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Phelan: It's Important To Make Mistakes

August 3, 2010

Scott is the editor of Made In Manchester. He writes for ESPN, Four Four Two and Red News. He started The Republik of Mancunia in March 2006. Follow @R_o_M on Twitter.

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VIDEO: Three Ball Routine

42 Comments

Costas August 3, 2010

If we don't end up playing Fletch and/or Carrick in defence this season, then we would have learned from one of the biggest mistakes of last season.

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Scott the Red August 3, 2010

Costas - What's that? Ban your 10 squad defenders from being injured?

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Costas August 3, 2010

No. Just seemed to me that at times the medical team weren't doing their jobs properly. Vidic's injury in January was supposed to keep him out for 2-3 weeks and he returned a month and a half later. And I remember that Edwin had to go to Holland for further examination to see what was up with him after he got injured against Everton.

Hopefully this season they will get to the bottom of every injury quickly. It will save us time.

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Anon Payn August 3, 2010

Is he defending his appointment?! lol jk.

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Gotta hate tiny tears August 3, 2010

I think in hindsight the biggest mistake of last season was berbatov and Owen - I don't think they were given enough playing time and started enough games, but as I say it's hindsite and at the time I was loving Rooney taking over But as Mickey said it's always a learning process

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aaron August 3, 2010

I really hope Rafael learns frm his bayern mistake.. He likes to hv a little tug when he's beaten.. Did it to Bellamy too if I'm not wrong..

Sometimes it's better to let the player go hopefully he becomes a better judge of dat this season

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Gotta hate tiny tears August 3, 2010

Costa
That was more of a problem than a mistake

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Sayyid August 3, 2010

Last seasons mistake

The reckless tacking by Rafael when 3-1 up

Valencia's miss against Blackburn

Oh well...lets win the treble this season

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united.george August 3, 2010

@sayyid, I think the first goal that went in by Bayern was worse than Rafael getting sent off...we should not have allowed them to score being up 3-0 and completely dominating the game. one careless mistake there that allowed them to take their time and try and get another to win it...

on that news though, robben is out for 2 months for bayern since he was playing the world cup with a torn muscle....bayern is angry with the dutch for playing him injured:)

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sean August 3, 2010

the young players are allowed to make mistakes but not the seniors the manager and coaching staff

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Hugo August 3, 2010

dont be too harsh on Rafael, he is a really decent player (he scored against Arsenal in his first game, so he cant be bad hahaha).

Relying on Berba to get crucial goals at the end of the season, that was the biggest mistake of last season!!!

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Drew Vader August 3, 2010

United George --

How about the mistakes from Gary and Pat in the first leg. We should have walked out of the aliance with a 1-0 win

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Shimo August 3, 2010

What about the mistake by the refs in the Stamford Bridge game - no penalty for Valencia, Rooney being called offside 1-1 with Cech, the Fletcher foul that wasn't a foul, the pull down by Drogba and coming from an offside position?

Then you got the ref not calling a foul on Rafael who then goes and picks up his first yellow in retaliation.

What about the mistakes of the refs !!!!

That said - hope we make a few less than last year. There were some real bonehead ones last year.

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MG August 3, 2010

In all this all I have to say is this:

Manchester United are: Code Red

: )

Nice to be back

Anyway who's off to Wembley - I shall be there as it's a present from my brother for my birthday next week

I could say I'll be a year older

Or a year wiser : )

Still nothing compared to OT

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FletchTHEMAN August 3, 2010

Alot of fans are way to hard on our youngsters. I think Mickey is saying something different. He is saying
that mistakes are inevitable. With that, it is important to have
a culture that uses this in a positive building way. What Mickey is
saying is that he knows the quality in these lads. Mistakes will happen,
but at the end of the day, you build and give the lads the positive environment
to express themselves. Anyway, that is what I took from it.

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Ulster Red August 3, 2010

evening all

there is a reason for mistakes - to learn from it an become a better player
if you think you are perfect you'l never be

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Tk August 3, 2010

I think the biggest mistake of last season,was not allowing Owen and Berba to play enough and that leads to the REAL problem,which is, we lack a defensive Midfielder. I said it on here before and i'm gonna say it again.I would rather have a fit Owen Hargreaves and Anderson than any other player in the World,unfortunately that's not seem to be possible with Hargo's current situation.Oezil is a very good player but in my opinion ,we need a DM.
LUHG

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Costas August 3, 2010

@GHTT

I know. It was a problem for us just as it is for any team. We just felt it more than others did and I think that's something that needs to get looked at. It can't be all down to bad luck.

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eddieTheRed August 3, 2010

I think Ben Foster paid for his handful of mistakes last year when he was sold to 'Brum; This year I'm hoping Raphael will be wise; Carrick will be reinvigorated, Valencia and Nani will be 10% better (because that's all it takes) and Berbatov will relax and lose his fear of failure (his fear is the only thing stopping him becoming a success at United).

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bruce thomas August 3, 2010

If it's important to make mistakes then he should be happy -- we're about to make a massive one. ...Not signing Ozil.

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RedScot August 3, 2010

Like this Mike? When you left the club in 1994 to join the Baggies.
To return to "Our love, and yours.
If you dont make mistakes you dont learn!
The point is growing and recognising you have fucked up and not repeating the "Fuck up"
And I aint putting up my two digits in the air like a twat, when i say that ! lol

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Ando08 August 3, 2010

Berbatov was playing with huge pressure last season and he couldnt handle it. He didnt take any risks because he was scared of making mistakes and in the end he tried too hard. In pre season theres no pressure or anything and you can see a different player. Hes taking shots from outside the box, linking up with the striker and midfielders etc.

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Red Devil 2774 August 3, 2010

I agree with Bruce Thomas ..if we fail to sign Ozil that would be a horrible mistake!

