A rare goal from Berbatov did the job for United as Ferguson’s men dragged themselves to a fourth one-nil win in the last six. Another clean sheet at one end, another frustrating night for Ronaldo at the other. It’s six games without a goal or an assist now, as pressure on Ronaldo’s fantasy owners to cash him in begins to mount …
I’ve addressed tonight’s lineups in a previous post but to add more detail to that – Tevez was missing tonight as he apparently travelled home to Argentina for family reasons. For Boro, Mido picked up a groin injury in training, while Johnson was missing as a result of a hamstring strain.
Tonight’s winner from Uncle Bulgaria (I’m sure the womble covered more ground – and he didn’t wear gloves) was just Berbatov’s third strike in 14 starts since his arrival at Old Trafford. Besides the goal, Berbatov did very little (so logically he earned the 3 FPL bonus points). Much of his “work” tended to be in the middle third, coming deep with his back to goal. Very rarely tonight, did you seem him facing forward or making runs beyond the ball.
For me, Berbatov needs the pressure off in games to flourish. Once United had the lead both he and Ronaldo looked more confident, with the latter firing in two more efforts on goal before being subbed with 10 minutes to go. The problem here is that United aren’t breaking the deadlock easily or early enough for them to relax and let the creativity of Berbatov and Ronaldo flourish. As we saw tonight, it’s too often tight and tense and opponents are finding it too easy to frustrate them.
United had plenty of chances Ronaldo had 8 efforts at goal in all – only Lampard can match that number of goal attempts per game, and that’s on a good day. That itself tells you that Ronaldo remains paramount to United’s attacking play – he just doesn’t have the form and confidence to convert the chances.
It’s been said already tonight, but Ronaldo appears to be trying to hard. Frustration at his own ability to make an impact has been getting the better of him and it’s manifested itself as kick-outs at opponents and verbal taunts at opposing fans. Had one of his first half opportunities had been converted tonight or the Pogatetz throttle resulted in a penalty, it could have been a very different outcome. Sooner or later, Ronaldo is going to slot one home early on in a game – then we could see something of the form and fantasy returns of last season. Right now we’d settle for a goal at any time though.
These if’s, but’s and maybe’s might not be enough for many Ronaldo owners. Gerrard and Lampard look a mighty tempting duo to have in tandem in your midfield. Selling Ronaldo would unlock that opportunity.
For me, the prospect of two more United home games in the next gameweek is enough to keep the faith in Ronaldo. As discussed earlier, the Wigan game may never materialise if the FA Cup games don’t get decided. If that is the case, Ronaldo is likely to find it tough to reward his fantasy owners against Chelsea next time out. He will doubtless muster 5-6 attempts on goal, even against Scolari’s defence. Ronaldo owners are going to need one of those early attempts to find the net, otherwise we’re likely to be discussing this topic all over again in a fortnight.