By AVI CREDITOR
HARRISON, N.J. — Major League Soccer's commitment to righting the wrong that was last year's All-Star Game result against Manchester United went unfulfilled.
Anderson and game MVP Ji-Sung Park scored in the first half, and Dimitar Berbatov added one early in the second half to essentially seal the deal, as Manchester United topped the MLS All-Stars for the second straight year, winning, 4-0, Wednesday night in front of a capacity crowd of 26,760 at Red Bull Arena.
Substitute Danny Welbeck added a fourth for United in the 68th minute to cap the rout, as his shot from just outside the area deflected off Houston Dynamo centerback Geoff Cameron and wrong-footed goalkeeper Tally Hall.
The MLS All-Stars, which fell to United last year in Houston by a 5-2 scoreline, generated a handful of chances, especially in the opening half hour, when the balance of play was more even.
Houston's Brad Davis had a chance in the 19th minute after being played into the area by Colorado Rapids striker Omar Cummings, but he slipped and hit his left-footed shot right to Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard.
On the ensuing trip down the other side of the field, Manchester United struck to open the scoring. Berbatov and Wayne Rooney combined to find Anderson with a one-touch passing sequence at the top of the box. The Brazilian found his way into the area and slipped a low shot by Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon in the 20th minute.
"We had some chances to score maybe one or two, and that makes a difference when you play a team like Manchester United," New York Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry said. "Whenever they have one chance, they score."
David Beckham's blast from outside the area in the 23rd minute almost leveled the score, but Linegaard came up with a stellar diving save to prevent the goal.
When it looked like the MLS All-Stars would head into halftime with a managable one-goal deficit, Park came through with perhaps the defining moment of the game.
The South Korean midfielder ran at Sean Franklin in the box, turning the Los Angeles Galaxy right back around completely. With the space he created, Park laced a shot inside the far post in the 45th minute to double United's lead.
"They took their chances," MLS All-Stars manager Hans Backe said. "They are a little bit sharper in the attacking third."
Backe deployed a surprise 4-3-3 formation with Beckham, the only MLS player to go the full 90 minutes, in a defensive midfield role that afforded him the space to spray passes around the field. He was joined in the midfield by Davis and Shalrie Joseph and had wingers Henry and Cummings make runs down the flanks and into space.
"If you play Man United … playing a 4-4-2 against them, you will lose," Backe said. "They're better individual players on every position, so you need to do something different."
One of those top individual players, Rooney, set up Berbatov in the 52nd minute to make the scoreline 3-0.
Despite being serenaded with cheers of "Our Rooney's better" by Red Bulls fans in the South Ward (who were referring to Wayne's younger brother, Red Bulls midfielder John Rooney) the elder Rooney chipped a perfect ball to Berbatov, in stride. The Bulgarian ran onto the pass at the top of the box and chipped a shot over Hall and off the crossbar before hitting home his own rebound.
Rooney was frustrated early by Real Salt Lake defender Jamison Olave, though, who on a couple of occasions muscled Rooney off the ball to the delight of the MLS fans in attendance. Olave tweaked his knee when coming up with a counter-attack-stopping tackle on a pass headed to Rooney and had to exit in the 38th minute.
The early diagnosis is an MCL sprain, and Olave said that he would be evaluated upon his return to Utah.
Cameron replaced him as the first of Backe's 11 substutitions — which included a late cameo for retiring Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller. Five of those substitutes were made at halftime, which drastically changed the complexion of the MLS lineup.
MLS still managed a couple of chances, with Chris Wondolowski's shot from distance in the 64th minute being parried right to Omar Bravo on the doorstep. The Sporting Kansas City Designated Player forced his shot wide, though, and Welbeck scored four minutes later to ice the match.
Beckham nearly saved some face for MLS with an 88th-minute free kick, after Juan Agudelo was taken down outside the United box. Beckham's dipping effort missed the lower left corner, though, and hit into the side netting.
"Obviously they're a great side," Wondolowski said. "We had a couple chances, but it was just one of those games where, especially against a team like that, if you don't finish your chances, you get punished."
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What did you think of the result? Disappointed in the MLS All-Stars' effort?
Share your thoughts below.
Just watched this on replay. Disappointing.
Main difference between world class teams and MLS caliber teams are players that can take take people on and make probing passes forward. Square pass / back pass/ hoof it doesn’t get it done.
I said like Cuban in the matter that he wnats his team to win and cares about his team. Not like Cuban in the matter that I like his personality. Honestly I could care less about him.
I think it would be better for the league to have owners that want to win and care bout winning. MLS should stay away from owners like the ones that teams like the Revolution have.
