1. The first 45 minutes left us asking why we didn’t play like this every away game and why we didn’t play 442. Maybe the second question answers the first. After trying a 4 man midfield against Wigan, albeit with Nani on his less favoured left wing and Darren Fletcher shifted out from central midfield to the right, the manager saw enough to take a risk against Chelsea. When was the last time we played this formation for a regular away game before this, let alone a big one? It worked though. I’m not kidding myself in to thinking Frank Lampard or Michael Essien are anywhere near as good as they used to be and Ramires has yet to look like an £18m player, but Paul Scholes controlled the midfield for that first half and our only regret is we didn’t do more to capitalise that, given our 56% possession from the first half.
2. With Wayne Rooney getting booed every time he went near the ball, he seemed to have fire in his belly and a desire to shut them up. Unfortunately for him, David Luiz was having a great game and for the most part, was getting the best of him. All it took is one slack moment though, with the Brazilian defender giving him too much room, for Rooney to score his first goal from outside the box in three years. I could hardly believe it went in. He was 25 yards out and hit it with great power and accuracy. The ball crept just inside the post and it was exactly what we deserved. After scoring a vitally important goal against City, it was looking as though he was really going to start earning his money, despite a less than impressive performance. 5 goals in his past 8 games is certainly getting there and whilst we would like to see a better first touch and improvement in his ability to retain possession, it’s good to see the goals going in.
3. You can’t have a reaction without addressing the refereeing decisions which have yet again cost us the three points against Chelsea. It’s getting beyond a joke now. Nani lashed a fierce on target attempt in the first half which John Terry clearly blocked with his left arm. A far less blatant penalty was awarded down the other end against us. Luiz was guilty of a further two yellow card offences after being booked, the first for body checking Chicharito once the ball had gone. The second was even worse, with Rooney running to the box in anticipation of a return ball, only for Luiz to cynically stick his leg out and trip him. Down the other end, a tug on Ramires’ shirt was enough for the referee to give Vidic a second yellow and his marching orders. Not getting decisions is one thing as it’s entirely frustrating not to get a penalty you deserve and to see the opponents with the disadvantage they deserve of playing against ten men, but seeing the opposition get the decisions you didn’t is even worse.
4. Whilst we can’t ignore the fact Martin Atkinson’s incompetence (bias? This is the second year running he has handed the points on a plate to Chelsea against us at Stamford Bridge) we shouldn’t ignore that we were disappointing in the second half after such a strong first half. We struggled to keep the tempo up and were too keen to sit back. Maybe Scholesy doesn’t have the legs to boss an entire game, particularly with Michael Carrick not pulling his weight. Darren Fletcher had a good first half, battling away down that right wing, but dropped off in the second half. Nani had two men on him all the time and struggled to make an impact. Rooney had a great opportunity to draw us back level but neither shot or crossed, with the ball going miles of the post but not going close enough for the players running on to it in the box.
5. On a night that was pretty sickening, one moment to bring a smile to our faces was the sight of Gary Neville in the stands with the fans. It was particularly amusing to see his reaction to the Rooney miss, clearly shouting “Wazza! Fucking hell!”
6. The David Luiz equaliser was a killer. It had taken us 30 minutes of dominance for us to get our goal whilst it took Chelsea less than 10 minutes. It was a defensive error from Patrice Evra, who didn’t get close enough to Luiz as the ball fell to him in the box. It was a great strike, equally as close to the post as Rooney’s, and unstoppable for Van der Sar.
7. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I was raging before kick-off about the decision to drop Dimitar Berbatov in favour of Rooney and Chicharito. This would have been more understandable, whilst still frustrating, if we’d gone with a 433, using Rooney on the left. But to play a 442 and not start Berbatov, what does that tell us? This guy is the league’s top scorer. Can you imagine any other club in the world choosing no to play the league’s top scorer in one of their most important games of the season? It’s beyond belief. There’s the theory that Berbatov doesn’t do well in the big games. I don’t know where people can draw that conclusion from, given how few big games he’s played in during his time at United. The biggest game he’s started this season was Liverpool and he scored a hattrick. He was dropped for Arsenal at home and didn’t even get subbed on, dropped for City at home and now dropped for Chelsea away. What is that supposed to do for his confidence when he does get to play? Clearly the boss doesn’t fancy him for it, so why should he fancy himself? However, unlike pretty much any other striker in the world, he appreciates the club enough to take the insult of being benched despite being the top scorer. I assume we’ll see him start at Anfield with a knocked confidence and increased pressure after our strikers didn’t do enough last night to keep our secure position at the top of the league.
8. Park Ji-Sung and Anderson are big misses for games like this, with the ability and desire to drive the ball forward and get in people’s way. I look forward to taking on Chelsea at Old Trafford when hopefully we’ll have more players available to ensure the decisions that will no doubt go against us don’t change the game. It will be a good day when even Roman’s dosh isn’t enough to ensure a win against United.
9. Sir Alex Ferguson will take a fine and probably a touchline ban for questioning the integrity, as well as the ability, of the referee. It will be worth it for him. He can spend the rest of this week harbouring a siege mentality in our players, as he has done so successfully before, with the aim of inspiring a passionate display at Anfield. It’s gutting to lose in this manner again but there’s a long way to go yet. United to win the league and Chelsea to finish 5th? Stranger things have happened.
