Ahead of our match against Chelsea, RoM and The Chelsea Blog teamed up for a discussion to put you in the mood for Sunday.
Scott the Red: The question has been raised a few times in the media – who would you prefer out of Drogba, Rooney and Torres? Why?
The Chelsea Blog: The first thought that came into my head was Drogba. Why? Well, I might not be his biggest fan but he’s been phenomenal for us so far this season. He’s showed us his better qualities – his aerial ability not just in attack but defensively as well, his power – often from distance, his physical strength and presence. When he’s not busy auditioning for platoon, he’s just a nightmare to play against really.
If I’m honest with myself though, I’d have to say Rooney. His game is about so much more than scoring goals and whilst Drogba’s contribution to Chelsea isn’t just about the goals he scores, I think it’s fair to say if he wasn’t scoring regularly then it would be because he wasn’t in his best form. I don’t think the same can be said of Rooney though, he’s more of a provider than Didier and whilst Drogba will always put himself in the box to defend, he doesn’t track back in the same way Rooney does. Add to that the fact Rooney’s just 24 compared to Didier at 31 and there’s quite obviously much more to come from Rooney.
STR: Unsurprisingly, I totally agree with you. There’s no denying Drogba is an immensely talented player but like you say, age isn’t on his side and there’s more to Rooney’s all round game. I would also argue that Rooney is completely in love with football whilst Drogba seems to go through phases. It wasn’t long ago he was dragging his heels when coming back from an injury and you can never imagine Rooney behaving like that.
TCB: Seeing as though you recognise the quality of Drogba, you must be looking forward to the African Cup of Nations?
STR: You won the league in 2006 despite the ACON but I suppose that was a different era for Chelsea. That’s not me knocking Ancelotti in comparison with TNSSO but Chelsea’s best players in 2006 are still your best players now, but deeper in to their 30’s!
Still, Drogba has scored in 10 of the 13 games he’s played in, so of course I’ll be glad that he’s gone. Drogba has scored twice as much as any other player in your squad, Essien’s appearance record this season is only bettered by Lampard in midfield, Kalou has clearly had a lot of game time, with only one less appearance than Drogba and Mikel, well, ok, I’m sure you’ll survive without him… we certainly have done!
TCB: Unfortunately I have to agree, the loss of someone in the sort of form Didier Drogba has been in for us lately is going to have a huge impact. Michael Essien will be another big miss although we managed without him last season and although Mikel filled in (sort of), he’s barely seen the ball this campaign so we wouldn’t notice if he was there or not. Some might miss Kalou I guess but I wouldn’t be one of them.
We’ve still got Nicolas Anelka (who’s under-rated in my opinion), Sturridge (who isn’t under-rated in my opinion) and Di Santo will be back by then, so we’ll just have to get by. Getting by doesn’t win trophies though.
STR: Speaking of trophies, what do you believe to be Chelsea’s priority this season? Joe Cole recently claimed the Champions League was the most important trophy for you to win this year. Do you agree with players putting preference to Europe over the league?
TCB: I think he’s entitled to his opinion although I’d hope that isn’t the opinion held by the team as a whole. What concerns me about players coming out with comments like this is firstly the worry they’ll maybe commit themselves more in our European games than they would in the league, although on the evidence so far this season, that wouldn’t appear to be the case. More than that though, whilst the Champions League might be regarded as the big prize, a couple of titles under Mourinho doesn’t even come close to the success of our nearest rivals. We need to be looking to win those titles consistently. After all, as nice as it must be to win the ‘holy grail’, it’s all a bit of a lottery at times – it’s the consistent wins in the Premier League over a sustained period of time that really demonstrate a club’s worth.
STR: Definitely. Cup competitions, regardless of prestige, don’t prove an awful lot, whilst the league proves who the best team in the country is. From the group stages to the final, there are just thirteen games in Europe and I believe Liverpool won just eight of them when they were last crowned ‘Champions of Europe’. If you beat the best of the best then go on to win the final, you’re making a pretty good argument for being the best side in Europe, but nothing is conclusive.
