Yeah you can say that but the curve just made it look brilliant now I see why people are saying Barca should forget Fabregas and just keep Thaigo.
Barca's - Valdes (Starter) - Abidal (Starter) - Busquets (Starter) - Fontas (B Team) - Dos Santos (B Team) - Keita (Bench) - Iniesta (Starter) - Thiago (Bench) - Affelay (Bench) - Pedro (Starter) - Villa (Starter).
Man U's - De Gea (Starter/Bench) - Rafael (Starter) - Evans (Bench) - Vidic (Starter) - Evra (Starter) - Nani (Starter/Bench) - Anderson (Bench) - Cleverley (Bench) - Young (Starter/Bench) - Welbeck (Bench) - Rooney (Starter)
This is what I see, and don't get me wrong not trying to take this victory away from United or trying to whine about it, just saying and some from Man U not sure if they are Bench or starter?
What I meant was Thaigo, Busquets, Dos Santos, Keita, Iniesta are all mid fielders which leaves two defenders Abidal (Mostly plays LB as it is the best positions for him and joins attack from left flank a lot) and Fontas so which led to some of Barca Midfield going to defense which was Busquest and either Keita/Dos Santos. Their (Barca) defense = terrible and was not balanced that game and some may argue against Man U both goals as they seemed offside yet were given but was still a well deserve win (for Man U). They have won all friendlies so will be a big boost towards next games and season.
Also WHat do you think of De Gea?
I always told you that it will be sad that Barcelona deprive a great player like Fabregas to Arsenal; only if Fabregas will be a bench player and they already have such a great midfield.
Well, Welbeck was given to loan last season to Sunderland and though he came back, he's still a B-Team player cause Manchester has a very strong bench right now. Also, Cleverley was one of the Top 10 player in Junior League last year (for me atleast) and I knew he'll be getting chances this season - but he still remains a B-team playear.
If you sums it up in this match -
Barcelona had 6 Starters, 3 Sub-Level & 2 B-Level players.
Manchester had also 6 Starters, 3 Sub-Level & 2 B-Level players. [Counting Nani and De Gea as starters]
I know, I was surprised of Barcelona's defense and I agree that it was rather poor but still Busquets and Keita seemed to have permuted often in central defense to keep the team balanced. Moreover, they did play with Mascherano in defense despite him being in midfield and especially in big matches like against Real. Perhaps Guardiola wants to experiment this with more players as gotta admit that Barcelona have great young players but the fight for midfield/offense is so tight - rather impossible - that they are trying to grab every opportunities even if it's in defense. It didn't pay off here but I think that's the point of friendly matches - experiment new things, give the whole squad a boost b giving the maximum players opportunities to play and to enjoy.
As for Manchester, they had a terrible midfield. It was clear that with a better midfield, they will have been much more efficient in counter cause the passing game of Barcelona wasn't as smooth and fluid as it used to be. They did many errors like during the second goal of Owen. If they had a better midfield, this will have turn perhaps into a larger score. Still, I think Manchester United young players were better than Barcelona on this match and this is where the match tilted perhaps to ManU favor. Proof is that both "B-Team players" gave the final two assists for the 2 goals.
About your question if Young or Nani will be bench/starters. Well, Ferguson will decide in the early matches who amongst the 4 - Park, Young, Nani, Valencia - will be better. Two will become starters and 2 bench players. Don't tell me to guess, they are 4 great players. The same goes for their midfield - Carrick, Giggs, Fletcher and whoever comes (hopefully Sneijder) along with some other bench players. Only 2 players will be selected.
As for De Gea, well, I've only seen some more highlight of this match - not seen he whole but from some of his other performance. His reports on Mantd.com have been ranging from good to very good; so that's seem to be great. I loved him during a match against Madrid in the Liga last year though there was another Liga match where he was pretty not at ease. I hope he brings up great performance but he's a good player and should be the starting GK of ManU henceforth. Whatsoever, gotta start from somewhere to replace Van Der Sar, if not with another monstrous GK, atleast someone of caliber is good. He has the potential to make great things at Manchester, that's for sure.
