Too Much Too Soon for Bebe & Obertan?

After the game against Crawley Town in which Manchester United squeezed through to a narrow win, there were more than few questions asked about certain United players - questions that challenged whether some players were good enough to represent one of the best football clubs in the world.

As usual, when bold questions like these are put forward by the media and some fans, there is a barrel of mixed, contradicting and interesting views.

There are those who say the players who underperformed once too many - in this case Bebe and Obertan, should be gotten rid of as soon as possible. They say that if they can't perform against a lowly team like Crawley - 90 or so league places below United, then they have no chance of making any positive impact in the Premier League against teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and the rest. If they cannot even look like penetrating a Crawley defence, how are they going to fair against Champions League defences, who are trained to keep out the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

It has to be said, that Bebe and Obertan have not done themselves any favours with performances like that against Crawley in the F.A Cup. That was their time to shine - they won't get many chances in the League - so if they wanted to show the Old Trafford faithful what they are capable of, the F.A Cup was the perfect time. They failed to deliver.

On the other hand, there are those who jumped to the defence of the under fire pair. They say that they haven't been given enough time to shine or enough time to settle. Some hold the strong belief that Bebe and Obertan have the quality, but do not have the fitness in Bebe's case, or the confidence in Obertan's case, ad in time, with the guidance of the genius of Ferguson, they will come good.

Going on the performances I have seen from the pair, there isn't much basis for the above argument.

Obertan certainly holds the more natural talent from what I have seen - he has trickery, pace, and is building his strength. At the moment he is not good enough to challenge for a place on the wings - Nani and Valencia are currently in another league to him, but I think he will improve with support and confidence. Having said that, I can't see him ever nailing down a first team place, and I see him more of a lively substitute in the future.

Bebe on the other hand has shown very little to convince me that he is good enough - now or in the future - to challenge for even a substitute place. He has been so very poor, and the amount of abuse he has received - although harsh, is mostly true.

I think Sir Alex has learned his lessons. One, watch a player before you sign him, and two, don't take Carlos Quieroz's recommendations too seriously. Spending £7 million on Bebe was a mistake - his agent must still have his jaw firmly rooted to the floor in utter disbelief. Sir Alex will have to work miracles himself if he were to re-coop the fee paid for the Portuguese attacker.

I think it has probably been a case of too much too soon for both players. Obertan was hardly a regular at Bordeux before his £3 million move, and Bebe was playing on the streets of Portugal, and had no big League experience.

A few more seasons playing in the reserves with the occasional appearance in the Carling Cup and F.A Cup will do good for Bebe so he can gradually build his fitness, confidence, and lets hope his quality too.

Obertan can be trusted with more first team appearances, but needs the support of the fans, his team mates and his manager to build his confidence. Both need to settle in, but if they don't perform in the reserves, there is only one place they can possibly go - out the door.

West Ham 4 - 0 Man United - United Humiliated in Cup Quarters

West Ham cruised to a 4 - 0 win against a petty excuse of a Manchester United team. That is something you don't hear very often, but the Carling Cup quarter final showed that Sir Alex Ferguson had massively underestimated the London club.

It was a clash between the top and bottom teams in the Premier League, but by this performance, you wouldn't think that United were the team unbeaten this season and sitting proudly at the top. Their defense was an absolute shambles, their midfield created nothing, and the attack had nothing to work with. It was atrocious. West Ham completely outplayed United in the snow, as the visiting players seemed to take a break in their job as footballers, wondering aimlessly around the pitch, watching Avram Grants side control the game around them.

Jonathon Spector of all people - the former Manchester United defender scored two of the goals for the Hammers, both in the first half, and Carlton Cole scored the other two in the second half.

Victor Obinna of West Ham had a great game - a big threat to United throughout; being the source of most of the chances created. It was a player like this that Ferguson's side were missing. Johnny Evans had a bad game, and he knows it. He was turned too easily for Cole's goal, while the defence in general fell asleep for numerous West Ham attacks.

In truth, after the second goal went in, there wasn't really any way back for United. Sir Alex had no one on his bench who could come on and make an impact. No Rooney, no Berbatov, no Nani. the Scot had no options that he knew could change the game.

We all make mistakes, and Sir Alex made one today. Of course, no one could have expected that his team would perform so poorly, but he should have had one or two top players on the bench that he could rely on to create something if it came it. In the end, it did come to it, and Ferguson wasn't prepared.

West Ham have breezed passed the holders of the competition with ease, and humiliated the young United team in the process. Before the game United were unbeaten in all competitions this season. That record is shattered in pieces as the Red Devils travel to Blackpool on the weekend, but it is a huge confidence boost for the struggling Hammers who travel to Sunderland on Sunday on the back of a brilliant 4 - 0 win.

Chicharito is United's Saviour Again

Hernandez: Next Big thing?

It was a nervous performance from the Manchester United youngsters. After twice gaining the lead, they threw it away - true to the current form of the side, and put the United fans on the edge of their red seats - something that the United fans are beginning to get used to.

A frustrating first half saw very few chances for either side, and that was evident thanks to the bore of a goal-less half. Uniteds new, and controversial signing Bebe looked lively in the first half, but couldn't create anything on the right wing, despite seeing most of the ball. He showed good pace, and a fairly good ability to get around his man, but his crossing needs a big improvement after constantly failing to get the intended cross right.

