Another win for United in the pre-season, making it six out of seven for the summer of 2009. A 2-0 win over the sixth best side in Spain is good preparation for the Community Shield on Sunday, as we’re ten days away from the season!
Positives
Antonio Valencia – The press have questioned, repeatedly, how Sir Alex Ferguson reckons a Wigan winger who’s scored a handful of goals over the past few seasons is going to replace Cristiano Ronaldo. They’re missing the point. Valencia is never going to be a 20 goal a season scorer, but I’d fancy him to be behind at least that many goals at the end of this season, including his assists. He created both our goals last night and judging on the way he played against Boca Juniors and Bayern Munich, he is fully prepared and ready to run at Premiership defenders.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who became a centre forward and winger in one last season, seemed to grow tired of taking defenders. Maybe he had been kicked one time too many, maybe he just couldn’t be bothered, but despite his blistering pace, he seemed reluctant to skin his opponent. In Valencia, we have a player who is all too eager to take a defender on! He is a United winger. He’s a Kanchelskis and he’s a Giggsy. He will burn the full-back and put a ball across the front of the goal, whilst the rest of the lads queue up to put it away. Or he’ll do the defender then come inside and have a crack himself. What more could we ask for?
Ritchie De Laet – The Belgian played a blinder on the last day of the season against Hull, bombing up and down our left wing. It was a similar story last night, however this time it was the right wing he bossed, alongside Valencia.
He was able and eager in attack, yet still confident and composed in defence. He made several great challenges, including an extremely clean and strong tackle in the box as his opponent steamed in. Given the positional problems we’ve had with the 19-year-old da Silva twins, who are firm favourite with the fans but clearly lacking the defensive know-how at present, you wouldn’t believe De Laet was just a year older than them. All our full-backs need to be looking over their shoulders after tonight.
No Ronaldo – It is of course always going to be a nervy time when your best players move on because whether it’s conscious or not, your team evolve to playing in a way that best suits these players. Our attack became so one-dimensional with the superb finisher Ruud van Nistelrooy in the team. Get the ball, pass it to Ruud in the box. Get it, pass it to Ruud. Run with the ball, pass it to Ruud six yards out. When you’ve got someone who scores 150 goals in 219 games, then you’d be fucking mental not to try and give him the ball within scoring range whenever possible. Whilst not quite a rigid as that with Ronaldo in the team, clearly a lot of our play was centred around him, and it worked fabulously well for us. But now he’s gone, you never really know where our attack is going to go.
Against Valencia, all of our attacking players were working hard, with the ball going down either 
wing. They would come in centrally, they would put in a cross from the byline, they would burst in to the box. You didn’t know where the next attack was coming from and what it would look like. It was totally unpredictable and therefore thoroughly enjoyable to watch.
Tom Cleverley – The latest youngster to get in to the team and score a goal. As every other player in the pre-season has seemingly gone to effort to take out any smile out of their celebration, (it’s so uncool to look happy about scoring in the pre-season, didn’t you know?) Cleverley ran to the Stretford End after scoring, jumping and throwing his fist in the air. That’s the way to do it lad!
Negatives
Michael Owen – After a really good pre-season so far, scoring four goals, Owen was a disappointment last night. He had four really good opportunities to score and for a couple of them he really should have done better.
The disappointment wasn’t his performance so much though, as there were plenty of positives to his game, rather the reaction it will obviously bring about. The tabloids love have an opportunity to have a dig at United and love to have a dig at Owen, so already he’s having the pressure heaped on him. But if he’s good enough, he’ll handle that, and save his goals for when it matters!
What was encouraging was Owen’s movement and positioning. He was on the shoulder of the last man time and again and it was all too obvious what we bought him for. If he can get behind the defence of Boca Juniors, Bayern Munich and Valencia, then it bodes well for the Premiership. The guy can finish, it was an off night yesterday, but he looks good for the coming season.
Man Utd News 24/7
Hello all today I agree with what your saying Scott about Valencia and the rest of the post but Valencia yesterday was fantastic . Berbatov off the ball work yesterday was super as well he pulled defenders away from players toake space in the time he was on the pitch. Was I wrong in over hearing this morning that valencias 11 th sub yesterday in midfield was a keeper
Another plus was kuszczak, pure excellent during time on field another confident display for or future number 1 and made an fantastic save.
