When United were drawn against Real Madrid in the Last 16 of the Champions League we knew we had a battle on our hands. Whilst the Spaniards have failed to impress in La Liga there is no hiding the fact they currently have one of the best managers and squads in European football.
We may have breezed through our domestic season so far, despite not being too impressive for the first few months, but the Champions League is a totally different level, requiring more purposeful tactics and more solid performances. The last time Sir Alex Ferguson pitted his wits against Jose Mourinho in the Champions League we were victorious, with two fairly easy games against his Inter Milan side, who went on to win the Treble the following season. Still, Cristiano Ronaldo is more than capable of dragging any team over the finish line and to underestimate their capabilities would have been foolish.
With fifteen minutes played at the Bernabeu I was genuinely concerned, not just with our chances of progression, but with our chances of not being embarrassed. They saw so much of the ball and their attacks crashed down on us in waves. Our players held their nerve though and went ahead thanks to a Wayne Rooney corner which Danny Welbeck got on the end of. We’d got the away goal we’d all been desperate for. On reflection, one away goal was fairly (not totally) meaningless, as it was unlikely that we’d see a 0-0 at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo equalised, as you’d expect, and declined the opportunity to celebrate out of respect for his former club, again, as you would expect. Leaving the Bernabeu with a 1-1 draw was a decent enough result though and I was full of optimism for the return leg. In the league I like to see us blow our opposition apart but in Europe I’m always impressed to see us neutralise our opponents. Being able to soak up the pressure, even let them take the game to us, but still get the result you want is very satisfying. When Carlos Queiroz first started introducing these tactics for the Champions League I was appalled, much preferring that gung-ho ‘United way’, but I have a certain admiration for the more sophisticated tactics required to succeed on the continent now. We probably saw this at its best in the two legs against Barcelona in the 2008 semi-final when we stopped them from scoring and should have won both games 1-0 (if not for Ronaldo’s early penalty miss at the Nou Camp), despite them dominating possession. They passed from one wing to the other, rarely able to penetrate our back line, with us absorbing everything they threw at us. At the Nou Camp they managed six shots on target and at Old Trafford just three. It was clear we would need a repeat of this performance if we were going to get to the quarter-finals this season.
You can always feel the difference inside Old Trafford on the big games and Tuesday night was no different. The ground was full earlier than usual and the anticipation for what we were about to witness was huge. There had been plenty of fuss about plastic flags in the week leading up to the game but the Sir Alex Ferguson stand was happy enough to participate when the time came with “Bring on United!” being flashed on the scoreboards and chanted from the stands.
The game started well, despite the surprise of Wayne Rooney’s absence, with our players keeping their shape and David de Gea having next to nothing to do. He was the Man of the Match in the first game, making a couple of unbelievable saves, but Cleverley and Carrick worked hard in midfield and our back four was impeccable, meaning De Gea was much better protected. What added to our performance was Ryan Giggs playing like a man possessed and Danny Welbeck making the Real Madrid defence look uneasy whenever he ran at them. They were our best performers on the night, two players who’ve grown up in Manchester playing for our club, which should fill any fan with immense pride. This is what sets United apart from the other clubs at the top in England. The closest City have to a homegrown player is Micah Richards, a Brummie who grew up supporting Arsenal, who Oldham have a 20% sell on clause for after City snapped him up when he was a teenager. At Chelsea, the last player to come up through the ranks was John Terry, who made his début 15 years ago. At Arsenal they have Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs. In contrast, year after year United are competing for the title and in Europe with a group of academy products playing regularly in the first team squad. It was great to see two of them shine against Real Madrid, with Cleverley also playing his part, and Jonny Evans desperately unlucky to miss out on the starting line-up after such impressive performances in the league.
With two great performances against Real Madrid, I can only imagine what the fans in Spain think of Welbeck. In these games he showed what he is capable of. He has a great touch and really quick feet. Whilst not quite as much like Bambi as when he first broke through a few years back, gangly and all over the place, he still has a nasty habit of doing something brilliant then tripping up over his own feet. But he’s just 22-years-old and should have a bright future at this club.
At half-time and the score at 0-0 the nerves really started to kick in. You know you’re just 45 minutes away from being on top of the world or being totally gutted. Whilst I had probably more or less prepared myself for the possibility of a defeat, there was no way I was ready for how the game was about to unfold.
A few minutes after the restart we took the lead after Nani tried to find a red shirt in the box. The ball took a nick off Welbeck and if not for Sergio Ramos would have found Robin van Persie at the back post. Van Persie wasn’t presented with the opportunity to make amends for that painful miss at the Bernabeu though because Ramos put it in the back of the net for us. Despite losing the ball a few times in the first half, much to the frustration of some pockets of impatient fans, Nani had justified his inclusion.
Then, less than ten minutes later, Nani was sent off. You very rarely see that red card over the course of a season and become accustomed to seeing the ref waving around the yellow. It’s always fairly shocking when you see the red but I was absolutely gobsmacked this time. You usually get that feeling of dread before you see it, having watched one of your players make a crunching challenge or bringing down a charging striker when there’s no one else there to cover him. Watching the referee hovering around Nani when he was on the deck I was waiting for him to dish out a yellow card and I was pissed off enough with that. He was clearly just attempting to bring down the ball, he wasn’t even making a challenge, but according to Law 12, fine, it was a caution. It was dangerous. The only people claiming it was worthy of a red card are people who aren’t familiar with the rules. Unless you think there was an element of “brutality” to Nani’s delicate toes, it wasn’t serious foul play and it wasn’t a red card. That’s not opinion, it’s just the rules of the game. Maybe the referee, pundits and journalists should familiarise themselves with them, before telling us “it was a harsh red, but…”.
The players and the fans are united with their ‘never say die’ attitude and Rio Ferdinand said after the game it was the best atmosphere he’d heard at any ground throughout his career, but the prospect of 35 minutes against this well organised Real Madrid side seemed almost impossible. Mourinho acted quickly, bringing on Luka Modric, and five minutes later he equalised. It was a quality goal and there’s not much you can complain about. United should probably have closed him down faster but it was a top finish. Stunned from the red card and equalising goal, United found themselves 2-1 down a couple of minutes later. Vidic and Rafael didn’t get close enough to their men and we paid the price.
Just because you go down to ten men it doesn’t mean you forfeit the game though. Other teams have had a man sent off in tougher circumstances than that and they’ve gone on to score themselves and win. On a different night maybe we could have been one of those success stories. Maybe if Diego Lopez wasn’t in goal we would have been celebrating one of our greatest comebacks, but he made a couple of brilliant saves and Jose Mourinho claimed he was Man of the Match. The small details make all the difference and after the unjust sending off the game was still in our hands. But had Nani not been sent off I have no doubt we’d have gone through because the game was playing out just as we wanted, with Ferguson’s tactics working perfectly. There was a perfect balance to our game, with us able to keep them out, whilst also having chances at the other end. When Real Madrid were given the unfair and unjust advantage of the extra man, they adapted and went for the kill. They got their two goals then sat back, and fair play to them.
Anger from injustice is probably a better feeling than disappointment from not being good enough. Maybe the frustration keeps you awake a bit longer but once you get past that, whether that takes you a couple of hours or a couple of days, what you’re left with is much more positive. The Real Madrid games were the first test for this latest Ferguson team and they held their own. They stood toe to toe with one of the best sides in Europe and as Jose Mourinho correctly pointed out, the best team lost.
“Independent of the decision, the best team lost,” he said. “We didn’t deserve to win but football is like this. My feeling is that Manchester United were playing very well, were very compact and aggressive in a good way. I doubt that 11 v 11 we win the match. I know Manchester United are giants, not just physically but mentally.”
