If you are a United fan coming here to read my post-match thoughts to cheer yourself up a bit, then I suggest you fuck off now. If you want to share in the pure rage, stick around.
Before the match, I said these games, cup ties against your biggest rivals, are ones you wait years or lifetimes for. Sadly, nobody seemed to let the players know that. With Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson all on the park, lads who have all lived in Manchester for years, there is no excuse for such a limp performance.
For once, after getting knocked out of the cup by minnows, something that has happened several times in Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, I am not looking to the team selection for blame. The manager played enough players not only to win the game, but to win the game comprehensively, against Third Division opposition. Every single starting player had started at least one Premiership game this season, so regardless of the inexperience in some sections of the park, there was enough there to get a result.
When selecting the team, Ferguson didn’t know that Danny Welbeck was going to lose the ball every time he received it, with a first touch as gentle as a rapist and gangly frame leaving him unable to sustain anything heavier than welterweight challenges. He spent the first half with the better of the full-backs behind him, Fabio, who actually had a fairly decent game. His delivery was suspect at time but at least he put a foot in, could out-muscle his opponent, and wanted to get forward.
On the opposite flank, Gary Neville was poor, as he has been pretty much every time he’s played this season. Maybe I’m being unkind, but I think “average” is probably the best rating he will have received this season. Whilst it was enjoyable drowning our the Leedscum jeers with cheers every time Neville went near the ball, that isn’t really justification enough to keep him wearing our jersey.
Gabriel Obertan showed off his pace but that was about all he had to offer today. It’s good for him to bomb down the left with Patrice Evra there to mop up any mistakes, but neither Neville or Fabio were going to offer the newbie much support. He was thrown to the lions a bit today but still managed to look better than Welbeck.
Darron Gibson and Anderson weren’t the greatest midfield pairing I’ve seen, but Anderson had a decent game whilst Gibson was pretty anonymous. There are worse things to be than anonymous but in a game against your hated rivals, where someone really needs to grab it by the balls, anonymity should not be rewarded with 90 minutes on the park. He had a good effort on goal towards the end, really caught it nicely, and a decent effort early on, but the midfield was generally by-passed, particularly after Anderson was subbed with 20 minutes to go.
Wayne Rooney was a busy fucker, here there and everywhere, getting stuck in, and that’s great. But his job is to score goals and when shooting opportunities came about he was poor. He had a couple of strikes on target, but they were straight at the keeper. When Antonio Valencia came on for Welbeck, we saw how the game might have looked if we’d had a decent winger on from the start. He tore away from his marker time and again and created the best chance of the game with 13 minutes to play, pulling the ball back to Rooney 8 yards out. My fucking nan could have done better with it, I swear. Not hitting the target from 8 yards out when you’re 1-0 down at home against your hated rivals in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup is not good enough. I love Wayne, I love him for being a busy fucker, but you cannot miss the fucking goal from 8 yards out. Unacceptable.
Although Michael Owen, who was thrown on to cement his place with the fans forever, after already scoring a late winner against City, was unable to recreate the magic against Leedscum. The ball came to him in the box and he missed it. Once the ball had gone, he went over to the vague area where the embarrassment occurred, stamping down the turf to imply a bobble. Fuck knows, but it looked shit.
So I suppose the question is, is it better to miss easy chances as those two did, or not really have any chances, like Berbatov? Like Gibson, he just didn’t really have a say in what was happening in the game. There was a couple of nice passes, but he was second to the ball too often and just generally wasn’t good enough.
It was good to see Jonny Evans back in the centre of defence and I didn’t notice any total ‘mares, but I could be wrong. At least we have another option now in defence, unless Evans has just replaced Vidic in the sick bay. Wes Brown, whose song we love to sing, who put in a few proper hard and crunching challenges, should have done better for the goal. Beckford is a tricky little beggar, and has probably added a few grand on to the transfer fee he’ll get this month, so why did Wes give him all that room? Kuszczak was his usual indecisive self, and then came out when it was too late, only to watch the ball slowly drift over the line. Honestly though, at that point, I couldn’t imagine we’d let the rest of the game pass us by without a goal.
They hit the bar from a freekick and Beckford had a great chance to make it 2-0, dragging the ball just wide of the post. It could have been three fucking nil.
Leeds brought the game to us, which should have been perfect, giving us the opportunity to counter and space to expose. They didn’t park the bus, like so many teams do at Old Trafford, yet we didn’t have enough to get behind them and take our chances.
There was a goal line scramble or two towards the end of the game, but it was all too little too late. Even with five minutes of injury time, it was hard to imagine us forcing a replay.
So there you have it, Leedscum knock United out of the FA Cup, and there’s no one to point the finger at other than the players wearing our shirt today. “The referee’s a wanker!” was one of the shouts at the final whistle, probably in reference to one of the penalty appeals we had, but the ref had fuck all to do with the result. We were just dreadful.
This gives the manager a headache ahead of Wednesday. Who on earth do we play? He probably wanted to field a similar side to today, especially now he has claimed we’re playing the kids, but how can he do that? If a side with so many first teamers in couldn’t get themselves up enough to beat a team in the Third Division, what hope do we have for them facing the bitters? Alarm bells should be ringing.
Or maybe the manager can just go on the rampage, drop Rooney, Berbatov, Welbeck, Gibson, Neville, Wes, Obertan, Owen and put it to them – do you want to play for this team? Then you’ve got to do a lot fucking better than that.
It’s not about the losing, it’s about the performance and the opposition. The players today have lost a connection with the fans to play the way they did. They needed to be fighters, warriors, and they just didn’t have it in them. So play the Reserves in the League Cup semi-final and see if they can fight for our club any harder than the superstars did today. And risk a second humiliation at the hands of our rivals in four days.
I’m at a loss for words.
But come on United!
Could be the worst start possible to 2010 if we lose to City as well. Wonder if we will buy in January as im guessing Nani is going to leave
Summed it up perfectly.
Same old players not turning up when the fans wanted it the most! Not against Leeds, not against the Dippers and again versus the Rentboys! I don’t even want to talk about last season’s CL final!
Fuccin stinker of a game…loss my voice screamin…We All Hate Leeds Scum!!!!
Summed it up what we all seen today.
There was too many Not good enoughs today!
on manutd.com fergie did say that a lot of the players today will not be playing and that he is rethinking the lineup for wednesday, but no idea what he is thinking about. I would like to see Valencia play wednesday as well as anderson. I think Fletch and carrick should play too.
Where do you start? They should be fucking embarrassed after that performance, every single one of them.
Everybody else can review the game. I’d rather forget it ASAP.
To those who applauded our players off – get a fucking clue.
As an avid united suporter, i found SAF comments after the game
well….. an insult.
“You need a a bit of luck and they got it, but they deserved it because they played really well. The referee gave five minutes of injury time and that’s an insult to the game, to the players out there.”
I think we should give every credit to Leeds today, they simply battled for every ball as if their lives depended on it and showed the superstar prima donnas how to grind out a result against all the odds!, plus no Munich songs!, have the hated Leeds actually moved on?, I for one would rather have them in the premier league than some of the fodder we have to watch game in game out! Well Done Leeds
We need to buy a player give dimitar a kick up the arse and Get back on form
So fucking frustrated
Bad mood but
We’ll never die
i just feel we have too many average players at the mo , it seems if rooney doesnt spark the whole team doesnt , we need someone to take the burden off him , di maria would be nice , looks as though nani n foster r fucked , n who knows what happened to vidic , the boss didnt seem too sure ??? i can accept a loss if we see our players sweat blood for our club !!!
I dont know about you guys but what dissapoints me the most is our effort today and reviewing the stats after the game we deserved to loose!
I cant remember their keeper making a good save what so ever.
I cant remember us looking at any point like actualy scoring aprt from a deflected shot or a bundled goal!
It sort of feels like our lose in rome but only difference is that we made too many changes and still alll players didnt turn up!
It’s not about the losing, it’s about the performance and the opposition. this sentence sums it all. good post. I am a bit surprised to see it from you, Scott, honestly, but it was a good summary what we`ve seen today (and better shouldn`t have seen )
has anyone else noticed berbatov throwing his arms about when a pass isn’t played perfectly towards him, not that the lazy bastard would run 5 yards to make an effort to get it. His performances, effort, attitude, commitment since he came here have been pretty pathetic, he shows no desire wearing the shirt, his time is now up i feel, we need player up there to compliment Rooney and get the best out of him
Fuck it, I’ll make one point – Gary Neville is done as a player.
I know he’s there to provide leadership, but how can he do that when he’s persistently being exposed? If we’re so insistent on having him around to influence the team, give him a coaching role.
As much as it might seem knee-jerk, he just doesn’t inspire me at all anymore. Considering his service to the club, it’s not easy to accept, but it was depressing seeing him struggle so badly.
Wasnt even any aggro down warwick road outside the trafford to enjoy
just got home..what a load of shit..i’d like to say that it’s just one of those days,but i’ve already said that a few times this season,apart from the city and arsenal game we’ve not won enough of the ones that really matter,somethings not right.I’ve said before that we look too rigid,i don’t like saying this but we’d be average if it wasn’t for Giggs,Rooney,Fletcher,Valencia and Evra.I can only hope that the gaffer sorts it…he normally does..
Couldn’t agree more. The worrying thing is not the result of this individual game – this can happen to anyone – but the level of performance over the course of the season (and most of last season to be honest). It’s dawned on me that our new bunch of promising youngsters will probably go the same way as Nevland, Shawcross, Higginbotham, Spector, etc – decent careers ahead perhaps, but they will never be good enough to reach United’s standards. Some of those that we’ve bought over the last few years – Valencia apart – are looking increasingly like the sort of squad player Liverpool have tended to spunk their money on.
It’s becoming increasingly frustrating to watch Rooney try and win games on his own, this headless chicken routine of his is counterproductive. But where’s the tactical acumen from the management? Even in 2010, there is still a massive over-reliance on tricky wingers punting in crosses, and it’s still a piece of piss for any decently organised central defence to deal with.
There can only be one silver lining, and that’s if today’s game prompts some honest analysis of what is happening at United, and some action to correct it.
agree with everything you said Scott, shocking performance by every player on the pitch with the exception of Anderson, Rooney and Fabio.
What worried me most is there is a lack of leadership when we get into these situations, it’s time to stop this rotation of the Capt armband and decide on a player to lead the team for the next decade! The only options are players who will play 70-80% of games so it has to be between Fletcher, Evra or Rooney. Neville, Giggs and Rio don’t play enough games to lead anymore and in the case of Neville don’t seem to have the abilities to do it any longer.
Bad performance – we never looked like scoring – Danny Welbeck has looked poor in every game this season and gave away the ball cheaply for Leeds’ goal! We are sorely lacking in creative play this seaon compared to previous years – it’s not fair to expect Giggsy to keep pulling rabbits out of the hat every week at his age.
We need a genuine top-class creative midfielder in the centre – someone with pace, skill and real energy. We also need a proper old-fashioned centre forward because Berbatov, good as he is, just doesn’t fit in with Utd’s style of play.
As for defenders, mother nature gave us a warning last year with all those injuries! We have too many old defenders whose legs have gone and we need to buy at least one young, up and coming centre half – because if we don’t reinvigorate the defence this shaky up-and-down form will continue for the rest of the season!
I don’t like slatting our own…but Berbatov is not good enough.
Grrrr………. those white scumssssss
only a thought but….fergie gives interview saying that owen n rooney isn’t his best combination, it’s either berba n rooney or berba n owen. Berba is lazy enough without being told he’s pretty much guarenteed starting spot. Not really blaming fergie for it coz that’d make me think i’m important and need to justify that sort of backing, and i really wanted to sign berba just like i was excited when veron signed but really don’t see 30mil worth of striker there
we love é club, we fucking get behind any players chosen to put on ê man utd jersey. if he’s not fucking good enough, he will be sold & u can slate him whichever way u like it. not now, we have shitty next week.
as to all our defeats this year, i have said before, we are lacking a leader on ê pitch to drag us out of a sticky situation. bad performance always present in any season, given any group of players. but more often then not, we were able to get ê result in é end. but y not this year? leadership on é field. keano or cantona or robbo type. even ronaldo do not command é same type of respect from é rest, he has ê skills to save our ass many times. in our current team, é best bet we have is of cos rooney. he more often than not is one of our best player. but that’s usually when things are going well for é team. but he juz not, at least not yet to é level required when chips are down. this to me is worrying. u can’t buy a leader, leaders needs to be build. so é next time we go a goal down again, é same old fucking routine we see today will repeat itself.
sorry but i’m really pissed off with Berbatov..name me one other player that’s had a season and half to settle in.? i think he robbed the ball off one of the scums players today and i was thinking bet he feels like a cunt..not cos he got robbed ..but cos it was Berbatov that robbed him,how come he didn’t see him coming? the advertising around the ground moves quicker than Berbatov.
Lost for words
Who knows where this topsy turvy season is going to end.
To follow up one of our best performances of the season against Wigan with that performance is unacceptable.
There goes our momentum!!
No heart, no desire, no commitment and too much money.
Too many excuses have been made for this team as well, and whenever we manage to beat the likes of Wigan 5-0, we’re the best team in the world.
We’re not. At this moment in time, we’re not even the best team in England.
And I’m sorry, but I was one of those who championed the cause of Tevez all last season. I was the one who lost the plot when Tevez wasn’t in the team and there was one reason for that.
That reason was DIMITAR BERBATOV. There has been talk about who players would want to go to war with. Could you imagine going with Berbatov?
He’d be too fucking lazy to hold his own gun. When the fancy tricks and through balls, and wonderful touches come off, he’s world class. But when we’re chasing the game, and need everyone to muck in, Berbatov isn’t even amateur league level.
Granted, Berbatov wasn’t on his own in terms of a shite performance today, Gibson, Brown, Neville, Obertan and Welbeck were a disgrace – and I don’t give a fuck how many too young/old/experienced/inexperinced/carrying injuries/not carrying injuries excuses are made, these players are not good enough to wear the shirt.
I’m glad there isn’t anyone on using the old it’s ‘only the FA Cup’ line. I’m sick of excuses, I’m sick of the shite we’re forced to watch on an almost weekly basis now.
The conclusion I’ve come to is this: I’m sick of these primadonna players who couldn’t give a fuck about our club, really.
Neville, Giggs, Scholes and Rooney do. That’s it. They REALLY care. Unfortunately, the latter can’t do it all on his own every week, and the other three have been winding down slowly.
The rest couldn’t give a flying fuck about Manchester United, or the history of the club.
I’m sick of Sir Alex fucking staring constantly at his fucking stop watch every week – you six days and have 90 fucking bastard minutes to get it right on the day, Sir Alex – what difference does it make if you get an extra five or six minutes at the end?
Get rid of Mike fucking Phelan, get rid of Berbatov, Nani and ship Macheda, Welbeck, Gibson and Fabio out on loan, to decent Premier League sides.
If Hargreaves is having mental issues, fuck him out too – if playing for United is too much for him, fuck him out.
Anderson, IMO was our best player today. But he scores once every three years. Not good enough.
Debt or no debt, the cheque book needs to be opened and we need to get decent, hardworking, committed and ambitious players in.
With these decent players, we can re-pay the debt back through the trophies we can hopefully win over the next ten years.
Time to get tough. I’m already worrying about Wednesday. Two cup exits in a week?
Perhaps this will be blessing in disguise and we’ll win nothing this season, and come back next more determined than ever.
This club will never die, but those who died for the club will be spinning in their graves at the pitiful performance today.
NOT FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH. NOT EVEN CLOSE.
slagging berbatov is the easy way out but if you look at any of the good moves/ chances united had today they were in someway in part due to berbatovs contribution. most notably when he played wellbeck through only for the cocky wee shite to hit the keeper.
in my opinion the only players that came out of that with anything positive were Fabio and Evans. even rooneys shooting was off.
awful. worst i have felt for a long time.
The fact that Anderson had a decent game is a big credit to him since he was basically playing alone in midfield while Gibson, Obertan and Welbeck did nothing but give the ball away.
Spot fucking on Scott. Only Valencia, Fabio, and maybe Anderson deserve to put on our shirt against the Bitters. Fergie should tear into our lads for the way they played today, they made a right mockery of the crest. Play fucking Nani against citeh, let’s see of he can stop being a whiny little puff and use this shoddy performance to grab a place in the team.
I’m sick of football until we play citeh. I really am physically ill. I will say Scott, you articulated everything I was feeling, well done.
Come on United.
Unfuckingbelievable.. From 11 lads who earn apprx. £50 mill a year its allowed to demand some fucking effort out there. I’m not sure whether I’d like the gaffer let the superstars who fucked up today redeem themself, or let them miss out against the bitters.. January is a crucial month, where we can perhaps give Chelsea a stick by going on top.
If you fuck up, you should be dropped.
It shouldn’t matter if you’re Rooney.
Mikey should be given a decent run. Rooney works hard, but not necessarily smart. He needs a wake up call.
Steamrolling a team one day and getting rolled another just means we don’t have that strength in depth of character.
The boys need a good case of the hairdryer and seeing a couple of underperformers given the arse out of the club to wake up their fucking ideas.
Shame.
Today’s performance was just not acceptable.
I can only imagine how you local lads feel at the moment; the embarrassment of losing to Leeds scum is hard enough in my hometown. The team that wanted this more, won today. It is as simple as that. Leeds didn’t show any magic stuff, they just played with aggression and believe, something that our beloved superstars forgot to.
The game against the bitters should on any given Sunday be trickier than this one. Let’s hope that won’t be the case.
@ hurr
took the words of my mouth. Do these players know what the fans go through ? I bet they don’t or how can you explain the perfomances against barca, chavs,dippers and now fucking leeds ?
Maybe we need to play the local lads who understands the meaning of your fucking rivals.But again as scott said surely the likes of nev,welbeck,evans, and even rooney should know more this kind of perfomances are totally unaceptable.
We should just wait for a spanking a wastelands.
Sorry Doncobaino,but we were playing fucking LEEDSSCUM! If that’s all Berbatov can do in the game it’s not good enough.I know there were a few players today that looked shit but he looked really shit,and he’s been like that when we’ve needed him most.I’m not one to stick the boot in to our own team but we look too ordinary,the only saving grace is that so do all the other teams.I remember back in 97 i got into a fight with a fellow red about Andy Cole cos he said he was a shit black cunt.As soon as he said black i wanted to smack him anyway,but even when Cole was bad he never gave up..always fought for everything…can we say the same about Berbatov?
The fact is we lost at home to a League 1 i.e. 3rd division team and that is appalling. What makes it worse is that we lost to the scum and didn’t deserve to win despite a few chances. United are looking really poor and it’s worrying especially with city coming up. Kusacknot good enough, Red Nev gone, Obertan not a clue, Berbatov no threat to anyone, Gibson well below standard, and Owen. Jesus. How many more times is he going to completely fluff chances and still be at Old Trafford? We need a serious midfielder who can pass the ball skilfully and above all an attacker who seriously scares a defence like ladyboy does at Liverpool or Drogba at Chelsea or ….Beckford at a 3rd division team.Someone ‘s got to take the pressure off Rooney and the answer isn’t Berbatov or Owen or Welbeck. If we don’t get someone soon or Mame turn out to be that sort of player I fear we’re going to go downhill and downhill fast. And there’ll be even more second rate clubs coming to OT and winning. Time to spend the Ronaldo money before we suffer even more humiliation.
Berbatov…. he really is a lazy cunt. The first half chance when Welbeck fired the ball in across goal. A certain goal if you made the effort, not Berbatov, no showing signs of movement to reach the ball was beyond him. A total twat. get rid of him.
Currently licking big wounds. All the in-laws are dirty Leeds fans. Fuck!
And if by some miracle we do beat City – let’s not come on here bleating about how fucking amazing we are.
It’s City – we should DEMAND a United win.
It’s the players turn to inspire us.
On Wednesday and for the rest of this season.
We can’t win all the time, but we can certainly fucking TRY
Berbatov has had many chances to prove the doubters wrong.
He’s still not taking them.
I so badly want him to become a legend at United, but it’s not happening.
£30.75m. Fucking hell.
The too small, greedy headless chicken 12 goals.
‘Genius’ Berbatov 5 goals.
Says it all, really.
totally agree… wellbeck was awful. neville was awful. gibson was non existent… as was berba. the only 1 that looked like he wanted it was wes brown. changes need to be made before wednesday nyt…
utd4eva
I have noticed that with the exception of the Spurs and Arsenal games,everytime we have gone 1-0 behind,we’ve ALWAYS ended up losing.
@ islandred1981
why get rid of mike phelan, explain?
disgraceful performance today, i’ve defended the team all season but today it is mission impossible nor do they deserve any defence.
sub standard workrate, effort and heart. heads definitely need to roll and firework shoved up most of our players arses.
and ps. stop fucking blaming berbatov for everything everyone, he hasn’t set the world a light but he was better than about 8 other players in our team today and was the only one that could actually pick out a pass consistently!!! scapegoats are no good when there’s obviously a bigger problem!
I remember United losing at Maine Road 3-1 in 2002. After the game, Fergie said that maybe he should have allowed the fans in the dressing room to tell the players what they think of them. I think today might have required a similar measure. I don’t believe that players like Fabio, Obertan and Welbeck deserved that because they haven’t played much football this season, but the rest of them pretty much did.
This will go down as a disgace for the playes involved. Leeds have come to to Old Trafford over the years with the likes of McCallister, Strachan and Cantona and never won. Yet their League One side beat us at home for the first time in 28 years.
Also I have noticed that everytime we go a goal down,we get very anxious and start playing sloppily.
In my opinion Fergie needs to pick a first eleven and stick to it. He’s done a masterful job juggling the team to keep us in contention for the league, but this was a massive honking alarm call that we need the strength that only an established team playing week in week out can achieve. It’s only with an established first team that we’ll see the sort of link play we’re used to reappear. The same players need to get used to each others game, and they need to do it fast.
This, right here, needs to be the last match United lose this season.
arsenal have come back from being 1-0 down and won at upton park, I suppose that will keep them and chelsea busy with the FA cup and let us concentrate on #19. Still I was hoping they would lose and we would not be the only ones feeling shit today.
Good post Scott.Exactly my thoughts.FERGIE SHOULD PUT OUT AN ENTIRELY RESERVE TEAM AT WASTELANDS.let’s change the entire team & have just the reserves play for a change! not that i’m slagging our first team players but let’s do it this once,just for a change & see if it HAS THE EFFECT OF WAKING UP SOME OF OUR FIRST TEAMERS.our reserve is as equal as League one side,Leeds; & i suspect they’ll represent us with courage & steel.i do our first teamers will have seriour soul-searching tonite! If berbatov is reading this site let him explain urgently who gave him the right to YELL AT OUR BEST PERFORMER TODAY?has he done enough(scored more than Valencia) to behave that way?pathetic twat
Good review of the game and the performances – but you left one ingredient out – our fans. Did they do enough to ignite the players?
I wasn’t at the game (anti glazer) so I can’t say for sure – but it didn’t sound like they did enough on the TV.
Yeah yeah, I know you shouldn’t have to but I think its wrong to criticise the players too much if the fans don’t bother to turn up either.
We’ll see what Fergie thinks is the best response with his selection for Wednesday.
Rooney needs to score goals in big games.
Otherwise he won’t become a true legend.
Giggs is a legend, Ole is a legend, Robson, Cantona and Hughes – legends. They all scored goals in big games. Currently Rooney is one of our better players but how many times has he had a woeful shot in the last 10 minutes of a game when we are behind?
I thought our best chances seemed to come from Berbatove and Wellbeck and Rooney squandered them – but more people are criticising Berbatov than Rooney?
Anyway, I still think we’re better off without Ronny and I think we’ll win the league and 19 will seem a lot more important than this disaster!
This is not a knee jerk reaction, this is in relation to some limp performances that I have witnessed – Liverpool, Besiktas at home and now today – our players were fucking piss poor today and were just not up for it. I’m not a fan of Welbeck, I think his first touch is poor and he dithers far too much when he has the ball, a poor mans Bellion in my opinion, I have given him the benefit of the doubt, but he has been very poor more often than not. He was shit against Besiktas as well. One thing that is clearly evident with us is our lack of pace through the middle, there were 3 instances when Berbatov was slow to 50/50s which someone with the pace of Tranny Torres would have gobbled up. I was pleased to see Valencia come on, but I must be critical of him for one reason and one reason only, and that is he should have taken a shot at goal when he was clean through rather than cutting the ball back – for someone with his power would most certainly have scored had he smashed it across the keeper. He had two opportunities to do this. Rooney has been awesome this season, but he has also been very wasteful with easier chances at his disposal, that miss from 8 yards was inexcusable to say the least. What angers me above all is the fact that Fergie is fucking about in a competition that I have a soft spot for, he should make an effort to play his big guns like Fletch, Carrick and Evra and try to win the competition. I have always loved the FA Cup, seeing us winning it when I was growing up, and to see us get knocked out is always gutting to see. A very bad day at the office, one of 7 that I have witnessed this season, not good enough for a club like United.
