Analysis: Manchester United 4 Fulham 1

FA Cup, Saturday 26^th January 2013

Manchester United cruised to a win over a gutless Fulham side to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup. Ryan Giggs struck an early penalty, before second-half goals from Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez completed an easy victory. Here’s some brief analysis on the fixture:

 Transitions

United have shown a great ability to transition into attack this season, and this was in full evidence against Fulham. It appears to be a combination of Michael Carrick and one other in midfield, something that is working delightfully in forward areas. Carrick sprays passes, opens up the field, and takes up sensible positions, whilst his partner (Anderson against Fulham) presses forward.

In this particular game, United were quite beautiful in their ability to turn defence into attack. The liveliness and good positioning of the two wingers enhanced the flowing forward play. A good final ball was the ingredient missing against Fulham. Wayne Rooney was also showing the effects of not having played much recently, and whether it be him or Shinji Kagawa in a deep forward role, both are extremely important in attacking transitions. Rooney’s slight lack of sharpness contributed to the stalling of attacks at times, but overall the forward play was expansive and effective from United.

Something different

As shown in the last FA Cup tie with West Ham, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are improving with every game. They partnered each other again against Fulham, and showed all the signs of authoritative, defensive solidity. Smalling in particular was immaculate in all that he did against his former club. Both are real, viable options when it comes to central defence for United.

Nani on the right-wing also had a relatively encouraging game, and will be sure to get Sir Alex Ferguson thinking in terms of his wide options in future games. The Portuguese showed versatility in his direct and diagonal running, combined with his ability to shoot well from long-range. At times the touch and final ball of Nani was inevitably disappointing, but his all round play will have given Ferguson food for thought. Encouraging from the winger, and certainly a challenge to Valencia and Young out wide.

Going Forward

The short break in Qatar seemed to galvanise United before this game, and a strong line-up highlighted the importance to the club of the competition. Several individual performances will have pleased Ferguson, no less than those of the experienced Ryan Giggs and young Chris Smalling. United now have two Premier League fixtures in a week, two games in which victory is vital to keep a healthy lead at the top of the table.

Ratings

[4-4-2]: de Gea-6, Rafael-7, Smalling-8*, Jones-7, Evra-7, Nani-7, Anderson-7, Carrick-7, Giggs-8, Rooney-6, Hernandez-7

(Scholes-6, Kagawa-6, Valencia-6)