United Breeze Three Points Closer to 19

There was no sign of a European hangover as Manchester United easily dispatched Fulham 3-0 at Old Trafford. With only eight games left in the season the prospect of Manchester United winning their 19th title is becoming more and more realistic. Today’s game was another example of how ruthless United can be. Without hitting top gear they put three past a very organized Fulham defense.

For me the best part of this win is that in Vidic and Ferdinand’s third straight game playing together United have put together three clean sheets. They were not tested too much today, but Vidic made up for a poor error with a fantstic goal-saving tackle on Bobby Zamora. Rio looked calm and composed not at all like some of his performances earlier in the season where he was making juvenile, costly mistakes. For United this partnership is making its reunion at the perfect time.

Going forward Wayne Rooney had another fabulous game. Honestly I wish the world had more superlatives because writing about how good Rooney is every week is getting a bit dull. Watching him however is anything but dull. He surprises me every week with an audacious bit of skill, a beautiful cross field ball, a perfect finish, the man truly is the closest thing in the world to the “complete footballer”.

Rooney had his usual all-star cast around him helping produce. Nani wasted a few opportunities today, but his cross into Rooney at the start of the second half opened the scoring. He was a constant threat down the left side of the pitch, creating openings and feeding Rooney. Valencia on the other hand had a bit of poor match, which is fine after what has been a very consistent season for him so far.

Up front Berbatov continued his good form and this time was rewarded with a goal. Although I’ve said on several occasions that Berbatov isn’t really a United player, but he finds a way to contribute. His link up play isn’t always fabulous, but he drops back and gets the play going, he rarely gives up the ball and although he may not be the superstar goal scorer that United bought him for he is becoming an important piece in the puzzle. Playing a gainst a tight defensive team in a slower match is exactly the kind of game for Berbatov. He opened up the play a lot today and made a lot more space in between the Fulham midfield and back four. It was one of Berbatov’s better performances of the season.

What I think is a really interesting debate is whether United should stick to the 4-4-2 in the Premier League or switch to the 4-5-1 that has served United so well in Europe and several big games. I really do like to see Berbatov get opportunities, he can help grind out results in the Premier League and he does have a flair for the spectacular when he gets the chance. The 4-5-1 however gets all of Scholes, Carrick and Fletcher playing who have worked fabulous together. At the moment I’d like to see United stay with the 4-4-2 but Sir Alex has an interesting decision to make when Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham come to Old Trafford in the next month or so.

Overall a solid performance from Manchester United and a fantastic 3-0 result.