Obertan did well on the right wing, put in a few crosses and raced past the defenders. Welbeck was woeful, Fergie should really just play him in his natural position.Owen changed the game a bit when he came on, did more than what Rooney and Berbatov accomplished. These are the sort of games in which he should start in ffs. I found it ridiculous that when Valencia came on, he didnt get the ball until 10 minutes later! What the fuck was that about. Against Wigan he regained his form, yet he started on the bench. Fergie rotated the team around too much, even though the line-up was a strong one.
I wouldnt mind seeing a couple of reserve players against shitty. Drop the big guns to reward them for their uninspiring performances today. A line-up like this:
Rafael De Laet Evans Fabio
Valencia Fletcher Scholes Tosic
Owen King
Our team doesn’t show us and doesn’t seem to know what it’s like to play against your bitter rivals .. no passion and no urgency at all .. I want to call 999 and order 11 ambulances to Old Trafford … and the ‘welcome back’ of the prgramme notes leaves a pathetic after taste now …
Against lIverpool .. again total shite too … each and every player. I’ve said this a few times already .. SAF knows we need three players of high quality .. defence/midfield/forward but I feel there’s a dark unspoken reason why we’re holding on to the £80 mil and it’s credit issues and bank overdraft issues. One bad season for Utd and it’s a sticky, slippery ladder guys .. Hargreaves is a total sick note, so he has to fuck off asap (it’s a mental issue now! WTF?) .. Rooney’s head is expanding at a very large rate and I don’t like it one little bit either … Berba has great control but is not a Utd player in mentality .. too many players showed their ego’s are out of control ..very seriously out of control … The seasn has been a stop/start affair ever since the magic of the Spurs away victory when the real Utd showed up for once this season … despair is a small word, but in my heart 2010′s already got an of despair to it … I can see Tevez running rings around us Wednesday and grabbing goals ..
@kylelaw84
Phelan just doesn’t cut it – he’s not assistant manager material, coach maybe.
But not assistant.
There is something seriously lacking there. In saying that though, maybe all of our coaches can get together and work out a formula which can explain the basics of football to our young players coming through the ranks.
Like passing the ball. Like shooting. Like taking players on.
Like telling Sir Alex that Welbeck isn’t a fucking winger.
Like put opinions across such, Sorry Sir Alex, even though you’ve won all there is to win, and generally get everything right, but I believe Anderson has been our best player today – why not bring Berbatov off instead.
He’s done fuck all.
Or like sorry, Sir Alex, get Welbeck off quickly, he’s out of his depth. Get Valencia on asap and create some width on the pitch!
Sorry about that rant, but I’m totally fucked off, big time!
Honestly, deep down I never expected us to win the FA cup this season and it would have been one trophy too many. So I guess you can say that it was better to get it out of the way now. Besides, the team played 66 games last season and we couldn’t afford the same this time.
At the same time, what I really hope is that this defeat will make Fergie realise who he can rely on. We could see the first signs at the Wastelands on Wednesday. Now, it’s about time we settle down to 8 players that will play every game and rotate the rest.
@Doghouse
Whether Fergie rotates his squad or not,the players are more than capable of delivering a good result.But as Scott said,”Ferguson never expected Welbeck to give the ball away so many times” !
The team is good but the fight is lacking.This thing has been brought up many times but apart from ronaldo we are the same team so where is it going wrong?
had this been last season we would have won this one even with this team. The efficiency of this team dosent compare well with the one of last few years.last year the mentality of the team was to get the job done at all costs, that is sadly lacking this season.Last year and the year before when we went behind we had a fighting spirit about us which saw us siege the opposition goal and inevitably come back.Today that didnt happen until after the 90th min which was a shame.SAF has to instill some fighting qualities in the players which is lacking.Despite being behind we continued to give the ball away adn there wasnt much improvement in the play.
We rested Valencia,fletch,carrick but even then this team should have been more that good to batter Leeds.SAF has to sort this mess out and ensure that we get back on top, even if that means getting a few players in the transfer window.
we need to dig into the transfer market… and that too really deep…. get villa and silva… berba is just not good enough… i dont think he ever does enough to prove his worth and the hype that surrounded him when he came to old trafford…. every1 thought the team was perfect for him to fit into but its not…neville is way way way way past his best… he needs to retire RIGHT NOW!!!!…. y were carrick scholes and fletcher all 3 rested…. atleast 1 of them shud’ve played and where the fuck is hargreaves… and our defence has been pathetic this season…. even when rio n vida have been there… i have just lost the confidence in them,,, how much can rooney perform… he cant rescue us in every match…..
Fucking disgusting performance. The players should give their wages to every one that went today to watch that shower of shite. Simply awful. When Fletch doesn’t play United lose the midfield.
Anyway not much to say I am gutted. I just knew summat would happen. third tier club, Leeds coming to OT and the fact there were no giant killings at all yesterday I just knew this would fucking happen.
As for some saying on the previous thread Fergie to go get a fucking grip.
That team should play Wednesday and a shit load of them should be dropped for the weekend, i think I am the biggest berbatov supporter on rom but the wigan game dies not outweigh his poor games this season. Fabio played well and Rooney worked his balls off but if we wanna be a dippers and rely on one player then we’ve seen how quickly a team can crumble like that. Am I worried about the team no do I think united will win the league yes am I pissed off that the fight is missing from our team once Fletcher doesn’t play fuck yes.
For shitty my team would be
Foster
Neville gill Brown Fabio
Obertan Anderson Gibson Tosic
Owen Welbeck
I for one wont lose my sleep if we are out of this meaningless competition. WE are better of without this one too. Lets focus on the main prizes.
i also cant remember the last time rooney scored some crazy ass goal like the ones he scored against ‘boro, the one against portsmouth, the goal against newcastle… he’s just stopped scoring from outside the box these last 2 seasons….
Many fans were saying the foreign players who played today dont value the importance of this fixture, but Neville, Brown, Evans, Rooney, Giggs, Welbeck, Gibson all played today. Not blaming them for loss but they are all english, should have known better, should have been well up for it.
And to those fans who crave for a fit defender in Jan, this is what Fergie said about it:
“Inevitably people look to this month’s transfer window as a solution to our injury worries but it’s not the answer. If someone could give me the name of a really good centre-half who would accept a three-month contract then I would jump at the chance, but where do you find a player like that? A decent player would be looking for a three-year contract and I don’t need that kind of addition. It’s already difficult enough leaving good players out of the team without adding another to the mix. We will continue to scout and recruit young players to develop but I won’t be looking for a senior player to ease our defensive crisis.”
Anyone feels the players should apologise to the fans for today’s performance?.Even a refund will do.The fortress that Old Trafford is used to being has been well and truely wrecked this season.3 defeats already .Can it get more humiliating,embarassing than this?
Yesterday I’ve watched all the past season review, looking at all the great goals scored by the likes of Cantona, Hughes, Solksjaer, Andy Cole, Yorke, Nistelrooy and even Ronaldo… One sentence that caught my attention is when RVN said that a striker can only be evaluated by the number of goals he scored and I think it is so damn right… That is exactly what we are lacking at the moment!!! Yes, we still win 5-0 sometimes but what the fuck is the striker for if not for scoring goals…
Rooney has been our best player so far and although he is our top scorer, I don’t think his best is yet to come… I like the young Wayne who shoots accurately and score some scorcher from distance. Berba – I don’t know what’s wrong with him… Is it the pressure of 30 mil got to him or is it because he doesn’t have friends at United??? He’s elegant on the pitch and got good control but what he need to do is score goals!!! That is what a number 9 at any club does… I know many players who are cheaper and score more than him, doesn’t matter if they’re United qualities or not… I personally like Valencia, he proves the critics wrong and he seems good for his value. Michael Owen has a good finishing among all of our strikers but really he need more games. I think everybody expect that he will start the leeds game but he didn’t. Lastly our young strikers Welbeck and Macheda. I think both of them have massive talents but doesn’t deserve to start a game yet… They perform better as a subs particularly when we are leading at least 2,3 goals (like Wigan game last week) or simply loan them out to gain more experience…
In conclusion I think that we need to make a purchase on player(s), it’s not like I don’t believe in the lads ability but some players maybe are destined for other league… Well, this is just my opinion but Fergie knows best about United…
I’m utterly disappointed. That’s all I have to say.
This game showed that we lack a left winger.Neither Welbeck,Obertan or even Nani for that matter showed that they can play on the left wing.We need a natural left footed winger.The only one we have at the moment is Giggs.
“Ferguson didn’t know that Danny Welbeck was going to lose the ball every time he received it…”
well, then, he hasn’t been watching welbeck play has he? welbeck as to be fellating the staff to keep being selected.
“…but Anderson had a decent game…”
and you weren’t watching today. anderson’s a passenger, his passing is piss poor (lacksadaisical, hit-and-miss and far too casual) and he never moves faster than a jog. he spends the attacks ball-watching and is usually late to assist, or fails to assist in attack at all. the defence covers more ground than he does, faster.
keane was right, then, when ge bitched about the squad, and it’s continued. we have a squad that lack heart and spirit and spine. there’s no way hughes and robson would have rolled over the way we have the last few seasons.
we also, quite obviously, lack a midfield, and we’ve compensated for that by having 413.5 midfield players and pretending that that’s a deliberate strategy. but i can guarantee you tat we’d trade all 413 to have a keane, or a robson, even someone like nicky butt, back in play. carrick is not an answer to the lack of midfield steel we’ve been glossing over for years. neither is fat little anderson, with his squirrel-nutkin cheeks and his pout and his middle-aged trot in the general direction of the action.
we’ve been mediocre for quite a few seasons now, and despite that, we’ve got away with murder, with the exception of being found out by Barcelona. well, this season we’re getting found out a lot more – i hope that (rather than continue to pretend all’s well) it results in a serious overhaul at this club, and we see short and long term changes being rung at this team.
if abderdeen had played the way we have, when alex was first starting out, there’d have been soul-searching. i fucking doubt there’s going to be soul-searching tonight. anger, yes. sharp words, yes. but serious wracked with worry introspection? not a chance. cause we’re champions, see? well, deeply fucking wrong. we aren’t champions. we’re contesting a championship and it’s busy going to others.
i’ve been a supporter since 1981 and this is the first time i’m embarrassed by that fact.
d
I really hope Tosic plays against City. I think he deserves it after watching so many mediocre performances this season.
Watching your team mates who week in week out play consistantly below par whilst you couldn’t even buy a place in the first team must be soul destroying!
Fergie ain’t gonna go spunk 60 million on Villa so get used to it.
Why the fuck didn’t Carrick play? He was desperate to play, saying to the media that these are the games that matter for the fans. People here talk about players that really care, without mentioning Fletcher, perhaps out best player this season. This fucking hurts, leeds scum
agree with some people though,spending obnoxious amouts of money on players is not the answer to this mess. Villa and silva for 60 million is not worth it.
Fucking disgrace even nani could have done better today. It seems only evra fletch and the oldies except nev are the ones who really care about this club supporters, i mean did they by any chance see the fans look on their faces ? Do we really deserve this ?
i had to laugh to the post that anderson scores once every years
lol
It’s a morale shattering defeat alright, and i believe the blame entirely lies with the midfield…difficult to comprehend fergie’s thinking in using welbeck on the left flank…what and how he can contribute from that position, the gaffer only can explain…Gibson has not even an ounce of maturity or vision …and anderson’s passing is erratic at best…Obertan is a flair player, unlike valencia, and such players can only develop by trying flashy moves and making mistakes in the process.
As a result of this, rooney has to drop deep to take the attack into the final third…
@gerwillian swike just because a cliche exists it shouldn’t be thrown around…rooney is no headless chicken…he is intelligent and has great vision…he only gets back to defend when he loses possession..and every time he gets involved in play making something potentially dangerous happens in front of the opposition goal…although i dont think he is a clinical striker…his finishing can improve…take away all the penalties he scored , his goal tally doesn’t look so impressive…it is irrational to expect him to transform into a drogba…and this where i think we need to buy..
coming to berbatov, im no ardent critic of his, but a lob here and a bicycle kick there will not help the team win trophies, consistency does…and i think he would be great if the team can get an immensely imaginative and creative midfielder, with such players around we will see berbatov making more of those killer balls, perhaps even scoring more goals.
i’m not going to bitch about our defense because we are really struggling there. and leaking in a few goals is always going to happen. what really pisses me off is the performance and the ATTITUDE most of our players have shown in attack. i mean for christ’s sake even the so called ‘galacticos’ of a few years back used to let a couple slip in every game but they always added 2 more up front and they never gave up.
where to begin?
just how many opportunities did we create and miss today? fuck their keeper had a few easy catches to make apart from that welbeck shot. and what happened to his promise? Sir Alex touted him as guaranteed to make the plane to south africa. fuck happened there? nani seems a shut case but what about tosic? and why obertan on the right? the only players who seem to do well down the left are sir giggsy and rooney, and that too when they have one of the few men who can hold his head up high any given day – Evra. the other being fletcher, valencia and rooney (i’m beginning to get afraid that if he continues to have shoddy support like today and the team ends up losing he might open up to the idea of playing elsewhere. hope i’m just paranoid here). i am amazed by how well valencia is doing this early. he really has settled in and made that position his. blahblahtov are you paying attention??
fuck that shit. @RedDave, spot on. we need someone who can positively scare the living piss out of defenders in the box. i think we have evra, valencia and rooney to put doubt but we REALLY need a dogba or a ladyboy (fukken lol’d at that). berba gets outmuscled too easily and his special effects should be reserved for a second half sub with the game in the bag.
enough of this. what i really really hate to admit is that the likes of chelsea or arsenal woulda come back to win this. i FUCKING hate that.
i’m glad however that sir alex has made his intentions about team selection for wednesday clear and left no doubts about what he felt today. way to start the fire!
come on UNITED!!!!
“I don’t like slatting our own…but Berbatov is not good enough…”
slate who you like. the club is ours, not the players. the players are supposed to EARN their way into our affections by holding the club in their hearts the same way we do. can you honestly tell me that you saw PRIDE on the field today? fucking anywhere?
d
U know what sucks more, the times had articles on Glazers financial problems, I work in finance and it rings too true, 14% interest on part of the debt, where the hell is the money for investment in players coming from.
This has been wierd season, in some ways it feels like we hven’t really got started. i love Saf but sometimes the selection worries me and berba may be worth 10 mill max, he is not worth 30 mil, he is a STRIKER, he strikes shit all and people defending him is getting really dull, look at his goals return, he should be replaced the league is too fast for him he does not fit in at united.
“what i really really hate to admit is that the likes of chelsea or arsenal woulda come back to win this.”
actually, arsenal did exactly that, today. they went one down just before the half against PREMIERSHIP opposition and they came back to win 2 – 1. i haven’t felt confident about us doing that in a long fucking time.
d
@ NorwegianRed
I expected him to start too. At least he knows the importance of winning this game for us fans. In a way I am glad he didn’t play, because some idiotic cunt on the previous thread was slating him, saying he is utter shite compared to Gerrard, Lampard and Fabregas, even though he didn’t even kick the ball against leeds today. Imagine how many would be slating him now if he had played, regardless of his performance.
Rooney and Berba have been playing for more than a year now and they have hardly formed a good partnership.Yet Fergie still insists on playimg them.In the 1st half,we had 0 shots on target.What does that tell you?
“King Eric Said,
Fucking disgusting performance. The players should give their wages to every one that went today to watch that shower of shite.”
As much as I’d love my money back, I’d be equally content knowing every one of our players was docked wages after that. They should be ashamed.
I couldn’t even be assed getting angry at the dirty Leeds cunts who had box in the United end.
The players made a complete fool of themselves out there today, if the squad really want to win some silverware I think SAF must stick it up their ass as from today itself so that they learn their lesson and give better performances, moreover we cannot only rely on Rooney to score all goals himself and Giggs to provide all the assists, others must show they are worth wearing a United shirt, else just f**k them off in the transfer window, and get players worthy of playing in a Red Devil shirt!!
Just looked toothless until the last 5 minutes.It was as if the players just expected to get the win without putting any effort in.
I am very worried about the City game because if we play like that we’ll be in trouble.
Getting beat of both Leeds and City at home in a week is unthinkable no matter what competitions its in!
I’m not surprised by the level of vitriol aimed at Berba today, as he’s the current scapegoat, but a lot of the points made here are contradictory. Most are saying Rooney needs to stop running around trying to do everything, while Berba plays the game in his own style and dosen’t run down full backs like a loon and he’s lazy!
Berba’s not lived up to his pricetag and he’s got bad body language but he is without doubt the best other striker we have, so all those who are calling for his head, do you want Owen, Macheda or Welbeck to start every week? No thanks.
I haven’t seen the stats, but I bet his pass completion was higher than every player in midfield today. Berba set up Rooney’s chance in the first half, Welbeck’s in the second and was involved in our better moments (all two or three of them) towards the end too.
Our problems are far more complicated than just Berba’s ‘effort’. The whole team’s performance was appalling.
We’ll have to play a full-strength side to have any chance of beating City home or away. We all know it.
I’m starting to wonder about Alex.
@King Eric – exactly. No matter how badly we need it there will
be no big money signing for us. We need it desperately tho, no use counting on Hargo now. Supposed to play in November and now he’s a headcase? The fuck is that?
I’ve been trying very hard to not get caught up in the doom and gloom even though it’s very hard. More than anything we NEED to get CQ back as assistant.
What the fuck do I know tho. Let’s just get #19, four in a row, and fuck the Dippers.
Bebeto – Never mind the scum in a box. There were 4 of the cunts at the top of the North Stand. A man , wife and 2 grown up kids. Fucking cheered when they scored.
What I can’t understand is this – why can we not START with a strong team, and then if everything goes to plan and we get goals, take the big guns off instead of having to chase the game.
To have so many non-regulars in from the start was, in my opinion always going to be a problem as the scum were always going to be up for this one – so why give them the slightest bit of encouragement? A couple of earlyish goals would have seen their heads drop and end the contest. But no, we play into their hands with too many fringe players and too many inept performances.
Welbeck is way out of his depth – a cocky little twat who’s nowhere near as good as he thinks he is. Gibson never really stamped his authority on the midfield, but Ando I thought really put himself about the whole time he was on, and was unlucky to come off – unless he’s starting on Wednesday, we could certainly do with his spirit.
Although Rooney was off target today, you can never question his commitment, and if his partner up front showed half as much as he does, we’d be well happy. I just don’t think Berba is gonna cut it here – very skilful, but a luxury we can’t afford at the moment.
Too much passing when we get to the box as usual – always looking for one more pass to score the perfect goal instead of being more direct and just hitting the bleeder – until the last 10 minutes, what did their keeper have to do? Not a great deal. Neither did ours until his usual moment of indecision – thank fuck VDS’s wife seems to be ok and he should be back in goal in the next couple of weeks.
Anyone know what happened to Vidic in the warmup? Has he been taking lessons from Darren bloody Anderton.
Final thought: Although the players didn’t perform today, I think Fergie has a lot to answer for with that team selection – if they’re fit, bloody play them – you can always pull them off when we’re out of sight. Too much tinkering!!
I woke up at 5am to watch this shit performance?
@ Ashish
how can that be true when Rooney’s attempt was cleared off the line?
andy – Nail on the head pal. Me and my old man said exactly the same thing. START with the big guns then bring them off if we go 2 up.
It was an awful performance. I totally agree with Scott, the red. I am most disappointed with Berbatov, the lazy. We need more fire power and I hope the manager get somebody to bolster our squad this Jan.
@Triggs
Wasn’t Rooney’s attempt cleared off the line in the 2nd half?
@andy:
“What I can’t understand is this – why can we not START with a strong team, and then if everything goes to plan and we get goals, take the big guns off instead of having to chase the game.”
But Andy,surely Rooney and Berbatov are more than capable of testing the opposition defence aren’t they?
well, as an exiled manc living in leeds i was so looking forward to this game that i invited shit loads of leedscum workmates round to watch the inevitable mauling the reds were going to dish out and had to sit through THAT.
i have never seen a united side so devoid of ideas and passion. Anderson was woeful…..his shooting from long range is becoming more tedious than his constant attempts at the ‘glory ball’, instead of keeping it simple and retaining possession. Berba again was anonymous…..United have never carried anyone (fuck me, even King Eric ran more than him). Neville (sadly) is finished, his injuries have taken there toll and there is no room for sentimentality at united. welbeck seems to have hit a wall in his development and has been disappointing most times this season. owen is not united class. his air shot was not a one off…..how many ‘easy’ chances has he missed this year? the rest were just poor poor poor. it seems to me that if fletch and rooney aren’t playing (and on form) then united struggle. which is very worrying because that makes us sound like another certain two man team.
on the other hand i’d still rather support a team 2nd in the prem, in the semi of the carling cup and still in the european cup than a team in the 3rd division, in the johnstones paint trophy and in the 4th round of the fa cup. which serves as a nice reality check.
WE WILL NEVER DIE. UNITED>infinty
@ Ashish
no defo first half, but i take your point, we’re not direct enough
too many average players in midfield…carrick, park gibson…all steady eddy passers……no real genuine quality.
daelm…….spot on mate spot fuckin on
im a fan of 30+ years…yet ive never seen such a limp midfield…where are our warriors…….wheres the creative genius
fze..you’re a cunt…..dont start believe me you’ll regret it
It is matches like this that end careers at United for players. I say let the axe fall.
Whats more dissappointing is the fact that Old Trafford is no longer respected and isnt a fortress anymore! The players dont respect the hallowed grounds anymore. Besiktas, Villa, Leeds etc, its a shame. As much as I hate to say this, this cant happen at Stamford Bridge, its unimaginable!!!
Come on United!!! Its plain simple, we have to spend. Business says you spend money to make money. Get world class or potential world class players not mediocres and in the long run, they will service the debt!!!!! Simple economics…
@ Mancaroon
“on the other hand i’d still rather support a team 2nd in the prem, in the semi of the carling cup and still in the european cup than a team in the 3rd division, in the johnstones paint trophy and in the 4th round of the fa cup. which serves as a nice reality check.”
You just put the first smile on my face this morning after watching that trainwreck of a match.
Losing to a third division club is like losing 5-0 for a premiership club. I think the players lose their team chemistry? They seem clueless on the field.
Leeds fielded their strongest team and those guys might have played together for consecutive of matches. Communication between team mates are good and they know how each other plays.
I can’t understand, why until the last 80 minutes than our players starts to throw their life and play more aggressive and more offensive? Why don’t they just get the business done in the first half? With a team of great credibility and have a lot of talent like United, it is unacceptable to be beaten by Third Division club.
Hope the morale of the players doesn’t suffer that much as we have another rivalry game ahead.
Lads!! Show them why you’re worthy of wearing the Red Devils jersey!!
honestly in the last 10 minutes i had to turn off the game and walk away, i don’t recall being so angry at the team that id come to love since i got interested in footy about 7 years back.
Felix
what a fricking disgracful thing to say
why wait till may if thats your attitude
piss off now
Ill pay for your train ticket
I hate to say this but fergie got it wrong today, i mean to play welbeck on the wing when hes a striker just makes no sense, hes got a decent finish on him but apart from that his all round game is useless.
I think its about time gary neville packed his bags aswell after his performances this season, the only contribution he pays to out team is the back passes to the goalkeeper and the hopeless long balls upfront when there is no need.
Darron Gibson the genuine replacement for scholsey? dont make me laugh he is an absolute joke, alright hes got a good shot but it takes a hell of a lot more to replace a legend like scholes, and for me he just does’nt have the qualities.
Finally, i think today we realised how much of a regret it was letting carlos tevez, this is the type of game he relishes and would get stuck in and get the team going, with berbatov upfront in games like these it was not going to happen. I think we need a few quality players in the team now, i think its time to get the £80m out and invest it, Wayne rooney cant take this team forward on his own.
@ Kings: Completely agree with you about SAF treating the FA cup like the carling cup. Should have been
PIG
RAFAEL-BROWN-EVANS-FABIO
VALENCIA-CARRICK-FLETCHER-ANDERSON
ROONEY-BERBATOV
Definatively would have won with a more experienced midfield. Maybe switch up Giggs and Ando or something. Another thing I noticed when i was watching the game was that when they kept showing Rio Ferdinand in his seat he was texting on his phone. Dunno why but for some reason that really set me off.
Absolutely no one can be in any doubt now that things are crashing around Manchester United’s ears. The team that was being built by Fergie is now in steep decline. Something has gone seiously wrong, and as I have said several times on this site the youngsters are not good enough, we have too many old and injured players and our owners are busy looking for any way out they can find for the financial suicide they are performing – except for getting their fucking hands in their own pockets and solving the problem once and for all.
The fall guy for their mess will be Sir Alex. It is only natural that he will fight to the last for this club, but I think things are unraveling at an increasing rate of knots. He was building a team to rule the world and has had the rug pulled out from under his feet. He is now loosing players to old age and injury that he has no money to replace. He has tried to hide this for the sake of Manchester United football club and in the desperate hope that the inadequate youngsters he has on the books can be talked up and deliver some crucial and face saving performances.
Sir Alex is no fool. He has been waffling on about the promise some of our kids have got and he has let a hundred go who have been better by a country mile. Who is he trying to kid? It is certainly not himself. I can be a 100% sure that he knows Wellbeck is a cart horse with a terrible first touch because mere mortals like me and you can see it a mile off. Same with Gibson and Macheda, Sir Alex is simply sticking up for the team and the club and has to be loved in a sense for doing that, but of course the press will have a field day if/when it does become accepted that he is ‘lying’ to supporters -even if it has been for what he perceives to be the good of Manchester United Football Club.
