United: VDS, O’Shea, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Anderson, Giggs, Rooney, Chicharito.
Bench: Fabio, Evans, Valencia, Owen, Park, Gibson, Kuszczak.
Newcastle: Krul, Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Williamson, Barton, Guthrie, Lovenkrands, Simpson, Gutierrez, Ameobi Tiote.
Sunday’s game between Arsenal and Liverpool was a nice little gift for us. As soon as it became apparent there was going to be a lot of injury time after Jamie Carragher’s team mate knocked him out cold, you could have predicted that Arsenal were going to get a 98th minute winner. The fact it was a penalty just added insult to injury, their 16th of the season. An Arsenal win wasn’t the end of the world, there would still be four points between us, but with a trip to Emirates, a home game against the wounded Chelsea, as well as matches against the likes of Everton and Blackburn, we really could have done with them dropping points.
Then something magical happened. In the time added on thanks to Robin van Persie’s lengthy goal celebration after scoring the penalty, Liverpool earned themselves a penalty of their own. With no Steven Gerrard around to throw the game as he did against Chelsea last season, Dirk Kuyt stepped up to take the penalty and made it 1-1 with the last kick of the game. Brilliant.
Now, just three days after our semi-final disappointment, United have to get a result to put all the pressure back on Arsenal tomorrow ahead of their game against Spurs.
Stats from our newsletter show that United have won 14 and drawn 3 of our last 17 games against Newcastle in all competitions and Wayne Rooney has scored 9 goals in 11 games against them. Rooney will be raring to go after missing out on our game at Wembley and you wouldn’t bet against him continuing his great form and scoring again tonight.
After a poor performance against City, Dimitar Berbatov hasn’t even made the squad despite travelling with the team, which will certainly raise eye-brows. Is this punishment? Is he not in the right frame of mind? Is he injured? Have contract talks broken down? Given it was Michael Carrick’s slackness which cost United the goal and Paul Scholes’ moment of madness was excused post-match, it’s hard to believe the manager would seemingly put the blame at Berba’s doorstep. We’ll keep scanning for injury news but something isn’t right.
The most important thing tonight is three points though and the players we’ve got available should be more than able to get the job done. I wouldn’t complain if Michael Owen came off the bench to give the best fans in the country something to moan about either.
———–
For reaction during the game, follow RoM on Twitter.





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Come on United !!!
Very happy with that, same as I’d of gone with apart from rafael, but I guess he wasn’t fit. Glad to see carrick n Anderson, strongest midfield pairing IMO
whos on the bench?
decent lineup
No Berb on the bench.
Fabio should have started as right back. No problem though. United!
Go’on lads, get stuck in!!!!!
Time to get back to football, enough moaning about the FA imo. The business end of it and we’re looking in fantastic shape. Let’s focus on our footy and hope the brand of football we play supercedes any need to bemoan “swearing in the game.”
We all know any attempts at requesting fair and honest administration will be met with more noodle scratching anyway.
What’s wrong with the Berb? Any injury or what?
This is going to be a really interesting game but I expect us to do the business here. Depending on which United show up, it could be an easy victory or a scrape through but it doesn’t matter either way.
No news on berbs, I reckon this has confirmed what we already knew.
Berbatov did wince, after the second chance he missed. Could be an injury.
Hopefully it’s an injury, but not a serious one.
Lets do this!
BENCH : Owen Park Fabio Evans Valencia Gibson Kuszczak Berbatov didn’t make the bench, I hope it is not a punishment from the manager.
Surprised by that team.not the strongest hope we don’t pay for it.Couple of right duds on the bench to,still hope springs eternal.
lads lets face it, he was always going to be sitting on the bench anyway… so i think hes feelin his ankle from saturday and saf has given him time to recover for the home game on saturday.
Hayley mc queen reckons hes travelled but fergie decided not to put him in, so you’d assume no injury? Or am I reading too much into the rumours off him leaving?
GLORY GLORY MAN UTD!!!!!!!! GO ROONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!
720 HI-DEF ESPN TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where’s Ferdinand?
Glad to see Park not starting behind the striker
It’s all about taking ones chances, come on United
COME ONNNN UNITED!!! what happened to Rio and berbatov?
Here’s hoping Anderson and Carrick step up their game. Need a strong central midfield!
@DKB07
Ferdinand is rested. And he never sits on the bench, so he is out of the squad.
Berbatovs future looks far from assured.
hope we get information on the berbs
any 1 got any links for the maych
Links to the match…pleaseeeeee!!!!
Where`s Rio? Injured or rested, any news ppl? Utd Utd Utd <3
Score prediction: 1-4
The manager knows how Berbatov is feeling. Maybe, he’s still feeling down after Saturday. I’m 100% positive, he’ll against Everton.
*start*
Berbatov dropped. Pure and simple.
Where the fuck is Rafael. I cannot sit through another game with O’shea giving the ball away, he is not a football player.
Berba is a question mark since he became a Man Utd player, a last min transfer in the summer window and missed a pre-season with his new team and his extraordinarily gifted talents have never seemed to jell with his other teammates against the best teams and the crucial games over his stay at Old Trafford. SAF is talking of gut wrenching player personal choices and he said he is good at it. Like Butt and Neville when he had to let them move on.
Wow, O’Shea has been fooling a lot of people in the last 13 years.
the fly
well harsh on oshea, cant understand people keep complaining about him. i like him and he’ll do a good job, much better at rb than wes who most people on here seem to love
Thanks Costas, he’s probably a bit gutted after Saturday too.
O’shea to score an own goal, come on O’Shea!
@11am
I actually prefer wes at RB to o’shea because in 08 when wes was our starting right back we saw how solid he was. He could also deliver a mean cross. till this day i do not understand why he was removed from the starting line – up all of a sudden after being a main stay at rb in our european double season.
My bad here is a story from 4-4-2 thread hope someone likes it. Beat NU !!!!!!!!! Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has decided to cut his losses and sell club-record signing Dimitar Berbatov this summer.
Manchester United v Schalke 04 tickets
Newcastle v Man United Live Streaming
The former Bulgaria international may currently be the top scorer in the Premier League with 21 goals, however, half of those have come against just three teams, while the Scot is said to now favour Javier Hernandez as Wayne Rooney’s first-choice strike partner.
And, with Berbatov having just one year remaining on the four year-deal which he signed when joining the Red Devils from Tottenham Hotspur for £30 million in the summer of 2008, United have decided to cash in on the 30 year come the end of the season, a part of the manager’s job that Ferguson says he has never been afraid to do.
“It’s a horrible thing to say, but you can’t be sentimental in this job,” said Ferguson. “I love the players that I’ve had and I’ve been very, very fortunate to have had great players who have come through my career with me”My job is to manage United, to produce results and I’m no different from any other manager.
“I’ll not be regarded in the same way if I’m not successful. Everything to do with me is black and white.
“If it’s on the football field and I see something that I feel is a retrograde step for the club, I have to act and make decisions, which is something that I have always been good at.
“I can make quick decisions and I am lucky that way. In management, you have to be able to make decisions. Sometimes you’re not right, but that doesn’t concern me too much because the important thing is being able to do it.
@ costas 18:19 lol!!!
People will understand the importance of somebody like O’Shea when Rio, Rafael, Fabio, Wes and Vidic go out injured. O’Shea will be last man standing and you’ll be hoping that he can hold on to keep your sorry hopes alive. I am seriously sick of people slating O’Shea, Brown, Carrick etc. every other game. There’s a reason Sir Alex is in charge and you are not.
Sir Alex usually gives players a break when they’re down. It has happened a lot of times and I am guessing that is the case with Berba also; if it is not an injury. Rio rested mostly for the more important games we’ve got.
SAF will still be thinking that if we win our next two games, the title is ours. I would say even mathematically since we would be require to lose at least two matches out of the remaining 4 and I just don’t see that happening. Next two games – Newcastle and Everton – coupled with Arsenal failing to win at Spurs (if it happens) will decide the destiny of the title as in whether the game at the Emirates is consequential or not. I am sure about that.
It looks like the end of Berba’s United career. It is a shame as I have always thought he was a great player. It is a shame that he could no produce goods when it mattered most. He could have become a United Great had he taken one of those chances. Players of his calibre should take chances like that! I cannot see Fergie ever forgiving him! Some will certainly feel sorry for him, particularly as others did not do better last Saturday. Carrick is as guilty!
I still cannot believe how our team fails to turn up in some important matches. Sometimes i wonder what Fergie needs to do to motivate them. I truly expected not just to beat Shitty last Saturday but to slaughter them.
Tonight, we should win comfortably, but we should take anything for granted!!
GAME ON!!!!
@dannysoya
i dont disagree with the solidness of wes, but i think oshea gets forward better than wes. i dont think wes is a better crosser than oshea either. wes is a central defender who gets put in at rb, hence the solidness. i jus think when rafaels out oshea is next best thing. oshea shows some cracking touches, like for giggs when we scored against chelsea last week, when going forward
im not keen on fabio been put to rb either, keep him at lb and then id like to see a bit more rotation with evra
@Xyth
Are you an absolute idiot??!!! HE IS THE LEADING SCORER IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE…Ferguson would not be a world class manager is 1 missed chance ended the career of the leading score in England….
where is our berbasex?
Ah come on! We don’t know if Berbatov will leave in the summer. I haven’t read, or seen anything, other than some shite in the red tops. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all conjecture. Come on United!
Berba picked up a few knocks (at least 2). He was kicked as he attempted to score and he bruised the bridge of his nose. Would have had a nasty headache after that one. SAF’s probably thinking we’ll get a few against Newcastle and hopefully Berb isn’t needed. Having said that, Berb needs games. In that respect, it’s good to see Anderson start.
Fuck Steve Maccunt to call the game on ESPN!!!!!!!!!! FUCKING DONKEY CUNT CHEERS FOR ABU!!!!
@willie
It’s not looking good though. I get a lot of vibes like the ones I was getting when Saha took Ruud’s place in 2006.
My bad willie GO MAN UTD!!!! WIN TODAY!!! GO ROONEY!!!!!!
@Berbatov’s Love Life
im not disagreeing with you, but he did get rid of forlan for wearing the wrong boots.
LOL matchdays on ROM are crazily funny. hahaha.
rio rested with sore calf, berba “not feeling great” apparently
Costas – AIG was bad enough, with his doom and gloom, not you too! lol. Laters lads.
Don’t you just hate it when they keep pointing to the load of goals Berbatov scored against a few opposition? The reason he havent been scoring winners is because he wasn’t in the team in the first place, yet, he has come up with quite a few important goals.
That said, if it was so easy to score truck loads of goals against lowly opposition, why havent anyone else in the league done so?
The only reason Berbatov haven’t been acknowledged, is because of one person. Rooney. His place in the team was given to Rooney to get his fitness back, and his form was the trade Sir Alex made to get Rooney’s form back. All in all, you can only feel for Berbatov. The last person who should be annoyed at Berbatov for missing those chances, is Rooney himself, because he was performing far worst earlier in the season, when Berbatov was carrying the team.
Yes Rooney has a formed a good partnership with Hernandez, which was a bonus. But what makes you think Berbatov can’t do the same? Why isnt he given a chance?
@willie
We will know in a couple of months.
Come on United!
A Rooney hat trick.
1) A goal
2) An assist
3) A Yellow card!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the hole is a great place for Rooney his defense ignites his offence!!!!!!!!
We should win with that team but I’m never overconfident at this stage. C’MON REDS!
@Marq
As someone (sorry I don’t remember who), pointed out earlier today, Berbatov’s load of goals against lesser opposition has helped with our superior goal difference. Just saying…
Marq
Yes I hate it when people make 5 goals in a game into a negative.
@Why isnt he given a chance? – The answer to that is easy. We’re not in the time when we give chances. We have to win games and we use what is working best at the moment. Unfortunately for the Berb, Rooney/Hernandez is working great and we don’t care who plays as long as we get 13 points from 18 games. When we win the 19th, the biggest contributor to that would be the Berb even if he did not lead us to the Chequered flag.
would love to hear stone’s opinion on berbs
Sir Alex:
Rio is just feeling his calf a little so rested.
Berba… “wasn’t feeling great this afternoon.”
That’s pretty much all he said about Berba then went on to talk about Chico…
Make of that what you will
COME ON LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADS
Marq – berbs has been a plan B until rooney geot back into the swing of things. It is obvious now that rooney and chico is the future in the next 3 to 4 years, you never know even longer in the united team. Berbs has been really gd this season but he still does not fit into a flued united formation.
Also…
In ’94 you said
come back when it’s 18
MUFC
Well here we are
sat on your perch
I think someone should offer a livestream out of effin liverpool to see how the desperation grows with every 3 points we take.
any decent link pls
COME ON UNITED!!!
should have been 1-0
Anyone have a link for the match please??
@Berbatov’s Love Life
Just remember this is a site to express football opinions, whatever they may be, and not to trade insults!!! You are only showing your true colors!!!
Why is he being consistently dropped for important matches? If you exclude the Liverpool hat-trick all his goals have come against small teams (although they all count and are important). With emergence of Chicharito he may decide he does not need him anymore!!
should have chipped it
Newcastle all over us.
LINKS GUYS
http://www.soccertvlive.net/watch/60718/6/watch-newcastle-united-vs-manchester-united.html
try that utdforlife
My point is aimed at those Berba-bashers. It wasn’t even a bad game Berbatov had, the whole team was poor. And it was just 1 bad miss, not 2. How many bad games did Rooney had earlier in the season?
People say the reason we are going to win the league this season is because we have a better team spirit. Yes it is part due to Sir Alex being in control of things. But Berbatov has been class and if your top scorer has nothing to say when relegated to the bench, just to help another player regain his form, surely it went a long way in pacifying everyone else in the team, doesn’t it?
So lay off Berbatov!
Ok, rant over. Now back to business. Title 19th, here we come.
And while we are at it. I think Sir Alex would do good to keep in contact with a certain Mourinho. If anyone has any idea how to beat Barcelona, it will be him, and he has 3 more shots at it before our turn. Presuming we get past Shalke, haha
Good job they’re shit
Hmmm… massively offside. Called by the assisstant? Is it funk
i miss berb
it gets quite popular to attack our right side
Oooh rooney had a clear opportunity
and it WAS a corner
Gutierres is running circles around O’shea
Will Rooney get as much stick for missing that sitter as Berba did on Saturday?
im sure pardew just said “fuck off” to the ref on camera at 22mins
Ryan? Ryyyyyyyyyyyyan? Get your head together lad.
Giggsy not only lookin horrible, but tackling much worse.
Dela. He should have scored but I wouldn’t call it a sitter. And the keeper got a hand to it.
Late!
I’m choosing to think it’s an injury for Berba, rmb the knock he got early inter first half? Maybe.
And Evra and Ando are really poor in possession today. Come on fellas buck up.
Game will settle any time now and United should start to get a grip as Newcastle start to go backwards.
And that’s why Nani missed the award. There’s no getting away from it, he does it.
Nani falling like a fly everytime he is touched isn’t helping anyone, least of all himself.
haha rangnick at the stadium
King of Stretford End – Sir Alex said in his pre match that he just “didn’t feel too good today”.
Come on lads. We’ll be ok here.
Please please tell me when. When was the last time we scored directly from a corner?or it either doesn’t make it past the first person. Eeeks.
