Manchester United take on Tottenham Hotspur in tonight’s League Cup quarter-final, the team we beat to win the competition back in February.
The teams were evenly matched in the final. The talking points from that day? 1. Cristiano Ronaldo got booked for diving after he was fouled in the box and Ledley King shamefully applauded the referee’s decision, knowing full well it should have been a penalty. 2. Aaron Lennon ran riot down the right wing with Patrice Evra doing little to stop him. 3. Ben Foster was the penalty shoot out hero, winning the League Cup for United.
But who will be victorious tonight?
Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed we will be seeing a similar team to the one beaten by Besiktas at Old Trafford last week. With one eye on West Ham away at the weekend, it makes sense. Although you do have to wonder how much luck our lads will have against top four hopefulls Spurs when they struggled against that Turkish side.
Hopefully, Harry Redknapp will have one eye on the weekend too, as his team travel to Merseyside to take on Everton, who are surely due a result. Which means more to Spurs? A trophy or a top four finish? Redknapp knows the answer to that one and will pick his team accordingly. To even things out slightly, I’m of course hoping he saves some of his first choice players for the weekend.
Danny Welbeck and Federio Macheda will be hoping to be first choice for the manager again, although after failing to produce any real moments of magic last week maybe their places will be up for grabs. Michael Owen would be all too willing to fill one, as would Dimitar Berbatov. Berbatov was an unused sub in our 4-1 win over Portsmouth at the weekend, after not playing since the end of October against Blackburn, where he scored our opening goal. Will the manager shift Welbeck to the wing to accomodate Berbatov or Owen or both? Quite possibly.
We’ll be looking for more from Darron Gibson, who failed to impress as we’d hoped last week. Anderson is now probably below Carrick, Fletcher and Scholes in pecking order, so will need to come up with the goods if chosen again tonight.
Tonight could possibly see the return of Nani, a player Sir Alex Ferguson has repeatedly insisted is not for sale, despite rumours of a falling out. The winger hasn’t played for a whole month, missing our matches against Chelsea, Everton, Besiktas and Portsmouth, and with Valencia and Obertan putting in some impressive displays, Nani really does have a point to prove if he wants to stay at this club.
Tonight will be a difficult one for United, no doubt, but hopefully our youngsters can prove the manager right.
Betfair offers a free £25 bet and you can place bets as the match is being played, depending on who you fancy to grab a goal.
last night was arguably his best game, although up until united scored (even until the second) we were being overrun by a spurs midfield. which was worrying.
I also believe that Darron requires an lot more work, but as i said yesterday, he is doing just fine fir his age. Think about midfielders like Lampard and Keane and how long it took them to reach their peak. Not to mention a certain Darren Fletcher…
Also i would like to add that we have to be very careful with the critisism of our players this season. Foster and Nani in particular have got a lot of stick(i am not excluding myself from those who do it), but we have to remember that the current squad was chosen by Fergie. He really believes in it. He had the Ronaldo money to go and buy a goalkeeper, a midfield enforcer or a highly rated winger if he wanted, but he stuck with this bunch. It’s his risk and hopefully he will be rewarded for it.
Oh that cunt collymore got involved aswell then he fucked me off saying that what Strauss achieved as England captain was not worthy of being sports personality because what he achieved – being the main man in an ashes winning team wasn’t a great world sporting achievement, whether u like cricket or not winning the ashes is a massive deal in this country it’s one of our national sports for Christ sakes!!
They come out with such utter that I’m sure even they don’t believe!!
Sorry everyone for the rants but I’m still fucked off at the lack of respect that was shown to someone who’s the greatest premier league player ever!!
doncobaino – Why is it worrying pal? Our midfield consisted of three young lads and Park whilst their’s was pretty much full strength. Once we switched to three in the middle second half we dominated.
Costas – Good post and morning mate. Even Fergie though looks to have given up on Nani. Is this to teach him a lesson though or will he be going in January do you think? I reckon he will stay but he really needs to knuckle down. Tosic even didn’t put a foot wrong when he came on and put a cracking ball through to Wellbeck.
Any news today Scott ?
How about Macheda has just signed a 4 year extension. Great news. I thought he did well when he came on last night. We looked a hell of a lot more dangerous going forward when he came on and switched Danny to the flank.
YEs Kiko Macheda is my favourite amongst the young players, he’s the only no.9 in our whole squad at the moment.. I just hope he progresses to the top level..
Tony Starks – I am sure he will mate. Great pace and showed superb strength last night a few times.
@Wazza
Tosic was not included in the champions league squad due to the restrictions on none EU players in squads.
Which is a shame really because he starts for his country but not quite ready for United?
@Theres Only One Keane
Grognard and his incesent moaning, bitching, and inhibility to accept a good counter arguement is the single greatest reason I stopped going on redrants.com. Red Ranter has on numerous occassions had to put him straight. Grognard is cnut of the highest proportions.
