United v Portsmouth – Player Ratings!

Edwin van der Sar: He will get a mark for saving one penalty. Otherwise he had simply nothing to do, Pompey simply did not attack. 6

Gary Neville: The captain looked much, much better than against Juventus; it looks like he’s improving steadily with every game. Now he’s ready for the new season. 7

Rio Ferdinand: Had Crouch and Defoe in his pocket. An easy afternoon for the centre-back. 7

Nemanja Vidic: Troubled by neither Crouch nor Defoe, he did his job flawlessly. 7

Patrice Evra: Job tried and tried to get the better of him but Evra kept tackling him with embarassing ease. Had plenty of opportunity to join the attacks and he did that with relish. 7

Darren Fletcher: The Scottish midfielder, despite my lack of belief in him, was excellent on the right and would merit a higher mark had he managed to put away one of his chances. Used his pace and energy to great effect. 7

Paul Scholes: Did a solid job against Portsmouth’s muscle men. Should have pulled the strings more effectively though, should have taken more risks. 6

John O’Shea: A rare occurence: he did well as a defensive midfielder. Effective with his tackling, his passing was a bit suspect. 6

Luis Nani: He must be told to forget about the referee as he wastes too much time arguing. A threat to any defence but his skills must be honed and refined before he could develop into a really dangerous attacker. 6

Ryan Giggs: One of his better games but too often he made the wrong decision in the final third of the pitch. 6

Carlos Tevez: He was everywhere as usual and his skills caused serious problems for Portsmouth. His dipping shot in the second half was brilliant, I still can’t believe James actually saved it. 7

Wes Brown: Replaced Neville but made no impact.

Michael Carrick: Brought on for O’Shea and delivered a few fine passes and converted his penalty. 6

Frazier Campbell: His pace and aggressivity is impressive, just as impressive as the way he created himself a brilliant chance not long after his introduction. Shame he missed it. 7