That was a very random from Evra
Better link…..
http://www.soccertvlive.net/watch/60718/6/watch-newcastle-united-vs-manchester-united.html
I cannot believe how sloppy we are.
yeah our set pieces are shit
@mes
Ah thanks mate, didn’t get to read the pre match stuff today.
looks like we are playing against the cunting ref as well ffs
TonyBee… you were saying? Yellow, that’s a fair decision no?
Bastards
How the fuck is that an yellow? He just cut across, there was little Carrick could do in that situation. Confirms what TonyBee said above.
should be a clear red for carrick horrible tackle
Seems to me we are having another shity game away from home. Will be able to watch the second hald and hope the guys will not disapoint. We reall need to win this game.
get valencia on and we’ll score
effin sloppy game from our midfield.
only long balls.
O’shea makes Jonas look like Messi.
Still can’t seem to control the game, but we had the better chances. Giggsy seems a bit off, by his high standards. Smalling has been immense so far- best player so far, imo.
fs that was a bit of a duff half. this ref seems to be giving a lot of free kicks in tashcastles favour. not sure about that yellow for carrick?? Come on United!
Rooney and Chicha missed sitters. They are flops.
Some may disagree here but I’m thinking we’re doing good so far. Its an away game so i dont exactly expect an explosive performance of awesome football.I’m sure the boss is going to blast their ears abt keeping possession better. Just need one moment of spark right now.
Hairdryer time!!!
We should wake up. Could have been behind. Rooney is as guilty as Berbatov last Saturday.
Surely we are not going to let our season slip away like we did last year?!
I know they say our dressing room is harmonious but there’s quite a bit of frustration with each other within the team tonight and it’s not the first I’ve noticed. Thankfully we picked up a good deal in the last 20 mins but the first 15 – 20 we were absolutely awful. Roll on the second half a bit of cohesion and we can tank the toon!
Good shout on smalling btw. Outstanding!
Anyway, seriously, Newcastle are up for it and I think we still a bit sorry for ourselves about last Saturday. Time is working in our favour though. Newcastle will tire.
It is a worry yet again our away form is our achiles heel. Who else is concerned carrick is having another aftermath rome 09 shock
Game is screaming for Valencia at the moment. For all of Nani’s trickery, he doesn’t do the one thing that Valencia does consistently which is put in dangerous crosses. In a game as tight as this one at this late stage of the season, that is exactly what you need.
Giggsy’s not been that great so far. He has given away some needless free kicks and been a bit careless in possession. He needs to be the Ryan Giggs we know.
I still am confident we will win this game. We are not Arsenal for God’s sakes.
@rat1p
Horrendous tackle wasn’t it!
@dela
Spot on there about Smalling. Of course Vida’s great, but that’s nothing new.
We’re light in midfield depth. When will Fletcher be back???
Disappointing performance again. I was hoping for more of a response after what happened on saturday, but I will be happy with the three points today no matter how we perform. We haven’t really looked as strong as we usually do when we’re hunting the title, but it doesn’t matter as long as we cross the finish line as champions.
Costas – it is like the 2006/07 game with newcastle, I do feel yet again nani is having an average game. Our midfield is yet again letting us down, this is the time where we need park. I would shift giggs inside and bring on either park or valencia and bring off anderson, anderson and carrick have never dove tailed has they should
park for ando i think giggsy switched to midfield he can spring chicho…worryingly tired looking tonight!
Rooney and Hernandez are a disgrace, sell them both. Carrick is shit, Vidic cannot defend ….. LOL
Love this team, but seriously we are shit at set pieces
Balaji Sivaraman – nani is not a ronaldo, he has to be direct and esp away from home nothing fancy
Anderson’s passing is seriously weak. I know he’s just back but he just seems so lazy and not focused sometimes.
Oh and wait for the 5 day media onslaught on Nani for that tumble. He’ll be the face for stamping out diving. Oh and the FA would probably review a video of that dive and give him a ban, cos it’s setting a bad bad example about cheating for kids all the world watching the game right now.
CedarsDevil – simple we are shit away from home lols. No offence to the lads but they are pants away from OT
@FITB
Yeah, I think Valencia in particular would have made a difference. But he had to get a rest. Nani could have been more effective if he passed the ball when he had to. We’ll see. I really feel time workss in our favour tonight.
Hope Tony V is on within ten mins of the second half he will tighten up our right hand side and get some decent balls in for Chicha.
@Colbert
Anderson will always be a little bit weak as a midfielder for simple fact that he is totally inept with his right fight. He needs to work on that if he is to realize his full potential.
COME ON UNITED!!!!
@Costas, That has always been Nani’s problem. He can do all the tricks but he can never do the simple things like passing the ball when he has to. He is a selfish player and he only passes the ball when all other options for satisfying himself are exhausted. And even then sometimes he tries to make something for himself. Now, many times it works and we are blessed with something special. But in those 50% of the cases when it does not work, we and his team mates are left frustrated.
Wake up for 2nd half boys!
C’mon United!!
@Saad
I agree with that. Seems strange that he often was the right central midfielder in the first half. One would think that would make it even harder for him, being left-footed and all.
Valencia seems to suit these sorta games. Hope he comes on soon.
It is really important we win this game today. I’m hoping our loss to Citeh doesn’t mean our season falls apart like Arsenal’s did. Gotta keep that momentum going. Come on Reds.
We’re playing too narrow. Come on Fergie, get Valencia on to put some decent crosses in!
This match more than anything is the title decider.come on reds please.3 points
Nani has validated my point in all of our last 3 possession plays.
That looked a pen to me.
Our final ball is simply shit!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not quite happening yet. Quite a few chances but we still look far from fluent. Time to bring on the league’s highest goalscorer, perhaps?
perhaps but where is he
Any odds on Owen scoring the goal he talked about in his twitter in this game? BTW, how many more games does Owen need to play to get that EPL Winner’s medal?
It was a penalty. Silly of Anderson because Løvenkrands was moving away from goal and was not in a threatening position at all.
Darn. just remembered that the Berb wasn’t on the bench. Sigh.
Berba would be a good option but he “didn’t feel too good today”.
Valencia’s surely got to come on for either Giggs or Anderson – Giggs should not be playing on the wings because we basically have no width at this stage. Nani has been frustrating, but I would always have him on for the 90 mins. Given precedent though, I would guess SAF will bring Valencia on for Nani, which to me is unlikely to change much…Need someone to take the damn game by the scruff of the neck…and thats got to be Rooney…
Oh god…..
Holy fuck. How did Giggsy miss that?
Okay, take Giggs off! That is just fucking nonsense! Get Valencia on now!
Valencia on. Finally!
Was that the CHANCE, Giggsy. ffs, of all the Icons
bring valencia on now thx
Come on United!!!
They keep playing that penny shout over and OVER.
Just fuck off!
fucking hell anyone but him
If it stays like this till maybe the 80th I would get Owen on for Giggs and push Rooney back into midfield…
Cmon United, this is on the brink at St James.Shout for the lads.
Smalling MOTM already for me
I think Newcastle are getting tired. Go for the kill!!!
Come on you reds
I can’t remember the last time we scored from a freekick. If only Hargo was fit….
against west ham dela
I can. Rooney at West Ham.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight come on lads sort it out now.
COME OOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!
Come on lads we really need the fucking three points.
COME OOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN MICKY LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD
Owen to score:)
It looks like one of those nights. Lets hope Owen saves the night!
Mickey Owen, an omen… lol
We pull this off tonight, and I am willing to bet that Arsenal drop points tomorrow and we are champions at the Emirates. The players have got to realize this and find something extra in the last 10 mins…
A win Today would be a massive boost for us .
what the fuck nani for owen, where’s the width i presume rooney on the left wing which never works
@rat1p, Colbert
Why, of course. I’ve had one beer too many.
Listen to the Toon, there is only one GREEDY Bastard, no there is not.Look to Man city and Chelsea.
One United.
I usually have faith that we can get a goal anywhere at any time but it’s not looking likely at the moment is it? I SO hope i’m wrong though. COME ON UNITED!
Why is Nani off? that is one thing I will never get about SAF…I would have taken Giggs off, but was sure this is exactly the substitution would pan out…
we always have to do it the hard way crazy season i have to say
FFS!!!!!!!!!!!
@Colbert i know what you mean mate Oshea.Ffs
Nah….another bad game plagued with bad luck….0-0
That’s incredibly puny by Giggs. Weak.
There is time yet.
Fucking Giggs!!! FFSS!!!
@RedScot
Yup:(
fuck our away form
Just get the ball into the box now. We’re clearly not going to open them up by passing.
No luck at all today. When Giggsy is missing sitters we’ve got problems
Pathetic, ref.
Contact in the box and he’s booked for diving. Fucking incredible.
Amazing – what a terrible terrible game this has been – limp as hell!
Was there intent bye Simpson??? Oppsie a talking point.
With My Red tinted specs on yes.
disgusting performance
We’re so fucking flat. I wonder how Fergie will sort out our away form next season. We need more goals from central midfield and more steel in central midfield to win matches like this.
I want 90minutes of my life back.
Shit ref, for both sides.
we need rafael and a good backup for him
Fuck Fuck Fuck
With our fucking away form, our position in the table flatters us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a poor performance that was.
what the fuck are we talking to the fucking ref for after he has cost us at least two penalties…..what a complete cunt
that’s what you get when even Giggs miss from 6 yards.. a nil-nil..
Well lads its back to square as we were before Arsenal bottled it against Liverpool.with one less game to go, Lets hope the same tommorow night, and the Spuds keep them at bay.
Newcastle played well, give them that, we were wastefull.you can
Have as good night as you can lads.It aint over.
Colbert – we got to buy a couple of midfielders, it never helps when we have parasites at the club not willin to sell the club to PPL who can give united the funds to strengthen the midfield
I am very happy Berba did not play. He would have been slaughtered
the lack of precision cost 2 points. We had enough chances to win it.
I would have rather see Gibson or Park than Owen….Uphill battle now for the title…sigh
How important was Arsenal losing points yesterday? At least I’m not a complete wreck right now, which I would have been if Arsenal hadn’t dropped points yesterday. This is going to be another scary end to the season by the looks of it. We need to find some fucking mojo from somewhere. Looks like its going to come down the Arsenal and Chelsea games!
In before the mid-field haters come in full flow. It was a limp performance.
The good news is that Spurs are going to give Arsenal one hell of a time tomorrow, so we may just get away with it.
Either ways that result has proved that the game between United and Arsenal will be the title-decider. If we avoid defeat there, or better yet get 3 points (form counts for nothing in 6-pointers), then we’re talking.
@TonyBee
Don’t blame the ref. Blame Rooney and Giggs!
Xyth – What about the rest, they have not been great either
It is so annoying that when the lads have the chance to take full advantage and all but wrap this shit up we SOMEHOW manage to not take advantage. I was just pissed the whole game. Giggs had an OPEN chance and fired wide. that was when i knew it was not going to be our day. Bloody pissed right now.
we do need berba for this kind of game.. 3 points are always 3 points, no matter against big or small team. in fact those kinf of game decides the title
Fuck you Octopus headed fatty Brazilian useless fat shit.
Fuck you Jiggs old limp cunt.
Fuck you Lee reProbate.
At least this one won’t be blamed on Berbatov.
Is it a good point? We will know in a month. Still in a good position, but the wheels could come off if we don’t beat Everton. Come on lads.
@Xyth, No our position in the table proves we’re the best team among 20 teams. I hate it when people talk as if we don’t deserve to be where we are. Yes, our away form fucking sucks but I don’t see anybody better than us in the top 5. We deserve to be where we are and if we win the 19th, it is because we would’ve deserved it. End Of.
Another two points dropped to a fucking bent referee!
I dont think there is any need to bash our players today. It is not the best of performances, but certainly not one of the worst also..
Our away form is terrible this season, but we still are at the top. We missed our chances today, but we are still at the top.
COME ON UNITED!!
@Tony Bee
You can’t expect anything from that game other than a point. They could have gotten a penalty for Ando’s tackle.
Anywho…with no creativity coming from anyone but Rooney, it is hard to get results
I think we’d have done well to play the ball on the ground. Ah well the arse will drop 3 points tomorrow. It’s a new day tomorrow. We shall not be moved!!
blame berbs for not feeling good
The trolls are out already I see. Welcome Manchucunt.
Fucking dreadful. One of the most unenthusiastic performances I’ve seen all season. Especially when considering Arsenals sunday fuck up. Gutted.
Look there should be no pointing fingers at any particular person. The team generally did not play well. I’m just angry because we could have been NINE clear today with arsenal going to play spurs tomorrow. Looks like we’re gonna have to do this the hard way. COME ON YOUUU SPURS!!!!!
Ok 20-20 hindsight:
Why is SAF keeping Oshea on when they aren’t getting a single cross into our box and we are seemingly in control of the game? He has said before that it’s only because of his height and strong(ish) areal ability. I’m sure Fabio would have taken on their full backs more often, especially in the latter stages of the game. We were chasing the winner – put an attacking full back on.
Also, why wait untill the 70th minute with the Valencia sub, and then only play Nani and Valencia at the same time for a couple of minutes? Sadly, Anderson was begging to be subbed and I think we waited too long.
With those chances falling to Hernandez and Giggs, one would think that even one of them would put the ball into the bavk of the net. Having said that, Hernandez was quality once again.
Our home form has to continue, it’s as easy as that.
The Everton game is massive beyond belief now…
That was fucking awful. I tried to remain optimistic after our defeat against City, but this today is not fucking acceptable. Unlike Saturday, today I thought three of four players let the whole team down. I wont even bother name them. No. Just talking about those players who decided to shoot from outside the area when there were better options.
Frustrating performance. But for me Giggs was the worst out of the lot. It was a Scholes fuck up on Saturday and today Giggs was just the biggest disappointment.
After the Arse-scouse game you would expect us to fucking show passion and determination, but the performance today was just spineless. Utter shit.
Still sure we will win the league. But everyone needs to wake the fuck up, first.
Btw, anyone else get a deja vu feeling about this game. Reminds me of Blackburn last year. Yikes.
Kiss good bye to 19 lads we’ve pushed the self destruct button. .
@fergie is the boss
Absolutely! But we kept a clean somehow, and they both missed sitters.
well spurs will beat arsenal cause arsenal likes to bottle it and if that happens chelsea could get to second place tomorrow.
the everton game will be a massive one
REPORT | Newcastle 0 United 0: Reds’ Advantage Neutralized
http://www.theunitedreligion.com/2011/04/newcastle-0-united-0-reds-advantage.html
To be fair, Coloccini played a blinder today.. Hardly any foot wrong.
Ref, apart from his obvious agenda towards Chicharito, is okay. Twice he accused Chicharito of diving when none was a dive. The ref today is not good enough to follow Chicharito’s speed. Other than that, he’s okay.
Vidic was the MOTM in my opinion, but Smalling showed his marvellous passing ability.
@fergieistheboss
Agreed. With our turnover we should be able to attract better players than we currently have. It’s not all bad of course, we have a decent first team when everyone is available and on form, but nowhere near as good a squad as we had a couple of years ago.
@dannysoya, When have United ever done it the easy way, LOL!
We always do it the hard way and I wouldn’t want it any other way. That is what makes this team great. Of course, most of the time it is because we messed up not doing it the easy way but the good news is that we get it done the hard way.
Why did we cross the ball 30 times when we had Hernandez,Rooney and later stag of the game Owen in the box. And Hernandez has to work with the technical coach or watch Xavi, the amount of times he was in a good position but by bad ball control he was forced outside.
Ok i can take any other hating but not what chris hughes said. COME ON MAN!!! We still got this. Just shut up.
