Half Season Analysis- Part 3

I started the last post with what in my opinion was the best goal of the season. This time I will start off with a video of a player who will easily be anyone's choice for player of the season at this point and also the clear favourite at this moment to take home the PFA Player of the Year award. None other than Liverpool's own Luis Suarez. He has had a brilliant start to the season and has been a key player for the side's run to the top and challenging for the title. Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool owner John W. Henry's best business in the transfer window was to keep hold of the Uruguayan forward.

Liverpool 

Unexpected, but good start for Liverpool, fans will hope Rodgers can keep it going

No one, not even Liverpool fans at the start of the season predicted that Liverpool would be title contenders this season. The form the club has shown this season, has shocked lot of the fans of the club and also the general public. Jamie Carragher himself has stated that if he knew that the club would perform at the level that they are right now, he would not have retired! 

The club may be fifth right now after the loss to Chelsea, but they are now most certainly considered part of the title race for the foreseeable future. Most Liverpool fans would be happy with their current position in the league and still accept a top four spot at the end of the season. 

Luis Suarez has been in terrific form and as I stated above the frontrunner for the Player of the Year this season. To think he actually missed the first five games of the season, he has been absolutely tremendous so far. Him and Sturridge have formed a lethal partnership upfront and are a real threat for any defence in the league.

Will he still be here in 2015? Time will tell

Brendan Rodgers has done a wonderful job at the club, and while not all of his signings have done well, he has this finally got the team playing the way he wants it and you can see what time given to the manager has done for the club, something that some clubs could take note from. Rodgers' and owner John W. Henry should give themselves a pat on the back for staying strong and not selling Luis Suarez at any price to Arsenal. Convincing him to sign a new contract at the club was another smart move by the powers above at Liverpool. Raheem Sterling has also improved this season after going off the boil last season and credit once again should be given to Brendan Rodgers' man management. 

The fans will hope that the season ends with the club placed in a Champions League spot. How they have missed those famous Champions League nights...

Performance Score: 7.5/10
Best Player: Luis Suarez
Under Performer: Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel
January Transfer Window: The current injuries at the club has really stretched the resources. A new winger and some reinforcements at the back would do well. Not sure if replacements at RB and RCB could be found in this transfer window. 

Manchester City

Can he guide City back to the Title? They sure are one of the favourites

At the start of the season, Manchester City were along with Chelsea were put in the favourites bracket by pundits to clinch the Premier League title back from neighbours Manchester United. The start to the season was mixed. While they were dominating teams at home, away from home they were being beaten by all comers. The city away from home looked a completely different prospect to the one that welcomed teams to the Etihad. In their first six away games, City lost four, drew one and managed three points against West Ham. They have recently managed to conquer those away demons though, with seven points from the nine available, dropping points against Southampton. 

They have been completely dominant at home and that is what has kept them in the title race. No team has left the Etihad this season, in the league with even a point. Until Crystal Palace visited Etihad, all the visitors conceded atleast two goals. Teams haven't only been beaten but humiliated. United lost 4-1, Norwich 7-0, Tottenham 6-0, Arsenal 6-3 are the results that stand out. 

This midfield has dominated over many teams in the Premier League this season. 

Aguero and Negredo have formed a formidable partnership and Samir Nasri has improved under the watchful gaze of Manuel Pellegrini. The defence has caused Pellegrini some problems but with Kompany back and Joe Hart restored as the No.1, you feel even that will improve. Yaya Toure has once again been the driving force in midfield, but Fernandinho's performances haven't gone unnoticed with many terming him as the buy of the season. Him and Yaya have dominated opposition midfield's with Pace and Power that has been too much to handle for most opposition teams. David Silva has been hampered by injuries but has been a really creative spark whenever he has played this season. 

Manchester City are surely to contest for the title at the end of the season and their brilliant home form could be key to retaining the title in a year where consistency has been a major issue for most Premier League clubs.

Performance Score: 7/10

Best Player: Sergio Aguero

Under Performer: Joe Hart
January Transfer Window: Do they really need signings? Maybe a centre back, but that would probably be better bought in the summer transfer window. 

Manchester United

Replacing Ferguson hasn't been easy but who expected it to be anyway?

For the first time in 26 years, United fans saw a new manager at the helm of the of team affairs. David Moyes was chosen by  Sir Alex Ferguson himself to try and fill the large shoes left by him. One Scotsman replacing another. 