He is trying to see us through a real crisis in the hope that better things are to come. But we are showing all the signs, all the failures of a team in terminal decline. We have too many old and injury prone players and nothing to replace them with.
The end result will be the same as the ‘last’ time. Sir Alex will retire or be forced out and a new manager will struggle to pick up the pieces. How long that will mean us being out of the silverware depends on how the structure at the club changes. If the Glazers just try and hang on and continue in the same mode then we could be the next Leeds or Portsmouth.
The Glazers have to release funds so Sir Alex can try and save the team he was building. We were in decline once before and other teams emerged, such as Chelsea and Liverpool. Sir Alex smacked them back down, but the difference now is that the team he had when we started going backwards that time where twice as good, with the Giggs and Scholes of this world a lot younger than they are now.
We saw players like Butt, Yorke, Beckham and Keane leave the club within a couple of years of each other. But the team that was left was still good enough to build on. We didn’t have the same scenario we have now. Players like Neville, Scholes and Giggs still had time on their side. It was probably those players who created the basis Fergie could rebuild on between 2003 -2006. Now, they are still at the club in 2009 but they are too old.
The players who should be taking their place have not been bought and are certainly not waiting in the wings. Players at the club who should be taking responsibility to provide the rock we can rebuild on are long term injury problems like Hargreaves, VDC and Ferdinand, or players struggling to perform at this level week in and week out like Anderson, Nani, Berbatov and maybe even Vidic – who for me has not been the same guy he was in our CL season of 2008.
I am going to have to accept what my own eyes are telling me. I know many of you don’t want to do that. I have been here before and lived through the years it took to get our club back to where it belonged. I hope that you younger guys don’t have to see history repeat itself, not for the length of time I had to suffer any way, but these things take on their own momentum and if the Glazers do not have the means to do something about it we are seeing the demise of this golden period of our history unfold .
Leeds fan visiting in peace.
No really.
Fantastic game today and I honestly didn’t for one minute imagine we’d ever win. My only hope was that we wouldn’t get humiliated. In fact beforehand, I’d have taken a close 1-0 defeat similar to our earlier loss to the Scousers.
A wonderful advert for the FA Cup and it made a change to have most of the nation on our side for once, as every other time Leeds’ FA cup games have been shown on ITV, they’ve been against Histon, Kettering et al with everyone baying for a non-league ‘Cupset’ against the ‘Dirty Whites’.
Anyway, I wouldn’t worry too much yet if I were you guys as I still think it’s a three-horse race between you guys, Chelsea and Arsenal.
We’ll be back soon in the Prem soon.
Well said Scott.That was disgusting to watch,even allowing for Leeds being a lot better that anyone’s giving them credit for.I’m sick to my bollox,it says a lot when I was wishing it was Liverpool instead,at least the dippers aint two divisions lower than us.We may now have to accept the likes of Welbeck,Gibson or Anderson will never make it.Neville is finished and Berbatov is a can of piss.It really is hard to look to the future with any confidence after this.
I’ve sent off an email to the ticket office requesting my money back. I don’t actually expect a refund, I’m just feeling extremely petulant following that shit excuse for football.
Oh and for all that we’ve fallen from grace, I’d much rather support Leeds and have some ups and downs than support fucking Fulham, Bolton, Wigan, Stoke and Everton and settle for mediocrity every depressing season after another.
My thoughts on the game:
i’m surprised a few people are coming around to my opinion of Obertan. I’ve never seen what all the hype about Obertan was from the first game, tbh i remember being more excited by Ronaldo as a prospect when i first saw him. Personally I think obertan’s clueless and only has his pace going for him.
Anderson played ok today but is still too inconsistent, he should have stayed on instead of Gibson who was totally non-existent.
Berbatov, what can I say? I cant believe he still has supporters, fact is the lazy fool is not a Manchester united striker, you can praise all his flicks and touches all you like, but how is that helpful in situations like today? he wants a pass laid on a plate and served to him all decorated in a nice ribbon before he’ll move for it. I love Gary Neville but he should not be offered a contract extension, I think he is past his best and he can maybe contribute in some other way off the field.If Scholesey’s considering retirement, nev certainly should be even more so! i think Owen deserves more of a chance, certainly more than Welbeck, especially at this stage in their respective careers.
Finally, i hope we get a result on wednesday against the bitters and hopefully push on from there, inconsistency’s been our problem this season. I dont agree with someone who said earlier that the FA cup would be one trophy too many, How is that so? I think the mentality should be to at least try to win everything. The people who support Manchester United certainly should expect no less. Glory Glory man United!
King Eric
Hi mate.
First time i am seeing you be a bit critical. Cant disagree though. There were no positives from todays performance and the criticim is totally justified although the people saying Fergie should go should just fuck off. I can understand how it must have felt being at the ground and watching us being second best for most part of the game to one of your biggest rivals who are playing in league 1.
“on the other hand i’d still rather support a team 2nd in the prem, in the semi of the carling cup and still in the european cup than a team in the 3rd division, in the johnstones paint trophy and in the 4th round of the fa cup. which serves as a nice reality check.”
mancaroon, i take your point. but i don’t support tis team because they’re in all the right competitions. i support this team because they stand for certain values, like flair and attack and heart and courage and gut-busting commitment and audacity and artistry and magic. manchester united stands for the capacity to achieve the extraordinary. it stands for class and greatness and heart and wonder.
there was none of that out there today. not.a.fucking.drop.
d
@ Felix
unless you’re taking the piss, fuck off right now and don’t come back!
what i mean is, in a weird way, i couldn’t give a shit if we win. we’re bigger than the winning. we’re about thrilling action and swagger and ferocity and attacking. and if that were happening, the winning would likely follow. but the winning’s never the thing. the class is the thing.
i’d be happy to concede a title. but to concede the essence of everything the club stands for is different.
d
“but to concede the essence of everything the club stands for is different.”
we did that today.
Red C, that’s a bit OTT mate. You’re right about the Glazers though. Let’s just see who is signed in the summer, my guess is more raw nuggets with supposed potential like Obertan. I think the Ronaldo model is the Glazers’ ‘masterplan’ – buy a youngster relatively cheap, build him up and then flog him when he reaches his peak.
Vidic is definitely gone in the summer. Anyone who hasn’t worked that out yet is deluded. I won’t miss him; I share Roy Keane’s views on footballers who under the thumb of their WAGs. Problem is he will probably be replaced by someone like Sol Campbell or Sami Hyypia.
Beaten by a team costing 400k the lesson of highly paid
primadonnas not performing
spend more to solve the problem
that’s what you have always done
love and kisses from a sunny Leeds!
Seems to me that our disturbingly regular defeats this season have stemmed from mistakes in the selection of the starting XI, which have handed the initiative to the opposition from the outset. Today, Danny Welbeck was horribly exposed on the wing and the point at which all our attacks seemed to break down, until he was taken off. The pairing of Anderson and Gibson were outdone by a Divison 3 midfield. And the Rooney-Berbatov partnership came up blank.
I’m not sure about Welbeck generally, but to be fair to the kid, his proper position is centre forward not wide left. So, what of the actual left wingers in the squad ? If Nani has played his last game for the club, ok, sell him. But if it’s just a case of his being punished for comments made to the press, then today was a case of nose cut off to spite face. And if Tosic is never ever going to play, why is he using up a place amongst the substitutes ?
There seems to be general disbelief that Anderson was taken off today rather than Gibson. Last time I checked, football results were determined by something called GOALS. In cricket, if a bowler is incapable of scoring runs when batting in the tail, he has to be a pretty bloody special bowler. Despite not being able to score in a brothel, is Anderson an otherwise exceptional central midfielder – in the same class, or even shaping up to be remotely in the same class, as Essien, Fabregas, Iniesta ?
It’s not that Berbatov’s been awful for United, or that he doesn’t play some nice stuff. But it has to be faced, by his most ardent admirers, that we thought we were getting what Tottenham had, and we haven’t – not by a very long way. His partnership with Keane was dynamite. His pairing with Rooney is misconceived. Rooney’s most dangerous position is through the middle, not on the left, and just behind a front man, not leading the line. Berbatov was bought to lead the line, to be the presence in the penalty area that Rooney and Tevez weren’t. Yet he plays so deep he might as well wear a submarine, rather than red, white and black. So still we fail to get the best out of Rooney by not deploying him in his optimum position. At £31m, Berbatov’s nice touches are a luxury. A luxury we can’t afford.
Which brings me to the real issue. I don’t expect us to strengthen significantly this window. Not because “there’s no value in the market” – after all, was £31m really our valuation – rather than a pisstaking Levy’s – of Berbatov ? But because there is a financial problem at the club. After the last 3 extremely successful seasons, where revenues could hardly have been much higher, we are still failing to cover even the interest payments on the Glazer-loaded debt. David Gill opposed the hostile takeover because the numbers didn’t add up, and indeed they do not. This surely is the reason why Neville, Giggs and Scholes are still around where once upon a time we ruthlessly packed players off when they hit 30. This is why we increasingly gamble first team places on raw, mistake-making potential like the da Silvas, rather than finished articles that Barcelona would want. And this perhaps is the real reason why the Ljajic deal collapsed a matter of weeks after SAF referred to the player’s satisfactory progress and prospects.
I don’t want to doom-monger unnecessarily, and I do think we might win the league this season, but the picure a little further beyond that, with SAF retiring and the likes of Madrid, Chelsea and City able to boss the market, does concern me.
This was the most embarrassing defeat for a long long time.I am still in shock.
It looks like the lads seem unable to get motivated enough. They surely must have have some mental block lately. They are loosing matches that matter most to us fans.
We also lack a true leader on the pitch, to take control when things are not well. Today’s match proved this. We simply are not carving oppositions defenses open. We are not creating too many clear cut chances. Wrong option too many times is chosen, or final pass is poor.
Welbeck, Gibson and Obertan today did not rise to the occasion. Berba was disappointing, Neville is long past his best, Rooney should calm down a bit, at times he needed to be more patient and take an extra touch that would have probably given a better chance to score. I also think we are playing too slow.
And finally, this is not the first time this season, that Fergie got it wrong with the team selection.
Apart from this we will be OK.
“We have been mediocre for the past few seasons, yet we got away with murder”?
Ok, now I have heard it all. If 3 league titles, 2 Charity Shields, 2 Carling Cups, 1 European Cup and1 Club World Cup (along with some fine football along the way) are mediocre, then lets all piss on United and go support Barcelona.
I will be the first to say that the performance today was disappointing, but come on. We all knew that the team was in a transitional phase after the sale of Ronaldo. Add to that the constant soul searching for Berbatov to see if he fits, Rooney for the first time assuming the mantle of a leader, a few players starting to becoming complacent after all the success and the ridiculous defensive injury crisis and you get a team that’s inconsistent. And the sad reality is that for the next few seasons things might get worse. Fergie, Scholes and Giggs won’t get any younger and the debt won’t get any smaller. So forget about dropping half the team and bringing 10-12 new players.
I can’t imagine how some fans would have reacted after we lost 3-0 at home to York in 95. What became of that mediocre team I wonder.
Seems Fergie let them have it after the match. My biggest issue of the game was Berbatov. I made this clear on another post and I think you are to easy on him Scott. He was a disgrace. I am not talking about his poor performance which was plain for all to see but his attitude on the pitch. When something goes wrong it is someone elses fault. He makes a piss poor header, turns and screams at Valencia for not being there. If Berba had played well or it was Rooney I would have backed it but not Berba. He has not earned the right to boss players around. If I was SAF he would be on the bench for a good two – three matches until I saw his attitude change. He is not Keano, nor Rooney, nor even Ronaldo. Ronaldo earned the right to yell but what has Berba done? Nothing except prove me right that 32 mil was far to much for him. I am losing patience with him really fast.
I don’t blame the gaffer I blame the players. Fergie can only put them in a position to succeed and he did, they simply just didn’t produce. Brown always seems to struggle against pacey forwards and he struggled again today. It seemed every time the Leeds forwards got the ball Brown fouled or was in hard and a foul could have been given. I disagree with some of his subbing but you can’t agree with everything nor am I one to argue with Fergie.
I will say while Anderson did not do anything spectacular he was not bad and better then ok. He was good. He got involved, made good tackles, and except a couple of mistakes (shooting when he could have passed) he didn’t put a foot wrong. Gibson to me was awful and seemed useless with the ball. Struggling with what to do. We seemed to decide what do with the ball when we got it, and didn’t have that two passes ahead thought process that we did against Wigan. It was a bad effort and I am happy that many will not see the pitch.
I think we have warriors in the club and I think they fought. Valencia came in and worked his socks off as did Rooney for the entire 90 minutes. The problem is we need a creator and a finisher. We have both in Rooney but with no one else in the team who wants to step up consistency issues will continue to be a problem.
@ daelm
I wasn’t saying that is why i support united, i was merely making the point that we shouldn’t get too carried away after one defeat, no matter how bad it is. i had been watching united for nearly 12 years before i saw them win anything meaningful, so my love for the club is not based on the silver they win, in fact i couldn’t tell you what my love for the club is based on. all i know is that i do and will always love it, no matter what.
as for the idiots doubting SAF……..fuck off. just fuck right off.
Xyth – I would wait until after the Man Shitty double header and B’Ham away game before you state we will be ok mate. The jury is very much out on our Ok-ness these days.
@ tevez you muppet
“Don’t start, you’ll regret it”. I salute you, that was brave of you. Regret just what? When you call Park and Carrick ‘average’, considering they did not play today, it is hard not to pick up on it. Infact, go ahead and say whatever shit you like, I am sick of replying back to idiotic fans like you. Too many of them on this blog. And you’ve got all day to insult me mate, so go ahead.
Some of the comments on here about Berbatov are embarrassing. There were worst players on the park today but the bandwagon is well and truly rolling. Totally cringeworthy stuff which brings a whole new meaning to the words “football support”. Embarrassing.
Berba constantly harrassing other players is embarrassing. Defending that attitude (if that is what is being defended) is embarrassing. He did not play well nor up to the level we all expect from him that is clear but Scott is right to say he was not the worst player on the pitch today. I am losing patience with the attitude.
i dont think we should be so harsh on welbeck, his 19 who has had alot of good games for us but you cant expect him to play good every game plus lets not forget his a striker, playing on the wing and on the left wing when his right footed i believe.
i do think we should of started with valen and raf on the right though and reckon we would of smashed them silly then as you saw when valen came on he tore there full back apart and got loads of crosses in, it werent obertans or welbecks best game but oh well, cant win them all.
@ scott
your’re right mate, he wasn’t the worst today, and i have defended him in the past but honestly, how many other players at OT have been indulged as much as he has. the lad needs a kick up the arse…….wheres his incentive? his place seems to guaranteed whether he performs or not.
Agree Jack he was also playing in a position he has never really succeeded in. It seems he is a lot better up-front and his pace could have helped and was one part of his game that was impressive. He probably should have scored but he was not a huge disappointment. Would have liked for him to stay on with Gibson and Obertan off with Giggs and Valencia replacing him. We needed more pace down the left.
fze…….u keep missing the point.
ofcourse I KNOW THEY DIDNT PLAY.
WHAT IM TRYING TO SAY IS arent they just average….like our team……….hasnt it been now littered with average players like park, gibson and carrick…steady industrious decent players. hence lack real world class midfield and attack to take on the bigger teams. creative genius and warriors arent there ala yesteryear
eg defeats to dippers, barca, chelski…arsenal we were lucky this season too.
our 2 world class midfielders are near retirement
Based on that gutless performance today, would any of you be surprised if City give us a thumping on Wednesday night with Tevez amongst the goals?
Owen’s derby winner was fun at the time, but I know who I’d rather have had in the team today. (Gasp! Heretic!)
Kevin – all the players have a go at each other. The band wagon is rolling… I can only assume you close your eyes when Rooney bitches at players for not being where he passed the ball to… 10 yards away from where they actually are. He has absolutely shocking games at times and I’m sure if some twats started making him a scapegoat everyone would join in with that too.
I love our club, there are some players I like more than others, but to make a scapegoat of one player the way people on here are about Berbatov really makes me ashamed. Thank fuck not all United fans turn on our players the way some do. Some fucking “support” that is. Embarrassing.
Fred – you’d rather a player who would sign for any club that paid him the most money, over a player who settled for a pay by play deal, just so they could join United. That’s pretty sad, don’t you think? I wouldn’t want Tevez and his greedy mits anywhere near our fucking club. Argie twat.
“Ok, now I have heard it all. If 3 league titles, 2 Charity Shields, 2 Carling Cups, 1 European Cup and1 Club World Cup (along with some fine football along the way) are mediocre, then lets all piss on United and go support Barcelona”
frankly, if we played like barcelona does – or like we did in 1996 – i’d piss on anyone you like. twice, even.
the difference between that team (1995) and this one, is that THAT team often played with swashbuckling brilliance. this one doesn’t. our best performance this season as come against wigan – a victory we made so much of you’d think we won a trophy – ignoring the fact that spurs stuffed them 9-1.
as i’ve pointed out above, i don’t care as much that we win trophies, as that we embody a way of playing. (i believe, and i think the club used to believe, that if we played OUR way, the trophies would follow. certainly that was the line that was dutifully trotted out all the time, and i was happy to believe it. we stood for something.
i support a football club. i’m not an auditor. those people who want to argue that we should overlook the shocking absence of sheer heart that has become the norm at manchester united, simply because we’ve taken some wins and ridden our luck, should maybe look to serie a – italian football is similar in that way.
d
But we have not lost one game, we have lost 7 this season. Fans are entitled to their opinions. The Glazers are ruining the club. Sir Alex has no money to buy quality players so why does he not just say that… Where are his principles from his union days in Govern, why does he not shop the Glazers and tell us the truth. Every fan would be right behind him. When we go behind in games we are clueless, we can not create anything in the midfield and the finishing in the final third is woeful, I see strikers passing the ball in the box, sidefooting it or just trying to walk the ball in. Why does no one just put the laces through it? Perhaps Phelan can answer that?
Hope you all had a long hard look at Leeds today cos I did…and there but for the Grace of God go us….
Sod off you Glazers and Ferguson and Gill stop taking the piss out of us and tell the truth now, dont just wait to print it in your biographies years down the line.
joe_ro: “I really hope Tosic plays against City.”
Me, too. I thought that he would have come on for Obertan at half-time. But Fergy reached for his comforter and Giggs got a run-out – too bad ‘cos he did squat today.
well said scott, i think we all know he’s having a hard time living up to his price tag but no matter what the problem or whether it’s his fault or not he’s ALWAYS the scapegoat. it’s a team game and he isn’t the only one not completely living up to his price tag yet he’s targetted for the worst abuse. i don’t know why people don’t just go the whole way and blame the credit crunch and the war in iraq on him as well tbh
Scott quite accurate of the day! How many players just dont know what it means to play for Manchester United?
Usual suspect in Welbeck – The boy is clearly not good enough, all the Nani and Park bashers please tell me who you would rather see now? I hope you prove me wrong Danny but not on todays evidence!
I cant believe Ando was took off, one of the only players on the pitch to show our own team how to compete for a ball.
Gibson – I have seen milk turn quicker, I dont want to slag him off but he just didnt want to know. Slow, couldnt be arsed and blamed everyone around him everytime he lost the ball.
Game done, gripe over, good times out weigh the bad but we need to invest some cash!
Kevin
yeah mate and his young, like i said he’ll get more consistent when he gets older
The scapegoating of Berbatov and Welbeck today is very odd. Our worst performers today were (surprisingly) Rooney, Brown and (unsurprisingly) the useless Darron Gibson and Anderson.
Scott the Red,
Sorry, have to disagree.
Berbatov has been here for a year and a half. In that time, how many times can you honestly say, hand on heart and given the money we spent on him, how many times can you honestly say Berbatov has justified his price tag?
Nani gets vilified every day on here, as does Park, Hargreaves and so did Kuszack by other supporters.
Nani is a prime example. He’s been at the club just a year longer than Berbatov, yet where are the calls of support for him?
He’s 22, 23, coming from a foreign country and has needed some time to bed in.
Berbatov, meanwhile, is 28, approaching 29 and has a bit more Premier League experience.
We just want to see some of that form he showed for Spurs transmitted into our team.
We want to see the Berbatov we were all raving about and fretting over signing on that deadline day.
We’ve saw glimpses of him, and he’s getting more chances that Nani to impress.
So sorry, but the fans turning on Berbatov have given him enough time to prove us wrong, but he’s not doing it.
Berbatov has talked the talk, but he’s struggling to walk the walk. Yes, he’s a delight to watch when he’s on form, but come on – five goals in 26/27 games this season?
Not good enough.
Fred – I’d agree with that. Rooney missed sitters and another ref could have sent Brown off. Shit happens. But if you’re rolling on the anti-Berbatov bandwagon, what actually happens when United play is irrelevant.
Islandred – I think Berbatov is a great player and I think as a supporter we should support our players. He cost what he had to cost to get him. No point bitching about the price tag now. He didn’t ask to be bought for that much money, but he was desperate to play for us. He’s a better footballer than Tevez but because Tevez ran around like a blue arsed fly everyone loved him. I’d rather a bit of quality. It’s sad that running here there and everywhere (and getting very little done) is deemed a more impressive quality that great passing and vision. But whatever. Each to their own.
I still find the abuse Berbatov gets from section of our support embarrassing. I’d be laughing my arse off at other teams fans for doing what ours do. As it is, I just have to cringe.
@islandred1981
got to agree with you… phelan just does not cut it as an assistant. when carlos queiroz was assistant… changes were made and you could see the difference on the field.. now a change is made and the only thing changes is the personel, nothing else! the players all need a good kick up the backside… every 1 of them. we have been poor most of the season.
my team to play citeh would be. Kuszczak (clearly foster is out of favour and i wouldnt be suprised if he went in this window… and somebody else came in) rafael brown evans fabio (who needs more games) valencia fletcher carrick obertan. rooney owen… berba was way out of the game 2day. didnt do much wrong… just didnt do anything! lets give city a good hiding!!
Scott, I’d rather our club could have afforded the Argie twat, then it never would have come to this.
I sincerely hope I’m proved wrong on Wednesday night.
@fusillijerry – I agree with your comments mate, all except one – because unlike you, I don’t believe we will win anything this season!
scott, you said:
“Thank fuck not all United fans turn on our players the way some do. Some fucking “support” that is. Embarrassing.”
all i can point out is what i already did:
“the club is ours, not the players. the players are supposed to EARN their way into our affections by holding the club in their hearts the same way we do. can you honestly tell me that you saw PRIDE on the field today?”
i’m very different to you in that way – i was there before them, and when eric djemba-djemba or david bellion, to take recent examples, has long since moved on and forgotten everything about united, this club will still mean something to me. so, in my book, they need to step up and earn the right to be part of this club, fans and all.
as for berbatov, he’s very, very far from the worst of the players. i’m with you in not understanding the abuse. the team as a whole has serious problems, as someone upstream already said. berbatov is a minor part of the problem.
anyway.
d
The selection today was awful full stop. Yes Welbeck was shite, but why the fuck does Fergie keeping playing him on the left wing?!? That is shocking mangement! Especially when you have 2 wingers on the bench!
Everyone was awful today, Anderson was the pick of a bad bunch and he wasn’t great either!
Everyone was awful today but Berbatov is consistently pathetic. He has had enough time to prove himself, and quite frankly the bloke has no confidence in himself, he avoids the ball, he doesn’t look for it, his body language is terrible, his goal return laughable! The bloke has scored one crucial goal since he’s been here against Bolton last year, hardly a return for the fee we payed for him! The fact is Tevez was better value for money than Berbatov.
Scott- My issue is not with the yelling but who rather who is doing the yelling? He is not performing well yet he has a go at Valencia who was far better on the pitch today. It is one thing, as a said, for a player like Rooney who has proven himself at United, to have a go. It is another for a player who has yet to prove himself to have the same attitude or behavior. Ronaldo did and I thought it hurt more then it helped. While they may all do it, I don’t think any of them do it as often as Berba. Certain players for me earn that right to have a go by playing for a long time or playing with consistency. Berbatov, in my eyes, has not earned that as of yet.
I agree Berbatov is not the reason we lost and he is far to often made a scapegoat by fans. I have defended Berbatov on this blog numerous times and continue to feel he is a specially talented player. I disagreed with the price but that does not matter since he is a United player who on his day produces some amazing skill. For me the entire team was at fault, even players like Anderson and Wellbeck who I have defended. I am in no way intending to make him a scapegoat, however I am losing patience with the way he behaves at times as I see to be detrimental to the team.
Berbatov is not a battler, he never was for Spurs or for Bulgaria – everything had to be presented to him for him to do the business! I have been routing for Berba since he came to the club, but it is wearing a bit thin now. All the excuses made for him as to why he isn’t able to perform for us. I noticed more and more frequently hos Berba NEVER comes out of a fifty fifty tussle for the ball, and this is especially so when one on one with the GK. Berba has a mental wrestling problem with himself, and he is therefore too chicken shit scared to play for us with any gusto, in case he fails. He is failing more games than not!
IslandRed, I don’t disagree with your assessment of Berbatov. I think his ‘performance’ (if you can call it that) against Liverpool was the tipping point for me. I had previously defended him and kept hoping he would click into gear. I was hoping he would finally produce a big performance against the vermin and he disappointed. I can understand you might have hoped Berba could turn on the style against a third division team, and in a way you’re right. I can see where you’re coming from but I think today, when many of his team-mates played much worse, singling out Berbatov is unfair.
Footballs a funny old game. Yes we shouldnt have been defeated by a third division side. But these things happen in football!
No reason to sell the entire side, look for indivdual scapegoats or go on a spending spree.
For a start it would be nice to have had a solid back four for atleast one point this season (if Vidic had played then it may have been a different game altogether today but we will never know).
There have been so many changes in the line ups this year its unprecedented and its amazing we are so high in the league. Man U have always been better when they have had a reasonably steady starting 11.
This year theyve barely managed to put a first team out for some games.
A good proportion of the team today have been bouncing back and forth between first team and the reserves which was evident in the amount of possesion squandered in the middle of the park and the poor distribution amongst some of the younger players. Most of this is down to a lack of consistent first team practice. How many times have we seen that starting 11?
There was no shape to todays team and clearly there was a lack of communication between players.
Dont forget Leeds havent lost in 15 games and brought that team to OT. They are also a physical side and against some of our younger players clearly had the upper hand.
We should have beaten them on paper but on the day Leeds outplayed us.
Lets face it they wouldnt have beaten a full strength Man U side. But with the Champions League, Carling Cup and chasing Chelsea you cant play your first team every match.
Kevin – he shouted at Valencia for not being at the back post when the cross came in. Berbatov was right. Valencia should have been at the back post. In our next game, Valencia does what Berbatov says and a goal comes from it, then what? Do you have to acknowledge that team mates are allowed to berate each other for doing stuff wrong? It’s alright for Rooney to do it (he does it every match) but it’s not alright for Berbatov? Only Rooney can spot what team mates are doing wrong, but when Berbatov spots it, he should keep his mouth shut and keep his fingers crossed that next time it’s better? I mean, he gives a shit about the result and is angry that his team mate is standing in the wrong place. That’s dreadful isn’t it. You’d rather he didn’t give a shit less that Valencia was just casually stood in the box when the ball went flying out for a goalkick? Berbatov can’t win.
I still think Berba is capable and continues to need support but he needs to stop looking to pass the blame. Accept the performances aren’t great and work to fix the problems. In no way is he to blame for the poor performance as it was spread pretty evenly throughout the team today. All were poor and all were below par. I say play him against City and see if he can’t find his form.
@mralchemy
listen douche-blossom, here’s a reality check for you: this is the highlight of your century. you won’t be winning the FA cup. the best you can hope for is promotion to the second division. and whatever else happens, ken bates will still be humping your leg and telling you you love it.
d
Sorry guys, but which game are you thinking of where Welbeck had a good game? He came on late, the last 25 minutes, and scored a cracking goal on his EPL debut didn’t he? We had already walked that game though hadn’t we? He scored the 4th goal of a 5-0 win. That was over a year ago. I can only remember a host of missed chances, extremely poor first touches and close control, bad passing and many substitutions since.
But I am not just picking on Welbeck. The rest of them are equally as bad. Gibson has been around for ever it seems and still can’t put a decent full game in. Macheda is going down the all too familiar road of mediocrity and ‘time to move him on’. Another Lee Sharpe, Mads Timm, God knows how many others. Young players who have magic in their feet and shit for brains. It all evens out to one thing – second class football and guys like Timm who retire aged 24.
I think we do have a couple of special guys coming through. I have enjoyed watching reserve and accademy football for over 10 years now. I am tired of seeing great young players come to nothing. But I think Solskjaer will make the difference and I think he is already finding players with talent and hunger who are only too willing to listen and learn from the Legend. As long as we don’t become a fully fledged selling club we will have a few great players come through in the next decade, But Welbeck? In your dreams!
Each and every one of us wants a Keano, a Nicky Butt, a 20 year old Scholes, a Xavi, a Iniesta. We all know we can’t have any of them, we need to accept that currently there is no player of that sort at good price, age and desire to play for us. So lets just put faith in our current midfielders and back them. But there is one thing for sure; Fletcher and Anderson must play together in midfield in every game from now on. We look world beaters when they both play.
The only thing we can look forward to is the lad Diouf. Would he change our performances and inspire our attack? Could he bang in goals for us week in week out like he does, or did, in Norway? Could he form a formidable promising partnership with Rooney or Berbatov? Will he get to play in the first team straightaway instead of getting loaned out or getting a run with the the reserves? I hope so, but thats just wishful thinking. Does anyone know if he has arrived yet btw.
I have never singled out a United player for criticism apart from Berbatov for the pure fact the bloke doesn’t try! The fact he gets paid a fortune for the occasional flick makes my blood boil! The sooner Fergie realises he made a mistake the better!
the red c @ 20:12 – you’re being far too pessimistic, losing a grip after a disappointing loss. Last time I looked, TheLads were second in the EPL, had reached the knock-out stage of the CL – last year TheLads won the EPL for the third consecutive year and reached the CL final for the second year running. That hardly seems like going-to-heel-in-a-hanbag to me.
The issue with this current squad of players is that it is transitional between the RonaldoYears and the RooneyYears. Berbatov was purchased to provide that transition and he has been an abject failure. I’m surprised that he is still getting the nod for the first-team – two tap-ins in two games ? What has he actually done ?
But, rather than laying the blame on Dimmy alone, we all have to recognize that the youngsters – Fabio/Rafael/Welbeck/KikoTheKid/Obertan/Gibson/Nani/Evans/Tosic and Anderson have not yet matured into first-choice players. I suppose that a few of them won’t ever do that but most of them will. And, we’ll all have to be patient, hoping that Giggs and Scholes can stay fit for one more year while maybe Rio and Owen Hargreaves can return to full-fitness.
Right now, this isn’t a great first-eleven team – it’s a very strong squad with a lot of talented players. But the defence has been ravaged by injuries and the attack just hasn’t gelled. I’m more optimistic that the defence will get healthy than that the attack will gel but that’s just my opinion. In these circumstances, it’s hardly surprising that this team has been dreadfully inconsistent – not scoring at all today, not at Anfailed, not at Fooolham, not at Stamford Bridge, not at Burnley.
Last year we won a lot of matches one-nil; this year we’re losing matches nil-one. This isn’t a disaster but it does indicate the narrow margin between champions and also-rans. The optimist in me would argue that UTD’s hidden asset is the manager’s hunger and experience – it’s not like he’s not pulled rabbits out of his hat before. But even if he fails to do so this time, he sure-as-hell won’t stop trying. Those players who can’t (or won’t) get with SAF’s program will find their exit visa stamped at the end of the season.
Gary – He doesn’t try? Fuck me. Bring back Tevez. He tried, didn’t he? Only scored 5 goals, but at least he kept himself busy running all over the place. That’s far more admirable that the occasional flick which creates a goal! Just like Cantona, he ran around like a blue arsed fly for 90 minutes too…. oh no wait…
Scott – yea I do think Rooney has more of a right to have a go then Berbatov. I also think Berba’s header was weak and would not have lead to a goal. It seems you are not reading all I am writing. He has not earned the right to behave like Rooney. Yes I want to see passion and desire. I think from him it should be in the form of working hard and doing his part. He hasn’t done either so no I do not think he has the right to yell at Valencia for one poor decision when he has made countless. I think Rooney more often then not gets it right I do not think Berba has therefore he has not earned the right. I think certain team mates have a right and a leadership role, to me Berba has not earned one and it is better coming from Rooney, Giggs, or another leader in the team.
Berbatov can win and has many times this season. He has created numerous goals, scored some himself, and played a big part in some of our games. When he does so I congradulate him. I do not have a huge problem with his performances but I disagree with his behavior on the pitch. We simply disagree. Nor do I think that one incident cost the game or had any real part to play in the loss. I just think it points to a pattern of behavior of his I disagree with. We simply disagree on the merits of him being able to yell not that teammates can have a go at each other from time to time.
@Fred
My reasoning for singling out Berbatov are these:
One: Berbatov is a senior, experienced player. Supposed to be quality but has produced very little since he has been at Old Trafford.
and Two; Fabio, Anderson (has alot more first team experience, but still only 22), Gibson, Obertan and Welbeck are youngsters who play infrequently.
We can’t expect Gibson or Obertan to come into the side once every 5-10 games and produce outstanding performances.
Berbatov, however we can. He’s the captain of his country, all time leading scorer and top, top player with a bagful of experience.
The kids need players like Berbatov to encourage them and help them out there.
So yes, Obertan, Welbeck and Gibson were really poor, but it’s the senior players who we should really be looking at. The ones we’ve spent millions on to produce moments of magic.
I’m not reliant on Neville anymore, given his age; Rooney is Rooney, captain material in my eyes; and Brown is a little too kamikaze at times at the back.
We can harp on for hours about how we can’t understand why so and so didn’t play, but the bottom line is, we had more than enough talent to beat what was put in front of us, and we were let down BIG TIME by the senior players who we expect so much from, just once or twice a week.
Not too much to ask, is it?
Red C, i also hope that Ole is the difference. i hope we’re both right.
d
It’s getting really annoying reading all those hippocrytical comments from the pre-Berbatov camp about how slating a United player means you are not a real fan blablabla, yet the same people have no problem slating Nani, a United player last time I looked, and a very similar case to Berbatov, both are extremely talented but continually frustrate us fans by not playing to their talents. I’m actually in neither the pro nor anti Berba camp, I love the guy and I desperately want him to become the player he was at spurs, but I do get frustrated watching him underperform more often than he performs, and it’s the same with Nani, I badly want him to succeed, but I get frustrated with him. So I understand the anti Berba camp, and reading comments from people saying that if you don’t get Berbatov you don’t get football is infuriating, and reading comments from people like Scott who slate Nani but say that turning on Berbatov is disgraceful is twice as infuriating. Make up your mind, support them both or get off the backs of those who happen to think Berba is an expensive flop.
Kevin – so there’s a hierarchy then? You can only tell your team mates they’ve done something wrong if you’ve scored a load of goals or kissed the badge? Valencia was in the wrong but it would be better than no one told him that, so he could keep making the same mistakes. Or should Berbatov tell Rooney to tell Valencia?
Scott the Red
Cantona’s least amount of goals for United in a season was nine – and he also contributed alot more than what Berbatov has done.
Just for the record again, Tevez scored 5 in the league last season. 15 overall.
This season, he’s hit 9 in the league, 12 overall. He’s made a few as well.
Berbatov – 5 goals. Overall. He’s made four or five as well.
@Scott “I still find the abuse Berbatov gets from section of our support embarrassing. I’d be laughing my arse off at other teams fans for doing what ours do. As it is, I just have to cringe.”
TBF, a lot of rival fans are laughing their arses off that we spent over £30m on him. He’s undoubtedly a very gifted footballer but you have to admit his transfer to United has been a major flop.
@daelm
Look, I appreciate what you are saying, but the problem is that football changes. Not just for Man United, but for every club. You have to adapt. Look at footballers in the modern era. Do they look like they give a fuck for the supporters? Very few I would say and definitely not in big clubs. Besides all that, the club has been succesful in the past few seasons. Overwhelmingly succesful. And I agree that it’s not about the trophies, but would a United team win 3 leagues in a row if it wasn’t spirited? Just look at our comebacks last season against Villa and Tottenham. Or the second half against City back in September. They really had to dig deep until the last minute.
One thing about the 95-96 team. At the time of the York defeat, the youngsters weren’t established. Led by Alan Hansen’s ridiculous comment they were getting critisized heavily by the press. And we didn’t exactly play the United way that season. I think it took that group of players about 2 years to gel and start playing attractive football. My point is that we can’t write off young players, especially when they don’t play in the first team regulary. Example? Danny Welbeck. He has never been used properly with the first team. Lets partner him with Rooney for once and see how he does. Same goes for Obertan or Gibson. At th moment, these lads play in the first team once a month and we expect them to perform at United standards. It’s not easy.
Mags the red – couldn’t agree with you more mate – 7 games lost, and a good few below par performances in those games we won, and yet you still get the loyalist party liners jumping on their trolleys – flag waving, and verbally abusing any fans who call a spade a spade! Next you’ll be told your a blue noser, or scouse supporting GIT, because you have an honest opinion, on what is blatenly bloody obvious about our team, to all but the denialists. I love Man United too much to shut the fuck up where the true state of our club and team are concerned. So I don’t care about those who like to call dissenters not PROPER fans. Get down the Manchester/Salford pubs and talk to the United faithful, and there are an awful lot who know there is a lot of writing on the wall. They still attend all the games, and pays their money though, just like the so called proper fans – proper fans my arse! 12 years and counting, always been United Red, but always been honest talker too!
Scott I admire your defence of Berbatov, but surely you must deep down lack faith in the guy?
He hasn’t got it. The guy isn’t going to get any better and the sooner everyone accepts that the better. He has failed to shine in one big game since he arrived. At least Tevez scored important goals.
IcelandicDevil
Superb point.
What’s worrying is Ferguson has said that Rooney and Owen are like for like.
So technically, Owen is battling with Rooney for a place in the team.
Fuck, that’s great motivation for Berbatov, as if he needed any.
Why can’t our players really fight?!? Get stuck in, fight for every single ball, give everything – even Liverpool players can do that! We always seem to be trying to let the ball do the work – but fighting’s just as important! Really disapointing
I would have liked to see Wellbeck play up front with Berba and Rooney slot in behind. Would have added pace and a more of a bite for our attack. I also think Gibson should have been replaced instead of Anderson. Did he just come back from injury? Still trying to understand the substitution.
Scott- there is a way to do it and a wrong way to do it. Berba has not earned the right in my eyes to do it in that form. There would have been nothing wrong with him letting Valencia know but not in the matter he did. And I am sure your response will be its in the heat of the battle he is passionate which is all well and good but he still has not earned the right to “berate”his team mate whose performance in a shorter period of time was much better then Berba’s. He is a good player with bags of skill but show his desire in other forms and lead by example. Lead by doing something then you can earn the right to yell. His performance did not earn that nor has it over the past two seasons.
Oh dear,mmmmm.
For all you fans out there that say Fergie should be shiffted then I say to you a Happy Good Year and Fuck Off to yous. Retards.
However hes going to have to spend because in reality this performance was dire, Not only that but the last 5 odd performances (except Wigan match but I could of beaten those lame twats meself) have been fucking retarded.
PIG is a keeper worthy of Bolton, good shot stopper but no comanding voice, 6footer with no bollox. Neville is looking like the Keane issue, maybe 2 years too long at OT, if he plays average – which was at best his performance today – then why not allow a reserve player to play average = saving in wages and more experience for a youngster. Its all very good of you to come out Neville before the match and big it up but its time to say thank you for the service now on your bike. I have loyalty to the players and I love Gary Neville, he has been one of our most consistant stars (and he is a star) but hes as much use to United as a choclate fireguard. My loyalty to the club is free, but with Neville its for money and I don’t want to pay for that anymore, sorry. Evans was a fucking spectator for the goal and Brown was clumsy at times but you have to love them. Fabio is ready, him like his brother and Evra have the fullback positions tied down for years. Gibson, I’m sorry to have to say this, will never be United material. I think he has the potential to be at best a poor mans Carrick or a Neil Webb with a shot. Anderson was busy but looked like a Beckham in the centre of the park. All the promise in the world but a bit of a headless chicken although I’m 100% confident he’ll make the grade and replace Scholes well. Obertan is a 2nd division (old 2nd division) Ronaldo, he has skill, and pace and confidence BUT in every area of his play hes not as good as Ronaldo. With Valencia however you could say hes more direct, stronger in the body and more defensive minded than Ronaldo. This showed when he came on and gives us something to play with, Obertan just looks like a downgrade. Rooney has got to learn to pass and with Berbatov somebody has to tell one of them to stay forward. Too often both Berbatov and Rooney drop deep. Berbatovs throwballs today were pretty good and the author of this page needs to watch the game again to see them. Even though Ive got to be honest Berbatov never strikes confidence in me, I never feel Berbatov will bring us back. Is it his posture, lack of shouting but to me he looks like a lonely piss up artist on the razzle with a handful of English Lads about town on the Piss not knowing whether hes been accepted or going to be led down a dark alley and raped.
Besides all this, this post goes to show, I care, I love United, I’m hurting, I pay attention and my grief is shared with my Brothers out there. We’ll be back despite a run of poor form, hoping to god we buy a superstar this January, not because I feel we are short But because I feel we need an injection of something new, we need a Cantona. My only clue to who could do the job, keeping costs down (because its sensible not because we need to) and has value for money in regards to age is Kerlon (look on youtube for those who havent seen him play).
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me “”"”"”"” AN ERIC CANTONA…!!!
That in my eyes is putting your own selfish frustration come before the good of the team.
In regards to Berbatov, it’s not easy for players of tha age to adjust to the first team. It took us 3 seasons to get the absolute best from Teddy Sheringham. And before anyone says it, no Teddy didn’t cost 30 million. But at that time no player cost 30 million.
As aig alex is god said, if Berbatov doesn’t score 100 a season, assist 500 goals and runs as fast as Usain Bolt(I think), he will always be the scapegoat of the team.
The Rooney and Berbatov partnership will NEVER work if Fergie doesn’t instruct one of them to drop deep and stay in the box. I would rather see one of them playing as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 every game, than seeing them play together. If, constantly, there is no one upfront to recieve the ball, how the fuck will we score and win whichever game we are playing? I just hope Diouf’s arrival gives us more options in that area.
berbatov=lazy
so
cantona=lazy
and
sheringham=lazy
I meant to not drop deep*
berbatov’s not the problem.
This has got nothing to do with the performance of the game today- and before I begin, keep in mind that I believe that the gaffer knows best and I still think he knows and does what is best for the team (except for the tactical blunder at fulham).
Does anyone else think that SAF should put a rest to his comment about not enough injury time are being added? I mean.. seriously…sure there were five subs and injuries in the game.. but we did get a full 5 minute!! His comment about 5 minute being an insult borders on the ridiculous and smells a bit like fat rafa’s comically stupid rant last season.
I for one hope the gaffer would put a rest to the referee issues and injury time..it’s not doing us any good!
the players today just were not coordinated as a team. I remember in the 65th minute when leeds kicked the ball in our part of the field, 2 man utd midfielders went up for it at the same time while no one was around them. The errant passes and the weakness in the midfield is the reason we just could not get the tempo as we saw against wigan. Also, it is becoming apparent that one way to beat us is to push the players while they have the ball. It worked with Fulham, Villa, Barca…
dickson
I agree with you about the injury time. When I saw his reaction, I figured that they only gave 2 or 3 minutes of added time. 5 was definitely enough!
Take no notice Scott! Sometimes I wonder if people think Berbatov was bought to replace Keano! He wasn’t by the way!
To all those bleating on about our successes int he last 3 years.
Remove Ronaldo, insert Owen and tell me how many of those trophies we would have won?
from CR7 – O7…..sounds like a bad joke……
I have been concerned about the chemistry and make up of our first 11 (if we even have one now) for just over 2 seasons.
How is it, that SAF wont address nagging areas of concern, unless we are truly skint? Worrying times at OT in my view.
To even compare Berbatov with Sheringham and Cantona is a joke. Their class shone on occasion after occasion and they both were born winners. I’m not sure at all that Berbatov really has a winners mentality, infact I know he doesn’t! He’s a luxury player, a typical Spurs player if you like then! Not a United player. When can you say you walked out of a game and said to yourself “Fucking hell! That Berbatov was brilliant today!” ?????? Exactly! End of argument!
I didn’t want to have to do this, but this revisionism about Tevez must be challenged.
90th minute equaliser at Spurs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvdNF0LvSKA
90th minute equaliser at Blackburn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Q4VXpEbwE
Screamer vs West Spam
http://www.indavideo.hu/video/Man_Utd_Vs_West_Ham_-_Tevez_3-0
90th minute equaliser at Lyon
http://videos.sapo.pt/ebVCFHcElZiK2vjjSb1i
Screamer at Fulham
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8o8jx_super-but-de-tevez-manchester-unite_sport
equaliser at Wigan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amA-AMWfpb0
Can you imagine Berbatov or Owen scoring those kind of goals for us? The very idea is laughable.
@Gary
We are saying these things about Sheringham in hindsight. At the end of his first season(which ended trophyless by the way) everyone was critisizing him like they do with Berbatov.
Berbatov was brilliant in the 5-2 victory over Tottenham by the way.
fze123
exactly mate.there were atleast 6-7 players worse than berbatov and still we are singling him out.pathetic
he is an experienced player? So what is Rooney, what is neville,what did giggs do after coming?. They too were ineffective, why arent people pulling them up. As is said slagging players is not the answer to this.
@ Costas: Err NO! I wasn’t saying this about Sheringham after his first year! I remember Teddy in his first year scoring 2 absolute crackers at Highbury to pull United back from 2-0 down to 2-2, a sign of the blokes class in a big game!
sorry Scott i’ve got to disagree with you about Berbatov..i’ve said before i don’t like having a go at our own but Berbatov hasn’t got the ability to affect a game if it’s not going our way.I am personally waiting for him to prove me wrong and to be honest i’d be happy if he did,but i know that in all the time he’s been a red he’s not done it once.He’s in the team to create and score goals..thats what he gets paid to do,unfortunatly he only does it now and again and not when we need it..like against the dippers,the rentboys…and the sheepshaggers today!
Gary
Ok. Rooney, neville,giggs after coming on were brilliant.As were Anderson and Gibson.Apart from missing the target from 8 yards a couple of times and kicking out at players in frustration, Rooney did not do much wrong,did he? . We should get rid of Berbatov immediately and buy villa for 60 million. that should answer our problems,shouldnt it?
Talking about experience,hasnt anderson been longer at United than Berbatov and still he dosent know how to shoot.
I admit I am pessimistic at the moment. I have also had many years of optimism…it depends on what I can see before me. Now it doesn’t look good. A lot of you are saying the right things in the wrong context. Of course we can’t expect the team to be playing well, week in week out when we have so many injuries, and Neville, Giggs and Scholes are in their last year – VDC and Vidic (moving on?) as well maybe.
But by saying that you then have to ask the logical questions in response. Who/What have we got injured? Who is likely to get back any time soon and be the player we expect them to be? Where are the replacements for the guys on their way out – for whatever reason? Where is the cover for those injured? If replacements are not there already – as we know players take a season to bed in – where are they? If the markets are not giving value for Fergie now, WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY GOING TO BE LIKE JUST BEFORE AND AFTER THE WORLD CUP**!!**?..Come on guys, it is not rocket science, we can’t just bury our heads in the sand!
. The technology we have today gives the supporter a chance to make his or her voice heard. It is not like 35 years ago where people in the pubs where saying the same things but where not heard. People were also telling guys in the pubs to ‘shut it’ and we would ‘never get relegated in a million years’. It is natural to defend your own like that. But the clever people are those who can see things coming and make the effort to change the inevitable.
Supporters have a chance to make it known that they understand things and have the right to challenge situations through the media and other opportunities. I’ve seen opinions from this site and other supporters sites commented on in the mainstream media. That means we can be heard and we can make a difference. The Glazers need to know that we are not necessarily hostile out of hand to everything they do, but that we can see things going wrong and are not idiots in respect of being sucked in by their smoke screen. More importantly, the managers and representatives of this club have a duty to do things in the Manchester United way, with respect, honesty, humility and panache.
@aig alex is god
I am not slagging off Rooney or Neville because for one Neville is a fantastic servant who is clearly past his best, and it’s very sad to see, but I would never have a pop at him because I can’t question the blokes commitment! Unlike Berbatov!
Rooney on the other hand is all most single handedly leading our attack this season and has produced match winning performances on big occasions! Unlike Berbatov!
TO blame Berba for the loss today is pretty stupid. Why when the team loses, he is the one to be blamed?Why dont you guys blame Michael Owen, for not scoring his only chance?Why dont u blame Rooney for shooting 2143124 times outside the goal and into the stands?WHy dont you blame Welbeck for keeping the ball too long?I dont understand it. He provided 2 100 % chances that Rooney and Valencia should have buried, but they didnt. Ok he did not have the greatest game, far from it, but i dont think just of his style of play you guys should throw him under the bus and blame him for the Loss today
@Gary
You might have not, but he was critisized by the media and plenty of United fans. Sheringham had his moments in his first season, but so did Berbatov. People forget that after we returned from Japan it was him that helped us to 6 points against Stoke and Middlesbrough. Not to mention that he was also immense in our 3-0 win over Chelsea. Class in a big game isn’t always measured by goals. I think Berbatov played pretty well at the Emirates, at the Bridge and at Anfield(given that it was his first game). I think he helped set up the goals in the last two games.
@Costas
Berbatov played well at the Emirates and the Bridge? Did he even touch the ball in those games? Set up a goal on his debut at Anfield and was mr Invisibly at Anfield this season, his performances in those games were instantly forgettable, when did he look like or even come close to scoring in those games which is his job at the end of the day.
Everyone knew Teddy was a class act from day one, even the press, it’s their job to criticise though.
