1. After the man that should have been sent off for a nasty stamp won and scored a match winning penalty in injury time for Manchester City, you had to wonder whether today was going to be our day. There had been plenty of talk of “revenge” from Arsenal players ahead of kick-off, in reference to the 8-2 battering we dished out at Old Trafford, so we knew they would be up for this game even more than usual. To get all three points from one of our more difficult games of the season is definitely an achievement, particularly given how depleted our squad is currently.
2. Patrice Evra was named Man of the Match, which I certainly enjoyed given how much he is hated by Arsenal fans, but I’d argue Antonio Valencia was more worthy of the award. Evra did really well going forward, encouraged by the fact Arsenal are struggling for someone to fill in for them at full-back, but he did still have a few lapses defensively. In contrast, Valencia scored our opener and assisted the winner, meaning he had more influence on us picking up the three points than anyone else. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching him play over the past couple of months. He always seems to have the confidence to take on a defender or two and more often than not is successful in doing so. He did really well to outjump Thomas Vermaelen for the goal and did all the hard work for the second goal, cutting inside and beating a couple of players to set up Danny Welbeck.
3. Another player who is in brilliant form at the moment is Michael Carrick, who has just stepped his game up a notch or two over the past few months. He works hard defensively, putting in important challenges, but is also showing off his vision and ability in picking great passes for our forward men. It’s worrying to hear that he played the second half with some hamstring problems as he is currently our most important player. Another injury blow was Phil Jones who, despite initial reports, looks to be out for a few weeks with ligament damage. After going off on a stretcher, the reporter on the touchline claimed United thought it was just a twisted ankle. Sadly, it’s more serious than that, meaning yet again we are totally stretched in midfield. Nani, who also had an impressive game, despite his poor decision making with the final ball, was subbed off and seen wearing a protective boot as he got off the train in Manchester. Scholes and Giggs as our central pair for Anfield?
4. Neither Wayne Rooney nor Danny Welbeck played particularly well today but maybe we were always going to see less of them given our game plan was to make the most of Arsenal’s weaknesses out wide. At 1-0, Welbeck was clipped by Mertesacker, the last man, just outside the box, which put him off balance as he shot. After beating the keeper he couldn’t get enough on his effort as a result and Mertesacker was able to clear it off the line. Had he gone down it would have been a red card for the German. I’m not going to lay in to him for being honest but when players are diving under no contact, I would have been happier to see him go to ground when he has been clipped. Trying to stay on your feet isn’t rewarded in the Premier League, so why bother. His real crime came very late on in the game when he had a perfect opportunity to put us 3-1 up. After hurtling forward and doing all the hard work, he seemed to bottle it when he got in the box, losing the ball under his feet without a challenge, and Arsenal got it away. However, he did score us the winning goal and he does work hard off the ball. I love seeing him in our starting XI and any complaint I had of him today will be corrected with experience.
5. Not even the return of Thierry Henry can silence the complaints of Arsenal fans though, with them booing the team off at half-time when the scoreline was just 1-0. The worst reaction came when Wenger, in all his wisdom, decided to take off Oxlade-Chamberlain and replace him with Arshavin. The youngster was a real threat and Rafael had a tough time trying to contain him. Just minutes after setting up Arsenal’s equaliser goal he was replaced with Arshavin, who has looked dreadful all season. The fans booed the decision loudly whilst captain Robin van Persie was incredulous. There could only be one player who would allow Valencia to then skip past him so easily to set up the winner. “He doesn’t want to be here,” Gary Neville said of Arshavin after the game. “He said he doesn’t like London, doesn’t like England, thinks our women are ugly, he doesn’t want to be here. I think he wants to go back to Russia. So go back, because honestly, Arsenal fans don’t want him out there.” Wenger admitted the mistake he made. “When it was 1-1 it looked like we would win but in the end one tactical mistake lost us the game. I do not want to dwell too much on that now but one second of inattention can cost you. I can understand that the fans are upset about the substitution, especially when it doesn’t work, but he (Oxlade-Chamberlain) had started to fatigue. He was sick in the week. Arshavin is captain of the Russia national team. You have an 18-year-old kid making his first Premier League start and a player who’s captain of his country and they are querying the substitution? Let’s be serious.” I’d have fancied us to win regardless but we were certainly helped by this decision. Will it be Spurs and Chelsea who join the Manchester clubs in the Champions League next season? I hope so. Wenger’s stubbornness has irritated me for a long time. He would rather do things his way and fail than adjust his plan for the sake of success. Arsenal fans used to bleat on about how well Wenger ran their club in light of our debt and Chelsea’s ridiculous spending. You won’t catch many arguing the same anymore.
6. The defence deserve a mention today for a good performance. We’re playing with a different combination of defenders every game due to injuries which is incredibly unsettling. To limit Arsenal to just three shots on target at home is an achievement. Played lads.
7. It was vital we got the points today and I’m very happy with how we played overall. It was frustrating to see us sit back in the second half and I worried it would cost us. Why don’t we just go for the kill in that situation? Still, to concede fairly late on but still go out and get the win is worthy of praise. We’re down to the bare bones at the moment and it’s going to be a real struggle whilst we’re waiting for players to come back, but we’re one more difficult game out of the way and the distance has remained the same. Well done lads.
Man Utd News 24/7
A fantastic result, and after watching the bitters fluke a win, just the job.
Nani zzzzzzzzz
Spot on Scot. Any news on Nani’s and Rooney’s injuries?
A few nervous times in the game but otherwise a great performance. Lots of frustration on the pitch, i guess for both sides really.. Shame Rafael couldn’t have stayed on the ball to find the net – the same with Welbeck when he got shot of Mertesacker. A valuable 3 points with some tough fixtures coming up. I just hope we see some reprieve with players recouperating quickly after picking up knocks in the game. Shame about Phil. Any news on Nani?
Balotelli and Lescott should have reduced the bitters to 9 men for their shocking tackles, i expect nothing less from Balotelli if i’m honest…. hate that arrogant prick.
Still we march on, not giving a fuck about anyone else and doing our thing. GGMU.
Spot on Scotty with MOTM I think he is at his best now.fixtures wise march and April seems crucial so here’s hoping we’ll have our full squad back….
Now you must wonder, where has Tony V been all this while? MoTM for me has got to be him.
carrick was immense yesterday as well as valencia
Have to say though the team seems to be made of glass rigt now. Cant recall a recent season where we’ve had such severe recurrent injuries. Sort of makes you pine for the ever dependable oshea days…
Well done United! A very important victory, three points that we rarely get in recent times.
And, we played well, with good cohesion considering the squad restricted by injuries.
Injury-wise, I have to shrug helplessly. Nearly every game we have injuries. The squad loses more to the medical tent than the physio’s have returned in nearly any week. And tactical substitutions are a non-event, as in we never get to do one. Fuck.
Great result but we should have won by 3 or 4 goals to reduce the goal difference between us and City.
Pity that Webb turned a blind eye to Balotellis stamp – typical for him to go on and get the penalty and score (hate his arrogant stance and wanted to run through the tv and slap him) Lescott nasty elbow too and another sending off. Hope the FA look at both again and ban them after seeing what they did. If they don’t then another time when justice is seen not to be done. I’m sure that if a United player stamped on someone or elbowed someone then they would be banned for several games.
Its true we should have won by more if you look at possession, but in terms of chances, Arsenal had quite a few of them.
Van Persie missing a sitter
Rosicky’s shot blocked by Evra
Ramsey blasting over with the goal right in front of him
Chamberlain’s shot inches wide, etc.
Arsenal could well have scored 3~4 goals in the first half hour of the 2nd half. It was a good win, but we still need to improve with all the big games to come. That said, Liverpool & Chelsea look quite dire at the moment as well, so I would fancy our chances against them
Even watching the highlights afterwards I still thought RVP was going to score from that Smalling Slip
(I thought Smalling played really well)
Chris Smalling on Welbeck:
“Danny has a knack of scoring good goals this year for us and at vital times. That’s a great asset for us to have. This year he is getting his chance and he is such a threat. He causes defences so many problems and he did that again against Arsenal’s. It is great for us.”
“He has come on leaps and bounds. He has always had his pace and ability to finish, but he is so much stronger these days. Sometimes he has to play up front on his own with Wazza just off him at times and when you have that responsibility you cannot afford to lose the ball when you are in that position. ”
“You have to be strong to deal with that and that is something his game has gained and he is scoring goals as well. He is a proper Premier League striker now. He has come in and joined the show and if he keeps this form up to the end of the season he is going to be great for us and he’ll do well for United and, hopefully, for England in the summer.”
Valencia was definitely man of the match. Don’t know why the guy is so underrated all the time. But then again, he didn’t score a hat trick at (Benithez’s Inter) nor is he worth 150 million.
Carrick is literally our last standing castle in midfield. I shudder to think what will happen if he gets injured.
And I could be wrong, but by “tactical error” Wenger was referring to Vermaelen not helping Arshavin out for our 2nd goal. Of course Valencia was going to ease past him. Oxlade’s substitution isn’t as bad as the Arse-holes made it out to be. Arsenal still had a chance to win it but all the bitching and moaning messed up their momentum. At times I wonder if 60000 Piers Morgans attend their games each weekend.
For me, Giggs was the man of the match
Piers Morgan is a potato headed cock end, fucker cant stand him.
To all the ROM Chinese , Gong Xi Fatt Chai, Prosperity and Good Health for all of us on ROM And our Families.
I would like to see this week:
1) Our team getting more players back to full health. And some of the Sundays injured, back for our next battle.
2)To see balotelli and lescott punished. Someone shud ask balotelli, ‘do u feel good after stamping the guy on his face? Would u be happy if u took his left eye out? Wud u still then say why u?’
3) KKK slating his own team in public,means they will be pumped up for the carling cup game against shitty midweek. Fireworks, racist chanting by liverpools fans against balotelli.red cards.
Oh yes , a liverpool win against shitty.
And liverpool have the stuffing knocked out of them.
4)If crystal palace dont go thru ,carling cup midweek, then lets see if the Nathaniel rumours are thru.
If we are actually negotiating for the kid.
5) Tomaz, finding a new club,restart his career.
“Trying to stay on your feet isn’t rewarded in the Premier League, so why bother.”
Don’t agree. United should lead by example
thought Smalling and Evans were immense. Rafael done well too, won every tackle he went into and the yellow card was too soft i thought. Welbz would’ve got lot of stick if he had scored, some ppl thought he was lazy bastad but running at the 90th showed his energy and work rate are impressive.
Is it me or Lind should’ve done better with the RVP goal?
I thought the Arse goal was pure class from start to finish, great counter attack. Having said that I do agree with mesh, Lind should have got down sooner.
PS – Thoroughly enjoyed watching them yesterday but I have to admit its a bit weird watching united now, they seldom play the same way. It all depends on who is on form, it could be the rooney show, giggs, jones, nani or at the moment its the Valencia show.
Very different to the past
We beat them at home and we beat them away.WATPOAE.
great win.. valencia was awesome. and btw any news about nani?
@cowinafield
Yeh, it was a great goal. Even Koscielny was superb in dispossesing Rafael then picking a quick pass forward. They then exploited Rafael’s empty slot perfectly. It’s the kind of goal we were scoring against them for fun a few years ago.
NB, looking at the replay, Rafael was busy being angry with himself in their penalty area for a good few seconds, before realising what was happening and running back. I think the counter would’ve been too quick anyway even if he’d got back as quick as he could, but a smidgen more professionalism would’ve been nice!
I think Lindegaard may have been unsighted by covering defenders, but it’s alwatys agonising when the keeper gets a hand to the ball but can’t keep it out.
Manchester United are interested in Brazil striker Leandro Damiao.
The 22-year-old was subject of a £15million bid from Tottenham in the summer but his club Internacional want £24m.
United are also continuing to show interest in Crystal Palace full-back Nathanial Clyne and Southampton’s Luke Shaw, 16.
daily mail just do not stop posting shit do they?
i don’t think that we can get too pious over Balotelli considering the things that Rooney has done and got away with. However, notwithstanding that he really should have gone off but I guess that Webb did not see the incident so lets hope that the FA do something about it.
As for United’s game we were mostly in control and when you think of all the injuries (are we jinxed?) that are currently disrupting any fluency to be still 3 points adrift of City is no mean feat and one in which I seriously do not believe any other club would be able to sustain.
Danny Wellbeck to me is an enigma who goes from being the perfect outlet up front to on Sunday to one who seems to perpetually fall over his own feet when we need heim to be able to either finish or hold the ball up. This of course was luckily not too serious as he managed to score in the end but I think that for many of us we would have preferred the contest to be long over by he time VP scored.
Another day, another 3 points… shame we couldn’t have done it against Blackburn or Newcastle.
great great game.
miss the old days though..
city got lucky again.
my ideal week would be
1 liverpool to beat city
2 palace to lose and let us have clyne
3 balotelli and lescott to be banned
4 nani injury to be a minor one
5 cleverly to start training
6 rio to get fit and stop tweeting
Great to come in and see only Red posts every other blog seems full of bitters trying to justify themselves !
Injuries have now to be our main concern . We just keep on picking them up and they tend to be worse than we initally thought .
Id like to think we are in a class above the bitters and recognise Arsenal stepped up yesterday in a must win game for us both . a well deserved win for us .
our squad is looking seriously depleted though.
a defensive reinforcement would do nicely. how i wish we’d inserted a buy back clause in O’shea’s contract. miss the big man.
hopefully this should clear up by the time we face liverpool at OT
here’s hoping two of morrison pogba fryers get a start in the FA cup
@dave : sorry mate didn’t mean to copy your post.
@rohan19
Can i add to that
Captain Cunt to get a serious injury at the hands of Anton
Captain Scarlet aka Cock Face Hanson to fuck right off maybe captain cunt could shag his missus?
Something anything bad to happen to Vagina head Piers Morgan!
Sewer Rat donkey faced rabbit head Suarez to get the shit smashed out of him by Paddy Evra id settle for a street fight until OT in a few weeks.
you all are disresperctful to me. united dont have good squad . need midfielder. its da truth why not accept it,
losers
@rohan19
Agree with you about the FA Cup. No matter how much we may want to dump out the dippers, Evra needs a rest and could probably do without the Klanfield scum on his back. Necessity may also dictate a start for Pogba if Carrick’s hammy doesn’t ease up in time.
Got my ticket confirmed for league game against the dippers at OT. Can’t wait to give rat-face hell
that would certainly make it a special week.
that reminds me. what’s the status of the terrygate?
has the fucker been prosecuted yet?
I hope this doesn’t sound nasty but Giggs gave Nani a great lesson in how to deliver a final ball for the first goal. And what a great (i dream of scoring a goal like that) header from our man of the moment!
Competent straightforward win much appreciated,took a few hits to the squad still only three more to go.
My God carrick was pinging some lovely passes to nani yersterday,remind me of d gud old micheal,welcome back.nani and gud decision makings aren’t the best of friends afterall and wats with mike dean booking rafael all d time,witch-hunt.welbeck,sign that contract and smalling(apart from a lapse in concentration for the rvp chance)was immense.evra was improved yh and valencia has bin our best player for a couple of months nw..nid a competitive team out at anfield next week,we mustnt lose,not to those idiots
@kanchelskis :
yeah evra should not play at anfield and neither should carrick
those arses are bloody physical and this glassy squad of ours can do without more injuries
you’re lucky to get tickets man.. sadly of the only two games i saw this season one was against blackburn. not something to remember..
have a great time and sign the cedars banner if possible..
i also hope rooney is rested vs l’pool.. he needs to get his mojo back.. too many inconsistent performances.
give hernandez and berba a run out.
@cowinafield : nothing nasty about that mate. lets hope nani learns a lesson..
on an unrelated topic. chelsea seem to be constantly linked to thins brazilian mid willian. something in excess of 20mil quoted. anyone know much about him?? why all the hype?
Mr C
you must have got me mixed up with someone else on the last thread pal. Those quotes weren’t mine
@rohan19
Cheers boss. Where is the Cedars banner? I’m gonna be in north stand.
Rest rooney,evra and carrick? Nah I don’t tink so.if they are fit they should play,no midweek match the last time I checked.they can be rested for stoke IMO
the banner will be wherever james sits..
which i know for sure isn’t the stretty. so i guess the east stand..
i was hoping to watch the away game against ajax..
no dice though.
Is it only me that is so optimistic about our league chances? I have a funny feeling everything is going to click for us come February and we’ll be blowing everyone away lol
Sorry for going off topic too
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-1-2-Man-United-Daily-Mirror-match-report-Alex-Ferguson-side-grinds-out-another-win-article856582.html
has anyone read this?
this has to be the most biased match day report ever.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/21/ravel-morrison-manchester-united?newsfeed=true
anyone read this??
“At United they will tell you that, goodness knows, they have tried everything. Or, at least, until the past few weeks when the secretary, John Alexander, rang his agent to tell him he should look for another club. By that point, one of the coaches had simply stopped talking to Morrison. His mother went to pick him up from training one day and was told, in the bluntest terms, that her son was a waste of time and not worth the hassle.”
On Danny’s miss in the dieing minutes. The boy was out on his feet. He had done an incredible amount of really intelligent work of the ball.
Besides I think he expected Wazza to be square with him not realizing Song had taken him out. (how many times was Rooney fouled??) He then sort of froze when he realized there was no pass on. For me he was just behind Valencia Carrick and Evera in the man of the match stakes.
Great game… I was on my nerves the whole game!!
Any news on nani or Rooney?
I heard jones was going to be out for like 3 weeks and carrick has a hamstring…:(
http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2012/01/22/2861108/manchester-united-boss-sir-alex-ferguson-expects-phil-jones
@rohan19
I’ll have a look for the banner.
That match report is a joke. Reckon Piers Morgan faxed it over from the States?
according to lipton. united are in decline. as they have been for the past ‘god knows how many seasons’
ABU’s out in full force. hopefully we’ll keep on city’s trail unitll they finally crack under the strain.
have a good feeling about the coming month.
fancy our chances against CSKA london and pool
@Alom : god knows whats going on behind the scenes.
but if fergie can’t control this guy god knows who can,…
‘d rather he move to PSG or Roma than anywhere in England
Scott: ” I’d argue Antonio Valencia was more worthy of the award”
I guess that I just like to rain on other people’s parades – so let me repeat something that I wrote in the wee small hours of the morning.
“Antonio Valencia was NOT man-of-the-match today. He had a very inconsistent game – crucially involved in both goals BUT he also shanked a great chance in the 55th minute when he just would not use his left foot (SAF’s disgust was visible on the telly) AND he was at fault for not getting into the right back position and covering for Rafael when the little dynamo was brought down/flubbed-his-chance in TheArse’s penalty box.
So, two goods and two bads !”
Totally agree with Gaz on that utter cock Piers Morgan.
If he was on fire I would cross the road to get to the petrol station for can of premium unleaded !
Tony V is immense. No idea why he never smiles but if that remains my only negative observation, long may it continue.
Great win by the boys and just hope Phil, Nani and Rooneys injuries aren’t too bad.
Read somewhere that Carrick was carryng a hamstring injury for most of the second half so hope that gets better real fast.
Almost the perfect weekend with the Rent boys drawing and the Rat Munchers getting wiped by Bolton and then KKK saying he would be shipping out players who didn’t honour the shirt … Suarez anyone ?
At teh rate their results are going down, he will be out of a job soon. Whay price the return of TFSW ?
Shame the bitters got lucky and don’t seem to have our luck with injuries.
If they lose Silva for any length of time they will be stuffed.
Another thing, Phil Jones’ injury was unfortunate but he was already getting roasted by Alex O-C – as early as the second minute, I seem to recall.
In my opinion, MrJones has had auditions at three positions – RB, CB and box-to-box midfielder. He’s really excelled in the latter role, partnering Michael Carrick. When he recovers from this injury, SAF should play him in midfield – Period. End of.
the game was very tense, on my nerves from the beginning but i guess it went pretty good if we dont count all the injuries …… and if only Hernandez played
@rohan19,
with loads of injuries mounting up, writing people off and united only 3 pts behind the ABU, we are in crisis, aren’t we?
@denton davey,
true mate. jones is like one of those old-fashioned players, covers every blade of grass, works his socks off with some breathtaking lung busting runs. we will see him thrive in that b2b role in a 5 man midfield.
And here’s part two of the double retrospective ban.
http://i.minus.com/iXPifFVsseHKP.gif
When talking about the game plan that United had against Arsenal, Evra said:
“[Our plan] was to put pressure on the left-back and right-back and that’s what we did. We had a good shape in the first half and played very well, but the second half was not the best. We did not [focus on Djourou], we just wanted to keep a good shape and hit them on the counter. We have done this many times against Arsenal. We don’t look at the other team, only ourselves.”
For those that are interested, the Cedars banner is in the East stand upper, about here………
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsieee/6576381009
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsieee/6576496829
……. as long as James sits in roughly the same place.
Jasmine_MUFC
I think chico will play in the game against stoke… our next league game as rooney must and I think will be rested
Great result for us but at what cost. Injuries: Jones,Carrick,Nani,Rafeal, Rooney. Lets hope theres nothing too serious in this, coz we got some big game coming up.
Markowire
Rafael is injured?
Paul Scholes told Sky Sports News:
“I don’t think I’ve had too big an effect. Obviously both teams won so we are still where we were. I think we had the tougher game because it is always more difficult to go away, and we’ve got the three points. There’s still three months of the season to go and hopefully we’ll be in the right place when the time comes.”
On a 20th league title:
“We hope so. That is the plan. Obviously City are going well at the minute but we are only three points behind and funny things can happen towards the end of the season. We just have to make sure we look after ourselves and get the right results.”
On getting back into the groove:
“I think you have to adjust mentally. It does take a bit of getting used to but the advantage I’d had was that I’d been at the club for the last four or five months doing a bit of coaching. I’d obviously seen the lads every day so it wasn’t too difficult to settle back in.”
It’s all a bit quiet regarding the 2 assaults that to place at the United stadium yesterday.
I bet Berty Bernstein is working overtime on it!
……… took place, doh!
Maybe Wellbeck is an all around player, and looks more of a player than Hernandez, but yesterday he wasted two or three opportunities that Hernandez would have scored when on form. This is going to be an ever present dilemma once Hernandez is fit.
lebomanc
)
i hope so btw (cant wait
slim says:
‘Mr C
you must have got me mixed up with someone else on the last thread pal. Those quotes weren’t mine’
@slim, apologies to you for that
Jasmine_MUFC
Ya me too
@Rohan19: Copied my post , ehh? Right and center man,well payment is demanded!
I want a basket of ladoo, 1 basket of pal cova and while ur at it get @Balaji a nice
ponnu,must be vegan!
Say some prayers to clear this dark injury cloud hanging over us.
Remember key points in prayer, forgiveness,gratitude,guidance and protection.
And get these ROM Dudes in England to write thier F.A about balo/lescott.
ex United player Paul Parker (as opposed to the RoM Red!) says in his blog:
“Balotelli must be punished severely”
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/paul-parker/balotelli-must-punished-severely-131558898.html
Carrick moves the play from defence to attack neatly, plays in a cool manner and has an intense, accurate passing range – thus, his shooting accuracy is also good. He should unleash his great shots more often and more importantly get into those shooting positions.
Dave Malaysia -good day sir! You are well, I hope?
Hello RoM.
Anything less than 3 points would have been disappointing. We played well in patches. We could have finished the game a bit early but its easy to say that coz goons were also playing well.
It was funny to see the crowd booing Wenger and Arshavin when he came for that Alex chamberlin (Who was great in my opinion).Poor Wenger
I said it yesterday and I will again say our injuries have now become frustrating. People will say we are unlucky but I won’t fully agree with that. Our players are getting injured very easily.
As much as I love giggs and scholes but It is a shame that we are still depending on them to play. More than half season is over and apart from Fryers no youth player has been given proper chance.Now please don’t say scholes and giggs and even park are our solution to our midfield next season also.
I am very positive on us winning the league, Whenever I look back at the loss against blackburn it pains in my stomach. We should have got 3 points from that.
Anyways whats done is done. We need to keep on winning and wait for city to make some mistakes.
BELIEVE 20/12 in 2012
@smartalex: Thats nice from Paul, he sits next to Steve McMahon the ex liverpool player.
Steve defended balo, i turned the damm channel.
Comment at 11.29 is just plain stupid. Rooney has done similar in the past? And if Rooney kicks someone on the head, he would rightly receive a Red card. This isn’t about Wayne Rooney though. Why he’s brought into the Balotelli issue is baffling. That’s exactly what city’s fans came out with, when De Jong done Ben Arfa last season. Sure Keane used to do it? Trying to divert attention away from their own players nasty challenges.
Well summed up Scott. City winning so late in the game was a kick in he bollox for the lads. We responded like champions.
@smartalex: Ngikhona, ngiyabonga! Wena unjani?
Rooney has thrown the odd elbow around, but stamp on someone’s head? Not close. Balotelli is in a thug league all by himself.
All good, thanks Dave!
Dear all check out this story:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4078509/Mario-Balotelli-car-pelted-hours-after-Scott-Parker-stamp-row.html
Parker should charge Balotelli directly, through the PFA.
Balotelli’s hair-do reminds me of many an old-school cunt.
Balotellis hair looks like someone took a shit on him and drove over his head might explain why he is such a fucking numb nuts! you can add the big freak brummie Richards to that list aswell
We Can and we will win the league
@Dave Malaysia
Love the way they assume it was United fans. Weren’t there a few thousand Spurs fans in Manchester yesterday as well?
Carrick and Valencia are United’s 2 inform players. The former has found his second wind, just when it’s been needed. Hope his injury isn’t too serious. Not like we’re overflowing with midfielders currently. Tony v looks like a man possessed right now! always thought he had more goals in him. Great header yesterday.
@kanchelskis : Yup, but they say it happened outside a Manutd Pub.
@ Dave Malaysia
Don’t get me wrong – it probably was Utd fans. But I’d say it equally could’ve been Spurs fans. They’d have more cause to be directly angry about the incident and the result.
@WRN
Yeh, cracking header from Tony V. Alan Parry’s commentary on Sky wasn’t great, and he didn’t give the name until a few seconds later, and I must admit that I thought it was Welbeck who’d scored, such was the conviction of the header. Real centre-forward’s finish.
parker’s lucky.. balotelli could’ve done serious injury to his eyes.. looking at the momentum with which that ass stamped it sure looked scary on the replay.
@Dave : sure man whatever you ask for.. you do seem to be well versed with all the delicacies though.
Hahaha! balotelli:”why always me?”
I think it was some spurs fans though
@Rohan19: less talk , more ladoo.
Credit to Fergie for his substitution as well I think. The moment Arshavin came on, Fergie was more than happy to double up with 2 wingers on that side, knowing Arshavin isn’t the best defensively.
I’ve gotta say, I was a bit apprehensive about Giggs in the middle of the park. Would much rather have seen Jones in there with Rafael at right back. But fair play, I thought he was outstanding, would’ve given him MOTM tbh.
Smalling and Evans were very impressive as well, the amount of balls they won was fantastic. Might be worth keeping them optgether even if Rio is fit next week….I trust them against the pace of Bellamy more than Rio.
Final point, Welbeck as I seem to say on a weekly basis now, is getting better and better and better. His all round game is fantastic…the one thing he lacks is the clinical finishing and composure in front of goal i.e. Hernandez. That’ll come with experience…but 9 goals this season is not a shabby return at all.
If you ask me….Chicharito as an individual will always score more goals than Danny….but the TEAM (which always comes first) creates far more chances and scores far more goals when we’ve got Welbeck up there with Rooney. I don’t think its a coincidence that our most prolific runs of form have come when they’ve been up top……and our most uninspiring spell of form (November, when we couldn’t score more than 1 goal a game) came when Welbeck was out injured.
Kanchelskis – Funny enough, I thought it was Danny who scored the first? Then i seen Valencia celebrating lol. Pinpoint cross from Giggsy and a powerful finish from Tony v. Brilliant goal.
Dave Malaysia
Why would balotelli’s car be parked outside a man utd pub?
Kanchelskis- When Tony scored the commentor sounded sick as a pig. They carn’t hide there hate for us sad really .
@lebomanc: Wheres is the saucer of milk? Well dear lady, it says so in the article bout being near the pub.
Martin Atkcuntson is the ref for the game against the dippers fucking useless ref that prick always gets easily intimidated by the home crowds fucking FA are thick fucks for always trusting this cock a hoop leeds whore.
Also, psychologically that was a very important win. Neville called it right in the studio………..the players would’ve been a tad deflated going into that game, knowing City had snatched victory from the jaws of death.
BUT….I’m sure City would’ve gone home and been praying for us to drop points in what is a very difficult away game. And with 10 minutes to go, their prayers were being answered. And then we go and get a late winner of our own. Don’t underestimate the affect that’ll have on City………coz they’ll be thinking to themselves something along the lines of “we just can’t shake these guys off!”
I am worried about the injuries though. We know what type of game we’re gonna be in for at Anfield next week, and tbh, Scholesy and Giggsy should be nowhere near the starting line up for a match like that (as has been proved for the last 3 years). With all these players out though, we may just be forced to rely on that.
Dave Malaysia
Excuse me? What is this about the saucer of milk?
And mind me if I didn’t read the article
@ sparkz….
Your understanding of what a striker does is rather limited. Welbeck is indeed better WITH the ball than Hernandez. But that is NOT the case when it comes to movement without the ball. That’s where Hernandez shines, every PL CB will be far more happy with Welbeck than with Hernandez, for that very reason. Frome the point of view of openings and space, Hernandez when on form creates far more space for others (aka Rooney) and for himself than the Welbecks or Sturridges of the league.
If someone like Mertesacker was able to deal with Welbeck most of the time, it is because he lacks the pace, and movement of Hernandez. So it is not the case of Chico being a more individual finisher.
As I said, once Hernandez gets fit (and Cleverly comes back) Ferguson will have to make his mind.
will nani and phil be able to play in our next game against Liverpool?
Jones is out for a few weeks. Nani was wearing a protective foot brace. The latter must be doubtful for Saturday. Whether he would’ve played against the dippers is anyones guess. Think Park would likely start this one anyway.
Arsenal got away with murder. At the end of the game, I thought Rooney might just drop dead the way he was kicked about.
Overall an excellent first half. Though we made it difficult for ourselves in the second half. Like Sir Alex said, we should have scored more in the first half. We had plenty of opportunities.
Ryan Giggs – Tearing you apart since 1991. Nuff’ said.
Can’t wait to see Cleverley return against Pool. Will be a big boost for us in midfield.
@Gexmex – Gotta disagree mate. Hernandez has been fit for a while and we’ve seen which way Fergie’s been going, he still keeps going for Danny.
I can’t agree that Welbeck lacks pace, that’s a laughable claim. His movement (as Fergie, Neville and Souness also pointed out) is also tremendous.
Same applies for Hernandez – his pace and movement is terrific. But that’s where the similarities end. Chicha is a better goalscorer and finisher, period. Welbeck is better on the ball in terms of linking play up….and that’s more important IMO. Coz Danny can create his own chances, as well as chances for other. Chicharito is reliant on service from others.
Its like Van Nistelrooy vs Saha….Ruud was a far better goalscorer/finisher….but the team created far more chances and scored more with Saha in the side.
As an added benefit – in the big games, where we may not have as much possession – Danny’s superior ability to lead the line and hold the ball up fits better. As we saw last season at both the Emirates, and in the Champions League final..Hernandez doesn’t offer that, you send the ball to him and it comes straight back.
Both quality players, but I think Hernandez will be the clinical impact player off the bench.
spurs got the moral victory this weekend
Spurs got Balo away!
Gex Mex @14:56: I ‘m a huge admirer of Chicharito ( “who only scores goals”. LOL !) but I think that Sparkz’s point is well-taken: DannyTheLad’s size, stretch, aerial prowess, and his hold-up play edge it for me.
A few years ago, SAF had a challenge to figure how to play Dimmy with TheWayneBoy – and failed to come up with a solution. I don’t think that this conundrum will repeat itself since it seems pretty clear to me – not just from watching yesterday’s match – that it shouldn’t be impossible to find a way to use all three together in some version of a 4-1-4-1 formation or maybe a “4-1-1-3-1″ arrangement. Would that be fun – or what ?
@ sparks.
Again,,,,a team depends on the movement of its player off the ball. That’s my poing. Welbeck is a good player off the ball, but Hernandez is simply two levels ahead of him in that dept. You fail to see things from the point of view of a CB. Hernandez on form is a nightmare for them. Welbeck is one more of a crowd of good strikers. I will put it in the same terms you are using. Rooney has been left without spaces to get into, simply because the striker in front of him is not creating them (unlike last season).
When I wrote “fit” I should have said “on form”. Chicha is fit, true. But he’s not on form. Once he does, Fergurson will have a big decision to make regarding who to play.
telly tubbies have started kicking the balo way!
Due to a record number of complaints from the liverpool region,ITV have decided to cancel their new show.
The African cup of nations 2012
denton – Hello mate. Valencia shouldnt have needed to cover Rafal. The Brazillian was too busy punching the deck like a little kid to even get back up on his feet.
Lipton is a fucking rentboy fan. I expect nowt better from him.
@Gexmex – You make a good point with regards to the movement. But looking at things from a centre back’s point of view, Danny’s just as much of a nightmare to deal with, for all the reasons above.
Rooney’s best run of form this season has been when he’s paired with Danny, so that’s not an issue. I’m not sure you realise how good Danny’s movement actually is…he’s constantly getting in behind defences (did it many times yesterday but we weren’t playing him in enough)
On top of that….he can also come deep and play the one twos with everyone else…which is the way Fergie wants us playing now, especially when Cleverley returns.
The Rooney & Chicha partnership is fearsome…but if teams sit on Rooney, that’s a key part of Hernandez’s supply line gone. He’s then relying solely on the wingers.
Danny on the other hand can rotate. If the opposition’s defensive midfielder is sitting on Rooney, those two can just interchange and cause havoc.
Willie – Spot on about Rooney mate at 2 o clock.
Regards injuries could it be that Strudwick pushes players to their very limits to ensure United are so strong in the last 10 minutes?
With time wasting becoming a bigger and bigger problem in football these days, a new rule will be implemented with immediate effect.
Anyone passing the ball to Andy Carroll will be booked for it
Yeah I too thought it was Danny’s goal. Danny has no pace ? Are you serious? He is electric.
chicharito and welbeck can’t be compared..
chicharito is more owen-esque and danny is more like berba but with pace..
rooney is the complete player and a beast on his day..
its great that we have such quality and versatility in our squad..
there can be many pairings of the above.
as such if the team is defending really deep and we need to open them up with little time remaining then chicho would work best with his excellent movement and pin point finishing.
but in games like yesterday where a forward with technical brilliance and a willingness to work for the team is needed then danny’s the guy.
all this considering rooney as the permanent ‘in the hole’ player..
Danny’s touch was off at times, but he ran Arsenal ragged! Pity he didn’t score near the end, when he was through on goal. Would’ve capped a solid performance.
“…I would have been happier to see him go to ground when he has been clipped. Trying to stay on your feet isn’t rewarded in the Premier League, so why bother?”
Disagree.
Good point from King Eric about Rafael’s reaction just before the Arsenal goal. Wasn’t surprised to see him off afterwards. I have to say that it worries me that this is the twins’ 4th season at the club, they are 21-22 and they still seem to lack a certain maturity.
@sparkz and rohan….
@sparkz
Just a few comments. The way the arse’s defensive line played yesterday, the score should have been 5 or 6 to 1. The role of the striker playing in front of Rooney, with two strong wingers delivering crosses, is to put those balls inside the goal. Attack the near and far post, and not to wait for the ball on the edge of the box (look at the replay of yesterday’s match).
Regarding movement in MU’s formation. The role of the “front” striker is to play on the CB’s shoulder and, to stretch the opponents defense, not to run into it, because when you run into the CBs Rooney is left with little space, and don’t tell me that that hasn’t been the case.. (Again, yesterday’s match is a good example). When you have someone like Valencia or Nani on the wings
you need someone able to turn 2 of every three good crosses into goals or near goals. Link up play is far more important when the other striker is someone like Bent.
