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In the sixth minute of the game, Marouane Fellaini picked up the ball near the centre circle, attempted to run deep into Evertons territory to start another Manchester United attack but immediately saw the ball stolen away from him from James McCarthy. McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. Around the Premier League on Saturday, numerous examples of midfields taking over games were on show. For Tottenham at Sunderland, Paulinho and Moussa Dembele ran the game in the second half, Stoke got back into their match against Chelsea by exposing a double pivot of Ramires and John Obi Mikel, while Liverpool lost momentum in their home match against West Ham once Steven Gerrard departed through injury. This is football in todays era. Central midfield is the most important zone on the field, where turnovers are caused, counter-attacks are started, defensive cover is needed and vision with the ball is demanded. Most teams in the Premier League play in systems that can be labeled 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, where at least three men centrally are asked to work as a unit, both defensively and in attack. It is the engine that motors the team forward and back. At Manchester United this season this has usually been done by two central midfielders and Wayne Rooney.Rooney has looked very good and if you were to make up a list of Uniteds problems he would certainly be at the bottom labeled as ‘Rooney – only concern is how to play him with van Persie against superior teams. The English striker has proven in recent years (see vs Andrea Pirlo at Euro 2012 for reference) to be a liability when it comes to making up a midfield three in a defensive manner but against the majority of inferior Premier League teams this is not a problem. Last season for example, against the 13 teams who finished between eighth and 20th in the Premier League, Manchester United, playing 4-4-2, won an astonishing 22 of 26 matches, claiming a total of 69 points from a possible 78. However, upon closer inspection there were matches where they looked outrun in midfield and allowed a goal through a defensive lapse, but these were quickly forgotten about because United painted over the cracks by banging in goals at the other end. It happened against Fulham, when Dembele ran the game before getting a move to Spurs (Fulham led 1-0, lost 3-2), it happened against Liverpool and Southampton in second halves at Old Trafford (games won 2-1) and against Newcastle who led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 last season before losing 4-3. On Boxing Day the United system was handing their opponents regular gifts with numerous goal scoring chances but once again, their attacking heavyweights powered their way out of trouble. United would go on to win the game through Javier Hernandez in the 90th minute, who, like on Saturday, partnered van Persie up front for United that day. That however, is where the similarities ended for the pair. Last season the service towards them was remarkably different to the amount of passes they received in Saturdays 1-0 home loss. Sixty-seven passes to 36 is a remarkable difference over 90 minutes: Hernandezs winning goal last December would give his side three more points won from a losing position and in total United would go on to claim 29 points from losing positions last season. On the surface that seems like a remarkably impressive number, it is after all the second highest of all-time in the Premier League behind Newcastles 01-02 season of 34 points, but you must have flaws in your team to be behind many times to get to that number. Uniteds flaws remain this season but because they cannot power themselves out of trouble with goals they have been magnified to the level where action is now required. Two seasons ago United were stunned by a Champions League group stage elimination after Benfica and Basel ran through their midfield and scored eight goals between them in four matches. United were sent into the Europa League and would go on to again be exposed in similar fashion, losing back-to-back home games to technically superior teams, Ajax and Athletic Bilbao. In those matches United looked far too English. A timid, reactionary team lacking true post-to-post midfielders who excel in both the attack and defensive side of the game. It is an accusation that remains even more glaring two years on. The worlds best teams today all have world class deep-lying playmakers who control matches with the combination of brilliant, forward thinking vision and equally outstanding footballing intelligence without the ball. In central midfield, Real Madrid has Luka Modric, Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso, Barcelona has Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas and Xavi, Bayern Munich has Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez and Toni Kroos, Manchester City have Yaya Toure and Fernandinho. Manchester United has Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Tom Cleverley or Phil Jones. Carrick remains very important to United, a fine player in the Premier League whose calmness and passing ability has been sorely missed lately. Fellaini remains a mysterious buy, a player whose escalated price came from playing further forward but who wants to play in central midfield, despite not yet excelling at the attributes needed to play there. Cleverley has now started nine of their 15 league games this season and isnt anywhere near the quality of, at least, 20 other Premier League midfielders who have (and will continue to do so) the beating of the United youth product. Jones remains a promising player who will likely move to centre-back as he ages, but certainly does not have the offensive abilities to play regularly in central midfield for a team like Manchester United. None of these players are not close to being deep lying playmakers and none are anywhere close to being world