I can’t defend Berbatov because the bloke is un-defendable! Sheringham had a better touch than Berbatov, he had more self belief than Berbatov, he could head the ball unlike Berbatov, he made runs into the box to support attacks unlike Berbatov (who has yet to run)
Give it up Costas. How did he perform in the Champions League final? Oh that’s right, the £30m superstar striker was on the bench. Tevez was brought on before Berbatov FFS and Fergie already knew that little scrote was joining City. What does that tell you?
City, beware the wrath of Sir Alex Ferguson!! Believe.
I have never been a member of any football organisation or group, except One Unitd, but the comments made below from MUST, in response to the news that the Glazers are looking at issueing £600 million of bonds sum up our situation – as Manchester United supporters as well – perfectly
“Whether they do manage to shift the debt onto other lenders or not, the situation for United fans and our club will be little changed – weighed down by the millstone of the Glazers’ debt and with the supporters having to foot the bill through ever-increasing ticket prices and reduced expenditure on players,” said Duncan Drasdo, chairman of MUST.
“The Glazers have taken us from being a club that were the richest in the sporting world to now the most indebted.
“In the four years before the Glazers’ takeover, Manchester United invested more than £80million in the form of players like Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“In the four years since the Glazer takeover, the turnover has doubled but, despite protestations to the contrary, independently-published figures suggest the net transfer spend is now negative.
“We have to be thankful for the magnificent job the manager and his squad have done. Where would we be now without the success Sir Alex Ferguson has managed to maintain on the pitch?
“This is surely the time for the Glazers to exit and make way for a new investor interested in working with the supporters to build a stronger football club and business together.”
Berbatov has skill there is no doubt and he has had good performances. With that said he often looks average and ineffective. He was not the reason we lost just one of the many and sometimes I would like to see him grab the game by the collar and have his way. He just does not do that and his price tag suggests he should be able to. Maybe he isn’t that kind of player but then why the amount of money?
Too men there is a lot to blame for the loss but it is one game and we must move on. Fergie will rally the lads may be pick someone to make an example of and get the troops back in order.
@The Red C – Can’t argue with that. A message to the Glazers: sell up and fuck off.
the games like barcelona, liverpool, besiktas, fulham and leeds have shown us enough evidence that we are lacking in the 2 most important areas of the pitch, the central midfield and striker.
anderson has not improved since last season to be considered a first team player, gibson’s only talent is his shooting. he is championship quality at best. scholes is eventually going to retire in a year or two.
neither rooney nor berbatov is a natural striker so we should not expect them to convert most of the chances into goals. they both are more of creators of chances. but with no natural striker to finish them off and with little support from central midfield we are struggling for goals more often than not.
i think the main reason for not buying players is that we have got good players coming through the reserves, but will it be too late when they step up, i hope not, i say it because the lack of quality is gradually decreasing the spirit in the team and is affecting the quality players too and at some point the quality players might decide to move on to play with better players. so in my opinion we need to buy at least one quality AM and one quality striker.
DariusC
are you having a fucking laugh you cant be that stupid to think that Owen was bought to replace Ronaldo Owen is a sub striker to replace the Tevez another sub striker
Owen will score more than 5 this season in the league
Ronaldo was replaced most part by Valencia as in winger for winger who stays on the wing allowing Rooney to play up front and not covering for a winger on the wing
its not that hard to work
and Ronaldo had a huge hand in the succes of 3 yer but to say he did that on his own is stupid
alot of United fans on this need to watch there mouth and really listen to what they are saying
im gonna put it down to uneducated young spoiled fans who have been here a few years and thing united should win the title but if anyone is of an age to know better and they keep air humping photos of Ronaldo and wish they supported Barca well it just takes 60 quid in your back pocket and a trip to champions sports to sort out your dilemma
pick up a messi jersey are do one
Im a pissed off and let down United fan today but to say we are nothing without Ronaldo Barca are the team to watch if we win nothing im supporting fucking rentboys is a fucking disgrace
there are people on this site who write about there love for united who remembers that once United went down
This post made me feel so much better after the leeds game and I thank scott for that because as pissed off as I was when the final wistle blew it has nothing on how pissed off I feel reading some of the comments on this.
If United win nothing Im supporting Chelsea go fuck yourselfs you Gloryhunting wankers
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/stats-ronaldo-vs-valencia/
@IcelandicDevil
Well said.
@ Berbatov loyalists
Yes Berbatov wasn’t the worst player today. Yes he produced a couple of good passes. But he was just as ordinary as the rest. I’m still waiting for one game where he lifts the standard of those around him and influences the game. I agree that he is not responsible for the price tag, but he is supposed to be striker, isn’t he, and all strikers are judged on the their goals/games ratio. I wasn’t aware that there were any new criteria to judge strikers such as number of beautiful or occasional flicks attempted during the game. And Scott, since you have such a huge affinity for statistics, can you give the number of goals actually scored of these flicks. Calling him “a great player” does a huge disservice to that word. He is a good player who hasn’t yet yet performed anywhere near his potential. I won’t mention his goals/games ratio here. It will be too embarassing. And his recent behavior on the pitch is what is driving fans, like me, that were undecided about him to finally stand up and say that enough is enough. I’d much rather have Nani in the side.
@Gary
When we lost 2-1 at the Emirates, we pretty much dominated the game until they scored. Rooney and Berbatov were linking up pretty well in that period and had created a couple of good chances. At Stamford Bridge, it was his shot that Cech blocked before Park tapped it in. Keep in mind that these weren’t vintage performances, but he certainly wasn’t a passenger.
I will disagree about Sheringham having a better touch. All you have to do is look at the goal that Berbatov set up for Ronaldo against West Ham or the the goal he set up for Tevez against Man City at Old Trafford. As far as the rest go, Sheringham was a better header of he ball, I agree with that. But he obviously didn’t impress Fergie a lot in his first season, because he bought Dwight Yorke the next summer and we hardly saw him until the final 10 days of the treble winning season.
I am sorry that for you and others Berbatov is undefendable. Especially when others were worse today.
MUST are making a lot of sense, I’m seriously worried about the long term future of Manchester United. After Sir Alex leaves and as we’re faced with mounting debts because of the fucking Glazers.
@Fred
It’s very simple. Tevez was on a better run of form in the last month of the season and Fergie, being unbiased and putting the team above everyone, gave the better man(for that period) the nod.
Lets think about it in other way. Ferguson prefered to spend 30 million pounds on Berbatov rather than signing up Tevez. What does that say?
if berba cost 20M instead of 30M, would everyone change their opinion of him? it is not his fault that he cost what he did, it was Levy knowing that United needed him and due to the man city link, his price was elevated when it should not have been. i would also rather see him yelling at his team mates then sitting quietly in a game. we all love it when rooney does it or when keane use to, so why not berba?
@Costas
Sorry mate, but we didn’t dish out the 20 mill plus for Tevez because we had all ready blown 30 plus mill on Berbatov, we were left with no choice.
The fact Berbatov didn’t start in either leg of the semis against Arsenal or the final against Barca shows you the confidence Fergie has in him.
@the Red C
I don’t think you are being pessimistic mate. It’s a situation that I have been dreading ever since they bought the club. The Glazers were very lucky to buy the club just as Ferguson was building the new dynasty. He bought them a few years. Now, I don’t know if there is a way out of this mess. The only realistic solution would have been the Chinese consortium but they turned it down. Supposing such an offer ever existed…
In fairness you cant really blame owen for missing. he hardly ever gets a game. Id start him ahead of waster berbatov. Two fortuitous goals from his point of view allows sir to have a reason to play him but in reality when was the last time anybody has seen him contribute consistently throughout a match like Rooney, Evra of Fletcher? Yes he has moments. Thats all he ever has though. A moment here or there. What an absolute waste of 30 million pounds.
Why is it when you criticize a player you automatically are blaming them for the loss? Most of the people have not once wrote that and are speaking of their perception of a player. Why all of the sudden are you a glory band wagoner? Do we simply have to blindly follow? I hate fair weather fans but expecting your team to perform well does not mean someone is a fair weathered fan.
Basically I agree with IcelandicDevil
Gary – so the reason why Berbatov didn’t start those games wasn’t because Fergie was playing a 433 system which would not accommodate Rooney, Berbatov and Ronaldo all playing at once?
Ronaldo is/was the best player in the world. The fact that Berbatov couldn’t get in the team ahead of him when we played 433 suggests that Berbatov isn’t/wasn’t the best player in the world – that’s all.
Hurdy Gurdy Man – wasn’t that the point of signing Owen? He was never going to be a regular starter, but he would come on and get us goals? I’m not massively getting on his case, but he should have done better and I don’t think the “he hardly gets a game” argument holds any weight. If he needs to play all the time to score, then why did we sign him? That defeats the purpose.
arijc – Stats show goals and assists, not whether someone played a beautiful ball in the lead up to a goal being scored. For the record though, Berbatov is our second highest scorer and he has our second highest number of assists of the 09/10 season. Lazy bastard.
@Gary
It was a conscious decision though wasn’t it? At the summer of 2008, Ferguson knew that in order to keep Tevez at the club for years he had to pay 25 million over the next 12 months. And he knew that Berbatov would cost about the same. And I think it’s fairly obvious that the club weren’t going to spend 50 million on 2 players one of whom would sit at the bench most of the time. So in my eyes, Ferguson knew who he wanted more that summer.
As far as thew Champion’s League is concerned, Tevez only started the first semi final and spurned 2 opportunities. After that, none of them started another game in Europe.
i thought we won the physical battle and took control in midfield but we had no finish!
We need to cut our losses and get rid of Berbatov in the summer. He’s useless and up there with our worst signings ever. I admit he has a nice touch but to be fooled by that is ridiculous. Goals and assists are what a forward should be judged by, not tricks. People defending Berbatov knows nothing about football, imo.
@Costas
“Lets think about it in other way. Ferguson prefered to spend 30 million pounds on Berbatov rather than signing up Tevez. What does that say?”
Without getting further involved in the Berbatov debate at the moment – although I would say that Veron was by far better value for money in terms of what he offered the team in his position…and I remember fans were not so worried about how much he was slagged off, much to my own personal disgust! – I do however get really confused about statements made from our Club concerning the attempted signing of Tevez.
Am I not correct in saying that SAF, and GIll told us not to worry about it, it would be sorted out and Tevez would be a United player? Am I not correct in saying that we were assured that everything would be done correctly? Am I not right in saying that Tevez stated the same sentiments when the first restless speculation began?
Am I also not correct in thinking that the end result was that we tried to play around with the pre-agreed fee, ended up getting on the wrong side of Tevez and his agent, and then realising we had fucked up – again – we then offered the full transfer fee as previously agreed….and not a Kenyon in sight to push the blame onto this time!! (I fucking hate Kenyon – a liar, a cheat and another one who thought it was ok to feed us bullshit)
Then we have the Ljajic fiasco, which caused lively debate as you probably remember. Again statements being made that turned out to be so much crap and bullshit.
Nothing is making sense that comes out of our Club in this respect at the minute, so let’s not start making comparissons with the signing of Berbatov and the apparently fucked-up, non signing of Tevez. That is too close to the bone for comfort.
so in spain today, Real Madrid had to win to go first in the table instead they draw and are 2 points from the top of the table, and they were knocked out of the cup by a third division team as well. sound familiar? except that they spent 200M while we spent very little to bring in Valencia, Obertan and Diouf.
@the Red C
I don’t see anything wrong in that particular comparison. All I was saying was that Ferguson had 25+ million to spend in the summer of 2008 and his first choice was Berbatov and not Tevez. He could have kept Saha and kept Tevez if he wanted to.
As far as what happened with Tevez, my theory has always been that we wanted to pay less than 25 million for him for two reasons. Either we didn’t have the money, or we didn’t think he was worth that much. As far as the final offer goes, we made it when he was already on the way out. It was a pretty safe gamble that he wasn’t going to accept. City had made a better offer as well.
All this is how I interpret it. If I went by what the club says, I would be in a mental institution right now.
No one has yet to answer my question? Name me a game where you can came out after thinking “Fuck me! That Berbatov was fucking brilliant today!” Cue the tumble weed and the sound of the wind blowing
@That Boy Neville
Berbatov has 66 appearances with 20 goals and 12 assists. Not Van Nistelrooy stats exactly, but not the worst in the club’s history either.
Just someone that doesn’t know anything about football.
@Gary
I told you. Spurs at home. Involved in 3 goals and scorer of the last one.
Berbatov didn’t start the CL final, and neither did Tevez, because Fergie only wanted Ronaldo as a lone striker. But Tevez came on before Berbatov did because Tevez has played in a final the previous year, something which Berbatov hasn’t, and the manager was being cautious.
We are all pissed off, but we shouldn’t lay all our anger on one player. If you want to slate the worst performer on the pitch today, then slate every single utd player. Except Valencia.
costa mate
give it up we know where you stand on the matter and we also know from reading your comment you know what the frick your talking about but you’ve been punching this THICK brick wall for long enough now whats the point
if berbatov had of scored they’d be licking his asshole dry
you’ll see these “fans”? again on this site the last week of april with fresh new user names and a different attitude
you know whos the ones on this that know there football and you know they end of this
if ya dont get Berbatov……………………………………………………..
had we won today, we would be playing the next round against tottenham at white hart lane, which is not an easy game despite our earlier win there.
gary
hull 4-3
had a hand in 4 goals defended like stam at times and played deep in a scholes position for the most part
WEll Berbatov had to be payed for. There was no chance for a lease and then full payment later. If there had have been then it seems apparent that option would have been taken as well, and It doesn’t take a genius to see that if the situations hd been reversed, we would have kept Tevez and fucked around with Berbatov’s fee and agent, because there is no way SAF would say we had got value for money out of £31 million!.
The two can’t be compared on how their fees were demanded or handled. If the two were to be compared on impact on games, enthusiasm and workrate then there is only one winner – Tevez. He did something to change games that were going against us. He managed that because he refused to stop trying and forced things to happen. Just like my favorite player Rooney.
Make no mistake about it, it was a dark day when Tevez decided to leave this club. Now regarding how he handled the last few months – not clever at all and ultimately backfired, but originally motivated by the desire to secure a contract with us, later soured by the realisation that he had gone too far and there was no turning back. Believe me, Tevez wanted to stay, but he is a proud and foolish man – just like me:)
Gary
my question i ask United fans before I try and have a convo with them about United
What do you think of John O’Shea?
@United.George – “so in spain today, Real Madrid had to win to go first in the table instead they draw and are 2 points from the top of the table, and they were knocked out of the cup by a third division team as well. sound familiar? except that they spent 200M while we spent very little to bring in Valencia, Obertan and Diouf.”
Come off it mate, who would you rather have Valencia, Obertan and Diouf or Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema? Thought so. Based on today’s evidence, Real Madrid would tear us a new one if we played them today. Then again let’s not forget that Madrid were thumped 4-0 by a lower league team in one of their cup competitions, so we do have that in common.
@Costas – that’s my interpretation of the Tevez saga. It’s even possible he knew full well he’d be off as early as December ’08 and was stringing the fans along in some pathetic PR move.
@GHTT
Yeah you are probably right mate. This discussion has become tiresome. Between the Wigan win and today’s bad loss, we suffered the highest and lowest points of the season, yet Berbatov gets critisized in the same manner. I guess that’s how it’s going to be for the rest of the season.
who gives a shit about leeds playing tottenham
our current form is terrible
we carnt win a game 5 nil against a premier league side then loose to a lucky league 1 team.
fergie needs to spend big in january.
benzema, hulk, villa, silva. dont care who any of them will make a difference.
Owen is finished.
Fze123, Berbatov was playing in Champions League finals when Tevez was just a twinkle in Kia Joorabchian’s eye. He played in the 2002 final, so try another excuse.
@ big bad
of course I would rather have kaka, ronaldo and benzema, but wanted to point out spending big to create a new team is not always the answer. we had one bad game today. we will be back, but lets not start the praising of tevez all of a sudden. yesterday everyone was on him and today people are talking about us being idiots for letting him go?
i didnt watch the game because i suddenly had to attend a meeting with my client.
wtf, Rooney and Berbatov both started and we lost to Leedscum, a third-tier league team?
valencia and Owen and Giggs then got in, and we still lost?
W.H.A.T T.H.E F.U.C.K
Oh,please!Are you blind people?!All oportunities for Man. came after Berba’s brilliant passes!!
@GHTT: Hull………at home………yes I remember it. Berbatov controlled the ball and did a nice flick with his back to goal over the opposition players head for someone to run onto, cue the “oooooohh” from the crowd. I guess that is the highlight of Berbatov’s career at United!
What can you say about John O’ Shea. When the lad made his debut at home to West Ham in a 1-0 defeat to West Ham he was the main possitive to take out the game. The next season he just got better, nut megginf Figo, nearly scoring a screamer at St James Park, our best player that season along with Scholes and Van Nistelrooy. I thought the lad was going to be an outstanding left back for a long time to come. I think Johnny didn’t turn into the player I was hoping he would, like probaby many United fans I feel he took a step backwards the next season. All sayng though, he’s been a fantastic servant for United, he’s reliable, he’s loyal and all though he’s as clumsy as hell he manages to get away with things. Who can forget his chip at Highbury or his winner at the Kop end? John O’Shea a valuable member of United’s squad.
@the Red C
I guess we will never know. I didn’t appreciate the way the club treated Tevez last season. At the same time, I think he could have reacted in a better way in the final weeks. Players like Keane, Beckham and Van Nistelrooy also fell out with the manager, but they never tried to divide the fans like he did.
To be honest, I think that Tevez might be more suited for Man United than Berbatov, but I think it’s pretty pointless talking about him anymore.
wow a quite used to people overreacting to results but today it’s gone crazy.. i hope those people calling for the manager to be sacked go and find another team to follow tomorrow (why not go for Leeds – they are top of the league!)..
no one has divine right to win anything. football players are human beings – they can play crap sometimes, it happens, nothing you can do except look forward to the next game. these players are good enough to beat premier league teams – they know they did not perform today. the world has not ended
Gary – don’t forget that skill against West Ham! That alone was worth the transfer fee!
I have never waxed lyrical about Berbatov ever. Infact him scoring 2 fantastic goals against Sunderland and Blackburn I feel paper over the cracks that he’s been a failiure this season, and leaves people to point to them 2 goals. He has scored 6 goals this season…….6. When Roony left we needed our so called big stars to step up, he hasn’t and you can not argue that fact.
And Costas mate, who the fucking hell makes an offer for a guy who will cost you £25 million when he is on his way out…and you don’t really want him… you are banking on him turning it down? Jesus, we use some bullshit to try and justify the actions of our management! What you would do is say ‘fucking hell. he’s going! Party!…and who want’s his locker?’ We only offered £25 million to try and STOP him leaving.
We realised we were about to loose a very important player for us, we had played mind games the whole season with him and his agent…all centred on getting him on the cheap – and I completely understand why we wanted to do that – but it fucked up on us and we offered the fee to try and pull things back from the brink.
That is the reason Costas, and no romantic drivel that we knew he wouldn’t accept. That would be the actions of totally irrational and irresponsible fools…to offer a huge sum for someone you didn’t want…actually, having said that I can see you might be right Costas
Oh come one please! That turn against West Ham was good, but seriously these are slim pickings people, slim!
Come on Tony, we got well and truly dicked by f***ing League One Leeds on our own pitch. Worst performance since Rome. Arguably worse. Scott summed it up: “It could have been three fucking nil!” It was shameful mate.
@Red C – I think the £25m bid was a token gesture to appease the fans who had been singing “Fergie sign him up” and also to expose Tevez as a liar because he had been coming out with tripe about wanting to stay at United while secretly negotiating with Citeh.
@Gary – I was being sarcastic!
I really don’t see the point in dropping Rooney, Berbatov and Wes for wednesday’s semi. Their performance was at least average in comparison to Gibson, Neville, and Obertan. After both Welbeck and Obertan failing to make any impression on me it’s more than obvious for me that Nani or even Park should be given a chance in the Carling Cup.
Anderson was one of the few players that really was fighting for the team but his passing was pretty poor and he didn’t came up with much creativity as well. Gibson’s performance really is not worthly of anymore commentary. Therefore it’s time for our Ginger Prince and Carrick to show those blue noses what we’re really made of.
I don’t know if Vidic will be fit to play, if he’s not we really don’t have any other proper option other than to play Wes Brown. I really like the fella but he just wasn’t good enough today, but with this game in the back of his head it should give him alot of motivation to prove he’s capable of leading our central defence.
City will play their strongest team, just like they’ve done against Arsenal, so why on earth should Ferguson this semi final as a way of showing the players that they’ve been dreadful today.
We don’t want to be eliminated in both cups in a few days time, and certainly not by the feet of two of our closest rivals.
In my opinion, this should be our lineup Wednesday:
——————Kuszack——————–
-Rafael—–Vidic—-Evans——–Evra-
————-Scholes—Carrick————-
–Valencia—————————-Nani–
————-Berbatov–Rooney————
@the Red C
Sounds out there doesn’t it?
Think about it like this. David Gill and Ferguson knew what was going around that period better than anyone. So I think he knew better whether Tevez was going to change his mind or not. Also, we matched the offer that Kia was asking, but City still offered Carlos a much better contract. I admit that it sounds a bit stupid, but given the circumstances, it could have been a safe bet. Why did we make that “smokescreen” offer? Perhaps to calm the fears over the financial status of the club. Of course I can’t deny that the club felt that they couldn’t lose both Ronaldo and Tevez and they made a last ditch effort.
And just to show how much I love conspiracy theories, I felt the same about a certain 30mil pound offer we made for Benzema. Again, we made it when we probably knew that the player had his heart set on going elsewhere.
Again, that’s just how I see it. I hope that in reality they are not playing us as much as I am afraid they are!
@Tony Starks sorry if you think i am overreacting. You are very truely correct, nobody has the divine right to win everything, and the world has not ended.
But the fact is, we lost 1-0 to a third-tier league team, namely Leedscum, one of our fiercest rival along the timeline. But just f*ck all the stats i just mentioned, because the fact that matters is, we started with 80% of our first team, with Rooney leading our attacking line.
We had less than 50% of the possession, only 5 shots on target.
“He had a good game against Tottenham” “He did a good turn against this or that team” Fucking pathetic! Berbatov has played some 60+ games and you struggle to name one outstanding performance. He cost £30m for gods sake! For that kind of money you would expect a player to show up EVERY week!
@ Big Bad Wesley Brown: I got carried away in trying to make my point to the Berbatov defenders, that I didn’t have my sarcasm detector on.
@Big Bad Wesley Brown
I think you made another good point about why we offered the 25mil for Tevez. Maybe it was the club’s way of exposing him for having agreed a deal with City.
@That Boy Neville
That 30million pound fee was inflated on the final day of the transfer window. Berbatov wasn’t supposed to cost more than 22-25 million. But even if he does, a player shouldn’t be judged on his transfer fee. It’s like saying Ronaldo should play like he is worth 80 million. That’s humanly impossible.
@Costas
I tell ya what, that boy Ronaldo ain’t half justifying his price tag though! He’s pretty much got a goal per game ratio at Madrid.
I’m not blaming Berbatov for the price tag, it’s his whole contribution and his general attitude. He isn’t a fighter, he falls over quite easily and takes an eternity to get up only after pulling his socks up. I like my players to fight and prove people wrong, I seriously doubt the blokes ability to fight for the team when things are’nt going right. If only he’d show that quality I would still support him!
yes but what repercussions do you want people – manager out? drop players? this was nearly our first team so we not really in position to replace people.. only few days ago everyone was going on about how amazing we looked vs wigan.
am sure the manager and the players that played are more annoyed at the performance than we are. lets see what they give in the next game innit?
one thing though – maybe guys like Welbeck would learn more playing regularly on loan, cos every time the kids plays there is so much pressure on him.
@Costas sorry mate but i have to disagree with you. Ronaldo should play like he is worth 80m. And Berbatov should play like he is worth 30m. A player’s transfer fee is decided on the player’s capabilities, that is why Ronaldo is 80 and Berbatov and Rooney are 30, and that is why all players have their own price. When you decide to pay 30m for somebody’s service, naturally you are expecting a service worth 30m from him. If you cannot judge a player based on his transfer fee, then might as well dont buy anybody..
ahem… regarding Ronaldo.. I think he’s more than justifying the 80 million!
@ Costas
I’m sorry, but I don’t give a damn what he was supposed to cost. In my opinion we weren’t supposed to buy him in the first place.
If you just look at the fee you’re right that a player should not be judged by the transfer fee, we have always paid hefty fees for players. But I think we could have done a whole lot better with that money. He should be compared to what we could have gotten instead.
Overall he’s been a disaster, now we need to sell him and move on. It happens.
Sucks we lost today..this meant soo much to me..beating leeds but…SPEND FERGIE SPEND !!!!
OK WHAT WE NEED IS
A GOAL MACHINE (I’D TAKE VILLA)
A CLASSY YET SKILLFUL ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (SILVA)
A GOALKEEPER THAT CAN KEEPGOAL (NEUR)
WE’RE NOT REALLY BAD U KNW…WE JUST NEED A COUPLE BETTER THAN AVERAGE PLAYERS
WE ALSO NEED AN INSPIRATIONAL PLAYER ON THE FIELD…WE SEEM SOOO HEARTLESS. :S
MY GAL IS A LEEDS FAN…I’M NOT EVEN TALKING NOR DO I WANT TO HEAR HER FOR A WHILE
ROLL ON CITEHH…AND PLAY OUR BEST 11!