Although you have to understand Cole’s urge for it, given how close you have come. Had John Terry buried his penalty, it would be a very different story for Chelsea. It’s a bit rich that a year later he would leave his ‘beloved’ fans hanging for almost a month whilst talk of a City deal spread like wild fire. Do you think he can still be considered the loyal captain he likes to paint himself as?
TCB: Unlike the vast majority of Chelsea supporters, I thought he was out of order. I’d always bought into the ideal that John Terry really was ‘Mr Chelsea’ so for him to leave supporters guessing for 23 days whilst he apparently wasn’t considering City’s ridiculous offer, was out of line. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t because I believed he gave the offer serious thought because you’d have to at least consider such an obscene amount of money at his age, it was the lack of honesty that really pissed me off.
STR: Yeh, to claim afterwards that he hadn’t considered it for a second was rather insulting to the Chelsea fans’ intelligence… unless he really was telling the truth, and the sole motivation was to keep the club on their toes so they would fork out even more money to make him the best paid player in the league. Now that’s loyalty for you!
TCB: Clearly not JT’s biggest fan then! But which of our players do you rate? Who would you have in your team if you could?
STR: Michael Essien. It’s no secret we were in for him but he chose the then more successful team who would pay him more money. But I’d still take him at United in a heartbeat and I imagine the manager would too!
TCB: I could see a player like Joe Cole making an impact at United but I’m not necessarily surprised at this choice particularly given United’s deficit in this position. Essien’s lengthy absence was glaringly obvious for us, and he highlighted that the minute he came back from injury in true Essien style. I’m sure he’s happy with his choice.
STR: Yeh, who needs lots of medals anyway? Like Mad Rafa said the other day, who needs trophies? Hmm… Moving swiftly on… a lot of the media had Liverpool down to finish first, Chelsea to finish second and United to finish third. How true do you think that prediction was now?
TCB: Well obviously it’s Liverpool’s year although bearing in mind they’re not quite as keen to pay off managers at the same rate as us, they’ll probably keep the FSW and the title will be in their dreams again. The press might be about right placing us second though. Obviously I’d love to think we could nick it but realistically the ACON could disrupt our season, particularly with a transfer ban preventing us from strengthening the squad at all. I’m not sure how the press decided United would finish third, possibly in the wake of Ronaldo’s departure although it was clearly a premature prediction. I suppose you have to consider the fact that Arsenal seem to be quietly doing ok right now as well although given that they usually lose their momentum as soon as the business end of the season is in sight, maybe I’m being a bit generous?
STR: Arsenal are a funny lot really. You look at their squad and they’ve got some top quality players, their manager has proved his worth time and again, yet they don’t seem to have any real bottle and haven’t won anything for coming up to five years! It’s make or break for them really though because you have to think Fabregas will be there for just one more season at most, and for all their talented players, Cesc is far and away their best player.
I’d have to say Chelsea are the biggest threat to us winning an unprecedented fourth title in a row. Ancelotti seems to know what he’s doing and you have some important returns in Essien and Joe Cole.
Of course there has been an impact on the team with Ronaldo’s departure though but the hole left by him isn’t the only weakness in our team though.
TCB: Go on…
STR: Well, our midfield in general. When you compare what we looked like in 99, with Giggs, Keano, Scholes and Beckham, we’re some way short of that now. Our depth is far superior to what it was then but we’re a player or two short of a really scary midfield. We’ve got a lot of good players in midfield but not enough great players. I’d like to think it will be a different story if/when Hargreaves comes back, but we’ve been waiting for a long time now.
TCB: Your defence seems to have leaked a bit so far this season although that’s hardly surprising given the constant changes enforced through injuries. Mind you, if you had a quality defensive midfielder in the Roy Keane mould, it wouldn’t be as big a problem although the return of Fletcher will help. If Hargreaves does ever come back, do you honestly think he’ll be the same player he was though?
STR: Well, who knows? Ruud van Nistelrooy had two lengthy lay-offs thanks to operations on his knees but that hasn’t stopped him from going on to have a long and successful career, with close to 600 professional appearances to his name, and counting. But he wasn’t a gritty central midfielder who had to put the boot in, so I dunno.
TCB: You seem well aware of your team’s weaknesses, but what about Chelsea’s?
STR: It’s hard to find one area really. I don’t particularly rate the players in Chelsea’s defence but the proof is in the pudding for them this season with the fewest goals conceded. Chelsea’s weakness is probably the depth. You’ve got a good first XI but there isn’t a lot of quality on the bench.
TCB: Our defence is strange really, as you say you don’t rate them and if I’m honest, the games against Wigan and Villa highlighted our flaws at set-pieces. Having said that, Ancelotti promised to address that and those two games aside, our defence has been pretty solid. If there’s a weak link there this season it has to be Ricardo Carvalho who’s been a bit suspect on occasion but we’ve got the option of Alex again now and he’s looked pretty strong since his return from injury.
You’re right about our lack of depth though. When Scolari came in, he pared the squad right back (and rightly so at the time) but none of these were ever really replaced – or at least not with any quality. Not that I hold with spending vast amounts of money or anything, but I think Abramovich has cut his nose off to spite his face a bit here. If Chelsea didn’t plan to bring their young players through and develop them into players good enough for the first XI, then they needed to bring in players of the required standard. The fact is, they didn’t and with the transfer ban they won’t be able to do it now before ACON which could cost us dearly.
STR: It seems as though we’re both aware of our team’s weaknesses, although fortunately for my team, we can strengthen those weaknesses sometime soon… but let’s think forward to Sunday, whose weaknesses will cost them then and who are you looking out for?
TCB: The biggest threat to us oddly enough could be Darren Fletcher. He’s a vastly improved player and probably a lot more dangerous than he’s given credit for. Whilst our players are all too aware of the threat from players like Rooney, Berbatov, Owen etc and keep an eye on them accordingly, I don’t think they’ll necessarily be paying as much attention to Fletcher – and that could cost us.
As for predictions – the odd bit of handbags, maybe a couple of controversial decisions – same old, same old.
STR: I think however much United players want to win this one, there can be no accounting for the feeling Chelsea players have towards ours. We’ve won the league for the past three seasons and we beat them in the European Cup final. That will give the Chelsea lot something to fight against for some time to come I suppose, a point to prove.
Honestly, despite how long it’s been since we’ve won at Stamford Bridge, I usually fancy us to nick at least a point. This is probably the least confident I’ve been in some time, given we seem forced in to changing our back four on a weekly basis and are conceding goals left right and centre. But maybe that lacking confidence is a good thing, because these games often seem to favour the underdog!
Man Utd News 24/7
much better and smarter read than VIEW FROM THE ENEMY: A Discussion Ahead Of The liverpool Game
Saying Rooney over drogba is a good sign that he knows a thing or 2
and he’s poits in which chelsea come across better than united is just , because its his opinion about the team he loves that are top of the table.
Chelsea fella seams a good lad doesn’t he? I’m not feeling spectacularly confident about the game; whilst this is always true, if United can get stuck into them from the off, grab an early goal and then recover some of the killer instinct of old, we may come away with a win, though I think a tough, niggly draw more likely.
Interesting points, looking forward to Sunday, if ever our boys needed firing up it’s now! Come on lads, get in their faces!
I don’t think anyone’s said this, so I will:
Happy 23rd anniversary to Sir Alex and Manchester United!
Good stuff, Scott, and I agree totally with what you say about our midfield. Using the old analogy, if you were carrying the ball over the half-way line and you were to come across by Fletcher or Hargreaves or alternatively by Carrick or Scholes, who would you prefer to face.
As a point of interest, isn’t it always the way that one can talk football sensibly and realistically with a fan of Arsenal and Chelsea but rarely with a Scouser or a Bitter.
