Sir Alex Ferguson laughed off comments made by one ‘journalist’ ahead of our Premiership victory over Tottenham Hotspur, which claimed this was our worst team in years.
Mark YSB Lawrenson claimed that the story of our season would be other teams bringing the game to us in his article for The Mirror.
Ferguson claimed Lawrenson’s comments were a ‘beauty’ and mocked them by claiming he could be right – we might only win the league title this year!
Tottenham entertaining Manchester United is one of those real glamour games that you look forward to each season. But rarely will United go there with so many doubts about their potential this season. This is surely one of the weakest United squads for some years.
Tottenham are in great form, Harry Redknapp has once again unlocked potential in promising attacking players and they are terrific to watch. It will be a cracking game but United will not have it all their own. And that will probably be the story of their season.
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Scott, rather than replying to the criticism levelled at us by all these cunts just make a note of it.when we win no 19 in May,you can bash all these shit FSW’s ass licking cunts.cant blame them too much.all journos are ex dippers.wonder why they cant see the truth.
Last season before the Champions League Final all the hacks and pundits were drooling over the fact that this was the best United squad ever!! We lose Ronaldo (world class) and replace him with valencia (not quite world class) and Tevez (World Class Sh*t Bag) and replace him with a one in two striker in Michael Owen and all of a sudden it’s the worst squad ever?? They make my blood boil with the way they happily contradict themselves. Last season Chelsea got off to an equally good start and everyone said they would win the league playing sexy football . How did that go?? AAAAARRRGH!!!!
Didn’t Lawrenson predict us to win the league in his BBCSPORT column before the start of the season?
Losing Tevez and Ronaldo makes the entire squad week?!
We’ll let you know when it’s 19 times in May.
Then it’s you who’ll be in our shadow.
G The Red – Spot on mate.
Lawrenson – Fuck off you are a cunt.
Lawrenson is only pointing out the obvious. This is our weakest squad in years.
To be fair to “Lawro” he is often quite complimentary to Utd.
Cheers King Eric. It does make it all the more satisfying when we do pick up the trophy at the end of the season when we’ve been written off. These people know nothing!!
@AIG, he is making note of it by writing the article.
There’s always at least one journo every year that writes us off. Sooner or later they figure they will be right, besides is it really intersting for them to write, “prediction, Manchester United will win the league this year.” Not sensationalist stuff there.
@TinManUnited
While i agree wid what Scott is doing if you read all the newspapers in Uk you will see many negative articles about United.journos love to rub United the wrong way.Everyday there is something negative.i just cant understand how they can doubt Fergie nafter all these years.if you note most of these journos are all ex dippers cunts.i cant remember any united players writing for tabloids and making predos.dippers are a shit club and by backing them to win the league all these ex dippers journos are making a laughing stock of themselves.
@AIG you’ll notice how many ex-United players are still involved with football. At one point there were I think three or four United players managing top flight teams. Says something.
What we should be worrying about is what that little @unt Platini is getting upto.
The likes of Lord Lawro are making these comments like some uneducated school kid who because the big “glossy” player has left wants to think that it´ll weaken Utd.
Season before last every1 said Utd won the lge because of Ronnie…fair enough he did score a ton of goals, then last seasons success could and should be attached to the defence.
Lord Lawro also seems to forget that Utd once let Ince,Kanchelskis and Hughes go and still went on to win trophies!
P.S. Lord Lawro speak to Hansen for advice on how to look a chump by spouting misguided crap about Utd!!
@tinmanunited.exactly mate .our ex players manage clubs rather than write and talk shit.fergies influence stays in them.there are so many dipper cunts who are writing articles and making predos.united ex players go into management and not making money by writing crap
not every Journo is an ex dipper. Some of them can string a sentence together without it sounding like “day do doh don’t day”.