That coupled with not enough stories being posted in a day on the website itself.
@Tony Starks
4-3-3 rules! Shame is that since Ronnie left we don’t quite have the players to make it work as well now. If Valencia and Giggs were better at shooting and scoring we could make it work once again. I don’t think Berbatov fits in well to a 4-3-3 either.
It was worrying, BUT then united got to grips and i thought anderson shone, which is good. so a plus can be taken that united weathered the storm and ended up winning the game comfortably. No doubt about it this is one of the best groups of youngsters we have had in a while. forwards, midfield and defence, we have promising youngsters all coming through.
…in all positions i mean.
@King Eric: Hi mate. The Nani situation is a weird one. I don’t think Fergie has given up on him from an ability standpoint. I think that Nani’s comments are still stinging a bit. Nani hasn’t featured in the last 4-5 games and i think it’s for that reason. As for your question, it’s tough to say. Fergie has offlaoded players in the past due their public comments. Jaap Stam comes to mind. But in this case, Fergie might also see it as a challenge to bring out the best in Nani. I don’t think he has given up on that just yet,
Oh and of course the news from Kiko are great. I said last week that he hasn’t been able to recreate the magic from last season just yet, but he is a raw talent and he has great potential. In Kiko, Welbeck and Gibson we have 3 youngsters who ae developing quite impressively. Welbeck for example has that Henry ball control,Kiko’s body movements are very impressive and Gibson is already becoming famous for his shooting ability. It’s not easy to develop your abilities at such a young age. For example, after Nicky Butt, none of our other academy midfielders made it. And for a while, Fletcher looked like following that pattern. At the same time Macheda and Welbeck are the first academy strikers that have a chance at making it at the first team since Scholes(even though he became a midfielder later on). What i am saying, is that recently we haven’t had a good track record at bringing midfielders and attackers through the academy. This is the first class in the last 15 years that shows real promise.
Berbatov was as slick as the fonzes hairdo yesterday
ghtt
more like fucking jedward…only messing!
Ulster Red
I heard with liverpools season failing by the match days torres is looking for a life line out with a tube of hair gel and a ferjedward Pocket full of dreams
ghtt
torres doesnt use gell, he gets stevie me and our jamie to reinact thers ’something about mary’
@costas spot on about the quality of the 3 you mentioned! Plus there’s alot more in the youth and reserve teams at the minute!!
Ulster Red
I bet carra uses the poster of Sir Alex he hides under his mattress j=hidin from the eyes of the FSW
lol you def could be on to something there, a poster for every title winning year
Welbz19
I dont think Ive ever seen such a strong reserve team. There is so many stand out players apart from the days were there would be 2/3 you’d see that would make you sit up and take note but uniteds reseves has about 8 or 9
plus tom cleverly doing really well at watford
Ulster Red
just to mix that sentance up abit to take credit for it
Watford are doingwell because of Tom Cleverly
They’d be bobbing in the bottom if it wasnt for that guy
9th is strong for them
speaking of the youth that will make it in the future heres Wazza with a top read http://wazzasaidso.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/corry-evans-hope-to-make-it-big-one-day/
well they are both doing well, he has been scoring plenty of goals, do you think we will see llajic (forgive spelling if wrong) much in the first squad or will he be like tosic and hardly get a look in?
ghtt
good read hopefull for him aswell, this is no joke i knew jonny played for Greenisland FC and he was the same age group as me, i played for hillsborough boys who where in the same league as greenisland im near certain that i would have played against him at some age group, also i tell the mates that i tortured him lol
I dont understand the underline stick Sir Alex gets on this site because of the fact that tosic doesnt play more in the first team. who will replace ? take Giggs out for him. Hes been used sparingly with other compitutions playing in the reserves alot and he can grow. He’s Giggs for the future but at the moment United have a Giggs. Llajic will play the same as Tosic id say when he gets hear but from what Ive been told by a celtic scout That he’s gonna be excellent in his words “if he develops as he should United could sell him on for 80million again” If this was all truth then He could well get an Obertan enterance into the side
its not stick fuck sake its just most people on here would have thought they would have seen a bit more of him
just read this on the times
One to watch
On the subject of talented youngsters at Old Trafford, keep an eye on Ravel Morrison. I was speaking to a prominent figure at another leading Barclays Premier League club a few weeks ago who was positively frothing at the mouth talking about the 16-year-old midfield player.
We in the media are too often guilty of talking up a player too much, too soon, but Morrison is a hugely gifted individual, with a remarkable turn of pace, close control and a keen eye for goal.
