Ryan Giggs had his first game in charge of Manchester United yesterday, which ended in a 4-0 win over Norwich. Here are four things we learned from the tie.
1) Giggs’ attacking intent
Manchester United looked a different side yesterday. Okay, they were playing against Norwich, who, to put it kindly, are relegation fodder, but United had more shots yesterday than they have done in a game all season.
Their 25 efforts on goal saw 11 hit the target and four hit the back of the net, which is a decent return.
2) Vidic will keep going until he leaves
When you’re leaving your club at the end of the season, I imagine that it would be easy to switch off. However Vidic put in another remarkable performance, making 19 clearances, winning all 12 of his headed duels and registering five interceptions.
He also completed 90% of his passes.
3) Mata is a central player
Okay, we all knew it. Mata is more effective in the central areas, but Giggs was smart enough to play him there when he came on. The Spaniard returned him with two well taken goals and completed 96% of his passes.
4) United not overly-reliant on crosses
Under Moyes, United pushed the ball into the wide areas and whipped in as many crosses as they could. Although the pre-match talk was aimed towards Giggs’ desire to do similar, United only made 21, the same amount as Norwich.