This United team need a star. Every team needs a star. United have had it in Cantona, Giggs, Cristiano. Players who can seize the moment and take the initiative. Instead of just waiting for things to happen...they MAKE things happen. He may be young and look like a tattooed bodybuilding machine....but this kid has the skill and mentality to be that next superstar that United have been craving for so long.
There are still problems with this United crew. Defense is okay but not great, the midfield is not powerful enough and Rooney decides that he doesn't really like playing striker. So what you were left with was a Club Brugge team that said "screw it" and decided to go knee-deep into United, and cause them problems. They didn't just come to put a cigar in their mouth and wait to be bent over. They attacked United, and as Swansea found last season, you can do that in Old Trafford these days and get your reward. They got theirs when Carrick for some reason, lost his feet and put the ball in his own net. The match opened up, and now United found themselves in a game.
What made it exciting to watch is trying to figure out how a team who have not yet played well, would get back in the match. I knew that the goal was not going to come through Rooney who refused to actual stay in the damn penalty area to receive the damn ball. So someone was needed to do something because the tactical setup that Van Gaal was for a passing game to open up an opportunity for a striker....IN the damn box. That is where my guy Memphis took centre stage.It was a very straightforward ball to Memphis who had to show great control and loop the ball over a defender. Now, what separates this boy from other players is that he did not panic. He wasn't trying to emulate Arsenal by looking for the pass whilst in the penalty area. The ball was held, the defenders tried to time their tackles but his control was close and once he saw that opening, he unleashed and lodged it in the bottom corner. With that, United finally saw why Van Gaal bought this guy from PSV. And that was just the first part because SUPERSTARS get the job done and don't just settle for half a day's work.
Getting the ball in a similar area, he set himself up, got it on his right foot, and put in a curler that the keeper could not get. THAT is what a superstar does. Because passing and tactics can only get you so far. Strategy can't win you games all the time. When they don't work or a team has nullified them, that is where dribbling and greed comes into play. That is where a guy like Memphis comes to party who knows what time it is, and is more than happy to deliver the goods to the house quicker than FED-EX. But...the kid was STILL not done, because in his mind he knew that United needed at least a two goal pillow to go into Belgium next week so that they would be in a far more comfortable position.
Being the man is not only about scoring the G's, but supplying them. It's what a guy like Pirlo does and what Sneijder did back in his hey-day. Memphis again got the ball out wide, picked out Fellaini in the box and put in a great cross for the Belgian afro to put away. The job was done. Two G's and an A. That is man-of-the-match performance and this is only a prelude of what more could potentially come from the most exciting young player in the Premiership. But he is not perfect yet, and Van Gaal has some work in smoothing out the rough edges of his game, just like what Feguson did with Cristina to make him such a lethal goalscoring machine.
It's a good start. To have a game like this just soothes you into the flow. He could easily play like crap for the rest of the season or have a bad injury. Look at Di Maria who started well and then faded away. I hope it doesn't happen with Memphis because I really like his football and I love his bravery and courage to really take matters into his own hands like Robben. If United can surround him by some other quality players who he can learn from, then there is every possibility that he can join the ranks of Cantona, Cristina and Giggs as a United legend.
But a loooooooong way yet to go....
HH
