Nov 22
Aston Villa v Man Utd: Preview
It’s nice to be back. Being able to blog again — hopefully, regularly — gives you a feeling that’s difficult to describe; one of blogginess. Or perhaps, should I not be too happy to be blogging when I really ought to be having a life? Who knows!
On to the preview…
We visit Villa Park today, with an excellent record against Aston Villa. Despite all their excellent form under Martin O’Neill last season, they were at the hands of 4-0 drubbings. Last year at Villa Park was witness to some excellent one-two between Rooney and Tevez for a goal. And with the forced exit of Berbatov due to injury, we might see last season’s first choice duo reunite.
Meanwhile — taking a brief detour from the preview to catch up on some of the United news of the past few days — the Daily Mail reports that we’ve signed Zoran Tosic pending work permit. But it’s the Daily Mail, which is why we’re better served waiting for official confirmation. He’s a Serbian winger, who’s a left footer and a free kick specialist apparently. EDIT: The Mirror reckons we’ve signed Tosic as well as Adam Ljajic for £9m subject to work permit. Hmm…
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to befuddle with his media comments. Sometimes, saying funny things to the media can be fun. But there comes a time when it ceases to be so. Take this case where Ronaldo claimed himself to be the first, second and third greatest player in the world, only for those words to come back to bite his shapely arse 24 hours later as Brazil nullified his influence in the game with a drubbing.
True, Portugal have been lacklustre lately, but that doesn’t excuse the complete lack of influence he had in the game. Well, even that is not a problem, as long as he doesn’t shoot his mouth trying to big himself up. Yes Cristiano, we can see that you are an excellent player. But you don’t have to tell that to us — even if you think you are trying to be funny. It’s not, and all it does is makes you look like a fool when things don’t go your way. Scott’s given a fair assessment of his quotes.
Getting back to today’s game, Villa beat Arsenal at the Emirates. And with the Gunners stuttering, they look like worthy candidates for the fourth place spot. We are missing important players — Rio Ferdinand, Berbatov, Brown — to injury. Ronaldo, Anderson and Nani return jet lagged from Brazil. Heading to away games immediately after an international is always going to be a challenge, and it has been so several times this season for us.
Villa continue to improve and impress, and the pace of Agbonlahor and Young will be a challenge to the likes of Vidic and Evans. I think Evans will have to put his ability to read the game to better use to tackle the pace of said Villa forwards.
Ferguson had some kind words for Martin O’Neill.
“Martin has done a fantastic job. He is one of the best managers in the game, no question about that. The only way you can judge managers is how they have proved themselves over a long period and when you look at the job Martin did at Leicester, at Celtic and now at Villa, he is obviously a top manager.”
In team lineups, I hope Fergie goes for Rafael at right back if not O’Shea. I really don’t feel comfortable having Neville at right back anymore. Oh, how I miss Brown, now! EVDS should be between the sticks with Evans partnering Vidic in the centre — Evra at left back. Michael Carrick is a sure starter following his stellar showing for England in midweek and, depending on Anderson’s physical state, he might play in midfield. (If Fletcher is fit, he’ll surely partner Carrick). On the wings, Ronaldo will somehow talk his way into the side, and he’ll choose to bench Nani — because he may not want three members of the people that visited Brazil to start at once — over Park or Giggs. (And I hope he doesn’t start Giggs on the wing.)
Up front we’ll get to see Rooney partner Tevez, but if Rooney is actually down with chest infection, then we might get to see Manucho/Welbeck.
Prediction: If we are on a roll I think we should be able to beat them 2-0. Of course, with us this season, it’s always a case of which United shows up.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Manchester United v Aston Villa Preview – Tougher than it looks
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
- Rooney Out For A Month
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
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RedDevilEddy (461)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
I’ll try my hand at the match ratings…
EVDS – 8 – One of his most assured performances recently. Dealt well with the crosses.
O’Shea – 7 – Just the usual from jos.
Rio – 7.5 – Still not the Rio from last season.
Vidic – 8.5 – Right now definelty better than Rio. About the penalty incidnet, I think from the replays, that if fault there was, it should have been outside the box for holding the player. But what a tackle! MOTM.
Evra – 7 – Still not the Evra of last season. Fruitless runs.
Park – 7 – Good movement and energy and got in a few good positions, but oh, no end product. Now why doesn’t that surprise me.
