Rafael da Silva is likely to start against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu this week and claims he knows all about the damage his former team mate can do because of the amount of times he had to face him in training.
“I know what he can do because I played and trained with him a lot,” said Rafael. “So he’s not the type of opponent where you would say ‘he’s good but I don’t know what he can do’. I know what he can do. If you concentrate, that’s the key, reading the game. For me, he’s the best player in the world. I think he’s the complete player and I really like him. I think he’s the number one. I’m sure he’ll get a good reception back here [at Old Trafford]. I think it’ll be massive.”
Man Utd News 24/7
cannot wait
Just mark the fucker out of the game.
Congratulation you just won man of the season award!!!
If possible injury so he miss the second leg, that might serve on your favour for my seasonal award
Spot on Rafa, the key to man marking a super star like Ronaldo is absolute concentration.
Discipline is the key. Fullbacks CAN’T get caught out of position up the pitch and leave our center backs exposed. Same with the midfield they need to keep their shape and not go bombing foreword recklessly, attack at the right times. Jones hopefully will provide extra cover on the right against Ronaldo.
4-4-2 with rooney dropping back into a 4-5-1 when they have the ball. Keep it tight and hopefully nick a away goal then fucking batter the cunts at old trafford. We can’t win the tie in the first leg but we can certainly lose it if we don’t get our tactics spot on.
http://www.footballfancast.com/football-blogs/wag-weekly-kagawa-bags-an-absolute-beauty
Rafeal capable to stop ronaldo,
Not only concentration but united have to realise that rafael and evra can’t do it all by themselves, the entire team has to be on the same level of concentration and organisation, threat coming from wherever on the pitch has to be noticed quicker and snuffed out. Real’s creative players pop all over the pitch, team/hard work is imperative. Fortune would also be needed as ultimately, this is required in big games. I still think belief is also required, united must play its game against the players and not the history of madrid. Hopefully a positive result is in order as this is a very difficult game.
http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/xabi-alonso-will-play-injured-against-manchester-united
Rafa gotta be up for young player of the year award
@samuel – agree – everyone will need to be 100% focused at all times as sooner or later players will get caught out or beaten and we’ll need cover to saver their arses, that means the wingers and the likes of jones to be either doubling up or sweeping up.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4790262/Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer-dreams-of-Man-United-job.html
Big match for Rafa,
Great chance to show how much he’s grown and developed from the rash decisions he’s made earlier in his career!
Agreed that focus and concentration are key for this one, with no early booking please ref, in front of their baying crowd!
ForzaRafa!
our most improved player of the season.
So this is a game in which scoring more goals than we concede will not cut it. We have to mark him out but hey, we just did it with Fellaini of Everton. CR7 is miles better, so we have to be miles better in marking him. Come back with a 2-2 draw and we’ll be ok. Easy!
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/phil-jones-provides-fitness-boost-for-manchester-united-8491590.html
great news on jones and evans
also Paul Scholes and Ashley Young also played a full part in the session.
Jones and Evans are fit to face Real Madrid.wonder what will be the lineup!
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/see-manchester-united-training-ahead-1705141
Rafa is at the proper stage of his career to line up against him. Go get him lad.
United Traveling Squad:
De Gea, Lindegaard; Büttner, Evans, Evra, Ferdinand, Jones, Rafael, Smalling, Vidic; Anderson, Carrick, Cleverley, Giggs, Nani, Valencia, Young; Hernandez, Kagawa, Rooney, van Persie, Welbeck
via Nick Coppack
No Scholes but Jones Nani and Young all make the plane. Good squad!
ddg
rafa rio vida evra
valencia carrick tc rooney
kagawa
rvp
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4791216/Wayne-Rooney-branded-a-hooligan-by-Marca.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2277465/Manchester-United-train-Carrington-instead-going-straight-Madrid.html#axzz2KaYep2e2
rooney will fire us
@iced earth
I wonder whether Real Madrid will target Rooney and Van Persie to try and get them yellow and red cards. I seem to remember Barcelona targeting Van Persie a few years ago when he sent off in the Camp Nou. They were pushing him, grabbing him around the neck, and kicking him.
