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CONFIRMED LINE-UP: United vs West Ham

November 28, 2012

Lindegaard, Rafael, Evans, Smalling, Evra, Anderson, Carrick, Cleverley, Hernandez, Rooney, Van Persie.

Scott Patterson

Scott is the editor of RoM and has a season ticket at Old Trafford. He started The Republik of Mancunia in March 2006. Follow @R_o_M on Twitter or @R_o_M7 on Instagram.

DDG: I Heard United Were Comeback Kings Before I Signed

Reactions To Victory Over West Ham

132 Comments

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FletchTHEMAN November 29, 2012

Happy Birthday Ryan Giggs
39 today (Nov29).
919games, 165goals.
12 EPL titles, 4 FACups, 2 Champions League.
100% Verified United Legend

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Joner89 November 29, 2012

I always read this blog after every united game and don't contribute much. This season the standard of content has sadly dropped. When we lose the blog is full of negative reviews and even when we win like tonight it is! We are top of the league regardless of the performance. Haven't seen the game but sounded like a solid 3 points. Roll on Reading. I think the problem is too many spoilt young fans who live in a society if instant gratification. If we don't win 3 or 4 nil then it means we played shite. Wake up lads this is the real world. We are doing fine this season and will only improve once kagawa is back!

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pablo November 29, 2012

weren't vintage but 3 more points.positives being rafael again brilliant andjonny evans.special mention to evans he's turned from being 5th choice centre half to probably 1st choice.think its a straight fight between us and city now hope we strenghthen in jan though

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denton davey November 29, 2012

Andoooo @ 23:23: "4-3-1-2: “It’s the future!”

I agree - and it will only get better when KagawaBunga gets healthy.

Anderson controlled the pace of the game - running at the defence and slotting through a number of slide-rule passes. Not enough movement from the guys in front of him. I guess they're used to the more familiar sideways, sideways, sideways that occurs when Paul Scholes - the man formerly known as a GingerNinja - plays.

Michael Carrick also seemed to play a more adventurous game when he wasn't shackled to being Scholes' minder.

YoungTom looked off-the-pace. He needs more game-time.

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dannysoya LOVES USAIN BOLT November 29, 2012

To the man who made the comment about the God-given right thing. Sure we don't have the God-given right to sweep teams. We have to go out on the pitch and do it. But when you look at the gulf in class between us and west ham coupled with the fact that we had two of the best strikers you will find ANYWHERE in the world on the pitch at the same time add to that we are at home. We SHOULD be putting more than one goal past west ham. No offense to them they are doing well this year but STILL. Seems like a lot of us forget SO EASILY that we lost league title on a GD of just eight goals. EVERY GOAL COUNTS in this league believe it or not.

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Doghouse November 29, 2012

West Ham won't play much better under Big Sam than they did tonight make no mistake. Really good performance from them. I think we were closer to routing them than it looked a lot of the time, lot of close opportunities, but happy with three points.

Big result of the day is the Chelsea failure. Too early to write them off, but I'm going to anyway. It's us and City.

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samuel - united WE stand November 29, 2012

Every goal counts but are united realistically going to batter every team? I don't think so. Gulf in class or not, you have to earn your corn and with football improving and the gap between premier league teams, we will be seeing close contested ties and tonight was one of them and reading will be up for it. Get some realism.

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samuel - united WE stand November 29, 2012

Anyway, looking at the positives, i thought rafael was brilliiant. He's,always had all the technical skill and brazilian flair but he's become more powerful. He drives forward with the determination that typifies a united fullback, his crosses are getting more consistent, he has individual skill to get out of difficult position and is a key part of united attacking set up. defensively, he really has stepped up another gear. Some criticised his slackness defensively and yes, he was rash due to inexperience buti always knew he had the potential to improve on that front, his performances against ronaldinho and ribery before he got sent off showed it. The fact that brazil also castigated him for not winning at the olympics and subsequently not picking for a couple of international has really kicked rafael onto another level. He's not got his twin next to him which also brings added focus. I only hope he keeps up this level and improves further as he's not the complete player but he's getting better.

