Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic has stated the importance of keeping focussed now to ensure we’re in the group of teams that pull away from the rest next year as we challenge to win back our title.
“I think this is the time in the season when the table is going to change quite a bit,” said Vidic. “Things have been very tight up to now, but I think that we’ll see two or three teams stepping it up and stretching ahead. By the middle of January we’ll have much more of an idea who is going to be chasing the title. The games come very quickly now, and we have another big one at Chelsea on Sunday, one which we must be ready for.”
Man Utd News 24/7
First!
He’ll fuckin’ murder Chelsea!
He’s really stepping up as skipper now, which is great to see. Focus, lads, focus!
I know it’s very premature to say this but can you imagine if the season we make it No. 19 we do it by going unbeaten in the league all season? That would be amazing…!
@AlphaRS, that would be the ultimate dream!
@alphaRS
that won’t happen mate. SAF said it himself.
@Giles Oakley
I have so much confidence in Vida, I know he’ll defend with all his heart, let’s hope we get the win on sunday, mate…
Before the Arsenal game i thought 4 points from the arsenal and chelsea game would be good. However, given our good recent form and Chelsea’s poor form, cant help but feel greedy for the 3 points at the bridge. High time we hammer the cunts and end our miserable record there.
I would rather exchange our unbeaten run for… the title
@Wednesdayx
I’d have both if it were possible…! Ha.
@AlphaRS, why say things like that? Got me all excited now about breaking records and winning leagues
hate getting my hopes up…we are looking good though 
Spot on Vida. We’ve got to be ready Chelsea, because make no mistake, they’ll be up for this one. Our players have stand up and be counted. The rentboys will throw everything at us, bar the kitchen sink. The key for me, is the longer this game remains 0 0, then their fans will get restless, because they’ve been on a poor run of results. Saying that, when we get a chance, we’ve to take it with both hands. The formation will probably be the same, the only question is, who plays up front?
For me it was 6 points against Arsenal and Chelsea, am not scared of them. The first tackle will set the tone for the game, I hope it will be us who will make that tackle.
Willie
My gut feeling is that we will play 2 up front…. 451 works well against Arsenal who just play dance football in the middle of the park…. Chelsea are more direct. Sunderland did it with 2 and I think we will play both Berba & Rooney….
Agree with Cedars Devil – despite us going with 4-5-1 last year I can see us lining up with Rooney and Berb for this game, with Anderson and Fletch in the middle. Carrick was gash in the last game and gave the ball away on countless occasions so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him dropped. If Scholes is fit then he may well be the one to replace him.
I’ll be surprised if the boss goes 2 up top tbh. Really think he’ll go 433/451, because Lampard and Essien will more than likely be in their midfield and there weren’t playing against Sunderland. We’ll play on the counter attack and hopefully catch them on the break.
@ CedarsDevil.
Good point re playing 2 up front. I agree.
I think we can play 442 cos of the smaller pitch at the bridge. I felt sorry for Berbatov being left out on Monday, but really hope he gets a chance this weekend.
Willie the problem with 4-5-1 if you look at last year’s game, although we bossed the midfield I can’t remember us creating too many clearcut chances. Admittedly a draw would be good for us, but I think Fergie needs to take a risk if he wants to get the win that we’ve been wanting there for years. At Wembley I think we went 4-4-2 (Rooney/Owen) and rolled over them
It’s hard vs chelsea’s “12 men”.
Come on lads..
Bigphill03 – The problem with that mate, is Fergie doesn’t trust our 2 in midfield against Chelsea’s 3 in center mid. We got over run against West Brom and Villa playing 2 in midfield and Chelsea are better than those teams, albeit they’re not playing great atm. I’d love us to got 2 up top and have ago, but I think the boss will go with the same formation again.
About time we took the Bridge, I think the last time we won there was 01/02!! I see Terry’s brother is just as scummy as the twat himself
I think of their day both Ando & Fletch will more than match Lampard and Essien, Rafael will have Malouda sorted. If both Berba and Rooney play than we will give their central defensive pairing a nightmare…. Either was Sit Alex knows best, whatever he goes with gets my support…..
I am feeling greedy though and really want a win at their place, where by a few weeks ago I would have settled for a draw!
# Either way Sir Alex knows best# sorry for the typo lol
CedarsDevil – It’s been too long since we won at the bridge, time to put that right.
for me hernandez has to start because his movement is needed 2 give jt and his wives sumthng to thnk about.his pace will keep jt at the back coz he has a tendency to initiate attacks.chicharito has 2 start for me.cumon united
we constantly look dangerous in a 4-4-2 but look overmatched in the middle at times, but fuck it 8 years running now at SB aint it? time to take a chance and smash a handful past ‘em with Fletch/Ando taking Essien/Lampard out of the game it should work
Willie, certainly is my friend, about time indeed……… One can dream right? I mean a proper thrashing would be bloody fantastic and in all honesty not too unrealistic, anything can happen in football
so pissed off I can only record it and not watch it live.
