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New manager Ian Brady did not have the chance to take the team for a training session before his first match in charge. His first full day as the Manchester United manager involved taking the team down to London to face old rivals Arsenal in a League Cup Quarter-Final. The team arrived early at Highbury so that they could have a run and then take in Ian’s first session on tactics. Brady had devised his own 2-3-3-2 system which he was quite proud of and it involved the team directing the play down the wings via the wide midfielders to the two forwards who pulled out wide depending on which side of the pitch the play came down. With the opposition’s central defenders pulled out of position and their full-backs watching the wide midfielders of United it was then the job of the attacking midfielders to flood into the penalty area and provide the goalscoring for the team.
The new tactic meant that Scholes got a recall to play in the attacking midfield role alongside the fit-again Smith. Richardson became the third of the attacking midfielders whilst Ronaldo and Solskjaer were the designated wide forwards. Howard retained his place in goal and Neville and Brown were at centre-half whilst Halford and Evra were the two wing-backs. Wise would have taken the holding midfielder’s role, but he was still tired from Monday’s game so O’Shea started for this Wednesday evening match. Akinbiyi was the big loser as Fred West’s star signing failed to even make the substitute’s bench.
subs: Saha, Fletcher, Fortune, Heinze, van der Sar.
If Brady had expected Manchester United to take their time to come to terms with his new tactic, then the opening twelve minutes would have been quite a shock. The first shot of the game had come from Arsenal’s Lauren after 5 minutes, but he dragged it well wide of Howard’s goal. After 10 minutes Richardson’s cross was nodded down by Scholes for Solskjaer, but Clichy got his foot in to knock it away. However the loose ball was rolled invitingly for Evra and he drove home a rising shot from twenty yards to make it 1-0 to United. Just two minutes later and Smith surged forward to dink a cross in for Scholes whose flicked header forced Lehmann into a parried save. Solskjaer then raced in to bury the rebound and it was 2-0 after 12 minutes. If Arsenal were stunned, then they didn’t show it as they themselves scored just two minutes later. Gilberto ran through the centre to pick up Ljungberg’s pass and drive a low shot past Howard to make it 2-1 in the 14th minute. Lehmann did well to deny Richardson a goal from his fine shot after 28 minutes whilst Howard chipped in with a similarly excellent save from Hleb’s shot after 32 minutes. However in the 40th minute it was all-square as the veteran Dutch master Bergkamp displayed a cool touch to collect Henry’s pass and clip his shot over the advancing Howard to make it 2-2. An even start to the second half then proceeded to go Arsenal’s way as Henry twice went close to scoring. Finally the Gunner’s pressure told after 63 minutes as Ljungberg and Pires created room for Henry. Neville forced him wide, but the Frenchman managed to slip a pass inside to Gilberto and the Brazilian hit a first-time shot inside the near post to make it 3-2. Arsenal now held sway and there were not troubled despite half-chances to Smith and Solskjaer. After 74 minutes Gilberto was involved yet again, bursting from the midfield and creating space for the strikers. Henry received the pass, but unselfishly squared it for Pires to sidefoot home from close range with Howard taken out of the picture and the Gunners now led 4-2. United’s efforts fell away as they found themselves two goals down and only a brilliant Howard save from Clichy’s 89th minute volley stopped the winning margin from blowing out to three goals. In the end the 4-2 loss ensured that Ian Brady got his managerial career off to the start that Sean Manc wanted.
Arsenal 4-2 Manchester United Gilberto 14, 63, Bergkamp 40, Pires 74 – Evra 10, Solskjaer 12
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">5-3-2 (Defensive) - Fred West FC FC MC MCDML DM DMR DC DC DC GKMentality: DefensivePassing: LongTackling: EasyPressing: NoOffside Trap: YesCounter Attack: NoMen Behind Ball: Yes2-4-4 (Attacking) - Fred WestFL FC FC FR^ ^| |ML MC MC MR DC DC GKMentality: AttackingPassing: LongTackling: EasyPressing: NoOffside Trap: YesCounter Attack: NoMen Behind Ball: No2-3-3-2 (Attacking) - Ian BradyFL FR ^ ^ | | AMC AMC ^ | MC^ ^| |DML DM DMR DC DC GKMentality: AttackingPassing: DirectTackling: EasyPressing: NoOffside Trap: YesCounter Attack: NoMen Behind Ball: No</pre>
Ian Brady made only one change to the line-up that lost 4-2 at Arsenal in the League Cup in his debut match when he named his selection for his Premier League debut. Wise was back after a rest to resume the captain’s armband and Halford made way as O’Shea moved from the middle to the right wing-back position.
subs: Saha, Fletcher, Fortune, Heinze, van der Sar.
