2008/2009
Played – 18
Goals – 29
Points – 38
Points behind top spot – 1
2009/2010
Played – 18
Goals – 37
Points – 37
Points behind top spot – 4
Like of like fixtures
Wigan away 3 points, (3 points), Arsenal home 3 points (1 point), Spurs away 3 points (1 point), City home 3 points (3 points), Stoke away 3 points (3 points), Sunderland home 1 point (3 points), Bolton home 3 points (3 points), Liverpool away 0 points (0 points), Blackburn home 3 points (3 points), Chelsea away 0 points (1 point), Everton home 3 points (3 points), Portsmouth away 3 points (3 points), West Ham away 3 points (3 points), Villa home 0 points (3 points), Fulham away 0 points (0 points).
09/10: 31 points
08/09: 33 points
Title rivals
09/10 Liverpool – 27 points
08/09 Liverpool – 39 points
09/10 Chelsea – 41 points
08/09 Chelsea – 38 points
09/10 Arsenal – 35 points
08/09 Arsenal – 30 points
Goalscorers in all competitions
09/10 Valencia – 6 goals in first 24 games
08/09 Ronaldo – 9 goals in first 24 games
09/10 Owen – 7 goals in first 23 games
08/09 Tevez – 7 goals in first 23 games
09/10 Rooney – 13 goals in first 21 games
08/09 Rooney – 7 goals in first 21 games
09/10 Giggs – 3 goals in first 15 games
08/09 Giggs – 2 goals in first 15 games
09/10 Scholes – 3 goals in first 17 games
08/09 Scholes – 1 goal in first 17 games
09/10 Gibson – 3 goals in first 10 games
08/09 Gibson – 2 goals in first 10 games
09/10 Anderson – 1 goal in first 18 games
08/09 Anderson – 0 goal in first 18 games
09/10 O’Shea – 1 goal in first 14 games
08/09 O’Shea – 0 goals in first 14 games
09/10 Fletcher – 3 goals in first 18 games
08/09 Fletcher – 3 goals in first 18 games
09/10 Carrick – 2 goals in first 24 games
08/09 Carrick – 2 goals in first 24 games
09/10 Nani – 2 goals in first 14 games
08/09 Nani – 2 goals in first 14 games
—-
09/10 Berbatov – 4 goals in first 20 games
08/09 Berbatov – 7 goals in first 20 games
09/10 Vidic – 1 goal in first 16 games
08/09 Vidic – 2 goals in first 16 games
09/10 Welbeck – 2 goals in first 9 games
08/09 Welbeck – 3 goals in first 9 games
09/10 Brown – 0 goals in first 15 games
08/09 Brown – 1 goal in first 15 games
Man Utd News 24/7
so you mean to say we’re doing well???you just can’t compare two seasons man even if we’re doing almost identical you have to consider the other teams as well.don’t you think chelsea and arsenal have done much better than what they did last season?in comparison to that we should really be doing much better than this.and anyways i actually think last season we didn’t play as well as the previous two seasons so in my opinion we’re still not that good and have to improve a lot if we are to win a trophy….
We’d had harder fixtures at this point last season, including several tough away games after Chmapions League matches – as pointed out by Fergie when he suggested the fixture list was rigged to help Liverpool and hinder United.
Besides, last season was not a classic by any means. We laboured to many wins and only really great performances I remember were the 3-0 win against Chelsea, the 5-2 win over Spurs and the Arsenal away CL semi-final.
The only times we scored over 3 goals were against West Brom and Stoke.
Also, we have gathered 3 points less than we did from the same 18 fixtures last season. That’s not too bad given the amount of points we got last season.
I think the team has done quite well given the players we lost and the injuries we have had.
09/10 Berbatov – 4 goals in first 20 games
08/09 Berbatov – 7 goals in first 20 games
says it all, really.
Last season was last season. It does not matter anymore. It matters we won our 11th Premier League title and 18th overall, but the stats are not important. It may give context, that’s about it.
Let’s move on and can everyone stop bloody worrying? It’s annoying. We could be 10 points behind and still have a chance.
Teams are dropping points left, right and centre. Let’s get our defenders back and then kick on.
It really is not all that bad fellas, keep the faith.
We’re playing as poorly as everyone else is. This year is different – teams have improved, feel that Owen has offered much more than the Argie twat and that a lot more of his pitch time is from the bench. Good comparison Scott, should shut some moaners up.
here come the berbatov rants….
HaHa MIG I’m prepared too, just remember some of the ‘fans’ know best. He is Shit, he doesn’t score 40 goals a season like he always has done and the main reason we bought him was for his 6 yard box instincts!!
I’m just a little curious about the thought that goes into comparing this year with last year when surely the mark to which we aspire was in 2007-2008?
And another statistic that you should have mentionned -
1 in every 49.5 scousers is a midget.
“09/10 Berbatov – 4 goals in first 20 games
08/09 Berbatov – 7 goals in first 20 games
says it all, really”
Sigh
brett1985 07/08 season was a very overated season and unsatisfying with certain players never liking the club and some not up to it.
That post is leaning on the side of ‘positive’. In fact, it’s almost completely gay!
I can’t take it, I need some doom! Give me dooooooom!!!
Rooney is the New King
I don’t understand
Kalistha: “09/10 Berbatov – 4 goals in first 20 games
08/09 Berbatov – 7 goals in first 20 games
says it all, really.”
AGREED.
The main point that Scott draws out attention to is that TheLad’s situation is not as bad as the pessimist would argue; and, from what I’ve read, there are no optimists ! Nevertheless, UTD’s success hinges on getting the injured defenders back, playing Fletcherinho and Carrick in midfield, and, somehow, sorting out the interplay between Rooney and Berbatov. Assuming that SAF is a managerial genius – and who in their right mind would argue with that ? – UTD is not badly situated considering the shambolic circumstances of the past month or so.
I’m still a guarded optimist – very much looking forward to finally knocking LiverPoo of their fucking perch when Giggs and Rio raise the glorious 19th at OldTrafford on May 9th. Of course, the actual title might be won a game or two earlier – prepare for the worst but hope for the best !
You’re trying too hard Scott, this team isn’t as good as the one last season, and isn’t fit to lace the boots of the 06/07 team. The team we were fighting for the title last season was an overachieving two man dippers team, while this Chelsea team is much stronger, they have an advantage on us when it comes to the starting XI and the top 14-16 players, our only advantage on them is our squad depth when you count the top 22-25 players in the two teams. There is a lot of dead wood on our squad that is just not United quality, Owen, Park, Gibson, Foster, Kuzczak, and others that are good squad players to have, but get too many games because of the lack of quality, like O’Shea. Just pointing out that the stats are similar doesn’t prove anything, if you look at our constipated performances this season you’ll see that there is no comparison, this team just isn’t playing United football, neither when it comes to style nor quality and the lack of fight and imagination that is evident time after time this season will unfortunately cost us the title. Buying in january is probably not the solution for this season, but it would help the players get settled in for next season like Evra and Vidic when they were signed, and most of our targets carry the risk of price inflation after the WC so it could be good business to buy now. Or maybe we don’t have the money……
P.S. Please don’t start with the whole Chelsea have to through january without four players because of the ACON thing…. have you seen their schedule for that month? Hull and Burnley away and Sunderland and Birmingham at home. Those are teams we should expect to beat with a weakened side, and so will they.
IcelandicDevil – Trying too hard? I didn’t make any argument whatsoever. If the stats surprise you, because you thought we were dreadful this season compared to last, and thought the lack goals in the absence of Ronaldo was a problem, then it is all down to you drawing information from facts… not my opinion. I haven’t given my opinion here.
As for Chelsea and the ACON, they beat Hull at home thanks to a goal Drogba scored by accident, and lost 3-1 to Wigan away (who we beat 5-0 away), drew 1-1 with West Ham away (who we beat 4-0 away), which proves it means fuck all who you SHOULD beat.
I think Brucey’s Sunderland will give them a tough game. If it all goes well, then we could be on level points by the end of January. It depends on us and if we win our games.
Brett – spot on.
Rooney the new king – WTF are you on about?
P.S. I used to defend Berbatov to the hilt but I lost faith in him after the Liverpool game. I’ve noticed on other forums a lot of former Berba-devotees are starting to give up on him too. I still think he should be partnering Rooney in a 4-4-2 but we need to fuck him off in the summer. Anyone who honestly believes he is one of the world’s best strikers is deluding themself. He was great as a big fish in a small pond at Tottenham, but he’s out of his depth at Manchester United.
i knew scott you would come up with these comparisions.was We have done well so far but there are other factors that have to be considered as well.i will discuss 2 of them.
1. The Club World Cup.How United fared after returning from the CWC was always going to be vital.We had a difficult tie at Stoke first up and won that one. we were far from impressive in the games in jan and feb but still got the wins.The stoke win gave us momentum.
2.Injury list. Last season we had rio injured at this period and it was worrying but no one expected jonny evans to step up the way he did.Evra was banned for 4 games but O shea slotted in very well.Vidic was fit consistently in that period but seems to be struggling to be fit this season
I know that we are dealing with we have fared upto this point. In that respect there is little to choose.But with most of the defenders in the treatment room we cant be confident that we will go on a winning run like last year.it should be another month by which we get our full defence back.
While we have scored 8 goals more the problem is we conceeded just 24 goals last term and have already conceded 17 this term not to forget the 24 clean sheets we had last season.The problem this has created is one goal is not enough for us now given our injury situation at the back
I know that other teams are dropping points too but its good to be dictating terms from the top rather than chasing someone and hoping they drop points.
IcelandicDevil – I can’t agree with any of your points, and it’s quite unfair and shallow to call those players you’ve listed ‘dead wood’. You say ‘we’ and ‘our’ like you supprt united but there is no demonstration of this from your comment.
Big Bad Wesley Brown – 07/08 season was an overated season when many said united were so great, ronaldo and tevez have shown they never wanted to play for the club, nani anderson hargreaves have not worked out and the lack of goals in other areas of the team made 07/08 season an overated team.
IcelandicDevil – you are an idiot, this chelsea side is ageing and despite united have nothing left defence united are sill in there. when essien is not there chelseas midfield collapses like a pack of cards, this chelsea side stronger than united 1 win in 6 yea they really are setting the world alite, chelsea are only top because of uniteds poor form.
rooney the new king:
what rubbish are you talking? Ronaldo and Tevez were committed in 07-08.It was one of the best sides at United. The fact that ronny got 42 goals does not mean the team was overrated.It was in 08-09 that these problems surfaced. nani scored 7-8 goals. anderson gave great performances in big games at Emirates and Anfield and hargo played mostly in the big games which explains our brilliant record in the big games.It may not be as good as the 1999 treble winning team but it was the 2nd most sucessful team in History of man utd
I think that despite our poor form, loss of key defenders and goalkeeper. we’ve done well to remain in the title race. only because our opponents have dropped points.
plus points are:
only 4 points behind chelsea
defenders to come back
young players being thrown in at the deep end and that can only build their experience up.
SAF and the coaching staff can sit back and plan their next games so that the players hit the ground running and start to dominate teams.
i just think with every challenge or dissapointment or setback or struggle
gives an opportunity for creative thinking to emerge. remember when Dion Dublin broke his leg, which meant SAF had to buy another striker. who was that man? ERIC CANTONA!
i just think this is a time where he can develop a new system of play that utilises Rooney’s skill, hard work and creativity and combines Berbatovs’ immagination to devastating effect. he realises that 352 wont work against top prem teams. so why not allow the reserves such as Cory Evans, De Laet and others who can play in defence to play there. Evra the Legend is at left back and moving fletcher into midfield will help protect our back four. the PIG is playing well now, and starting to show that he can be trusted.
this situation i feel will be good in the long term. why? because we’ll start to play more possesion football – because if our opponents don’t have the ball they can’t score can they? and secondly, if we’re constantly attacking it means that our “weak” and inexperienced defence is less exposed to the pressure of other teams attackers. and when we loose possesion we’ll be organised and disciplined in not allowing or making it easy for the oppositions offence to get at our defence.
i just think that SAF can turn this mini “crisis” into a positive move.
@Duncan – I am a United supporter to the core and have been for as long as I can remember, some 25 years now, I watch every game and scream at the TV when we are struggling and bite my nails if we are only winning by a single goal, I have been to OT twice at great cost as I live some thousand miles away, I am as much a supporter as anyone on this site and claiming otherwise from reading one post is idiotic to the extreme. I don’t share your view that being a United supporter means you should deify every player at the club and never criticize anything regarding the club, I have been spoilt in that I have witnessed our dominance over the past two decades and come to expect a certain standard, not just in terms of winning, but especially in terms of the football we play, and that football hasn’t been on show this season, and it can’t all be blamed on injuries, a big part of it is down to lack of quality. I can live with us not winning the title as long as we keep playing United style and quality of football, and I’m sorry if pointing out the obvious fact that Park, Owen and Gibson are not good enough for United is somehow insulting to you as a United fan.
RTNK, that’s bull. Just because Nani and Anderson haven’t developed as they should have, Hargreaves had to have an op to save his career and Ronaldo and Tevez have since left the club doesn’t diminish what a great season it was.
Ronnie sure looked like he wanted to be here when he was banging in those 42 goals. Tevez probably never intended to leave either*, he reconsidered when Fergie signed Berbatov (and that’s worked out great, hasn’t it!)
*”I know where I am going to finish my career: in Boca. I do not imagine retiring without winning another championship. I want to play four or five more years in Europe, I would love to stay at Manchester United.” – Carlos Tevez, January 2008
IcelandicDevil – again you talking rubbish, owen is a squad player so is park, gibson is 22 so how do you know next year he will be a better player. start looking at players like nani anderson hargreaves and berbatov who cost a lot of money yet park gibson and owen have been far better value for money than those 3, owen park and gibson cost in total 4 milion in todays market that is cheap has chips.
Icelandic devil, i don’t know what you are going on about. Every team has fringe player who can do the job when called in. Chelsea has the likes of Sturidge, Zhirkov, Hilario,. Do you think Kalou is better than Owen, Mikel over Ando,Deco over Scholes, Bosingwa or Belleti over Rafael or O shea. You need to get your facts right my friend or just support your beloved Chelsea. What makes me so mad is when some people say Fergie should go. Then what? Mancini? Hughes? What a disgrace. If i get someone saying than i might hit you on the mouth
IcelandicDevil is not talking rubbish at all. Everything he’s said is spot on.
wakey wakey!!! Youre begining to sound like Benitez just because you are doing better than last year doesnt mean you are doing well. You measure success against current competition. The teams we played last season are not the same ones. I am united through and through so lets not even go there. But when there is a problem …its just that. We need to buy a creative midfielder and a goal striker and these need to be WORLD CLASS.
Please sir Alex close your eyes and give Valencia 60 million for Villa and Silva!!! we can make it back if we win the champions league. Either way it was budgeted for and it is the money we have after the sale of Ronaldo and the Club Transfer budget so we are not losing. We are a big club that needs big players. we have a lot of potential but those lads need another 2 seasons the least to become ready to take on the world and we are doing well on youth development. the concern is now, on current situation big clubs in Europe can tear us appart with all our possession. Rooney can’t do it alone. I am not discrediting the rest they are very good players…but we need more than one BIG player that will send shivers down opponents spines. For god sakes we were beaten by fulham, FULHAM!!! of all teams it would have been better had it been a top four contender and 3-0!!! i couldnt sleep. and dont blame the defence, we had possesion and couldnt do anything with it in attack. the defence is fine.
One love, One life, One united
Rooney is the New King
Do I explain to you why 2007-2008 is not overrated or do I sit here scratching my balls for half and hour?
Life’s difficult choices…
Why do people insist on Villa and Silva. They are not guaranteed success in the PL. We need to calm down, wait for the injury situation to ease up then give the player time to get match fitness back. From there we will know if this team is good or not. We have had many disruptions due to injury and internationals. All united fans need to get behind the team at such a difficult time not throw a tantrum. If you do you need to grow up.
@Jish Inc – I agree there but you have forgotten that why would valencia sell their best 2 players in january it makes no sence if they get into the champions league that could ease their financial problems, and it would cost valencia more money to replace them than sell them. say valencia finish in the top 4 they would make more money keeping them if they improved.
- villa I would put my money on would be a huge success, silva I am not sure he seems physically to much like nani.
@rooney the new king Said,
You are right about the valencia situation, but the fact is we need creativity in that midfield period and we need someone who can gurantee us goals. its not a tantrum its the situation at hand in my opinion I will be the first to put up my hands if am wrong. The competition has stepped up there game and so we need to go further that is why is useless at pointing at past success when everyone else is progressing. the so called small teams don’t roll over easily anymore for anyone. and if you look at the competition in the champions league are you confident if you compare our line up to theirs (Barcelona, Inter Milan, Ac Milan, Real Madrid i mention the best), in each of these you notice a pattern of creativity and forwards scoring for fun.
Icelandic Devil – Have you even watched the rentboys recently? Your whole post is laughable mate. Get behind the fucking lads for once. Are you aware of some of the players from the 06/07 season? The likes of O’Shea and Giggs in midfield for a number of games. Richardson, Eagles, Smith etc.
Just watch the games and you’ll know we do not look half as threatening as we did last year (mind you we don’t look half as solid without a single defender). Last year in every game we looked like we could force teams into akward positions. We could turn on that little bit of flair to deal with a solid well played defense. This year Valencia looks like he can only run down the by line.
Duncan – Spot on. Little mug. People are entitled to their opinions but there is not one point I could agree with. Slagging O’Shea for fuck sake. We could desperately do with Sheasy now. Clueless mate, absolutely clueless.
Big Bad Wesley Brown – He isn’t talking rubbish? Well you pal seem to be the only one siding for him. It is all about balance. Players like Park and Owen serve a purpose for the squad. Bet you weren’t slagging Park against Arsenal in the Champions league last season or when he scored the opening goal up at Boro toward the end of the season. All these people , and I don’t mean you, saying we should buy this for sixty million and so and so for 55 million obviously don’t understand what United are about.
waynerooney – So fucking what if we were beaten by Fulham. How arrogant do you sound. They are a tough team to beat on a normal day never mind with no defenders. They are in the last 32 of Europa league and won away from home 3-1 midweek. Give them some credit. The last line of my post above probably refers to one of your comments. Spend 60 million on Villa and Silva. Yeah Fergie is really gonna do that. How do you know it would work out?
Really getting annoyed now. Keano got it fucking bang on. All these people expecting 3 and 4 nil wins every week. Wake up. Do you remember the defeats to the Geordies and the MASSIVE Saints in the space of a week a few years ago?
Also wayne rooney you have contradicted yourself. You are saying that the young players need a year or two to progress. Then in the same sentence demand Fergie lashes out on Villa and Silva. Yeah that is really gonna help Danny and Kiko’s progress.
Sorry last bit. You say we should buy someone who “will guarantee us goals”. Silva is the man then. 20 in 5 years in Spain.
I am not a big fan of park but he serves his purpose in the side he is not the one to be the main source of goals, but he is not the one ppl should be going for and owen who they are there to add depth to the squad.
- it is the likes of nani anderson and berbatov who ppl should be looking at who were tipped to really go on and become week in week out fixtures, yet they have not done that. like I said before gibson park and owen in todays inflated market is cheap has chips.
(Big Bad Wesley Brown brett1985) – like I said 07/08 squad was an overated side when you look back on the team and squad now. I dont care if ronaldo scored 80 goals it does not change my view. that squad except for a phew players, it is still the main bulk of that squad of the current squad, and now many are moaning about the side.
after me going ottt on the result at the weekend I have come to the conclusion
no defence + out of form attack = disaster
Icelandic devil
You are being harsh mate. No team consists of all class or world class players.You need tp have some players who may not be the best technically but work their socks off and give the team a new dimension. Park has been brilliant in most of the big games working his socks off.Its required because in all fairness though o shea and brown are good they are not as good as evra. Ronaldo didnt track back hence Fergie played him on the left in the big games and park on the right.Owen has done well. Yes he has been anonymous in games like on saturday but what will he do if we dont create chances.he showed how lethal he can be against Wolfsburg and in the derby against city.Gibson has just started getting regular games so its too early to judge him. 3-4 years back i was slating a player who i felt didnt deserve to play in the league but was playing because he was a scotsman like SAF.It was fletcher.Today he player is the most important player for our team. i feel ashamed of that.so its better a player gets time rather than rushing to conclusions
i can understand that you are saying all this because our recent form hasnt been up to the mark but we are as desperate to see the team succeed adn play good attacking football as you are. Be patient, we will be back to our best soon.
King Eric:
I too would defend the players like O’Shea, the only guy who did his job in the 2009 CL fInal for us, Park who is a good squad player signed for 4m pounds.
However, the salient point is that when these players are often talked about in negative terms it is usually a reference to the lack of a good first choice player.
Taking the left wing for example, it is unclear who is meant to be first choice, raising the expectations about Giggs, Park, Nani and Obertan because noone really knows who the squad player is and who is the first choice. This is why these types of players get put under pressure.
Notwithstanding the fact that there are a great many people with negative opinions about say Berbatov, there are a bunch of people unwilling to criticise first choice players period. This is why players who routinely don’t play so often, such as Nani get huge amounts of stick- well out of proportion with their contribution.
Rooney is the New King
You saying 07-08 is overrated is very much like a ‘flat earth’ viewpoint. I could sit here and explain to you that the earth is round but its not really worth my while. It’s up to you how many times you want to repeat a point in the knowledge you will make no headway whatever with persuading other people.
Just wait until we got our defence back. That will give the rest of the team confidence to play free flowing football again. Its the Golden rule of football my fellow United fans. Just wait and see.
09/10 Anderson – 1 goal in first 18 games
08/09 Anderson – 0 goal in first 18 games
Made me chuckle:)
Last 6 games
Chelsea W3 L1 D2 11 points
Arsenal W3 L2 D1 10 points
Liverpool W2 L2 D2 8 points
Manchester United W4 L2 D0 12 points
And thats with half of our team injured, say nomore.
@ Jish – Where do I say that SAF should go? Nowhere did I say that, he’s the greatest manager to ever walk the earth. I’ll be happy to meet you and give you a shot at hitting me on the mouth. I’ll criticize this team if I see reason to, and at the moment there are plenty of reasons to do so. Yes Park works his socks off, but he lacks quality, Gibson has shown absolutely nothing except for his long range shooting that would suggest he is a player who can cut it at a top four club, and Owen has been anonymous in almost every game he has played in this season, except for the Wolfsburg game and the final seconds of the City game. I stand by everything I said, it was a completely fair criticism of this team, and for all of you to start questioning me being a real fan is just idiotic, although it seems to be the norm amongst regular posters here to do so whenever someone dares post anything other than some worship post about how great we are……
there were more tough away fixtures already under the belt last season. they are mostly still to come.
also, when did the club world cup and that come into it? i dunno, i cant really remember, but that might have been a factor last year
lets face it, we are going through a bad patch. we could still win the league but it is looking pretty tough…
brett1985 – Good post and I would actually like to see Nani given a run of games. Was critical of him and still stand by that but I have never made him a scapegoat or any player as I recall. It’s not as if anyone aside from Giggs has nailed that side down. Would also like to see Obertan get a run but in certain games it will be considered too risky as the defensive side of his game needs a lot of working on. One thing I will say about Nani is that the lad tracks back and helps out defensively.
Jack – Hmm interesting.
There you are King Eric, was looking for you the other day mate, are you joined to the Redcafe??
Jack: “Last 6 games
Chelsea W3 L1 D2 11 points
Arsenal W3 L2 D1 10 points
Liverpool W2 L2 D2 8 points
Manchester United W4 L2 D0 12 points
And thats with half of our team injured, say nomore.”
Indeed, say no more, say no more as the Pythons would have said. UTD are NOT disintegrating through an unimaginably difficult period; TheLads are treading water – to expect more is just foolish.
Furthermore, I don’t think that the second half of the season can be projected from the first 18 games – excepting, of course, that LiverPoo won’t win again this year !
SAF usually sets up his team for a marathon and this planning has been complicated by the barrage of injuries that have wiped out the first-choice defence and many of the reserves, too. No one could have predicted the cumulative array of injuries. So, the only real managerial solution is to soldier on in the hope that by the end of January the gap at the top will be closed and the first-choice defenders (and their back-ups) will all be ready to contribute to what could be an incredibly-exciting dash for glory in the season’s “second season”.
The statistics Scott provided are really quite astonishing – losing CR and Carlitos and scoring more goals ! That just leaves me gobsmacked. Rewind the tape to July/August – who would have imagined that the goal-scoring would be so widely distributed or that Dimmy would be such a marginally-effective contributor to what has seemed like an attack that is sputtering to find its rhythm. YET, that’s the case. IF you want a glass half-full scenario then that’s it in a nutshell. Filling the half-empty part of the glass is what dreams are made of.
I just read this in the Guardian Online and thought that readers of this blog would enjoy:
“Arsène Wenger, meanwhile, is plotting a crafty bid for Louis Saha, who could be acquired for a relatively paltry fee given his contract at Everton expires in the summer. The striker ticks all the right boxes for Arsenal: technically excellent, French and susceptible to injury.”
Jack – No mate. This is the only United site I comment on.
Oh i saw someone else on Redcafe called King eric, thought it might be you, been trying to sign up to the bloody thing but wont let me.
I simply cannot see us putting that 13 clean sheet run this time, so these stats are totally irrelevant. True, we have scored goals, but we have let in quite a lot too. That scares me. Chelsea have their problems, but I am actually not so confident on our defense, with our main players out. We are damn lucky that Evra is still fit. Even our most versatile player, O’ Shea is injured as well. He was the one who could be used to fill in for anyone.We at least need one CB injury free.
Our midfield – overrun against gritty teams. I know Fletch and Carrick have been playing out of position,but even with them, we make it tough for ourselves going forward. Around 90% of the time, I have seen Carrick go for the easy back pass. He should be the one playing the through’s, but rare. Once in 10 games doesn’t make up for all the time he blatantly wastes on the ball. Its a good thing that Fletch took up some of Carrick’s responsibility. Anderson is hugely inconsistent[same 3 good games in 10], he has been in the PL for 3 years now, anyone should be matured enough. Still I would want him in the field. Scholsey – the only good thing this season about him is that he doesn’t let anyone near him dive, he takes him out.
Valencia- one of the few players who makes an effort. He runs a lot, scores goals, one of the better players this season.
Giggs- still doing all much as he can.
Nani- don’t know why he has been left out in the cold[injuries otherwise]. He must be ruing his rant about SAF now. Not really a bad player,I think he is down in confidence.
Park – needs confidence.
Obertan – I would want him against tough opposition cause thats when he plays well.
Gibson -please, let him shoot when he wants. It creates much pressure when you have the crowd telling you what to do.
Rooney – Awesome. Frustrated at times and can go on a big red sulk. He plays shit then.Misses absolute sitters at times. And that is not a trade mark for a world class player.
Berba- the dopey Bulgarian- He is much suited to Spurs, Arsenal attack. Some how out of our dynamics. Still its a joy to watch him “sprint”.!!
Owen – Kudos on his hat trick, but 2 were easy pesy tap in’s. I know, I know its a hat trick[and the one against Shitty]. Maybe if he had scored those mis hits he had at the start of the season, I would have had a different opinion. Still has to impress me.
Welbeck -too selfish
Macheda- Is SAF isn’t impressed anymore?
Evra, Rooney, Valencia, Fletch, Giggs, – impresser’s yet.
Jack: “Last 6 games
Chelsea W3 L1 D2 11 points
Arsenal W3 L2 D1 10 points
Liverpool W2 L2 D2 8 points
Manchester United W4 L2 D0 12 points
And thats with half of our team injured, say nomore.”
That is probably the best stat out of the lot.
The truth is all of the ‘big four’ are weaker this season. We have a much more competitive league this year. I think we will lose another 3 games and draw another 4, leaving us on 80 points.
Whether that’s enough to win the league, we shall see.
last year the first half of our season was a disaster. we only won the title becuse of the good form after january and because we were up against a weak liverpool side, not a good chelsea.
giornalista – Disagree mate. The Dippers from Feb to the end of the season were stronger than the current rentboys side. At least they had width and pace going forward. This rentboys side are over rated beyond belief.