Hopefully the article will only serve to motivate him.
In the pic why is Fellaini wearing a United top? Oh wait minute….
@Gorse Hill Red
Mate, I don’t know what’s stranger…. Fellaini wearing a United top or Ronaldo being taller than him
Stupid Madrid papers can’t look beyond Pepe’s brutality and still has a nerve to brand Rooney as a hooligan. The thing that really pisses me off when they mocked SAF as a grandpa facing the special one.
That’s why I’ve been saying all the time, we don’t need to applaud Ronaldo.. we don’t owe him anything while he’s on that rubbish jersey.Their media doesn’t need to pick this up, its too much for their cocky head.
Quality trolling from Marca, singling out Rooney like that when they’ve got someone like Pepe, who is a mixture of the worst of Kevin Muscat and Sergio Busquets put together.
Another stepping stone in Rafa’s career,it’s quite remarkable i listen to talksport a lot and outside of Utd opposition fans don’t rate Rafa that highly which i don’t understand,snubs out Ronnie everyone will take note.I have all the faith in the world in him and obviously he’s going to get help almost 100% Jones is going to be Ronnie’s shadow
If it’s true that Alonso has a groin injury and Maureen is going to play him anyway that’s just fucking mental and the move reeks of desperation on Maureen’s part
@Wayne
I watched Getaffe, Betis, and the first Sevilla games when they beat Madrid. They did not necessarily have someone shadowed Ronaldo all the time, what they basically did is to not let them do counter attack. Which I think makes sense, Ronaldo would operate a hundred times better if he is given an ample of space, without it he becomes ineffective.
Watch especially the Betis games, Madrid players are well known to frustrate rather easily especially Ronaldo. They did not necessarily park the bus, but they were careful to not giving the ball away easily hence providing them an opportunity to counter.
The second Sevilla game was a bit odd, they did not attack but they were a bit clumsy. Real counter attacking football is quite dangerous that’s why I don’t think we would go all out attack. I think Rooney will be deployed back to the midfield area with RVP as a lone striker.
Madrid daily sports paper Marca front page, headlined El Coco – which means bogeyman:
The report continued: “Wayne Rooney is a football player and hooligan all rolled into one. To look at him, you’d think he was one of the 4,000 British fans on the terraces … yelling and drinking beer and jumping the queue to get in through Gate D. But Rooney will run out on to the turf at the Bernabéu and face players who have bones to pick with him. Pepe, [Ricardo] Carvalho, [Iker] Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo may well relive their encounters with the English bad boy.”
Yeah that is my concern. The fucking cheating filthy antics of Mourinho’s teams and that cunt Pepe. We saw it at Chelsea. A team would go on the attack, Drogba would lie down injured to halt play. Fucking hate Madrid with a passion.
Ha Marca THE Madrid propoganda paper.
Yeah I am getting a bit sick of hearing how “Madrid can hurt United”. What the fuck can Rooney and Van Perise do to them and the fucking clowns at the back like Pepe and Arbeloa? Let them worry about us. Sick of hearing how fucking great Madrid are. They are fucking miles off the pace in their domestic league. Thats not to say it will be an easy game, of course it won’t but we have enough in our locker to hurt them. See fucking Arry said today an underperforming Modric is better than anything we have . Fuck off Beetroot cunt and worry about keeping QRP up. Fucking Modric has been found out in Madrid and is not in the same league as Carrick who has played big game after big game and won the fucking lot. We aren’t playing Barca tomorrow who pass us to death. I also find it an insult that we are FIFTH fav for Europe after fucking Dortmund and Juve. Piss take.
Picking up his 400bhp Camaro Convertible from the club’s Carrington training ground, Wayne Rooney said: “It obviously looks great and I’m excited to drive it. I think when I saw them all together this was the one that suited me best, it looks nice and will drive well too. I chose a manual as I think it’s great to get full use from a sports car.”
In January, Paul Scholes had his Chevrolet Captiva stolen from his driveway as he left it unsupervised while it defrosted. Cunts.
United’s Chevy Selection: who picked what?