WE WONT WIN THE CL SOO LETS WIN THIS AND HAVE A GO I THE LEAGUE WHICH TO ADMIT WE DONT LOOK LIKE WINNING WHEN CAUSE OUR OFF DAYS COME SOO CLOSE NOW
OH GIVE WELBECK A BREAK
FINALLY I WISH NANI HAD A BRAIN..IF SOMEHOW THE CLUB COULD PAY FOR A TRANSPLANT HE’D BE WORLD CLASS AND YOU GUYS KNW THAT. HES GOT THE SKILLS AND TALENT
(Wythenshawe Red) You can all say what you like but we have been fucking average all season. No creativity no spark no desire and a complete lack of commitment from fringe players that today showed they are no better than a Leeds side we should have fucking destroyed.As for berbacunt I can’t decide whether it was that cunt or phelans fucking appointment but the pair of them are like fucking kryptonite to us.I am properly FUCKED off with our attitude we are turning into Fucking tulips all you have to do is put in a shift against us to beat us at the moment. Don’t get me wrong you can’t win em all but to get rolled again because “they wanted it more” is a fucking joke I was watching that thinking “I remember when we played like that” luckily I have a good memory. Those players with the exception of the obvious need beasting off fergie. I will also add that if any of these lads have got any doubts about playing for us cos your fucking bird don’t like the weather then FUCKOFF.
I have had enough of losing like Fucking pansies and don’t get me going about “crazy legs” Wellbeck
A PROPERLY FUCKED OFF MANC.
Oh an by the way Fuck Lesley Hughes you got what you deserved you sellout blue nosed twat.”
peace
Properly Fucked off
@Gary
I see what you mean. Not every United player is a fighter though. Carrick for example is a layed back type of midfielder, different to Fletcher and Hargreaves. However, we try to play him to his strengths. I think Berbatov is trying to fit in, but in my opinion he and Ferguson go about it the wrong way. Tracking back doesn’t necessarily make him more useful to the team. His best position is as a striker inside the box.
haha i dont care how Ronaldo is doing at Madrid or anywhere. I couldnt, when we just lost 1 nil to Leeds!
Just when i thought Rooney has stepped up, he blew it again. I thought after last week, he is at last becoming the best player in the world.
Berbatov is brilliant.
@cantona7
Sorry I don’t see it that way. The transfer market has gotten ridiculous in the last few years and I feel players shouldn’t get judged on that. If Berbatov is worth 30 million, then that means he is twice as good as Shearer or 6 times better than Solskjaer. That’s my arguement about this. And that’s why I feel that Ronaldo, who has done excellent for Real, isn’t playing like he is 80million worth. Because no one is worth that.
@That Boy Neville
We will have to agree to disagree on that one. I don’t think he is a disaster because last season in particular he helped us to a some vital wins in the Premiership.
@ Scott
My last comments on Berba for this season:
In 2009/10, 6 goals from 15 starts and 7 sub appearances (in all competitions) is hardly awe inspiring. All the 6 goals were scored in the Premier League making him the second highest scorer followed by Valencia at 5 and “own goals” at 4. And he has 3 assists in all competitions. Rooney in comparison has 19 goals and 2 assists.
I completely agree with you at times he makes the game look easy and he is probably the most technically gifted player in the team now. Stats will not capture that aspect. However they do show that on most occasions it is “beautiful football” with no end result. Qualitatively speaking, the attack has looked inept when Rooney has had an off day and and thats where Berba has not risen to the occasion.
We have spent a season and a half trying to solve how to get the best out of him. I hope the team finds the solution and Berba proves his detractors wrong. I agree it is probably unfair to single him out today, but he has had too many ordinary games and he needs to improve that aspect to be considered anywhere near a “great” player as some of you would like to suggest.
@Costas we cant compare those times with present situation. These are two different eras. Anyway, what i am trying to say is, there is difference in the value of each player, based on their capabilities. Better player is more expensive than good player. Hence the transfer fees, albeit inflated. It’s the same as when you buy a Ferrari, you dont expect it to be as plain as Toyota/Honda/Ford.
ok looks lets be serious
everyone was poor today
except fabio and evans
anderson and rooney were atleast giving it ago
and berbatov.. he actually made 2 easy chances for rooney and welbeck
which they couldnt finish.. even tho i could have blindfolded.. but okay
we real problem was the selection
neville? come on.. im sure you all must know he has past it
specially in a game like that? that was just being stupid
brown had a shocker.. absolute shit he was
i was screamin the whole game with everything he did.. too many mistakes, silly fouls.. typical brown..
owen comes on… totally miskicks the ball which would have gone into a empty yes.. hmm ok… atleast he got into the position to score i guess?
but anderson and gibson?.. two attacking midfielders? with welbeck and obertan?.. are u having a fucking laugh??..
PLEASE REMEMBER!! ANDERSON IS A ATTACKING PLAYER WHETHER U LIKE IT OR NOT.. HE IS NOT A DEFENSIVE PLAYER.. maybe he can adapt because hes good.. but not his natural position so why is he playin with another attacking midfielder?.. you have all seen fletcher and anderson in midfield.. WE DOMINATE.. so what is the problem?
fergie seriously needs to think about these things.. maybe its him maybe its mike phelan?
but we need to sort it out.. this is not the manchester united that we all know and love
COME ON UNITED!!!
@arijc i completely agree with you on Berbatov there. I am a big fan of Berbatov, but like i said before, he is running out of time.
But still, we cant single him out for the blame today. That’s not fair.
@cantona7
Yeah, fair enough, you can’t compare different eras. The transfer fees nowdays might be useful so that you can compare players(for example Ronaldo is better than Robinho), but they often burden players unfairly. I am sure that Ronaldo is relishing the fact that he is “worth” 80 million, but other players feel differently. Berbatov is one of those. The problem is that if you cost 30 mil and you play as if you cost 15mil, you are called a flop.
by the way – has anyone noticed that Michael Owen seems to have a moment in every game where he miss-kicks the ball when faced with an open chance.. happens once every game!
On a different matter, the situation regarding Nemanja is quite mysterious. Apparently he asked not to play because he felt pain somewhere, but the way Ferguson and Phelan commented on it, it’s as if Vidic wasn’t conclusive. Assuming this is true, when exactly did Nemanja become an unsettled player at Man United?
I’d happily pay another £30m for Berbatov now!
If we can get him playing his best we’d be awesome.
All he needs is everyone to support him and encourage him. Give him some of the Forlan treatment and wish him well.
GHTT & Costas – good stuff – I’m glad you’re on here otherwise the rest of the drivel posted would make me even more depressed!
which one of you said Rooney for center midfield?
Great idea. Him and Fletch in the middle would be great (Carrick and Anderson as backup), with Berba and Owen/Macheda/Wellbeck up front.
Giggs/Obertan/Nani and Pat ruling the left and Rafael/Fabio/Valencia ruling the right.
We just need some centre backs and a new keeper and we’d have it covered.
@Costas
then flop he is.. though maybe he is not the one to blame. Because when we buy somebody for 30m, and that guy couldnt meet our expectation, then that guy is a flop, caused by our wrong judgment in his real value. I am sure Berbatov is worth 30m, if Ronnie at 80m is the yardstick. But why Berba cannot perform like a 30m, is another question.
@Tony Starks yeah i think i notice that too. Maybe because he doesnt get to play regularly?
obertanthenewstar- cannot agree more…
@cantona7
so u earn about 80-90k a week
but you have to play about 5 games in a row to make contact with a rolling football?
alright then…….
think about it mate
you’l make yourself laugh
Tony Starks: if I didn’t know better, I’d suspect the Scouse cunt was doing it on purpose.
Costas: Vidic is a goner. What’s with the twat now making up fake injuries? He can get fucked as far as I’m concerned. Hopefully we’ll get upwards of £30m for him. Hopefully Fergie will be allowed to spend some of it too (I know, wishful thinking.)
It makes me sick that Fergie is being forced to run the biggest club in the world on a shoestring budget.
kevinhe
that was myself who had that idea about 2 years ago
just from watching the player that the football world kn ows that scholes is it just keeps make me wonder if rooney did the same as scholes from going from striker to cm
Could you imagine berbatov upfront with an unnamed stiker
valencia and oberton on the wings hargo and rooney in cm
da silvas each side evans and vidic
that team would be at its peak in 2 years when the nevs scholes and giggs are behind the scenes, would be a fantastic side
Scott@ 20:53: “I still find the abuse Berbatov gets from section of our support embarrassing. I’d be laughing my arse off at other teams fans for doing what ours do. As it is, I just have to cringe.”
We are entitled to our opinions – that’s the purpose of a blog and this is a damned-fine forum. I happen to disagree with you, Scott. I don’t think that your quoted comment is fair in that what’s happened is that lot of other Reds have become frustrated with this situation. Berbatov has had sixteen months to “bed in” and yet he is still getting in Wayne Rooney’s way and he is still not playing centrally AND forward (note: he scored two tap-ins in the previous two games by being stationed in a central and forward position).
It might not be “his fault” that he’s not a lead-the-line striker – SAF should probably hold his hand and admit his guilt on that score – but he has had a long, long, long time to fit himself into a comfortable partnership with Wayne Rooney and, so far, the results are dismal.
I have written frequently on this subject since the summer about the key to this season being the coherence of the Rooney/Berbatov axis in the attack. In my messages I’ve taken the line that since Rooney doesn’t seem capable of playing a disciplined game at UTD that the onus would be on Berbatov to play centrally AND forward. YET, somehow, Don Fabio seems to have gotten it into his head that he has a designated role to play and, somehow, Wayne seems to do just that job rather than running all over the pitch and forgetting to be a center forward. Until recently, there were scattered complaints about Dimmy’s “laziness” or his “languid” style but there have been only a few people who have been in agreement with my line-of-argument. Now, as you state, the band-wagon is rolling and it looks like Dimmy would get pushed under its wheels, except for the fact that SAF has thrown his weight behind this option.
My consistent belief has been that IF Dimmy didn’t get with the program by the new year then KikoTheKid might get an audition for the role of #9, to play ahead of Wayne Rooney at the point of the attack. Unfortunately, Macheda is injured but I wouldn’t be surprised IF SAF decides to give Danny Welbeck – or maybe even Mame Biram Diouf – the opportunity to fill that role. If he’s good enough, he’s old enough.
I see no reason to “cringe” – my enjoyment in watching UTD is tempered with realism about the team’s prospects as well as taking a critical (and judgemental) view of the strengths and weaknesses of the various players. But, I’ve seen a consistent problem with this year’s team and that’s what I’ve stated. Of course, I want to see TheLads win everything, all the time – but that’s not how it works. SAF has brought us an unparalleled reign in the EPL and great moments in cup competitions too – I want it to continue but IF I think that he’s betting on the wrong horse (!) then it seems to me to be quite reasonable to say just that. And, listening to others saying just that is the purpose of moderating a blog – we’ve all got opinions.
I can’t believe this useless performance is leading to equally useless discussion. The simple fact is this: SAF is the manager and we are not, and there’s a good reason. So if he chose Berba over Tevez that is good enough for me, and I can also see why he might have done that. If he offloads someone or dips into the transfer market this window that will also be his fucking call. SAF will hold on to Berba till he is certain he can’t get much out of him for United. But as long as he believes he can do great stuff for us he will persist. And that is for SAF to judge, not wankers on here. Stop making it sound like SAF is an idiot and you lot are genius judges of football and football players. It was a terrible performance today, and should force SAF to take a look at the squad again, and see what it will take to restore us. And that he will do in the summer, not a knee jerk response in January. And when he makes the call, it will be the right one.
Bottom line: SAF IS NOT AN IDIOT, NO MATTER HOW MUCH PEOPLE ON HERE WOULD LIKE TO THINK! This will hurt him more than any of us on here. And he is the only one who knows how best to deal with it.
GHTT – great idea – exactly the team I was thinking through once you start with Rooney in the middle (although I forgot about Hargreaves)
I think Scholes slotted into midfield earlier than Rooney would do but as even my girlfriend points out, Rooney drops into midfield all the time now anyway because he wants the ball more so he would adjust nicely.
However, in your post you left out one player… (who I think should be our next captain) and who we painfully missed today
Also, with regard to Vidic – we don’t know what is actually happening. If he does want to fuck off however, I think we should have him fuck off in the summer. The last thing I want is unsettled players at the club come the new season.
denton davey
you’d find it hard to find many liverpool fans running down Lucas
and even thou that guy is shit they stand by the guy
Berbatov is world class
Lucas is shit
and for those running unjustly running down a scapegoat in berbatov then a liverpool fan is a better fan than you,
I think Nanis days are justifiably numbered at united and I wear my red tinted glasses with pride but ive very rarely said anything good about him in the last 18 months but a player like berbatov getting the stick he does really is embarrassing to me never mind the “fan” who said it
Anybody else at the game impressed by the atmosphere? I thought it was cracking up until we came to the realisation that the dirty bastards might beat us. There was a moment when most of the ground joined in with a chant of “red army,” which showed just how bad it usually is.
I honestly wish something could be done, such as the reintroduction of terracing.
There was a guy near me who suggested that if our rivals can sell such a big allocation like Leeds did, that we should offer it more often, and vice versa for us at away grounds.
Any suggestions taken onboard by the club would be welcome. Atmosphere at the average game can only get better.
If Vidic came up with some bogus shit to pull out now, I think he should be fined as well – he is as responsible for our loss in that case.
kevinhe
he was alot younger when he made that change but it doesnt mean that it would work
how old was henry when he was moved from the wing to striker
I really cringe now when I see Gary’s name on the teamsheet.. he’s become a massive liability and it pains me to say this but I can’t wait till he retires. We were out-played by a Leeds side that wanted it more than us today. They were first to most balls and won 50-50′s and it is truly worrying to see our lads not find the fire and the creativity needed to overcome this.
What is the answer? A new striker to replace Berbs? A new attacking creative midfielder who actually knows how to find the back of the net? Unlike Gibson who scores 1 in every 20 chances.. granted they are beauties when they go in but his strike rate is just not good enough. I know, he’s young so we’ll gvie him a chance but he needs to know that when he’s given the chance he needs to deliver on a CONSISTENT basis. (As do a bunch of our other players). Ando played well but can’t hit the bloody target let alone score a goal. When he shoots and it doesn’t go out for a throw-in I’m relatively relieved!
Ok Fletch and Carrick are our starting midfield duo as of late so I’m not gonna get into it too much but I still think this season we lack creativity all around the park, we are far too predictable.
I rate Berbs but he’s starting to get on my nerves and he doesn’t do enough for United.. he just doesn’t. Unless this drastically chances then we need to move him on. I think we all agree that our team needs to be built around Rooney and if Berba can’t gel then he has to go.
GHTT – I think he was younger than Rooney (a little) but had started out as a striker as a kid – I’m not sure why he went out wide (like Wellbeck?
good evening, GHTT how you doing mate, berbatovs is your eboue, how many teams in the premier league wouldlike eboue at right back? i think most of them, but he cant play there for us so we play him as the right sided forward on the front 3 or on the left wing,or anywhere but his best position, some people hate him pthers defend him,it will never end the disagreement
Fergie should have more faith in Owen and play him more. The guy has the most sporadic appearance record so fuck having any kind of form and he STILL puts goals away.
Give the guy a chance for fuck sake. HE signed for nothing and only wants to succeed.
How much rope does Berbatov need? The fuck is he trying to establish, a new position type? The CF? Creative Forward?
No doubt he has vision. But we should be lauding the players who pop up in the big games.. not disappear and contribute sweet fuck all.
We desperately need a midfield generalissimo. Fletcher might be it further on but isn’t right now. We need someone to kick ass and take names and actually lead the team or kick it’s ass when it isn’t performing. This patchy run of sporadic iffy losses to nobody sides is very disappointing.
I glad that scott feel the same as us. It’s not about losing, its the performance. From the start of the minutes to the end of the match, we only had 2-3 open chance. Not many shots on goal, poor holding of the ball, poor passing. If the players wants to hold on to the place they got to show more of it. Anderson is the only player that had the desire to try to win the game. Rooney was another but he was all over the place and felt tired when the true moment came. After reviewing so many articles of scott that we need to win against leeds, i guess i am feeling the heat after seeing the team lose the game on the first minute. We had been dreadful on many times this seasons, which is why i keep always wanting Owen to have more playing time than Welbeck!!! Owen came on in the last few minutes of the game and trying to change the game will not always happen. A few times maybe. But he should be bought on more early. He had been missing for a few games and his match fitness is not there yet if he didn’t play. Welbeck had more chances than him recently and yet he could’t hold on to the ball and look like a sissy playing the ball. Wait a few years training before thinking making the grade. No excuse.
Fergie’s fault for playing Welbeck left wing!!! Then Fabio to back him up! Fabio is a great player, but playing too newbies on the left with one out of position was a poor choice.
IMHO i hate when he plays players out of postion just to give them a runout. Like we don’t have enough natural wingers we need to play a striker left wing and then shove him to right wing (where he played much better) The young lad’s a striker give him a chance!!! Remember how shit we were a few years back when he insisted on Smudge in centre mid?
Also Owen should start ahead of Berba. And Obertan is a waste of space. Not sure why he gets positive comments most weeks. Am I the only one that sees it? He is stonewall awful!
It’s nice to see you all sulking! Fairplay to whoever posted this though;
“I think we should give every credit to Leeds today, they simply battled for every ball as if their lives depended on it and showed the superstar prima donnas how to grind out a result against all the odds!, plus no Munich songs!, have the hated Leeds actually moved on?, I for one would rather have them in the premier league than some of the fodder we have to watch game in game out! Well Done Leeds”
Leeds did battle for every ball and harrassed you throughout. You never had time and space and I think that’s where we’ve won this game and Simon Grayson’s tactics have been spot on.
As for Welbeck, I actually though he had a good game but funny how different sets of fans see this differently. When Leeds have been frustrated with Sir Beckford, opposition fans are often puzzled. Welbeck always had players on him, sometimes 2-3, but when he got free and broke at pace he was the most dangerous player on the park.
Anyway, hope this has ruined you year for you. All the best, TSS.
As for Munich songs, the majority of Leeds fans never did sing those songs, it was only ever a minority. The only people who could get tickets today were the ones with season tickets (like me) who attend every game for the football and not for the idiocy. The majority of our fans would never condone such actions and thankfully the crowd was made up of that majority.
I live in America so I’m about 8 hours behind you all in England. So when I turned on my T.V. at 7 o clock this morning to watch this game (turns out it was at 5, not 7, so I didn’t even get to watch it. I’m kind of glad I didn’t get to actually) Super Sunday Plus was on FSC and they were showing highlights of the game. I saw the scoreline and thought it was fucking joke. Or highlights from a game that happened years ago or something. But when the announcers were talking about the game I realized it was todays game (or yesterdays game for those of you in England). All in all it totally ruined my whole day. Just from the highlights I could tell we put in a half ass performance today, or even worse than that. I just can’t believe we lost to fucking Leeds!
Good article Scott. Whether it was fa cup or kick about in the fucking park, we should have won with that team. Whether it’s berba, Rooney, we need someone to pull the team n stamp ourselves on it.
As much as it hurts to lose to Leeds, n lose the hope of quadroples n trebles….we can give the kids the chance to show their metal in the carling n our allow our injury hit squad more time to recover….. The fa cup means a lot, but four in a row, one ahead of the scouse bastards , would more than make up for it! Utd!
@TSS
Enjoy your win
Savour it and then realise that tomorrow morning for one moment Leeds United remembered how it was.
You haven’t ruined our year – the FA cup yes – but not our year – thankfully for us we have bigger fish to fry though admittedly without any grudge you fried us today.
Good luck on keeping your boy Beckford because if he goes then you know your in for a hard time because he is your main man. Wouldn’t it be a shame that for all the joy and happiness that Leeds United have had against Manchester United that Beckford walks?
Anyway like I said it’s your memory to cherish and ours to forget. Congratulations
some of the shit on here about berbatov is absolute is fuckin bollocks, I mean come on give the guy a break. If united fail to win, all of a sudden its berba’s fault, there were another fuckin 10 players on the pitch who failed to get stuck in or create anything. Lets start with WAYNE ROONEY
i think wats holdin the lads back this season
is all the talk about ronaldo fuckin leavin
the papers are makin them think there useless sayin were nothing witout him and tevez? im gutted about the game today cant believe the way we played hopefully we get our act sorted for man shitty on wednesday or were fucked even more !
some of the shit on here about berbatov is absolute fuckin bollocks, I mean come on give the guy a break. If united fail to win, all of a sudden its berba’s fault, there were another fuckin 10 players on the pitch who failed to get stuck in or create anything.Berbatovs lazy, for fuck sake hes a forward he needs to be played through how the fuck is that going to happen when you have no quality around you, welbeck, gibson, anderson, neville all absolute useless who probably cant even make a 5 yard pass. Wayne Rooney didnt exactly have a game to remember either but i dont see anyone slating him, So wayne rooney got angry when we conceded and so he chased down the ball 70yards because he gave it away in the first place to result in a throw in for the opposition it dont make him any better, hes a forward hes meant to score goals. Rooney had 3 decent chances today and failed to take any of them, an effort where he could have headed over the goalkeeper, the one on one with the keeper, and the shot at the end of the game, I dont see anyone saying anything about that. I love wayne rooney hes the fucking business but to jump on berba’s back week in week out is a fucking joke.
P.S think back to rome last year there was no berbatov playing in that game and how shit were we then, who did u blame that time??????????
@MG It’s a total misconception that Beckford is our main man. He’s good, but Snoddy and Johnson are far more important as they run the show.
We’ll get a replacement easily enough. There’s plenty of players as good as Beckford out there that would love the chance to play for Leeds and SG is already looking into it. Becks would be daft to leave in my opinion, but it’s not the same as you losing… let’s say… Ronaldo…
Oh, wait!
PS. Can’t believe the change in attitudes from some of you. From we’re going to beat you 5-0 to the FA Cup’s not a priority in 24 hours is remarkable. Admit it, you hate losing to Leeds whether it’s the League, Cup or whatever. I know I’d be pissed off in reverse roles if a third division side I passionately hated beat us on our own park.
I’m starting to fume at SAF, fucking play Owen… Goal against City and his hat-trick, what does he have to do? I’m sure if he had taken the airshot he’d still be on the bench next 5 games games….
I realise people expect him to be a impact player, but give him a chance 10/15 minutes here and there ain’t going to warm him up….
Owen>Berb>Welbeck I’d rather have goals than lazy flicks, esp when we need goals…
Gibson has Stamina, height and superb “ball striking” but i DON’T think his technique, short passing and vision is very good for the level we play at.
Lose and its Berbatov’s fault. Win and Berbatov’s contribution is but a footnote.
That’s becoming the story of the season. And seriously, that’s not good enough from us. But I also can’t excuse the lack of fight in our team. Maybe Joey Barton was right in saying that the footballers are detached from reality, and all of them should be given reality checks.
And if the team refuses to wake up, I will be brutally honest and say that our chances at no.19 are all but gone. We need to wake up now, and win. We must be relentless and undaunted. And never even use the excuse that ‘We are traditionally stronger in the second half of the season.’ It is not our god-given right to be. Our devils must buck up.
Believe in the cause.
And never even use the excuse that ‘We are traditionally stronger in the second half of the season.’ It is not our god-given right to be.
———————————————————————————————
Spot on
This reminds me of our horrible loss against Southend I think it was, in the carlingcup a few years ago. That game effectivily signalled the end of Alan Smiths and Kieran Richardsons United carreers and I am not saying anyone will be sacked just based on this game alone but to me Welbeck isnt the cutting the right figure. He needs to seriously bulk up and make a stand in duels. He is too lanky and I just wonder if he will make the grade at United. I am in no doubt that Evans and Gibson will eventually, but it just shows how extremely difficult it is to move from reserves to A-team at United. Very few of our current youngsters will I am afraid…
No mention of Giggsy in the artlcle? Is it coz he was absolute cabbage when he came on, and put zero effort in?
Gibson was arguably our best player, but that isnt saying much. Him and Anderson did OK. Valencia did good when he came on too.
Obertan… what is all the fuss, hes shite.
Today we had Rooney, crap, Berbatov, crap, Welbeck, crap, Fabio, crap, Brown, crap, Neville, crap, Owen, crap, Giggs, crap, Obertan, crap.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH VERSUS FUCKING LEEDS
Apologies if this has been posted by anyone, really couldn’t read everything.
Watched the game, regardless of how many of us have already vilified individual players, I think the biggest problem right now is that the team, as a whole, do not have the stomach or the heart for fightbacks.
We just don’t anymore, and I hope that changes, cause that is exactly what made me fall in love with united.
fucking wankers, plain & simple
but seriously, theres plenty of players out on the pitch today who are internationals & they were shit, let the reservesput a better shift against the bitters & teach the likes of rooney, gibson & neville what it means to play for us.
I will also like to add some perspective to what has been a horrible game for us. Remember, Leeds showed up with a belief and passion our players just didn’t match. They believed in the fight to take our scalp and we just rolled over.
