Manchester United vs. Bolton: Ranking the United Players

Bimersha GautamJan 14, 2012

Manchester United gave an excellent performance today, completely overwhelming Bolton. They were dominant in the first half, and although they cooled off a bit in the second half, they registered a convincing performance and emerged victorious.

The performance by Manchester United puts them level on points with neighbors Manchester City and above Tottenham, who were held to a draw by Wolves.

Goalkeeper: Anders Lindegaard

1 of 5

Lindegaard did not have much to do throughout the whole game. He did show signs of his effectiveness in the air, and I think he needs to start over David De Gea every game.

Score: 7/10

Defenders

2 of 5

A quiet day for the defenders. Manchester United were comfortable in defence; even Ferdinand had one marauding run in the final third of the Bolton half. Evans was great in the centre-back position, winning all of his aerial duels and making three tackles.

Rafael was exceptional in the game with exquisite runs, and he provided great support to the attacking players. His pass accuracy was an astounding 89 percent and he also won three tackles.

Evra, Ferdinand: 6/10

Evans: 7/10

Rafael: 8/10

Statistics obtained from Whoscored.com.

Midfielders

3 of 5

The United midfield did its job today. They dictated the play and the ball distribution was very effective.

Scholes had a dream comeback to the Premier League, while Carrick too had an exceptional game. Scholes needed to be careful as his tackles were slightly dangerous, and he was testing the referee on quite a few occasions. Scholes won four tackles in the game.

Carrick's passes were clever, and he scored a wonderful goal to top it off. Carrick also complemented his performance with four tackles in the match.

Nani's performance, however, left much to be desired.

Valencia gave a man-of-the-match performance and was the best United player today by a mile.

Michael Carrick: 9/10

Paul Scholes: 8/10 (subbed by Ryan Giggs in 69th minute: 6/10)

Nani: 5/10 (subbed by Park-Ji Sung in 69th minute: 5/10)

Antonio Valencia: 9/10

Statistics obtained from Whoscored.com.

Strikers

4 of 5

Wayne Rooney had quite a good game but not up to his standards. He did contribute two assists, but he could've had much more. In the first half, he missed a penalty, but most credit goes to the Bolton keeper. He also missed a glaring opportunity in the six-yard box from Valencia's exceptional pass.

Welbeck had a great game and looked like a constant threat. He had a total of five shots, and he put himself in the score sheet before being subbed by Hernandez in the 78th minute.

Wayne Rooney: 7/10

Danny Welbeck: 8/10 (subbed by Javier Hernandez in the 78th minute: 6/10)

Statistics obtained from Whoscored.com.