Anderson was superb. Felt baffled when some claimed he didn't play well. Ando was powerful and drove forward with.purpose, creating opportunities with clever flicks. He gives united that added tempo and we look sharper with him and cleverley in the middle, carrick was the anchor and that brought balance. Another good thing is seeing ando getting fitter, he still can't comolete a game but he'll hopefully get there.

Smalling looked good too, was rusty in the two games he's played but westham was a test and i was worried but he looked a pillar of strenght and always looks good with the ball and i still see him hopefully turning into a class act. Evans has come on leaps and bounds too, really looks confident and is taking more responsibiity. Add jones and we look better at the back. Maybe the fact rio is not as sharp as he once was has played a part in united looking shaky this season and these 3 along with michael keane are going to snatch rio's place but ferdinand is still quality and hopefully, he'll play a part in a long + difficult season.

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WeAreUnited November 29, 2012

Hi guys, I hope you have the patience to read my post, maybe a bit long, but it has some good ideas.

Haven't been able to comment the game.
I thought we scored too early haha. I was so happy for RVP, that he got back to scoring. Did you see how he beat his man???? Did ya?

For me Brazilian double were the men of the match -> Ando and Rafael. SOlid, great play,, only ones, that seemed a bit interested beating their man.
Our midfield was good, it's a shame our TomClevz has not the ability of Ando, Though I think Clevz played his part, but he needs games under his belt, and knowing that he hasn't played that much, a good apperance from him.

Carrick for me looked liek a different man, when he played with our deadly duo, tom and jerry. I think he did very, very well. Who said he passes only backwards? Did ya see his assist for RVP?
Not praising Carrick, but I think he found himself yesterday when playing with a dynamic duo.

Smiling :P and Johnnyboy did extremely well for me, Smalling should start from now on! He has what it takes, so why put him back to the bench?
Evra, was quiet, nothing good, nothing bad, maybe that pass was the only thing he did noticable in the game.

RVP, well a goal and contributed very well to the game, he has that ability to do what ever he wants with the ball. Brilliant player, can't believe yet, that he plays for us now.

Chicha, well did everything he was asked to, deserved to start, and he was electric. But the only thing I noticed was that, in this game, for the very first time since peaking he felt uncomfortable with the ball. Still, I think he did good.

Rooney, rooney, rooney, what can I say, he isn't anymore a striker, so can't blame for that, he keeps the ball well, but, he lacks something!
For me, we need Rooney all the way, cause when he didn't play, we lost to Norwich. Coincidence?
I say NO. But in this game, he was very bad for me, by his standards, I know he has a different role, but he lacked something. Maybe SAF said that he should rest for the weekend, so he didn't have to give his best.

I think the whole team played like they waited for the weekends game. Nothing great, but nothing bad, we controlled the game, clean sheet and 3 points. Not exited, but not disappointed. Hell no.

But we need our Japanese ninja, Valencianator and give me some love Nani back.
With those three, we can change our tactics to 442 or use Kagawa and Nani ffor the 433.

My ideal is, that Ando would play in Cleverleys place, Rooney in Andos and
uprfont trio of Kagawa Chicha and RVP
OR Kagawa RVP and Nani
OR Kagawa RVP and Valencia.
Here we have Kagawa playing as a AMF. A bit the Barca style. I preferer the combination with Nani.

If Kagawa can play in the peak of the trio midfield then, the midfield of Carrick/Fletch Ando/Clevs and Kagawa.
Upfront -> Rooney CHicha RVP
or, Rooney RVP Nani,
or Rooney RVP Valencia.
In this case, Rooney could drop a bit fo the midfield.
Here also the combination with Nani.

In both cases we have strenght and running power in the midfield.
Basically, as we can see, we have a lot of options, when we get our trio back!