Negative. ben foster was pure horrible, lacks confidences big time and pretty damn slow.
Haha that is correct about the keeper – they made 10 substitutions at half time then a little way into the second half they got an injury. With only one sub left (reserve keeper), they had to put him on in midfield!
“Valencia is never going to be a 20 goal a season scorer, [...]” – never say never
who thought ronaldo would score 42 in a single season? but i completely agree with you, scott, he’s a hell of a winger, exactly what we’ve been missing when ronaldo played there. i did see only the last 30mins but that was promising: like you said, very unpredictable good flowing offensive football – i love it! can’t wait for the season to begin!
I seen it happen it’s just I didn’t know he was a keeper, another possitive I taught thou I already knew this but rio was fantastic yesterday , sir Alex seems to be doing what he has done many times before again perfect, mixing the scholes and giggs with the rios and rooneys of the team with a fantastic mix of kids . Like robbo inch and some welsh 16 year old on the wing to Hughes cantona and some and butt. Solving the holes left by past players with the future seemlessly
Hey Scott, I never got to watch the game last night i am excited for this season. I was wondering what u think of our midfield play last night or so far, i bit worried. We have no owen hardgrieves at moment. We need a true playmaker in that midfield. Someone that has vision that can put strikers away. I’m confident about our wing play and crossing the ball in. Antonio Valencia, seems to have been a great buy. We a few youngsters coming thru, which is always great.
Seen bits of david silva play, dont think we need another striker just someone midfield. Anyone got any opinon’s?
Also what is going to be the side for the game one sunday? ANy predictions guys??
hello ghtt.how was the trip and the match experience?missed ur chants.thats the first thimg i look for on ROM.u r right .they changed da whole team and plyr was injured so keeper had to play in midfield
Ha. They put there sub keeper in the heart of midfield then didn’t pass to him.
Valencia has pace to burn and will ruin plenty of full-backs this season. I couldn’t give a shit that Owen didn’t score last night, all that matters is that he gets on the goal trail again, starting 16th August against the Brummies. I’m predicting he will get 20 goals this season.
My only match concern match was Tosic, who looked like the occasion was a little beyond him. Hopefully he’ll rise to the occasion as the season unfolds.
I’m not worried about Michael Owen’s missed chances, but it would have been a great start for him to score in his first OT home match. As much as he fluffed his lines in front of goal, he showed his capabilities by getting himself in those positions.
HOWEVER: He’s not fully sharp yet, as evidenced by the fact that he seems to be getting himself into a LOT of positions where he ends up dumped on his arse. Every time he takes a tumble, I’m immediately thinking, “That’s it, he’s done!” I don’t think it’s a bravery thing – he needs to get sharper or smarter or his season will be very short.
SB
@Scott the Red
What a pleaseing and accurate Observation of the match. Some people are too quick to jump on the negative bandwagon.
With owen i think that only 2 of his chances were good chances. The First where he was clean through and the second which the keeper saved where owen shot across goal!.
He had a shot from the age of the area which He took with his Weaker foot, But not a bad effort by all means. He also was put through the left and rushed his shot!
I do think the lad will come good!
On reflecton we had so many positives it was unreal, i found it really pleaseing that we have such a high number of competant youth players knocking ont he door!
Who else apart from Arsenal can boast such a thing! Specialy as we have 80mil waiting in the bank for that special purchase!
I agree with all scott says.
thought Tosic looked out of sorts, small, needs a year with the juniors I would say to bulk up.
When he did have a chance to cross was very poor.
Aig mate lot of freekin travillin but worth it I’ve never been in a Mexican wave in old trafford before so it was cool, makin up some daddy daughter time playin football in the park , I’ll record a Wes brown chant for ya and get it up tonight just for you nowate. Cause I know you like your wesely chants. De leth was super again, he’s one of these kids I see on mutv and you think this kid is very good but he’s playin against stokes reserves what’ll he be like in the first team. 2 first team games under his belt and I’m really impressed
hey GHTT, i wrote u a song on ur Youtube channel; give it to ur girl, she’ll have a blast!
ghtt.thanks a lot mate.u have recorded one brown chant and i have it.thanks for all the chants.i have them on my mobile.thd way da laet played against hull i was confident abt his prospects bcoz that was a team fighting for their lives.the more youngsters do better the more you wil be busy wid the chants.ha ha
good write up there. Think there was plenty more positives last night than negatives. Think valencia looks quick and skillful and am suprised by his strength. Think this’ll be more of a team effort to get the goals this year rather than relying on ronaldo to be focus of attack. Hope owen stays fit but fancy him to. Think it’ll be good to get him, rooney and berba firing this year. Really looking forward to start of the season, and expect everyone to raise their game this year
robinho says shitty are as big as madrid and have a big mentality now. and are balanced.how do ynu get a big mentality by winning nthing.and how are they balanced having 8 strikers.but he may be right.the shitty players have big mentality wen it cmes to earnimg money and getting big bucks for shitting.