In time, he could become that most precious commodity – a free-scoring midfield player. And United haven’t had one of those since Paul Scholes was in his pomp. [Cristiano Ronaldo, for all intents and purposes, is a forward]. Better still, Morrison is from the tough Manchester district of Wythenshawe, where his name attracts a buzz of excitement and he’s already attracting quite a following on YouTube
anyone got any views on the guy?
doncobaino
Ravel Morrison is fast quick feet smart and has a crisp powerful shot . Not a slagging cause I like the 2 guys but he’s like a young defoe with a bigger frame
@Gotta hate tiny tears
I too am shocked by the stick not only fergie gets but from some of our fans!
Its quite funny on game days during the matches when were all watching online. Somepeople are calling for players to be substituted after bad passes and such!
For me with regards to Tosic – Who is in a better position to judge when he will be given first team football. Alex Fergusion who watches him in training, Gets reports on him from all his coache & who has the most footballing managerial experience on the planet -…….. Or one of our Supporters (probably never played football to semi professional level never mind management!)
Nani – I fear time is close to being up for Nani. He hasnt been able produce steady performances. He doesnt look consistant enough just yet & looks to have a public fall out with the gaffer!… Some fans want him shiped out straight away and some might want him shot!…… I would love to give him some more time, i honestly think he is going to be a cracking winger in years to come!……..Do we have the time to wait? That i dont know!
Critism of Giggs and Scholes – Any mathces where giggs and Scholes play and the result isnt going well. They are the first to be singled out! In Matches where they have had an off day and although every player has them……… For me they still have something to give to this team. Fergie is the best to judge!
Parting note!
In Fergie we should Trust!
saw Morrison play really well against Chelsea in FA Youth last year, don’t think he’s been as impressive as everyone says in the academy this year.. I think he would do well playing with first team players..
@trevor – “In Fergie we should trust.” Don’t think anyone can say it better than that.
I DID watch the game yesterday although I did miss the games v. Besiktas and Portsmouth.
Last night UTD gave a very tidy performance, with Anderson and Vidic playing exceptionally well (in a highly-visible kind of way) and Wesley Brown doing a kind of ghost-in-the-machine job of sorting out danger. Gibson’s two strikes were excellent – they had to be because the forward play was again not-inspriring. (I’m not slating Berbatov but he was not playing centrally and forward while Welbeck still needs too many touches, most of the time.) I liked the more agressive forward play that happened when KikoTheKid came on. The news that he has signed a four-year contract is most welcome because I’m thinking that by the end of 2010 he could very well be the “first-choice” center-forward, partnering Wayne Rooney – or playing in front of Rooney/Berbatov.
Kuszczak did well in goal, too. It would appear that Ben Foster has let his chance slip through his fingers. Hopefully, Edwin will decide that he wants to continue playing.
I also watched the RentBoyz toy with TheArse on Sunday. Much as I hate to admit it, they have been pretty impressive for the most part – but I take heart from knowing that they’ve also been fairly lucky with injuries to their “spine” and have gotten the rub-of-the-green on crucial refereeing decisions in their most important win so far. The press always want to big-up a non-UTD team – and to be able to big-up a London team is sheer joy for them. So, I usually take what I read online with a sprinkle of salt, preferring to believe my own eyes and my own eyes saw that UTD more-than-matched them a few weeks ago, on the road but were jobbed out of three points by poor refereeing. It’s not the first time – and it won’t be the last time – that poor refereeing has a serious impact (and I’m not Irish !).
Travor bang on mate I read it all the time on this wheres nani why isnt brown back in the first team yet whats up with tosic why isny de leat in the champions league team, all questions to be asked by fans if you want some enlightenment but then they end with those 4 words you used “in fergie we trust”
@ghtt couldn’t agree more! I have a friend playing for the reserves so I go regular and the quality of football that the young lads play is immense! Was talking about it with friends trying to guess which players would make it as first teamers and we went thru the whole team and made strong arguments on about 7 or 8 of them making it as at worst premiership players!! Standouts for me James, drinkwater (who was doing very well at Huddersfield until he picked up his injury) king, eikrem, c.Evans (as a centre half) dudgeon, cleverley!! So much strength!!
What about Tom Cleverley guys? I know he is on loan now, but how did he fare in the Reserves the last few seasons? Is he someone that can break into the first team?
Costas-simple answer is yes
Welbz19 -how could you forget brandy
@costas I think he’s got a real chance! His loan only runs until jan so hopefully he can get a few games in the first team 2nd half if the season! As for when he was in the reserves first season as a reserve player he played full back and looked very average IMO! but since he’s moved into midfield he’s looked very good!
Ghtt – Ye forgot brandy unbelievably quick, sure I forgot a load more aswell didn’t even think about the acadamy! Frightning the talent coming thru at that level Morrison, cofie, tunicliffe, keane, pogba, fryers, brown, plus more that I can’t think of right now!!
That’s the different between us and everyone else we make class they try to buy it
Thanks for the answers GHTT and Welbz19.
I have a special place in my heart for the kid. He scored in the only United game i had the pleasure of watching at OT. He has to make it!
Denton, Bang on as always! and as always, we shall overcome!!