Getting knocked out of the Cup by Liverpool is never a pleasant experience, but the last time it happened the event was totally overshadowed by a sickening injury to fans’ favourite, Alan Smith.
When blocking a freekick taken by John Arne Riise, he dislocated his ankle and broke his leg.
By coincidence, Smith was in the crowd on Tuesday night and witnessed first hand the injury Antonio Valencia suffered, which is obviously something he can relate to.
“I can relate to what Antonio is going through,” said Smith. “There’s no getting away from the fact it is a hard road back from an injury like that but with determination, you can do it. It means weeks of doing virtually nothing then long days with the specialists, the physios and in the gym building your ankle up before you can even think about kicking a ball again. But the thought of being able to get back on the field is what keeps you going, no matter how far away that day may seem. Valencia is in good hands. United’s medical team are excellent and always keep your spirits up. He will get so much support from the fans too. They were always sending me messages while I was out and I’m sure it will be the same for Antonio. I really felt for him and it brought back memories of my injury at Anfield. It’s strange sometimes what causes serious injuries. Mine was caused by blocking a free-kick when there was no one near me. I just hope, like everyone in football, that Antonio can work his way through rehab and wish him all the best for a complete recovery.”
Man Utd News 24/7
Ok I’ve got get this off my chest, not withstanding his laudable comments above, I never got Alan Smith and I still don’t get why our fans love him so much, he was never that bloody good and it was a mistake when SAF bought him. So he ran around a lot and put himself about, so fucking what, thats the least you expect from someone with as little skill as he had.
Rant over
Watching both of these injuries ranks among my worst United experiences ever.
I like Alan Smith a lot. I just hope that Antonio makes a better comeback for us than Smudge. Smith was ever the same. Apart from that one night against Roma.
Reserve match v astonvilla on stream Justin tv.
I got Alan Smith. Maybe my user name explains a bit of it. I don’t tend to be ennanmored with the show ponies. For instance, I can enjoy Nani and scream his name, but won’t be havin’ him on my shirt. For me, the gritty guy who makes ferries like Torres piss his pants. Yup, I think I got Alan Smith just fine.
i still love smith because he dedicated his time in united.wishing him all the best.
No I get Flethcer, plus he’s one of our own and miles better than smith and cost us nowt, we shouldn’t be spending money on a water carrier like smith, I dont think anyone was ever scared of Smith, Keane yes, Smith dont make me laugh!
alinaabbamanchesterunited dedicated his time, not sure what you mean, he was ok, on some occasions he had a good game, he was a good if limited pro, so I’m not trying to him down I just dont understand the veneration he gets, I think people try to rewrite history though it is true nostalgia is always viewed in soft focus.
@paryrheid
Can’t watch the game. Do keep us updated. Thanks
Damn typo…sorry PARRYHEID
Well said, our fans will support Valencia and keep his spirits high but I don’t think we should think that he’ll be back this season, it’s too early. Give him the summer and pre-season to get up to speed then start introducing him from then on.
I do hope he makes it back, but you gotta worry for a player that while skilfull is all about pace and power, fingers crossed for him.
The dippers are resting the majority of their players.
wouldnt you willierednut, so when we beat them they can have no excuses!!! come on utd, are you going?
So Liverpool followed our example. Resting players in September? They are not made out of sugar ffs.
mattbw7 – Not surprised the dipps are resting their best players, and sadly i won’t be there.
sos willie, I’ll wave from the stretty (2nd tier) cant fucking wait, its one of the reasons i cant give up the st
mattbw7 – To be fair, if had a ST, i wouldn’t give it up either, Glazers or no glazers.
3 0 villa good game but they’re bossing us all over no time to settle.
Yeah he is in safe hands but unfortunately after these kind of injuries it is quite difficult to get back to the level you were previously. Hoping that tony can make it. Best of luck tony.
Off-Topic – Has the reserve match started??
If yes, anyone watching that. Please keep updating about the match!
Thanks parryheid.
I should have refreshed before posting.
Anyways anyone playing good for us. Although seeing the scoreline it might be difficult to find out positives in the performance.
Liverpool 1-1 Steua
Still 3 nowt could and should have been at least six a proper gubbing Obertan playing well also Eikram but were getting steamrollered.
parryheid – what feedback on Bebe?
hope he has a good n quick recovery n be back on action asap…
3-1 Sub Ajose.
