Feb 10
Aston Villa vs Manchester United: Preview
A five-star showing and brilliant performances from the likes of Michael Carrick, Nani and of course Wayne Rooney. Sir Alex Ferguson must be rubbing his hands with glee as his team face Aston Villa at Villa Park tonight, the side are in full flow and finally look like a team of Champions.
Aston Villa have the best defence in the Premier League and will look to extinguish the majestic Wayne Rooney who is in superlative form. In a dress rehearsal for the Carling Cup in two weeks Manchester United will look to flex their muscles and exact revenge after Villa won 2-0 at Old Trafford in December.
United will start the game with Edwin van der Sar, backed up by Tomasz Kuszczak as is the norm. In front of the Dutchman will likely be Rafael, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans and Patrice Evra. Rio Ferdinand is still suspended and Nemanja Vidic, though in the squad, is not fully recovered from his leg problem so may have to settle for a place on the bench.
The midfield is taking a more familiar shape as the weeks go by, Carrick, Nani and Darren Fletcher will all start the game and should be joined by both Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs as Sir Alex Ferguson looks to play a five man midfield to make sure he wins the midfield battle. Though Antonio Valencia may make the line up given his consistent performances this season, though fitting both he and Nani into the side may be difficult.
Gary Neville has been on the PR trail for Nani, “He has incredible ability, and when he performs like he did against Arsenal he is unstoppable. Players like Nani, who have such high skill levels, rely on confidence. We hope the level of performance, determination and skill he has shown in the last few games can be maintained until the end of the season because he’s a match winner for us. I think Nani can be anything he wants to be. People expect so much from young players, but it sometimes takes time. It took time for Cristiano Ronaldo to settle in at United as well.”
If the last few weeks are anything to go by then Nani should cause Villa a number of problems.
No doubt Wayne Rooney will begin the game, his record of 21 goals from 24 league appearances is amazing and he has truly stepped up to become the player the club look to. On his own upfront he will have a tough evening but he does have the quality to cause the likes of Richard Dunne plenty of problems.
Wes Brown, for one, is confident of victory, “Villa are playing well at the moment. They have some really good players. But when we met them before we weren’t playing too well. We are playing really well now.”
Aston Villa will be looking to consolidate their bid for a Champions League spot and prove their credentials once more. Emile Heskey is a doubt after limping off at the weekend against Tottenham Hotspur, so John Carew is in pole position to partner Gabriel Agbonlahor. Marlon Harewood, Nigel Reo-Coker and Stephen Warnock are the only other injury worries for Martin O’Neill’s team.
Stewart Downing has been in super form for the Birmingham side of late, along with England colleague James Milner, who has flourished in his new central midfield role. On the other hand Ashley Young is having what can only be described as an indifferent season, especially considering the standards he last during the last campaign.
United’s last defeat at Villa Park came on the opening day of the 1995/96 season, which famously prompted Alan Hansen to declare “you win nothing with kids”.
Prediction: 2-1 United
Probable Line Up: van der Sar, Evra, Evans, Brown, Rafael; Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs; Rooney.
***
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Related items from Red Rants:
- Manchester United v Aston Villa Preview – Tougher than it looks
- Aston Villa vs Manchester United: Match Preview
- Aston Villa v Manchester United: Preview/Match thread
- Aston Villa 0-2 Manchester United: Ronaldo and Rooney complete a late win
- Aston Villa v Man Utd: Preview
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (487)
RedDevilEddy (461)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Redrich:
Progress indeed. By then I’d call it tenure.
Truth is I would love if all of us stop talking about Nani, give the lad a break and move on with newer stuff to talk about. RR, time for a new thread mate to get the creative juices flowing again for all the gang.
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@Lars: I think you’ll find that Johnny Evans is his replacement Lars. According to media reports City are working on Vidic’s agent, as they did with John Terry’s and almost got him, because they promise3d him the world and then some. I am not sure about Vidic’s loyalty as you are Lars, because like Ronaldo he claims to be so happy and not want to leave United, then we have Fergie coming out exposing Vidic and admitting that he wants out
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@CraigMc: Interesting comments from Ronny. I think he is enjoying his social life at Madrid as well as his teammates but I don’t think he is enjoying his football as much as he thought. Yes he is scoring goals and had two more yesterday but he is getting kicked around a lot more than he expected by opponents and refs are showing him no love there either. Add to that that he is not the main man there despite his play. There is a pecking order at Madrid and he hasn’t got the manager’s ear like he did back here.
As for coming back, I may be barking at the moon here but I honestly think he truly feels homesick for a lot of reasons. Real Madrid is a cold team to play for. They are a corporate machine that places players on a pitch like pawns on a chessboard and that may offer them all a great dressing room, training facility and amenities but other than that, treats them all like numbers and not like people. Fergie and his staff have always worked hard to make players feel wanted, and appreciated, even if they were in Fergie’s doghouse. Look at how Nani has always wanted to stay here despite all the problems he has had. Very few want to leave United because they are treated poorly.
Real Madrid knows how to get players but they do not know how to hold on to them and make them feel happy. They buy too many great players and then have them waste their careers on the bench like Sneijder, van Nistelrooy, Benzema, Huntellar, van der Vaart, Drenthe and others and they have no clue on how to build a cohesive team that is balanced and capable of beating the Barca’s and United’s of the world. Ronaldo is seeing this. He sees that Madrid is not the atmosphere he was hoping it would be. He sees that the team is over saturated with ego’s and stars and not enough role players and workaholics are there to really make the difference. You wonder why he is calling for Vidic, Evans, Evra and Rooney to join him there. He may not care for Manchester as a city to live in because of the culture and weather not being to his liking, but he certainly knows a good thing when he leaves it. The club he played for treated him like a god and he was the center of the whole puzzle on the field. Everything was built around him. As well as he is playing in Madrid I have noticed an attack that is not centering it’s attention around him. Quite often he has scored by just using his instinct and getting to the right part of the box like a poacher. Very few attacks give Ronaldo the ball at midfield and tell him to make things happen and Real just doesn’t use the counter attack and Ronaldo’s skill and pace the way United used to.
At United Ronny was the man with a little help from Rooney. At Madrid, he is the marketing plan but on the field he is just one of the boys. Not a bad thing, but not good enough for his ego. Of course winning La Liga and the Champions League would change a lot , but right now I think there is a large part of Ronaldo that wishes he had stayed in Manchester. Right now he feels like a star getting equal billing with 3 or four other stars in a critically panned foreign movie, whereas on United he was the star of the Bourne Trilogy, with his name in lights and all expectations and demands going through him.
Make no mistake, Ronaldo is a god but he is also and egotistical god with high expectations for himself, a selfish streak that needs to be nurtured and a desire to have everything go through him on the pitch. At Madrid his greatness is evident but his desires and needs are not being met as I see it. Problem is he has no way out. No way does Madrid sell him back to United so early in his contract as he is more than just a player to them but a brand that makes millions of dollars for them around the world. He is just going to have to take it for at least two more seasons after this before Real is willing to sell him. By then Fergie will be gone and the allure to return to United will be to. So all I have to say after this long rant is Goodbye Ronny, hope it was all worth it you silly twat.
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@Wink: The whole “Ronaldo is only good because his team does all the leg work” thought process is dumb because, football is a team game. Everyone has different roles. Some peoples role is to carry the piano, others like Ronaldo their role is to play the piano.
By your rationale, vidic and rio were only good last year because they had a offense in front of them that was constantly attacking. And VDS was only good because he had the best cb pairing in the world in front of him.
Again, football is a team game where every play is counting on the rest of their teammates to do their job.
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The rumor mill is turning in overdrive these days. Today I read ridiculous statements like Everton putting 30 million pound price on the head of Jack Rodwell when he isn’t presently worth half that number. Why? To dissuade us from chasing him. More rumors flying about Simon Kjaer, Huntelaar and others but the one that has me most interested is one that I personally feel has a lot of merit and makes total sense from a business perspective , considering United’s lack of transfer money available to the Boss.