I actually think it was one of our better away performances this season, which says a lot about our form away from home, but we had the chances to win tonight and if one had gone in then we’d all be happy with the performance probably. We had all the best chances and left them only scraps.
Lets not rule out Chelsea yet. If we lose both games against Arsenal and Chelsea, it will create a mess at the top.
just fucking typical of United noty taking advantage. Eh fu*k why not mess it all up so that we have to keep playing our strongest team all the way to the end so we can’t rest anyone before any CL semi finals.
And yet again the ref favours united as usual!!!!!!
Why did the ref book Chicharito for diving and not LOOencraps?
Why book Carrick and not Guthrie for a worse foul?
Three cases were the ref favoured us again!!!!!!!
Giggs was awful. Completely out of sync, makes you wonder if those allegations are true and bothering him.
Let’s hope Spurs do us a favour tomorrow, or the end of the season will be quite stressful for all of us!!
first we have to beat everton get some confidence back
Lackluster performance, but before all the doom and gloom merchants come out, we’re still in the box seat. We haven’t good away from home all season. Our home form will see us home.
Colbert – it is has good has the squad we had a couple of years ago. the difference is we had the power of ronaldo from the right, we are lacking a goalscoring midfielder. Like I said we desperatly need 2 CM, one attacking another with bite. I do think if we sign schenider put him in CM and we wil get an extra 7 to 10 pts
EVERTON WILL BE SLAUGHTERED!!!!!! ( i hope). WAKE THE HELL UP BOYS!!!! HISTORY BECKONS!!! ANSWER THE CALL!!!!! COME ONNNNNN UNITEDDDDDD!!!!!
@Costas exactly my old mate on here.I can reasonably accept his comment on Anderson, but never Giggs that insanity.I would respectfully remind you Costas, one lad on here after two games into the season said thats its over.Not doing to shabbily up till now mate.
There is another reason I dont post on here, the format, to reply to individual posts is not for me.
Its not that I ever Really had an issue with Smart Alex, and wished him no harm, it was he tried to belittle me with one of my posts against a long tem adversay of the funding of the club Wakey.
Anyways i rattle, glad to see your still providing us all with the stats,and I still love reading the blog, and Scotts fabulous articles and learning about United.
God Bless.
Cmon United.
bah i cant believe the negativity here!! Do you expect we gonna win every game from here on? We have two more away games ffs. Arsenal and Chelsea are going to drop more points away. They are going to lose one of their remaining away games, well, at least one.
Droghanus – I was thinking the same thing.
At the end of the day we’re continuing our “winning” formula that looks like it will be enough to get us number 19. Point away, 3 at home, thank you very much. Not exactly the United we’re used to but if it continues that way until the end then we will win the league.
MyCowIsTheBest – they better or it is the biggest throw away since 98
These team is full of useless cunts. Don’t keep your hopes up guys, if these bunch can win 19 we should consider ourselves lucky. If it wasn’t for complete Chelsie explosion and Wenger’s bottlers we wouldn’t even be top two. What a heartless performance. There wasn’t a single shot on target the whole second half.
Arsenal also have bolton away on sunday. Yet another potential banana peel. I AM ALL OF A SUDDEN HAPPY WITH THE RESULT TODAY!!!! When there is life there is hope. THIS OUR SHIT!!!! The Sir Alex Ferguson that i know will NEVER let a lead like this go. (1998 was a one off).
Makes you wonder what Berbatov could have offered in this game. Rooney was drifting further and further away from Hernandez as the mins ticked by. Berbatov in there might have linked up the play nicely between Rooney and Hernandez. Oh well…
At least Carrick showed a bit more heart today, but there were still instances where he strolled and watch the Newcastle player run through, which is annoying.
And O’Shea… How many times did he overlap past Valencia? I can’t remember any. First half at least he overlapped a few times for Nani. Neville was never the most talented, but he can at least guarantee you 101% effort every game, with overlapping runs even in the last min of a game.
Guess it should all go down to the game against Arsenal which will decide the title. We never make it easy for ourselves do we?
I thought Giggs played consistently well throughout the match, Anderson was okay, Chicha and Rooney did well and we either should’ve had a penalty or played on when he went down (he didn’t ask for a penalty but was playing on).
Some of the calls were weird, free-kick to Newcastle when it should’ve been a free-kick to us or a throw-in to them and some strange goings-on with the ref.
A draw isn’t bad, hoping for more of course but that’s one of the thirteen points we need..
@RedScot
Glad to see you still around here mate. Don’t mind negativity, but I hate it when fans lash out against our own players as if they fucked their girlfriend. Pathetic.
Where is Raphael he is fit so how come no game he is part of our strongest defensive line up and links well with Valencia.Anderson needs his arse kicking he is far to patchy a player are we sure he’s Brazilian sickening.
I’ve had a tough day at work and this has definitely not helped my spirits……I don’t think Spurs are going to kick the shit out of gooners.It’s a derby anything can happen. A draw tomm would help a win would be brilliant a defeat should stoke us. Nani’s gone a bit under the radar in the last few games. Some times you just need to let the day go by. It’s not your day so fuck it. Sleep well. Thankfully I haven’t read a comment about Carrick so far. Evra looked much better this game. Winning the title at Emirates would be bloody brilliant. Last season a trip to Gemany started our downfall, this year I’m hoping it kickstarts us into a beast and I for one very much believe, we have the best squad in England and in Europe. The amount of injuries we’ve had and still manage to be where we are in the past 2 seasons says a lot about the core of the team which is Carrick Scholes Giggs Rooney VDS Vida Rio Evra Sheasy and so many others, and no Ronaldo or Tevez can really jolt the base. We are Manchester United. We are the best. FACT
@FITB
It will be worse than 98. At least then we imploded due to a ridiculous injury crisis.
@dannysoya
Imo, it’s Chelsea we have to start worrying about. 2 draws for Arsenal in the next 2 and a win for us against Everton will open the gap to 8 points, with 4 games to go.
orez – and the rest should be lucky we have kept them in the title race.
It is not our fault chelsea’s age of the squad has finally caught up with them
its not our fault arsenal have been the same bottlers since 2005
its not our fault shitty sign mercanrys who are winners, with a crap manager
its not our fault spurms are nothing but alsorans
If we had an ownership who would pump money into a united engine 2 years overdue needing surgery
need I go on
Tonight’s result now necessitates that we get AT LEAST a point at the Emirates.
It’d be nice if the midfield scored a goal now and again. Takes the pressure off the forwards.
Little disappointing that was. We’re really missing those vital Scholes strikes that would win us games when our forwards were struggling. Everton Home is now a Must win game.
I shouldn’t worry about Le Arse and Spuds result tomorrow its Chelscum that will be 6 Points behind if they beat Birmingham at home tomorrow which you’d expect them to.
Woeful finishing in front of goal costs us.. I hope we can step it up and sew up the title at Chelsea!
Its a good point, match Arsenal all the way in. 19
I meant against Chelsea!
I dont know what it is about Anderson but I really don’t like him very much. Doesnt create things, quite slow with the ball, completely one sided which makes him very readable. He looks like he is atleast 5-10 kg’s over weight, which to me, for a professional footballer is unforgivable. I know he is just back from a long injury lay off, but he is always back from an injury lay off, and today was a typical performance by him, lacklustre, not getting forward, no movement off the ball to get available, consistently giving the ball away when passing forward, lacking ideas in the final third. I find him an incredibly frustrating player to watch.
Bad performance all round today, but nothing different to the rest of the season away from home I guess. Lets hope Spurs do us a favour tomorrow otherwise there is unnecessary pressure on us going into the Arsenal and Chelsea games.
Costas – lets not forget the 98 squads lack of depth to cover giggs and keane, and the lack of cover upfront to give solkjaer and cole a break, and bed in sheringham who wqas having a tough time with the cantona shadow hanging over him
Im a little nervy now especially if Arsenal do tottenham and chelsea win to come back into it
As Costas mentioned: I think Chelsea are the main contenders. Their remaining fixtures are very easy and we probably have to win our match at OT against them.
@ Home to Birmingham City
@ Home to West Ham
@ Home to Tottenham
Away to Man Utd
@ Home to Newcastle
Away to Everton
We could really do without results like these… But then again it wouldn’t be as exciting, would it?
Band on cue orez. And Chelsea won back to back titles when we were in transition. If we get more points than anyone else, that’ll do me.
I’m not going to start slagging us off because I we didn’t do much wrong in that 2nd half. A more clinical Berba vs Citeh and we would have gone through, a more clinical Giggs vs Newcastle and we would have 3 points.
I do worry, however, if the Giggs scandal (be it true or false) could have a negative impact on the team spirt.
We all know we’re not the team we were in 2007/2008 and we can’t play the fast and flowing football as often as we’ve become acustumed to but one thing we do have is tremendous team spirt.
The Rooney scandal we could all see coming, he’s done it before and (if he thinks he can get away with it) I wouldn’t bet on him doing it again but Giggs? That would rock out dressing room.
If we were here with 3 points I wouldn’t even contemplate it, I’m just thinking out loud.
sorry let me rewrite one line
its not our fault shitty sign mercanrys (not winners), with a crap manager
A perfect opportunity to really turn the screw on Arsenal who have to visit their bitter rivals tomorrow.
Arsenal would have been a mental mess after that draw against Liverpool, a performance by us tonight would have really added to that trauma,and what do we do? Powder puff rubbish.
We may be top of the league, but our away form indicates a lack of mental strength. iIt’s as if too many of our players become subdued when the majority of fans in the stadium are shouting for the other side.
Now if Arsenal get a result at Spurs tomorrow we will be nervous when we play Everton. We need to discover a ruthless streak, and learn to swat sides aside away from home
@dazbomber
Arsenal have a game in hand which is tomorrow.
@Dannysoya Our 3 next games are alot tougher then newcastle away and then before the arse game we have schalke away
Costas – I agree, Chelsea have 3 home games before they come to us; birmingham, west ham and someone else. By that point I would bet they will be ahead of the arse. The arse have much tougher fixtures, they are finished in my opinion, they’re lost their bottle. Chelsea are our biggest threat now and have an easier run-in, EXCEPT on the last day where we play Blackpool at home and they are away at Everton. Could be key.
I keep hearing about some Giggs scandal. What is this??? I don’t see anything in the news.
Stop panicking ffs! We’ll be sound as a pound. Trust the great man, to see us through.
@Saad
APPARENTLY he had a 6-month affair with Imogen Thomas.
@FITB
And it didn’t help that we lost Butt and Schmeichel at some point too. This team is mentally stronger though.The players know what it takes. The 07-08 title wasn’t exactly a picnic either. We drew at Boro and Blackburn and lost to Chelsea. I heard that this was Newcastle’s 1st game in 10 days. It was our 3rd. These things play a role.
@McQueen
Hopefully it won’t go that far mate. Lets not discount the game at Blackburn. It will be similar to this and we have to do better. At least we will have a week to prepare for that. One win and a draw against Arsenal and Chelsea will seal it. But both games come straight after the Schalke games…
Saad – My mate was talking to me about this scandal
It’s a blast reading some comments though understandable – everyone is nervous and on nerves
It’s also understandable the result – sometimes I thought United were almost feeling sorry for themselves after Saturday
Hernandez missed a sitter just about the same time Berba missed against city.
And no we don’t want him sold do we? Shit happens all the time – today was that kind of match again – like Saturday and all strikers go through their moments
A lesson to all when the firing begins.
The midfield should take responsibility – note to my Nani – now is the wrong time to sulk and start going backwards – buckle up kid and get going again.
I thought we played well but I think United left their shooting boots home – typical after last match.
I know we are going to do this – everyone here should also know that it was never going to be easy – why would anyone assume less? – but let’s hope we can wrap this title up and have a shot at the CL – please also remember – Manchester United have been going full tilt with games approx. 3 days after one another – United do need a break but at the moment cannot afford to have one – let’s hope they can come back roaring again on Saturday
Let’s also hope results go our way make it easy a little bit – we’ve worked hard and did so today but with no end result – the team must do this – we are behind them and that is the most important thing.
@bchilds
Thanks.
There’s not a peep of this in the news. Either it’s not true or he gag-order on it.
A while back, there was the news that a huge PL star went to Vegas and had some kinda sex-romp there. Anybody knows Giggsy’s recent flight history?
Costas – yeah it would be nice to win games like today so we can afford to only take 2 points from the arse/chelsea fixtures. I know we can win them but we have been known to suffer from a European hang-over from time to time. Quite often in fact.
@Saad
There’s an injunction on the story meaning the ‘married footballer with 2 kids’ cannot be named.
MG – Too damn right man! Some of these guys, need prozac lol. We’ll be champions in May.
I’ll take this draw if it means that the players will give themselves and each other a big kick-up-the-back-side…then fire up like a volcano and blow Everton, Schalke, Arse, Chelski, Blackburn, Blackpool and RM/Barca away.
What? United can’t go on an 8-game winning streak??? ‘Course they can!
Something I’ve observed about Sir Alex is this:once a Wes Brown or Rafael get injured, and O’shea comes in, EVEN after they return, O’shea will keep His place, We hear stuff like ‘its cos of set pieces’ but think of Barcelona, they dont have the tallest squad, We dont need John in every game, today Fabio could have been used to give penetration on the wings. Another Sir Alex issue is late subs! Why wait till 69 to 73 mins period? While We must be careful in terms of picking on players, performances like this must not be tolerated!
Costas – 07/08 side was overrated, great tactically in terms of firepower but a very ok midfield like now, and it was always up and down with united esp towards the end. Obvious the age of scholes the injurys of ferdinand and hargreaves, the out of form carrick and anderson has not helped either. Towards the end of the 07/08 squad left something missing from my thoughts. It was no 98/99 squad thats for sure, where we had the form of schmecheal neville stam johnsen berg irwin keane scholes butt beckham giggs york cole solkjaer and sherinmgham. 8 players were match winners in comparisment to our 3 in 07/08 for goals. even rooney and tevez felt out form that year also
@Saad
We had a 7 game winning run before the Citeh game.
@Dandivine7
When was the last time Fabio played 90mins without having to come off though? Too injury prone!
Alot of people are having a goon here about Berba missing his chance on Saturday and Giggs missing his chance today. I think it would be wise to realise that even on our days when we score 3 or 4 in a match oppertunities are missed. Its just that we tend to focus on the goals scored and a great result rather than the odd shot on goal that is fluffed. What we should be more worried about is we have played 2 matches without putting the ball in the back of the net. Yes weve missed chances but really do the chances have to be so few that those not taken matter. We have a 200000 pound a week striker and a superstar in Nani and all weve seen from them is miss placed pass after miss placed pass.
Im more worried about the general get up and go mentallity of the squad than I have of the result. The result sucks and really we could have laid this league to rest on a number of occassions and misserably failed but the performances have been lethargic and hap hazard. I think Ferguson was right in saying that he has no problem in letting go of players if its time for them to move on because I can say there are atleast 8 players who could do with saying goodbye. I realise we are top of the league, champions leage semi finalists and FA cup semi finalists but it does seem that the opposition this year are in as much disaray as we are in this year. If this was Mourinhos Chelsea we would have already congratulated them and given the guard of honour (atleast in mind). A busy summer awaits us and its up to the players here to prove their places because playing for Manchester United isnt a right earned by putting pen on paper its earned by your previous performance.
The referee was the best player in this game… What an idiot! the best joke in the league!
I made my escape from the job to see this game and the referee made the worst job in this world.
COME UNITED!
Just like Scott said on Twitter, our player talk the talk but they only added urgency after 75 minutes, I’d rather not hear from them during the week and they perform rather than talk talk talk come on the pitch and put in such performances. GOD BLESS MANCHESTER UNITED!!!
Don’t know what to say really. Wonder if Hernandez will get the same stick as Berba for missing that chance early on. I hope not but he should have buried it. Also first touch was very poor from him but its only his first season. Giggs should have scored as well. Smalling played well. Looks like we won’t be winning the title at the Emirates then, great opportunity to make a statement and we balls it up. I’m not sure I want to watch as away any more in the league this season, in the hope we may actually win without having a poor first half. Have we even won a game away in the league and kept a clean sheet this season?
poor poor performance what is the directive when we get in the area fall and hope for he best hopefully carrick has signed contract so that we cash in he is just not good enough
willierednut
Mate it’s going to come down to nerve
Beat Chelsea and Arsenal and it’s over – and why should United be scared of either?
United’s destiny is in their own hands as it has been for a while – We do deserve luck – I just felt sometimes today the ref made an example with United and left Newcastle out of it.
I think Anderson was lucky – as was Danny Simpson – more so I think Chicharito didn’t deserve his yellow card – but our Golden boy had an off day today – he should have scored in the first five minutes – and when that didn’t go in I thought he we go again. Berba shouldn’t be blasted neither should Hernandez. Giggs had that one brilliant chance and he missed it – it was one of those days.
United have to rise again on Saturday – one more push and that will be the end of that – too late now to feel sorry for ourselves after Saturday – fuck it it’s over – let’s bring this title home – that’s what every United fan has been praying for since day one – everything else can fall behind accordingly
Disappointed, but we will know this time tomorrow the value of that point, despite having chances to win the game. I know Chelsea have 3 home games in a row, but if Arsenal lose or draw tomorrow, we only require 10 points from our last 5 games, 3 of which are at home.
@fergie is the boss
There is a HUGE difference between the 07/08 midfield and the 10/11 midfield. For one thing, Scholesy was three years younger!!! He could actually play every three days and make a difference without being bogged down with fatigue.
And the Michael Carrick then was the Michael Carrick for which we bought him 18m pounds or something like that.
Add to that, a hungry, eager-to-prove Fletcher, enthusiastic Anderson and oh-yeah, a guy named Owen Hargreaves.
Big, big differences between now and then.
“Wonder if Hernandez will get the same stick as Berba for missing that chance early on”
I must be the only person that doesn’t think that was a ‘chance’, the ‘keeper got there first – I’m not sure what Hernandez was supposed to do. If we’re going to talk about missed chances then Giggs should be the one getting stick, especially to laugh about it afterwards – not exactly funny!
Mind on other things maybe…
@bchilds, Hi how You doing, I know He’s injury prone but He can play at least 65 mins that would have made a difference cos Newcastle were all over the place whenever United attacked Them in the first 30mins
@Notorious
Yeah at Wigan. Only time that’s happened so far. Funnily enough, we’ve won 4 times like that already in Europe.
To the list of chances, I would add Rooney’s in the 1st half.
@FITB
Maybe. But it was still a season where most players had their best season for us. Like Tevez, Ronaldo, Hargreaves, Rio, Carrick and Anderson. Anyway, I was just pointing out that run ins can have their bumps on the road, but United still have enough to cross the finish line first. And it didn’t get any closer than that season imo.
Fuck me. Some of the comments are a piss take. Yes it was a poor performance especially in the final third but some of the comments are way over the top. A point aint the end of the world and do anyone seriosuly expect arsenal to win tomorrow? Will they fuck. They will get beat. As willie says our home form will see us through. Some fucking plastic cunts on here. A week ago after rentboys folk were talking trebles. Now the samew old shit. Makes me fucking sick. Get some perspective. Seven points clear and none of the other cunts are in top form. Chelsea won’t win at ot and arsenal have won ONE game since feb. Cheesed off we didn’t score but fuck me not end of world. An absolute mystery why berba didn’t play. This sort of game was made for him.
@Notorious
Hernandezs chance today reached his foot at the same time the keeper got his glove on it, I wouldnt say he should have burried it, he did all there was to do. Berbatov however skyed a sitter over the bar without intervention. Not that Im having a go at Berba. As I said in my earlier post if the one or two missed opertunities matter in a game than quite frankly we havent done enough as we should be having atleast 8-10 golden oppertunities per match. 1 or 2 or even 5 missed wouldnt be noticed behind a comfortable win.
Still 7 points ahead (potentially 4 or 6 this time tomorrow) with five games to go. We have the advantage and that is all you can ask at this stage of the season. For anyone to beat us, they really have to win all their remaining games which is a huge ask.
Sequence of games is catching up with us and we could really do with some fresh legs against Everton. Time for Rafa and Fabio to inject pace, pull Rooney back into midfield and go with Berba and Chico up front.
VDS
Rafa Smalling Vidic Fabio
Valencia Rooney Gibson Nani
Berbie Chico
The league has to be number one target over the CL. Win on Sat is a must. Regardless, we will have Scholes, Giggs, O’Shea, Evans, Rio fresh for the Euro game.
Lots of highs and lows to the finishing line, but that’s what makes things interesting! LOL
Total hangover from Saturday. Everton will feel the backlash this weekend. It’s a title run – in, and you know what? Points will be dropped, by everyone. Arsenal could easily lose tomorrow. Chelsea should win their games at home, but you never know. Birmingham and West Ham are fighting for their lives. early kick off on Saturday, so a chance to put a little pressure on both.
As many of the regulars know on here I’m a huge Berbatov fan. I think we could have used him today. If he had played like Hernandez tonight some on here would treat him worse than Mussolini after his death. He should have been on the bench, everytime I get excited this season along comes an away game to fuck things up. I’m being realistic lads, we only have 2 away games left the game vs l’arse the best we can hope for is a draw. The game vs chelski in Europe was a different kettle of fish. Lets see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully our home form drags us over the line.
@bchilds
Why would he? It wasn’t an easy scoring chance. The keeper did well to rush out and block the shot. You might even argue that Rooney slide-pass was slightly slow but then again, had it been quicker, Chico might not have gotten to it.
bchilds
No I also thought the pass was too close to the keeper and Chicharito did his best reach it.
I think people need to relax about tonight’s result. It’s not easy winning the title and there is always going to be results like tonight in the run in. I can remember drawing against Middlesbrough in Old Trafford in 2007 and I thought the whole world had come to an end. We’re stll in a great position and all we need to concern ourselves about is beating Everton on Saturday. Arsenal have two tough away games coming up so who knows what’s going to happen there and as for Chelsea, well we have them at home and I for one wouldn’t mind another crack at putting right last seasons result. Having a decent cushion at the top allows us the occasional slip up and this is a luxury Arsenal and Chelsea don’t have. We should be grateful.
@Notorious
I agree. This game probably needed an act brilliance and Berba certainly coulda provided. He’d have been hungry for it after the City game. I just hope he’s not injured.
disappointed with the result but we’re still in the box seat and thats all that matters, although its needs to be pointed out that our strikers need to get their killer instinct back. The game wasn’t all that bad, we just needed to finish off and we sadly we didn’t
Berbatov is human, like Rooney and Hernandez. Their not gonna score with every chance they get. For the record, I thought Carrick was superb tonight. He looked confident, after the mistake he made against City. I’m still up beat. We can still win this league, with something to spare.
I think Berba was dropped because of his lacklustre display against City at the weekend. In a game when after Scholes sending off weneeded runners and tryers Berba was obviously not the man and he was a let down. I realise hes a more measured player and a top player at that but when you have such a blatent floor in your game then it only makes the job easier for your opponents. Berba I hope bounces back from being dropped (i dont buy the illness). Carrick was guilty of a blunder at the weekend but no one can deny the workload that boy does even if its unspectacular at best.
Completly agree with some of the posts that the lethargic performance is what worries us the most. No heart and Man Utd always has heart, but two important games played and no heart. Centre Mid was shit the whole season, but when the rest of the team are shit that is something to worry. Another issue is the lack of bottle on away games. every away game we become timid and scared of our shadow. No more excuses for SAF. If money are not spent in the summer on some 1st class CM-s, then we are really broke and we need to do anything in our power to get the Glazer Cunts out of the club. I am still sure that we will win 19.
We all have to bank on spurs at least getting a draw against arsenal, hard game tonight a bit disappointed but newcastle are no mugs but we face another in form side in everton, another very very difficult game but at least we’re at home because our away form has being poor this season.
People have to remember Everton are on a good run of form so I despite our home form I doubt it will be as easy as people may think. Especially with Schalke on Tuesday, there will be changes. O’Shea has done really well since he’s been back in the team but looked tired today. In fairness to him he was hardly used on the overlap when he did make those forward runs.
Carrick was our best player after Smalling and Vidic today I felt.
What’s the deal with Rafael? He was supposed to be ok for Chelsea a week ago…
as much as i love ryan giggs, he cant take a good corner to save his life. everry time its either up in the air or doesnt beat the first man. we badly need a set piece specialist for free kicks and corners. it is a waste having vida and smalling going up for corners when we cant get the ball anywhere near them.
do they not practice corners in training. when we had beckham we had great delivery and a threat from frees. even ronaldo although hit and miss at times was capable of scoring frees at any stage.
between giggs, rooney, valencia and nani none of then can hit a decent set piece.
Speaking of O’Shea, is it me, or would Fergie prefer to wear him out completely than depend on Wes Brown?
Giggs was odd today – like he had his mind elsewhere.
I have to say it seems more like nerves to me than tiredness, we didn’t really express ourselves until the end.
This is going to be very difficult especially as we have 2 more games that Aresenal and Chelsea. Letus pray.
Anyone who blames berba for Sat is a moron. The blame is with carrick for the fuck up and Scholes for the major fuck up. Also stop beefing up shit when they are a little better than shit. Carrick wasn’t superb today. the only superb once were defensive 5. Everyone else was shit. nani, valencia, rooney and chicha, giggs was major shit with andy. I am just tired of the red specs and wish that the fans would have been a little more honest. These “blind faith” crap isn’t helping anyone. I am not saying doom and gloom, but call shit when it’s shit and superb when it’s superb. team was shit today and there no apologies for Sat.
Why are people even concerned about our home form. Have you seen our record at home?
Need to feel the love. Carrick didn’t put a foot wrong all game.
Biggest miss this season? An inform darren fletcher. Last two seasons or so he has been doing the work of about two men so it was like an extra player on pitch. No mistake. He has been a fucking HUGE miss.
I’ve been hearing people talk about the Rooney miss. Rooney’s chance hit the keeper but the blind ref refused to give a corner. This happened THREE TIMES in the game today. THREE CORNERS denied and three scoring opportunities denied. I’ve had enough of English refs.
The golden opportunities that kept falling tonight to Giggs (eg Nani’s millimetre-perfect delivery, to find him in acres of space on the penalty spot) – anyone else here think Owen would have DEVOURED them ?
Cannot understand why he hasn’t been used more (and why Berbatov has been scapegoated and exiled when we’ve lose) when ability to rotate is so important at this stage.
We’ve 3 at home and 2 away. It’s all in our hands, which is all you can ask for at this stage. Arsenal and Chelsea would swap with us in a heartbeat. They can’t afford any slip ups, we can. That’s the advantage of being top. Berbatov will play on Saturday. He’ll score as well.
We are where we are now, no point pissing and moaning about ifs buts and maybes. When I look at the table it’s looking pretty fucking healthy and no matter what happens tomorrow it’s still going to be looking pretty good. 10 more points and Chelsea can’t even catch us, and there’s no way on God’s green earth that Arsenal are going to finish above us. How’s that for optimism. Come on United!!!!!!
people might start to think i’m picking on a player but since john o’shea has got back in the team, united attacking play has lacked dynamism, he is not technically great and basically ruins attack by stopping, his touch is average and crossing not up to standards, he gets skinned easily which puts defenders under pressure.
Don’t get me wrong, he is a great squad player but a squad player only, rafael should be a nailed on starter, if he isn’t fit then fabio should be groomed as a versatile player capable of left back and right back, he can easily slot in at full back guided by the fantastic nemanja vidic or rio, this two brazilian boys will give united’s wing player another dimension, they’ll take risks as they’re brazilians which gives united benefits
I hope united win every match and honestly I expect that in any given match we will win given we are top of the league and the best side.
But inevitably in a season things go wrong at some stage in some competitions. It even happens to Barcelona.
Just like in 2008 when we went out of the FA Cup to Portsmouth innocuous defeats happen in an otherwise successful season.
I don’t really see the point in having an inquest into either of the last two displays. They were fairly average granted but we move on.
Sometimes I think- what would have happened it we produced a lacklustre display against say- chelsea in the champions league. But once again you just have to put it down to the unpredictability of football.
I don’t really expect Arsenal to beat Spurs tomorrow night and even if they do I don’t expect them to win all their remaining matches. It would be nice to make things easy for ourselves but we’ve plenty to look forward to and the same players that we may have deemed to have been average tonight will have better games.
@ Costas. Think you’re spot on about Brown. He’s done at this club which is a shame. Got a feeling it will be Berba and Owen to start on Saturday. Looks like Fletcher will still have a role to play this season which I’m really thankful for. Hopefully he may be back for l’arse game. Its easy to forget players whne they’ve been injured especially as we’ve had quite a few long term injuries this season.
We need Rudd – goal poacher extraodinnaire.
On the plus side SAF’s punishment is over and I think having him back screaming from the sidelines will put the wind behind us all the way to victory….!!!!
For those critisizing the team for the lackluster performance tonight, it was only a matter of time.
Think of the big games we’ve had in the past few weeks, Chelsea in the champions league, Liverpool in the prem and city in the FA Cup semi. It’s gonna take its toll on the team.
We get a semi decent rest now till Saturday where we’re home which is a good thing given our away form. Hopefully Spurs will help us out, after all they are fighting for 4th place with City so thats major incentive to put in a performance. Plus a local derby.
We can do it.
I guess it’s a good thing The Berb didn’t play. Who knows, he might have scored a hat-trick, and then been slated for scoring needless goals or scoring too many together or only scoring against crap opposition or any of the thousand reasons people have found to bag him this year.
@MG (and others), excellent posts earlier. Hooray for some sanity and perspective. Even the best strikers miss chances, even when they are in the best of form. Happened to The Berb on Saturday, happened to others today.
Keep our nerves, lads, it’s squeaky-bum time for sure…
Would anyone really like to guess the state of mind of the Arsenal players right now?
It can’t be good and they are away to Spurs.
If they are not mentally crushed after Sunday then they aren’t the Arsenal that we so know and love.
Expect zero points for them in that match.
we have a in form Everton to battle with now :’(
rooney always flops against them.
we cant rely on berba
im worried about the run of bad form we could go on
everton
schalke
arsenal
schalke
Flippin eck….scratchy Bum Time
BELIEVE
King Eric – You know how it is on here from time to time mate. We’re either shite, or fucking brilliant. No gray areas lol. Our ship isn’t the titanic, we’re made of sterner stuff.
What the heck is scratchy bum time?!
Samuel
I agree on John O’ Shea. I am fed up of people always criticizing him and saying we should sell him and buy Sergio Ramos or Dani Alves etc. But I also know that he shouldn’t be our first choice. Rafael and even Fabio should be our first choice on the right side.
Also… Cheik Tiote has been brilliant for Newcastle this season and was again tonight. Reminds me of Hargreaves. Anyone think he would be a great addition to the team?
