After the defeat against Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo told the press that their tactics were no good. Today, Carlos Tevez has echoed that opinion.
“I wanted to play in the starting line-up in Rome but that decision was down to the coach,” said Tevez. “But with a strategy more attacking in the first minute then perhaps the result would have been different. It has not been a good time for me because I believe that I should have played more minutes. My future will now be decided. My agents are negotiating and I am waiting to hear some news.”
Criticising Sir Alex Ferguson’s decisions in the press but there will still be fans who defend them no matter what.
Whether they are right or not is irrelevant. Since when has any player at our club thought it was appropriate to question the manager’s decisions? To do so is undermining and humiliating and should not be tolerated.
Out.of.order.
Man Utd News 24/7
too true
“Criticising Sir Alex Ferguson’s decisions in the press but there will still be fans who defend them no matter what.”
while i agree that it is inappropriate, of these players, fans who defend Ronnie and Tevo do not deserve to be called plastic fans!
while i do not condone publicly questioning SAF (i am hope both of em get the hairdryer for this) i too have my doubts about the decision not to play all four together. i mean the question is, can Tevez not do what Park does?
i think he is more than capable. it is Ji Sung who should be on the bench, not our Argie. my two cents.
This is what you get for not having a Roy Keane in your locker room.Had he still been here,there’s no way these players would be making these noises.And Ronaldo has made it worse today by saying that SAF never told him anything.Eric Cantona,Bryan Robson,Steve Bruce,Dennis Irwin,David Beckham,Ryan Giggs,Gary Neville and even Roy Keane NEVER critisized the manager in public.Maybe it’s time for some of our “stars” to get off their high horse.
Maybe Fergie needs to start throwing some boots around the locker room again
For fuck’s sake.. We lost to a better team on the day, that’s it.
What a season!! World Cup Champions, Carling Cup Champions, equalising scousers 18 Premierships and second best in Europe
costas, spot on mate Keano would never allow that, good point.
I’m with Nemanja.
Looking at the entirety of Ronaldo’s quote, it does appear that the tabloids have, as usual, truncated it to make it seem worse than it was. He’s still a cunt, but his ‘criticism’ was a lot milder than it’s been portrayed.
As much as it kills me to say this we need a gerrard like force in midfield.
i say, lets do a ’96.
we have welbeck, macheda, evans, gibson, fabio, rafael apart from Nani and Anderson, all of whom are begging for regular football.
sell the so called “stars”.
we can do without Tevez, Ronaldo, even Evra (on the back of his performances since jan + comments)
i say do it. if that means going without a trophy or two for one odd season, i don’t mind.
if Ruud could be sent packing for saying he missed Becks, this is far too much!
Par: what was the whole quote mate? all i have read is tactics were not good crap!
Questioning him through the press ain’t in good taste, but truth be told THE TACTICS WERE A TOUCH COWARDLY. We all know we’re a good attacking team and so are Barca. But to admit that they are better than us, though not explicitly, by putting out a team aimed at stopping Barca playing, we played into their hands. We should have played like Spurs 2nd half with the big four all in the pitch. They attack us, we attack them and see whose attack is better. Better we lose 6-5 than go out with a whimper like we did! But we’ll be back.
Don Pablo, of course the tactics were wrong.But it wasn’t the first time.The tactics were even worse when we lost 3-1 at Madrid without a fight in 2003.I don’t remember any player critisizing the manager.Ronaldo and Tevez are right about the tactics but they are out of line.I think Ferguson is going through enough from the press as it is.No need for disgruntled players to throw salt to the wound.
atleast not in public! behind closed doors every team has misunderstandings. but to say it in public is a big no-no. at least ronnie said it in the heat of the moment, when there wasn’t too much time to think and emotions were running high. but for tevez to say these things 24 hours later are not in the best taste.
People always blame tactics, that is bollox, we lost simply because we did not play, the tactics were good enough to destroy Arsenal.
It is never the players fault, they have to accept sometimes their resposiblity and hold their hand up admit that the performance they put in was not good enough.
Tevez has said that ‘But with a strategy more attacking in the first minute then perhaps the result would have been different.’ he is targeting at the tactics of Fergie from a selfish point of view so that he could have started.he just wants to be a regular starter no matter what. but Ron’s rant towards the tactics was more to do with the team tactics.may be change of formation.
The full quote:
http://football365.com/story/0,17033,8749_5352095,00.html
Not quite as bad as it’s been portrayed.
