With just over half an hour played Jamie Carragher fouled Michael Carrick in the penalty area. He got a foot to the ball but didn’t put it out of Carrick’s path, yet he did bring our midfielder down. If it had happened outside of the box it would have been an obvious freekick and a yellow card. For it to happen inside of the box it should have been a penalty and at least a yellow card, yet the referee gave nothing.
With a few minutes remaining on the clock, Carragher brought down Michael Owen as our striker threatened to race through one on one with the goalkeeper. It was similar to the challenge that saw Nemanja Vidic sent off for his foul on Steven Gerrard last season, although in this instance Carragher was actually the last man. Instead of giving the obvious red card, the referee simply booked Carragher and awarded a freekick.
A red card wouldn’t have made amends for what we deserved though: a one on one opportunity against the goalie. There’s no one in our team I would rather to be in that situation than Owen who almost certainly would have scored.
Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken in a controlled manner after the game, given the charge he already has against him for calling overweight referee Alan Wiley unfit, although of course has spoken about the massive errors made by young and inexperienced referee Andre Marriner.
“The laws of the game were altered to prevent professional fouls of that nature,” said Ferguson of the foul on Owen. “If Carragher goes off – their best player, their captain – then it’s a different game and Liverpool would have been under pressure. And as far as I’m concerned, Michael Carrick should have had a clear penalty kick. Jamie Carragher’s gone over the top of the ball. If it’s outside the box it’s a free-kick and maybe even a yellow card but it was inside the box and nothing was given.”
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That referee was a fuckin disgrace. Some of his decisions were absolutely mind boggling. He was a dipper in disguise.
I guess this was the refs getting back at Sir Alex. Sucker punching us in the game that means the most to the boss.
But referee decisions aside, we were poor today. The midfield just didnt click. We could have used fletch or hargreaves today. But lets just get past this and improve.
Yeah the referee was poor and Carragher should have got sent off, Lucas made the most fouls and got the least punishment and Mascherano finally got sent off after 100 fouls
But lets put that aside we were absolutely garbarge today it was shocking and horrible to watch and without the the Ref’s nightmare we would still have lost. We need to consolidate and move on, yeah it hurts because its the bin dippers but we need to go on a long winning run and play football I dont think we’ve played this season
Yes but the fact is we were poor against a very average team (apart from the Torres moment). This game was there to be won and we didn’t come to the party. That’s the frustrating thing for me. Our players are much much better than they showed today. It seems to happen regularly now in the biggest games.
Anyway that’s life, Liverpool were crap today but we could not capitalise
It seems kind of fishy that the ref was in liverpool’s favour throughout the match. Probably thought he could get away with it, as the only person capable of pointing out his woeful decisions is Fergie who is unable to do so because of the charge. How lucas and carragher got away with this I don’t know. Fergie is spot on.
There is no point in blaming the cunt, blunt talking and straight shooting, we were rubbish. Defence needs sorting out, we’ve conceded far too many. We should be playing Evans ahead of rio more often, and ando should NOT be on the bench for big games. Midfield shouldn’t be rotated too much, and playing scholes, carrick and giggs together won’t work as they aren’t DEFENSIVE ball winning midfielders.
Exactly my sentiments Sheffield Red. Hopefully this can be like the Arsenal result of last season, and we can go on a long winning run.
I am not irked about the dippers beating us because they’re still not in the title race, they aren’t a threat like chelsea is. What irked me today was the way they celebrated, seeing the smug bombastic joy on their faces, thinking they outclassed us and won the cup final. You should hear the scousers now; all pompous and gloating. Makes me feel sick.
We will bounce back, starting from the carling cup game on Tuesday.
andre marriner at the minute is the worlds biggest wanker! but i’d take being beat twice a season to win the title at the end and to keep fat rafa in a job!! roll on another trophyless season on merseyside
Some match stats:
Corners: Dippers= 5 utd =1
Goal attempts: Dippers=11 utd=7
On target: Dippers=6 utd=5
Fouls: Dippers=20 utd=11
Offside: Dippers=1 utd=3
Attendance: 44,188
Would’ve thought the stadium will be full, there were 1088 empty seats.
The Ref was pathetic but I guess what Lucas did here was the same as what flet did against arsenal. True carragher should have been sent off something Vida was letting Carragher know when he arrived in the box for the freekick.
