FAYC Final 2nd Leg: MUFC 4 (6)v(3) 1 Sheffield United – Report

Cup final’s are not unfamiliar territory for Manchester United as a club, but for this year’s crop of fledglings it was the biggest night of their lives, so they could’ve been forgiven for having nerves and feeling the pressure. For one last time this season they lined up knowing that this was a straight forward knockout, winner takes all situation and an opportunity to carve their names into the history of United, or as Sir Alex likes to describe it as ‘the fabric of the club’.

Both teams cancelled each other out in the opening exchanges and United really played into the hands of Sheffield United by allowing themselves to get embroiled in a midfield battle they couldn’t win. Whitehouse and Harriott are very capable central midfielders and the former impressed me hugely last night. United played with no width and the middle of the park was too congested to play our quick, slick passing football, The Blades were more than happy with this.

Other than a rather large lady causing chaos trying to get to her seat, the first 15 minutes were pretty dull with United creating a couple of half chances and Pogba’s possibly goalward freekick deflected out for a corner. United were given a fright when Slew went close on 15 minutes after he controlled a high cross in and turned McGinty in the box, only to drill his shot a fraction wide of the keepers left hand post. Johnstone was rooted to the spot, and had the shot been on target The Blades were one up. Seconds later, Whitehouse found himself unmarked in acres of space outside the box but slashed his shot wildly high and wide. United needed to settle the nerves somehow, stretch the game out and utilise the size of the Old Trafford pitch.

Morrison, Pogba, Tunnicliffe and Gylino Van Velzen had started as if they were the only players in the game, each trying to do too much with the ball instead of letting the ball do the work and playing as a team. Sheffield United were chasing everyone down, pressing high up the pitch and forcing United into unnecessary errors. Morrison was the main culprit (not the first time those words will have been said!) getting caught on the ball time and again. Will Keane was dropping too deep to get involved, that meant that when the play did open up and Morrison, Tunnicliffe or Pogba had a chance to release him, he wasn’t looking for the ball in behind. It was left to Jesse Lingard to make the darting runs in behind but it wasn’t quite paying off. On 20 minutes Morrison made one of those runs with Pogba on the ball, Pogba slipped him in and Morrison was through on goal but George Long reacted quickly and smothered his shot.

Another dull 10 minutes passed by with the only chance coming from a Sheffield United corner that was headed over the bar. Then, as if McGuiness flicked a switch and ordered Michael Keane to finally overlap from deep, United found a way through. Fornasier played a simple ball out to Tunnicliffe, he powered his way into the Sheffield United half and picked out a superb defence splitting pass to find Micheal Keane with space to run into, his deflected cross fell to brother Will who made a hash of his shot missing it completely, the ball then fell kindly for Morrison who took a touch to set himself, saw a gap through a crowd of defenders, and slotted it in comfortably with the keeper stranded. 1-0 United.

Sheffield United made a valiant effort to repeat their instant reply of last week when they went a goal down. First Whitehouse missed a glaring opportunity to equalise a few minutes later when Ironside literally blasted the ball across the face of the goal and zipped past his boot, a tough chance, but on another day he may have connected with it and surely scored. Slew then beat Johnstone all ends up shooting from the corner of the United box and bending his effort just wide of the far post.

Just before the break United piled on the pressure and went close when Lingard’s shot from the edge of the area was headed clear by Whitehouse (not for the first time he’s cleared off the line in the two games) and then central defender Tony Kennedy had a rush of blood to the head. Morrison broke into the box and pulled the ball back towards Will Keane whose attempt at a header was fruitless because it never got to him thanks to Kennedy naively handling the ball out of play. The referee had no choice, you couldn’t miss it, United had a penalty and a chance to take a flattering two-nil lead into the break. Will Keane stepped up and coolly sent the keeper the wrong way for his first of the night. 2-0 United.

The standard of United’s football improved in the second half and the star players began to take control and have a positive impact. The emphasis was now on keeping possession of the ball, not that they hadn’t tried to do that in the first half, more that the game just opened up with Sheffield United looking for a way back into the match and their players tiring. Pogba found his range and his confidence, Tunnicliffe continued where he left off in the last 15 minutes of the first half, Morrison was afforded more space and made much better use of it when he had it and was only caught in possession once in the second half which he really has to learn from. Sheffield United on the other hand lost some belief as the minutes ticked away. I expected an onslaught that just never came, they created some chances late in the game but it was too late by then, the game was already over as a contest, it was just a case of how many goals would be scored.

Pogba conjured up a few moments of real genuine class. After fifty minutes he chipped a difficult ball to Tunnicliffe out wide on the right, Tunnicliffe expertly chested it under control with very little space to work with, the ball was played into the box and came out again via Will Keane, he played it to Lingard who simply tee’d up Pogba about 30 yards out, he shaped to hit it and caught it as sweet as a nut but the shot was saved well by Long. Should he be hitting the from there? Probably not, but who can argue with him when he gets it right like that.

