Before watching the Champions League quarter-final at Anfield last week, I thought we’d just picked up a bad result against Porto. Thankfully, the scousers put it in to perspective for us.
Conceding that second goal felt dreadful but if we’re honest, it’s what we deserved. It means that we’ve got a difficult task on our hands, but it’s not an impossible one. We have to win. We can win 1-0 or 2-0 or 7-1, it doesn’t matter. We can concede, we just have to outscore them. If we can’t outscore them, we have to score at least two goals. Tricky but certainly not impossible.
Paul Scholes, who scored our opening goal against Sunderland at the weekend, is confident of us getting a result at Porto.
“All we’ve got to do at Porto is win a football match,” said Scholes. “With the players we’ve got I’m sure we can do it.”
Scholes reckons the win we got against Sunderland at the weekend has helped our chances.
“It’s always nice to get a win,” he added. “It always boosts your confidence. I think we needed a little boost. That was a big win for us. Liverpool had won beforehand and Chelsea won as well. It doesn’t increase the pressure. You have to do your own job.”
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Yeah all we have to do is win but on recent form we haven’t proved that we can win against this opposition.One thing is for sure.With Rio,Vida,Carrick and Fletch all starting i do feel more secure about our chances.We can put in a performance like we did at the San Siro:Attack and not worry too much that we will expose ourselves at the back.It will be a long night though.Our last two visits in Portugal have ended with 1-0 victories.If we are going through,i see us just edging it.
easier said than done.but we have the players to win the match. BELIEVE
We’ve struggled for goals lately not creating clear cut chances, I know it sounds daft considering we’ve scored 7 in our last 3 games (3 Villa, 2 Porto, 2 Sunderland) but they’ve still not come easy, we’ve not created clear cut chances it’s just been moments of magic/luck, we really need to sort ourselves out, we need a Roma performance where we just shred a team again.
The players need to approach this game the way they did at the san siro, we should just go all out. I’m not one of berba’s critics, but i think he should sit this one out.
I think the lineup could be
Van der Sar
O’Shea-Rio-Vidic-Evra
Ronaldo-Fletcher-Carrick-Giggs
Rooney-Berbatov
Scott you sure Scholesy accepted an interview request??? Simply LEGEND. FOLLOW… FOLLOW… FOLLOW UNITED ARE GOING TO ROME… One Love Forever – MUFC
BELIEVE
If we lose, I curse the scousers go down 20-1 to chelsea. If we win, I curse the scousers to go down 30-1 to chelsea!
Let’s keep our belief ’cause we know it’s too early to let go.
Glory Glory Man Utd!!
The best thing that could happen these two matchdays is United going out to concentrate on the league and the FA Cup and an earthquake swallowing up gayford brige during the shit on a stick fest
Ball retention is key. If we can keep the ball for long periods, then we have a chance. Scholes needs to keep his passing simple, not like his dreadful passing in the first leg. We can score, we always score, just need to keep it tight at the back. Hopefully Rio will be back on Wednesday.
Kings i don’t think Sholesy will start.I don’t see him starting 3 games in a row at the moment.I think the FA cup semi will be the place for people like Scholes,Berba,Rafael and Anderson to play.On Wednesday i see SAF sticking with him most trusted first XI.The real question is if he will play with Giggs,Tev or Berba along with Rooney.Ball retention is the key in order to break their rhythm.I think Carrick and Fletch on their day can be a great rock whic breaks their attacking waves.Here’s hoping.
As people have pointed out and as Sir Alex has always stressed, ball retention in Europe is key. For this reason he may just well start with Berba.
Talking of Scholesy I watched the Carling Cup winners show last night. After the game when everyone was dancing about spraying Champagne at each other guess which player was sat quietly on his own just watching and taking things in? Legend.
“The real question is if he will play with Giggs,Tev or Berba along with Rooney.”
NOT BERBATOV
I”d go with Giggs/Carrick/Fletcherinho/Ronaldo in midfield and Rooney and Carlitos up-front.
I suppose if UTD can go a goal (or two up) then the “ball retention” argument has some force but to start with UTD need to aggressively seek out the goal that would see our team move on to the next round.
My guess is that for all his brave talk, Ferreira will play it conservatively – concede possession and even field position – and hope to hit UTD on the break. The most important point is obvious – UTD have to score at least one goal. Porto go through with a dull, dreary nil-nil draw. Porto go through with a one-one draw. So, UTD have to field the best attacking combination and that does NOT include Berbatov.
Denton i would love the 6 players you mentioned to start but we know that SAF opts for the 4-5-1 away in Europe.He might spring a surprise on us though.One thing is for sure.Porto can’t play any better than they did on Tuesday and we can play much better than what we have been playing.
If Berbatov is fit, he will play upfront with Rooney. That I am certain of.
Only question is if he is still injured since we saw him with a pack of ice after his subtitution this weekend.