Carrick has been excellent the last few weeks. I don’t particularly blame him for saturday as he shouldn’t have been put in that position to start with. He has worked his socks off and made some superb passes. Not just the couple of balls out wide to giggsy but short sharp little passes up to rooney or hernandez. Positionally he is one of the best around. Doesn’t go to ground. Breaks up play. Makes loads of interceptions. Reads play well. Both footed. A good one annd two touch passer. I think because of where he plays if he makes just ONE bad pass it can result in a goal. You only have to look at his stats. Excellent number of succesful passes. Very good. Also covers more ground. Yes he was poor last season but an on song carrick is a top player. Shame some are too short sighted or just read what daft forums and tabloids say to actiually see it.
@Always Be Closing
Well Squeaky Bum time is when the games come quick and fast that is make or break for the season.
Scratchy Bum Time is Defined by me as a period of time where games also come quick and fast but produces mind boggeling performances from individuals and as a team.
For example,
- Evra ability to get every cross with minimum power and accuraces…..”i scratch my bum in confusion”
- Man.Utd may lose to blackpool and win the league on goal difference….”mind boggeling to why we would do things so close to the cliff…therefore I’ll scratch my arse
I Have Brought a NEW Footballistic Term to The World : Scratchy Bum Time
@ King Eric- Ever since you’ve pointed out to me what Carrick does and watching him play live he really is more valuable than people give him credit for. He was good tonight and apart from the goal on Saturday and a nervy ten minutes after that I thought he was one of our better players. He was getting stick from some United fans in the pub tonight. Seems its the fashionable thing to do. 1 yellow card all season for an innocuous challenge. Thats brilliant. He’s due a goal, I have a feeling it will be an important one just like Wigan in 09 a goal which everyone seems to have forgotten. They prefer to remember the argie trolls instead.
Of course we can rely on the Berb. He’s scored 22 goals this season!
We are not conceeding much – Smalling was fantastic today. SAF will have taken notes from this.
Tomorrow – TOTT V ARSE – HUGE GAME – Let’s hope ‘Arry does us a favour! Come on Bale show why you won the award, 3 past Arsenal just like Inter!!!!
I will be rooting for Spurs to win tomorrow. I also have to say in u drink camomile tea after a stressfl game it is quite relaxing and has a deep soothing effect.
It’s nothing like squeaky bum time we will win this league without any problem but I expect far better performances than was produced tonight and I expect our strongest team to start.Valencia for me would start every game how can we have him sitting on the bench if he tires we should sub him as it’s likely he will have been instrumental in getting us in front Nani should only come on later in the game to alter the pattern.
To all Carrick critics, why not let Him be, just like Eric said, He’s class when on song and on His day He’s definately one of the neatest and effective deep lying holding players in world football simply like Rio an effective centre half who rarely gets booked but does the job and remember Sir Alex saw something that most people dont, Ando had an off day but He’ll definately come good. Lets see the positive side of things. IT IS WELL!!!
Ryan – I mentioned him on here before. Decent player, but I’ve heard silly money being talked about. He’s a total destroyer. I wonder if Fergie would go for someone like him?
The manager designed this midfield to have at it’s disposal Fletcher and Hargreaves. Instead Carrick has been left to shoulder most of the central duties on his own.
Although I have all but given up on Hargreaves at this stage who is to say that a Hargreaves-Carrick combination wouldn’t have elevated Carrick’s game to a new level.
I’m not really sure that Carrick-Anderson or Carrick-Scholes has done Carrick that many favors.
It isn’t carrick that is the weakness, it is the other spot beside him.
King Eric – I do think we are missing something in midfield, def a goalscorer. Not much is needed just a bit of tinkering
One real chance – Giggs flubbed it and you could see from his wry smile afterwards that he was as surprised/bemused as anyone else.
The other so-called chances – Chicharito in the second minute was close but the keeper got there first and, a while later, WayneBoy should have hit it first time with his left foot – were marginal. Newcastle defended well, they got the home-call on the Tiote handball (and it would have been a harsh penalty).
For me, the highlight of the match was seeing MichaelCarrick (yes THAT MichaelCarrick) running full pelt for sixty yards with the ball at his feet. We need to see more of that..
Otherwise, it was a sluggish performance after two very, very high-stakes matches. Saturday at OT is a very big match – win it and the lead goes back to seven or eight or nine points, depending on what happens at WhiteHartLane tomorrow. My figuring now is that UTD will win the EPL with 81/82 points, which is five less than my pre-season prediction.
I’m not expecting a big resistance from TheArse and Spurs have to win or kiss the CL goodbye for another forty years. TheArse have a very difficult run-in – away matches at WHL, Bolton, Stoke and a London derby at Fulham, a home match against UTD and one easy game at home against Aston Villa. It’s unlikely to happen BUT they are going to be severely tested in that stretch and I figure that there’s a one-chance-in-six that they will miss next year’s CL altogether. My pre-season prediction was that they’d come third with about 77/78 points and that’s probably the most likely possibility but a complete meltdown isn’t improbable – but unlikely.
The RentBoyz have the easiest run-in because apart from the May 8th visit to OT, the other opponents are likely to roll over for them. They’ll come second with about 77/78 ponts.
It looks like Spurs have the toughest run-in – away matches at ManShitty and LiverPoo in the final two games so they must win tomorrow.
ManShitty are in the cat-bird’s seat – all they have to do is continue to playing their “brand” of safe, cautious, boring footie and they will find themselves in fourth place which for a small club was their aim at the beginning of the season. They’ll spend a fortune in the summer if they do get the CL spot because their CaptainCarlitos seems destined to go to Italy as Joorabchain needs another big payday from his whore. Without Tevez, they’ll have to re-invent themselves – again. Not a recipe for continued success.
Why am I bathering on ?
Willie. Its pathetic mate. I don’t mind constructive criticism but its the same cunts churning out the same cliches time and fucking time again. But for lethargy in front of goal our second half performance was actually quite good. Seriously some really do need to chill the fuck out and stop worrying about arsenal. These choking shit lightweight cunts are fucked mentally. I mean fucked. Did some even see their performance against a fourth string dippers? Fuck me. Fabregas absolute shite. Nasri. Fuck all. Wilshire. Fuck all. These southern tossers aint gonna pip united and neither are the rentboys. As good as everton can be they rarely show at old trafford. A much different proposition to when we face them at a skinny goodison park. Keep the faith.
Fuck me a draw away at st james at this stage aint the end of world. What short memories. Remember the four one hammering by dippers followed by fulham away followed by going two one down against villa.
Trophyless season.
King Eric – im nervous about chelsea, because the bastards have 3 home games before meeting united
Brett1985 @ 23:51: “I’m not really sure that Carrick-Anderson or Carrick-Scholes has done Carrick that many favors.”
It’s still too soon to tell about Anderson – he needs to get into a playing rhythm and his last three years have been stop-start. But the Carrick/Scholes partnership is now disastrous – the GingerNinja is now a shadow of his former self
MichaelCarrick needs an “energy” player – a box-to-box dynamo – beside/in front of him. Like DanDivine7 (@ 20:45) wrote: Michael Carrick is “one of the neatest and effective deep lying holding players in world football simply like Rio an effective centre half who rarely gets booked but does the job.” He’s not a “glamourous player” but he does a terrific job in shielding the back four.
It was interesting to see how well he performed with Giggs/Rooney providing the energy in front of him in the two massive games against the RentBoyz. Those performances highlighted what’s needed – for me (sigh ! here he goes again) someone like Daniele De Rossi who can combine energy, strength and dynamism to complement WayneBoy in a more forward role so that both can provide protection for the deeper-lying midfielder (i.e., Michael Carrick).
captaink9
Charity shield in the bag so that’s one – so do yourself and us all a favour – close the lights on the way out
How plastic are you as a fan
Plastic or plastic? Like StatesideAussie said either you have that perspective and understand or you don’t
As King Eric said either you have the balls to follow through thin as well as thick – or your just another glory hunter
Get a fucking grip of yourselves – so you would at the moment change positions with Arsenal or Chelsea or City – be in a cup final but be shitting it for fourth?
Seriously go fuck yourselves – just switch the lights off as you go that a boy or whatever
We need to do our part… SUPPORT UNITED, every game, every minute, every second…
Old Trafford needs to be a trap for the other teams…
I am really fed up of people who say “Carrick is calls on his day” or Andy or Flecth or any other cunt that has been playing in the centre this year. My question is when is their day? Do they know that before starting the game. That excuse is shit. carrick has been shit for 3 years now. Cowardly player and of Fletcher has been shit for two years and Andy has been shit from the day he got here. Flecth has been injured and now everyone says we missed him. You guys are just like Arse idiotc fans. Witha fit Risicky was the cry.
Brett. Hello pal. Well I think that’s it. For a while now carrick HAS been covering for the a n other central midfielder. Carrick aint the problem at the minue. Its the other. As I say fletchers miss has been under stated to me. It has been fucking huge.
Nrd. Hello mate. Oh don’t get me wrong carrick has been poor for a few month but that is all. Since really jan he hasn’t put a foot wrong. He is always available to the back four and most things go through him at the moment. He keeps us ticking over. Like you said and I have said its when you watch him live you realise how key he is. His positioning is top class. As I say always available.
Fitb. Oh no question we need a midfielder to chip in with more goals but hard to come by. Fergie will have summat up his sleeve. For me for this season its important fletch comes back. Anderson is very frustrating. Great at driving forward but when ever he is on the ball I always have a feeling he is gonna give the ball away.
I’m not that worry about Everton…
Schalke will be the real test this season, especially in our race for the title. A lot of people here have put us in the CL Final already, but that those games could be a season breaker. A bad result there could break down our spirit.
Winning 6 consecutive games almost impossible when team must face title contenders.
Don’t think neither Chelsea or Arsenal sweep all remaining games.
Arsenal team is totally exhausted and Chelsea is not a same team which some people still think they are. No surprise Chelsea get knocked out by Udt this time.
Really no need for the doom and gloom fellas. Tonight was always gonna be difficult. It was Newcastle away and our 3rd game in a week. Understandably the Lads looked shagged first half but credit to Toon they did put us under pressure after the Hernandez chance. Luckily we picked our game up second half and the Lads looked a bit sharper and created chances, it was actually a decent away performance. Overall, a draw wasn’t too bad a result. Our defence was tight, both Vidic and Smalling (MOTM) were brilliant and Evra’s form took another step in the right direction. In attack it was mainly Rooney and occasionally Nani who looked comfortable passing and moving with flair, in fact everybody BUT Rooney looked a bit off, but thats unsurprising when we’ve generally been poor on the road. Thankfully at Old Trafford we’ve been almost indestructible this season, and we play a completely different game, so although im expecting a tight result i’m confident of a much better team performance for Everton. Its been a gruelling month and a half for United and its showing, Chelsea 3 times, Arsenal, Liverpool , City…. but we’re STILL ON TOP. Our Manager is pacing the Squad and we’re in good shape for the run in. All things considered, a clean sheet away from home isn’t bad at all.
Decent effort, but again we see the consequence of what happens when Giggsy is off his game.
PS: Man, has O’Shea lost his attacking verve over the years.
Also, I’ve been banging on about Anderson since Saturday, so I was happy to see him start. Last time he started was Fulham at home and he put in a good shift, so including Saturday and tonight he’s now strung 3 appearances together. The last run of games he had were the home victories over City and Crawley, he started both and played well till getting injured. Lord knows he gave up possession too often first half tonight but thats been true of nearly everybody on the road this season, but thankfully he improved second half with some good tackles and better use of the ball. Fletcher is still out and Scholes is obviously banned, so its very important Ando started tonight and got minutes under his belt. We need to give everybody the best chance of being 100% so we have the strongest squad possible. Hopefully he’ll start again on Saturday, and hopefully we’ll see an improvement. If the past 2 years CL have shown us anything we need all the options we can get. Bout to watch the game again now.
Orez. No offence pal but you know fuck all. Carrick was bad for a season not fucking three where were thew mighty essien and fat frank the last two weeks ? You reek of plastic pal. How can carrick and fletch play in the engine room of a three alomst FIVE straight winning title team possibly and get to TWO european cups if they are shit ? Mug. Fletch shit for two seasons ? Err try about seven months after two or threwe top seasons. Infact last season most people were saying he was the first name on our teamsheet. You sound about fifteen and been into United for two years.
@King Eric – thats lack of match fitness mate, the poor retention. He’ll get sharper with each game, I thought his use of the ball improved as the game went on. He likes to play one touch, max two, and move, and we know what he can do when he pulls it off but without match fitness theres always the risk of losing possession. Great to see the Manager start him today considering that risk. Our Ando is still getting there, just a shame his injuries always happen just as he’s hitting form it was the same last year at West Ham. Now he’s back he just needs the first team minutes mate. He’ll come good, hopefully at home against Everton.
I don’t think it’s a bad result for United. SAF post match was pretty calm sounding.
Arsenal play away to Tottenham and away to Bolton. Definite potential for points dropped.
Chelsea have a great run in though – I hope they play Torres more.
1-1 away to newcastle is an ok score. still on track to 19. best thing about tonight was that there was no berbaflop to be seen.
King Eric says:
Orez. No offence pal but you know fuck all.
ha ha ever the diplomat
shows what you know stone. Is was nil nil. Berbaflop? That’s original. Just remind me. Who is our and the leagues TOP SCORER?
As I said before some of the bile after we have the audacity to draw away makes me ill.
@stone
It’s 0-0 friend.
And Berbatov would have probably made a difference tonight
stone … 1-1? what fucking match were you watching, pal? you were in here the other day, weren’t you, slagging off players from the club you claim to support? now you can’t even get the scores right. what a joke you are.
Berbatov could make difference today but SAF may consider away game is no good for Berbatov.
I wonder why Ando so nervous in game; I cannot help but laughing whenever I see Ando blast the final ball nowhere. In reserve match Ando looks like Maradona ;p
@King Eric Plastic and kid? I can’t believe you deducted this much from my previous comment. I am curuiose what can you deduct from this one. Carrick and Fletch have between them for the past two years 9 goals 13 assist in 110 appearances. A completely mediocre return playing for such a fucking dominant team as Man Utd you can lump sum Andy with them which will only increase the game count and I think 1 goal and may be coupe of assists. I wonder what are the stats for our closes competitors?
Fat Frank 39G 15 A with 54 games played.
Cech 18G 22 A 46 games played.
I don’t give a shit how good people think that this two cunts are. They might be overrated and shit, but man what does it make the 3 cunts that have been playing for us for the past several years? Even after playing twice as many games as either Fat Frank or Cech they still could only be 50% as effective as either (at most). To recap “old” Fat Frank and demotivated (on his way to Barca) fucking Cech is twice as effective as the 3 cunts playing for us put together. I don’t want to hear anything about them having different roles. They are all central mid playing for a very attacking and dominating team. The truth is that they lack ability (can’t pass, control and shoot) they luck football brain (never at the right place at the right time, absolutely no good runs) and they are gutless (Carrick and Andy). If we add to this the debacle that was Hargo and old Scholes it becomes really sad. This is honestly just a sad state of affair.