If we play 1 up front, Roo or Berb, it’ll be 1-1.
Both up front with Ando and Nani counter attacking. 2-0.
if we take chelsea out on sunday who else is going to mount a challenge to us.after watching the gunners and taking recent history into account we can expect them to splutter out,no question city are going to drop more points just not a top side,people are raving about spurs and they do play good football just don’t have the mentality or toughness to grind out wins and defensively very suspect.if we win and pull away from the pack, utd imo won’t be headed for the rest of the season
No shit Vidic! When Evra made his comments vs l’arse it was fair enough but our players should keep quiet regarding chelski especially as we play them at Stanford Bridge where we have an atrocious record. Hopefully we can win there, we should be winning there. All we have to hope for is that its 11 vs 11. Not holding my breath though.
We need a win..Although worst case scenario will not put us in a difficult position really
My analysis:
1. Last year we should have had 6 points against Chelsea just bad luck or bad fucking refs i should say
2. We are a lot better than last year
3. Chelsea are a lot lot lot weaker than last year
4. The bridge is not a fortress anymore
So on paper we should hammer them. Having said that football is not played on paper so we’ll have to hope we get that little bit of luvk to get us going.
@ Wayne
i agree with you mate. SAF and the players HAVE to see this game on sunday as an OPPORTUNITY
to cement their position as no 1 team, but also send out a message that we’ll go toe-to-toe with
any team and win. the key thing is midfield battle, and we need to look at how sunderland approached the game against chelsea. two up front always harrassing Obi Mikel and the two centre halfs.
Nani and Park, if we do play 442 will have to occupy Cole and Bosingwa Or who ever plays at RB.
Their main danger is Malouda who has been their most consistent player this season. Rafael is going to face another big test and he’s shown that he’s more than capable of dealing with and neutralising wingers.
even if lampard does play he wont be match fit seeing that he’s been out for a long time, so matter
how good he is, he’ll struggle with the pace and intensity of the game. so anderson and flecther
need to control midfield, with park coming in at times to make it a 3 man midfield. or maybe rooney
could then drop to cover park’s vacant postion meaning the formation at times will be 451. with
berbatov playing up front on his own when we don’t have the ball.
if we do win then we’ll put clear distance between us and the others. this is a must-win game.
we have to have belief. 442 is my take. e believe we learn with every match so this overunning has to be have been sorted by now. Lampard has been out so I believe he will be rusty and tire quickly
VIDIC AND RIO LOOKED INDESTRUCTABLE AGAINST ARSENAL.- ppl say L’arse weren’t up for it, but what that really shows is how easy our defenders made keeping them out the game look. After 20 mins of getting no where they had no plan b and heads dropped. They couldn’t find space to run into behind our back four because our defenders movement and positioning was excellent. solid as a rock.
chelsea are much stronger in the middle than L’arse, but as long as we win that battle our defense will keep them out the game. Anderson v Essien will be interesting, they’ll be viewing our little maestro as a threat. Ando has always kept Essien in his back pocket, long may that continue. Rafa v Cole will be crucial, but hopefully Cole will be too busy defending to bomb on. Rafa needs to focus to come through with a good performance I think he can do it. As for Vidic, together with Rio I’d fancy them against anybody right now, especially the off form pairing of Drogba and Anelka. we all know chelsa are dangerious on their day, but we also know they are the biggest bottlers in preimer league history. We have the momentum, Rooneys bursting to score, lets have it.
Once again Martin Atkinson is the referee for this game…. hope he doesn’t do the same that he did against us the previous season …
http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/son-sir-matt-says-man-utd-boss-ferguson-would-make-him-proud-1326201
makes the game even more significant.
With the frmations, on one hand I’d fancy another 4-5-1 with Rooney up top on his own being supplied by Scholes and Ando through the middle, Park and Nani on the flanks, one man protecting our back four. With a 4-3-3 altho Berba and Roo Nani either side looks good the problem is a midfield of Ando Scholes and Fletcher could be too light against chelsea’smidfield at their ground. its a risk.
Much rather have an extra man in midf to face Essien/Lamp/Etc than have an extra striker up top. Only way I’ll see us starting 2 strikers is if Berb stays up and Roo drops deep to “be” that extra man we need. Alec is the genius so who knows, but 4-5-1 with chelsea being stretched across the middle by Nani Ando and Park looks nice and tight for me. Lets win ugly this year.
We don’t have to go to the bridge and play expansively to prove anything to anyone, we just want the 3 points dont get romatic boys! let them come out at home and attack our 4-5-1, so we can counter with plenty of cover at the back. Even in Europe, if we progress and do well it will be 4-5-1 that wins big games for us, not 4-3-3. A more conservative and tight approach suits the players we currently have.
