Never at Old Trafford

Manchester United F.C. 2-0 WBA

match text commentary



long gone are the days when a west bromwich albion side could travel to old trafford with every potential of a victory, and for a particularly competitive fixture that would regularly produce some of the best football played in the country at the time.

while the baggies have most certainly been one of the league's form teams over the last month, there isn't anyone on the planet who will find this final score-line as any kind of surprise.



wayne rooney scored from a javier hernandez cross in the 35th minute, and then again with 20 minutes left in the match on a penalty to give the scoreline its proper gloss. it was everything that you'd expect in 2012 AD.

the baggies, however, gave a good account of themselves overall and were quite obviously the better team in the early going.

keith andrews should have opened the scoring in the 5th minute when the baggies, pressing the ball deep in the manchester united half, created the opportunity for liam ridgewell to put in a cross that looked like it should have been a tap-in for the veteran mid-fielder, but was put just wide of david de gea's goal.

andrews came close again from a free-kick about 25 yards out, but his effort was this time put just wide of the inside post by a diving de gea who got down low to make the finger-tip save.

the turning point of the afternoon came early in the second-half, and with score still 1-0 to the home team, when peter odemwingie was denied what should have been a penalty. this might very well have given the baggies the impetus to go on and get some kind of result from their visit, but never materialized.





patrice evra clearly tripped the albion winger as he took the ball into the man. u. penalty area. along with anyone who saw it live and in replay on TV around the world, odemwingie had a pretty clear-cut case for being awarded a spot-kick and was instead left prostrate in the 18-yard box, wringing his head with his hands in disbelief at the lack of any decision and the signal from the ref to "play on". then again, unless it's an absolutely nailed-on red-card offence - and as the visiting team - you're never going to get a penalty decision like that going your way at old trafford. never. they don't call it the "theatre of dreams" for nothing.

typically, united took clinical advantage of the situation and immediately broke on the baggies, only to see javier hernandez' long range effort smack off the west brom goal-post.

in the final bit of play that ultimately lost the match for the baggies, keith andrews, having already forced ashley young deep to the bi-line, inexplicably bundled the united mid-fielder to the ground and conceded the penalty that would make the final score 2-0.





however, the ultimate dissapointment of the afternoon for west brom came in the 64th minute, when jonas olsson was dismissed for a second yellow card and will now sit out next week's game at wigan. the swedish defender was clearly upset with himself and was reported to have been somewhat moody with various members of the local press during the post game interviews.

this was otherwise a good performance by the baggies and the fact of the loss shouldn't affect their current form in the coming weeks.

WBA 1-2 Manchester United F.C.

match text commentary



this was the same scoreline as the last time these two met on albion's home turf, and so too was it a game of similar and familiar fortune. i had a sense that i'd seen the plot unfold a thousand times before. manchester united have always won matches that they don't necessarily deserve to - and i've been watching it all my life!

for the baggies there were plenty of positives and i don't think any west brom supporter can be too disappointed that they didn't manage to hang on for the draw or produce a late equalizer. although they wouldn't be unjustified in being so today.

the red devils started the match in high style and the baggies were under heavy pressure for the first 20 minutes while the champions showed their superior ability in terms of holding on to the ball, passing and scoring goals.

conceding after just 11 minutes, the albion needed to play their way back in to this one. without their talismanic striker, peter odemwingie - who is currently reported as being injured - the baggies had to rely on the ever entertaining somen tchoyi to lead the line; while the club's latest signing, striker, shane long, played in a slightly withdrawn position and it was quite clear that the gaffer was indeed employing a two striker system.





there is no doubt that this is an improved baggies side once again, and well in line with chairman, jeremy peace's, vision of incremental improvement year to year. ben foster is arguably the best goalie the baggies have had since russell hoult, and it appears that gabriel tamas has tightened up his game and earned the starting centre-half position, playing next to defensive linchpin, jonas olsson. while nicky shorey remains at left-back - and one of the most consistent players on the team - the albion are still in need of a right back and are most vulnerable to attacks down the opposition's left wing.

so it was in this match, as manchester united left winger, ashley young, was the key man in the red devils attack. it was the space that he kept finding down the baggies right that lead to both goals, and he had the beating of his cover all afternoon. in fact, it was a hopeful ball that the ex-villa man put across the face of the baggies' goal that took a couple of deflections - the final one off albion's right back, stephen reid - and went on the score sheet as an own goal, that won the match.

it isn't unjustified to say that the baggies were unlucky in this case.

the albion's success story on opening day was the debut of shane long. he did well enough, putting himself about and pressing up front. he also showed that he's not short on confidence, whacking a 25 yard shot several yards wide as his first offering to the baggies' attack. the 24-year old irish international also scored his first goal in west brom colours.

