3 early goals from Antonio Valencia, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney gave Manchester United 3 valuable points.
While Adnan Januzaj and Patrice Evra formed a brilliant attacking partnership down the left flank, Rafael Da Silva and Antonio Valencia did the same on the right. Neat passes through a midfield partnership of Phil Jones and Tom Cleverley sent the ball from right to left, left to right. The Champions looked like Champions once again. Clinical and beautiful were the first words that came to my head. David Moyes' boys were playing like Fergie's boys.
Wayne Rooney was at the heart of play as United went one up. Running onto a ball in the box he held it up, waiting for Antonio Valencia before playing the ball past Robin van Persie and directly onto Valencia's boot. An easy finish following some lovely fast paced play.
Januzaj showed once again his worth as he went in strongly to regain the ball before slotting van Persie through on goal, fooling the entirety of Fulham's defence. As always, the Dutchman clinically finished it, making history as he became the highest scoring Dutchman ever in the Premier League. Not just clinically though, powerfully. Martin Steklenberg had no chance as he rocketed it into the top of the net to double United's lead.
United didn't relax for one moment. Just two minutes after the celebrations died down, Rooney kick started them again. The whole team making football look simple. Pass, pass, goal. Van Persie ran onto Jones' ball before Rooney smashed in the Dutchman's cross. Simple football, stylish football.
David Moyes was forced into making a triple substitution as the second half began. Tom Cleverley came off with double vision, Rafael with a knock to his ankle and Jonny Evans with a stiff back. Meanwhile, Patrice Evra played on despite an ankle injury. It showed, with the Scotsman having only 15 minutes to explain his new tactics with Fellaini, Smalling and Kagawa coming on. Fulham took their chance by the scruff of the neck and attacked early on. United looked lackluster, not quite sure whether they were pushing on for another or holding back and keeping it at 3-0.
After attempt after attempt, Fulham got their goal, Rooney deflecting Alexander Kacaniklic's shot in. Just a few minutes later it looked like we'd have another exciting finish to a United game, with Darren Bent hitting the bar.
A fairly entertaining game ended on a low. Sascha Riether deliberately stamped on Adnan Januzaj before Januzaj replied, kicking out. The ref made a poor decision, giving Fulham the free-kick. By the rule-book both players should have been sent off. Instead, the troublemaker was given the free-kick and no one got a punishment of any sort.
It was a poor performance from Martin Jol's men. Even as United began to lack pace and enthusiasm the Champions still looked the better side and with Martin Jol asking his side to turn Craven Cottage into a fortress only weeks earlier, the Dutch manager will be worrying about the certainty of his job.
Positive's for United
United's flowing play in the first half that led to three goals and plenty of chances wasn't down to luck, it was a superb piece of managing from Moyes and here's what he did:
Pressing high - Some wondered at the start of the game whether Rooney and van Persie would get enough service but with United playing a high pressing tactic, netting three times in 20 minutes was simple.
Due to Fulham not creating chances, Jones and Cleverley both had nothing to defend and took advantage of it. With the two Englishman hounding the player on the ball before playing it out onto the wings to Januzaj, Evra, Valencia or Rafael. Or they had the option of playing the through ball to the front men.
It wasn't just the midfield 2 who were pressing high though. Both van Persie and Rooney chased after the ball when passed back to the keeper, Fulham had no time on the ball and it showed.
Quick Passing - With no time on the ball, Fulham panicked and gave the ball away. When it happened though, unlike usual, it seemed every United player knew where their team mates were. One look up and pass, and move. It was beautiful to watch and worked as well as anything could've done. It was the cause of every single goal and although it was only so effective because of the weak opposition, Moyes has got to keep attempting it.
Self-assurance - This isn't a tactic as much but a quality of David Moyes. Self-assured, not cocky, arrogant, nothing of the sort. Another word for what I'm trying to say is confident.
When Rafael went down and the stretchers came on, everyone was sure he would go off straight away, he ran it off though. Tom Cleverley kept running over to the bench, telling the physio's about his eyes. Nothing seemed to be wrong with Jonny Evans but by the middle of half time it was common knowledge he had an injury. What was then impressive was the decision to take them all off. It seemed they would all be seeing the game out but no, he didn't think he had to keep them on because they were big names. He took them all off because he thought they would be a liability. A sign of confidence and faith in himself. A huge positive.
Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts on the game at either @FootyForAll or @HRFootball.
