grateful to see so many efforts fail to hit the target, but did well when called upon 7
Fabio - stood up well to Barnsley’s physical presence but was rarely allowed to show his attacking flair 7
Evans - given a torrid time in the centre of defence as he and Brown struggled to cope with Anderson and Bogdanovic 6
Brown - will have been disappointed to see how much joy Barnsley had from set pieces as well as the chances they created in open play 6
Neville - will be desperately disappointed with himself for his straight red card. Better was expected from the most experienced player on the pitch 5
Welbeck - put United ahead despite playing out of position on the left. Could consider himself unfortunate not to get longer 7
Rafael - playing in an unfamiliar role in the centre of midfield, showed his highly competitive side and some good touches 7
Anderson - in the unusual role of old head among an inexperienced midfield, he was overrun after Neville was shown red 7
Obertan - steady debut without any fireworks. Ferguson expects much more to come from the winger and it was crucial to get these minutes under his belt 7
Owen - missed an early second half chance, but looked like his old self when slotting home to put United two up 7
Macheda - plenty of muscle but not enough impact from the Italian who is supposedly interesting Gordon Strachan 6
Substitutes
Tosic (for Welbeck, 53) - United fans are still waiting to see what they have in the Serbian winger, but he spent most of his time watching Barnsley's onslaught 6
De Laet (for Owen 65) Failed to curb Barnsley’s attack 6
Subs not used: Amos, O’Shea, Evans, King, James
Barnsley: Steele, Kozluk, Moore, Foster, Gray, Anderson (Campbell-Ryce 71), Colace (Butterfield 77), Hallfredsson, Hammill, Macken, Macken (Hulme 65), Bogdanovic
Subs not used: Preece, Hassell, Thompson, Devaney
Referee: Chris Foy - let the game run 4/5
Agree with the ratings? Have your say.
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Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All
keithmat (27/10/2009 at 22:20)
tooth&claw, manchester (27/10/2009 at 22:37)
moorz, Dublin (27/10/2009 at 22:52)
Dave.
alan matthews (27/10/2009 at 23:26)
ENGINEER, Heywood (27/10/2009 at 23:30)
Stanley Kong (27/10/2009 at 23:46)
I can't see any decent players tonight, apart from Obertan who's got skills in his legs. owen, apart from his goal, was awful in his moements and in his ball control. macheda, i think he had had too much limelight last season. wellbeck's an over hyped player, who's not good in keeping possesion. and what happened to anderson and wes brown ? anderson's supposed to stamp his mark, and instead he's the one losing possesion or sending stray passes all over the park. wes just wasn't the one who shut out barcelona two seasons ago. even jonny evans who's usually quite reliable was having a nervy evening.
i thought we had only two real chances, in which we scored,whereas barnsley had dozens of them. If we were playing Barcelona we'd have ben massacred already...
please, for heavens sake, improve, improve and improve. try to attack more, and be smarter in keeping possesion !
Rob Chorlton (27/10/2009 at 23:47)
Stop talking out of your backside. You must have watched some other match. So so negative - you are indeed probably a bitter.
hewinkswiththeleft, Ireland (27/10/2009 at 23:54)
boyfromburrenway, exile czech republic (28/10/2009 at 00:13)
Seamus, Vanisle,ex-Stretford (28/10/2009 at 00:25)
27/10/2009 at 22:20
Agree with you mate, ratings are very generous, no one over a 6 imo, with most at the 5 level. Terrific take by Mikey though, that was worth watching the game for. Otherwise, we were pretty much battered after the first 15 minutes by a very neat and tidy Barnsley team, who just couldn't get their finishing right, if they had, we give up 3 or more and bow out of this competition. Gary's tackle that got him the red card was brutal, he could have broke the kid's leg.
Bradley (28/10/2009 at 00:48)
PS Barnsley fans awful out sung on their own turf so decided to wander onto the pitch and show their team how to score. Wonder why after comments in the media today about the risk of players getting stabbed by the idiots who wander onto the pitch
pkenro,kenya (28/10/2009 at 02:59)
Redarmy11 (28/10/2009 at 03:54)
bobbydazzler (28/10/2009 at 07:12)
neville 4
wes 4
evans 5
fabio 4
wellbeck 7
rafael 3
andersen 3
obertan 6
macheda 5
owen 5
Red Lou, Malta (28/10/2009 at 07:33)
Truls, Aalesund-Norway (28/10/2009 at 07:42)
Nota a very good game, but we got through. Anderson was very disappointing, Owen (mom), Obertan and Tosic did well. Barnsley were the better team, but Foster showed good reactions a couple of times, and Barnsley were very impotent in front of goal.