Yeah they used all 10 subs at half time then got an injury so i think they had to ask the ref if they could bring on the 11th who was the sub keeper
he looked a good holding mf tho 
Aig don’t listen to them they are just on an ego high from there 1 win the pre season.
taught it was bleedin hillarious listning to the 60 thousand plus day trippers and glory hunters etc who wouldnt get a ticket for a league match tryn to create a bit of atmosphere….
The main thing is that come 16.08.09 against B’ham City our players will be ready and sharp. i hope SAF uses Scholes and Giggs off the bench as i think
when Flecth/Anderson and Carrick play together, there seems an urgency and purpose to our play. and the midfield is more in control of the game.
Cleverly and De Laet stood out and I hope they along with Gibson get more games. as more games = more experience.
I thought it was our best performance of the pre-season easily.Lots of chances and some nice play.
Valencia looks to have a pinpoint cross which is something we’ll need this season.
I thought Gibbo was excellent too and hope he gets a few games late on in matches as his strikes are like rockets and could get us a few late goals
I’m lovin Valencia.Our one i mean
Enjoyed reading your article Scott!
With regards to Ronaldo avoiding taking on defenders because of the nasty punishments they exacted on him, and got away with it time after time, I would like to ask if any of you think, that his much dribbling and stepovers made him an easier target for clobbering much of the time? I noticed in the game last night, a period of ‘one touch’ football, which wasn’t only great to watch, but meant that few of our players were getting heavily tackled. I see that Nani is somewhat more direct in his play now, cutting out a lot of the fancy stepovers etc, and getting rid of the ball more quickly to the strikers in the box. I love ‘one touch’ football, and players do avoid a lot of heavy tackling and injuries by it. Course in the box, the tackles will still come in heavy and fast!
@Chris20LEGEND
You’re making yourself sound like a right cunt.
I went to 14 games last season, and was also at the game last night.
Even if the 71,500 crowd were all ‘daytrippers and glory hunters etc’, at least they went to the game!
Where did you watch it from? Your armchair?
We’re the world’s biggest club, so of course people are gonna struggle to get tickets for the league games, but at least they make a fucking effort when they can.
Dickhead.
robhinio thinks he is playing for manchester united in OT. robhinio remind u again u play for manchester shity in wastelands. one is red the club called red devils and most valued club in the world worth nearly £1.6b. other one is blue called duckie and still trying to make famouse outside manchester city town center.
Micky only read his comment now I was at that game ladt night and I’ve plans for 4 games next season and he thinks he’s a bigger and or better fan than me because of this I bet he could answer 1 of 5 Manchester united questions costa could give him or be anyway near AIG when it comes for on thepulse Manchester united news the fella just seems to breath united but because we aren’t there every week we are glory hunters . Get a fuckin grip
“taught it was bleedin hillarious listning to the 60 thousand plus day trippers and glory hunters etc who wouldnt get a ticket for a league match tryn to create a bit of atmosphere….”
Yes it was a very strange atmosphere in Old Trafford last night, what was with the fucking mexican waves? I suppose it was because of the fact there were thousands of kids in there! I heard ONE chant all night and that was U-NI-TED. Actually two as “stand up for the Champions” echoed round. Very strange night.
I have made my views on last night on another post but can’t speak highly enough of De Laet. Heard him interviewed after the game and he seems such a decent level headed lad. Was awesome at right back last night.
PS Give Valencia a couple of months of skinning full backs with ease and he will become Public Enemy number 1!! Defenders chopping him at every opportunity. The lad is gonna be a star.
@King Eric
I’m very proud to say the stand up for the champions chant was started by me and my mates sat in the top of the Stretford End!
Mexican waves are annoying as fuck as you get the feeling that people aren’t even watching the game!