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willierednut August 3, 2010

Making mistakes is part and parcel of the game, it's whether we learn from the mistakes, i'm sure we will.

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Xyth August 3, 2010

No disrespect to Mike, but had Carlos had not left us to take the Portugal job, we would have become champions for the 4th year running!!!!!

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eddieTheRed August 4, 2010

If you want to understand the mentality of our competitors then follow this link;

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/strangers-join-family-as-150-attend-gunman-moats-funeral-2281809.html

read the last 2 paragraphs about the woman in the "Chelsea shirt" ; and tell me if this descirbes every f**cker you ever met with a Chelsea shirt!

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aig alex is god August 4, 2010

Its is important to learn from them too. Yes Riobery got rafaels ent off but how silly of Rafael it was to do that when Ribery was 40 yards away from goal. Someone like O Shea say for example wouldnt have done that because he is experienced. Hope Rafael has learnt his lesson. If injuries do cost us the title again it will be as if we havent learnt anything from last season. Hope thats not the case

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Gorse Hill Red August 4, 2010

Mistakes, like selling your club to owners that take more money OUT of the club than any club in the history of football (£450mill to banks so far). A mistake that we fans will have to bare for many many years to come.

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Tunnelboy August 4, 2010

From the bits of the US tour that I saw, Rafael hasn't learnt anything. He was still tugging away at anyone who went past him. Would have thought the coaches would have hammered that into him by now!!

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King Eric August 4, 2010

Xyth - Disagree completely mate. Give Phelan more credit. Do you honestly think him and Fergie don't know tactics mate? Fergie learned off one off the best in Jock Stein and Phelan off Fergie.

I agree with the lad who said we need a defensive midfielder. We HAVE creativity.

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jamiemufc1974 August 4, 2010

@king eric i agree wi you there mate. mickey phelan is a smart tactician and people dont give him enough credit. You dont spend all your time under the greatest manager thats ever lived and not gain a few pointers???!

I agree also on the defensive midfielder conundrum. I want bastian shwiensteiger. Absolutely brilliant player but other than that i think we're sound. I think the squad we've got is capable of winning the league, whether we've got enough to contend on all fronts is a different matter altogether.

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jamiemufc1974 August 4, 2010

Havin said that, i want our trophy back and not arsed if we dont win owt else! Its the league all day long for me.

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Costas August 4, 2010

Agreed with King Eric. Our creativity comes from our wings anyway. What we could do with is a midfielder who would take the defensive load off Fletcher's shoulders. Assuming that Anderson and Hargreaves can't be relied on of course...

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CROoney August 4, 2010

mike phelan - now i see who adviced ferguson to buy berbatov - one of the biggest mistakes in the history

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CROoney August 4, 2010

GHTT - lol !!! after 2 full seasons with the club you think that berba hasn't been given enough playing time ?!

the reason why he got benched last season more often is because he was getting worse as the season was coming to it's later stages...and you would actually play him more often

lmfao - that book of yours didn't serve it's purpose as i can see

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CROoney August 4, 2010

fletcher is an excellent CMF with great defensive possibilites, and true, our creativity comes from the flanks but when nani's not in the mood then it only comes from ONE flank...we need a creative midfielder as fletcher's creativity can't be reliead upon week in week out...especially as it pales when it's compared to what other teams have in the CMF department - Barca, Arsenal,Inter, Chelsea

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CROoney August 4, 2010

King Eric - mate the football has evolved - there is no more room for the Stein school... the football's become faster and more cautios when the prime goal is all that matters - and that's winning - no matter with what margin...all i'm saying is that you need to adapt to the new demands and fergie's been doing it so far - but i'm still doubtfull when it comes to this season...i think we're not prepared to be a serious threat in europe and i'm not so sure about the EPL too

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badger August 4, 2010

Making Mickey number 2? Is it any coincidence that when he came in as Fergies assistant it was also the start of us playing forgetable football the majority of the time?

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Gee August 4, 2010

We dont need a DM, we have too many players who can play that position, apart from Hargo and Anderson, we have Fletch and Carrick who can play there. Now in the creative position we have Scholes (unfortunately wont be able to play every game), Gibbo (not ready to hold down a regular place) and Giggs (who although I love dearly can be hit and miss at times in the centre). If Cleverly can get some regular games he might be the answer but I think we need another AM player with abit of creativity about them. Last season even with our defenders out we didnt concede bucket loads but when we needed to break teams down at the back we struggled in a fair few games. If we dont get that spark then I can only see Rooney dropping off and feeding Hernandez, which isnt a massive problem but I would like to see Rooney scoring as many as he provides.

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KIng Eric August 4, 2010

Crooney - Alright mate. Arsenals midfield and Chelseas? We ripped Arsenal apart at the library as for the Chav's come on fella. Past it.

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RedScot August 5, 2010

@ Jamie as much as I love you and we had a wee bit fun one Sunday when we cracked a few jokes and I indicated Scots are Alchies and super lagers for breakfast. thats all true!
Look at the big picture mate. The premiership is not the key now.
Hope Doncaster is Sunny.
Because unless it brighten's up on our general horizon's you will not have to travel to Manchester in the near future.
Up the Donnie

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CROoney August 5, 2010

KIng Eric - we ripped them apart, true - but why ? certainly not because of fletcher's creativity - but because we had inspired nani in the team also...and what happens when nani's not inspired ?

all i'm saying is that we can't get complacent - especially not with this midfield---now i'm not one of those who say that we have a weak midfield - i actually posted some facts about us having 2 midfielders in the team of the year (with 3rd ( nani) potentially knocking at the door) but we're not excactly the most creative team in the central MF area

i'd love modric here - i'd give them ando + carrick in an instant