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LIVE BLOG: United 3-0 West Ham - Red Perspective

  • February 23, 2010

Scott Patterson

Scott is the editor of RoM and has a season ticket at Old Trafford. He writes for The Mirror, Paddy Power and Red News. He started The Republik of Mancunia in March 2006. Follow @R_o_M on Twitter.

Harris Needs To Get Real Over Boycott
VIDEO: Rooney and Owen Goals Against West Ham

128 Comments

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Anon February 24, 2010
RTNK
Oh god! Not the one man team brigade again!
Listen. I am sick and tired of repeating this. So this is the last time I am going to say this.
Rooney may have got 27 goals for this season, but that, by no means, whatsoever, makes him indispensable, and by no means does it make him the sole reason for our league standing.
That is just bonkers.
People who think like that are the same people who put our last three league titles and the CL down to CR7 alone.
It's stupid thinking.
Football doesn't work that way.
Rooney has been putting his chances away, but that is his job, especially since he has got what he asked for, the centre forward role.
Guys like Fletcher, Evra and Valencia have had as much to do with our success this season as Rooney.
And those three are just the cream of the crop. I must mention Giggs (still the second highest assist man in the league this season), Scholes, Rafael and Ando and Carrick to a lesser extent, who have all had undeniable impact this season.
These are the guys whom you call the "unsung" heroes.
Can we please shut up with the "Rooney is the only reason..." drivel?
He's been phenomenal this season, and if someone were to say we would be a lot less belligerent without him would be right. But like we showed last season, even without a cerebral forward like him, we can still games, if only by 1-0 scorelines, and not this seasons 3-0 ones.
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Anon February 24, 2010
RTNK
You gotta be kidding me!!!!
Berba gives far more to a team than Tevez.
Berba has been bench warming this season, heard him moan about it once?
Tevez played a truck load of games last season, and he was still bitching about it.
Fergie and Gill even coughed up the dough to keep him at the club. What did he do? Went for the bigger pay check at Wastelands.
Are you SERIOUSLY comparing that player to one who snubbed those bitter bluenoses to play for a team he considers above all others?
Get out of here! Seriously!
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KingAbdullah February 24, 2010
How was Anderson before the injury? When I got home from work I saw Park
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Park likes dags February 24, 2010
Rooney is the New King, you have let me down... lol
Berba-bashing?? ...a Scott quote comes to mind..
First of all Berbatov's contribution cannot be considered without his assist and 'turnover?' stats. They cream over all the attackers named above including your beloved Torres & Tevez ;)
and your point to Scott is? Berba was £31/9 & Tevez was 25-47?/5 per goal, I know which one I'd pick. And the player SAF picked is often the real deal.

Anon is frankly, spot on in his summation.

and you try n crap on Valencia's brigade? He will definately prove you wrong mate!

@ Costas, we do make more of an effort to score first nowadays but it's our thirst/need for that second that could be our downfall.. Chelski seems to sit on it till the opposition gets desperate for a draw then Ddrogba plays catchup with Rooney.
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REDHarry4Life February 24, 2010
Anon said

Even Barcelona would have been lying somewhere in 5th or 6th place if Puyol, Valdes and Pique were out for the entire season

ANd they are all inferior to VDS the better keeper and RIO and Vidic nest two centre backs in the world
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Anon February 24, 2010
Red Harry
When they are playing together yes, but when pulled apart, on the basis of this season at least (though he hasn't played much) I wonder where Rio would stack up in the world order of centre backs. Vida has been class whenever he's played, barring Liverpool (who I think are becoming his voodoo club).
When they are all fit, I think Fergie is going to have a tough time picking between Rio and Evans to partner Vida, who walks into the team at this moment.
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rooney the new king February 24, 2010
Park likes dags Anon - did I compare tevez and berbatov no and I am not get into that debat again do not draw me in again. But I will say one last time I am not saying it again I rate tevez far highly because of his age mobility and ability to fit into a 433 system, and tevez has the ability to come off the brnch change tempo of the game and lift the team, and he scores in the big games we benifited hugely from this the past 2 seasons.

