Sir Alex Ferguson made a few changes to tonight’s line-up, picking a team which was capable of picking up the points, whilst making sure we have enough fresh players for derby day at the weekend. Gary Neville started in place of John O’Shea, Jonny Evans for Rio Ferdinand, whilst Darren Fletcher and Ryan Giggs were also given a rest. Rooney played for an hour, Berbatov for half an hour, meaning all in all we have made good use of our squad.
Getting the points was important tonight though and whilst there wasn’t much to write home about, we ground out the result. A few years ago, this is something we struggled at in Europe, when we would go to small clubs abroad and leave with just a point, or worse, nothing.
Antonio Valencia, who was again unimpressive tonight, played in Nani just inside the box. He got away a powerful shot, forcing the keeper to save and put both hands on the deck to stop him falling over. As he was getting back up, Scholesy directed the header over the keeper and in to the back of the net.
The season after Ruud van Nistelrooy left, people questioned where the goals were going to come from, given that we hadn’t bought a replacement for the prolific striker. Nobody had Solskjaer down for 11 goals in 32 appearances (7 goals in 19 appearances in the league) that season, or the 19 league goals that would come from Giggs, Scholes, Park and O’Shea (7 more than the season before), because everyone was too busy thinking about Ruud.
Wayne Rooney has been a match winner so far this season and we hoped/expected this would be the case. But it’s the people you don’t expect to get you the points which make results all the better. You wouldn’t have thought Giggsy was going to send that freekick flying in to the top corner against Spurs or that Anderson would score the goal to take us in to the lead. You wouldn’t have had Scholesy down for scoring the winner away in Turkey with his head!
We’ve got quality players in this squad and whilst no single player, other than Rooney, is expected to come to close Ronaldo’s scoring record, if enough of our players can keep chipping away, like Scholes tonight, we’ll be fine.
An important three points in the bag tonight. Onwards and upwards…
Man Utd News 24/7
The headline says it all scott. Job Done.
Roll on sunday!!
Not a great performance, not even good but a take the 3 points.. That was all we needed..
Oh boy oh boy Man City next sunday, i cant wait..
..Lets trash those motherfu*kers
3 points is all we came to get.
1 thing though, what was up with Rooney after he got subbed?
dissapointed with valencia performance..his crossing supposed to be lethal…
but it still early to judge him though…
nani on and off game…got to search the consistency to his play…
scholesy…as i said before was so important to us…so to people who call him stupid last game take this goal and shove it up your a**
Three points in the bag, no injuries and everyone fit for derby day. All in all, a good day. But wait for some fickle fans to come here and start spouting bullsh!t. They never fail.
I don’t think Valencia was ‘unimpressive’. There were some positives I took from his performance. Ok, his final ball wasn’t always great, but I was impressed with the positions he got into and runs that he made.
I actually thought Valencia did ok for his first game in Europe away in Istanbul. Very one footed though. 3 points is all that matters. To think we only drew our first game last season at HOME. Atmosphere in there sounded incredible. Cannot wait for Sunday.
Why so harsh on Valenica? I thought his first touch was good and he went past defenders several times getting in crosses, being a proper winger that’ll only get better for United. As for his crosses, I think they’d be utilized better with two strikers.
Disagree that Valencia was unimpressive, I thought he had his best game for us this season (proper) I expect more to come but he was far from unimpressive
Important win but could have been better…valencia hasnot yet reached the level yet…but owen’s movement n first touches were good…he can be a good sub striker…
i assume that was a typo about valencia really!
i dont know what game some of yous lads were watching but i thought valencia played well! His cross were not up to scratch but he was not unimpressive! one of our players of the night with evra!
not saying that he wasnt impressive…but got to admit his final ball was poor…maybe bit shaky in his first champion league game…
johnny evan partnership with vida was great…the future is bright…
evra…this guy have the lung of two horses…
Really happy with the results. It’s difficult for the team to play and it is really a important results. Come on for weekend. Woot~
Definately disagree about Valencia. Thought he had a solid game and was a danger throughout. There’s always the temptation to subconsciously compare him to Ronaldo, and there’s no comparison really. Valencia has a different job and a different set of skills in his locker; because he doesn’t excite as Ronaldo did doesn’t mean he’s had a poor game. As far as I saw he was beating his man time after time and as soon as his final ball improves, as it will with games, I think we’ll have some player on our hands.
