Comments on: Hargreaves Will Probably Pass Out But Wants To Repay Fan Faith

By: bchilds

bchilds — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:58:02 +0000

It’ll be amazing to see you run out at Old Trafford again Owen, we haven’t seen anywhere near enough of you since your move.

Remember when he joined he was THE number 1 midfielder for Ingerland, I really hope he can return to such highs.

By: denton davey

denton davey — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:40:33 +0000

Notorious: “We have a run of 10 games now where we should be beating the opposition on paper if Rooney and Berbatov can solidify the partnership as well Owen getting a couple of starts all things should be well.”

The games aren’t played on paper but I do get the drift of your comment. The real question about this is: what if PlanA doesn’t work – on the field or on paper ? I am somewhat sceptical about seeing them “solidifying the partnership” – not especially confident since I don’t see Berbatov adapting to be a classic # 9. They’re both # 10s, aren’t they ?

I’d also like to think that by the end of January, SAF will have figured out how to deploy his attacking assets while integrating Hargreaves alongside Anderson and Fletcherinho into a formidable midfield unit for the real challenges that will be ahead in the CL and the EPL during “squeaky-bum time”.

For all intents and purposes, UTD don’t play another “serious” match until January 30th when they visit TheArse and after that they don’t have to visit Anfailed or Stamford Bridge so the schedule actually looks pretty good. I have always thought that 85-90 points would win the EPL. IF UTD win every game from now to the end of the season they’d end up with 106 points (out of a possible 114) but you’d have to reckon that there are likely to be a few bumps along the way. So 85-90 points looks like a reachable goal. But the margins don’t allow for much faffing about like we saw at Burnley (and against ManShitty) nor for many more diabolical refereeing performances like we witnessed last Sunday.

By: NotoriousRedDevil

NotoriousRedDevil — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:28:39 +0000

This has to be Carricks worst patch of form since we’ve had him, he had a shocker in Rome where he let both Iniesta and Xavi ghost past him but prior to that he’s been pretty solid but then we had Ronaldo in the team to feed off his long balls. I think the only reason we paid the £30 million for Berbatov is because Fergie knew Ronaldo was leaving and so has him to replace the creativity/goalscoring oppotunities (as demonstrated with 11 assists last year) but I get denton davey’s point about square pegs and round holes. It was impossible to replace like for like so we’ve adapted the thing is we don’t have an out and out goalscorer who can play week in week out. Welbeck and Macheda don’t look like they’ll get runs in the first team and Owen looked knackered after 90 minutes vs CSKA Moscow.The Berbatov-Rooney partnership looks like its clicking and we sorely missed Berbatov vs chelski as his final ball could have unlocked the door that Gggs and Anderson were so desparately trying. We have a run of 10 games now where we should be beating the opposition on paper if Rooney and Berbatov can solidify the partnership as well Owen getting a couple of starts all things should be well. 90 points will win us the league we win 10 on the bounce we’ll be well on course for that target.

By: denton davey

denton davey — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:15:23 +0000

Kirn Eric/Wazza – I’m not anti-Carrick but I am sceptical on his worth in what is usually a Pirlo-role. I’ve just not seen enough of the “defence-splitting passes” or those other attacking virtues that would make up for his rather passive style of play. I would acknowledge, though, that MC might not be snarler but he is pretty good at reading the other team’s attack and breaking it up in a rather sneaky – as opposed to a muscular – manner. But, he’s 28 and doesn’t seem to be getting any better – for sure his shooting is pretty awful. Still, I think he provides a good option because there actually aren’t that many opponents who would “demand” a powerful-three in midfield.

And, in fact, it’s neither the midfield nor the defence (with Edwin) that worries me – it’s the rather impotent nature of the attack. Rooney is a monster of a player but the others are all marginal, if you establish a very high-bar which is what we were used to with RVN, LouisLouisHaHa, CR7, and even Carlitos. I’m a huge fan of Giggs, a big fan of LittleMikey, a worried fan of Dimmy, a hopeful fan of Nani, a sceptical fan of Valencia and Obertan BUT, if truth be told, none of them have provided the front-three with the quality sidekicks that is needed to help Rooney become the player we all believe him to be.

In my view, Rooney will never be a lead-the-line-striker or a classic #9 – that’s what Fabio Capello knows and that’s why Don Fabio will put Rooney behind a cart-horse like Emile Ivanhoe Heskey because he knows that his team can only be special if they bring out the best in their most-special player.

SAF seems to be resistant to that idea and seems to be trying to fit a bunch of square pegs into round holes. That’s why I’m sceptical that the expenditure of almost 50 million quid on Berbatov and Valencia has been money well spent. They’re both excellent players but they don’t seem to be the players who can help to bring out the best in UTD’s most important attacking player.

By: mufcsparky

mufcsparky — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:15:58 +0000

A midfield three of Hargreaves, Anderson & Fletch….Fuck me!!

I want curly hair tooooooo!!!

By: wazza (Bezi)

wazza (Bezi) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:44:43 +0000

@King Eric : I totally agree with your views on Carrick. btw, am very impressed with Evans using both feet while playing and passing. sometimes it looks he is left footed

By: King Eric

King Eric — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:31:57 +0000

denton – Hi mate. In the main spot on but just have to slightly disagree about Carrick. While I appreciate he doesn’t go snarling in to tackles he DOES intercept and pick up loose balls very well and distribute them. All the midfield combo’s will have a role to play in a very long season.

By: Gudjohnsen

Gudjohnsen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:29:30 +0000

I think our 4-5-1 tactic worked against Chelsea for the first time in a long time. I’m not a big fan of 4-5-1 but we can use this tactic as long as we have Fletcher and Hargreaves in the lineup. Those two players will be extremely important in the big games this season, especially in away games in Europe.

By: denton davey

denton davey — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:45:47 +0000

I should have said that a healthy Hargreaves combining with Anderson and Fletcherinho makes Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes redundant – neither of those guys has the energy/aggression/toughness that would be expected. Both Scholes and Carrick play a kind of Pirlo-game – trying to run things from the back; neither is very good at ball-winning.

By: denton davey

denton davey — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:42:16 +0000

Drew Vader @ 0:31 – don’t expect too much, too soon. But, if all goes well, then I would expect that Hargreaves will play behind Anderson and Fletcherinho in the matches against quality attacking teams. I also don’t think – and I’ve written about this before – that SAF is wedded to a 4-4-2 because, so far, the Rooney/Berbatov pairing has not fully exploited the strengths of either player. So, I would expect him to go with some sort of 4-5-1/4-3-3 and maybe even jettison the idea of a center forward altogether in tough away fixtures (like TheArse at the Emirates or Barcelona/Inter/TheVirus/RentBoyz). Rooney and two of Giggs/Obertan (?)/Nani (?)/ and Valencia would be the likely line-up with Berbatov and Little Mikey there on the bench. It won’t be pretty but, as we saw on Sunday, it could be effective – with proper refereeing.