Our manager was too “distraught” to face the press, as revealed by Mike Phelan, which earned some derision from rival fans. Without getting too soft, I don’t like the thought of Fergie like that. Seeing him stood on the touchline after the sending off, getting the crowd going, urging us to be the clichéd 12th man (but on this occasion, the 11th man), you had to know how desperate he was. Who knows what his plans are but maybe he did or does intend to retire at the end of this season. Maybe this was his last chance of winning the European Cup and he had to see it taken away from him because of the incompetence of a referee. This man lives football and breathes Manchester United, so however gutted you are feeling, it probably doesn’t compare with his emotion right now.
Still, this was just one decision, one game, and United carries on, as it always does. I wouldn’t have fancied our chances against Bayern Munich this season anyway, I don’t think this team is quite ready yet. There’s always the off chance we could pull a Chelsea, get battered and still leave with the trophy, and I’d take winning the trophy any way than not winning it despite being the best. But there are other seasons and other opportunities, and if the manager had been thinking about packing it in at the end of the season, the silver lining might be that the bent ref has given Ferguson that extra hunger to carry on.
We’re 12 points clear and we’ve got an FA Cup quarter-final to think about. Robin van Persie has looked unfit over the past few weeks and with only Evra and Carrick playing more minutes than him in the league, maybe it’s time he was given a game off. Javier Hernandez enjoys scoring against Chelsea, with six goals in the nine games he’s played against them since signing for us, and could do with more playing time after being shunned for the Real Madrid games.
There’s no denying what a disappointment this week was but now our focus can be on winning our trophy back and possibly making it a double. City don’t have the distraction of Europe either so it won’t do our title chances any harm to be able to give the Premier League our full attention. In May, hopefully we’ll look back on Tuesday night as small blot on what was an otherwise truly successful season. Onwards and upwards. We’ll never die.
Man Utd News 24/7
Excellent piece once again Scott.
I think it’s really important that the lads don’t throw away the season now. They’ll feel the CL was the only thing they were competing for with the PL, in their minds, seemingly already won. They need to come out with the same passion that they have for most of this season so far, and be ruthless. Win every game, and make it convincing.
This way we’ll have the confidence to start next season all guns blazing, and lay the gauntlet down to the rest of the PL.
Great Article. Sums the night up perfectly. The sense of injustice and lost opportunity will drive this team on to smash the league and the fa cup this year, and hopefully we will go further in the champions league next year. I really felt that we watched the team grow in to themselves over those matches and realise they could be good enough to beat both Spanish teams. In the first match they were put under a lot of pressure but after about 60 minutes you could sense the team and the crowd realise they had the measure of this Real Madrid side. You could see this confidence from the start in the 2nd leg when I have no doubt we would have progressed without the sending off. Danny Welbeck was brilliant, and Cleverley was putting together some great stuff in the middle of the park. These young lads are on the way to being proper special. Great to see Nani being given the opportunity to inflict some damage as well. Onwards and upwards…
Top read: Lads were immense, Welbeck and Giggs imperious! Nani was quality to be fair and needs to dust himself off.
Fans will be key to getting the mind set right on Sunday. We need to show this team how much them mean to us and how proud we are of them.
We havn’t won the double on it’s own since 1995-96 but did it in 1998-99 as part of the treble of course.
Thats 14 years! Many of the squad have never won the FA Cup, which we haven’t lifted since 2004.
We have 10 games in the league and a minimum of 3 in the FA Cup if we progress.
No time to be down when we are top of the league and everyone looking at us to slip up. Come on reds and come on you fans. Support this incredible team.
They surely need us more than ever! HA
In all honesty we should have won at Madrid and that would have given the home leg different complexion.
At OT we were unlucky both, before and after red card. On another night we could have easily been 2:0 by half time.
We should not now let this defeat derail our season. If anything it should make us more eager for success.
Rooney should cut the media speculation straight away, one way or another. If he wants to stay fine, if not good luck to him! Even he should know by now that no player is greater than United!
great great post
we will make the double this year
we have a team of great talent.we will rule england and europe for years
Excellent write up. Agree with everything.
http://www.redmancunian.com/2013/03/06/picture-ryan-giggs-gives-his-1000th-match-shirt-to-cristiano-ronaldo/
Thanks a great read and good assesment . Time now to lift our heads ,there is a job still to be done . I thought we were birilliant tuesday night , Lets show more of this . Get our Trophy back win the FA Cup .Then prepare for next season . Still more than proud to be RED …..
Excellent, Scott. One of your best, in fact. What I like most is that, in the aftermath of such a shocking decision that has cost us a match we might well have won, you’ve somehow found a way to see some positives out of this CL campaign. I’ve been very impressed with the lads this season. As Scott says, I am not sure they could have gone all the way and won the CL this year — I reckon they need a bit more under their belts first. (Though being a knock-out cup, anything can happen of course.)
But they’ll have learned from this. They’ll have learned to have even more confidence in themselves. Next time they go out against a strong team in Europe or at home, they’ll be justifiably confident they can mix it up and they won’t be intimidated. They’ll be confident that the boss and his coaching team have the nous to come up with an effective plan to beat anyone, and they’ll be confident that they themselves have the skill, physicality, mental strength, character and discipline to execute that strategy brilliantly.
yeah, the other night sucked. But I sense great things ahead for this squad. And I truly hope they achieve that greatness with Sir Alex still at the helm, and with Giggsy still playing. Oh how I would love to see him hoist another CL trophy over his greying head!
The red card is something you’ll expect from a Real Madrid supporting ref but again if you look at the incident you’ll see that Arabeloa saw nani’s boot up trying to control the ball and he ran straight to the boot. I was shocked by the red card but what made me mad was the ref spent some minutes without doing anything and van persie even told him that nani’s had his eyes on the ball.The defeat really got me depressed
I think there’s zero danger of throwing the season away. Chelsea on Sunday can’t come soon enough for those boys. They’re hurting on scale way larger than the hurt we’re feeling. If anything this will rid any complacency and drive the lads on further.
Picking Ourselves Up After Real Madrid Defeat……12 points in front, Chelski to come on Sunday
granted Tuesday night hurt and im still gutted….but looking at it a few days later we have many things to be happy about.
Double is still on …and to wipe the smug grin of the Bitters is worth it.
and it could be worse …..we could be Bindippers.
Incredible writing Scott
An excellent article, thank you.
Occasions like Tuesday night put into perspective how fantastic not only the team, but also the way the club are managed. The overt branding of MUFC sticks in the craw but the essence of the club, the core values of youth and experience and the way the club deals with situations like this and and then strive to move forward with dignity makes a supporter remember why supporting MUFC is like nothing else.
Whether other suporters like it or not, MUFC is an intrinsic part of not only Manchester, but British culture, as essential to the history of this country as the BBC and The Beatles and no matter how much the Glazers try to rip out the heart of the club and behave like parasites, we move on. And whoever is chosen as manager, the decision will be the right one.
He conquers who endures.
“We’ve still got an FA Cup tie and we’re still in a commanding position in the league. So we’ll get over it, we’ll bounce back,
We’ve had disappointments before and we’ll get over this one. We’ll come in (to training) and kick on.
Mike Phelan
bring on chelski
we will win the double
come on
Another fine read Scott. and i hope your right. Think all of us realise S.A.F,s reign is almost over and every season that passes you just hope for another. Thats what got me more angry than anything. The manner in which we went out because the tactics were spot on! So i just hope he stays for another crack at it next season because he deserves it so much.. But the double is still in sight. At the start of the season if we knew we would be 12 clear in the prem and in the quarters of the f.a cup, not to many reds would of complained. I Certainly wouldn’t of! UNITED!!