The referee performance cannot take away the truth from the fact that we were closed down very easily by a more spirited and planned side. While we were out of sorts and didnot match u the hype of the game.
Btw FSW was pulling his pants up a lot whenever the camera panned onto him . I have to say that FSW pulled the same coup on us three times in row where as SAF has had no plans to counter the fast clobbering don’t-let- united-have-time on the ball play.
Ando or Fletcher or even both have to feature in big games to return the favour to the likes of Lucas and mascareno. Against chelski we need to get the midfield right.
Wazza and berbatov didnot get any service from the midfield and had to scamper to catch the long balls.
Oshea with Valencia is a strict no-no, Valencia is good but he needs the likes of nevville or brown to get his space. Oshea is defensively fine but lacks creativity or the bite.
More worrying is the fact that the frequency of Such pathetic, not turning up at the game performances is increasing.
not the first time we’ll be screwed out of a game by a referee,and wont be the last!! But we looked very flat today and seemed to play more football in our own half than theirs,but b’burn at home next is a game that we must bounce back and get ready for chelsea,a game i feel will be harder than the dippers,hopefully fletch will be back,our football genius,wish we had him today!! We’ll never die!
comeon reds, lets pick up the bits and pieces and look forward to tuesdays game. we’ll never die!
Last season, they did the double against us, and still won fuck all.
We’ll never die.
In spite of the fact that UTD were outplayed – not out-classed- most of the time and ‘Pool showed a more aggressive style to their play, UTD could have won the game had there been a more competent ref.
Carragher’s tackle on Carrick was a foul. No ifs and buts. It was a stone-cold. clear-cut penalty. UTE were denied a goal.
The other incident concerning Carragher was even more disgraceful. He should have been off. A 10 man ‘Pool would have had difficulties salvaging a draw.
Liverpool won, but they won by default. If their fans are happy then god bless them. But it doesn’t change the fact that they are a team going nowhere. With the imminent departure from the CL and mid-table mediocrity staring them in the face their fans have to accept the fact that RB is not their salvation, and there won’t be any extra money to spend in January. After another run of two successive defeats they’ll be back where they started – full of teeth gnashing and soul searching. The win covered up ‘Pool’s deficiencies, just as the 4-1 victory at OT last season. So RB has a reprieve and Liverpool’s decline will continue.
The game provided more confirmation, if indeed it was needed, that UTD’s MF at present is not up to scratch. Hopefully in the next few weeks when Hargreaves is back we’ll see a MF of Hargreaves, Fletcher and Anderson operating in the difficult away games. Certainly has a lot more spine than what we saw at Anfield.
I think the problem we had was that in terms of team selection and tactics we were bested. I don’t think United played badly so much as with the team and tactics we played the players were stuck. I mean Liverpool went out there and closed everything done, closed it down hard with two proper hacking lumps in the middle of the park. They might not have banked on the ref being soft of them but it paid off, with no card for Lucas he was free to kick our midfield around- something that our players did not get to do. Without any time on the ball against a team working their arses off and getting away with fouls what do we have? Not a hell of a lot. Sure Liverpool didn’t create many good chances, but Torres only needed one clean sight of goal to win the game. The second goal was just last ditch shit happening, no complaints there, better to lose 2-0 playing for 1-1 than lose 1-0 like bitches.
“The second goal was just last ditch shit happening, no complaints there, better to lose 2-0 playing for 1-1 than lose 1-0 like bitches.”
Agreed, at least we went down fighting – the last 10 minutes saw what was probably our best spell of pressure, and if Carragher had been sent off I think we’d have had a fair chance at an equaliser. As it was, we conceded the Ngog goal because everyone was up front trying for the equaliser.