Worst United team in years. Hhmmmm. What about the team from 03/04 to 05/06. Djemba Djemba so good they named him twice, was in our team then. But now we’ve got the Worlds Best Player Wayne Rooney, Berbatov the Rolls Royce of the footballing world, Vida the Serb who’ll murder ya. Patty the best left back, Rio the best centre back, Fletch the football genius etc etc etc. Best team in the world, as shown on Saturday.
Volatile atmosphere tonight but let’s keep possession early on, shut the fans up, and pass to Wayne. What a gameplan.
lol. he’s a YSB FFS.what else to expect?
mufc the religion.agree mate but as a journo you have to be neutral.you can show any bias.u make a good point .that team was the worst.as for tonight we have to play solid.think owen carrick valencia and nani will start. 2 0 to united
Who gives a fcuk wat lawerson says as some1 has already said he tipped us to win the league, now he’s saying our squad’s weak the guys talking cack.
of topic adebayor has been charged by the fa dont know if that means he’ll miss the derby, hope he plays so the bitters cant complain wen we beat them.
ssn says he will prob get a 3 match ban
Would that be the same Hansen who happens to be a Utd fan?
Do you actually listen to what these people say and put their thoughts into a real context? Or do you just slate them, as they are ex Liverpool players?
just like they said ronaldo was a one trick pony and now united are nothing without him? i wonder how they hold the pen when their writin out their arse??
adebawhore has been hit wid 2 charges.that could mean a 6 match total ban.the stamp on van persie was disgusting and intentional
Apart from the fluke goal from Defoe, I thought United did a spectacular job to grab Spurs by the collar and shake the life out of them. Free kick from Giggs? Sublime. Rooney looks unstoppable. Bring on Man Shitty.
@tufty.do u think we are fools here? hansen said u dont win anything with kids and was made to eat his shit words.lawrensen is time and again having a pop at united.every time the cunt is wrong and we prove that in our performances.he is stating the obvious? give me a break.saf has seen much worse times in his united career.he has proved people wrong every time.what makes you and these people think the great man cant do it again? we all know ron is a miss but we can live without it and win trophies.we still have many quality players.
@aig
I dont think he shud ave been charged for the celebration considering the arsenal fans were giving em stick the whole match. He shud get a 3 game ban for the stamp on van persie, that shud it in my opinion.
Lawrenson has stated that this is one of the weakest United squads for years – its hard to disagree with that.
Both Lawro and Hansen give a lot of credit to Utd when on MOTD and in other media, but hey, its quick to pull out one comment rather than every other one.
Before the Spurs games, I bet a lot of Utd fans had concerns about getting 3 points at White Hart Lane, even more had concerns after 60 seconds of the game.
willierednut.agree mate.me too saying a 3 match.he just let the emotion get to him while celebrating.thats fine. we have seen quite a few times that has happened.
tufty.what do you mean by saying they give credit? if we play well they have to give us the credit.spurs are not a trash side.they have a good quality squad.there wil be games when you wil have to come from behind.the thing is how can you write us off knowing the resilience we have.weak squad.are you saying just bcoz we had ronny we were strong.i hope nt because you are insulting guys like wazza vida rio fletch who were good last season and played a big role especially as ronny struggled big time til march last year
Off-topic but the F.A. have just announced they have set 2 charges against Adebayor… he’s been given a 3 game ban for the stamp and another ban for the celebration to be heard at a later date.
Soo, looks like Santa Cruz and Belamy have it all to do
Read what is ACTUALLY put and what has ACTUALLY been said -
What was said – “This is surely one of the weakest United squads for some years”.
NOT what was said – “United have a weak squad”.
As a result, you cant argue against what was ACTUALLY SAID.
Do you think the squad is weak? bloody hell. We have 2 if not 3 midfields we could put out…
Mark Lawrenson predicted us to win the league on the match of the day show after the Burnley result. He’s normally quite fair to United for a scouser!! As far as the Adebayor ban, Hughes would probably have started with one up front anyway…..bet Benjani thought he’d never play again!!!
