The Season So Far...

The Season So Far for Manchester United

The 2012/2013 season has so far been very good for United, currently 12points clear of City in the league and seemingly walking our way to the title, in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and in the last 16 of the Champions League. (Article done before Norwich match)

First 10 games of the season

The first 10 games of this season was a real case of you score how many you want but we will just score more. Prime examples of this are United 3-2 Fulham or the thrilling hat-trick from Van Persie in a 3-2 victory over Southampton. A positive of this was the fact that in the first 10 games United scored a impressive 22 goals but worryingly conceded 11 goals which is more than an goal a game. A team fighting for the title can not afford to concede more than an goal a game without risking dropping points to teams they should be beating. This was strange as United teams under Fergie's reign have always been able to score but were nearly always pretty solid at the back, apart from one team the treble winning 99' team. The treble winning side conceded more goals than any other team in the top four with 37 goals conceded, but scored an incredible 80 goals in the league alone. In comparison after 27 games in the league United have conceded 31 goals and scored 64, these stats are very similar and the chances are both the conceded goals and scored goals will surpass that of the 99' team.

The first 10 games of this season led to many United fans to be concerned with how United were defending, it wasn't the amount of goals that were worrying fans it was the fact that they were conceding goals so early and were constantly having to chase the game which in turn led the defence to become more fragile as the team pushed forward for goals.

Last 10 games played

The last 10 games has resulted in United opening a 12 point gap at the top of the table and despite many United players stating they will not get complacent many fans and pundits alike believe that unless a collapse of the highest magnitude occurs then United can start calling themselves champions now and celebrate our 20th league title.

A major reason for this large gap opening up between United and City, is because slowly United have patched up the defensive errors that United struggled with at the beginning of the season. In the last 10 games played United conceded just 6 goals which is only just over a goal every two games which is very impressive for any team especially bearing in mind the struggle we had defending early in the year. Surprisingly the amount of goals United have scored has also dropped as in the last 10 played games United have scored a decent 18 goals. It seems since improvement of our defence we have naturally became less attacking which does not sound good but makes complete sense as we no longer have to chase games for the extra goals.

Best Players So Far

RVP: For obvious reasons RVP is one of our best players so far this season and more than likely our best. With 19 goals in just 27 games and 7 assists RVP has been on fire this season and has helped fire United towards another league title.

Carrick: A underrated player that has had very little praise for what he has done in his career despite all his success. Carrick has shown this season how good he can be. The way he calmly controls the ball and passes it forwards and side to side but never losing possession, his passing ability goes on further than that. His through balls are brilliant to watch and have opened up defence after defence.

Rio: A club icon Rio has been on fire this season and has been our standout defender for the whole season. Rio has been a rock at the back for the whole of the season and works well with any partner including Vidic, Evans, Jones or Smalling.

De Gea: One of the most criticised goalkeepers in the league and in my opinion unfairly so. DDG has been on top form this season. His shots-stopping ability has been on show all season with some stunning saves and one that springs to mind is his athletic save against Real Madrid. The only question marks that have surrounded DDG have been his ability in the air but over recent weeks he has decided to stay on his line meaning he will no longer be beaten in the air.

Rafael: Last year Rafael was criticised for his lack of defensive ability but this year he has improved his defending drastically and is still a large threat going forward which is shown by the fact that this season he has scored 3 goals this season which for a full-back is pretty impressive. Rafael is a threat going forward and gives any defence a hard time but also defending he is not afraid to but himself in danger for the team and lunge into tackles.    

  

 Worst players so far this season

Nani: A player with so much ability but never performs to his best consistently. If Nani played at his best he would be a stunning player feared by all defences throughout Europe but as it stands he has yet to perform well this season and with contract negotiations running thin between Nani and United there is every possibility that by the beginning of next season Nani will no longer be playing for United.

Valencia: A player that last year was by far our best and consistent player. Valencia last year would rip full-backs to shreds with his strength and pace but for some reason this year Valencia seems to have adapted some sort of 'walking' technique in which instead of running he walks at defenders and very rarely causes much concern to the defences.