On a side note, thought Rooney was horrifically isolated tonight; that cannot be allowed to happen when we play 4 5 1, especially against better teams away from home.
valencia was impressive it was just that with a 433 theres no one to feed!
By all accounts the Rentboys were shit tonight and were lucky to win. I knew as soon as they came up against a half decent team they would struggle. Bearing in mind this Porto has sold it’s three star players and was down to 10 men. Expect similar against Spurs on Sunday.
I for one have to take my hat off to the ginger prince. It’s not just the goal. It’s his all around presence. I liked how calm and composed he was today. Carrick really has to take a long look at where he is at. It seems like he is becoming 4th choice…
Costas – What has happened to Carrick? He has been off form for some months now. I would say since around the dippers and Fulham defeats and that was end of March. Really hope he regains his form otherwise I can see him sold in January. Gibson will soon be above him in the pecking order. What can you say about Scholes? Superb.
yeah carrick seem to be the 4th choice now…he better start improving…owen will be back soon…and who know that ljajic can explode right away when he come in january…
FELLOW REDS
Please take the time to read some of these comments about tonight’s game from so called United “fans”. They are a fucking disgrace to the club and should not be allowed to follow United. Disgraceful no nothing cunts. Just look at two of the usernames “manu expert” and “fergie has no clue”.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1136994_besiktas_0_united_1
@king eric
the so called our beloved club “fan” in those article are shite…
to say that this cunt are manchester united fan is just like saying adebayor love arsenal…hmmm
Valencia was just OK = he needs to use his left foot, too.
Nani was dangerous AND inconsistent. Anderson was busy. The others did OK, too.
That was not a glamourous performance BUT it was good enough to secure a precious three, away points. Usually, a team needs 10 points to qualify for the knock-out stage so UTD are almost there with three home games to come !
IMO Carrick is suffering from a phsycological ‘defeat’.
He is a CM and just that. Where Fletch is a D/C Mid, scholes and Ando A/C Mids, Carrick seems to be doubting his capabilities. That must be a major contributor to lack of form in players. He had a really bad game vs Burnley and since then, he has seen others thrive in his position.
He needs to get cocky! put those audatious thru balls in, drill some low shots from distance, and reassert his presence in the team! Man Up Michael!
I was outraged when I saw ‘unimpressive again’ to refer to Valencia.
I obviously respect your opinion Scott but that was very harsh on the boy. Glad the majority of people seem to feel the same.
He was good tonight, 7/10 in my book. Trouble is, he lacks a little confidence at the moment but he showed glimpses of real promise.
Let’s not make rash comments about him yet. He’s got to deal with all that nonsense about succeeding Ronaldo (admittedly you’re not saying he is a successor to him) so every time he doesn’t set up a goal or set the world alight, people will ask questions.
Unlucky for Michael Owen tonight too. The Owen of old would have scored that late chance but at least he’s getting in the positions, as the cliche goes…
I want to see Macheda!
@King Eric: I wish i knew what’s wrong with MIchael. He is in the perfect age for a midfielder. Fletcher has stepped up his game, Ando looks like he is getting refocused and Scholesy is getting another wind. Maybe all these things have affected him. He did have 1-2 good moments after the Fulham defeat, but i agree that he hasn’t been the same. I hope he and Fergie sort it out, because it will be a shame.
Oh, and that link to the M.E.N. and those United comments?
You’re right King Eric, they’re not real United fans.
They’re City. Just like the few fools who pollute this blog!
Valencia was unimpressive. It’s a fact. If you want to see what he was like, just look at some of his games with Wigan last year where he would take on defenders and use his pace and strength. He looks a little bewildered at times, like a man playing with the weight of a 16 million pound tag on his shoulder. There’s something not quite right with him…perhaps the awe of being in the red shirt, of being in Ronaldo’s position.
He wasn’t fine tonite, and while he didn’t waste posession, he did not look comfortable either. His first touch at times wasn’t great and he become relatively easy to defend against till the goal was scored and Besiktas had to commit more going forward.