Tufty – don’t get your knickers in a knot mate – football fans, regardless if they are United or not, will only read what they want to read, Scott doesn’t really help the situation by sensationalising the negative statements, but in fairness to him, he shouldn’t have to factor for the lowest common denominator, and at the end of the day, this is a United site, so the United perspective is paramount to anything else – even common sense
Tufty – I bet loads of United fans were aprehensive about going to White Hart Lane after our performance against Arsenal, I was one, but to think “that will probably be the story of their season” is what I took issue with.
I think the current squad is better than the squad that won the league reached the European Cup semis and FA Cup final in 2007, so find it very easy to argue against what Lawrenson has to say.
MUFC the Religion
thankyou you said all I have been saying the 2003/2004 squad is the worst set of players ever to be put together by ferguson, the squad between aug 2004 to may 2007 was more weaker then the current one. remember that abysmel 11 in aug 2004 against norwich WOW that was a bad 11 and sub bench, there are questions over the current team but I could name more questions over the 06/07 squad, the 05/06 squad that did not field half the time with a proper CM player, and that is the same set of players that finished rock bottom of the group stages of the cmapions league. this one is still weak and all the current side needs is a phew more buys and it is set for more success.
the argument scott is making is that this isn’t the weakest squad for years which i agree with. This is basically the same squad which has won the premier league and champions league. K we’ve lost ronaldo, but rooney has taken up the scoring mantle this year which we expected him to and berba should score more this year now the play isn’t focused through ronaldo. We’ve also brought in a proven premier league and international goalscorer, and the talented youngsters we have are another season older. Can’t see it being too weak, and considering our league rivals haven’t improved their squads don’t see the problem
Tufty – This is NOT the weakest squad in years but in my opinion the STRONGEST . Below is why. I posted the same comment on the previous topic:-
We have such great depth now and all the young ones are a year older and a year more experienced. As someone else said (the sending off aside) Scholes has rolled back the years this season, Berba looks a different player, Rooney is the best on the planet, Fletch is the new Keano, Nani and Valencia . Hargreaves to come back. Not to mention the old master Giggs and the kids. Finally the best back four in Europe. We are NOT weak.
aig – I don’t think Owen will start tonight mate. SAF has said that he has spoken to Owen and told him that when the games come really thick and fast he will be starting. He has said he wants the Rooney/Berba partnership to flourish first. That is fine by me!
Tufty – Do have to agree though that Hansen and Lawro do say good things about United, particularly Lawrenson. Hansen a United fan? First I heard, thought he was Celtic.
King Eric
I think owen will start tonight, but I like lawrencing and hanson has pundits they have said some great things about united. I have never seen red tinted views from them. it is still a weak squad but its nowhere near the weakest.
my 11 would be
foster
o shea ferdinand vidic evra
fletcher anderson
valencia rooney owen nani
I would play anderson over the fact that anderson scored a goal and I say see if his maybe momentum continues. plus carrick has played too poorly to start. fletcher is like rooney ferdinand vidic evra and I would say now foster is one of the first players on the team sheet.
manutdchampions2008
i agree with your 11 except berba for owen. and i know you will not be happy, but i think park might be starting for either nani or valencia. also wouldn’t be surprised to see three in the middle (carrick, ando, fletch).
perhaps maybe wes at RB to give o’shea some rest?
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The squad we had in 2007 was a lot better than the current one, the problem we had back then, was key injuries at the end of the season, which cost us badly. If that happens to this squad, then we will be shown up a lot, especially come the end of the season.
We also dont look as effective going forward, understandable now the best player in the world has left.
Ronaldo is a major loss to the team and to the squad.
Tevez is also a big loss as well squad wise.
Scholes, Neville and Giggs are all a lot older now and struggle to compete against the better players and the faster games.
I struggle to see how Scholes has rolled back the years and question what games you have been watching this season?
We still have agood squad, but its not as strong as it has been in recent years. If Hargreaves can get fuly fit, then thats a major boost.