Giggs – 6 – In and out of the game. Mostly out.
Carrick – 8 – Best midfielder today. He tried to set up exchanges, but hi team mates let him down by not making anything out of his ideas.
Ronaldo – 7.5 – A thorn in the side of Reo Coker. Perhaps he shoud have drifted more to the centre to get better shooting positions…
Tevez – 5 – Read my other comments about him..
Rooney – 6 – Lacked fitness. Probably we’ll have to wait 10 more games befroe he breaks his duck…
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@Matthew: How is the title over now when it wasn’t over this time last week where we were in the same exact position and have another tough away fixture to cross out of our list?
@dan(u-ol): Nah, he runs his heart out unlike Berbatov, surely that must be good enough for United.
@Grognard: Put me down as one of the sugar and cream clan then cus i still think we CAN win the league.
@colver: How was taking Ronaldo off playing for a draw??? He signalled to the bench that his knee wasn’t feeling good then Fergie took him off. However the Tevez for Nani subbing(2nd time he’s done it this season) baffles me too.
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Ronaldo wasn’t at fault today. He used the ball intelligently and tried to bring the ball from midfield to attack but got cut down by Villa defenders before he got anywhere. Really he was having to do another man’s job. Giggs did nothing, Carrick did good defensively but he plays too deep.
Our midfield is adequate defensively…wins the ball and keeps possession….but offers nothing going forward. That is why Berbatov and today Ronaldo are having to double as attacking midfielders…when they play much better in their natural positions.
Any penetration we get on the wings is useless as we have no-one in the box to get on the end of any crosses and no-one who can cross (except Nani on a good day).
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Rd, yes but 2day was a great oppurtunity to make up ground on the leaders, how can we do that when we pass up the opportunity. We have played shit away from home all this season so why r we just gonna pick up against man shitty and spurs. Similar performances i am betting so more dropped points, so yes it looks like the title is gone.
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What Grognard is saying about rooney is right, this hundreth goal is so much pressure on his back which will be lifted as soon as he gets it but god knows how long that will take! Get a pen and let Rooney take it get a free-kick on the edge of the box let Rooney take it. The team should do what ever it can to get rooney to score. The title far from over, forget Le Arse they are out, forget Pool they will eventually fall off the pace. Its between us and Chelski, Cristmas is our best period in the season and all we need is to just get the form up a bit and get back to our good, attacking ways of last season’s Prem and Champions League winners.
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@Rd: Here here
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@Gabriel: Gabriel, horrible performance by the whole team ????? – are you serious bro
. Our defenders were majestic today, they played like Titans, they WANTED this game, it was the absence of any kind of strike force that ler us down.
Somebody here mentioned in their post that Tev and Park put in frenzid workrate performances, but isn’t that what all the teams well below us in the league do?. When did United decide that hard endeavour was a substitute for class and style, for panche and outstanding world class ability to make the ball do the work for us. We need pace yes, but we need COMPOSURE on the ball, and an END PRODUCT. All this “Oh well they worked so hard for the team”, sympathy vote doesn’t do it for me. We seem to have lost the ability to take charge and slow down and boss a game with accurate, penetrative passing, and defence splitting passes. We should be able to take the pace out of the opposition when they start to frenzedly come at us, and that quietents their crowd, and takes the sting out of their play. Does any of this make sense to anybody else?.
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@Grognard: You aint talking about me, are ya?
It was a terrible performance, I wonder WTF Fergie was thinking of. I am pissed off, but its dissapeared a little because of my Xbox live win(6-0) vs Inter. Opposition player wants to remain anonym. 
I am worried about Tevez. He is terrible.I think Rooney had an okey game, not great but okey. Tevez….I just want to hit you in the head with the biggest hammer in the world. Or shoot an RPG into that so called brain of yours! 
He is not the player he once was, he needs to sort it out. On current form, there is no doubt I would welcome Benzema. Tevez needs to sort it out or find his money for the plain ticket to Spain or wherever. 
I love the fella, but this is not the fella I love. This is like watching Djembax2 in diguise!
Remember,it could have been worse. But let ourselves get fooles over my “positive” view, I am truly worried about this team. And you know that if I am worried about something, it is bad!
Still, I will look at today as a positive day. Its not like Chelski or Liverpool won. And Arsenal got their 5th loss of the season!