Wigan manager Paul Jewell knew little of Ian Brady’s 2-3-3-2 system and obviously decided to stick to his side’s normal 5-3-2 formation for this match. Unfortunately that played right into Manchester United’s hands as Solskjaer and Ronaldo got in behind the wing-backs and drew the central defenders out of position. The first warning came after 3 minutes when Smith headed just wide from Solskjaer’s right wing cross. After 12 minutes it was Ronaldo on the other flank who made some space and sent over a cross. Smith met it again, but this time his powerful header flew past Filan in the Wigan net to put United 1-0 in front. Neville was called on to head Johansson’s header off the line after 22 minutes, but the United defender’s next contribution was further forward. In the 26th minute his quickly taken free-kick was expertly placed for Scholes to rise unmarked and head the team into a 2-0 lead. Having taken a two-goal lead through their midfielders roaming forward, United then conceded a goal of the same making to Wigan. It was Roberts who held the ball up in the 39th minute before flicking a pass to Bullard who then drew Howard out from his goal before sliding the ball under the keeper to make it 2-1. Wigan were possibly in the middle of considering themselves lucky to only be going in one goal down when their lack of concentration at a corner allowed Neville to leap high and head home for a 3-1 half-time scoreline. Any hope Wigan had of getting back into the game was dashed in the 50th minute when Evra and Solskjaer combined to open up their defence and allow Ronaldo the easy task of pushing the ball into an empty net to make it 4-1. Thompson hit a post for Wigan after 63 minutes as they looked to reduce the margin, but Ronaldo was similarly unlucky in not increasing United’s lead as he rattled the woodwork after 75 minutes. In the end it was a comfortable win for the team under new manager Brady as the 12-4 shot ratio indicated that United had dominated in front of goal.
Wigan 1-4 Manchester United Bullard 39 – Smith 12, Scholes 26, Neville 44, Ronaldo 50
League Placing: 18th
The Manchester United fans were cautiously optimistic about the club’s future for the remainder of the season after the 4-1 win at Wigan. It was the team’s first Premier League win since the opening round against Middlesbrough just on four months ago. Maybe, just maybe, this new manager had a better understanding of what was needed at Old Trafford, unlike that fool Fred West. Certainly there weren’t too many tears being shed in Manchester for their murdered manager. As for Ian Brady he felt that he had the makings of a tactic that seemed to ensure quality attacking play whilst in fact leaving the team vulnerable to raids by their opponents. A naïve team like Wigan were always going to be sucker for the 2-3-3-2 system if they approached Manchester United in the wrong fashion and that was what had happened earlier today.
Middlesbrough were the only team – other than the just-defeated Wigan – who had lost to Manchester United in the Premier League this season and new manager Ian Brady didn’t want to see his side do the double over the team from Teeside. He stuck with the same formation and the same eleven players and he hoped that Steve McClaren and his team would appreciate the early Christmas gift that he was presenting to them.
subs: Saha, Fletcher, Fortune, Heinze, van der Sar.
It was a wet and breezy day at the Riverside Stadium and the conditions probably suited United’s direct tactics rather than Boro’s short passing style. However the home team stuck to their game plan and controlled the opening ten minutes to create their first clear chance at that time when Rochemback set up Viduka before the Australian dragged his shot horribly wide. Parlour cleared Smith’s 16th minute header off the line as United set up their first clear-cut chance before Hasselbaink saw his 19th minute free-kick deflect of the United wall and spin inches wide of the net with Howard wrong-footed and stranded. When Middlesbrough pushed forward on the counterattack after 23 minutes it was Wise’s lack of pace that let his opponent Boateng get free on the Boro right. The Dutchman’s cross was perfectly flighted for Viduka and his powerful header from eight yards gave the home side a 1-0 lead. On the half hour a shin injury forced Brady to replace Smith with Fletcher and before the team had a chance to settle to the new player Boro had made it 2-0. Queudrue made a run down the left in the 33rd minute and he crossed for Viduka who nodded the ball goalwards. Howard made a decent save, but his parry only succeeded in setting up Viduka again and this time the ball was despatched into the net for the second goal. The confidence of a two-goal lead was shown in the effort of Parlour after 42 minutes as the former Arsenal man dribbled past Wise and O’Shea before lashing a twenty-yard effort past Howard to make it 3-0. The second half began with the Middlesbrough side determined to hold onto their lead as they forsook attack for defence. Southgate and Riggott controlled the centre of the defence and Boateng and Rochemback patrolled in front of the centre-halves to cover any surges from Scholes, Fletcher or Richardson. When United did pull a goal back after 71 minutes it came from a surprising source as Brown displayed a previously unknown aptitude for taking free-kicks by crashing home an effort from twenty-five yard via a gap in the Boro defensive wall to make it 3-1. Boro’s stand-in keeper Bullock then made his first serious save from Scholes after 75 minutes and followed that up with a great block at the feet of Ronaldo after 80 minutes as United looked to come back. Despite some late pressure, no further goals could be obtained and Middlesbrough recorded a 3-1 win over Manchester United.