The referee was very poor from early on, helping Liverpool in a material way , not just with the two big decisions, the penalty and the Carragher incident, but in allowing them to close United down in midfield with little constraint, especially Lucas. Nevertheless this was a poor performance by United who deserved to lose. I was really disappointed with Carrick, who I’ve often defended in the past, same with O’Shea, and too many others. It was bizarre tp play Scholes after he’d played 70 mins in Moscow (plus the long flight must have affected them all) in such an un-aggressive midfield with Carrick and Giggs. It’s the 3rd time running against Liverpool we’ve been out-fought in midfield which is annoying. Just because we went on to win the title last time doesn’t mean we will this time. This was a golden opportunity to sink them below the water-line, and we blew it. Where was the passion? Where was the intensity? Vidic wasn’t as bad as last time but he was edgy and Rio is still all over the place. No-one had a good game, which is shocking. But we just have to pick ourselves up and put together a winning run.
vidic had ladyboy in his pocket all game,won everything against him.
dont think rio wanted to tackle ladyboy incase he went down, as he did all game.
carrick was decent though i thought and our best player.
can someone tell me what does “dippers” mean?
Looks like the majority on here who voted Fletcher the player we would miss most for this game were spot-on.
Anderson is obviously the next best thing but I think Fergie went for the Carrick-Scholes ticket with communication in mind. It backfired and you can bet we’ll never see that combination start a big game again.
I’m not one of those Berbatov-bashers but I must concede that he has proved very frustrating. I’d like to see a Michael Owen get a run of games now.
P.S. Wes Brown is better than John O’Shea.
Bottom line is that united was not good enough today and furthermore have not been overly convincing for the whole of the season so far (with the possible exceptions of the wigan and spurs games). Perhaps the ref was unfair today, that’s up for debate depending who’s fan you are and how you perceive things altogether, but bottom line we should not have to rely solely on ref favorable decisions to see us draw/win against any team and also after Sir Alex outburst on ref alan wiley fitness, united are probably not going to get any favors from any of the refs anytime soon. Very biased and not very gamemanship from refs i know but I feel that for the next couple of months at least referee’s will want to make a point to premier leagues viewers and the members of the fa that they are in charge and not saf. On the comments on various sites saying that we much Ronaldo and Tevez (which unfortunately people will carry on saying unless/until we win the fa/pl/cl treble, which though i think this team on it’s day can beat anyone, this season on current form our day isn’t coming around in that convincing/often) the bottom line is that they wanted to move on, and i think that most on here would agree that tevez just isn’t good enough to miss too much and ronaldo would of been missed by any team not just us as madrid are proving right now. If you look back at last season back in march liverpool beat us at home by a 3 goal difference when we had both tevez and ronaldo playing well prior to that match – ok they did have both gerald and alonso at the time but it put things into perspective, and todays match was always going to be a ‘don’t taunt a wounded animal situ’ so the result to an extent was to be expected. however united do need to improve massively over the season if they are to win anything, and i do think we are missing something. I think united did well in acquiring owen for nothing (around the same level as tevez on his day) and Valencia (was never meant to be a replacement for ronaldo cos the replacement isn’t even in the shop window as of yet – can’t buy something that does not exist – who looks like he could be very good in that wing role and unlike ronaldo actually defends, plus the bonus of no dramatics = less banging head on wall associated with player’s behaviour!) plus between nov-jan we should be getting back/in hargreaves, obertan, diouf, and Ljajic which will hopefully provide what spark we’ve been missing. There are 2 major problems with our team right now – our defense has slipped from last yrs standard and the defense is basically the same, imo evra and vds haven’t done much wrong as of yet but i hope what nose dive in form vidic and rio are going through right now is just a footballers version of ‘their time of the month’ as such and they get back to their old selfs soon (and it probably wouldn’t hurt them getting a kick up the backside whilst they are at it) but fans saying sell them are a bit rash as who is honestly round right now who is better than these 2 when they are, and will in the future i’m sure play well? Also the fact we haven’t had a regular right back since the 07/08 season is worrying – sir alex, please just pick someone and stick with them so that they have a chance to go in that position! Our other problem is though I don’t think we miss either ronaldo and tevez as much as some are saying, I think that we miss the way they just slotted in and were able to link together the other members of the forward line at the time and the forward & midfield in general – aka, made the transition between certain members of the team seamless at times and right now (even though i don’t think we’ve seen all 3 of our major forwards on the pitch together yet?) the matchups of berba&rooney, rooney&owen or owen&berba don’t seem to be able to link up together and we need a player who is able to link up each one of those 3 pairs together (and hopefully to the wide choice of midfield we have) so that the forwards we have right now can function to their full capability and the good news to this is that we don’t necessarily need someone of ronaldo’s out of this world qualities/abilties to do this job – for all we know prehaps one of the new boys coming in could provide that much needed role and what a xmas present that would be.