Now, there’s no mistake they were playing for a point…but Valencia was unimpressive against a team that would struggle to even beat the likes of Fulham. Carrick was another one. Anonymous…devoid of passion. And don’t say it was fatigue. Neither of these players have featured in the last few games, they should have been ready to seize their chance and put on a show.
3 points though, and job done. But hardly convincing…
player set up was pretty silly… we practically played with 10 in midfield… no wonder the likes of valencia or carrick were unimpressive… we got caught out number of times but needless to say our defense more than held its own…. we shouldve played 2 up top from the go…. its one thing playing lyon or porto or hamburg or villareal away and its a whole another playing besiktas or standard liege or zurich or apoel tel aviv…..
I think Nani’s performance today sums up the player he is and always will be. He can do some unbelievable things sometimes but he makes the wrong decision often or keeps the ball for too long thus causing the attacks to lose flow…
Regarding Valencia, he got in some fantastic positions but failed to deliver the final ball every single time. But he skinned his marker on so many occasions. As the management say, he has some very good qualities but there are many things in his game that can (and hopefully will) be worked on..
Shame about Roo’s reaction to being subbed. I’d hoped we’d got rid of that crap in the Summer.
Please i want your opinion about Roo , what was that all about, was it about the early sub or the idiot in the stands with laser or anythintg else, i would like to cee a comment about that.
ps Valensia 7.5/10 for me
Michael Owen should get more playing time because he gets in the right time at the right position, just to finish…Anderson had good game, Carrick needs time(on the bench ,until he sort his form)
And Berba proved his class once again…
It’s a possibility that Wayne was/is more annoyed at himself and the jeering he got so didn’t have the chance to prove the home fans wrong. Either way, under the carpet now.
Valencia didn’t have a bad match, he just didn’t stand out despite me watching him avidly. He played about the same as the rest of the team, which only really came to life around fifty minutes for a short while then settled down again. No runs were being made in the first half and it was painfully lax.
Tony Starks @ 0:01 – you’re a bit harsh on Nani; when you put any player’s performance under a microscope then the inconsistencies will shine. Both Nani and Valencia have great upside skills but neither is yet a top-class player; Nani might just evolve into one (ditto Anderson). I think that what-we-see-is-what-we-get with Valencia: a very strong, fast, one-footed right winger. A solid professional but not now – not ever ? – “world class”. So, it might make more sense to appreciate the half-full part of his glass and not worry too much about the half-empty part.
Also, more generally, a team is rarely composed of all-stars; usually a number of them are “role players” – valuable for what they can do but limited because of what they cannot do. The art of management that SAF is showing us game-after-game is trying to get the most out of ALL his players. Of course, this is “tinkering” but he doesn’t have a team with Maldini, Baresi, Keane, Best, and Charlton to play alongside Rooney and Ferdinand/Vidic/Evra.
I agree with scott that valencia was unimpressive. I dont want to be too harsh on the lad because he did beat his man over and over again-but over and over again there was zero end product. Park was much more effective when he came on. Hopefully he can sort that out.
As for rooney, i dont see a problem with his reaction. The way i see it he was annoyed that he hadnt been able to get a goal or play some part in getting a goal for the team. If we had been winning when he came off you wouldnt have seen that reaction. Comparisons were made with ronaldo throwing the bib last year, but at that point we had already won the match and all he was worried about was HIM getting the golden boot.
i can’t believe valencia is getting so much flak. he constantly beat his man and got a balls into the box. yeah, they weren’t the best but let’s face it with only rooney in the box then the balls will have to be inch perfect which in that intense atmosphere on your champions league debut is bound to be tough.
i thought our central midfield was unimpressive tonight.
I have to say, I too was unimpressed withy Valencia but worse than that …. I just watched the Real Madrid / Zurich match. Stunning preformance by RM, Ronaldo in particular. There’s no doubt that it will be in Europe were we will miss him most. But I do like the way that SAF continues to use our squad even if it means a few dull performances at times.
great result considering the atmosphere. Valencia did well considering not played on this stage before n wat a baptism with n atmosphere like that!! It’s not often utd away get drowned out for volume
When will Berbatov score? I never expect hm to anymore, its like Anderson its a nice surprise if he ges one. He is not doing the job, silky skills aside, what is the point of a striker who does not score regularly?