I am very disappointed by another gutless and heartless game, but I am ok, I should feel more sorry for the fans who made the fucking journey today or on Sat and gonna be going back feeling like shit.
whoa whoa whats going on here, after the game i thought we’d all really round the troops but all i’m seeing is words like “gutless” and demise of players, sheesh . The performance was good but the result no so good, we take it on the chin and move on. Unless people are still pissed off about the semi final. Just remember the rest of the EPL would kill to be where we are, for fucks sake the title is edging ever more closer, lets cross the line and win this
orez
Cesc plays in an advanced midfield role in a team that more often than not plays with the lone striker backed up with speedy widemen. Cesc often plays just behind the striker or as 1 of 2 attacking midfielders.
Fat Frank does pretty much the same except Chelsea havent really got wingers.
At United Carrick is the designated DM and he sits in front of the back two and allows the fullbacks to push forward knowing they have cover. Carricks stats if you want to compare should really be compaired to Essien /and to be fair Essien often plays on the right allowing him to go forward more often), Mikel or Song or Diaby.
Fletcher often plays further up field than Carrick but only if the two play together. United also often only play with the one striker and three wingers behind (Nani, Valencia, Giggs or Park) meaning Fletcher really plays the mopping up role, like for instance Essien or Diaby.
If you want to compare the stats of Fat Frank and Cesc then you should compare with players of the ilk of Nani, Giggs, Scholes (even though he plays a fetch the ball role and isnt as forward as he used to be)
@slim I hear that excuse of ” 18 teams will swap the places with us” from arse fans a lot. They say it because they are gutless and deluded cunts they will be saying the same with 17 teams when Chelsie overtakes them. What would you be saying if we are in the second place I winder. Also “good performance”? How can a must win game against promoted side who lost it’s best player that ended in 0:0 be a “good performance”? Wake up you muppet!!! we are not fucking Stoke or West Brom. Not a single shot on goal for the whole second half so how the fuck can you say “good performance”? I don’t mid people being positive, saying “no worries we gonna win” and shit like that, but I fucking despise deluded cunts like you.
Deep down, I think a lot of people here feel that we are one bad performance away from this whole season going belly up. This is because we never really felt a confidence about this team. So we patch our assesment up each time we play well, or one or two players bail us out and then when we struggle, we reopen up all those can of worms all over again (And I think a lot of us would have wanted a 9 point gap just as a buffer in case, we get beat by Arsenal and Chelsea, or we stumble against Everton)
But look, we’ve had pretty much the same team this year with the same concerns about the midfield. No one would have given this team a chance at the start of the year with Chelsea trashing teams left right and center. We were a write-off for the league let alone make the semis of the Champs League and FA Cup.
But here we are at the business end with a real chance of winning the 19th title and a real tilt at making the Champs League final. IN SPITE of our failings, may I add. So can we just look past our own noses for once and just support the team for what it is, when it goes up and when it goes down. Let the Manager do the managing, the players do the playing and let the supporters….(fill in the blanks yourselves)
The strength of United teams is not necessarily that we are more skillful, or more organised, or whatever. It’s that we BELIEVE and keep believing. That spirit is in the shirt and it carries ordinary United teams further than what people expect. So flipping get behind the team and stop whinning – somebody call the Wambulance
@Orez
Muppet ? Me?. Goodness. You’re WAYYYYYYYYY to pissed to reasoned with so i’m not gonna try. walk on son
Yorke, Cole, Sheri, Solks – amen brother. i would direct the young blood orez to read what you posted but he’d probably just smirk at it, he thinks a team wanting to be in first place is gutless and deluded. shaking my head head hair in despair
@GoatinaUnitedShirt I knew this explanation was coming and yes you do have some correct points. Some but not all. First of all a defensive midfielder for us still should have better returns. Second only one of them can play defensive role the other one should have attacking duties. Third anytime Scholes plays he is the one siting back. What I am trying to say is between these players they spent most amount of their working time on attacking duties, but with mediocre returns. Even when they sit back their assists stat should be better. Also no ability to shoot, none what so ever. Team like Man Utd has no goal threat from the center what so ever. You are looking at subjective part that can’t be tracked, and completely forget their abilities. They are technically not good football players, that’s all. The fact that you want me to compare them to Mikel(decent player and still chipper) or Song(shit and chip) or Diaby (shit and chip) proves that. Andy and Carrick are big money acquisitions our so called “stars” and “big dogs”, so I compare them to the others. Even without this the whole season these guys were outplayed by average teams. Every away game and some home games showed how limited they are. How can Man Utd not have a single good away game (even Blackpool and W Ham were urgent rescue operations).
My point is I am sure there are shit, so when I express my opinion that they are shit supported by the facts and stats it really annoys me when I only hear words like “plastic”, “kid” ,” clueless” and the return argument is “you don’t understand the game”.
@Yorke, Cole, Sheri, Solks well can’t say shit against a positive person who makes good points. Agree with you nobody thought we will do it this year, but we are really close. I do have faith in SAF and most of the guys that they will not fuck it up.
@slim as I said I don’t have an issue with positive people, but you saying “good performance” is just ridiculous. I don’t think that any of the fans that went to the game will think that way.
orez
Cheers bud. Come on United.
orez I agree with you that Fletcher and Carrick when compared to the forreign midfielders brought into the league have a very poor skill level but that is british coaching for you. From an early age jogging round the pitch and sprint trials mean more to a school PE teacher than soccer skills and ball control.
Other points that you should consider are squad size. Manchester United swap and change their squad and have a massive rotation policy. You may be able to compare stats for games played but that doesnt take into account game sharpness, how many games theyve played in a row and who their midfield partner was. It takes time for things to gel, not just learning a colleagues way of playing but also the instructions gathered during training. Another point is the style of play. United have always played with an emphasis of wing play, that is ball out wide with over lapping fullbacks. So in this Carrick and Fletcher more often than not sit back and counter any counter attack. backing up the forward line and allowing them to go forward. Chelsea do not play the wing system but generally break through the middle. Arsenal play and attractive attacking football but they tend to want to outscore the opposition.
Football is a team game and the midfield is the most important part. Maybe you should also look at stats including goals conceded, and how they were conceded, from crosses or down the centre with these players involved. Remember you build a successful team from the back.
Keep wearing your blinkers, Cockstas, obviously you got up at 4am to watch that limpid performance and saw nothing but rainbows…
Greek asshat.
@GoatinaUnitedShirt I really don’t enjoy long discussions on internet, but couple of thing needs to be said.
1. British training has nothing to do with it. Fat Frank, Cech, Gerrard and our own young Scholes are all British football graduates and they are goal machines and assist machines.
2. They don’t play together because they are not good enough. SAF needs to give them rest so that they can be fresher then the opposition. They need all the extra help that they can get to perform. I am not trying to insult them but it’s the truth.
3. Scholes used to play with monster wingers like Beckham, Giggs and Ronaldo and he was as effective as any of them.
4. SAF will never play with two sitting midfielders. Our defense is strong enough not to need two babysitters. So I am sure most of the time they are assigned attacking duties its just that they can’t perform. Fletch said last year that he is trying to add getting onto the box to his game, without much luck I must say. Andy was brought as attacking mid. Carrick is the biggest culprit IMO. That Barca game was really traumatic for him (no insult intended).
Their shooting does for me. This skill is something that can be practiced as long as you have the power. In any way you have your opinion and I have mine. I don’t think that they good enough to start games for Man Utd (not even saying world class).
One day, even winning the league without getting 114 points in the process, would be considered a failure.
When I move on from this world, I’d be sure to check if there was a god-given right to win every single game, written somewhere. Or did the club sell the souls of its players to the Devil to win every single game? Some must have seen one or the other being inked somewhere, because drawing a game away is really poor.
Some really ought to just spend their time playing Football Manager. Stop watching games because apparently you cannot understand the notion that footballers are just human beings.
The fact that the league has not yet had a team confirmed for relegation by this stage in the season, is proof that things have just gotten a whole lot tougher. Almost half the league within 6 points of each other!
Be a Spurs fan tonight.
where are you darren fletcher??
I was like some of the fans here a few season ago.. Draw a game, come here and spurt things like “i wished berba played today.. “, “if only Rafael was playing” and “how are we gonna win the tiltle like this, we play nothing like a champion” blahblahblah..
Luckily, i was never the kind of fans who say things like “we should have bought xxx and yyy, if we have them we would have won the league by September” blahblahblah
One draw,7 points at the top ffs..
Giggs and Scholes are legends. Berbatov is talented but Carrick is crap seriously
Scott – Another one for swear watch…..Lovenkrands was clearly seen telling Michael Carrick to fuck off in front of the ref.
@orez
Cesc graduated from Barca’s academy not Arsenal’s, Gerrard is a CF/winger/AM always has been/Scholes is a Legend and was a forward for a while, Lampard plays the AM role or the “#10″ role where as our CM dont play the same advanced positions, that being said those guys are all better than Carrick,Fletch,and Ando tho i would rather have our guys than theirs, because our 3 are billions times better than Cesc,Stevie-Me, and Fat Frank at DEFENDING the thing trophies are won with, not to mention tons more heart and really the lack of goalscoring while bothersome isnt that big of a deal with the forwards and wingers we have so as long as they do the job the manager tells them to i dont give a shit what the stats say
For all you Pessimists
Let’s take it easy. Let’s see what happens in tonights games. Arsenal in my opinion will not beat Spurs, as they are mincing lightweight cunts who will get bullied off the park. Chelsea will probably beat Birmingham, but stranger things have happened. As I said, if Arsenal lose or draw – which is likely – then we only need 10 points from our remaining 5 games to win the title and 3 of those are at home. We didn’t lose yesterday, so let’s look at this as a point gained away from home. Believe.
I’m thinking its an okay point. Newcastle did play well, and though we should have been more clinical, its a tough place to go to. I think the home game on Sat should set thinga right.
I’m quite happy with the point….dunno what all you lot are getting worried about.
Anyway, it’s all Berbatov’s fault – he taught everybody to miss chances…
@Jeet……dont blame it on the sunshine…..blame it on the Berba!
Berba haters do one!!
@YourCowIsTheBest
I guess it takes time to get over that phase.
But still, it’s just annoying to read comments like those, isn’t it?
Honestly though, I wonder if I (or us) can maintain the faith in whoever’s the next manager.
But knowing the next manager will have inherited a squad containing some of the talents in the pipeline, I think we should be able to, for a few seasons at least.
Really hope we can win our next 3 league games so that we can play some of the young ones in the final 3 games.
Oh dear Lord, how plastic can some United “fans” get?
@stone
Next time you want to come here and talk shit about Berbatov, at least know what the result was.
@Manchucunt
You still haven’t apologized for calling Giggs a limp old cunt? I am not seeing rainbows son. But I’ll be damned if I ever say one bad word about a true UNited legend. Seriously, fuck off to Blue Moon where you belong. But don’t come here and celebrate when the “limp old cunt” lifts his 12th league trophy for us. You just lost that right. Idiot.
CarBANGrick – Fuck off with that pathetic name.You offer fuck all to this site except your contstant Carrick bashing. Its wearing thin. Fuck me would hate to be in the trenches with some of the cunts on here. Ooh didums we dared to draw a game away at St James even though we are seven clear. Oh the world is ending. Pathetic.
Costas – Morning mate. Its not even worth it pal. They disgust me. They aint fans. We get acused of being “moderators” and not letting folk “criticise” but thats not it. People can say what the fuck they like but so can I. I am all for constructive criticism but the same old cliche after cliche get wheeled out after every point dropped. “Berbaflop” “Carrick is shit” “O Shea is shit” despite these lads winning more than Arsenal and Liverpool put together. It annoys the shit out of me. As for that cunt mate ignore him he is a disgrace. Tell ya summat though Costas I will be outing these cunts when they are on here dishing out words like “Giggs legend” and so on when we lift 19. I know who they fucking are.
It’s good fun seeing Costas animated. About time too. Some of our ‘fans’ are just incredible. You’d think the Berbaflop Brigade would finally have learnt to shut up after his displays this season. Apparently not.
I was on another thread where a deluded twat was ranting endlessly about tonight was all Carrick’s fault, why we should sell him and buy Iniesta instead.
Sure, while we’re at it, why don’t we sign Messi and Xavi as well?
For all those lambasting the side, Newcastle are not a shit side, like any team they will up thier performance for us, we’ve just come off a taxing game at the weekend. We wanted a win, maybe needed a win, however consider this, it was out toughest away in the run in, Why cos when we play Arsenal at thier place they have as much at stake as we do. Newcastle where probably safe before today.
Tine to grow a pair, fans and team alike!!!
Anyway, not a great result and a fairly ordinary performance but a point at St.James’ Park isn’t the end of the world. Still seven points clear and le Arse seem determined to bottle it again.
Believe.
Need need to panic! United will get over the line this season one way or another and we have the players to do it . It’s about will and organisation right now and SAF’s team don’t choke in the Premier League run ins. And what of our rivals?
Arsenal lack backbone and the killer touch. As for Chelski, the attempt to accomodate the Oligarch’s plaything Torres has pissed off the manager and Chelsea’s most effective front players (Drogba and Anelka), and disrupted an already ageing squard. Teams used to dread playing Chelsea and were more or less beaten before they took the pitch. Chelsea’s intimation factor is no longer potent.
I’d like to see Berba and Chico starting up front every game, with Rooney playing in an advanced attacking midfield role supported by Park ( the workhorse) as the core of the line up as it’s the midfield that’s the problem – a definite lack of bite and goal threat. Shame Hargreaves isn’t fit – the title race would have been over already.
But none of this matters really. We’ll win….
For the record, Greece is two hours ahead of England, so obviously I didn’t watch the game at 4am. Just saying…
@KIng Eric
Morning mate. We’ve been here before haven’t we? And of course we are not miderating the blog. There are 400 comments in here and most of them are negative. I don’t mind any comment that critisizes United players. Or if a UNited fan simply doesn’t like a United player. But how you can insult the same player you will be cheering on next week, is beyond me. And Giggs of all people. I am on board with your idea, lol. I have a good idea of who they are too.
@dela
I get animated quite often, lol. It’s not just that some fans are forgetting what season Berbatov has had. They are also forgetting how it felt when we were drawing at home against West Brom and Chelsea were running away with it. We’ve come a long way and which United fan wouldn’t take the situation we are in at the start of the season? That being said, hopefully we will beat Everton this Sunday and hopefully open the gap between us and Arsenal.
guys, this is just my two cents. some people will complain about certain players, namely carrick for being the heart behind performances like these and i believe such people are within their rights. there are and will remain supporters who will feel, well we are top of the league, semi finalists in the cl surely they cant be all that bad. i dont subscribe to this, i believe players like carrick, fletcher and ando simply arent united standard. it breaks my heart because i have always had an affinity for anderson but i think the time has come. it shouldn be about our cm “not being that bad”, the reason why i believe these players are well below united quality is if you take a moment to asses the competancy of our defense in world standards you will quickly realise you cannot mention 3-5 of the worlds best defensive sides without mention of united. also, looking at our attack, the potent rooney, berbatov and hernandez is in my opinion the most deadly strike force in the world. yes i said that, and i truly believe that. for those that disagree i bet you will struggle to name 3teams with a better strikeforce. now here comes that part that dazzles me. i dont know about you guys, n yes scholes is class but is over the hill, and giggs has his moments when he plays cm but with reference to the above i can name at least 15-20 sides with a better cm than ours! And this simply isn good enough. it should be acceptable for them to be “ok” we should be looking to be on par with barca as the best team in the world and all i can say is that with a worldclass midfield we would be! its no longer aboutmaking due with what we have folks, if we intend on improving it should be about realising our potential. it should be about a midfield capable enough to bring the most out of our potent attack. not 65% ball possesion followed by one or two half chances. and a midfield capable of holding the ball up to relieve the pressure on our defense so we dont have so many injury blows. players like carrick are part of united and for that i will love n support them, but looking at the potential this team carries were it to be worldclass in every position, particularly the most important, i think, its ok to want more. and im ok with that!
i saw the game last nite but when i put ROM on this morning and read some of the comments i thought i must have dreamt the match! some were giving the impression we were shite and got twatted and at least one said it was 1-1! i expected us to win (dont we all!) but its a point away in a tough season when we were a bit below par. its not over til the fat lady sings, but she is in the wings going through her scales! Paul Hardcastle N N N N N Nineteen!