And now I feel dirty for defending him.
Sir Alex Ferguson: 11 titles, 2 CL, 5 FA Cups, 3 leagues cups, 1 intercontinental and one world cup…this is the record of the man who is being so bitterly criticised by some people…yea he does make mistakes at times. but then who doesn’t??? Cristiano ronaldo?? tevez?? Excuse me but even these two make numerous mistakes during games. No player should be allowed to criticise the manager and get away with it. Nobody cares for manchester united more than sir alex…nobody is hurt by defeat more than sir alex. so let nobody be wise after the event…we just lost a CL final, not an FA cup 3rd round game!! Man utd won 3 major trophies this season! maybe the captain (rio ferdinand preferably) should start shouting at the petulant young ” stars” the way keano used to.
Its the way of the world. When it works its great when it doesnt everyone moans!
People can moan about the tactics! What more anoyed me was that very few of our players turned up! I do not recall any of our players stand out!
if i was to pick a list of players who played well from both teams i would be selecting
Iniesta
Messi
Pique
Xavi
Eto
Henry
Poyual
Every one of these players had a better game and was more effective than all our united players!
Quite simply we didnt turn up! The lads have to life with the effort they put in.
It’s funny how we could have put in a totally dodgy performance like we have done for quite alot of this season. Nicked in 1-0 and the team and Fergie would have been hailed as the Greatest Ever. Fucking hate the press, think that they hype the team and players up too much, just so they have a story when we lose a game. Yes Barcelona were better on the night, does this make Fergie any lesser of a manager…no bloody maybe. Oh note for Jose, looks like there is a new “special one” in town and this guy has a alot my class than he ever will
I REMEMBER THE DARK DAYS IN THE 70″S AND 80″S, WHEN WINNING A TROPHY WAS ABOUT AS LIKELY AS AN ACCURATE CROSS FROM COLIN GIBSON!
I PRAYED THAT WE WOULD WIN THE LEAGUE ONLY ONCE IN MY LIFETIME. JUST LOOK AT HOW THE WIZARD HAS SPOILED US. WINNING 2 OR MORE TROPHIES IN A SEASON NEVER HAPPENED EVEN UNDER SIR MATT, BUT OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN 2 DOMESTIC DOUBLES, A TREBLE AND “THE” TREBLE. WE HAVE EQUALLED THE DIPPERS LEAGUE RECORD-SOMETHING I NEVER THOUGHT THATI’D SEE IN MY LIFETIME.
BUT HERE WE ARE, AFTER ONE BAD DEFEAT,CRITICISING PLAYERS AND THE MANAGER.
EVERY OTHER TEAM(BAR BARCELONA) WOULD KILL TO HAVE THE SEASON WE HAVE JUST HAD. I CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT SEASON SO THAT WE CAN GO TO MADRID AND BRING OUR TROPHY BACK HOME.
Although it isn’t ideal that Ronnie (who I already dislike) and Tevez (who I am starting to dislike) are speaking to the press and undermining SAF they are actually quite right in what they are saying.
Barcelona had 3 out of 4 defenders either playing out of position or not first choice. The obvious thing to do would be put Tevez on for Giggs and attack Barcelona. Just makes sense to me but what do I know.
United had defenders out against AC Milan at the San Siro and lost 3-0.
Barcelona had defenders out against United and win 2-0.
How does that work then?!
United overan an Arsenal team that didn’t turn up.
However United didn’t turn up against Barcelona on Wednesday.
It was a combination of tactics and players not performing.
Also United would become a weaker team if Ronnie and Tevez went.
Regardless of what we think of them.
Why break up a team that has the potential to dominate Europe for years to come?
Just shut the fuck up!
Go to Liverpool i don’t care.
I cannot ever remember so much public disrespect being shown to the manager.
Does Tevez really want to stay?
Even if the club sign Tevez then will he show petulance every time he is substituted?
This is the most successful period in our history and I don’t want any player jeopardising the team.
Are all the Journo’s fucking dippers, because they would have everyone believe that our best player is starting WWIII with Fergie. Where the hell do they get these translations from, change a few words around, leave a few bits out. Bloody pathetic
I don’t fucking care about the possible domination we just can not lose our identity, values etc. No one is bigger than the manager. Just stop talking crap.