.
I agree that given present form Welbeck should start. But I am thinking about the future, when Chicha returns to form. You seem to think that he will accept a position of permanent understudy to Welbeck, sitting on the bench waiting to be called when needed. Maybe that will be possible, given Hernandez character, but I have strong doubts about it.
King Eric/Costas -really harsh comments about Rafael. The kid had just run the length of the pitch and then flubbed his chance-for-glory. Even if he hadn’t beat his fists into the turf in frustration, Valencia’s job was to provide cover – Valencia didn’t do that. With regard to his substitution, SAF wanted to bring on TheGingerNinja – who else could have been taken off ?
Sir Alex on replacing Rafael with Ji-Sung Park:
“Rafa wasn’t pleased and I can understand that. But he’d already been booked and I thought he might be in trouble if he made another half-bad challenge.”
@Gexmex – I don’t think Hernandez will “accept” it! And if Welbeck’s form was to drop, then Hernandez would be back in there.
With regards to the role you think the frontman should be playing……….that’s where I’d disagree. Don’t get me wrong, stretching the defences is important. But looking at the way we played in pre season and the early games (as well as some of our games in December)….Fergie’s tryna add more variety to our game. He wants the quick passing and interchanging of movement as well.
That’s why Welbeck is so handy IMO. If needed, he can stretch defences and play on the shoulder. He’s done that many many times this season, and he did it yesterday as well (as I said, we just didn’t feed him enough….but look at the 3 chances he missed for example, they all came from him playing on the shoulder).
However, he also comes deep and gets involved in the build up play. Plays loads of little one-twos etc etc. Looking at the way Fergie’s tryna evolve this team….that’s far more important than having someone who only really comes alive inside the penalty area.
I will agree that Welbeck has a lot to learn in terms of those near post, far post runs which would help him convert crosses (Chicharito’s brilliant at that). But football’s moving on IMO, and the Hernandez type of player is a dying breed.
Am I the only person who thinks rvp shouldve been sent off?
Happy 91st opa wim, but surely that’s a yellow card? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really like that rule, but he did lift his shirt, which is a yellow. He got booked later on again, so why no sending off?
Tal Cohen scored and wrote a message to his father who passed away and got carded last season… Just a thought
Just want to mention about that cunt Mario’s ban now — now that the joker ref Webb admitted that he would send Mario off if he had seen the violent behaviour, now should the joker FA take away 3 points from City because of “playing a player that is ineligible”?
smartAlex@ 19:31 – you’re right; I got the substitutions mixed-up. Bringing on Park for Rafael was clearly a move to put a more veteran presence on the pitch -and the little dynamo had already been been booked so I don’t think that the substitution can be connected in any with Rafael’s fantastic run which stranded him in TheArse’s half. If he had scored then TheLads would have two goals ahead. It was a not unreasonable “gamble” for him to have made.
Perhaps there was also an element of playing it safe with respect to Rafael’s physique… he was probably approaching his “60 min quota per game”…?
Well chuffed with the win, just when it looked like Arsenal was gonna snatch 2 points away from us. It’s one of those performances that just didn’t have to complain about… except about Nani’s execution, not his decisions. He just wasn’t shooting or crossing that well, but he was a real thorn to Arsenal.
2 games in quick succession coming up, hopefully that won’t tire our depleted squad too much.
@denton davey – i don’t blame rafael for the goal or the missed chance, i blame rooney who instead of opting for striker he gave it to the defender while welbeck was running with his stronger foot perfectly placed for shooting…i don’t like the fact that rooney ALWAYS AND I MEAN ALWAYS OPTS for movement to his stronger foot.always trying to beat men on that side and always passes to his right
as for giggs – uncharacteristically uncosious and had some bad passes but made up with running and a brilliant assist
Two Important away win, City and now Gunners, and the game is also very entertaining to watch. Next is liverpool waiting on anfield, for a cup game is never easy to win there. i think United squad should concentrate for that game for the moment
denton davey – Agreed, it was a not unreasonable “gamble” for Rafael to have made.
It is likely that after post-match analysis attention will be paid to the lack of cover apparent.
Our strategy of attacking wing-backs encompasses the necessary positional fluidity required.
We did not cover adequately for Rafael’s foray.
Is it possible or likely that Rafael had been instructed NOT to venture forward?
It’s possible, but it seems unlikely.
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That said, it seems that Rafael’s failing was far greater than merely abandoning his post.
He was not in control of himself. Pummeling the ground angrily with your fists is a clear sign of emotional overload. Especially when you are:
- already on a yellow card,
- have received Red previously in similar circumstances, from the same referee,
- 80 metres from where you’re needed, and expected.
- playing in a key fixture at a top 5 club,
- the game is balanced on a knife edge.
This does not bode well for his future.
Rafael was on the field as an injury replacement, which hampered SAF’s tactics. That he then forced Fergie’s hand into re-replacing Jones and thereby robbing us of a second tactical sub, shows his immaturity. We then suffered several injuries and many players were cramping; no respite was available. We might easily have lost due to Rafael’s lack of self control. Thank goodness for Sir Alex and Tony ‘RightBackAtYer’ Valencia.