Cuban is a crybaby, I don’t like guys like him in any sport he represents the snobby little rich b*%ch kid, who will throw a hissy fit if things don’t go his way. “Also”, I hate his “fat boy” celebration.
The best thing that could happen for MLS is if an owner like Cuban buys a team and spends the DP money on 2 world class players in their prime and 1 young future star. He could spend the rest of the money on average to good MLS players.
He would probably get that money back. We even have a lot of american owners that are eurosnobs, just look at Man United, Aston Villa, Roma, Liverpool, etc.
If they are going to spend that kind of money why not do it and help create an MLS superclub that could rule Concacaf. They would probably make that money back with shirt sales and tours around the concacaf area, they would get a better TV contract, etc.
Imagine if an MLS team bought Tevez, a world class player that is in his prime. Now that would be MLS 3.0
With Beckham being the start of MLS 2.0
With apologies to the All-Stars who played, the only way a group of defenders can excell is by playing together against high level attacking. There is no way any team of All-Stars will manage that when the pre-game getting to know each other amounts to little more than a handshake.
If the MLS wanted to do better, it would have been better off simply starting the back 4 plus keeper from RSL, LA, or Union, the 3 MLS teams with the best goals against average by a fair margin. The All-Stars would probably still not score goals, but at least they would have managed a better defense.
And like many in NJ, I wonder how Backe has managed to keep his job. It is true he has assembled some quality players, but he cannot seem to get consistently good efforts out of them. I still wonder why Richie Williams was so rudely dismissed, now I am beginning to suspect he had too many good ideas that Backe did not like.
Curiously, the Wizards were able to beat what was mostly Man Utds starting 11 last year. Or course they are better, but honestly its not fundamentals its understanding and quickness of thought. Asking a pick up team to play one of the best teams in the world usually will not end up well.
IT WAS ALL BACKE’S FAULT!!!
Gimme a break, even United can’t get a 4-3-3 formation to work. Barca is one of the few teams that can use it well and he puts that crap on our players that dont even play with eachother! WTF
and usually the Brits are good, but McManaman continues to simply state the obvious….no real football commentary
Your correct, stupid Americans.
no CCL coverage? A game that counts in Toronto…
All-Star games in any sport is an American phenomenon and a gigantic waste of time. Scrap it and focus on the actual season and the related tournaments.
+1
and they aren’t every year? EPL should just go with 4 teams.
Anderson’s run have been great. He looks very motivated.
Also, Man United is going to be F’ing scary this season.
The passing and trapping was there until the 1st goal
You know you aren’t a good team when Anderson scores on you.
Just got back from the MLS All Star Game at Red Bull Arena. It was a complete waste of my evening. You can’t throw together a team in three days and expect them to be competitive against Manchester United. I think the combined All Stars’ salary is about equivalent to ManU’s catering budget. Watching the All Stars get trotted out to get annihilated by one of the best teams on the planet isn’t going to win MLS any new fans. If anything, it drives them away. If Garber had a brain in his body, he would return the All Star Game opponents to mid-table Euro teams that the All Stars can be competitive with. Tonight just felt like a cynical cash grab.
Did anyone really think MLS had a chance. Look at how ManU passes and traps the ball. ManU’s fundamentals are superior to our best players. MLS players need to learn how to pass and trap. Americans seem to focus more on conditioning, probably because they will need it to run down all the missed passes and bouncing balls that should have been trapped.
Yeah, 4 keepers and no strikers… Play for the draw!
Consistently embarrassed? Last time I checked the only European opponent to beat the all-star team in open play was Man. U. in 2010 and 2011. Further, you cannot expect a defense with any level of talent to gel within a week, it just doesn’t happen. MLS lacks the depth and talent of top leagues in Europe, but it is you who are exaggerating when you bash MLS. Finally, how many times did Man. U. beat an opponent in league play either 3-0 or worse last season? Reading anything into this result other than that one of the best teams in the world brought their starting XI and won is stupid and pretentious.
marco and chris, almost every post is eurodouchy. Funny, must be same guy.
He was great last season, but he has been out of form since before the US call-up. Dude is still talented. He’ll regain form, no doubt.
Ashe stayed with Nani pretty well also
Good coach? Winter blows
There wasn’t a decent level of proficiency from the MLS side for me to find this game entertaining. I can understand that others might. The media defense of this format is quite disturbing.
Obviously, being accountable for the 2 goals that put you out of the match is “solid” for some. Borchers, Gonzalez, John, even Demerit wouldn’t have done the same.
Euros fancy themselves as cosmo new York wannabes. Villagers from
eastern Europe wish they were from the 5 boros.
