Albert Morgan has reflected on the impact Eric Cantona had on the club, particularly the youngsters that were coming through the ranks, with the likes of Scholes, Beckham, Butt and the Nevilles sharing his dedication to hard work and improvement.
“He was a big influence on the other lads because he was the first one I met who’d be out practicing in the afternoon,” he said. “Scholes, Becks, the Nevilles and all their generation were in awe of him. He’d be in The Cliff banging a ball against a wall, perfecting his skills – I can always remember being away for the cup final against Liverpool. We were staying at a place called Oakley Court in Windsor, and all the staff were having the usual meal on the Friday night with the manager when I just saw this ground floor window opening in the hotel, and next thing I know there’s a leg coming out of it. Then another, and then this body slipped down the wall and it was Eric. I just said to the manager ‘What’s going on here?’ and of course the manager looked across and we both just started laughing as Eric was doing stretches and exercises against the wall – he had his leg up on the window sill and all. He did that for about ten minutes, climbed back up the wall, shut the window and was off to sleep.”
After Cantona left the club, it was Beckham that inherited the #7 shirt, having been greatly influenced by the Frenchman.
“Robbo was around when Eric came in but it was really Eric who kicked it all off,” he said. “I can remember David Beckham when Eric left – he was desperate for that number 7 shirt, absolutely desperate, and he did very well in it when he got it. Eric though was the one that clicked everything together, I don’t like to say he was the final piece in the jigsaw but he was a massive, massive piece in the jigsaw, that’s for sure.”
Albert Morgan was speaking at the launch of the no. 7-inspired Manchester United Collection which is available from www.nike.com.
Man Utd News 24/7
oh the man who got fall head over heels for Manchester United.
Ooh Ah Cantona
I love this club
I’ll reiterate a rather simple and obvious point.
Regardless of the fact that Nani was unjustly sent off, one expects a team of experts sitting on our bench to have a game plan ready if such an event should occur. Having won numerous accolades in their time, they should boast about their ability to adapt to novel situations, instead of pointlessly (it is pointless, isn’t it?) whinging.
We were 1-0 up when Nani was sent off, meaning we could have been reorganized to hold on to a result which can be described as fragile, but still desirable. Other teams managed to do it against stronger opposition, and Real certainly weren’t riding a high and beautiful wave up until Modric came on. Why didn’t we change our strategy immediately?
It seems to me as if Ferguson had given up once Nani was sent off. As if he knew he would eventually lose to Mourinho and was happy to acquire the victim status. I can see no reasonable explanation for his decision to do absolutely nothing until we were 2-1 down. He had to have seen wave after wave of their attacks and known it was only going to get worse with time.
The point is this – the game wasn’t lost when Nani was sent off. The game was lost when we conceded the second goal. If our manager had spent a few crucial moments after the sending off devising a plan instead of berating the referee, we still might have been in the competition.
Blind loyalty and lack of constructive self criticism will drive some of you to vehemently disagree, but I don’t want to see anybody type “What would you do in such a situation?” I can tell you right away: I’m not paid five zero sums a week to think what I would do in such a situation. Some people are and they should be doing their jobs. Shit happens in life. Referees make mistakes. You should still be able to deal with it. If Chelsea managed to salvage a draw at Barcelona 2-0 down with 10 men for longer than 45 minutes, you can’t tell me our situation was hopeless and that nothing could have been done.
We were playing more than well, they were lethargic and we were 1-0 up. It was reasonable to expect they would turn it up a notch, and judging by the way our players were constantly looking at the bench, they were seeking guidance that never came. Well, at least not until the tie really became hopeless.
I simply can’t believe none of you are willing to look into our own deficiencies.
I, for one, completely agree with you. I also cant understand why we didnt reorganise after the red.
That’s a great attitude to have. It’s kind of sad that we don’t have many players in the current roster willing to do the same. Nani obviously didn’t want the number 7 shirt and I wonder how warm Valencia was towards the idea.
AntiScouser, Hindsight is always 20/20. You can analyse it in a variety of angles all you want.
The bottom line is we lost. Take it on the chin and move on. We matched a strong RM team, player for player over the two legs until the red card event. Fine, you win some, lose some.
We still have two more trophy to fight for, you don’t want us to fail in those do you? Stop the flaming and get behind the team.
“Ryan Giggs won’t play on Sunday. Why? Because he was the best player we had on Tuesday and we know how to look after him. ” – SAF
When you have the squad that we have… goodness me, I left out Shinji Kagawa who scored a hat-trick, and nobody mentioned that. I thought I might get more criticism for that.”