It hasn't been as expected a smooth transition for United fans. A tough start in terms of fixtures did not help David Moyes at all and neither did a squad which has been in general under performing. A poor transfer market and it wasn't the start that the new manager would have asked for.

David Moyes' best move in the transfer market

The new manager started off with a promising 4-1 win but a loss to Liverpool and a heavy defeat at the Etihad really ramped up the pressure on him. His failure to address long issues in Central Midfield also made matters worse and a very poor Home record has handed Moyes a hard task in the second half of the season.  Most of the new generation United fans have been spoilt by trophies and dominating teams which has meant that the current predicament of the club has been some what new to them. Something similar to what Liverpool fans felt back in the 2009-2010 season. 

Recent weeks have brought some positivity back in the club, and while Moyes has made many mistakes, he has also improved on those same mistakes and is learning quickly, what it is to be manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world. His decision to not sell Wayne Rooney and keep him has proven to be a master stroke, and Rooney has carried the team this season with some influential performances. 

United fans will hope, Moyes can guide the club to a top four finish and maybe even a cup victory. Though secretly all United fans will be wondering, could we get back in the race for the title?

Performance Score: 5.5/10

Best Player: Wayne Rooney

Under Performer:  Patrice Evra

Transfer Window: Recent performances suggest a LB is as important as a new CM. But the question is, will their be players available of the quality that Moyes requires?

Newcastle United

Can Newcastle go on as they have till now?

The season did not start well for Pardew and his men. Travelling to the Etihad, they were hammered four to nothing by the home side. Fast forward to the half way point and Newcastle fans would be happy with how the club has done up till this point. Currently eighth, the toon army have had  their moments this season.

A win over Chelsea at St. James, thrashing Stoke City and the big win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. The win over the reigning league Champions at their home, was the first for the Geordies, since 1972.

Newcastle have befriended consistency since the loss to rivals Sunderland away from home, losing only two games and drawing one. This has helped them climb up the table and at one point found themselves above Manchester United and Spurs.

Pardew will expect his men to continue performing well and keep this decent run of consistency going.

Performance Score: 6.5/10
Best Player: Tim Krul
Under Performer: Papiss Cisse
January Transfer Window:  Sell to buy may be the policy that is continued. Newcastle are not a squad with depth and it will be interesting to see how Pardew addresses that. A key player may have to leave though.

Part 1: Here | Part 2: Here

Comments welcomed! 

David Moyes is not alone...

Note: If you're expecting an article to defend the club, Moyes and his reign etc please don't read further.

When David Moyes stepped into the (extremely large) shoes of Sir Alex Ferguson, even he wouldn't have been able to rightly guess the huge challenge that awaited him. The challenge to replace the best manager the Premier League has seen, was one that was seen as an enormous task.

What Moyes may not have foreseen was the big task he had in terms of overhauling the United squad, a squad that had only last season won the League. Many people can be seen complaining about how could a side that were crowned Champions in May, be so woeful in December.

The answer lies in the fact that the signs were there in March itself, and if you look behind, even before that. Robin Van Persie, Michael Carrick and Ferguson were able to mask over our the obvious failings in our squad last season.

It is indicative of how much United depended on both of them that, both were playing with knocks for a quite some time before, Moyes had to reluctantly rest them. The results since then, apart from the Bayer Leverkusen game have been disappointing.

There are various reasons for the current predicament of United, and Moyes is at fault for some but not all of those reasons.

• Lack of Quality Midfielders

This is a problem in other parts of the squad as well, but nowhere is it more deeply felt than in midfield, where when Carrick doesn't start, it almost seems like United are playing a false midfield. It is almost shocking how the United management have seemed to allow this to happen. There really is no excuse. Some of the sides in  the bottom half of the league could challenge us for quality in midfield. Southampton are into their second season in the Premier League and their first choice midfield trumps our own. We have only one quality midfielder and he is on the wrong side of 30. The blame for this majorly lies on the management that preceded Moyes. Yes, Ferguson and his staff can be blamed for allowing our midfield quality to degrade with every passing season. When Moyes signed Marouanne Fellaini, he was the first midfield signing since 2007 at the club.  That in itself shows how the management completely neglected the midfield.