Reaction To Chelsea Defeat
March 2, 2011 101 Comments
Man Utd News 24/7
It was obvious what would happen against Chelsea after the media witch-hunt against us in the past week. Martin Atkinson has never had a backbone and will never grow one. He should never have been given this game.
Your 9th point, probably why the manager made the comments, siege mentality. This game is gone, lets get focused on the dippers.
The Red Scapegoats
http://www.theunitedreligion.com/2011/03/red-scapegoats.html
This Reactions to games really chills us your followers out, Scott.
Fair points but we have to mention one more time the number of games on the road played in a row for the lads with no sensible alternatives. I believe it was the reason for our fading away second half.
Point 9 again is the mother of all points
Non believers say SAF has lost it – we have other ideas – it well and truly began yesterday the race to the end even though we lost
They hate us we don’t care – you can do what you want to us but we will bring this trophy home one way or another.
We have done and dusted yesterday – we move on – that’s what we do – we don’t talk about futures that haven’t happened – or quadruples – or coming back from neverland. We will do this one game at a time and no matter what happens we are not going to give it up under any circumstances.
Bring it on fuckers
fucking joke man, couldnt sleep at all last night. we didnt desrve to lose to be honest. i can take Luiz not getting booked but Capitan Fantastics blatant hand ball is a bit too much and the ref had a clear view of it which makes it even worse.
Nice summary, Scott.You know what I pray for? to get Valencia back asap. Him on the right and Nani on the left, we have proper wing play in our hands which has always been our strenght and successful strategy
Two points about our challengers for the league title and possible opponent in the FA Cup – Arsenal.
Arsenal fielded second string youth side almost.
and Banner amongst #lofc fans: “Orient. Kids. Wife. In That Order” Henry Winter on twitter
it’s an awful rip-off.
Do you guys not understand the real world
There is no team on earth more favoured by Media and the FA and Referees and yet on the occasions you lose you act as if the world is against you.
You are about to win the league and still can’t act with any grace
get over yourself – you were the best team for 35 minutes and then got beaten by a team that was better on the day
Well said Scott. Starting to get a headache just thinking about this game. Point 9 is the right on the money.
The team of Chelsea and Atkinson were better on the day. You are right.
Grace? I take it JT has taught the Chelsea fans that. LOL.
I can understand managers and players not being allowed to question officials’ integrity in front of a mike or camera, but surely a club can report its concerns about an obviously biased referee such as Atkinson.
We are talking about the destiny of leagues here (in our case a record-breaking 19th if we win) and if an official appears to have been corrupted by a notorious billionaire owner whose own source of funds are very questionable and who has very close links to the gangster running Russia, then the Premier League and or the FA and indeed the police should be able to investigate the official concerned. This should include an official’s finances.
I remember watching some La Liga games as a boy in the 1970s, but being put off permanently when Real Madrid were awarded the most outrageous decisions by referees that knew what was best for them, i.e. supporting the fascist regime (they still do apparently). The joke even then was that the ref would be able to enjoy his new villa in the summer.
Now with some time passed since the robbery I am absolutely dying to see how we react at Anfield. Let’s go on a brilliant run of form and then shove 19 in everyone’s faces. We shall not be moved!
we’ll see the chavs back on our patch when there’s no muppet atkinson around
right on with emphasis of siege mentality. bursh aside this rubbish result, only draw positives from the game (our 442) and force on forward! COME ON YOU REDS! got to retain focus the gaffer is doing just that. the match against the dippers is huge and we will sh-t over anfield. vamos U N I T E D!
With Atkinson of their side, they can take Barcelona with super ease.
They even can take both Madrid clubs combined while at the same time playing against the Milan teams, and still win with the greatness of ease.
Yes they are that powerful. All Hail Roman Atkinsonivich. The greatest duet the world has ever seen.
Just wondering what the R could stand for next to chelsea? Rat fucked?
Any ideas guys?
great analysis scott. most of that has been ringing united supporters minds since yday. to the point i’m getting edgy waiting for the north west derby this w.e against the toothless lot. lets get behind the red devils c’monnn!
TheRadLegion
Cracked me up that… thanks mate
evening all…..too disappointed to post much last night….just wanted to push some bastards face in…. hey-ho calmed down now a bit…. sigh fucking Atkinson….cunt and a half….
ffs SMARTALEX SING US A FUCKING ONG TO CHEER US UP
AND EVENING TO CEDARS :d
D:
The brighter and sweeter side is that we will have a game against them in May. This is where we should kick the shit out them and help them get their well deserved 5th place.
oh fuck the bastarding smileys
The rising of Manchester United started Two games ago,that’s when we started gearing up for the finish so have faith we will keep the momentum going all the way through.Last night a blip nothing more.
Evening TonyBee
How you been mate? Felt the same way last night…………
Just to piss you off,
where you from Cedars…you UK based ?
Alexis Sanchez £29.7million. I doubt it was United.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11667_6789637,00.html
Fergie said himself he feared the worst when it was announced who was officiating last nights game. I said before that the only way we would get nothing from that game was if he was officiating. He is a cheat no question. Hopefully we will get a result at Anfield on Sunday. Come on United.