Crazy that nobody mentioned this haha, imagine Kagawa, how he is feeling, after scoring 3, then not getting a look at. Crazy, only SAF can pull it.
I agree with you, I was discussing with a friend of mine before the game telling him that we should expect a red card and it will surely be a travesty if we haven’t planned about that considering the fact that we were playing against a spanish opposition.
Am gutted that Fergie haven’t learnt anything from our defeat against Bayern in 2010. Why didn’t he re-organise and protect the lead. Under Fergie we seem not to be able to play well again whenever we are down to 10 men. I remembered playing Fulham away and we got red carded I think Paul Scholes? And we were battered and lost the game 3 vs 0.
I think our coaching set up must work out plan on how to play with 10 men for or against. We played city in the F A cup and were leading 3 vs 0 and city when a man down, they should be dead and buried but alas they almost equalised and I kept wondering why we can’t seem to play like that whenever we are a man down. Too rigid I say, too rigid, Fergie sat down there just like he did against Bayern Munich and Yet again we lost at OT from a winning position in the UCL. Am distraught
Don’t know what the gripe is about Valencia. He wears #7 for his country and was last years Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year. Cracking role model for kids all over South America and the world as well.
Quite because he is just getting a handle on the language.
He is coming back to form as well and versatile as the day is long.
Diabolical injury like that takes time.
So he’s not a stuck up and full of himself? Is that the problem.
Both Becks and Cantona make my all time Egotisitical XI. But don’t think that is a requirement for the #7 Shirt.
The fact that we lost a winger not a defender or a DM, meant there was no much to do really, the boss trusted his players and thought they would do a job hence why he didn’t make a substitution, nani was one of our best attacking players alongside giggs and welbeck, also the game hadn’t really cried out for a substitution only thing that happened the players were shattered after that horrendous decision to send nani off, no one but the referee knew what would happen after that collision, the who stadium even the away fans were in shock, quite frankly I doubt it he knew what to do considering how calm and the amount of time he took to reach the place, imo he was instructed to send him off, or maybe I’m wrong, but what’s certain CUNeyT (whatever his name is) got it all bent out of order.
That’s how happened and time we moved on with it
Right, and didn’t TonyV get the goal of the season award for last year or the one before?
although i agree with on our apparent lack of character after the sending off, i dont enjoy discussing it here on King Cantona’s thread
As sad as it sounds, United could do little after the sending off. That’s the price you pay when you fully adapt your formation to that of your opponent’s. You can’t afford to fall a man behind. And Sir Alex had his hands even more tied by the fact that he had no midfielder on the bench. Instead of asking useless questions about Rooney, one of those journos today should have done his job properly and asked where the fuck Anderson was. Again.
I had a bigger issue with how United reacted after Evans’ red against City. But against Real and with that line up? Nah.
If you have DDG whom I rate highly, and the backline containing vida, rio, rafa, evra its pretty much all you can wish for when you’re a man down.
Carrick is by far our best player so far this season, and he was having a great game, welbz was shifted to cover the vacant nani’s player, giggs was on the other wing, carrick was instructed to find van persie whenever he got hold of the ball
That’s exactly how chelsea lined up vs barca, but almost any team does best vs barca when parking the bus, but madrid is a whole different team to what barca is, it is near impossible to keep them out for 30 minutes with the likes of ronaldo, alonso, kaka, iguain…. And the modrics whom no one fancied him to pull the trigger and on his first attempt and find the target, he hit the post, same post that denied us a goal but his went in.
We were just unlucky IMO and credit has to go to their goalie.
We were not unlucky, and I believe we could have won if we were a bit composed and organised and not play the victim card. The Barca side that Inter held at Camp Nou with a man down tore us a new one at Wembley in 2011. We should have at least planned for a red justified or not and play the game and not the occasion. We clearly didn’t have a clue as soon as we were a man down. Also we didn’t take our chances RVP and Rooney should have stepped up and play their heart out, they didn’t and that more than anything contributed to our defeat. Listen, this is Europe and I think we are not ready to take it by the scruff of the neck
Too rigid, yeah right. When willpeople get it into their heads that with a deficit of ten men and on a big pitch, madrid had advantage regardless of what tactical moves fergie pulled. Pack the midfield and there would still be enough gaps for clever players to exploit. Modric and alonso revelled in that, pulling the strings and feeding the likes of ronaldo and higuain which will always put united on the back-foot, madrid have enough qualityin their ranks in order to crack open the defence, their goals also came at crucial times (immediately after nani went off and then 3mins later), that’s what they call a sucker-punch and you can’t plan for that. I think people are still desperately analysing everything in the hope of salvaging an unlikely victory.
