Like at Burnley a few days before, Manchester United were struggling to break Wigan down on Saturday and went in to half time with a 0-0 scoreline.
Ten minutes after the restart Antonio Valencia was on the ball and whipped in an inch-perfect cross to Wayne Rooney’s head, which he buried in the back of the net.
Sir Alex Ferguson has today conceded that we probably could have done with Valencia starting against Burnley.
“We see the potential in Antonio, particularly in the training sessions,” said Ferguson. “He has good stuff to work with. He is quick and he is balanced. He is tough and is a good crosser of the ball. He has areas in which he has to develop and we have an idea how to go about that. The lad has a chance. Some players have come to the club and taken to it like a duck to water, some need time. He will be all right. We maybe should have picked Antonio at Turf Moor. I had the Wigan game in mind for him. You don’t know how they handle Saturday-Wednesday- Saturday-Wednesday at this club. It is a different kettle of fish. Because he was a new player into that we decided to leave him out at Burnley.”
Man Utd News 24/7
Anybody heard anything more about us singing robben by the weekend?
I know it was in the sun and the mail so its prob shit but i thought the owen dear was a joke aswell so ya dont know theese days.
yo keano99
heard some of it on goal.com
heard it lat week aswell, might just be a rumour, but i dont think it would be a bad idea. he might just be the player that brings in that extra flair into our game
Who’s to say if valencia had started we wud have won, but i do think valencia shud be starting most games he’s a proper winger.
ive heard it before thesun but dont remember where it was..Maybe he will be good for us ,but we will have 6 wingers and that is lots of competition and many unhapy faces around
Robben’s injury prone, dont forget we do have obertan to com into the squad.
I like tosic aswell but it dosnt look like the gaffer does i think he will be another manucho.
keano99 I thought the dippers were after him…anyhow Do you really want him?He’s made of glass…good player though……
we should give him another year to see him develop, and he should go more to the gym ,and build up.he is nice young player and we wait to see him and ljajic work together again in 2010
We have sufficient wingers. Its a midfielder that we need in the Keano Viera mold.
Valencia, Tosic, Nani, Wellbeck, Obertan, Llajic = Robben paper trash…
THe rumours are all stemming from Fergie not picking certain players for ‘certain’ reasons. We have competition in the engine room and that is not a bad thing! Fergie will have them competing in training and if you don’t step up or get noticed, you’re on the bench that week. and rightly so, as we want a confident hard-working CM.
think what Liverfool n Arsewank have to chose from there.
ps, this formation works wonders for me on ISS!
4-2-1-2-1 (4-3-3)
Rafael Vidic Ferd Evra
Fletcher/(Hargo) Carrick
Ando/Scholes
Valencia
Berba Rooney
Still unbeaten! :O))
Valencia should start most games.
Valencia needs to be given more starts in order for him to get used to the playing style of MU and for him to gel much better with his teamates. It would be good if SAF buy both Robben and Sjneider from R. Madrid. This would strengthen the midfield. Robben is a proven classy winger and Sjneider has scored goals from set pieces and open play.
I would prefer Valencia to be playing ahead of Park,thats for sure.
But with regards to Robben,as much as I would like to have in I would have equally have liked David Silva who is less injury-prone and the same quoted price.
Having said that we already have the likes of Obertan -who I believe will turn out to be very useful.Plus Tosic.
Any news on how Possebon is getting on at Braga,hope he is still in Fergie´s thoughts as I still think that out of young midfielders he is better than gibson,anderson etc (just my opinion!)
reckon we sign robben, its on the back page of the star as well. He knows the league and was one of the best players in spain last year, he’s been a victim of circumstance rather than not bein good enough. We need options on the wings, i like valencia and nani is startin to show somethin however, like with the burnley game, if they don’t play, we have no other creative wide players (giggs used in middle now and park doesn’t create). However the whole story could very easily be horse shit
I think it is shite stretford972, dont think we need another winger, cm possible.