Alphars …. don’t think we need any more strikers…we need some midfield battlers that (2) and a playmaker or two
TonyBee
I am originally from Lebanon mate, hence my nick Cedars (Our sort of famous national tree! lol)
I lived in Manchester during the 70′s and 80′s, regular Stretty at the time as with my late dad who lived and worked in Manchester in the late 50′s and 60′s…
I have been back in Lebanon for the past year now for good after having lived nearly all my life in different countries…..
where the fuck is Lebanon…..
just googled iit ,,,,,fuck me your miles a way …there was mwe thinking it was a village just outside Salford….
Hahaha and here is me thinking I was the only dumb fuck here!
Glad you got your smiley mate!
Chorlton cum Hardy is where I lived, St Thomas Aquinas was my school
This Arsenal game in hand crap from the media is begining to annoy me – why
dont they point out it is Spurs away, 3 days after they play the scousers at home,
and 3 days before they go to Bolton !!!! then us soon after.
All taking place Mid/End April, lets see the state of play after that.
i am from the Royal triangle…. here in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds…..
Point 9..Belting point..SAF has had it with that SOB atkinson..We might have got decisions in our way but never over and over again by the same ref or at a certain place..To get consecutively raped at SB by a different official(or was it the same fucker atkinson) is un-fucking-acceptable..We are going to be all fired up for the L’pool game..Get ready for blacklash you scouse bastards..
p.s..I seriously hope that SAF plays Berba..And brings on Chico as the impact sub..
DAVE RED
Did you expect any different mate? This week is our most difficult of the season with 4 away games on the spin, last of which is our game against Liverpool.
Arsenal will bottle it and frankly they do not worry me
my view on it all is that we were magnificent last night ….we took the game to the Rentboys and were the better team on the night….however due to shocking refereeing decisions we were robbed…..
TonyBee
The Golden triangle is a nicer place to live mate, you will always feel so ‘high’ its unreal!
@Cedars.
I agree mate, im not worried about Arsenal either, the only possible
problem for United is a possible champions league semi final, before
the Arsenal and after the Chelsea game.
I dont thing the Arse will have that problem.
Great analysis Mr scott, Fergie has the right to question the integrity of Altinkchelsea calling himself Altinkson, he’s second to none in the rank of poor referee in england. Why let David luiz escape second yellow with all the hillarous tackle on united player. It’s a great Fuck up Mr Altinkchelsea.
Where are all the reds tonight? Not watching Barca I hope!
Spot on scott. However I actually don’t think it will bother berbatov. Deep down perhaps but fergie will explain why’s and wherefores to him and he seems a team player and knows he will need to be ready when called on. Have a feeling it will be sunday. Certainly after his last performance against the scum. It is indeed a mystery to me why he doesn’t start. He is different class. Above all else he needs game time.
Thought carrick had a decent game to be fair. Played a superb dinked ball over the top to I think nani second half. Played some good forward passes last night. He did what he does. Breaks play up. Intercepts. Covers. Blocks. Releases ball to scholesy to distribute. Positionally sound. Keeps it simple. To be honest I can’t really say any united player had a particularly bad game. We played well. First half like you say we were superb. The one and two touch passing was causing the rentboys havoc. As others have said three tough away games in a week took their toll second half. Chelsea are ALWAYS gonna come forward and have sustained possession at stamford bridge. Felt fucking sick and empty all day today but no point dwelling on it. Fergie and the lads have moved on to the dippers and we will. Christ that’s a huge fucking game now. Always is but after last night the lads should be fired up to fuck for the dippers. As well as they can play on their day they will not match the chavs last night. I was quite surprised at how well at times they did play. Didn’t think they had it in them. Adrenaline for their cup final the small time cunts. Celebrating like they had won the league. Er no still twelve behind. Cannot wait for sunday. Went last year but can’t afford sunday. Due a win there.
As for arsenal pipping us fuck that after our game sunday I actually thinl arsenal have a tougher run as highlighted by costas. Bolton and stoke away will be tough. Not to mentiomn spurs dippers. Van persie fucked. Walcott out. No leaders no balls. No can see sunderland getting a point sunday.
Tom Lutz wrote an article on Guardian today trying to justify the ref mistakes by saying that we also benefited from the mistakes in the past.
How clever is he! If only he understands that last season that mistake COST US AN EFFIN title. What a twat!
CedarsDevil
This Red is putting his little man to bed
Barcelona are no match lol
I met a Chelsea fan in school today and he goes and kisses the badge – I politely remind him that they are 12 points behind.
Enough said really.
Sorry. As highlighted by dave red on here. I think costas mentioned arsenals fixtures as well on a previous thread.
I was actually pretty surprised that luiz, as a central defender, was pushing up so much. But, he got the equalizer, so i guess it had some merit. I was really hoping we would catch terry alone on a counter attack, but that didnt happen. Ah well.