@theboogeyman
I wanted to say. Happy 23rd anniversary to Sir Alex and Manchester United! Thanks for making our club worth £10m in his first trophy at Old Trafford to became the first £1billion club in 2000. Thank you!!!
its all about redemption on sunday .expect it it be of physical nature; the enemy accepting fletcher s presence as significant shows how long fletch has come from days of squabbling to being a potent force to be reckoned in the midfield .kudos fletch keep it goin……
Who would you guys play on Sunday taking into account injuries
I’d go for:
VDS
Brown Vidic Evans Evra
Valencia Fletcher Anderson Giggs
Rooney Berbatov
Subs: Foster, O’Shea, Obertan, Carrick, Scholes, Owen, Nani
I love this interchanges but after this sort of dialogs we lost 0-2 to both Liverpool and Barcelona..
Agree with your team selection Sayyid; possibly O’Shea for Brown because of match fitness, but it’s 50/50.
Carrick won’t have the space he needs to operate against the CSK London midfield, Scholes might edge it ahead of Anderson for some extra creativity but Ando’s been threading some neat passes through defences the past couple games.
Nani? Sorry but I’ve no time for the lad. People sat around the other night saying ‘give him time’ etc. then Obertan, a 20 year old debutant, strolls onto the pitch and shows how decision making is the mark of a good player, not the bells and whistles Nani favours . Beat your man, release the ball, create space for yourself/show for the ball/drag opponents from play etc. It aint rocket science.
Scott, where’s the ‘ROM Reaction to CSKA Moscow’ waiting to hear your thoughts on that.
Kel, very strange post. Are you a football fan or a Glazer?
@Tufty
What i mean is the status of the club grow in this past decades. This lets more asian people know more about united. Btw, i’m asian too. If Sir Alex is not there, i think i might not know or support united. Which is why i am so supportive whenever everyone thinks Sir Alex is old and can’t be up this his job.
I’d agree with Sayyid’s team apart from two things –
1. O’Shea over Brown – Wes is not yet back to his best and while I think he should maybe grab the RB spot in the long run, for now O’Shea should take it. This could go either way though.
2. Owen over Berbatov – Berbatov has been in his best form in a long while recently, but look back to the dipper game. Owen came on for 10 minutes and got into more dangerous positions than we had for the previous 80 minutes. His finishing may not be what it was, but he gets himself into amazing positions and makes great runs that I really think could be the key to unlocking a tough Chelsea defence. It’s about time he started a big game. Having said that I can’t actually see this happening unless Berbatov is still injured. And I guess after all these years Fergie ‘might’ know a bit more than me…
On a side note I worry that Carrick will play ahead of Anderson as he hasn’t featured since the Liverpool game – Scholes played in midweek so I don’t expect to see him, and Anderson played last weekend. I think Carrick will play, but IMO it would be a bad move.
seems like a nice bloke
Id have Brown over O’Shea any day.
Berbatov over Owen is a no brainer, especially in the big games where you need Berbatov to hold up the ball and conjure up a moment of magic.
Id go with a midfield of Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson and Valencia.
@bigphil2003
Yeah. I do worry about carrick playing. I do feel anderson should able to win the battle in the midfield. Let’s see tomorrow and i’m excited about this match. Hope i am not disappointed again.
I would like to see Giggs, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher in Midfield, keep it narrow with the option of going wide. Valencia would be a very close option, but maybe better as impact player on Sunday. Always Berba and Rooney up top for me!
i agree with the midfield picked by Tufty. Giggs most probabaly to be on the bench. but if Fergie plays a 4-4-2 with that midfield then it will be Ando on the left wing which he has hardly played in that position. Fergie might go with the 4-3-3 away to Spurs like team.
Cashley should be kept quiet on Sun from that side. Flecth or Valencia to be on that side. wouldn’t rule out Obertan getting a surprise start !
If we play a 443, or a 4-5-1 (hope not, lonely striker didn’t work last time) we could go:
————-VDS
Brown-Vidic-Evans-Evra
———–Carrick
——Ando—-Fletcher
Rooney————–Giggs
———–Berba
or go with the 442, against the diamond mid of Ancelotti:
Same goalie and back 4 (we could really not use O’Shea, who’s is a good player but Wes is superior at RB, imho)
—-Carrick—Fletcher
Valencia————-Giggs
———Rooney
—————Berba
or use the formation that worked last season at Old Trafford with Fletcher and Giggs in the center of the park playing with Valencia and other winger like Obertan (or the Mighty ZORAN!!!)
What do you guys think?
@Tufty
No Giggs? He’s has the touch and skill to control a midfield strong like Chelsea’s.
Giggs showed against liverpool that he is not able to compete in the big games. I’d rather a natural midfielder in there.
Anderson and Fletcher off the energy and the pressure, Carrick offers the ability to pass the ball and Valencia has pace to get forward as well as strength tin the middle. What Valencia does need is an effective attacking right back to offer the support and take a man off Valencia, O’shea does not offer that enough.
I would have Giggs and Owen on the bench and Obertan as my 3 subs.
Tufty, if Giggs showed against Liverpool that he can’t compete in the big games (which i don’t think is true) then what the hell did Carrick do?!
Tufty – Giggsy ran the midfield last season against the rentboys.
that was last season.
Bobby Charlton run the game in 1965, doesnt mean he will deserve to start tomorrow.
Thought Carrick had a decent game at Liverpool, just needed a battler next to him and a player with more energy.
@Tufty
You know, if the Liverpool game is the standard, you could say that Vidic shouldn’t play Sunday also. Or Carrick. Or Berbatov.
Giggsy had one bad game against Liverpool, that doesn’t mean at all that he should be sacked against the Blues. He did run the game last season, and this season he showed the he can dominated even more in more matches. He successes are far more than his failures so far this year.
And as for the comparison between Giggs last year game and Charlton in 65, that doesn’t even make sense, does it?
Off Topic:
CAS suspended Chelsea ban.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=694773&sec=england&cc=3888
If I put money on Chelsea as is the prevailing feeling now that they’ll win, I won’t enjoy the match as much, so I’m going for an ‘upset win’ – Chelsea 2 – ManU 3.
scott i thought the first question was who would you choose btn rooney/drogba/ladyboy ???
yet no one mentioned torres !! is it because of the hatred or is it coz he has a good record btn the 2 teams ??
honestly i would choose torres ahead of drogba.
if theres one game that turn me on is chelsea vs united physical football,shit ref decisions,boring atmosphere,ugly direct play from rent boys…………………….do fergi realise his poor record against ancelotti ? hope he ends it on sunday.
Perhaps Vidic and Ferdinand got exposed against Liverpool due to the lack of an energetic and defensive midfielder in front of them?
Carrik has a decent game against Liverpool and was one of our better performers. He just missed an Anderson next to him.
Giggs is not a central midfielder and whilst he has has decent games in there, its been at the expense of a more structured system.
Against a better full back or a better side, he also lacks the pace on the wing to perform for 90 mins.
We could use the same arguement with Phil Neville, it worked against Arsenal a coupe of times and that was about the extent of it, against not a natural central midfielder.
Just because something worked once, does not mean that it will always work.
Brown offers a lot more both defensively and attacking wise than O’Shea and O’Shea would be my 4th choice behind Brown, Rafael and Neville.
I actually expect Fergie to pick Giggs (If fully fit).
I wouldnt rule out Evra being rested, with O’Shea at left back, to give the extra height.
The key is picking a team that will compete and that will attack Chelsea.
At this monent in time, Id settle for a point on Sunday.
Off-topic:
The rentboys’ owner seems to be celebrating before the game. Isn’t this just ridiculous!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/what-rich-people-eat-cci/
But it wasn’t just one game that Giggs played in the centre last year – he played pretty much every game there and won the Player of the Year award doing it.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11667_5678365,00.html?