4-1 full time. Bebe our best player by far. Suprised by him doesn’t do much fancy footwork similar to Valencia, receives the ball and delivers early cross staright away. Promising signs
Red devil 19… U kidding… I’ve just watched that game… Bebe was most certainly not our best player! He wasn’t bad and delivered some nice crosses but saying he was our best player by far is way off!
man united lost 4-1 toinght bebe looked pormosing he got crosses in early and had a bags of paste and oiuck feet as for alan smith smiyh loves united true and true thats why united fans loved hin
Lost the stream totally.Bebe put in five crosses begging to be finished of but not one player there at all he done his bit but we were roasted and I didnt see the end of the game.
what do you make of the player for villa he scored frist goal and hit the bar , he looks class maybe fergie might bid for him
Daily Mail on Bebe’s case again. Wonder what happened to the principle of unbiased reporting…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1312739/Bebe-dire-Manchester-United-debut–7-4m-striker-makes-reserves-bow.html?
mattbw7 See your point actually. We agree on one point surely, that we are much better off with Fletch at the end of the day. Think Smithy was popular because of his commitment and graft, if not for his craft. He wasn’t Roy Keane. Still, I enjoyed his commitment. Some criticized him for his Leeds roots. I think he made up for that and his statements here show that he has some fond memories. Marks to him for supporting Valencia with encouragement.
@Arijc the article smacks of a prjudiced min, the writer gives the impression that he already had what he was gonna publish written down before the game, the only way Bebe was going to get a different story was to score a hatrick and assist at least two other goals! The best thing we can do is to keep ignoring the mugs in their doomed campaign to label Bebe a failed signing by Fergie. Yeah like he was bought to be a world beater this season. Their hate makes us stronger.
Lay off Bebe you lousy Daily Mail bastards.
@arijc
Unbiased? They didn’t even have the guts to say who wrote this piece.
arijc Agree that was a very biased review. Agree that Villa bossed the midfield, but to say Bebe was dire is a complete distortion. Hope you guys sign in and tell that piece of crap what you think of his reporting.
*prejudiced
could be interesting if ferguson makes a move for ninis in january because valencia is out.
That guy is called Bannon a sort of reincarnated Gordon Strachan was everywhere and behind all that was good for Villa.dont think SAF would go for him after all Strachan was out the door pronto once SAF arrived.No one on the United team got the opportunity to excell they were totally snuffed out so much so I did not see Villa’s goalie actually make a save.Say’s it all really.
I don’t get this. They write a pile of bs about Bebe, Ferguson tears them a new one as a result and they are still targeting the kid. Gutless jerks.
@Zelh
Doubtful. Ninis wouldn’t be ready to replace Valencia anyway. It’d be better to give Obertan a chance.
Costas, We might make a move, but still see the injury as an opportunity for Nani on the right.
Some have suggested this is the chance for Fabio to be placed infront of Evra. I like that idea a lot.
Also feel the left will open opportunities for battle royal between Anderson, Obertan and Machada to get back in it. Hope they all do well. Lots of fun for us fans guessing who might get the job!
@ Costas
i don’t know much about Ninis.
just saw a few games.
Well imo Obertan is a really talented player, but i doubt that he is ready for first team football.
@FletchTHEMAN
Rooney could play on either wing too. But that really is a desperation scenario. I would actually go with Evra as a left winger with Fabio behind him. Evra has a better final ball I think. But if someone is going to step up, it will probably be Obertan. I hope he does.
@Zelh
Well, he needs games and hopefully he will start feeling more comfortable. Ninis still needs a lot of work just to make the jump to the Premier League.
@ Costas
I would appreciated to see Obertan running down the wing with Evra, but i don’t believe Ferguson will give him mutch gametime.
On the other side GIggsy can’t play every game and i hope i don’t have to see Park on the Wing.
he’s much better in a central position off the striker.
For those thinking Barry Bannon is a target, I think it is a bit naieve, his is 20 years old but still needs alot of work. He is a Scottish U21 but hasn’t had been selected very often. Villa sent him off on loans to Championship teams in the last 2 years. Didn’t seem to impress much given the number of starts while on loan. Not much a fan of really short forwards myself. Roo actually has a good 2-3 inches on this kid.
Just watched the Bebe highlights on MUTV. Not bad. Raw talent like SAF said, just needs molding. He’s like an odd mix of Obertan and Valencia: has decent legover skill like Gabby, but doesn’t waste time to put in an early cross like Tony. Some real wicked crosses but no one got on the end of them. If someone of Rooney’s quality was lurking in the box it would have been a different story.