Corea:
“we just can not lose our identity, values”
well said mate. we can win without arrogant twats. we have shown that by winning 3 out of 3 after RVN left.
anyway, its Tevez who pisses me off more than anything. Ronaldo has been quiet bar that interview moments after the final whistle. Tevez is shoving his head higher up his arse with every passing day.
if he wants to go, let him. more room for Welneck and Macheda, in whom i see far more class than i do in Tevo.
Tevez is gone, im gettin sick and tired of Ronaldo
The problem is they all open their mouths after the season is over. Ronaldo kept saying that bullshit in summer when he was away from Manchester. Tevez does this in the same manner.
It was all laughs before the final.
http://www.sports.ru/images/object_60.1243416012.jpg
hypocrite.
Seeing Barca fans celebrate last night got me wondering, United fans are spoilt fucking brats and at times im sick to even call myself one, not because of the club itself but because of the fans. Some of the fans in that ground against Arsenal were fickle, jesus the league was just won, and all you could see was complacency in the faces in the crowd!
As for Ronaldo, I really couldnt give a flying fuck what the pussy boy does, him or Tevez, personally i would always want to see him play for us because of his talent but then you begin to think of that attitude he shows, the comments to the press, the lack of effort in certain matches, the strops on the pitch! Jesus fucks sake grow up.
Tevez, im disappointed some fans have let a fucking loan signing with limited football ability twist their minds against the managers judgement. The booing of him being substituted sickened me.
Again all boils down to our fans, their a ridiculous bunch some!
why there is no talk of trying to acquire modric???
has god command on midfield
actually i don’t see what the big deal is.
the more i think about it, the more it seems that selling tevez is the best idea.
Surely it is time to give Welbeck a good run in the first 11!
?!
All Fergi’s to take the blame for the defeat by Barca in the CL. Starting with Giggs,Pak and John Oshea were total blunder. Oshea and Giggs lack of pace and ideas and Pak was easily shakle and intemidated by defenders.
In fact Anderson should be given the task of Fletcher to spoil their perfect passing. Rooney should be the lone striker whilst Teves and Ron at both wings.Rafeal the right back with full of energy and ball skills can easily panetrate into Barca defence for Rooney or Ron to score goals.
For the next season Fergi please retire Giggs, Gary N. Scholes and must sell
off John Oshea and not Nani. Dont forget the mistakes you made last year by selling off Gerard Pique and now he is the pillar of Barca goalmouth.
@Coogie
thats the flip side of such unprecedented success mate. you end up with some undesirable fans. its the tough times that see only your best fans sticking it till the end. eg. Newcastle, they provide a complete contrast to us dont they?
just been relegated, you can be rest assured the only fans turning up to watch coca-cola league games would be the most die-hard fanatical fans of the club.
i guess if being a successful club means co-existing with such go-forsaken “fans”, we have to accept it!
The thing is that neither of these two “stars” would ever dare open their mouths in front of Si Alex! they just cowardly speak behind his back, especially when they know they are gonna leave…all man u fans are dead tired of their moaning, especially tevez who didnt demonstrate anything in the 45 mins he played…two years, 2 titles, one CL, one league cup is great return, and mayb he should shut the F’K up and pack up! it is when the going is tough that you know who is ur true friend and who’s with u…look at rooney…he probably hates playing on the left…he was isolated, without proper service, yet not a word of moaning or tactics from him… this is the kind of class ronaldo and tevez don’t have!
ManU
uhh, Giggs? the PFA Player of the year, Giggs? well oh my!
And you want us to sell O’Shea. so whom are you planning to play down the right when Brown, Neville and Rafael are all injured as they were this season?
or down the left when Evra and Fabio are both injured? Rooney?
Fergie’s tactics weren’t wrong at all, as the first 10 minutes showed, when the famous Barcelona was on the ropes and we almost scored. After the first goal, it wasn’t a matter of tactics anymore, although he did whatever he could to change things and he even played the Fab Four up front for a long time.
If Ronaldo thinks differently, he can join RM and criticise his expendable coach(es) next year, as their supporters repeatedly do, without facing any problems.
If Tevez thinks differently, he can join Liverpool and watch United lift the trophy next year, after he has played 20 minutes more in the Premiership.
@Anon
Giggs was PFA player of the year and good enough in the United midfield in the Premiership top level. But in European top level? Do you think he is good enough?
@ ManU
So you think that Pique is better than Evans ?
Even if he was i would have prefered Jonny because he is brit.