Good points scott, 8 and 9 were the highlights for me. I had a bad feeling when i heard anderson would be out for this game a week or so ago. same goes for park. once the 2 of them and valencia get back, nani will have corresponding wing support AND it will free up berb/roon/chica to play middle.
enjoy it while you can, blues. let’s just see where the dust settles come may. moving on….
off the topic….but has anyone heard of Marek Hamsik….seems great on the ball and scores a lot of goals….could be a great asset for our goalless midfield…..apparently barca and chelsea scouts are scouts are observing……and the best part only 23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lpe5ZjB_4I&feature=related
We had 2 days of the fish&chip paper trying to hang rooney then when we have a cheat ref there seems to be a oh well that evens it up then .When they come to o/t fergie should ban all southern journos and we should kick fuck out of them .I cant believe what i was reading this morn .Rooney gets away with 1 fergie tells it as it is .rio misses a drugs test 9 months that twat cole takes a gun to work fuck all who would get away with taking a gun to work .What would be said if one of our players took a gun to training they would want a life ban.it pisses me off
TonyBee – Sanchez isn’t a striker mate. He’s a winger, but he can also play off the front man. I doubt It’s us, that have the made the bid anyway.
Pretty fair assessment overall (even with what I hope is a tongue-in-cheek dig at Roman). Hard to say we deserved a win given that we looked flat in the 2nd half but fuck, we did not deserve that kind of refereeing.
My worry is now we’ll be even more tired for yet another away match and we won’t have our PoY and Captain. That, more than this loss/screwjob, is what could hurt the most
havent we seen enough of carricks irrelevnace on the pitch lately? his greatest asset is passing and he is having severe trouble stringing them together…i think the midfield is going to get immensely better and park anderson and valencia return b/c we need them for the stretch run
shite refereeing and that tosser luiz should have been sent off
were still on top and thats all that matters, we just have to fight a bit harder for #19,come on your reds
Re point 4, I also noticed they teamed up on Nani in the second half. What we saw there was a lack of other options, what with Tony V being out. If we’d had Nani on one side and Tony V on the other, and some in the middle to swing the ball left or right, then it would much harder (or riskier) to team up on either of them. JOS had a good game but I can’t help wondering what’s happened to Rafael. I don’t recall him doing anything that would put him out of favor, and he would have given us extra width. As for Berbatov, there’s little else to be said. I am not in the habit of questioning SAF’s selections, but his continued omission from the starting line-up in games like this really is puzzling.
Yes we were hard done by that cunt Atkinson, but we also need to take our share of the responsibility for this defeat.
For quite a while now, particularly in the away matches, we are struggling on the final third of the pitch. We just seem to lack the cutting edge that United always had. At times our play is too complicated, slow, predictable and individual players are too greedy ignoring teammates in better positions. We are lacking that killer instinct that other teams used to fear so much. That’s why we failed to win 6 in matches in which took the lead! Last night alone we wasted at least two good situations when we could not find a decent pass having gone behind them. On another occasion Rooney failed to put Chicharito through.
We cannot deny that we have won a few matches despite playing awfully.
Defensively, we still are struggling with set pieces. Chelsea’s equaliser came after the failure to deal properly with a corner! At times we just seem to switch off giving away silly goals.
Yet, we are still in decent position. Our fate is in our hands. I am sure Arsenal will drop more points. Next match is massive, and for me is a must win one. It will be difficult without Rio and Vida, but we are Manchester United and should be able to deal with this whoever plays.
Finally, following Fergie’s comments on Atkinson, we should expect more of the same from other whores in black (or whatever colour they may wear) who will probably rally behind their colleague. The only way to prevent them influencing match outcomes is put the result beyond doubt before they can do anything about it.
Rentboy fan couldn’t look me in the eye at work this morning.
Mentioned Atkinson, sideshow bob (luis) & ivanovic to him,he scarpered pretty niftily.
ref cheated us. we have a big game on sunday. let’s put this aside for now and focus on the big game on sunday. after we beat livershite then we can come back and destroy atkinson here.
we can blame others for our woes but ourselves, it is amazing how SAF leaves Berba on the bench and starts Rooney & Hernandez (after he has said that Hernandez is an impact player). just can’t comprehend this, always leaving the leagues top scorer on the bench & turn around to blame refs when things backfire. i don’t want to imagine what this does to Berba yet we want him to bang in the goals when called upon…..
I think what has got lost in the mists of Robles Atkinsonovic’s shambolic bias refreeing is the fact that Chelsea have had a whole weeks time off to prepare for this game. In that week United have been to Merselle an Wigan and then down to Chelsea our 3rd game in a week and only Chelseas 1st game. Of course the lads came off the poace a bitr in the 2nd half. But were still good enough to have won it if it had not been for “Roubles”.
There does not seem to be a witch hunt in the media to get Roubles to re evaluate his decesions and get LUIZ and IVANOIC suspensions. Funny that!
@ redharry,
get over it mate, United never showed up in the 2nd half.
STR, is your Enter button broken?
Your post could sure use e few paragraphs.
It was a torture trying to read them.
But quality as usual.
My take on the defeat -> What the fuck were we doing on the second half? Why can’t we bring that passion of first half?
Fuck me, just because we were leading, some of our players gets complacent. That is one issue we need to assess.
One thing that teally sticks in my throat is the fact that cheating curly haired cunt luiz would not even have been able to score had the game being held in december as the chav cunts hadn’t even bought him. Disgusting.
How the fuck can fergie be charged? He gave an opinion. Managers slate refs EVERY single fucking week. Mancini only today saying the “big“ clubs get refs favouritism yet fuck all is said or done. At least madely acknowledges that his club aren’t big. Definitely been a shit storm whipped up by the media the last week the fucking cunts. Fuck em all. As xyth said let’s make sure we put teams to bed so any decisons will be academic.