Against Burnley no disrespect it should not of mattered the squad we have any team chosen from it should of overcame them .
well, we’ve tried to sign him before but chelski pay a lot more for him.
yes, he is injury prone but not as bad as hargo and you can see the impact he makes at chelski in his debut season… He got skill, pace and finishing…
Should really consider signing him… Don’t know why Real want to throw away their Dutch player. For me Robben, Sneijder and van der Vaart are world class…
Whilst Robben is a good player with moments of utter class, I don’t think we want him at United. We need to let players like Nani develop, and he wouldn’t get the chance if another winger were to saunter on in. Robben was also sold to the Virus by Chelsea because he has a very crap attitude and was not popular in the dresing room because he is a very hungry player and often shoots when passing is a much better option.
Tosic will play soon enough, he just needs to baulk up a little bit.
Anyway, back on topic – it was classic how the Wigan numpties were booing Valencia and then he whips an inch perfect cross into Rooney to score… If the lad can keep that up all season it is happy days. I like him and his no nonsense attitude a lot.
Antonio is a genuine winger who runs with the ball in the opposite half. With his blistering pace he absorbs 2 defenders with him near the corner flag and delivers good balls to our strikers.
If valencia and fletcher had played against burnley owen and rooney could have scored with a better service from midfield. Sir Alex is right and am so happy that he realised the threat posed by Valencia and his importance in our 4-4-2 formation.
Robben is sheer class. No doubt. But he could be another hargreaves.He is too fragile for the premiership.Nani with Evra overlapping on the left wing and Valencia with Rafael on the right wing,we will create havoc! There is terrific pace,energy and commitment from these guys. We dont need any more wingers. Watch out for Tosic he scored two beautiful goals for Serbia lately. He needs more minutes plz fergie!
Valencia has speed, and does more than his fair share of tracking back to help the defence. SAF’s statement though that Valencia is tough – I don’t think so, he’s a pussy cat when it comes to roughing it with opposition defenders.
Robben? No thanks, I hate the cheating little cunt. Good player nonetheless on his day. Turned United down once already though. Get fucked.
@King Eric
Classic – couldn’t have said it better myself.
Cheers Muggaz!
Also what is this obsession with Sneijder and Van Der Vaart? In my opinion neither of them have anything to offer United and they are just not “United players”.
ha, I think a lot of numpties watched Van Der Vaart score against England the other week, and now they think he is ‘United quality’ He is 31 and all he will do is inhibit our young stars from playing.
As for Sneijder – there is only room for one Wesley in our dressing room.
I thought Robben thing was a rumor but a lot of Papers are carrying the story not just 1or 2. Hope its true. That guy is absolute class though a former rent boy. He is also only 25.
If united were going to sign vann der shite they wud ave wen he played for ajax, to old now anyway.
HE SHOULD HAVE STARTED FLETCHER!!!!!AAAAAAAARGGH!
We needed Valencia and Nani against Burnley, simple as that. There was no pace on the wings with Park and Anderson (who is not a winger).
Regarding Robben, he’s a quality player but he has snubbed us before. He chose Chel$ea because he said that Man Utd was “yesterdays club” or something like that.
It would take me much longer to get used to the idea of seeing him wearing the red shirt than it did with Owen. Robben is injury prone, he’s a diver and I’ve always kind of disliked him. I would much rather want to give Nani a chance to develop his game. If not now, then when?
Never mind robben wat about signing batman just play em on dark nites.
I don’t believe SAF will sign Robben. He has never sign a player who has turned us down before, I think only Shearer was approached a second time. Anyway, Robben is made of ‘glass’ & runs like he has crocked hands. Never liked him. Ashley Young or Aaron Lennon will be great though.
LOL Willierednut.
King Eric @ 14:31 – Usually we are in agreement but I think that Arjen Robben would be a great addition to the squad.
It’s not a “no brainer” like getting LittleMikey for free but IF you can forget his connection with the RentBoyz AND his injury record AND his extreme one-footedness then you have to allow that Robben would bring some significant plus-factors to the squad. He’s fast, shifty, and highly skilled. His left foot is awesome. And he’s entering his prime years. He was fantastic in his first 18 months at Stamford Bridge before he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and has always been plagued with little knocks and niggles although he seems to be less injury prone that LouisLouisHaHa (which is rather like damning him with faint praise, isn’t it ?).