I can only imagine if Terry put that pen away what would you say about Scholes ? You criticise Park but at least SAF has some values puting him in the starting line up.
AlphaRS
for one, that response was for asking Fergie to “retire” Giggs.
and as for Giggs being good enough for Europe, we just need to look at the splendid chance he created just after the Messi goal. Brilliant dribbling, found the space. just couldn’t finish it off. I thought Ronnie should have done better with the rebound, but the keeper did very well to keep that out of goal. Giggs is very much up for it mate. we just need more varied options in midfield though. i like giggs in the wide midfield role, but centrally, Carrick ain’t up for it. and he is 27 (i think?).
call me impatient, but he isn’t United quality.
i have seen him all season, and almost everyone on here would agree that in the league he was as good a mid-field general as any this season, but in Europe, he has been nearly invisible.
i said this on another thread, if we can have fletch and hargo playing, we should have berba playing attacking mid and ronaldo as striker.
Carrick does a ballerina sometimes. He should be more agressive i think.
But to criticise the players after the game on Wednesday it’s not that fair.
THE TEAM just didn’t show up.
@Anon
I only read your comments so apologies if I didn’t get the whole story.
I don’t know what you think but I reckon we lack the creativity in midfield. Out midfiled just don’t get us enough goals. Giggs might be the stop gap for that right now but he isn’t gonna last much longer at his ages.
The reality of it is Neville, Giggs, Scholes will all retire in a few years. The creativity supplied by Giggs and Scholes will be gone and we will be left with defensive midfileders. Anderson used to be a brilliant attacking midfielder at Gremio. Why not use him?
1 match can’t take away all the good works done this season
agree with you AlphaRS
but also count in Ljajic who’l be at carrington this season. Attacking mid, and with Anderson, and the option of using Berba in that position, we have it covered i think.
I don’t like Tevez, he’s a little plantpot who doesn’t even have the quality of Ronaldo so comments like this are all the more ridiculous/annoying…’I love the fans, they love me’ spiel is boring, it’s nearly as boring as Ricky Hatton telling us all ‘I’m really popular with lots of people that only know me via a television screen’…’Out of order’ sums Tevez up for me.
If we do not bring in a creative attacking minded midfielder. We could put Berba in that role since that’s where he plays anyway. Get a left winger. Ribery. Cough. Then Rooney can be in the middle and he can be able to shoe his endless amount of talent. Maybe would need a proper out and out striker. But who?
Actually how good is Llajic though?
Nemanja
he has had great reviews. but lets wait and see. i am expecting big things.
Scott, well said. Agreed.
How dare they?
It has been a long season for all even for fan like me who has been one since early ’70s. It has been a helluva season, and my heart has been at full trotter and beating at all cylinders. Winning the Charity Shield, missing at Super Cup, winning the World Club Cup, winning the League Cup, losing to Liverpool 1-4; then to 0-2 to Fulham, beating Arsenal at Emirates in the Champions League semi-final, went on to win the EPL 3 in a row even before the last game of the season. Losing is good sometimes. I am not talking about the ECL final; what i’m saying is the season long schedule. It is good to lose games like Liverpool & Fulham but the players have to deal with the heartbreaks and come back stronger and the good thing is the loss came at a timely pattern. They won the next game and the winning streak continues again. They achieve it, that’s how they won the EPL and thus equalling Liverpool 18 League Championship . Then the win at Emirates and even the youngsters feel invincible, winning the final game at Hull 0-1 after the seniors’ cautious display at the home scoreless draw. I had a strange feeing prior to the ECL final that the winning streak is going to end. It’s just bad timing! Losing to LIverpool and Fulham were good timing. It was a dreadful feeling and it really happened on the night when nothing seemed to work! However, I like to think that it has been a terrific season that many of the EPL challengers ever dream of, with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, …… we live to fight another season! Maybe some new faces! Good show LADS!!! Maybe the ECL should change its format, since it is called the League, it should be played like one. All the teams are to play one another and the team standing at the top of the leader board will be declared the Champions of Europe! No more qualifying rounds. Only the champions of the Premier League of each European Club be qualify. I hope this works, the number of games could pose a problem here but I really think this would be a more ideal campaign. It’s just my wishful thought!
Looks like Real Madrid are really after Ronaldo as most of us knew.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/may/29/perez-welcomes-ronaldo-transfer-talk-real-madrid
At the end of the day Fergie was not on the pitch to do the running. Whatever the tactics, our midfield in particular was crap on the night. Player should be brave enough sometimes to try things if initial tactics are not working. Just imagine if Keano was playing on Wednesday.
Had Park been a wee bit quicker and scored when the opportunity was presented to him, and then went on to win, everybody would have been bragging how genius Fergie was. (Sounding like FSW with if and buts now)
You win some, you lose some. Barca rose to the occasion, we did not. So we should learn the lessons and march on.
I would rather have Ronnie stay then just let him go so easily.
He is a world class player who if left would make United a weaker team.
If he does have to goReal Madrid can have him for no less than £100 million. That is the asking price. The rest is up to them! Hehehe.
If Fergie is guilty of not talking to Ronaldo about something,it’s the fact that he has allowed him not to track back.If anything,Ronaldo has special treatment,playing up front and without an obligation to mark anyone.So before Ronaldo opens his mouth again,he should take a look at Rooney and the sacrifice that he has made for the team.Or maybe i am asking for a lot.
GOALS CHANGE GAMES.
GAMES ARE WON AND LOST IN MIDFIELD.
The “tactics” worked for exactly nine minutes. Then they had to change BUT they didn’t. That meant Barcelona were presented with a perfect opportunity because UTD’s midfield were not able to get the ball, put their foot on it, and boss the game.
Given time/space, Xavi and Iniesta looked super-human. That gave breathing room to Busquets and the back four who really should have been attacked with more ferocity.
To my way of thinking, SAF caught himself between two stools – he had seen what the RentBoyz had done to stifle Barcelona but he was not provided with the players to do that job so he hoped that the formation/”tactics” which embarrassed TheArse would come to his rescue but Carrick, Anderson, and Giggs did not boss the midfield or link up well with the forwards.
At the heart of SAF’s dilemma was that he paid Barcelona too much respect and that proved to be a disaster when the first goal changed the dynamic of a one-off game. Then, after the remarkably shoddy defending that led to the second goal, the game was over.
So, all you SAF diehards have to face a cruel reality-check. The “tactics” didn’t work – although if that early chance that just eluded Park had gone in then we might have a totally-different story-line. But Pique just beat Park to that loose ball and the goal that could have changed the game wasn’t to be.
Even though players think the manager got the tactics wrong you NEVER EVER express those feelings to the press. The manager is the boss, you answer to him. This isn’t complicated. Fergie is probably the most respected manager in the world, his record is amazing. To say these things like Tevez did is disrespectful. Does Fergie criticize Tevez in the press when he’s had an off game? No, he backs his players up when they need it the most! Tevez should do the same even though he reckons Fergie made a mistake in the lineup!!
I am going to take some flak here I know, but this is what I think. Contrary to what some have said, its not that we’re missing Keano in the dressing room – we’re actually missing the real SAF. I think SAF has become cautious when it comes to player management, and my guess is that this is because he realizes he’s reaching the end of his management career (2-3 more years?) and he now desperately wants the trophies (especially the CL). He knows he no longer has a the time to build new teams, and he’s desperate now to keep this team together. The result is he’s suddenly willing to tolerate shit from people like Ronaldo and Tevez as long as they have some utility for us. The SAF of old would have gotten rid of them, or relegated them to the bench for such insubordination. He doesn’t do that anymore – and that is why these lads have the bollocks to speak up in public.
@Mahesh: Well said.That is exactly what has happened.All we have to do is look at the reasons why Beckham,Ruud and even Roy Keane left the club.Ronaldo has done far worse.Tevez has also done one-two things in the last month but you could say that he is leaving so he doesn’t have anything to fear anyway.And SAF not only got mad at him but he put him over Berbatov in his preferences.
Where exactly did you see criticism apart from the big flashy tabloid headlines? Tevez said “I wanted” and “perhaps”. That’s all. Seriously, with analyses like this I would soon rather read the Sun than this blog.
invertedquestionmark – Feel free to sod off and read The Sun then mate!
I’ve never seen a player say “perhaps” the manager should have done this differently or “I wanted” to play but the manager didn’t play me. If you are OK with players saying things publicly which disagree with the manager, then that is up to you. I think it is 100% out of order and Tevez has been a gobby prick recently. Hush up or fuck off, Carlitos.
Seriously, the guy came on for 45 minutes and did NOTHING… then has the balls to say things might have been different if he’d been on from the start. Hilarious.
