Manchester United 4-1 Fulham: Fan Reaction
It is not an overstatement to say that Manchester United were rubbish, terrible, and all that in a match they eventually won 4-1 at home.
Manchester United almost treated this tie as a dress rehearsal for their match against Real Madrid in three weeks time; they sleepwalked throughout the match saving their batteries for the big day.
Also, Fulham were in no mood to engage Manchester United as they have more things to worry about – like staying up in the league – than be a Captain Ahab trying to kill Moby Dick.
After the game, Sir Alex Ferguson once again reminded us that Rio Ferdinand doesn’t have an FA Cup medal and “United must do something about it”.
What he really needs to do is up the tempo in their performance. United dragged their legs in the first half; the tempo of this match was slower than ants marching up an anthill. Their symphony never had rhythm and was jarring to my ears as they played all the wrong notes.
United were gifted a penalty in just 72 seconds after kickoff, which Ryan Giggs duly converted. But instead of killing off the tie, they sat back and pleaded Fulham to take advantage of their laxity in performance.
Their performance yesterday is reminiscent of their 2-0 home win against West Brom in the league this season. United took the lead through an own goal by West Brom defender Gareth McAuley in the first 10 minutes, and soon after that, the United players chained themselves to the goal post.
Against Fulham, it almost felt like the United players were paying their tributes to Dimitar Berbatov by slowing down the pace of the game. If there ever was a rehab for adrenaline junkies, then playing United match tapes – such as these – on loop would have done the trick.
Taking nothing away from Ryan Giggs excellent display against Fulham, the United players made him look younger by their lethargic display.
To be fair on United, they did turn up the heat on Fulham as soon as the second half kicked off, but Fulham could have sucker-punched while United had their guard down.
For a change, United had 18 shots on goal yesterday. They take very few shots at goal these days. They are not in the top five clubs with the best shooting averages for a team that is at the top of the league.
However, this United squad hasn’t got the same ruthlessness that treble and double winning teams in the past have shown. They face Fulham once again in a week’s time in the league. If chasing a game gets their engine running, then so be it; concede first and attack next!
On David de Gea’s goalkeeping woes
He kept just four clean sheets in 23 appearances this season. For all his faults, he balanced them with some spectacular saves. But Sir Alex Ferguson’s patience reached a tipping point, at least according to what ESPN “understands”, when his feeble punch at the ball resulted in Tottenham Hotspur scoring an equaliser in the 90th minute.
Against Fulham, while United were coasting towards victory, de Gea conceded a goal from a corner. Only this time, the defence was at fault since there was nobody guarding the post to de Gea’s left. This would have been a costly mistake if United didn’t have a four goal cushion. Again, this underlines how care-free United’s approach was towards the FA Cup tie.