2008/9 Mid Term Report

It's back. Having missed the mid term report last season due to extreme laziness, I'm finally back on track to do it this year.

It's taken quite a while to reach 19 premiership games, but we've finally hit the mark with a surprisingly good win against Chelsea on Sunday. It set us up well for the remaining half of the season to wrestle the top spot away from hated rivals, Liverpool.

What's been really good about this season so far is that our young players are actually better than I've expected. We may just be looking at another crop like that in the mid-90s that produced the Nevilles, Scholes, Becks and Butt.

The same, however, cannot be said of our current fringe players, nor the bulk of the first team.

So here are the grades:

Edwin Van der Sar (Grade B)
He's not getting an A this season. Our defensive record is pretty awesome, but very little is due to him. The men in front of him have been playing out of their minds. He's still utterly useless from set-pieces and still flaps around too much in the box.

Tomasz Kususzczak (Grade B)
Similar grade to Van der Sar and similar reasoning. He's slightly better with set-pieces but not as good a decisionmaker. It seems from the number of game's he's played, he's our number 2 guy, with Ben Foster at number 3.

Rio Ferdinand (Grade A)
Been pretty solid so far. He did take time off during the stretch of games in Oct/Nov when we conceded goals against Arsenal and Hull. Despite that, he's an integral part of the defence. Let's hope his back spasms heal soon enough.

Nemanji Vidic (Grade A+)
What can I say? He's been the star in defence this season. Not only that, he's scored a couple of crucial goals to win us games.

Patrice Evra (Grade A+)
Once again, he's proving to everyone that he's the best left-back in the world. We've looked somewhat lost this season when he's not in the game. He provides the width down the left wing when our traditional wingers go awol (and they tend to go awol alot).

Gray Neville (Grade B)
Kinda hard to grade him with so few games under his belt. But whenever he's been called upon, he does an adequate job. He's lost alot of pace (not that he had much to start with) and he no longer crosses the ball like he used to. Other than that, there's really very little to complain over our club captain. I'm just not too sure he's going to get many games as Rafael matures and Wes Brown returns to the foil.

Rafael (Grade B)
He's been a breath of fresh air. He's still very young and his play shows it. There is still alot of immaturity in his tackles, but that will no doubt improve as he gains more experience under his belt.

Wes Brown (Grade B)
Kinda sad for him really. Everytime he gets a decent run in the team, something bad happens. He's gotten injured at a bad time, just as Neville returns to stake his claim and just as Rafael turns up to impress. Overall, not a good time to be Wes Brown.

John O'Shea (Grade B)
Once again he's our guy who plugs holes. Whenever there is a position on the pitch that needs to be filled, he's the guy Fergie turns to.

Johnny Evans (Grade A)
We knew he was good. We just didn't know he was THIS good! To think I was really upset we lost Gerald Pique last season. Johnny seems to have step into the heart of the defence almost seamlessly, replacing Rio. He's not the first choice in that position, but if he continues performing as he has done, then it's just a matter of time before he edges out one of Rio or Vidic (hopefully it's Rio).

Darren Fletcher (Grade A)
Really stepped up his game this season. The truth be told, he's never really been given a consistant run before. With injuries to several key men in the position, he's finally been able to claim a place in central midfield and it looks like he's finally here to stay. He's proving to everyone that we've overlooked him all these years. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing him continue in this rich vein of form.

Paul Scholes (Grade B)
Seems like he's lost a step or two this season. He's no slouch, but you can see a drop in production compared to previous seasons. Maybe the injury is still bugging him. In any case, either by Ferguson's tactics or Father Time's manipulation, he's not the man we know.

Michael Carrick (No Grade)
Don't want to be unfair to Carrick here, but an Invisibleman deserves no grades. If you can't see him, you can't grade him.

Anderson (Grade C)
Told you that the second season is the toughest. He's dropped off pretty far from last season's performance. He still has the second half of the season to pick up his game.

Darron Gibson (Grade B)
So far so good. Reminds me of Butt when he first came on the scene. Good solid player that plays without much fuss. As long as Ferguson doesn't fuck around with him by playing him out of position, he should have a good enough career in the premiership. I personally don't think he's good enough to break thru the ranks with so many vying for a couple of spots in the centre of the park, but stranger things have happened.

Ryan Giggs (Grade A)
Been having an indian summer of sorts. Amongst the 3 wisemen in the team (Scholes and Neville), he's been the one that has been performing well. I hope he keeps it up.

Park Ji Sung (Grade A+)
Along with Vidic, he's been the best player in the team. He runs his socks off every game and good things always happen when he has the ball. If there is one criticism, it's that he doesn't score enough goals. Hell, he's yet to open his account this season.

Nani (Grade B)
Again, second year player. Can't expect too much from him. The problem with Nani is that he cuts in way too much for a winger. Whenver he's in the game, the attacking third of the pitch becomes narrower as he tends to have the bad habit of bringing into the centre. Oh, and he's pretty crap with freekicks and corners. Still I keep reminding myself that he's only in his second year. I'm going to go with a Ronaldo timetable for Nani, that means, it's going to be another two years before he comes good, hence I'm not going to grade him like everyone else.

Christiano Ronaldo (Grade B)
Hasn't come marginally close to the heights of last season. Nonetheless, he's still one of the most important players in the team. So far he seems more interested in looking good on camera, that getting in rough and dirty on the pitch. There's still another half a season to go for him to pick up his game. At least he's verbally come out to commit to the club. With goodwill already running thin, the last we need is another summer like the last.

Wayne Rooney (Grade A)
Been our best striker this season. Had a slump before his 100th professional goal, but otherwise has been rather consistant in his performance. Besides a couple of petulant moments, he's head has been screwed on right so far.

Dimitar Berbatov (Grade C)
Not been impressed by any means but I'll keep my tongue to myself until the end of the season.

Carlos Tevez (Grade A)
He's not been given a fair chance but his grade has not been affected (it helps to be the teacher's pet). I'd be really pissed if we eventually let him go because of the transfer fee. Between him and the guy above, whom I'll not bad-mouth, it's clear as daylight who I'd prefer.

Danny Welbeck (Grade B)
Pretty well done for an 18 year old. The future looks bright for this kid and Ferguson seems to agree as he slowly beds Welbeck into the senior team.

Guys without a grade:
Owen Hargreaves
My reservist friend warned me about Hargreaves before we bought him and I finally see what he means. Hargreaves is a walking disaster and he's fast becoming the new Tissueboy. Fuck it, maybe we'd just call him Tissueboy II from now.

Rodrigo Possebon
One for the future. He's a classy player, but with so many established midfielders in front of him, it's going to take a special effort to break into the team.

Manucho
What's up with him? That's any body's guess, I guess. With the frontline playing like crap at times, you'd think he might get a chance. I suppose no one really knows what's going on in Fergie's mind.

Last but no least:

Alex Ferguson (Grade B)
Seems to be lost without Carlos Queiros, especially at the beginning of the season with that dismayal start to the campaign. Seems to have found his mojo lately, but still a stubborn old horse by sticking to 'the one whom I will not bad mouth'.