Hughes: United vulnerable
Yet, after the dust had settled on Javier Hernandez’s 80th-minute winning goal and the second home league victory of David Moyes’ Manchester United reign, such an analysis rang a little hollow.
It certainly did with Stoke manager Mark Hughes, no stranger to the wonders of United both as beloved, iconic player and opposition manager.
After all, his Stoke side that looks destined for a struggle at the wrong end of the table had just traded blows with the mighty defending champions, looking the superior side for the first half at least and scoring half as many goals in the opening 45 minutes at Old Trafford as they managed in the previous eight games.
Ultimately, the relentless and dependable excellence of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, allied with the often under-rated goal instinct of Hernandez, prevented United lurching further into crisis, but Hughes is not the first observer to note his former club’s defensive qualities are badly lacking.
“We just took encouragement from what West Brom and Southampton had done here,” said Hughes of United’s previous two home fixtures which brought them a solitary point. We felt we were capable of doing exactly the same. But we needed to commit to it which we did and I’m pleased about causing them problems.
“There’s an onus on Manchester United players to do the hard yards themselves and I just felt that while their attacking play will always be good, maybe going the other way it is not quite where it needs to be at the moment.
“You’ve got to have enough about you in your own team to be able to affect them but we certainly had — and other teams will think the same.”
Hughes had taken several opportunities in the build-up to the game to play his own version of the mind games so beloved by Moyes’ predecessor Alex Ferguson, the Stoke manager suggesting on more than one occasion the “aura” that once surrounded United at home is a thing of the past.
Stoke may have left Manchester empty-handed but the manner of their defeat, the way in which they looked comfortable until Marko Arnautovic was forced off through injury early in the second half and were not really threatened until Rooney’s 78th-minute equaliser, suggest Hughes was correct.
“I think so,” said the Welshman. “I think it showed in the manner of our performance and the way we approached it. In the past maybe Stoke teams felt they didn’t have the capability to take Man United on on their own patch but I feel we had the capability and we showed that.”
It was inevitable that the Twitter world and more than one journalist would compare this United win to a ‘Mark Robins moment’.
It was a ludicrous comparison, especially for an individual like Hughes who was with United and Ferguson in far darker days in 1989-90.
“Come on what’s [Moyes] had — eight games? That’s ridiculous,” said Hughes. “No, David Moyes will be manager of Manchester United for a long time in my view. He will be given time and he has good players who will win enough games for him even this year, even if it is a difficult season for him. Once he gets his philosophy over he will be fine.
“It’s been worse here. I remember when we went to Millwall and we were 1-0 down and if we had been beaten we would have been in the bottom three. It seems a long time ago now but there have been worse times here.”
Peter Crouch exposed United’s defensive frailties early, before Van Persie equalised, only for Arnautovic to restore Stoke’s lead from a magnificently-struck free-kick.
For all United’s second-half possession, Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was required to do little until Rooney headed home to level for a second time and Hernandez produced the winner from a Patrice Evra cross.
It was Rooney’s sixth goal of the season, Van Persie’s eighth and, with the little-used Hernandez getting off the mark, perhaps the sheer weight of United’s firepower may yet salvage the season.
“Wayne’s a great player. In my opinion good players can always player together and I think we showed that again today,” said Van Persie.
“We showed it last season, we showed it earlier this season and hopefully we can keep showing that because we do want to play together. But don’t forget Chicharito because he’s a great player.”
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6; Smalling 5 (Valencia 75, 6), Evans 6, Jones 7, Evra 5; Cleverley 6 (Hernandez 66, 7), Carrick 5; Nani 4 (Januzaj 57, 7), Rooney 7, Kagawa 5; Van Persie 8.
STOKE (4-4-1-1): Begovic 7; Cameron 7, Shawcross 7, Huth 6, Pieters 7; Walters 5, Nzonzi 7,
Palacios 5 (Whelan 69, 6), Arnautovic 8 (Wilson 59, 5); Ireland 7 (Adam 81); Crouch 7.
Referee: L Mason
A Manchester United official has apologised after fans complained a logo on a promotional email sent by the club resembled a swastika, above.
Supporters pointed out the unfortunate resemblance – on a mail about the club’s up-and-coming young players entitled ‘New Order’ – on Twitter.
The club’s head of media, David Sternberg, responded: “The creative is completely inappropriate; we apologise unreservedly and are taking appropriate internal action.”
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