Route 1 Strategy?
Comments (6)
Just looking for some feedback on why Donovan wound up in the box for 75% of the Birmingham Match.
It seems as if Moyes wanted Donovan in the box with Saha and Cahill since he spent 60 of his 75 minutes in the box. Was he just boxed off the edges by Ridgewell? Was it that Neville refused to acknowledge him? Was it intentional?
I simply can't fathom why the team went without a right winger for the majority of the game... in fact, at one point it seemed as if Saha had briefly switched out wide and Donovan covered for him inside, as if it were a deliberate part of the match plan trying to exploit some unkown weakness in Birmingham's back 4.
With all the long balls and what must've been 15 attempts to get a pass into the box with Saha, Cahill & Donovan relatively close to each other, and the utter lack of effort to get anything going down the right side, I just can't imagine that Donovan would have spent that much time on the interior without Moyes wanting him there. I mean if it weren't what Moyes had wanted, Donovan would have been pulled at the half.
Any insight on this from people who were at the Match?
Pete Case,
Blackheath Posted 26/01/2010 at 01:19:28
Return to the Mail Bag
Comments
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer
I was sat in the family enclosure just by the dugout on Sat (took my 7-year-old cousin to his first game). Moyes spent the whole second half (when Donovan was on our side) shouting "Landon Get Wider, get wider!" Donovan kept saying ok then dropping central again.
Moysie clearly wanted the ball on the right more, he was shouting at Neville to get wider and use Donovan but the ball rarely came over quick enough. Donovan also rarely showed for it when Neville had it (as Pienaar excels at) and tried to run the line or go central making it hard for Pip to get the ball to him.
Then Moysie clearly got fed up with this and hauled him off for our magical Spaniard. He can give all the instructions he wants but if the players don't follow them, what can he do?
On a side note, it was interesting sitting near the dugout and hearing all that goes on (By the way Alex McLeish, it's the FAMILY enclosure, less effing in front of the kids!)
Moyes should have hauled Donovan off much earlier if he wasn’t following instructions. Mourinho used to make substitutions before half time if it clearly wasn’t working. To me it just looked like Donovan was hiding by tucking in to make sure he was marked and therefore couldn’t receive the ball.
Donovan did well against the so called flair teams such as City and Arsenal but struggled against the more traditional dogged teams such as Birmingham who defend in greater numbers and get everyone behind the ball. Will see how he gets on against Sunderland before I comment further about it as they will be defending for their lives I would think also and Donovan might come in for some rough treatment.
Pete - I sit in the Paddock between the half-way line and the Street end. Like everyone around me, I sat bemused at the way Donavan was playing. Against City, he ran the wing well; against Birmingham he disappeared into the centre, you could hear Neville shouting for him to move out wide but was getting no support. I will also reserve judgement on him until he has played a few more games.
I was sat in the Main Stand, took my wife who is from Birmingham and therefore follows them. I had told her about Landon, how good he was, but he didn’t shine. I know it is a team game but It was my wife that went home the happier.
I felt the defence was below par and in the first half we just didn’t want to play.
I thought Donovan was deployed as center-forward for that game. He almost pushed Saha wide and into midfield.
Look, I don’t have anything against Yanks but sometimes they think too much of themselves as individuals. Last job I worked at a US bank and it’s all this ’be a leader’ in your shitty job shit, where obviously a team effort was required. He needs to take one for the team. No limelight shit, just roll up your sleeve and get stuck in, lad (or is it 'guy'?).
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment to the MailBag, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Log in now
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.
© ToffeeWeb
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
1 Posted 26/01/2010 at 14:45:41
Report abuse
Moysie clearly wanted the ball on the right more, he was shouting at Neville to get wider and use Donovan but the ball rarely came over quick enough. Donovan also rarely showed for it when Neville had it (as Pienaar excels at) and tried to run the line or go central making it hard for Pip to get the ball to him.
Then Moysie clearly got fed up with this and hauled him off for our magical Spaniard. He can give all the instructions he wants but if the players don't follow them, what can he do?
On a side note, it was interesting sitting near the dugout and hearing all that goes on (By the way Alex McLeish, it's the FAMILY enclosure, less effing in front of the kids!)