Basisphilosophie » many other teams have

In the sixth minute of the game, Marouane Fellaini picked up the ball near the centre circle, attempted to run deep into Evertons territory to start another Manchester United attack but immediately saw the ball stolen away from him from James McCarthy. McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. Around the Premier League on Saturday, numerous examples of midfields taking over games were on show. For Tottenham at Sunderland, Paulinho and Moussa Dembele ran the game in the second half, Stoke got back into their match against Chelsea by exposing a double pivot of Ramires and John Obi Mikel, while Liverpool lost momentum in their home match against West Ham once Steven Gerrard departed through injury. This is football in todays era. Central midfield is the most important zone on the field, where turnovers are caused, counter-attacks are started, defensive cover is needed and vision with the ball is demanded. Most teams in the Premier League play in systems that can be labeled 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, where at least three men centrally are asked to work as a unit, both defensively and in attack. It is the engine that motors the team forward and back. At Manchester United this season this has usually been done by two central midfielders and Wayne Rooney.Rooney has looked very good and if you were to make up a list of Uniteds problems he would certainly be at the bottom labeled as ‘Rooney – only concern is how to play him with van Persie against superior teams. The English striker has proven in recent years (see vs Andrea Pirlo at Euro 2012 for reference) to be a liability when it comes to making up a midfield three in a defensive manner but against the majority of inferior Premier League teams this is not a problem. Last season for example, against the 13 teams who finished between eighth and 20th in the Premier League, Manchester United, playing 4-4-2, won an astonishing 22 of 26 matches, claiming a total of 69 points from a possible 78. However, upon closer inspection there were matches where they looked outrun in midfield and allowed a goal through a defensive lapse, but these were quickly forgotten about because United painted over the cracks by banging in goals at the other end. It happened against Fulham, when Dembele ran the game before getting a move to Spurs (Fulham led 1-0, lost 3-2), it happened against Liverpool and Southampton in second halves at Old Trafford (games won 2-1) and against Newcastle who led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 last season before losing 4-3. On Boxing Day the United system was handing their opponents regular gifts with numerous goal scoring chances but once again, their attacking heavyweights powered their way out of trouble. United would go on to win the game through Javier Hernandez in the 90th minute, who, like on Saturday, partnered van Persie up front for United that day. That however, is where the similarities ended for the pair. Last season the service towards them was remarkably different to the amount of passes they received in Saturdays 1-0 home loss. Sixty-seven passes to 36 is a remarkable difference over 90 minutes: Hernandezs winning goal last December would give his side three more points won from a losing position and in total United would go on to claim 29 points from losing positions last season. On the surface that seems like a remarkably impressive number, it is after all the second highest of all-time in the Premier League behind Newcastles 01-02 season of 34 points, but you must have flaws in your team to be behind many times to get to that number. Uniteds flaws remain this season but because they cannot power themselves out of trouble with goals they have been magnified to the level where action is now required. Two seasons ago United were stunned by a Champions League group stage elimination after Benfica and Basel ran through their midfield and scored eight goals between them in four matches. United were sent into the Europa League and would go on to again be exposed in similar fashion, losing back-to-back home games to technically superior teams, Ajax and Athletic Bilbao. In those matches United looked far too English. A timid, reactionary team lacking true post-to-post midfielders who excel in both the attack and defensive side of the game. It is an accusation that remains even more glaring two years on. The worlds best teams today all have world class deep-lying playmakers who control matches with the combination of brilliant, forward thinking vision and equally outstanding footballing intelligence without the ball. In central midfield, Real Madrid has Luka Modric, Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso, Barcelona has Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas and Xavi, Bayern Munich has Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez and Toni Kroos, Manchester City have Yaya Toure and Fernandinho. Manchester United has Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Tom Cleverley or Phil Jones. Carrick remains very important to United, a fine player in the Premier League whose calmness and passing ability has been sorely missed lately. Fellaini remains a mysterious buy, a player whose escalated price came from playing further forward but who wants to play in central midfield, despite not yet excelling at the attributes needed to play there. Cleverley has now started nine of their 15 league games this season and isnt anywhere near the quality of, at least, 20 other Premier League midfielders who have (and will continue to do so) the beating of the United youth product. Jones remains a promising player who will likely move to centre-back as he ages, but certainly does not have the offensive abilities to play regularly in central midfield for a team like Manchester United. None of these players are not close to being deep lying playmakers and none are anywhere close to being world class. United badly need at least one, and most likely two, of these caliber players as soon as possible. As last season showed the team is more than capable of going on a long successful run this season, beating inferior teams and that will help them climb towards a likely finish amongst the top four but what absolutely must not be forgotten again next summer is what was ignored in recent transfer windows. It is time to stop the likes of