class. United badly need at least one, and most likely two, of these caliber players as soon as possible. As last season showed the team is more than capable of going on a long successful run this season, beating inferior teams and that will help them climb towards a likely finish amongst the top four but what absolutely must not be forgotten again next summer is what was ignored in recent transfer windows. It is time to stop the likes of Dembele, McCarthy, and Cabaye running the show in games at Old Trafford. While United were spending a whopping 65 million pounds (the cost of Smalling, Young, Jones, Zaha and Powell) on mediocre, or unproven English talent the last four summers, many other teams have not only caught them up in central midfield, but now overtaken them. A club like United should be close to the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern, but through bad buys and neglecting a key area they are not even close and are left exposed by average teams in their own league. It is time to get to work on a very deep-lying problem. Wholesale Shoes China . -- Sonny Grays fastball wasnt as sharp as it usually is, and the Oakland Athletics young pitcher even had a quirky replay go against him. Wholesale Shoes USA http://www.wholesaleshoesoutlet.com/ . The stress, the waiting, the whispers about whether he doped during his stellar cycling career, all of it ended when - after nearly two years - federal prosecutors closed an investigation of him last week without bringing any charges. Cheap Nike Shoes Authentic .500. The Jets have now won nine of their last 11, and five of their last six road games. With the win they moved to within two points of Vancouver in the west, the Canucks holding down the eighth spot. Vancouver lost in Boston, while the other big game saw Dallas win in Phoenix. Cheap Shoes Free Shipping . Wayne and Cindy Tuck of Ilderton, Ont., closed out round-robin play earlier in the day with a 7-3 win over Finland but needed a win over Austria to reach the final eight.SAN FRANCISCO -- Yusmeiro Petit had all of an hour to prepare for his spot start, and he hadnt thrown off a mound for seven days while only playing catch. There was no time to study San Diegos hitters, either. Petit dazzled in place of injured ace Matt Cain, pitching six innings to lead the San Francisco Giants past the Padres 6-0 Tuesday night. "Thats my job," said Petit, who was one out from a perfect game last September against Arizona shortly after joining the rotation. "Im prepared for it any time for that, one moment before the game telling me youre going to start the game. Ive done it before. Its normal for me." Angel Pagan led off the first inning with a homer and Buster Posey connected two batters later to give Petit an early boost. Cain was scratched after cutting the tip of his right index finger. Cain was in the clubhouse kitchen making a sandwich and had a knife in his hand when the utensil dropped. Cain tried to catch it and cut his finger about a half-inch at the tip. He took batting practice, but then tried to throw and kept opening the cut. He expects to make his next start, Monday at Pittsburgh. "Its obviously really, really bad timing," Cain said. "Petit did an unbelievable job today. He picked it up and the guys scored a bunch of runs. Hopefully this isnt a big deal ... and it should be fine in a couple days." Petit (2-1) didnt allow a hit until Everth Cabreras leadoff single in the fourth. Hector Sanchez, starting at catcher with Posey at first base, hit a two-run single and a sacrifice fly. Petit allowed three hits with four strikeouts and no walks. It was his first start not allowing a run since he tossed a one-hitter last Sept. 6 at home against Arizona. He lowered his ERA from 3.68 to 2.61. Jean Machi pitched two innings and Santiago Casilla finished the 2-hour, 28-minute, three-hitter, San Franciscos second shutout this season. The Padres were blanked for the fourth time. The Giants said Cain wouldnt require stitches. "What a great effort," mannager Bruce Bochy said of Petit.dddddddddddd "Any time you lose your starter and the swing guy goes in there and gives you six innings like that, thats such a big lift for the club." Cain, who pitched a perfect game two years ago at AT&T Park, will finish winless in April. He is 0-3 with a 4.35 ERA in five starts. Pagan sent a 1-1 pitch from Eric Stults (1-3) just inside the left-field foul pole for his second homer, then Posey hit his sixth one out later. It was Pagans seventh career leadoff homer and first since May 1, 2013, at Arizona. The Giants hit two homers in the first inning at AT&T Park for the first time since Fred Lewis and Bengie Molina did so on July 22, 2008, against Washington. "Tonight I didnt execute many pitches. I was down in the zone the first time I played them," Stults said. "I knew they were probably going to be aggressive. They usually come out swinging early." Stults was done after 2 2-3 innings, allowing five runs and seven hits. San Diegos Yasmani Grandal made his first career start at first base as manager Bud Black gave struggling Yonder Alonso a break. San Diego will try to win Wednesdays rubber game for their first road series victory this year and snap a nine-series winless streak at AT&T Park dating to a three-game series here from Oct. 1-3, 2010, one that sealed the Giants division title on the way to the citys first World Series championship. NOTES: Padres reliever Donn Roach doubled in the sixth for his first major league hit. ... Home run king Barry Bonds made an appearance at the ballpark. ... Padres OF Seth Smith was available off the bench but missed his fourth straight start as he nurses a strained groin sustained Thursday night against the Nationals. Black said it was "a very good chance" he could start Wednesday. ... Giants RHP Tim Hudson tries for his fourth victory, facing LHP Robbie Erlin (1-3). ... The Giants improved to 11-1 when scoring first. ... It was an usually warm 76 degrees at first pitch. ' ' '