Great article. Fantastic to see the passion of the Reds. We’ll win it next year just as we’ll win the Prem this year.We’re all fired up! GGMU
Cheer up, Tope99
Scott is right; back in 2000, 0-0 left me feeling uneasy, we didn’t concede in Madrid but still a feeling that we missed the boat by not scoring.
Same feeling this time; we scored BUT we should have scored more, and a lingering doubt that that would come back to haunt us.
Yes, the ref cheated us out victory in the tie, but we could have avoided the knife edge everything was balanced on by taking our chances in Madrid. Even at 1-2 down we’d only be looking for a goal to win it, not 2, and they’d have had to open up and play earlier than they did. The whole landscape would have been different from the get-go.
So I predict we’re going back to the Bernebeau as double winners next season, and we’re gonna win there, and then win the Champions League. And a super fit Wayne Rooney’s gonna share the goal scoring honours in the final with RVP and Danny Welbeck.
Spot on Scott , … loosing the game is one thing , but right now what s occupying my mind is Rooney’s situation !! i ve been reading some articles recently mainly on goal.com ….that he might be leaving us next season , my perosnal opinion on that ….its sad i ve always looked at Rooney as the back bone , the lungs if i may say of our squad , it never crossed my mind that he shall go down in history as a man united legend …but it seems that SAF never forgets , neither forgives ….i really hope for the sake of the ckub , fans , that he stays and he ends his career at OT …but unfortunately that doesnt seem the case
Well written scot.
Would agree with RVP looking abit tired in recent games and with rooney having a point to prove and hernandez a willing runner with a great record against chelsea would like to see the pair up top on sunday.
Granted real madrid are a good team and deserved the respect they got woth us playing defensive and sitting back…but on sunday i hope its a completely different scenario with us having an attacking team and setting out to get over the result on tuesday. No doubt fergies gonna b drilling into the lads the importance of the match and to not dwell on tuesdays disappointment.
And the spanish waiter…bet he cant wait for the match. Not only will the united fans be hating on him…but he will look up to the small contingent of away fans and possibly find a group of fans with an even greater hatred of the waiter!
Onwards and upwards!
The fact that we shouldn’t have succumbed so fast after the red card is a very valid point. Chelsea played with 10 men at Barca for the majority of the game and didn’t really let it affect them. SAF should’ve made a quick substitution and tried to reorganize the players. I know Welbeck was kind of pushed out wide ex-post, but that clearly wasn’t ideal either. Making a change when they were already 2-1 up was somewhat redundant, especially given the fact that the one decent chance Rooney got after coming on he blasted it over the bar.
@Fadi ……The situation with Rooney right now is nobody knows whats going on or been said
the club has said nothing, Rooney has said nothing and Sir Alex has said nothing.
its the daily rags wanted to sensationalise a story that is quite possibly not true.
sky sports needs its fix of bollocks because the havent got anything worth writing home about now rory (ouch i have toothache) mcllroy has said sorry.
i cant belive for one minute sir Alex didnt say to rooney “your on the bench for now son” and that he just dropped him without giving him reasons why.
in a few days one of them or all 3 of them will announce there is no problem at all and rooney is fine.
What the fuck is happening??? What’s with the Wayne rumours? I just pray to God they are untrue…..
Great piece scott.
As nani was clearly charging for the ball and lifted his foot up to try and bring the ball down, the TV image couldn’t show where arbeloa was cause obviously he wasn’t nowhere near, with nani already with his studs up the cunt that’s arbeloa threw himself in front of nani as the ball sprinted out of control and leave the two to clash, they went down and the ref approached the scene looking as calm as fuck and with me not having seen anything deserving of a caution was as relaxed as ever.
Ah maybe he’s trying to see the seriousness of the clash up closer so he can call the stretcher guys, to my disbelief……..
My initial reaction when I saw the card I was like:
ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS, REALLY?!?!? I you fucking sure you went for the right pocket to pick the card????
still when I re-wind the incident it baffles
Come on you lilly livered media guppies.
Wayne Rooney is going nowhere. Stop letting every ridiculous media concoction send you crying to mama.
This type of tripe is only speculation and calculated to generate media sales and hits on rankly uninformed “news sites”.
We need to stay focused people. Support Wayne, Support Nani, Support this team.
They have done more than most of you lot imagined posible back in October. They all deserver your respect at the moment!
The right thing to do now is to move forward accept that the ref got it all wrong and try win our next 3 games, chelsea next, its another huge game, let’s fucking win it and advance
My biggest worry is how this will affect Nani.
It’s become apparent over the years that his performances often rely (understandably) on confidence. It is not unreasonable for Nani to feel at fault for this, and I just hope he realises that it was far from his fault and that a Turkish moron can take credit for what has to be described as the biggest display of fuckwittery this year.
I hope that Nani starts on Sunday, and that when his name is read out he gets as big a cheer as Ronaldo did on Tuesday. That should help him to feel like the fans are on his side which they haven’t always been in the past.
Lift the roof off OT and make the same amount of noise on Sunday and we can batter the rent boys!
Come on you Reds!
Never knew tt this defeat brings so much repercussions. Media now picking up on Wazza being sold off soon with too many ex players commenting on it. Figures of 30mil being floated across. I m worried. Just when things are turning out brilliantly, this happens. I sincerely hope we don’t crumble. Darn tt turk
saw an artiicle last week where man united fans were complaining about rooney at his book signing because he wouldnt sign united shirts or united magazines. i was really surprised the media didnt pick it up and run with it. thoughts guys??
@red joey
The media are a bunch of cunts.
all of them …not one could lie straight in bed.
Good post Scott – but I completely disagree – we could beat Bayern.
Arsenal make Bayern look better than they are, we would thrash them.
Scott,
good article to bring out the positives of a campaign lost but also of a campaign that is still yet to be won in the Prem and FA Cup. It will be no small feat to do the double and all eyes have to now swing to that prize. I am sure that the gaffer and the rest of the staff is quickly getting the lads switched on for the coming Chelski match up and what is to come after that.
As far as an Waza rumors, they are just that. Papers need to create shit in order for people to read their rags. As far as not signing united gear and magazines, that is probably in his contract or per the bookstore. I have seen it here in the states. Don’t read anything into it.
Everyone, get the past behind you and look forward to what may prove to be another classic match this Sunday.
Cheers.
Cant see united extending Rooney contract at his current wages, can’t see him or his agent agreeing to anything less.
Rooney is about the same age as Wes – he should look at what happened to him, star or world cup and CL winner with Inter Milan, refused to take a pay cut, now playing for some club in turkey and ruined his career for money and ego. It’s amazing to think Wes coulld have signed for us a year ago but now look at him.
Rooney should be careful, there is a lot of talent out there and while he is still a huge positive his touch and pace need massive work.
I can see United selling him if he does not take a wage cut. Quite frankly, we don’t need him like we used to and his smoking and crap is not on.
Saying that the game v RM was tactical and I would be disappointed to see him go but it’s not just this game, it’s the whole season SAF has not been too thrilled with his form and attitude and his influence on younger players is another factor SAF will look at.
My bet – if he does not lower his wage demands, he won’t get an extension, he will be sold in summer if we can get a buyer at a decent price. I think SAF is looking at him and thinking maybe he is the white Pele and like so many Brazillian players at age 27 we have seen the best of him, look at kaka or Ronaldo.
“Just because you go down to ten men it doesn’t mean you forfeit the game though. Other teams have had a man sent off in tougher circumstances than that and they’ve gone on to score themselves and win.”
It might have been the sense of injustice that stopped everyone in their tracks. Mourinho pounced and saw an opportunity to win. Welbeck did a job on Alonso but Modric came on and stole the show. Maybe fresh legs were needed to get tight to Modric? We lost a winger and conceded two goals. I know Nani had a defensive role to do, like everyone does, but still. A shit sandwich all round.