Bottom line is that utd need to improve and hopefully if past form of being ‘slow getting going’ is continuing right now then we have much to look forward to, but also both the team and the fans need to get the belief and the fire back in our bellies as right now it seems like it’s as if we sold that over the summer as well, which we didn’t – no matter who comes and goes this is still Manchester United and i’m proud to be a fan of this great club rather than for any other club in the world (even if i am a little bit red in the face today – we all have down days, even the best of us)
whenever united play liverpool, liverpool are the better team. the better team however, is united. united are able to win the games they are suppose to, while liverpool only excels in big matches.
Let’s just hope this doesn’ t carry into the next game. Though, the mocking will probably took some time to die off. ;_;
Cannot believe that shithouse levia didn’t get one yellow! Referee was so far involved in what might happen to him he forgot that the game was united v workshy …. Love you eric c
All said and done the team this year still looks frustratingly tentative when they have been very lacklustre in the crunch games.
While its clear the team this year have specific talents it is their inability to switch an extra gear or two when needed that is depriving then the extra shade of menace.
Crucially it is in midfield where this is most sorely felt. We lack a serious engine man to drive the forward push. Maybe fletcher can do this, maybe gibson.
What’s clear is that we cant keep performing like this all year if we seriously want to make it 4 in a year.
Oh and the ref was a complete dildo
@Giles Oakley,
Superb point made about scholes mate..
Even though Vida got sent off again..i think he had an amazing game..ladyboy had one chance to score and he did..valencia hit the post but that was the closest we would’ve come..Rooney and berba were very ordinary..pains to see the lads playing so badly..
some ridiculous comments on this blog…….it was never a penalty on carrick – carragher nicked the ball…..and anyway – berabtov practically wrestled kuyt to the ground and ripped his shirt – far more of a penalty……..should carragher have been sent off ? if he’s going to book him suerly it had to be red……..
but all this doesnt get away from the fact that utd were shocking…….without a ball winner in midfield lpool pissed all over us in that area- berabatov was shockingly poor and rooney wasnt match fit…..i dont remember reina having to make a save….why wait til 73minutes to bring owen on when berbatov was clearly not getting a kick and owen was eager to impress????? as good a manager as ferguson is i simply dont get his logic sometimes………
giggs is no longer a left winger so why the hell play him there? carrick and scholes dont work well together in the middle as they are too similar – we need either/or and a ballwinner – not both and this isnt the first time its been apparent……….valencia barely had a kick but service to him was awful……the defence was shakey at best and vidic has now been sent off 3 times in a row vs lpool……the facts dont lie 1-4, 0-2 and 0-2 in the last 3 games…….
chelsea have the league sewn up and it pains me to say it…………
Well beaten in the end.Liverpool deserved it.They had more fight in them and were more determined.WE never got stuck in and did not pressurize them enough.
And Yes Torres is class.For all his acting and going down easily the lad is sheer class.he has made rio and Vida look average Centre backs in the last 2 games and remember he was half fit.Rooney has to do more if he wants to become a world class striker like torres and Villa.He still dosent score consistently and if he carries on like this he will be a good player but never a world class player.
Carragher should indeed have been sent off, but the ref was lenient as he was their captain. But United failed to turn up in the end as they played almost in the same manner as against CKSA in midweek, with the exception of a 4-5-1 turning into 4-4-2, but with the same mentality, that was to absorb the pressure and counter attack, but the scousers had the upper hand and took most of the opportunities given to them.
May be time for SAF to work again on his team tactics and line up in games like these ones, and y not go for some better players in the transfer window.
BTW Vidic must learn how to defend without committing too many unnecessary, his mistakes are costly both for the club and himself
@ aig
you were dead right about the backlash mate!
@dakota.
hi.good morning.yesi knew we would lose this one.tahts why despite people making over the top predictions i was always a bit worried.Its never a good time to play the dippers when they are flying.The last time we beat them at Anfield they had stufffed Marseille 4-0.Last season too everyone said at Old Trafford we will wina s Liverpool are out of the race and this quintuple talk was going on.they came and stuffed us in our own backyard.That is why i say however weak they maybe never underestimate them.It wasnt exactly a backlash but they were better and hungrier.Fergie ahs to question the hunger of certain players on the pitch and tell them to concentrate on football rather than opening restaurants and giving interviews all the time.i am sure you know who i am talking about.
If ever one needed proof that referees are on the Analfield payroll, yesterday was it.
Mariner was an absolute disgrace, and he made Alan Wiley look world class.
However, we were so poor yesterday. I could not believe the lack of passion and commitment from our players. We were outfought-period.
Do the players realise what losing to the Dippers means to us fans?
To surrender so meekly to the Scouse Bastards,was unforgiveable.
Carrick and Scholesy made Lucas and Mascherano look like absolute world -beaters.
And do the coaching staff have a plan to counter Torres, or do they just hope for the best?
Berbatov is a luxury in a game of this intensity, and his unwillingness to work the channels cost us yesterday.
We have lost a golden opportunity to k.o. the dippers from this season’s title race.
The hurt refuses to go away- To say that I hate the Bastards is an understatement.
The team from day one this year has been very poor not finishing teams of fergie needs to strenghen the middle and up front with the likes of silva and villa
@aig.
yeah i do..but i guess you cant blame them for having some fun with all the money that they have got..if it wasnt for vida and VDS i think we would’ve gone down by 3 or 4 goals..we’ve always fared badly against the other big three..rooney clearly wasn’t match fit and Ando should have played instead of scholesey..berba again was grunting and gettinng irritated whenever he didnt get the ball..definite penalty on kuyt..
Benayoun made Carrick look like cheap shit..
the fact that none of our wins off late have been convincing either in the premier league or the champions league..nervous starts or nervous endings..domination that is expected from a United team is not to be seen..
@ Dakota
Stoke, Tottenham, Wigan anyone ?
Yes Carragher should have been sent off… Exactly the same foul Vida commited at OT against the bitters last season that changed the whole game…!!! I don’t think the game would have changed though… Outbattled, outfought and always below par against a very mediocre Liver-poo side!!!
The thing that is most dissapointing is the fact that in the last three games against them we have lost to our own errors!!! Yesterday i thought Rio was very very slow in reacting… If not 100% fit then why not stick on Jonny Evans??
But we’ll be back.. We’re always back… And by the way… Why did SAF partner Scholes and Carrick in midfield???? They never seem to do well together… Why no Ando??? Weird one that… Anyway SAF knows best…
Viva Da Silva!!!!!!
http://www.tribalfootball.com/liverpools-carragher-owen-fouled-me-403621
I think we should call it a day. there is no need to agrue on the referee’s decisions. We should move on and continue to improve.
As i said when defending Berba last season there is a problem for Fergie to find the right balance in the team and to use his players in the best possible way. I still think we are good enough to win the premiership with the players we’ve got. Fullstop.
I am seriously worried about Chelsea.They are in great form and though vida and rio have done well gaainst Drogba in the past i really fear him.He can really give our centrebacks a torrid time.Add to that Anelkas pace and we are in for a difficult game
@Corea
the problem is that we havent defnded well.thats why despite battering Bolton for 75 minutes and missinga hatful of chances 2-1 still looked close.Rio is really struggling.vida is inconsistent too.of course the absence of fletch is a major reason.plus we dont have an attacking midfielder who can link play between midfield and attack.sure fergie will adress this in the summer transfer window.The only good point is that Valencia is constantly improving and looking good.
@ aig alex is god
yes, i know we HAVE PROBLEMS. The matter is that we can solve them.
I believe we have good enough players. I don’t want to repeat what i said some minutes ago.
corea
i am not saying we are not good enough.the thing is we have to find out why we are not playing upto the mark.absence of ronaldo is of course one reason but it is 2 months and we should have found an alternative by now.we can still win the league and there is no doubt about that.There are certain players who must be told to pull up their socks and play to their potential.
sorry for reposting but i see my points yesterday were wrote while drunk
/
I said at half time yesterday the ref was shit if united had of won 2-0 in the second half id still say he was shit, how our managers number 1 fan ended the game at the 96th minute ill never know. But on we go 2 wins on the trot in the league will put United top and fletcher and Hargeaves will be back. I taught 3 of our plaers didnt look fully fit yesterday and that was Rooney Evra and Giggs but its over now lets see there bouncebackability (remember that) and tear blackburn apart
ghtt
hello mate.Hargo back in 6 weeks time.boy we need him big time.atleast we will have him for the 2nd round of all the big games.2 wins on the trot? i really dont fancy us beating Chelsea at the bridge.I will be happy with a draw there.