on a ball played outside to him by chris brunt, long cut inside his marker on the edge of the box and his low, rolling, accurate finish beat united goalie, david de gea, at the far post. it was well directed from a sharp angle, nevertheless de gea should have had it and a very basic mistake left the teams on equal terms at the break.





going in at the half with the score at 1-1, the albion had to be the happier of the two teams, and they came back to dominate the game for long periods in the second half.

however, this is manchester united, and no matter who you are, they will find a way to beat you. even if it's something fluky, it all comes from the extra edge of depth and talent they have in their squad.

still - and as an albion fan - we almost always play well against man united and we have for a long time. one of these days - and we're going to have the opportunity for the next few years, i think - we'll beat them 3-0 at old trafford. yeah, one of these days... anyway, it's not like i wasn't half expecting it.

roy hodgson was seen losing his cool late on the match. but i think it was probably more his team's shape and tactics (or lack thereof) causing him to blow his stack rather than any perceived injustice or misfortune that the baggies had suffered. chris brunt gave paul scharner a good rollicking on a couple of occasions, with captain and manager seemingly on the same wave-length.

it appears as though roy hodgson has come up with a formation whereby the team defends without a central midfielder. this allows for the back four and two defensive midfielders to cover behind two wingers. the strikers are free to press the play up front but can always find space to drop back and defend from the central midfield as the ball comes forward at them.





in attack, one of the wingers comes into a central position and one of the holding players go wide. simple. the only problem is in getting it right as to whose responsibility is what. it seemed as though brunt was designated to come into the central position in attack and scharner who was supposed to go wide on the right. all too often, though, neither scharner on the right, nor morrison on the left were switching position quickly enough. this left the baggies getting caught defending with a narrow box shape in the midfield that was giving far too much space to the united backs and wingers, most notably, ashley young. and that, of course, was the difference on the day.

in fact with a lot of the best football in the match contested in the middle of the park this was a good game on television, but a bit flat in the medium of audio commentary.

as for the fan reaction, most baggies supporters were happy with the performance, and uncharacteristically positive about their team's potential for the year. by the end of the BBC WM football phone-in show on sunday, it was pretty clear that no one - not even the big-time pundits - are too worried about the albion and nobody is really expecting them to struggle this year.

there is definitely a positive buzz in the baggies' camp and an opening day loss to the champions did nothing to dampen that spirit. however, you can bet that roy hodgson will be working out what to do in the case of any and all eventualities.

WBA 1-2 Manchester United F.C.

live text replay

of all the fixtures in all the world... one of the most presitigous clubs in all of football comes to visit on new year's day reminding us of a time when the albion were one of the best clubs in england. it was a time when it was all still possible and the large community-based football clubs could still win major trophies.

the baggies have always done pretty well against manchester united over the years. there is an early broadcast of MOTD from back in the mid 60s where the red devils visited the hawthorns. jeff astle scored a brace, with john kaye adding a third goal which are recognized by almost all baggies' supporters as iconic moments in west bromwich albion folklore. there were seven goals in that match and was won 4-3 by manchester united.

even better known still is the 5-3 match played at old trafford on boxing day 1978. it is debatably one of the best games of football ever played in england and certainly one of the best known and well regarded broadcasts of MOTD ever. it is some of the most extensive footage of how good the 1978-79 side really was.



earlier this year - and after having beaten arsenal at the emirates, the baggies went to old trafford and came back from being 2 goals down to snatch a point with a 2-2 draw. the albion historically find more success against manchester united than they do against stoke city (a well known and long standing bogey fixture to baggies supporters). so in fact - and with three straight defeats threatening to send the baggies into a relegation battle as well as erode the confidence that the team has played with all season, manchester united at home isn't too bad a fixture to have to deal with at the minute.

the baggies haven't played too many games better than this one, and after what seems to be the almost mandatory early capitulation and going behind 1-0 to a wayne rooney goal in the 2nd minute of the game, they regrouped immediately and thoroughly dominated the match. the statistics - including possession and attempts on goal - were more heavily in the favour of the baggies than they had been against blackburn, and was a better performance than the bolton game. but unlike at bolton and against blackburn, where the baggies would have done well to come away with a point, this is a game that they should have won but let get away in desperately unlucky fashion.

graham dorrans announced his return to form and was cruelly denied a penalty when he was brought down in the box by united defender, gary neville. even manchester united manager, alex ferguson, admitted that the baggies were unlucky and they should have been awarded a penalty in that situation, also noting that his own player was lucky not to have been sent off.