*praying*
I disagree with the point that Giggs was bad against Liverpool, the selection was poor: Giggs, Carrick & Scholes in the same midfield against Lpool is never going to work. Giggs on the left / Valencia on the right with two hard-working midfielders (Fletch & Ando) is a different prospect altogether.
Central pairings rated for Sunday:
1. Ando & fletch = hard working so you can afford two creative players out wide – Giggs & Valencia. Strongest option IMO.
2. Fletch & Scoles = strong enough in central mid to afford Giggs left & Velencia right, Valencia works hard so it’s not a bad option
3. Fletch & Carrick = Not a bad option but would need more help from out wide than option 1 or 2
5. Carrick & Scholes = Worked well together over the past few years but generally operating in a 5-man midfield. Not enough energy between them to boss in a 4-man unit.
4. Carrick & Ando = Don’t think Ando protects his partner enough in midfield to allow Carrick the space he needs for his passing game.
6. Ando & Scholes = Possibly need to play Fletch wide right to help Scholes with leg-work and hassle opponents / Giggs on left may help with defensive duties but the Ando/Scholes combo has never looked good.
Nice read Scott.
As for game on Sunday. If Giggs does start then he has to be in my mind playing in the middle. Forget last season, this season Giggs has shown what he can do and go past defenders. But, he can’t be doing it against the likes of Chelsea as a winger, he won’t have the legs for getting back enough.
I’d like for us to go with
VDS
O’Shea, Vida, Evans, Evra
Fletcher, Carrick
Valencia Anderson Rooney
Berbatov
Giggs showed in the Stoke game that he can be a fantastic impact player, better than most we have coming of the bench. Him playing from the start though against a physically and technically strong side as Chelsea, I don’t think he’ll be as good as he was last year, especially not with Essien in there to shore them up.
I believe we can win this game but, we need to put away our chances and play with a real chip on our shoulder. Let Anderson get in their faces like he got in Gerrard’s. Make Ballack do something stupid and most of all Vida needs to play like a beast, no fear and attack everything.
Im loving the fact we are going in as under dogs at the weekend, we are the champions yet apart from our own quarters no one has us down for a win.
I agree with Jig, and add that the Ando/Scholes combination is a really bad one. When they played togheter things were really difficult.
Some say we shouldn’t lpay 442 against Chelsea, but I think that we can bet on the wings to break their force at the midfield. Lampad/Deco/Essien (Monster)/Ballack is a hell of a force, but concentrated. We have to mantain possession, and play wide to beat them.
A 443 wouldn’t be bad, but Valencia would be out!
Actually i think 4-5-1 is the better options than 4-4-2. We need to close the space in the midfield first. Once we adapt and play to our game in the later part of the match, we can then change the formation and also bring on owen.
anyone know some pub to watch the match in london on sun.
cant get tickets and gonna be there anyway???
I’d take a draw right now. Fletch could destroy their midfield’s threat. The way Chelsea have played, especially at home, is with the full backs constantly attacking. If they continue this way against us, I can see our wingers pissing all over them. Giggsy’s experience could utilize the space.
If they change the way they play just for Sunday, we could seriously take adavantage of any confusion. Wazza, Berbs and Ando could run riot.
He doesn’t do it for me in big games and he’s had 2 poor games in a row in my opinion, but Berbatov can play a huge part this Sunday. He doesn’t have to outrun their defence, if anything he’s quicker than Carvalho and Terry. With Rooney, Giggsy and Valencia making the runs, Berba could weave his magic and thread the passes to cut open their defence.