Robin Van Persie – Captiva
Wayne Rooney – Camaro Convertible
David De Gea – Captiva
Alexander Buttner – Captiva
Patrice Evra – Camaro Coupe
Michael Carrick – Corvette GS
Wayne Rooney – Camaro Convertible
Patrice Evra – Camaro
Michael Carrick – Corvette
Javier Hernandez – Corvette
Sam Johnstone – Volt
Nick Powell – Volt
DDG
Rafa vida Johnny pat
Carrick jones
Toni wazza kagawa
Rvp
Sub Lindy rio Chris giggs chicha Tom Danny
This a shit player pepe talking about wazza ohh great to see that cunt talking like this ,,,,i will love to see rvp and rooney making him look like shit when they go past him ,,,,really he is silly silly stupid guy just pissing off the one of the deadly partnership in the world ,think what you wish for pepe you will get the biggest ass whoping of your even shit carreer ,,
RAFA WE TRUST YOU MAKE RONNIE LOOK LIKE SILLY SCHOOL BOY C’MON GGMU !!!!!!
So many are saying that it’s going to be an emotional night for Ronaldo, and they’re hoping it gets far too emotional for him.
I’m not so sure. His bank balance and trophy quest (CL = ballon d’or) are what motivates him.
We best not be expecting any favours. He will be on top of his game, and we must be too.
The Mail mentions that Felix Brych is the ref for Madrid. He sent off Nemanja Vidic in the Champions League group stage last year, which saw him suspended for two games as we crashed out.
King Eric – if we played barcelona tomorrow, I would have given us very us very little hope, as their midfield would just kill us, it is nothing to do with our play, its just barceloina are almost impossible to figure out, even though I think we would be in the best shape to give them a game, I would still fear them. Madrid are a quality side, but we are in the best shape of our lives, the defense has got it together, our midfield is fit, and upfront we are ruthless. Let them keep saying how they can hurt us, I remember the exact conversation many had when we faced shitty, and what happened? exactly. For me, many are still going on united’s reputation of leaking goals, even though the leak has stopped since the turn of the new year
“Real Madrid against Manchester United enjoys a global appeal partly for its relative rarity value. These two celebrated clubs have met only in four two-leg ties across nearly six decades. The fixture acquired additional lustre because of the significance: European Cup semi-finals in 1957 (Madrid winning 5-3 on aggregate) and 1968 (United 4-3 agg), Champions League quarter-finals in 2000 (Madrid 3-2 agg) and 2003 (Madrid 6-5 agg) and now the round of 16.”
More at:
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_real-madrid-v-man-united-a-match-the-world-is-waiting-for_1799292
de Gea is frequently described as a shot-stopper. I back him to prove it once again against Ronaldo, shot-taker supreme. In David I trust.
Can’t say I’m not a trifle nervous. The odd thing about these two-legged affairs, is no matter what happens, it comes down to 90 minutes at Old Trafford. I back us to turn over any deficit. While it wouldn’t entirely shock me if we blew a 2 goal cushion, I think any result in Madrid leaves us looking very good.
finally united are playing the only team who the refs favour less than us. just hope that bad decisions don’t spoil the game
DreadedRed – my worry is? we are going to be playing phil jones in midfield, when this game is all about keeping possession, we saw against, everton how jones ruins our ability to hold onto the ball. Has soon as carrick came on for jones, we started keeping it calm, and we took the sting out of the game. It would be a huge error from the boss, if he played jones in midfield. I would play kagwa ahead of jones, and have kagwa be the third midfielder. This sort of game is not for jones, no matter if they got ronaldo on the pitch
In David We Trust
Your concern is alarming! I’m not so worried about Jones starting. You reckon Kagawa, Carrick and Rooney; with 2 wide and RVP up front?
Well, you can man mark Fellaini because Everton pose next to no threat otherwise. Against Spurs we did a job on Bale but gave Lennon too much room to hurt us. Now, Madrid have a lot more quality and if we focus on Ronaldo they have enough other players to hurt us if one man’s job is just to stick next to Ronaldo.