The barca side, bayern side… Zzz… I’m falling asleep here, how are these irrelevant games related to the game on tuesday? All different circumstances and actually, united fought well with bayern until robben won it on away goals with a spectacular goal, another goal that would hit row Z 9 out of 10 but it flew in, united weren’t playing the victim card but it would be stupid to assume such an unexpected moment wouldn’t shake up even the most experienced.
Unlikely victory? Am perplexed. Well Inter and the Chavs won an unlikely victory en-route their UCL victory…….. That’s hallmark of a champion if you ask me. And I am not desperate analysing just saying the obvious
Barca always seems to do well against us in a one off game as we are not a team that parks the bus, and our players hardly adapts to such tactics
Am gutted as well and I don’t like saying all this too but if we want to win the UCL we’ve got to start planning for situations like this and how to deal with them …… Two on the bounce now let’s make sure a third doesn’t occur
Peace
What obvious? Easy to sit on a blog and play tactical mastermind and another is making crucial decisions in little time and likei said and will REPEAT again, how are matches that took place 3 and a year ago relevant to the match on tuesday? I’m baffled here. Madrid have all the quality and craft to capitalise on any deficit of players, with ronaldo and higuain, you would be stupid to fly forward and leave gaps, modric and alonso are technical playmakers, they would probe all night looking for a chink in united’s armour, they have the vision and pass accuracy to find their attacking counter-parts at crucial positions, madrid have match winners that inevitably would drag them to a win, it was an unlikely victory although not impossible but with ten men, madrid’s counter attacking style was ideal to do footballing damage, it seemed one of those nights that everything went wrong. It is a desperate way to look for decisions that could have led to united triumphing, i’m frustrated about the game like most but i am not in a delusional zone with them to presume united had some tactical.magic to win that game.
The chelsea and inter sides that you chanting about we set-up to defend regardless, as opposed to them we threw a team to match madrid and we did match them we were just unlucky in the first half, but we came back into the second half firing up until that point where the referee robbed us but still after recovering the shocking decision we didn’t give in, pushed on… Credit to their keeper
Okay, I understand your views. I just hope you understand mine….. Cheers and good luck to us on sunday more to play for.
Inter and chelsea had hard ball players, we had non
After it’s all said and done, Albert Morgen should write a book.
SB
It’s funny because were still on the front foot for most of the match and with ten men, if united had drawn it back to 2-2 then the possibility to win it would increase, perhaps united could have been a little more clinical buti can’t fault the lads, they gave everything.
Bishopville, I would read that! Ha! But only if it got Morgan banned from the locker room
But isn’t it interesting that Nike can only get ol Albert when they ask for someone in the club to help flaunt a new kit?
STOP THE PRESSES says Ladyman? Must be the end of the line for NIKE
So United lost badly on Tuesday.Is it the general consensus on here it was always likeley that we would be unable to beat Real and it was best we saved players for upcoming games.
Anti Scouser is on the wind up, I keep telling you. He DOES make valid points BUT usually back handed compliments or digs at United and Fergie. Were you there on Tuesday? I was and I can tell you the whole ground, stadium, players, fans and Fergie were absolutely shellshocked.
Lexxy – The Fulham game we lost 2 nil and Rooney also got sent off. The 3-0 was when we had Carrick , Pat and De Laet in a back 3 or summat daft.
“And Nani’s performance in wide left against the boy [Alvaro] Arbeloa was terrific.” -SAF
3 games in a row from Nani with the stats of like 1 goal and 3 assists. For the against Madrid I don’t know does it count cause Welbz touched the last, but some are counting it as Nani’s.
And his tracking back has been also terrific agains Reading, QPR and MADRID, yes Madrid, for you that believed on that MYTH that Nani don’t track back and that he’s inconsistent.
The reality ahs been that he has been off-form and still being that, his last season stats were 8+10 and this season since coming into form and back, well the obvious it there.
peace out. and leave those myths out!
Lads,
Have been given 2 tickets by my mates Boss who is a season ticket holder. Problem is they are in his name and one is a junior, which he has upgraded to adult for his wife!>
I have to go to the ticket booth before the game and exchange then, on booking parking today i threw into conversation what i need to exchange the ticket and she said Photographic id!
My mates boss just said to tell them i left my wallet in the hotel. Blah Blah Blah.
Anyone else ever collected tickets from the Ticket Booth under a different name?
I will have all his details, address, name, dob & membership number etc! Along with the Tickets (1 adult 1 child) & reference upgrade code.