Paul Parker – Exactly mate. Essien is a beast and Chelsea midfield is a different proposition than the Arseholes midfield. The pressures on the rentboys, not us.
read this :
http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/miscellaneous/59348/tragic-keeper-dale-roberts-hanged-himself-over-fiancees-affair-with-john-terrys-brother.html
Paul Parker – when we played beautifully last time at the bridge ? it will be a tight game as always. OT is another story.
Willierednut – exactly mate – pack the fucking midfield with 4-5-1 and catch them on the break. If we completely stop them playing the crowd will force them to keep coming forward and hitting a big red brick wall, meanwhile we counter with 4 players while theyre all out of position. Even when our counter attack fails we’ll still have at least 1 extra man back in position covering the defense. Ugly to some but Beautiful to me if we get all 3 mate!
Corea – I agree mate, just putting out the conservative argument for anybody expecting ticky tacky or whatever the fuck they call it in Spain
We DID play two in the middle at Wembley. Scholes and Carrick bossed it.
The lineup will be the same as the 1 we played against arsenal except Scholesy in place of Carrick..We need a deep lying playmaker in such games instead of a “shielder” like Carrick..so the lineup will be as follows:
Rooney
Park Ando Nani
Fletcher Scholes
Evra Rio Vida Rafeal
VDS
Love to see Vida get on the scoresheet, smashing the back of Terry’s skull in the process as he bullets in a header from a Nani corner. He’ll fuckin murder ya..
Another funny bid by shitty ,they are said to be offering €100 MILLION for INIESTA
http://www.espnstar.com/football/premier-league/news/detail/item547208/City-ready-for-%E2%82%AC100m-Iniesta-raid/#disqus_thread
We must be ready. Prepare the banner “The most despicable man from the most despicable family is the captain of the most despicable club”
Alright King Eric, very true we dominated the CS but its the Bridge in the league and they know we’ll be out of sight if we win this. Cant afford to show them as much of the ball as we did at wembly I want an extra man to avoid that. remember when Carrick/O’shea got caught in possession at 0-0 chelsea countered and fabio “tackled” essien in the box to stop them scoring? thats 1 decision that went our way. Dont get me wrong I’d LOVE to see us start with 2 strikers but thats my heart speaking, head says stick another man in mid, keep it alot tighter than wembley and counter for an ugly away win. Valencia was huge at wembley could do with him back, he brings alot to the squad.
Paul Parker – 4-5-1 and it’s out of question for me. But this world is insane and we have Fergie at the help so EVERYTHING is possible. I think even some romantic thing with Fergie accomodating Rooney to play Berba because that guy deserves some belief.
On Chelsea. We are all entitled to our hate but after a couple of days i can say that they were ok against spuds and they are on their way up. It will be a tough game but listen to me. It’s the first time in a couple of years when we play them sitting pretty comfortably at the top and in the middle of the season. We don’t have much to lose just play our game and not let them impose their game on us.
*at the helm
Vidic well deserved of captaincy
Against Chelsea 4-5-1 , but Scholes must start ahead of Carrick. Scholes passed Chelsea apart a few months ago in the ‘shield’ match.
If we play 4-4-2 , Essien will have a field day. That is just taking too much of a chance with the strange form our enforcer (Fletcher) is in.
Upfront Rooney. Sad for Berbatov, but Rooney is more suited to playing in an isolated role as he is strong at shielding and holding up the ball. Also as i’m convinced we will be looking to play a counter attacking game we will want our attacking players (Rooney / Nani / Park) to have pace.
Practice great play great.
Chelsea’s defence is shit and United are going to make quite a few chances(see Sunderland/Everton and Tottenham) if proof is needed.Berbatov must and will start so that the chances get converted because Rooney certainly wont convert them he’s to iffy to trust right now,he’ll play but is best left to harass them.
I said before these two games I’d be happy beating Arsenal and drawing at Chelski. We’re doing well at the moment but haven’t won at Stamford Bridge for so many years now – I’d take a draw if it was offered to me now.
cchilds.
The last few years I would have been in your camp,not this season though their defense and midfield apart from this season was formidable their forwards were lethal,this year now they have played the five soft touches and rattled up the goals?Struggling they have been carved open basically by dross and the goalscoring has dried up and they have still to come against a defense like United’s,if our defense let’s in more than theirs I will be astonished.
@parryheid
I’m still being cautious pal. As a betting man I’d have the draw as favourite, followed by home win and the outsider being an away win. I hope I’m wrong, I dearly hope I’m wrong – the league table Sunday night would be a piece of art if I am!
Wenger Blames Direction of Wind For Defeat http://wp.me/p1cykJ-4r
Keep Drogba and Malouda quiet….we can win at the bridge.
here’s a bit of banter on the big game this weekend:
http://www.thehardtackle.com/index.php/tht-special-rival-rendezvous-chelsea-v-manchester-united/