Bishopville Red @ 13:51 – I’m in complete agreement with your complete disagreement with Scott’s assessment of LittleMikey’s performance.
Five chances and most of them coming from his running off the shoulder of the last defender ! When have we last seen that kind of center forward play ? It was a completely different style of play from what we have seen in the last three years of “whirligig attack” and it suited UTD’s most important player, Wayne Rooney, perfectly.
When SAF signed LittleMikey, I thought he was going to be AnAlternative and a late-game super-sub; now, I’m not sure that he won’t take the starting role away from Dimmy ! Of course, of course, let’s not get carried away but LittleMikey was terrific last night.
The other guy who was seriously impressive was Rio – what a tremendous display of defending guile, calmness, and positioning ! Simply awesome. In my opinion, he’s UTD’s second-most important player and he looked like the world’s best defender now that Paolo Maldini has been put out to pasture.
From his cameo role, Darron Gibson also impressed.
I do agree with Scott that Valencia was really excellent – fast, powerful, hungry, and direct. By no means a like-for-like replacement for CR7 but a very useful player in a new-style attack. He looks like a much better signing that I had imagined – but at Wigan he usually had to run backwards so it was difficult to see how fast he could run forwards !
chris20legend! how many times u been to OT? can u imagine we r backing our pre season with 71,500 when the season starts full house mate. theres only one heaven in the earth Do u know where is it? where the people blessed with trophies and great manager in the football history and the fans will give anything to the red devils, not to forget the greats play for in red. hav u got it. Simple OT.
I really thought Owen had a good game last night , his positioning were at times superb and the run-ins he made were also good, just one of those off-nights where he couldn’t score …Every striker has them ….
@ Chris20legend
Thats how easy it is to make an ass out of yourself. Why would a glory hunter pay to watch a meaningless pre season friendly?
Mexican waves seem out of place at OT,even though I’ve never been there.
I do see them a lot at cricket matches here in Chennai/Madras,whatever you call it.
PS:Chris20LEGEND:They tried to do something,didn’t they?And day-trippers?Are you here on RoM often?If you are,you would’ve noticed that Costas went to OT for the 1st time in his life yesterday.I’m sorry,you can ask anyone on here,there are not that many fans more knowledgeable than him and GHTT,who could also be classed as a daytripper.
PPS:GHTT,I don’t mean to be pedantic,but because you said you didn’t want to get it wrong after he told us that Costa and Costas thing,it’s Costas in 3rd person.PLEASE DON’T TAKE THAT AS ME SHOWING YOU UP OR ACTING LIKE I’M SMARTER THAN YOU.
There is only one place for Mexican waves that is the beach off Cancun.
lol Stephen mate,what’s wrong with Mexican waves?
another negative was carrick. hate to say it but he really needs to show up if we’re going to do the kind of damage in the league and europe that we’re used to. also i thought fletch was playin like a maniac, so good in his time out there.
I have a good feeling that this squad will do great this season
No one seems to be talking about the atmosphere yesterday. It was really great, crowds are really going wild, did not see that for quite some times. Hope OT crowd will maintain that level of energy throughout the season.
Its killing me when commentators say Anfield atmosphere is the best in Premier League. Let’s beat the dippers from every corner.
And no one mentioned about Kusczack performance yesterday. I think he did great although he needs to work out on his goal kick. The lad has very good reflex, one of the best in Premier League.
My favourite first eleven for 08/09
EVDS
Brown Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Valencia Fletcher/Carrick Anderson Nani
Rooney
Berbatov
@mdubya
In my opinion, Gibson has played far better than Carrick for us lately.
Well said Micky! Chris20Legend you are indeed a dick.
With the cheap ticket prices it was perfect to take the kids to their first football match. It can be nigh on impossible sometimes to get tickets to see us play a quality team like Valencia, with world class players like Villa and Silva. Normally it’s Hull or Bolton when a ticket becomes available. Just because you may be lucky enough go every week doesn’t mean fans like myself are second rate.
TIT!!
Boggyman never buddy it’s a slip of the brain talkin about costas like that sorry costa
Thanks,mate.I was really worried you’d take offense and get pissed off at me.
“another negative was carrick. hate to say it but he really needs to show up if we’re going to do the kind of damage in the league and europe that we’re used to.”
I like Carrick but I’m not convinced he’s able to dictate play the way he should; the main aspect of his game is to act as a metronome in the way Paul Scholes did in his pomop – slowing play when needed & injecting pace/killer ball when called for. He’s relatively consistent in his play but never dynamic and/or dominant.
He’s in danger of losing out to Anderson, Fletcher & Gibson as they develop onward & upward.
Boggey mate it’ll be hard for you to piss me off there are 3 lasts you can talk about in a mean way that would piss me off
@Chris20legend
your a cunt
About the keeper sub, the MUTV commentator said that “if the keeper (midfielder) sub kept playing that well, Man City will bid for him because they already have for everyone else”! HA!
And while I’m on here . . .
@Chris20Legend – I’m a fairly poor Utd fan in America, and while I’m not the biggest Utd fan, I never miss a game or piece of news. I get up early mornings or stay up late at night, even to catch preseason games. I haven’t been able to, as of yet, to get to Old Trafford for a match, but it is my DREAM to do so. I envy those of you that are able to go a few times (or more) a season. If I had the opportunity to that Valencia game, I would have. It is ignorance to deride what may have been a DREAM, especially for those young kids who’ll probably be Utd fans for life now.
Good analysis Scott, particularly on the effect of having Ruud in the team. It’s true that between 2003 and 2007 United’s play became very stereotyped, partly because of Ruud, but also because of the need to shape tactics round the gradually fading Roy Keane. Both those players seemed to me to have an inhibiting effect on those around them, especially the younger players like Ronaldo. When they had both gone it was liberating for the whole team. I think the same could well happen now when Ronaldo and Tevez have gone. Their departures could well help team-spirit and will also give encouragement to others to demand centre stage, including Rooney. There will be a feeling right now that first team places are up for grabs, including for fringe players. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: there are lots of goals in this United team. More than last year, I predict.
Spot on Giles.
I think the final against Barca would have resonated very strongly with Fergie. He watched a ‘team’ out-play, out-think & out-run us – they played together, working hard to cover every inch of space on the pitch.
As much as I enjoyed watching Ronaldo, I never liked his attitude & influence on younger players at Utd. Tevez was a moaning little git & can’t have had too many mates among the young lads considering his language difficulties.
I think we have a team without ego (well, in comparison to the rest of the football world). In players like Evra, Vidic, O’Shea, Brown, Neville, Scholes, Giggs, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Park, Valencia, Rooney, Owen – we have hard-working role-models who will inspire our youth players to work hard & contribute to the team/club not work for individual spoils. This work-ethic and dedication is more akin with traditional Utd values, we don’t need or want pre-Madonnas.
I can hardly wait for the new season to kick-off, I’d like to see a top 5 emerge, all teams to push hard till the end of May & Utd come out on top with a game or two to go (Can’t handle final day nerves!)
Hi GHTT and Boogeyman. To answer your question Boogeyman, no i didn’t see anyone from ROM. It would have been hard anyway. My schedule got messed up and i arrived at OT just in time to get my Giggs shirt from the megastore and watch the game.
I also believe that there were a lot of first timers yesterday. Nothing wrong with that though. Some regular fans who go to OT every week can get complacent and start shitting on the team the minute a pass goes wrong. So it was a good change of pace i felt, even though the Mexican wave got annoying after the 2nd time.
2 points:1) Owen’s positioning is the key. The goals will come. He hasn’t had so many clear cut chances wth Newcastle for an entire season! 2) We created almost every opportunity from our pressing. I like that SAF has instructed our wingers and strikes to get more at the opposition.
PS Don’t worry about the name guys!
@GHTT: Did Emily enjoy herself?
Costa,since you like stats,I’m gonna put one out for you.
Emily Best Pickering,at the tender age of 3,has seen more matches live at OT than you,AIG and me combined.I don’t know AIG’s age,so that’s a total of 27+15+AIG’s age. lol
Hey Costas — I was pleased that the lads put on a good performance and got the win for you yesterday. I don’t remember if we played Juve or Inter, it was one of those two, last year at this time and that game was f’ing awful! So at least this one had some cut and thrust to it.
valencia was a monster !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he played so well and i think delaet was incredible also, i was sad when they both came off i wish i could see more of them, our right wing is fearsome! ………….on the other hand our left not so.