in fact, i believe that the issue of the card is the reason that the penalty was never going to be given. dorrans had taken a pass from chris brunt, gotten in behind the red devils' defender and had only the goalie left to beat. to foul a man with the ball in this position is an automatic red card. it was fairly clear to anybody on the park, as dorrans was bundled to the ground, that neville never got anywhere near the ball and it was a stonewall penalty. however, referee, chris foy, was not about to put himself in the position of having to send someone off in a big game with live, international TV coverage in a match featuring manchester united. if there was a shadow a doubt, he just wasn't going to do it.



i know from having watched the albion play in the CHAMPIONSHIP, that when you are a distinguished favourite at any particular level of football, you tend to get those little breaks and 50-50 decisions from the referees in order that the balance of the universe maintain its equilibrium.

towards the end of last season, just as albion were ready to clinch the second automatic promotion spot (and set a club record points total), they were awarded two critical and questionable penalties against blackpool and swansea respectively. these were 50-50 decisions that could have gone either way or had different outcome. the baggies were expected to succeed and the decisions were always going to go their way.

this is always going to happen in football. referees too understand that this is an entertainment-based business.

the baggies equalized early and quite deservedly through a tremendous individual effort by james morrison. like his fellow scottish international, graham dorrans, morrison has returned to his top playing form as evidenced by his contribution in the last two albion goals.

from a long and precisely delivered ball by chris brunt which nemanja vidic was unable to clear, morrison blasted the shot on the half volley past tomasz kuszczak for a goal of world-class quality. with not even 15 minutes gone, the baggies looked every bit the equal of their adversary and the equalizer was more than deserved.

with the game poised at 1-1 and the baggies looking the better of the two sides, there was every reason to be optimistic at the half, in spite of the blatant injustice of gary neville's challenge on graham dorrans going unpunished. the baggies certainly didn't look like a team who had just lost three matches in a row. they were playing with a confidence and bearing that completely belied any slip in form in regards to recent results in the league.



in the second half, albion came out with more of the same and continued to control the tempo and set the pace of the match. the baggies were so dominant that they carried a 62% of the possession, and outshot the red devils by a margin of 17 attempts (8 on target) to 5 (2 on target), and were only just edged on the number of corner-kicks by a margin of 1 (5 to 4).

but the baggies pressed and kept the play high, constantly looking for opportunity to attack the united goal. jerome thomas looked that he might have given west brom the full three-points when he was brought down in the box by veteran england international, rio ferdinand. this time there was no dispute or question.

while i was screaming for graham dorrans to take it, peter odemwingie continued as penalty taker. never looking quite confident enough, the nigerian international did well enough to send united keeper, kuszak, the wrong way for an easy sroke-in at the far post, but pushed the ball hopelessly wide. i have come to believe that only under special circumstance (i.e. wayne rooney, carlos tevez) should a striker also be a penalty taker. the psychology of a striker is just too fragile and taking penalties is a job best performed by a strong foot rather than a clever one.

this was a massive miss and might prove a real psychological set-back in the end.

of course, and this is manchester united and the baggies then went behind in the 75th minute. once again, the poor defending on corner-kicks was their undoing as united striker, javier hernandez, was allowed a free header from point-blank range leaving scott carson with no chance whatever.



there are, of course, several contributing factors - not the least of which is injured and suspended centre-halfs - to the baggies current problem in regards to defending set-pieces and especially corner-kicks, but i am starting to lose patience with scott carson. if what is quickly becoming a make-shift back-four for the baggies are lost on set-pieces, then carson is simply going to have to come for the ball and challenge to make the clearances or take the ball himself. it's as simple as that. this goal came through a ball that the keeper definitely could have come for and won easily. seeing a man unmarked and directly in front of you, you should playing to take that ball instead of waiting to make the save. period.

carson is good at what he does. he is a goalie who guards the line and specializes in making athletic saves with a lightning quick reaction time as a shot-stopper. he doesn't come off his line and his positional game is non-existent. he is very much in the mould of another albion goalie, tony godden. but godden had ally robertson and john wile covering the penalty area for him, and the style of goalie and centre-halfs complemented each other to produce a successful method of defending.

without olsson and tamas in the team, carson is all the more inappropriate a choice and his confidence is going to be shot soon, so perhaps it's time that di matteo gave boaz myhill a run in the first team.

it was an otherwise brilliant performance, however, and the albion are to be admired as a side who have continued to play enterprising and confident football despite a string of what is now four straight defeats. this now leaves the baggies needing an away win at fulham to stop the rot of what has been a shockingly dissapointing run without a lucky break in sight.