0-0 against magpies that run til the guts turns inside out is not a bad result for us. After all our awayrecord this season would give you some pointers that a draw was written in the stars.
We are clear 4 points, 7 games to go. Arsenal have Spuds tonite away that are fighting to claim the last CL-spot. Will be intersting game, and my money is on the Spuds because a titlerace with Arses isn´t really a titlerace, is it?
Wow…
Great fans Hmmm..
Agreed it was not the best performance but what do you expect? Remember in every match there are 2 teams playing not one.. Do you people expect teams to just give it up against us? Do you think every other team should just lay against us and say come on Untied fuck us.. No way.. Both teams play to win so give credit where it’s due. Newcastle did well and could very easily have had a penalty. They were playing after a gap of about 7-8 days so they were fresh. We are playing a game every 3-4 days so that plays a part you know.
Nervous we all are but what will this bashing of the players do?? And those people saying that we have blown up and we will not win the title do you people really think that Chelsea and Arsenal will win all their remaining games? No fucking way. They will also drop points along the way and remember Chelsea have to come to OT. And Arsenal haven’t won their last 3 home games and you expect them to win every game now and over take us.. I would rather be in our position then their even with the fixtures being the way it is. It’s in our hands if we even get draws against Arsenal and Chelsea then IMO we will win the title and even if we loose one of those games then also their are more chances of us winning the title then them.
No match will be easy from now till the end of the season for any team. Chelsea will face a battle of its own when they face Birmingham, it won’t be easy as Birmingham are still not safe so they will give their all.
Keep the faith
@King Eric, They don’t get the point of criticism mate. My post at 19:50 yesterday or Costas’ criticism of Nani before that – you can consider that criticising a player. Calling legends limp old cunts or calling Carrick not fit for United when he was behind our coming through over Chelsea etc. that is not criticism mate. They are people who don’t deserve to be United fans IMO.
What I don’t understand is yesterday was not even our worst performance of the season? Quite the contrary – It was a decent but tired away performance against one of the better teams this season and Newcastle always raise their game against us for some reason. We missed a lot of clear cut chances, we must’ve had a penalty, they must’ve had a penalty etc. A point at Tyneside is a good result at any stage of the season for us.
Remember our main opponents this season are Arsenal, not Chelsea. I would be worried if Chelsea were closest behind us because they are the only team with the mental strength to match ours. With Arsenal, there is not as much worry because they are the worst chokers I’ve seen this side of the South African cricket team.
As I said before, I would be highly surprised if they get all 3 at Spurs today. Not only because Spurs want to dent Arsenal’s title challenge, but also because Spurs require the 3 points for the 4th place.
One more thing, in the words of Rafael Benitez, here are a few FACTS for the dimwits who cannot see them:
1) Our midfield is not in the best of shape right now – FACT. Sir Alex already knows it if you dimwits do and he will make changes in the summer.
2) Our away form has been beyond poor this season – FACT. Nothing you can do about that 33 games into the season so STFU.
3) We are top of the league by 7 points to our closest rival. That does not mean we are there because others are shit, it means we are better than the next best team in the league by 7 points. That is how you read the League table. – FACT
4) When we win the League this season, the ABU brigade will be out in full force saying how we don’t deserve it and how it is the worst side in history. – FACT
5) Are we going to ignore all their crying and celebrate the 19th? Hell Yes!
Chelsea wont win tonight! Spurs will win!
Manchester united
Everton Home 3 points
Arses away 1 point
Chelski home 1 points
Blackburn away 3 points
Blackpool home 3 points
Equals 11 points, total 81 points.
With at worst case scenario: Everton draw and loose against Arsenal, and draw against chelskl, 4 more points dropped equals 77 points.
Arsenal
Tottenham away 0 point
Bolton away 3 point
Manchester united home 1 point
Stoke away 1 point
Villa home 3 points
Fulham away 3 points
Equals 11 points, total 74 points.
With a possible 7 more points, that is full house in the run in. equals 81 points.
My guess: Arsenal wont even end up 2:nd.
chelsea
Birmingham home 3points
West ham home 3 points
Tottenham home 3 point
United away 1 point
Newcastle home 3 points
Everton away 3 points
Equals 16 points, total 77 points, with a possibilty off 2 more points if they beat us at Old trafford!
I am fucking sick of reading “Fletcher and Carrick arent United standard”. Of course they fucking are. Can someone please answer my much asked question. How have they been in the engine room of three times title winners and but for Drogbas wrongly given goal last season FOUR times Champions and would soon be five and TWO European Cup finals if they arent good enough? Answers please.
Oh and how many do we concede with Carrick infront of the back 4? Not fucking many.
T
Disagree with some of your predictions. I don;’t think the Rentboys will get a point at OT. I dont think they will beat Everton away or Spurs at home either.
Arsenal certainly wont get the points you say either. These cunts have won ONE game since Feb and that was against a piss poor Blackpool.
friveluss – You need to get real mate. You cannot have a “world class player in EVERY position”. No team on earth has.
Balaji – Great post mate. Spot on.
i know i’m stating ‘the bleeding obvious’ but we dont need to rely on any other teams mistakes, but they ARE relying on us making them. Wont happen. i remember spurs beating Arsenal,Chelsea and City last season in the run in for 4th place. i reckon they will do it again starting tonight.
I am very confident that Arsenal will be up for the run in especially after last night’s stalemate. They win tonight, momentum will be on their side. I know they are very well known for their ability to fuck up things, but how many times have they bottled it this season, and still they are breathing down our neck. We really have to learn to make it count after Arsenal dropped 2 points on Sunday.
This is not good enough, especially at this stage of the season. To see our players running around like headless chickens, and missed some sitters (Berba v City, Giggs v Newcastle) are not the things i’d like to see with 5 league games left. Mind you people, we’re also in the UCL SF, we will have more games than Arsenal, so to entertained us fans with last night’s lethargic performance, along with no urgency from the players, is a big worry i must say.
If both Arsenal and Chelsea win their respective matches, i say both of them will be up for the league title. Chelsea will have a go at us at OT. Arsenal win tonight, 4 points behind us and they will definitely be up for the match at Emirates considering that our away performance has been very shaky. Match vs Blackburn will be the key. Our last away game of the season. Nothing but 3 points will be enough for the #19th. I can see us nick the league title by a margin of one point, but we’re also in danger of losing the title to Arsenal by a single point, and that would be devastating for us. Would have been our 20th this season if we missed out, yet again.
arsenal are gonna lose tonight and we’re all gonna be happy again…chelsea will get knocked out of the title race with the draw at OT
@3/without/killing/anyone…………you just contradicted yourself about 3 times there!
@ balaji
“We are top of the league by 7 points to our closest rival. That does not mean we are there because others are shit, it means we are better than the next best team in the league by 7 points. That is how you read the League table. – FACT”
no- the best way to read it is to say that we’re 7 points clear with 1 game more…and that we have to go to our closest rival….
but , i’m not overly concerned considering that we’re talking about , as you said, the biggest chokers of the game, with their defence not worthy of a champions…you can’t win titles with the defense like that
All this nonsense about “carrick is shite”. Carrick has had a bad season, but he is still a man utd player and he still gives it his all!. some so called “fans” are blaming him for last night . its a TEAM game. i personally think it was one of the better performances this season , just didnt have any luck (giggs miss 9/10 that would go in). the title is still in uniteds hand. arsenal vs tottenham today!. cannont see arsenal winning they have not got the “cojones” within themselves to mount a challenge .the whole point of being a fan is that you support them whether top of the league or bottom.
if man united last 6-0 last night you still shouldn’t badmouth the players get behind them, if you dont like it go support another team.
BELIVE….number 19…so close!
BELIEVE*
This is so typical of us fans.. Thank God the players donot read this negative crap after every loss or draw. Would Carrick/ Fletcher have been United quality had the ref pointed to the spot and wazza stepped up to get an injury time winner??? The league fate is still in our hands. These players have got us so far and I believe in them to carry us to the 19th. Stop this fucking hypocrisy to criticize Carrick/Ando/Fletcher if we draw. The importance of Carrick is highlighted in the fact that if he has a bad game, it doesnt matter if Scholes/Giggs/Wazza/Berba/Chicha play, we do not get the ball back. Stop being so negative after just one game.
@@3/without/killing/anyone would you rather be in Arsenal/ Chelsea shoes ? WTF is up with the world.
@king Eric
I guess you are right. It wasn´t really predictions, it was more of a worst case scenario to show that the title is near. But cudos to you for adressing that.
Moving on looking forward for Everton game, and even closer to see Arsenal bottling against Spuds.
if tottenham win today. il go ahead and say it . the title is ours!
some people think that carrick is world class, perhaps in the league of xavi or iniesta but how often does he put in a 9/10 performance vs how often is he so pedestrian that his performance barely merits a 6 / 10 rating? some just like to romanticize his ability, those off the ball movements yeah big fucking deal most decent defenders and dms do that. some herald his 90% pass completion rate, when in fact some of the uncompleted passes are given away very cheaply and lead to opposition attacks. How difficult is it to have a high pass completion rate when passes are mostly in the own half, again big fucking deal. He has the potential but he plays without any real conviction or true grit. He lacks real fight or authority at times and it’s not uncommon to see him lose simple duels for the ball in midfield fucking shit. form is temporary but class is permanent, how long more before we get to see him play well on a consistent basis like he did in the first season esp. if we get new worldclass midfielder next season?? he is like dr Jekyll and mr Hyde except that some pple are deluded to keep thinking it’s dr Jekyll all the fucking time. Until he fucking redeem himself on the biggest stage like the CL final or have a couple months of consistently gd performance nothing is going to change. You want me to fuck off then let his actions do the talking. Footballers get astronomical wages, critics and tabloids are part and parcel of it so dont do that saint talk on me.
oh and, how can anyone say that chicho didnt dive is beyond me…fergie really reminds me of wenger on some occassions – he doesn’t need that…
and actually claiming that it was a penalty ??? come one fergie, you’re bigger than that
it was a blatant dive..imagine if gerrard did it…
@carBANGrick. nobody is saying carrick is WORLD CLASS. just the fact he is a united player so get behind him.
i’ve been reasonably pissed at carrick all season, but today he played well. there’s no fingers to be pointed at in today’s game, pardew got his tactics right and we simply ran out of time to score.
That Newcastle team was there for taking, cant believe any of you think that it’s 1 point gained rather than 2 points lost. We are lack in quality. Its not entertaining at all. And for those who are with ‘I wont criticize MUFC, i stand by my team’ are pure daft. It’s all fair comments in my book, you play shite, i’ll criticize, you play beautiful, i’ll give you love. Get a grip guys, and be honest. And i have to say Anderson was nothing but shit, our wingers just dont trust JOS with his crosses, overlapped but thats it. Nani, i dont know whats with this guy, lost his form ever since Valencia returned and obviously Evra looks half a player he was, not good enough.
Seriously need our boys to pull it together, 5 league games left and we cant slip up, its nearly the end of April for fuck’s sake. Fucking wake up, I love you boys ! ‘kin hell.
we should not big up carrick – he ‘s a player that fits our system, he keeps it simple and is an average central midfielder at this point..there are much better midfielders out there, it just happens that he suits us..he doesn’t impose himself that much either…an average joe who would look better in a lesser club
@dasilvatwins – tbh i hate that get behind him crap, no offence to you buddy..i mean if you think something’s making your team worse, something’s holding us down, wouldn’t it be wiser to wish better things to your club – hence people wanting us to offload
@karandravs WTF ? Im a ManUtd fan, why do you have to ask me if i rather be in Arsenal/Chelsea shoes ? Did i even say that I’d like to be in Arsenal/Chelsea shoes ?
@CROoney there are 5 games left.. all we need to do is get behind them . the 19th title is SO important to shut the scouse and and fa and everyone else up!. carrick has not had a good season. but we need to get behind him and cheer him on and play the 12th man . after the seasons over badmouth him as much as you want!. the last thing united need right now are fans saying X is shite or Y should leave the club.
like you i want us to get a replacement midfielder. but nothing is going to happen till the end of the season, so just get behind what we have right now!
dasilwatwins – but no one is booing him and its not like he’s reading the forums/blogs
@CRooney . Haha you never know!. all im saying is win this title together . theres nothing you or sir alex for that matter can do with carrick right now
Been reading most of the comments, there are some who saying a draw would be enough vs Chelsea at home. So we’re not confident are we ? That really clarify things and sums up our season eh.
Frustrated at last nights game…. especially as it was in our gift to grab the 3pts with the chances we had… but in hindsight this is football… and sometimes we get results like this. I always thought to the end of the season there will be still be games where pts are dropped for us Arse and the rent boys. Always gonna be twists and turns (esp this season where no-one is unbeatable)
But remember we are still in a great position. Crucial games are no doubt Arsenal and Chelsea… and i prefer it like this where WE have the opportunity to put them out of it. We beat both of them…. & we champs! And lets be realistic at OT we are a different team…. we stand a good chance of beating the Rent Boys… who i feel are the bigger threat now.
All to play for. Confident we will do it… but it won’t be easy and won’t be straight forward!
Newcastle have drawn with Chelsea and Arsenal and have beaten Liverpool comfortably so a draw is not that bad. That being said, I stronly feel our midfield is average at best and I don’t understand how Oshea managed to stay in our team. Most of them dont have natural talent. Look at Smalling, now that is a talented player. And I don’t agree with people who say dont criticize our players. We are MAN UNITED for fuck sake. We are the best club in the world. What is wrong in wanting to have the best team in the world? what is wrong in demanding good performance away from home? is this the best that we could offer?
@King Eric, yeah it is possible to have the best players in every position. If we get rid of Oshea and the central midfielders we will have a complete team just have a look at Barca…
Keep reading comments about tonight’s games.Get one thing clear no way are Spurs capable of taking points of the Mighty Arsenal and as for Birmingham getting something against Chelsea that is almost funny Two of the Top teams playing also rans No contest.
Orez
You sound like a cunt, calling our players cunts.
Just a little bit of statistics.
Season 07/08.
Mid April : UCL – semi final.
Premiership: Played 33 Points 74 top position
Arsenal ” 33 ” 71 second
Season 10/11
Mid April: UCL – semi final
Premiership: Played 33 Points 70 top position
Arsenal ” 32 ” 63 second
Cheer up e everybody. Belief comes first.
To all those Carrick bashers can you please fuck right off. I can’t remember many of you saying anything about him for the last month or so as he has been one of our most consistent players and doing a great job. He is coming into form at the business end of the season, exactly what we want and need. Yes he made an error against Shitty last weekend BUT that was a shit goal fullstop from our side.
He may not be world class (I do question what world class is?) and not as good as a Xavi for example, but he does a fucking great job for us and has done for the past five or so years, the last couple of seasons he may not have been at his best but for you bashers to criticise his every mistake it just wrong. Do you think Sir Alex would’ve given him that contract extension if he didn’t think he was good enough?. By questioning Michael Carrick (and others) you are questioning the the messiah that is Sir Alex and he hasn’t done that bad for us has he?