That DailyMail was absolute bollocks.
Interesting interview with Steve Bruce worrying about the new “bladed” footwear. Don’t know much about this myself. Was Antonio wearing blades. Is Old Trafford one of the hard turf pitches that Bruce is concerned about?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/16/steve-bruce-boots-injuries
These are the boots Bruce is talking about. Blades, not studs.
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2010/9/14/1284504281429/valencia-injury-006.jpg
Also: http://www.questionhub.com/YahooAnswers/20080227054927AAkew6L
Interesting response #2: “A lot of places/teams (including the Manchester United training ground) no longer allow blades because they are so dangerous.”
Don’t know what to make of it. But Brucy might have a point.
cheers for that for for got his name. intersting day 20morrow fergie press confernce in the last two confernce he attacked the media will we do the sanme 20morrow. aslo nins good player barca are keeing on him to rather we sign him january i think we wont maybe sign and then loan back to greece like we did with smalling last january
Daily Mail is a facist newspaper run by total cunts.
@ChuBoi
chicharito would be licking his lips with those crosses bebe put in tonight… i thought bebe and obertan both made strong cases for themseleves…. looking good and looks like we dont have to worry about the wings… obertan and bebe would easily slot in on the left or right… they both have what giggs or park do not… which is SPEED, whether its running wise or quick feet… speed is essential for a winger these days and they both have it
@FletchTHEMAN, your another one of those english fans who hail hardwork and grit over flair and imagination, when will you learn that the players who do all the running and offer nothing else will never get you far,
if we had two darren fletcher’s in midfield, we would severely lack creativity, i appreciate players who track back and put in the defensive work but then i appreciate players with flair, imagination, brilliance and unpredictability even more, this are the players who make the difference.
I’m sorry but smith was an average striker, had the work rate but nothing more, if he was leading the line at old trafford now, we’d be struggling to finish 7th, there’s a reason why he’s being demoted to midfield and turned into a workman like hacker for newcastle, i guess you gotta make good use of the limited talents you have with hardwork.
After saying all that, i appreciate is concerns for the health of antonio valencia and wish him a speedy recovery.
@ linvoy
Watched the whole 90 mins mate.
Bebe was indeed our best player but that wasn’t saying much about the rest of the team
Daily mail are just bitter that one of there journalist has being banned from united, i just find it odd that they seem to be very interested on how bebe plays, talk about obsession, its even more sad they dedicated time to watch united’s reserves and write such negative article, the young player has just played his first match for reserves and judging by united fans comments, he done well so i don’t understand such an article, tabloids in this country do have very low standards.
Comparisons with the Smith injury worry me. He has never really recovered. I really hope Tony has a speedy and successful recovery. He has been one of our most consistent players over the last season.
samuel, Don’t think I am saying that at all. Maybe you missed my follow up at 22:01. I basically agree with you that we are far better off without Alan Smith. Completely agree with you that skills are essential. Just saying that some of us appreciate grit.
Fucking hell they took their time
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1312739/Bebe-dire-Manchester-United-debut–7-4m-striker-makes-reserves-bow.html
Yeah regarding Bebe, I think he’s being treated unfairly by the media. It’s not his fault United bought him for 7.4M. These so called journalist would do anything to get attention. Here we call them attention-seeking-whore.
Note: The reporter did not even dare to put his name there.. only goes by SPORTSMAIL REPORTER .. I mean talking about being a chicken sh*t
Valencia was not wearing blades, saw the injury pic in the sun, he was wearing adidas with normal studs
@FletchTheman, my bad for misunderstanding your comment, i think a combination of grit determination and hardwork added technical abilities is the ideal combination, maybe rooney is an example of this but suppose he hasn’t being in the best of forms lately.
Perhaps sir alex should chuck bebe into the first team, it would be great if he could prove those doubters wrong, seeing as valencia is out for a while, maybe time for him and obertan to battle for the wing positions, bebe seems a good crosser of the ball and isn’t that primarily what valencia gave us? Plus bebe is two footed and with a bit more skill, so don’t see why not give him a chance.
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/200055/Owen-Coyle-hurt-by-two-sides-of-Wenger
Great. First Big Sam now Coyle has a go at him. Bloody hell, Big Sam really does have a point.