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WeAreUnited November 29, 2012

PS: Lindegaard saved our ass with that last save from Cole.
Solid game. Everything that is required from a goalie

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Esteban November 29, 2012

georgejoseph @23:33 "The worrying factor is that we have lost 3 games and shitty are unbeaten and they are also not playing well"

- I posted below on another thread, but I don't think we need to be concered vis-a-vis City at this point in the season. In fact, we should be extremely pleased given our injuries and relative strength of schedule to date
"If you look at games against members of last year’s top 8 (city, utd, arse, spurs, newcastle, chelsea, everton, pool):

Man Utd – played 6 (2 home, 4 away), won 4, lost 2, drew 0, 12 points (2 points/game)
Man City – played 4 (2 home, 2 away), won1, lost 0, drew 3, 6 points (1.5 points/game)

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The Scottish Wonder November 29, 2012

Happy Birthday Ryan Giggs, 39!

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Passmaster16 November 29, 2012

Well 3 vital pts 4 us.. Surely Ando or Rafael for man of the match.. One thing i have noticed quite often is tht Rooney is our engine.. without him we are not the same side like when he is around.. thou he hasn't been on best form stil is our most important player.. Decent game by Carrick, i still believe u got more in u son, thts why SAF trusts u.. Lets go 4 Reading now.. Come on utd

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ji sung November 29, 2012

Wow how shite was Cleverley last night.?!?! Fucking piss poor. Not United class I'm afraid to say. Too much hype as always. I bet his nationality has a lot to do with it to be faie. Needs to buck up his ideas, hit the gym in a big way and more. Too lightweight, lost the ball too many times last night...just all round not good enough to make it big at United imo.

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samuel - united WE stand November 29, 2012

Ji sung - as always, a great insight and constructive.

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rohan_19 November 29, 2012

It was never going to be an easy game.. don't think why everyone says west ham are mugs.. they drew with city at their place and probably deserved to win... We played well imo.. considering the fact that there were no wingers and our players always look to pass to te wings..
Overall a great 3 points clean sheet and a good defensive performance. Smalling Evans and Rafael were excellent.. Anderson was good too..
Onwards now.. hope Valencia and nani are fit for Saturday.. I seriously hope young doesn't play

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rohan_19 November 29, 2012

Who the duck defined the term united class btw?
Ji sung you don't have the the class to be a united fan.. stfu

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Proverb November 29, 2012

Ji sung haven't got class to become a proper football fan actually, I don't if he was being sarcastic or maybe he wasn't, he cannot know the amount of sarcasm on here is in another level
But if you were being frank surely you need some brain check.

Tom clevs wasn't all good but did a great job to keep us and the tempo on the level it was for the entire half an hour, he was abit off the pace has you could see secondary balls or rather 50/50 balls were a problem for him to win without clashing with one of our opponents, but he got stuck in which is good
Two thing I'd like to see him improve on, is the final ball and his overall play, he gets kinda predictable sometimes
I'm asking him to be like iniesta in that note, but should atleast beat one play and put those dangerous crosses or through balls

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Proverb November 29, 2012

I'm 'not' asking him to be like iniesta...

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calebkzh November 29, 2012

Roll on Reading! A bread and butter three points. Some of the lads definitely could have upped the tempo, but I'm glad, no I'm really pleased to see Smalling, Cleverley and Ando get starts.

The result takes away a bit of shine from what they did to get three points. I'm not saying they put in a stellar, win-the-champions-league-type performance, but the lads got stuck in, upped the tempo from our usual lethargy, and boy oh boy what a goal from RvP.

We can always whine and moan but I think it's better to be positive. And ji sung's comment, constructive as always.

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calebkzh November 29, 2012

And I think with DDG, the issue is now that Lindergaard's been some games, Fergie wants to give him some momentum, so while DDG is fit, Lindergaard's still started. Wouldn't be surprised to see DDG back in goal against Reading.

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DAVID DE GEA!!!!! November 29, 2012

true ddg should have been in goal lindegaard good aswell doh!

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FletchTHEMAN November 29, 2012

I donno about Clevers, thought he was alright myself.
90% pass completion most of it in the very very congested final 3rd.

I would look to credit WestHam for remaining very dogged in defense. Never opened up atol. Think it was Smalling on MUTV who credited Tom over Ando for keeping the tempo of the game high. Maybe I'll take his word for it if it's all right by you lot.

Didn't he have a nice shot off the bar as well? And don't get me started on how many times Tom was fouled. Really wish refs would do more to protect youngsters. It really is the reason that we have no one left standing by internationals time.

West Ham held there own ........... for about 33.5 seconds.
After that, there was really only one result anyone was to worried about. Several nice chances and their keeper had a good game. Not much to write about then.

3 points, then? Right, bring on Reading away

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Marq November 29, 2012

DDG is out becase of his wisdom tooth extraction I thought? And such procedures can affect you for as long as 2 weeks.

And as always, some muppet comments here, just ignore them. I'm not sure what game they were watching, but it wasn't as bad as some make it out to be. Yes it was frustrating, but overall it wasn't a poor performance, just an average one, which the likes of Clev & Rooney can do much better. Rooney was putting himself all about but there wasn't any width available to stretch them.

The bright spot was Anderson, who made a few outstanding passes. If only he could last 90mins, he would be such a important player for us. As it is now, he still looks absolutely knackered after 60mins

After what happened last year, I'd be happy to chalk off games one by one, getting all the points

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wayne November 29, 2012

See all the usual suspects slagging off a Utd performance again,honestly those cunts are so predictable its boring.
Was working so listened to the game on the radio commentors was raving about Evans,I guess Carroll was total shit again he's not prem quality.
Watched the replay of Rent boy game last night FSW already setting up completely negative tactics at home to Fulham ffs,what I couldn't get my head around Mata has been head and shoulders the best rent boy is on the bench and FSW is playing both left backs
Fucking unbelievable

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samuel - united WE stand November 29, 2012

The thing with anderson is he mustn't be dropped, he needs to keep playing as he's filled with confidence now, he has staked a claim and should start at reading. That man has been held back by the stop starts in his career but the,quality is there, just needs to keep it going as he could be crucial for united this season. Another improvement in his game is the accuracy of his shooting, he's hitting the target far more and with his ability to drift past central players and find a key pass, i hope he can continue on this positive trend. Another thing is playing him alongside midfielders that get the best out of him and can share the workload, that midfield against wesrham had the right balance.

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belfast red. November 29, 2012

I was nervious wotching the game last nite as it sat at 1 nil. But we Looked comfortable enough. For me ando is Looking even more fitter. Hope he starts at the wkend again. This formation is quite new to us, and i believe we will get better with it. Im happy today we are sitting top of the league and its not even crimbo yet!

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denton davey November 29, 2012

Samuel @ 13:21: "The thing with anderson is he mustn’t be dropped, he needs to keep playing as he’s filled with confidence now, he has staked a claim and should start at reading."

I agree - SAF changes the midfield too often.

What I found interesting in last night's match was that the energy of Anderson/YoungTom seemed to rub off on Michael Carrick who was more "involved" and "aggressive" than usual. My thought is that he had license to roam a bit because he didn't need to be TheGingerNinja's minder.

In a major reversal of his usual way of organizing the team, I'm hoping that SAF plays a midfield of Scholes, Giggs, and DarrenFletcherinho against Cluj next mid-week, saving Anderson/YoungTom to play alongside MIchael Carrick in the EPL against Reading on Saturday and then again in the M/C derby a week-Saturday.

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wayne November 29, 2012

I'm not a fan of the narrow football formation,I just watch to many games were a team has plenty of possession but lacks penetration,what I could gather by the radio commentary especially first half Utd completely dominated play but didn't create many chances.It was exactly the same with the Rent boy,Fulham game both teams knocking the ball around with nothing happening
I know a lot of lads think Utd need to switch to the diamond,all I can say wingers add pace,width and stretches defenses and on the whole makes the game much more exciting

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torontolovesunited November 29, 2012

its quite appaling how some fans here are flip-flops.they have jumped on the andos bandwagon.andos was alwalys and will still be a good player..fergie needs to have faith in him.i recently heard pogba saying the reason he left was fergie had no faith in him

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allwellbeck November 29, 2012

good result should have did better but suppose should have done better ando and cleverly should always be playin there instead of the likes of scholes giggs defintley gone past it carrick is 2 slow for a midfielder it should be ando fletch and cleverly and hopefully Kagawa wil be bac soon and put him attackind mid and either play wazza or chico up front with RVP

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allwellbeck November 29, 2012

torontolovesunited what u on about

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