Of course, we’d all like to see ALL of UTD’s players go through the season without injury but in the real world this doesn’t happen. I’d like to see Nani/Valenci/Rooney/Berbatov play together ALL the team to build understanding and “chemistry” and confidence but, hey, shit happens ! I’m seriously under-impressed with the offensive, attacking contribution of ThreeLungPark and Tosic is absolutely, completely unproven at OT although he has been good for Serbia.
IF LittleMikey was a “no brainer” to add to the team as AnAlternative to play behind Rooney/Berbatov and to give Macheda/Welbeck more time to grow into a starting role, then I think that purchasing Arjen Robben would make that kind of sense for this team, now. UTD are a trophy-team and it’s a long, long season before the rubber-hits-the-road/squeaky-bum-time. Last year, at the very end of the season, UTD’s central midfield was cacked – Carrick/Anderson/Hargreaves all injured to some extent and Fletcherinho was banned; three years ago against ACMilan, it was the central defence that was cacked and Kaka ran riot against a 50% Vidic and the useless cowboy, Gabriel Heinze. Who knows what will happen in the spring of 2010 BUT, for sure, I’d be happier with Arjen Robben in reserve than Tosic or ThreeLungPark.
Finally, I don’t care one way or another about Robben’s “disloyalty” in signing with the RentBoyz – don’t forget that they got him and Essien when that bald cunt, Kenyon, was on “garden leave” and RomanA was splashing the cash. Players are ALL mercenaries, they have short careers, and a few million EXTRA quid in the bank would give you or me a nice warm feeling of security.
Bobkoh – as they say in the locker room, neither Aaron Lennon nor Ashley Young could hold Arjen Robben’s jock strap.
@Denton Davey
Mate, I appreciate what you are saying, there is no doubt he is a very skilled dutchman, but he would command high wages, and almost certainly want to start every game… if that is the case, we can laugh off investments like Nani, because he will languish on the bench or play crappy un-important games. I don’t think this idea has any legs at all.
Cheers muggaz.
I said right at the beginning of the summer that Robben could be one to keep on our radar. I don’t think it will happen, but if he would cost around 10 million and his wage demands are reasonable then why not?
We already saw that we are lacking on the wings when Nani & Valencia are out (see Burnley) and besides we already signed Owen who i’m sure none of us would have signed in a million years given the choice so why not Robben?
Also seen the story linking us to Eden Hazard, saw that a few months ago to. I think we are definatley tracking him.
I hate to break it to you people, but these stories are all false!
@willierednut… You mean the story is shit or the comment is shit? robben didn’t turn us down, kenyon purposefully refused to go above 5mil and went to chelsea and promptly sealed the deal.
Stretford972, the story mate.
Kenyon fucked up a few deals in his time at ot.
So Kenyon himself did the deals without any input from anyone else whatsoever? That cant be right. If he bid 5mill surely the manager could have told him to bid more if he felt at the time it was worth it…
Eden Hazard would be a good buy based on the rave reviews that he has received in France, besides being admired by Mr. Wenger who has known to get the best out of the youngsters in his team . Eden was the 2008/09 Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season. He is an attacking midfielder and can also play on the wings. Although he’s 5′ 7”, the height factor doesn’t work against him. He has flair which is what MU is lacking ever since CR7 left.
@ willierednut-thought that’s what you ment. @ tony stark, kenyon was the boss, like at work, nothin happens without the boss say so. He also fucked essien, cech and drogba up. Back on subject, whether its robben or someone else of a high standard, i’m not fussed but 3 wide players ain’t enough to challenge for the league and win in madrid, especially when one doesn’t create (park). The gaffer doesn’t look like he rates tosic coz otherwise he would have played against burnley rather than ando out of position. Unless welbeck gona break thru and do it? Maybe
Mmmmmmm, its now being reported that noises coming OUT OF OT are talking about the deadline day signing of Robben. We shall see!
King Eric
schneider reminds me of ljungberg, robben is awesome but injury prone. but nani is finally showing his worth. I will say this time and time again its the CM area where united should really really invest in the squad and get a powerful CM. if united get that type of player who can destroy space it gives valencia nani rooney and berbatov more freedom to attack teams. park should never play ahead of valencia and nani and thats a fact
valencia should always be picked over park. he should play more.
as for robben i dint think he is needed . first of all the transfer news aere just rubbish sir fergi has already said clearly that summer transfer is over so its no point in talking abt who is coming and going.
but if fergis mind changes y not buy sneijder rather than robben. but i wont buy anyone lets see this season how good ando , nani, tosic are and then buy a player next season.
a player i would love to see join united is aguero. he is a real deal. waiot for a season and buy him.
OMG if the telegraph are right and park gets a pay rise to 65 grand a week then we should all give up on the game. anyone even moaning that cristiano ronaldo getting 200 k a week should really put into perspective how that useless korean can even get that kind of money need a brain sergery. why are united carrying this bum, all he does is run around like a headless and an aberage player getting 65 k a week is quiet frankly a joke.
manutdchampions2008….. you’re the joke
1. If Robben stays fit under SAF he will be a success.
2. I don’t want him to come.
3. We’ll see.
Valencia is clearly one-footed player. Ad that is the problem Fergie talks about.
@ manutdchampions2008 – I agree that Park should be backup to Nani and Valencia, based on potential and talent. I disagree heavilly mind you that Park is “a joke.” kopites vs Villa, that was a joke. lol
on valencia –
I understand why fergie dropped Valenica, we have 38 league games, 3-5 carling cup games, 3-5 fa cup games, and 6-8 Champs league games this season assuming we don’t get to the final (ps I havent exactly calculated the number, just a very rough guess). that’s 50+ games. He won’t play all of them. We had men to come in, I.e Park and Ando, and they failed to perform. Shit happens. It’s not like we are desperately chasing the pack with 3 games to go. Valencia fills me with excitement, he is dynamic without having yet peeked, and has shown huge promise.
On Robben – (love the batman joke Willie!) Don’t like the man. Never really rated him at Chelsea (cole was better), and I wouldn’t pay more than £10-12 mill for him. I’d take him at that price because he is a good player but I would rather spend £12 mill on a CM unless we are gonna give Gibson and Ando a proper run out. Just not keen on Robben, but not against the signing. It doesn’t make sense with our squad. I could see a defender/DM signing though. Veloso or similar, maybe even Shawcross to come back. We are a little shy in defence and Rio may be an issue.
denton – Oh there’s no denying he is a great player on his day. Robben that is.
“3-5 carling cup games”
no. from what i’ve seen from this tournament we should play U-19 in this games. no need to devitalize players like we did in this year’s final. it is not worth it.
Ohhh_Ahhh
you know what just shut up, its a fact park on 65 k a week is one of the many reasons why many clubs are in massive debts, giving insane wages to average players. park should be on about 20 k a week not even 40 k a week. no wonder united are in so much debt when we see these players on stupid wages. park is useless he is a joke of a player. and Ohhh_Ahhh you nowt about the game if you rate park.
Sorry, if i never made it clear, I think Valencia should play 35 games this season. Mostly league and CL, unless we get big boys/ City in the FA cup, or CC semi. Not willing to lose a cup to them tossers. But, I wasn’t saying we should be playing Valencia in the CC, just that the squad as a whole has 3-5 carling cup games.
Corea
really and beckham could play on the left couldnt he. if fergie thinks that why did he buy valencia if he knew he was not great with his left foot
Corea – Devitalize???
Manutdchampions – Think you are being a bit harsh on Park as he does have a role in the squad but have to agree 65 grand a week does seem a bit much. How much is Vidic presently on before he gets his improved deal? Abouth the same?
@ manutdchampions2008
he is just like Aaron Lennon sometimes. Always goes on the right, no ?
@ King Eric
i am not a native speaker, mate. But we fielded some important players in that game and it is highly unnecessary if we talk about the season we had last year with the high amount of games.
@ javac
i didn’t necessary disagree with you, mate. it was sort of a followup.
@ King Eric
60k. But Parky deserves 65k just like Vida minimum Rio’s wages.