I just hate these nights. Losing to Madrid 10 years ago doesn’t hurt – they were better. But this will hurt for years. But the positives are that the staff and players are pros who have to pick themselves up and surely will. I would’ve taken the league at the start of the season and the FA Cup would be a good bonus.
@NBI Red Onions “Arsenal make Bayern look better than they are, we would thrash them.”
Hard to say. Bayern were better than Real Madrid last season and Bayern have really improved this season. Dortmund battered Real in the group stages and are contenders. Juventus too. Maybe the winner of Milan/Barca. I think we could have beaten any of these teams but the margins would have been small. What’s annoying too is that there’s a potentially easy route to the final with a few weak teams in the last 8. It’s quite open though, an exciting year for the CL but the feeling we should be there and are definitely good enough hurts. Not too bothered but Dortmund will hopefully go and win it.
Its 10 more games to go in the league with 12 points ahead of City. Mathematically, its another 6 straight win (if City also keep on winning) for us to reach 20.
I am still not completely recovered after the madrid defeat. I don’t know why but this defeat is more painful than the City 6-1 thrashing. This was as painful as City scoring those 2 goals in the dying minutes to win the league. But honestly I overcame that as I knew wed only had outside chance of winning the league that day as qpr at home was never a test for them.
But what happened against Madrid was a travesty. I repeat TRAVESTY. I was so proud of our boys that day that I cannot describe. Seriously the way we played was commendable. I know many hate mourinho and term him as fake but even he felt this was the luckiest win in his managerial career. Every single player gave more than 100% that day. RESPECT GUYS
I will not even comment on the red card as I feel I will only spoil my health while thinking about that.
F
Lets move on. My only worry is we should not let this defeat go into our head that we lose against chelsea this week. We have to win that for ourselves. I said thios could be our most crucial week. One trophy gone but I don’t want us to get knocked out from FA cup also. Let us win double this seaqson
BELIEVE
What are the chances of Rvp being crowned champions in front of Arsenal fans? =p
PSG not interested but club forcing trying to sell…
@Sport_Witness: Manchester United have been
trying to sell Rooney to PSG for months – French
press.
http://t.co/5YAZEZIkjL
^ I this is a Bs
Not saying he will, but if Rooney does go, it will take more than the pathetic 20m quoted. If anything it will take closer to 40m
What do you make of this: http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/french-press-manchester-united-have-been-trying-to-sell-rooney-to
At the end of last month when The Times broke their Wayne Rooney to PSG story, we said that if PSG were really pushing for the striker that there would be news about a potential move in France. The French media get so many leaks from clubs in the country that it’s like they all live in the same house, so if PSG were preparing a mega-bid for Rooney then the story would most likely start in France with one of the regular suspects.
Well, today Le10 have Wayne Rooney on their front page. A quick glance at it (see above) would be enough to scare any Manchester United fans who would be loathe to see him leave the club. And inside it gets more worrying. They totally respect The Times, calling them a ‘very serious’ newspaper, but say that there’s no interest from PSG like detailed in the original article.
This has led them to do some digging on their side and it would appear that PSG aren’t happy with being painted as the interested party and have done some leaking of their own.
Le10 claim that if Wayne Rooney is the subject of a deal going on behind the scenes, then it will be Manchester United forcing the issue and not Paris Saint Germain, that the Ligue 1 side haven’t gone looking for Rooney, and if they end up in talks about him, it will be because his transfer has been suggested to them.
They go as far as to say that according to information they’ve gained from the French club, Manchester United offered Wayne Rooney to PSG in August. If that’s true it’s huge news, and would surely underline that Rooney’s Old Trafford days are numbered.
PSG didn’t want to make the move at the price suggested and have other targets for this summer, Wayne Rooney is not their first choice and Le10 contradict The Times by saying that PSG are not about to make a bid for him.
Therefore they suggest that the news in England has also come from the same scenario and that Manchester United are the the ones wanting a Wayne Rooney exit to happen the most.
Well we don’t need rooney distraction right we need to focus and strengthen.
@Proverb:
Hahahaha! Sounds bollock to me!
To think how desperate those Arabs when they outbid us for Moura, there’s no way they would rejected Rooney if he’s available.
Just imagine all the hype, all the media, all the attention that comes with Rooney for them.
Bollocks mate, its real BS.
Just to add a few more points.
I can’t really see how Nani trying to control the ball was a straight red card. It wasn’t even a tackle. Saying that though you are always leaving yourself open to the referee making a bad decision by having your foot that high. Arbeloa played a blinder. He stuck his chest out and went down like he had been shot. For me it was a bad decision, most the British and Spanish media are questioning the decision for a change.
Obviously that changed the game but I have to say at that point United were still ahead in the tie. There is a risk of bad decisions happening all the time. Part of that is minimizing the risk you are the victim of a bad decision, but also how the team reacts to a bad decision going against them. Other teams have been reduced to 10 men but have reorganized and still got the result they have needed. Barcelona v Chelsea springs to mind and I believe Barcelona were a better team last season than Real Madrid this season.
Mourinho took Arbeloa off and brought Modric on. Welbeck went to cover the position Nani had vacated which left nobody to cover Alonso. Khedira moved to the right wing while Modric sat in the middle. SAF was winning the tactical battle with Mourinho until the sending off. It’s difficult to argue with SAF and his tactics with the history he has winning trophies but I think it would have been a good idea to drop RVP on to Alonso to play 4-5-0. After all we had a lead to protect.
After the game I saw United players surrounding the referee. Although I can understand the anger and frustration I was disappointed as this is not the United way. Doing that is not going to change the result but it might get you in to trouble. The referee may have been to blame for a dodgy red card decision but it wasn’t him who left Modric unmarked at the edge of the penalty area or Ronaldo unmarked at the back post.
Some people are questioning why Rooney did not start. But I can see why SAF did it. Rooney did not do very well against Real Madrid when carrying out defensive duties in the first leg so SAF went with Nani and Giggs instead. I suppose SAF could have stuck Welbeck on the left and left Rooney to cover Alonso but he clearly wanted to use the pace and trickery of Nani and you know what? It almost worked.
United had some strange decisions go against them over the tie, but also had the chances to score a fair few goals. We just didn’t take them. Oh well, on to Chelsea.
PS. Love the way the ABU fans are saying it was a red card. They’re calling in to Talk Shite and posting on blogs. I just laugh. They only get a few chances per season to wind up United fans. Let the get on with it.
Everyone here knows my distatse for Rooney the person and the indifference I have for him as a player but I thought Id let you know what I think is happening.
Rooney is a useful player, he has a good engine, isnt affraid to get stuck in and is good at almost everything. The problem lies in the fact he doesnt start a season on time and arrives late, he smokes which effectively lets us all know he can afford to do that as he is fitter than everyone else. That is not the case so therefore the smoking is an issue. His passing and close control when he isnt focused which is 50% of the time is average at best.
BUT the issue here is this. Is he as prolific in front of the net as Hernandez or Van Persie is. Answer NO. Is he as industrious and hard working as Wellbeck or Ji Sung Park was. Answer NO. Is he as good a passer as Cleverley, Kagawa or Wellbeck. Answer NO. What he has become is a jack of all trades master of none. And Im sorry, Manchester United is a business and you dont pay players of that ilk nearer £200000 a week. nearly £3 of every home ticket sold goes to Rooney alone.
I say keep Rooney ONLY IF he is prepared to take wages in the region of £75000 a week. If not then he is massively over priced for that money you should be getting a Ronaldo, a Messi, A Neymar etc not a Gerrard or other hyped up English player without any real tecnical ability what so ever.