Lovin united. Just think mate three tough away games in six days took its toll second half. Those cunts had a week off.
See messi bailed the over rated cunts out again. And they said we were a one man team.
Yeah, King Eric… Forgotten about that.
Sorry lads…
If we perform even 50% of what we did in the second half at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool this weekend, then we might have a chance. Problem is, can we perform that for at least most of the 90 minutes?
SQUEEKY BUM TIME IS HERE!!!!
Do not underestimate Arsenal they are getting stronger with age and experience and are real contenders this year. Bad decisions always happen and we cannot afford another loss or bad decisions, remember if Barca knock Aresenal out or we do (FA cup) their players will be more rested. This is really down to the wire already. Let us pray.
I hope we rip Chelsea up at OT.
And I hope Berbatov plays.
Stenis You said; “Let’s go on a brilliant run of form and then shove 19 in everyone’s faces. We shall not be moved!”.
Maybe and I wouldn’t put it past Fergie to inspire such a run of form – The Motivator Extraordinaire and a man whose Motivational abilities I’ve NEVER seen matched by any coach bar Sir Clive Woodward in Rugby (Winning a World Cup speaks for Itself and in the same year as a European Title as England under Clive did? Ranks him RIGHT up there and untouchable as a Motivator). We will see soon enough no doubt. Although with a vapid shadow of your previous Imperious Midfields that dominated whole Seasons and decades and the lack of squad depth you used to taunt/laugh at your foes for quite often (your squad NOW is not even a shadow of the one you had 3 years ago for example up to Moscow) – With all that? I believe your current position is a testament to Fergie’s powers of motivation and then some.
However – Haven’t you wondered just WHY so many of your players have had Red Cards and Bad injuries (thereby affecting your ability to fight for titles) in recent seasons – Shown again the other night at Stamford Bridge and a few years back at Anfield to name but 2 (September 2008 I think?). Well I have and I think it’s that “Shove it in everyone’s faces” mentality that exudes through your whole CLUB and it’s supporters (and many of its players) that is doing it. I think it is So winding up other teams to beat you that when you combine it with Clearly unbelievable luck re referees and your players NOT being punished as they deserve as happened on Saturday or on any number of occasions when Rooney’s had a go at referees?
I think that this has So wound up other sides that they have decided even if They will risk getting Red Cards and bans, fines etc that they ARE going to fight you in kind and are putting in much riskier challenges and nasty fouls all match long to get your players injured and sent off and earn them ‘advantages’ of the sort YOU normally get from doing such things and NOT being punished. Witness David Luiz the other night – Not only did he smash Rooney in the jaw damn near the throat with an elbow better belonging in the Film Kickboxer and Far worse than the one Rooney himself carried out at Wigan (which itself could be classed as Assault and Battery) but also he tried to stamp on Rooney behind the knee and ended up kicking him hard in the back of the shin which if he’d hit Rooney the wrong way? Could have broken his leg or kneecap. Both incidents deserved Reds, neither was punished.
The other season I referred to when you Lost at Liverpool was another one – Carrick was playing well in the first half of that game if I remember rightly and ended up limping off on crutches in the second after a challenge from Mascherano. LAST season the same player was sent off at Anfield against you late on for a double footed challenge that COULD have seriously injured Van Der Sar and Gerrard was sent off this year at OT for a similar challenge on Carrick. Pretty sure that Carvalho used to do the same types of attacks as Luiz regularly on your players in the games between Chelsea and United and going back to 2006? Luis Garcia of all people broke Roy Keane’s foot in a 2 footed challenge at Anfield and ended his United career. You’ve also had the likes of Valencia, Nani and (almost) Ronaldo suffering injuries from VERY bad challenges in recent seasons.
Again, remember a few years back when a Middlesbrough player TRIED to cut Ronaldo in 2 and caused a near fistfight at OT?) and I Don’t think this is all unconnected. It’s not just you either – Arsenal have suffered recently from VERY bad challenges (the broken legs of Eduardo and Aaron Ramsey come to mind) and the amount Torres (and even now Suarez) has been hacked down or targetted for Liverpool is unreal. Alonso was also a heavy target when at Anfield and now it’s happening to Gareth Bale at Spurs to – I’ve noticed a LOT of times in recent months players almost Attacking him with their challenges. What connects all this but particularly United?
Simple – I think other teams (meaning lesser sides and SOME top sides opposed to United/Liverpool/Spurs/Chelsea/Arsenal etc) have had enough of such sides and particularly United getting away with what they want and have sworn to “give them a taste of their own medicine” as it were to gain the same sorts of advantages THOSE sides regularly enjoy by getting away with such behaviour and challenges in games virtually unpunished and we’re now seeing the results with a steady stream of the best players of top sides entering the injury treatment room on stretchers and out for months at a time. It’s got WORSE in recent seasons as well – quite noticeably with injuries getting worse and more victims in the top clubs players falling to such challenges.
