Total Twatness confirmed.
Why brilliant David Silva could make Manchester United world beaters again
By Mark Lawrenson
Published 23:02 11/02/11
David Silva is exactly the player Manchester United need.
Whether City utilise him to full effect in today’s Manchester derby is another matter, but Silva is a beautiful player, a world-class talent who has the X-factor Sir Alex Ferguson has been missing.
Silva is right up there on a par with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri as the Premier League’s best and most creative players.
Carlos Tevez scores City’s goals and works his socks off but is not their most creative player – that is definitely Silva.
He plays between the lines, comes forward from deep, picks a pass and creates chances for his team-mates.
Silva has the ability and *creativity that United lack in their midfield.
Michael Carrick, Anderson and Darron Gibson are good players but don’t have the same vision or invention. You get that from playing in a great Spain team, winning the World Cup and European Championship.
Silva came with a big price-tag, he is physically slight and it took him a while to settle into the Premier League.
But suddenly he has really grasped it and become City’s most influential player.
And I bet Fergie is looking at him and thinking: “Wow, I wish I had him in my team.”
Against the bigger teams, Roberto Mancini often reverts to type, leaves even his best players, like Silva, on the bench and goes to tough places looking to not get beat.
He did that at Arsenal and may do that against United at Old Trafford today.
A draw is better than a defeat, so that’s what he sets out to do. It may only change if City have to chase the game.
That’s the problem and yet you have, in City’s line-up, a wealth of attacking talent more than capable of winning even an intense Manchester derby.
The trouble is, you know that United can really drive a wedge between themselves and the rest with a victory over City.
That’s what Mancini will be anxious to avoid.
United are a terrific team and you cannot question them too much because, before losing at Wolves, they were on a fantastic unbeaten run.
But they are workmanlike. It’s not a classic Fergie team. Make no mistake about it, he sets up his teams in spectacular fashion.
The great United teams have been fabulous to watch. *Unmissable, the best in Europe.
But this United team is lacking a spark. They are missing the sort of player, like Silva, to give them that X-factor, something different and special.
If you look at Wayne Rooney and Nani, they have great ability. Dimitar Berbatov, too. But, this season, all of the components haven’t come together enough.
They’ve destroyed teams on occasion - Blackburn springs to mind.
But, by their own amazing standards, United have not hit the heights or done the spectacular.
That is a great shame because we are used to United putting on a great show and entertaining us.
Maybe they will catch light towards the end of the season.
But you can bet that Ferguson, being a manager who loves flair and skill, will be thinking of next season already and how to produce that spark.
Rooney is a key factor. He has played well without being at his best and maybe that’s slowly coming back for United.
But it will take something special to settle a Manchester derby where the winner takes it all and, with that in mind, maybe the draw will be the most likely outcome.
|
