Nov 23
Aston Villa 0-0 Man Utd: United Escape With Draw
United put on another disjointed away display as Aston Villa did their claim to the number four slot no harm with a credible draw at Villa Park. There is a lot to say in the post mortem analysis, so let’s get on with it.
It was always going to be hard following an international break which was as important as a comb for Wayne Rooney. The team hardly got together as a team prior to the game, in the words of Fergie. And in fact, part of his lineup was dictated by that disjointedness. So whilst the back four (O’Shea, Rio, Vidic, Evra) was a reasonable enough choice, the midfield had Ronaldo, Giggs, Carrick and Park. Nani, Anderson and Ronaldo had all returned from Brazil and it seemed unlikely that the boss was going to play all three in a midfield four, against a hardworking and well rested (relatively) Villa midfield trio of Petrov, Reo-Coker and Sidwell. Ronaldo, as I said in the preview, was always going to start, and so he did. Rooney and Tevez made up the front two.
I did however find the substitutions strange, and served as another illustration of why Ferguson is missing someone with a better tactical brain. But we’ll touch on that after this.
United were as dire as I’ve ever seen them all season. Passes went astray, moves broke down courtesy some lazy work or poor positioning of players, or some good work by the Villa players. Ronaldo did all he could do. But he needed help which he wasn’t getting. He ran as much as his travel weary legs could afford him, but after riding one double-teamed challenge after another something had to give. His sulking and frustrations for every challenge, while being cringeworthy to me, was understandable considering nothing is currently going his way. Of course, him gesturing to away fans and reminding them of his number one status was a little too desperate. Cristiano, you are much better than that mate. Surely, for a person who had the mental fortitude to rise above the bile following the 2006 WC fallout, this seems a little too brittle? In short, he was well snuffed out by the Villa defence, so credit where it was due.
Rooney and Tevez were clearly not working on yesterday’s evidence. Tevez seems a pale shadow of last season, and nothing remotely approaching his pre-season hunger and form. He was reduced to trying to win the ball in vain in his own half. Can’t seem to be able to buy a goal for himself even if his life depended on it. Park tried but didn’t help. Rooney — well, let’s just say that he seems either a little low on confidence or hasn’t returned to full fitness, yet.
The defence, however, was the saving grace, with EVDS and Vidic being exceptional. The crunching tackle by Vidic, contrary to what the commentators might make you believe, was not a penalty.
On to the tactics, and it was strange to see what Fergie was thinking when he sent Nani on for Tevez; throwing in a striker, who might spend more time in the business end, for someone who spent more time playing defensive midfield clearly made sense. Ronaldo could have been the Nani replacement, as he was limping whilst Anderson could have come on for Giggs, who was easily overrun. It’s the sort of strange substitutions that have been perplexing.
All said, it was a tough away game against a team, for all our excellent head-to-head record, that needs to be taken seriously. It was made doubly difficult following the international game and injuries. However, whilst I can accept a draw when the team gives their all, it leaves me asking questions about our ability to dig in under adversity and eke out a result. It was the sort of game where the side might have got all three points despite injuries.
It’s November, and it’s too early to call the season over. But December doesn’t get any easier with the distraction of the World Club Cup, and on a day when Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea drew, it has to be put down as a case of an opportunity gone amiss.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Porto it is then…
- Rooney Out For A Month
- Aston Villa vs Man United: Preview
- The need for a right-back and a forward | Title race blown open
- Aston Villa vs Manchester United: Match Preview
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
Well said RR.
Yesterday was definitely an opportunity missed, but what was even more sad to see was the way we played. I wouldn’t have cared if we played well, and were kept out by Brad Friedel…However, I bet Brad himself must be shocked at what an easy evening he had…a cakewalk for him compared to recent outings against United.