Just like a heads up from someone who has done this!
STR so many great articles as of late. Props on separating brain from feelings on a great Rooney article.
Goat great reads a per. LMAO when you were the monitor and said peep should knock Man Utd players then a 3 day Rooney beating. Wow wtf same few Anti, Jeff, Dan88 to name a few. 700 posts on a loss and they claim to be fans. WTF. .
Sunday a big game.
@ King Eric
We had De Laet Carrick n Fletcher as back 3 with Evra n Valencia as wing backs for the 3-0 Fulham game
What on earth is parry rattling on about now?
i’ll be perfectly honest and i’ve played at a decent standard nani if you look looks at arbeloa as soon as the ball is cleared and deicides i’ll get there before him and kill it and if anyones played you’ll see that but nani if you look see see’s him at the last second and changes the angle of his foot and stamps out from @ liverpool supporter whos played for droylesden, curzon ashston, & maine road
how the hell did owen get it?
Cantonaaaaaaaaa -that is an example.
Re Real’s goals – give me a break, what were the odds of Modric making that shot. Ofcourse the lads were rattled, teams like Barca pass a ball in team like RM can fire in wonder shots and overload the box with big strong player, if we have set up JUST to defend like Chelsea and us did v Barca years ago at Camp Nou, it would have been different, we got beat by one flukey goal and Christiano Ronaldo scoring against 10 men, what a surprise.
Anderson would have made the difference, oh lordy me, when was the last time he was effective in a defensive role. Valenia and Young with their defensive skills could make a difference, when Giggs who was great at that tired, Valenica came on, when it was clear Welbeck was not adjusting to LW defence as well Young came on. Rooney, not sure what he bought, I thought Cleverly was doing ok.
Modric shot, from distance, hitting the post and going in – yeah, like he makes those every day and don’t say he should have been closed down better, because with Rooney on and v 11 men at Madrid first leg, Rooney allowed a cross from which Ronnie scores.
With 10 men, Madrid had less fear of the break and more time on the ball, Welbeck was no longer on Xavi’s back, this was ALWAYS going to be lethal. To win we needed 11 players because you cannot just defend against this team and if you do manage to its pure, pure luck.
The changes did not make a difference as much as Madrid scoring 2 and then playing more cautiously to see the game out as they knew we could still counter attack and get a goal. Anyone who thinks the changes would have DEFINITELY made a difference is living in cloud cukoo land.
What would another MF on have done for us? We don’t have another defensive MF.
Ferguson following Cakir’s card. “It cost us the game because if you get a player sent off and he deserves to be sent off the reaction from your players is, ‘Oh, you stupid bugger’. But you still don’t lose your composure.’’ United’s minds were so scrambled by what they saw as injustice that they failed to concentrate. “We lost our composure for that 10-minute period. We were all over the place.’’
SAF – His tactical decision-making in that critical period was not flawed. Ferguson pulled Welbeck back to the left to keep the shape. The real problem was the players’ emotional mindset. Ferguson should have focused on addressing that rather than the fans’ decibel level.
Mourinho acted. “Madrid did brilliantly bringing Luka Modric on,” Ferguson said. “I don’t think they would have brought Modric on if we’d still had 11 men. That 10-minute period was the killer for the boys.’’ Modric and Ronaldo scored in quick succession. “Then we lost the second goal and we were brilliant. We realised that we needed to do something here and the players started playing again.
“We could have scored five goals in the last 15 minutes. If we’d scored a second, we probably would have won it. I think Jose said that himself. There was all this issue with Real about [Iker] Casillas. But Casillas wouldn’t have saved the shots that the boy [Diego] López saved. Going out to Danny Welbeck, going down at Robin van Persie, coming out and whacking [Nemanja] Vidic in the head. Casillas isn’t that type of goalkeeper and that saved them, having that type of goalkeeper. We know we were the better team.
“When you’re at this club a long time, it is not always silver linings. There are always dark moments and bad days. In general we recover very well and we’ll do that again.”
Hilarious re Maureen – Once victory was attained, he did not poke Mike Phelan in the eye as he has done other rival managerial assistants.
@NBI and others
SAF’s comment tells it all, and we saw it, he made those tactical changes, firstly he put Welbeck to the left, but the mindset was scrambled and they los tthe composure, so when the next tactical decision Rooney and the rest of the co was made, the team had already lost 2 goals because they were still at that red-card moment.