That was my favorite part too. Best was when they made contact at the sideline: Olave didn’t budge, Rooney went down, then came up yelling for a foul. Classic Olave! Dude’s a beast!
Annoying? You must not watch very many teams in these other leagues, euro****
No no no you can’t take a month off. Running the league till december is a horrible idea. One week for the gold and world cup group stages and no games on international dates is all you need. Usoc should go and only 1 friendly per team. A month would hurt more than help.
Injuries and call-ups, my friend.
And watch out for TFC, they have finally put together a nice squad. They now have the 433 players and a good coach.
Did anyone else hear Lalas threaten to fire Backe at the end of the broadcast? What a tool
the biggest problem with that game was the production. the game itself was not bad besides all of the subs.
+1
I’m disappointed in the MLS effort, but give some credit to Fergie and Man U. They are still in Champions League form and looking stronger this year. Like the All-Stars, Barcelona doesn’t get any warm-up matches. I think MU gets revenge on Barca and beats them easily as well.
Best moment of the night was Olave running down Rooney like he was George Peterson.
I don’t understand how players like Tim Ream constantly receive hate from a certain group of fans, although he wasn’t a complete stud in the match he did relativly well. He passed well and he had some strong defensive plays. People say he is constantly praised unjustly so and that he is never going to be a great defender. Lately what I have seen is unjust hate. To me he played decent in the game while playing with a bunch of new teammates against Man U.
The best part of the game was watching the linesman turf it trying to dodge the ball. That’s the highlight I keep going back to watch.
Seriously though, one of the most impressive parts of the game was Olave tracking down Rooney at a dead run, that man is scary. I never would have bet money that Olave could outrun Rooney. Hopefully his injury isn’t serious.
+1 on all of your points
Geoff Cameron might’ve been “solid” but when it counted he failed.
Hahahahah red bulls couldn’t even fill the stadium. Plus I’m not the only one that thinks cameron should get a look at CB: eric wynalda, kinnear, sullivan, barton and many other people that know a ton more about soccer then you do.
What? Largest team salary in MLS, and his team has won 3 games since May. Backe tonight reinforced what his critics have been saying…he is way over his head. It is one thing to sit on a bench as an assistant at Man City against Man U, it is different to actually manage a side. Granted this game is heavily tilted against the MLS given they have only 2 days to train and the quality of opponent…but let’s get a coach that can give our guys a chance. Backe employs a 4-3-3….I guess since that odd strategy works so well for Toronto? Man U had a field day with the wide open midfield. At least we saw a full Red Bull arena tonight. I really don’t think you will see that again during a regular season game in the Backe era.
I’ve been a man united supporter for a few years now, get up early to watch all the games (tv, online, etc) and just this season decided to give my local MLS team a go. While the lack of quality in the MLS vs other leagues is a bit annoying, it is good entertainment. I really did enjoy watching ManU demolish teams over the past couple weeks (especially since they didn’t demolish my local team), but I do agree with the opinion of this board regarding the all-star game.
Yes, tonight’s game looked really bad for the MLS as a league. However, any serious football(soccer) fan will realize exactly what the situation is; a group of all-stars does not equal a good team. All it equals is a group of good players on the pitch at the same time wearing the same kit. Anyone who thinks otherwise likely knows nothing about the game.
It was there in the beginning, but gone after the 1st Man U goal…disappointing
that chicken leg was horrendous. But cut the man some slack, he has been a d-mid all season. There are numerous quality defenders and attackers that were left off this team due to Champions League (some of the best teams) and poor selection.
It’s hilarious how some of you people let a split second mistake completely compromise nearly an hour of solid play.
Yeah, Cameron blew it big against Berbatov, but looked solid otherwise. The deflection can hardly be blamed on Cameron… he wasn’t the one failing to mark Welbeck.
Then again, you probably just watched the highlights.
Sorry must have been watching another game cuz I saw him tracking back able to keep up with their forwards, I saw him distributing better than ream and I saw that he had the best touch out of all the mls defenders.
no, relax…it wasnt disastrous. it was still part of the learning process…1996
Also it looked like MLS lacked the attacking flair. Players weren’t making runs for each other in the final third there was a lack of creation of chances. Beckham was the only one who had the best chances. The rest of the team just lacked the imagination to create.
That’s a ridiculously false statement. Yeah, he blew it on the Berbatov goal underestimating how physical his opponent was, but he looked solid otherwise.
If you want to talk about players who were awful, let’s talk can’t hit a sitter Bravo, out of position Cummings, invisible Wondo, outmuscled Franklin.
Amen brother.