This isn't to say though that David Moyes is faultless. He had two months to sign players who could not only refresh the squad but also bring quality to midfield. There were so many players that were bought in by different clubs that could really have improved our midfield. Just looking around off the top of my head; Kevin Strootman, Wanyama, Thiago to name a few, all of whom could've improved our midfield, but Moyes and his team did not make a move. Who they now try to sign in January, is up for debate but it will be hard for the manager to sign quality players.

• Lacking World Class Quality, Glazers need to release the funds for spending now

A look at the current Manchester United squad shows how badly the club needs to sign some World Class players. Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney are the only two truly world class players the club can currently boast of. Rafael, David De Gea, Phil Jones, Adnan Januzaj all these might one day turn out to be World Class if they keep on growing, but they aren't World Class yet.

There are question marks over whether Moyes can attract World Class players, but the management will need to look at splashing the cash, and splashing it big to attract some of the world's best players to the club. Expecting Moyes to get more than 100% out of a squad a la Ferguson style would be unrealistic. The management needs to back the manager and buy the players. The squad is an ageing one and it needs to be refreshed with new signings. We need either a Luis Suarez type signing in January or a Ozil type signing in the summer to really get this squad going. Last season neighbours Manchester City failed to build on their EPL success and saw themselves brushed aside from the top spot. The Red Devils have suffered a similar fate this season.The Glazers have been all talk till now. They need to act now and spend big. The cold hard truth.

• Moyes needs to bring stability to his line-ups

David Moyes has been chopping and changing his line-ups way more than required at times. Injuries and Suspensions have surely forced his hand at times but chopping and changing his line-ups clearly shows that even after more than 20 games, he still doesn't know his best line-up. There were seven changes yesterday to the starting line-up. Defenders have been constantly swapped around, something which affects the performances of all involved. A good team always builds from a solid backline and Manchester United currently lack that. Patrice Evra, due to lack of competition and being majorly injury free has been the only constant in the backline for majority of the season. Sadly though, again this is not entirely Moyes' fault, which brings me to my next point.

• Players need to start performing!

The players have been absolutely shambolic at times this season and have let Moyes down. The senior players especially need to stand up now and get the team back up. The team at times seem to be hiding on the pitch. They need to start demanding the ball more and be more positive when going forward rather than looking at the simple options. Apart from David De Gea, Rafael,Evans, Carrick, Rooney and RVP no one in the squad has really looked to cement their place in the squad. If  you include Evra, who has no competition, there are 4 places in the squad up for grabs. Wings is one area which has caused Moyes most trouble considering none of the three "seniors" in the squad have performed well consistently. Moyes will certainly hoping now that the above 7 can remain fit and play together for large parts of the remainder of the season so as to get United back on track.

• David Moyes needs to improve!

The Chosen One was rightly criticized by many United fans in the beginning of the season for mistakes that he had made and Moyes did correct some of those mistakes. For the past two games, he has made attacking substitutions, something that he was criticized for not doing previously.

What has been lacking though is signs of improvement in performance. You could expect fans to be more sympathetic towards Moyes' if they could see a philosophy that Moyes was trying to implement on the squad, but all I've seen is a team's over dependence on a LB's attacking capabilities to put balls into the box, something that the team's wingers have found impossible to do. Last season, when Brendan Rodgers joined Liverpool he had a clear philosophy in his mind that he wanted to implement at the club and he set about his task in the same manner. He is now reaping the results this season and that is something Moyes also needs to do. Now Liverpool may not win the league or even finish in the top 4 this season, but no neutral can really say that they haven't improved moving on from last season. Considering where the Merseyside club were when Rodgers was brought in, I believe he has done a commendable job in the past two season.

David Moyes will be given time by the board and fans, but for that he will need his squad to show improvements on the field. Moyes needs to stamp his authority on the squad as quickly possible and get Manchester United back on track. Everyone at the club needs to get together and really start performing. The players need to start providing support to the manager by actually performing. You do really wonder, for all the preaching the club does with regards to patience, how much of it will they provide Moyes with, if things don't change till the summer?

In the end I'd just like to mention one more thing, I was having a chat with a friend of the clubs current predicament and he said the following which I though I should share because he was absolutely right.

"Its really sad to see that we have no distinct style of playing. We actually are the club version of England right now. Big reputation, a few big name players but no output."