Basically, SAF should have (IF’s and But’s part.321) concentrated on talking to the players, but I guess the atmosphere was so great and crazy, that it just.. it’s football. Sometiems it goes like this. The tactical changes were made, but only after the 1-2 goals, so what IF (part.352) Valencia and let’s say Young would have come immediatelly in, after the red-card and kept the composure, because they were subs, and not that involved with the red card?
Anyway, just speculations, I like this topic, because you really can analyse it, but when you think it’ it’s gone and dusted. So for those, that complain about the topic, and that people are only critisising SAF and without a reason, well yes and no, because, yes SAF should have reacted and no, because the game is gone and the moments goes fast, like @NBI said, how many times Modric hits those kinda shots?
NEXT IS CHELSKI, TOP OF THE LEAGUE BABY! bring us that FA-Cup!!!!!!!
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Features/2013/Mar/antonio-valencia-nike-number-seven.aspx?pageNo=1
Nani already coming to his best form, now it’s time to Valencia start banging those crosses and assists even more and show us the directness that he has.
I think @Costas put a great stat about Nani and Valencia playng together, and how we lost only something like 2-5 games out of very many, maybe @Costas can elaborate the issue for us more
That’s why I think we need to get Valencia also back, he’s slowly beginnign to show the signs, hopefully Chelsea will taste it, Valencia aka the TERMINATOR aka the silent killer. peace.
@ WeAreUnited – yeah, time to look forward. Sunday wont be an easy game.
Flippin hell – that Turkish ref Cunt:
- it was raised he is following RM, Ronaldo and Messi on twitter – said its not his real twitter account
- Spanish paper said they interviewed him and he said red card was right and that he was a perfect referee in relation to all his cards and decisions – Turkish FA said he never gave an interview, they actually released a statement.
Someone loves attention me thinks. How is your kung fu these days Eric, what wouldn’t I have given for him to kung fu Cunt there and then.
For God’s sake, someone give him a green card and let him be gone.
haha no disrespect but these are quite funny – terrible but funny (don’t read if you have issues when people say words like retarded):-
Rooney: “Doctor, doctor, I keep overheating during matches because of my new hair.” Doctor: “Try standing next to the fans.”
Wayne Rooney up in court today for stealing Mr Kipling’s bakewells from Asda. His defence lawyer informed the jury Wayne had promised Coleen he wouldn’t pay for any more tarts. This isn’t quite what Sir Alex had in mind when he told Wayne to start banging them in again…
Saw a picture of Wayne Rooney’s kid in The Sun today. Anyone else think he looked a bit like John Terry?
What have Alex Ferguson and a prostitute got in common? They both have to pull Wayne Rooney off after a poor performance.
Rooney wants to go to Juventus – he’ll never turn down an approach from an Old Lady.
See Wayne Rooney kissed his United badge today to show his loyalty and commitment, a bit like when he kisses Coleen before he goes to see a prostitute.
Some King Cantona quotes:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/2377/top-10/2010/11/28/2235602/top-10-eric-cantona-quotes-seagulls-water-carrier-terminator-and-#
- Sometimes you get submerged by emotion. I think it’s very important to express it – which doesn’t necessarily mean hitting someone.
- My best moment? I have a lot of good moments but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan.
- I found leaving Manchester United very, very hard. I always planned to retire when I was at the top and at Manchester United I have reached the pinnacle of my career.
- Manchester United is stronger than anybody in the world.
- “I’m so proud the fans still sing my name, but I fear tomorrow they will stop. I fear it because I love it. And everything you love, you fear you will lose.” (2004)
Sir alex was spot on. Football is not only a physical game but also a mental game. Our players and fans were totally shocked after Nani’s red card and that affected our game for 10 mins and unfortunately for us we conceded 2 goals in that 10 mins. We needed someone to calm the players and play like normal but unfortunately we all were in state of shock. That Happens. You cannot blame anyone for that. But still Sir alex should have acted quickly. SHIT happens we have to move on. Credit to their keeper for having a great game. He was awesome in both legs same was De gea. So credit to both keepers.
I have noticed a thing about RVP that he tends to miss opportunities in crucial moments. Remember he missed a sitter against Milan last season for arsenal after they were leading 3-0. He is a great striker but I feel we should not solely depend on him in big games. This is where I prefer Chicharito. Yeah his all round game is not that great like RVP’s but he is a great finisher. It was very surprising that he did not even feature in both legs. Instead of young he should have come on.
But I have to say we have a great squad. The way we performed in these 2 legs is commendable. We gave our heart out. I can bet in next 2-3 years time we win the champions league . Jones,Cleverley , a scoring Danny welbeck, Rafael,De gea,Smalling,Kagawa,Evans,Hernandez all will become more better player.
