‘There are so many very unhappy people around..’ my wife said , her voice tailing off despondently as we watched the TV coverage this week of rioting, looting and arson wrecking lives and destroying communities. As Hilary and I tried to make sense of it all, our mood swung wildly from anger at the wanton nature of the destruction to despair at the social alienation these tragic events signified. But the overwhelming emotion was sorrow at the plight of people driven from their homes and businesses by violence and fire, while the police appeared to be doing nothing. We have friends or family in or near many of the riot hotspots so it has been a very disturbing time, especially as our daughter Kat was giving us regular updates from her FaceBook connections. She was trying to keep track of what was happening while giving warnings to friends in places such as Hackney, Clapham, and Ealing, helping co-ordinate evasive action and self-protection. There were horrifying, Blitz-like scenes across London as cars were torched and shops set on fire. For us it was made worse knowing that Kat had friends within sight, sound, heat and smell of the flames destroying the iconic Victorian furniture store in Croydon, as we could see from apocalyptic uploaded pictures of the blaze. Another friend was riskily taking photos of looting in Clapham which he put up too.Locally we heard that the Texaco gas station a couple of roads away had been completely trashed and the attendant badly beaten up by a masked bunch of hoodrats, while all night we heard the sound of sirens howling through the high street, destination uncertain. Maybe Putney, maybe Fulham, maybe Hammersmith, maybe Clapham, maybe Wandsworth. Where next?
Throughout these terrible days and nights of rioting the same phrase kept coming back: ‘It’s kicking off’.
It was those words,ordinarily cheerfully applied to football, that made me think, I really can’t ignore the riots in writing a preview piece for Manchester United’s first game of the Premiership season, when it all kicks off in a very different sense. First several league cup matches in London were postponed and then they called off the England friendly against Holland at Wembley, where I’d hoped to see young Tom Cleverley’s international debut. Gradually news filtered through that the rioting was spreading beyond London to Birmingham and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands and then to Liverpool, Manchester and Salford in the North West. Finally the words I’d been dreading came through: ‘It’s all kicking off in West Bromwich’.
Good old days?
I had been looking forward to sharing a few memories of a match I witnessed fifty years ago between West Bromwich Albion and United at the Hawthorns in 1961, with no thought of today’s ills, thinking only about how I could bring those distant days to life. Normally I really don’t like to portray things as ‘the good old days’ or suggest that X or Y ‘wouldn’t have happened in my day’ because all periods have their good times and bad. We each have our own cherished memories, so it’s beside the point to set up one era above another as somehow superior. But, by chance, the period I’m going to write about had certain qualities that really did stand out as different from today. The Tory prime minister of the time, Harold MacMillan (‘Super Mac’) famously claimed, ‘You’ve never had it so good!’ and whether or not that was true, people then certainly had optimism and hope in a way that they don’t now.
In the early Sixties that glad confident spirit was even just beginning to apply to United, despite the still raw scars of Munich and the fact that trophies seemed a long way off.
What WBA have meant to Man United
I have always had a liking for WBA, who have a long tradition of trying to play football the right way. They were one of the founders of the Football League in 1888 and they have won all three major domestic trophies, including the FA Cup five times. United supporters have particular reason to be grateful to them for providing two of the greatest figures in Old Trafford history, 1930s hard-man half-back Jimmy Murphy, who became Matt Busby’s Assistant after WW2, and then in the 1980s, ‘Captain Marvel’, the inspirational Bryan Robson, who was signed from Albion by manager Ron Atkinson,himself a recruit from West Brom, bringing a period of relative success to Old Trafford.
It’s odd, but until the 1970s very few players passed from United to WBA, more going to such teams as Luton Town and even Brighton & Hove Albion. But relations between the clubs seem always to have been good, and several ex-United players had spells as managers at the Hawthorns, including Johnny Giles, Nobby Stiles, Lou Macari and Bryan Robson, with varying degrees of success.
Holy Trinity ‘firsts’ against WBA
Beyond the movement of players and managers one way or the other there have been three very significant United ‘firsts’ involving WBA, each landmark events in the careers of the ‘Holy Trinity’.
In 1958, Bobby Charlton played his first game after the Munich Air Crash against WBA, starring in a 2-2 draw in the FA Cup at the Hawthorns, a tremendously significant encounter which I’ll return to in a moment.
Then in 1962, Denis Law made his first appearance for United against WBA in the league at Old Trafford, scoring his first goal for the club with a flashing header in a 2-2 draw. It was the first match of the season and disappointingly United threw away a brilliant early 2 goal lead and were slow-handclapped off the pitch at the end.
In 1963, George Best played his first game for United at the age of 17 in the league against WBA at Old Trafford. He didn’t score but aquitted himself well in a 1-0 victory, although few would have then predicted how things would turn out for him in the following decade.
Saturday 1 March 1958: FA Cup 6th Round: WBA 2 Man United 2
Before we come to 1961 it’s worth saying something about this momentous match, which set the scene for so much that followed in United’s history. United had already beaten Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 in an astonishing, emotion drenched FA Cup 5th round match at Old Trafford in their first match after Munich with a patchwork team of fringe-players, youth teamers and just two crash survivors, Bill Foulkes and Harry Gregg. Now, prompted by his football-mad mother, Bobby Charlton had decided that he must return to action for United and help the club rise again from the ashes. He was given a secret fitness trial in the snow under the eyes of acting manager Jimmy Murphy, while the club had to plead with the Army to release him from national service for the match at a time when he was officially ‘sick’ from injuries in the crash. Lance Corporal Charlton later admitted he’d felt ‘old and slow and fat’ in the physical after his involuntary lay-off but Murphy knew how much even a half fit Bobby would lift his rag-tag team.And so it proved.
I didn’t see the match at the Hawthorns myself (we had no TV, and it would not have been covered anyway, as few matches were then). But when I got the score after school and heard about how brilliantly Bobby had played he instantly became the hero he has remained in my eyes ever since. I remember poring over match reports at home and in the school library in Berkhamsted and I thrilled to the ebb and flow of the match which was evidently played in the best possible spirit. The attendance was 58,000, with over 15,000 coming from Manchester, an amazing figure at a time when relatively few fans travelled to away matches.
WBA were a very good team in those days, finishing fourth in the league that season, with terrific players such as Bobby Robson, Ronnie Allen, Derek Kevan and Don Howe. They sure played to win in this cup-tie, as shown by the fact that they forced a late equaliser in the dying moments, having seen the indomitable United twice take the lead, inspired not just by ‘our kid’ from Ashington but also by veteran signing Ernie Taylor. Everyone who witnessed the match says how rich in drama and intensity it was as the United youngsters showed astonishing inner resolve, an implacable insistence that they just would not give in.For many of the players, being out on the pitch was probably their best refuge from their grief and anguish at the loss of so many friends and team mates.
At the end of the match both sides were near emotional and physical exhaustion, but soon raring to go for the replay.
Wednesday 5 March 1958: FA Cup 6th Round Replay: Man United 1 WBA 0
If the 2-2 draw at the Hawthorns had been a match full of emotion, it was as nothing compared to the return at Old Trafford before a packed house under floodlights, with twenty or thirty thousand locked out. From what I’ve heard, although the noise was just as extraordinary and the atmosphere equally electric, it was subtly different from that famous first win against Wednesday. Now there was a real feeling that some sort of historic revival was possible, not just in a one-off show of emotion, or in some distant future, next season, or the season after, but right now, this year. Everything was now staked on the FA Cup, which took on a symbolic significance, for players, for fans, and for the wider public.
Funnily enough I have a strange, slightly embarrassing memory of this match. I had a good friend called Dave Harrap, who had been a United fan since before the Crash (indeed I remember how angry he had been at the way Aston Villa had beaten the Babes in the 1957 FA Cup Final, when ‘keeper Ray Wood was virtually assaulted by winger Peter McParland and had his cheek-bone smashed) and I became irrationally jealous of his name when yet another youth team player was thrown in the deep end for United, named Bobby Harrop. I so wished there was an Oakley out there helping United, and how I wished it was me. Dave was lucky, he’d got a near name-sake out there, a Harrop who apparently played his heart out in a historic win as a left half. (Bobby Harrop played a handful of games for United before being transferred to Tranmere the following year, another possible casualty of the Munich too-soon syndrome).
United beat WBA with a goal scored in the final minute from a Bobby Charlton pass which fizzed across the goalmouth to find Welsh winger Colin Webster at the far post. More grounds for my hero-worship of the modest Bobby-Soxer. Three years later Bobby gave an interview where he described this as ‘My Greatest Cup-Tie’. He recalled that after Webster’s late clincher,
‘We scarcely had time to re-start the match. The crowd was insane, the uproar was uncontrollable and the crowd lingered and lingered and lingered. It seemed they never wanted to leave the scene of this unforgettable match, and it took us hours to get away. So it was…when we qualified for the semi-final of the Cup. When we had calmed down, after the end, Jimmy Murphy telephoned the result to Matt Busby, still in hospital in Munich. All the boss could say was, “Wonderful, wonderful”.(Daily Herald, 27 January, 1961)
Of course, United won the semi final against Fulham after a replay and faced Bolton in the Final at Wembley. They lost, but that mattered less than the fact that Manchester United had indeed risen from the ashes. They were still contenders.
Supporter’s Club (London & District Branch)
By the time of that 1961 Herald interview with Bobby, I had long been a committed United fan and had even managed to get to several matches, despite the hindrance of having to go to school on Saturdays. I had joined the Supporter’s Club London & District Branch a couple of years before, mainly to enable me to get badges, handbooks, photos and newsletters. There was something admirable about the attention to detail by all the various voluntary officials in responding to requests for things, fulfilling the club motto, ‘To Help – Not to Hinder’. Some letters were hand-written, others carefully produced on old-fashioned ‘sit-up-and-beg’ type-writers with inky ribbons, so primitive by modern digital standards. There was a rather touching formality about the letters on headed note-paper (‘LIfe Honary Member Commander A. Burke’), particularly the way people would always be identified with initials, ‘Yours faithfully, P.Ball’, something characteristic of trade union and other working class organisations at the time, perhaps stemming from a desire for ‘respectability’ and order. I saw the same in the letters and minutes of the football and cricket clubs I played for back home, though not in my main team a few years later, Amersham Ravers FC, a by-word for ‘alternative’ informality. Many of the letters I got from the MUSC were from the secretary, a woman named (Miss) J. Wakeling from Rotherhithe, who became rather less formal as time went by, even revealing her full name. As a 13-year old boy much prone to blushing, I fantasised about the prime of Miss Jeanne Wakeling but I never met her. Neverthelss, I’m grateful for all the hard work she and others did in keeping the flag flying with kids like me.
Of course the Club organised trips to matches, several every season, mostly at times I couldn’t manage until I finally spotted a particularly alluring fixture during the Easter break in April 1961: WBA away. I’d always wanted to see the Hawthorns, a venue that loomed large in my historical imagination after that epic cup tie in ’58.
Football Coach
I had never been to Birmingham or West Bromwich, which are effectively part of the same urban sprawl, although technically about five miles apart. The Hawthorns is very close to the boundary and is said to be the highest stadium in the UK, although I can’t say I noticed it at the time. What I was more aware of was how many stretches of countryside still encroached healthily on parts of the city, something I always liked many years later when going to the BBC’s old Birmingham studios at Pebble Mill, close to Edgbaston Cricket ground.
For West Brom I had booked a seat through P.Ball for the MUSC coach to ‘the aforementioned’ match, leaving London from Charing Cross Underground station at 9.45 am. It cost me 15 shillings return, a huge sum for me at the time, aged 15 (equivalent in decimal terms to 75p, although that’s very misleading regarding actual purchasing power). First I had to get up to Baker Street from Amersham and then cross town to the Embankment, making for a very early start and a long day. I couldn’t persuade anyone to come with me, even Dave-not-Harrop.
I was both nervous and excited, fearful I’d somehow miss the coach or get left behind after the game, uncertain what to expect from the other supporters, who were in fact friendly, but much older and they all knew each other. There was a crate of beer at the back and there was an incessant round of what we’d now call banter with all that quick-fire wit that fans seem to develop automatically, even among those who can suddenly become tongue-tied in front of authority. Sadly I can’t remember anything specific now, but it was funny and very noticeable how cynical they were about United’s players, with none of the wide-eyed adoration I felt for them. Yet, there they were, clearly regulars, just as committed to the cause as I was, just as passionate.
I shrank back into my seat near the back listening in awe to the speed of the repartee, not exactly excluded, but hardly part of it either. Still, it was the start of a thrilling adventure for me, very different from what I’d been doing the previous weekend when I went on the Easter Sunday Aldermaston ‘Ban the Bomb’ March in support of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmanent (CND) with my parents and brother Chris, marching along with bearded Beatniks and duffle-coated Trad Jazz bands playing ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’. It’s not that one event was middle class and the other working class, but there were quite different cultural groupings at each. I felt pleased to be part of both.
Birmingham: City of Stilts
In the early Sixties Birmingham and its different neighbourhoods hadn’t yet got the reputation for ethnic tension that they still clearly have today in the wake of the tragic deaths during this week’s rioting. The first national awareness of the problem came in the 1964 General Election when there was an openly racist Tory election campaign in Smethwick, with the ‘unofficial’ slogan ‘If You Want a Nigger Neighbour, Vote Labour’ daubed up on walls, which helped tip out the sitting MP.
By the time of the Handsworth riots of 1985, there were further, significant tensions between the different ethnic/ religious groups, just like now.I remember filming there for a BBC documentary on ‘inner city blues’ (not about City), taking a nervous production assistant who’d never been to the Midlands before. To distract her from worrying about ‘urban unrest’, I told her the interesting thing about Birmingham was that it was the only city in Britain built on stilts because of the marshy terrain. To my amazement she believed me and as we entered Birmingham, she shrieked, ‘Ooh look, Giles, I can see the stilts!’ as she pointed out Spaghetti Junction.
Anyway, I digress. There was no massive motorway interchange in 1961, and more of the classic red-brick Victorian and Edwardian architecture still survived, some of which was sadly the victim of urban regeneration in the later ’60s and ’70s. But in terms of football and the black community, we should here pay tribute to the role of WBA who did so much to pioneer the employment of black players, such as Cyril Regis, Laurie Cunningham (who later briefly played for United) and Remi Moses, who joined United as part of the deal that took Bryan Robson to Old Trafford in 1981. Albion were far ahead of United who remained disappointingly white for far too long until the arrival of Big Ron at Old Trafford in the ’80s (which makes Atkinson’s later downfall as a TV commentator for making a bizarre racist remark even more inexplicable).
Saturday 8 April 1961: WBA 1 Man United 1
At the time of this match, WBA had just won their last seven matches and they were playing attractive, progressive football under manager Gordon Clark, after a faltering start to the season. They still had several of the key players who’d featured in the epic cup matches of 1958, including Bobby Robson, Don Howe and Derek Kevan and now they had a wonderful ‘ball-playing’ inside forward, the marvellous David Burnside. He was famous for his ball juggling tricks, which he’d been known to display on stage as well as at the Hawthorns.
The stadium was hardly a classic venue in some ways, being more functional than grand. My main memory of it then, before the major transformations of later years, was of two long low stands along either side of the pitch, and small stands behind the goals providing partial cover from wind or rain but also acting as a kind of giant echo chamber, amplifying the noise of the 27,000-odd fans, adding to the raucous atmosphere. When I went through the turnstiles and found myself standing on the terraces out in the open somewhere near the halfway line I easily found other Reds, all unsegregated, some wearing red & white ‘bar’ scarves. I didn’t want to hang on nervously to the others off the coach, but kept an eye on them, taking my cue from then when to leave at the end.
I’d bought the local papers, the Evening Despatch and the Evening Mail plus the programme and I was curious to see how the Albion fans would react to the return of Maurice Setters for his first match since signing for United the previous season in slightly acrimonious circumstances. In fact he was given a warm welcome, perhaps reflecting the fact that neither side faced relegation nor hoped for silverware. Both were anchored in mid-table, in 10th and 11th place. Spurs, who were on their way towards the Double, had no less than 24 points more than United, yet there was already a buzz that the team was beginning to shape up.
In cool, dry conditions on a severely worn pitch, this was a terrific match, dominated for long periods by Albion, putting the United defence under constant pressure, which brought the best out of Setters -out to make a point, perhaps – and Mr Immaculate at left back, the cerebral Noel Cantwell, who we now know was highly critical of the lack of up-to-date coaching at Old Trafford when he arrived from West Ham earlier in the season. United had all my favourite attackers, Albert Quixall, Dennis Viollet and Charlton, plus youngsters Johnny Giles and Mark ‘Pancho’ Pearson, whose rock ‘n’ roll sideburns I particularly liked to emulate, causing no end of trouble at school. I was constantly told to get my hair cut and shave off my ‘burns, once being memorably told, ‘You really are a hairy ruin, Oakers!’
There were occasional glimpses of the fast-interweaving forward play for which United were famous (with or without ‘coaching’) but Bobby Robson was showing why he became a regular for England, orchestrating attack after attack with crafted passes through midfield. I always liked him as a player and thought he was one of football’s great characters as a manager, a decent man with a genuine love for the game and its players. I remember once finding myself entering a London Tube train with him at a time when he was somewhat under pressure from the tabloids as England manager. As we sat down opposite each other and simultaneously got out our copies of the Guardian he gave me a lovely rumpled grin with a little nodding wink of approval towards my paper.
Anyway, back to 1961. Somehow the first half ended goal-less, helped by an outstanding display from Dave Gaskell in the United goal, in for Harry Gregg, injured since helping United beat table-topping Spurs in January.
Second Half
The second half began explosively when a smooth United move by Quixall, Viollet and Giles forced a corner. The ball was played short to Shay Brennan, he whipped it in to Mark Pearson who hammered it home with venomous power, like a ‘rocket’ the evening paper later said.
United’s lead was somewhat against the run of play and now their goal was put under siege, forcing save after save from Gaskell. As the end approached I thought United had weathered the storm and was furious when what I thought was a good goal by Pancho was disallowed by the ref. Bobby Charlton was now running freely down the left at the WBA defence, where he was up against England full-back Don Howe ( a coach at Arsenal ten years later when they won the Double) and looked a cut above anyone else on the pitch. Then disaster struck.
Derek Kevan, a muscular, if limited centre forward (who’d kept our Bobby out of the England team in the 1958 World Cup) skillfully flicked a return ball out wide to Howe who equalised with a powerful low drive into the corner of the nest, well wide of Gaskell.
The match ended 1-1 which probably flattered United, but it was part of a very good run at the end of the season, seven matches without defeat, including five wins, scoring 23 goals in the process. They finished in 7th place, only 21 points behind Spurs, which , given how poor United had been earlier in the season, was a real sign of progress.
When Noel Cantwell had words with me
After the match I found my way back to the coach, anxious not to be left behind. Advised by one of the older hands I went to get autographs, something I’d never done before, although I had a good collection of signatures from after the Spurs 4-1 defeat when an elderly supporter gave me a whole bag full of old programmes and memorabilia, including several Babes’ autographs from before and after Munich (including, as it happens Bobby Harrop’s). In fact I was unlucky by the time I found the team coach because all the players were already aboard together with Matt Busby and Jimmy Murphy. My one and only chance came when the last player came striding out of the player’s door at the Hawthorns. I moved deferentially towards him and said quietly to the gentlemanly Irish full-back, ‘Excuse me Mr Cantwell, please can I have your autograph?’
‘Fuck off,’ he hissed out of the side of his mouth, ‘I’m not signing’.
I was shocked, not in the sense of moral outrage, but surprised, and very disappointed. Noel Cantwell, who later led United to victory in the 1963 FA Cup Final was a bit of a hero, a very cultured defender, who I’d seen many times not just with United but also with West Ham , as when he faced Stanley Matthews on the only occasion I saw the legendary winger.I had never before been spoken to by an adult in that way and even among friends it was rare to hear the f-word.
In these days when I am as free as anyone in my use of bad language it’s hard to explain how different things were 50 years ago. I never heard my parents or grandparents swear, mild expleteives such as ‘Christ’, or ‘God’ or even ‘bloody’ being pretty taboo, even in a very free-and-easy, liberal household like our’s. I remember a West Ham-supporting East Ender telling me that the worst he ever heard from his Mum was when she’d say, ‘Ooh blimey!’ at the cliff-hanger ending of every episode of Coronation Street.
Matt Busby certainly never swore, although Jimmy Murphy had a very fruity repertoire,as does Sir Alex Ferguson today, much to the delight of many a fan, especially when it’s directed at the likes of a Daily Mail hack. But there are many people in football who see this change in public behaviour as a matter of great regret.Ken Ramsden, who joined United as an office boy in 1960 and rose to become one of the most important parts of the administrative team well into the 2000s, noticed the change over time:
‘In the Fifties and early Sixties, if a youngster swore at a football match he took a clipping and would be told not to use that type of language. Nowadays it’s common to see fathers and their children swearing together; I’ve seen children on the shoulders of their fathers when the team bus arrives and they have both been giving the team a two-fingered salute. That’s one change that hasn’t been for the better’. (United we Stand, General Editor Graham McColl, 2002)
Let’s leave kicking-off to football
So, what, if anything, does the experience of watching football fifty years ago tell us about our current discontents? Certainly I never felt a moment’s anxiety at football in those days when I first started going to football in 1959. There was no problem of hooliganism until much later in the ’60s, when some of the worst violent behaviour of fans was not unlike what we’ve seen this week. I wish we could turn the clock back in this one way, I’d like to see a return to the sporting spirit shown most of the time then in the early Sixties, when there was certainly passionate rivalry but it was not so intense and there was little sense of hatred or bitterness in defeat.
But most of all, the thing that is different today from half a century ago is the loss of the optimism and hope I mentioned before. Despite the tremendous advances in some material aspects of our lives, especially in terms of technology, we all seem to feel that the future is bleak, uncertain, insecure. There’s a huge and growing gulf between rich and poor, and a very strong sense of helpless social injustice infects marginalised communities, giving angry , resentful young people with low self-esteem the feeling they have no connection to any wider society and nothing to lose, however they behave. I was delighted when Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney showed genuine concern over what was happening in the areas like those where they grew up , in Peckham and Croxteth, and sent out Tweets to call for calm and a return to peaceful life. Whether alienated and disconnected youth listen to multi-millionnaire footballers I don’t know, but I’d rather see players I admire show some sign of social conscience than not.
In the meantime, let us hope that football this weekend performs that role that Matt Busby and others believed so central to their working lives, entertaining the working class and lift them out of their problems for a while and help revive energies for creating a better world. Above all, let’s hope this weekend the only ‘kicking off’ is at football matches, including the one at the Hawthorns. Let’s stay United.
Man Utd News 24/7
I love Giles Oakley’s articles, always make very good reading. Thanks Giles!
Thanks for this Giles
I agree about your observations about your coach trip, I think every fan should take a coach trip to an away fixture at least once in their life, magic!
My most memorable was a Yelloway coach (remember them) from Middleton, in Manchester, to Wembley for the FA Cup in 1977 where we beat the overwhelming favourites Liverpool 2-1.
The whole day and the trip back is as vivid now as it was then, briliant!
Anyway, season tickets arrived last week and after pre-season and yesterday’s results, I am really optimistic for this season.
….. and the Reds go marching on, on, on.
Yes top 5
The society is so different today.
One thought: I think fans and peolpe in general would respect that football is just a game and that players have a life outside it aswell before, because footballers were’nt rich. The silly money they earn today is not only alienation, but a sort of “justification” for people to slag them off, call them names – and for the press to give anyone a hard time over small matters (in life that is).
It’s the way we live our lives, we make heroes and we sort of agree to have a society with big differences and massive economic boost to the most wanted and able people. We do, cause we pay up to £50 to see a 90 minutes match. For big games even more. Prices should be around £15 and what player needs to earn more than £30.000 a week? I don’t think Bryan Robson had anything near that. Or say Bobby Charlton.
Anyway. Still feel the buzz! S looking forward to today. Hope Cleverley plays.
Alright lads, did anyone get a chance to see De Laet play yesterday?
RJ – He did well after the penalty
There’s nowt better than a coach trip to a game.
The banter in all that. Has to experienced by every fan, at least once.
Great read Giles. You keep writing them and we’ll keep reading em!
Joey Barton looked good yesterday too. Almost reminded me of Roy Keane they way he dragged that cheater back up to his feet!
@Zelh
I thought he had a solid match besides the penny too, made some crucial blocks towards the end.
@Gazzer
He’s still a vile human being though.
Hi everyone utd will beat west brow 3 0 rooney 2 score first and young 2 score 2
Dogbreath only on the bench and the ladyboy starting.
Thanks Roman!
Thank you Giles Oakley!
gazzer – I agree, Barton played very well, and I appreciated him pulling up Gervinho.
Ahead of today’s game I have an exclusive interview with Roy Hodgson, conducted yesterday morning:
http://agentoffergie.blogspot.com/2011/08/theories-of-relativity.html
Great read – also do not forget the home opener in 1966 when we smacked in 5 in the first 20 minutes (or so) and then went flat in the second half – they scored 3.
We won the league that year – and the European Cup the year after.
