RATINGS: How Manchester United Rated Against Palace
Posted on December 1st, 2011 | by The United Religion in Carling Cup
For the second consecutive season in the Quarterfinals of the Carling Cup, Manchester United were well beaten by an inferior opponent, this time a 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace, but, that said, who was the Man of the Match for the Reds?
Ben Amos – 5
 |
| It was a very hands-on-hips performance |
Nothing he could do about Darron Ambrose’s thunderbolt, but Amos may have done better on the second if he thought quicker to come and punch the ball clear.
Rafael – 6
His first game since audaciously grabbed the captain’s armband back in the FA Community Shield, but Rafael lasted just over an hour – and hopefully it’s nothing serious.
Chris Smalling – 6 (Man of the Match)
He needed to be on his horse in the early going, and Smalling was greatly tested by Wilfred Zaha throughout the match.
Jonny Evans – 5
If United fans have anything to do with it this will be the first and last time that he skippers the club, and Evans’ performance was anything but captain like.
Fabio – 4
His performance was far from the one he put in against Newcastle United and, unsurprisingly, Fabio added injury to insult as he only last 36 minutes on the pitch.
Antonio Valencia – 4
For someone of his pedigree, this should have been a game that Valencia took control of, but he was one of the big culprits, especially with his second half miss and poor distribution.
Darron Gibson – 6
A lot of fuss was made that he was going to play over some of the youngsters, but Gibson didn’t show any rust, seeing as though this was his first appearance of the season.
Ji-Sung Park – 4
As a former national team captain, you’d have thought Park would have been more of a leader and which Ferguson was relying heavily on.
Mame Biram Diouf – 4
Given a rare start up front, but Diouf was unable to make an impact and was forced to go out to the wing – and his performance was highlighted by a foul throw.
Dimitar Berbatov – 5
With Palace pressing him and his teammates up the field, Berbatov was forced to drop deeper than Ferguson would’ve like – and was unable to continue after the break, following an ankle injury.
Federico Macheda – 4
He did something for United that hasn’t happened in a while – win a penalty – but that was the only real contribution that Kiko made in the loss.
Substitutions
Ezekiel Fryers – 5
Many thought that he would get the start, but Fryers did nothing to prove those people right as he showed is age rather than his potential.
Ravel Morrison – 6
Came on at halftime, and Morrison did inject some inventiveness in what was a completely lifeless first half.
Paul Pogba – 6
Nearly equalled Ambrose’s piledriving effort with one of his own, but Pogba didn’t do anything wrong, which is something very few Reds could say.
Overall – 3
When you lose to a Championship side, especially at home, nothing really good can be said of the performance, and each and every player, nobody in particular, should be to blame for Manchester United’s display and exit from this very winnable competition.
Ratings: 1. Horrendous; 2. An awful day; 3. A depressing time; 4. A forgettable performance; 5. Could have done better; 6. An average performance; 7. A good performance; 8. A dynamic display; 9. An excellent all-around game; 10. A performance for the ages