It’s nothing to do with money. He isn’t happy with the amount of time he’s had on the pitch this season. City will play him more than we will so he has a choice to make. If he chooses to go elsewhere and play more, then best of luck to him. Maybe he’ll be whinging to the press about the lack of trophies instead of the lack of game time though!
Ahh the english media! Gallas gets absolutely blasted for saying his teammates don’t show passion/heart and that they lack fighting spirit, but CR and Tevez criticize the best manager in English football and not a peep from the press. Arsenal fan.
Pat,they love it when United players have a go at the manager.It sells.So naturally they are taking the players’ side on this.They are the ones giving them the headlines.The fact that the media are doing funeral services for a United team that won 3 trophies this season,speaks volumes about how much football they know.
what does he think he is? 2 years at the club,2 league titles,1 champions league title and he is not greatful for that.He came to west ham and frankly he belongs there.i never liked the guy and i want him out.How dare he is critisizing SAF.He is a loaney and he was treated like a loaney.Barba,rooney,ronaldo,they are united player,he is not
How dare they fucking criticise the greatest Manager in public like that. In the words of Drogba: ‘It’s a fucking disgrace’. Whether they are right or wrong, they should keep their fucking mouths shut and keep their thoughts to themselves. I would dearly love them to stay, but if this is their way of engineering a move away, then fuck off! United are, and always will be bigger than any individual.
@ Kings
“Whether they are right or wrong”
Manager is responsible for results. If Tevez feels he is right let him do the coaching himself, eh ?
fergie’s tactics were wrong imo.he shud have replaced giggs with scholes at half time just to give the midfield more shape and bite and let rooney be the striker and put cr7 on the wing to run at the little fuckers.we gave barca too much space in midfield and they punished us real badly.such is life.there will be more finals to come for United.all those fans blaming fergie for the defeat need to wake up or go support shitty or dippers.the team just didnt show up.i think ronnie’s comments weren’t too bad though.he just said that the tactics didnt work and the team didnt play well.which is very true.tevez on the other hand…one word…GET RID! if i was fergie i wud let him go to wherever he pleases.he’s always thinkin of himself.at present,the CL defeat is very bitter but on the flip side,it will give all the players especially those “stars” and the cocky fans a big kick up the backside.it will leave us alot hungrier.dont worry lads,barca were jus lucky.we’ll be back next year even stronger with who stays,comes or goes.i’ll enjoy fm09 in the meantime.
Its funny how some of you looked at Chelsea’s performance and thought it was going to be easy. I’m an Arsenal fan, but Hiddink is the greatest tactician around and I for one am happy he’s not staying any longer.
Didn’t read all the comments so I don’t know whether this has been said, but isn’t Ronaldo just building up to him leaving? If he starts a row he can leave and say he was forced out because the fans turned against him. I suspect we will hear a lot more of this type of comment over the next few months. As for Tevez well he knows he is not wanted and who can blame him for being bitter?
SAF should be praised for what United have achieved this season, not criticised for falling short in one game against an outstanding side.
The way I look at it, is that United came within 90 minutes of an unprecedented achievement of taking the EPL title, world club cup, League Cup and Champions League cup. And reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup playing a lot of youngsters. SAF did this with probable United’s strongest squad; but it was not United’s best ever starting 11.
As United fans, we know that while we have a strong squad we do not yet have a fantastic starting 11. Some tweaking is required. SAF has often said he doesn’t know what his best team is: well, it’s time he found out. Over a league season a strong squad is indispensable for a long campaign, and for cup runs. United will have half a dozen really big games a season. It’s essential that the manager knows his best team and that the best team takes the pitch in those games. It is inconceivable that Guardiola would have left his attacking threats Eto’o and Henry on the bench in order to meet perceived threats from United. One or both of Berbatov and Tevez should have started for United.
There is work to be done. This is my 10 point recommendation for producing United’s best starting 11 next season:
1. Rooney must be played in his best position, as a second striker.
2. Berbatov should be used in his best position which is as a central striker working in tandem with a second striker, as he did with Robbie Keane at Spurs. Properly used, Berbatov would clearly score as many goals as he did at Spurs. United create more chances than Spurs; and Rooney is a much better player than Keane.
3.Pray that Owen Hargreaves fully recovers from his operations and returns to his very best form (eg for England in 2006 world cup).
4. Use at least one holding midfielder (Hargreaves or Fletcher) in most games; and two of them in all the big games (eg against the Big Four and top sides in Europe).
