Premier League - Parker not convinced by United

Eurosport - Wed, 01 Oct 23:50:00 2008

Despite a 3-0 win over Aalborg, former England defender Paul Parker is yet to be convinced by Manchester United's early season form.

2008-2009 Manchester United Dimitar Berbatov - 0

"Three wins out of three, Wayne Rooney is back on goalscoring form and Dimitar Berbatov has opened his goal account - after a shaky start to the season, things are starting to look up for United.

Or are they?

I'm still not entirely convinced the champions have hit their stride yet. Just over two weeks ago I said there was still more to come from them and, despite the recent upturn in fortunes, that view has not changed.

United's win over AaB Aalborg in the Champions League capped off a run of three wins and two draws - including one away at Chelsea - in all competitions, but for me performances are just as important as results.

Forget about the three points, there's nothing better than a good performance to give players the confidence they need to go and win the next match.

And on the pitch over the past few weeks United have failed to demonstrate that they are the finished article quite yet.

Take the game in Denmark. United gave the ball away cheaply and did not convince against one of the poorest sides in the competition. That the Danish side have Marek Saganowski - a player who could not even make the grade in the Championship - leading their line speaks volumes.

If it had been Arsenal playing at the Energi Nord Arena, the Danish champions would have ended up on the receiving end of a mauling - but United never threatened to do that.

They gave the ball away far too cheaply when they should have been dominating possession and giving Aalborg the run-around.

We've seen it before and United's away form in the competition still worries me. And with trips to Celtic Park and Villarreal still to come, it's not going to get any easier for them. Ferguson can definitely expect more of a battle in Scotland and Spain than the one his side got in Denmark.

But it was good to see Berbatov get on the scoresheet, although his muted celebrations after having found the back of the net were a little odd. His reaction to the first in particular was akin to that of a player who has just netted the sixth goal in an FA Cup drubbing of a lower league minnow, not his first in a United shirt in a Champions League game.

He still seems to be trying to understand what it means to score for a club like United. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to scoring in a 'bigger' Premier League game.

One other pleasing aspect of the game was the introduction of Rafael Da Silva in my old position at right-back. The young Brazilian did well enough and, although on occasion he is too keen to go to ground, he seems to pose a real threat coming forward.

That is something that Wes Brown doesn't really give United, although I don't agree that the England man has been overtaken in the pecking order by Rafael. I know the boss had said he would not experiment with his side in such an important game, but the Brazilian got the nod ahead of Wes purely because it was as good a time as any to give him a run out. I'm sure Wes will be back in the starting line-up for the next game.

Rafael was not born to defend - he was born to run at defences with the ball at his feet - but with coaching, the defensive side of his game can only improve. And at United, the boy is in the best possible place to make that happen."

Paul Parker was speaking to Mike Hytner / Eurosport

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  1. why does every one moan about paul parker he has his­ own opinion like us all im a life long chelsea­ supporter if they play @#$% r dont deserve to win i say­ so but man u supporters never say they were lucky to­ win r they played @#$% dont no why.pp just speak ur­ mind mate the most moaners r man u fans as we can all­ see chelsea for all cups.

    From frankiecullen, on Wed 1 Oct 1:13PM

  2. this time last season united were doomed they were­ going to win nothing, fulham were going staright to the­ championship and the mighty chelsea were going to take­ all, should parker and other idiots not wait until the­ last few games rather than the first few to make any­ predictions?

    From Daniel, on Wed 1 Oct 1:01PM

  3. who cares bout paul parker anymore?..even at united no1­ mentioned him or even get him as a talk show guest­ !...he's just a big mouth old chump !

    From Mr.Geo, on Wed 1 Oct 12:57PM

  4. ?

    From Daniel, on Wed 1 Oct 12:50PM

  5. when is playing badly and winning 'the sign of­ champions' and when is it­ 'unconvincing'?

    It's a media contradiction­ that pundits use according to whether or not they like­ the team. This article is clearly a case of­ this.

    Parker further contradicts himself by saying­ Berbatov's muted celebration was like the game­ wasn't important before arguing it must be because­ it's the Champions League and all the games are­ tough. But a few paragraphs above, Parker draws­ attention to the fact 'that the Danish side have­ Marek Saganowski - a player who could not even make the­ grade in the Championship - leading their­ line.'

    So they are only a league one worthy team­ then? Make your mind up Parker and write an interesting­ article for a change.

    From Zuba, on Wed 1 Oct 12:45PM

  6. Nani has been underperforming for a long time and there­ wasn't an except last night. I wonder if SAF has­ made another big mistake by buying him. He didn't­ seem to have improved during his stay at Man Uited, or­ he has even gone backward in passing the ball and­ corner kicks. If you're still not convinced by­ what I said, next time watch carefully how poor his­ passes will be and how many good chances he will waste.­ He was nowhere near the level of his fellow­ countryman, Ronaldo, who himself is not in form at the­ moment.

    From Jeremy, on Wed 1 Oct 12:32PM

  7. liverpoolpepe, if your going to comment on here, switch­ your brain on first, its comments like yours that make­ such boring reading, (must reflect your personality),­ if utd are a spent force what are liverpool, liverpool­ fans as a whole spend more time abusing other teams­ than they do getting behind there own team, is it­ becuase you were the best once and can no longer handle­ it, quite sad really.

    From anthony, on Wed 1 Oct 12:29PM

  8. Shock.. Paul Parker having a moan. He's so­ courageous in his reports. If he'd had a bit of­ balls about him in the '90 World Cup and didn't­ turn his back on "that" free kick, then maybe­ we'd respect him and his opinions more. @#$%. Stick­ to break dancing!

    From Jamie, on Wed 1 Oct 12:25PM

  9. You should wipe around your mouth some_steam its all­ brown from all the cr#p your talking !!!!

    From petersheridan45, on Wed 1 Oct 12:24PM

  10. Could Berbatov look anymore less interested in playing­ for Utd than he did last night....cheer up mate....you­ playing for a better club than you was last season,­ maybe you should show it

    I hope rooney is ok!

    Gooner­ 4 Life! ;)

    From Eluive, on Wed 1 Oct 12:20PM

  11. i think everyone is forgetting how long a season this­ is going to be , United always start slowly and i dont­ mind that , id rather start slowly and build up to good­ form than run out of steam half way through the season­ !

    From petersheridan45, on Wed 1 Oct 12:19PM

  12. CRAWL BACK IN YOUR HOLE PARKER

    From L H, on Wed 1 Oct 12:15PM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    paul parker "the fulham great" is correct you­ little man u fans, last year you started badly and then­ were very lucky. This year your luck will run out. Face­ facts you are not better than last year and most other­ teams around you have improved. Face it. Its over and­ fergie will leave you to manage team gb.... hahaha who­ cares about man united?

    From Some S, on Wed 1 Oct 12:15PM

  14. Completely agree with you supertrin47... why this­ campaign against MAN UTD, I really don't know.­ Three goals away with a good team that had a good away­ result in the previous match. Yes Arsenal scored 4­ goals but that was in London and he lost on the same­ pitch less than 4 days ago. MAN UTD had 3 injuries,­ first one was 15 minutes from the kickoff time which­ means SAF didn't even have option to change for­ tactical purposes, why this Parker didn't talk­ about. in short, MAN UTD are getting better and better­ by the time just like the slow campaign we started last­ year.

    From maithem a, on Wed 1 Oct 12:03PM

  15. Get Parker off this site as he sprouts nothing but­ @#$%. he wasn't even a good player and is worse­ when he opens his gob. in my opinion he is making the­ europsort site look stupid

    From CARL, on Wed 1 Oct 12:02PM

  16. Do Man Utd have to win every match 6-0 to keep Paul­ Parker happy.Its true that Man U have not started this­ season very well but they are still in a good position­ and have played Liverpool and Chelsea away.Also who­ cares how a player celebrates scoring a goal,what­ matters Paul is that he is scoring goals!!!

    From unjustjules, on Wed 1 Oct 11:56AM

  17. paul parker played well for fulham.
    but who cares about­ man united playing badly

    From Some S, on Wed 1 Oct 11:51AM

  18. keep ur comments to urself.united rules

    From dimeji, on Wed 1 Oct 11:49AM

  19. "If it had been Arsenal playing at the Energi Nord­ Arena, the Danish champions would have ended up on the­ receiving end of a mauling - but United never­ threatened to do that" Because they had one­ positive result last night? What about the results­ against Hull, Fulham or the away draw at Kiev?!, On­ sunday did he write an article saying "if United­ had been playing Hull at home the would never surrender­ a 1 goal lead to a promoted team". No! Parker you­ are useless.

    From supertrin47, on Wed 1 Oct 11:34AM

  20. doubt it!

    From doubt.it.man, on Wed 1 Oct 11:20AM
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