I believe mental strength is solely lacking in this team. Where’s the siege mentality, that everyone are against us? We support the team, and I have been defending the team’s performances, but where is the killer instinct, that whoever gets in our way must be crushed?
We can’t count on other teams losing. We must do the job ourselves. And no matter which competition we are in, we are the Devils and we must win or die trying. Lack of that belief, and that makes us worse than Leeds, currently a 3rd-division team.
I’ve said this before, and I will say this again, Welbeck is not good enough. Not fast enough, not strong enough, everytime he plays, he loses the ball very easily. To me, only Fabio, Rooney & Anderson show some spirit, even though they Rooney & Anderson gave the ball away many times, but at least they had some fight about them! Gary Neville is a legend, but that is it, legend is remembered for what they did in the past, and it has passed. Neville couldnt support up front, nor track back to defend, if I were him, I would retire now and push the club to find a successor instead of lying around and let the club have a reason to delay things.
IMO Fabio was the only player who played well, great few tackles for someone so small in frame, he even had a very good curling effort just wide, and even up till the last moments, he was bombing down the flank
I don’t fuckin understand how on Sunday the fairly SAME United side thrashed Wigan, i mean some of the best team work i’ve seen from United this season.. then go on to gettin fucked by Leeds scum. This inconsistency has to be improved, or we should be on the road to win feck all this season. All i know is the team needs a change, a spark. Rooney can’t fukin handle it all by himself!
against wigan we had Valencia from the start. He provided 3 assists that day.
Sorry to say this, but it’s time for SAF to call it a day! He keeps defending players who shouldn’t be playing for Wolves, let alone UNITED
We were fucking awful, end of story. We lacked heart, desire and fight. The team selected should have been good enough but were obviously found wanting on this occassion. It is not as if we were playing premier class players but the scum deserved it. They wanted to go through, it showed and they could have scored more. Fergie needs to keep the so called squad players in the reserves until they are up to it and ready. Orbetan looks promising but it is too early for him. I could go on as no one did well today, but let’s wait and see what happens against the blue half, as some first team players need to redeem themselves and quickly. Going forward we have to buy as there have been too many ordinary performances this year and the rent boys would be way ahead if they had taken their chances. We are lucky to still be in it.
Whenever we have lost this season…… Fletcher has been either out injured, not selected or playing at right back…… Our midfield lacks the energy and drive and the spark when he is not around…… I know Scott that you are a big admirer of Berbatov and I also used to love watching him play at Tottenham…. But somehow it is just not working at United…. He never takes a shot. He never attacks the ball in the box….He waits for it to come to him and no decent defense will allow that….. I could think of at least 10 instances yesterday when someone like LadyBoy or Drogba would have jumped at it….. Rooney looks jaded. He can’t keep doing it alone. Berbatov is also NEVER even near the damn goal. Valencia, a guy who got 3 goals all last season for Wigan has scored more from the right wing……. Also apart from the goal against Sunderland, he walks the ball in. I have never seen him screw a ball in the corner the way RvN or LadyBoy do. We should atleast give Mickey an extended run…..
why couldnt we play every game like we did at chelsea where we played so well ,only for a scum referee to deny us a result anyone else thinks united should change the formation to 4-3-3 like the chelsea game with rooney in the centre and valencia and giggs supporting him on the wings
united4ever
Have you lost your head?
What do you expect SAF to do then, slag his players in public?. He must have given them a good dressing down after the match but he has to defend them as well. The moment he feels a player is not good enough he will get rid of them.
Slagging some of our players is fine to an extent but cant believe people are calling for SAF to be sacked.
Typical Kneejerk reaction from some posters but to say that SAF should go is a step too far.
I didn’t mention it yesterday But Apparently Hulk’s agent claims we are Very intrested in him
@Fred
I have thought about Vidic in the last few days. I don’t think we should make it that easy for him. It’s really pathetic to see what has become of some players today. A few complaints from their wife, pulling out before a game with an unknown injury and we are supposed to sell them? If we let Vidic go now or in the summer, then next season we could have Evra, Kus, Anderson or Park coming up with the same shit in order to leave. Vidic signed to be at the club until 2012 whether he likes it or not. I am not too fond of having an unsettled player at our ranks, but what is he going to do? Score own goals until we sell him?
I guess the more worrying thing in all this is the club and the manager’s silence regarding Vida’s future. Rumors have been raging for a week now and they haven’t done anything to deny them. Neither has Vidic and his agent mind you. And if we do end up selling him for 20, 30 or whatever million, I don’t expect much of it to be invested on players either.
@AIG
Good morning. It was inevitable isn’t it? What many fans might not realise, is that Ferguson might be defending these players because they are the best he can have at the club at the moment. As Fred said, there’s a possibility that the Glazers have him running the club on a very tight budget.
God you guys are fucking Losers!
You win some you lose some
@united4ever
You can go fuck off. If we are this impatient with SAF, we are no better than the fans who just want results and sack the manager when it is the players that aren’t doing so well.
Unless the day comes when SAF thinks of himself as bigger than the club, SAF will have my support.
Leeds showed up and showed belief, passion, and determination to match our players over the park. Be thankful it happened now and not during the PL title run in when this lack of heart and belief could prove fatal, as nearly did happen last season. Now I only pray our players listen and take this lesson to heart.
Costas
Good(?) morning mate
I feel myself that Glazers have got us in some mess with the financial situation. The one question being repeated is where has the money we got from the Ronaldo sale gone and there is no answer to that, i agree SAF said he did not feel like buying because of the inflated prices but i feel his budget was very limited, hence the signings of Obertan and Diouf.If we seriously in trouble with the debt situation they should sell the club and get out.While i dont endorse in signing big money players, the lack of transfer activity despite our visible weaknesses is a bit worrying.SAF has also trusted the likes of Gibson,welbeck,ando and nani and they havent justified his faith in them so far.
@AIG
In my country they say that you should always say good morning no matter what, lol. Thankfully we don’t have too much time to dwell on things. We have 2 tough away games over the next 6 days and the players have a chance to bounce back and prove the critics wrong.
I agree with what you are saying. Maybe Fergie has been forced to stick with players who are injury prone or not that talented because he can’t buy from the top shelf anymore. I have often wondered what would have happened to us if Fergie wasn’t here when the Glazers took over. As far as them selling the club, I wish there was a way for the club to become economically healthy again, but I can’t see how anymore. They bought the club with loans that they dumped on the club. And I don’t see them taking the loans upon themselves. I guess a Chinese consortium or a wealthy Arab could always make an offer, but who would buy 700 million of debts? Just some random thoughts about this. Economics isn’t my strong point.
Costas
Exactly. No one would buy the club now. The glazers have to sort this mess themselves because they are solely responsible for it. Only then will anybody even think of buying the club.
As for Bouncing back, we havent done that exactly of late, have we?. Man City away Carling Cup isnt the sort of game i wanted for us to have a chance to bounce back.Would have preferred if we had a league game. Saying that i feel some of our players need a rest especially Berbatov and Rooney as they played 3 games in 7 days now.
It is a point for debate but i stand by what i said, play all the young lads on wed, even if we go out, its no big deal. Let us concentrate on the main prize which is the league. No senior apart from possibly scholes and Brown should start on Wednesday. Give the likes of Gill, tosic a chance.Lets see what they can do
My team would be
Foster
Neville Brown Gill Fabio
Obertan Scholes/gibson anderson Tosic
Welbeck owen
well….what can i say more …quiet summed up …..
In Fergie i Thrust thro thick and thin but FERGIE……..YOU MUST REPAY THIS TRUST this is not just a defeat……Leeds Scum played with Heart and Wanted to win
We’ve got some primadonnas who don’t care about the red shirt and just go back home in their luxury homes with their precious cars or go and have a good time with a WAG ………
give them league one wages until they start performing like real Premiership stars
AIG
No we haven’t bounced back. Not when a derby game is on the horizon anyway. I just hope that yesterday wasa a wake up call for some players that no team will lay down for them. And they know that on Wednesday, City are waiting for us like lambs to the slaughter. It’s tough to say who can play right now, but I agree that we better save Rooney and Berbatov for St Andrews. And I don’t see Danny starting again. I think it will be a mixture of players. Here’s my guess:
Foster-Rafael,Brown,Evans,Evra-Valencia,Fletcher,Scholes,Anderson,Park-Owen.
I think he will go with 4-5-1 and I wouldn’t be surprised if somehow Nani came back to the fold. Or maybe it’s wishful thinking…
@aig hi mate i think you are right. Recent events clearly show that we are having a big problem financially. And i think i can see through the smokescreen now.. very sad..
i would pay off 700m of debt if i am as wealthy as Roman lol.. because i know the club can generate a lot more if we got rid of the financial prob..
What makes the defeat worse is that i leaves us with this dilemma on who to pick for wednesday’s game against City. Whilst the league is obviously the priority, i don’t want to see City win a trophy this season either., so we need to play a strong team if we want a chance.
Kuzszsak
Rafael, Brown, Evans, Evra
Valencia, Fletcher, Scholes, Carrick, Park
Owen
why why why??? omg leeds beatus at OT…some more not just some random lucky goal…they deserve to win…what happen guys…
@Costas
Could happen mate. Now that the FA Cup is out of the equation and we have got so far in the carling cup, SAF may change his plans as he had earlier said the kids would play in the Carling Cup and play a stronger side.
Remember reading what you said yesterday that you couldnt see us winning the FA Cup, what are your thoughts on the Champions League?. i am not too confident about that one too.
Cantona7
Exactly.we have won so much in these last 3 years, get so much money from selling our merchandise and tickets,where has all that money gone?. We havent spent too much on transfers as all has been balanced by the selling of Ronaldo so i cant see where the money is going plus the debts are still rising rather than reducing. Puzzling one that
Costas, aig alex is god – hi guys. i don’t find the Carling Cup that important and i agree with aig on the issue. i don’t care if its City or Liverpool. the league is important to us and we have it in us to win it i believe.
Scott summed up perfectly the Berba issue for my liking. i haven’t often seen him that irritated but stats don’t show the whole picture. it is plane stupid to judge the player only on the stats. he hasn’t been perfect for us but i still beleive it is a matter of figuring out how to use him. anyway we have a job on our hands and we are shorter of games after the FA Cup dismissal.
There are a lot of comments here that are uncalled for – SAF should remain in charge as he’s the best.
The truth is that our team isn’t good enough – if Rooney has an ‘off’ day, the team struggles to raise their game.
We were poor all over the park including Rooney.
Previous to this season, we have had Ronaldo for a few years – as much as it pains me to say this, we REALLY MISS HIM.
He was the player who could score or find a pass etc when we were playing shit – we never replaced him and despite getting Valencia (who I think is great), we haven’t got anyone close the Ronaldo’s standards.
Another thought – what the hell do we do if Rooney gets injured? Arsenal had Van Persie and Fabregas out yesterday but still turned it around.
We need to get TOP QUALITY in – like it or not, we are nowhere near the same without Ronaldo.
Fans calling for Fergie to go????? Jesus christ lets have a reality check – We have won the league three years in a row, two European cup finals and currentley second on the league by two points!
All teams go through transitions and do so at a cost, look at Arsenal. We have been through our worst period in years and look where we still are!
ITS TIME TO GET BEHIND THE TEAM, WE PLAY CITY ON WEDNESDAY IN A SEMI FINAL!!!!!
Don’t want City to win the Carling Cup ? Much more than us wining the league ? Not a great idea. Let the Carling Cup be the only thing they win in 30+ years. Cheer up City! Tevez scores a decisive goal ? I DON’T CARE.
@united4ever
haha damn funny…u surely start to follow united since 2007/2008…go and learn from the guys how start to question SAF credibility in trophyless season 2004/2005…
I suppose that the people who want SAF to go, would suggest getting someone like Benitez! Get real. Fergie is the greatest manager that’s ever lived on this planet. Teams sometimes lose, sometimes win, and in United’s case, they win most of the times. It was an off-day. We will bounce back and WE’LL NEVER DIE.
@AIG
Not too confident about the Ch.League either mate. For many reasons. Our injury problems in defence(with which we can get away with in England), Real’s obsession with winning it in their back yard and the fact that one of our most importat players in last season’s Ch.League campaign isn’t with us anymore. At the start of the season, I said that I would be a very happy fan if we just won the title. Now granted, it’s not always nice to bow out of competitions at the start, because as Fergie said in the past, players like to play more games and get challenged to win more trophies. Anyway, I think there is a big possibility that we will only have the league to focus on in April and May. That wouldn’t be all bad considering how stretched the team has been the last 3 seasons.
@Corea
Good morning. It’s obviously more important to win the league. And honestly, at some point City will win a trophy. However, I think it’s a matter of pride now too. I think you, I, AIG and others who live outside England are very passionate about United, but we might not realise fully how much United fans living in Manchester are hurting today. So maybe Ferguson will feel that he doesn’t want a similar embarassment on Wednesday. Without a doubt though, the league is more important.
Costas –
“but we might not realise fully how much United fans living in Manchester are hurting today”
without doubt. but i hope/think they are pretty much reasonable. it’s hard to say though so we have to count my post as a personal opinion.
Good morning all.
Fucking shameful!! this team had no passion, no work ethic, no creativity and no skill!! these players should know that games against the scum mean a fucking lot to the fans no matter what the competition is!! Neville should only ever pull on a Utd shirt for the fucking reserves coz he is past it, full stop!! Oberton and Berba need to learn how to get stuck in and stop pussying about, Owen needs to learn how to fucking hit the ball properly forget about fucking scoring, to many miss hits when he does get on the pitch and some are saying he should play from the start!! give your fucking head a wobble!! Gibson although a good talent is sometimes a complete waste of fucking time, and Ando wasnt to much better in the first half, but then when Ando does start getting going he gets fucking subbed!! Rooney for all his hard work couldnt hit a barn fucking door today and Berba was a no show again. Its blindingly obvious now that we certainly need a good striker just to fucking give Berba a kick up the arse coz to be honest he shouldnt be first choice, he knows he is getting a start and it shows in his piss poor displays too often. And maybe one or 2 more signingsto boot, I have been happy to see what the lads we had could do and had faith but Im sick of second rate performances now!!
As for the fucking debt issue, there is one simple way for the Glazers to sort this mess out if they dont want to sell up completely, take us back to being a PLC and float some fucking shares, it would at least clear the fucking debts if not more!! Something needs to give and quickly coz Im not buying this SAF doesnt think we need to buy bollocks, unless he has lost the plot and simply cant see the wood for the fucking trees!! that is something I just cant believe at all!!
well it hurt me real bad. although i am not English. cant imagine how it hurts pure manc supporters.. Leeds is my second most hated club, after Liverpool.
I’ve read most comments and one thing noone seems to realise Rooney is never gona be the no.1 player in the world i dont like talking bout him but ronaldo would’ve grabbed that game by the scruff straight away rooney cant seem to do that with regulararity…. kaka messi ronaldo fabregas i hate to mention these but gerrard and drogba all can drive there teams week in week out and get their teams over the winning line we dont have that anymore……… hope hargreaves hurries the fuck up
Costas
You are right. Leeds are a very unknown club in India and i have never come across a leeds or Man City supporter ever in India.Got some stick from my Liverpool,chelsea and Arsenal friends but thats fine.No one really knows about the rivalary between United and Leeds so i escaped a bit lightly
Does anyone think some of our youngsters are not good enough?. Dont want make judgements, but just asking.I have doubts about a few of them
Looking at Arsenal game yesterday i felt we missed a big one in Ramsey. The lad will rule the Premier league for years to come
We should stop singing…
“this is how it feels to be citeh…”
I can tell you it really hurts on the few ocassions we are actually made to feel like them by such gutless performances by our players… and these ocassions are getting more frequent by the day..
@ AIG alex is god
what part of India are you?
I also read somewhere about you missing out on going to Europe becoz of your management exams in November?
Are you preparing for CAT or XAT or those kinda stuff?
Your posts are quite well-reasoned out for a young lad…
Your situation reminds me of myself some time back…although the reason for my missing out was a slightly different one..
@AIG
I think we have some really good young players but I think they buy into the hype when they have a good game and think they just have to show up to win and sometimes dont have that fight in them to pull out a result. They should all be sat watching Giggs DVDs on how to be consistent from the age of 16!! He had games where he wasnt amazing but he fucking worked hard and thats what some of these lads need to learn and quickly!!
Ramsey is a good little player but to have the chance to join Utd and turn it down when you are supposed to be a life long fan, for me as a fully bred mancunian and life long fan it is a fucking disgrace!!
i still cant get over that result because it has finally shown me that the current bunch of players bar 5 or 6 are either not good enough or too old. it says alot when we are still relying on 35 year old ryan giggs to get us out of trouble. there is a serious lack of electric pace thrughout the side and i also feel that there is a lack of leadership. i have had enough of vidic and the constant rumours about his future, if he does not want to play for manchester united he should fuck right off. berbatov is fergusons worst signing bar none. 30 fucking million for a nice first touch! the man is a disgrace to the men who have worn that number nine shirt over the years, i dont understand how some people on here can still defend him after his displays over the last season. i really hope that ferguson was not lying to us when he said that the ronaldo money was there to spend but i think that the money is already gone. the glazers should fuck off and die, how they were ever allowed to put our club into hundereds of milions of debt with no realistic way of repaying it except for raising ticket prices and player sales. if fergie has no money to spend we are in the shit big time. this season we will more then likely get into the champions league but next season could be very painfull. the way its going in england now ourselves liverpool, and chelsea could be left behind the likes of barca madrid and as much as i hate to say it city. i hope that we are not entring a dark period like the 70s but i fear we may be. i have always trusted ferguson to get us out of any mess but i fear his hands are tied on this one.
Red Devil
I Live in Mumbai(Bombay).
I was going to go to the UK in May and was going to watch our final home game. First time i was going to get a chance and it has been my dream to go to OT and watch United play. However due the work burden being excess in that time and additional work coming in that period i had to cancel it.
November was the other option as to reschedule the trip as we celebrate Diwali festival that time and have a week’s holiday. However i just finished my graduation in Apr 2009 and am planning to give my management exams this year. I am working just to gain experience so that i will help me later when i do my MBA.The MBA exams are in the last week of November and first week of december( its an online exam now) so i will have have to concentrate solely on my studies that time.
I say GET RID OF THE FUCKING GLAZERS!
Gee
exactly. The talent is there for all to see,but the likes of Kiko, Welbeck,nani,Anderson and even Gibson havent lived up to the expectations. Kiko hasnt been able to replicate his performances of last season. Same for Welbeck who looked great last season and scored a few screamers against Stoke and Derby in the FA Cup.Anderson has been good but way too inconsistent and cannot shoot to save his life.Gibson can shoot very well but has to pass,tackle better.The young lads have to improve and improve fast. The comparision with the ‘Golden Generation’ of Becks,scholes,giggs,neville will always be there, so the lads will have to get used to that and justify SAF’s belief in them.
I went to this game North Stand Tier 1 the expensive seats as couldn’t get a ticket elsewhere. This area was surrounded by leads scum with nobody saying or doing fuck all. The crowd was just as pathetic as the team and this has to be the worst result in the clubs history. Thank gos there’s another game on Wednesday. In the past 2 years when there’s a derby game that REALLY matters to the fans the players don’t give a fuck.
What are these stories about Vidic’s misterious injury and not wanting to play. If true, we should tell him to fuck off.
hehe hello everyone… welcome to football reality – we’ve been living in the dream world for the past few years, but in a strange way I love this uncertainty (!) wonder which United will turn up in the next game..
Spot on Rooney22 get rid of the Glazers…in operation Cantona style for those that have seen Looking For Eric.
It took SAF 5 years to build a dynasty for the Glazers to dismantle bit by bit.So now we dont by players we pay interest on a loan the gimps could not afford. They are a disgrace.
Scott – some good points there and some good observations by the regulars.
This is my first post, which feel compelled to pen due to the current situation.
Fergie, baffling team selections! Two right footers on the left, why play a young kid who is a striker on the left wing? The position is alien to him so of course he will play cack.
The No2, What input? Mike Phelan and Rene Meulensteen do they ever tell Fergie his line-up is pants and the subs are daft too? Example sub Ando and not Gibbo? WTF?!!! Queiroz told Fergie not to bring O’shea on in the champs league final and bring Ando on as he can take a pen. This is what a strategic thinker does, we need No2 to assit Fergies man-mangement. Phelan/Meulensteen are good coaches not strategic thinkers.
The Performances, last year we were average. Lets be honest we played well in a handful of games and got by due to our ability to defend 1-0 leads. After selling Ronnie we were always going to be in transistional season (we have no divine right to win the PL every year) so i can accept this.
The Players, Wellbeck/Gibbo will not make the grade. Too many squad players – Park, Owen, Valencia, Carrick, Brown and Oshea. All good but not great. Rio – King of Bling needs a wake up call. Vida wants out especially after the Serbian debarcle (treatment of Tosic and Ljajić). We need a keeper all three of ours are not good enough to be No1 next season. Nev must hang up his boots in the summer. Rooney needs to play second striker. Nani needs to be sold, Giggs and Scholes need to be used correctly and have another season left in them. Berbatov – what can i say, great player wrong club. Slows the attack down (ala Ruud) and is never on the end of anything in the box? What price now? Player of the season between Evra and Fletcher.
The Captaincy, who is the fooking captain? Give it to one player who plays and stick with him.
Hargreaves – Get back in the middle of the park with Fletch.
Signings/Formation – 4-4-2, We need the above in the middle and either Obertan and Valencia deliver or we buy. Need a new forward too.
End of thoughts, depressed and suffering abuse from Leeds fans.
I’ve only just found the strength to comment on this disaster. This was bad. Almost as bad as getting stuffed by the Scouse last March. Bad.
@ mags the red – How do you suppose we get rid of the Glazers? How many of the fans will put their money where their mouth is. Its all well and good saying get rid of them but you really need to propose something original. Until a consortium is set up or a billionaire United fans buys the club we are stuck with them and have to live with it. Anybody who applies for tickets to Old Trafford avoid North Stand Tier 1 fucking neutral end full of away fans. Haven’t read all the posts anyone else on here that went?
hmm interesting… don’t think the Glazers are going away anytime soon, these Americans just don’t go, we can see that with another famous team..
wonder what this Cantona style is, lets go for it!
Basically about 200 of us swarm their house and keep smashing shit till they sign the club over to us. I think we’ll need more like 10,000 to get into Fort Glazer but if anything like that happens count me in.
WAS WRKING BUT MANAGED TO WATCH MATCH IN PARTS SO CANT GIVE A HONEST ASSESMENT BUT WHEN U SEE SOME MIDDLE AGED BIRD SAYING THAT”MR FERGUSON SHOULD GO AND HAS MADE A MESS OF THINGS” THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL THOSE OF US IN THE KNOW THE END WILL COME SOME TIME SOON WE MIGHT GET RID OF SOME OF THE SOFT FANS WHO DONT UNDERSTAND THE REAL REASON FOR BEING A RED VIVRE LA REVOLOUTION IN FERGIE WE TRUST
well one day on and still feeling dejected. But the idiot fools calling for sir alex’s head, grow up get a life and have a look at our clubs history to get bit of understanding what fergie has done for us. Berba’s a united player so he still gets my backing even though he’s frustrating because i know he’s better than how he’s played for us. A transfer fee isn’t indicative of how good a player is, it’s a sign of how much a club thinks he’s worth. The vidic rumours worry me because they are just that rumours. Don’t forget he’s been injured recently, and you can get little complications afterwards. If he was angling for a move, he seems to me to be the sort to tell the manager directly. The rumours of his wife not liking manchester started bout two yrs ago through article in men that vidic denied at the time. He knows he’s on to a good thing at our club. The players will be getting their arses ragged this morning and deservedly so. The senior players needed to stand up to be counted yesterday. And it confuses me ppl think that was a first team side yesterday. Defenders coming back from injury, gibson’s hardly first team player yet, obertan still finding feet, welbeck out of position. Yet still, that team should of been good enough to get a result regardless and didn’t. Well done to leeds who harried well and took their chance. Onwards and upwards, shitty on wed so chance of redemption hopefully coz ain’t half getting some stick off bluenoses at minute
Rooney worked so hard in the first half. Shame his frustration showed in the second but the desire of Rooney is something any club would love to have. But he can still play better than that.
Obertan is still a long way from being where we want him to be but I can see so much potential in him. His pace is fantastic.
Valencia was good when he came on. Shame the strikers didn’t have their finishing boots on.
Anderson worked hard but can do better.
Gibson is awful. I reckon if we had managed to sign Ramsey a few years ago, Gibson wouldn’t even be here.
Berbatov summed up why I have a problem with him. And don’t even get me started at his moaning at Valencia who had done more in the time he was on, than Berbatov had done all game. As for his laziness at getting on the end of Welbeck’s cross, that sums him up really.
Everybody please relax. Scott that was a great post one could not express any better our diappointment at the lack of spirit in the squad. I suggest e view it as a bad day and forget about it.
Think of the bright side. As the focus should be on the PL and the CL there will be additional days of rest when everybody battles for the FA Cup. The FA Cup and the Carling Cup are way past it as competitions in today’s football. Way past it.
The squad shoud be given a bollocking and a serious one that is though.
for those of you who want the glazers to go please join
http://www.joinmust.org/
It is the independent Manchester United Supporters Trust.