So yes Stenis you might Say you’ll “not be moved” from where United are at the moment? But I’ve a feeling that you WILL – Whether you want to or Not and Why? Quite simple – Other sides have decided if they can’t move you by fair means? They’ll do it by foul (whether United use such methods is irrelevant – Everyone Thinks you do and that’s enough here) and in short? They’ve decided if you won’t Move? They’ll MOVE you by kicking you from the top and testing the limits non-stop regarding dangerous challenges and harrassing ref’s against you in a way Ferguson’s side have got down to a fine art. What’s worse for you and your fellow United fans now is? It’s now having a BIG effect on you each season and worst of all? It looks like it’s starting to work as well. Tuesday night is just the latest example and I doubt it’s finished yet either – Your next match is at Anfield which should be interesting to say the least………..
Scott, I sometimes wonder whether our love for Berbatov stops us from seeing certain decisions fairly. Sure, Berbatov is the league’s top scorer and our best striker this season, but there is a reason he wasn’t played against the Chavs – pace. Terry and Luiz are physically strong defenders but don’t have the pace to keep up with Chica and Rooney. IMO, that was the single reason why SAF preferred the other pairing instead of Berbatov. Now, whether that worked or not is an entirely different issue and out of this discusson.
Also, I LOL at some people who think a decision going for us against Wigan is the same as a decision going against us in the Chelsea game and that means all is fair in the world.
Simple Fact: Decisions even themselves out when we play lesser opposition. It is because they shouldn’t matter in the first place. Whether decisions go against or for us in smaller games, we should be winning them because we are the better team. If we don’t win them, we have no right to blame the decisions because it is upto us to make the most out of these matches.
However, decisions should also even themselves out against the top 4 sides. Meaning, if one thing doesn’t go our way against Chelsea away, then they should go our away against them at home. That would mean that the decisions even themselves out. However, in the past few years, such decisions have not evened themselves out in our case against the top 4 sides. Anyone who cannot see this is blind to football. And no matter how we play, such decisions do take a toll eventually as was proven last season when we were robbed of the 19th title.
So, please don’t even begin to compare Rooney’s missed red in the Wigan game with the decisions that went against us in the Chelsea game. There’s a very big reason these games are called 6-Pointers because they decided the fate of League Titles and a fair referee is the simplest requirement in such games which we have not been gettting in the past few matches.
@CedarsDevil
Chorlton-cum-Hardy!
I lived in Hardy Farm when I was in UniOfMan… great hostel.
Not sure if it was there when you were there though. Can’t quite remember where exactly it was now, but it was at the corner of a dead-end road, just 10 minutes walk from Safeway.
@KIng Eric
Morning mate. About Sir Alex. Basically he doesn’t have the freedom to critisize referees ever since his critisism of Alan Wiley. They imposed that idiotic 2 year probation on him and he has to watch his mouth. I heard his coments after the game and I thought they were pretty civil compared to the screwjob that had taken place. But, I guess he is not even allowed to say the ref had a bad game anymore.
@ balaji:Yes agree with you…I really felt, and still feel bad for Berba, but Chicharito is a must ion these sort of games IMO. It was a mistake to take him off – I wouldnt have put it past him to slot home the equalizer, I thought he was absolutely brilliant.
Guten Morgen Herr Reds
Polishing up on the foreign languages and all
I’ve read this morning that the leader of the trade union for refs has asked SAF to apologise for his unacceptable comments regarding Atkinson
Well will he be willing to apologise for what Atkinson did to us? No, thought not – so if they want a war I reckon it’s time we gave them one – Sir Alex has been very clever to not directly talk about Refs this year compared to last year when we were the butt end of refs decisions – this is a clever strategy regarding the situation we are in – SAF has said no worse than any manager this year – so it’s amazing and quite outlandish that the Refs trade Union boss has the fucking balls to accuse SAF of something which happens to be nothing – even on the alleged MUTV recording SAF says fuck all compared to what we know he could have said
Wonder why the sour grapes – they’ll never admit they were ever wrong…
I don’t think United were much worse in the second half, but what was notable was that Chelsea were much better.
Horrible as it is we need to be aware of the fact that the Chelsea first eleven, when they perform over any given ninety minutes, when they are at home, is better than the best our injury-ravaged squad can roll out right now. I mean did you guys see how much Drogba wanted it when he came on? Did you see anything of Luiz besides the incidents that got him sent off? We hate those guys, but only a fool doesn’t rate them. Make no mistake ladies and gents, Chelsea are a worthy adversary when they are up for it. And we can thank their ageing bones and weak leadership that they are not up for it all that often. I won’t blame the referee when I see us beaten like that, because we were outplayed, and I won’t hold it against the lads because, realistically, nobody should expect to go to the home of the defending champions and demand a win.
But in the grand scheme of things, are we in trouble for the title? Of course we are, and anybody who ever thinks it’s ever easy to win a title is mad. We could throw it all away in a week from here. Hell we lose one more game we could be finished. If that’s not trouble I don’t know what is. I think we’ll do it, but let’s not kid ourselves that it will be easy, or that it ever looked easy. When it comes to the title it’s not easy until it’s over, and if you start to think it is you end up looking like Newcastle.
Good morning all!