I would like to see owen and macheada with Rooney instead.
Also, i am getting a little worried about the fact we never see Tosic? I liked him in pre-season, he has a great shot on him, why is he not given a chance? it cant just be his build, SAF knew his build when he bought hm. It is frustrating that we dont get to see him, maybe carling cup.
I don’t know of any of you read the Eurosport article about the match, but they made us seem world beaters which I found somewhat odd. I wasn’t overly impressed with the performance. I thought we lacked bite but we never looked like losing. Seeing Scholes score was worth it all however. Bring on the derby!
So this is how low we’ve sunk?
I’m happy about the three points, but quite frankly tired of the dull football that is so anti-united. Barca proved last year that it was possible to play attractive attacking football AND win trophies. Their fans would never put up with the type of cowardly football that is slowly becoming our hallmark. Surely we should be demanding better performances from our team rather than ‘Job Done’ headlines that subtley suggest that our capabalities of playing attractive football is null? Sorry, but Fergie’s lost it in terms of actually getting our lads to play a consistent brand of football and sticking to it no matter what. He knows how to win games but the fact that we, as fans, aren’t more critical of the dull football we’ve had to endure for the best part of a year, and especially after our non-performance in CL final, is altogether shocking. What happened to the United way?
Tosic is not registered in CL, it’s Hargreaves instead. I am not worried about the performance, as we all know Form is temporary, class is permanent. Better results will come, starting with the destruction of Man City.
bollox – valencia played well, skinned the full back all night and his control and passing were excellent…..his crossing will only improve…..he’s lightning fast aswell, kindof reminds me of kanchelskis……….carrick was diabolical, anderson was screamingly average and nani flatters to deceive every time he plays……the defence was solid and evra was excellent as usual…..
i wasnt happy with the performance but a win is a win.some say valencia was poor , some say nani was poor but i say its all fergies fault.i have said it many times 4 5 1 is a rubbish formation and i dont know y fergie choses that. united have never been comfortable with this formation and never will be.
i dont know what fergi is thinking. but again the bottomline is we won.
Not impressed at all with this performance. Nani was very poor again and Valencia showed his limits last night although he delivered some good balls. He is too predictable..running with the ball past defenders towards the corner flag…but he is very good at doing this and always manages to whip in a great cross. He will find it very hard against players like Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge.
I don`t know why Rooney threw away his boots in disgust ?? may be frustration. We are not efficient and effective with a 4-5-1.Rooney badly needs support and he needs to be playing with Berba or Owen.
Last night`s performance reminded me of Burnley!
Nani and Carrick badly need to improve!
i think the “ineffective” is perfect to describe nani’s and valencia’s performance, and carrick has gone awol..
it’s pretty weird like king eric said, he’s in perfect age, has a lot of experience with united already, but his role on the pitch was like completing the 11 men needed for a game..
i’m happy with the result and how SAF rotated the squad, he just played wazza for 1 hour and should let him burst of his anger towards shitty later this weekend plus rest needed for the likes of giggsy and fletherinho..
glory glory manutd
firstly,i think it was a decent performance.we needed the 3 points desperately and may be thats why we played with less risk.i fell the tactics were right by fergie.we need 3 wins and a draw to go to the knockout stage.we play wolfsburg in the last match and by then we should be through.if we had lost this match then there would be a lot of perssure in the next 4 matches to win,considering we dont want to take it to the last match.conservative but effective.we got what we set out to do.
Until we switched to 4-4-2 we were generally quite miserable. Lots of posession but not enough going forward to do anything with it. We got a 0-5 at Wigan then switched to 4-5-1 and scraped a win against Arsenal, we got a 1-3 at Spurs, then switched to 4-5-1 and scraped through against Besiktas. There’s a clear pattern here, no?
When we play 4-5-1 we have not enough of a threat going forward to stretch the opposition backline. They only have the ’1′ to defend against and can double up and close him down all night while playing a highish line knowing nobody will run in behind. We need the ’2′ to divide their attention, open space for the main striker and offer our midfield players options. Scholesy would never have gotten into that position with the first half tactics.
4-5-1 doesn’t suit us. We dont have a Ronaldo darting in from wide areas at lightning speed to support anymore. As soon as we went 4-4-2 both against Arsenal (where Berba and Nani had chances to bury the game) and Besiktas we looked much more convincing. Coincidence..?
PS) Valencia isn’t exactly unpredictable but he did beat his man time and time again and in the first half he was putting a lot of good crosses into the box. Needs to work on his left foot and decision making but he was certainly the main threat from us for much of the game.
In my opinion, Valencia was not bad, but certainly “unimpressive”, with him being very predictable whenever he had the ball — running down to the bottom line, skinning a defender then oops, ball gone to nowhere.
It’s useless saying he has all those skills (which is not even as silky as Berbatov’s) but no end product; we have been saying all those things for Nani isn’t it?
Don’t let me get started with Carrick.
He was plainly AWFUL last night. Clueless. Careless. Effectiveless.
He was supposed to spray the ball to Rooney and/or to shield the back four.
He ended up (partly) making Rooney frustrated all night, and went AWOL on the pitch, literally.
Sorry, but having a performance like that is not acceptable for numer 16 of the red shirt.
Count ourselves lucky I must say, with Scholes saving the day.
Yes, job done, that’s all we can take heart from.
To Citeh, with blessings from many Gooners fans…
Carrick has 10 goals in him if he can get out of his dip in form.
@United4eva: couldn’t agree more with you – why do we have to play 4-5-1 against weaker teams is beyond me…for that matter, even against stronger teams. That system seems to work when you have wingers of the class of Messi or Henry and attacking CMFs of the class of Iniesta (just examples as memories of a 4-5-1 on Barca night still rankle), and/or a poacher type striker like RVN…in which case it actually evolves into a classy, attacking 4-3-3. Our players are very different – no good/bad comparisons – just different, and this syetm doesnt suit them. I thought yesterday’s match was boring and actually risky – if they had hit us on a one-off chance, we would have looked pretty stupid. Sometimes I wonder if the weight of expectations has got too much for SAF, and that bucaneering attitude is now lost…which would be a very sad thing. But then, who the hell are we to question the gaffer – we can just wring our hands…
I still have no clue why Sir Alex firstly, plays the god-damned 4-5-1 and secondly, plays Rooney all alone up top ! He’s never excelled as a lone forward and even against Arsenal he didnt exactly set the pitch on fire. But when he played alongside Berbatov against Wig, Spurs he was absolutely devastating ! Fergie’s reluctance to use Berbatov in a 4-5-1 baffles me.
And i agree with Scott on this one, Valencia WAS unimpressive. When you’re up against a team like Besiktas, and an exceedingly below average right back you expect your winger do run rings around him and cause havoc down the flank. Valencia didnt do that. He had a few moments, but that was it. Lets see how he plays as the season progresses. Carrick was clueless, listless, lost, unimpressive, uninspired etc etc. I cant believe this is the same man who could spray 100 yard passes across the field and dictate play just a year back !! Fouth choice indeed !
Fletcher,Scholes,Ando and later Hargo and Gibson…therefore Carrick slips to the 6th position.
I don`t know what Fergie is waiting for to unleash Gibson.
With a 4-5-1, frustration will set in due to the fact that Berba, Owen,Macheda,Welbeck and soon Mame Diouf will all be watching football from the stands or on the bench.
we should be playing 4-4-2 with Berba and Rooney. Owen and Macheda/Wellbeck as substitutes. When Nani underperforms,which is now happening regularly, Rooney to go on the left wing( although he is best played as a striker) and Owen or Macheda to be the 2nd striker with Berba.
Am fed up with this 4-5-1! Come on Fergie don`t kill Rooney !
i just don’t understand why we are so negative in europe. Wolfsburg n moscow will look at that game and think they have a chance against us. What happened to the days we used to have teams fear us in europe. I know it was only first game, but it was a poor showing. I personally don’t blame rooney for having strop. He’s worked like a donkey for 60 mins then gets subbed when formation changed and he would of got more support. Valencia needed someone to aim for in the box coz he did beat his man several times, but then had no one to aim for. But all in all, 3 points away from home so thats the main thing.
@jeet, wheres_my_bottle and Kungfukick
Lads I LONG, LONG for the good old days where we played 4-4-2 against everyone and anyone and got high scoring draws at the Nou Camp and went wild in Turin. 4-5-1 doesn’t suit Man Utd and never has.