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Tevez needs to find last years form because im sure fergie will start having doubts about signing him…What is he now..i dont think u can call him a striker anymore…he has no striking ability right now. As for giggs playing from the start il never know
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surely something’s missing in this year’s side.for all our possesion we don’t know how to play the final penetrating ball.to many passes go horizontally into the wings where the player is already marked and thus won’t be able to put a cross in.its become a steady pattern this year that teams play 5 in midfield against us and get all their men near the edge of the box and we can’t find a way through.as far as tevez’s poor form i believe fergie is himself to blame for this.at the start of the season when he was so confident and hungry fergie never gave him a single start.surely that would have an effect on any player especially you are the one who had the best pre season of all players.ronaldo did try very hard yesterday i felt but he was double teamed everytime.surprise for me was that EVDS looked pretty good.he handled crosses very well.and i agree with you totally with the fact that fergie needs someone with better tactical brains.more i see united play this season more i believe they’re not nearly as good as last 2 seasons.
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Arsenal Lost, and Liverpool and Chelsea drew at HOME to teams who I think were 18th and 11th. We drew away to the 4th best team in the league.. If the matches had happened in a different order, We’d have draw first and then the other results had happened, we’d be saying it was a bloody good week, as we had by far the hardest game of the top 3.
We’ve only been beaten twice, and those were away to Liverpool and Arsenal. We’re playing badly, but I think if we’d had Fletcher in midfield instead of Giggs yesterday we’d have played a bit higher up the pitch and unlocked their defence.
Also, I doesn’t help that Park can’t shoot for dust and Rooney is intent on smashing his 100th in, not tapping it in.
Portugal are rubbish enough, fire Quieroz already so we can have him back!
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Ronaldo is losing his bottle. He reckons he’s the first, second and third best player in the World… but Kaka, Robinho and Fabiano were all better than him during the week, leading to his petulance in Brazil. Yesterday he felt the need to repeatedly tell the home crowd he was number one, in what was a totally cringeworthy episode as he walked to the tunnel. Get a fucking grip, Ronnie. It’s embarrassing.
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Not a penalty! perhaps not as it was against Man U, but actually it was a foul that lasted 20 yards and finished with a decent tackle as Gabby was pulled to the floor by his shirt, how you can watch the it and say its was not is beyond believe, other than that not a bad summary of the game, who is the number one player?
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RR i beg t differ with you and doubt your tactical nous because of this statement…
“On to the tactics, and it was strange to see what Fergie was thinking when he sent Nani on for Tevez; throwing in a striker, who might spend more time in the business end, for someone who spent more time playing defensive midfield clearly made sense. Ronaldo could have been the Nani replacement, as he was limping whilst Anderson could have come on for Giggs, who was easily overrun. It’s the sort of strange substitutions that have been perplexing.”
Nani coming in for Tevez meant Ronaldo was going to go upfront along side Rooney and it didnt need a genius to see that Giggs was the best performer in our central midfield yesterday irrespective of his age and how some of us on this blog nolonger believe in his qualities.
I think it has become a natural bias for us fans against the lad that even when he puts in a profound perfomance, we always use him as a scapegoat when thigs dont go United’s way. For heaven’s sake, if all of us were watching the same match, had Park converted his chance for that through ball from Rooney or had Rooney himself converted the chance he got for the aerial pass from Carrick, i doubt if Villa would have kept 10 men behind the ball. Any of those chances converted would have opened them up, and who knows, may be more goals might have entered.
And for Carrick, what happened to his shooting skills? Everytime he gets at the edge of the box, he tries to look for that decisive, splitting killer pass when in actually sense he would have gone for goal himself. Such were the attributes that made Ssholes score 14 goals in the EPL per season from the middle of the park. And we all know that Carrick has that capability and can afford that, but why not give it a shot?
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But after Ronaldo got taken off for Anderson, who was filling in as the second striker with Rooney? Giggs? I must say that was a God awful way of trying to score goals. I mean, come on!! We were on the offense then, trying to score goals and we dont put in two regular strikers? Giggs isnt a regular striker. Although Andy was good in the little time that he was out, there should have been supported by a regular striker. Welbeck should have been brought on.
And I certainly dont think Giggs was the star performer yesterday and I fully agree with RR. He was losing posessions, he was the weak link whenever we managed to put in a string of passes. On the whole, he should have been subbed for Andy, and Ronaldo for Welbeck after Ronnie was made to move in as second striker. For me, Ronaldo tried his best but then when you are amrkd by two – three guys and they are hell bent on parking your arse on the park, then I guess thats about as good as anyone can get. As for his gesture towards the crowd, yes it was slightly embarrasing. I think Ronaldo is a guy wih a swollen brain. Extremely arrogant. I heard Nereida Gallardo saying somewhere that he writes CR7 and the number 7 all over his house. What a prick man!! But still, he is a United player and prick or not he is bloody goddamn good. So I am behind him.
