Well that was almost the perfect evening. Through to the next round of the Cup, won 4-0, managed to rest several players, and played the second half almost at walking pace in preparation to our massive week ahead, playing Inter Milan and Liverpool. The only downside of course are the injuries to Rio Ferdinand and John O’Shea. Whilst we would probably opt for Darren Fletcher and Jonny Evans as their able replacements, it would be nice to have the options of a fuller squad. Let’s wait and see!
The biggest talking point before kick-off though was the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who didn’t even have a place on the bench.
Did we struggle? Did we fuck. In fact, we actually did better with Ronaldo. Whilst the 4-0 scoreline suggests a total battering, that wasn’t really the case. I don’t think United played too much better than they have done for most of the season, but we were just far more effective in front of goal. This was all with Schwarzer having a good game and Rooney seeing a sitter come back off the woodwork too!
Our attacking football was more free-flowing than it has been though, with the ball getting to the danger men more quickly. Fulham didn’t even play too badly and given we were playing against away to a team who has the best home record in the league, after United, 4-0 is a rather odd scoreline. Still, our goals were great, particularly Tevez’s second, and you can’t argue with our domination.
Saying that, in the first half, we looked dodgy at the back. The communication between the back four and keeper was poor, with all kinds of chances coming from what should have been manageable situations. Andy Johnson came the closest, needing Nemanja Vidic, who was outstanding again, to clear off the line, as Van der Sar scrambled back.
So, even the players who weren’t rested today will feel rested following that second half, which was played with ease.
Massive recognition has to go to our fans though, who were absolutely superb. Our away support always does the club proud, but they were spectacular today. Didn’t stop singing from start to finish and at a volume which meant the home fans didn’t even get a look in. And to think, these are the mugs who come to Old Trafford and tell us our support is fucking shit! Best away support in the league.
Ronaldo wasn’t missed, which is a good thing, considering the situation we may find ourselves in next season! Funny how some mugs still reckon we’re a one-man team though eh?
Quintuple? Who knows, I’m just happy to see our lads doing so well week in week out. Now bring on Inter and the rat munchers!
excellent work lads,
not conceding will put the pressure on those bitches for wednesday to try for a goal
Scott i don’t think the injuries were too serious.I think they were more down to precaution.Rio didn’t belong on the pitch today anyway.I think that we will certainly see tonight’s back 5 play against Inter as well.Rio probably had a dead leg.The O’Shea injury is a bit more complicated.John has had an ankle problem that he has been carrying for a while now.I didn’t see him get injured tonight so Fergie probably opted to rest him.JOS will have to grind it out for the next two weeks.Neville will resume training on Monday(although i don’t think he will play in the next two games) and Brown will be back in two weeks.I think that after the international break we will hhave our 3 right backs back and then JOS will finally catch a breather.As far as the game is concerned,fantastic performance.Without Ronaldo itn was a chance for more one touch football and Fulham didn’t know how to cope with it.Rooney has to score more though.He must not need 3 chances before he scores.
Truth be told, Fulham were horrific today. After the first 5-10 mins when EVDS and Vidic had a few nervous moments, it was really a stroll.
Tevez deserved a hat trick. Rooney had a genuine goal ruled offside and missed the easiest chance of the game. On another day, this would have been a record thrashing.
Big week coming up – the biggest of the season so far. Let’s go past Inter on Wednesday – I’d hate to see that arrogant bastard win at OT.
Glory Glory Man United!
Oh you were right.They are saying that JOS felt his hamstring a bit.It’s not weird if you think about how much football he has played recently.The good thing is that i didn’t see him limp just like Rooney did against Wigan.So maybe there is not tnough damage.I think that we are good for Inter though.One solution is to rush Neville back.An other it to play Evans as right back.An other if Fletch seeing as Anderson or Scholes can partner Carrick in midfield.
You are also right about the fans.It was a joy to see and hear them from the telly.One worrying thing is that as far as the press is concerned,single trophies are out of the door now.If United win,the Quintuple is on.If they don’t,the quintuple is over and so is our season.This team doesn’t deserve such a burden.Nice to see our curse of injuries before a European tie strike again.
Quintuple? Why not? I can’t see any team stops us, United play to entertain in a regular base, still we realistic in our playing besides our back four and the depth we have in our squad are second to none. Which will recognize us in Europe.
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A message to Jose Mourinho from Sir Alex Ferguson : “Dont have nightmares, please. Welcome to Old Trafford”
Costas i agree about all this Quintuple talk, the media hype it up far to much they did the same with the clean sheet record, when we won The Treble (amazing) nobody really believed it would happen until right at the end so there was never really that much pressure where as they have been talking about this Quintuple for fucking ages, they need to quiet down about it so the players dont think we expect it and so we can enjoy it more if it does actually happen it amazes me some people think its going to be easy the Champions League will be the hardest to win.
COME ON UNITED!!
Well the way it is shaping out to be,we might play the FA cup semi final against Arsenal(if by then they will have played their remaining games) or Chelsea.A game that will be sandwiched by,hopefully,the Ch.League Quarters.That will be they key period.That’s where Arsenal bottled it when they were the Invinvcibles.They lost to us in the Cup semi and got knocked out of the Ch.League by Chelsea.But we do have a bigger squad.Oh,and i hate it when we win a game like this and i see headlines like :”Injuries take the gloss off United win”.They should know by now that we are not Liverpool.We will handle our injuries without bitching and moaning.Tomorrow’s headlines should be about Tevez and Park.Not about the curse that has struck again.By the way,i think on Wednesday we should put Evans at right back.They don’t have speedy wingers and he can help out in the air with Adriano and Ibrahimovic.Unless if TNSSO plays this kid Balloteli who has done well recently.
I was happy to see the return of one-touch, attacking footie – without Ronaldo and, especially, Berbatov, who tend to slow down the attack.
This raises an interesting question: why does SAF think that UTD are better off playing at the slower pace, and grinding out results ?
Our away support were spot on again today so much so Tylsdley kept going on about it in second half. Champions of England, Champions of Europe and Georgie Best song belting out for best part of fifteen minutes.
Was quite surprised with the line up today and how strong a side SAF decided to put out. It tells us how much he would like to win the lot this season.Another excellent performance today and once we went 3-0 up the lads just took their feet off the gas. Tevez and Rooney were quality today, you would not think they hadn’t started together for couple of months. second Tevez goal was outstanding and he has done his chances of United signing him no harm at all. Carrick and Vidic were excellent again infact the whole team were. It says so much when away at Fulham we can bring on 18 year old Welbeck and 19 year old Eckersley who I thought did well. Park had a good game and was unlucky not to get two. One concern is the amount of injuries at the right back position, lets hope JOS is ok for Wed. If not, assuming Rio is fit we can play Evans at right back. We just seem to keep getting stronger and stronger and can beat any team in Europe at the moment.
The confidence now for Wednesday night will be immense and I reckon we will play Inter off the park again at Old Trafford.
denton for one thing,he knows he won’t concede.But let’s not fool ourselves here.We had so many chances because Fulham attacked us and left themselves vulnerable at the back.In matches where opposition teams plays more compact we will need the indivisual class of Berba,Ronaldo and Rooney.I do agree that they are slowing us down but they create opportunities.I think Berba and Ronaldo must have the most assists this season.
Inter themselves have had 2 defensive injuries today.Materazzi and Burdisso.We don’t know their status either.Personally i feel that Inter witht his diamond formation are more suited playing away from home King Eric.So in that sense,on Wednesday we might have a more balanced game.By the way,has Wayne Rooney ever had a better season?
Costas: “where opposition teams plays more compact we will need the indivisual class of Berba,Ronaldo and Rooney”
I understand that, but what I don’t understand is why ALL the games are being played in the cagey style – regardless of who plays with Ronaldo and Berbatov.
In his post match comments,Fergie mentioned only the Rio injury.He must think that JOS will be ok.He said that Rio is a bit of a concern because he went over his ankle.I think he left Craven Cottage with a protective boot.Hopefully it will be more mind games by the master just like before the first leg.
“Serie A leaders Inter Milan handed Genoa their first home league defeat of the season on Saturday when strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli sealed a hard-fought 2-0 victory.
The win puts the champions 10 points clear of second-placed Juventus, who play at Torino later, but it came at a cost.
Centre backs Marco Materazzi and Nicolas Burdisso went off injured in the first half and look doubtful for Wednesday’s Champions League second leg clash at Manchester United.
Defenders Cristian Chivu and Walter Samuel were already struggling to be fit for the last 16 game against the holders and coach Jose Mourinho now has a real headache.
He was forced to push midfielder Esteban Cambiasso back into central defence against fifth-placed Genoa and as usual the Argentine put in a committed performance alongside goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who made several smart saves.”
