#3 – MAN UTD vs. WIGAN

The first piece of Silverware this season has gone to David Moyes and Manchester United after a solid victory against Wigan beating last season’s FA Cup winner 2-0 with both goals coming from Robin Van Persie.

Rotation

For Manchester United yesterday the main aspect about their play which was great to see was the rotation in midfield and attack leaving it difficult for Wigan to be able to pick up players. Behind Robin Van Persie was a three of Welbeck, Giggs and Zaha. Giggs and Welbeck rotated well during the game picking up pockets of space to link up with Cleverley and Carrick and try and get the ball forward. As well as rotating further forward, Giggs also dropped back between the two centre backs in the first half and it just gave Manchester United some more options to pick passes going forward. The rotation of the players worked really well throughout the game and I was impressed particularly with the link up play from Danny Welbeck who does get a lot of stick.

As the Diagram shows the orange circle was the part of the pitch where the rotation and movement from the Manchester United players was most effective and a joy to watch. The rotation caused problems for Wigan as it was difficult for them to track runners and Manchester United played some good quick play in the Wigan half but at times just lacked a final ball into the box or a finish which will improve over time under Moyes’ reign.

Danny Welbeck

I’m a massive fan of Danny Welbeck and I think the stick people have given him in the past is not justified. Danny is a excellent and clever footballer and will only improve in the coming years however last season he only scored 1 League goal last season. Welbeck is a striker and you do expect him to score goals but he was played out of position for Manchester United last season as he appeared on the left quite a bit and played well. Welbeck has an excellent footballing brain and is good with the ball at his feet and has excellent skill and movement. I back his inclusion in the England squad as he is an excellent squad player and he can use his skill and quality to make the difference as his record for England is pretty good.

Long Ball

I was disappointed to see Wigan go very long ball at times and let’s be honest it didn’t really work. With Roberto Martinez now at Everton Owen Coyle has taken over at the DW Stadium and the style of Football and the way they lined up has changed a bit as a lot of play included kicking it up to Grant Holt to head on but it only ended up at a Manchester United’s players feet. I would have liked to have seen something different from Wigan especially with the players that they have in the team with McClean, McCarthy, McManaman, McArthur and Shaun Maloney at the club.

Impressive Debut

One player who did stand out for Manchester United was Wilfried Zaha. The £10 million signing played his first competitive game for Manchester United at Wembley and was excellent throughout. The 20 year old wasn’t scared to take on his opponents in possession and try and beat them and got some great balls into the box. Zaha was good at dropping back to pick up the ball in midfield and even when he lost it during the first half on the left side he worked hard to try and win the ball back. Zaha has excellent skill and hopefully his performance at Wembley on Sunday will mean that he will get a good run out against Scotland on Wednesday in an international friendly. Could a good season for Zaha get him a place at the World Cup next summer?