flobaba wrote:
But they are weak. The quality in their squad is very limited, or very old. They just have a manager who has managed to conceal their weaknesses through discipline, keeping the players hungry, and a strong defence. Their midfield (creatively speaking) is bland, and apart from the occasional Rooney intervention, they basically only attack through the wings. That's what they do, and they do it very effectively.
This is why I have a grudging respect and admiration for Fergie. He gets the best out of his group, regardless. They lost out on the league to City only on goal difference for chrissakes!
Absolutely, Ferguson squeezes every ounce out of his players in terms of application and discipline. And they're a lesser team than Man City, there's no doubt about that.
However, if you look at the squad they have a pretty consistent supply of players at the same level.
Their first 11 may not blow you away but they have another 11 players that are a similar level and it just gives Ferguson options.
Granted their midfield is sub par and reliant on Carrick/Scholes/Giggs but the overall quality never drops below that 7/10 level and, as long as Ferguson fires a rocket up their backside, they'll beat most of the cannon fodder in this league.
Whereas our team goes to shit because the drop from Walcott to Gervinho or the the drop from Arteta to Ramsey or van Persie to Chamakh is too great.
Our bench is behind both United and City. Throw in an injury or three to your key players and all of a sudden you're hoping that the third choice midfielder/striker can fill in as a substitute.
