Comments on: United Always Deserving Of Their European Success…Unlike Liverpool and Milan

By: Woody

Woody — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:59:38 +0000

Paddy, it wasn’t me who said that ‘make the top division competitive’. But I agree with what you are saying (mostly). We haven’t finished above you lot for about 6 years. But i do think Benitez gets a bit too much stick for the league. In 2006 we finsihed with 82 points (1 behind you lot) and that was our highest points tally since the prem began i think and more points than most of our league wins. But because the bar’s been raised he didn’t get any credit for that. (still not good enough i know, but domestically it hasn’t been all bad).

By: paddy

paddy — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:36:35 +0000

you said ‘make the top division competitive’……no mention of europe.yo have won a few cups but the league has been way out of reach for quite some time.

By: Woody

Woody — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:42:49 +0000

Paddy, whilst we haven’t exactly added to our haul of league titles in the last 18 years. You are a bit wide of the mark to say we haven’t been competitive. Up until you beat chelski in the euro final we are the only team that has been flying the flag for the premiership in europe. we have won 4 European trophies since thie turn of the century (and yes the super cup is still a european trophy before you get carried away) yet it’s taken the rest of the premiership 8 years to get 1. Plus we’ve won a few other cups to add to that tally, unfortunately not the Prem as yet (But after the way we dominated the 70′s and 80′s it’s only fair to give someone else a go). Thanks for compliments Craig Mc but I’ve only got 10 years on you! I don’t normally post on fansites due to the fact the majority of posters just throw moronic insults at each other and don’t seem to know what having a healthy objective debate is about!

By: paddy

paddy — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:45:55 +0000

re will hunte,while for the last 20 years you have been anything but competitive!!

By: Will Hunte

Will Hunte — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:49:51 +0000

Well hooray for Man U!! It’s only taken them almost 20 years to make the top division in England competitive!!!! And they are still behind in all respects….good team or not!!!

By: Craig Mc

Craig Mc — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:24:35 +0000

Woody – L’Pool fan, I can’t feckin believe it, a L’pool fan with honesty , good spirit, and intelligent debate. Must be your wisdom of years, so I won’t disrespect you. Glad you see that it’s healthy to want our clubs to make history, and rewrite the record books. L’Pool fans hope we won’t do it, United fans hope we will. That’s what competition is all about. I understand that perfectly, and I’m only all of 24 yrs old.

John D – I could come against quite a few of your points in your post, but as it was SO LONG worded, I lost the debate part way through – sorry!.

By: Woody

Woody — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:46:15 +0000

Craig Mc, the difference with chelski wanting to knock us off our perch is that i’ll be near retirement age when they get even close (even Everton are closer to us in the trophy stakes). Unfortunately you lot are the only ones with a chance of overhauling us in the forseeable future. But there’s certainly no paranoia involved. As you stated it’s healthy football rivalry, records are there to be broken just hopefully later rather than sooner! You’ve got every right to be happy after the season that you’ve just had (it’s a shame that your best player has taken a lot of the shine off that with the way he’s handled the Madrid situation). But for the moment whilst you’re enjoying the season just gone, remember we’ve had a lot more good season’s than anyone else!

By: Craig Mc

Craig Mc — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:16:41 +0000

Red Dawn, so is Heysel, but I don’t want to watch that, nor I suspect do you!. We realise its 5=3, 18=17, but it’s you lot that are paranoid about being caught up. If you don’t want to be caught, then that’s how it should be, that’s passionate competition, and all fans should want their clubs to remake history. I am quite happy for you scousers to keep calling us Manc fans idiots, because we have been idiots you lot haven’t been able to get the better of in the prem year after year. But as L’fool fans always keep repeating like parrots too, “This is our year” they say. Yeah right. But if your luck changes and it is your year AT LAST, then is the time to crow isn’t it?. Chelsea is buying every top player under the sun, and Kaka is supposed to be on his way to them for 76 million – feckin obscene, and Chelsea fans will have to pay through their arses. So it won’t only be us wanting to knock you off your perch for years to come, but Chelski too. LIVE with it!.

