Last season, Sir Alex Ferguson questioned how much room there was for Chelsea’s team to improve, given they hadn’t dipped in to the transfer market and their best players were all a year old. Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris claimed Ferguson was “talking out of his arse” whilst Tiny Tears reckoned it was United who had peaked, not Chelsea.
A year later, United won the league before the last game of the season, whilst Chelsea claimed fewer points than the season before and dropped down to third in the league. Liverpool finished second and a lot of emphasis has been put on the team for them to stick together and trust Rafael FSW Benitez to improve the squad.
“I worry about losing my team-mates but if we can keep our best players and bring in some more, we’ll be even stronger for next season. We just need to keep our best players,” Torres said last month.
“It would be a bad piece of work if Xabi left,” Torres said last week. “It would be a serious loss for Liverpool if he left this summer.”
With Alonso’s transfer fee with Real Madrid agreed, the manager has made another prediction for the coming season and this year reckons a rejuvenated Chelsea, under new manager Ancelotti, pose a greater threat than the dippers.
“I don’t know if it will make a big difference to Liverpool, Alonso going,” said Ferguson. “He is a good player, but I’m not sure if losing him will affect them. The thrust of the Liverpool team is really all about Gerrard and Torres. If they stay fit, it improves Liverpool’s chances. But Liverpool have just had probably their best season for 20 years, finished up with 86 points, and still finished four adrift. It will be hard for them to match that, let alone improve. Other teams will read Liverpool better.”
Joe Cole and Michael Essien will be around this season, as will the Premiership’s top scorer, Nicolas Anelka. With a four times European Cup winning manager in charge instead of a guy who won the World Cup with one of the greatest sides ever, Fergie rates their chances.
“It has to be Chelsea as the main threat,” said Ferguson. “Ancelotti will change the way Chelsea play. They will play the Milan way. It brought him two European Cups – it should have been three, because they should never have lost to Liverpool. So why should he change? There is plenty of flexibility in what he’s got and he should get goals from Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.”
Man Utd News 24/7
yup agree wid SAF.chelski are ourmain threat.
got a very balanced squad and are strong in all departments.the likes of malouda ,drogba and anelka performed well towards the end of last season.alex also formed a good partnership wid terry and ashley cole was in good form .so they are a big threat.
plus losing ronny makes us lose that extra edge we had of having the best player in the league at our disposal.
so it will be a tough battle
Van der Sar is out for at least eight weeks after undergoing surgery on his finger.
Ben Foster to secure the number one spot in his absence?
micky
good morning mate
read u r going for the match tonight
who will do the text commentary in your absence?
anyways enjoy the game.
genius by fergie, shifting the pressure of expectation to a new premiership manager whilst putting the scousers in thier place!
Did anyone see Live from OT last night? I saw Guillem Ballague on there but couldnt hear what he was saying. I gather it was about David Silva. Can anyone shed some light on the subject?
Melvinho7 it could be about this
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2009/08/05/silva-service-on-the-menu-115875-21572017/
melvinho 7
that balague guy is a twat.none of what he says is true.it is clear we wont be signing anyone now.now that villa is staying at valencia silva will tay too.
although i read today that valencia’s financial crisis have deepened so if an offer of 30mn euros is made it may force their hand.
balague says united have made enquiries abt the player with his representatives but no offer has been made.here is the article
http://www.guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?titulo=United%20yet%20to%20bid%20for%20David%20Silva&id=228
@AIG
Haha, yeah I’m sure I’ll enjoy the game
AIG
Cheers for that mate. I know he talks bollocks. he kinda reminds of the FSW in a weird way.
micky
who will do the text updates in your absence.
u were doing a great job wen u did it during the asia tour
scott to will be going for the match i guess
Sir Alex Ferguson has two brains.
His first brain concentrates on strategy and squad rotation.
His second brain concentrates on horse racing and winding up Rafa Benitez.
It is important to have hobbies.
The 2002 Brazilian side really isn’t one of the best sides either.
Ancelotti only one two European cups, unless you include the ones he won as a player.
Chelsea may be our main threat, but let’s not write off Liverpool, it’s silly.
@AIG
When I did it, it was just removed by Scott, wasn’t happy with me moving on his turf haha!
