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| ir service points and 42 per cent of their return points. Overall, Djokovic onl | ||||||||||||
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 ir service points and 42 per cent of their return points. Overall, Djokovic onl
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| wanglili |
Geplaatst op 08-06-2015 03:18
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 Guru  Berichten: 1263 Datum van aanmelding: 28.03.15 |
The shots just kept on coming. On the surface, as the game kicked off it looked like a blank canvas where unconventional styles and shapes can come together in a heated battle. In the end it turned out to be a wide-open game full of moments of individual brilliance and incompetence. The Premier League has a lot of things going for it. Tactical versatility is not one of them. So when two traditional powerhouses in Manchester United and Liverpool faced off on Sunday, each starting with back threes, the potential was there for a real classic. We should have known better. Dont misunderstand me. This was a very entertaining match but at the end of it there was much more to pick apart than to admire. It is easy for fans of Manchester United to be very content as another weekend of Premier League action is put to bed. Six straight wins have pushed them comfortably into the top three and thats a position they could hold for the majority of the time between now and the end of May. Their recent memories are still full of nightmare images for such an iconic club and in the buildup to this one they were rehashed aplenty with many showing Liverpools 3-0 thumping of them at Old Trafford last term. An immediate turnaround of that score certainly sent them home from Old Trafford on Sunday very happy, but Louis Van Gaal will know there is still a lot of work to be done. The final score tells a story and we can forgive United fans for only wanting to know about that story right now but more telling was that goalkeeper David De Gea was named man of the match in a game his team won 3-0. The 24-year-old has easily been the teams best player this season and it is clear that Ed Woodward and the upper management feel it is very important to get the Spaniard a new contract as soon as possible. De Gea has made some wonderful saves this season, yet the one on Mario Balotelli in the second half may have been even better than his effort against Evertons Bryan Oviedo earlier this season. It is no coincidence that De Geas form has escalated at a time when the defence in front of him has been shaky. Van Gaal insistence on a back three, with Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young, for now, as wing backs has excited neutrals but has ensured the goalkeeper his busiest time since he came to Manchester. De Gea excels at shot stopping, stands tall and never allows his body to react early. The save against Balotelli was a perfect example of this as Sterling made a vertical run across the defence to get in behind but after he was denied, De Gea saw Balotelli open in the box and looked at him before Sterling passed the ball. His awareness was better than any of his defenders and the moment the Italian forward steadied himself to shoot the goalkeeper moved his foot to prepare to dive across goal. He had done something similar earlier in the half after Jonny Evans turned and hit a misplaced back pass towards the penalty box. Sterling ran on to it, intercepted it and was free on goal, but the moment he touched it, De Gea had sprinted out and was only three yards from the young forward. It was then that he stood still, waited for Sterling to make the move and reacted to deny him. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers can be accused of some hyperbole about his team in his post match assessments this season and there is nothing wrong with publicly backing your players that way but after this one he didnt have to extend the truth at all. We created enough chances. We looked like scoring and we had enough chances to get something from the game, Rodgers said afterwards. Its unusual for a manager to say that when his team have been beaten by three goals but this is what is happening to teams that are playing United at the moment. All three of their wins this month |
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