I know Madrid’s league form isn’t great, but neither was Chelsea’s or Liverpool’s when they won it. That Milan side with Seedorf, Maldini, Shevchenko etc seemed immense in Europe but was poor in Serie A. Madrid too have usually looked good in one or the other. Something to say for SAF and United, when we’ve got to CL finals or won it, we’ve also usually won the league. It’s easier to win the CL if you’re not in the running for the league but we’ve not been guilty of that. Hope that’s true again, but this tie is pretty much 50/50 for me.
Mourinho said: ‘I won’t replace Ferguson because we will finish career at the same moment – when he will be 90, and I will be 70.’
Jones and Carrick to anchor the CM with Cleverley running in front of them. Rooney on the left and Valencia on the right. Van Persie isolated up front.
This game will be about maintaining shape with an obvious slant to the right. 10 behind the ball until a counter presents itself and only 4 running forward.
I think SAF will pack it in and hope to spring Rooney or Valencia or Chicharito (after he subs) on a long, quick strike.
DDG
Rafa Rio Vidic Evra
Cleverley Carrick
Valencia Rooney Welbeck
Van Persie
I personally think Danny is our best option to partner with Evra. Tony and Rafa have proven many times before to be quite a handful in both shutting down opposition and providing width on attack. Rooney and RVP are indispensible. I’d go with the experience away from home at CB with Rio/Vidic, we know they can do it. Cleverley to partner Carrick as I think it’s his time to step up and play a solid, simple, devastatingly effective big time game.
Many look at Kagawa or Young as that “Ji-Sung-esque” shut down left winger in this game but outside of shunting Wayne to the left side, Danny Welbeck is my preferred option. Lord knows he’ll catch all kind of shit when he’s not “clinical in front of goal,” but I’ve got to say, the lad’s development as a footballer has been nothing shy of fantastic. He’s fit, he’s ready, he’s hungry, he’s a true Red. Give him a job to do and Di Maria will be quiter than the Emirates on a Saturday afternoon.
Sick and tired of fans talking up a defensive game
Ten men behind the ball, hopefully nick a goal blah blah
We can go there and be positive and get a result.
DreadedRed – I would play carrick cleverly deep, with rooney and kagwa interchanging positions, with valencia holding the right hand position, and RVP leading the line. That is the way to go, it is all about possession, kagwa is outstanding playing those balls through, he should be used like how silva is used for shitty, played narrow on the left, as evra can offer us the width. We do not need 2 wide players, but I do feel a midfield of carrick leverly valencia kagwa and rooney is a perfect midfield to use in europe, as its a combination of width, creativity and ball control, and it is vital we use the ball right, jones just ruins that fluency.
Let me rewrite that last part. – but I do feel a midfield of carrick cleverly valencia kagwa and rooney is a perfect midfield to use in europe, as its a combination of width, creativity and ball control, and it is vital we use the ball right, jones just ruins that fluency.
I will also add, playing a midfield and attack of
carrick cleverly
valencia rooney kagwa
RVP
That gives us the ability to attack, but also united can defend deep, rooney will drop off, but with that team, we have all the weapons to hit Madrid on the counter, and attack them. But like I say, it is all about ball control, not trying to stop the other team play
In David We Trust – Oh I completely agree mate. Much rather be facing Madrid than Barca. Madrid are fuck all like them. Don’t pass and pass like Barca do. Easier to play against. It’s all well and good saying who should play, which formation. It all boils down to the night and who turns up. I have a feeling it will all come together tomorrow night. The last few weeks have been preperation for this.
Wee Tom – Yes pal, I agree to an extent. I DO think Rooney will play out on the left and tuck in when needed.
slim – Hey up pal. I know what you mean. I actually think we may take the City and Chelsea away approach. Fucking go for the jugular first 20 minutes. God it’s gonna be intriguing. So many decisons. Who starts. What formation? Do we sit back or attack? Thank fuck I am NOT making these decisions.
K.E
Im alright mate. Spot on. I think we are/should gonna give them a couple of things to worry abou.
We have the players to go to madrid and make a definitive statement.
Feeling really pumped. So many players i hope have a good game. Maybe use the experience as a spring board. Clevs,Jones,Rafa,DDG even Rooney. He’s a big game player for us this year and i expect that to continue.