Like the Bruce quote…
Bruce, who managed Valencia during the pair’s days at Wigan Athletic, was left depressed. “You never want to see that. It’s scary shit. But I know Antonio very well and if anyone can get back from that it will be him. He’s one of the most dedicated kids I’ve ever worked with. He’s strong and as tough as they come but he’ll need to be; it’s an awful injury.”
As for the Daily (HATE) Mail. I’m not surprised, that’s the kind of crap they spout all the time!
First and foremost I want to wish AV a speedy recovery, I hate it when players get seriously injured, I would never wish it even on the most hated of players….
As for the article on Bebe in the daily shit mail, I urge all posters here to log in and respond to the idiot who wrote it, it is obvious that it was written even before kick off. I have already logged in and gave the writer a piece of my mind.
I did see highlights of the game and I was very impressed with Bebe…….
United till I die
Something else about the Daily Fail’s article. It says that Bebe’s last game was at Portugal’s 3rd division. I am pretty sure he played and scored for Portugal’s U21 2 weeks ago.
No wonder the English press is the laughing stock of Europe…
Did anyone get to the reseverve to see Bebe, I read the mail report and if you notice no reporter has put thier name to it, a classic tactic when writing a spoiler as no one can be called to task later.
I made a comment on thier page but I’ll be amazed if it gets posted, they have thier agenda and its to sell papers
what’s with the media’s obsession with bebe??I just dont get it..pathetic journalism..someone should knock some sense into the reporter who wrote that dreadful article..
What else do you expect from the English press?I try so hard to restrict myself to this site to control my disgust at the terrible anti-United stuff elsewhere,but sometimes it just comes searching for me.dire debut?its terrible journalism to the max.don’t know what up with the press vs Bebe.They just wish that Sir Alex signed a flop.
News from the press conference via our official website:
Sir Alex hopes Antonio Valencia can return “at the end of February, which is better than we first thought on Tuesday night.” Sir Alex is confident the Reds can cope without the Ecuadorian: “It’s a blow but in the context of the squad we have we should cope with it. We have players like Nani, Giggs, Park, Obertan, Bebe… there are options there.”
Sir Alex added that Dimitar Berbatov “is expressing himself very well this season and he’ll play on Sunday.” Everyone is fit.
Sir Alex also reflected on the team changes against Rangers: “We took a calculated risk and we still had enough big players to get a result. Now we look forward to Sunday. It’s a different game. I don’t think Liverpool play five at the back. Maybe six!”
The boss also hailed Rio’s return to action. “He acquitted himself well. He was very positive in his game, so we’ll see how he recovers from that as it was his first match in quite a while.”
@Mattbw7
My comment was never posted, do not be surprised if yours does not either. Mind you, mine was not rude, had no swear words but merely objective……..
Ass holes
Anonymous debut was just an exaggeration of the highest order, bebe performed well, he got fantastic crosses in and if the reserves strikers had there shooting boots on, he’d have had at least four assists.
nani told bebe that trying to do everything at once (e.g alot tricks with no end product) is not a good idea and i think bebe took his advice.
Shows how much the daily mail know when they claim he is a striker when in fact he is a winger that can play up front occasionally (like c ronaldo), definitely talent there that can be refined and turned into a powerhouse attacking winger with technical abilities but needs time to adapt .
Judging by his comments as wel, he is prepared to work hard and it would be a fairy tale if he makes it and become a superstar, those dickheads at the daily mail can then put there head down in shame.
They’re lucky bebe can’t read or speak english yet, maybe he’d have gone into there office and give them a few words but i don’t think he is bothered one single bit what some bitter fool in the tabloids write about him, would only make him more determined.
Good lad Smudger.
Was a shame we lost his dedication and professionalism.
Unlucky to played repeatedly out of position.
utd4life – It’s nothing to do with Bebe mate, two of the guys writing this shite are banned from SAF press conferences, that’s the real reason.
just saw the video snippet showing bebe’s outing against villa..I’m sure that reporter was blind because even a monkey could have written a much better article..
anyways I hope SAF uses him against scunthorpe..it would give us a good idea about how much he has progressed..can he put in crosses with his left foot??because I only saw him whip in delightful crosses(which should have been buried) with his right foot..
@willierednut
What guys? No one had the balls to leave his signature at the top of that article.
Don’t know who they are, but SAF mentioned something about this the other week. The Daily Mail have a grudge against the boss, that’s why there continuing their attacks against the club.
Them and the BBC.had to laugh on the eve of the new season Lineker talking about We and Us regarding Sir Alec giving out match analysis post match.HaH.