I believe 100% that Roney wont be here next year, if he is it will because the deal hasnt been struck yet but he will be off by the end of the summer transfer window (3 weeks into the season).
I also believe that Nani may well be on his way too. The red card wouldnt have helped. Of course it wasnt a red but he put himself in the possition of possibly getting a red on such an important occasion. That will be enough to see him dropped for quite a few matches and with his very little time playing and our reasonable success without him, he will be seen as excess to requirements. A youngster will take Wellbeck or Cleverleys spot as they will move up in turn to take a senior place in the team and take Nanis.
I have a wry smile on the side of my face as I remember that Rooney was so adament that we had zero ambition and had to buy players to prove it to him. We did and they are your premature replacements Charlie.
Completely agree.
March 7, 2013 at 12:54
NBI Red Onion says:
Good post Scott – but I completely disagree – we could beat Bayern.
I’ve never been so confident that we could survive Rooney’s departure. A front 4 of RvP, Kagawa, Welbeck and one of the three wingers, is still one to be feared.
But of course, given the choice, I would rather he stayed.
Manchester United. The most valuable sports franchise in the world. Having to sell Rooney to reduce the wage bill? Doesn’t make sense to me.
SAF has got rid of players before because he couldn’t accept how they lived their lives. Remember Paul McGrath?
At the beginning of the current season, when opposition fans were asked on scott’s VIEWS FROM THE ENEMY which United current players would you most want at your club? almost 100% of the votes went for rooney
The press writing that psg, I repeat PSG wouldn’t want rooney is just fucking crazy and actually untrue.
Of course we’d all prefer Rooney to stay, but as it has shown this season, we can live without him, non more so than against Real. If he does go, it will be because of footballing reasons, not because we cant pay his wages. Hernandez deserves more chances and Welbeck is just lacking in finishing, so its far from doom & gloom if Rooney does go. Add to the mix the real opportunity of playing to Kagawa’s style in a more continental approach that Sir Alex tried awhile ago.
But bottomline is, show us the money, I dont care who started the talk, like Ronaldo before him, money talks loudest
Just to close, I’m not suggesting I want him to go, its just that if things turn out that way, so be it, we will always move on
AlphaRS
“Manchester United. The most valuable sports franchise in the world. Having to sell Rooney to reduce the wage bill? Doesn’t make sense to me.”
Its not a case of having to its a case of clearing the books of unwanted expenses. Everyone comes with a value for money tag and its good business practice to treat all times as hard times and cut down on waste, no matter if you are flush or not.
If you have a good wage and your wife does and for some reason (change of job closer to home) requires that you no longer need two cars, you dont keep it just because for the first time in years you have money over. You get rid and prepare for bad times or use the money elsewhere and invest.
I have to say I agree with some that we could have done better after we were reduced to 10 men. No one gave up but I thought we were not smart enough. This is where I feel Sir alex fails. He fails to act quickly. This was the first time this season we did not act smartly. Welbeck should have been subbed and Young should have come on immediately after Nani was off. Rooney should have replaced RVP. And then what was more shocking was we didn’t see Hernandez. This boy scores goal when we need the most and yet Sir alex didn’t bring him on. Valencia shouldn’t have been sent on.
Anyways what is over is over. Let us move forward
Very good article Scott. A point that I particularly focused on was the point of Phelan saying Fergie was “distraught” and in “no fit state” to speak to the press. You can tell he was extra dejected. Never heard of him or seen him distraught in my life and we’ve had some bigger, more embarrassing losses at Old Trafford. I feel just as you do that he knows that this might be it for him. Last chance for him to win that third European title he always wanted. My own thoughts on this is that Fergie does not need to put his health at risk for something like this. He needs to leave when his body says it is time to leave. His reputation has suffered NO damage whatsoever with that loss on Tuesday. He’s still the greatest football coach of all time and will remain one of the greatest, most charismatic, most influential coaches in the history of sport ANYWHERE in the world.
I also think Van Persie needs a rest badly. He has played too much and it is taking a toll on him. Get Hernandez some playing time over the next two games with Welbeck and Rooney and Kagawa. We can definitely beat Chelsea with those three.
Here’s a poser:
If it was guaranteed that we could get Bale, for the same money as we received for Rooney (or say £10m more), would you stick or twist?
@Ash
The strange thing is, although they piled on so much more pressure once we were down to 10, the goals were such that you could see them being scored when we were still at 11.
Modric’s strike was a 1 in 50 moment. Maybe he should’ve been closed down better, but there’s no guarantee that the extra man would’ve helped that happen.
And for the second, we were undone by the backheel in the area (can’t remember whose it was), which was the kind of moment of genius that can unlock any team.
kanchelskis
My vote “twist”
Not because i think Bale is a better player than Rooney, how do you cmpare different possitions anyway but I feel against European opposition Bale is smarter and more of a thorn in their sides. He is fit, he is brimming with confidence, he play excellently on the wing, can play full back and is tall so we can play Bale LB and play Rafael RB and still have 3 tall lads in the box for set pieces. He can play either side and he can play in the middle.
We do have a lack of pace up front I feel and Bale offers that. We do have Valencia but dont play him all the time because of there are more skill full wingers or we go 4-3-3. Nani doesnt play that often because he is infuriating and small – easily knocked off the ball.
Bale I feel is more like Giggs, maybe not a tricky as Giggs but as athletic, what he loses in trickery he makes up for with a shot.
As far as Im concerned Bale is one of those brilliant British players that only the best side in the country should have.
@Goat
I’m inclined to agree with you on “Twist”. Not sure we’d want him stuck at LB though, if we were to buy him.
I know in terms of quality there’s no comparison, but in playing style he’s one of the few who operates in the same was as Ronaldo. That sheer physicality and directness can single-handedly break even the most stubborn teams, and that is something we just haven’t had since the big man left.
I can why PSG would be reluctant to take Rooney at a high price from United, the tax in France in lethal at 75%, all their revenue would be spent on Ibrahamovich and Rooney and would they actually play well together? What role would Rooney play? For profile yes it would be good but they got Iba and Becks will sell a few shirts, do they want a 28 year old player who smokes and is very expensive and whose career may be going into decline plus discipline issues? Arabs in particular won’t be too keen on his open courting of prostitutes or his rough image.
Does Rooney look like he can play top level for 4 -5 more years and hold his own against world class players or is he falling further behind them every year? I would say yes if he really knuckled down but his touch and control is a problem. And I do not think he will really do what is needed to keep his career and body in peak shape, he likes the good life and he is getting to an age that you have to do much much more to keep what you had naturally at 19, you do not recover from a summer of eating, drinking and smoking as easily as you get older.
If they are going to spend that much, what about Falcao, Aguero, Benzema, Hinguan, Villa, Torres at a snip even Lampard. Ancelotti is not a fool, he will buy someone he thinks will fit in the team not just a big name.
My view is that as noted, I just cannot see United prepared to extent his contract on the same wages, or Rooney taking less. Therefore I think SAF has already identified replacements, hence Ledanaowski rumours and buying a good young striker.
I agree with everyone that his stats to date are good and he is a plus for the team, no doubt about it, but you have to have blinkers on not to see that he falling away from the world class players of his generation every year and that some of his abilities are declining. Can United gamble on him being at his peak next 5 years, he thinks he is coming into his peak, unless he can prove it quickly I think the writing on the wall is that SAF thinks his peak has gone, he is not doing enough to justify outlay or starting place and the time to cash in on him is now. There may also be off field issues we do not know about. Plus he lost the right to loyalty a while ago.
Saying this, Rooney could easily score 5 against Chelsea.
kanchelskis
It would be like Valencia on the right, sometimes at fullback – its an option.