The second half was a complete contrast to the first. It was goals galore as goals from Bebe, Elokobi, Park, Foley and Hernandez crossed the lines, but in the case of Bebe, not rippling the net.

Bebe began the goalscoring. After going past a couple of players on the right wing, he got into a position to cross the ball, and as he did, the ball took a few deflections before looping over Wayne Hennessy in the Wolves goal and just crossed the line as a Wolves defender headed it away. It was a good decision from the linesman who flagged for the goal, and it was this goal that changed the game.

Only about five minutes later, the Wolves left back Elokobi rose above the United keeper, Ben Amos to head the ball viciously from a corner, almost tearing the United net open. It was the big left backs first goal for Wolves, and the equalising goal against a United side that lacked any of their big name stars.

Ji Sung Park made the best of a bad job from Macheda, and scored with a great finish. Park fed in Macheda, but his poor first touch enabled the defender to deflect the ball away, but only to the feet of Park, and he curled it into the side of the net with a beautiful finish.

Only five minutes later however, Wolves were equal, as Kevin Foley scored after a nice flick from Steven Taylor-Fletcher. All Foley had to do was keep it low and on target - which he did. Was it going to be another one of those days for Manchester United?

Javier Hernandez answered that question. He came on for Bebe, and the United fans sporting Chicharito scarves and... big hats, went wild for the Mexican youngster. He immediately brought life to the United team, as he ran around, fighting for the ball, and when he got his chance, he was brilliant.

A cool through ball from Darron Gibson was met by Hernandez, and after a fake shot which saw him skip passed the committed defender, he showed immense composure to finish with his left foot. He seems like a breath of fresh air for Manchester United this season - a 22 year old with a healthy ego and an obvious love for football - and Manchester United - as he kissed the badge in front of the United fans after his goal.

Two goals against Stoke City at the week-end, and another match winner today - it brings Hernandez's total to six in the season. He has so much potential, and is not letting anyone down with his excellent performances. Is he the new Michael Owen? Or is he something new? Something better?

Carling Cup Round Up 22/09/2010

The Carling Cup's opening few rounds aren't usually the most exciting of games - tonight was an exception.

A 5-2 win for Manchester United against Scunthorpe saw United go a wonderful strike down early on, only for them to fire straight back against a very resilient and brave Scunthorpe side. A Gibson chip, 2 typical Michael Owen goals, a Park strike and Smalling finish was enough to see off the Championship side who had double the amount of attempts on target than United but were thwarted by a good game by Tomasz Kuszack. The game also saw Bebe grab his first game for Manchester United's first team as he came on as a second half substitution. I have been a sceptic since he signed, however he did look bright when he did have the ball. He isn't short of confidence with a long range shot being deflected and a few dribbles which unfortunately were intercepted. He showed good pace but apart from that didn't do much else.

Another seven goal thriller was at Stamford Bridge. Previously unbeaten this season, Chelsea were obvious favourites against the newly promoted side Newcastle. However, the Magpies went 1 - 3 up, with Kalou going off injured. Chelsea had used all of their substitutions so they were now reduced to ten-men, but this seemed to have the opposite effect to what you may think. Anelka upped his game and scored one, whilst equalising with a penalty. When it seemed to be heading to extra-time, Shola Ameobi scored the winner to send Chelsea packing from the League Cup. A great game.

Manchester City's millions didn't help them as they crashed out at the hands of West Brom. City striker Jo scored the opener, only for the Albion to bounce back with two goals in quick succession to defeat Mancini's flailing side.

Gerard Houllier made a good start to his career at Aston Villa as he watched his team beat Blackburn 3 - 1 at Villa Park. Givet put Blackburn ahead in the 34th minute, but Heskey and a double from Ashley Young secured Aston Villa's place in the next round.

Liverpool's dreadful season continued with a very poor performance against the lowly Northampton town. The reds created very few chances and were even taken to extra time. Normal time finished 1- 1, with Jovanovic scoring in the ninth minute for Liverpool. Ngog got the goal in extra time - just in time, but Liverpool were taken to penalties. Astonishingly they lost, with David N'Gog and Jovanovic missing their penalties and sending Liverpool out!

Carling Cup Third Round

Results

FT Wigan Athletic 2 – 1 Preston North End

Jordi Gomez 87, N'Zogbia 90 Treacy 23


FT Scunthorpe 2 – 5 Manchester United

Wright, J 19, Woolford 90 Gibson 23, Smalling 36, Owen 49, Park 54, Owen 71


FT Aston Villa 3 – 1 Blackburn Rovers

Heskey 59, Young, A 75, Young, A 77 Givet 34


FT Chelsea 3 – 4 Newcastle United

van Aanholt 6, Anelka 70, Anelka (pen) 87 Ranger 27, Taylor, R 32, Ameobi 49, Ameobi 90


FT Liverpool 2 – 2 Northampton

Jovanovic 9, N'Gog 116 McKay 56, Jacobs 98


FT West Brom 2 – 1 Manchester City

Zuiverloon 55, Cox 57 Jo 19