Dembele, McCarthy, and Cabaye running the show in games at Old Trafford. While United were spending a whopping 65 million pounds (the cost of Smalling, Young, Jones, Zaha and Powell) on mediocre, or unproven English talent the last four summers, many other teams have not only caught them up in central midfield, but now overtaken them. A club like United should be close to the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern, but through bad buys and neglecting a key area they are not even close and are left exposed by average teams in their own league. It is time to get to work on a very deep-lying problem. Wholesale Jordans Shoes . His apology came before a pregame ceremony in which the team honoured its 2004 team that won Bostons first World Series championship since 1918. "I realize that I behaved bad in Boston," Ramirez said. Real Jordan Shoes Cheap . The kind he has every so often. The kind he has when Dwyane Wade sits. James scored 43 points -- 25 in a bewildering first-quarter shooting display -- and Chris Bosh added 21, leading the Miami Heat to a 100-96 win Tuesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played their first game without injured All-Star guard Kyrie Irving. http://www.airjordanoutletcheap.com/ . - On the night Dirk Nowitzki overtook Dominique Wilkins on the career scoring list, Brandan Wright was a human highlight film all by himself. Air Jordan Retro Clearance . FLIP SAUNDERS (Timberwolves): Im not the least bit surprised that he appointed himself as head coach after his search concluded. Cheap Jordan Shoes Free Shipping . "I just think what it does for everybody in life is real simple," said Babcock early on Friday afternoon. "You dont give in. You just keep on keeping on. Is it going to go your way every time? No. But you choose your attitude and how you perform and how hard you dig in." Nearly four years to the day of the 2010 gold medal match in Vancouver, his team dug in with its best effort of these Olympics, snuffing out the high-powered Americans for another opportunity at gold.SAN ANTONIO -- Tony Parker is still thankful for the role players who helped carry San Antonio to its last NBA title in 2007. There was Robert Horry, a seven-time champion and official finals good-luck charm if there ever was one. Michael Finley, who was hitting 3-pointers at a much better rate in those playoffs than he did in the regular season that year. Fabricio Oberto, who probably never had a play called for him but found ways to get things done. The Spurs had a Big 3 then, the same one that they have now. But three is rarely enough, and thats been proven once again in these NBA Finals. Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw have been exactly what San Antonio needed in this matchup against the Miami Heat, and might be the two biggest reasons why the Spurs are one win away from their fifth NBA championship. The Spurs lead these finals 3-1, and will look to end Miamis reign in Game 5 at home on Sunday night. "If you want to win championships, obviously you need a Big 3," Parker said. "But you need your role players to play great too. And every time we won championships in the past, the Big 3, we played great, but we had great role players. ... If you want to go all the way, you need the whole team to play great." Thats what the Spurs are getting. Parker is leading the Spurs in scoring, Tim Duncan is leading in rebounding and the Western Conference champions are outscoring Miami by 62 points so far with Manu Ginobili on the floor -- so yes, the Big 3 is doing its part. But when the Spurs took control of the series by winning Games 3 and 4 in Miami, Leonard led the charge by averaging 24.5 points on 68 per cent shooting. And Diaw has 23 assists so far in the series, more than anyone else and none probably better than his behind-the-back offering out of the post that set Tiago Splitter up for a dunk in Game 4. Theres already talk that Leonard could be in line to win MVP of the finals. In an absolutely not-shocking development, he wanted no part of that talk. "It feels the same for me as any game going into it," Leonard said of the anticipation level for Game 5. "All Im thinking about is playiing.dddddddddddd Im not worried about what if we win or lose, and we just want to go out and play." Such is the Spurs way. The makeup of a player who perfectly fits into the San Antonio system has remained unchanged for the better part of two decades. He values team play over any individual accolade. He never says too much, particularly about himself. He stays in the moment, avoiding the urge to look ahead or behind. Leonard and Diaw meet all those characteristics. "San Antonio is playing great," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Theyre moving the basketball. Theyre exploiting where were normally good, so we have to do a better job. Even when weve made adjustments, theyve still been able to stay in a rhythm and a flow." Its hard to remember now that Diaw couldnt get minutes with the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats -- a team that finished with the worst record in NBA history -- in part because then-coach Paul Silas was frustrated with Diaws penchant for passing the ball instead of taking shots at times. So the Bobcats waived him late that season. The Spurs picked him up and in Game 4 of these finals, Diaw had more assists (nine) than shots (six). Go figure. "He really has a high basketball IQ," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Diaw. "I think he raises the level for everyone. At the defensive end, hes pretty heady, not the quickest guy in the world, but really smart. Does his work early and understands whats going on. At the offensive end, he can score inside and out, and he passes the ball really well. Hes a consummate team sort of guy." Diaw is just the third player to have a game with at least nine rebounds and nine assists during these playoffs, with Oklahoma City stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook being the others. For his part, Diaw said hes never cared about scoring. If the team scores, thats good enough for him. "Its just moving the ball, playing with everybody," Diaw said. "There is nobody really just watching. Everybodys involved, and everybody gets the ball at some point. So its been good." Good, indeed. One more win, and these Spurs officially become great. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '