1. Every time United find themselves in a rubbish situation, you do have to wonder if this is going to be one of the occasions when we can’t turn it around. Time and again we pull it off, which is why fans are left with faith of a result in situations they have no right to. So with so many players missing and 2-0 down on an hour played, it would probably have been fairly optimistic just hoping for a draw. To come away with three points yesterday takes the piss. This result was this season’s equivalent of the victory at Goodison Park in 2007. I’d like to think this is the day we’ll look back on in May as the day that put one hand on the trophy.
2. What was Patrice Evra thinking when he gave away that penalty? It’s stuff like that which we could really do without. When he came off at half-time, you imagine he had received a grilling from Ferguson. The idea of Giggsy filling his spot so Chicharito could come on seemed suspect. Had Evra said something back to the manager after the hair dryer? Turns out, probably not, with this tactical move a stroke of genius from the manager, freeing up Rooney and still giving us options to attack down the left flank.
3. When the 2nd penalty was awarded less than quarter of an hour later, that’s when the sinking feeling came. Replays show Vidic’s foul was outside the box but it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Referee Mason was the same one who missed Zigic’s handball just before an offside Bowyer robbed us a few months ago. But we shouldn’t be critical. Why should we expect a referee to be able to see and do his job? Later on in the game some were calling for a straight red for Vidic after he committed a foul as the last man. The rule talks about “a clear goalscoring opportunity”, not last man, and there was no doubt the ball was going straight to Kuszczak. Still, Vida was all over the place today. Let’s hope he’s got it out of his system and is ready for the important games ahead.
4. As the clock ticked past the hour mark and Rooney displayed, as someone else called it, “the first touch of a goat”, I lost the plot well and truly. We bent over backwards, embarrassing ourselves to accommodate Rooney and beg him to stay because he’s a special player who should do special things. He’s on £180k-a-week to win us games and here he was, giving the ball away and looking nothing like a special player. Winds me up. And then it started. Giggs stood over the ball, like he always does with the person who will actually take the freekick, and watched Rooney float a delightful freekick in to the top corner. Beautiful. Eight minutes later, Antonio Valencia drilled in a great ball to Rooney, with his first touch taking it past the defender before firing in to the far post. Delightful. Six minutes later, some great work from Fabio lead to a penalty, after Upson blocked Fabio’s cross with his arm. Could it be? After 60 minutes of doing nothing, was Rooney going to score a hattrick in 14 minutes? Yes. Incredible. Well done Wazza.
5. Of course Rooney stole the show with his goals but there were other players who should be singled out for praise, with Antonio Valencia having the best performance of the day, even if Rooney’s contribution was obviously more important. He had a great game down that right wing and only wet the appetite for our games ahead with him down one wing and Nani down the other. The return of Park only helps with this prospect, with his tireless effort, as a starter or from the bench, an obvious bonus for the games remaining.
6. Rooney will be pleased he scored a hattrick, if only to ensure his starting place when Berbatov and Chicharito were such effective subs. It shouldn’t be viewed as a coincidence that we were 2-0 down until Berba came on. He gave us that extra composure up front that leaves me utterly baffled as to why he doesn’t start games like this. Chicharito’s finishing again leaves us wondering why he wasn’t starting. Most of us prefer 442 anyway, but against a side facing relegation, it’s puzzling as to why Fergie opted to start with just one striker. Alls well that ends well, but the superior possession and better chances we created in the first half maybe would have meant the two penalties against us didn’t leave us shitting ourselves, had we had two strikers on the park.
7. What? Fucking what?? What?
Reaction To Victory Over West Ham
April 3, 2011 176 Comments
Man Utd News 24/7
first
The comeback that could define our season!! I was very worried when we were 2-0 down at half time. That second half performance was much more like it!
I must admit I had that sinking feeling at 2-0 down, even though we have pulled it off time and time again this season, mainly because even though we dominated possession, we weren’t getting the breaks in the final 3rd. But credit to the boys for proving me wrong yet again. And after the other results going our way, we are almost there. Great weekend for United.
Please dissist with this ‘first’ nonsense please. We are not in Primary school.
Haha kings, i’m only messing.
Friend messaged me “lol 2-0″ at 60th minute. I replied “BELIEVE”. True story!
Rooney was still playing shinball in the first half, but he duly made up for his indifferent first half to show us what we have been missing for a large part of the last 12 months. If he continues to wake up from his slumber and put away half chances like his second goal, we’ll have a good chance of shouting WFW at all the ABUs and the FA at the end of the season.
I believe this is the second time this season when we had a win and the rest of the other challengers failed to keep pace. This is really United playing tease at its best. Those Arses and Chelskis must have lost a large chunk of morale after watching the 2nd half. Hah.
To those saying it’s over at 2-0 down, time to grow some faith in the team. Not sure if you guys understand what the word “support” means.
Still wondering why Fergie isn’t playing hernandez and berbatov up front, with rooney lying right behind them. it could take some pressure off carrick, fletcher in the defensive part of midfield, whilst it could give us some edge in the middle going forward.
what a game and what a result though. And who could have believed that in-form chelsea would slip up against Stoke. Less surprisingly with arsenal, since they’ve either would’ve won with a freak result or not at all
The return of Valencia is invaluable. He gives us so much strength and pace on the right-hand side and with Nani on the other flank, we will destroy teams. Also the return of Park is very welcoming. I think he will probably start on Wednesday. I can’t wait for that game.
Rooney certainly meant that 1st touch for his second goal … it was six yards in front of him, and, thankfully, for him and United Upson is an old donkey. Berbatov was the man that changed everything, but AV25 was the MOTM by a country mile. Rooney was terrible in the 1st but took the responsibility of scoring – which he should have since he was the lone striker.
What!? Fucking What?! Fuckin Hell.
Berbatov Bailed Ferguson’s Debatable Decisions
http://www.theunitedreligion.com/2011/04/berbatov-bailed-fergusons-debatable.html
April 2 2011, It has totally changed perspective in my life. With India winning the cricket world cup and at the same time United pulling off another comeback. Many times as a superstitious sports fan, I used to compare fortunes of my teams on same days. Yesterday at 5 am Los Angeles Time, when Srilanka started whacking Indian bowlers, Manchester United were going in at half time 0-2 down. Truth is stranger than fiction.. Contemplating about both the matches, i simply thought that it was to big an occasion to not to believe in my teams.. I just knew they will pass thru..
And then wazza started scoring goals and United won. Same thing happened in cricket with the legends getting out early and lot of nervous wreck.. But then India won the game to break boundaries of euphoria..
This has certainly made me believe that it is my year. Three legends i admire Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, Sir Ryan Giggs and Sir Alex Ferguson have to achieve glory and let me have my own stories..
Simply Believe..
Love number 7. Someone has gotta make a shirt soon with those words. Please.
“Kings says:
Please dissist with this ‘first’ nonsense please. We are not in Primary school.”
kings, if we were in primary school, someone would explain to you how to spell ‘desist’.
d
WE BELIEVE…….!! all the way from MALAYSIA!!
guys dont ever doubt fergie. we cannot really blame wazza 4 a shit first half performance coz e supply was terrible. e best chance we got he created it 4 park. we needed chicharito. did u c how he almost scored soon after halftime. problem with berba guys is e lacks urgency. he pla
fucking brilliant. that is all.
@karandravs
You should buy a lottery ticket quick!
Maybe Fergie was resting Hernandez for wednesday when he’ll run Terry ragged!
6 more wins out of 7 guarantees the title, but I think 5 would win it for us.
19 is oh so close
Daelm – Just like we aren’t in Primary School, this isn’t English class.
Anyway. I agree with Scott that Berbatov changed the game. Also it’s good to see the twins coming into their own these past few months, Rafa out, Fabio is and just as effective. People call this the “potentially the worst Manchester United side to win the Premier League”. What a load of shit. Yes we have our problems but again I’ll say if we had a fully fit squad this season we would already have won the league. All teams have injuries but we’ve had a mix of long term injuries as well as clusters in key areas.
daelm – my error, just typed too fast at the time.
Gora – “the problem with Berbatov is he lacks urgency”.
Are you serious dude? We were 2-0 down when he came on yesterday. I know he wasn’t involved on the first goal but watch the rest of the match. If he lacks urgency is it a coincidence that we won yesterday when he came on? We don’t want all out strikers to play the same style. He held the ball up in the final third, bought others into play and was unlucky not to score 2 himself.
I would much rather have berbatov than a headless chicken like Tevez.
There’s no problem with Berbatov. There’s a problem with our fans.
I was worried as to who would take the penalty I’m convinced we are going to get against Chelsea on Wednesday,not now I’m not.
Thank you Wayne Rooney you’re responsible for me drinking all day and my resulting hangover. I hope you’re happy.
Seriously though, alls well that ends well but why oh why do we not start with two up front against teams like West Ham and save us all the stress and bother. Special mention for Park yesterday, thought he was brilliant and was amazed to see him come off when he did. Great to have him back.
Valencia is the daddy.
@gora you must be having a laugh with the comment about berba,he doesn’t need to run around the field at 100miles an hour his first touch and close control has to be close too being the best in the world.at one point yesterday he’s on the touchline in their box surronded by 2 or 3 defenders he held them all off dribbled his way out of trouble and set it up on a plate for gibson. what fucking what berba is world class and as utd fans we’re lucky to see skills like that week in week out.
I do not explicitly agree that Berbatov was the reason that we looked more effective when he came on, rather the change in formation brought out the best in the team, because although we controlled the game in the first in the half, we looked utterly toothless with just Rooney up front by himself. Rooney is a special player no doubt and he showed that yesterday but he does not do too well as the focal point of the attack especially when we dont have runners from midfield who look to get beyond the opposition defence, which would allow him space to do his magic.
I bemoaned the formation we used yesterday, with the players we played, because apart from Park, who is’nt the greatest finisher we did not have much penetration behind the defence in that first half.
Gibson was again given a chance to impress but once again failed to deliver. He is a frustrating player who has been given chance after chance and although he played the whole game yesterday, he did little to contribute towards the comeback. His biggest problem is he plays within his comfort zone, stands at the edge of the box and waits for an opportunity to shoot, which is all well and good, but when the opportunities come he still struggles to take them for example his chance to put the game to bed from eight yards out.
Still, he has until the end of the season to prove his doubters wrong, I hope he does, but i’m afarid I just can’t see it!
Still great comeback, and great results for us in general. Fingers crossed the rest continue to drop points so we can have the title wrapped up by the Chelsea game. having looked at Arsenals next four fixtures before our game with them, they are extremely difficult:
A Blackpool
H Liverpool
A Tottenham Hotspur
A Bolton Wanderers
I expect them to drop at least four points in these games, as long as we take 7 points from our next three games we could go to Arsenal knowing a win would crown us champions, mathematically we could still lose on goal difference but with Blackburn and Blackpool as our last two games, i expect at a least a point from one of our last three games to be a formality
Watching highlights last night on Irish tv, they gave a stat that hernandez has scored 11goals from 15shots on target, deadly if true
People keep sayin why dont we start berbatov & Chico in away games like this. Sorry but i trust SAF before anyone on here for tactics and what way we should play. Berb was immense when he came on, but lets not forget the west ham team had been chasing shadows for the majority of the game and were pretty much on there knees the last 20 mins, so berb had that space and time he loves, wheras Wayne in the first half had defenders who were fresh and biting at his ankles from the off. I wouldnt of had it any other way yesterday, apart from the silly pens we gave away, having berb & chico to throw on was what won us the game in the end. we cant complain about what was an extraordinary performance in the end.
Any of you remember us playin 4-5-1 and battering Milan home & away last season, Arsenal too and playing 4-5-1 hammering bayern at home also? We havnt had the chance to play that formation this year with valencia & nani on the flanks, but we will now
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/12950670.stm no doubt Rooney will be banned for the Chelsea and Arsenal games…
Thats the best ive seen Valencia, he was a threat every time he got the ball.I can almost tast it
pmcelevey1, that’s an interesting point but I still think we should play two up front against a team fighting against relegation. West Ham are hardly Milan or Arsenal. I’ve no problem with the 4-5-1 against a team at the same level as us. We may have being playing well with one up front yesterday but with two up front, with Hernandez and the runs that he makes there is no way we wouldn’t have scored against a rubbish West Ham side who were absolutely shocking yesterday. It doesn’t mean I don’t trust Ferguson’s tactics it’s just an opinion. Sir Alex is a genius.
@pmcelevey you’re not mentioning many games utd played well in using that formation out of a full season mate,milan were shit last year we’ve owned the gunners for a few seasons 4-5-1 is a shit formation for utd especially at the moment with the midfield needing a bit of work.one only has to watch the team and rooney to see utd’s best performances are when the team uses 2 strikers.we beat the gunners at old trafford playing that system but it was a workmanlike performance pretty boring unentertaining stuff.from here on in utd should play to the strength of the team which is the abundance of top forwards and fuck that 4-5-1 shite.
Thought Vida’s foul was a penalty. He is backtracking and even though he sticks his leg outside the box, the foul happens inside the box. In hindsight, Mason did a good job I felt. Especially with Vida’s fouls and the cards he showed or didn’t show.
Rooney is our biggest matchwinner, no matter how crap he plays. He reminds me of Ronaldo in his last season. He can be frustrating at times, but it takes one moment for him to turn it around. But despite that, and despite Chicha’s form, Berbatov has been sitting on the bench too often for my liking. 1 start in the last 7 games for someone who’s still our top scorer.
Nice to see Antonio and Park back. Felt like I was watching a new team yesterday. We’ve missed them both!
I don’t see Fergie going 442 away in Europe, maybe a 4411. We can play 433, but that means Rooney shifting out to the left, with either Berbatov or Hernandez up front. Don’t see any reason, why we shouldn’t play 442 in league games, particularly at home.
So why exactly do we have to go 2-0 down before we start playing good football with 3 strikers on the pitch? Even Stevie Wonder would have seen that we started CONVERTING our chances when Berbatov and Hernandez came on. There is no point in having all that posession, corners and crosses if there isn’t anyone one the end of them.
As the ABU army of journalists and pundits grow stronger from every heartbreaking United comeback Rooney is probably looking at a 3 match ban, but I have heard people comparing Rooneys outburst with that of Drogba’s after their loss to Barca so he is surely facing a 6 match-ban and a fine of £50,000.
@Rewind123
I don’t think Gibsons issue is that he plays inside his comfort zone, its that his biggest weakness is his reading of the game and positioning. Watch him for 10 minutes next time he plays, his starting position is wrong almost every time because he can’t read the game at first team level. This see’s him bypassed out of the game all too often and it then causes issues because effectively United end up playing chunks of th match with 10 men and someone else is having to vacate their position to cover him which leaves gaps elsewhere
He has a great shot (although that’s deserting him recently as most of his woeful perhaps he realises he isn’t making the grade and feels pressure to proc himself worthy with his shots and that pressures causing him to shank them), and his passing has improved over the season but his positioning hasn’t come on one bit.
I said it last season and during the summer but at his age and with the weakness in his game staying at United was the wrong thing for him. It should have been him rather than Cleverley who should have gone out on loan to a prem side to give him a last chance to try and sort out the glaring issues in his game. Now I think it’s too late for him to ever make it and h a even struggle to ever mak the grad at PL level
Rooney’s performance yesterday, reminded me of Ronaldo’s against Villa at OT. Although Ronnie didn’t get a hat – trick, he was playing as poor as Rooney, but still scored two crucial goals. Macheda!
I agree with willie. 4-5-1 did work in the first half even though we were losing 2-0. That was a really unfair scoreline. The midfield looked better. So I think that’s how we will line up on Wednesday too. And with 4 wingers available again, there’s no need for Rooney to play on the wing.
Rewind123 – They will definitely get 3 points against Liverpool mate, as the vermin will roll over for them, just like they did against Chelsea at Anfield last season, thus helping them win the title. They have become such a small time club now, their biggest incentive every season is to analyse who our main title challengers are and help them in everyway possible to stop us winning the league.
@Passe abu cunt’s must be joking drogba almost filled in the ref that night rooney didn’t do fuck all except talk into a camera
Costas – Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?
wayne:
No mate, they were as serious as Torres is about the colour of his hairband.
@willie
I will in 12 hours.
Passe – You only have to look at this to know it was worse. Rooney swore a couple of times into the camera. This guy was saying it over and over again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkhQZNHcxmE
I think it’s a disgrace to be perfectly honest.
Gibson did fuck all wrong yesterday and kept the ball moving.
As for berbatov STILL some people moan. What the fuck? The man was ridiculously good when he came on. That littlwe flick over the defenders head and the head of the ball to take him to the byline. Outstanding. His touch is genious. The short hair , sleeves rolled up and socksa down. The man is sublime. Both rooney and fergie said berba was excellent and allows runners off him. I love the man.
To be fair all this shit about rooney having the first touch of a goat is bull. When he comes deep he’s quality spraying the ball like p scholes. But people like Gibson and carrick fizz the stupid balls into his feet with his back towards goal and defenders kicking his heels its not always going to be easy. Also, to be fair valencia done the same thing when he played that ball into him but because he was facing the goal this time he managed to take it in his stride and bury it.
Napoli have done a United and come back from the dead. Your man Cavani looks the nuts. Four hat tricks he’s got this season.
Felt awesome to read this :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8423846/Chelsea-v-Manchester-United-Michael-Ballack-still-haunted-by-Champions-League-final-defeat.html
I knew we would win when vidic didn’t get sent off.I just knew there wouldn’t be a Utd win without controversy for the ABUs to chew on.
Afternoon all true REDS
Seems the FA will look into the Rooney rant on Monday. Oh dear oh dear…. I always thought that football is a game that is about passion, if you want robots on the pitch play an online game.
Is Rooney the first player to be seen using the word FUCK on tv?
By the way, Townsend still looks devastated about our win yesterday
@willierednut
We don’t play the traditional 4-4-2 at home either. Its more 4-4-1-1 with the striker in withdrawn role helping out in the midfield when we lose the ball.
I’m starting to accord Gibson a lot more patience, and trying very hard to see him from a different angle. Sure, there were a few occasions when I went “Oh Gibson!” but I’m beginning to think he could be a useful interim squad player whilst we wait for Pogba, Tunnicliffe and Petrucci to show their potential and burst through. If Fletcher gets over this form crisis, and Anderson gets over this injury-prone period (all players get this patch some time in their career), then our midfield might actually be decent enough for a while.
Looks like Scholes won’t be renewing his contract, so it’s important we find a good partner for Carrick. Personally, I would rather Fletcher play the deeper role and push Carrick up so that he could make interceptions further up the pitch and perhaps add a few assists and goals to his game. He’s more than capable of it.
If Suarez did what Fabio did to win the pen yesterday we’d seeing replays all weekend. He played with such spirit and guts it was easy to forget how little experience he has. If only the Da Silvas could keep fit for longer stretches we’ll see a fantastic defensive pairing develope, which could be bad news for Evra, who’s made too many errors this season like the one yesterday. It wasn’t just the handball, it was the dreadful positional play. He seems to lose his moorings too often this season, getting caught out of position, switching off too readily, going AWOL at corners, and then taking wild swipes when he’s caught out. I’ve long said what a brilliant left-back Giggsy is,could be ten more years in that role.
Also worrying was Vidic, who looked too much like he did when Torres turned him over at OT in 2009. I just hope we don’t see a re-run of that on Wednesday…
Can everyone stop slating Gibson just for the sake of it. I personally don’t think he’s good enough to play for us but he actually had a pretty good game yesterday, probably his best in a United shirt, and he passed the ball far better than Carrick. Unless you didn’t actually see them game yesterday I don’t know how anyone can say he had a bad game
Scott: “Antonio Valencia having the best performance of the day, even if Rooney’s contribution was obviously more important. He had a great game down that right wing”
You forgot the best bit – THAT PASS to WayneBoy was with his LEFT FOOT ! He was in imperious form in the first half but it seemed to me that there was some sort of formation readjustment from the 65th minute onwards when there were three strikers because Antonio Valencia was playing more centrally and more “withdrawn” in the later stages.
For those of you “formation wonks”, TheLads didn’t play poorly in the first half – they completely controlled possession, territory and shots on goal – but they didn’t score. When, in the 65th minute, SAF brought on Dimmy, the field was already tiltling downhill towards the ‘ammers goal; once WayneBoy scored one the rest was damned-near inevitable as the ‘ammers were increasingly despondent and dead-on-their-feet from chasing shadows for the first three-quarters of the match. I don’t remember the 2007 match at Goodison that Scott refers to in his first point, but I do remember two very similar comebacks against Spurs – one coming from 3-nil down at White Hart Lane and the other coming back from 2-nil down at OT; in both instances, TheLads slotted five home in the second half. Yesterday was very reminiscent of those games.
And how about that Chicharito ? His first touch from a SirRyanGiggs cross flashes wide but then he readjusts his SatNav system and finds himself alone in front of goal to score yet-again. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Sell Chicharito, But TheLadyBoy !
Cedars – afternoon mate. Not only did Townsend look distraught but so did most of the country!!! Journo’s, ‘experts’, and fans all round the country are gutted
Love it
Right before Rooney took that free kick, I told myself – we’re not going to score, come on now; we don’t have a good free kick tak- HOLY SHIT!!!! HE SCORED?!?!?!
arijc – Yeah, I suppose we do play a 4411 at home. Whatever the combination up front, we’ve got potent forwards.
denton davey – The game at Goodison in 2007, we were 2-0 down after Unsworth and Fernandes scored. Sheasy scored to make it 1-2, Fergie then brought Ronnie on straight away, he duly scored to make it 2-2. Rooney then made it 3-2 to United, before Eagles scored the fourth despite initially losing his balance. That virtually won it for us as Chelsea drew 2-2 at home to Bolton the same day giving us a 5 point lead at the top. That’s what Scott The Red was referring too mate.
Correction: Phil Neville made it 2-2 after slicing in Ronnies header into his own net.
Some more fotage for the FA ABU-board to review: After giving the ball away to Zamora, who went on to score a goal, James Beattie is clearly seen shouting FUCK in my TV screen. Personally, I must admit, that I’m devastated, shocked and at a loss for words.
anyone see tranny boy yesterday what a waste of money,at the time a few of us pointed out he’d only really had one good season and his form at liverpool had been poor for a year and half,he looks worse at the rentboys than the dippers wouldn’t give 25 mill for him let alone 50mill
alot of fans get on sir alexs back for not spending money but it has to becoming obvious its not the amount spent.desperate teams spend the stupid money real madrid are deperate for the old glory days,city are desperate for relevance and chelsea are desperate not lose touch and all 3 teams continue to struggle although all of them have spent millions.
i ask everyone on here out of all the signings those 3 teams have made who would trade the twins,smalling and hernandez for any of them excluding ronaldo?.i know utd need to make one or two signings but i hope we can put to bed just because a team spends 40mill on a player doesn’t make him worth that and doesn’t guarantee he’ll make the team better.
Me and my dad were alternating between this one and the Cricket World Cup final. He called me and asked what was happening to United when we were 2-0 down. I told him nothing can go wrong today either in the WC or with United. And nothing did go wrong. And to add icing on the cake the Gooners and Chelski practically handed us the title. True Story.
Seriously, there are matches when you know United will just win and there are matches you know that it is going to be one of those days. The Liverpool game felt like it was going to be one of those days but with this match, you just knew that destiny had it in him to hand us the match. Again, great performance from the lads and I cannot imagine the look on the F.A.’s faces when we would’ve scored that 4th goal. A huge fuck up the ass to those assholes.
And I really hope our fitness people put proper work on the Da Silva twins. Their career should not be marred by intermittent injuries which would see all that talent wasted. Perhaps Sir Ryan Giggs can give them tips on how to stay fit. It is really critical that their body be brought to the best condition because there will come a time when they will play on either wing and carry the team forward, and at such a time, they should not suffer due to lack of proper fitness.
I think Berbatov came on at the right time, he was facing a lot of tired legs, the game was stretched a bit, he had time and space. And did he ever use it, the man is an artist. That run down the wing he made reminded me why I miss watching him play. I mean, regardless of the results we’ve been getting, I want to watch that man play football. You would have to have no soul not to. Also I think it’s important that people don’t write off the time spent not scoring as time wasted, the first sixty minutes were bad because we conceded the goals, but we were chipping away, tiring them out and sizing up the opportunities to make the killer blows. I mean take the swap of Giggs for Evra, we couldn’t have started the match that way. Grant had no time to work out a counter to that, and it laid the foundations for us to get the game in a stranglehold. Seriously lads, I know this sounds easy because with hindsight we can see we won, but did anybody really doubt we would win? The way West Ham were defending, or more accurately, not defending, it just looked inevitable. Blackpool was the same. Had we lost Vida, yeah, I’d have thought we were done. But two nil down? With eleven corners in the first half alone and two of the three musketeers still fresh and waiting on the bench? Fucking what?
Regarding Gibson, I have to say that he squandered a couple of moments to really do himself a favour with the fans today. He won’t get an easier chance as a midfielder than when Berbatov teed him up in the area. I was praying for him to just tuck that in, to show the doubters what he can do, but no dice. His earlier effort which was blocked might have been tremendous, but it was blocked so we’ll never know. Apart from that he and Carrick did very well. I mean it’s hard to really gauge a midfield performance when the opposition is playing the long ball over the top, but one could argue it was their presence that forced that approach from West Ham.
I’m keeping the faith with Gibson, I mean he was battling in the midfield against one of the most talked about players of the season in Scott Parker, and he dominated. And Parker is a player who, though he’s had a weird career, has always been highly rated. Gibson, Park and Carrick did the job. The flaws in Gibson’s game are correctable too. I think he’s playing within himself a little, he’s maybe a little nervous (understandable) and as a result his shooting which I’ve talked about endlessly is suffering. You can’t shoot like he can if your heads not right. Secondly he has a very slight tendency to play what we used to call when I played rugby as a kid ‘hospital passes’ in other words, he made a few passes to players yesterday that, reached the man, but the man was in trouble. That’s okay, he’ll learn from that. When he did lose the ball he made sure to try and get it back, that’s what I like to see as well. It takes a big man to take responsibility for the United midfield and he’s shown that a lot this season.
Personally I think the pressure from our fans is undermining him, because when he plays for his country it’s like there’s a weight off his shoulders. The fans on his back are their own worst enemy, because you can’t abuse your own players into improving, you have to raise them up. That’s why they call us supporters, not critics.
So yeah, I think he’ll improve if he is allowed to. And credit where it is due he and Carrick were very good in that game. I thought Park was a little rusty, but his quality is established fact, and any way you can get a rusty player some minutes and still win the game will do.
Also, Rooney tracking back to defend and fight on our own line. How awesome was that? He had a bit of the Keano about him and no mistake. He owned the pitch in the second half.
Scott Parker was screwed by Chelsea really, who I thought bought him solely to make sure Charlton crumbled (the season just before, Charlton got 4th placing or something). He was the one man stringing everything together in Charlton. Once Charlton sold him, they killed the goose which laid the golden egg (Premier League TV rights money).
I think he’s a great central midfielder, and he’s low key like Scholes.
Gibson’s changing my opinion slowly, though I still would play Carrick, Park, Fletcher and Anderson in that order ahead of him if they are all fit. If he’s determined to stay at United to prove himself, then we have to give him a chance. Players will need games and maybe one day, his footballing brain+feet will just click. If Pogba/Tunnicliffe/Petrucci/Cleverley don’t establish themselves first that is.
wayne – yeah saw that drag artist cunt yesterday. He is fucking shit and out of form, frustration is clearly getting the better of him, as shown with IT (I call him that as he’s half a girl and half a boy) pushing Higginbotham off the pitch yesterday when he was injured. He should stick to doing the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’, instead of playing football. Cunt.
We didn’t need to spend in January because we were in a comfortable position – and as the old saying goes: If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it. Rentboys spent big to remedy a problem, as they were in a major crisis, hardly winning games over the course of two and bit months, including that home pasting against Brucies boys. We are in a better position now and with our key players coming back from injury, we are handily placed for a three pronged attack.
As far as next season goes, we only need 2 players – A goalkeeper and a midfield play-maker. Neuer would have been my first choice, but it seems he is keen on staying in Germany. De Gea looks a good prospect, but whether he is ready to take on VDS role remains to be seen. As for a midfielder, there is only one player who I want to see us sign and that is Sneijder. Hopefully with him coming in, coupled with the return of Cleverley, Macheda and Welbeck, add to that the possible promotion of Tunni, Morrison and Pogba, we are well set for another 5 years at least.
In answer to your question regarding swapping twins, smalling and hernandez for those aforementioned clubs purchases. Absolutely no swap would be entertained by me, that’s for sure. All of our players you mentioned don’t even match the rentboys single outlay on Sideshow Bob and he is an accident waiting to happen in my opinion.
@Balaji, I think it’s inevitable that young players will get some knocks here and there when they get thrown into such a frantic league. Especially when they are of small built in the first place.
Some people just have stronger physiques than others, and it might turn out for the worse if we work on their physiques too much (small and light bones bearing too much muscle).
I’d rather the two find out sooner how to stay away from trouble and not make potentially damaging tackles, especially Rafael.
Erm Rooney was passing off his shin in the 1st half, must have a fucking good shin for that pass he made to Valencia, lets get something straight some people are letting their personal view of Rooney cloud their judgement of his play, he played well through out yesterday, give the guy a break!!!
BTW I haven’t forgiven him for all the business earlier this season buts thats got fuck all to do with how he played yesterday.
@Kings, given a choice I’d sell Ronaldo again for less if we knew for certain we’d be getting Smalling, Hernandez and the Da Silvas.
@mattbw7, disagree there, his first touch in the first half was really not anywhere near what we know he is capable of, as evidenced by his first touch for his second goal.
Even Valencia took the ball down beautifully a-la-Berbatov once (forgot which half) despite only having just returned from injury (and out of football for a few months) recently.
Yeah, a friend was texting me ‘woohooooooo’ and ‘it should have been a Red (Vidic’s mauling on Demba – or the otherwise am not so sure). Didn’t bother to reply coz I dunno, I didn’t have that sinking feeling as I’ve always did. Because we were 2 nil down at so early in the first half. Somehow I was quite confident that we’re gonna pull it off. My mind was saying 3-2. Definitely another Bloomfield away kind of scoreline.
And there goes 4-2. And since my mate’s a Chelsea fan boy I find it amusing to take a dig at him and asked – So what were woohooo-ing about last night ? Was it because of the great Chelsea comeback at Stoke ?
Wargh kargh kargh kargh kargh kargh kargh kargh
Roy Keane to take up refereeing. NEVER thought i’d see the day lol
It ain’t no thriller! At Fulham. In fact, It’s bad!!!!!!!
@busby babes
With him refereeing a game, we might get to see a Premier League get ended early due to too many red cards!
First in the mainstream press, and now even on here, people are starting to imply (and sometimes say) that the only reason Berbatov did so well, when he finally came on, is that the Hammers were already worn out by then. Dead on their feet. Couldn’t have chased Wazza’s granny down the garden path, so of course he did well.
Here’s the thing, and it’s a fine distinction but an important one. Yes, the Hammers were tired. An hour had passed, they had been chasing ball all day. But here’s what irks me: you could say the same about almost any substitute in almost any match, because by the 60th minute, players are nearly always getting tired. Yet you never hear people saying, “Ole Gunnar was only successful because whenever he came on, the other team was always tired.” You never hear people say “Chicharito only scored so many goals because he came on so many times as a sub, when the other cunts were worn out and couldn’t run any more.”
Other teams usually are tiring by the time most subs come on. That’s true, but it’s always true, and therefore it’s fucking obvious, so why mention it? You don’t see this mentioned about other players who come on as subs and do well, precisely because it is so obvious.
Yet now, some people just can’t help pointing out that when Berba came on, the opposition were tired. It’s a bit like when people have to go out of their way to mention that someone is ‘black’ or ‘Asian’, even though they don’t need to mention it because it’s either not relevant to the conversation, or it’s obvious anyway. By bringing up something that doesn’t really need to be brought up, it comes across as a snide (and rather sly) insinuation that Berbatov really isn’t any good. In other words: he deserves to be on the subs bench (might even be the best place for him) because he’s only effective when the opposition are worn out. Fuck me, soon cunts will be saying “Berba’s a flat-track bully, to be honest. No pace, no energy, too languid, doesn’t really suit our style — that’s why he has to be used as a sub, because he’s only effective when the other team are tired.”
I never, or very rarely, hear people point that out when Chicharito or “whoever” comes in in a similar situation, so what other point could they be trying to make? Strikes me as Berba-haters scratching the bottom of the barrel for yet another snarky way to dig at him. Fucks me off, it does.
Sorry for the rant.
Bryan Robson video is up! Hope ye all enjoy it!
Ahh Yor Yor, you’re the shinball comment guy, I’ll ask you to look again at his pass to Tony V in the first half, you trot out the cliche not what he is capable of but if you watched Rooney for the last two or three years he has often put passes astray however he is also able to produce moments of brilliance, the overhead against City (another glorious shinner) and the 1st touch for his 2nd goal, the reason they’re called moments of brilliance is cos no one produces them all the time, even the left and missed CR7. Rooney has had a poor 1st half of the season and improving 2nd half. His overall game yesterday was good, he was with Tony V our best player in the 1st & 2nd half, it was the change in tactics that released him in the 2nd half but that doesn’t mean he had a poor 1st half.
@StatesideAussie
Soon we can play VDS/Kuszczak as a striker after subbing them on at the 70th minute mark and they can score some goals for fun.
@mattbw7, but in the first half, he’s played more pinball shinball than good passes. Which is very disappointing because it just seems like he’s not concentrating.
Perhaps it’s the expectations that he has caused some like me to have of him (sorry if this line is very cryptic, but it’s what I want to put across). It just makes me think we may not have “laboured” so hard for the win had he been able to do what he’s capable of throughout the whole game.
To be honest though, CR7 had many moments of brilliance – I wouldn’t take it away from him.
Nevertheless, all we want are for the players to be contributing when they don the kit and get on the pitch, and with Rooney picking his footballing brains+feet back together, we’re in for a good run in to the end of the season.
PIG had a good game though………give him his due…..
city 0:0 Sunderland
K.O. – 2 minutes
Welbeck starts
He pinballed that hat trick into the back of the onion bag.
OMS looking sparse again……..love it
WHAT FUCKING WHAT!!!
C
Yor Yor, we where still the better team in the 1st half despite SAFs selection and tactics, we ended up two down cos two senior players made serious errors, when Fergie changed the team we dominated even more, quite simple really.
There here, their there, there every fucking where, empty seats empty seats!!!!
mattbw7, no disagreement there, we were just lacking the final ball in the first half, no one making the runs into space (not that there were much) and no incisive balls either.
Might have been different had Nani started on the left, but I believe he was being kept fresh for the win we’re gonna get at SB on Tues.
What? Fucking what?
Is it me or does Silva’s head seem too big for his body?
@Kings hi mate alot of rumors about both of those players sneijder the fee being talked about 40 mill and unlike you and i dalglish couldn’t have been watching tranny boy play he’s saying torres will be the difference maker in the cl fixture cause vidic been sent off 3 times against him
United won’t pay 40 million for anyone, but Ronaldo, Id say. He plays in the hole for Inter? Rooney or Berbatov can play that role. We need a ball winner/ box o box CM.
*to*
Can we pay 40mil for Casillas or Cech?
That would secure our GK future for quite a while. Not that their clubs would let them go!
loved the last point….what?fucking what??
http://redflagflyinghigh.com/2011/04/blogs/wesley-sneijder-at-united-thanks-but-no-thanks
Wayne – Here’s an interesting article on Sneijder. He’s a brilliant player, but unless Rooney, or Berbatov left United, I don’t think we’d need someone like him.
Is Roy Keane available ?
Guys i dont know why but i have a really good feeling that we may win treble.I know its a buit early to say but with our players coming back from injury and rooney firing we may have our treble.Remember this time last year we lost everything and we also lost our most important player in rooney so now we may see rooney firing and we have a good chance of winning treble.
UNITED FOREVER.
One word that all united fans should say always is BELIEVE.Pls guys lets get behind our team and support them.
wayne – hi mate. Dalglish is a fucking idiot saying that about tranny boy. He’s the same cunt who condones Carroll’s lifestyle. Says a lot about his weakness as a Manager not keeping yeti cunts like him in check. He’s also got a cannibal, hair pulling scumbag in his squad.
100th!
@Kings,
If those Pool supporters are happy, we shouldn’t be complaining. If anything, their results have been brilliant isn’t it?
Most shitty thing is, they’re still in line for a EL run next season.
Cedars – If only mate.
@willie thats a really good article and rooneys best performances this year has come from that position.the rumor mill has sir alex moving berba on,inter are very interested in him so apparantly are bayern who might bid 20mill.hope its all bullshit and find it hard to believe that sir alex would keep berba around untill he shows his true quaility and then move him on and like you don’t think sir alex wants to spend 40mill on anyone.
@Kings dalglish can only stay relevant by talking shit about other teams because nobody gives a fuck about the dippers anymore and talk about waste of money fucking 35mill for that donkey,newcastle did a good bit of business there.
byron1970, good day to you. While I respect your opinions, and have no intention of ridicule, your statement at 11:54 contains a well-intended but preposterous statement. You say:
” I still think we should play two up front against a team fighting against relegation ”
Formations are not and should not be determined by the opposition’s league position.
Sir Alex will not be here forever. We failed last year. He has decided to win the 19th.
We can revert to lower percentage football after that achievement, but not before.
@willie also de rossi as the article stated is the type of midfielder utd need he’s a year older probably going to get him much cheaper and by the sounds of it had a few problems with his personnel life and is ready to move on.
Sneijder would be a great signing for any team. Doesn’t just play an the hole , can play in central midfield. Nearest thing to a scholesy even his build. Can spray balls about, vision, gets stuck in, scores set pieces and scores fucking goals. His performance for me was his at the bridge last seasonm when he cut the rentboys to shreds.
Laughable comments on talksport and fivelive. First off brazil the red faced bloated cunt says chelsea will beat us as they are “in better nick“. How are they. Eleven points behind with their strikers bang out of form. First SHOT in five games for drogba and the tranny is a fucking piss take. Useless cunt. Then on fivelive they were talking about balotellis attitude. One said it is probably just an image he portrays that he is ice man. He then said much like roy keane used to do, display no emotion. Get fucking bent. Please don’t compare that shithouse cunt to keano.
Finally it is clear the media have a huge bearing on the FA. I knew they would kick up a stink the abu papers etc BUT I didn’t think for one minute the FA would investigate it. A fucking outrage lads.
King Eric – That’s the thing though mate, he rarely plays in CM now. United need a ball winner. We’ve got the creativity in spades.
I’m sorry, but I think that its time that we give Rooney due credit for being the brilliant, game winning player that he is. True, the substitutions made a difference, but Rooney created the first two goals from nothing; he literally dragged our team to victory. His touch was not abysmal. Even when you guys said he was playing crap he contributed more then 10 assists to the cause with his all around play. Get over it. If his teammates, his coach, and his family have taken him back, then you have no right to feel so slighted. Time to forgive I think.
Wayne – Someone of that caliber, would do nicely. The lad Sahin is another player, I’m sure United have scouted on a few occasions. He’s more a box to box midfielder.
King Eric
Love your posts as always, especially regarding the ABU cunts… Brilliant mate.
Regarding WS, I tend to agree with Willie on this one… Do not mind having him in the team do not get me wrong, but if we are only going for 1 midfielder than I would rather a ball winner. If we will have the luxury to get 2, then hell I will have him in a heart beat!
You most of all Scott.
@smartalex morning mate we disagree on this one apart from 4-4-2 being more entertaining i believe its utds strongest formation.yesterday in the first half had tons of the play knocked god knows how many balls into the box but i can only remember one clear cut chance that was parks.
gunners main problem they have tons of the ball everygame but have no thrust.
utd are way more creative and more likley to score in a 4-4-2 formation it means we can field the strongest side.imo
Saying that like, if we did him, we’re hardly gonna be gutted about It. I don’t think Morratti would let him go. He’s the jewel in their crown.
*sign*
Good day wayne! I have been reading your comments on the frustration of watching United seemingly fuck around for most of the game with 1 upfront. I understand that 4 4 2 seems to be far better for us. The proof of this pudding is always in the league positions. It is precisely because we play with 1 up front for most of the game that we are so far ahead in the league. We are more likely to score, and more likely to concede, in a 4-4-2. Whereas, if we can frustrate teams for 70 minutes, our vastly superior attack will almost always shred tiring teams in the last quarter. Particularly against weak teams. Also, we have variety and options on the bench that allow game changing tactics to be implemented at a stage where it is too late for the opposition to recognise and adapt.
The main point that I was making in that post was of course that formations are not based on the oppositions league position. There are many other far more important factors.
As good as Sneijder is, I agree with willie that we need a player who can dominate the midfield, the “engine room”. A box-to-box MF, or at any rate, someone who can win the ball, and who has he energy and positional sense to shut down the opposition when they pour through the middle. Look at this way:
I think most of us would agree that our preference is to play two wide and attack down the flanks. It’s basically a United tradition and one most of us love (there’ll always be someone who doesn’t, lol). But many of us would also like to see two strikers in the middle, either as a standard “2″ or with one in the hole (1-1). So it comes down to numbers: if you hav two wide, and two forward, and four at the back, that only leaves two positions free. Against the weaker teams (especially those who sit back and park the bus), two can cut it in the middle. Partly because the other team isn’t as good, and partly because they sit back.
Against the stronger teams though, and especially those who set themselves up to play through the middle, two can struggle. If they’re going to succeed in those matches, they need to be very special, very special indeed.
Which is why I believe SAF was so keen to get Hargo, and may also explain why he has stood by Hargo during all his troubles. (It’s not just me saying that. Comments by SAF and Hargo himself have affirmed this was the original intention: to find someone with his energy, positional skill and ability to win the ball and take it forward, so that we could play only two in the middle, even against stronger teams. (I recall a comment by SAF that Hargo could do the work of two men in the middle, which then allowed him to play strikers — addressing the specific point I am making.)
So that’s what I think we need, and that’s why I think we need it: someone who can shut down the opposition (against greater odds), win the ball, feed it out wide or take it forward when there’s the opening. It’s not the only option on the table. Another would be a fluid formation where the wingers come in to boost a lone striker, or where the “hole”player moves forward or back as circumstances demand, so that at any given time, we might be 442 or 4411 or 451 or whatever.
I’m hearing that one or two of our academy players might fit into that role I just described, but you’ve got to expect that, as talented as they are,it will still take some time. I think this is a mistake that’s been made with Wilshere and Rodwell, putting too much on them, too early. So, while I am an enthusiastic supporter of the youth policy, in this case it would make sense to bring in some more experienced, who maybe does have only a few years left “at the top”. Partly to give us an “instant” injection, partly as a mentor for the younger ones coming through, and partly because we don’t someone with a full 10 years left in him since, when the younger ones do mature, we don’t want this other guy standing in their way. Someone about 27 or 28 would be ideal — by the time he’s starting to wind down a bit, the young guys will be ready.
But we don’t need more creativity. We’ve got bucket-loads of that.
Please, please, please, let’s not talk about the Treble. And especially don’t talk about having a ‘good feeling’ about it. You think the players are in need of more pressure? The media ABUs will be cranking it up every day, hoping for an Arsenal-style collapse, so we really shouldn’t help them in that way, all the stuff we’ll get about ‘expectations’. Listen to Fergie. Think he’s talking about ‘good feelings’? He’s talking it all down, saying it’s almost impossible to do the treble, and he’d be happy with one big trophy. We should all be doing the classic thing, ‘take each game as it comes’.
Scott, maybe you could delete all comments suggesting the Treble’s in the bag.
I second Giles. Lets not copy cocky Arsenal.
Well said Giles, totally agreed. Just back the team one game at a time and see where we end up… Regardless of which, our love to United will only keep growing
Bastian Schweinsteiger? He was linked to us…and even though any player who plays remotely ok for their team somehow gets linked to us, I think he isn’t a bad choice for a box-to-box midfielder.
But one thing you can’t buy, is the fighting spirit. Arsenal and Chelsea proved that this season, they don’t have what it takes to do it week-in, week-out. We do. And I am grateful for that spirit.
willierednut – seen that link mate. Even posted a comment on it. The editor said that he would prefer Modric over Sneijder. Now that is comical.
Kings – I rate Modric mate. He’s more of a natural central midfielder. Sneijder’s role has changed from a playing in central midfield, to a more advanced attacking position. As I said before, Inter wouldn’t sell him IMO. Not unless, someone offers silly money.
Everyone has a right to an opinion, but I actually find it laughable that people think Sneijder’s not good enough for United. He has all the qualities that befit a club like ours. He can play with both feet to equal effect. His passing is top drawer, his vision is top class, he’s deadly at set-pieces, but more importantly, he will score goals – that is a valuable commoditity that should not be overlooked. Not since the great midfield quartet of Giggs, Scholes, Keane and Beckham in their pomp, have we had a midfielder who can get double figures in the Premiership. We do not need to spend big on a midfield destroyer or a holding midfielder when we have Fletch, Carrick and Ando – the latter being that destroyer type. Sneijder gives you that cunning and guile, which we need when Scholesy hangs up his boots. We do not need crap like fucking Ashley Young or Luka Modric.
willierednut – That’s fair enough mate. But Modric will not get you the amount of goals or assists that Sneijder would.
KIngs … agree that Sneijder is a top-class, mate, I just don’t think he’s what we need. No problem with his quality (I’ll never understand how he wasn’t even shortlisted for the world player award this year).
SAF has spoken of 2 or 3 players coming in this summer…. In my opinion that would be a midfielder, a center half and a goal keeper….
IF we are to buy only one midfielder (Most likely) than I am inclined to agree with Willie, we need a box to box player….Pity Hargo did not work out, he is exactly what we need imo
… and yeah, I totally agree we should not be bigging ourselves up for the Treble for anything … one game at a time. That’s the way it has to be.
Agree about Young, but Modric isn’t crap. Also, I haven’t read anyone saying, Sneijder wouldn’t be good enough for United Kings. Ozil and Sneijder are brilliant players, but fitting them in at United, would be our biggest problem. If the manager changed the formation next season, then would be a different matter. Something like a 4231?
Kings – We can’t agree all the time mate. Modric doesn’t score enough goals, but I’d like to think any player coming to United, would elevate their game to another level.
I find it really bizarre that the Rooney swearing incident has escalated to this point. Sorry to the British posters as I don’t wanna sound xenophobic, but being someone that follows the British media, this can really only happen in the UK. It might be ABU or whatever, but I really don’t think it’d be the same if this was in Spain or Italy, the UK media just love a good shitstorm and sticking it into public figures along with building up grossly people and tearing them down again just as fast, hence why Rooney is being hounded for this. And if the FA did ban him, it’d be a classic case of lynch mob justice.
OTRed … why apologize to the Brits? Anyway, I don’t agree this could only happen in the UK. Honestly, having lived for 11 years in the Land of Free Speech (guaranteed by the Constitution and all that), I would say the UK is much more tolerant of “language” than they are here. Mainstream rags like The Guardian print the word “fuck” all the time — not every day maybe, but pretty often. And any kid can pick up a copy or browse on the net and see it right there. I’ve seen “cunt” published there, too — I remember a story (very funny) a few years back about a TV documentary on English where that word was used on air. And also that interview a couple of years ago with one of the football managers (forget which one) who was pissed at the press and started a press conference by asking a particular journalist to identify himself; when he did, the manager said “Right. Well you’re a cunt.” The whole thing was printed verbatim in at least one paper (or on their web site anyway). And many years ago, the Melbourne Age (the good old respectable Age) printed a front-page story about how a magistrate had ruled that a local pop song, called “Why Don’t You All Get Fucked”, was not obscene. They didn’t use any stars or black any letters out, and why should they? But you would never see any of those examples in an American newspaper!
But all of that just makes this nonsense about Rooney even more of a double-standard and a witch-hunt. The cunts.
@StatesideAussie: I apologized to the Brits because I’ve seen someone else say almost the same thing I said and get accused or cultural bias and xenophobia, so I wanted to avoid offending anyone.
I think I should have specified that when I said media, I was actually referring to the UK’s sport media in general which seems to be made up of tabloid rags who love a good headline and biased, inconsistent pundits. Hence, why I think it’s only a country with the tabloid sports media culture like the UK where this is being made a bigger deal than it actually is. As much as the US is uppity about obscenities, I’d be surprised if this was news for more than 24hrs, but that might probably be due to Americans and their short attention span, lol.
OTRed
Trust me my friend, you offend no one when you attack the British press…. Not United fans anyway and who cares about the rest?
smartalex – Bit of a late reply but I feel I need to retort. You clearly favour the 1 up front and that’s cool but It’s hardly prepostrous to say that we should go for the jugular from the first whistle against a team that we know are far inferior to our own. You can make all the defence you want for a 451 formation but the bottom line is yesterday when we switched to 2 up front we strolled to the finishing line and could have had 5 or 6.
WIllieRedNut @ 15:15: “United won’t pay 40 million for anyone, but Ronaldo, Id say. He plays in the hole for Inter? Rooney or Berbatov can play that role. We need a ball winner/ box o box CM.”
UTD won’t pay 40 million for Ronaldo, either, because his wages are stratospheric.
Your main point is exactly right – the missing ingredient is a truly world-class box-to-box midfield dynamo. Right now, there are a bunch of “nearly men” (Anderson and Fletcherinho aren’t quite good enough on a consistent basis; Gibson might be improving but it’s only by little steps; Tunnicliffe is too young and inexperienced at the top level) plus a rapidly-aging GingerNinja and a difident MichaelCarrick who needs to be given an injection of “what ? fucking what !?”. This is a group of competent players but not really a world-class player since Scholes is beginning to show his age – and I think he knows it, too.
Wesley Sneidjer is a top-class player but he’s no Daniele De Rossi nor is he a Schweini – he’s smaller and more of a playmaker like Modric (but a bigger version). He’s a terrific player but that doesn’t mean he’s what UTD want/need.
denton davey – I know Ronaldo’s wages would be out of this world mate. I doubt we’d get him for 40 million either, but you got my point. There’s a disagreement on here, from some of the lads, as to what type of midfielder United need. I would like a ball winner, some others want a more creative player. The manager will probably fool us all and sign someone we didn’t think of. He’s done It before.
I’ve been championing signing sneijder for quite a while now but I’m just after watching Inter get beaten 3 zip by Milan. It was a repeat of last night’s game. I saw him lose the ball in the middle of the pitch when they were 2 down and not only did he not try to win the ball back but he literally walked away in the other direction. One incident yes but not the attitude you want to see from a player when the shit hits the fan. Maybe 40m is too much for this guy although he would be a quality signing.
Stuck at work when all this witch mid feilder is the best type wow cool I will read all the regulars posts. The Regulators.
Ball buster ball winner that is a offensive threat at late arvials in the box. Is my hope. After CR& left the next year Man Utd scored more goals, goals are not a problem. Can we buy both a CDM and a CAM as well a CB and goal keeper.
Bear with me on this.
To my of thinking, the “midfield issue” is really something of a mirage. Sure, there are better players than Carrick, Fletcherinho, Gibson, ThreeLungPark, and Anderson – I don’t think that anyone would argue about that. But what’s missing from the discussion is that if you add in Chicharito, WayneBoy, Dimmy, Valencia and Nani then the role of the midfield’s personnel becomes more “water carrier” than “creative genius”. Of course, it would be well-and-good to have someone who could be both but we have to be realistic about this, too.
Given the absolute quality of those five strikers/widemen – as well as their very different attributes then the discussion changes somewhat because – mainly, I think – Chicharito is going to be a HUGE part of UTD’s future. Look what he brought to the game yesterday – SAF said that his speed and quickness just flummoxed the ‘ammers defenders who had to play deeper and so gave the “other forwards” more time and space.
Now, I can come to my point – Having Chicharito stretch the field and, thereby, changes the demands/expectations on the midfielders. Even an aging (and slowing) GIngerNinja benefits from Chicharito’s presence. The kid is a real trump-card and his presence and his movement not only changes the situation that our other players have to deal with but it also changes the approach that rival managers have to cope with in planning how to defend against the other skilled players. Like all great poachers, Chicharito’s presence tilts the field because the opposition knows that hie might only get two or three touches in the danger area but if he does then he’s going to score a brace.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that the requirements for a “new” midfielder have changed.
Another way of looking at this kind of addition-by-addition is the opposite way in which Kuszczak’s presence ALWAYS is accompanied by seemingly-unexplained fuck-ups by the defenders who get nervous. When Edwin is back there, the other defenders know that they have a true genius sweeping up behind them; when Kuszczak is playing they all get jittery – it was the same with Ben Foster.
I normally take SAF’s words about transfers with less than a grain-of-salt – why is he going to tip his hand ? that would be sheer foolishness. He knows what he’s going to do and he’s not going to tell the press – or us. So, even the much-publicized statement a few weeks abo that he is going to buy big this summer is just spin. Of course, he’s going to buy a proper, number-one keeper -and that’s probably been sorted already – but, otherwise, he’s looking to keep the team’s personnel ticking over by adding more quality youngsters and just maybe one quality, mid-career outfield player but don’t hold your breath that someone like De Rossi will be available. For sure, he’s not going to spend 50 million on someone like TheLadyBoy or 35 million on Andy TheJagerBomber.. On the other hand, it looks like he’s going to bring TheLads their 12th EPL title so we can relax because the man knows what he’s doing.
bryon1970 – Watched the game and seen that incident. I don’t think someone like Sir Alex would be impressed with that in all honesty. But, to be fair to Sneijder, I haven’t seen him act like that before and I would just put it down to a bad night for Inter and himself, obviously.
Evening mates. What a great win. Thought this could have been a banna skin for us but in the end was well pleased. Still, the turning points for me were the ref who did well to keep Vidic on the park. I think Vidic was fouled himself, but the ref called it on him in the end. But the ball was always going to the keeper and so fair do to the ref. That said, it could have been red and Vidic was lucky.
Second turning point was the managers call to go offensive. Pulling Evra, who was just silly to give that first pen. Then to put Giggsy at RB plus go with 4 full on forwards up front. Inspired. We owned the ball all day, but going down by 2 at the half could have been a problem if we didn’t stay positive. After that the third turning point was that WR10 really turned up for the last 20 minutes. 2 goals of stratospheric quality and a well taken pen. Hat tricks away are a rare enough site. This one may well have sealed the title. Thanks to the entire team and to the manager for putting in one hell of a performance in the second half. We may have been lacking in parts of the season. But that second half could go down with the best.
willierednut – Agreed, I wouldn’t like to judge him on one incident vs the many great things I’ve seen from him.
By the by, an interesting stat from yesterday’s game, I know I said earlier that Gibson had a good game and I still think he did, but between himself and Carrick they made 4 tackles yesterday, winning only 1. Don’t really know what that proves or disproves I just think it’s interesting. For what it’s worst Carrick won 1 out of his 3 tackles. Gibson made 12 unsuccesful passes out of 79 while Carrick made 15 unsuccessful passes out of 80.
Byron1970 The work rate and % completions were very good from both Carrick and Gibbo. Actually think Gibbo had a great game, maybe one of his best. Should have scored though. That lay off from Berba, oooooo should have at least hit the target.
maybe sneijder is already mailing it in because he knows the utd deal is done.gotta say the ashley young rumor won’t go away just can’t see utd paying 25mill for him i know sir alex has been linked with him for a few years but still were is he going to play.
FletchTHEMAN – Like I said I do think Gibson had probably his best game in a United shirt yesterday. Probably wasn’t the best time to point out his lack of tackling as maybe he didn’t really have to given how poor West Ham actually were. Still wish he would tackle more though. If he pressed the opposition when they have the ball he could actually be quite a useful player for us though. Unfortunately I just don’t see him ever adding that to his game.
Byron, I actually think it best when our defenders stay on their feet. I remember thinking Evra was crap for the first season because he always went to ground. I despise players who let talented forwards skip past them. To his credit, Evra almost never comes off his feet anymore. Most on here would laugh at me for this, but O’Shea is one of the best we have at staying on his feet and sticking with his man. The twins, both of them, have a thing or two to learn from John O’Shea before he hangs up his boots.
Tackling is a bit of a desperation move. Almost needs more skill to execute without giving away a free kick. Just my opinion.
Wayne – If Young signs, he’d be a squad player at best IMO. Houiller has played him off Bent, were he has done ok, but I really don’t think he’s the type of player we should looking to sign.
FletchTHEMAN – I wouldn’t laugh at your statement about O’Shea at all. Personally I think he’s the best right back in the league, maybe not going forward but certainly as a defender. He’s rarely to blame for any goals we concede and you very rarely see wingers get be better of him. Can never understand the criticism he gets from United fans. First and foremost I like my defenders to be able to defend. I take your point about tackling and going to ground but I don’t think the definition of tackling means you have to go to ground. You can win plenty of tackles staying on your feet. My point about Gibson is that he doesn’t press players and doesn’t tackle players on his feet or off them. He needs to bring more aggression to his game if he’s to be a top midfield player.
@willie thats the reason 25mill doesn’t make any sense,he has a year left and won’t sign a new contract most i see utd paying is 10-15 mill
Disagree about a box to boxer. So suddenly Fletcher is a “nearly man“ despite being probably first or seconf name on the team sheet the last couple of years. He is going through a rough patch but if anyone brought up a thread circa his sending off at the emirates I am sure it would be full of posts praisimg him. He was running games the last two year. He will be back.
Sort that Blackberry out KE! lol.
Schweinsteiger? The failed winger. That good that germany fans have been booing him recently. I would take sneijder over this cunt all day long. Spot on at seven thirty eight mate. When tony v etc were out we were looking at the central midfield to be creative. Now with a plethora of attacking talent they can now take on the water carrier role. I aint saying we need a creative midfielder per se. I just think sneijder ticks all the boxes.
Byron. Seems like we are reading from the same script on our defenders then. Ha ha ha. So funny how these little snippets of conversation are almost immediately in need of restating. Seems like we would all like to see a bit more Roy Keane and a bit less Michael Carrick when it comes to getting up close and personal with the opposition. Get them Stuck in then!
Cheers mate.
Willie. It does my napper in mate. Pathetic small keys. I cannot help but type wrong litter !
Much love for this, spot on, right on and far out man.@ I am not a man, I am Cantona says:
I’m sorry, but I think that its time that we give Rooney due credit for being the brilliant, game winning player that he is. True, the substitutions made a difference, but Rooney created the first two goals from nothing; he literally dragged our team to victory. His touch was not abysmal. Even when you guys said he was playing crap he contributed more then 10 assists to the cause with his all around play. Get over it. If his teammates, his coach, and his family have taken him back, then you have no right to feel so slighted. Time to forgive I think
Who is this sheepheaded cunt named Martin Samuel saying that Rooney told fans to fuck off. THAT ISN’T WHAT HE SAID FOOL!!! he said WHAT? FUCKING WHAT? how is that telling fans to fuck off? You know what? if you do not like watching him play then FUCK RIGHT OFF. don’t watch him. he isn’t beggin you.
Then another fuckface Custis says that Rooney is frustrated with life. WTF? Then the ultimate fat , ugly face low IQ, dick sucking cunt was Graham Poll. he says that what rooney did was a red card and a 3 match ban. How do you employ these pple in Britain? I have never seen as much bias anywhere. WHAT THE HELL?
byron1970 -hey mate, also a bit of a late reply, sorry.
-I actually don’t “clearly favour the 1 up front”
-I never said “prepostrous to say that we should go for the jugular from the first whistle against a team that we know are far inferior to our own.” I said preposterous to select a formation based on the oppositions league position, which you had said should happen.
-I never “made all the defence you want for a 451 formation”
Please. Return to my comment, read it , and respond accordingly. It is absolutely pointless you arguing points that I never made, and putting words in my mouth. Actually, it is irritating, and rude. Do me the justice of re-reading my comment. Thanks.
After such a victory it surprises me that so less people Bring it and after a defeat e1 comes to blurt doom and gloom, still haven’t seen the game coz of the WC final…..does any1 have links to download game..
smartalex – no offence intended friend. I think maybe we both misinterpreted each other comments a little bit. Anyways go to go do some work now. Long Live United
All good byron1970, thank you! Come on United!
Still proper buzzing form the weekend, what a rsult and performeance by our boys! 2-0 down no one gave us hope even though we were the better side besides two defensive errors!
Step up Antonio Valencia ion what was was a terrific performance and of course Rooney.
I would like to point out thogh that Berbatov was absolute class, anyone who calls hims lazy needs a wake up call as the boy is a genious. His class, movement, touch, and awareness was the catalyst we needed in a game where we was struglling to find that bit extra.
@:King Eric
Spot on about Fletcher mate he is our box to boxer and is class as you say he has just had an average season all players will have them from time to time. Plus we then have Ando still learning his trade (people forget his age) and has the materials to be that player that holds it together, i think your right we need a player who can dicatate games though, spot a pass, make us tick, and weigh in with goals!
809th!
Who cares what number your freakin post is!!!!!! STFU!!!!
or as Rooney says what?! Fucking what?! what?!!!!
berbatov is being treated unfairly…isn’t it funny that fergie is doing excactly what he did to tevez…maybe he wants(ed) them to feel as if they’re not as important as they think so that they sign whathever we put before them in terms of contract extension…maybe that’s what fergie’s doing with berbatov and maybe that was excactly what he did with tevez…
” It shouldn’t be viewed as a coincidence that we were 2-0 down until Berba came on. He gave us that extra composure up front that leaves me utterly baffled as to why he doesn’t start games like this. ” – now this implies that we scored those 4 goals only because of his introduction – sure he was calm and composed but he wasn’t involved in any of the goals from what i remember…plus he supposedly has an extremely great vision and i was pissed off how he didn’t see chicharito all alone on the other side, insted he opted ( what he does very often) to calm it down, slow it down and wait for others to join…sure he set it up great for gibson but thats not the point
for some reason my sky didn’t record the 1st half like it must of known i didn’t wanna watch it!! it recorded the 2nd half though
CRooney – That is a surprise mate. You talking Berbatov down. The man is a fucking genius and if you cannot see that. STILL on about Tevez? Straw clutching pal. How about the lay off and holding up for Giggsy to set Hernandez up? He was pulling strings and directing everything mate. Credit where its due.
Giggs11Gerrard fuck all – Hello mate. Hows things? Yeah short memories pal. Anderson as well like you say is still very young.
It’s nothing to do with short memories. Fletch is a box to box Midfielder, but he’s been well short of form this season. I’m sure he’ll get his form back next year, but in the summer, United have to be looking to strengthen the midfield, that by in large, has under – performed. Anderson isn’t a DM either. Lets play him in a more advanced position, were he can show us some of that Brazillian flair. I’m more inclined to sign a ball winner, than a creative CM. We have to replace Hargreaves anyway. Believe me, id we get that midfield sorted out and with the attacking players United have, just watch us go next season.
CROoney – What is the point, then? I agree it wasn’t just Berbatov, that changed the game, but you have to say, he had an impact?
90+Until we Score.
D load at Demonoid.
WillieRedNut @ 11:34: “It’s nothing to do with short memories. Fletch is a box to box Midfielder, but he’s been well short of form this season. I’m sure he’ll get his form back next year, but in the summer, United have to be looking to strengthen the midfield, that by in large, has under – performed. Anderson isn’t a DM either. Lets play him in a more advanced position, were he can show us some of that Brazillian flair. I’m more inclined to sign a ball winner, than a creative CM. We have to replace Hargreaves anyway. Believe me, id we get that midfield sorted out and with the attacking players United have, just watch us go next season.”
I wish I’d written that !
You have summarized my response to both KingEric and Giggs11Gerrard0 (you are going to change your name soon) in that their loyalty to Fletcherinho is somewhat misplaced. Professional sports is a “what have you done for me lately” kind of business – we need to look no further than SAF’s brilliant decision to withdraw Evra when it seemed like he was out of sorts (isn’t Patrice Evra the best left back in the EPL ? replacing him with a 37 year old winger ! Just brilliant.)
It took a while for Darren Fletcher to become Fletcherinho and he was only “Darren Fletcherinho (football genius)” for a shot spell about 18 months ago. He needs to re-discover his mojo – I think he can but I would imagine that SAF doesn’t operate in that way. He’s a results-driven manager and no player can cruise on what he did two years ago.
Also, I just don’t see how SAF would play Wesley Sneidjer ahead of WayneBoy as the attacking midfield link-man. Having Chicharito to play poacher means that WayneBoy can be re-deployed again – and that versatility is a key to why he is such a valuable player even if he is a tosser (but, hey, he’s living in a strange parallel universe where 180,000 quid a week is “fair compensation” for playing a kid’s game; his attitude reminds me of the head-spinning, out-of-touch sur-reality that professional basketball players display on a regular basis but that’s another story).
There has been a lot of “talk” about SAF creating his fifth great team and I think we’re seeing that vision come into focus. As i wrote yesterday, the key ingredient is Chicharito – who would have thought that at this time last year ? TheMexicutioner’s ability to stretch the opposition – to find space and to shoot with increbile accuracy – is a real game changer who will only get better with four outstanding options providing service to him from the wings (Nani and Valencia are obviously first-choice but SirRyanGIggs and ThreeLungPark aren’t exactly shabby options and this Ravel Morrison kid is supposedly the best young talent since that lad who was poetically likened to “a spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind”).
The future attacking-diamond is going to feature WayneBoy “in the hole”. That strikes me as a more dangerous option than having Wesley Sneijder in that position. Sure, he’d be nice to have to add options – in much the same way that DimitarBerbatov adds options – but that’s a luxury that Glazernomics won’t allow. Nor, indeed, should they pay forty million quid for a guy who will be an “option”. The kids-first policy of Glazernomics – something that SAF has always agreed with, even before the advent of the Glazers – would suggest that a marquee signing of a marquee star in his later-middle twenties is only going to happen if that guy will be the last-piece-in-the-puzzle.
At this time last year, it was arguable that Wesley Sneijder would fit the bill but the amazing impact of Chicharito has rendered that moot because last year’s situation isn’t the one that the powers-that-be are considering for next year. The Sneijder train left the station – and Wesley stayed in Milan with the poor sod left there with his 150,000 weekly pay-packet and his stunningly beautiful wifey.
king eric – dont get me wrong, berba has had a fantastic season but we’re going a bit over the top if we’re giving him the credit where there isn’t much credit to give it…like we all say, credit where due…where not, leave it as it is…he was good, composed but he wasn’t crucial…at all..
that’s not criticising is it…he should have set up chicharito though – poor choice there…then i would nhave given him a great rating
willierednut – the point is that he could have set it up for chicho to burry the game from point blank 1 on 1
CROoney – He should have passed much earlier, but we got job done in the end. It’s funny, when Berbatov was scoring for fun at the start of the season, there was a few times, he tried to set up Rooney, who couldn’t score for toffee.
Brilliant simply brilliant, the insight of life long supporters.
Buy Rodwell he is English has a big upside and can play multipliable possitions, CB, CDM in a 4-5-1 and a 4-4-2 and with the UK quota in place Man Utd needs to target some of the best and brightest British players. Bale looks but a memory of a possible Man Utd player.
I have long been a fan for a CAM coming to the club BUT for years I thought Rooney’s future was that Totti role in the hole he has the desire and work rate as well his defense most of the time triggers his offence. Buy one of the future CAM’s that can play multipliable front line positions for under 20 million and a younger more talented version of O’Shay.
GO ROONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS TIPE OF GAME IS WHY PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF MANCHESTER AND UK START TO SUPPORT UNITED! Great stuff!
Last!