Kevin Pilkington Review : Aston Villa

Kevin Pilkington had a chat with Yolkie about last night’s win over Aston Villa. Up for discussion were Rooney, Vidic, van der Sar and why building a lead is better than playing catch up.

Yolkie : United win again, comfortably this time… we’ve got hard games to come but how important do you think it is to concentrate on getting points on the board before those games?

Kevin : Yes there are some hard games to come, but as a player you would always take the points. It’s a lot harder to play catch up and if you are playing catch up you are always looking at the team in front and not fully concentrating on your own job.

Yolkie : Rooney scored two good goals and had a great game all round. Do you think he’s out of his bad form now and is back to being first choice, despite the form of Chicharito?

Kevin : His two goals were fantastic last night. I think people have underestimated his contributions this season. He might not have been scoring the goals but his all round performances have been excellent bar a couple of games. I still think Chicharito has a massive part to play this season and for years to come.

Yolkie : Vidic scored a brilliant goal. Many say that despite Berbatov’s goals and Nani’s general play, he’s been the player of the season.. would you agree?

Kevin : For me, Vidic is the first person you would put on the team sheet. His performances this season have been exceptional. If I was asked to pick a world eleven he would be my first pick ( I would say that as a keeper!) – he puts his body on the line not just defensively but attacking wise as well and he is a proper leader. What a goal as well.

Yolkie : How about van der Sar? Many have spoken about who will replace him considering we had trouble after Schmeichel, but no-one really considered how important he is to our attack. He set up the first goal; do you think a) Kuszczak’s reluctance to release the ball early is a reason why he wont be Edwin’s successor and b) United need to have an attack minded goalkeeper?

Kevin : Van Der Sar’s ball for the first goal was brilliant. If Scholes or Gerrard had played that ball they would be going on and on about it. He has been the best goalkeeper at doing that for years. I can remember him doing that against England in Euro 96… showing my age!

I still think he is too good to retire at the end of the season. I think he will be just as hard to replace as Schmeichel. As good a keeper as Kuszczak is his distribution is nowhere near as good as Edwins. To replace him? I would go for Stekelenburg.