People will say but in that season Ronaldo scored 42 goals we played 4-5-1 so clearly it does: WRONG. Most of that season we played with two forwards and Ronaldo switching positions with either Tevez or Rooney and in the champions league final against Chelsea we played a straight 4-4-2 with Ronaldo hugging the left touchline and Hargreaves offering defensive stability and crossing ability on the right. 4-5-1 is garbage.
How many league titles did we win with 4-5-1? 2002/3 and…?? Yeah Van Nistlerooy scored lots of goals but what did we actually win after we ditched the swashbuckling days of 4-4-2? 2001/2 we didnt win the league, 2003/4 we didnt win the league, 2004/5 we didnt win, 2005/06 we didnt win.
4-5-1 is not a formation for Man Utd. We need two wingers, a forward on the shoulder of the last defender and someone playing in the hole exploiting the space left by the defenders having to play deep to cover the threat of the goal poacher.
I trust Sir Alex. He’s proved his critics wrong too much not to trust him. But on this…I have to say I cant see where he’s going with the 4-5-1 malarky.
unfortunately Sir Matt’s ethos of entertaining the punters seems to have gone out the window with European games… I was tempted to switch over to the cricket last night where Ricky Ponting was giving a masterclass on entertainment.
like a lot of the posters here, I think your assessment of Valencia was quite harsh, and i’d like to think if there were two strikers in the box, a lot of those final balls of Valencia’s would have found a United head or boot and ended up challenging the keeper…
Carrick – the less I say about him at the moment the better.. he is like an ex girlfriend I am extremely unhappy with and I am keeping my distance so I don’t further strain the relationship, he has the potential to win games with killer balls, but he is severely lacking in balls right now – sure it doesn’t help that there is no one directly in front of him making the runs, but I don’t have a lot of faith in him at present.
Rooney was just mad that he didn’t score, not that he was taken off.
Thought we did OK last night. Difficult place to go to, even the ‘masters’ of european football Liverpool lost there a couple of years ago.
I would describe the performance as economical. In these circumstances 4-5-1 is the right formation, we kept the ball, we were never seriously threatened, job done. We will see 4-5-1 deployed a lot in Europe on away legs. Continental teams generally play 3 central midfielders so going 4-4-2 would lead to our midfield being overrun.
Disagree that Valencia was ‘unimpressive’ Considering it was his first CL tie away in Turkey I thought he did ok. He beat his man countless times and although his final ball let him down, he kept at it and played a part in our goal.
Carrick was the only real disappointment… He appears to be lacking in self confidence recently. I reckon he just needs a good performance under his belt, although that will have to come soon considering the competition in CM, especially with Hargreaves back on the Horizon.
I disagree with you Scott! The job is not done at all! Ferguson went on about how they analised the Rome disaster! What Ferguson still doesn’t see is that he keeps changing the whole United mindset in Europe. What the point of playing a 4-5-1 formation against a pathetic side like Besiktas? The message to the own players and the oppositions (of the respective day and the whole tournement) is clear: “we’re in danger; it’s gonna be a hard game; we can’t play the way we’re used to if we want to have success in Europe”! It downs the confidence of our own players and ups the one of the oppositions players! Simple! Our players hesistate in going forward and with that, we’re just a mediocre side in Europe, which results in only winning three European cups over the years despite constantly beeing one of the biggest clubs in Europe!
The truth is that the speed; the 90 minutes of intensity; and the nearly mindless attacking is what European opponents can’t cope with!
can’t believe we’ve bought one of the best players in the world for 16mill and he’s not firing on all cylinders already. I mean, after the many successful european campaigns he’s had wi a top class team in wigan you would of thought he’d be used to the hostile atmosphere and abuse. As many fans have pointed out, he only actually beat his man on several occassions, but can’t believe he never managed to put it directly onto the head of the one man we had in the box. I personally think we should of bought a player with potential who wouldn’t be judged after a few games of the season. Good job we’ve got understanding fans though
It was always going to be a bit tight away from home and especially in Turkey where their fans are always very passionate. Good to see Owen involved in the build-up too.