Smile and the world smiles with you.
scott keep up mate. ronaldo one man team theory was last season. they now say we are nothing without vidic, which i disagree with but people have been saying that all season
we can cope without any player as we showed without st rooney
I think Denton that this clean sheet record had made us bit complacent.We pressed,we got the first goal and then thinking that the defence would hold out we took our foot of the pedal.I think now that the monkey is of our back we should be able to play more freely.
denton davey, I don’t agree with you AT all about Ron slowing down the attack
I think Berbatov does though
A caller on 606 was suggesting that the ronaldo, rooney and tevez combination should never have been changed
Btw how class was Tevez today?
I can’t tell you how much I love Tevez. He sits on the bench, he never complains and just when the doubters were ready to say he has to go, he pops up and proves them wrong. He doesn’t get half the credit as Rooney which is just stupid.
People say all the time that Rooney and Tevez are similiar. Give me Tevez any day over Rooney. He doesn’t have the ugly violent side of Rooney either. I wouldn’t shed a tear if it was Rooney on loan, possibly going this summer. I am angry its Tevez instead.
argentina, argentina!
I think you are being a little bit harsh Didsbury but I agree, I also prefer Tevez to Rooney
Scott, Vidic played today
Our ‘one man team’ by the abu’s changes yearly
one minute its rooney, then ronaldo, then vidic, next it will be who knows
My team for Wed:
VDS
O’Shea
Ferdinand
Vidic
Evra
Ronaldo
Carrick
Scholes
Giggs
Tevez
Berbs
2-0 us
nice to see park score his goal. he really work hard for the team. hope he can get a game whenunited play inter next wednesday.
park works so hard just like tevez
We dominated them from start to finish practically. 4-0 was a fair scoreline.
Was great to see Park score, if anybody deserved it today, it was certainly him.
Our fans were absolutely amazing. Especially the Georgie Best chant, I haven’t heard that in months.
Its shit that we have to play the semi finals at Wembley as well. Money grabbing bastards at the FA need to be fired for this shocking decision
I prefer Rooney and Tevez together like last season. I winning formula!
didsbury be quiet
whose that man from Argentina ? the atmosphere sounded great down there today, they were in great voice well done lads. the team did great and so were the fans
A perfect evening really. Of course the first few minutes were nervous, but Tevez got the goal and we never looked back. Id like to see him start one of the next two games this week. If he can replicate what we just saw with Rooney, we could get more goals.
Hopefully the win will spur us on. This is the first really important week in a long line of important weeks that are coming our way. We just need to keep our heads, and play our best. Glory Glory Man United!
Tevez and Rooney are the two best strikers in the world, but whatever Tevez does he will always be third choice with the manager. It’s such a shame
If it hadn’t been for the Rio injury…
If Rooney plays with Tev up front on Wednesday,Mourinho won’t know what hit him.
I really hope Tevez starts on Wednesday because he was excellent today, I think we were a lot more clinical and played better today without Berbatov dropping too deep and slowing down the play.
Ronaldo wasn’t missed today but it was only Fulham…
Let’s hope he makes a big impact on Wednesdays game.
Didsbury – I wrote that Ronaldo and Berbatov slow down the attack, the key word here was “and”. On his own, CR is a fast player and, as we saw last season, he really excels when he’s played off Rooney/Tevez for a couple of reasons that I can think of. First, those other two defend from the front so that CR can float – and this isn’t to denigrate his play but, rather, to recognize that he is a two-footed opportunist (that blast against Spurs in the 93rd minute was with his “weaker foot” !); and, second, the interchanging of Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo makes defenders more uneasy because they are used to man-marking in the open field (maybe not at set-pieces). This combination was so very succesful last year that I am puzzled as to why SAF chose to abandon it in favour of incorporating Berbatov and thereby changing the rhythm of the team.
Don’t get me wrong: Berbatov is an outstanding player, who has fantastic touch, control and balance BUT I still think he has un-balanced what was a terrific attack with that whirligig trident. AND his incorporation has undoubtedly led to a rather marginalized Ronaldo who has been stationed in a regular winger’s place on the flank rather than being able to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.
I believe that SAF made the alteration in anticipation of Ronaldo’s departure in the summer of 2009 because all the noises I heard last summer seemed to suggest that that’s what Fergy had agreed with him. So, I can understand why SAF would have wanted to re-structure an exciting line-up to protect the team against that eventuality. What would be truly ironic about this change would be if it turns out that CR won’t leave OT.
THAT would leave the OldFootieKnight with a wonderful dilemma – how does he incorporate all four of his attacking talents onto the field to play together ? I know that SAF tried that against the RedScousers early on in the season at Anfield and was unhappy with the result but we have to take into consideration that at that time Berbatov was new to the team and Ronaldo was recovering from an injury. I’m sure the old codger wonders now if he can discover an elixir with which to torment the opposition by playing some sort of 4-4-2 with an attacking diamond. I sure hope that he’s thinking like me !
@Didsbury_King
Rooney>Tevez in every aspect bar maybe temperament although Tevez can lose it on occasion. Tevez scoring twice today doesn’t disguise the fact that he has been rubbish lately although I do think he, Rooney and Ronaldo are our best strikeforce. Rooney is the best striker in the team, get over it. On recent performances Tevez has looked more like Dirk Kuyt than a good striker but today is a start back on the right track
I agree about Rooney.This season he has blown me away with his consistence.And he is really learning to position himself in the box.On another topic guys.A tabloid today says Milan want Vida and Evans for 30 mil!Oh and that Vida met with them while he was in Milan with us.Milan think that we are Barcelona and that we will give them our star player for nothing.Vida will never leave and neither will Evans.I think SAF will be more adamant about keeping these two than he was about Ronaldo.
Tevez always looked more comfortable playing with Rooney, but my opinion ia that Rooney is slightly the better player of the 2. Reason being he contributes more to the team play in an attacking sense, with his much longer range of passing
I was confused as to why Park played the full 90 mins today. I know he has bags of stamina, three lungs and all that, but I thought he would be guaranteed a place on Wed, and shit on saturday also.
I can’t wait to see what side Fergie throws out there on wed. I for one will be nervous if the team sheet has both Giggs and Scholes on it, but if thats what Fergie thinks is right then I’ll shut up and take it.
Have fun at the match to all you lucky punks who get to go. I’ll be green with envy across the sea…
excellent post denton_davey, I agree except for the bit about why fergie got berbatov
I believe it was because he thought Ronaldo wouldn’t score 42 again and he didn’t trust tevez and rooney to make up the goals. between them, ron, rooney and tevez scored 79 goals between them. so say ronaldo fell down to 20, he didn’t think rooney and tevez could get 59 between them. he had to get that extra man. but having said that, even last season he was dropping tevez alot
I have a feeling tevez does not like berbatov
in an interview he said that he believed himself, cristiano and rooney were the best forward line in the world last season and it was a shame it was broken up
he then went on to say that although it had, he still had a very good relationship with both of them
he said the two of them brought so much in terms of attacking etc
not a mention of berbatov
Rooney today showed why when he’s not playing we miss him. He was the centre of everything attacking wise, bringing diversification and originality to our play and arguably he’s having a better season than last. His touch, vision and finishing today was top draw.
Despite it only being fulham i thought there was more fluidity than when we have ronaldo whose general play being a threat this year has not really produced an end product, unlike last year when as soon as he got he ball he met the anticipation that came with it.
Park’s performance again signified why he’s better than nani, who when i see play does my fucking head in. As far as i’m concerned he’s not good enough to wear the shirt, all very well arguing he needs time but after two years at united there’s not been improvement in any aspect of his game. Nani=waste of fucking space.
Adored the georgie best song-must have gone on for at least 10mins.
too many people on here putting down other players and making cheap shots at them and then not having a bad word said about their favourites. stop being fanboys and get behind the team and all the players FFS
Another great away day yesterday will write up my report in a bit. craven cottage stewards aren’t bad either
Good win. Mourihno’s whoreing himself for the United job again. Fuck off you cunt. The only time you will set foot inside OT is on Wednesday for the second leg, after that you can lose yourself.
decent atmosphere yesterday. stewards were letting us get away with loads but I never want to hear fenian c**** sang again. it disgusted me.
VDS- Since Foster impressed in the carling cup final, VDS hasn’t been the same
O’Shea- solid
Vidic- Brilliant
Rio- what the hell has happened to him this season? awful
Evra- best left back in the world
Fletcher- not his best position, so wasn’t his usual self
Anderson- typical anderson. some good, some fucking immense and some terrible
Carrick- not his usual but decent performance
Park- very good
rooney- good but he misses too many sitters for my liking. he is being handed golden chances this season and should be on over 20 by now even without his injuries
tevez- fucking brilliant
bring on inter. gonna be in the blaize before as per. put ronaldo and berbatov through the middle and watch rivas suffer!
COME ON YOU REDS
I was at the match yesterday – atmosphere was quality, away days always are……hopefully Wednesday will be a collective effort. Last season against Barca the fans helped us through – need the same on Wednesday