@Jeet and Balaji
whilst i agree to the points you have mentioned, this berba/chico debate can be argued from both sides the point here being both are special but special at different things, you are partly right in saying that chico selection is good as the chelsea defense doesn’t like pacey forwards( example, our own Welbeck and Gyan) but i feel that berba in the form he is, even though he lacks chico’s pace is very good at holding the ball and slow the game, which was what we required in that second half when their midfield picked up the tempo and that was exactly what SAF did
let me tell you other side of this debate
if berba started, we mayn’t have played the game at such a speed but we would have had more composure and skill , chico would have been a perfect substitution when their defenders are tired in later part of the game, which is what we have been doing in this season unless either berba/rooney are unavailable or we play 4-5-1, so even this move is good enough to get a result
finally its up to SAF to decide and i am happy with any of the above…and oh the main problem was our midfield / complacent defending
Ancha – agreed with you as well. You have hit the pt. on the head, with Berba on the starting xi, it might have been a different style of play – and god knows whether the results would have been better or worse. I just feel that taking off Hernandez at that pt. was a mistake.
Not sure why it has to be either Chico or Berba starting with Rooney – I know he took his goal very well, but on current form surely Berba and Chico should be given a run out together?
Why is Rooney so undroppable??
Yep the seige mentality. If there was ever a time when United players coaches and SAF
need to show toughness and fire. It is now.
Funny how no one here mentions that Rooney shouldn’t have been on that pitch in the first place.Or the Chelsea disallowed goal in the first half should have been allowed.OR Rooney shouldn’t have been on the pitch after 30 minutes.Or Hernandez should have been booked for an OBVIOUS dive in the Chelsea 18 YARD box.OR Atkinson,the biased Devil,was one and thesame who handed you extra Fergie time at ManCity and let you win 3-4.Bunch of hypocrites,your manager and all of you,this couldn’t have happened to a better bunch.Before the match,you manager claimed Rooney was lucky for not getting sent off against Wigan,and that was before you scored 1 of your 4 goals,i wonder if you would have scored 1 against chelsea without Rooney on?You guys haven’t even started,your defence will be torn apart at Liverpool,I wonder who’ll stop Carrol from scoring those headers and then Arsenal will be all over you.You’re such sore losers,it makes me so happy to admit the ref was against you in this match and why shouldn’t he be?After all he did for you against city,this is how you repay him?haha
And I hear Smalling went partying after the loss??Priceless
)
So within 10 lines, he becomes a Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and City fan. What a bitter twat. He has no life, his penis is 5 centimeters long and his only joy is seeing United lose.
Yeah, Smalling was partiyng. With WOMEN. Sorry you’ll never get to see what that’s like Alex Bitter Blue.
@Alex
Sure, you would have beaten us had the game not been postponed due to dubious weather conditions, citing supporter safety, all within 24 hours of kickoff when transport arrangements have all been finalised? Yeah right.
And the only reason he gave extra minutes in that match was because he wanted City to score, seeing how Bellamy just got the equaliser.
Oh, and your time is better spent hoping Chelsea qualify for the CL, cause you can bet your ass that your dear owner won’t be too interested anymore if you only quality for EL. Not that anyone’s interested in your ass here. Maybe your Ladyboy Torres would though.
Haha,Costas how old are you??We’re talking football here CHILD,not dick size.Contain you fantasies.
@Alex
Can’t talk about football with a troll that supports anti-Manchester United FC.
Sorry to have revealed your pathetic life. Now you can fuck out of here.
Alex – Fuck off you knob. The ladyboy’s goal WASN’T disallowed. The whistle went long before and Edwin would have stuck out a glove. The extra time against the bitters is for both teams not just United. Carrol the big fat cunt? Charlie Adam scored more than that thug last season. Wes Brown will eat him alive. You see son UNITED have a squad. Rio or Vidic out? Brown and Smalling even O Shea. Who do you have? 2 defenders at best? Mug.
Oh the best one. “Arsenal will be all over you” Yeah whatever sillly cunt. Those pansies cannot match United as proven the last 3 years. Piss off to your Rentboy blog or is it City? I actually reckon you are a bitter else you wouldnt have cited the derby. 4-3 mate?
@King Eric
I doubt even he knows what team he supports. But I do find it a lot amusing that he has nothing better to do in his life than come to a Man United blog and try to man up. Being dickless can do that to you.
STILL nobody’s mentioning Rooney.hmm,i wonder why…and it just goes to show how stupid you are when you blame postponement due to obvious weather conditions on the club.Correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t we in a much better condition then than we are now?The Europa jab was funny,nice one.But seeing as you have Liverpool,Arsenal and Chelsea again I think you should be more worried about your title fight.look around and you’ll see Chelsea players coming back from injuries,our worst run in a long time and you STILL couldn’t beat us.Your 2nd half failure wasn’t Atkinson’s fault sons,so don’t kid youselves.I have a feeling Atkinson will be blamed for everything at the end of the season…
Alex if you were a Chelsea fan, you would realize that Chelsea were the same pile of crap back in December they are now. The difference, is that back then you didn’t have Luiz and Torres. Now you do. Plus, United hada full strength side then. Now we don’t. Park, Anderson and Ferdinand would have started at Stamford Bridge (that’s Chelsea’s ground in case you don’t know). And on top of that, Chelsea had a week’s rest whereas we didn’t.
And the weather excuse was horseshit. Chelsea were just afraid that a loss in December would end their title hopes. As karma would have it, all they have to play for 3 months later, is avoid playing in the Europa League. That’s karma alright.
As for Rooney, bite me, in case you don’t remember, Malouda sent a Portsmouth player to the hospital last season with an elbow smash. No red card.. That meant he played at the title decider at Old Trafford and det up the first goal. So don’t tell us about Rooney.