I still feel we need something more in the final 3rd, be it another striker or a player similar to David Silva who will bring a bit of creativity.
I can see quite a few changes tonight, with key players rested.
We have players such as Owen, Fabio, Neville and Brown who need starts.
Tufty
Did you watch the match on Saturday? We don’t look effective going forward? Did you miss Rooney burying one when we were down to 10 men? Have you missed Rooney scoring 5 in 5? Cristiano who? When was the last time Ronaldo scored 5 in 5? You’d have to go back to 2007-2008 at least, which was a freak year in terms of goals anyway. You struggle to see how Scholes has rolled back the years? Red card aside, he has been magnificent in all his appearances- especially Saturday. David Silva wishes he could bring the ‘creativity’ that Berbatov brings to our squad. I don’t understand what games, if any, you have been watching this season.
Not missed a game all season (That means actually attended them all).
Scholes has been shocking in most the games this season. On saturday he was knackered after 60 mins, probably a contributing factor in his bookings.
He was poor at Wigan as well.
ha Sanj – obviously not a regular poster. For my money Tufty is one of the wiser posters here and his opinions and views are certainly realistic and appreciated by me!
Scholes is awesome, there is no doubt about it, but the last really truel awesome game he played in was the CL semi-final against Barca the season before last – he is being made to look tired by youtful legs. No one disputes his ability to pass a ball, and if being an awesome midfielder was about passing a ball alone, there is no doubt he would be one of the worlds best still – unfortunately it isn’t.
I would love to see the Da Silva twins get a game tonight, those brothers bombing down the flanks makes me have sex wee in my pants.
Muggaz
Actually I am a regular poster- just about every single day. Just because I disagree with his opinions doesn’t make his views more accurate than mine. People have commented on Scholes ‘rolling back the years’ so Tufty is not the end-all-be-all of this debate. Grow up.
I was just reading one of the comments above and realised that all former dipper players go into “journalism” and ex Manchester United players go into management!
His last best game was the CL semi-final? What about in the 3-0 victory over Fulham?
From MEN:
Scholes: Widened the pitch with every brilliant raking cross field pass – and what a goal 9
Ha- obviously not a regular poster, I guess.
The media spout the same old shite every year and every year we prove them wrong.Its getting boring now.
Tufty
what in the hell are you talking about, tevez a loss yea right its like saying alan smith was a big loss. tevez is awful at times he had one good year in the 07/08 season when ronaldo and rooney made him look good. ronaldo I agree will be a big loss I thought it would be a bigger loss then I thought, but the reason why united may get away with it is chelsea liverpool arsenal are all average. giggs is rolling back the years scholes not so much, his timing of winning balls is getting more awful.
Muggaz
scholes did not have a great game in the CL semi agaons barcelona. anderson nani berbatov this is a big season for all 3, if they fail again do not be suprised if fergie cashed in on all 3 of them.
sanj and muggaz.stop it.i know that both of you are regular posters.to be fair scholes was pretty good against spurs apart from those 2 poor tackles.he also played ok against wigan.we cant expect him to be the scholesy of 3 or 4 years back.infact he was poor against barca in 2008.did nothing apart from that goal. he came on as a sub and steadied the ship in quite a few games last year.
So Lawrenson was right, they did come at us, and they scored within 60 seconds.
We didnt have it all our own way, and for all 5 games we havent had it all our own way. Birmingham attacked us, Burnley attacked us, Wigan attacked us in the 1st half, Arsenal attacked us, Spurs attacked us. We won 4 of 5, so lets hope we continue to not have it all our own way, and that teams continue to attack us.
And this is our weakest squad in years. We have just lost Ronaldo, of course we are weakened. But we are now a better team, and that will be more important in the long run.
aig alex
fair play, mate. just don’t like someone discrediting what i’m saying for totally inaccurate reasons. scholes isn’t the scholes of 3 or 4 years ago, but my point is that he still can contribute a lot to the team. i may have been a bit extreme in saying he’s been magnificent, but i think his passing is second to none- which will always HELP united score and get forward.
where is GHTT?
the size of the squad differentiates us from other contenders.The size of the squad is our strongest attribute, but now that FA has introduced that 25 players quota, how do you guys think that will effect us? Can somebody explain to me, whether players not in the 25 list can play or not?