No one’s saying Valencia should be hitting crosses with Beckham like accuracy – but his attempts after he had beaten his man and had plenty of space usually involved being played along the ground and failing to get past the first defender/keeper. And again no one’s claiming that he was a crap buy or judging him overall – but we’re perfectly within our rights as fans to say it was an unimpressive performance.
Personally I thought Carrick looked better than he has in a good while (because he wasn’t awful), but still not great. I’ll certainly be glad to see Fletcher back in the team for the derby.
Quick word for the Besiktas fans too – absolutely awesome. The chant/dance they had going in the 2nd half was brilliant.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2639042/Besiktas-0-Man-Utd-1.html
that article sums up scholesey, fucking legend
I sitting watching the match wiv my old lad last nite thinking, this teams here for the taking. I felt sorry for wazza he needed more support than he got, for me 451 does’nt suit us, it never will in europe, but saf know’s more than us, so we’ll just ave to trust em. ps i wish some of our fans wud stop going on about ronny, he’s gone get ova it
I think that the performance last night was one of a very experianced team. Very hostile atmosphere (great for the game i must admit) and an acclompished besiktas side who put 10 men behind the ball for 90 % of the match and defended well determined to hold on for a nil all draw. in previous years frustration may have got the better of us. i look at celtic away and villarreal away last year. Same story in years before. SAF played ,what i think everybody will agree, a team which will almost certainly will not play against shitty and they got the job done without expending too much energy. Saw glimpses of brilliance from valencia but the end product is just not there. That will come with experiance im sure. Dont know whats wrong with Carrick. Can anybody fill me in on his lack of any type of form? Ben Foster look more composed with every match and alot of positaves can be taken from this match. Well done lads. Tough match!!!
our fans going on about ronny (wrote 2 above) i wish martin fuckin tyler and andy knw it all gray would shut up about him “post ronaldo era” “this the united team minus ronaldo” FUCK OFF… and what really had me ticked off last night after scholesy scored martin tyler says “from zero to hero” about scholesy? just cause he got sent off against spurs? would yah fuck off it wasnt even a yellow card you cunt…
it irked me wi the free kicks. Everytime we were awarded one andy muppet gray says this is where they could use ronaldo, like no one else can score one. Prick. Tempted to turn commentary off but it’s not the same.
shame sky havnt brought out the mute the commentators button and just listhin to the besiktas support, something else that was, theres no corporate prawn sarnies setions in that ground….
Off topic – Slimey cunt Kenyon to leave Rent Boys on 31st October to take time out. Aaah bless, must be hard being a total cunt, must take a lot out of him.
@Kings
What the chances he ends up at the bitters, he seems to go were the money is.
Scott – How was Valencia unimpressive? He skinned their left back so many times yesterday and managed to put in some good crosses although no one was there inside the box to finish it.
i’m surprised everytime Ben Foster takes a goal kick, that Scottish wanker doesn’t say ‘here is where they could really use a Ronaldo thunderbolt’
Prats.
BigPhil @ 12: 29 – Valencia should at least approach Beckham-type accuracy with his crosses; what good is it to skin the fullback and then waste the opportunity.
KungFuKick – were you watching Nani or just spouting off uninformed comments ? There was a LOT of end-product in his play. Knee-jerk responses like yours are typical of the bandwagon-jumpers who can’t value John O’Shea or Darren Fletcher (before he morphed into Fletcherinho) or other less-than-world-class professionals. Just like there is no “i” in TEAM, not every player is going to be “world class”; what matters is the functioning of the collectivity.
In actual fact, rather like Fletcherinho’s progression from suspect to the real deal, both Nani and Anderson are showing signs of huge improvement so far this season. Their up-sides are part of the reason why SAF was willing to sell the best-player-in-the-world and not feel pressured to sign a “replacement”. SAF sees these guys in training every day – against fantastic players – so he is in a position to judge their talent and its growth.
Wasn’t it Nani who thundered the shot that the Besikatas keeper could only parry ?
By the way, SAF said that “in a year’s time” Valencia will have “developed other parts of his game”. Obviously, this has to mean that SAF sees Valencia’s glass as being partly-empty. He seems confident that some coaching can fill it up. I’d drink to that !
Denton davey
1.` There was a LOT of end-product in his play`
A lot of end-product in nani` s play last night! ok mate! I wouldn`t argue about this coz may be I was watching a different match last night.What next? Carrick man of the Match!
2. ` Knee-jerk responses like yours are typical of the bandwagon-jumpers who can’t value John O’Shea or Darren Fletcher (before he morphed into Fletcherinho)`
I fully agree that I used to hate it when I would see Fletch on the team sheet 3/4 years ago. Today,I am a fanatic of Fletcherino because of the energetic performances he delivers week in week out. So are you telling me that you`ve always been a big fan of Fletcher, that you knew that he would one day become Fletcherino and you`ve always valued him ahh?? Fletch has amazed almost all of us with his transformation into a world class midfielder mate! And am happy that he made me eat my own words.
3.Talking about world class. Am very realistic and agree that not all players in Man utd can become or must become world class. Collectivity is a vital aspect of the game. But then Nani is quite far behind that`world class` tag. Last night we only played a team struggling in the Turkish league with a poor defence since the start of their championship. And his only significant contribution in 90 mins was a fierce shot leading to the goal. When Man utd will be competing against teams like Real( Ramos), Barca(Alves) and Inter,I wonder what will be his contribution whether it is individually or collectively
4.Finally,am not slating any of OUR players unnecessarily.My comments are based on my judgement.
I will be the first to praise nani when and IF he starts delivering CONSISTENTLY..just like when I criticise him or Carrick when they are so poor that as a result of this the team suffers.
los merangues were playing mighty FC Zurich…….
when we play teams with a quality full back, the tactics are always set up so that we aren’t pitting our wingers directly against them. Ronaldo and nani had problems with ashley cole, prob half wondering how the ugly muppet had such a fit wife, and hardly tried going toe to toe wi him on pace, and unfortunately we tend to go more 433/451. It’s horses for courses so would imagine nani would go directly against them
KungFuKick – Nani has been delivering excellent moments on a consistent basis. I don’t think that you can expect a mechanical “consistency” from a man trying to kick a moving ball with precision accuracy when he is running at great speed with someone snapping at his heels. In all the games he’s played so far this year, Nani has done good things – even some great things – and it’s setting the bar waaaay too high to expect him (or anyone) to do great things all the time.
Have to disagree about Valencia as some others have. He got a lot of the ball and put some good balls in. Owen should have scored from one.
Bare in mind hes new to the tean, and this was his first ever Champions League game, I think he handled the pressure well. As Fergie said, he can only improve and improve.
Unimpressive was incredibly harsh, especially as you didnt mention Carricks absolutely woeful, abysmal performance AGAIN, Rooneys below par performance, allbeit with not much service, and Andersons fairly average game.
Lol at Ramos or Alves being good at defending.
Kung Fu Kick – Wouldn’t think it will be a problem mate for Nani as Ramos is the shittest right back in football and Alves is grossly over rated. He can’t actually defend.
Kings – Alright mate. Spot on about slimy cunt Kenyon.
Chris20legend – I know what you mean. Tyler and fucking Gray COULD NOT stop mentioning Ronaldo. they kept saying “if I dare say this name” before everything. Well you obviously fucking dare as you keep saying it!!
The prawn sandwich thing was also below the belt. Lets see how the commentators are with the dippers tonight. Raving about them I dare say and their “famous Anfield atmosphere on European nights”!
big Phil – You beat me to it!
KingEric-its a bit obvious if youve ever watched them play!
And ill have to agree with the majority about nani, hes done some good stuff this season and while last night wasnt one of his stronger showings he probably had more end product than any of our team.
What is wrong with prawn sandwiches? I love prawn sandwiches but I also love United and have done for over 50 years. I also know some of the people who have executive boxes (I myself am just an ordinary season ticket holder) and many of them are United through and through. Not all executives are cluless just as not all “ordinary” fans know what they are talking about. Please stop using clichés and generalisations. We are United, we are better than that and always have been!
wtf…
why our so called fan always condemned fergie tactic…
doesnt u realised now that the result always proved that ur opinion are wrong…
trust fergie ur loser fan…
he brought us a lot of success…while ur so called criticism never move us nowhere…
also i am against slating of our player…but be realistic…against besiktas carrick and valencia not having a good game…lets hope they will continue learn and improve…