Hey, here’s a silver lining:
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1187971_van_der_sar_set_to_return
First and foremost, I am very pleased to hear that his wife is revovering well. Secondly, and I have never hidden it, I only feel safe with him between the sticks.
Dk – All due respect mate but it was leads not Gillingham or even Notts County. If we lost to any other team in league 1 I could live with that but those sheep shagging cunts from yorkshire have got one over us and the only way we can match this result if leads get really good or we get really shit. Neither will happen (I Hope)!. Either way between now and the end I won’t get carried away about results. Game vs bitter blues may be the perfect tonic but not if the same lack of desire is displayed by the players. I’ll take your advice I did know some leads fans (after yesterday those guys can fuck off) and I rarely get this annoyed about defeats but I feel I’m entitled to especially as there was loads of these vermin spread arounf the HOME section. Yet more proof how little the club cares about its fans.
Scott what i want to know is why before every fukin big game u have to always be an arrogant prick and say we are gonna smash up the oppostion??? U always talk before the game but u should start talking afterwards! Was a shocking prformance from the lads! Fergie like always played the complete wrong team in a must win game for us!!! For me Darron Gibson is on another level of shite!!! Terrible performance from him and in my opinion he should never be in the first team!! Welbeck was also shocking! Where is KIKO??? Nevile is nearly finished although he was alright yesterday. give shitty a drubbing and show the world what we are really made of!!!!! WE WILL NEVER DIE UNITED 4 LIFE!
Scott i have to disagree with you on Berbatov case. I support Berbatov at the start of the season but having only performance less than 10 matches of brilliant or good game, i am starting to lose faith in him. We need players who can score goals or have threats when having the ball. Nani been slate by fans for being inconsistent. But if you ask any players from the opposition which player they fear playing against, they could freely tell you it’s Nani and not Berbatov. What i mean is not skills or tricks but rather threats. Berbatov show only brilliant occasionally and had no effort on goal. We had no threats on goal and we keep depend on Rooney for help. Trust me, Rooney will be burnt out. If we take Rooney out of the squad, I have no faith in Berbatov to score goals and i can’t remember any goal he score without Rooney in the match. We can’t always give him so much chances and games when he is not performing. I have always support Nani and yet he too was disappointing. Why was he not given more chances this season apart from injury? If people wants to give more chance to Berbatov, why not give Nani more chance? Just because Nani had one more season than Berbatov?
I am glad i didnt watch the match!!!Disgraceful is the best word to describe our performances of late.What i find irritating the most is not the defeat but the lack of honesty on the part of the management.I dunno why fergie comes out saying that there will be no more spending as there is no “value”?? If we dont have the money to buy say it straight. Lets face it when we wanted players before we used to go and get them no matter what the cost…Ferdinand,Rooney,Berbatov,Veron to name a few. So what has suddenly changed??? Everytime there is a bad performance we see the same “off day”comments from the manager.BUT how many off days can we afford to have???The club needs to be honest with the fans.Right from the Tevez saga,Ronaldo transfer saga,Ljajic fuckup,Hargos return date.There have beens loads of issues on which the fans are told something and the exact opposite is proved true.I understand United is more a business now but it would not hurt the club to be more honest with the fans.And as far as value of payers go ,I am afraid as long as City,Real Chelsea and Barca are ready to spend the kind of money the values are going to be ridiculously high.So if we need to compete with these clubs for players then we need to be able to match their spending power.Like it or not these prices are here to stay.It has always been like this.Was Ronnie worth 80m?If he was then surely Ribery is worth 50m at least. As far as players go Red Nev and Scholes need to retire…It pains me to see them struggle like this.Let this not tarnish our memories of their great service to the club.Giggs still has about 15 matches a season left in him and needs to be used very carefully.But the problem is everytime the team is in trouble the only other person apart from Rooney who seems capable of doing making something happen seems to be Giggs.
Berbatov needs more competition for his place in the starting line-up.And Owen is not that player.
GIbson still is not United quality.But will surely get there in a season or two.
Obertan is too raw at the moment and can be used as an impact sub in the last 15 to 20 mins of games.
Nani…well he has not been any worse than some our other players .He deserves more chances.(continous ones)
Evans,Da silvas,Ando are the future of united.
Kiko…i can not belive some people in this site are complaining about this kid.He has hadly got any chances this year and the few matches he has played he has shown great maturity.He is defenitely on his way to the big league.
Welbeck will not make it at united(and this is partly due to him being played at the wing by SAF) Rate Macheda higher than him.
Taken me a day to calm down to be able to write anything without **** all the way through it.
Is horsewhipping allowed? Coz each and everyone of those fuckers need it.
Jesus christ Wes Brown!!! what the fuck were you doing all game. His defending was shambollocks. Time after time he let the ball bounce allowed that little fucker to get in front of him. Should have cleaned him out 1st couple of minutes.
Gary Neville showed today that this was his 1st game in what about 10 years. Pure shit all day long.
Gibson can pass and shoot. Can’t and never could run or tackle. Watched him in youth teams and reserves always the same.
Obertan was clueless today. Didn’t know what the fuck he was supposed to be doing. Didn’t beat anyone or create anything.
Wellbeck – centreforward playing wide! Even so you would expect him to be able to pass and trap a ball neither of which he seems able to do.
And Fuck me BERBA!!! £30 million flushed down the drain. I thought he was shit in germany years ago and thought Spurs had wasted their money. But changed my mind watching him for spurs. Fuck me he is back to his old ways of not giving a fuck. Couldn’t be bothered to run. There were rumours that he needed a knee op. Well he fucking plays like he needs one.
Games like this and the shit I have to take from all those fucking ABUs just makes me love for this club harder stronger.
So come wednesday get fucking stuck into those blue bastards.
COME ON YE REDS
Maci – Arrogant prick?
Before the game, in my pre-match review, I wrote: “The general feeling before this game is that we’re going out for a mauling. This attitude would be fair enough if we were playing our first team, given the bashing we’ve just given Premiership side Wigan, but it won’t be our first team today and it’s no holds barred.”
How the fuck is that arrogant??
I suggest you shouldn’t talk before or after a match. You would embarrass yourself less that way.
There are some retards on here. Jesus.
Berbatov played ok and ribbing him isnt entirely fair. He hasn’t performed to the levels of a Cantona but you have to ask the question who are the players around him. Cantona neat throughballs were met by the likes of big time player Hughes and Goal machine Cole. Behind him was the off the ball running of a young Giggs, a dominant Roy Keane and the ever dangerous Scholes, o and yeah David Beckham. Berbatovs efforts (and they came a plenty against Leeds) were met by blaster Rooney, cant keep on my feet Wellbeck (who in my opinion is the new Frazier Campbell or Nardiello). The stationary Darron Gibson the ludicrous Obertan, not to forget the headless chicken that can describe the runs and direction of Andersons play at times. People out their calling for Tevez are just daft, Tevez ran around, made a nuisance, lost the ball won it back but we have that player hes called Rooney. Rooney never misses a match and if hes not fit theres always Anderson and Park. Tevez was surpless to requirement. Tevez was not a goal machine, he would never be a number 10 and at best can be described as a third striker. Given the choice with hindsight I’d still go for Berbatov over Tevez.
For Berbatovs defence you have to consider the players around him, honestly if you had Cantona playing today (as a 27 year old) with the stagnat play around him, the lack of a recognised 30 goal machine ahead of him and the defences of todays premier League, all of you would be shouting about what a waste of time he is.
As for signing David Villa, you must be fucking joking. The spanish League is slower than the premier league, it would take him a year to adjust. Torres was a special case and you cant compare because Athletico played him as a winger for the most part. Villa is in his late 20′s, hell cost 40 million plus and youd get no return on a sell on fee later. Hed play a max of 4 years at a whopping 10 million plus wages. That is fucking rediculous. If the Glazers did that Id be pissed at them. Why dont the fans out there stop slating and try and come up with ideas about who should be brought in, instead of just saying who isnt good enough. And dont pick tried and tested 30 year old superstars who cost 40 million.
I chose Kerlon.
Danny Welbeck has been poor too many times to be forgiven, youngster or not. He isn’t good enough for united. Poor performance from Gary, agreed that he has been poor this season. Despite the unfamiliarity of the side, we had enough in the locker to spank Leeds. Gibson and Welbeckwill never be regulars in the side, because they arent good enough.
G’day all
Chin up
We’re all still here – only lost a game all be it that we didn’t turn up
All the non believers are out of the woodwork:
Vidic going – Sir Alex lost – Sir Alex going to be charged by FA for his comments (which were out of line but there you go – we still would never have scored even if the game had been playing until Monday morning!) Sir Alex loosing his grip – Manchester United in disbelief – Manchester United falling apart – Manchester United in debt (always comes up when we loose – wonder why?) – Can’t afford no players – can’t buy no players – Manchester United loosing records – Manchester United this and that and blah blah blah.
Please let me indulge you all
If Vidic is going – SAF says so. If he isn’t buckle up. At the moment it’s bullshit and all talk. Let time move on so that we’ll know what the score is – why the panic?
We lost a game – get a fucking grip of yourselves – not the end of the world. We’ll loose more – get ready to grip yourselves more – we sound like fucking Liverpool supporters – please let them do the delusion talk – we are fine – have problems all be it but are fine.
No FA cup for another year is this morning’s tag line.
Listen Ladies and Gentleman – still in the premiership – in the CL S/F of the CC – let time heal – hold on then.
Sir Alex always looses the plot – even when he’s winning – correct? Even after all what we’ve done – Arsenal play the better football – Chelsea are odds on to win the premiership (have been for the last three years may I add – get my drift?) – Liverpool will challenge MUFC.
Get it – do you guys get it? Chelsea are playing shit in the PL yet the press believe they are going to win – just like they did last year with Liverpool – the year before with Arsenal – the year before when Mourinho would buckle up and overtake United – yes thanks for the bullshit non believers.
Fuck off
Listen – Leeds have rolled back the years – they are back is today’s press crap – Leeds have saved the FA cup – Leeds have taught United a lesson.
Fuck off – Leeds are in which division?
Leeds are in what S/F cup?
Leeds are challenging for which league?
Leeds are in which CL?
Leeds won one match and they are about to beat MUFC to the whole lot – go fuck off and enjoy your delusion – when Leeds are that good then we’ll talk
Manchester United have played bad this season. That has nothing to do with the debt – but the team itself. However it’s time for the Glazer’s to either do something about the debt or fuck off and let this club be run for what it’s worth – best in the world without no attachments. The talk is unsettling the club and they should be aware of it.
Anybody who has a go at the gaffer – Fuck off – did anyone who disagrees with him see how worked up he was yesterday?
We have no money – Fuck off – it’s up to the manager to buy who he wants – if players don’t want to stay – or don’t want to come – then they can fuck off – this shirt is sacred.
To those that mock the youth – fuck off. Youth Courage Success. This club is built on the foundation of youth from Sir Matt. We mourn the Babes because of there youth – because of the unfulfilled promise of that youth that was taken away from this club and these MUFC supporters in that tragedy in 58. Go fuck yourselves if you believe in buying the best to win. If you want to be glory hunters go fuck off and support City, or Chelsea, or Real Madrid. Manchester United should never abandon youth in the search for success. In years to come Danny Wellbeck – Obertan – Macheda etc will be the corner stones of this club and all those that disagree can close the door on your way out. Look at there ages for crying out loud.
We lost a game. We lost another game. We still had chances just like in all those other games we have lost to draw let alone win and we didn’t. The players should take responsibility – they get paid – get pampered – get looked after – to be at this club. If they have any inkling of what we feel – what the gaffer feels – then they’ll make it up from here to May.
United do not have a right to win. If they don’t win then they have a right to go down fighting for what it’s worth. At the end that’s all what I want from them.
I love my club. I will never abandon it nor forsake it nor will I ever follow another. Please do not let anyone make you think otherwise. They hate us when we win – they hate us further when we loose. Why do we begin to fall into there traps?
GoatinaUnitedShirtThrowinguponmyLawnisthataGun,NoGoatNoooooooo-Bang
I go for hernanes. Still puzzled as to why no team has gone for him. very talented player.Agree though,no point spending on players in their late 20s, we must target players around the 24-26 year old mark who can make an instant impact like Arshavin did for Arsenal, we cant buy players who will take time to develop, we have plenty of them already
@MG
I agree with most of what you say.But we cannot ignore the fact that since the glazer takeover the club is slowly losing everything it stood for.I am sure Sir Matt would be extremely disappointed at the way the club is being run now.This is not a oneoff reaction to a loss to leeds.But think about it how often do we seem to be content with mediocre performances as long as we get the right result?That is not what this club is about.Machester United has always been about playing swashbuckling attacking football.Nowadays all i get when i visit this site after a match is “Not a great performance but happy we got the 3 points” Enough!!! This kind of football is not what this glorious football club deserves.
PS:I was just watching videos of the 94 team.(never had the privilege of seeing them live) That was a proper attacking football team.The Speed and Ferocity of attack of that team is unbelievable.
well said scott my sentiments exactly !! so depressed today, still we can put it right on wed. and its not to long before we can cheer them on again .
dont know what on earth the selection is going to be though.
keep writing scott your doing a great job and when this happens it always gives cheer to my heart!!!!
phil c
I hate the result. I wonder if this is just “one of those days”. I bet Fergie has hair-dried his players now. That game reminds me of the horror in the Champions League final in Rome. Now I keep pondering if have we gone weaker without Ronaldo. And if should we buy players on the transfer window.
Berba was not vicious enough in attacks. He was an easy target for the Leeds. Roo was really a lot below the par, but he was really trying hard to get a goal. Valencia had no support on the wings. Well, kudos to Leeds for playing stringent defense.
But I believe these kind of losses will make us stronger, in England, and Europe. Glory glory man utd!!!
That match was so frustrating. I thought our Midfield was just not good enough. Gibson had some good runs on the ball but he lacked any penetration. Anderson needs to play the ball on the carpet more rather than his disappointing up and over passes. I felt like we needed a much more battling midfielder such as Fletcher to tighten up our midfield. Welbeck was just disappointing. His touch is so heavy. Our strikers also need to hone their finishing skills because too many times this season we’ve been blunt in front of goal. All in all, we were just disappointing. We’ve been far too inconsistent this season.
Just a pathetic performance, not much else can be said.
Out of all the players the only ones I thought did well were Valencia and Evans. Valencia actually offered a threat whilst Evans was solid all match, winning every header and pretty much not putting a foot wrong.
Kuszack – There is not a cat in hells chance he will end up being the VDS replacement. He pulls off the occasional top save but his distribution is poor, doesn’t really have a strong presence and is too hesitant.
Neville – He is just simply not good enough anymore, any slight quality or pace in his opponent and he’s fucked. What pissed me off again was how he had the perfect opportunity to put the ball in first time but instead doesn’t and then makes Obertan look like a twat.
Brown – Few good crunching tackles but lucky in some regard to stay on the pitch. Made it way to easy for Beckford, too often he’d either let the ball bounce or just let Beckford in front of him and then concede a foul. He needs to stop attempting these long balls as well, happens regularly each game and rarely does it reach the target.
Fabio – Still young and inexperienced, had an ok game but still a lot to work on. His final ball was weak a majority of the time but he did show promise.
Obertan – Still showing his lack of experience and trying to find his feet. Would like to see him run more at the defenders, got the pace to do it but seems reluctant, often cuts inside or plays it back. I like his passing though, always seems to be able to pick out a crisp pass forward to Rooney etc.
Gibson – I don’t think he was really that bad, what he did he did ok, he just didn’t impose himself on the game or get involved enough (pretty much how Carrick was like at the start of the season). Jury still out on him to be fair, needs to start showing more if he is to make it.
Anderson – Was ok, pretty much the same as Gibson but had more battle in him. His shooting is still abysmal, how the fuck he’s still so bad at shooting is beyond me. Between the two we pretty much had no creativity or hold on the midfield.
Welbeck – I guess his shite performance can be put down to age but of what i’ve seen from him this season it’s been pretty much consistently bad. He’s too greedy for starters, needs to learn to play the right ball, touch and passing both let him down at times. Still a lot to learn if he’s ever going to make it, I’d like to see him play in his natural position upfront rather than the wing though.
Berbatov – For a long time now when people have slated him I’ve always had faith and stuck up for him. This is gradually going though. I really really do want him to become a hero at United but I don’t think it will ever happen, him and Rooney are never going to forge a great partnership. Pisses me off when he starts flapping his arms about when a pass goes 3 yards to the side of him. Offered little throughout the match again, didn’t impose himself or offer any fight. He does some exquisite flicks and passes at times but for £30.75m I expect a lot fucking more. I think the most frustrating thing about him is how he just trots down the pitch to get in the box, he’ll do a nice pass but then offers little or no backup in the box where is he needed and supposed to be. So often he could sprint into the box or make a run which could make so much difference but he just doesn’t. Needs to improve him game pronto or I don’t think Fergie will continue to have faith in him.
Rooney – Didn’t have a bad game by any means, plenty of determination and fight, excellent control and passing (most of the time) as per usual but his long distance shooting seems to have got a bit AWOL recently. Always seems to go for placement rather than power which I’d like to see more of considering his shot.
Giggs & Owen – Both did nothing really, Giggs seemed to lol about on the ball too much. Not sure what happened with Owen’s big chance, lack of first team football or confidence I don’t know. Got to have some sympathy for him though, he scores a hat-trick then barely gets a lookin in the next few games. Whenever he’s played I’ve never thought he’s had a shocker, people expect him to have an impact everytime he comes on though, with 15 mins here and there it’s hard to gain any sort of consistency and rhythm.
Another thing that’s doing my nut is Fergie, his Ref / time excuses are becoming a joke. What the fuck would an additional minute or two have done? We could barely create a good chance in 90 mins. Needs to stop coming out with all this bollocks and look at the real picture, it’s either been Fergie’s tactics / selection or a shite team performance that has let us down.
Anyway rant over. Short term solution, follow through with his comments and wield the axe. Would like to see Carrick back in for Weds as he seems to be playing better, De Laet to RB, Evra LB (especially given that he’ll more than likely be facing SWP), Scholes / Fletcher to partner Carrick, Valencia, Rooney and Owen. Fuck it why not chuck in Tosic on the left, he’s never had a chance and can’t exactly do worse than Obertan or Welbeck, plus he’s got a sweet left foot on him. I’m guessing Kiko is still injured, shame really as I do think he shows a lot more promise than Welbeck at the moment.
Long term solution, buy a new striker (ala Benzema / natural goal scorer), creative midfielder and another defender. The later seeming unlikely though given Fergie’s comments, it doesn’t help though when our defenders on the way back just end up getting injured again.
Bloody hell I’m still so livid. Couldn’t sleep last night. What with the performances this season (especially of the “next generation”) and the reports of the debt situation I’m so damn depressed.
This has all highlighted issues that have really worried me for the last few seasons.
There is definitely something wrong/missing with the background coaching
Berbas a class player but he’s not what we need.
I know you have a soft spot for Brown, Scott, but he’s not good enough! Always watches the ball and never aware of the opposition behind or on the blind side.
http://www.tribalfootball.com/man-city-fullback-zabaleta-ferguson-forced-select-full-strength-man-utd-550371
It will be a Big game for City. Haha.
Having watched the game it was apparent that too many senior players have let the team down.
And that has been the case for many many games this season.
As for the “youngsters” i dont think they are that bad but again I look at Neville at Berbatov at Brown and think to myself these “seasoned” professionals should be performing better and helping the likes of Obertan etc.
Some of them like Neville and Berbatov have come out in the tabloids recently spouting about the quality Utd have and other kinds of self glorification nonsense, what they need to do is SHUT UP and put words into practice especially as their the ones putting in such inept performances!…arggghhh…
Ive seen someone mention that they attribute some of blame to the Glazers, how can you say that when its Fergie who picks the side we have as many young players in the squad as pre-glazers! They dont pick the team nor do they organise or give any tactical input.Now im no Pro-glazers but the buck starts and stops 1stly with Fergie and then the players.
Example the Glazers gave Fergie the money to sign Berbatov, who in turn still does not no how to utilise him.I actually believe that what Fergie needs is a strong number 2.And as for the midfield…jesus!
In the past you could look at the midfield and no what their jobs were, now (and even more so now that Ronaldo isnt covering their difficencies) you cant really say what any of their jobs are apart from say Valencia and Fletcher.Too many times this season our performances have been huff n puff football, however we should have known once Fergie said that Utd were to be more “compact” in otherwords less entertaining.
What we need is a Gourcoff a silva a Hamsik then a striker who can add that killer instinct like a Villa etc.
But while we all rant and rave about what has been the latest in a very frustrating season the hope is that United are one club that can turn all this adverse attention into a trophy-winning season yet.
And the fact that Fergie will have taken this heavily will / should galvanise the club to push on.
Remember while we as supporters are pissed off and in some cases rightly so, be sure that Fergie will make it known in no un-certain terms what he and us as fans expect!
Too much paranoia and delusions-of-grandeur after this debacle. Stuff happens over the course of a long season – get a grip on that elementary fact.
Are you a fair-weather fan ? Do you expect continuous and continual success without any bumps in the road ? OR is your joy in watching SAF’s teams compete the sheer entertainment value they provide ?
This season’s squad is deep but it doesn’t have many “stars”; sometimes something special is needed and yesterday that go-to guy wasn’t there. But losing Ronaldo has not been the end of the world – merely a diversion along the way.
Let’s not forget that Ronaldo did not guarantee success; the team lost when he was on the field as well. However, it’s a fair shout to acknowledge that “trading” CR7 for Dimitar Berbatov – and pocketing a lot of money – hasn’t been hugely successful. In fact, it’s been frustrating and disappointing and, I think, a lot of the posters on here are expressing those feelings. Justifiably, too. Wayne Rooney can’t be expected to carry the team on his shoulders, especially when he isn’t properly supported by a complementary strike partner. This has always been the crux of the problem for this season’s team – and, now, in the new year, it still is.
But, otherwise, the team is deep-in-depth, as it were. Having survived a horrendous injury list to the defenders, SAF has still guided TheLads to second place in the EPL. So, let’s look at that as a huge positive in terms of the club’s resourcefulness and the players’ willingness to fight for the shirts on their back.
Going forward, no one (no one !) is guaranteed success. It has to be earned on the field of play.
Are TheLads in with a chance for the EPL and the CL ? Yes, I think so.
Can we guarantee victories in these two competitions ? No, the stars need to be in alignment.
Will they be in alignment ? Who knows ? That’s why they play the games.
Enjoy the ride my friends.
@ Denton Davey – Great post mate! Fans need to take stock and as you say enjoy the ride!
Lets show our team that we are the best supporters in the land and get behind the club, the manager, and the players.
Why are people always blaming Mickey Phelan? How do you know what kind of input he has on team affairs? I suppose he’s not “exotic” enough for some.
I had expected good game for us with a scoreline like 4-1 or even 5-2 as Leeds has been bombing down in L1. What a shit result to take to the office in a new year & after a long weekend! But I’m not giving up on the team, so expect a 2-0 or 3-1 win over the wastelanders on Wed. Come on!
Ok so where all disapointed about the performance but for some fans to call for the bosse’s head is ridiculous. I honestly think the players will put in a performance on wednesday, im postive they will, keep the red flag flying high.
As a manc living and working in Leeds i have had no end of abuse today as you can well imagine….
Pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get on with it…..we lost to a hungrier team…shame it was Dirty Leeds…..Bring on the Bitters!
Berbatov, Gibson and Neville are the only ones I have issues with that go beyond yesterday.
Neville is a legend but its time to retire. He is way too much of a liability when he plays now. I love him but I think he should bow out rather than carry on like this and be remembered for these kind of poor performances rather than the tonne of brilliant ones he has put in.
Gibson is simply not United quality. Not in the slightest. And when you see the likes of Ramsey at Arsenal, it makes you realise how much better we could be doing.
The ironic cheers aimed towards Berbatov by the stretty in the second half when he ran said it all. I did not join in for what its worth but unless he seriously bucks up his ideas, I can see the fans seriously turning on him (i.e. eboue style boos) and SAF will then use that as an excuse to get rid of him like he did with richardson when in reality it will just be because he doesn’t think he is right for united and IMO (not a fact, just what I think) I reckon SAF has thought that since last summer hence why he was looking at the likes of Benzema. Just hope Berbatov doesn’t do an Adebayor style celebration if he scores against us next season
Some proper wankers on here today. Get behind Fergie or fuck off.
Big bad Wesley Brown – Micky Phelan was Keano’s favourite coach. Every single time we get beat people blame him. It is laughable.
We will bounce back starting on Wednesday.
I work at a school 12 miles from Leeds so you can imagine the stick I got.
How did Ronaldo go on last night “winning” the game for Madrid against Osasuna?
Fucking mugs.
denton and MG – Spot on lads .
@ spencer. Don’t think you have to worry about an Adebayor celebration from Berbatov. That was a bit much.
Personally I don’t think majority of United fans ever liked Berbatov. What would he have to do to win the fans over? That is a serious question. I’d like an itemised list. Berbatov likes the ball played to his feet and plays balls for others to run onto. Whats happening is the opposite most of his teammates are playing it into space for him and then expect it to feet themselves. Our problem this season isn’t Berbatov, its our midfield. We have one but we don’t know which one is the strongest.