ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Stoke 0 Man Utd 2:IT WAS as if the master had been summoned to deliver a lesson to the pupil. Having endured the frustration of watching Nani spend the best part of an hour tormenting his team-mates, rather than the Stoke City defence, Alex Ferguson decided enough was enough. On came Ryan Giggs and 22 minutes and two assists from the Welshman later, the Premier League champions were cruising to a seventh successive victory.
As cameos go it was about as good as it gets and Giggs deserved all the praise that came his way afterwards.
Yet the veteran’s contribution merely underlined Nani’s shortcomings and raised questions about the 22-year-old’s lack of progress at United.
This is the Portuguese’s third season at Old Trafford and he continues to make the kind of poor decisions in possession that leave Wayne Rooney apoplectic.
The fans as well as the players’ patience seems to be stretched, and when the substitutes’ board was raised in the 55th minute it was hard to discern whether United’s supporters were applauding Ferguson’s decision to withdraw Nani or celebrating the introduction of Giggs.
Either way, the change had the desired effect as the 35-year-old slid a low centre into the six-yard box that Dimitar Berbatov tapped home. Giggs had been on the pitch for seven minutes.
Ferguson was asked whether Nani should learn from Giggs, who set up United’s second with a free-kick that John O’Shea glanced beyond Thomas Sorensen.
“Yes, of course – he’s only 22 years of age, he’s young,” said the manager. “When he was on the pitch he offered a different thing from Ryan. He looks to penetrate all the time, he’s brave, he’s quick. But Ryan’s intelligence was the deciding factor.”
The only blemish on Giggs’s display was the shot he lifted over late on after Paul Scholes, who could go on playing for another decade if he is given this much time and space every week, picked him out. By that point it was a case of damage limitation for Stoke.
“That’s the first time this year that we never looked full throttle,” said Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager. “Every Manchester United player had too much time on the ball.”
It seemed odd to think Pulis had described the Britannia Stadium as “a horrible place for visiting teams” in his programme notes for the game.
With half of the pitch bathed in sunshine, home supporters making for the exits in droves and the United fans amusing Ferguson with demands for some additional injury-time, the Premier League leaders could hardly have wished for more convivial surroundings.
(-Guardian Service)