Overall I am very proud the way our boys performed. Full marks to them. Now let us knock the chavs out. Win the double.
Morning reds:
Funny that Ian Ladyman is back at it this morning, claiming he got it right about Rooney move speculation
and then going on to claim that OT officials are meeting with Nike today to finalize a move for Ronaldo.
Give me strength Ian.
But there is not a bad read in the Telegraph talking about the bad 10minutes that cost us the game.
Goes on to talk about Fergies claim that we have been deprived of 3 CL finals by ref decisions. Henry Winter doesn’t sound to impressed by those claims.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/9919157/Manchester-United-manager-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-says-Real-Madrid-apologised-for-referee-error.html
A surprising good read from daily fail, although only that tiny para of Sir Alex’s cheeky comment on Benitez has anything to do with us
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2290379/Gareth-Bale-diver–stop-excuses-Why-Luis-Suarez-cheat–DES-KELLY.html
I think the 7 has allways been given to the best player in the team and person wearing the special no 7 shirt allways had character and strong confidence,,i dont thinl valencia has got that in him he is sobber for that ,,,,
for example look at,, best,,robbo,,king eric,,becks,,ronnie,,they all had so much confidence that they carried on their back so many times ,,but respect for tony-v but he can’t do that
Marq – that was a fun read; pertinent too. Plus another classic quote from Fergie!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BEv2udmCQAAWilL.jpg:large
While I do feel that Owen (world player of the year) and Valencia (our player of the year last year and scorer of the best goal of the season) are hardly pansies in the shirt.
That said, one could argue that bad timing is more the problem, and that the game has changed as well. It is clear that we have had more competition for the 9 and 10 shirts, with a couple top candidates for each, so the argument that the game is changed. Sure that Kagawa 7 would sell more shirts than Valencia. But Kagawa really fancies himself a 9/10. But timing plays it’s part.
Scholes would have been my choice. Paul really made a figure in the 18 and probably turned it down. No evidence but you have to think.
Some thought Nani or Anderson should have gotten it, but neither of those lads have really ever seemed to grab the imagination of the manager for me.
It might have been on the table for the supposed bid for Wes Sneijder (only God knows on that one)
It would look silly for the club NOT to have a number 7. I imagine that Valencia, and possibly Owen before, are seen as able “holders” of the most famous kit in the land.
Who knows, what the future might bring. But slagging Owen, or Valencia, does no credit at all to the club and just sounds petty.
I have seen a lot of No 7s over the years. You lot are focused on the Bests, Robos, Cantonas and Ronaldo’s. Who can remember who wore the shirt in 1974? 1984? Right!
Support the lads.
Sorry, meant to go on with that last thought.
My point is, that the set kit number is a recent thing. Before the EPL, kit numbers were passed around to the player of the day. Best actually wore the #11 shirt more than he did the #7 and also wore several other numbers even as a senior player.
It is true that alot has been made of the #7 since Cantona. But everything would sort itself so much easier if we just went back to the old way.
What am I rattling on about now? As I stated before Wrong team right tactics up until dopey got himself sent off and got us ejected from the competition.A player who shouldn’t even have started the game.We left out Three in form players Evans who should have been alongside Evra,would have been on Modric pronto and bang in form Rooney a much better option than the out of form Van Persie.Kagawa bang in form yrt left out for the imposter that is Nani.And I will ask again do you think his action with his boot was legal? Because I dont and all you are arguing about is what the punishment should have been and who else to blame but Nani,forget his free pass was it a legal action?
@parryheid the out of form imposter you are referring, created a goal that set us right up to almost a valuable victory vs the virus.
I didn’t see anything wrong with nani’s attempt to bring the ball down other than arbeloa putting himself at risk, imo arbeloa is the one who should have been cautioned more so than nani for simulation
It baffles when I hear people say otherwise
parryheid, you won’t shut it till Nani got sold and SAF resigned would you?
We all know your hatred towards Nani and love affair with Valencia.
For the love of the club, get behind the team, whoever get picked, support them. It’s the team that matters not individual player.
We have enough shit got thrown at us by the media, FA, UEFA and FIFA.
The last thing we need, the same shit coming from so called Man.Utd fan.
So Rafael had nothing to do with the making of the goal then?
“Level headed Folks summing it up perfectly:
(The decision was) harsh to say the least but in fairness the Real player did Nani no favours whatsoever. At worst Nani catches the underside of his arm, certainly not the ribs as the guy has gone down and shown.