You can watch the games online you know?
Sir Alex knows that all you can do is try and beat the team that is in front of you on any given day.
If you beat every team you play you win the premiership.
All his comments serve to shift the focus from United being the team you really want to beat to Chelsea and their new “special” one.
In order to beat us you have to score a goal. I would not replace our defensive squad for anyones. i would however really like a good defensive midfielder to come in before the season begins. Hargo cannot come back too soon in my view.
READ CAREFULLY WHAT I said
Good morning mate.
that was a good one.if Rafa takes the bait again he will end up losing the league again
@micky
i knw mate,but my net is down .i m accessing ROM on my mobile so i wnt be able to watch the match.However there are plenty of enthusiastic fans so i guess i will be getting the updates regularly.
I have to admit Fergie is classic.
Don’t take anything he is saying now at face value. He may be right about Liverpool and Chelsea and us but no one can predict what injuries/twists and turns a season will take. Either way like someone mentioned above, he has heaped pressure on Ancelotti whilst at the same time rubbishing the Scousers.
AIG.
Agree on one thing – that Balague guy is an idiot, he comes out with so much crap and pretends he knows everything.. supports Liverpool too
tony starks
i wonder how sky sports believe in all the crap he says when they themselves are such a reliable source when it comes to transfer dealings.
2 weeks back he said we wanted villa when i m sure fergie never was intrested.
plus he also made the whole ronaldo saga public last year
It depends on how Ancelotti handles the premier league. I dont think he will make an imediate impact. Next year maybe. Even though weve never won 4 in a row, im more confident this season than ever. Weve lost Ronaldo and that’s massive but by signing Valencia we will go back to 4-4-2 and i think that’s how United should play with Rooney down the middle. Liverpool got lucky last season but that wont hapen again. Arsenel could do well. It depends on how Wenger spends City’s money. I think Arshavin is a good player. Villa have an outside chance of making the top 4. Decent team, good manager. City need to make top 4 if they are going to get any body decent to sign for them, they need to get in the champions league. But we all know that wont hapen. So this year for me its United without any rivals. Just like the good old days when we had the tittle in the bag by March. But i do say that every year.
Buildabonfire – I am inclined to agree, this could be one hell of a season for us. Looks like Foster will be our number one. It all depends how Ancelloti adapts to the Premiership, if he is anything like Italian players it takes thm time. The dippers will miss Alonso a huge amount, he knitted their play together. They are denying they will miss him this morning! “He was 28, coming to the end” etc.
Fucking Neil Ashton bigging them up again. He said “I know Xabi had a good TOUCH, but that was about it, he never grabs the game much like Carrick”. The man is a fool if he thinks all Alonso had was “touch”. He had vision, could pass and spread play, took free kicks and was the link between Masch and Torres and Saint Steve. Why does he always have a dig at United the cunt?
Anyway cannot wait for tonight.
READ WHAT I SAID – Morning mate. We have a SUPERB defensive midfielder. His name is Darren Fletcher!
the Gooners even did not get a mention by Fergie, lol
I cant believe Alonso went for 30m. Madrid are fucking insane.
YNWA – You’re Now Without Alonso
@ AIG Good Morning Fella
Rafa will already be scribbling down things for his first FACT SHEET press conference of the year.
Just as soon as he has taken a basket of bread to table 12 and served the Paella to table 6.
King Eric – Very good morning to you.
You are quite right about Fletch.
Because he was not allowed to play in the CL final I keep forgetting how awesome he had become last season.
Panic over.
We might as well keep the money in the bank until we need to spend it now as I do not think we are weak anywhere really. I do not think we need any more wingers or strikers.
Ben Foster will be good enough but do we need someone better than Kuzsack?
balague talks crap. He reads marca then repeats it on telly and in interviews. He only talks about the big players in la liga, like if ur not a big name in a big team he doesn’t have the faintest. United won’t go for villa after leaving it so late into pre-season. It took so long to get berba last year he didn’t get proper one and didn’t get chance to experiment in friendlies like he has this year. If anything was gonna happen the negotiations would of started weeks ago.
something to think about…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICNJEfCgHn4
@confoundedbridge
Brazil of 2002, wasn’t one of the best sides ever? I disagree. It was maybe the third best Brazil side ever, and had Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho in great shape. It was trully a great side, but had ego problems. In that matter I give all credit to Felipão for getting the team together and make them win the WC.