My team
VDS
Wes. Evans. Vida. Evra
Val Fletch Ando Giggs
Wazza. Berbs
A draw away to Rentboys is a great result. As long as we stay within 3 points of Chelsea by the time they get players off to the African Cup, we will win this league. And then NEXT YEAR is Liverpool’s
I haven’t read the comments yet, but that was some love-in between Scott and TCB!! Come on Scott, we want fighting words!!
good honest interview scott.
the guy from seems to be a good bloke who has honest opinion same as you scott. he was’nt deluded like the dippers. anyway i think we should have vida having a great game against drogba the diver. i hope we have a better performance than the one against the dippers. i hope wes starts the game at rb and in the midfield ando and fletcher and nani on the right wing and giggs on the left wing and with berba and wazza upfront. the reason for me leaving valencia out he needs a rest from the CSKA game and carrick’s omission is that he lacks pace but is undoubtedly a great passer of the ball and gabby obertan on the bench.
@Corea
same here mate missed the man with the curly hair!:-)
hate these stamford bridge games. between the horrible glory hunting fans, constant shots of their fckin’ owner on the screens, the whinging and diving of drogba, ballack’s dirty fouls, john terry being his smug, self important, overrated self, patrice evra being assaulted, the special twat jose from season’s past… it’s been a big blue toilet for united supporters!!
there’s dippers, gooners, city twats, leeds scum, but i think i hate chelsea the most because they have always been our most realistic threat for all the major trophies in the last few years, and that won’t change any time soon.
i’m just hoping that the refs boss the game properly from the start, and don’t effect the outcome like the dipper game. as long as its fair play, and united finally play up to their full potential and control the midfield, i think we can finally win our first game there since 2002.
prediction: 2-1 united, they unfairly score from a terry dive and drogba pk to make it closer than it seems.
no nani for this game please fergie! though i still haven’t lost complete faith in his potential like many others.
Tufty further to your sarcastic answer about Charlton playing in 65 etc I KNOW it was last season but has Giggs not been on top form this season?
He WILL start I am sure of that. Fergie has had him wrapped in cotton wool for 3 weeks. He will have him prepared for Sunday.
I see 2 more ABU’s have come wriggling out the woodwork. Coke head, alky, gambling cunt Merson reckons we will get beat 3-1 and fat cockney cunt Steven Howard from the Sun actually reckons we are in “crisis”. We will be over powered he says then the real questions will begin. What like the last 10 years you prick. I love the fact United aren’t expected to win by the media as our backs are now to the wall and this is when United are very dangerous. Fergie has said it will be a different performance to Anfield. Lets hope he is right. I am sure he is.
433
vds
wes vidic johnny evra
flecth carrick anderson
valencia wazza giggs
subs: kuxxxxx, mickey ,dimiti, obertan ,kiko,scholes,fabio
no osher no nani we ‘ll sure win
What good honest answers from TCB, fair play.. cant imagine dippers ever being that honest..
United in turmoil, what are these jokers on about. In the summer it was Liverpools year because they come second and we lost to Barca. We have won the league three years back to back and we are in crisis. I dont think anyone would say we are setting the world alight at the moment but we are still winning which shows we are anything but a crisis!
I would love a draw on Sunday but a win…well that would just be quality!
Haha i liked it! Usually these ‘View from the enemy’ posts make me squirm with Scott’s admissions (which are almost always true but sometimes too brutal) but this was enlightening.
Thanks Scott
we barley find chelsea fans like these anymore, someone who would agree Rooney is better than Torres & Drogba
Im really scared… iBELIEVE!
anyone know how many united fans will be there on sun.
just got a ticket there for shed upper in the visiting supporters gate.
cant wait
cmon you reds
Good interview, decent honest answers. Nice to see a un-deluded rival fan who understands football and respects other teams.
The midfield that can win us the game: Obertan Fletcher Ando Valencia.
*Obertan and Valencia’s pace will be too much to handle for their old players
*Obertan deserves this start. He’s only featured in 2 games but I have a feeling he’s the sort of player who rises to the occasion of playing against tough opposition
*If the game is sealed and we’re 2 goals up Fergie can bring on Ando and Giggs for Fletcher and Ando to keep the midfield fresh for our next game.
*I would start Owen alongside Berbatov, the majority of the time a goal is scored when these two are playing together, fantastic partnership. I would then bring on Rooney if the game is dead/we’re not playing well.