@ kanchelkis – 50 – 50 on that one, I want to see if Bale can hold his form.
@Goat
I take your point. Could even pop him and Rafael at wingback
DDG
Evans
Jones
Vidic/Rio
Bale
Carrick
Cleverley
Kagawa
Rafael
Welbeck
RvP
*drool*
NBI Red Onion
Arabs in particular won’t be too keen on his open courting of prostitutes or his rough image.
lololololololololol
Arabs dont practice what hey preach, they make us feel bad for our indiscresions. I see Arabs, Persians, Turks and northern Africans, They drink, they eat sausages, sweets with Gelatin in them and they fuck whatever they can get their hads on. This is the 21st century not the mddle ages. None of them believe that deeply in Mohammed and Allah especially the ones that have tasted western life and realise you can live happily without praying to some all benevolent turd.
I hate to say this, but Tevez would probably sell for more than Rooney.
@ Goat – yes mate, but they do it behind closed doors, in business and for appearances they like clean cut, Rooney gets caught in papers being bad too often, others don’t.
I actually do not understand why Rooney would have to pay for sex when buck teeth crouch and fat Ronaldo get supermodels falling all over them as they are loaded and famous. I really do not understand what he was thinking, did he expect professional ethics?
@NBI
Nah. He’s looked half-arsed this season and is 29
kanchelskis
Now that does look good. 3 at the back. Only Wigan play that way, brave of Martinez and with far poorer playing staff but I like it.
Defensively its
DDG
Smalling Jones Evans (got rid of Rio and Vidic just because in 2 years time their time is more than likely up)
Valencia Carrick Bale
Cleverly Wellbeck Kagawa
RVP
In attack
DDG
Smalling Evans
Jones Carrick
Valencia Cleverly Kagawa Bale
Wellbeck RVP
I like it alot.
kanchelskis
I still feel sir alex should have changed the tactics. We were never comfortable after going 10 men so it would have been wise that sir alex tried to change the tactics and had ball possession. But still I will gice full marks to the team for their effort.
Bale for Rooney? Fuck off
@Redhot Concepts
OK, you’ve established your position. Care to furnish us with some supporting arguments, or is ‘fuck off’ the extent of your reasoning?
Personally, I think Rooney is at his best when he consistently is lead striker leading the line, if he is not going to play as a striker I do not see the point in keeping him as a sort of utility player for those wages, he cannot play as well on the wings as Bale, Nani, Giggs, Valencia or even Young and Welbeck. He is not a winger. He for me is not a midfielder, he is ok there against weaker teams but gets easily overrun against stronger teams, for me, Kagwa, Cleverly are better attacking MF. We may need one more, but he is not the answer in MF.
So that leaves striker department – RVP, Welbeck, Pea, Henriquez (the young lad we bought) and Kagwa is also a nifty little scorer. Is he automatic first choice there? Does he link up well enough with RVP? He linked nicely with Kagwa, Pea and Welbeck but who would you start.
I think Rooney given a run as lead striker has something to offer, if he is not going to be given that run then he should leave as for other positions there are better players, but I would like to see him get a run of games as lead striker.
I need to get a life and stop spending so much time on this blog, the RM game has disorientated me and for some reason I have been glued to the internet since it when usually I only log on once. Last day of this. Right, google, “rooney united”.
@ RedhotConcepts – people go bananas for Bale you know.
NBI Red Onion @ 15:42: “not a midfielder”
Neither was Paul Scholes ten years ago. Sure, he might not be the finished article for that role now but he can surely morph into it. I’ve always thought that TheWayneBoy is the ideal replacement for TheGingerNinja, with more mobility and the same intensity.
If it’s going to happen then I’d imagine that it will happen sooner rather than later because I don’t see anyone “out there” who can provide UTD with the same level of vision and skill to quarterback the team while also providing strength and a kind of studied nastiness.
Besides, what UTD need even more than “a new Scholes” is “a new DarrenFletcherinho (in his “football genius” mode).
UTD’s current midfield options are “skilled but soft”; there’s a crying need for a new ManchesterTerrier, snapping at the oppositions’ heels and pressing, pressing, pressing the ball.
For what it’s worth, it’s my steadfast opinion that the decline of DarrenFletcherinho hurt the most recent incarnation of TheLads much, much more than the departure of CR7.
So, to address the topic de jour – i’m kinda ambivalent about the rumours concerning both the sale of TheWayneBoy and the re-purchase of Ronaldo. Let’s all remember that the Achilles Heel of the post-2008 iterations of TheLads has always been the lack of bite in midfield – goal-scoring wasn’t a problem last year in the EPL and isn’t a problem this year and won’t be a problem next year when DannyTheLad grows into his gangly body.
@ Denton – I actually think Kagwa and Cleverly will in a year or two be better attacking MF that Rooney. I also think if he was freed up to play there, Carrick is an amazing attacking MF. Rooney lacks his positional discipline and awareness. We are talking inches but at this level it is inches.
OK for an objective view and we all know stats don’t tell full story – Our Wayne:
Position Apps/Goals/Assists/Rating
AMC (Attacking Midfielder – Centre) 14 8 5 7.54
Sub (Substitute) 5 0 1 6.27
AMR (Attacking Midfielder – Right) 3 0 3 7.66
FW (Forward – Centre) 1 0 0 6.54
FWL (Forward – Left) 1 0 2 8.15
FWR (Forward – Right) 1 2 1 8.74
AML (Attacking Midfielder – Left) 1 2 0 8.43
Skills
87 Ball Control
79 Crossing
84 Curve
83 Dribbling
90 Finishing
82 Free Kicks
80 Heading
84 Long Passing
85 Long Shots
32 Marking
85 Penalties
84 Short Passing
91 Shot Power
37 Sliding Tackle
54 Standing Tackle
89 Volleys
Physical
76 Acceleration
80 Agility
73 Balance
80 Jumping
87 Reactions
81 Sprint Speed
88 Stamina
87 Strength
Mental
92 Aggression
91 Positioning
43 Interceptions
84 Vision
According to stats marking, tackling and interceptions are Rooney weakest area – compare with Scholes who has a surprisingly good rating there. Also scholes has been a MF since teens.
Rooney best at shooting, positioning (for striker), shot power and aggression.
Bombing into box from advanced MF against weaker teams fine, against stronger ones he does not have the defensive abilities, for me he is an out and out striker, it is his obvious strength.
Guys you’re going abit over the top, yeah rooney is messing up with his career at united but he doesn’t deserve the abuse he’s getting, he still is a united player and regardless we should offer him his due respect.
I quite agree with you that at his age and his infamous inability to keep fit even though he’s under a very lucrative contract in the best club side in the world, we rather cash in on him and buy a younger version of him if available
But if you guys think bale would be capable of replacing Rooney its pathetic, yeah he’s a great talent but he’s not fit enough to lace Rooneys boots as far as I’m concerned and there’s no other way you can put it, he hasn’t proved it at the grand stage so we shouldn’t be quick to draw conclusions, rooney is still a master at what he do, only thing he needs to take his career more seriously and not fuck about as that could really terminate a very promising career and yes he still has 5/6 year in him
WR Injures:
Illness 15/02/13 -21/02/13
Knee Injury 24/12/13 – 14/01/13
Tonsillitis 10/11/12 – 22/11/12
Gashed Leg 25/08/12 – 24/09/12
Unfortunately I can see Rooney being sold, there’s a few parallels with Becks 10 years ago. Some of the stick he gets is bang out of order though.
Have a look at his incredible goals record in the last few years, we’re talking 1 in 2. That’s despite not always playing as a main striker, and despite his injuries.
There’s no doubt he’s lost the zip and flair he once had but he is still a brilliant player. I also agree with Denton on 2 points.