By: Craig Mc

Craig Mc — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:35:40 +0000

Hahahahaha – the L’fool fans have come to crow!. L’fool and their fans renowned around the world, that must be why MUFC are always named in all official and recognised stats, as the most well known and best supported team in the world. United made Ronaldo, and United will do just as fine without him if he does go anytime soon. We want to overtake you in trophy collections, of course, that should be the aim of every premiership club, its called making history. Just like L’fool have been wanting to beat us, more than we beat you in the prem, but you never seem to manage it, do you?. Send your friends Red Dawn, we love kicking L’fool arse around here.

By: John D

John D — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:22:19 +0000

Very well put together article, you nearly had me believing some of that for a while….

I am not going to come on here and start going beserk and start spouting endless drivel comparing the merits of our two illustrious clubs (I’ve been around too long for all that nonsense) but I am going to add in a few additional points which have apparently been ommitted.

Granted nobody is arguing you do not have to be the best team in Europe to win the European Cup, however a team still has to work hard and earn that occassional stroke of luck from time to time in any cup competition (Bergkamp unlikely missing a penalty in last minute of a cup semi-final for example).

The treble was a magnificent achievement, you wont get an argument from me there (nor anyone who can truly call themselves a football follower), but you did fail to mention that in the season preceding the 1999 final neither United or Bayern qualified as respective champions of their domestic leagues? Isn’t this something you were knocking other teams for? Does it make that incredible comeback any less memorable?

You have to give credit to Benitez for achieivng what he did in 2005 in what was his first full season in charge. You know yourselves how long it takes to build a club into a title winning outfit, and even more so to win the biggest of european prizes. Let’s be honest here, it took Sir a great deal longer to start landing the big prizes.

Liverpool’s comeback in 2005 (which I was fortunate to witness first-hand) was remarkable. Us supporters know we were not the greatest team in the world that year (I mean it contained Traore!) but the team had bottle and heart and didn’t lie down no matter what obstacle was put in front of them… the sort of character your manager has instilled in your team over recent times.

Our group that year may have contained the minnows Monaco, Deportivo & Olimpiakos, but you did fail to point out that Monaco were runners-up the year before, Deportivo were beaten semi-finalists the year before (v Porto) and Olimpiakos had never (and may still not have?) lost a home game in champions league history? This puts a slightly different slant on the standard of the group wouldn’t you say?

And excuse me for also adding the winning Saviola goal in Monaco should never had stood, and does it truly matter whether you win by scoring in the 1st, 15th or 90th minute of a 90 minute game? Are you trying to say by scoring late that a team may not have truly deserved to win anyhow?

Yes we drew the ‘easy’ team in the following round Bayer Leverkusen, a team who had won their group (which contained Kiev, Roma & Real Madrid) and scoring 3 in each of their home games against these sides. Lets not forget a side up until last seaon had played in a Champions League final more recently (2002) than yourselves.

Juventus, nothing else to add they were Champions of Italy. A proven quality team. And I’m not getting into a Heysel debate either!

Chelsea in the semi-final, yes debatable goal but again these ‘over theline / not over the line’ things happen now and again (Roy Carroll will tell you that!).
But nevertheless the better team over the two legs went through…. By the way I’ve never even hear the most biased of Chelsea fan try and suggest it was a foul by Baros (perhaps I should take another look at the Harald Schumacher incident versus France
in the 1982 World Cup), as maybe it was in fact Battiston who threw himself into the German keeper?).

And finally the greatest final in europan history, what more can be said? Milan played football out of this world in first half, but maybe thought the game was won (I mean who didn’t?). But we all know football is not always straight forward, thats why we love it. Liverpool made tactical changes and ‘had a go’, and got their rewards for their efforts. Gerrard was brought down (Gattuso should have been sent off for the professional fould by the way) for the equalising goal not the first one…..

There is an argument to be had about your run to the final last year too. An easy group (containing no team who have achieved any european success in recent times), drawing the worst Lyon & Barcelona teams in years, and as for Roma being a good side (I could have sworn I saw you lot put 7 past them only a few months previous!).

You can only beat what’s put in front of you. All teams who win these titles get their strokes of luck during the campaign. That’s cup football.

To sit their and belittle the merits and triumphs of two sides who have won 7 and 5 European Cups is a cheap shot. Especially when a lot of your points are flawed or untrue.

I think the mere typing of this article shows your obsession with my team, and it’s triumphs. I for one would have no interest in compiling such a nonsense piece say comparing our league or european titles with your’s or anybody else’s for that matter? No true Liverpool supporter would be interested in it as we only have one obsession and thats our own club.