Fze123 – Agree with some of your post but not start Rooney? Are you insane?
View from the enemy is good post, only that the last time we had such a view we lost 2 – nil.
This guy seems to be much better than the last idiot from the dippers.
I really hope we win this one, we havnt had an important win for some time now and I really hope we pull this off.
I am getting a sudden feeling from the last couple of days that Vidic might leave in Jan…
Read some where that Rio’s injury may be much worse than expected.
I can imagine a game without Rooney starting – though it wouldn’t happen ever while SAF is in charge and Rooney is healthy, not in a game like this. Rooney was less likely to be left out in a game when golden boy Ronaldo was around.
But, this season, Rooney is missing a bit of fire in his game. The mature Rooney needs to be set aside for Sunday and the fiery Rooney that wants to tear the Chavs a new one and will take no prisoners needs to show up.
Just no silly yellows till the game is done and dusted. Then make Terry cry like the little bitch he is.
@ King Eric, I know it seems insane to suggest not to start Rooney but he isn’t having the form of his life at the moment, isn’t his fault, and I know that the birth of his child has probably relaxed him mentally and prepared him for stamford bridge. But Berbatov is playing very good and it’s guaranteed that if Owen starts he’ll get in many dangerous positions straight away and put one of the many chances he gets in the net. Owen is supposed to be the ‘impact’ player but as we have seen from the CSKA game when Rooney came on, he had a huge imapact and lifted the players, if he weren’t subbed on I don’t think we would have been able to draw 3-3. I just think that if Owen-Berbatov started together we could probably score early and kill the game, because as seen in recent games it’s taking us a long time to hit the net.
So if we’re not playing very well/conceded/haven’t scores after 30 minutes on sunday, Rooney can come on and change the game. I am not saying from now on Rooney shouldn’t start, just talking about this game only.
I reckon the formation will 4 5 1 with a lon striker up front. Maybe Rooney on his own up front or perhaps on the left wing. I think it will be safety first.
ive said this a million times b4(well not quite) and i will say it once more, the only people we need praising utd, and praising how we perform, or critising(sp) us is MANCHESTER UNITED, not dereck mcgovern, or merson, or someother tit, who the fuck do they think they are, we’ll do our shit, they do theirs, thank you, and goodbye
Fze123 – I see your logic mate, I really do BUT Rooney has to start. The game is made for him. Can see him bagging on Sunday. An off form Rooney can still be devasting. You only have to look at comments over the last few months that Lumpard and Terry have made. They are shit scared of the White Pele. I would bring Owen on if needed as he could have some great impact.
Man United must be win the game tomorrow. Come on, Rooney!
Although I am desperate for us to win on Sunday, I would not be too unhappy with a draw.
I hope Fergie manages to fire the team enough and they give us a great performance. We are owed one big time.
I really wonder who’ll start.Berba or Owen.Most probably it’d be Berba, but bothe have their wonderful qualities.It’s a great problem to have though,and whoever starts, we have to step our game up.Everywhere i read, “I can’t see past a chelsea win this sunday”.”Manutd are weaker than last season” Annoyed.Seriously, this is the only website that gives me hapiness and solace.
I really hope we put together a wonderful performance.One that we can rave about.i’d like to see fletch and ando in the middle.I’m scratching my head over giggs.he played well against chelsea lasts season when playing in the middle.But i do think fletch and ando will be strong.or maybe fletch and scholes.
i wonder how i’ll be able to pull through 90 mins looking at the rentboyz faces.and their diving and wining antiques.urgh.
Agree with ghtt. This one’s much better than the one before liverpool game..
Whatever formation we start with – the lads have gotta more fight than against the Scousers, that’s for sure.
We used to be known for being able to play it pretty or getting stuck in, as required. Not so sure that’s the case any more…
Let’s fuck them up!
@ King Eric – Fair play mate, you have a point, we’ll see how it will be on sunday. The most important thing is for us to win with our strongest first XI and with Fergie picking the right team selection. I don’t want a reapeat of the dippers game.