Middlesbrough 3-1 Manchester United Viduka 23, 33, Parlour 42 – Brown 71
Arsenal were Manchester United’s opponents for the second time in four matches under new manager Ian Brady and the Gunners had won the opening clash 4-2 at Highbury in the League Cup quarter-finals. Smith’s shin injury would keep him out of the team for a couple of matches and Brady was left with a predicament. If he wanted to stick to his plan of picking the players that fitted the positions that he had in his 2-3-3-2 formation, then the obvious choice to come into the side was Rooney. Brady knew that Sean Manc had a particular desire to see Rooney’s career in ruins, but he was confident of keeping the team in the bottom three where they currently were, so Rooney’s selection shouldn’t cause too many problems. As a result Brady rather bravely selected Rooney to start his first game of the campaign seventeen matches into the league season and two days after Christmas.
subs: Saha, Fletcher, Fortune, Heinze, van der Sar.
Fabregas and Hleb both tested Howard in the opening five minutes before United put together their first decent attack. Wise’s pass in the 8th minute found Evra and his flicked header released Ronaldo. The Portuguese forward then rolled the ball across the edge of the penalty area and Richardson ran in to lash it low past Lehmann to put Manchester United 1-0 up. Arsenal were taken aback and Scholes forced a great save out of Lehmann just two minutes later with his well-placed header. After 14 minutes Solskjaer picked up a blocked clearance and swung a harmless-looking cross into the box. Cygan somehow missed his clearance and Ronaldo said thank-you for the gift by tapping-in at the far post for a 2-0 lead to United. Memories came flooding back of United’s early two-goal lead at Highbury just a couple of weeks ago and in that game Arsenal had scored four unanswered goals to win 4-2. Arsenal started to answer the challenge as Henry shot into the side netting after 23 minutes and Bergkamp headed against the post in the 37th minute. Wise was extremely lucky not to give away a penalty four minutes before half-time when he appeared to trip Hleb in the box, but referee Jeff Winter waved away the home team’s appeals. At half-time manager Brady was panicked by the 2-0 score-line, so he asked his team to sit back and hold onto the lead that they had established in the hope that Arsenal would somehow score and begin a comeback. Howard denied Henry and Ljungberg as the second half got under way, but the home side didn’t appear to be making inroads into United’s control. Brady decided to try and help them out by making a couple of strategic substitutions. Rooney had played very well in his first match of the season, but his lack of match fitness was showing. Brady sent on Fletcher in his place after 56 minutes and also replaced Brown with Heinze at the same time. Arsenal did up the pace and Ljungberg and Fabregas were both denied by acrobatic saves by Howard. Solskjaer did get the ball in the Gunners net after 68 minutes, but he was clearly offside as he did. It served to wake up Arsenal and they pulled the score back to 2-1 when Henry’s run ripped the United defence apart and allowed Hleb the time and space to place the ball past Howard in the 72nd minute. The Arsenal substitutes Reyes and van Persie then went close to tying the game up as they shots whistled inches wide of the United goal before Ljungberg came even closer by thumping a fifteen-yard volley against the crossbar in the 86th minute. Despite all the near misses it was United who were still leading 2-1 when the referee’s whistle ended the match. The Red Devils had picked up three very valuable points as far as their fans were concerned, but for Ian Brady it was case of his team selections backfiring and his brief managerial career being put on the line already.
Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United Hleb 72 – Richardson 8, Ronaldo 14
League Placing: 18th
Ian Brady was expecting the call when it came in and he took a deep breath before answering the phone. Of course it was Sean Manc who was calling and he was none too pleased when he had heard that Manchester United had won 2-1 at Arsenal in a match where he had expected the team to easily be beaten. “Ian, don’t underestimate how strong my desire is to see this team humiliated and crushed”, said Sean. “A stirring win at the ground of one of our biggest rivals isn’t what I had in mind for a late Christmas present. And what was going through your mind when you selected Rooney? I don’t want to see lard-boy in the team again – do I make myself understood?” Brady stammered out an affirmative answer and Sean then terminated the call without any farewell. Brady sat back in his chair and reflected on his first ticking-off by Sean Manc. In that call he had hardly witnessed the fierce temper that Sean was infamous for, but he knew better than to upset his ‘employer’. Rooney would have to go back to the reserves for the time being. It was such a pity too – he was such a sweet young man and he got Brady’s blood flowing when he paraded his ‘talents’ to their best effect.
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