Gerry, Glastonbury (28/10/2009 at 07:51)
Nev – OK until his shin shaker got him the early shower – 5
Wes – The more imposing of the cb’s – 7
Evans – Hardly dominant – 5
Fab – Average – 6
Oberton – Looks a nice footballer and decent debt – 6
Anderson – Another opportunity missed for me. In & out of the game. Did some good things though - superb 50yd first half pass to Welgood, nearly scored again late on. – 6
Raf – did OK in CM but never really convinced – 5
Welgood – One of the better ones before his injury. Would like to see him play as a striker. – 6
Maceda – Worked hard, some nice footwork & touches but found little joy against an experienced Championship defence – 5
Owen – Yet another bad miss and was no more than ordinary up until the goal but in fairness what a goal that was. A shame he didn’t get the 90 minutes but at least looked lively - 6.
Red-Brit-in-It (28/10/2009 at 08:18)
The Trawler, Stockport (28/10/2009 at 08:33)
edinburgh red, edinburgh (28/10/2009 at 08:41)
Anderson and rafael where constantly available but I thought rafael took the carrick option of passing backwards a bit too often,give him the scholes dvd instead.
Owen did well and took his goal excellently,finally defensively we where a bit suspect from crosses,thought brown and evans did ok and nev controlled his area and helped out well,fabio was the only weak link as he was constantly out of position and foster still needs to address his kicking but made a great save when called upon
Paul (28/10/2009 at 09:22)
In disagreement rather than argument, I thought that was a good show.
That was a team made up of bits and pieces. Fluency and cohesion won’t be in the deal. I’m not led by Mick Macarthy when I say that Obertan was conspicuous. I love that long, open stride, legs like windsceen wipers. Foster has so many back passes to hoof out, I think the coaches instructed the team to give him the practice, train his mind to think ‘get rid’. I thought Raphael did all right. Anything that inches Owen back towards his past has to be positive.
Remember, for Barnsley the motivation was massive. For the Reds, when you’re two up, it must be hard to burn your lungs against a side that would die trying to beat you. They’re human beings. And they’re in the next round.
Drago 34 (28/10/2009 at 09:38)
You a bitter in disguise by any chance?
On the players i thought..
Foster 6/10. Was shaky with his kicking but a stunning save and some good catches.
Neville 4/10. Distribution was poor at times and saw red.
Evans 6/10. Very composed and assured in open play but was poor on a few corners.
Brown 6/10. Solid in open play but like Evans should have done better on corners.
Fabio 6/10. Solid defensively but a couple of miss placed passes could have hurt us.
Obertan 7/10. Just oozes quality.Everytime he gets the ball he looks like making things happen.His technique is brilliant and cant wait to see him playing with the likes of Rooney, Berbatov, Giggs, Evra and co.
Anderson 8/10. Tackling and tracking back was brilliant.Passing long and short was quality and great first touch.Overall a brilliant display.2 assists.
Rafael 6/10.Playing out of position but had some nice touches and good tenacity and passing.
Welbeck 8/10. Was his best performance yet for us.Scored, showed great skill and pace, Good first touch.Great display.
Owen 6/10. Brilliant solo goal but missed a good chance before that.Set up Obertan in first half.
Macheda 5/10.Came to life in the last 20 mins.Quite up till then.
Giggsy's chest rug! (28/10/2009 at 09:42)
g nev; quite game, unsure about his tackle, at first i thought he'd timed it well, but on a second look. 5
brown; nice to see a hard tackling defender, makes too many mistakes at CB, better at RB. 6
evans; bit better than brown, positioning wasnt always there. 6.
fabio; steady game, had alot of defending to do second half, definately the future. 6.
obertan; good solid debut, a few nice touches, maybe should have scored, carries the ball well. 7.
rafael; did well first half playing out of position, second half struggled. 6.
anderson; best player on the pitch, most of utd's best play came from him. 7.
welbeck; played well but was suspect of being too greedy on a few occasions. 7.
macheda; didnt see alot of the ball, also a little gready. 6.
owen; frustrated with the lack of service, took his goal very well and tried involving other forward players in the game. 7.
tosic; looked quite lively when he came on, but couldnt make an impact as g nev had just been sent off. 5.
de laet; tried attacking when we needed defensive stability, does look a good player, not sure he's ready just yet. 5.
If these lad develope like we expect then the future looks very good.
Keithmat, get a grip!
Gilly, Belgium (28/10/2009 at 10:06)
Will from ireland, Midlands (28/10/2009 at 10:26)
The final scoreline flattered us, though. If they had taken their chances it could have been very different.