5. Give Danny Welbeck as much first team exposure (against the lesser premier league teams) as possible.
6. Get a sports psychologist to help Vidic overcome the condition known as “the Torres Syndrome” (i.e, acute panic at the sight of world class forwards running at you, with pace).
7. Use Anderson in his natural position as an attacking midfielder – he’s not a defensive midfielder; but please, please teach him how to shoot.
8. Make a decision as to who your attacking midfielder(s) is/are and encourage them to get forward to score some goals. The contribution to the goal tally from the midfielders this season has been pitiable.
9. Let your best players get used to playing with each other in their best positions. Part of the reason United fell apart at the seams against Barcelona is that when put under stress an unfamiliar team were unable to click into gear.
10.Trust SAF.
I think its time for ronaldo to go we shud get ribery while he is still available
fergie needs to step on some heads before this gets out of hand. These two dick heads need to go if they carry on in this kind of media action.
On ya bike Tevez!
Scott, yes, I am okay with Tevez saying “I wanted to play more”. Of course he does, he wouldn’t be in United in the first place if he didn’t. As for the second part – just imagine the conversation.
Journalist: ‘You lost, suckers.’
Tevez: ‘Yep, we did.’
Journalist: ‘United started with only one forward. Do you think the end result might have been different if you had played up front from the beginning?’
Tevez: ‘With a strategy more attacking in the first minute then perhaps the result would have been different.’
Then translate it into English, remove the interviewee’s questions, tinker the end product a bit so that it looks as controversial as possible without the danger of a lawsuit, add a flashy headline – and there you go. The media uses the same approach to create news all the time – and with reactions like this you give them exactly what they want. It is called Moral Panics Theory, and it’s used to bolster the sales. Currently the trendy panics are Tevez and Ronaldo’s transfers and their questioning of Sir Alex’s tactics.
And don’t forget that there are other players involved: the agents who want bigger deals. Footballers are not the brightest lads and are not that hard to manipulate, especially by those who have been taking care of them for the last five or ten years. But everybody realies on us, the fans, and the way we react to their stories and bluffs – if we don’t buy it, they’ll have to find something else to profit from.
For me, at the end of the day it all comes down to this question: Will Sir Alex tolerate this behaviour? And the answer is, ‘No, he won’t.’ Just like he didn’t tolerate it with Keane, or Nistelrooy, or Beckham. When he decides the time to act is right, he will. And by demanding that he does something about it right now, you are the ones who are questioning Sir Alex’s decisions, not Tevez and Ronaldo.
Two days after the final. One month until the Asia tour, two months until the Community Shield game. It’s going to be a long summer, as always.
If Tevez wants to stay at our club, he needs to keep his mouth shut. No whinging every few days about much he’s played or talking about what the manager could do differently.
If he wants off, then brilliant. See ya later. Slag the club off all you like and enjoy winning fuck all with City.
Tevez should take a leaf out of Park’s book. He looks and sounds less like a United player with every passing week.
people just should stop questionning tactics. the truth is that we conceded from a bad header from carrick and vidic unable to deal with etoo. no tactics just mistakes.
so looks like tevez is going? do we buy a winger and promote macheda and wellbeck?
or do we get a high profile striker?
People who don’t understand that bad tactics lead to players playing badly understand fuck all about football. And all those Tevez worshipping twats can fuck off to Argentina if they favour him over Fergie, he’s as self serving as the Portuguese.
I’m also disappointed with Carlitos – not because he runs his mouth but because he’s not really improved since he was 18/19. As a teenager he seemed to be an incredible talent but he plateau-ed while others -Messi/Aguero – have continued to improve and elbowed him aside in the Argentine seleccion. Same applies to his club play – a fantastic talent as a kid but no significant improvement as he’s matured; in reality, he became the fourth striker at OT. When he signed for UTD I was delirious because I knew he wouldn’t cramp Rooney’s style and his first year was exciting but this year I’ve been more impressed with the deficiencies in his play – poor ball control/first touch. He’s still a terrific little player but he’s not taken the next step up the ladder to “world class”. So, I really don’t have much opinion – one way or the other – about his future: if he stays, he’s going to have to accept squad rotation; if he goes, he’s replaceable.
i’m getting annoyed by tevez comments nowadays..although i like him much as a player..
invertedquestionmark – great comment, out of keeping with this place really.
Nick – meeeowwww