Football has changed over the last few years and I’ve noticed there’s more thought involved. What I mean by that is that the old fashioned dummy has evolved and is used in a wide variety of ways. It’s not just the standard drop of the shoulder to send the defender the wrong way anymore, it’s knowing where your marker thinks you’re about to go and feinting to do that whilst all the while knowing you’re going to go the opposite way. It’s a skill that takes a calmness of mind. It requires a players natural ability with the ball to take over whilst he’s in possession or is about to receive possession. It also relies on the players being confident they’re not about to be rattled from behind (that sort of doesn’t sound right to me!), the outlawing of tackles from behind has allowed this new style of mental sparring to blossom. If you’re still following this……well done!!. For example, Pogba was given the ball in the centre circle after about fifty eight minutes, he knew where his marker was and he let the ball drift past his boot just a little bit longer than usual. He stuck it to his foot, swung it back round to his left to deceive his marker, then flicked it back behind himself and into the space opened up by sending his marker off for a picnic somewhere near Salford Quays. He looked up and Morrison had read what was happening and already bursting through the defence. Pogba delivered an inch perfect pass into his path, he raced forward and shot just wide of the right hand post. No one in Old Trafford expected him to miss that, and had it gone in, it would easily have been the goal of the game.

Just prior to that, we had a lengthy delay while Harry Maguire received medical attention after an accidental clash of heads between him and Morrison. It looked serious when he was manoeuvred into the recovery position and the stretcher came out. The game was stopped for about six or seven minutes and Maguire was taken straight down the tunnel and probably off to hospital.

The game continued in the same vein as it had with United dominating play and creating chances for fun. There were a few signs that Sheffield United could get a goal back when Johnstone needlessly made an error with a long throw that put United under a few minutes of pressure, but United were about to kill them off. The Blades replaced Gregory with Martin and two minutes later Morrison was about to make it 3-0.

He picked the ball up outside the box, advancing and jinking sideways past two defenders, he sent the ball into the opposite corner with ease and no one could get anywhere near him, or the shot. That’s all the explanation it needs…..it happened just like that…..in a flash. Morrison is capable of doing that and that’s so hard to either teach or purchase, hence why he’s so highly thought of as a player.

The teams performance up to this point hadn’t been brilliant but the irony of Sheffield United’s only goal of the game was that a wonderful passage of passing play came to an end when a sloppy GVV gave the ball away cheaply in The Blades’ box and from there United had somehow left themselves short at the back. Slew broke with the ball but it still looked fairly doubtful they could score, Slew curled an average  pass towards Ironside that wasn’t dealt with by Fornasier. Suddenly the pass looked a great one, it left Ironside one-v-one with the keeper and he scuffed it under him to give them a lifeline.

It would prove to be merely a consolation. With eight minutes of normal time remaining Will Keane scored a similar goal to that of Morrison’s second. Some poor defending, first from Whitehouse then from Kennedy, allowed Will Keane to combine with Larnell Cole, who had been on for just a few minutes after replacing Lingard, to create the space for a shot that he neatly drilled past Long to make it 4-1 on the night, 6-3 on aggregate.

The game was over, a few half chances were created by both teams in the final few minutes and we drifted through the extra seven minutes of injury time. The referee finally blew his whistle and United were FA Youth Cup winners for a record extending tenth time. The class of 2011 had accomplished what many had predicted they would, now it’s time to take the step up to reserves football for the majority on show here. For some they get the chance to do it all again next season. How many of these fledglings will ‘make it’ to the top remains to be seen, but on this seasons showing I’d say one or two definitely have a real chance.

Congratulations!

You can follow my Twitter updates during every Academy and Youth Cup game next season, so get following @Rimmerstweets now to stay in touch with what’s happening during the summer to ensure you’re ready for 2011/12.

Thanks to everyone who’s contacted me on Twitter, read my blog and Retweeted the links, they’re all very much appreciated.

If you want to see any of last nights pictures you can find them here courtesy of @TriciaRKG (Writer of ‘Roy Keane’s Gum’). The video highlights are there too - Thanks T.

http://triciarkg.tumblr.com/post/5782280736/goals-and-photos-from-todays-fa-youth-cup-victory

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Teams (plus MY ratings)

MUFC: Johnstone 6/ M Keane 9, McGinty 7, Thorpe 9, Fornaiser 7 / Tunnicliffe 8, Lingard 8(Cole 78), Pogba 8, Morrison 9(Cofie 90), Van Velzen 7 (Blackett 84), W Keane 8. Not used: Coll, Massacci.

SUFC: Long / Montgomery, Barry, Harriott, Maguire (Pomares 57) / Kennedy, Gregory (Martin 67), Whitehouse / Ironside (Wilkinson 76), Slew, McFadzean. Not used: Willis, Ahmadi.

Goals:
MUFC: Morrison (37, 69), W Keane (45, 82)
SUFC: Ironside (73)

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Category: Manchester United