Tosic has been disapointing the last few games, SAF is right in the fact that he is too lightweight at the moment, against EPL defenders he will get slaughtered.. you could see he was being harrassed into back passes to easily and at one stage the midfield wasnt looking to pass the ball out to him when he was alone (because of his earlier gaff no doubt) very disapointing.
Cleverly is way to young, i just dont feel he is ready for us just yet, maybe 1 more season on loan. I think we might need to buy a left winger?
Anderson was bollocks again, are we playing him to deep is that his problem? I know he piled on the KGs this offseason.
GIBSON was spectacular and i hope to see more off him.
Yah. There are some positives stuff yesterday. Kusczack was good last time He look very confident and calm compare to his previous seasons. Foster seems to be low in confident and not sure what to do. As for Cleverley and De Laet, they both did really well. Cleverley looks good however, he need more direct play if he wants to be in the team. Now we lacking a player with giggs previous skills and that is to run past the defender. I notice Ronaldo do tend to stop getting past defender. Valencia for me is well placed on the right for the giggs style. Valencia is a right sided giggs. However, we are lacking left sided midfielders. Tosic looks over whelmed by the crowds and his passing and dribbling looks at time stuck and can’t penetrate well. However, i bet with more experience he could come good as he had talent in him. Nani performance is good with his more precise and direct play with less dribbling. If he can maintain that, definitely will be a big plus. Carrick for me looks out of sort yesterday. Anderson and fletcher is really brilliant in the midfield, if anderson can score some goals, i bet he could be the first starting for brazil in a few years time. Ronney looks good in the 2nd half as he dribbling and calmness makes himself more space and room to pass the ball forward. Berbatov as i have always said, his play is a best attacking midfielder. Look at his passing, he definitely created more chances for us in the 2nd half than the 1st. Owen for me is alright and will be good for the coming seasons as he had make himself so much chances and looks dangerous from his headers coming behind the defenders. For me he only had 2 good chances that he missed out of the 4. he should have score 1 but don’t worry. He will come good. My concern for is Tosic, carrick and our defensive midfield. Carrick need to be on form for the most matches as this could make a good season for us. Tosic needs to adapt quickly to the atmosphere and confidence to gain more chances in the first team. As for our defensive midfield. We really lacking one. I know Owen hargreaves is coming back however, is it sure he could maintain the fitness and not be injured anymore? Our defensive area is a really big problem. If we could have a good one there, then anderson, valencia, carrick, fletcher can all concentrate more on attack and needn’t be worry about defence too much and thus not running back too fast and with more energy and stamina in them, they can create more chances and more opportunities.
Our defence is really awesome with ferdinand looking in very good shape with positioning, awareness, calmness, commanding, leadership. As for other defender, well done did really well. I was surprise by how many youngster we had. There is gibson, macheda, welbeck, cleverley, De Laet, and many more. They can’t be really good however, they can their jobs pretty well when given. De Laet positioning at times looks better than Silva twins. Looking forward to more youngster giving challenge and make up to the big stage. Our team looks to be in good shape as no more big egos. Completely agree with scott and Jig Said, “I think we have a team without ego (well, in comparison to the rest of the football world). In players like Evra, Vidic, O’Shea, Brown, Neville, Scholes, Giggs, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Park, Valencia, Rooney, Owen – we have hard-working role-models who will inspire our youth players to work hard & contribute to the team/club not work for individual spoils. This work-ethic and dedication is more akin with traditional Utd values, we don’t need or want pre-Madonnas.”
Costas – Glad you enjoyed it mate. Yes I noticed a lot of groans last night the minute Carrick misplaced a pass or Tosic didn’t control the ball well enough. I am sure at one point (but it may be for summat else) that Berba got BOOED a couple of times he got the ball? I sincerely hope not.
Valencia > Ronaldo – I didn’t think Ando was too bad last night, played some cracking balls. Has had a pretty good pre season.
Why are people wanting a defensive midfielder? As I have said time and again we have DARREN “IMMENSE” FLETCHER!
Yeah got to admit the team spirit seems excellent.
My random thoughts from last night….
I wish Gibson would teach a class on how to properly strike a ball. My Lord he packs a punch.