The thing with United is that we have wingers for every occasion. Tosic/Obertan for the lower cup games, Park for Midfield based games, Valencia and Nani for counter-attacking/vs 10 man defence games. It’s no difference to us having Owen for some games where a poacher is needed against 10 man defences and the same as having Giggs and Scholes for certain games. Park is worth 65k in this modern era of footy. I’m worth 65k but no no fool will give me it! The get what you can rules dictates the wage. Blame Fergie and Gill for the contract not Park. His agent has earnt his 10% of the contract, for sure!. I rate Ji Sung, and he does a good job no matter which wing he plays on. The one issue United have now is that we have 5 wingers and none of them have yet established themselves as regulars for varying reasons. If Park plays like he did vs Arsenal every game then he can have the spot, same as all the rest. It’s the same for the midfield. Too many “may plays” and not enough first on the sheet. The midfield of ’99 may have been our best ever IMHO, but we have nothing like that set up now. No certain starters and it’s not down to rotation. That’s why Park gets 65k a week. He performs like O’Shea, consistent and we can’t afford to lose that in case the rest all fail.
@manutdchampions08
We get it you dont like park, but com on man he’s not a bum he’s a good squad player like o’shea.
There is alot of talk, that we need more players.
Christ i must be one of few i actualy dont think we desperatly need anyone!
If we can get the best out of Nani Anderson Valencia and Park this year they can be as good as most!
Berbatov – Rooney & owen for me should score loads this year and i am hoping i am right!
Sometimes you have to give what you have got a chance. We certainly are not in liverpools shoes, their squad is slim compared to ours. They dont have the luxury of players we have.
With regards to this thread i fully agree with what fergie was thinking.
We have the luxury at united because our squad is so good in depth not to play our new players every game.. Ease them in!.. Sometimes it works and sometimes not!
One thing for sure is Fergie is not Stupid!………. Although ifeel that some of our fans are a little stupid to doubt him and question his judgements to the levels they have done!……..
Park?
Park has differnt qualities to Giggs, Nani, Ronaldo, Robben… Etc Etc.
He is not a winger but more a traditional Right Midfielder.. He hassles the opposition and Wins the ball back and keeps it simple. He is full of energy which creates space in the oposing back four for our strikers to take advantage of. He has done ok for us but could do better and i do think is a valuable member of the squad!
He is not ideal for every game, some games you want more attacking flair but for others he is!…. That the beauty of having differnt types of players so you can tweak the tactics to suit!
Give you a scenario.. United play spurs… The last previous games prior to the united game Modric was their main on form.. If i had the choice of playing Nani or Park against him..> I would choose Park! If i had the choice to choose Valencia or park.. i dont know as im undecided until i see more of him!
Point i am trying to make is that most of the time the effort and effectivness of players like park go unoticed, and their jobs a thankless task!
Valencia’s a speed demon, once he settles down he’ll be a great player for us
willierednut
O shea is different he is a defender. park is a winger he is supposed to get forward and create chances for the strikers. His stats are awful, his assists and a goal for record is abysmal. This will never change my view the work horses should be in CM because that’s where all the battling is at. Like I said before the goal scoring CM players are gems they do not come around very often and we do not have one. So really we got to have has much creativity and goals coming from the wingers and strikers, park limits the goals coming from our team and he makes united play disjointed. Valencia and nani really do make a difference in the team and they played a big part all the goals Saturday.
king eric I think its fair and a little kind on the korean, when I hear park is on 45 k a week and he could get a payrise that matches what ashley cole wanted it arsenal no wonder football has gone to the dogs. plus his performence in the CL final should have been enough evidence to ship him out. and there is a good reason why he never played in the CL final 2008 becuase that 11 park could never get into that team. I have always thought the 2008 CL final 11 was far stronger then the 2009 CL final team.
C,MON Trevor…. How on earth can you say Nani is quality….. the guy stinks for gods sake and if we do sign Robbing Robben (god forbid) Nani wont never get a start…..
manutdchampions2008 I’m so glad you don’t run our club. i bet if you had your way we would be without Fletcher, Carrick, Ando, Nani by now.
You say Nani adds to our squad, but I bet last season you wanted him sold?
Chill, and take a breather. We need all types of players in our squad. Park may not create goals that often, but he protects us from conceding when we play someone like Rafael down the right flank. I would never play Rafael and Nani in the same game as out flanks would be totally exposed to the opposition. There needs to be a balance in the squad. with flair players like Rafael/Fabio, you need dosile players like Park.