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@Scott the Red: completely agree. Somehow he is immune from criticism though
it doesn’t matter how bad Ronaldo is when there are Rooneys, Parks and O’Sheas to be blamed. We don’t owe him jack shit. If anything he should be playing out of his skin week in week out to repay us for that shit during the Summer. Not proclaiming his brilliance to anyone who’ll listen. 10 years ago he’d have been outta here faster than you could say slave. All of these free-kicks that he takes from 40 yards out, I wish someone on the team had the bottle to put him in his place. Everyone’s too afraid he’ll leave for Madrid if we are mean to him. I say if he wants to be so childish then start treating him like a child
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Liam, completely agree mate, he is treating us like his bitch and we shouldnt stand for it. Put him in his place and tell him if he dont like it then he can f**k off. I cant help but thinking maybe it wud have been better to just let him leave. I think all the crap with him in the summer has had an effect on the players and i dont think hes bothered about what we do anymore and just wants to leave.
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I find it strange that in the last few matches Park spent more time in the penalty box than our strikers. Not sure if anyone agrees?
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@Matthew:
Well if he does f**k off, let us see how many goals our “strikers” will score.he may be an arrogant prick, but he is definitely our best player (if not the best in the world) and it will take some miracle to replace him. Cut him some slack will you?
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Vivek, the way i see it we could have replaced him with a couple of players. Now yes i admit he is our best player but if he sint happy then let him go, do u really want a player that only plays for us because he has to. From his sale we cud bring in 3 or 4 new players and strengthen the entire team whilst yes weakening 1 area. I mean put it this way, how many wingers in the world get more than 10 goals, not much. But if we brought in a new right winger like ribery or someone along those lines, we cud also invest in a midfielder in the centre who actually scores goals and that is the area where the other big 4 have an advantage over us. But still thats just me so i dunno what u all think.
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Great post RR! I dont know whats happening, vut I believe we need to give it time. We are only three points of our pace this time last season, and look what happened! Keep the faith guys.
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I would really like to see us bring in arshavin in january to help us on the wings. Park is a decent squad player but he is getting alot of games now so he is almost like a first team player and he is no where near good enough to play in the 1st team week in week out. Arshavin can switch wings with ronaldo and can also play as an attacking midfielder so i hope to see us make a bid for him. I know we are packed out in central midfield but we dont have a player apart from ronaldo who can even score 5 goals so we need some1 there.
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@Matthew:
I agree with you in as much that if Real were ready to offer us the silly money being talked about, i.e 70m etc, and we had a replacement ready to go in the mould oF David Silva and/or Villa/Xavi, then we should have let him go. But we didnt, and he is still a United player. And even though he hasnt hit the highs of last season, he is still playing well IMO. Yesterday, he tried really hard, was out best attacking option but got absolutely no support whatsoever from Rooney, tevez and park. He was getting brutalized by the Villa defenders and the Villa fans were jeering him throughout. I agree he acted like a prat reacting to them, but hey he is human. How many times has Rooney gotten himself sent off in his Red Mist? What about Scholes against the pile last year? nani against westham? The whining is a part of his game, why cant we live with that, as long as he keeps performing on the pitch?
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@Matthew:
Arshavin would be a great addition, but from what I can gather, he is an even bigger primadona than the Slave, and the investment would be a big risk. If the rumors about the Serb kids are true, then they might get the nod, but looking at Fergie’s recent tactics, the kids might end up playing second fiddle to Park and Giggs and eventually get snapped up by someone else.
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Guys, lets not talk about all this stuff of how many wingers in the world who score 10 goals a season. Ask yourself how many wingers are given the freedom that Ronaldo is given? As a winger, you are suppossed to help your full back when you team losses possesion, Ronaldo is saved of that burden, he’s given the licence to always move upfront. And in any case lets remember that he’s a winger who’s always used as a support striker.
Ok, fact, he scores goals for us. But of all those how many are individual goals and how many has he scored because of individual brilliance from he’s team mates say Berba, i guess the latter are many. Now that shows he doesnt stand alone and therefore he should behave as though he’s an island.
All for all those saying the Welbecks should have come in instead of Giggs and blah blah. Do you think that those United kids are better than Wenger’s kids? People lets call a spade a spade, our kids cant fit in Wenger’s kids shoes, but do you know why Wenger’s kids are loosing? they lack experience and maturity. With a highly competitive and contancious game like yesterday’s, you dont want to se SAF make the proffesor’s mistakes and bring in kids whose tempers and frustration are going to explode after being suffocated by a determined Villa. And do you what? No you dont! We would even loose the 1 point we went home with.
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Guys, lets not talk about all this stuff of how many wingers in the world who score 10 goals a season. Ask yourself, how many wingers are given the freedom that Ronaldo is given? As a winger, you are suppossed to help your full back in defending when youe team losses possession, Ronaldo is saved of that burden, he’s given the licence to always move upfront. And in any case lets remember that he’s a winger who’s always used as a support striker.
Ok, fact, he scores loads of goals for us. But out of all those goals, how many are individual goals, and how many has he scored because of individual brilliance from his team mates say Berba, i guess the latter are many. Now that shows he doesnt stand alone and therefore he should behave as though he’s an island.
And for all those saying that Welbeck should have come in for Giggs and blah blah. Do you think that those United kids are better than Wenger’s kids? People lets call a spade a spade, our kids cant fit in the shoes of Wenger’s kids, but do you know why Wenger’s kids are loosing? they lack experience and maturity. With a highly competitive and contancious game like yesterday’s, you dont want to se SAF make the proffesor’s mistakes and bring in kids whose tempers and frustration are going to explode after being suffocated by a determined Villa. And do you know what? No you dont! We would even loose the 1 point we went home with.
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@Vivek: eh Rooney has been sent off the same amount of times for United as Ronaldo has. Only his was for 2 yellows and not a straight red. Rooney got sent off against Villareal and Ronaldo got sent off against Pompey.
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@ edi. The difference with last season is that the team gave us something to smile about and the football we were playing and goals scored gave us belief. Not this time though. We look a pale shadow of last season. I am trying to keep faith but it keeps on weaning every week. I dont like getting encouragement when other teams drop points. I want the hope to come from ourselves and that includes playing football that makes us believe.doesnt matter that we are playing tough away fixtures.the team looks like its regressing and the development of both anderson and nani worries me a lot
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@Jay Jay: that is also completely true. Last season Tevez and Rooney did all the donkey work and this season I’ve noticed that Nani only ever crosses it to Ronaldo. Rooney or somebody else could be clean through or in front of the defender the high ball/through pass only goes to 1 player
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@Jay Jay: “Do you think that those United kids are better than Wenger’s kids? ”
Are you serious? He has Vela, Wilshire, Ramsay and who else? We have Anderson, Possebon, the twins, Campbell and Welbeck. Dont fall into the media hype over the “young gunners” even Sites like Arseblog are admitting the young ones arent that good.
They might have above average youngsters, but our cream is way better than theres.
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I agree Scott-the-Red and Liam.
Ronaldo’s behaviour is getting worse by the day. We all know he’s a spoilt brat, but that doesn’t mean we can excuse his behaviour yesterday. He seems desperate to prove he’s no:1 and now opposing players know that kicking him harder is only gonna make him lose control. I won’t be surprised if he gets a red card one of these days. Oh, and if it was Rooney who was talking back to the fans yesterday? There would be a truckload of people in here who would be screaming at him. All he had to do was kiss the badge at Goodison Park and people blame him for the 1-1 draw!
Bottomline: Just cos Ronaldo’s our most effective player currently doesn’t give him immunity in anyway. There’s absolutely no problem in slating him for acting this way.
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My hopes are being squashed every fecking matchday! I can’t see much into the future.. but all that I can see now is “just a yellow lemon tree” in for us this year!!
@Jay Jay: Spare us the ignominy of comparison with Arsenal kids.
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I really dont think that the manhcester united of last year would have drawn and i dont think that the cristiano ronaldo of last year would have made those gestures. when ronaldo has a bad day it seems like united jave a bad day. im sorry but it seems like manchester united have done what they have been threatening to do for 3 seasons – become a one man team.
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@Liam:
Yes, the point is that both can act like spoilt brats, does not make any less of a player does it?
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Look, I’m not in any way excusing Ronnie’s behaviour yesterday. He was way off line making those gestures, and he should be slated for that. But does that gesture mean he is not happy at United? Did he give out any interviews after the game that he wants to leave? His work ethic was fantastic yesterday, he just kept going even after being kicked around.
The point I’m trying to make is that slate his all you like for his off field excursions, but just the amount of hate directed here towards him brings to light a more deep lying hate that many United fans still harbor, that IMO is totally disproportionate to yesterday’s incident and I think that this is a fall out of the summer fiasco rather than just that incident yesterday
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Let me chip in on the Ron debate. I do agree that he whines more as compared to last year and for me its irritating. I will never doubt his skills as a player but he’s behaviour for me this season is more irritating than it is terrible.being a superstar and saving our skin last season doesnt make him immune to criticism. people criticise rooney tevez and i think ron should also have his share.not just for the sake of it, its because his action deserve it.
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Meant to say tolerable and not terrible
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@Matthew: This is not football manager.
Ribery, yes we could get him, but only for 50million. He’s that important to Bayern – their best player and has perhaps the best personality I’ve ever seen in a football player. Basically you could say that Ribery is to Bayern what Ronaldo is to us.
And we actually don’t really need other players at other positions. We’ve got options everywhere on the pitch, only the fact is that SAF is reluctant to play his talented young reservists.
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NicoQB, listen mate im not the kind of guy who is always saying sign him and sign him because we rarely guess right who we are getting anyway and i always tire when i hear people say we shud sign kaka, messi and the like. In some of my earlier messages i was getting sick of people saying buy kaka, so i recommended lesser players that im pretty sure no one else even mentioned like geovanni from hull and a couple of italians whom i rate. If i didnt state it i meant to, but what i meant was if we sold ronaldo i wud like to see ribery, i was not saying to sign him and have him as a 2nd choice as he would be now. The fact is when ronaldo leaves we need to replace him with a world class player, not a young player who will grow to be world class, but an already world class player and ribery fits that bill and wud be who i wanted all summer when i thought he wud leave.
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yeah but the thing is I don’t think Ronaldo has been playing that well recently. The amount of times yesterday that he lost the ball was unreal. I mean is it so hard to pass the ball 5 yards to a teammate instead of running into 2 or 3 players? Also when he did try to pass it went straight to a Villa player. Also apart from the 2 free kicks against Stoke he was extremely wasteful. He has these types of games quite often and since most of our attacks go through him it brings the team down. It’s the same as when we had RVN
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Fuck me what is this Fabiano is now a better player than Ronnie, and all our success has been down to a CQ?
We won a few cups without CQ and er Ronnie is still one if not the best player in the world, a point away against Villa is a decent result.
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@Jay Jay:
Ok let me reply to your comment one by one:
1. Regarding my lack of tactical nous, there’s no need to doubt it. I don’t have any.
It probably explains why I have little else to do here other than engage in lazy chatter about tactics. So yes, I may not have the best tactical brain around. But, I do think I saw things were a little strange yesterday. More importantly I want to correct some other assumptions you made of me.
2. I didn’t make scape goats of any player in particular — if you read my article you’ll see that. But Ryan Giggs was distinctly average. And I don’t just slate Ryan Giggs for the heck of it. Again, if you read my posts from the past, you will notice that I don’t just slate any United player out of impulse. It’s just not in my nature. Giggs has had a few good games this season in central midfield but yesterday was not it. He needs two things right now: a genuine ball winner alongside him to do the running, and getting about 60-70′ on the clock before being subbed off for fresher legs — it’s his age, not a knock on his abilities.
3. Regarding Carrick’s shooting skills, when did he really have much to talk about? He’s score 7 goals for us since 2006. Enough said.
4. About bringing on Welbeck, I was referring to bringing him on instead of Tevez. What did we have to lose anyway? Tevez was getting nowhere near the area, and Friedel was hardly troubled.
5. Carrick or Giggs can function well when they have space. This can be afforded to them if they have someone like Hargreaves or Fletcher to do the running. Against a high work rate midfield three that Villa had, it wasn’t going to be easy.
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@tinker: Totally agree. That was a penalty but it should have been whistled down even before it got in the box thus making it a free kick. How the referee could not see the blatant desperate shirt pulling by Vida is beyond me. In fact I am getting sick and tired of the League’s permissive policy of hands on a player or shirt pulling, especially in the box. It’s wrong and ruins the game.
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Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Villa, Everton, Portsmouth and Blackburn away so far, City and Spurs still coming up. If United are still within six points by Christmas, we have a good shot at a third consecutive title. Despite this insane away schedule, I still feel we dropped too many points needlessly. We could have been tied or within striking distance of Chelsea and Liverpool with most of the tough away fixtures out of the way. If we’re not within striking distance by the end of January, I say it’s time to properly bleed some youngsters (and maybe a new winger). Throw them in the deep end and see if they swim. It’ll tell Fergie whether he can rely on the likes of Evans, the Da Silvas, Possebon and Welbeck to consistently provide quality cover next season or not. Foster (still a youngster in GK terms)especially needs a run of games as I don’t feel VDS has another season at the highest level in him. Fergie needs to find out if he’s ready to take over the number one spot and the only way to do that is to play him week in week out. Better find out during the second half of a PL campaign that’s as good as lost than at the start of the next one. Kuzasck is a great shot stopper and decent back up but I don’t think he commands his area well enough to be the first pick GK for a team like United.
As for yesterday, Chelsea and Liverpool gave United a golden opportunity to close the gap to six points with a game in hand and we failed to take it. I don’t think Fergie’s tactics were that bad to start the game. The only thing wrong IMO was Giggs in a two man central midfield. He simply doesn’t have the legs to keep up with a three man Villa midfield anymore. He was invisible for the majority of the game. I think Anderson got more touches on the ball than he did in the second half. This is not meant as a cheap shot, he will always be a legend and I think he still has a lot to offer to this team. Just not as a CMF in a two-man central midfield against a fairly strong team. Ronaldo tried but was obviously tired. Pointless friendlies months before significant games are bad enough, but whoever thought that it would be a good idea to fly halfway across the world for a meaningless midweek friendly is a complete and utter moron. There’s plenty of quality sides one or two hours away without the jetlag. Play them FFS. That being said, his behaviour after the game was ridiculous. Still, he’s the best player in the world (him and Messi are in a league of their own, I’m quietly hoping for a legendary rivalry in the years to come
, it’s easy to forget they should have their best years ahead of them) and if anyone can keep that massive ego of his somewhat in check it’s Fergie. Park had a good game, but he lacks the ability and creativity to be a regular starter. He has a lot of heart and a fantastic workrate and you need players like that in certain games, but yesterday wasn’t such a game. It was obvious that the primary focus of 10 Villa players was their defensive tasks. After last year’s thumping O’Neill had his team set up to keep a clean sheet. Fergie can’t predict that, but he can react to it. We had 63% possession but most of it in our own half. None of the substitutions made were an attempt to move the game further upfield. Anderson should have been brought on sooner which would have given Carrick more freedom to roam, Nani should have come in for either the injured Ronaldo or Park and Manucho or Welbeck for Tevez. Welbeck because his confidence is probably sky high right now or Manucho because it would have given us a physical presence in the box that could have made Nani’s crosses a lot more useful.
The quality is definitely there (even with the injuries in midfield), I just think we lost something when CQ left. I could be wrong, but Phelan doesn’t seem to complement Fergie the way CQ did. A new, tactically stronger number two would be pretty high on my list of priorities if I were Fergie. Someone who is also able to relate to the Latin players in the squad would be a nice added bonus.
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And one word about Ronnie. I think, people are mixing up his attitude/big headedness with actual performance as a player. People are dismissing his contributions to United last season and attributing it to donkey work by Rooney and Tevez — all because of what happened in the summer. I have been extremely critical of Ronaldo’s attitude in the summer, and his recent behaviour, but I haven’t lost sight of him as a player. He is extremely valuable to us, although injury has not allowed him to have the impact that we were so used to from him.
Expectations of him playing “out of his skin” to atone for the summer is far too unrealistic. So what is “out of his skin” then, considering he scored 42 goals as a winger? 3 goals a game? Ridiculous.
It’s nice to see how people defend their favourite players with a passion, but yet, allow that favouritism to descend into partisanship with a — “my player is better than your favourite player” / “your favourite player plain sucks, and is not patch on mine”. This is the same club that plays in Red and White that we’re talking about, aren’t we?
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Traverse good comment.
I am really angry to see so many idiotic fans going against Ronaldo. He is by far our best player, so can you just STFU!!! Without him we will become a mid table team. I have said many times, that players who perform should be given some space. Think about Contana. He had embarrassed us far too many times himself, but none of us remembers that and we hail him as “The King”. Haven’t you ever heard the “Nobody judges winners”.
On a game, poor performance and our 60 mil strike force is by far the most pathetic one in the EPL. I mean think about it, at least half of the teams in EPL have strikers, that we would have traded with ours and this two are by far the most expensive duet LOL. Just a laughing stock, is all I can say.
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@Jay Jay: At least Wenger’s kids are being a fair chance to show what they have and establish themselves and build confidence. A fresh Welbeck would have been a smart move when Ronaldo came off. A young striker is not going to lose the game for us at 0-0. But he could have that one moment of luck or just the space that is created from fresh legs and youth to win the game for us. Fergie’s substitutions and the manner in which they were made are confusing and perplexing. Nani should have come on for Ronaldo and Anderson for Giggs while Welbeck should have replaced Tevez. Straight position for position instead of moving a limping and hurting Ronaldo inside. I think he risked Ronaldo’s health way too much after the 50th minute when he was clearly hurting. Mindless stuff considering we are totally screwed without him.
Fergie has become a mass of confusion this year and I am starting to slowly wonder if retirement isn’t a bad idea. He is managing with tactical ineptness and has shown a side of himself that is shocking. He is managing with caution and fear. Much more than the past. We were 11-0 at Villa Park in the past eleven years and we went in there and played a slow cautious defensive game. We still should have won it but the fact that we played the negative style in the process really is disturbing to me. In fact I have been highly critical of his tactics since last season’s loss at Stamford Bridge. Since then I have seen a chicken shit style of managing which has me fuming and confused. Yes we won the League and defeated Barca at the Nou Camp using the system and then hung on to beat Chelsea in Moscow but what we did the final month of the season was far from perfect and butt ugly. And nothing has changed since. Where did the fast free flowing attractive Samba football go? Where has the team’s confidence and arrogance gone? Instead we hang around wondering what is wrong with Ronaldo when he rightfully berates Villa fans who were abusing him. Why are we not supporting him more (He is #1) and question the Gaffer for his mistakes and brutal way of sacrificing his players for this negative and ultra defensive style that he seems to find so rewarding. I cannot fathom the 1994 or 1999 clubs ever falling into this style of play and literally boring us all to tears. What the fuck is wrong with you Fergie? Wake the fuck up!
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@RDY: That mate is total rubbish, how do you know what relationship Fergie has with Phealan or what he had with CQ? And to relate with the Latin players WTF??? They are honoured to player for our club simple, if they need someone to relate to then they cn fuck off in my view. Fergie is the manager he makes the decisions, some right some wrong, I agree his subs are odd, and this my player is better than yours and we need CQ back or we fucked attitude is absolute shit, we won a few tophies without himm, who seems to use us an axes to better things, jeez have some faith boys, champions of England champions of Europe!!
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PS: I don’t think a point away at Villa park is a bad result. Unless Arsenal significantly strenghten their central midfield and defense in January, I can see Villa knocking them out of the top four this season. They have a quality squad and a quality manager.