1) Rooney’s future could lie in midfield. His passing and vision is spot on, and he also gives a bit of energy and bite.
2) Welbeck is still growing into his body (I think Fergie spoke about this 6 or 7 months ago). I read that the reason he looked like Bambi a few years ago, as Scott put it, is coz he has a knee growth condition. That’s why his physical development is slower than others….give it another 18 months, and he’ll look less gangly.
@ Proverb – I think WR has basically had a kick up the ass, lets see how he responds. I never expected that contract crap from him so I am not sure what to expect now.
@ Sparkz – mate (good write up the other day by the way), no question Rooney can play in MF, but do you not think we have better players there already who will develop more next year and we can strengthen MF on the market for half his wages?
@Proverb
The one opportunity Bale had to play on ‘the grand stage’, he ran riot.
I think Welbeck just goes to high speed and excited into scoring, he needs to be a bit cooler and more composed in front of goal and not panic, RVP will really help his development that way as they are not dissimilar.
@ Proverb its about future not past, if you are buying a player for the future, next 6/7 years, who would you buy?
I think United might be able to negotiate a wage cut with Rooney for his contract extension – or some kind of appearance related, performance related wage that puts pressure on him to deliver and cuts the wage bill. Can’t see his Agent taking that though. But lets hope we can keep him and that he gets back to his best.
You know what Berlusconi is 76, still having orgies, running for PM of Italy and now going to be jailed for a year.
I think we can get 5 more years from SAF – 75 sound good age for a Giggs like manager.
In the aftermath of the Real Madrid game, I suppose it was inevitable that the newspapers would pick up on the fact that Wayne Rooney didn’t start, and blow things out of proportion by claiming that Rooney will definitely be sold for £25 million this summer.
The most laughable piece is in The Sun, with a so-called World Exclusive story under the banner headline of ‘£25M AND ROO CAN HAVE HIM’. Not a single quote from Sir Alex Ferguson. Nothing from Wayne Rooney. Nothing from any club interested in him. Nothing even from ‘a source’ or ‘an insider’ at the club. Are we seriously expected to believe that Sir Alex Ferguson, having been so distraught and stunned like the rest of us after the controversial sending-off on Tuesday night that he wasn’t in a fit state to address the media, suddenly phones The Sun, of all newspapers, to give them a world exclusive scoop that he’ll listen to offers of £25million for Rooney!!
And this, from a newspaper which steadfastly refuses to address Fergie as Sir Alex.
Whatever discussions, if any, are are held between Fergie and Rooney, they’ll be held in private, and certainly not on the back pages of a tabloid newspaper.
@NBI – Cheers mate, appreciate it
Definitely you could get better midfield players than Rooney for cheaper wages – the transfer cost would come into it though. And I wouldn’t want him stunting the likes of Cleverley/Tunnicliffe/Petrucci etc. I was merely saying that I do believe he could be a very good midfielder.
For what it’s worth though – I don’t think he’ll be moving into midfield for another 2-3 years. He is still, despite what people say, one of the top strikers in world football. No question, and personally I would like to keep him (although if someone gave me the chance to sell Rooney and replace him with Bale….I’d give it some serious thought!)
I think when Phelan said “distraught” he meant “enraged”, “being restrained from murdering ref and threatening him on twitter”. He as I think being diplomatic but distraught is usually used for girls after break ups etc
Let me also say – swine Pogba is one hell of a player, watched him last night, what a player he is going to be, he is already becoming a star.
Nice article. Its not a red card but you just have to accept it and move on.
Bring on Chelsea!
I love you Scott. For putting this excellent piece. Exact feelings.
We’ll never die. And I must say, our attitude has been fantastic, I fully expect us to perform well against chelsea, get back our title and win the double.
Selling Rooney would be a stupid move. As stupid as it was to sell Beckham, a sale which definitely contributed to three seasons not winning our league title. You don’t sell great footballers if you are a great club and we are that. If we can keep him, we must.
Apology for my late response.
@kanchelskis says:
If you say rooney is overrated then so is bale who has proved fuck all
Tottenham has built their squad around him and don’t think he would get a special treatment if he came here, like young who looked absolutely world class whilst at villa now looking like. Shadow of his old self, its so much praising one player but it gets ridiculously irritating when you bring one down in favour of the other.
You cannot question bales potential but as of now he’s nowhere near the player rooney is.
Well, forwards now have to do a bit of a job for the team and I wonder if Fergie trusts Rooney to do this. Maybe he should have been tighter when the cross was played in the first leg for Ronaldo to score. I didn’t think his defensive play in the first leg was up to much and Fergie was angry with his poor job on Besquets in the 2011 final. Most of us probably saw Pirlo in the Euros get a free pass against England.
If you can’t trust a 20-30-40m player to start a game of this magnitude, well. I don’t know about Rooney’s long term fitness but the club does and maybe that will come into the equation if it’s a concern. And we all remember the issue over his contract last time. People lost a lot of love for him but we had to swallow our pride because we needed him and couldn’t afford to lose him, especially to City. Does anyone think that’s still the case? Just look at his roles he was asked to play in the two Madrid games.
@kanchelskis*
http://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/manchester-united/wright-sees-the-end-of-rooney-at-manchester-united
Well nobody asked you you fuckwit
cant wait for next week when your shite team gets twatted at bayern.
@Proverb
I never said Rooney is overrated.
@greenhoff77
If ever I wanted reassurance that Rooney was going to stay, it would be that berk saying he thinks he’s going to leave. The most halfwitted ‘pundit’ ever to open his ill-informed mouth.
I mean Christ, look at the event he spouted his gobshite at: the Absolute Radio Rock N Roll Football Lads Night In event.
I’d rather nail my ballsack to a tree than be within a mile of that wankfest.
kanchelskis
Was just replying on the general note mate
It awkward but I tend to respond indirectly but that shouldn’t get you upset, if so then apologies
But my initial objective is to get my point across. Its such a snide way but that’s how I contribute without directing the response to anyone cause a lot of folks feel aggrieved when you try differ to their opinions
Just putting it out there – I’d be interested to know what you guys would have done…in HINDSIGHT. Looking back on it, would you have started Rooney over RVP?
I feel RVP is a better player in the final third than Rooney is – he’s a better finisher and his hold up play/ability to bring others into the game is better (as we saw in the first leg)
BUT..Rooney has been a consistent, proven European goalscorer for us over the last few years.
I can’t help but feel that he would bagged at least one goal over the 2 legs.
Everything tastes sour when we had a treble for the taking. A premier league is a premier league but it has also been the weakest one in years.
If we had lost fair and square, fine. Better team won. That’s football that happens. if it had been a bad offsides call, well that happens but that red card was so absolutely ridiculous.
Yeah let’s take comfort in blaming the Madrid supporting ref. What’s that you say? He also follows Barca on Twitter? Following on Twitter doesnt mean yiu support them? Oh er, er, er, blame the FA!
Never have I seen such a bunch of babies.
did the ref make it out of greater manchester alive?
Maybe he’s just a Spanish supporting ref then….bearing in mind he regularly sends off Premier League players. Gave Barca a dodgy pen against Chelsea last year as well.
Or, rather than being bent, he could just be incompetent. Either way we were robbed.
@ Jon Phillips Rose Hill – you still perving on a united site you silly cow, go back to your prison bunk with your boyfriend.
Jon- Fuck off back to your City site you cunt. You have fuck all to crow about. You haven’t been on here all season. Wonder why? Small club.
Mank Harvin – Don’t even get me started on those bastards at The Sun. I called them 2 years ago to ask why the fuck they would NEVER call Fergie “Sir Alex”. The snide cunt at the newsdesk called me a weirdo and hung up. I called back again and he said “we do call him Sir Alex”. Lying bastard.