As for the post, I agree. Chelsea is likely to be the favorites, but the situation right now is that we can’t figure out how Arsenal and LiverFool will do next season against real oposition. Just remember that nobody believed that the dippers could trash us at home, and they were the team that had less defeats, so I wouldn’t count them out just yet.
@pawaka21
Not bad, but it’s hard to tell when they’re that age.
Put him against Vidic!! hahahaha
Apart from that front line, it wasn’t the strongest squad, as shown by the almost royal fuck up they made of qualifying. It wasn’t the highest quality World Cup you’d ever see either – probably the worst since 1990. I wouldn’t put them ahead of the 58, 62, 70 or 82 sides. About par with 94 though. And that’s just comparing them with Brazilian sides. They don’t compare to the French team of 98/00, Germany 72/74, Holland 74, Hungary 54, Argentina 86 and so on. I just don’t think it’s right to call them one of the best sides either, even despite the talent they possessed.
read carefully what i said
i too doubt kusczak but i dont have much hope for foster as well.
it is an area i m worried abt.we have to replae vds with an equally good keeper
Foster is inconsistent even though i admit he needs regular games.his decision making is poor at times and his kicking is not the best
Does anyone know how many hours left before the Valencia game?
@Bazza
Can’t be arsed working it out but kick off is 8pm or 7.45pm
I’ll be there!!!
bazza
7 hours 41mns
micky
dont make me more jealous mate .taking full advantage of the vacation
ghtt,costas ,scott all going for the game .maybe u can meet them
Awesome, thanks guys.
I live in New Zealand so it’s quite annoying to sort out the timing
@AIG
Well if anyone fancies a pint I’ll be in Bishops Blaize before the game as usual
Love that place, it bounces on a match day
@micky
well i cant.i am here many miles away in india.i dont even knw the place you are talking about.
i have cme to Uk once but i was 5 years old and did nt waych football at all.you must be a frequent visitor to watch our matches??
@AIG
I get there whenever I can, about 13 / 14 times a season.
micky
u lucky lad
i dream of getting there.13/14 times a season.
are you a season ticket holder?
i wish i can mograte to manchester
sorry i meant migrate to manchester
only position in the squad thats worrying is kuszcak/foster. i’d go for one of these young bundesliga keepers, theres like 3 out there, all massively talented..neuer/benaglio/adler …all of em very young and looking good. probably available for a low price too, what do u think?
A Goalkeeper is perhaps the most delicate position.
Who knows how many more titles we would have won had we not been forced through Howard and Carrol?
Ben Foster is far too hyped I reckon, he is a good player with potential but I fear the hype is going to get to his head as it does for most young English players, lets hope that he copes with it and doesnt turn out to be another Scott Carson or Chris Kirkland.
I’d rather not dilly dally and look for potential but go out there and grab a quality goalkeeper!.
Who am I kidding? we have John O Shea!
@micky..
yeah..still a small kid..just 11 years old..but worth a look yeah?
will Vidic play today?Really want to see him back, repelling all the footballs with his rock head.
Micky – Gonna try and get in Blaize myself, just can never be bothered cueing but may be a bit quieter tonight. Normally just buy four pack from offy few yards down.
@King Eric
I don’t even want to know how much it costs for a four pack!
Blaize may be a bit quiet considering it’s a friendly, but with the whole Tevez saga, I really wanna get in there and find out what we’re gonna be singing in the Stretend End tonight
I’m such a dick. StretFORD End, not Stretend End!!
Sorry for the triple post!
@AIG
No I’m not a season ticket holder, I just get tickets as and when I can.
Today’s game will be the last game I get to enjoy for about 8 months though so I’m going to be savouring every moment of it!
At what time will the match start?
A few pints in the Blaize and a pie from Lou Macari’s followed by plenty of chanting and being told to sit down by the stewards (twats) which sparks stand up for the champions…….. i tell ya you dont half miss it!! Im having withdrawal symtoms, not long to wait now!!!!