Man united 2-0 Stoke: Fergie’s side inspired by a gallant display from Paul Scholes
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My first thought after watching this game was that Paul Scholes will definitely be the first name on the team sheet for United’s next game which happens to be at Stamford Bridge. My second thought- maybe not, after all United’s still managed by Fergie who can be notoriously unpredictable- he did substitute Scholes against Liverpool despite a stellar performance.
The point here is that Scholes was brilliant on the night and his majestic range of passing, vision and game reading provided the edge for United. Stoke has a reputation as A-list destroyers and as merited as that tag is, it doesn’t usually happen for them as much away from home as it does at the Britannia stadium.
Man-City lost to Everton and with Man United level on points, you can seat back in a reclining chair and buckle up because it’s now game-on in the race to the finish line.
Starting line-ups
Manchester United started the game in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Ben Amos in goal, a back four of Smalling, Evans, Ferdinand and Evra. 
Scholes and Carrick played in central midfield flanked by Park and Valencia while Berbatov started just behind Hernandes upfront.
Stoke also started the game in a 4-4-1-1 shape with Sorenson in goal, aback four of Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross and Wilson. Palacios and Whitehead started in central midfield flanked by Pennant and Whitehead while Jones started just behind Crouch upfront.
Early exchanges
Stoke came with a simple game plan, the sort that many of the lesser opponents (no disrespect to Stoke) employ at Old Trafford- defend deep, remain compact and play on the break. They did that well early on in the game and by the quarter-hour mark for example United had out-possessed them without necessarily getting in behind their defence, in fact United didn’t have a single shot on target at that point in the game.
Out of possession, both Crouch and Kenwyne Jones would get goal-side of the ball and they often had 11 men behind the ball. The problem with this strategy is that even though it creates a huge defensive barrier, it neglects the other half of the puzzle which is simply the need to counter attack.
With both strikers playing in their own half, Stoke didn’t really have an outlet when they got the ball and as a result, they ended up giving it back to Man United straight away and inviting more pressure on their defence.
Stoke’s plan was reliant on them going into the break without conceding and if a team playing that deep reaches the 60 minute mark without the deadlock being broken, they start to grow in confidence, come out of their shell and then you have a real game on your hands.
Fergie’s men therefore knew the importance of getting a goal in the first half and with Stoke providing precious little in attack, one goal would all but end the tie as the visitors would inevitably come out to play and probably be punished by a second goal. Unfortunately for the traveling fans, the script followed the second scenario.
Underlining the importance of a deep-lying play-maker
As Scholes aged (in soccer-speak), he began to play deeper and deeper and he simply abandoned the trademark runs that would see him ghost in behind defenders and accumulate very impressive goal scoring figures. Instead he relies on another aspect of his game -passing- to play in a position that has come to be known as the Andrea Pirlo role.
Deep-lying creativity can be a thing of beauty especially since that particular breed of players is a rarity in the game. Besides the aesthetic appeal, the tactical ramifications are even more important.
Mancini’s side played against an Everton team that also defended deep and compact and while United triumphed, City went home empty handed. Anyway, what the presence of an on form Paul Scholes does is that it forces one of the opposition’s midfielders to play much higher up the pitch which in turn creates space between the lines for people like Berbatov and Park to exploit.
In stark contrast, pressing players like Barry and De jong is not a priority simply because they can’t hurt you with their range of passing which means that the opposition’s midfielders can stay in their zones, allow you to come at them but close the space between the lines in which more dangerous players like Silava, Nasri and Aguerro like to operate.
In conclusion, with the latest twist to an already fascinating tittle challenge, this season’s premier league just keeps getting better. Surprisingly a similar situation is going on in the Bundesliga with three teams atop the league on the same number of points.