“I can’t reiterate enough that he (Nani) is watching the ball over his shoulder, there was no malice in him. At worst it was a yellow for dangerous play, but if I was refereeing that game I cannot see what stretch of the imagination where I would have sent him off for that”
So are we turning into Liverpool type supporters always somebody else to blame,Yeah right how the heck can anybody say it was anything other than self inflicted?A diver greasy cheat rolling about like he had been fouled
As much as red refa contributed but nani was the provider if it wasn’t for him the goal wouldn’t of happened, nani’s flexibility got the better off varane who should’ve sent the ball to the stands but instead.. He tried to bring the ball which was heading for corner into play and got caught up by nanis anticipation and he brought the ball back to the danger area where the daft cheat putted it into his own net
AntiScouser:
What point are you trying to make with the picture edited by a 4-year-old on MS paint? That managers, players and fans are biased? We’ll that is a groundbreaking discovery. How about this then: As the picture shows, we are talking about two quite similar challenges, right? Was the decision made by both referees the same? No. Then what do we want? Consistency.
Parryheid, I agree with you that Nani put himself (through no fault of his own) in position for the ref to make a decision. I don’t agree we need to make anything more of it.
People are rightly incensed by the call, but it serves noone to think on anything more than moving on. It seems Collina will back Cakir and thus the record of the Ref will appear in his UEFA record as stellar.
More’s the pity. But maybe we can stop vilifying the players for random acts of dispute and recognize that this team is surpassing many peoples expectations. With all it’s perceived faults, correct or imagined.
If we can’t stay on topic, maybe we could focus on beating the chaves?
Proverb.
The only dispute I can see in the incident is the level of punishment harsh perhaps but world wide audience and ref is liable to do anything he thinks makes him look good,I dont believe Nani was unaware he was there.He should not be playing top level football if he didn’t.However not everyone is of the same opinion of me but that’s football and I hope not to be on here all day defending my opinion.Cheers.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4832667/Cristiano-Ronaldo-eyed-by-Man-Utd-in-65m-plus-bid.html
Sorry to post again lads… Can anyone help?
I have been offered tickets to the rentboy match, its an adult and child ticket. Me and a mate are intending to go. They have the Child Ticket upgraded to an adult ticket.
Whilst i have the season ticket owners name, address, dob & membership number i wont be able to produce ID.
I’ll just have to play the i left my ID at the hotel ploy.
Anyone have any experience with this?…
Are they strict on this?
Push come to shove i can admit who i am and show them my united membership..
Any advice appreciated!
see a few debating Rooney, I watched the Norwich game and his passing was poor. Gave the ball away time and time again.
With how we performed with the tactics & formation against Real, it just proved Fergie was right.
As much as i love Rooney i feel he has never hit the heights he should have or was destined for.
Isn’t it hypocrite to think nani’s attempt to bring the ball down is a foul player and at the same time approve that arbeloas challenge on nani isn’t?
nani got the touch on the ball first which once more shows his intention which in that case was to play the ball. Nani’s did not, nor was it “violent conduct.” He was airborne for the purpose of controlling the ball and only aware of Arbeloa’s challenge at the very last moment—if at all.
Foul play*
@Diego
Actually the 2 challenges are nothing alike. Eboue watches where Evra is at all time. Not to mention the fact that he lifts his foot high before the ball drops anywhere near that level:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH5t58FCs3k
But that’s Antiscouser for you. Hangs out at Blue Moon and RAWK all the time, picks up every hilarious anti United arguement he can find and then comes here to troll the blog. King Eric summed up perfectly what he is yesterday.
Someone posted a picture of a comparison of Eboue’s challange to that of Nani? That is like comparing an apple to a pear, that is how different it is. Go look at the video of Eboue’s challange and tell me again you think they are the same. Eboue went in with a flying kick trying to head a ball. It is nothing even close to being comparable
Ebue lifts his leg to blog the on coming evra, is that even worthy of a comparison to the incident involving nani and alvaro or you are just being a cynic/coward
Also why don’t stay on to defend your logic
Block* shit phone
FletchTM – I enjoyed your humourous dig at Ladyman at 19:41. It would be so typical of the ABU gutter press to extrapolate sensational predictions from vaguely connected suppositions.
Of course, humour aside, Morgan was exactly the person that Nike wanted. Kit supplier demands kit-man for insider tales from the changeroom. Also, Albert Morgan is a top bloke.
As we are knocked out from europe. Guys who do you want to win the trophy this time.
I would want Bayern Munich to lift the cup. They deserve it.