*set up the first goal*
Oh bite you eh??Bite me AnD the rest of the world and stop all this whining!!Me bitter?haha i wonder where you guys got THAT idea.Hope you’re ready for a fight guys,i have a feeling our second leg clash at OT will decide who gets the title…personally,I think City will get it.But ,hey,you never know.If you guys lose at Poo this weekend…you talking about Karma??karma just started for your sorry asses.Funny how the internet lets real life cowards run their mouths,I wonder how many of you could look me in the face.people spewing ‘cunt’,'dickless’ in an argument tell me alot about themselves.
“Funny how the internet lets real life cowards run their mouths”
Look in the mirror and you will see a prime example.
As for who will win the title, makes no difference. I have 18 regardless. I am good. If you are an Arsenal fan, you have 0 trophies in 6 years. Sad. If you are a Liverpool fan, you haven’t won the league in 20 years. Even Sadder. If you are a Chelsea fan, your captain is John Terry. ‘Nuff said. And if you are a Shity fan, life played a cruel game on you. 35 years.
Oh Alex Bitter Blue. Tell you what. If I buy you a new inflatable girl, will you stop acting like a troll?
There you go again with the sex talk,i bet you have a pathetic sex life.No scratch that,i bet you have a pathetic life.Look in the mirror,i haven’t called you any names kid so there no need.but don’t worry,our worst run in the league and we’re still 4th,hope you guys are ready for the OT.Hopefully Webb will be incharge eh?…yh you’re right,it won’t make a difference,he wasn’t incharge last season.
@Alex Bitter
No. Mike Dean will be in charge and he will be Chelsea’s 12th man again. Satisfied? Oh, you don’t like the name calling? Tell you what. You don’t like being called names, you can fuck out of here. You support 4 clubs. There are about 20 forums you can go to. No one told you to come here and act like a prick.
See you at OT
) With our 12th man Mike Dean 
.
I reckon SAF played Hernandez to get a really high tempo in the game, Berba is class but slows the play down, or maybe its just the fact Berba hasnt been doing the business away from home, where as Hernandez seems to do well home or away. I honestly think SAF was going for the quick display to catch Chelski on the backfoot, then bring Berba on to keep the ball towards the end of the game but it didnt work out the way he planned, mainly because that shocking Ref Atkinson was in charge yet again.
After 2 massively high profile blunders in the same fixture at the same ground in the last 2 seasons Atkinson should be relegated to the Championship but no that wont happen!! instead the Ref’s want SAF to apologise to them LOL, you couldn’t make it up!! the sooner a PROPER commitee that actually punishes the mistakes Ref’s make in games is sorted the better, they are supposed to be professional now but they seem to have gone fucking backwards, and I mean that right across the board, not just one or two.
@ Alex – Your mum’s just shouted you for your tea kid, now go clear your plate and get the dishes done and she might let you stay up late!!
WELL SAID SCOTT THE RED.
Thats a proper assessment of the Rent Boy affair. After scanning all the bollocks in the Press and online I enjoyed reading that. Agreed 100%.
It was a good performance from Rooney. They managed to keep him quiet but he still did the business when he found space and thats all I ask. Spot on about Nani, Ancelloti made sure he had even less space but he still found room to shoot on target for the handball.
Valid excuses aside we lost because dominating early knackered our current midfield. Its so obvious we need Tony back asap to stretch opposition. At the bridge Fletcher did a decent job wide but like Scholes he tired first half with nothing on the bench to keep us on the front foot.
It won’t be much different on Sunday either, but if we aren’t up for this we won’t be up for anything all season. I bet they can’t wait. All I ask of our Players are 2 things, a solid response and a decent run of results till Antonio Park and Anderson are all back.
Not too worried about the big games coming up, we’re getting a lot of difficult fixtures out the way before shit hits the fan. Im more concerned about the must win at OT v Marseilles. The focus has to be on staying top and in Europe until reinforcements arrive.
If we do that and beat Arsenal in the Cup, we’ll have everybody fit and available for the first time with it all still to play for. Might just pull of something special this season lads! We just need to steady the boat over these next few games and Dimmy B’s gonna get us back on track!
SO DRY YOUR EYES MATE!
ROM = TOP BLOG
i have never seen a bunch of moaners like y’all.stop bitching and move on! we will still win
the league.we are united and we will never die!
wasn´t it Attkinson who gave United 8 minutes of extra-time against City ?
and wasn´t it Fergie who said, after Rooneys elbowing that “you have to respect the refs actions” ?
bad short term memory it seems.
United shouldn´t complain about the opponent getting descesions their way.
Stop making excuses, your players had your chances to put that game to bed and they didn´t take them. End of.
Regarding Berba:
“Clearly the boss doesn’t fancy him for it, so why should he fancy himself?”
Because he’s a pro. And if you don’t believe in yourself, you can never play at his level.
Zombie Cucumber – So when the best manager in the world ever repeatedly let’s it be known he doesn’t fancy you for the big games, you should assume that the best manager in the world ever is wrong? Do you not think Berba respects the managers opinion a bit more than that? If this was a one off, it’d be different, but it’s pretty much every big game.
cucumber thats eats people hmmmmmm
You’re flogging a dead fruit, Zombie Cucumber. Be devine, and rot.