Tufty – Seen all the games . How patronising are you? I thought Scholes was superb at Wigan and for the first 55 minutes on Saturday.
Foster-Neville,Vidic,Evans,Evra-Valencia,Carrick,Scholes,Anderson,Nani-Rooney
Sorry, i forgot my manners. Hi everyone. No Rio or Fletcher on the bench.
tufty,
you may (or may not) have attended all the games this season, but your analysis of these said games is abysmal.. and your opinions seem to be rightly ridiculed by all and sundry…
how are you costas, king eric, ghtt etc?
whats the thoughts on the team lads??
Regarding Scholes it is testament to how he has been playing that I have actually been relieved when he starts. That could also be down to the fact that Carrick and up until Saturday Ando has been shocking.
Muggaz – Don’t understand your reasoning that because Sanj said Scholes has played well (like me) that he can’t be a regular poster?? He is actually and always makes good points.
Its all about opinions and I just love to watch the Ginger prince. Even more so now as we know it is more likely his last season. Cherish him while we still can.
Hi keanesmagichat. I am good, thanks.Just swamped with studying for my college exams. How are you?
Fergie seems to be resting players. No O’Shea in the squad either. I hope this team can do the job. I only wish Rooney had someone nest to him.
Keanesmagichat – Not bad mate, how are you? Have you calmed down since the Burnley game? You still don’t want Carrick dead? ha ha.
Muggaz – “those brothers bombing down the flanks makes me have sex wee in my pants”. quality.
Hi everyone. theboogeyman’s bro here. been a regular reader of RoM but never commented on anything before.
I actually think this squad is stronger than last season,just because of three people. DB9, the White Pele, and Fletcherinho. If Wayne somehow manages to stay fit the whole season I think we’ll be able to repeat what we did in the 07/08 season or possibly even more.
Costas – A 3 man midfield. Thought Berba may start but you know what Sir Alex is like in Europe. Thought Fletcher would be rested but would have liked Rio to play just to get the partnership going. Pleased with line up. Time for Carrick to regain his form.
shit formation. Did no one see the Arsenal game. Wazza can’t play on his own with any effect.
The only way this could work is if Nani and Valencia make runs to make it more 4-3-3.
And how the fuck are Berbs and Owen meant to get more goals if they don’t mother fuckin play. Feel sorry for Berba I really do.
We’ll still win, but this couldve been an annihilation tonight but I guarentee now we won’t score more than 2 goals. Rooney ofcourse and hopefully Valencia.
In Fergie we trust I suppose.
Costas – Sorry manI am as rude as you! Good evening mate.
Finally I take it Park will be playing on Sunday?
Don’t worry King Eric! It must be pre game jitters!
The Skysports website says that Rio has a minor groin injury. Again. A 3 man midfield should conatin them and hoepfully Valencia and Nani will penetrate them. I agree with King Eic. Time for Michael to step up! Maybe Ando will support Rooney…
what’s the prob with Wesley Wesley Brown ?
Park has to play at some point! I was actually looking forward to Valencia and Nani playing on Sunday. Oh well.
Our bench: Kuszczak,Brown,Fabio,Gibson,Park,Owen,Berbatov
Some links for coverage guys ?
bloody hell, thats some atmosphere. We really are the biggest club in the world. Everywhere we go its the game of the season for the home side.
It’s besikta’s fans that are the noisiest. you gotta love the turkish atmosphere.
indeed, anfield, parkhead my arse
I agree that this year we have the weakest squad, but this squad is enough to be champions this season, at least to win EPL.
Did you know that you cant win anything with kids???
@Irish Red: You can’t if your team’s named Arsenal.