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@RedDevil: Tevez: Djemba x2 on polyjuice potion
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@RMJ: I agree with you fully RMJ, he is in fact the best player in the world, and the treatment he gets from the opposition haters, is downright filth. What Ronaldo did is how I would react when taunted. I certainly wouldn’t do what Drogba did, throw back coins, or hit other players, or try to do hurt to other players like Rooney does when the red mist rises – which lets face it is fairly often. For Ronnie to go off as he did, to a baying crowd telling him he was shit all round the stands, a one finger salute reminding them he is No 1 in the world, shows an arrogance of a player who knows he is bloody good. And all you nay-sayers, lets see how our team does if Ronnie does make the next few games, because of the butchering he was subjected to today
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@Matthew: We’ve played shit away from home, but could you go review those shit away games and the teams we’ve played against, then compare them to our previous records before, out of all the “shit” away games we’ve had, the only team we’ve had a good record against was Villa and we were bound to drop points there sometime. Blackburn, Portsmouth, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Villa. Those are the away games so far and out of all those teams, the only one we have a “good” record against is Villa, so I can’t understand what all the fuss about our away form SO FAR this season is all about.
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@Craig Mc: Ok perhaps I was a bit harsh on the moment. I can accept that he gets upset or frustrated by the boos. Its even normal.
But his reaction to the opposition crowd taunting was more akin to that of a child arguing… Reminds me of that other brat Antonio Cassano…
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Mmm…. I was disappointed that we couldnt capitalize on the results of chelsea and liverpool. We lack the killer instinct of the past two seasons and the subs are appaling. We dont look like champions.we are too scared of loosing and thus become cautious and for fucking sake rooney, your 100th goal doesnt have to be spectacular. Instead of spending 30 mil£ on tevez, we should use some of it to acquire a new tactician and get rid of phelan. Tommorow i heard fergie will be taking questions from the fans. I hope someone will have the balls and tell him to wake up and smell the coffee coz it seems that he doesnt see problems with the team.
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This was a lost opportunity, but we didn’t play that bad. The tactics were wrong. The attack was inept, with both Rooney and Tevez having really bad games. I do think though Villa played too defensively. Wasn’t a good game and I just hope SAF will find a way to turn it around.
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@Beachryan: Beachy you must have been watching a different game to me if you thought Ronnie had no desire
. He was our only forward who wanted to score, but villa players sourrounded him like bees round a honey pot whenever he was on a run, or had the ball. Invariably they flattened him. I would like to see you running at full speed Beachy, and being continually chopped down, and then get up again over and over again – Ronnie is fearless mate.
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@Nelson: Nelson Bro, if anyone did bring that kind of questioning to Fergie, the question wouldn’t be aired mate. The mutv punters commenting on games, are shit scared of saying anything out of place. Nobody is allowed to criticise Fergie or anything else. You are okay if your stroke his ego though
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@NicoQB:
I think Crab or Goyle would do better up front than Tevez. At least they would stay up front! 
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I really think Tevez should be shipped. His play last season was amazing, Ive never seen anything like it. But this season…I dunno. He really must be Djemba-Djemba in disguise! I dont think we need to spend another £30 million for a bench striker, and right now Tevez is not £15 million. Alan Smith would do a better job!
I think Fergie should use Welbeck or Fraizer(when he returns) instead of Carlito if he cant find himself. I love Carlito, it all looked so promising with his bright start and the goal at Anfield. But now Berba and Rooney are 4 times as good as him. The shake of the head when he was taken off says pretty much. He doesnt believe in himself anymore, and that is a big problem for a striker. You may remember how Saha played for us when he was full of confidence. And how he played when he didnt. 
At the start of Smiths career, he was one of our best strikers(Ruud, Rooney, Smith, Saha and Bellion( 
)). He either needs to change his game, or find some way to get his confidence back. If he doesnt, he is not worth a place in the United team. 
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Wishful thinkimg on my part craig. I would like to see fergie’s face when groggy presents the WOG awards to him
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Some old, funny scouse jokes to lift the mood:
Scouser walks into the D.S.S. and says :-
“I’ve just been offered a Blow Job, If I take it will it affect my benefit claim?”
What’s the difference between a scouser funeral and a scouser wedding?
One less drunk!
What do you say to a scouser in a uniform?
“Big Mac and fries please!”
What do you call a scouser with a job?
A liar!
Why do little scouse girls put fish in their knickers?