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@antsBoy: Who was he showing the #1 sign to? Bloody abusive Villa fans. If Cantona had done that we would all be praising him because he was so beloved. But because of this pasty Summer Ronaldo cannot get a bloody break from the lot of you. A smile to the camera by Ronaldo is misconstrued as arrogant or insulting by all of you. Nothing he does is right. he scores a brilliant goal and all of you bitch about his lack of joy or his ignorance of the fans. All of you have some kind of grudge against him or you have become painfully unfair and judgmental. Or is it because you have all become so incredibly needy that a stranger making millions more than all of you just rubs you the wrong way if he has more of a problem showing humility? For God sakes, let him be. Lets not forget he is one of our own and the single most important reason why we are the European champions as well as two time running EPL champs. He is the straw that stirs the drink and he is getting no respect but above all, he is getting no love. Regarding last Summer, FORGIVE and FORGET. Ronaldo needs our support, not our continually nagging criticism over his personality defects. God we have all become a bunch judgmental housewives at a church luncheon. Pathetic.
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@NicoQB: The only chance of getting Ribery would be if he was unhappy at Bayern and wanted to leave. And even then he has always stated his next destination would be Italy. Bayern loves him and he loves playing for Bayern. Besides, we don’t have the money to buy him. Not with our present ownership. Arshavin on the other hand can be had if the hierarchy at the club had the need vision and intelligence to realize that he is truly the missing link. But I now know they are clueless.
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Stephen:
I never said we needed CQ specifically back or that it’s impossible to win trophies without him. As I said in my previous post, given the fixtures already behind us I don’t think we’re in that bad of a position for the title. I don’t think CQ is coming back unless he’s guaranteed the no.1 spot when Fergie retires and given his track record as head manager I don’t think that would be a good idea. The substitutions this season have been odd to say the least. Again, it’s just the opinion of a fan with absolutely no managerial experience, but I put it down to tactical reading during the game. Why else would you move a Ronaldo who obviously wasn’t playing at 100% to a position he’s not used to when you’ve got two perfectly fit, natural strikers sitting on the bench?
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@RDY: 42 goals last seaon might be the awnser to that question, and Welbeck is 17 and has next to no experience.
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@Orez: just like we were going to be a mid-table team without RVN to score our goals and Keane to lead us? The amazing Berbatov is going to be our lead the line striker isn’t he? I’m sure Manucho will step up and prove that he was better than Rooney all along
. But seriously I think we would be ok without Ronaldo if SAF signs the right replacement and doesn’t try to rebuild the side
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@Grognard: While I do have a problem if people mix their assumptions about Ronaldo, the person, with Ronaldo, the player, what’s wrong in criticizing him for some clearly bird brained talk about how he’s the best in the world? Just because people share a different opinion of him as a person does not make it pathetic.
I love him as a player, but I think his attitude stinks. When Ronaldo reacts to the crowd he doesn’t win. He just confirms that that crowd have managed to rile him up. The only way players can shut a crowd up is by scoring/winning. If not, they are better served by ignoring fans.
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@Red Ranter: Now that is all that I have been saying mate. I totally agree with you and the only difference between what I have been saying and how you so eloquently put things is my emotion and passion on the subject. People seem to forget how down I was on Ronaldo during the Summer. I was the one coining the term “he’s dead to me” and even now he is on my infamous “double secret probation”.
Therefore, it should be noted that my defense of him now must have some very serious validity considering my dislike for him just four months ago.
People need to separate their personal feelings of last Summer with the present play of Ronaldo. Putting unrealistic expectations upon him and asking him to change his entire personality as a sense of penance for his past sins is just wrong and unrealistically juvenile. So I totally agree with your statements. I just wish and pray that we all come to our senses soon before we make life so unlivable for the lad in Manchester that he demands a move to Spain to get away from all the unfair abuse. To not support and back him after Villa fans abused him is shameful and completely disappointing. We are betraying one of our own. Nobody came down on Cantona as bad for kicking a spectator and being suspended for a season. Ronaldo on the other hand is playing his heart out for us and he gets zero respect. love or appreciation. And it truly is exasperating at best.
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@Red Ranter: The were calling him a lady boy cheat, I can understand his frustrations especially as Reo Coker and Sidwell were kicking lumps out of him all game.
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