So I guess this a bit of a plea, (I’m sure it will fall on the deaf ears of these bashers) we need to get behind our players, especially now. Lets get 19 in the bag, I don’t care how we get it lets just get there and then if you want to carry on bashing – be my guest but the REAL reds on here will appreciate the work and effort that Michael Carrick, Berba etc have put in this season to get us to 19 and who knows maybe a 4th European Cup..
To all those Carrick bashers can you please fuck right off. I can’t remember many of you saying anything about him for the last month or so as he has been one of our most consistent players and doing a great job. He is coming into form at the business end of the season, exactly what we want and need. Yes he made an error against Shitty last weekend BUT that was a shit goal fullstop from our side.
He may not be world class (I do question what world class is?) and not as good as a Xavi for example, but he does a fucking great job for us and has done for the past five or so years, the last couple of seasons he may not have been at his best but for you bashers to criticise his every mistake it just wrong. Do you think Sir Alex would’ve given him that contract extension if he didn’t think he was good enough?. By questioning Michael Carrick (and others) you are questioning the the messiah that is Sir Alex and he hasn’t done that bad for us has he?
So I guess this a bit of a plea, (I’m sure it will fall on the deaf ears of these bashers) we need to get behind our players, especially now. Lets get 19 in the bag, I don’t care how we get it lets just get there and then if you want to carry on bashing – be my guest but the REAL reds on here will appreciate the work and effort that Michael Carrick, Berba etc have put in this season to get us to 19 and who knows maybe a 4th European Cup..
Its nice to see some Carrick admirers on here. Im fucking pissed off with people comparing Carrick with Gerrard Lampard and Messi. Totally different players. Like alot have said on here with Carrick in front of the back 2 then any attack against us has to go to the wings where they meet our full backs, not an easy prospect. I do agree however that the midfield needs a new face but not at the expense of players we already have. Its a squad game and we need someone who gives us another dimension as I feel our midfielders have migrated to play a particular way and can sometimes be a little readable by the better oppositions. Someone new in to generate a spark in training, come up with new ideas and to join a happy squad is all we need. Im sure Fergie has someone in mind or maybe he’ll give Cleverley a go.
@GoatinaUnitedShirt .. when has carrick ever been compared against messi ? lool!
@dasilvatwins
Im taking the piss mate, I haven’t read that yet but Im sure its going to come with the morons on here, lol
@GoatinaUnitedShirt Im sure its going to come with the morons on here, lol . speaking the truth !
cant stand what im reading from some of the people. top of the league!, and semi final in champions league . (yes carrick has been below par) but he still a RED and plays for the TEAM.
Still no answer to my question at 7.48 Come on how have we won all we have with a shit Fletcher and Carrick in the engine room?
No offence to some but I bet half those moaning have never even seen United play live. Hence the reason why our fans ALWAYS get behind the team right till the last minute. Some of the cunts on here would be leaving at halftime if not 5-0 up.
Dont kid yourselves. Players DO read blogs.
last two season fletch probably been our best player (on par with evra) ..i should no i had a fletcher shirt last year and an evra one this yea
. everytime i buy a shirt the player dips in form!
the following season
ethiored – Sheasy is a great servant to the club and has never let us down. As I say same old cliches. Pedro, Valdez, Alvez, Abidal, Pique aint world class players. Dont say Pique is as when he is under any pressure he is shit.
@ King Eric – The reason no-one has answered your question is because these so-called fans have no answer and no leg to stand on. This continual bashing of our players especially that of Michael Carrick, who for some reason always seems to be the scapegoat whenever we lose or even draw?! Really gets my goat (pardon the pun), fickle fans who forget easily and don’t see the hardwork and yards that people like Fletch and Carrick do. I would like to place a bet that Michael Carrick covers more ground than anyone else in the team too.
@ King Eric – what about Sedoulay Keita?
Berbagod – Spot on mate. Yes you are right. The stats show that Carrick does infact cover the most ground at United. People think his job is easy. He makes it look east by being in the right position all the time.
Also find it almost hilarious that people are saying Fletcher isnt good enough. Prem team of the year last season and alot of peoples choice for captain a while back. He has been immense up till this season where something has obviously happened to him. He’ll be back running the middle of the park soon.
Fickle fans King Eric nothing more, nothing less.
Fletcher our Scottish dynamo will be back soon enough and I can’t wait! Get that Aberdeen Angus down you lad!
@King Eric
Wise words mate but falling on deaf ears. Too many on here just dont get what Sir Alex has done for United. They just reckon hes a good manager like Mourinho (not that Im saying hes good, another discussion) that has just stayed here longer than normal. He has developed an ethos, a way of playing, he has managed to create a massive squad and kept everyone happy with no egos and whingers. Carrick and Fletcher are part of that and what we should look at as well is the fact you can bench those players for 2 or 3 games and they come back and know exactly what is expected of them without any fuss. I couldnt see Lampard or Essien benched when fit for 3 straight matches without putting feelers out to the press.
There are too many arseholes that want us to get rid of Rio, O’shea, Carrick, Fletcher, Berbatov, Owen, Hargreaves etc etc and replace them with superstars that would throw an arse of a strop as soon as they are subbed let alone sitting. We’d end up with a team of lightweight likes Arsenal or Spurs whos superstars play every bloody match only to fuck up the last 15 games through fatigue. Some people just dont get it.
So apparently every other half decent midfielder in any other squad should be able to do 90+% pass completion rate without having to work very hard.
Makes me wonder why they aren’t doing that.
Makes me wonder why our defenders bother to pass to Carrick if he offers nothing else than sideway and backward passes and how he is so liable to give the ball away and make them go into panic mode.
Makes me wonder why SAF consistently puts him in the team since he offers nothing else.
Makes me wonder why the wingers bother to run ahead after passing the ball to Carrick since Carrick passes only sideways and backwards – shouldn’t they wait at the sides and play pingpong to chalk up their passing rate?
Makes me wonder why we’ve hardly (note that I wrote HARDLY, NOT NEVER) conceded goals from open play through the middle whenever Carrick plays.
Makes me wonder why I even bother to type all that since some of those supporters only look at the number of assists or forward passes or forward runs to define what a good midfielder is, rather than the number of interceptions made. Pretty sure these supporters play so much FM that I find it hard to believe that they ignore the stat called “Off the ball”.
And whoever it was that wants to watch a team in a league that consistently has 65% possession and the concern is the number of goals scored?
Go watch Celtic/Rangers/Barcelona/Real Madrid. That’s the kind of team playing in the kind of league you really want.
@YorYor
Agreed mate. It makes me think that alot of these fans are sit at home fans and only follow the game on TV and can only see what the camera allows them to see as King Eric said. I would like to get to more games myself and alot of what I see of United is from the TV (Im in Sweden) but I do understand the finer points of playing the game.
@Goat, YorYor
Loved your latest posts guys.
lads . ignore the so called “fans” who bash the united players. ! 19th soon !. the look on the scouse and fa……priceless!
so i’d like to ask you guys, is it wrong to criticize our own players when they have been performing below the standard required ?
Right! The RedNut is here, with a few words for all who doubt our greatness.
Fuck Manchuchuchu! Fuck Orez! Fuck RedShadow! Fuck king sour gob and the shite he manages!
Fuck the Diaz brothers! Fuck Mobb Deep Fuck Bad Boy! Fuck JT! Fuck em all!!!!!
Nothing wrong with constructive criticism, whether it be Sir Ryan or Ando, no player is immune from criticism. I’m sure everyone would agree with that.
What is wrong is when people question whether players such as Michael Carrick are fit enough to wear the holy red shirt. Wrong fullstop.
@3/without/killing/anyone* it is not wrong to criticize players, however last nights draw was not SOLELY on carrick. its pinpointing losses on players that is wrong. its a TEAM game, justify the criticism, carrick must be doing something right if sir alex plays him!.. 5 games to go, theres no time to criticize players get behind them and win the 19th, after that you can say what you want!
3/without/killing/anyone*
Absolutely not your free to air your opinion but when a counter argument comes your way then a reasoned and balanced discussion is the order of the day rather than a put down. Calling a player a cunt or a has been is a ridiculous thing to say and will only get fans of the clubs backs up. Im not saying you have said that, I havent read your posts but alot on here have made comments without offering any reasoning. The grass is always greener mentality (or cow analogy) but I dont see anything greener than where we are at the moment.
Lmao @ Willierednut 11.48
willie has gone nuts.
Goat – Bang on mate. Some people just “don’t get it” like you say. Therein lies the problem.
willie – Go on lad. Not Mobb Deep though. Infamous a top album!
3 without killing anyone – No it isnt mate. Its fine to constructively criticise BUT Carrick hasnt been underperforming of late, neither Berba for most of season OR Sheasy. Yet these three and Gibbo are always the scapegoats.
Critisizing is always welcome in my book. As long as we don’t insult our own players or wish ill on them. The problem sometimes is that we don’t get how some stuff is subjective. Like Carrick. Some fans like King Eric or me are satisfied with what he brings to the team. Others are not. But it’s never black or white. Carrick is no Keane, but he has played his own role in the team’s success since 2006.
I got carried away lads lol.
@GoatinaUnitedShirt @dasilvatwins
I wouldn’t side anyone who calls our own player a cunt. But to my personal point of view, there is nothing wrong in criticizing the players who are not performing well. Roy Keane wouldn’t lashed it if he didn’t think that some of our players were not good enough not so long ago.
To me football is about being honest. In my earlier post i did say if Utd play well we shall praise them all week. If they’re gash, we have the right to say so. But it shouldn’t be to the extend of telling them to fuck off from the club, or even suggesting that we should get rid of them and buy these players. There must be reasons why they are selected to be in the squad. And in last night’s case, there were few players imo looked very lethargic and clueless on the field, and they deserved to be criticize. Especially when you look at the Newcastle side, without Nolan, Ben Arfa, Harper, Taylor, and course Carroll who left the club, they were there for the taking. And we didn’t capitalize that.
We always play for the 3 points, but the players didn’t look like they were hunting for that last night. Call me a glory hunting bastard, but I am pretty sure all of you are dying for the #19th. Some of us need to get a grip and stop with those ‘i wont criticize the club i support, i’m a passionate MUFC fan’ .
dasilvatwins @ 10:46: “last two season fletch probably been our best player (on par with evra) ..”
I don’t think so.
The two best outfield players have been Vidic and WayneBoy (what’s happened in his absence at the end of last season and beginning of this one kinda proves that point).
Fletcherinho was awesome in 2009 – before he missed the CL final in Roma; Evra has been off-the-boil this year but he’s still a top player.
What makes this kind of comparison so tricky is that UTD’s “best player” is actually Rio Ferdinand but what we’re now seeing (infrequently) are reminders of how great he is as opposed to match-after-match superlatives from Vidic who has been the bedrock of this year’s team.
@3/without/killing/anyone like i said above there is nothing wrong with critisism aslong as you justify i it. you say the “players didn’t look like they were hunting for that last nig” after two GREAT performances against chelsea and a great FIGHTING SPIRITED comeback against west ham, the critisism is not valid!. after one BELOW PAR (i dont not think they were POOR) game against newcastle in the final run up to the title. ive said it before, im not saying carrick is the best player in the league . by his standards he has had a poor season, my argument is just not to pin it all on him, and just get behind him
Let’s not forget that TheLads were OneMartinAtkinson away from winning the EPL last year and, apart from that, would now be within touching distance of a FIVE-PEAT.
Which sort of begs the following question: which players have been constants in that time?
WayneBoy
Nemanja Vidic
Rio Ferdinand (when healthy !)
Patrice Evra,
Edwin Van der Sar
and
Michael Carrick.
Others – especially DarrenFletcherinho, Paul Scholes, and even SirRyanGIggs – have made huge contributions but have not been regulars. The squad/team has been able to withstand the loss of two outstanding attacking players – CR7 and Carlitos – and carried on winning and competing at the highest level in all competitions.
So, the point here is that UTD have been composed of a group of “core players” – MichaelCarrick included – and a secondary group of “vital contributors” and a third tier of “useful contributors”. The six “core players” couldn’t win without the “contributors”.
What needs to be kept in mind is that NO team ever plays with all its players ticking over at their maximum levels – just imagine how good UTD would have been with a healthy Owen Hargreaves and, this year, with a healthy Rio and Fletcherinho. And so on. Only five losses so far – in fifty-plus matches which is so impressive in that SAF has been able to patch leaks in the good ship UTD and cope with injuries and “desertions” while continuing to win, win, draw, win.
TheLads are on course for something like 83 points which is more than either the RentBoyz or TheArse can now get in their grasp. Hold steady, hang on, and continue to believer in the genius at the helm.
@dasilvatwins
two great performances against Chelsea it was, not doubting that. And the subject here is not Carrick, im not picking up players, it’s the whole team i’m talking about. I would’ve bashed Carrick alone after Saturday’s game, but it was one of those thing you did without even thinking. And Carrick was sublime against Chelsea, home and away. End of.
I said ‘players didn’t look like they were hunting for that last night’ as i was expecting response from the team following that defeat on Saturday, and after that talk of making amends. Did we get the right response from the team ? I believe we didn’t. So i say my criticism is valid. 2 games in a row now that i think our players look so tired, its worrying. We have 5 games left, and we have the hardest run in compared to Arsenal & Chelsea. I dont need to remind you about the two games vs Shalke. So if we’re tired now, just pray that we don’t emulate last season’s run in. I am 100% behind the team, i just say what is there needed to be said.
YorYor says:
So apparently every other half decent midfielder in any other squad should be able to do 90+% pass completion rate without having to work very hard.
Makes me wonder why they aren’t doing that.
because every other midfielder doesnt post sideways or backwards as often as carrick does…it cant be that the majority of the fans have noticed that and that we’re all wrong buddy
@3/without/killing/anyone* . yes they did look tired but dont worry we have a squad, fergies rotation poilicy should pay dividends. once they lift number 19th you will forget about if they had been “hunting” or not.
dont worry
In Fergie we trust !
@denton davey
I believe we will nick it, just by maybe a single point. That would depend on tonight’s matches. Arsenal and Chelsea win tonight, they will get that huge lift, mark my words. Especially when we still have to go to Emirates and Chelsea still to come to OT with their officials. We will still get our #19th, i say 79 points. win vs Everton & Blackpool, draw vs Arsenal, Chelsea, & Blackburn.
@dasilvatwins
True that mate. I never doubt that handsome old man
It’s still ours to lose, and i say we’ll hang in. For the love of #19th.
CROnney – Have a look at Carricks passing. It is an absolute myth he only passes back or sideways. Infact so much so I believe some posted stats on here that Xavi has played more square balls. Then again he is such a genius.
Denton – Great posts mate.
3 times – Disagree mate about run ins. Arsenals is rock hard. I honestly dont think they will get more than a point at Fulham, Stoke AND Bolton. Not to mention us and Spurs.
King Eric – okay…let me put it this way for you guys who take things literally… a huuuuge percentage of his passes are either sideways or backwards( at least have been for the last 2 seasons…true , something happened with him during that chelsea encounters so he started passing some of the stuff we saw in his first season or two ), like 70 % of his passes are those passes…furthermore, i would divide other 30 percent like this…15-20 to the nearest man or completely uninventive, 10-15 good long, side switching passes…
that’s pretty much it…
Super good article. Bring it on!!