A.I.G.
I missed the 6 weeks news
we will beat chelsea 2-0 sir
and I believe United most important player against the rent boys will be Valencia. Chelsea are turning into late 90s arsenal. tough to beat but if you use power against them you can muscul them out. I see they are still favourites but Im thinking1/ United 2/The Arsenal 3/ Chelsea 6/ liverpool
Valencia’s face hasnt changed since he joined United but over the last 3 games you can really see why he was bought. He is strong he is quick and he can tackle. he balance is super aswell when he turns on his left to strike with his right but maybe he doesnt feel good about vise versa but that will come. he has 4 goals in a red shirt 2 that count and I think he has com into himself at united
Nani down one wing for speed Valencia on the other scholes and anderson in midfield
rooney just ahead of berbatov
the power and skill of that team
let aloan our defence(how good was van der sar yesterday)
we can take the game to chelsea and dominate
We are Manchester United for fuck sake
.B.E.L.I.E.V.E.
But at the moment Im high on valencia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjzBXzUKbsY
ghtt
got to agree about Valencia.he is lloking good.i feel we should also tell him to get in central positions on the break because he can beat any centre back with his pace.i would rather have ando and fletcher in my midfield instead of yesterdays combination for the Chelsea game.If you play Nani you will have to drop Giggsy.As for we will beat chelsea i am not too sure about it.A draw will be a great result and of course we can stuff them at Old Trafford with Hargo and Fletcher in the side
Scott, sorry to say that, but till when we will be crying that refs are the against us? let`s analyze the game, the way how we played. it was awfull. yes, it should have been a penalty, yes, Carragher should have been sent off. do you think that if he was red carded we would score? I am not sure. the penalty? ok, might be greater chance, it was 0-0, but it still doesn`t cover how badly we played. rather post some serious analysis on how our midfield were outplayed, how Rooney was quiet, how Evra was poor in defending in this game….
i know we played shit and didnt deserve a win but if we got that pen then we cud of changed momentum, even early in the game it was clear peter andre marriner was scouse,i mean roon must av been an inch offside but you sumtimes get them,1 up after 2mins and there heads would have been up there arses instead of ours! nobody was there to compete,must have thought just walkin on pitch would win it. BIG QUESTIONS to be asked in training this week- rio n vidic- do yous like lookin like schoolboys when you play shitty dick ladyboy?
midfield- wernt even there, the holes without fletch and hargo is disgracefull,weak,
and 60 mil forward line were bullshit yesterday.
very dissapointed but LOVE THIS CLUB so saf get em kicked into touch this week and please get your chequebook out in january,please
Gotta say I don’t think United played that bad yesterday. We were beaten, fair enough but it wasn’t a truly worrying performance. Ferdinand and Vidic had a decent game (with the exception of the goal – from the best out and out striker around – and Vidic’s second yellow, but that was more down to sloppy control in midfield).
We missed Fletcher, but I’m surprised that in his absence Fergie played Carrick. Anderson while no where near what we expect of him yet would have at least added some steel to the midfield – he gets stuck in which is what was needed. I’m struggling to see what Carrick brings to the game nowadays other than: 1. Pass to Scholes 2. Back off from making a tackle.
On the plus side I thought Owen looked really good when he came on, making great runs and getting into good positions. Also I reckon Valencia is starting to show why we bought him and was unlucky not to score.
Berbatov looked again but I’m afraid that against a top defence he and Rooney don’t have that ability to penetrate the defence. The only time we did it yesterday was when Owen was on (and he was promptly brought down). Which brings me to the ref. Not gonna say much about it except that he was shocking. I’m not sure that if he was better it would have changed the result as the dippers deserved their win, but he was fucking shit. How Lucas wasn’t booked I’ll never know.
Its easier for Fergie to pint the finger of blame at the ref, than to admit his own team selection was completely wrong.
He needs to look at that midfield before Chelsea and Anderson and Fletcher must start.
Why are people going on about Diuof? The lad will be lucky to get a subs shirt when he arrives, he’s not first team ready and not United class.