@manutdchampions08
Fair points about park, but id still ave em in the squad i think he’ll be back up for nani and valencia incase of inujury, suspensions. gooners 1 up
TonyBee – Quite shocked at your views on Nani. Most United fans think he has been good in the games he has played and is starting to show what he can do. 2 goals and 2 assists in 2 and a bit games.
@TonyBee
For me Nani does possess Quality! He has scored some quite outstanding goals for us!
Nani is still maturing! Still learning his game. Still not settled.
What i mean with not settled he is always trying to do too much to impress!
Im not saying he is going to be world player of the year but he has all the qualities and potential to be world class!
With regards if United Sign Robben Nani will certainly get loads of games… Robben spends nearly half of each season on the fitness table!!
Anyone remember back when united had Jesper Blomquist and Jordy Cruyff on the wing??
I thank god we have a better squad now than we did then!… And i would have nani and park instead of them 2 any day of the week!!!
Tony Bee – and here I was thinking you knew about football! Nani has got so much talent, that’s why Barca and Inter Milan want him. But hey, each to his own, you obviously like watching what many United fans down the pub Call ‘Park on his Arse’. He isn’t called that for nothing, he is in fact always falling on his arse. As for Robben, he won’t be taking Nani’s place I can assure you of that!
@ Trevor- Cruyff got goals, and blomquist could get to the line and cross, same as fortune. We are blessed with potential and talent, but latent talent needs to flourish at some point, that’s what makes Giggs and Scholes different to Greening and Eagles (ok, slight difference in “potential” but i hope you get my point.)
A quick summary of what RoM has witnessed this summer – Based on a lot of people’s disapoinment at the Rome game, most people want rid of the whole midfield and 1/3 of our forward line (Berbatov). They never bitch at Rio (half fit or not) for allowing a 5ft 6 in Messi to get a free header or Vidic for failing to get close to Eto’o. They all blame the midfield, and Berba. And a fair point would be the game was lost before the players went on the pitch as our tactics were wrong this time, and Barca’s motivation, higher. I accept I have been critical of both our signings from Spurs, but the quality is there and this season is a different to last in a million ways – No Newcastle, Shitty have cash, Arsenal are stronger, Liverpool – weaker, our legends older, our best player(tm) gone, Rooney our focal point, Nani seemingly is on form as are Burnley and Spurs, and the FSW is moaning about penalties not being given (ok, the last point hasn’t changed much!) Support the team, and we’ll be fine for number 19.
why in the world would we want robben after he snubbed us for Chelsea ? and he’s made of glass too
park will get his money coz of marketin and he is a good pro. Don’t rate him as anythin more than a squad player tho. And readin over the last few comments, we generally seem to be in agreement.
van der vaart ain’t 31, he’s 26. a scholes type player. very creative and brilliant free kicks. been seeing him since his time in hamburg. the boy’s quality, fucken underrated.
robben can get fucked.
Anon
your right I will not deny the fact that I never rated nani last year anderson has yet to convince me, carrick I am not sold on I think he adds good qualitys but when it comes to the crunch he is found wanting. flecther he changed my opinion in the 06/07 season when he started to really show his qualitys. nani does track back many have seen it, yes its not all working hard like park but nani wants to save some energy so he can go forward and make things forward in the attacking third, and rafeal is not a week in week out player. I have no problem seeing nani and rafeal in the same team. if we had 2 destroyers in CM then having rafeal and nani in the same team is no worry.
TonyBee
no offence but united have not got great cover for valencia and nani the last thing I would want is to lose nani and sign robben whos injury record is has bad as owens and hargreaves.
javacI think the whole midfield and berbatov have been the worse part of the united team, well I would put tevez ahead of berbatov if it ment last year. Like I said unless berbatov improves greatly he may have to be moved on and bring in someone who can score goals week in week out.
The free ride for berbatov is over now is the time to start making massive improvements in his whole game, he can’t start keep having poor body language he has to start putting in match winning performances and winning games for united like ronaldo and Rooney have done, that is how you are judged has a united player.