The proposed selling of Vidic to Madrid with Benzema coming back to us in return.
http://viewfromtier3.blogspot.com/2010/02/real-deal-vidic-bait-for-benzema.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ViewFromTier3+%28View+from+Tier+3%29
I think this makes perfect sense for both teams for very obvious reasons. United and Fergie want Benzema and he has been a disappointment in Madrid. Madrid desperately want David Villa come summer and therefore Benzema will not be needed. Add to that the obvious fact that Vidic wants to leave for Madrid to be reunited with his buddy Ronaldo and so that his wife can finally warm her kooch in the climate and social arena of Madrid and Spain, and what you have here is a no brainer for a deal. It’s so obvious and so logically put out there for all to see that Fergie will find a way to ignore it and at the end we will get nothing and lose Vidic to Madrid for 18 million which will go to the Glazer’s and we will get nobody as far as players go.
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@CraigMc: I find it funny that when it’s convenient to your point, fergies word is golden. But when it comes to things like nani, you are skeptical all of a sudden.
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@Grognard: Normally I would agree with you about a vidic-benzema swap, because it makes perfect sense. But knowing our club, we will somehow make a meal of it and end up giving them vidic for a bargain fee.
We discussed this to death over the summer, but going back to the Ronaldo deal. We had a chance to really pull Madrids pants down and get a cash plus player(s) swap.
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@Johnsom33: So are you saying that Fergie coming out to the media and making a statement himself that it is inevitable that Vidic will be leaving isn’t golden or pertinent then Johnsomm? With regard to Fergie Nani comments, the whole Nani thing is OVER as far as I am concerned, so no more comment to make mate!
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@CraigMc: Im just pointing our that you pick and choose when to treat fergies words like gospel.
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@Johnsom33: Maybe – but when I actually quote Fergie, it is because I have heard him say it myself! Yet I don’t have to agree with everything he says regarding players etc – and if you do Johnsomm – then way to go you are a true saint mate.
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Shame that Benzema is such a prat.
He can be at least as good as Anelka.
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Never knew that Seedorf was so articulate. I can see him becoming a good coach.
He could have had a few decent years in England, and be more appreciated worldwide.
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@NicoQB: Fergie saying that he was going for Benzema was a real joke – where would he fit him alongside Berba and Rooney considering Fergie loves playing 4-5-1 more than half the time?
As to being a prat, I remember there was some funny video of Ben Arfa and Diaby fighting when they were in academy.
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@CraigMc: Why would Vidic move to the Wastelands??
The whole reason for him wanting out, is that his missus can’t stand Manchester, and/or England. She wants to go to the sun, and he has buckled under her thumb.
No, he’ll end up in Spain, mate!
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@poiuy: Fergie plays the 4-5-1 because he can’t get enough value out of 2 front men.
Berbatov and Owen are poachers and with the current state of our MF, the extra man there gives us more oomph!!
A different option, though, with a hard working Striker, would allow us to play with 2 up front much more often!!
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I must say Arsenal seem to have a really easy set of remaining fixtures which worries me a bit. I would hate to see them win it – especially after having seen them battered by Chelsea. Champions League league will definitely sap their injury-prone squad I hope.
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@Redrich: I dont think Fergie is ever forced to play 4-5-1. He does it by choice, to dominate the midfield and control the game.
Hard-working striker (Tevez) was ditched for Berba, so I guess that should not be what Fergie wants.
Another positive with 4-5-1 is Fletcher who has a free role. Many times we see Fletcher being the most forward out of Scholes, Carrick and him, which is a bit strange.
Still, we all love the 4-4-2.
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@Redrich: I didn’t say he would move to Eastlands mate – I just said that the Eastlanders are trying the very same tactics that they did with John Terry and offering him MEGABUCKS according to press reports. I also said that I don’t think Vidic is as loyal to United as many think he is. Also Rich, his Mrs and his agent have always denied reports that SHE is unhappy in Manchester. So make of it what you will. I know Fergie is very upset with Vidic for some reason – no smoke without fire, but we will see where he ends up mate
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@CraigMc: Coming out and admitting it publicly, would be to cut off the hand that feeds you!!
From all the reports I’ve heard, he’s already made his mind up to submit – under the great strains of pussy pressure!!
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@poiuy: I don’t think he’s forced to do it either. The concept is not just to control the game, but to frustrate the opposition, make them push forward, and then catch them on the breakaway.
It works pretty well against strong opposition – but I agree, 4-4-2 is prettier to watch – if the 2 work well together!!
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@Johnsom33: If you read the bottom of rant, I pretty much agreed that they will end up giving Vidic away and we will get nothing back because all the money will end up in the Glazer’s pockets
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