Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

The Lack of Sense

By Daniel   Hutchinson  ::  05/08/2011   73 Comments (»Last) Forget for a second the lack of money, the lack of transfer activity, the lack of investment and the lack of a stadium answer. Put that out of your mind and let?s just think about Moyes and his squad, where the players fit into a system and how you would like us to play?

Tonight?s game was a shambles. When eagerly awaiting the ITV4 coverage to start, I sat and pondered who I would choose in my starting eleven. The team was announced and in the most part I was happy. Happy because Moyes had (at this point oft he might anyway) seen sense in placing Barkley into central midfield (his rightful position!). However, the one glaring mistake on his team sheet was yet again the inclusion of Victor in a wide left position. I took positives out of this selection as, to Moyes?s credit, he had only made one substantial mistake in his selection, unusually.

The first half I thought was decent, Villarreal had a lot of the ball but rarely threatened and I felt that we were playing to a suitable standard. Barkley and Coleman looked good in midfield and Baines as always was controlling the left. However (and I feel rather sorry now for Victor), Anichebe was left in a position where he cannot effectively influence the game.

After watching the other pre-season friendlies, I have been pleased with some of Victor?s performances... yet, if we are going to play him, he needs to be playing up front; if not, he has to be on the subs bench. This is especially the case when we have Gueye, who has shone when played, left as an unused substitute.

Moyes really proved in his next decision to be simply the biggest idiot. Coleman gets injured from a disgusting challenge and we need to bring someone on to replace him. Currently on the pitch in midfield we have: Victor playing out of position on the left, and Fellaini, Rodwell and Barkley in central midfield. Fellaini working hard as always, Barkley shining in the middle and Rodwell quiet as a mouse (yet again). So can someone explain to me the sense of bringing on a central midfielder?

Tim Cahill comes on and the man who has controlled the attacking play gets pushed out wide and is yet to be seen for the rest of the game. Barkley must be wondering what he did wrong!

So now we have two central players out wide, Rodwell who might as well not be on the pitch and Cahill who offers nothing to our system. (I have left out Fellaini as he is in fact worthy of being on the pitch and in the middle). Gueye, Baxter and Bily all on the bench who could have suitably done a job out wide (at least better than Barkley!).

I felt sorry for Ross and this decision sparked a catalogue of second-half mishaps from Moyes. The second half comes and Barkley goes quiet after being shifted out wide: Victor is still offering nothing out on the left, and Cahill and Rodwell are non-existent in the middle (and this isn?t even the worse bit).

We start the second half brightly, but that is where it ended. The players were out of position in a system that just was not working, and so Villarreal dominated us from start to finish in this half.

Moyes looked at the bench and decided to make two more changes. I pray to myself that he has seen sense and brings on Gueye; my prayers were not answered. Moyes decided to take off Saha and bring on Beckford. How many times does he need to see Becks playing up front on his own to realise he needs someone to support him, so he can run on? Especially with Cahill behind him who doesn?t have a creative bone in his body!

Becks is quiet for the whole game not because he is crap, but because he has no service and he has no service because Moyes has messed around sticking players here, there and everywhere in midfield. He also brings on Heitinga for Fellaini. Now our midfield is completely torn apart.

I like Heitinga and I think he makes a great central defender... so why does Moyes continue to play him in this central midfield role?! Especially when we have Barkley already on the pitch, who to be fair to him, was the best player on the pitch in central midfield. However, Moyes knows best and keeps the young, talented, exciting central midfielder, out wide?

The most laughable of all of Moyes?s decisions tonight? Hibbert on for Victor. We now have SIX defenders on (Baines, Jags, Distin, Nev, Heitinga, Hibbert) ? including two right backs! We also have 3 central midfielders (Rodwell, Barkley and Cahill). So Moyes, the tactical maestro ,after clearly watching too many videos of Neville?s goal at the end of last season, opts to make him our new wide right player. The man to move about the midfield again: Ross Barkley.

Our midfield now comprises of a central midfielder at left mid, a defender, and two non-existent players in central midfield, and a right back (a very defensive right back) as a right midfielder. This to me was an absolute joke. No wonder the opposition tore us apart. Moyes was lacking sense!

And finally, Moyes decides to take off Barkley. I will take this moment to congratulate the young man in his first-half performance and will sympathise with his mistreating of placing him in odd positions in the second half.

The Yak comes on, so now who is going to play out on the left? Beckford. I thought with Yak?s appearance we would see Beckford have a striking partner and would have a chance to see how they could work together. However, Beckford was moved to an unfamiliar position and our midfield had been well and truly messed with by a man that doesn?t seem to have a tactical bone in his body!!!

You can say it is only pre-season, that it is only a run-out for fitness... But it isn?t. This was our final game before a long, hard season. This was our chance to focus on how we will play for the upcoming season. And we all know that these are exactly the type of decisions Moyes makes in competitive games.

Why does he insist on playing players out of position when there are more than worthy players on the bench that can step up? Cahill, Rodwell, Neville etc. When will Moyes realise these players are not always the answer? I am a fan of Moyes but it is these glaring tactical errors that make the crisis at the club even worse!

So look beyond our financial and background trouble and think about how much better we could be if Moyes didn?t lack sense. Maybe then we would be attractive to investors?

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