I also think he rested Giggs and Fletcher for this game in hopes of them pulling another ‘Chelsea-demolition’ on Porto
Let’s just hope the United beast has been awakened and we start playing like *BEEP* Manchester United!
A good comeback from Rio (Pleeeeaaaasssseee be done with your back/groin injuries!) and Evra wouldn’t hurt either
I dont think Carlitos will start unfortunately….I actually can’t wait to see what SAF puts out there. I would just like for once to give Wayne a free role in behind an actual striker playing high up top. Who is that player though? Tevez and Berba both prefer to drop deep instead of staying on the shoulder of the last defender. I think Kiko could possibly turn into that kinda player, but I think it’d be asking a little too much of him to give him start on the road in a Champs Leauge quarter final…
Sounds easy enough.
I just hope it’s not one of those nights like against Dortmund when we missed an absolute bag of chances.
Somehow I think it will be alittle more complicated than that.
MU, never won at Dragão. FC Porto is playing a lot better then you saw at Old Trafford. The one’s like Costas that don’t share this opinnion, obviously don’t know pretty much about FC Porto skills.
No one wins at Dragão. No one!
Cumps
@Hulk
MU are known for doing things first, I’m hoping this will be another addition to that
hulk did you me chumps? dumb fuck
Hulk maybe you don’t know about United’s resilience.Last Tuesday who came closer to their full potential?United or Porto?Pardon me if i say United.
If i say Porto i meant.
Don’t know who amongst you is going to Porto, if any, but let’s hear you make as much f*****g racket as you can, non stop for 90+ mins (or 120). That’s all we can do now, get behind the team. No more sniping at the players or the selection, no more if- onlys and might-have-beens, no more sitting back and expecting non-stop success as an entitlement, you can now play your part. Over and over the players say how vital that support is, at least the more thoughtful among them, and it’s true, there’s never been a successful team in Europe, or the Premiership who haven’t had great support. It really, really matters , folks, more than I can say, so I’m on my knees begging and pleading, please do everything in your vocal power to will our boys to victory. I’ll be at Wembley to do my part on Sunday, I promise you that in return!
Giles it’s a tough ground for the visiting supporters to make their noise.But United fans will be up for it.Last time a team of mine played there,Greece beat Portugal 2-1.More of the same please.
I know Fergie likes to play 4-5-1 away from home in Europe but we’re usually away from home in the first leg or going into the away leg with a lead. This time we don’t have that luxury,but at least we know exactly what we have to do,go there and win. Make that go there and score twice because I don’t fancy us going into the last 10 mins with a 1-0 lead! Hopefully this might see us abandon the cautious approach,I’d much rather see us go out with a real fight that go out with a whimper.
I am a little hopeful that we will clear this obstacle! it’s better than we expect, cos if we did have the 2-1 lead, we might try to be arse-tight and nick it. this i doubt we can do at the moment, cos we are surely not defending anywhere close to what we are capable of. in fact, we have never been good at defending, it just isn’t in our DNA!
as a manutd fan, i have never felt safe about defending in any of our teams i have ever watched all these decades! please do tell me when?
while it was great when we had the run going (clean sheets) this season, it served its purpose already – to get us up close and overtake pool & chelsea, let’s get back to our winning ways the best we know how! playing fluid football, attacking with flair and closing down players for one another all the time!
i am very sure once SAF makes this message clear to the players, we will come up tops! in fact i am so confident we will beat Porto, that i can’t wait for the game come wednesday!
glory, glory man utd!!
Of course we can beat Porto, their an average run of the mill side, we’re champions of the world for fucks sake! This is why I don’t get why our confidence has seemingly evaporated. We’re the number 1 side in world football, FACT. The title is in our hands, FACT. We can lose another league game and it’ll still be in our hands, FACT. We’re 90 minutes away from the FA Cup final, FACT. Have a word with yourselves boy’s. You’ve all been in this position before dealt with the pressure. The heats on the other team’s, not us. Relax!
Problem is, every game is turning into a battle at the moment. As a result some of our players are getting weiry physically as well as mentally (Evra is a prime example of this) Earlier on in the season we were playing economically, measuring our performances and winning 1-nil with our defence hardly having to get out of 3rd gear.
Is it possible that our defence was never as good as the clean sheet record seemed to proove? I seems to me that teams are spotting weaknesses in our side and exploiting them. Granted, we have had loads of injuries and the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea etc would be way out of sight if they had suffered the same fortune. It just seems to me that teams are having a go more than they were before and it is costing us.
In regards to Porto, they are an average side whichever way you look at it. We have the ability to go there & win 3-0, 4-0. If we go there, score an early goal & try & close out the game we will lose. Quite simply, we have to go for it & at least match Porto’s two goals they scored at OT. If we do that, Porto’s hopes will be crushed and we will go on easily into the semi’s
WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED