Phil Neville enjoys a midfield tussle with Wayne Rooney in April 2011
Manchester United have found their momentum at Old Trafford in time for the visit of Everton on Sunday, according to Phil Neville, who believes the firepower of his boyhood club will prove decisive as they seek to avenge last season’s double defeat by the Merseysiders.
United got off to a slow start to the campaign by their standards under new manager Louis van Gaal, with two points from their first three Barclays Premier League matches, but back-to-back home wins over Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United have taken the 13-time Barclays Premier League champions up to seventh in the table and Neville believes that, bolstered by the summer arrivals of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao, the Red Devils are on the road to recovery.
“United’s strength lies in their firepower,” Neville told premierleague.com. “They look electric up front, with Falcao and Robin van Persie. Juan Mata should come back into the team with Wayne Rooney suspended and Di Maria is world-class, so Everton will need to defend well against the strength of Man Utd.
“United have won their last two home games so there’s a bit of confidence and momentum building to the stage where people are wondering, ‘Is Old Trafford becoming a fortress again?’
“And that’s the key; teams have come to Old Trafford for the last 12 months or so and thought, ‘Maybe we’ve got a chance here of beating Man Utd.’ United need to get back to the time where it was a fortress and teams were beaten before they even got out there.”
Neville joined United as a schoolboy before breaking into the side he supported as a boy as one of the ‘Class of ’92’ alongside Academy graduates that included Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and his brother Gary. After helping his side win six Barclays Premier League titles, three FA Cups and the UEFA Champions League, Neville moved to Everton in 2005, where he enjoyed eight seasons, and was made club captain in January 2007.
Neville believes Romelu Lukaku will be deployed in a more central role at Old Trafford
Defensive doggedness
For Everton to get something out of Sunday’s trip to Manchester, Neville, 37, believes they need to eradicate the individual defensive mistakes that have contributed to their slow start to the season. The Toffees lie 15th in the Barclays Premier League standings and have the added complication of European football to contend with this season.
“The defensive shape is the same as under David Moyes and then Roberto Martinez last year, but they’ve just been conceding too many individual errors. They need to get back to that defensive foundation and solidity they’ve had of the past 10 years, of being dogged; hard to beat; throwing men at the ball; getting men behind the ball and defending properly. They can’t have individual errors on Sunday at Old Trafford because they if they do they could get punished heavily by Falcao, Van Persie and Mata.”
“The other issue for Everton is they are coming back from a Europa League game in Russia, which is tough. So they will want to be solid and hard to beat and hopefully hit United on the counter-attack.”
The deployment of striker Romelu Lukaku also represents an intriguing tactical quandary for Martinez, who played him wide to great success in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, but with less effective results in the Merseyside derby draw.
“Martinez played Lukaku a couple of times on the right against Arsenal and it worked for him but I don’t think it worked at Anfield,” Neville said. “The other thing I noticed last weekend was that Lukaku got a lot of the ball and when he was crossing is crossing into an area where he would like to finish. So, away from home especially, Lukaku is best when he’s playing up front and leading the line, particularly against the United back line. Everton want to put a lot of pressure on this United back four and you’ll see him up front where he’s at his best.”
At the other end of the pitch Neville believes the absence through suspension of Rooney, a former Evertonian, is a blow for United as much for his strength of personality as his ability, but such is the strength in depth in forward areas it is a setback United are able to withstand.
“It’s a massive loss because he’s in form,” said Neville. “He scored a wonderful goal against West Ham before his sending-off and he’s the leader in the team.
“But what they have got is a lot of attacking players. Mata will probably come back. He’s a £40m player of great quality and he is a goal threat. He was probably unlucky to be left out of the last game because of his goals record since he came to United.”
Neville believes Juan Mata will get the chance to shine on Sunday
United diamond
Van Gaal recently made an alteration to the shape of his team, as a consequence of a raft of injuries to defensive players and the arrival of attacking summer signings. The Dutchman was persuaded to move from three to four at the back. And Neville believes United will take on the Toffees with the same shape that earned the 2-1 victory over the Hammers.
“They will play the same, with four at the back and the diamond in midfield, which looks like the best system to fit everybody into the team. And it’s going to be a really interesting tactical battle. Roberto Martinez’s tactical nous is probably his greatest strength so it will be interesting to see how he counters Man Utd.”
Neville admits to having divided loyalties when it comes to this fixture, which was one he says he did not look forward to as a player, as it meant going head to head with friends and, more often than not, his brother. But he is looking forward to this one, which he says always makes for a wonderful spectacle, not least because Everton did the double over United last season.
“When I was a Man Utd player and we used to go to Everton it was always one of the best games of the season to play in because of the rivalry. When I was at Everton and we used to go to Man United it was the game that every Evertonian wanted us to win.
“It always made for a great atmosphere, I know the Merseyside derby’s a great atmosphere and Man United v Liverpool’s a great atmosphere but there was always something in this game and we had some great battles over the years.
“There were always incidents, there were always goals and the last game I played at Old Trafford for Everton was a 4-4 draw which was probably one of the most entertaining games I’ve played in. And this game on Sunday will be no different. Last season Everton won at Old Trafford in the league for the first time in 21 years and I think United will want a bit of payback.”
source: premierleague.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 