The same with Tosic, he’snot good enought to compete at Prem League level as hes not strong enough or good enough.
I thought Vidic was shocking. He has not played well all season. Does he want out? Hansen, last evening on Match of the Day, suggested that he was frightened of Torres. He certainly gave me that opinion. But has Ferdinand got other problems at the moment? He is playing and acting just like he did when he was suspended for avoiding that drug test. His mind is elsewhere. he has to be rested.
It is time Fergie gave an extended period in defence to Johnny Evans and also, in the January window, buy an experienced centre half. Let’s face it he could get Campbell for nowt and he is very dependable. For a couple of seasons whilst his young studs are getting ready Campbell would fit the bill.
Also I am afraid we need a centre forward and watching West Ham their man Cole is the man for Man U! Big Strong, direct. He would play really well with Owen and Rooney. It would be a magical combination.
The Berbatov experiment failed!
Love the blog.
Why are we so aneamic in these big away games? We play like a bottom half club whenever we go to Anfield. The ref being a joke aside, we were just not very good. It was like watching the Barca game again in parts and it does my head in.
Is it a lack of sirit in the team? I think it might be – we don’t have a real captain who can give everyone a boot up the arse when required.
Who is our captian anyway? GNeville? Rio? Giggsy? Far from ideal isn’t it…
really poor spelling today. I of course meant “spirit” and “captain”.
Spineless, gutless, lackluster, devoid of any idea’s i cud go on. I felt sorry for our fans yesterday, they turned up again but the players didn’t and i ave to ask bar scholesy, giggsy, wes and red nev do the rest of the players feel it the way we do. ps carrick and scholes done an amazing thing yesterday they made lucas look world class, and without a doubt torres is the best forward in europe
i cant understand how people can say “chelsea have the league sewn up”…
We are two points behind them. dont be fucking rediculous.
United and chelsea will battle till the end for this title but there is no way any one can call it now…LIVERPOOL STAND NO CHANCE!!! they turn up for the big games and lose it in lesser games.
Yes we lost yesterday, as we did in the corresponding fixture last season. But the lads will get up and go at it even harder now. Its a blessing in disguise.
UNITED NEVER DIE!
Suck my beachball nuts you fucking dipper wankers!
Good morning on the day after.
First, the ref was certainly not at his best. There is something called persistent infringement and Lucas was guilty of that in a big way yet nothing was called. Same for their argie. Should have been a pen for Owen but Berb was lucky he was not caught for his foul on Kuyt even though the cunt had a handful of his shirt. Point being, the ref missed the obvious ones.
Second, the mids were not at their best and provided not muscle and fire to get the rest of the team stoked up. You needed the passion to come from some place and a couple of well timed, gut wrenching tackles would have done the trick.
Third, Torres is a class player. Got his one chance and scored. Can’t argue that. What you can argue is that Evra looked gassed by that point as didn’t close down benyoun quick enough before he got the pass off. Perhaps the trip to CSKA (a win btw), was a little longer than some remembered.
Fourth, we live to fight another day and we will prevail. One game does not a season make although you could not tell that from the dippers reaction.
Missed Fletch a lot, methinks.
Carrick is not good enough… Ando should of started…. Hargreves and Flechter are missed something bad…. Fuck the ref, we knew scummypool would bee getting a lot of home team calls… we just did not play well at all and got what we deserved.. i hope hope SAF let rip at them all for playing with no heart but i’d say he is also asking himself why? but hopefully as the saying is “you learn more in defeat than in victory”…
Just a thought. SAF should have Ferdinand monitored 24.7. He is worrying me.
time has come where fergie gives the likes of tosic,macheda and da silvas to play.sorry to say but i am sick of seeing o shea play like i was sick of park.o shea is the most overrated player atleast in defence.ando should play now.
valencia can improve eventhough yesterday i said he isnt fit for united.
vds and berba were the only positive from yesterdays game.