Written by Harry Robinson - @HRFootball
While Adnan Januzaj and Patrice Evra formed a brilliant attacking partnership down the left flank, Rafael Da Silva and Antonio Valencia did the same on the right. Neat passes through a midfield partnership of Phil Jones and Tom Cleverley sent the ball from right to left, left to right. The Champions looked like Champions once again. Clinical and beautiful were the first words that came to my head. David Moyes' boys were playing like Fergie's boys.
Wayne Rooney was at the heart of play as United went one up. Running onto a ball in the box he held it up, waiting for Antonio Valencia before playing the ball past Robin van Persie and directly onto Valencia's boot. An easy finish following some lovely fast paced play.
Januzaj showed once again his worth as he went in strongly to regain the ball before slotting van Persie through on goal, fooling the entirety of Fulham's defence. As always, the Dutchman clinically finished it, making history as he became the highest scoring Dutchman ever in the Premier League. Not just clinically though, powerfully. Martin Steklenberg had no chance as he rocketed it into the top of the net to double United's lead.
United didn't relax for one moment. Just two minutes after the celebrations died down, Rooney kick started them again. The whole team making football look simple. Pass, pass, goal. Van Persie ran onto Jones' ball before Rooney smashed in the Dutchman's cross. Simple football, stylish football.
David Moyes was forced into making a triple substitution as the second half began. Tom Cleverley came off with double vision, Rafael with a knock to his ankle and Jonny Evans with a stiff back. Meanwhile, Patrice Evra played on despite an ankle injury. It showed, with the Scotsman having only 15 minutes to explain his new tactics with Fellaini, Smalling and Kagawa coming on. Fulham took their chance by the scruff of the neck and attacked early on. United looked lackluster, not quite sure whether they were pushing on for another or holding back and keeping it at 3-0.
After attempt after attempt, Fulham got their goal, Rooney deflecting Alexander Kacaniklic's shot in. Just a few minutes later it looked like we'd have another exciting finish to a United game, with Darren Bent hitting the bar.
A fairly entertaining game ended on a low. Sascha Riether deliberately stamped on Adnan Januzaj before Januzaj replied, kicking out. The ref made a poor decision, giving Fulham the free-kick. By the rule-book both players should have been sent off. Instead, the troublemaker was given the free-kick and no one got a punishment of any sort.
It was a poor performance from Martin Jol's men. Even as United began to lack pace and enthusiasm the Champions still looked the better side and with Martin Jol asking his side to turn Craven Cottage into a fortress only weeks earlier, the Dutch manager will be worrying about the certainty of his job.
Positive's for United
United's flowing play in the first half that led to three goals and plenty of chances wasn't down to luck, it was a superb piece of managing from Moyes and here's what he did:
Pressing high - Some wondered at the start of the game whether Rooney and van Persie would get enough service but with United playing a high pressing tactic, netting three times in 20 minutes was simple.
Due to Fulham not creating chances, Jones and Cleverley both had nothing to defend and took advantage of it. With the two Englishman hounding the player on the ball before playing it out onto the wings to Januzaj, Evra, Valencia or Rafael. Or they had the option of playing the through ball to the front men.
It wasn't just the midfield 2 who were pressing high though. Both van Persie and Rooney chased after the ball when passed back to the keeper, Fulham had no time on the ball and it showed.
Quick Passing - With no time on the ball, Fulham panicked and gave the ball away. When it happened though, unlike usual, it seemed every United player knew where their team mates were. One look up and pass, and move. It was beautiful to watch and worked as well as anything could've done. It was the cause of every single goal and although it was only so effective because of the weak opposition, Moyes has got to keep attempting it.
Self-assurance - This isn't a tactic as much but a quality of David Moyes. Self-assured, not cocky, arrogant, nothing of the sort. Another word for what I'm trying to say is confident.
When Rafael went down and the stretchers came on, everyone was sure he would go off straight away, he ran it off though. Tom Cleverley kept running over to the bench, telling the physio's about his eyes. Nothing seemed to be wrong with Jonny Evans but by the middle of half time it was common knowledge he had an injury. What was then impressive was the decision to take them all off. It seemed they would all be seeing the game out but no, he didn't think he had to keep them on because they were big names. He took them all off because he thought they would be a liability. A sign of confidence and faith in himself. A huge positive.
Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts on the game at either @FootyForAll or @HRFootball.
Written by Harry Robinson - @HRFootball