UNITED 20/4/12 – 2012
Have to disagree with the Barton defenders here. I don’t think he was as bad as was made out I have to say, but really if Gervinho raising a hand on Barton is a red card, then Barton using his arms to aggressively pull him up (and that is the charitable explanation) is as much of a red. I don’t see why there is a distinction between that Gervinho slap and Barton’s own threatening/aggressive actions (whatever the cause).
And this whole cheating business is a whole lot of holier than thou bullshit. I hate diving as anyone else, but when I see the likes of Barton getting provoked and barging up to one of his own players after a dive and pulling him up by the collar, then I’ll take your point. And I’ll buy some of the Barton defense here next time the people doing the defending come out and address our own playing in the same terms that they have Gervinho. This is unfortunately a sad part of out game, but the answer isn’t the Joey Barton’s delivering selective, vigilante justice!
Correction: And I’ll buy some of the Barton defense here next time the people doing the defending come out and address our own players when they simulate in the same terms that they have Gervinho as a diving, cheating cunt.
Afternoon reds,
Barton was Newcastle’s stand out player yesterday, it was aggressive yes, but I don’t mind aggressive football. Getting dragged off the floor by Barton might be the welcome to the Premiership that lad needs, we don’t stand for diving cunts, it’s the same reason that if we had sold Nani, for all the good things he does there would have been a part of you not minding to see the back of him. Though I would say Nani is more dramatic than a diver, he just makes too much of the contact.
Arsenal had run out of ideas and had resorted to cheating, same old Arsenal.
Now wipe the sand out of your Vagina’s and crack a smile, It’s the return of the Premiership and the Champions are ready to show the country how Football is meant to be played. We’ve dodged the “superstars” that are after a pay day and there is a full team of younger players ready to push the veterans for a starting place.
We are Manchester United, the greatest football team of all time.
Alright then, back to business, and I’m feeling that excitement and OCD mannerisms that only match day can bring – everything has to be just so! So, lets have the preds on who’s going to start. My pick/pred:
De Gea
Smalling-Vidic-Ferd-Fabio
Nani-Cleverley-Ando-Young
Rooney-Welbeck (would like Berba though)
really good as usual ! like the picture of the programme . thanks !!!
Thank you Giles for yet another belting post. Always enjoy reading them.
Yet another fantastic article by the great man, loved taking my time reading and enjoying it……
On a side note, why the fuck is Barton being discussed on this thread?
Great story teller.
IT’S HEREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
GLORY GLORY MAN UTD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHA FUCK BARTON AND ALL OTHER STORIES TODAY!!!!!!!!!!
IT IS TIME FOR MAN UTD FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MMMMMMMMMUUUUUUUHHHHHHAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAHHHHHHHHAA.
TURN YOUR HEAD AND COFFEE, COFFEE, COFFEE, COFFEE.
Barton is being discussed because I would like him on our team
Proposed Line-up
De Gea
Rafael Vidic Rio Fabio
Nani Anderson Cleverley Young
Rooney
Berbatov
Likely Line Up
De Gea
Smalling Vidic Rio Fabio
Nani Anderson Giggs Young
Rooney Welbeck
Forgive me but i just wanna see the twins starting together again. Can you imagine their energy on opening day?
Giles sir, excellent read, love your pieces
Man Utd – De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio, Nani, Cleverley, Anderson, Young, Rooney, Welbeck – average age less than 24
Subs: Lindegaard, Jones, Evans, Carrick, Park, Giggs, Berba
Gotta feel sorry for the Berb, though he might be rested for today, but SAF knows best
Wow. This is a very detailed piece. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I am in awe of you writing sir, how you manage to remember all this is amazing. Originally I read this on my phone, but wasnt able to leave a comment, so here I am. Gotta thank Scott for agreeing that you post these on here. I look forward to reading, and learning more about this club through your writing. Huge thanks.
Off topic. Anyone have the line up yet? Heard that Cleverly is starting- I must confess, I havent been this excited about a young player coming through since the twins.. hahaha.
Glad to see our rivals dropping points.
Come on United! No fucking about, lets just get the three points and cruise on from there.
De gea
smalling vidic rio fabio
Young cleverly ando nani
rooney welbeck
- fox sports aus
Giles, brilliant as always.
Today’s game. It’s a big one for Cleverley and De Gea. Let’s start with a bang lads.
Well done to Stoke today, not their biggest fan by a long shot but they held Chelsea out well today, rode their luck a bit and in the end thoroughly deserved a point I reckon.
Thank god the season is here.
COME ON LADS
Berbatov, now 5th choice afterRooney, Chicha, Welbeck, Owen????
anyone has any good live streaming links for the match?
) well chuffed with the team selection!
Loving Super Nev in the studio.
Very honest what he said about “should have been sent off” against West Brom last year.
Also, love his comments about MOTM from the Chavski and Stoke game. Torres MOTM, “Gary, do you agree?”
Super Nev – “No not really, I don’t see how you can give an attacker MOTM when it was a goalless game” or words to that effect.
Love the guy to bits.
My god I’m fired up.
Get stuck in lads.
can any one pls give online streaming of the game.PLS.This is the first game i will be missing after 4 years.
Time to give Uncle Woy that clobbering I promised him.
5-0 to United. 2 for Nani, 2 for Rooney and 1 for Cleverley
Let’s ave iiiiiiit!
we look menacing already!
Yeah baby!! Football is finally here. All that matters is Man United. Glory glory man united!
http://www.streamorennt.net/mp2p.html
or http://www.norwaysport.co.uk/
i’m streaming and it’s a bit blurry.
what number is cleverley wearing?
because it looks like 23 to me…
GO ON WAYNE!!!
wayne boy!!!
Come on REDS!
good goal united – playing some great stuff too!
WE ARE ON THE PREVIOUS THREAD …..
Foster terrified already…
@aimanunited
yep 23 mate
goal.. nice play. except young was offside so now im not gonna hear the end of it from my pool supporting friends
Yeah he took 23 from Evans and Evans now wears 6
@aimanunited – cleverleys taken over evans old number ‘cos johnnys had wes browns old number
Super goal! Easy as – off and running!!
Fuck me, Vidic looks to be struggling…
Anderson is bossing the midfield… impressive so far.
Nani, Nani, Nani, Nani
Shoulda scored. We look the business though.
we look very good at the moment
can someone PLEASE give me a decent stream ? THANKS !!x
@ RedAllTheWay
Look up
good save de gea!!
Good save De Gea. Good to see. He’ll feel better after that.
good save de gea, that’s what we pay him for!
should of had that thou !!
Ugly
shouldn’t have praised de gea…
Bollocks. I really shoulda shut my fat gob.
2 long shots on target against us. 2 goals.
Definite worry.
Ugly, defending and goalkeeping
poor defending and poor goalkeeping.
Mes – that wasn’t a long shot.
A great goalkeeper is so important in a team i hope that will not our new weakness
the way long shots from outside Easily drift past de gea is slightly worrying, gotta keep faith with him though.the way long shots from outside Easily drift past de gea is slightly worrying, gotta keep faith with him though.
Though if Nani could keep the ball down it’d be 3-1 right now…
Zelh, yep, inside the area. Agreed.
We’ll be ok if we carry on as we started though.
i think now everybody will have a go at de gea, he seems unable to handle low, powerful shot…
LUHG – that has been one of our strongest points, a solid consistent keeper.LUHG – that has been one of our strongest points, a solid consistent keeper.
Let’s be truthfull, De Gea is shite !
Give that lad some time.
Steele will sort all that out.
Knightsmith, get behind your team for fucks sake.
that was absolute rollercoaster.
great start.
great offensive fluid football, but still this horrific away defending.
I do get behind them, but be honest this De Gea is a liability, stick Lindegaard in for a while
Its worrying that this has happened within two games, maybe he needs to work on his concentration levels because he just can’t let long range go past him easily.
I see all this fools comparing him to taibi within two games, critics are sharpening their knives.
What about the save from Sharner then? If Nani had brought his scoring boots it would be fine.
“he seems unable to handle low, powerful shot…”
tbf, that shot didn’t seem very powerful.
he’ll come good eventually though.
We were totally in control until their goal. Should have been 2 or 3 up. Unfortunately, this will be a lesson for David and the front line. We should take our chances and be out of sight, because there’s always a chance that the De Gea’s inexperience will come into play.
We can still win this though. Chin up David.
Keeper is shite its the same away form as last season not good enough
There’ll be people calling for his head. Let’s not get over excited. He’ll be grand in time. Loils like he makes a good reflex save. Obviously needs to get to ground quicker and use a strong wrist and the communication will improve over the next few weeks. Let’s not end the fellas united career with criticism too quickly.
Comments on the previous thread
Whilst De gea has made another error, I am surprised by the criticism aimed at him already. He is ONLY 20. Had he been 27 or 28, I would have agreed that yes, we should be worried about the number of goals we are conceeding. The number of times we are exposed at the back has become a problem. Now, for all Andos and Cleverlys lovely play upfront, they dont seem to be effectively shielding the back four, which in return leaves us looking vulnerable at the back.
Our attack has been magnificent, however again, like the City game WE ARE NOT ACTUALLY WINNING. The score line reads 1-1, so unless someone decides to convert all those half chances into something, we might see ourselves in trouble.
No changes needed imo. By playing the way we have in the First half, we should be able to easily batter them, or atleast outscore them.
Get behind the team.
COME ON UNITED!
Should have been 4 to the good after 30 minutes
Fabio will no doubt be having a chat with SAF at half time as will Smalling over their respective defensive issues
Get it sorted second half
UNITED 20/4/12 – 2012
@The truth
Indeed the truth.
PPL are moaning about de gea, what about fabio who was the cause of west brom gaining confidence,
Lpoking at some of the comments previously. Some of you lot are bonafide wankers in truth. Away form same as last season? Keeper is shite? Fair assessment 45 minutes in you silly fuckers. If you’ve nothing constructive to say keep your 2 cents to your self you negative fuck wits.
@ Samuel – united WE stand
definitly agreed but this season, vds is gone, i hope we will not drop points because of the goalkeeper.
Come on Reds keep it up 2nd half and we’ll cruise this. Come on David keep focussed and pick yourself up. Wonder if he’s had the Hairdryer.
(Kidding.)
Bigclubitus for fucks sake.
Not De Gea’s fault – we gave up the ball , we did not close the man down, we exposed our keeper, they took the chance well.
BUT WE SHOULD HAVE BURIED AT LEAST FOUR THEIR END
NOW COME ON REDS _ BATTER THIS LOT SECOND HALF
UNITED 20/4/12 – 2012
lets give De gea a break.
Put the twats to the sword.
same away form?
wtf. we play great offensive football but neither cleverley nor Anderson are protecting the back 4.
start of new season, same old embarrassing post from so-call fans here. keeper is shite? amazing some people…shameful
come on United! come on David!
not fussed by the score. i will say though that i simply do not trust the man between the sticks.
Call him young, new to the league, whatever. i just don’t trust him. And as i’ve said i’ll wait for him to dispel my doubts, in the mean time the defense need to keep things in order
mick – calm down buddy, you’ll always negative fans but what’s with the abuse? relax.mick – calm down buddy, you’ll always negative fans but what’s with the abuse? relax.
@keano99 same away form as last season and the keeper is shite. Why don’t you go and support a struggling club then you will have something to moan about. You’re an absolute disgrace to Manchester united
as talented as fabio is he has to bulk up. absolute lightweight.
My concern prior to the kick off with our crappy midfield has not appeared they are doing very well then a pudding in goal ruins it and for all you apologists he’s shite and if you don’t know it I Do.
Surely we can’t drop de gea for lindegaard now, that would destroy him so we gotta keep faith, like many have said he is still a young keeper lacking experience, whether he’d be given sufficient time to adapt remains to be seen because at united, you have less time but lets support him.Surely we can’t drop de gea for lindegaard now, that would destroy him so we gotta keep faith, like many have said he is still a young keeper lacking experience, whether he’d be given sufficient time to adapt remains to be seen because at united, you have less time but lets support him.
Agree with zelh, what’s fabio’s excuse for being light weight? united have all the best gyms and all that, surely he’d work on that but his talents can’t be questioned.
the berb will score the winner
thank goodness for that !
young wait for the best time for his 1st goal…
Ah, OG. Our forgotten striker saves the day again!
Credit to Young though.
aimanunited:
Think it’s been given as a Reid own goal, but they all count !
MOM – Young!
mom – young, ando or cleverley! any of them not fussed
4 minutes! c’mon!!!
Well that’s three times as many points as the chavs, dippers, and the arse; it could be worse!
YES!! 2 points more than Chelski, Arsenil and the Dippers!
Ffinishing with the 2nd defensive line up.
A little under par but 3 points. Come on Reds.
That match needed fletherino towards the end. Jones looked good.
3 points is ALL that matters at this point. De Gea will learn. Thankfull he is at a team that can make up for his mistakes. Well played the Berb too. But what else is new?
My main worry, as usual, is the defence. Lets hope Vida and Evra won’t have anything serius. If Rio did his hamstring, that’s 2 weeks out of him.
An important win as Arsenal and Chelsea start with draws.
Nani missed two guilt edge chances but happy with the win.
Cleverly and Ando showed some good touches. Young was very good I thought.
Well done lads.
Good 3 points. Wasn’t the best game but we didn’t loose the midfield, like on many occasions last year. Ando and Cleverley should be starting pair. If only Nani finished the great chances it would have been much more comfortable. Rio and Vidic issue is worrying.
Get off De Gea’s back, jeez it’s hist first proper competitive match in the Premier League and it was AWAY from home.
I don’t know about you, but I’d be shitting myself all the way through…..
Wait, so you’re having the party on this thread. I did not know. I thought Giles’ threads was not to be used for that.
As I wrote on the other thread,
Champion is as Champion does.
That, ladies and gentleman, is the difference between finishing on Top and second-best. All the United qualities highlighted in the opening weekend itself.
Bring on Title No. 20.
Hope Costas is keeping his nerves in check. Does anyone know whether we put a buy-back clause in Brown and O’Shea’s Sunderland contracts? That might prove very useful now.
Should not have been as close as it seemed – got to say mediocre performances from several players – Rooney and Anderson our best players and think perhaps Berba should have been on sooner.
Also not to sure on Smalling wide – obviously a massively improved player over the last twelve months but not suited to the role he is playing
Take the 3 points.
UNITED 20/4/12 – 2012
I’m liking the idea of barton more and more, could of done with him in with cleverly.
@Balaji
No nerves mate. I’ll just enjoy the massacre from now on, lol. Hey, we still have 4 defenders fit.
On a serius note, I hope we have Evra back for Spurs and Arsenal because Smalling has to be drafted inside for those.
WE DID IT!
That last couple of minutes were intense. I am concerned about the injuries with Evra, Vida and Rio all missing, in spite of the great performance delivered by Evans,Smalling and Jones. There were many mistakes in that performance, BUT the most important thing is that we pulled through like a team. That is important.
Cleverely once again didn’t fail to impress. Ando however watched the game pass him by in the second half, he must keep his concentration levels high in the full 90 mins.
Ashley was very good at times, and not so good in other moments. He will come good though, his attitude is already spot on. I like him.
Nani was disappointing today, he failed to get involved in the attack, and missed two crucial chances he could have easily scored.
The overall crossing ability of the WHOLE team needs to be addressed- with the exception of Young who managed to whip in some good balls. The others.. not so good, especially Fabio who MUST learn how to cross considering his position.
In conclusion, the three points are all that matter. AND, please. Minimise the abuse towards De Gea. He is a kid in a foreign country, like usual the media will be on his back, he doesnt need the united fans to join them. Support the players.
Wazza was good as usual, I dont feel its necessary to praise him. He is one of the old ones in the squad afterall.
This from OptaJoe – Manchester United recorded only one shot on target v WBA today, fewer than in 76 of their last 77 PL matches. Shy.
Staggering statistic to be honest given how much we dominated possession. We must choose to be more direct in certain scenarios than we were today. Of course, the players we had today were not exactly the right people for that – Valencia and Hernandez would’ve helped in that sense. That is my only observation from the game.
3 points!!! Road win. MOM Rooney.. hehe
Costas – I still think for me, lets see how jones does. He has not got a chance playing yet, the defence has got me worried, for once the midfield has not worried me, as cleverly and anderson seem to be stepping up to the plate. We never got overrun, it was fabio and de gea’s decision making, made west brom believe they could get back into the game.
Can’t expect much from a game where you lose two centre-backs, so getting three points was a great result
Hugely impressed by Jones and Young, they look like superb signings. Evans was great when he came on too. I think if anything not feeling the surety of VDS behind him gave him that little edge and he looked very sharp.
I think we look to have some of the same problems we had last year on the road, but I’d chalk that up to the limitations on the options we had. When you lose both centre-backs, it’s not like you’ve got tactical options you can make, you need two centre-backs in there, so there was no capacity to change up the tactics to maintain our control.
I would have liked to see Berbatov started, as I think he’s a better starter than he is a sub. For me he’s a master of the game when sides are fresh yet unsettled, because he can just mess with teams. When the game is stretched he’s still a handful, but he’s not the impact player that Chicharito and Owen are.
All things considered though we had one of the toughest opening day fixtures, and we got the three points. Arguably Stoke are a better side than West Brom, but not on the strength of their hopeless hoofing against Chelsea. I hope we get Vida and Rio back as soon as possible, but I’m not as yet actually worried. I think Phil Jones is the next big thing, and with him deputising at the back I’m not too worried.
Would add we do have Fletcher/Chico/Valencia to return – Giggs/Park/Carrick on the bench.
With Rio and Vidic out (big worry – Rio’s pulled up, looked like a bit of a pull and then it just walloped him so has to be a bad one – reckon 4 weeks)can expect Smalling/Evans/Jones to be designated centre back – who now goes right back?
UNITED 20/4/12 – 2012
Got the 3 points the hard way but can’t always do it easy. Young has slotted in nicely, the others will learn.
That’s an interesting stat by Balaji. An indication of how our play has changed this season. More passing and not a very diect approach. Oh well, at least we make it work, unlike Arsenal.
@FITB
Still time to buy one more defender to add to the squad. LIke I said in the summer, with 2-3 injury prone defenders, 8 in total are not enough.
To be fair to Jones, he’s played very well in both games thus far. But starting him against Arsenal? I’d rather go with Smalling-Vidic for that. Assuming Rio doesn’t make it by then. But even if he does, I think this should be the season where we start to phase him out.
Fucking ABU cunts ‘Andy Townsend’ and ‘Alan Curbishley’ already on De Gea’s back.. They are hell bent on destroying the lads confidence by saying he will get battered at places like Stoke ..Their hatred for us is just pathetic.. Give the guy a break, first PL game away from home, got mighty big shoes to fill so lets give him some time to settle down..
@ torontored, um…. smalling? with jones and evans in the centre. park carrick fletcher valencia can play fullback if someone else gets injured.
Doghouse has summed it up pretty well. Plus, I don’t think there is anything to over-analyze after just one game. This is, after all, the first weekend of the season and we’ve got a lot of players to return from injuries. So, all things considered, a good 3 points.
As for De Gea, Martin Tyler highlighted it perfectly. The Great Dane, of all people, was not up to the mark when he was first making his voices heard for us. That did not turn up too bad, did it? The problem for us is that we cannot drop him not (like Samuel stated) and that is an issue here. If he makes a few more mistakes, then his confidence slightly drops. And if Sir Alex drops him in favor of Lindegaard, then also his confidence drops. Of course, we’ve got the best management team to deal with it and I know they will deal with it perfectly.
Of course, the press is not going to help either. And his positives are not going to be highlighted. For example, he is one of the best young GKs in the world in terms of distribution. His decision-making in certain situations has already proved to be nice. If anything, I think all he needs to do is bulk up. If he can put on physique, I think he’ll be more confident in dealing with corners, throws and free-kicks. Plus, he needs to gain confidence in general. A confident De Gea, like we saw for Spain U-21, is a different goalkeeper to the one we are seeing turn up for us.
Nice to see OG back with a vengeance.
The media cunts are just desperate for De Gea to fail because its the only potential weakness they can see in the squad. They’ll shut up once he settles.
De Gea made a brilliant save, people forget that. If he will learn. He needs to toughen up start hitting the forward hard and lead with a knee up. They are doing the dirty on him and he needs to hurt some of these mother fuckers
Stewart Gardner:
Just spoke to SAF. Expects Rio to be out for 6 weeks with hamstring, Rafa 10 weeks. Not sure about vidic. Evra fit next week.
4 healthy defenders? De Laet call back? Any reserve ready?
Open try outs at Old Trafford Tuesday?
Nani an a enigma rapped in a riddle.
As said before, Fletch, Tony V. soon then Lil Pea.
Start Rooney a FB and play 2 of the 5 up front.
Tony V. emergency RB?
Crazy after the 1st game. What a Club what a Blog.
3 FUCKING ROAD POINTS!!!!! HOW MANY ROAD WINS LAST YEAR???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The number of players injured at the back is shocking. All our first team defence from last year are basically out.
Rafael-Rio-Vida-Evra.
I’m I wrong in thinking that we only have Smalling,Evans,Jones, Fabio as cover at the back? :/
Rio Ferdinand could be out for 10 weeks according to Alex Ferguson, hamstring. Good job United are covered there.
Costas, I forbid you to stop talking about our defense. You are jinxing it, I tell you.
Wait, that was contradictory: I forbid Costas to talk about our defense. There that is correct.
Hamstrings usually take 2-3 weeks. In Rio’s’ case, his body isn’t responding as quickly anymore.
The main concern is Vidic. Lets hope he’s back by Arsenal.
Just to confirm and not make myself look like a dick: This from Stewart Gardner on Twitter.
Just spoke to SAF. Expects Rio to be out for 6 weeks with hamstring, Rafa 10 weeks. Not sure about vidic. Evra fit next week.
Sir Alex has positive words on De Gea. Comparing to Schmikes performance against Wimbledon and Leeds. Only fucking thing that matters to me if you ask.
@Balaji
Too late. You can only order me once.
Rio out for 6 weeks and Rafa out for 10 weeks, WTF???!!! Hopefully we don’t get to a stage where we have to start playing Carrick and Fletcher in the defence..*touch wood*
fuck me rio out for 6 weeks.
Vidic doubtful for next week.
gimme a fuckin break.
Evra next week cool!
OG is my 5th favorite Man Utd player. He was hurt last year after a great year before that.
GO OG!!!! Goog! Goog play. OG=Offensive Preasure…
ken – shut up, the irony is the midfield was really good today. It is a young side so there will be mistakes
must say the performance wasnt all that however considering its the 1st game of the season at a pritty tricky ground plus the fact that the other big teams dropped points im happy enough..im not to bothered to b honest about ferdinand being out as i like the look of phil jones im more worried about vida!!!i think de gea is just out of confidence and i hope he finds it soon so good luck mate..i still stick to my guns about a top CM as r team just looked to inexperienced today..had a carling cup feel about it for some reason not sure why..
But to say, hey barton will solve mistakes that are never there
On the bright side, who else is excited by the return of Own goal? Worryingly, he went missing last year, but this year he has already scored in the first game. I see a big future ahead for this young lad.
Bloody chuffed with the win, last season this would have been a draw… Hugely impressed by Ando.
Hands up to the best away support in the land…
Morrison is a cunt……………. Townsend can fuck off
Defense of the future, today.
Future=present=gifts from SAF=away win=happy zibbe.
Not that it has a lot to do with today, but how can Rio expect to keep playing for United and England? It’s becoming obvious that he can’t handle both anymore.
@FITB, Agreed, I thought Anderson covered up pretty well in defense as well. With Fletch to return and Carrick still there, I think we’re covered in that area. The reason Sir Alex did not bring Carrick on was more to boost the confidence of the youngsters and to allow them to have a real go which they did. On another day, we might’ve seen Giggs coming on for Anderson or Cleverley which would’ve helped tidy things up earlier.
@Costas, Fuck me. The curse of the Typo strikes again.
Very good showing by Tom, it has to be said. Over the course of 90 minutes, the midfield looked pretty good out there. On one of the rare occasions in the last 3 years that Carrick and Fletcher were missing.
Shit happens through 38 games, what makes Man Utd and SAF great is how they respond to adversity. Or perceived adversity. It is only a hurdle to be jumped. Jump high jump well.
I blame Evans and Gibson for the goal assisted by Berbatov
Clearly they have infected De Gea
It’s OSheas fault
Actually I blame Bebe
Wait I think the entire fault line apparently lies at Obertans door
Betcha anything the people calling De Gea shit were the same ones calling The Great Dane shit as well after his debut performances. Where do these people come from to support us, God only knows? Sir Alex has the confidence in him and I know he will come good. When he is kicking ass and winning trophies for us in due course of time, I will be wanking all over the faces of the naysayers.
Schmeichel fucked up twice in his first 3 games for us.
Give that lad some time to settle down!
I hope I never offended anyone
Hello Reds!
Couldn’t watch the game but I heard Vida was substituted early. Is he ok? Did he get injured? How well did Cleverly play?
Like I wrote in another “dead” thread, I fear Uniteds depth and we are seeing it hit already. First game of the year and we are down to the bare bones -shocking. I just don’t understand why so many players are injured. SAF needs to look into this. 3 seasons ago I don’t think United had any injuries at all.. something has changed…
I agree that Ando and clev played tidy, Clev the better, but still we are unable to boss the middle. there seems to be something wrong with the balance – it seems to easy to get in behind our midfielders. This needs to be sorted fast. (it could be that we dindn’t get enough support in midfield from our strikers)
I stil think we are at least 1 midfielder short for this season, A really good holding midfielder and maybe a midfielder that can take a go from the middle. I have no idea who it could/should be.
Anyone expecting De Gea to step in and be flawless from day one was way too optimistic. The problem here is how much the media are focusing on his mistakes. And I thought Berbatov was getting a rough treatment.
Balaji – The said people were not born when the Great Dane started playing for us my friend
Dead thread and
Fear United’s depth and we are seeing it hit already
3 points in the bag and signs of oblivion begin already
The protocol begins in earnest
great win why cause it was away and own goal made a return
Vilhelm28 – the watered pitches are causing lots of harmstrings these days. that’s a big problem in todays game.
@MG
You forgot Carrick.
Only club I know with an injury crisis first game of the season!
Unbelievable…
Great 3 points. Ashley Young and Cleverley very good. Nani, not so much.
De gea at fault for the goal. He’ll need time to settle.
The good thing is, next 2 games are at home. Not ideal losing Rio and Vidic, but we have to get on with it.
Happy with the three points, some moments of brilliance and nice of Rio and Vidic to get injured to help future selection problems.
Ando’s year?
19 smile face here.
@Vilhelm28
Yeah, there’ve been many injuries to team in the last 3 years. Don’t know how much we can look into it though. Some players (Rio, Rafa, Owen) are bound to get knocks. Valencia, Fletcher and Hernandez got injured in ways that we couldn’t prevent and I take it Carrick, Evra and Vida’s bodies aren’t as tough as they were 4-5 years ago. We just have to gut it out at the moment and hope the youngsters hold on until the international break.
I forgot Carrick
Anyone else?
Running around in circles
We’re doomed we’re finished – please don’t call Barca
Let’s give the title away to city right now.
@Twisted Fatboy love the name. Ando’s looking good, a man has shown up to claim some minutes. I remember what it was like when I became a man not just a young man. We men mature 24 to 28.
And it’s not just United players mind you. Look at Fat Frank. A cold is enought to keep him out for a week nowdays.
Step back from the edge.
Put the gun down.
Vomit those pills now.
Drowning is a horrible way to go, a slow suffocation turns to black.
The suicide hot line is busy.
I’ve slit on my wrists and nothing.
I’m playing the Theme song to M.A.S.H.
I have been on the same pillow smoking opium for 72 days…….
Rio needs to quit England yesterday otherwise that lad is done.Costas looking wise in regards to letting,wes and o’shea leave.Sir Alex might have to sign someone before the season starts.
Thought it was cool seeing Phil Nev in the stands,Nev bros true reds.
Overall first game of the season take the 3 points and move on,defensive injuries worrying,i don’t trust Rio’s fitness at all anymore
Good result for us. We had a terrible game away to West Brom last season, this season we did arguably a lot better than last season there. I think people need to calm down a bit.
Last season we dropped points in our first away game at Craven Cottage, 2-2 draw. The season before we lost to Burnley in our first away game of the season. The start of the season is always the same, always jittery. Just because players aren’t exhausted from play does NOT mean they are match fit! We saw that today as did every team so far that played since yesterday.
I feel bad for David De Gea because I know how the media will make this look. Last week, I blamed him more for the first goal than the second, I just thought the second curled away and bounced and any keeper could have been bitten by it. Like today, that shot shouldn’t have even been allowed to get away in the first place. Still, he should have saved it, but shit happens and its his first ever Premier League game. He’ll settle in, he’s only 20 years old and the trial by fire will work out in his favor in the end. Toughen him up — that said the ref let West Brom get away with nearly assaulting him today a couple of times.
Vida will be back in no time, Evra coming back. Smalling, Jones and Evans looking good, Fabio looking good. No big worries at the back for me anyway.
But hey, we’ll drop points. I hate to say it but we always do so expect it over the next couple of fixtures. Even though that’s just how it goes, we’ll all see the alarmists in here talking about all of our major problems… yet we just did something liverpool, arsenal and chelsea couldn’t do in the last day… win. Should be happy with the result and let the coaching / fitness etc. to the professionals.
O’Shea is injured atm lol.
Balaji Sivaraman – well I signed up to the cafe so I will be debating on there is well. I am still a newb on there arghhh lol.
But overall I was gutted our defence was at times six’s and seven’s, but they will learn, it is a young united side. But overall again I was very pleased with the performance. Yes it was west brom, but what we had that liverpool arsenal shitty and chelsea lack, is fluency movement, the ability to stretch defences, and united have found this ability to really press and keep the ball, the boss seems to have changed united’s style of play, to a more fluent continental style, that attacks in numbers at a quick tempo, but they make sure they will have plenty of the ball.
I agree with Costas, that maybe we need to sign another defender, still we should have kept oshea but that’s being captain hindsight
I was really impressed with Tchoyi, the bugger is a real handful
Get big bad on loan!
Fergie won’t panic buy. He never has done.
Interesting that
DeGea + Rio-Vidic conceded 2 goals in 2 games (Shield and WBA)
DeGea + Evans-Smalling-Jones conceded 0 goals in 2 games (Shield and WBA)
I think this is right. Lets get behind our young defense. Bound to be some glitches but honestly, 2 wins are down to second half comebacks in which DeGea + Evans-Smalling-Jones conceded 0 goals.
Well somewhat slow for the first game?
Check that
DeGea + Rio-Vidic conceded 3 goals in the 2 first halves.
OMG bid for De Rossi
Time to eat. A good 3 points.
Watching MUTV and Lou Macari is an idiot. He was a good player but acts like clueless on set. He actually thinks that players around Europe are not good enough to get into our team! This midfield couldn’t be easier to get into yet he thinks is better than Barca’s because apparently no one can get into it.
@FITB
Hey, at least I was captain foresight on this matter.
@wayne
Ah yes, Red Phil. I was so chuffed to see him among our fans. Don’t know if the Everton fans will be too happy with him though! As for the defence, my stance was don’t sell both Brown and O’Shea. But then again, like willie said, it didn’t take O’Shea long to get injured. I think what it will come down to, is Evans, Jones and Smelling playing more games this season than even they imagined.
FletchTHEMAN – I worked that out as well lol. You would still want more experienced defenders in front of De gea. You can pick our back 4 now for next week. Smalling Jones Evans and Evra. Very young back 5.
mutusamy – OMG shut the fuck up.
Rio out for 6 weeks, that could change, depending on how he feels tomorrow. Hamstring injuries, you’re never quite sure. I’m hoping Vida is only out for a few weeks. We’ve has rotten luck with defensive injuries the last 3 years.
Costas – exactly, many are captain hindsight with de gea etc etc, heck the press have been captain hindsight for years. Oshea I always had mixed feelings on, not great with the ball at his feet, but he would fill in. But like willier as said, oshea is injured so he would have been useless today anyway. Even with oshea on board, still I think we would have needed a defender, shame we never got de laat back from on loan, who I am suprised has never been given a proper crack in the first team
Not off topic…Terry is still a fuckin cunt!
willierednut – makes you wonder how massive today’s game has been. 6 more pts could put us in great shape getting defenders back fit and fast.
lets lay off de gea already…..van der sar had a moment against bromwich last season too……..lets give him some time to adapt.
Anyway, it was all gibson’s fault.
Think everyone is aware of Rios problems just didn’t expect it so quick,you’re right costas,smalling will get a long run at RB and whoever steps up between Jones and Evans will get alot of games.Could easily be rios last season at the club
Fuck all De Gea banters out there. Give the lad some time or never ever praise him when he brings the points home for fucks sake!
Someone remember VDS blunder against WBA last year? That was something!
Also Costas, many have been proved wrong with young, many say it was united’s midfield that was the reason why united struggled away from home, could it be united’s lack of depth in the wide positions cost united pts last season. He seems to be nani and valencia rolled into one, and no question when everyone is fit, de gea if he gets better and better, rafeal ferdinand vidic evra fletcher young rooney and hernandez seem to be certain starters, so really young has been better than what we already had out wide
FFS de gea is 20 lay off him .the press will kill him never mind his own support. does anyone remember vida and paddy when they came to us the press were saying fergie bought a pair of duffers it is going to take time to settle just ask jaap stam A.B.U will round on him lets get behind him then the press will have nowhere to go .
Well, there’s people on this blog(you know who you are) want the lad to fail, so they can say, I told you so!
He’s 20 years of age and still learning the game. The boss said, it’s a gamble. Still believe De gea will turn into a top top goalie.
The premiership is an unforgiving league. At least now, he’ll know what to expect and think he’ll be a quick learner.
By the way, what about Foster at the other end? He wasn’t exactly steady in nets, eh? He’s meant to be an experienced keeper ffs!
As for Vidic, Fergie said it might be a nerve problem, but he’s not really sure. They’ll know tomorrow. I think he’ll be fit for Arsenal though. No way he’s missing that.
@wayne
Could be mate. It’s probably the last season of him as a regular player. And that’s assuming Smalling, Jones or Evans don’t take over this season. On his day, Rio is still one of the best. But like it happened with the captaincy last season, you can’t depend on someone who will miss more games than those he will play in.
@FITB
De Laet is a weird case. 2 seasons ago, I thought he was close to the first team. Then he went on loan to gain experience last season (understandable) and he went on loan again this season. Not plenty of full backs in our Reserves either from what I hear. Some suggested it this summer, but maybe Tony V will feature as a RB quite often this season. It could be his best shot of staying match fit given the competition in our wings.
T.
Great comment about Terry lol I will also add that Morrison is a cunt too
our key men was young,Ando and smallings
Rooney,welbeck,nani couldn’t get in the game.
Fabios wonky crosses was frustrating .
Berba,Jones,Evans and cleverley lifted the team.
Ando did excellently but needs to learn to defend and how to pick passed from deep . 8.5/10
De gea looks better with Jones,smallings,Evans perhaps he feels more confident with less intimidating defence duos and around guys that will respect his authority in the box being of similar age
Just a theory
Glad we got 3points and the team was great in the 1st half.
The tippy tappy football was great at first but then got wasteful, arsenal style
Looks like Bolton have the league wrapped up
@FITB
As for Young, I had my doubts, but the lad has proved me wrong. Really glad to eat humble pie there. It’s amazing how much he has adapted to playing on the left without coming inside. Looks like he’ll be one of the first names on SAF’s team sheet.
Anyone thinking that Berba is starting to get used to his position as super sub? He gave us an extra dimension after he came on.
willierednut – LOL difference is, it is manchester united so idiots will jump more on de gea’s case, because he plays for the champions pethetic. Still I cannot get over the rave review’s torres has been getting, he was back to his best, all I saw from torres was the same thing from last season and the year before
*Passes* from deep
I meant
I thought it was Smalling’s fault for the goal.
He was blocking De Gea’s view of the ball. Smalling should’ve done better closing Long down anyways…
@pritch
Well said about Evra and Vidic.
David will definitely know what it’s all about now, lets all get behind him.
I’m sure he will get a great reception next Monday anyway
I don’t think he’s a Gomez anyway!
I´ll have wet dreams thinking of Berba tonite. What a sublime technique, control and grace that earthling has. May he start all games for us from now on.
Still not convinced Young is the man for us. He often have real troubles making his player and the crosses stopped on Reid´s foot all day. Missed Park storming down the flank. Where is he? Chasing dogs to eat in the neighbourhood?
Not at all convinced Welbeck should be a man for the starting XI. Let Berba score his 20+ goals first.
@T.
I have to agree on Welbeck. He’s made progress, but I don’t know if he’s made enough to start ahead of Berbatov. However, I think that Fergie likes the tempo Welbeck brings to our play.
Costas – he was a much bigger threat than nani today out wide, Young reminds me of the exciting wide players from the kanchelskis sharp and giggs era, offers a bit of everything. For me young could very much be the signing of the season, and at a bargain of 17 million, what a fantastic bit of business by the boss. I cannot wait for a 3 prone attack of young rooney and hernandez. But what is a great plus is set pieces, we are deadly from that position.
Welbeck for me was quiet poor today, he never looked like troubling defences, he worked hard but for me berbatov should play ahead of welbeck, and hoping hernandez gets fit soon
Can someone tell me why we “they” are criticizing De Gea for a goal that was arguably savable, but no more so than Fosters failure to keep Rooney in the 12th minute. Keepers just get to much crap. I think De Gea needs some work, not moving his feet enough but the kid has great reflexes and great distribution, plenty of positives. Get behind the lad.
Costas, De Laet really didn’t need to give up that pen yesterday, but it is was youthful mistake. Similar to Evans conceding a pen last year for which he was crucified. You watch, De Laet will move on and improve, everyone will forget this because he is not at United. Turning this to Evans, I give that lad great credit for some excellent performances this so far this year. The ability to grow mentally and physically is what it is all about.
@cedarsDevil
Yeah, I noticed Morrison´s cuntly moves and tricks last night too. Even Adam´s are on the shortlist, But let´s not make the list to long. Terry is and will remain, until the day he gets hit by a train, be the biggest unpenetrable cunt of all times.
I blame a combination of Djemba Djemba and Kleberson for the first goal
Coupled by the ghosts of Taibi Goram and Bosnich
FITB – It’s a great 3 points. Like I said last week, there will be times, when the lads will have to dig out results. We played great football against city. The football was free flowing. Today was different. It didn’t click as well, as last week. West Brom are a bloody good side on their home patch. Agree on young. I wasn’t sold on the lad, but he’s impressed me no end. Gives the boss a headache, when Tony v comes back.
Well done lad. A win is a win, so we should not complain too much.
We should be patient with DeGea!!! He will be a great keeper for us! Fergie will not let media nonsense to affect him and will continue to support him. Luckily he does not speak English, so he won’t be reading the rubbish idiots like Collymore and Savage might say
Dev – That’s harsh on Smalling. De gea should save that shot. No excuses. Even the manager said so.
Damn MG!
I had erased that joke Goram from my frontal lobe. Now it´s all comming back to me. Can´t bear it. GAHHHHHHHHhhh………….Take it out….TAke it out!
Well at least we’ve solved all the managers team and tactics talk.Now all that’s required is a view of the team sheet if Aargh I cant say his name is there it’s rub your hands time.
Sometimes I just do not understand some of our fans. 1st game of the season and the same fans who were waxing lyrical about our young players now say bring in this and it was not a great performance.
This is my opinion on todays game:
Rio and Vida are injured, but we have the best “back up” centre backs in the league. Evans, Jones and Sammling would all walk into arsenal or liverpools first team. Dont panic, its a good oppotunity. The question I ask is will Rio get back in? I see Jones maybe staking a claim.
Midfield…. Cleverly and Anderson played well. Good work rate and passing. Young amazing for his league debut. Nani, well hes still too hot and cold. Some weeks unplayable, next week is he playing?
Upfront, wazza looks sharpe and fit, good finish. Welbeck was not really given the service and touch was not great, but we have owen, berba and lil pea to return
De Gea – SAF will stick with him and show faith. I agree shaky start but I will assess my opinion on him after 5 – 10 prem games not one. Lindergard is not a bad replacement.
All in all, 3 points (2points better than chelsea, arse, dippers)
and utd are historically slow starters…………
willierednut – it flowed until west brom got the goal, and we reclaimed control 20 mins before young scored. Cleverly and anderson impressed me, not many are pointing the finger at fabio, who’s rash decision making led to the goal. I find it refreshing we no longer are moaning at the midfield today. But at OT united are has impossible to stop has barca
Couldn’t watch the match! So, could someone give me a description about how our players were? Was really looking forward to watching Cleverley! Except the EFFING cable operators saw it fit to remove ESPN exactly at the start of the season!
Jimmy Leighton
interesting stats on anderson and cleverly
cleverly pass rate 90.3%
anderson pass rate 93.2%
Like to say I was fairly impressed that the ref called Cox for a dive in extra time. WBA were looking for it and it could have gone against Jones on another day.
FITB – It was good today, but not as good last week lol.
FITB
Great just replicate that against Barca and the Protocol is on
I thought TC was again outstanding – Anderson looked brilliant – could do with losing some of those Brazilian love handles
think someone should set up up a David de gea group on Facebook so that all true reds can tell him we’re right behind him! he’s going to be massive one day like all our youngsters! if we lose a couple of matches along the way so be it! twenty would be good this year…. but we’ve just won 19!!!! we can wait for these boys to grow up! c’mon united!!
Great stat, fergie is the boss. I thought they were both terrific. Cleverley is really developing nicely.
Please lay off our keeper. Give the kid a break, or it’s him you’ll break, and that will break United. You all know that’s true. We also all know the ABU press witll go on and on about De Gea till he’s a bvroken man – or has survived the same baptism of fire that could have done for the Great Dane.
3 points in the bag away from home, couldn’t be better – apart from the injuries. But that always happens at thbe start of a season. We must be due for Carrick’s annual late Summer/ early autumn ‘strain’.
Oh God, now even Giles is producing typos. ROM is jinxed I tell you.
All in all a good win. Surprised about the accolade Ando is getting though. i thought some of his touches on the ball were a bit off. But was solid enough and always looked to find a team mate, him along with TC. I’ll back the young keeper but he should be doing better and i’m glad the Gaffer says the same thing. “Welcome to English football David”.
Just add another point. If we’re gonna play the way we set up today, possession will be key to success. Let me clarify, we need to keep the ball for longer periods than we did today. One player(fabio) should not be giving the opposition hope. Therefore its a team effort. Playing full speed for 90 mins is impossible, playing at full speed with a 4-4-2 formation is near suicidal in my opinion, unless you have Total control of possession. No point trying to score a goal every time you go forward or have the ball. Also the Ref could have protected De Gea a bit. i think he’s gonna get a lot of harsh treatment from opposition and refs alike. Am i paranoid or does it feel like every man and his dog is out to get him?
kev e.
Set up a facebook?To show what kind of support he will get,I’m sure Darren Gibson would recommend
that.I also don’t really mind losing a few games,I do mind chucking them away.
Clearly worrying to see De Gea miss that BUT that is why Fergie is the best manager out there. He’ll build up his confidence and not leave it the media. I am rather not impressed with the way opposing strikers are allowed to shoot easily at our goal [e.g watch vidic backtracking for dzeko's goal ]. Pardon De Gea! If i am right, the Champions league final saw us conceding goals from long range, and guess who was in post: the great man himself. Barca found it very difficult penetrating [always dificult against united], their last ball always meeting a United man, thus that wizard decided to shoot from afar and we know what happened. we should expect more of such if we leave spaces. I love this blog so much; i enjoy more reading than posting and i want to say congrats to United for today’s win. not a bad start! we got 3 points and i hope it is a sign of things to come in our away fixtures, such that even when we underperform, we win. the character of champ20ns. Before i go, i want to stress that at Manchester United, We love our own and we support our own. The difference between us and the rest, is that our playing give us their best and themselves feel very bad making mistakes or loosing. Compare Rooney loosing to Balotelli loosing. The latter doesn’t seem to care whatever. lol. Go De Gea! Go United!
Facebook group… you can always delete the shit comments!!
The ABU on de gea is just typical. He conceded a goal, a soft goal even big deal. He should get over the hump and he did make a great save in the game. I get the feeling SAF could ban questions about him if the people get on his back constantly.Personally i’m still not convinced but if SAF sees something in him, i’m willing to support him and see how it turns out. Anders must be rubbing his hands in glee.
Rooney’s shooting percentage = 100%
Any sort of support group (twitter or facebook) just magnifies the problem imo. And that’s the media’s job, not ours. De Gea just made a couple of mistakes and when he walks out to OT for the first time he’ll have all the support he needs.
@FletchTHEMAN
Yeah, I head Ritchie made a mistake yesterday. I have high hopes for him too. I remember seeing him against Valencia a few years back and he looked the part. Could have done with him now, but I guess he still has a lot to learn.
@kev e, Yeah, I suddenly realized that he’s on Twitter. I hope to God that some of our shittier fans leave him alone unlike what they did with Gibson. In fact, I think people should do something like what you suggested. If people demonstrate their hate via FB and TW, then better fans should show their support in a similar manner as well.
@ Slim
I don’t think it will get to him though, I remember reading somewhere that he’s really strong mentally?
willierednut – beating shitty is comedy gold, especially these days its more than comedy gold
Good win and nice to get 3 pts in the bag. All in all I didn’t think we did too bad and if it wasn’t for De Gea’s mistake we probably would have ran out easier winners. It’s very difficult to make a judgement on the opening day of the season. Who can forget the two seasons in a row we drew against Reading and Newcastle in OT while going on to win the league both times. So it’s a difficult fixture out of the way and we can move on.
Now for De Gea. What can we say, there’s no denying it was a shocking goal keeping error, the likes of which should never happen even once out of a hundred. That said, similar to an opening day fixture it’s far too early to be making a judgement on him. The great man has backed him so that’s good enough for me. Maybe he can relax a little more in the knowledge that every time he makes a mistake we still go on to win the game anyways. Van der Sar made a howler against West Brom last season and we failed to pick up 3 pts so fuck it, forget about it and move on. Once he settles in I’m sure he’ll go to be an outstanding goalkeeper for us. The type of error we saw today has to be uncharacteristic otherwise we wouldn’t have signed him in the first place.
Cleverly did well again I thought, even if he did go missing for a while in the second half. Nice to see a CM moving forward in an agressive manner, no offence intended Michael Carrick. Anderson did ok for the most part but will still need to give more. Young did well even if I think the reaction to his performance on Sky Sports was a tad over the top, similar to their reaction to Torres’ performance earlier.
Finally, I’m going to keep continuing to big up Johnny Evans every chance I get, seeing that so many United fans have been so quick to dismiss him after an admittedly well dodgy patch last season. Outstanding again when he came on, this lad is going to have a great United career.
In 99 I had the chance to watch Casillas’ first game for Real. They were playing Olympiakos in Athens. All I can say, is that on the day he made Taibi look like Van Der Sar. And look where he’s now. It will take time. Fortunately, he plays with a talented lot that know how to make up for his mistakes.
Observations from today from back to front.
De Gea- FFS give the lad a chance think if roles were reversed at a top 20yr old English keeper went abroad , that’s the pressure he has to handle. Give him a break.!!
Defence- Rio out,Rafa out – do we have enough cover.?? Jones and Snalling look as though they have been here for years, but if we lose another? An extra defender brought In wouldn’t go a miss
Midfield- Clev and Ando looked good but lacked bite and allowed too much space at times that a better opposition would have caused more problems. Young superb, made the left flank his own – straight fight between Nani and Valencia for the right.
Up Front- Rooney and Hernandez def 1st choice but at times in 2nd half the ball wasn’t sticking up top- Danny struggled maybe not his game.
Personally still think we need some more bite in the middle of the park- we only have fletch on that department
byron1970, I completely agree about Evans. As I said on another day, even some of our shittier and naive fans seem to notice only the bad performances while the good one slip their mind. I expect the same to happen once De Gea starts performing at his usual level. Evans was very good in the Shield last week and again today. In fact, I did not see him put a foot wrong today at all. I though that was how good he was. Games like today are only going to do his confidence a world of good.
Another minor observation (I keep mentioning that because I don’t want people jumping on my back thinking it is criticism): Tom Cleverley is more comfortable playing the little one-twos and short passes. I haven’t seen him enough (King Eric might help) to know whether he is actually capable of spraying it out wide like Scholesy used to or like Rooney does. But he is more adept at playing in close quarters than doing that. I think it is in keeping with what Sir Alex has planned for this season as well.
Jones looks a steal already at 16.5 million.
He come to play!
As a banner held by United fans said today, “Who needs Wesley, we’ve got Cleverley”.
And it begins: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/aug/14/football-manchester-united-david-de-gea
Also, I wonder will Fergie go with Jones at RB and play Smalling with Evans, at center half? Smalling gives us that extra height, in the CH position.
When will Rio Ferdinand realise that his body has had it at this level?
Surprised how quick Fergie is at setting the time a player will be out with injury. Yet again our complete defensive line up is out with injury and buying Jones was really necessary. For me Evra might as well be out for longer as I no longer rate him at all as we suffer too much when he is not back defending.
Priceless win today and all round great results for us.
Vidic is hard as hell and should be ok before the others as he is not made of glass. I won’t talk about the new keeper too much but I do feel the dane is better at this stage of their careers and how come spaniards cannot speak english when they are young and all?
He should also remove the silly beard as he’s not the captain of a ship even though he was moving as slowly as a roll on-roll off ship trying to turn around today.
What the De Gea situation does prove though is how easier the goalkeepers in Spain have it. The physicality of the English game must be a wake up call for him. No wonder Ronaldo and Messi score 60-07 goals each every season.
soon champ20ns.
Quite disgusting how the media are crucifying De Gea. He’s 20, in a new country, playing in a new league and clearly nervous (who wouldn’t be?). Yet, they try to brake him already. One would think that “pundits” like Townsend and Curbisley could lay aside their apparent hatred towards everything United (last season really hurt them) for the sake of a young athlete’s carreer. They are supposed to be neutral no? Yet there they sit, painting devils on the walls by saying how he will be in for a hiding at Stoke and Bolton. It is disgusting and I really just hope that De Gea does well in the coming games, not just because he’s a United player, but because it would make the life of those ABU pundits even more dim.
Balaji Sivaraman – I suppose only time will tell with Cleverly but the one thing we can definitely say about him is that the signs are positive and that he doesn’t look out of his league. He held his own today in what (as I’ve said in a previous post before today’s game) could well be one of the toughest away games of the season. I think we’ll find that come May alot of the top teams will struggle to get 3 pts at West Brom. I like what I see though and with Pogba to get his first team chances this season, albeit in the cups most likely, the future is looking bright.
As Fergie said, welcome to England kid!
They love to build people up, to bring you down again.
The press won’t relent on the lad either.
That’s why he needs the support of all United fans.
@Passe, I have to honestly say that Gary is setting the standard. I don’t think people are going to live up to it, but it is obvious that he is putting aside all bias in favor of being fair and correct. I think it comes with being part of the United way. Keano was similar and every other ex-United player’s comments are always the same. Red Nev is probably going to be fighting a lone war at being unbiased though. Pretty much every other cunt and his mother is going to be biased against United.
Their hate fuels us though. And I know Sir Alex and his management team are not going to let anything get into De Gea’s head. I just hope some dick fans at OT don’t boo him if he makes a mistake at home. He needs all the support he can get from our side.
@Costas, Yeah, Spain is nothing compared to England. If the CL used English rules rather than Spanish rules, more BPL teams will be able to beat Barcelona. But thanks to the dickless administration from the UEFA, Spanish softball rules are being enforced, which makes it sort of difficult for English teams. (OT)
I agree with your point on De Gea and Ronaldo/Messi though. Even Casillas would find it difficult to immediately adjust to the rigors of playing for a BPL side. So, how can we expect a 20-year old youngster who can’t even speak proper English to immediately do it. Ronaldo epitomizes the difference between the BPL and La Liga. He was barely able to reach 30 league goals here whereas he is scoring for fun there. I cringe each time someone says the La Liga is better than the BPL.
look at that farcelona getting it up the bum. they looked funny trying to actually do some defending. lol
Wathcing Real v Barcelona, Ronaldo is doing a Cantona on it and has the collar turned up. Real 1 up, great team goal finished by Ozil, Benzema playing well too.
Balaji:
True that. Gary is class. De Gea needs all the support he can get.
Strange game today. Strarted up brigtly, then faded a bit away after they had scored.
But overall good performance with some good points to come out with it.
At least we won 3 points and next OT on our agenda.
Good left-footed goal from Rooney. I love Young and would prefer him everyday ahead of Nani.
Barcelona are nothing without Xavi – and having said just that Barca having done fuck all for 35 min score from nothing
brilliant shot by Villa
The protocol to beat Barselona is getting passed around.
But remember who started it. 
what a goal by messi.
Costas
I truly do believe United and Barcelona will meet again in the CL
And next time our time will come
Costas
I think the young lads will prevail I really do
After the match should have seen Jones Fabio Smalling Young Jones all lifting De Gea
That was incredible – incredible in the sense that that all of them in a way need lifting themselves because they are so young and are still finding their own feet in the team.
It’s at that point as a fan you know that something extraordinary is going to happen – you can’t buy that – you either have it or you don’t.
Barcelona have made two shots in first half and scored two goals
Sorry typo doing Jones twice
Giles @ 20:02 … spot on. Everyone need to get off de Gea’s back. A lot of people on here are highly excited about this year as we see the youngsters start to emerge, and rightly so. But it sickens me that so many of those same people will turn on the younger guys at the first opportunity.
The first half was good, the second half not so good. But they did give us acres of space in the first half, and we used it well. A lot of teams won’t be so generous — they’ll try to shut us down in the middle, or they’ll close up at the back. It’s way, way too early to say for sure, but I thought we didn’t really dictate or control the pace of the game (but neither did they). When the opportunity was there, we went hell-for-leather. When it wan’t, we seemed unable to force it. I think that’s maybe where we’ll appreciate Giggs and some of the older players this year (and where we’ll miss Scholes).
There were also times we could have gone wider, especially on Nani’s side. I thought we tried to go through the middle a bit too much in the second half, though I may have misread it. Actually, I thought Nani was poor today — he’s been wonderful recently, but today made some poor shots and, more worryingly, some poor decisions. I’m sure it’s just a blip. In fact (wild guess) I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s simply trying a little too hard, in anticipation of increased competiton for the wing spots.
There were times we tried to be a little too clever with passing the ball around just outside their penalty area. Perhaps that was a hangover from last week’s glorious, glorious goal. Don’t get me wrong — the movement was good but ultimately fruitless and I hope we don’t get carried away with it.
I guess Real didn’t know how to apply the protocol. Barca are the real one man team.
@MG
I wouldn’t mind getting revenge, but honestly, anyone that knocks them out will do the rest of us a big favor.
And a 3rd goal for Barcelona: Arsenal have accepted their offer. The worst transfer saga of all time is over.
De Gea needs to bulk up and when coming for balls needs to show some courage and flatten everyone. When he jumps he doesn’t lead with his knee. It will be open season on him and he will sink or swim.
Barca just toying with Real as usual. Never been a more predictable outcome of a season like in La Liga this upcoming season. Ronaldo is a waste at Real and should play at a better club or even at Barca instead cause his talent is just thrown away at Madrid.
De Gea’s new name is De Ghee after the indian butter ads on the indian sikh channel during the riots cause that man has butter fingers and stays on the goalline more than Shay Given.
Costas
So we knock them out and win the final
@MG
No doubt they are a very promising group of youngsters. Sir Alex said it in his own words. That the injuries to Rio and Vidic might have been a blessing in disguise. And even though I don’t believe Vida’s time is up, if I was him and Rio, I’d keep an eye over my shoulder now.
Costas
Why so sad – cheer up mate
official now. Fabregas leaving Arsenal for Barca
Fabergas is on his way thank goodness that is coming to an end sick off hearing about it. Has sneijder signed yet?????
No sneijder didn’t signed yet.
But Youngchez was MotM
@MG
It was such a hillarious show mate. Fabregas pledging his allegiance to Arsenal and at the same time, wearing the Barca scarves when he’s with the Spanish side.
I guess all we have left now, is Nasri wanting to join his boyhood club at the Wastelands.
if that was de gea it’d be a blunder. pfft
Costas
Very true
On Fabregas and any Arsenal supporter reading:
United had the same with Ronaldo – the thing with Ronaldo was that we got full throttle for him – Arsenal haven’t got the same for Fabregas – and in a way the player is to blame for that.
Also when Barca went for Sanchez as priority number one – Fabregas must have realised where the fuck is he going to play in that team?
His continued persistence over moving to Barca is understandable but regrettable – it’s not like a position was open for him at Barca making it easier for him to move there – it is difficult in more ways than one – if he is using the excuse of being home sick then it’s bullshit – why then did he ever move to London in the first place? Especially that at a younger age it would have been more difficult for him.
I do feel for Wenger – I think he tried to do something much like what SAF does with United – but Wengers downfall was not buying experience to nurture the young players coming through – ultimately that cost Arsenal – though you cannot argue with what he wanted to achieve – it was noble but ultimately it has broken Wengers plan and he will have to now change it – simply because he is too old to oversee another young team to fulfil his ambition.
Good luck to Fabregas but in all honesty Barca don’t need him – bad move me thinks and I hope to be proven right on this one.
Costas
Yes – now we await for Nasri to move to his boyhood team the one that he had wet dreams to play for
(185,000 a week and all)
He’s going to win trophies that Nasri – so one trophy in 35 years equates to how many Arsenal have in the same period?
Money talks and coincidentally bullshit walks
Some predictions for the season for your delectation over at LBITCR.
Thoughts very much welcomed, as ever:
http://leftbackinthechangingroom.blogspot.com/2011/08/premier-league-predictions.html
RCM
Young
Sanchez
Rob
Barca won’t win the CL – that’s not to say United will but I feel that teams will catch out Barca this year
Apart from that what you suggest is rational and logical – United have the best manager in world football – he has overseen everything – it’s natural he coul guide any team to a premiership win and those managers in return would struggle at United – what you also confirm is that they are therefore not equal to SAF or United.
Now for what Barca have achieved in Europe he has one last shot left at well knocking them off their fucking perch.
Remains to be seen but will be worth the ride as always.
Barcelona are actually being forced to play football . i hope its a taste of thing to come
Fabregas deal done http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/943939/barca-agree-fee-for-fabregas?cc=4716.
Barca will be unbeatable! We need to buy!
United4ever – I hope this is taking the piss at it’s best
It’s good that De Gea is getting his lessons and hopefully learning them now. Still needs to bulk up, but he’ll come out of this on the other side.
I thought we didn’t make enough use of Nani, everything was focused on the left hand side. I know Young did well, but Nani barely got any of the ball.
Also thought today showed the value of Carrick. That player who sits in front of the defence. Far too often, Cleverley and Anderson were upfield, and there was a gaping hole in front of our defence that you could’ve driven a bus through. Only time we closed that space off was the last few minutes when we were protecting the lead and dropped deep. We got away with it today but maybe not against a better side (Spurs next week have Van Der Vaart playing in exactly that space).
One way of dealing with it was to push the defence right up and play a really high line, squeezing the space that WBA would get. But that wasn’t gonna happen coz
a) Rio and Vidic aren’t the quickest any more so they wouldn’t wanna push too high up
b) If you play a high line, you need to have confidence in your keeper behind you, and that aint happening right now
So I defo expect to see Carrick back in the side for next weekend, would be a bit harsh on Anderson or Cleverly though tbh.
StatesideAussie
Me and your good e´self often agree on alot but i’ll have to disagree with you on the DeGea issue.
Before signing him I will be man enough to be honest and say I never once saw him play and that all my reservations about him were solely based down to the fact (Rafa) that unless your the major of some out the way village generally spaniards are tiny piss week individuals with no get up and go and once under the cosh no fight to the last in them, sink or swim. Nothing from what Ive seen of DeGea so far has convinced me that this isnt again the case. I realise hes young and can learn his trade like any other youngster its just that he is the last line of defence. EVERY mistake tghis youngster learning his trade makes concedes a goal. If a youngster up the field fucks up then a multitude pof things have to go right for the opposition to get the lucky brake and score from it. Even if the last defender fucks up he still has the keeper to beat. The goalkeeper is such a possition that if he hasnt learned his trade and he isnt the very best then hes NOT good enough for Uniteds first team. From what Ive seen so far, he looks good and stable when warming up with Mr Steele but as comfortable as Taibi or Barthez when on the pitch.
I think we made a mistake going for what we did and I can only hope it gets better. My choice would have been to sign DeGea but keep him at Athletico on loan for atleast another year and signed an aged known commodity. I honestly think he will get slaughtered if left to carry the burden.
I expect someone totally new in our side against tottenham
Goat – If you haven’t seen him before you shouldn’t argue after how many games? 2-3?
“and once under the cosh no fight to the last in them, sink or swim.”
Is this the same Spain that are World and European champions? And Barca and Real’s European record speaks for itself.
As people have said, Schmeichel made mistakes in his early days. And remember Van Der Sar was older than De Gea is now when he went to Juventus but he didn’t make the grade there – he made mistakes and they soon replaced him with Buffon. But look how VDS turned out.
Then there’s Casillas. He made lots of errors but the faith Real put in him soon paid off. There just aren’t many good, experienced goalies out there. Even fewer we could have signed as a stop gap for one year.
My take on the first day.
DeGea – very spanish and of the level of Athletico Madrid, shaky and out of his depth. poor choices in possitioning and very late to come out to meet a shot. Needs to bulk up and was battered around all over the shop. 4/10
Fabio – Reasonable in defence and better at assisting the forward play. Looked good but also looked abit first game of the season and getting himself used to new faces. 7/10
Ferdinand – Reasonable enough, solid and did for the most part his job, did everything at a canter and thats all what was needed. 7/10
Vidic – Same as Rio 7/10
Smalling – Very similar to Fabio other than was better at going forward maybe because of his experience with Nani from last year. At fault for the first goal, never let your man cut in on goal, push him to the by line. because of that 7/10
Evans – did well and showed a clever head by picking up a few free kicks to ease pressure, 7-8/10
Jones – to short a time on the pitch but looked the part again.
Anderson – In the beginning looked like he wanted to be the new Scholes, forever moving but then went missing for large chucks, neither making room and no running off the ball. 6-7/10
Cleverly – At the beginning did just as Andersson did, made himself available that sometimes became overkill in choices to past out of defence and then rightly so moved more up the pitch. BUT never seemed to really break from midfield into the box but more looked like one of the too many cooks in the kitchen when build up play was underway. To many build up players and not enough making runs and stretching the defence. 7-8/10
Young – Lively, got the assist, got the goal looked great sometimes and decidedly aston villaish at others over all a decent first league performance but nothing less than i expected. 8/10
Nani – Infuriating, missed a few easy sitters that would have changed the entire game and made us look like champions. Played a little bit like cleverly and not such a disaplined performance. 7/10
Rooney – Worked his sox off and a good finish, hes no sweet passer of the ball and has little finess but he was workman like even though he isnt (understandably) fully match sharp. 8-9/10
Berbatov – Im a huge lover of what this man can do but his passes were all over the place and his shoulders were down. Being sat on the bench for Welbeck effected him obviously. 5/10
Welbeck – Ran his heart out and generally did what youd expect of him, because we had too many cooks he didnt have the space youd wish to give him so he can use his talents a bit more. 7/10
Generally a great champions start followed by a breather that then was followed by a very lazy 20 minutes where players were playing like it was easy and No2 would be along soon enough, conserve energy. We then were brought level and the lack of momentum within the team meant getting into a higher gear was more difficult than it needed to be. There were too many cooks and a big lack of a powerful No10 with goal poaching abilities and driving force from midfield. It rather looked like Arsenal for large parts of the match where Van Persie isnt the No 10 you really want and the midfield is made up of questionable play making and over passing. We were and are the better team and like United we did it the hard way, infuriatingly. I can see the likes of Carrick and Giggs playing the next match at the expence of Cleverly and Anderson or Cleverly and Wellbeck. They didnt play poorly they were too often in the way.
General performance comparable with the rest of the league 8/10
A great United performance 6/10
GoatinaUnitedShirt.
Well fuck me and here’s me thinking I have been shouting into a bin,made the point preseason we were courting disaster with no EPL experienced backup goalkeeper as it only took not living up to expectation or an injury and we woold be proper fucked.Well we now have the not living up to expectation with us but criticise and all you get is he’s just a young lad he will improve give him a chance.Well will I fuck we paid top dollar for the finished article not an apprentice who hasn’t done all his modules.
New babe on SSN
@GoatinaUnitedShirt
“spaniards are tiny piss week individuals with no get up and go and once under the cosh no fight to the last in them, sink or swim”
It’s actually weak not “week” and yea you make a great argument there don’t you, I mean they’re only the current world and european champions and current under 21 european champions and lets face it that Rafael Nadal is a tiny piss weak individual isn’t he? No fight grit in that lad what so ever. I really feel for those under achieving weak spaniards.
Zelh
Fair point about not making a difinitive decision after 2 or 3 games but the mistakes he has been making are those of a novice and not of a player that has had unlucky breaks. Even if I had seen him playing for Athletico the league is very different here. In Spain a giant striker there is 5’10″ and barely 70kg, here you can get ugly monsters with a good deal of fight in them. Im not saying hes bad, far from it but I do worry that if he doesnt feel comfortable despite him telling the staff he is comfortable then keeping him out there will do more damage than letting Lindegaard play a few matches. Let DeGea come to terms with the bigger players in the reserves, he can still sit on the bench come match day, but Lindegaard who is atleast used to the bigger players just steady the ship and let the opposition and the press forget about the frailties of our keeper before he gets completely wrecked and dissillusioned. You heard the West Brom fans shouting shoot no ammount of times and that will only get worse and better players taking him on.
Goat my dear
It’s the first game of the season
It’ll all click in the end
Trust me – as you did last season.
@Parryheid
While shouting in that bin do you mind chucking yourself in it while your at it? You can take goatinaunitdershirt with you as well if you like.
Here’s a finished article.
http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/9863/4/hodgson-backs-de-gea-come-good-man-united?
Costas @ 22:01: “the injuries to Rio and Vidic might have been a blessing in disguise. And even though I don’t believe Vida’s time is up, if I was him and Rio, I’d keep an eye over my shoulder now.”
One man’s problem is another man’s opportunity. It’s going to be interesting over the next fortnight as SAF will have to play without his two first-choice CBs and against serious competition, too. Well, “serious” as TheArse and Spurs.
“Well will I fuck we paid top dollar for the finished article not an apprentice who hasn’t done all his modules.”
Tough, because a 20 year old goalkeeper isn’t the finished article.
Here’s some older players who weren’t cheap I’ve seen struggle in their early United days – Schmeichel, Stam, Vidic, Evra. Then there’s the likes of Anderson and Nani who took their time to become United players. Some may say the jury is still out on the former.
Problem is he’s in a position where mistakes are highlighted and not only has he only had about 18 months as a first team keeper, he’s also moved to a different league. Maybe Gomes at Spurs is a bad example but he ain’t a bad keeper – but he looked like one at first for Spurs. But he’s adapted to the crosses, the pace, the physical nature. If Dea Gea grows and learns and lives up to his potential we might have a world class keeper for 20 years. Soon he’ll look like a bargain – just like Vidic and that lot.
Gary and ahjs
When talking about goal keepers then you have to be a mountain of an individual if you are going to keep goal for Manchester United or any great team especially when playing the lesser teams bruisers that come up for corners. I realise they are world champions etc but no one is going to tell me the last world cup was a norm. As for the youngsters U21 to be champions of Europe you only have to be better than the germans because otherwise you wont meet any competition. England which at best is a joke and Germany have already recruted the U21 players to the full national squad where the spanish are more disciplined and do things the correct way. But Im not taking anything away from them, they have taken their chance and run away with it. Generally the spanish keepers are weak (thanks for the spell check). Casillas is great but I wonder how he’d fair in England, Reina only looks half good because hes a bit of ap porker. As for nadal I dont watch girls sports sorry.
VDS made mistake at Juve because the dutch league to the Serie A (as it was back then) is one hell of a leap as is Athletico (a half decent team and the second best of an average bunch behind the giant two) is to joing United. If you are going to use the VDS case in Juve then who are we replacing DeGea with. I hope we’re not as eager to get rid, I just want him sitting for a while and learning how to deal with htuggery in the reserves. Where, dare I say it, it doesnt matter.
Goat @ 23:04: ” I can see the likes of Carrick and Giggs playing the next match at the expence of Cleverly and Anderson or Cleverly and Wellbeck. They didnt play poorly they were too often in the way.”
SAF plays a squad nowadays so your prognostication might very well be correct. I’d also expect to see Dimmy get some more playing time – if he’s not going to be sold then he needs to be kept match-fit and sharp.
Goat … all I can say about de Gea is that I hope you’re wrong, mate! His youth and ekative lack of experience were always going to be an issue. From what I hear, the Great Dane wasn’t so great in his first-up performances either (though I’ve been following United since the mid 60s, I didn’t get regular TV access until 8 or 9 years ago, though of course saw the major matches whenever I could). But as we all know, we’ve never done well without a strong goalie — never really been a team that strikes fear into the opposition, without that. I do agree he needs to bulk up. The stats say he is 6-4, but he doesn’t look it. Lindegaard is the same height but looks much more imposing. I’m not sure who else we could have got, for an experienced goalie. None of the top few seemed to be available. I think Reina might have been available at one point and as much as I dislike him, he is pretty solid.
But right now, it is what it is. For better or worse, we need to get behind him. Bringing youth players through is always risky, always bumpy.
Rooney wasn’t the finished article. We paid near 30 million for him.
Rooney was an outfield player(blah)
Rooney was already in the English league(blah)
By the way, show me any fucking article, were Fergie says, we were buying the finished article?
I’ll be here waiting…
Gary.
Oh dear have I hurt your sensitivity dear.Am I not being a proper supporter then,get real you clown were playing for prizes not compassion and I don’t do pity Top dollar paid =top performances or out on loan and let some other mug club take the defeats while your learning.Check the archives my views on this are well documented.
today was the first day i’ve seen the lad play competively and i’m calling as i see it. i hope david learns fast.That he’s an exceptional talent is the reason we got a young keeper and the fact is he has to show it. the criticsm are over the top , those arguing for him are over the top. This is why we got him in the first place. If he comes out good we have a world class keeper on our hands, if it doesn’t ,well…… At least Anders is there. it may be harsh but SAF may have to drop david if he sees his confidence shaken and is having a torrid time of it. A keeper like Anders is probably whats needed right now.Stable keeper coming with no fan fare. He’s not half bad and he’s been here for a while too. I mean david taking over from VDS , why not Ganso to replace Scholes then. A few mentioned exotic names and were blasted out of here and yet we do just that with the GK. The boy has to step up. Simple fact is he has to get his act together and bring his A-game. Vidic and Rio out together can’t be a good thing.
@willie
Ronaldo wasn’t either.
@slim
Yep, that’s what I suggested earlier today. Lindegaard to take over for a bit while De Gea toughens up. Goat mentioned the reserves. That wouldn’t be a bad idea actually.
MG
I trust you mate your usually right. I know its early doors and alot can happen I just want to be the man warning the powers that be that there is a chance of a few things that could get out of hand. I know United will win the league this year Im 100% on that, I just want it done my way.
@goatinaunitedshirt
You have made your reservations about De Gea pretty clear but it’s your constant digs at the Spanish as a whole that I find quite strange. You seem to have some kind inferiority complex when it comes to them que your constant refering to them as weak people in general. Oh right is that the reason for their current success, everyone else is shite and if the German’s aren’t any good at u21 level then we may as well have handed them the trophy, but still not taking nothing away from them……
@Costas
ssssshhh ,what? you actually suggested that out loud? golly you’re brave.
willierednut
Rooney wasnt the finished article……… (still isnt in my opinion)
I was just trying to make the point that an outfield player learning his trade is far less risky then allowing a goalkeeper learning his trade at the three times champions league finalists in the past 4 seasons. What a risk.
Stateside
Schmeichel was ok in his first games actually. He made a bit of a blunder against a lobbed cross for Lee Chapman (leeds) but other than that he was quite obviously a revelation. You must remember that we had had Les Sealey in goal prior and Leighton before him. RIP in Les Sealey mate, what a great character. Schmeichel was as good as VDS was in his first matches if not better. There was an obvious and immediate calming effect with bucket loads of ability and proffessionalism. Wonderful days watching him playing (Schmeichel)
Gary
I dont know why your getting personal but whatever floats your boat.
I describe the spanish as generally weak people but that is in a physical sense if i didnt make that clear. Mentally, the proffesionalism and knowledge of the game they far outstrip us and the English players are at very best 40 years behind their awareness of how to play the game. I have no inferiority complex as you put it, i just say it how i see it. If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck then its a fucking duck. Whether you agree or disagree keep it clean mate.
@StatesideAussie
you make a good point about reina. de gea reminds me of him in his first season. thats why i’m not to fussed yet. if hes good as SAF thinks he his he’ll come good. Thing is he has to do a bit more sharpish than Reina. and to be honest i hope he gets a stable back 4 or even 5 in front of him. Having either Vidic or Rio in there will be a big help- i’d go with Vida seeing Rio has gone crooked AGAIN. alongside smalling. Jones to similar to vidic – position wise, they play differently but have the same role in the defense
Drop De gea now, would do more harm, than good.
Lindegaard isn’t exactly proven either.
Still waiting on that article?
3 away points, we as fans all have points to make. Fan short for fanatical. Infanticide, Tigers eat there young.
Rooney looked good in his new hair, haircut. Looked an inch taller.
18 out left looks odd. A good odd.
I poked and stroked until my wrist got numb, applied rotation to the sugar plum.
You know who started his United career like a star? I looked at this guy after three or four games and thought, wow, player of the year, spraying balls around like Banksy sprays paint.
Veron.
I think it’s better for him to learn on the job. Worked for all sorts of foreign players, from Bergkamp to Vidic. I go back to my earlier example of Gomes – he started off and he was SHOCKING for Spurs. But the pace, the crosses, the CONTACT in England is quite unique. He learned and is surprisingly a good keeper now. Just imagine how good De Gea could be if he learns fast. Much better than Gomes. And if he doesn’t make it and keeps making mistakes? Does he get dropped? Whose fault is it? Hopefully some debates United fans will never have to have.
ahjs.
You never in your life saw Schmichael make a mistake ask any of the defenders as he always rounded on them if the ball went past him.I don’t feel the need to deny he is shit and can I ask yourself and others how long do you consider acceptable the wait should be for the most vital position on the pitch? Nobody can cover for a goalie everyone else yes.You’s can Bah this and Bah that but if you’s think that’s acceptable tell me why
@slim
Lol, yeah I did. Today just before the game actually. I could sense another mistake coming. The argument was that if he’s dropped, that will make matters worse for him. I see that as the only logical thing at the moment. The lad is 21 and he’s just learning to live in a foreign country. And on top of that, he has to handle the pressure of succeeding Van Der Dar. It won’t hurt anyone if we take it slow until he finds his feet.
How long? 2 games lol.
Deary me.
willierednut
I agree dropping DeGea now would look bad and could give him a bit of a downer but one thing Fergie has been praising is his strength of character. I feel it would be bad to drop him now and bad to keep him in now. Its a case of damned if you do damned if you dont. Either way, whether he plays or sits I trust Fergie and will always be behind the team. Im just happy to watch them play.
ahjs
Gomes a good keeper. I contracted Hepatitis C reading that!
SAF made his choice months ago, we all must back the lad now, all good in the hood with the way one feels. And discussion is great and what creative minds seek. The I told you so’s can not commence until after Boxing Day. IMO. hehe
GOAT I have seen him a lot, Goal TV shows the Spanish and German leagues. After Man Utd interest I had my own. He had swagger controlled his defense. Was fine in the air and won the Eueropa and the Supper cups. Man Utd is almost as hard to play keeper as the English job. The only thing that will bring this lad down is his head.
All the while, we still have Kuszczak in the team. Give him one last chance and you’ll believe pigs can fly.
Sky is putting up film of howlers by Schmicks, Barthez, VDS. Always good to have some balance when you are heaping pressure on a young United player. Jaysus wept!
Glad that the manager has some perspective.
I am just pointing out that DeGea has 2 second half shut outs, both of which aloud United to take the match. I am pleased, we could have dropped points today. Important thing is we didn’t.
Costas
Whats happening with the PIG, i haent heard a thing nor Gibson and his possible on off to Sunderland.
*allowed* sheesh
Christ I got the skits when Forster was in goal and that was backing our manager judgement that proved to be wrong and now our latest has contracted Forsteritis Jeez.
Any minute now someone is going to suggest we sign Jaaskelainen or Schwartzer. De Gea is going to be fine and he was the best available option. Neuer didnt want to come and Stekky dropped the trophy under the bus.
Worst case scenario, we just have to score more goals than the opposition.
@Goat
Haven’t heard anything about PIG either. Until I saw him in the squad for Scholes’ testimonial, I forgot he was still at the club. Yesterday someone said that Gibson was rumored to make a loan move to Blackburn, but I don’t recall anyone going out on loan during the last 12 months of his contract. My gut feeling says that Kuszczak will be sold by the end of the month. As for Gibson, who knows? Maybe he’ll keep him around as back up for our midfield.
On a more serious note. Is it just me or does Dean Whitehead of Sunderland look like Rocky Dennis from the film blockbuster (chortle chortle) Mask featuring our very own granny in fishnets Cher. I cant get over that. All that fucking money and he still bloody looks like elephant man.
Cesc off for 40mEuros,
Hope Wenger picks a new captain that brings as many trophies as his last Captain!
Hope Cesc brings as many trophies to Barca as he brought to Le Arse.
Ask an Arsenal fan what was Fabregas’ best moment at the club and they’ll probably go with pizzagate. That’s sad. But hey, it’s Barcelona’s money to waste…
parryheid says:
“I don’t feel the need to deny he is shit and can I ask yourself and others how long do you consider acceptable the wait should be for the most vital position on the pitch? Nobody can cover for a goalie everyone else yes.You’s can Bah this and Bah that but if you’s think that’s acceptable tell me why”
More than one meaningful game. Give him more than one meaningful game. I’ve seen better and more experienced keepers make the same, or worse, mistake.
I know it’s an important position, doesn’t that mean we should take some time to get it right and give this guy just of out his teens (who Fergie obviously rates as our long term keeper) a chance to grow into the role?
GoatinaUnitedShirt says:
“Gomes a good keeper. I contracted Hepatitis C reading that!”
Gomes is a good shot stopper. Definitely prone to the odd mistake but has unquestionably grown into his role. I used him as an example because he’s improved – if De Gea improves at a similar rate he’ll be outstanding (because De Gea has much more all round ability and is younger).
I see Gomes and I put him on a level with Given – a good shot stopper but weak with crosses and at commanding the area. Yet Shay Given is considered a top ‘keeper by some and some on here even tipped him to replace Van Der Sar. They’re just plain old good ‘keepers, not world class ones.
I guess if you missed the Europa League final with Atletico Madrid and Fulham, you might’ve missed Gomes’ improvement
Cyril Sneer
Are you sure Neuer didnt want to come. Theres shit loads in the press all the time how we tried to sign this and that but it seems half the time we dont even put a bid in or were never in in the first place. I personally think he was the best choice and if he wanted to stay in Germany longer as he voiced then we could have always bought him and loaned him out for a season or two. We could have still run with Lindegaard and PIG. Not the best options but maybe nor is DeGea.
I hope all of you can come back and shit on me and tell me how wrong I was. I would be glad about that, but I dont think I am.
Wow, now Barca have signed Cesc their midfield is going to be awesome.
Busquets
Xavi Iniesta
Class.
@Costas
dropping him is a big no no. we’ve taken the bite, now we have to swallow. I’m just a bit disappointed at the reaction to constructive and sensible criticism the boy has had. We all sat here laughing at Arsenal with flapianski and almunia calling them mugs. No let me say loud and clear, i’m not comparing the two sets of keepers. What it does show is that you have to be special in that role because you’ve got no partner so to speak, you’re on your own. He has to bring that “special-ness” or he’ll just be targeted by opposition continoisly. Has to show more cajones.
We won’t be laughing if we’re 2-0 up against chelasea and he lets 3 long range shots trickle past him, that i can guarantee you or anybody on this site. We’d all be calling for his head. Its not his fault its just the nature of the position.If fraught with all sorts of obstacles, so if he’s good as they say he is he has to show marked improvement. No one’s calling for the finished article – i’m not anyway
Neuer wanted to join Bayern, not us. Anyway, he made a shocking mistake that cost Bayern in their first league game. And he’s older, with international experience moving to a club just down the road.
Relax, man
Got to go lads thanks for the chat cheered me up no end. I was feeling a bit down after the match as it wasnt the performance i actually was looking forward to. But thats always been the United way.
In Fergie I trust.
Goat – It’s a pointless argument mate. There’s no way I, or anyone else, should be judging this lad after 2 games. The ideal situation would of been for VDS to stay for another year and let De gea be his understudy. As it is now, we have to get on with it. Dropping the lad now, not only hits his confidence, it makes Fergie look like a fool.
lol@Costas (pigs can fly).
As for dropping de Gea, I am sure Sir Alex is savvy enough to have laid the ground-work for this long ago … by which I mean he will have told both de Gea and Lindegaard in advance that they can expect to be switched around a bit. It won’t be presented to de Gea that he’s being dropped, just that Lindegaard needs to have a go too. I like the goat’s suggestion of giving de Gea some time in the reserves anyway.
To be honest, if de Gea had come in and immediately started to dominate the box and play like VDS or the Dane, that would have surprised me. What’s happening now doesn’t surprise me one bit.
After the shield match, Sir Alex said de Gea has a technical issue — he’s stepping forward when he shouldn’t. When you do that, it upsets your balance — it means his weight is not settled properly. That makes it more difficult to dive and upsets the timing of it because he has to reset his weight. If you’re going to dive to the side, you need to be balanced. Try it: step forward or back with one foot and put your weight on it, leave the other foot where it is, then try to dive sideways. You can do it, but you won’t do it as quickly or as easily. But that’s a technical issue they can work on.
His abilty with high balls, and to dominate the box, will take practice and experience and confidence. That’s why some time in the reserves might help.
MG
Great post at 22:14 and the ones afterwards ( cesc,Wenger etc)
What “fans” here can’t see is that de gea like every 20 year old youngster that plays outfield, he will improve immensely over the years for us and become our casillas in 3-4 years time .
Unlike foster, gomes, Tim Howard,, fabianski when they make a mistake we see fear, broken confidence and look like they could explode into ashes whereas de gea gets angry which shows passion and that means he is willing to prove himself and doubters wrong which creates confidence. The other keepers mentioned drop their heads at every blunder.which ain’t visible or noticeable with David Haye.
Tom Cleverley – From Boy To Man 2011 [MUTV] 24 minutes. This video is blocked in Germany and the United Kingdom. If you’re there, you have to use a fake IP to watch it. I don’t know how that’s achieved, ask any teenager.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeVimsIfc-8
Papii — it was something I noticed in our CL semifinal against Schalke last year — how Neur (however you spell it) really dropped his head. OK, they were being hammered, but you gotta have some fight in you. You gotto at least get pissed off about it. But he just dropped his head, slumped his shoulders, looked forlorn and sorry for himself.
“This is the launch show of Sports World Have Your Say – the latest programme from the WHYS stable. Top talking points included stuttering starts for Chelsea and Arsenal. Manchester United and De Gea hardly better. And then there’s Joey Barton.” 46 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgFKsjid8Rc
No problem with constructive criticism. That’s not the point here imo.
I get the feeling that cos De gea wasn’t the first choice for some on here, the first time he fucked up, was gonna be jumped on.
As I’ve said, I expect that shit from people outside the club, not our own fans. He made a bad mistake. Should of saved that tame shot. He will be targeted by teams, especially away from home.
I agree with slim on one thing, he has to step up and start cleaning house in the box. Even if he takes out some United players lol.
I’m not sure about the playing in the reserves. Is that much of a challenge? don’t think it is. Other lads have looked brilliant in the reserves, but not so much in the first team.
We’ve paid a lot of fucking money for De gea. He’s our number #1. Two games is not the time to pour scorn on a young lad. He now knows, what English football is like.
West Bromwhich Albion v Manchester United – 20 minute highlights
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkjf56_west-bromwhich-albion-v-manchester-united_sport
Sir Alex interview – 3 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jynmCf3j6xY
Exactly my statesideAussie friend, number of keepers show fight at the hands of destruction ( given, friedel, casillas, Diego Lopez of Villarreal and many more)
I rate neuer less even though I’ve seen more of him than de gea. Neuer is erratic, unconventional, slow to get down, questionable passing but excellent throwing.
David had my backing and so does lindegaard (lindeguardian), we have fantastic keepers.
Good evening,if someone mentioned this sorry,WS wanted 20mill euros a year after tax,seems fucking mental to me
Impressed with Stoke to a point today. Shawcross is developing and Woodgate had decent enough game. They were saved by their keeper TBH.
But my word, says it all when even Lampard is required to dive now. That’s what Torres brings to a club. Speaking of Torres, somehow managed to be named MOM for his flapping about. Must feel special for a striker to be named MOM in a nil-nil draw.
Personally i think the long range goals he has conceded lately has been due to lack of concentration, all this about dropping him won’t help at all, he needs to hit the gym and work on his physic because the premier league can be unforgiving, he’ll come good we have to believe in him as he is a young player after all.
And playing lindergaard won’t guarantee solidity either, lets all calm and not make hasty decision, sir alex knows what to do and that will be working hard with de gea in training e.t.c, maybe even bring van der sar back as a form of mentor for him.
a keeper gets judged importantly on their mental strength, he made a mistake but didn’t let it bring him down, he was good for the rest of the match, he does need to learn english to communicate better as wel, we can’t judge him on two games but he’ll need to learn quick and fast though.Personally i think the long range goals he has conceded lately has been due to lack of concentration, all this about dropping him won’t help at all, he needs to hit the gym and work on his physic because the premier league can be unforgiving, he’ll come good we have to believe in him as he is a young player after all.
And playing lindergaard won’t guarantee solidity either, lets all calm and not make hasty decision, sir alex knows what to do and that will be working hard with de gea in training e.t.c, maybe even bring van der sar back as a form of mentor for him.
a keeper gets judged importantly on their mental strength, he made a mistake but didn’t let it bring him down, he was good for the rest of the match, he does need to learn english to communicate better as wel, we can’t judge him on two games but he’ll need to learn quick and fast though.
Wayne – Some reports today, he’s willing to lower his wage demands. At this point though, I really couldn’t give a fuck if he signs or not. He would have to meet United half way at least, for any deal to happen. I don’t see it going through before the end of August.
Totally agree with willie (we don’t agree much on things lol) it’s only two games so how can people quickly judge him? today is a learning of what to expect in english football, he’ll watch the video’s back, work on his concentration and technique, he needs to get stronger and imposing, he needs to learn the language better and then he can communicate better with his defenders, remember he hasn’t learnt their game fully yet, this his first proper game?
Plus we spent millions on him, if sir alex trusted lindegaard so much then he wouldn’t go out and buy de gea, support him but he obviously needs to make less mistakes, the a.b.u will be unto him instantly, he needs to adapt to the english game quickly and i’m sure he will.Totally agree with willie (we don’t agree much on things lol) it’s only two games so how can people quickly judge him? today is a learning of what to expect in english football, he’ll watch the video’s back, work on his concentration and technique, he needs to get stronger and imposing, he needs to learn the language better and then he can communicate better with his defenders, remember he hasn’t learnt their game fully yet, this his first proper game?
Plus we spent millions on him, if sir alex trusted lindegaard so much then he wouldn’t go out and buy de gea, support him but he obviously needs to make less mistakes, the a.b.u will be unto him instantly, he needs to adapt to the english game quickly and i’m sure he will.
ok on De Gea not going to lie he looks like a 20yr old out of his depth.I’m not saying anything about his ability or what he might become,seems to me needs to put on 10-20lbs or goung to get killed.
Thing is the margins are small have to have someone in net who can deal with the pressure and make the saves.Kid looks overawed right now and it could be many reasons,this cannot be a training,really think utd should switch to lindegaard.It has nothing to do with the mistakes,i can’t be the only one to see De Gea needs alot of work.
What do people think of cleverly’s performance today? capable of holding down the midfield berth all season (hopefully less injuries)
And as for anderson, what do people think of his overall performance? i really think as time passes, him and cleverly’s partnership will blossom, although in big games, i’d stick fletcher or carrick with them to make it three.What do people think of cleverly’s performance today? capable of holding down the midfield berth all season (hopefully less injuries)
And as for anderson, what do people think of his overall performance? i really think as time passes, him and cleverly’s partnership will blossom, although in big games, i’d stick fletcher or carrick with them to make it three.
wayne – Imo you’re pretty harsh on him. I think he did okay in the second half with getting the balls out of the air.
And we would harm us instead of helping if he’s on the bench next time. And Lindegaard isn’t a proven PL gk either.
This is a quote that burns in the back of my mind when ever I;
-play football
-spar with mates at the gym
- have a fist fight
- box unprofessionally at a local club
- play rugby and fight big anoying guys outside who look for fights because they have small dicks.
This quote can also apply to David De Haye;
“Your best friend is a guy named Frankie Fear.
You see Fear is a fighters best friend you know,
it aint nothin to be ashamed of,
you see Fear keeps you sharp,
it keeps you awake you know what I mean it makes you want to survive…..
But the thing is you gotta learn how to control it alright,
cause Fear is like this fire alright, and it’s burning deep inside,
now if you control it, it’s gonna make you hot!
Or if this thing here controls you… it’s going to burn you and everything around you up. ”
The point is fear of failure should drive you on and I hope our players can apply this to their careers to fufill their potential.
20 million Euros after tax? Given UK tax rates, and current Euro-US dollar conversion rates, that works to a pre-tax salary of about US$54 million. If we just look at salary, that would make him the best-paid athlete in the world, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen (who currently tops the list at $51 million), ahead of all the US baseball, basketball and NFL stars, gold, whatever. So that’s the context.
He’s a very good player. He deserves to be among the best paid sports stars on the planet. He would make our squad better. But he alone cannot win the CL for us, and as for the PL, I don’t think we need his help to win that. So, as much as I’d like to see him in our shirt, it just ain’t worth it. He’ll bring value, but he won’t bring $54 million of it.
See ya later, Wesley. Have a nice life.
That’s just rumours..
I don’t believe that BS unless someone’s confirmes that. Sounds like twatter bollox.
@Papi – great quote from the man Stallone. ‘Heart and fire, heart and fire’
@Zelh not knocking him mate,just don’t think he’s ready.Has to bulk up otherwise teams will be taking runs all year.The two goals lack of concentration,last week went down late this week slide underneath.At utd might go 89 mins with nothing to do,then the one great save for the 3 pts .thats what seperates the great ones
Just give the lad time to settle in get uesd to the country,language,bulk up a little.Lindegaard has looked good might be better to take the pressure off
- De Gea is 20.
- Spain to England = culture shock.
- Language barrier.
- Friends to confide = 0
Give this guy a break. Those who think they are a United fan but calling him a shite, should be a fu*kin kop instead because that kinda attitude truly reminds me of dirty scouse
Oh and also, I don’t need to hear another bashing, if I want to hear more bashing I could just visit that stupid mail.
People think buying wes sneijder is the answer to breaking down barca, 1. we have to actually get a final again (which ain’t easy) 2. barca are an outstanding team that have a telepathic understanding built through years of playing together, it’s a philosophy that they have and stick to, buying sneijder will not break that. united has to improve even more as an overall team, not relying on some saviour in wesley’s case.
Well said, ‘TheRadLegion’
wow some fans, so called. Man Utd best player is a cunt, Man Utd holding CM is a bum. The keeper SAF chose is a fucked up choice. The hottest young striker on the planet should be benched for a man crush. wow some fans just are never happy. 12 of 19 BEPL titles not enough? All is wrong. Man Utd is doomed. Fuck wow.
The club of I know better then SAF must have millions of members.
In Fergie I trust
De Gea will be fine
woohooo some united fans really cunt. ok de gea make mistakes. but he only play few games for united. from what i see de gea has no problem with confidence or technical ability. though i suspect he a bit late or slow to reflex when low shot. i bet SAF will stick with him even after this he makes the same mistake again. To de gea goodluck and have a great career with united.
On an unrelated topic just read Robbie “it’s my dream to play for (insert club name here) for I have been a massive fan all my life” Keane is about to join the L.A. Galaxy…LOL
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/american-dream-on-for-ireland-captain-robbie-keane-2847925.html
Thanks for the links smartalex! still waiting for MOTD
That Cleverly video was awesome. And for anyone slagging off De Gea, we did win this weekend (thats more than Chelski, Liverfool and Arse-nil can say) and have won all of the games he’s started and can anyone really say that his goal today was any worse than the wrong footed move the VDS made on Messi’s goal in the CL final, if so watch it again. All keepers will have a shocking goal or 3 in their video vault, he’s young it could be rocky but he’s got the skill and he’s got the presence to shake off his mistakes it appears by the saves he’s made after so I have all confidence the attention or nerves will be worked on relentlessly by Steele.
United needs to employ VDS to coach DDG
With De Gea, simple enough, he just need to be braver and clean out everyone in the box when coming out to get the ball, that would be the best confidence booster he can do for himself.
Yesterday’s game also show something. Welbeck is not quite ready yet. For the 60 minutes he was on, he was hardly noticed, whereas when Berbatov came on, he held the ball well. I say, start next game with Berbatov and Rooney.
Anderson did ok, but there were a few occasions he tried to dribble his way through the middle, and one can only imagine the danger if he were to lose the ball trying to do that against better teams.
Anyone else thinks that Smalling should be shifted back to the centre? I thought his attacking play overall was poor for a right back… With all our injuries, Fabio on the right, and evra on the left, with jones and smalling/evans in the centre…
That said, Ashley Young looks to be an amazing signing, Cleverley and Anderson looked good in the first half esp, Anderson seemed to fade a lil in the 2nd half… Welbeck had an ok game, not as impressive as he was against City, Nani was also uncharacteristically quiet…
And De Gea, give the kid a break… As Ferguson said, even the Great Dane had a first couple of poor games, in contrast, Taibi and Barthez had amazing starts… So don’t judge the kid just yet… After 10 games or so, better judgement can be made… Also, De Gea looks more comfortable playing with Jones and Evans in front of him rather than Rio and Vidic… Mayb its a case of jitters playing behind 2 legends of the game and he is more comfortable playing with lads his own age? Well, hopefully so as he is going to be playing with a very young defensive line in the coming games..
Hopefully we see more of Cleverley and Anderson playing together in the coming weeks… Both are great passers of the ball, if we can get them to work together we would be all good..
In Fergie we trust…
P.S: Enough of this Sneidjer bullshit… He comes, he comes… He doesn’t, all good,…. Could use a player like him, will still do good without him…
http://sport360.com/component/content/article/102-breaking-news/177011-sneijder-willing-to-take-pay-cut-to-seal-man-utd-switch
Darn sneidjer news…
IF he does come, hopefully he does not stunt the progress of Ando, Cleverley or Pogba..
he will come. there are two flights from ibiza to england today… .
:
:
@rohan19
Haha… Hopefully so… Btw, the Pogba vid at the end of the Sneidjer link was awesome.. The lad looks good, amazing shot and good control for a big lad.. Looked like a man playing with kids..
pogba’s superb… i hope he matures fast enough…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajNZVhbsKRs&feature=related
Anyone seen this?
Pretty darn funny… 50 million one goal ladyboy’s one goal celebration…
well here we gowith all the de gea comments..lets not kid ourselves i mean he has been poor but to say sell him already, wat a bunch of clueless nobs..any1 remember wen pepe reina came to england..he was a wooden 1 at the start now look at him..the kid needs a bit of time to settle in and i have every faith that he will b a star for us..just hope its bloody quick.lol..oh and we r all ravin about pogba..yes he is gona b a super player for us but he aint ready yet..theres to much youth in the side now and very little experience and eventually that will catch us out especially against the big teams..and as for fergie saying carry carrick comes on in november…wat planet is that?im sorry but i stick to my guns on this guy hes about as useful as a used jube..:)
Good Morning ROM!
Having gone through all the posts made while I was asleep, I can see that the regulars are making sense as usual.
One thing I have to add about De Gea: IMO, he has made only one blunder so far. I won’t call the Sheild goal a mistake on his part. Sir Alex and Steele would’ve known he is susceptible to long-range shorts as it would’ve come up in their research. They would’ve told the defenders to offer him more cover from shots from that range which our players failed to do on that day. So, yeah, I think that is a general weakness which will need to be worked on, and where we will need to use all our defensive capabilities and teamwork to allow him that leeway.
For all the talk about his negatives, I still don’t see the same people talk about his positives. His distribution is spot-on and is going to help our counter-attacking game in the long-run. He has shown relative ease with the ball at his feet which is something that is needed for a United GK. His catching ability is also pretty good and will only get better once he bulks up as well. And he had two second half clean sheets as someone pointed out, which is a good start and produced some decent saves in that time.
I think it will take him at least an year to grow into the Premier League. While I agree that he needs to be more imposing on crosses, he needs to bulk up for that which is not going to happen overnight. He may demonstrate the intent to do so, but if he doesn he’s probably going to end up flattened by the physical nature of the league. Other technical things will be worked upon by Steele and Sir Alex. As Stateside suggested, a look in for the reserves is not going to be too bad either.
Thankfully Lindegaard is around. Though he is not any more proven than De Gea is, at least he has shown he has the spirit to stick it out and fight for his place – which is more than Tomasz or Ben did. He is also physcially well-built than DDG which we might need when we play Stoke/Bolton/Blackburn etc.
Anyways, I have one main confidence as to why we will be better than other teams with GKs who have looked shaky in the beginning. It is that i expect us to score more than the opposition more often than not. This might be an issue against the other Top 6 teams, but against lower teams, I expect us to always score more than the opposition. Which means at least we’ll keep winning even if the lad makes a few more mistakes.
@Balaji
Spot on. I never liked Pig, way too erratic for my liking, and Forsters was even more edgy than DDG when he played for us. DDG has great distribution and reflexes and can only get better. On a slight negative note, he does not seem to dominate the area as a GK should. DDG was known at Atletico for dominating the penalty box so im a little concerned at that.. Nothing that coaching won’t fixed though.
Balaji – speaking complete sense as usual, no one is denying de gea needs work but he’ll improve his game, the premier league is physically testing so i’m sure he’ll on some weights programme, other aspects of his game are spot on and most keepers would have crawled under their shell but he stood up strong and got on with i
i think he needs to be no nonsense and imposing in terms of dealing with balls being pumped high into the box, but he’ll come good like you say, it’s his debut and that’s a harsh welcome to this league.Balaji – speaking complete sense as usual, no one is denying de gea needs work but he’ll improve his game, the premier league is physically testing so i’m sure he’ll on some weights programme, other aspects of his game are spot on and most keepers would have crawled under their shell but he stood up strong and got on with i
i think he needs to be no nonsense and imposing in terms of dealing with balls being pumped high into the box, but he’ll come good like you say, it’s his debut and that’s a harsh welcome to this league.
Acemace – he’ll gain more confidence, best thing to do now is for him to make less mistakes and stay out of the headlines at the moment, spurs game will be a test though. this just shows how good edwin was at united and it won’t be easy for any keeper coming in to replace him but de gea is talented and mentally strong enough to replace him.Acemace – he’ll gain more confidence, best thing to do now is for him to make less mistakes and stay out of the headlines at the moment, spurs game will be a test though. this just shows how good edwin was at united and it won’t be easy for any keeper coming in to replace him but de gea is talented and mentally strong enough to replace him.
@Samuel
True that. I feel the biggest mistake would be dropping him for the Spurs game.. Gotta give the boy some confidence by playing him game in game out. That having said, really hope Crouch does not play against us. WBA were overly physical on DDG and Redknapp would try to get Crouch to do the same thing.
@Balaji
To be absolutely fair in defence of Kuszczak, he did hang around for what, 5 years? So to say he didn’t have “the spirit to stick it out and fight for his place” is not exactly being very fair to him. Perhaps he didn’t develop enough to convince SAF, but he never once said anything about feeling the pressure at United, unlike Foster. He merely said he needed to move as he didn’t see his future here as he felt he wasn’t given enough chances to stake his claim.
I believe it is better to leave De Gea for both Spurs and Arsenal games, any mistake he will do in those 2 will cost both us and him as well, as Spurs have players like Crouch who can head the ball perfectly, and with De Gea’s reluctance to come out and collect crosses, Crouch will have a light day scoring. And also it will give us an insight on whether Lindegaard can step up when required, as De Gea definitely needs more time to develop, and its not playing him week in week out that he will do so, he needs to watch from the bench as well, how the defenders and the stand-in keeper communicate, the body language etc
I just hope De Gea does not turn out to be another Taibi…
I have read most of the comments regarding De Gea, many of which suggest either he will get better or he will learn. Even Sir Alex has said that he needs time to learn. Am I somehow missing the point? United payed eighteen million pounds for this keeper. Apart from the glaring errors which led to at least two, arguably three goals, over two matches, his ball handling skills appear to be Sunday league rather than premier league. He is hesitant, indecisive and appears to lack the most fundamental technique. When a club has payed this amount of money for a keeper, you would have expected him to at least have mastered the basics. I would not expect him to enter the premier league with a view to “learning” how to become a goalkeeper.
Fuck me. Some of the comments about the side after ONE fucking game are a piss take. People moaning about this and that. Fucking grow up you cunts. Takes time for a young team to settle and we got the points. Nowt wrong with middle of park yesterday. Yes we are bound to get over run at times. Thats the nature of the league plus they had 5 midfielders. You simply will NOT dominate all the game on the road. Even when we had Keano in there we got overrun but folk forget that. Newcastle away 95 anyone? for starters.
Bad mistake by the keeper but he will come good. A tough game for the lad to be fair. Young looks superb and was quality yesterday. The Berb who some idiots want gone showed what he brings to the side.
That fucking big nosed rentboy Townsend and Curbishley telling Fergie what he should do. Fuck off what have you clowns achieved? A good three points considering our rivals results. A good start.
Oh and good to see the Rentboys bedding in the youth. Oh wait a minute. Same old same old stale shite.
Ritesh – The last thing De Gea needs is dropping. Spurs and Arsenal will be better games imo for the lad. They dont lump balls in all the time. It fucking annoys me the comparisons with Taibi. Lest we forget he had a blinder on his debut anyway.
Where is the “5 quick reactions”? Will soon enough write my own.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/8701176/Alan-Hansen-Manchester-United-goalkeeper-David-de-Gea-in-trouble-as-he-does-not-have-trust-of-team-mates.html
So the non believers have started already – well Hansen and his Liverpool can fuck off – it’s a team game one for all and all for one
Manchester United stand as one – if anyone watched the game should have seen the end – where all the youngsters had their moment with the young keeper himself
In this club we do it our way – we are together and everyone that believes we are not can fuck off
It was fun yesterday but now I’m serious – and any one of you that’s fucking complaining – quit your fucking bollocks and stand behind your team
Grow the fuck up – we are here to support our team and stand behind them – no matter what mistakes they make or the chances they don’t create or the ones they miss – this is our team so shut the fuck up and carry on
End of explosive rant.
@MG, Fuck them mate. The ABU cunts in the media know that they cannot touch us elsewhere. They will use any and all tactics against us. All our other signings have practically exploded onto the pitch. Young was MOM yesterday. Jones looks like a fucking marauder each time he plays. Evans is finding his confidence back. Smalling is rampant on the right. Cleverley shows more than a hint of Scholes in his play. Anderson is looking like he can live up to expectations. Rooney is tying everything up together and is making people forget his misgivings and demonstrate that he has what it takes to be one of our all-time greats.
The only (and fucking read “only”) thing anybody has against this United team is that we have a young, in-experienced, non-English speaking, foreign goalkeeper. So, they are trying to do their best to unsettle us by having a go at this young lad. When, in fact, he needs all the support he can get. What a bunck of wankers. I’ve never seen a more despicable display from the press as we have come to expect from the British media.
That will all soon be forgotten once he lives up to the expectations Sir Alex and Steele have for him. Once that happens, they will have nothing against. us.
Like I said, their hate makes us stronger. Knowing SAF as we do, he will not let this bullshit creep into the lad’s head.
MG – Hear hear my friend, some idiots do need to grow the fuck up, just like our buddy King Eric said as well. These type of so called fans are merely fickle, always looking for an excuse to be critical, never satisfied no matter what the outcome, they will always find someone to blame or criticize.
De Gea makes a mistake, so bloody what, now people want him dropped, what the fuck?
If only some idiots would merely support the team and learn to be a bit more positive and believe me there were a lot of positives from yesterday’s game….
@RItesh
That’s the WORST thing you can do! What kind of message does that send to the lad?
What better way to show confidence in the guy then to keep picking him, particularly for the bigger games. At the end of the day, the media are always going to jump in his back, but take it as a compliment that we’re Manchester United, it doesn’t get any bigger. Naturally our players will always take more criticism than other clubs.
The media are going to write about De Gea, of course they are, it was an error. It’s up to the fans, players and manager to get behind the guy and give him the confidence he needs.
Young goalies are always going to make mistakes and the pressure that comes with that can either make or break these guys. Never more so than at Manchester United.
Jamie Redknapp also savaged him after the game. You’d think and ex-pro might understand his plight a bit. And who else is in the back line? Jones, Smalling, Evans, Fabio. They’re all learning the game. We don’t have a settled defence, full stop, but I’m sure they’ll get used to each other.
I just can’t see what good dropping him would do. It might have a short-term advantage for United (IF, and it’s a big if, the stand-in goalie does better) but what happens then? It’s more likely to do long-term damage. His United career could be over before it’s started. What kind of message does it send to the lad? One or two mistakes and you’re screwed, dropped, done. It’s not natural. The fans stuck by Tevez, pleading for Fergie to “sign him up” when Tevez wasn’t good enough to start for us, didn’t bother learning the language, held the club to ransom and bitched to the press if he was benched. How about showing De Gea some support?
According to Gazetta dello sport, Sneijder is depressed that his move to United won’t happen. It’s simple son. All you had to do was lower your demands. Isn’t playing for United worth compromising and earning 200k instead of 250k a week? If it’s not, then fuck off to City, because that’s where you belong.
I do hope Nani had an apologetic word or two for De Gea after the game. If he’d put away one – or both – of those easy chances in the first half, we could’ve been out of sight before WBA even got close to our penalty area, and we probably would’ve ended up destroying them. As it was, the lack of killer instinct meant we followed the same trajectory as many of last season’s away games… starting well, missing chances, confidence waning, being on the back foot by half time. This increased the pressure on De Dea tenfold.
Hansen speaks like he is in the dressing room of united and knows what every player thinks, i knew it wouldn’t be long before the doom and gloom merchants come out.
Best thing de gea can do now is to be solid against spurs, eradicate the mistakes and not be in the headlines, he needs support not being knocked down.Hansen speaks like he is in the dressing room of united and knows what every player thinks, i knew it wouldn’t be long before the doom and gloom merchants come out.
Best thing de gea can do now is to be solid against spurs, eradicate the mistakes and not be in the headlines, he needs support not being knocked down.
@CedarsDevil
haven’t read all the posts this a.m but for Godsake no one suggested he be dropped now, the meat of the argument was a steady pair of hands would much appreciated . the reactions to criticism of this guy is way over the top as is some of the criticism against him
slim
I am all for constructive criticism of our players, that usually sparks off some decent debates…. What gets under my skin is people simply spouting shit with quick one liners like ‘he’s a flop’ or ‘sell him he is shit’ etc…..
We’ll see how De Gea does against Spurs, but imo a spell on the sidelines can only help the lad. He wouldn’t be dropped because he’s a “flop”. He’d just get taken out of the firing line in order to get accustomed to life in England, as well as bulk up a bit. Other than long range efforts, the sad thing is that the Kevin Davieses of this league will target him physically.
Costas – if you drop him now then the media and every a.b.u will be out in force, they won’t think rationally and feel maybe he’s just being taking off the limelight so there can be less pressure on him, they’d think he is dropped cos he ain’t good enough which is Bullshit.
I think he can bulk up by staying behind after every training sessions, go into the gym on his free time, it depends on his desire and determination to wanna succed like hernandez, dropping him now wouldn’t be a wise move and i doubt the manager would want to.Costas – if you drop him now then the media and every a.b.u will be out in force, they won’t think rationally and feel maybe he’s just being taking off the limelight so there can be less pressure on him, they’d think he is dropped cos he ain’t good enough which is Bullshit.
I think he can bulk up by staying behind after every training sessions, go into the gym on his free time, it depends on his desire and determination to wanna succed like hernandez, dropping him now wouldn’t be a wise move and i doubt the manager would want to.
Costas
I would disagree about giving De Gea a spell on the sidelines, you can only grow in confidence if you play matches. I agree he does need to bulk up and he will. Less we forget it was his first competitive match and no matter how good you are nerves are bound to play a part. I remember Evra’s debut against City was terrible and was Vidic’s first few games.
I am sure Sir Alex and the coaching staff as well as the senior players will work on keeping the lad in check and raising his confidence levels….. He will come good. Best we reserve proper judgement after 9 or 10 matches.
@Costas
I don’t think dropping him is an option yet. Imagine the way the press and opposition fans would feast on that. It’s a learning curve, but one he’s got to take. There may be mistakes along the way, but we just need to keep hoping we can keep compensating for them at the other end.
With regards to him being targetted physically, there were a number of instances when this happened against WBA, and it was a clear foul, which the ref didn’t give. This doesn’t help.
VDS wasn’t exactly stacked, but always came confidently for crosses, and if he was fouled, made sure the ref knew it was a foul! This is exactly the kind of know-how that De Gea will have to develop, and the only way this will happen is by playing in the Prem, not getting dropped to the reserves. Chelsea will be his biggest test yet. Quality + physicality.
Dress it up with pretty words if you want, he’d be dropped. Can’t see how this would do any good in the long term. It would dent his confidence even further (and possibly for ever, as he’ll know life at United is hard. One mistake and you’re out).
And all for what, one game? He hasn’t cost us any points yet and has made some good saves. Dearie me.
That was an expensive 3 points yesterday. Excellent first 30 mins or so then ground out the result which is all that matters. Once the fitness is up I expect the domination to continue for longer periods. Really impressed in how we’ve developed in the attacking department.
As for De Gea its good to see the a fair number of fans having some patience as the goalkeeping department usually doesn’t have that luxury with our fans. Based on CURRENT performances and I can’t stress that point not enough, he hasn’t exactly made life easy for himself. I’ll admit after he fucked up I had my heart in my mouth when the ball got near him although his kicking is immense.
You then think to yourself that thank God we have a home game less hostile atmosphere, but Spurs and then l’arse aren’t the best home games to have when you’ve made a couple of cock ups and that with the 2nd choice (a pretty good one) Back 4 in front of you. His first easy test is Norwich on 1st October. He really has bee n thrown in the deep end, but if he makes a mistake against Spurs the pressure is only going to increase on him with or without the media.
I think we should stick with him and assess it game by game, fitness showed vs West Brom as it was only first game. With the tough start we have another mistake may have us having too much to do early on in the season any way.
He doesn’t have an easy run of game either, first easy one is Norwich at home.
Fuck’s sake, just give the ball to Georgie Best and he’ll sort it out. No need to worry about the keeper.
Joking aside, I’m sure Fergie and the staff know how to handle it. David will come out next week determined and fired up, and he’ll show everyone why Fergie brought him in and not one of the countless other names.
People like Hansen are an utter joke, desperate to find weaknesses in our team after the dismal start the dippers had. If anyone should be lacking his team-mates’ confidence then maybe it should be Suarez who fucked up that penalty.
Like I said before, worst case sceario is we have to score more than the opposition, which is always a useful way to win a football match.
You just got a promotion in the company you work for. First day after your promotion your boss comes up to you and says ‘Listen son I am putting you back in your old position to gain a bit of confidence, not to worry you still have your promotion’
Employee feels over the moon does he not?
De Gea will come good.
Cyril
‘Like I said before, worst case sceario is we have to score more than the opposition, which is always a useful way to win a football match.’
Cracked me up that……Is there any other way? Mind you, I am sure you will come up with something!
Cedars mentioned Evra. I seem to remember him missing quit a few games during those first 6 months of his United career. That didn’t demoralise him did it? Ronaldo didn’t play every match when he was starting at United. He didn’t for a couple of seasons actually. No one ever said he was “dropped”. I honestly don’t see what’s wrong with slowly bringing De Gea into the fold. If he allows that to get to him, then maybe he doesn’t have the mentality for this club.
@Costas
Cos it’s completely different with a goalkeeper.
With an outfield player you can fall back on the notion of squad rotation if you want to leave them out, for whatever reason.
There is no stamina/fatigue to take into account with a GK, so you can’t argue rotation. If they are omitted, they are seen as dropped, not rested.
This isn’t Edwin Dan Der Sar moving from Fulham to Manchester at the age of 35. I think people forget how much De Gea’s life has changed in the last month.
@Samuel, kanchelskis
I get your point about the media guys, but at no point should that dictate how we go about our business. Let them think De Gea was dropped because he’s a flop. It will feel even better when he comes back with a vengeance. And sadly, they won’t be convinced otherwise anyway. For them. Torres hasn’t been a flop for Chelsea and De Gea is already one for United. They’d die before they ate humble pie.
I said yesterday the ABU media would be having a go at De Gea and lo, it came to pass. However, to be fair, no reporter could ignore the fact that he made a very bad mistake for WBA’s goal, just as he did for City’s 2nd in the Community Shield. His baptism of fire in England IS an issue, and we can’t ignore that. Fergie faces a tough decision on the best way to deal with him. He’ll be conscious that the lad’s now got over a week to fret over things before the next match, with no chance to ‘get back in the saddle’ immediately. It’s possible he’ll get an ‘injury’ in training, perhaps as they practice defending corners/ set-pieces with the lads piling in. There’s no better manager in the world for dealing with young players and the inevitable mistakes they make in their early days (or even late days – remember it was Van der Sar who gifted WBA two goals at Old Trafford last season, the only points we dropped at home).
If I was working with De Gea, I’d put him on the traditional diet of steak & chips with lashings of Guinness, to beef him up a bit. I’d also get him to shave off that bum-fluff beard and get a tougher-looking haircut, that Tin Tin-gone wrong does him no favours. Then I’d get him to practice shouting at his team mates, louder and louder and louder and louder till the walls of Carrington crack. He should also practice how to hold himself when he next lets in a soft goal, something meaner and nastier than the rather vapid gestures he made yesterday and at Wembley.
One other thing. It’s said how good his distribution is. Well, up to a point. Opponents will soon wise up to the fact that he always punts it long out to the right wing, which is why it keeps getting cut out easily by defenders. He also can be a bit slow in deciding what to do when the ball is at his feet, encouraging foraging forwards to chase in on him. I suspect the next goof will be along those lines as he gets caught in possession. In the U-21s his distribution under pressure was sometimes poor. Having said all that, his distribution at its best IS good, he just needs to speed up sometimes and be more decisive. The essence of United’s attacking style requires quick movement of the ball out from the back, as with Van the Man, who was lightning.
I still have faith that De Gea has the ability and mental strength to come through all this but supporters have a role in all this. When he makes his Old Trafford let’s hear the Stretford End and K-Stand give him a bit of One Love. It was great to see the younger players trying to gee up De Gea after his mistakes, giving advice and support. Supporters need to do more of the same.
Costas
Your argument is slightly flawed my friend. In the case of Evra or even Ronaldo, they were not dropped I agree but they were not first choice starters when they arrived were they? Further more none of us can remember the last time Sir Alex named an unchanged team, apart for his goalkeeper (Carling cup matches aside) Dropping De Gea now does not in anyway compare to dropping or resting any outfield player. Furthermore what happens if Lindegaard has a similar debut?
@Costas
It is not just in the eyes of the media that he would be seen as dropped. But also in the eyes of his teammates, the fans, and – most crucially – himself.
I’m not suggesting that we press on with him whatever happens. Of course, if the errors are still there after a few weeks, then it’d be mad to keep him bewteen the sticks. But as it stands, I can see little justification for leaving him out.
@Cedars – Hi mate, I did think up a few alternative win conditions but they all involve bribery (city) intimidation (chelsea) or living in a dream world where yu think you won but didn’t (king kenny).
Probably best to stick with scoring more goals…. For now.
kanchelskis
I think we must have had the same items for breakfast! Almost similar posts…. lol
@CedarsDevil
He he… great minds…
Giles
Great bit of advice there to De Gea on how to beef up and look tough………. Loved it
@Cedars
You can’t find a perfect parallel for this situation anyway. You mentioned the example with the employee. If someone was promoted in a new position that had a lot more responsibilitied and his predecessor was the best in the world, then the employer would try to help him out and protect him until he settled down. For me that’s the equivalent of giving De Gea some time to find his feet. Can’t do anything more to protect him at this point. I agree that Evra and Ronaldo weren’t certain starters. But why did De Gea have to be anyway? Didn’t Sir Alex say during pre season that the keeper’s position is up for grabs? No denying that Lindegaard might face similar problems of course, but you never know unless you try.
@kanchelskis
I will agree that the timing isn’t the best. Imo that should have been done before the first game of the season. I didn’t foresee De Gea giving away 2 goals in his first 2 games, but during the summer I was concerned about how quickly it would take for him to adapt. It’s not like he had a chance to move to Manchester during the summer and settle down. It’s all happened in the blink of an eye for him. As things stand now, I honestly don’t know what the best solution is. My suggestion is what I said today. If David starts adjusting quicker than I expect him to, all the better. I don’t mind getting proved wrong if it’s for the good of the club.
De Gea would have been completely forgiven if he took a punt at shooting when Ben foster was in our penalty box. Given that his distribution is supposed to be so good I’m sure he could have scored in albion’s open goal
People are forgetting the most important point here. In his head, after the mistakes he’s made, he’ll think he’s being dropped. Not rested, or taken out of the firing line. Confidence would be at zero.
The next point in all this madness is, are the 2 guys below him good enough to come in? Not sure they are in all honesty.
Fergie has stuck his neck on the line, buying a keeper so young. He drops the lad now, could be fatal, for his long term future at United.
Of course, if he makes another gaff, the boss might have no choice, but to take him out of the firing line. At this time though, I feel he has to stick with him.
ps Fabregas confirmed now to Barca. Not sure how I feel about this. One of our rivals weakened, but another big player leaves for la liga.
Seems pretty straight forward to me,posters on here should ask do we have a problem?If yes,what do we do,go through the season on tenterhooks or as I would do.Rectify it.
well am not saying De Gea should be dropped totally or relegated to the bench, just to give him some time adapt to the game by watching from a view point different from what he’s seeing currently, from the bench you can get an overall view of how the players line up under different circumstances, like when under pressure, how the players get in position, who does what to try stop the attack from progressing and so on, in this way he will know when to shout for someone to leave the ball for him for example. Also am for the coaching staff to make him train under real pressure, like long shots coming at full speed with defenders in front of him, see how he reacts, if the ball gets deflected what is his response, and make him come out to collect aerial crosses even when defenders are there, as he can use his hands in these situations, while they cannot except try heading, which is difficult in the case of taller players like Crouch rising up to head, while De Gea can learn to extend himself properly and also put pressure on those opponents, unlike what he is doing now, by remaining on his line, waiting for the defenders to clear everything for him. To replace VDS, he must try at least to start thinking like VDS did, and more important, communicate with the players in front of him, and not leave everything in their hands. A couple of weeks of intensive training and he should be good to get back in goal, and in the meantime, use the safer hands of Lindegaard to keep out both Spurs and Arsenal if possible, we need to win such games
@willie
Maybe that’s what De Gea will think, but quite frankly, I don’t believe football is the only thing on his mind right now. What I am suggesting isn’t any different to what Sir Alex did by keeping Beckham on the bench for 8 games in 2001 or by sending Rooney to the States last year. Oh excuse me. He was sent there to “work on his fitness”.
Costas – No logic in dropping him now. After one game? No way Fergie will do that mate. If that was the case, you’d be dropping every player new to a league after a game or 2. The good thing about this, at least he’s getting these silly mistakes out of the way now. What I mean by that is, better now, than in defining games at the end of the season.
Fuck me the lads played 2 games so far and granted he’s made 2 pretty big mistakes but we’ve won both games so it’s not as though he’s cost us. He’ll get better, you saw his reaction yesterday when he let in that very soft goal and i was really impressed with the other lads when they were walking off the pitch all putting an arm round him etc. He’s 20 years of age, can hardly speak the lingo and has a massive price tag to deal with. Fergie will know what to do and how to handle him. He’ll be ok, Peter the great had a shakey start to his United career and look what we did with him in the sticks.
I think SAF his coaching staff will have set out a specific number of games to get him to settle down and sort himself out. I don’t think they expected him to take the league by storm from game one, and they probably did expect some mistakes. What they will want is to see De Gea sort out his mistakes asap. I think they’ll give him a few games (unless he has an absolute stinker and falls apart during a game) and if he sorts himself out by then no problem, if he doesn’t they give him a rest and have a different strategy for his development. In theory all he need is one or two solid games with no mistakes (and hopefully clean sheets) and suddenly confidence will be restored, people will have shut up , and he’ll feel much more settled. I think he’s going to get something like the first five games of the season.
@Union Jack
I was desperate for him to have a crack then. Not least cos he’s in my fantasy team!
Dropping him now will be a mistake.
Its only the first game of the season. It would do more harm than good.
Well, if all else fails, stick Rio in there!
Would of said Sheasy, but he gone.
Good Afternoon Reds!
I have re-watched the game in full, and seen the 20 minute highlights.
In my humble opinion, David de Gea played much better than Ben Foster.
Does anyone wish to agree or disagree?
If David did play better than Ben, that is remarkable, and a certain indication that we are onto another world class keeper. David is very young and very inexperienced. Ben is a multiple trophy winner, and has a lot more experience and training than David, especially in the English style of football.
Well done David de Gea! You have my respect.
Our excellent coaches will improve your play immeasurably, and our fantastic conditioning staff and facilities will make you twice the man you are today.
He’s a keeper!
willie – and injured. so would be no help atm
As my earlier thread pointed out i’m with Costas,it’s ok being bull headed saying De Gea can’t be dropped because the abu’s will have a field day,when have utd worried about the abu’s,the lad is 20 and just like any other other 20yr old needs work and needs to adjust to the country and style of football,its a culture shock on more than one level.
The lads not ready and the team can’t afford to have a project in goal if utd are going to win 20,the is a counter arguement to lads saying if you drop him it’ll effect his confidence,so will getting battered every week and making blunders,he has to bulk up and learn to be dominating and dish it out,otherwise it’ll be a long season.
I’m always behind utd players and if that the route Sir Alex is going to go so be it but there’s no getting away from the lad is a work in progress and don’t see what’s wrong in bringing him on slowly like utd do with any youngster who isn’t quite ready.
I don’t think age has anything to do with it. Bar VDS if you look at Fergies goalie signings post Barthez they have all been relatively young. Once the fee was announced he was always 1st choice. You don’t spend that much money to leave a player on the bench. £18 million for a goalie is the equivalent of spending £30+ million on a midfielder/striker. He’s brought himself unwanted attention and everyone will be watching him with a close eye vs Spurs. If De Gea can get through the first 10 league games without making too many mistakes than that would be awesome.
Our first 10 games are a crash course on what the Premier League is about, after that there shouldn’t be any more surprises and he can focus on his ability rather than nerves and concentration.
smartalex – I said that last yesterday. Foster was flopping at corners and generally, didn’t seem confident at all.
Zelh – Obviously, when he’s not injured lol.
@smartalex, Loved the “He’s a keeper quote!” – Brilliant stuff!
willie @ 12:39, Spot on mate. I had exactly the same thought in my mind as to why De Gea should not be dropped for the next few games at least. Forget the media, forget the ABU, forget everything else and just think about the lad. For an experienced player, being dropped after a few mistakes is not going to be a big deal. But for someone so young and short-of-confidence already, it could prove fatal and demoralizing and he may “never” be a good player as a result. Even in schoolboy matches, when you are dropped after mistakes, you feel bad as a youngster, and that effect will be magnified when representing the biggest club in the world.
@Balaji hi mate fair enough,what happens if utd don’t drop him and he continues to under perform,keep him in all year untill he learns? if that’s the plan fine.
My point is he isn’t ready for the number one spot don’t understand why he has to be thrown in at the deep end,there’s a difference between a out of form player and a player who isn’t ready
@wayne, I agree mate. We should’ve thought of that before he was put in to that game in the Shield and also the opening weekend of the PL in a tough away match. Once we’ve done that, we have to give him his chance till he comes good.
I can relate to it personally. My company sent me to work directly with the client even though I was relatively young and in-experienced (I’m 23, so I think you can do the math, my total WE is only 2 years) in handling it directly. Once I came here, there was somebody to oversee me for a few months till I settled in and we had a few issues in that time which were my fault. However, the other person left exactly at the time that had been planned. If he had stayed on for a few more days after the few issues we’ve had, I would’ve felt demoralized because everything would’ve been my fault. I would’ve felt like why send me here at all if you are going to keep him also? But he left and I got the vote-of-confidence from my managers, and I’ve been handling the work issue-free for the past 6 months.
Once you’ve put him in, there is no point in pulling back in the middle. You have to give him a good 10 or 15 games at least till he comes good.
Same old shite really wasn’t it the opening day of the season. Arsenal once again tried to cheat their way to 3 points. Lampard and Terry once again prove what massive cunts they are and the dippers were their usual wank self. Oh and United left it late to snatch all 3 points…..Brilliant.
I think he’s better getting knocked around now and used to the physical nature of the premiership. If the inconsistent form continues, then Fergie might have to make a decision down the line. Luckily for us, it hasn’t cost us yet. At this minute though, it doesn’t make sense to leave him out after one league game.
Sandy Busby on talksport, for anyone interested.
de gea will not be dropped.. look at the bigger picture guys.. everyone makes mistakes.. even VDS made one in the west brom game last year.. and i know the great dane had a howler in his first game when he went chasing a long ball..
also if you guys remember evra had a nightmare start to his career…
give the lad time he’s very young and to be the no 1 of the worlds best team at a hefty price tag bring a whole new level of pressure for a 20 year old..
he’ll do just fine.. give him a handful of games.. next game there will be no mistake.. its at OT he’ll finally feel he’s arrived and will be the goalie we all want him to be
Surely the fact that we bought Lindegaard means that he was promised fair opportunities to perform in the Premiership. Anders will not want United to drop de Gea, as the undue pressure and over-the-top criticisms would automatically be transferred to him. No, Lindegaard and De Gea will be training together every day for the foreseeable future. It is natural and imperative that their friendship will grow into a strong bond. Both keepers will want a fair crack at the No. 1 spot, for themselves and for each other.
All scenarios will have been exhaustively considered by Sir Alex, Eric Steele, and the rest of the brains trust. They are not agitatedly discussing how to approach the fact that de Gea has been less than perfect, that is left to us fans. There will be no unexpected reaction from United. It has long been decided how to continue with the replacement of Van der Sar, and both keepers will have been told previously that each will get opportunities, both will make mistakes and be castigated by the media and some fans, and that by teamwork we will overcome.
The ABU media and opposition fans are desperately praying to every god that United drop de Gea, and that Lindegaard then makes errors that are bound to occur.
it’s putting alot of pressure on the young lads in front of him,obviously opinions are divided.To me don’t see pulling the kid aside and tell him he needs to bulk up and work with the goalie coach is going to effect his confidence,he must realise this aswell,the lads a pro not a school kid.
@Rohan19 – I agree that De Gea will come good given time..though VDS make one error last year, as far i can remember, it was his only one. People should refrain from comparing him with VDS just yet..
Milesplattingred – I loved your comment at 14:07! Same old, same old!
@eplfan : not comparing anyone with VDS… was just mentioning that even the best have off days..
He’s 20 and not like vdS at the end of his carreer. Look how Schmeichel started at United or Casillas at Madrid. Or Kahn at Bayern? He conceded 5 goals in his first match.
Nothing special about de gea’s first mistakes. We threw him in and he has to stay in till he comes good and that will happen sooner than later.
I’m full of confidence for this boy.
Imo he developed in the first game. First he was really intimidated by being blocked and attacked by other players, but overcame it in the second half and went in players to get the balls out of the air.
United is one lucky team. Even in adversity we win. I saw video of some of our young players (eg Fabio) talking to De Gea. Hard to believe but that’s how we grow. Only the very senior players could have spoken to VDS like that. But now the younger guys are gaining the courage to take up the responsibility for the team’s success…..and that’s exactly how you grow as a team….everyone maturing, taking responsibility, learning, getting better, winning no.20 then…
Any praying that’s done will be that his name Is on the teamsheet because if I were one of the opposition fans that’s what I’d want,same for the media great copy.
just have to mention trannyboys dive after he flubbed that shot a yard out fucking pathetic,also fat frank doing the dive trying to get a peanalty.Rentboys are fucking scum,Trannyboy dives all the time cheating bastard
Wayne, i agree mate. Fat arse lampard diving to try and cheat his way to a pen. Mind you i’d fall over ( in disgust ) if i’d been shagging Christine Blakely all summer. She’s a fucking moose, it must be like shagging redrum. Surley he could have just asked tiny tears what she was like before he got stuck in.
The problem is the GK position is as unique and lonely as it gets. Ideally, the strategy should have been to sign De Gea with VDS having a season or so to go, so De Gea can develop in the reserves, while knowing that he’s not playing because he’s you just don’t replace VDS. The issue here is dealing with his confidences issues are very tricky now – relegating him to the reserves might just undermine him because Lindegaard isn’t exactly a big name obvious No. 1. So De Gea will know that there has been a loss of confidence that has led to him being pushed into the reserves. And honestly, if he’s relegated, when he comes back he’s going to be a bigger bundle of nerves than he is now, and you never know how that will work out. I don’t think the coaching staff wants to take that risk, and they will give De Gea a solid run out – if he sorts himself out over time, thats exactly what was need. If he can’t, then there would be a valid argument that De Gea was given his chance, didn’t take it, and needs to now work back into contention through the reserves. I think psychologically it will be better for him though to know that SAF etc had enough faith in him to give him a good run out, and he himself is responsible for where he is. If he is dropped now, I’m pretty sure he’ll feel he didn’t get enough of a shot. The cultural and language barriers will actually even make communicating a decision to drop him a problem. I’m sure SAF has a threshold number of games/mistakes that he is willing to give De Gea. Like I said before, it really is going to take him a couple of solid games, and he will find his feet…
@ Giles, excellent post sir. Beef him up with steak and chips and Guinness, give him a skinhead and train him for some random tourettes style outbursts.
Love it.
Amazed at some of the comments in this thread to be honest. It’s only the regulars who seem to have any sense. Giles has nailed it. Stick with it he’ll be fine. Let’s face it, what are the options? It wouldn’t surprise me if Anders would have similar bedding in problems, and PIG has had his chance and we bought other keepers for a reason. Positioning, especially starting positioning can be taught surely? Reaction shot stopping can’t. Again, I agree with Giles that he could do with speeding up his decision making when getting the ball out. There were a couple of times yesterday when I was thinking “jesus get on with it”.
Did anyone else see Jones shouting at him towards the end of the game for hoofing it up field when he should have kept it short and simple?
I’m with Cedars, we just need to score more than the opposition. Easy. =D
I think the cultural / communication problems will be sorted out pretty sharpish. He joined up with the squad in America (I think), so there can’t have been much opportunity to work on this kind of thing.
Give it a couple of weeks at Carrington, spending day after day with the lads and training with them, and I’ll sure they’ll start to read each other a lot better.
@eplfan: technically, VDS made two mistakes – one in the champions league final for Messi’s goal, which was almost identical in the way it bounced over his hand and went in, as it was for Dzeko’s against De Gea, and obviously the one that people remember against West Brom.
The problem is you are under SOOOOO much scrutiny as a goal keeper. If a striker misses a penalty, or a good opportunity, it’s often forgotten about or we move on from it quickly. When a goalkeeper makes a mistake, it’s almost like he’s hung out to dry and punished for his sins!
I have faith in De Gea, although he does need to bulk up a bit.
If you’ve not watched this video yet, do so.
Tom Cleverley – From Boy To Man 2011 [MUTV] 24 minutes. This video is blocked in Germany and the United Kingdom. If you’re there, you have to use a fake IP to watch it. I don’t know how that’s achieved, ask any teenager.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeVimsIfc-8
@Giggsy’s Lawyer
Exactly. It’s a lonely place between the sticks, and putting in a 95% competent display instead of a 99% competent one can lose you a match.
Compare that with a striker, who can play like a complete dong for 85 minutes then pop up with a scrambled winner and become a hero.
so I have read match report after match report, pundit after idiotic pudit claiming that De Gea looked really nervous and thus why he let in the goals against city and WBA.
Am I the only person who thinks that is lazy stereotyping??
According to me, De Gea looke ice cool. He seems like a lad who can totally be unfazed by where he is playing and looked like he has the mental strength to recover from mistakes.
Yes, he made a blunder for that goal. He has a problem with long range shots because he doesnt move his feet enough. But in the 2nd half, he came on and I thought he put in a solid performance even though he was being clobbered.
Cred it to the lad.
smartalex – just use hotspot shield. never used something easier.
Thanks Zelh! Did you watch the Cleverley video?
Anyone in Britain or Germany should try to watch it , using hotspot shield.
AnomanderRake: I agree, he doesn’t look as nervous as is made out. But I do think the problem with him for now is that their are two ways teams think De Gea is vulnerable. One is the long range shot (Scharner yesterday worked on that assumption, and Long goes to a lesser extent), the other (more imp one I think) is that he can be physically bullied into softening up. On the latter, if he is not nervous already, i think he might just be after yesterday when he was sent flying on a couple of occasions – till the point where he can withstand those challenges and maybe shove a few off (like VDS used to) he is going to be targeted, and I don’t know how he’ll react to such abuse. He needs to bulk up and get stronger, right now teams will look to intimidate him from kick off with a few long balls and players committing fouls on him – the second half yesterday looked like a game of fucking Ice Hockey, and De Gea better get used to that soonish!
i really think fergie wanted him to be thrown in the deep end.. fergie trusts ddg.. he won’t buy a sub-standard nobody… we have the best scouting network and there’s no way they missed this technical flaw.. give him five games.. then he’ll be given some time off.. then back as a super keeper
@Giggsy’s Lawyer – why does he need to beef up? VDS is no porker.
No ones really mentioned Welbeck in all of this. He seemed pretty anonymous for long parts of this match
Fabregas buy out clause is 175 million sterling. Wow!
Players in La Liga have the most ridiculous clauses in their contracts.
@JayDee
He wasn’t all that bad. Was involved in nice buildup for what should’ve been a goal in the first half (Nani’s slashed shot over the bar) – looked strong, fast and confident.
Not easy for him… away, 1st game of season, shouldering burden of keeping golden boot winner out of starting XI.
Not worrying too much about Danny… I think he’s bubbling along just fine.
Bet VDS was at least 84 kg.
De Gea is listed on one site as 76kg and 82 kg on another.
Smartalex – I’m from Germany and used Hotspot Shield to watch it. works fine for me.
Always Be Closing – VDS is STRONG – De Gea needs to muscle up – doesn’t have become of Peter’s proportions but he needs to be able to shove people off or withstands people shoving into him.
JayDee – he really looked anonymous for some parts of the game. Explaines why Berbatov had as many touches as him on the ball at FT.
But Imo he still did okay. Nice passing and Nani should’ve really converted at least one ball.
VDS is at least 10lbs heavier,10lbs of muscle makes all the difference,the lad is way to frail
Mahesh – Compare De Gea in the first and in the second half. Imo he did well in the second half and didn’t shun to went into bodies.
It was his first PL game and he’ll learn from that.
@Mahesh, Yup, as Stateside posted above, De Gea hardly looks 6’4. In fact, he looks more like 5’9 or something because of how slim he is. VDS could never be outmuscled from a corner, that was almost impossible to do. De Gea is a weakling in all honesty. But so was Chicharito when he first came here. Fact is this is the best “new place” to be for any foreigner.
That is one of the main reasons why I am disgusted at the uprising after two games. Every other PL club is result-oriented for the here and now. You don’t win a trophy for a single season after winning the double, you are sacked. You are not on in the top 4 in January, you are sacked. I thought out club was the only one which was immune to that. I thought our fans were level-headed and mature enough to know that even if De Gea’s mistakes cost us a few points now, he is going to keep us safe for the next two decades. Looking at some of the reactions, one can only assume that I was wrong to think that way about some of our fans. They all seem to be result oriented for the here and now, rather than look to see how De Gea will be a year from now. It is hard to take in honestly.
On the subject of Van Der Sar errors, I’d put him at fault in the 2007 FA Cup Final when Drogba got Chelsea’s late winner. I thought Van should have cleared him out with a clearance, or at least done more to put him off. He hesitated and did little. Of course the ref disallowing Giggs’ over-the-line goal was crucial. If it had stood, as it should, that would have put a different complexion on the game.
wayne – of course he has to bulk up but that’s not done in a week or two. He’ll be an outstanding keeper and make all the critics eat their words.
@Balaji Sivaraman
Exactly. The here-and-now fans belong strictly to the Citys and Chelseas of this world. Bought by impulsive, whimsical billionaires with an expectation that enough money thrown at a team will produce trophies within the space of a year, an expectation that filters down through the club to the fans.
This is why McEachran will not flourish at Chelsea. Why the promising Onuoha was ‘not part of City’s plans’, why Michael Johnson went from promising talent to lonely squad player sidelined by expensive superstars.
United are better than that. Patience and empire-building are the foundations of Utd, and fans should appreciate this. If this means De Gea dropping us some points throughout this season, so be it. The fans have the power to offer him all the encouragement he deserves and imbue him with the confidence he needs quickly. Equally they have the power to get on his back and demonise him, and potentially ruin his career as a Utd player before it’s even begun.
I hope to god they – we – choose the former.
Zelh – agree, and can’t fault him for having the balls to go in for the balls. the problem is till he can flatten some of these guys piling into him, he will keep getting targeted – once he bulks up and can withstand some physical pressure, he’s just going to have an easier time goalkeeping because he won’t be targeted as often. Have to admire the kid for having the guts to really go into to take some of those balls knowing exactly what was coming…
i know this may sound a bit dizzy but y not let fletcher develop himself as a CB…he has all the qualities for it…plus we dont exactly need him in mid-field..we already have cleverly,anderson,carrick,giggs,pogba……..look at how barca have made mascherano a CB…….football is all about adjusting…….puyol as a youth was a striker …then became a RB n now a CB….i think darren would make a wonderful CB….and make smalling a permanent RB….den we r done….and also if WS does come then more reasons to make fletcher a CB………..:))))
Mahesh – I was quite impressed by him having the balls to go in in the knowledge he can’t compete on the physical level at the moment but that will come. Look how good Hernandez has become on the ball.
It’s not only about having the body to compete it’s also important how to use your body.
Rafael is a good example. He has really bulked up, but is nothing against Drogba. Still he blocked him off the ball.
Btw. polish media is reporting that Kuszczak is negotiating with Celtic Glasgow.
@Always Be Closing – all you have to do is look at how he was getting battered about by West Brom yesterday to realise he needs a bit more muscle. It would definitely benefit him. Imagine when we play the likes of Blackburn, Stoke, Wolves etc. Big guys like Samba, Huth, Elokobi etc. will be all over him.
Also, confidence is the other thing. As he grows into the team and gets more comfortable, he will be more commanding of his area. I do think it’s hilarious that fans of other teams are already saying he’s a flop etc.
Glasgow Celtic Zelh!
Giggsy’s Lawyers – I think that other teams fans are calling him already a flop shows how much they are frightened by this United-side and their only hope is that De Gea will do mistake after mistkae.
willierednut – It’s really Glasgow Celtic? Fuck me I always thought it was Celtic Glasgow
Nobody thought that Fabio was somewhat at fault for first not going for the loose ball at the start, then losing possession, resulting in the goal?
The kind of ball Carrick would be there to do his crap pass sideways.
Zelh – Yeah lol.
Latest rumours
Arriving
Mario Goetze (£20m, Dortmund)
Running Total: 84 players, £1.182bn
Jello all.
Lads,
Beleive it or not i have just got round to watching the United game, My Summer weekend fishing trip clashed with the start of the season! Not good planning by me!
As a fan i intend to put my views on the forum after every game when i can, prior to reading what others have said to see if we are on the same wave length!
OK..
main Topic at the moment is Degea…… To be fair the boy looks so nervous its untrue! At the moment his Communication is poor with the defense due to language. I read the papers this morning and they said his head droped after the poor goal.. He had a poor attitude.. I didnt see it! I think it will take him a couple of months to settle.
Young – Oh my, i wanted this boy at united last season and all my united mates where taking the mick out of me! “youngs not good enough for us..blah blah blah”……. Well they fail to see that the boy is a footballing smart cookie!… every one of his free kicks and corners where on the money. I have no doubt it is money well spent!
Rooney – I expect a massive season for Wayne… He is looking as fit as i have seen him in years….. He will have Valencia on the right, Young on the left……..both of which provide excellent balls into the box and main number 1 is assist, second get a goal for yourself.
nani – learn quick lad you are not Rolando… You will never be Rolando, just please try and be yourself! Work to your strengths!
Smalling – Evans – Jones – Oh what a future we have a head…… Dont feel; comfortable with Smalling at right back! However i can see fergie tredding lightly trying not to upset smalling. But i can see jones very suited to right back!.. Watch this space! ———Over all i thought the boys did well!
Excitement = …. Oh i am so excited! There is such a good young crop of players it is unreal
Our future is bright!
Come on!
I was 500.
Did you guys know there was a movie on United?
I never knew! For those who didn’t know, here is the trailer…
http://youtu.be/PJySuZgRlEo
Fucking Jamie Redknap went on and on about it. Gary tried, but the look on his face said to me, “these ABU cunts aren’t worth it”. The conversation went something like this:
Gary – ‘Yes he made a mistake but you can see the other players giving him helpful advise. That’s how it goes at a big club. You wouldn’t be there if you were’nt up for the challenge’
Jamie – ‘ But these are full backs! Do you really want another player telling you how to play your position….’
At this point I left the room and imagined Gary standing on Jamie’s head saying calmly, ” repeat after me you sensationalist ABU loser – A strong team defends as a unit. The goalkeeper and full back are part of the same unit”.
I’m with the lets wait 10 games crew on this, but hearing the brom fans doing their 80′s style crescendo thing every time De Gea went to kick the ball made me laugh. Why? Because he’s a better footballer than ANY of their defenders. When they shouted ‘ Shooot’ I joined in. 60% possession is fine but more is always welcome.
@RMW, It is the same one shown on BBC which nearly everyone thought was a poor depiction of the tragedy. Sir Matt’s son, Sandy, said he was disgusted when he saw the film. I’ve not seen it yet, but the trailer did make me cry. Not because of the film, but the realization of what was lost. Each time I read something about that tragedy, I invariably end up in tears. I wish MG were here right now.
@Zelh i was just responding to a comment on why he has to bulk up,might be obvious to you and i,to some it isn’t
AUGUST 15, 2011 AT 13:32
smartalex
I just watched it for the second time as well, I agree totally.
We will here bullshit about this for years to come.
He is 20, hum at 20 a young man VDS 2 to 3 inches taller and a 40 year old Man.
He as all men will grow to be a man.
His good qualities out way anything else.
Only if SAF new he was 20 and needed to a weight and grow into his frame?
Fucking blah blah blah……………….. Dogs with a bone. Blah blah bla…….
I thought it was funny when the brummies were shouting their heads off, when DDG had the ball at his feet. One thing about this lad, that’s not in doubt, his distribution. It’s top class. Probably one of the reasons Fergie went for him. In the premiership, you need a keeper good with his feet, as opposing forwards always close down quickly.
If the kid does not learn from his mistakes, and looks defeated months from now then worry.
Costas all due respect man I know the keeper position is different, so does SAF. He will be handled well and if he is a bomb, fuck it will hurt.
willie he sees the field and the game and starts fast breaks. He makes great reaction saves the rest can be coached. He is brave enough.
De Gea will be fine. I have faith. It’s one game and as we all know the premier league is a different beast than any other league out there. Where else could a guy like Tchoyi be in a starting XI? Lad looks more a linebacker than he does a winger. We all know transitioning from VDS was going to be tough, the road will be fraught with peril. I’m backing this lad until SAF tells me otherwise. Lindegaard looks the part as well so we’ve cover in the event DDG doesn’t settle in over the next few months.
Bulking up and working hard on his footwork aside, the lad really just needs to shave that fucking scruff of his cheeks. Jesus, those are the saddest looking set of chops I’ve seen since the all you can eat buffet at the Cracker Barrell.
Memo to David: They’re not menacing lad, they’re a god damn embarrassment. Shave your shit, put in some time in the wight room and at Carrington, you’ll be fine.
But seriously, just shaving would be a welcoming start. No wonder he’s supposedly having trouble communicating. His defenders are doing their best not to laugh.
News on Twitter is that Darren Fletcher will play the reserves match v Arsenal to night!. GET IN !!!
Love that news.
@smartalex
Thanks a lot mate! Was looking for a long video on highlights of yesterday’s game. Couldn’t see it!
In terms of bulking up, just look at Obertan. He was a skinny cunt, when he came to United. Looking at him in toon shirt, he looks like the hulks brother. Even the twins have put weight on. Once the club get DDG in the gym and get him on the weights, he’ll soon put the beef on.
Rooney’s hair looks good.
I vote shave.
With Vidic and Rio going down, the 3 young guns to fire soon.
Raffa get well, can a football player wear rugby shoulder pads? I can see all of Stokes players waering shoulder pads and Check helmets.
Thought Anderson was a beast yesterday, very impressed. Yes he disappeared for a brief spell of 15-20 or so but so did the other 10 around him. Tough to boss a midfield on your own. Cleverley impressed me as well I was keen to see how they’d handle the start but they looked the part in there. If Nani doesn’t make an absolute meal of 3 wonderful chances than the game’s done and dusted early on.
Poor, poor Rio. I’ll be the first to admit I was a little shocked at the signings of Smalling and Jones but god damn, Sir Alex, you are a genious. Can’t remember a time over the last 5 seasons where were Rio to get hurt week 1 we’d all be confident in getting by for 6 weeks, but I for one slept like a baby last night…could’ve been the mickey of Appletons that got consumed after the win, but I’m looking forward to Smalling forcing his way into SAF’s starting XI every week and putting Phil Jones up to a few early tests.
I never saw much of De Gea before coming to Utd,think some lads are getting wires crossed in defending him.Everyone knows he’s 20 and will grow into his body,etc,etc,etc,at this point in his career he isn’t ready for the prem.Now after a few games maybe he will settle but untill he starts commanding the area and giving back stick,utd will be facing what we watched week in week out.
Don’t understand why we have to stick with the kid when it has to be plain to everyone he isn’t ready,again that has nothing to do with ability or what he might become,it’s right now.If we continue with him just be prepared the lad will more than likely cost the team points and maybe the prem.
Everbody ok with that,then so be it,the sensible move for me is put in a goalie with more experience.
willie it is nature, men add muscle in their early 20′s. Now put that with world class training and diet.
Have a good laugh folks!
@Balaji
You sure it sucks? Oh damn! I was looking forward to seeing it, mate! I saw the trailer and I was moved – was wondering what the movie would do to me…
I wonder about where we would have been if not for that disaster – Of all the lives that were lost because of it, of all the football that was lost because of it…the exciting moments that should have been a part of our history instead of the Munich air disaster…
Looking at the game as a whole, and going back to the start of the 95-96 campaign, it’s interesting to note that not every youngster will make an impression straight away. De Gea needs time and Danny is still not quite there yet. On the plus side, Tom’s display (which has gone unnoticed among the De Gea frenzy) was quite solid in my eyes, as were Jones and Evans’ cameos. Sadly, I can’t say Smalling impressed me a lot as a RB on this occasion. Hopefully it was a one off.
@willie
So if there ever is a wee Cesc clique, they’ll have to cough up 135 million?
I don’t think Messi and Ronaldo together are worth that much! Maybe Joe Cole on his own. 
Oh and I agree with wayne on the De Gea matter. As if there was any doubt.
I don’t give a shit what any of our players look like.
Perhaps the Glazers should release Barbie type Dolls of all our players complete with interchangeable limbs so we can fine tune a players physique to our liking. They’d clean up. Wardrobe accessories and shaveable hair!
@ wayne
Fair point. I for one am not defending De Gea but rather SAF. As I said, until the gaffer gives me the nod by dropping the lad, I’ll back him to no end. 2 blunders, no dropped points. Pretty sure no one expected him to come right in and get on without a fuss. There was always going to be a massive learning curve and right now, he’s standing at the bottom of it. Yes, perhaps he’s not premiership ready. Question: Who is? PIG? Doubtful. Lindegaard? Who quite knows?
The kid made a great save in the 2nd half to secure 3 points. That’s what I’ll take away.
Just keep filling the net lads and we’ll be fine. Best Defence = Great Offence?
I’m all for it, attack, attack, attack
Zibbie @ 16:16: “Arriving
Mario Goetze (£20m, Dortmund)”
I think not – Dortmund won’t sell and, more importantly, don’t need to sell. ALSO this kid is worth three times that much. He really is the dog’s bollox.
shaveable hair! including armpit, leg and pubic.
@denton I agree for now. Just like the link of all the players from the Man Utd site gossip, and 1.2 billion if SAF bought them all that were linked to the club. He has a plan and targets that fit that plan, who they are is why we guess.
@ Balaji
The “Two-Tone” Mullet is fierce!!!
The “mistake” is a laugh and a half as well, cheers for the link
Denton I agree he caught my eye, I saw him play last year. Gol TV shows the German league and I watch some of there games.
Put in a goalie with more experience? That’s PIG then. Not unless, he goes to Celtic Glasgow(Zelh)
I lived through the mullet era, business up front and party in the back. I had one in 1982.
Metro-sexual = I never met some one I didn’t want to fuck?
Peter Schmeichel was 20 years old in 1983!!! and he didn’t sign until 91 with us. Kind of puts De Gea into a different light. Peter was not even playing for Bronby at 20. If De Gea can show us anything like what Peter did we will be in good shape.
get’em willie.
Zibbie – You had a mullet?
FUCK ME..barca sign faburass…i must say it sickens me a bit as fergie said after the defeat to barca that he aims to get closer to barca..well signing young,jones and de gea(who are all very good squad signins)yet barca go and splash on fab and sanchez..i just dont get it gill and fergie says the money is there and fergie even said mark my words we can spend big yet im myffd..i think the boss is more worried about leaving his own stamp of youth in the team than reclaiming the crown of europe..dont get me wrong im really hopeful of the players we have but it seems very arsenal to me and people cant come of with the shit BUT WE DID IT WITH KIDS BEFORE as if i remember there was plenty of experience in the team already..i do fear for us this season if this is the squad we have not neccesserely in the smaller games but the big ones ie ur chelsea and stinkpools away etc..
theres far to much youth and not enough experience..i mean how many times does fabio make mistakes(although i believe he will b a big player in a few years)u look around are team and i just dont c whos gona grab a game by the scruff,there is no1 we have to many players with potential in the 1st team and its not gona work as the season goes on..big deal we got a result against shitty with a fine performance but there not a team, they dont play for each other..i am losing confidence in the manager because the bottom line is if u dont by the rite players and big players who make a difference then u wont win the big honours(lets b honest how did we win the league last year with so many average and poor performances..theres not 1 person out there who can truely say we were gleaming)and people say we dont need sneidjer..ok..tell me who in the middfield who we have is a better player than him?simple..none..
im not sayin go and blow a load of money on all the big names but certainly the players we have signed arnt gona make a dramatic difference to the team..i may b sounding a bit harsh but i say wat i think and walla..
only time will tell wether im write or wrong and the manager is the best by far so we will have to wait and c but i cant help get frustrated at the point wen the transfer window is closed and we r all over the place cause the manager believes in youth instead of spendin of a player who will make a difference to the 1st team..
lets wait and c
1982 or so, sure did, and I have fucked fat girls.
http://www.clubcall.com/blackburn-rovers/kean-hints-at-fergie-help-1261788.html?
Any guesses, who the players will be?
willie my guess is De Gea…. hehe
RE above, $&?!@#*^%?? ! Plastic!!!
Off topic, Alan Hansen is an idiot.
@RMW, The trailer showed exactly what it wanted to show. Personally, I don’t want a movie that manipulates real emotions just to make us feel something they think we should feel. For all intents and purposes, the trailer for United shows it to be exactly that kind of film. I did shed a tear when I saw it, but it had nothing to do with the trailer itself. It had more with my understanding of the tragedy and how I feel about it. Schindler’s List comes to mind as the kind of film that treats a tragedy with dignity and respect, and making us understand the real magnitude of it. From what I’ve heard, I’ve understood that dramatizes the entire event and feels like a farce when compared to the actual tragedy. I could be wrong though because I’ve not seen it personally.
berbatunday and RedManWalking – a pleasure for the links.
To copy CedarsDevil and willierednut, thanks for the thanks!
willierednut – Foster certainly reminded us of why we let him leave us.
Balaji – I’m glad you enjoyed laughing at a little word play!
Zibbie – As you say, de Gea “is 20, hum at 20 a young man VDS 2 to 3 inches taller and a 40 year old Man.” If David is even half of Edwin already (he’s more than that) then we’re onto a winner.
Lindegaard is 26 6’4” 192 lbs,full international and has looked good,so don’t see how Pig comes into the equation or i’m i missing something?
He’s more experienced than Lindegaard. Unproven in the premiership.
willierednut – Kean was drunk at the time, when he claim we are lending him players!
‘Blackburn manager Steve Kean pleaded guilty to drunk driving on Monday, earning the Rovers boss an 18-month driving ban and a fine of $2,950.The incident took place in May after Blackburn’s match with Manchester United as Kean failed a breath test hours after the game. The 43-year-old was almost twice the legal limit, although he had claimed his drink was spiked. But shortly before his trial was set to begin, Kean changed his plea to guilty of driving with excess alcohol.’
This link for info only, don’t bother to follow it.
http://www.lfpress.com/sports/soccer/2011/08/15/18555016.html
I would like to say fuck off to those that question the audacity of hope – United lost a team of youth once – we built this United through youth with the help of Eric Harrison and today in the last pieces of SAF reign we go again with youth
Fuck off fuck off fuck off if you don’t get it – fuck off – got it?
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/871343-paul-scholes-turns-out-for-dads-team-at-12-year-old-sons-club
Beautiful
Lindegaard has played what, 2 games in the fa cup? Not played one game in the premiership, or the champions league. PIG has been tried and tested in English football.
Claims that Kean just wanted to get laid were described as a load of cock by Venky’s.
@MG
well il take it that thats directed at me..well my misses tells me to fuck off all the time so im used to it..i havent questioned the youth and if you put ur specks on mate i actually said i had faith but u gota mix it with experience and have players who make a difference so that they will have the confidence to follow..get wat im sayin..ur opinion is urs but every1 has 1 so dont knock people for it..i understand yours fuck off
if Utd thought they had the right keeper in PIG Lindegaard wouldn’t have been signed,why would Utd sign Lindegaard if the club have no intention of playing him,PIG and De Gea i’ve already seen and for different reasons both give me the jitters.Don’t see what utd have to lose by giving Lindegaard a chance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gymr9NMT3_I&feature=related
De Gea should watch this… Would really get him pumped up and give him the confidence he needs..
Chin up lad..
Looks like both Song and Gervinho will be out of Arsenal’s visit to OT. Let’s turn our customary 3 points into a healthy battering!
smartalex – Great video on Cleverley, loved it. Many thanks for the link.
Another reason (isif any more was needed) that we never and will never need that money grabbing whore Sneijder
Give de gea some time, he will be great!
smartalex – Forgot to add, the footage of a very young Clev with Sir Bobby is very touching and has so much United spirit. That’s what we are all about, that is why I will support Clev blindly to success which I am sure he will achieve. He is a player that will be with his heart for his boyhood club
Some people who win the lottery complain of the taxes. Negative about everything. To much teeth in her blow job. Free food gives me gas. Laughter of children makes me nervous. My women’s tits are to big.
Like some farmers, there never happy. To dry, to wet, to warm, to cold. ect. ect. ………….
Title 19 is not enough, we must have beaten Barca.
FFP rules are getting implemented.
Man Utd look good going forward.
With Evra back that means 5 defender’s for Monday’s game.
for whatever reason, Kuszczak is gone or at leasts is not figuring in Fergies plans. Not on the US tour, not on anything. The plan this year, baring injury is DeGea and Lindegaard, with Amos to fill in.
Fucking idiot, meant to say he will play not he will be
FletchTHEMAN – Well Kuszczak himself said he’s gonna leave if he’s not the new #1 and we all knew it’s was never going to happen.
PIG was done the minute he went public about wanting to be num 1 or he was leaving
I’d love another 6-1
Willierednut – I think Blackburn will loan Gibson. And Kuszczak will leave for Glasgow Celtic!
mykidscalledcantona
Short of firing full throttle I’ll reply back pretty simply
Who gives a fuck about Barca and Fabregas since Fabregas wanted to go back to his own team?
I don’t – If you do or anyone else does – you fear that United will never evolve
Who gives a fuck about what Barca does and who they buy?
I don’t – if you do or anyone else does you are more interested in that team then your own team – what United have is what was coming – if you failed to see that then again should be left for you to decipher personally.
Whatever the fuck you think or for that matter what I think is irrelevant – the man who runs the team and has been doing for 25 years probably hurt more losing to Barca – this summer it has been unprecedented with the way he has cleared out a United team – only he knows why he did that – and for you to hypothesise that he is more concerned about having a stamp on youth than chasing Barca for the CL is fucking disgraceful – so fucking disgraceful that you have to be fucking blinkered if you cannot see the obvious
This is in United’s blood – fucking DNA – this is United’s testimony – it got us fucking nowhere in those dark days when Liverpool were pissing on everyone – it took a scotsman and a very fine coach in Eric Harrison to rekindle the United magic
So yes I am telling you to fuck off if you cannot sponge that
Their is far too much youth not enough experience – what a bastard bone of fucking comedy of epic tragedy
Evra Rio Vidic Giggs Carrick Nani Anderson Fletch Rooney P I G Park
A whole team to help the youth – fuck off and take your shit back – what the fuck you want?
Ronaldo left two years ago – the team changed – it’s up to the team to hold the scruff of the fucking neck – they haven’t done too bad – better than what Ronaldo has done for Madrid – go figure.
Better than Sneijder?
Cleverley Pogba Tunncliffe
All three of them – Fabregas was put into the Arsenal team at 16 – well if you don’t put them in you won’t know – he hasn’t done too badly then has he – blows your fucking point of no points out of the water
To that I remind you Scholes Beckham Butt the Nevilles all got in before 20 – go figure again and again and watch your statement make a mockery of itself
The players we have signed are not going to make a difference?
The door is right behind you by the way – so much for having faith then – which you have fuck all of
No big players but we need big players – and to and fro and to and fro – make your fucking mind up already
We are all over the place and you are frustrated?
A united fan is for life – I need my team my team needs me
One for all all for one – it stops right their. Obviously you didn’t meet me before.
Stand up for your team and be proud of it – quit your fucking bullshit.
As for you lads saying De Gea is not experienced, you have to do some homework. Data from Wiki
Lingegaard at 26 playing in 66 senior games + 10 more for the National side at all ages. Along the way he has won a couple of minor accolades which do on total suggest he is a very good keeper
De Gea is a different animal, with a pedegree that suggests a stellar keeper.
De Gea at 20 has 92 senior games + 56 more for the National side at all ages. 57 games in La Liga or Europa Cup. His side beat Inter Milan in the 2010-11 UEFA Super Cup 2-0, with David saving a Diego Milito penalty kick in the 90th to keep a clean sheet.
David De Gea”
2008–2009 Atlético B 35
2009–2011 Atlético 57
2011– Manchester United 1
National team‡
2004 Spain U15 12
2007 Spain U17 15
2007–2009 Spain U19 15
2009 Spain U20 1
2009– Spain U21 13
Atlético Madrid
UEFA Europa League (1): 2009–10
UEFA Super Cup (1): 2010
Manchester United
FA Community Shield (1): 2011 (in goal)
International
Spain U17
UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship (1): 2007
Spain U21
UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship (1): 2011
Individual
UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Team of the Tournament (1): 2011
No doubt Lindegaard will get a chance. It won’t be now, though. Lets see if gets through the next 2 games unscathed. Spurs and Arsenal at home. Then it’s the international break. Bolton away, I think after the break?
Oh and Song is banned for 3 Matches
CedarsDevil – The footage of a very young Cleverley with Sir Bobby is taken in Nairobi, Kenya; my birthplace! I’m glad you mentioned it because I felt touched by it, but presumed it was because of my connection to the location. Also, I thought of wee wes at the end of the video, having been reminded that there is nothing better than seeing kids at United, growing up to be men playing for our first eleven.
Not even trophies are a better than that.
I don’t think we can send Gibson on loan. Not with one year of his contract left. Might as well sell him.
MG – What a cracker of a post, your passion to United could be felt just reading that my friend.
smartalex – I agree buddy, music to my ears what you said about watching the youngsters break through and become a success, not many do but whenever one does makes for a great United story, so great that I would not trade it for any signing out there
Wenger says, he’ll appeal Gervinho’s Red card. Don’t know why. Once you raise your hands, you’re a gone. Even if dolly parton made the most of it.
CedarsDevil – you over-react to your typos! Usually your comment is still clear and not ambiguous. We can fully understand what you were trying to say. I advise you to only correct them when they are not obviously mistakes and change the meaning of your comment in a relevant way. I always re-read my comments after submitting them, and I make several typos per day, but hardly ever correct them.
O the other hand, I have a good laugh at you when you ham it up and over-play the corrections, especially when they contain further errors!
FletchTHEMAN no one is disputing De Geas pedigree mate,for me it just goes to show how piss poor spanish football really is.Its a physical thing,the lad is going to get picked on and probably injured unless he bulks up in a hurry and starts owning his 6 yd box.
^ ‘ON’ the other hand, not ‘O’ ^
Damn! Fuck! Fuck! Damn!
Zehl, Song banned!@!!!!! That is a miracle. So will Song and Gervinho both miss our tie?
Sky will have to put the following up before live interviews with the arsenal manager:
WARNING WARNING, all interviews with Arsene Wenger must be considered hazardous to those with weak immune systems or impressionable minds. Particularly to the very young, the very old, or anyone on medication, including aspirin.
willierednut – Wenger must be terrified of facing United without Gervinho, because contesting that charge is surely guaranteed a ‘frivolous’ extension.
So Morrison didn’t travel with the reserve side.
smartalex – He’s shaking like a leaf! To be honest, I’m not fussed if Gervinho plays or not. He’s quick lad. Decent movement, but very similar to other Arsenal players. Much of a muchness, if you like. He got into great positions on Saturday, but didn’t produce a ball. You’re right though. If they do appeal, the ban could be extended.
At least De Gea won’t have to face Gervinho. We know how terrifying of a striker he is.
Do NOT follow this link if you are easily offended or gay.
Our keepers are great. If you want to see a real cunt keeping goal, look here.
http://spotl.it/u/1301968747029.jpg
Arsenal Reserves vs Manchester United Reserves in 2 hrs time. Many links here:
http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=126863&part=sports
smartalex – The only reason I over react to my typos is because I enjoy laughing at my self! lol
A musical based on the life of George Best is set to launch in Manchester next week.
“Dancing Shoes – The George Best Story” was first aired in Belfast last summer and was described as an “outstanding success” as 23,000 people took in the spectacle in just three weeks. The director Bill Elms describes the production: “It tells the story of ex-Manchester United football legend, George Best. From his childhood days kicking a tennis ball against a gable wall in East Belfast to the height of fame and celebrity. However, the story doesn’t shy away from George’s addiction to alcohol and his ultimate decline.”
CedarsDevil – Keep it up buddy! We all laugh along with you. You are a clown, and I mean that in the best possible way!
Scott on vacation? Lol.
still no news in vidic, his injury worries me more than rio cause Vida can guide another defender alongside him better than rio can.
@MG
oh a bit fiesty..at the end of the day we r all united fans and want the same thing so why try and slag of the very people u sit next to at the OT games…im telin u my opinion im not sayin thats how i want it to work out
do i want united to clean up…
of course i do
u say who gives a fuck about barca? clearly the manager does to come out with the statement he did after the game..
ok maybe i was a bit harsh sayin im losin faith in the manager i take it back but i only want wats best for the football club and if it means me being wrong il admit it proudly.
cleverly, tunicliffe pogba r better than sneidjer..hahaha
very good mate have u happened to watch sneidjer at all instead of spending all ur time on here…
these guys will prob come on to b top players especially pogba but to say there better than sneidjer..ur full of shit lets see how many united fans agree with that..
u mention nani,anderson carrick in the experience bracket…carrick is shit and not good enough while ando and nani havent established themselves as out rite regulars..
to come of with all this shit about im a cunt of a fan(basically)
shame on you mate i love this club and have shed tears for this club,ive slagged the manager and been proven wrong but ive never came on here and slagged another fan like u have as we r all entitled to r opinions..urs may b rite mine may b wrong is that not wat the forum is about?discussing united with each other!!!!!!!!
u should b ashamed of urself you twat.
Off topic, John Obi Mikel (United player for about 24 hours) has reported that his dad was abducted in Nigeria. To Mikel and his family, I hope your da comes home safe.
Just not on and feel for the lad and his family. Even if he was daft for leaving us.
“Young or old, goalkeepers make mistakes,” said Phelan.
“We have got trust in him. He will be a good Premier League goalkeeper.”
Smalling added: “He is making some good saves.
“His agility and kicking are excellent, we have seen that in pre-season. He is going to be a top goalkeeper.”
http://www.espnstar.com/football/premier-league/news/detail/item656893/De-Gea-given-Man-United-support/
@willie, from what I can put together from his twitter feed, Scott the red went on a bender after our away win. Been sleeping it off I would guess.
Two things are pissing me off at the moment.
1. The stupidity around de Gea.
2. The Barcelona obsession.
Firstly. David de Gea is 20years old. As far as keepers go, that makes him a barely teething baby. Peter Schmeichel was in his late 20′s when he joined our great club, yet he came from a different league and he had to endure a difficult transition while getting used to the EPL. I don’t expect Manchester United supporters to unconditionally excuse poor performances from our players, but to write off a 20year old keeper who is obviously outrageously talented is just FUCKING stupid.
… and this obsession with his weight. I did a bit of net surfing comparing his bulk to other keepers of similiar height and guess what, claims that he is underweight are greatly overstated.
Secondly. This obsession with matching Barcelona is just foolhardy. The thinking goes we need to match Barcelona in midfield by signing a ‘marquee’ playmaker … bollocks.
We have lost two finals against Barcelona because we couldn’t contain their midfield, not because we lacked a playmaker. Both games we were without the services of Darren Fletcher. That is what hurt us, and I can never ever recall anyone calling Fletcher a playmaker.
I don’t see why we should throw the football philosophy that has always worked for us (pacy and skillful wingers) out the window just for Barcelona.
MG should NOT be ashamed of himself! He is a truly wonderful United supporter.
mykidiscalledcantona needs to learn how to apologise without then proceeding to show that his apology is worthless.
FletchTHEMAN – Right mate. At least he’s not on twitter, talking about his life again lol.
Troy. Great post mate, Preaching to the choir!
For me, you can add
3. Sneijder obsession. A daft feeding frenzy by the media and plastics.
Alan Hansen the cunt said our players lost faith in De Gea.
Who the fuck does this fucking cunt think he is?
@willierednut. Ha ha ha…. oouch! Too true mate.
FletchTHEMAN – Speak of the devil ha ha. New thread^
Everytime I’ve seen Pogba play I’ve really thought his movement and work rate were fantastic. Seeing him play in this reserve match really shows how much better his movement is than Gibson’s already. I’m really hoping he gets a few matches outside the carling cup this year.
willierednut – He was waiting for someone to notice!
MG is cool.
@Troy big difference between writing De Gea off and thinking he’s not ready for the prem.If you think its stupid some of us are worried the lad looks shaky fair enough,don’t see the stupidity in it myself i’d like to win 20.oh and at 6′ 3” and 175lbs the lads a fucking bean pole again if you don’t think he needs to build up his strength fair enough.You’ve been watching different games to me thats the first thing he needs.
smartalex – He must of been mate lol.
I’ve got fuck all left to say to someone who is stuck in the fucking middle wether to love his team or to be more concerned with what another team does.
I also do not give a shit – again I am the motherfucker of all twats and I still ain’t fucking moving
If you are a cunt you said it – I didn’t – I didn’t even imply it
I stand by everything I said – the three players mentioned are the foundation of this next United midfield – I’ve known like others have known those that actually follow United – just don’t turn up for the fucking ceremonial procedures.
If you laugh at me you are a hypocrite you cry foul of Fabregas of experience yet Fabregas was good enough to get into the Arsenal first team at 16 – you may pour fucking shit on me – you don’t get it I do.
You only ridicule yourself with your uncertainty and your proclamation that you cannot take what is right and further your submission of complete and utter nonsense by allowing yourself to contradict yourself makes a complete and utter jackass out of you – as for me like I said I should be ashamed for maybe holding the fort with fucking idiots like you who cry that they are United fans but talk like they are city fans
If you want the big names but not necessarily want them but want them bad enough to want them anyway jog the fuck on.
You have no motherfucker of an idea of what the fuck you are on about.
I can quite easily say that this was fun – new season same old fucking shit.
I don’t do fucking ABU media bullshit – I believe in my team – and if it’s going to take some time to catch Barca then so be it – as long as it happens then like I said fuck off. I have more hope than you and are not blinded by what others may want me to think who do not belong to the Manchester United family.
Enjoy the rest of your day – this twat doesn’t need to be engaged by a self labelled cunt.
Oh whoops don’t let it get to you.
smartalex
birth place is really really close to mine. Reds from the motherland. FTW
@smartalex
il apoligise if i end up being wrong i said that..i consider myself a good and loyal supporter..i work in iraq i get to at least 10 games a season aswell as spending time with my family..im entitled to an opinion and that was mine..im not sayin MG was wrong infact alot of wat he said may b true but im statin wat i think and like i said if im wrong i will apoligise..,we r all on the same side so why come on a just ridicule another fan..i didnt once say the work eric harrison done was worthless as it wasnt and infact we have a fantastic youth system as i watch alot of youth and reserve and i would love nothing more than the youth we have to take us to the title so we can say LOOK AT US WE DID IT 2GETHER AS A TEAM PLAYING FOR EACH OTHER..i could sit here and swear constantly as i always do but we r all brothers on here so to say he shouldnt b ashamed of himself he is a truly wonderful united supporter..does that mean we who state these comments arnt as he doesnt agree??i just want wats best for the club and if it turns out that this team is very succsful i will hold my hands up and apoligise with a smile on my face…
Another thing if a player is selected for the first team age has fuck all to do with it,he’s either good enough or he isn’t
mykidiscalledcantona I know that you are a United supporter. I stand by my statement that MG has no reason to be ashamed. I also know that both of you can move forward now, leaving this sorry discussion in your wake.
slim – Us East Africans are the true United supporters, not the Manchester lads!
Just kidding! We are all one, United!
@MG
beatuful post mate it brought a tear to my eye for u must b sir alex in disguise…….think i got to u mate…
poor fella…
sigh
why couldn’t David do a Chicarito. Its kicking off already on ROM. after one game.
@SMARTALEX
@MG
rite ok i am prepared to apoligise for my part in this heated debate so there for
MG i apoligise
I don’t do piss takes either and quite literally can read between the lines such is that God given gift that I have in the matter.
Thanks for the highly implausible piss take – you’ll just be another plastic fan popping in and out unable to control those growing pains.
Whilst I’ll still be here doing what I do
Fuck off
19
@MG
It was actually a proper apoligy
i take it its not accepted then?
Well fucking said MG lad. Little mug. Losing faith in Fergie? Grow up. You wait pal cantona or whatever your name is. See how goog the likes of Cleverley and Jones will be over the season and for years to come. Who gives a flying fuck about Fabregas who never turns up in big games, is always injured and that 50 stepover cunt Sanchez? tm Kings!!
Laughable. Absolutely laughable. Oh and dont jump on the gill says we have money shit. Yawn. He has been trying to bring that gredy cunt Sneijder in for the last 4 weeks.
Oh and did someone say make Fletcher centre half? What the fuck? Seriously. When fit he is our midfield bosser. Some fans eh. Good grief
@MG
@MYKIDSCALLEDCANTONA
king eric my friend relax people say shit they dont mean all the time and maybe he just said somthin he didnt mean..we r all UNITED at the end of the day buddy!!
ok mr MG i do believe u were a tad personnal however ur statements were passionate and very true
mykidscalledcantona(cool name)i think wat u said is a bit disrespectful..i see wat u mean on certain points but dont be so quick to pull the trigger..
I think wat MG was trying to say was that Yes fergie did say that he wanted to get closer to barca but i dont think he meant it in such a way that we were gona go silly in the transfer market..u cant just buy a load of players and say..GO WIN EVERYTHING..they have to gell..
he is bringing in the likes of cleverly,young,jones,wellbeck etc so we can build a core, players who will play there hart out for the club..look at barca how many of there 1st team were actually bought??
this is the best way as we have so many talented players..lets see
DE GEA(he will come good)
FABIO
RAFAEL
SMALLING
EVANS
JONES
POGBA(future world player of the year)
TUNICLIFFE
CLEVERLY
WELLBECK
WILL KEANE
PETRUCCI
MACHEDA
plus
ANDERSON
NANI
YOUNG
VALENCIA
HERNANDEZ
all young players and the future of this club..Fuck goin out and buying players who are only interested in the money
as for sneidjer..do we need him??id say he would b a luxury and would make a difference but for someone who is gutted not to be getting his dream move because of financial reasons..i think that says it all
keep the faith mykidscalledcantona as we are all united here.
so time to move on and talk about somthing else..
are you really KING ERIC..LOL