So that they can smell like big scouse girls
One night in a local Liverpool pub, a huge scouser was sitting at the bar slowly getting pissed. He was 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighed at least 400 pounds.
A little later a short, skinny, obviously gay man walks in and sits next to the huge guy. After having a few drinks the gay man sidled over to the huge scouser and whispered in his ear, “Do you want a blow job?”
At this, the giant Merseysider jumped off his chair, punched the guy in the face breaking his nose, grabbed him by the feet and threw him out into the car park where he finished him off with bone crunching kicks to the head. He then left the faggot laying on the floor and went back into the bar.
Amazed, the bartender brought the huge scouser a beer and said, “I have never seen you like that before. You are normally such a gentle man. Just what did he say to you anyway?”
“I’m not sure,” replied the scouser, “It was something about a job!”
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i’m amazed at how little Rooney bashing there is going on.
he was shit all game and missed a cake of an opportunity. not what you’d expect from the white pele.
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some people will go to great lengths to bash Rooney, Park and O’Shea but once anyone criticises Ronaldo it’s unfair because he’s one of us
He was as bad as anyone out there but because he’s not on the fans list of scapegoats he is immune to criticism. I say fuck that! When Rio was acting like an asshole about his contract he was criticised, so why is the pretty boy who wants an increase on the highest wages on the team and has asked to leave the team so immune? This team can live without Ronaldo. He just sucks up the ball like RVN mark 2. He was right when he said that he’ll be loved after he scores goals 
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@Liam: Errrr I’d say because he feckin won us the PL and CL singlehandedly last season would be a good place to start. Also if he is the best player in the world, or close to it, then he deserves to be paid what the worlds best get payed, and he isn’t even what some of the lesser lights at United have been on. I would double his pay to keep him at United, because lets face it, we have little strike force without him.
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i see a lot of people bashing the team especially Tevez but save some wayward shots and passes he didn’t do a lot wrong…our team was piss poorly balanced and it prompted Anderson arrival in the last 10 minutes for us to put up consistent pressure which was lacking all through out the game..why didn’t Fergie take out Giggs? Why wait so long? Why remove Tevez when there are others who are playing much worse..our tactical or lack of tactical prowess is becoming highlighted more and more this season and leaving some people with a lot of frustration
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@RMJ: RMJ, to be honest mate, I don’t think anyone could play worse than Tev did today. You say he didn’t do much wrong, but the problem is, he didn’t do much at all that was of any use to the team.
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Ill keep it simple. United need to sort these things out to win the Prem.
1. Get the hunger that the team has had for so many seasons back. If we lack anything, it not class, skills or tecnique. Its the hunger! No-one seems to care anymore, and Fergie needs to do something.
2. Get a balanced formation and team. We played with Roovez up front today. Still, on counter attacks our furthest player was either Park or even Evra sometimes. And when Berba plays, he isnt usually the one to stay in the opposition box. Our midfield is all over tha place and the RB spot is being played by 3 players during 1 week. Crazy!
3. Find a tactic. At the moment we are putting crappy crosses into midgets(Giggs, Rooney and Tevez). We play with a winger that cant cross(Park), one winger that never crosses(Ronny) and the player that puts in the most crosses is our LB(Evra). And usually they are either too high, too hard or not enough players in the box. United dont know when to speed the tempo up and when to slow it down.
4. Our defensive play is brilliant again, thankfully. Rio, Evra, Vidic and VDS have rediscovered their last-season communication and work. Kudos! But our attacking play is terrible. Last week we were lucky to score 5 vs Stoke. We scored 2 free-kicks, one long range scorcher and 2 soft goals that only relegation threatened teams would concede. I think we played well in the game and created lots of chances, but when we face teams like Villa, Everton0, Arsenal and City we will get trouble. We have 9 points of a possible 21 on away games so far, and that may cost us the title. I want CQ back as soon as possible. He is the Steve McClaren of Portugal. Brilliant at teams- Terrible with nations. I WANT OUR TACTICAL GENIUS BACK!
5. Give Ronaldo a hooker, more money, a fancy car, new televison, a sandwich… I dont care. Just find out what is wrong with him. He went from torturing teh opposition with skills(Stoke) to torturing the opposition with strangling(Brasil) and telling the crowd the shut the fuck up(Villa). He is not his usual self. Last season he got some important away goals for us(Roma, Sporting, Brum, Dynamo Kiev…) but this season his away form sucks! No goals from 8 games is it? Still is shite. It looks like the crowd is really influencing his play now, something that is worrying. If he keeps playing like this away from home, then United should start with the old 4-5-1 away from home again! Ronny on the bench, Anderson, Carrick and Scholes in the middle, Nani and Rooney on the wings and Berba up front.
Fergie is clever, he will sort it out. Its just a matter of when… Time is running out, and I am getting more worried about this as the seconds tick away…. tick, tack, tick, tack, tick, tack, tick, tack….
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Rooney I imagine wasn’t matchfit and was being rushed back from his illness. As for his composure….well Ive given up on him. He is more likely to score from 20 yards than 2 yards. Which is precisely why he should be playing in the hole rather than upfront. He is never going to be a world class striker so long as his finishing is so woeful.
Anderson coming on showed us what we were missing….a link between midfield and attack. Carrick holds things together in the middle and is good defensively but just sits on the halfway line. Giggs was woeful…for me the worst player on the pitch: at least Park showed attacking ambition.
Anderson unfortunately cannot score to save his life and we often need him to help out with defensive duties as he is a great ball winner.
So this January I really think an attacking midfielder who is worth a dozen goals would be great. Arshavin springs to mind although he is overpriced.
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@Craig Mc: oh yeah I must have forgot that he was the only person on the team and had absolutely no help at all. I suppose when you think about all that work he has to do for his salary. He makes more in a week than I’ll make in the next 7 or 8 years of my life and that’s if I’m lucky! If I threw little tantrums like that at work I would probably be arrested never mind fired and I have annoying pensioners annoying me for my whole day. He is getting paid that much he should be producing greatness week in week out considering he’s ‘the 1st 2nd and 3rd best player in the world’
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@Liam: Without Ronnie and his goals last year we would have won fuck all. Everybody who is not biased knows and admits this. Look how Rooney, Tev and most United players were crying when they were playing shite pre and into this season, “we need Ronnie back.” All footballers are paid too much, so we live with it.
You need to lay off those pensioners Liam, poor sods, your frustrations are not down to them
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@Matthew: Please tell me when Messi has ever scored in the clutch? Please? Has Barcelona ever won anything solely on the ability of Messi? I don’t think so. He doesn’t score half the goals Ronaldo scores and rarely ever takes a free kick because frankly, he sucks at it. The bottom line is that Ronaldo’s personalty gets on your nerves and because of that you look for reasons to dislike him or unfavorably compare him to others. Fact is he is a diver and a whiner but he is the best player in the world. But no player can win a game by himself unless his name is Maradona.
I wish many of you Ronaldo bashers would get off his case. It was one thing to let him have it when he was choosing Madrid over us but now he is a Manchester United player and our best player by far. He is the premier talent on the planet like him or hate him. I think it’s time we all supported him or we should shut the hell up when he decides staying at OT is not worth it if half the club’s supporter don’t support him. He made a mistake this off season and he is still paying for it because some people live for carrying a grudge. Life is too short to be so petty. Get over it already or support a team that doesn’t have Ronaldo. He is a Manchester United player and I for one am very thankful and feel fortunate for that luxury.
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@RMJ: Well said mate.
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@NicoQB: Why do you rate Tevez a five? He would have to have been on the pitch to rate that. Oh wait, he was on the pitch. I just found out that that really was Tevez out there and not a terrible impersonator. I wouldn’t give him 2/10. He was shite and totally worthless. Get rid of him and defintely definitely don’t pay a plug nickel for his future services. If Madrid really do want him, let them have him. It would be more sweet revenge against them.
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@Rd: Good for you mate. You be optimistic if that gets you through the day. You have that right but please forgive me if I laugh a bit at that faith. Hell, you may eventually come back and have the last laugh at me and that would be your right. But I severely doubt it. Not this team. This team is broken and Chelsea and Liverpool would have to do some serious choking to let us in the door. Today they opened the door wide for us and we slammed in our own faces. No heart, no imagination, no desire and killer instinct. They didn’t give a damn because they are drunk by their own success and Fergie’s cowardice to let them loose instead of playing pussy football. We are more afraid losing then we are ambitious over winning Not the proper formula to fuel this race car first over the finish line I’m afraid.
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@RedDevil: Benzema, Hell another overrated waste of time and space. I’ll gladly take Campbell, Welbeck or Manucho over Tevez right now. Spend the money for a replacement for Giggs and get a CMF who knows how to move forwards and has a target mind for the goal. Benzema we don’t need. If we must buy a forward buy one that will score goals for us but also accept the role of 3rd striker. Ibisivic, Vucinic, Pogrebnyak, etc.
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@MUFC Fan in America: What really bothers me is not why there isn’t as much Rooney bashing but why some have the unmitigated nerve to bash Ronaldo for playing a decent game and for sticking up for himself as he was being battered silly in the game by Villa players and then Villa supporters. I have seen mothers in the animal world turn on their own but United fans turning on our savior and best player is just bollocks. Yet their are those that think Tevez is worth more than either Rooney or Berbatov. God give him strength.
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@Liam: No he wasn’t mate. He played hard and at full speed while everybody else other than Evra and Park were totally static. He was fouled at every turn and he never got any breaks from the ref. So bad was the ref that he three free kicks where he had to go over a wall that was no farther than 7 bloody yards away. That was complete bullshit and I am more incensed by that than anything else. Why the Hell a referee cannot measure out the proper yards that wall has to be from a kicker is beyond me. Ronaldo gave a great effort today but he could sue his teammates for non support. And actually, that has been a problem ever since his return.
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@RMJ: Mate go back to your recorder a watch that game because you must be having a laugh with us. Are you kidding me. he did everything wrong. He was total disgrace and a joke out there. I seriously hate to get personal here but I think you are showing a certain pro Tevez bias here. Either that or your tv has a poor resolution.
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@Grognard: Regarding your call for people to stop bashing Ronaldo, I think there’s no point doing it. If they feel he’s not upto the mark they have as much right to bash him as you have to bash Tevez. You think he is outstanding, some of the people don’t agree. So there’s no point telling people how to think about Ronaldo. Because it makes you look like the same people you railed against for telling others what to think.
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another poor game by united,and here are my observations.
tean selection has conyinued to be so poor.i have a feeling fergie did not favour the purchase of nani and anderson.or manucho for that matter.he has to reward the likes of park and oshea.
the nidfield has been so poor this term fletcher has been our best player.he did not jump from mediocre to world beater though.the teams perfomance dropped to his level.
the strikers,there is a disclaimer.they are not fed by the midfield.okay,but they have been too poor.i wont blame tevez,he hasnt played much.but rooney?a top 4 striker who plays 90 minutes every game has only 3 goals to his name?do you realise he has been in this league 7 years?
when ronaldo wins us games,he makes the whole team look good.when he does not?we have blamed people on the bench,tevez,but what do t5he people on the field bring?workrate?a striker needs goals,workrate is an extra.
last few years people blamed fergie for playing rooney out of position,atleast there he showed up in matches with runs.it is now embarrasing to look at his fat figure that cant even beat a man,cant finish,only tries to hurt players whenever he loses the ball.
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@Grognard: ya i might have some Tevez bias but i feel its unfair to blame him for today’s game…it seems whenever he plays Fergie sets him up in half arsed formation (featuring primarily Giggs in the middle)..one of the biggest complaints from last season was the fact that Rooney and Tevez played from very deep and this season they seem to be stuck there..our injuries to midfield haven’t helped but regular tactical errors haven’t either..personally I think the guy deserves a break, u rarely find a team(aside from Chelsea maybe) that features three strikers of their caliber willing to stay as he has said before and compete for a place ..of course there is also the usual English media bias as well
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@Red Ranter: I’m not being insulting to anyone RR and you are overreacting and acting like Deputy Dog. I just voiced my opinion which does not agree with theirs. They can bash all they want but I for one don’t have to sit here and take it without offering my 2 cents worth. And they can do the same when it comes to me bashing Tevez. Bottom line is that disagreeing with people is part of this business for lack of a better word. Telling people you don’t agree with them is fine, provided you are not insulting. I don’t think I was. What I was is a little disappointed in some who seem to never find anything good about the world’s best player. They can think what they want but then so can I and I think they are wrong. Stop policing things that don’t need policing. No harm was done to anyone here RR. You are overreacting over a debate. For crying out loud, if we can’t voice our disagreements on this blog, what the Hell good is it? Sometimes I think Craig is right about you cramming too much PC down our throats. I’m getting along splendidly with everyone on this blog and I have even repaired poor relationships with people from the past. Give me a break man. Disagreeing with me has never been a problem. Being rude and getting personal is. I did none of that other than question what I thought was a bias and also admitting that I too have had my biased opinions. Sorry but I don’t agree with you here. Gee you are silent for so long and you come out of the closet to flag me down for nothing? I honestly don’t get it, nor do I want to.
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@RMJ: I appreciate you admitting to some bias mate because we all have it. I certainly have it when it comes to Berbatov and Ronaldo. As for Tevez, I don’t think his poor play is entirely his own fault. I think he is another case of Fergie misusing players and then by doing this, playing with their heads and ruining their form and confidence. For all his greatness and success, Fergie does occasionally fuck things up for some players pretty badly. Tevez is a far better player than he has shown this season. But I do think that he may never find his true form and confidence while on this club. He needs to go to a club that will let him be himself on the pitch and not play a role a suck one up for the good of the team. Too often Fergie has asked stars like Tevez, Rooney, Beckham, Giggs, Veron and others to play out of position and to do what is necessary for the team to succeed. And they have at personal risk to their form and their careers. It’s not fair because it’s not really vital that he ask them to do these things. Why doesn’t he let them do what comes natural to them? Sometimes he just tinkers and meddles too much with players and I think it is harmful. And I think he has really harmed Tevez greatly.
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@Grognard: Yes, you said that their slating of Ronaldo was wrong. But you also called them insane for thinking that way (not today, but in the past) — which doesn’t come across as mildly disagreeing.
All I was doing was pointing that out before you turned this into a worldwide conspiracy against Grognard.
And just because I had intentionally forced myself to concentrate my energies on more pressing matters in life, don’t attempt to put me down for me “coming out of the closet” to knock you down like I was on the prowl looking for your misstep. As sad/dramatic as that may sound, I had time for nothing of that sort.
I have been reading the comments section all the time I’ve been away, but that doesn’t mean I approved of everything that went on in the comments section. You were well behaved, but there have been times where I looked the other way and not just for you, for the others too. So I did give you a break, and because I thought you deserved it. My only mistake was I didn’t spell it out explicitly and let you know that you did infact have a “break”. You can turn this into a conspiracy, or accuse me of being PC, but do realise that this blog will have been a lot less PC if some people didn’t over react too easily in the first place. From where I sit, I need to anticipate what might seem out of place. So forgive me for deciding what needs policing and what doesn’t need policing on my blog. If it hurts my blog, then it’s my loss. And I’d rather learn from experience of my mistake, if any, than be told by someone else on what I have to police.
It’s even funny that we’re having this conversation because, as a matter of fact, I share your opinion of Ronaldo, the player — regardless of what I may think of his attitude.
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Match report’s up.
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@Red Ranter: You are ridiculously overreacting my friend. I was turning nothing into a conspiracy. I think you have been hearing too much JFK stuff down where you live. I was simply sticking up for Ronaldo as one of the few voices that felt like supporting him against an unfair an unjustified firestorm of hate and stupidity. And I’m sorry that I see it that way but that is exactly what it is. I have been extremely well behaved and I don’t recall getting into an argument with anyone over these comments yesterday. Had I offended anyone, then I think I would understand what you were saying more. But even you said I never called them insane yesterday, so what then was the point of your wrapping of my knuckles?
Like I said before, I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with what I say or just disagreeing with what I believe. But I will stick up for my position and debate it. My God the two Presidential candidates did a Hell of a lot more attacking of each other than I have here. I just questioned people’s judgment and bias towards the world’s best player and why I feel this attitude will eventually cause Ronaldo to move from OT. He’s only human and he needs our support. He doesn’t need the crap fans at games have been feeding him and even though he doesn’t read this blog, being unfair to him when he is busting his ass and in most cases giving more of himself than others on the team is blatantly wrong and unfair. And yes those people have a right to feel the way they want, but they are going to be taken to task for those feelings just like I am often taken to task for my views on Tevez, Neville, Scholes and Anderson. We all need to use a little more logic and less emotion when we communicate but the sport has the impact of causing us to use the illogical emotional aspects of our personalities more.
Forgive me for this long rant but I really feel you are barking up the wrong tree this time and I for one will defend my position on what I said because I truly feel I have done nothing wrong or out of order. I’m truly sorry you feel I do because I feel I have been very respectful of everyone who disagrees with me.
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