JAMIE REDKNAPP: Ruthless United and Arsenal wait like cobras then strike

There were countless times when I was playing at Old Trafford and we had plenty of the ball. The confidence would rise in the team, players would start advancing into attacking positions, sensing the chance to score a goal. Then Manchester United would win back the ball and within 10 seconds it would be 1-0 - to them. I remember looking around, shaking my head and thinking: 'How the hell did that happen again?' Ruthless: Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas finishes to punish Aston VillaOver the years, Sir Alex Ferguson's teams have liked nothing more than the opposition to have control of the ball in the Manchester United half. They wait, like a cobra, and then they strike. Opponents have pressed forward, started taking risks. The full backs advance, the midfielders look to join the forwards and overload in attacking areas. Then one loose pass and it invites a counter-attacking response.We saw what happened next at Hull. The ball arrived with Wayne Rooney and it was suddenly 3-1, game over. It was the same at Arsenal, where Aston Villa's James Milner lost possession with a sloppy pass. A long ball to Theo Walcott, a measured delivery into Cesc Fabregas and it was 2-0. Game over: Manchester United's Wayne Rooney scores against HullTwo examples in one day of counter-attacking football at its most ruthless. You can only execute it with quick footballers; quick moving and quick thinking. Movement, touch and speed are required, with players such as Rooney and Andrey Arshavin drifting into space. The best players find it easily. Cristiano Ronaldo was brilliant at it, as he proved when he scored that breakaway goal at the Emirates in last season's Champions League - defence to attack in just a few long strides. I remember, as a kid, seeing Trevor Brooking playing for West Ham and England and waiting off the back of his marker. Some people think it is being lazy, but impact players are clever, adopting the position to take advantage when their moment arrives. The game has changed. Goals like the one scored by Sunderland's Darren Bent against Everton on Boxing Day, winning the flick-on and then running on to the resulting cross, are now few and far between. Teams are playing without traditional centre forwards. The counter-attacking style, waiting for the ball and then springing out fast, emphasises that defenders and holding midfielders are there to win the ball and the superstars - like Rooney and Fabregas - are there to win the game.  Secrets of rapid Wayne Rooney's success: How Manchester United and Arsenal are kings of the counter attackVIDEO SPECIAL: Great counter-attacking goals from down the yearsHull City 1 Man United 3: Rooney runs the show.and Wiley lends a hand, tooArsenal 3 Aston Villa 0: Substitute Cesc Fabregas fires title warning to Chelsea and Manchester United  

Source: Daily_Mail