This was a return to the bad old days under David Moyes. Plodding, impotent and characterless: these type of pejoratives were supposedly banished in Ryan Giggs brave new Manchester United world. Instead, the old quality-deficit again glared. Only when Danny Welbeck was introduced in the closing part of the contest did the champions regain some kind of potency via his willingness to take the fight to Sunderland. The first goal conceded by United in the Giggs era came from the boot of Sebastian Larsson. Connor Wickham continued to make a case for being the divisions in-form footballer with a slick pirouette and cross from the right that went precisely at the Swede. Allowed too much room by the home defence – and Michael Carrick, in particular –Sunderlands No7 planted the volley expertly beyond David De Gea. Darren Fletcher was also culpable for the manner in which he allowed Wickham, who entered the match with five goals in his previous three outings, space to manoeuvre. It all had Gus Poyet, the Sunderland manager, clenching his fist in jubilation and Giggs walking back to his seat in frustration. There would be further food for the Welshmans half-time thoughts. Instead of a United fightback the visitors dominated the remainder of the stanza. Adam Johnson was the next recipient of the champions kindness when the winger found himself in the area with ball at feet and no defender close. Only his own clumsy control ended the threat. Immediately after Larssons strike Giggs had told Robin van Persie and Marouane Fellaini to warm-up. Yet when United emerged for the second half the lineup remained the same. The second side chosen by Giggs had shown five changes from his first. Out went Welbeck, Shinji Kagawa, Tom Cleverley, Wayne Rooney and Antonio Valencia and in came Ashley Young, Javier Hernández, Juan Mata, Darren Fletcher and Nani. Wayne Rooneys twin maladies of stomach complaint and troublesome groin kept the star forward out though his manager claimed he would be fine for Englands World Cup campaign. Wayne has a tight groin, said Giggs.Together with the bug it means his immune system is down so we have to watch that. The 40-year-old thought he has seen his teams equaliser when Nanis backheel put Patrice Evra clear along the left. His delivery found Hernández but the close-range attempt deflected off Wes Brown for a corner. From this Nemanja Vidic believed he had a penalty when his header hit Brown but Howard Webb turned the appeal down. Until Sunderlands opener, poise had been a fair description of what United showed. There was discernible control and pattern to their play, though scant goal attempts. One breathtaking break did occur on 19 minutes. Young burst down the right before switching play to Nani on the left. The Portuguese skipped towards Vito Mannones goal and after offloading the ball it eventually found its way back and his ensuing shot threatened to beat the goalkeeper before curling wide. As the match threatened to meander away from United Giggs finally introduced Van Persie, for a first appearance due to a knee injury since 19 March, and Welbeck on 66 minutes. Yet further embarrassment for the Reds nearly occurred when the substitute Emanuele Giaccherini hit the post, and close to the end Fabio Borini smacked the ball onto the bar. Before kick-off Giggs had signalled that despite the clubs pursuit of Louis van Gaal, his role as temporary manager was starting to feel natural. My first week as interim manager, I must say, took me totally out of my comfort zone, but I didnt really have time to think about anything, he wrote. It was preparing the team, sorting out paperwork with younger players, organising pre-season and a lot more besides. But then, when I came in on Monday morning, it was as if everything had changed. I came into the training ground and just felt totally comfortable in the role. Im enjoying it more and more each day. Ive had a lot more time to think and everything has felt much more settled. This defeat, though, is hardly a good calling card for the main job.
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 17:37:21 +0000