I want Dortmund to win it. Proper footballing side that brings through their own players, or brilliant scouting for that matter
@Ash
Not that I’ll pay too much close attention, but I’d like to see Dortmund win it. I admired their style of play in the group stages and I have a feeling that this is the last opportunity this particular group of players will have to go far in the Ch.League together.
Damn, I swear I hadn’t read Marq’s comment.
I still have a soft spot about ronnie, actually think he deserves to win the ballon d or this term and by winning the CL could only increase his chances of beating the diminutive argentine
Dortmund are playing some exciting stuff, challenging the likes…. Were drawn in a very tricky group managed to defeat the challenge even with a tight budget are still competing, sold us their best player and still competing
They deserve to lift it more than anyone, and sure they can eliminate anyone who still at the competition, hence why I think they would be worthy winners, I’m certainly going to cheer for them. If ronaldo can pimp messi to a second ballon d or accolade even if they fail to win the CL then so be it
I hate that side, only ronnie gets my vote.
Barca are not to be written off just as yet
At the camp nou they can score more than 2 goals, also you expect penalties to be signalled in favor of them at their ground…..
Dortmund play top class football but I feel Bayern are a touch stronger. Anything can happen. I don’t want Real Madrid Winning it. Its not because they knocked us out but because I don’t want Ronnie winning a champions league with them.
@Costas says:
“Damn, I swear I hadn’t read Marq’s comment.”
Me neither!
I’m slow as fuck, I swear I was busy typing. Shows that dortmund by getting the majority of the votes on here, are well on their way
Haha, shows that we are on the same page. Who would not admire Dortmund? They were on the verge of bankrupcy until a certain Bayern loan them some money, and it set them on their way of managing their club properly. A fairytail ending would be proper for them. They are losing a star player every summer yet have been able to be competitive, kudos to them. And for me, Klopp and their entire scouting team should be considered for our succession, although its not soon! After Chelsea tainted the trophy last season, with bad financial play, horrible football and disgraceful league standing, I can only hope a good footballing side can bring the prestige back
Have to agree with Ash , I’d rather Bayern won it .. I mean they are the German equivalent of us and when Karl Heinze Rummeniege gave the speech about the Babes on the 50th anniversary ….well that swung it for me..
@Marq, Proverb
Greats minds as they say.
I think we all have a soft spot for them after the number they did on City. It would definitely be one of the modern day fairy tales if they went a long way. I’d hate to see a team like PSG (that was built in exactly the opposite way) go further than them. But after what we saw this week, I am beginning to worry about any club facing Platini’s favored teams.
Roberto Mancini: “I can see why Ferguson was frustrated. This was a big mistake and for me, Nani did not even deserve a yellow card. Even in Italy it would be nothing because Nani tried to take the ball.”
At last mancini getting his brain back to functioning properly
@costas
Cheers mate
Dortmund have been impressive, wouldn’t mind Ronaldo winning it, anyone but Barcelona really. I can’t stand the constant wanking by football pundits whenever Barcelona play plus they need to be taken down a peg or two.
Danny Wellbeck came of age for me last Tuesday……….. To negate Alonso so effectively, and still provide the attacking outlet that he did, took some doing!!! Tactics over both legs were spot-on. Going a man down against Madrid, on our (wide ) pitch, we were always gonna struggle. I thought we might nick one and take it to extra-time. I fully expected us to lose once Nani had his red but dont see how Fergie’s tactics were wrong!!
@ Ash “I would want Bayern Munich to lift the cup. They deserve it.”
Why do they deserve it? As far as I’m concerned it was their duty to beat Chelsea last year, for the good of the soul of the game, and to bury Chelsea in the mire for a few years after they finished 6th. But they truly bottled it and I hope they don’t get redemption for letting the likes of Terry & Abramovich getting their hands on the trophy.
Dortmund would be more deserving for me (at the moment). There’s a lot to admire about them at the moment and they did really well to be so much better than Bayern in the previous two seasons. And Juventus aren’t a likeable club but they’re as strong as Bayern everywhere apart from up front. Buffon and Pirlo are better players than anyone Bayern have.
And to think I got dogs abuse pre Madrid game for suggesting he played right side of midfield and would take care of Alonso.What was it I was told he’s an attacker shows you Sir Alex reads and pays attention to my posts.Hah.
@Costas
If there was one thing PSG did right, it was to appoint a proven and no nonsense manager, unlike a certain London club which more like a circus. So PSG might actually be in with a shout, but I wouldn’t want them anywhere near the trophy.
Dortmund 1st choice for me
Milan 2nd
Real 3rd
Bayern no because of that play acting Ribery
Barca no bcuz its getting boring
Juve no bcuz of their cheating ways & Pogba