I only brought tevez up because scott went on about tevez performences last season, but scott is contridicting himself with the price tag. When you look at berbatovs price which we payed more than shitty payed for judas yea we know wages are different but shitty over pay for their tea lady's, and the goals return of berbatov add his lack of appearences in europe and the big games in general and performences have been poor.
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rooney the new king February 24, 2010
Anon - do not missquote me, I did not call united a one man team and PPL I am not caling united a one man team you got to understand why without rooney we may not win the league, your lack of overall picture of the team shows why you dont see the structure of the team and who has been poor and outstanding.

during ronaldo's time you could not say he was the soul reason because of many key factors and the structure of the team in general.

these reasons of our success the past phew seasons

- United's GK and defence was always fit week in week out and they played at such high standard.

- The midfield gem's of giggs in all 3 seasons and especially scholes in the 06/07 season, scholes himself put in a masterclass season that was in my eyes a genius at work, and I have not seen many have such a great season from a CM position. We add players like carrick fletcher who both have been key factors even the likes of nani in his debut season had a good season.

- In attack the form of saha in 2006 was sensational, you add the duo of ronaldo and rooney in 3 seasons scored between them 119 goals, we add tevez and the 3 players scored in total 140 goals in the 2 seasons ronaldo rooney and tevez were together, you add 72 goals between rooney and tevez.

So no united did not rely on ronaldo because the entire structure of the team from GK defence midfield and attack was all fit functioning and firing.

The problem with the current structure of united today is.

- The GK and defence you could not say they have been brilliant because they have bene injured

- The midfield have they really stood out and say hey they really have been one of the reasons why united are in the title race no, add chopping and changing and the lack of a true world class midfielder even though fletcher has been outstanding again, and valencia to a lesser digree has done well

- Now the attack, owen has done really well scoring 8 goals, when you see where he was at newcastle which was mentally hard for owen. Berbatov is no different from last year very poor scoring just 9 goals but rooney has been a beats scoring 27.

And it is not only goals from rooney, he changes the tempo of the game he helps pin defenders back and they have to be aware of rooney all the time. Everything goes through rooney he scores creates and drives at defences and he pulles defences out of position, that is why united would not be where they are without rooney and you have got to be wearing the red tinted specs 3 imes over not to know this.

if PPL want to disagree and bash me and say I am this and that I dont mind, but these are the reasons why I am worryed that we may come up short because of our lack of strength in depth in attack, but if united can start keeping cleansheets again with a fit defence then we may get away with a thread bear strike force.
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rooney the new king February 24, 2010
Park likes dags - Dint try and twist my words too justify your claims to shit on my posts. I like valencia but in the games when we are up against it and need to grab a game out of the fire valencia is not exactly the guy to call upon I still find him one dimensional, but he is still a good player. but valencia has not got the game changing veriaty of nani.
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hurr February 24, 2010
rtnk - Valencia not the player to call when we need to grab a game? What about cska, milan?
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King Eric February 24, 2010
Oh god. Manunitedslagger2008 is back. Infact he has never been away as I have suspected all this time. Just a change of username eh Michael?
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Anon February 24, 2010
RTNK

Defense: Yes we have been fucked over, and that has not helped our season so far, but it is a credit to the entire attack force, plus guys who have put in shifts out of position like Fletch and Carrick that we are just a point of the top. Rooney of course deserves praise, but not all of it.

Midfield: your argument holds NO water whatsoever. constant shifting and changing you say? I recall the complete opposite. The past few months, right untill the Milan game, we played with the midfield of scholes, carrick and fletch almost week in week out. In fact all season our midfield has almost always contained 3 in the middle, with fletch and carrick playing 99% of those, and scholes, ando or gibbo sharing the third slot. This helped the midfield gel, and they outplayed the likes of Arsenal (phenomenal considering they boast two of the best attacking mids in the country, Arshavin and Fabregas), Chelsea (supposedly the best midfield in the country) and AC Milan (again very formidable). Hardly a display brittle midfield would make.
I think a lot of your reaction is immediately off the Everton game.
This season, our midfield has contributed more goals by February, then they had for the entirety of last season. Tells a story of how the likes of Fletcher, Scholes and Carrick have pulled their weight since the departure of CR7.

Attack: Tell me one thing. United scored 68 goals last season, Ronaldo scoring 18 and Rooney 12, Berbatov 9 and Tevez 5. This season we have got 63 already, 23 by Rooney, 9 by Berba, 1 by Diouf and 3 by Owen. So where exactly are we "thin"? We have had one more striker on the mark than last season. That is without even counting the likes of Nani and Valencia. Berba, even though his season has been ravaged by injury and has been benchwarming for large parts, has got as many by Feb as he has whole of last season. And the entire forward line has contributed about 36 goals out of 63, compared to 44 out of 68 last season, meaning our midfield/defense, has already contributed more goals this season than last. Again, your argument of either a thin attack or poor midfield don't hold.
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Anon February 24, 2010
*Didn't count Welbeck and Kiko there, so yeah we had more strikers on the scoreboard last season, but more midfielders on target this season.
Still Berba's stats and Owen's scoring rate prove we are far better off in the attacking department compared to last season.
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aig alex is god February 24, 2010
No point comparing the current side with the team of last year. Last year we were a more efficient unit. This year its different.We didnt have an out and out in form striker last season with Tevez and Berbatov struggling for goals and Ronaldo not geeting them like 07-08. Rooney was wasteful and didnt play up front like now.

The main point is, we may be much more better this season when it comes to scoring goals but we won the league last season, can we do it this year?.
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Anon February 24, 2010
I think the main reason people bang on about our "thin" attack is they still think the team plays the same way as we did last season.
That is give the ball to "The Man", and "The Man" will do all the rest.
Well "the Man" system has now been abolished, but people are yet to figure that out unfortunately.
We are not a team that relies on a Ronaldo being the only way into the opposition's goal. That monopoly has been done away with.
Our current system has meant that the likes of Fletcher, Carrick and Park (when he plays centrally) are found in the box, sometimes even ahead of Rooney, far more often than they would have last season.
This is mainly because Rooney is a phenomenal talent when it comes to holding the ball up, and also because they aren't reliant on one man anymore. Now everyone has a license to create. Whether it be Evra or Valencia, the name on the back of the shirt doesn't matter. United this season has been a bit of a total football team. They fill the gaps as they move forward as a unit, not like before where 9 men hung back and tried to fire Ronaldo clear so he could have a run and have the liberty of losing the ball and not track back.
When the team starts moving forward so fluidly, they tend to score more, create more and also lose the ball less often. Of course we have let more goals in this season, but that has more to do with stupid mistakes made by our make shift defense, example Brown's various errors in judgement, and some Foster shockers early on in the season. When United have something resembling a first team back four, ie, with Vida and/or VDS at the back, we have not let too many in, while still banging them in.
It explains why we have been so supreme against Chelsea and Arsenal this season. Esp Arsenal, whom we were shown up against last season. When we move ahead as a unit, we kill their one touch game. Last season we gave them room to gain momentum on us, this season we stifled them, with our defenders almost their half most of the time.
So please stop reading the game on paper.
Open your eyes and actually see what is going on.
We don't have a threadbare attack, simply because, we almost don't have an "attack". Our whole team comprises the "Attack", from VDS to Evra to Rooney.
Our only concern at the moment has to be keeping Vida and VDS on the ground considering Rio's almost crazy back problems, and finding a way to completely utilise the other worldly talent of Berbs.
I think Fergie will find a way to deploy him more effectively in Europe as well as the league because Scholesy cannot play very often, and there really isn't an alternative to play anyone else, coz no one does what he does so well. Maybe the trio of Carrick Fleytch and Ando can do the trick, but let's hope Ando's injury isn't too bad for that!
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aig alex is god February 24, 2010
@rtnk

i agree with you we need a new striker. However we are now approaching the business end of the season. The transfer window is closed, nothing can be done. The logical thing would be to support the strikers we have and hope they can do the job.Surely SAF will reasses the situation in the summer and if needed will make signings depending on the progress of the young lads.
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fooart9 February 24, 2010
@ KIng Eric

yeah we know who the slagger was dont we...isnt it that obvious...

hey slagger...let just assume that price tag on Berbatov is way ridiculous for someone who score 9 goals a season...didnt u think that Sir Alex stupid like you to repeat that same mistake on a striker that score only 5 goals a season...

Berbatov is a striker ,yeah he should score more goals.....but if u dont appreciate last night pass that open up valencia on the wing...u know nothing about enjoying good football....and thats a FACT!!!
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aig alex is god February 24, 2010
@Anon

Sorry for the other day mate.I guess till the time Owen isnt given the chance we should not make any judgements, however i am worried about when that day will be when he will start a game.
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Corea February 24, 2010
Good morning everyone.
I just don't get it. What has Berba done that bad since you open your mouths to slate the player ? He is modest, skillful, gets on with the job when called upon, doesn't moan and loves the club.
He doesn't fit into system ? Into what system ? Did you see the Everton game ? West ham ? Did he fit ? Oh cmon. Stop saying this continuous bullshit and let him and Fergie sort out when he needs to play and when he will be useful for us. I still believe he has future at the club and i don't want to lose such a player. If you hate the player just SAY it and stop inventing chaos theories.

I just love Scholesy's contribution these days. He is in magnificient form.
Valencia vs. Nani. They are different but i like Toni's aggressiveness, he actually goes at defenders. But we have two different players for position and it gives you options.
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King Eric February 24, 2010
Corea - Hello mate. Spot on on all counts.
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Costas February 24, 2010
@Corea

Unfortunately people won't change their opinion for Berbatov no matter what.

You are right about Valencia. In fairness, many of our players have stepped up in recent months. Rooney is unbelievable. Berbatov is playing his best football for us. And at the moment, all 4 of our wingers are in great form! It will be tough for Fergie to choose.

Last but not least, my favorite player in recent weeks is Paul Scholes. I was never a big fan of his. Nothing to do with his talent. I just liked Giggs, Beckham and Solskjaer more. But he has been fantastic for us this year.
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King Eric February 24, 2010
Anon - great posts mate, you are wasting your time with rtnk though. I have given up now after last night's frankly ridiculous comments.
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King Eric February 24, 2010
Costas - Hi mate. You were never a big fan of Scholes? Aside from probably Giggs he has always been my favourite. This season though he is on another level. Everything goes through him. Continually switches play and is always creating. Just recently he has been getting into the box alot more aswell. Pure quality. Makes it look very easy. Best form for 2-3 years since 06 season. On this form Fergie will definately give him another year and rightly so. Immense player. I am pleased we won without the likes of VDS, Carrick, Fletch and Giggsy. Things are looking good.




To say its Valencia's first season it is frightening to think HOW good he can get.
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Corea February 24, 2010
Costas - don't know why but Scholes is my favorite player. Maybe it's because he is so underrated. Because he is modest. Because he is an atacking midfielder. Because he has played his career at our club. Or maybe because he is ginger ? We all have our heroes.
I always believed he will still give us something because i hate the thought of not seeing him anymore in our shirt. But right now i don't believe what i am seeing. Maybe lack of injuries helped the cause. But when you consider our team without him who will do the job for us right now?
It will be difficult to find his replacement.
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King Eric February 24, 2010
Corea - You will NEVER be able to replace the genius of Paul. Different class and pisses all over the likes of the thug, fat Frank and pub player Barry.
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Corea February 24, 2010
Anyone noticed Toni actually took a shot using his left foot ?
A very modest one though :)
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Costas February 24, 2010
@King Eric

Hi. Thee was a time when I considered him the best midfielder in the game. I just didn't like him as much as I liked other United players. We all have our weaknesses. Mine were Solskjaer, Giggs and Beckham. And at the moment, he is irreplaceable for us.

@Corea

Scholes will probably get another season. Notice that he started turning things aorund for himself after that interview before the West Ham game in December. Where he said that he might quit after this season. He has very high standards of himself and the best thing about him, is that he doesn't show it.
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rooney the new king February 24, 2010
King Eric - why are you calling me a username that was not me I think you are out of line to frank, fine if you feel that way I dont care anymore like I say the 07/08 side was overated so why would I use that name when I dont really rate the 07/08 side that highly. and didnt this username say we need to a hoverhaul I side we just need a striker not a complete new team get your facts straight, all I said was uniteds attack is thread bear is that such a slagging off no it is not. all united needs is a new striker.
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