If we could blend PIG’s reflex shot stopping ability with Fosters ability to kick and distribute well, we would have a mighty fine keeper. As it is though, I’m not sure I would be ready to have full faith in either of them, which I hate to say. PIG looks like he shits himself every time the ball gets played back to his feet, and half the time it ends up in the stands. But when Foster gets it, its almost reminincent of a Carrick pass. And they could both improve on dealing with crosses/decision making. I hope they figure it out.
Cleaverly looked cool calm and collected on the ball. Where does he play for the reserves? Is he a center mid? I think its obvious he is heavily right footed so I’m guessing left mid isn’t his natural position. Which quite frankly makes his performance all the more impressive.
Why was Evra out there doing his best Ronaldinho impression? He was pulling out fancy tricks and flicks all over the place.
Berba had a sprint up the right wing which I swear was faster than anything he gave us all year last season! I had to rub my eyes and make sure it was really him and not Nani/Valencia.
Evans was calm and did everything with a cool calmness. I was hoping to see some more of Catchcart though. Maybe next time.
Tosic put in a couple very dangerous corners, and I think he would be good to have on all set pieces…. But other than that, I’m not so sure. He’s smaller than Evra and doesn’t have the lightening pace of a Giggs. Those are tought standards to hold him up to but, alas, thats the world we live in at United I guess.
Does anyone else ever wonder how on earth they organize the first team training sessions? We must have 40 players out there that all need to be involved somehow. We have enough for 2 full 11 on 11 matches, easily. And I bet there would be some good battles in there too. Like maybe Rafael playing RB for one side, going up against Fabio playing LB for the opposition. Or Rooney going in for challenges with Vidic. (My money is on the Serbian monster)
And on the same subject, I think we could have a United B team that could easily finish in the top ten of the league. But maybe I’m being crazy. (hell, I think we could field an Under 23 team that could avoid relegation… Isn’t that young German keeper with the two names supposed to be outstanding? And what about the lad Amos?)
Hey Drew. Good points. The squad looks fairly big because SAF keeps pulling them out of the hat like rabbits! He could have went with O’Shea, Nani and Park from the start, but he chose to give De Laet,Fabio,Tosic and Cleverley opportunities.
The Juve match was last year. We lost to Inter a season before that. But i was glad the lads gave us a good showing now that i was in there!
@King Eric: It was great watching first hand how immense Fletch is! No booing for Berba that i can recall. And a very nice reception for Owen too. If he keeps making spaces for himself like that, the goals will come. At Newcastle, he would have to wait for 4 games to get as many chances!
Negatives – The bloody traffic!
Oh yeah and what was with the mexican wave last night? First time I’ve ever seen it at OT.
chris20legend – you have indeed made yourself look a bit of a twat. I went last night and for the record i’ve had a season ticket for 4 years and been to enough away games to go to the chelsea fa cup final. We went because it was somethin to do on a wednesday night. Thought the thing about owen was that he was rarely offside, if at all. We all know he can finish and that will come. If was tevez or rooney furthest forward, they tend to stray a bit and don’t get the chance in the 1st place. Excited about valencia. Only problem now is that i’m desperate for us to sign david silva, he’s absolute quality. 25mil, bargain!
Good article. Agree on most points.
Midfield seems an issue to me as well. Carrick is class but he needs consistency and he needs a more reliable partner to help with the muscle where we have at times been out-hustled. Anderson really does need to step in the absence of the excellent Hargreaves. Fletcher is fine and while I think the criticism he has received over the years has been unfair, you get the feeling he’ll do a fine job but could he step it up to another level? I have doubts.
I read elsewhere that Eric Harrsison reckons Rafael Da Silva would make a great winger and perhaps that’s his best position. If that’s so given his problems with positioning at times and with De Laet coming along nicely perhaps that’s what needs to happen.
In any case, I’m trusting Fergie with all this. I reckon there will be less rotation this year. The emphasis will be on consistency.
@Chris20legend……your a fanny
Chris20LEGEND
taught it was bleedin hillarious listning to the 60 thousand plus day trippers and glory hunters etc who wouldnt get a ticket for a league match tryn to create a bit of atmosphere….
Calling people day trippers and glory hunters for turning out for a meaningless friendly is out of order.Many of these people will only be able to get tickets for such matches but still contribute to the coffers of the club.Taking your child to a game like that gives them the buzz and creates future supporters.Saw lots of wide eyed kids singing UNITED on Wednesday and thought it was fuckin great.They are the future fans and if that is the only game they ever go to I haven’t got a problem with it.