@NBI red onion,
It is definitelty frustrating when the swine pogba plays well. Even more so when he says shit like:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2289487/Paul-Pogba-feels-disappointment-Manchester-United-exit-Real-Madrid-Champions-League-Juventus-beat-Celtic.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
fucking chut!
Seriously who gives a flying fuck about that greedy cunt Pogba? Fuck me its like we lost one of our main players and contributors. We have sold FAR better and more important players.
‘King’ Eric – I have been on here this season. Many times you buffoon. Now wash your mouth out potty mouth.
Absolutely brilliant that the guy at The Sun called you a weirdo and hung up! Classic! I can just imagine him sat there in Wapping and some complete loser phones him up to complain about not calling someone Sir! People like you actually do exist! I thought it was urban myths or something. Did you used to write in to Terry Wogan on Points of View too?!
Of course, I apologise if you were making your phone call story up for a laugh or something.
The double wouldn’t be a bad tonic..
Actually King Eric, I was wrong. The brilliant part is that you actually retold the story!!!!
Jon. Yeah totally made the story up for a laugh. Fucking idiot. You wouldn’t know about knights of the realm and club legends supporting such a small club. God struggled past Villa other night didn’t you, a team resembling a pub side. Your players know it’s over pal and they couldn’t give a fuck. Bunch of Rentboy wankers. Nice to see your summer signings making such a huge impact. They are truly world class. Now you sit back and enjoy watching United wrap up number 20. That’s SEVENTEEN more than you. We haven’t even needed to break sweat.
Jon. To be fair and totally honest your post did amuse me, I even admit I probably will have sounded idiotic. Worst part is the only number I could find was the gossip newsdesk!
@King Eric
Feck me a City fan on here trying to take the piss. 12 points clear and the highlight of his season was to see United get dumped out of Europe by a dodgy red card. Times must be tough for the trolls. Ha.
AlphaRS. Absolutely mate. I have had all the Abu’s at work laughing and saying it was a definite red card. Fucking idiots.
@Jon Phillips Rose Hill –> a UEFA ref is not supposed to show ANY public interest in a team. Perhaps the Turkish authorities are OK with him following publicly all the Turkish clubs, and that even makes sense since he’s a Turkish ref. However, outside of Turkey he follows Barca and Madrid. Out of the entire of Europe, he follows their official Twitter feeds, he follows Messi and he follows Ronaldo, and he also follows Marca, the Real-supporters newspaper in Madrid.
Now does that mean he’s a Madrid fan? No of course not, but he is REFEREE and he has publicly shown interest in them, their star player, and their propaganda publication and he was still tapped to referee a game that they were playing in. Do you honestly think that’s OK? Put City where United were, let’s say Yaya Toure saw a red for that and the punditry is 99% unanimous (as are the comments from retired referees) that it was a bad call, and then after the game you check his Twitter account to see all of that. He’s not a Madrid fan, but should HE have been allowed to ref the game if he shows public interest in a side in the game? Clearly not. This is an era where there is currently a MASSIVE investigation into match fixing and corruption in football, and therefore UEFA should be far better in vetting the referees they deem fit to take on the responsibility of the Champions League.
This guy has controversy in his history too, and he STILL got to ref that game. I would imagine it is not policy at UEFA to check public accounts like Twitter accounts before assigning a referee, but if it was, he wouldn’t have been assigned because European football is already under the microscope for match fixing and corruption. United have not even mentioned this guy’s Twitter account,. but if Fergie does mention it, he will definitely be charged with misconduct BUT it will be worth it because it will start a debate about a referee’s public disclosures on teams they like enough to follow them, and whether that should affect their ability to get certain games. It will make fuck all difference to United, we’re out and there’s no way back in, but it will spark a debate that could tighten UEFA’s selection process for referees from next season on.
Think about UEFA for a second.. this is an organization that tells black and asian players to report incidents of racism to the referee, but WARNS them that if they walk off the pitch or take matters into their own hands… even RESPOND to racism… they will face disciplinary action. At the same time, if an official makes a disastrous call that decides a match in favor of one team, you aren’t even allowed to criticize his ability to ref. This is very much the same in the UK. Match officials are protected even when its 100% clear they got decisions wrong.
Even worse, while UEFA announced Rio won’t be charged for his sarcastic applause in front of the refs face (I thought he should be..), they also said that they will examine the red card incident to see if Nani deserves more than the automatic 1 match ban for the red. Now again, here’s a major problem with UEFA, they can examine to see if a player deserves more of a punishment, but NOT if he deserves NO punishment. They do not rescind red cards, no matter how ridiculous they might be. This has, in the past, put players out of finals for the SOFTEST of cards, double-yellows and so on. I also find the fact that if you get a yellow in both legs of a tie you miss the next match, that is so fucking stupid and its pointless. You can get a yellow card for rolling your eyes… that’s actually true.
Then we have the problem of no blanket understanding amongst refs. For example, a lot of German pundits found the Nani decision correct, and only one or two in England found it correct (which was the same for most of Europe). Why? Because there are different takes on different situations in every league. The problem arises particularly for English clubs… whether its City or United or Chelsea (who experienced it TONIGHT for that penalty that put them 1-0 in the tie)… we all get cards for stuff that is normal in the Premier League, and decisions against us for them. The EPL is a more physical league… whereas La Liga is a huge advertisement for what to do if u are on fire… drop and roll… and the more dramatic it is the more likely the ref is to book a player or send him off. So a Spanish ref, refereeing a game between lets say an English and French team, is going to be accustomed to handing out yellows for minor incidents (relative to English games).
RvP, when he was an Arsenal player, took a shot at goal at the Nou Camp a couple of years ago. What he didn’t know is the flag had gone up and the ref blew the whistle.. but he didn’t hear it because the Nou Camp is extremely loud… he turned around and put his hands up to the linesman because he didn’t believe he was offside… then what happened next was one of the pathetic moments of the modern European Cup… he was yellow carded for kicking the ball away… that is, the referee said his shot wasn’t a shot, he kicked it away in frustration, which ANY viewing of the incident shows to be complete bullshit. It was his second yellow so he was off. Later on in that game, right at the end, a chance fell to Arsenal to go through… and bendtner fucked it up… had van Persie been there he would have taken the fucking net off and Barca would have been out. But because of an incompetent ref doing something that is probably normal in his home league… but absolutely foreign in the game he was reffing… Arsenal were denied a strong chance of progressing.
I know you are a City fan and take nothing but delight from what happened the other night right or wrong (and I want you to continue that and tone it up because we thrive on it), but if you don’t think there are major problems in Europe of this nature, and that English teams in particular are at a disadvantage because of their style of play week in, week out, then you are blind. You need to remember when it hurt you.. like when you should have had a penalty at the Etihad against Madrid. You don’t have that much experience in the Champions League (not criticizing here..) but if you go through the groups next year to the knock outs, every red here will tell you, you have about a 50/50 shot of going out due to a bad refereeing call, and a more than 50% shot of having at least one terrible call against you. Mark my words
But ye, it’s back to domestic affairs now. We’ll see you at Old Trafford in a few weeks time and hopefully again in the FA Cup!!
Ur problem in Britian is simple that fucking slimy cunt Rupert Murdoch and his multiple tabloids and shit rags have created a perverted culture that he helped export to other countries. Go make a list of all the publications under his control and you will realize quickly y all these sites are utter shite. Look at the sun, news of the world, times, daily fail. WSJ was once worth reading till he took it over.
rooney ain’t going nowhere.. also lewandowski to replace rooney??
that’s like jon replacing the regulars on here. feckin abu cunt.