BigPhil @ 10:58 – I’d forgotten about Valencia’s near-miss. Thanks for reminding me – that would have changed the game. But it wouldn’t have changed the weakness that the Scholes/Carrick midfield combination showed against pressing opponents. These two can only play well together – or individually, for that matter – against a team that gives them time/space.
i dont think that was a pen. it would be very harsh. i do think that that illiterate(interview after the game) cunt should have bee sent off for the owen thing. disgraceful
roadkill4U @ 12:49 – you’re half-right that Evra was missing-in-action when Benayoun moved the ball to Torres for the goal. Evra was actually down by the L’poo goal-line for most of the match – he’s a terrific attacking player, who links brilliantly with the winger ahead/beside him, but Patrice’s not really a defensive “full back”. We can’t have it both ways – he can be counted on as a small full back or a dynamic attacking force; I know that I’m happy with what he offers in the latter role and we just have to accept that that reduces his defensive effectiveness (which ain’t great, to be honest).
On the bright side – those loss in points will probably not be the difference between winning and losing the league. Also other potental title contenders arsenal, spurs, city and villa did not have best weekend themselves. Add to that looking more closely at the losses that liverpool and chelsea have gotton this season and our record does not look so bad. The good news is that we do have the time and the points to an extent to get a much needed kick up the back side so we can hopefully take advantage from this hard lesson in the coming weeks. Plus the rest of the pl is now stronger (not weaker like papers are suggesting as if you look at chelsea apart from the change in manager they aren’t technically weaker (the 18 month ban in buying in new players won’t probably hit them too badly till next summer) meaning if you use them as a static benchmark for the pl in comparing the pl in the 08/09 season and this season imo any team in the pl could give any european club team trouble on their day) so everyone will lose points again throughout the season and hopefully chelsea and liverpool are having a delay in the top pl team bad fortune of this weekend and it will hopefully hit them next weekend instead!
Roadkill ur name is strangely similar to my e-mail address.
The only thing i could take as a positive was valencia starting to look more and more united worthy. He was one of the better players and unlucky not to score
di – IF UTD can get to 85/90 points then they will win the EPL by at least five points.
@ denton davey – by my maths going on our pl results so far we should be finishing on around 83/84 pts (though before yesterday’s result it worked out as a much more pleasant 92/93 pts!) so I think for sure utd will finish near the top, most likely somewhere in the top 4 but because of the unpredictable and the increase of strength in the pl compared to last yrs comp i think that less pts than usual will be needed to win this yrs and will unlikely be decided on head to head against the big 4 this yr. The great thing about our league is that many teams, not just the big 4 can win this league this yr and no matchup between 2 pl teams can actually be called, as many of the so called lesser teams in the pl (non big 4) have got it in their heads that this is the official david vs Goliath season, therefore there are probably still more ‘scratch of the head’ results to come – i just hope it happens to liverpool and chelsea rather then ourselves, thats all!
di – For all the hype there are only two teams equipped to win the league. Us and the rentboys. The others are some way short in terms of quality, depth and experience.
As we all know other clubs view United as their biggest fixture. There’s been a tendency in recent years to attach a meeting with us as an opportunity to “turn things around” for many on top of the usual one-off game-raising aspect United always face.
This was such a match for Liverpool – again – and that’s the real issue either their fans are unaware of or are afraid to acknowledge.
As happened last season United will, when it truly matters, get the results they need in the sense that setbacks like Sunday’s are rendered inconsequential to the wider achievements.
Yep, it’s Liverpool and it hurts more but with reference to what I said in the first paragraph above, remember this.
Benitez’s Liverpool are victims of his management in that, in the long game of winning the Premiership, you are guaranteed intermittent periods where they need to “turn things around”. It is a fundamental flaw highlighting why, I believe anyway, he will never win the English Premiership.
He offers Liverpool fans that psychological trap-door of hope above and anguish below. In Premiership title terms with Benitez in charge they’ll always be standing on it.
King Eric:
I think you’re totally right. For two fundamental reasons. Firstly, at the start of every season we have the ripe-for-picking media agenda of who might break the stranglehold of “the top four”. Naturally this provides copy for most of any given season. But the top four isn’t the top two, something the press avoid having to acknowledge is easier to predict, even this time around.
Secondly, I believe Liverpool got as close last time as they ever will under Benitez. Chelsea are in better shape than last season and have genuine quality. Ironically for all the leapers on the no-Ronaldo bandwagon, United love a real scrap for the Premiership especially at the “business end”.
If it IS as unpredictable this season as many say it’ll suit United down to ground.
Well the question of where Rafa’s transfer money goes has certainly been answered.
Ref walked away with a very nice packet after that disgraceful performance.