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)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@colver: Giggsy doesn’t like playing out wide anymore – he prefers that forward MF position now.
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Bit off topic but I don’t know why we don’t try our luck and offer Joe Cole a contract, he would be a free agent and a skillful player like that for netto surely is too good an opportunity to pass up?
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@godzilla: Our best player two seasons ago, and suddenly he’s being shipped off as at price worth of clearing out sales.
Knowing Madrid’s financial muscle we can easily get 30million £ out of Vidic.
WE are truly Madrid’s bitches wen it comes to transfers.
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@godzilla: But the article’s wording is a bit surprising:
Vidic the close friend of Ronaldo?
Concerns about Vidic’s concentration? Let’s be honest, an in form Wes Brown has the same concentration levels of an out of form Vidic. Evans has not been an example of sure footed-ness either.
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@NicoQB: £20m, for a 28 year old is not bad money especially if he wants to leave.
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It is bad when a replacement in David Luiz who is half as good will cost us at least £17.5mi. Vidic is the best defender in the world, and we are selling him for the same price as some possibly maybe we’re going to sign from Portugal. Any less than £35mil is a joke.
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The goalkeeper talk is rearing it’s head again. Neuer, Akinfeev, Adler and Lloris.
I bet we spend almost as much on one of them as we’ll get for Vidic.
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@Traverse: Maybe mate but he has lost a bit of form and seems to be injured a fair bit, his head seems to have been turned plus getting £35m for him when he is 29 in October will be tough.
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@Traverse: I bet we will just stick with EVDS there has been talk of a one year contract and he would not just sit on the bench.
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Selling Vidic for less than £30 million is ridiculous. He still has a good four years at the top. We will have to buy a replacement and players like Chiellini, Kjaer, Luiz, Rodwell aren’t half as good as Vidic and will cost pretty close to £20 million. The one thing I would say about Vidic is he is pretty injury prone. So I would not be against selling him for the right price. But when you have one of the best defenders in the world, you hold out for the highest fee. If we are going to survive this financial crisis, we have got to learn to sell at maximum value just like Lyon do.
Im not that confident about our central defence situation. Brown and Evans are good players but I think against elite fowards they can get shown up and they also lack height. Rio is a great player but again injury problems. Smalling is a punt and is light years away from the first team. And the truth is there are not that many great defenders out there.
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@colver: Selling Vida is ridiculous, the only reason to sell him is if he desperatly wants to leave then our hands are forced to sell which put the buying club in the box seat.
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@Stephen: He’s still got 2 years on his contract, and he’ll be 30 when it ends. I’d argue that there is nobody we could replace him with who could step right in, and we wont get fuck all for £25million because we never do.
I’d rather make him see out his contract, get another 2 years put of him and then if Madrid want him at 30 they are welcome to him.
He was on the Fifa World Player of the Year shortlist, and in the Fifpro team of the year. £25mil is a joke for a 28 yearold who is the best in the world.
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@Stephen: He’ll be 28 when/if he leaves in the summer. £35mil for a 28 year old is reasonable, especially when we are in direct competition with them.
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@Traverse: Maybe mate, and we should have the upper hand only sell him if the price suits us we are turning into Real’s feeder club!
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Stephen, Ronaldo wanted to leave and we still got £80 million for him. If Vidic is not committed to this club it is better to sell him this summer rather than wait till the end of his contract and lose him for free, or receive a transfer request which forces our hand.
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@colver: Totally agree, if Vida has/wants to go now is the time to sell, but as Trav said he is the best in the business and we really don’t want to sell him, especially as he has a great understandind with Rio like Bruce and Pallister.
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@Traverse: No. We’ll probably spend more.
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It is a worrying state of affairs for us when we’ve been buying potential for 10 million (Smalling) and selling proven world class players for 20million.
For every 3 players with good potential we buy, 1 will be a dud, 1 will be decent and the last one will turn up world class. That justifies for me the 30 million we should be asking.
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@Traverse: If Rio, Brown and O’Shea stay fit I argue there is no urgent need to sign a replacement for Vidic this summer. Some important if’s in there for sure, and Rio’s fitness is key, Evans looks a lot more assured alongside either him or Vidic.
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We won’t be buying a new goalkeeper until VDS retires. And since he will probably achieve Shilton-esque levels of longevity…
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Ronaldo is becoming a bit of a POACHER on and off the field for Real Madrid. He is phoning and enticing our players one by one. He tried it on with Rooney, then with Evra, and now with Vida. He also told Madrid that Johnny Evans is as good as Vida too, with the right partner. So wouldn’t be surprised IF Madrid come in for Vida and Evans in the summer, and I know they would love skinned sausage too!
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@Traverse: And as far as Adler and Neuer are concerned, worth every penny. Akinfeev isn’t bad either but Lloris is pants.
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@CraigMc: Well mate, Fergie apparently gave your boy the hair dryer treatment after that red card, and surprisingly, Nani says he deserved it. Only you seem to think he doesn’t. I must say I admire a man on a lone crusade.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1250444/Manchester-United-star-Nani-admits-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-gave-hairdryer-treatment-seeing-red-Aston-Villa.html
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@Stephen: I totally agree with you about trying to swoop on Joe Cole. I’ve always rated him, and he is clearly not getting any games at Chelsea.
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@CraigMc: Now I love Ronaldo a lot as you know but I am beginning to hate his guts with this bit of poaching he is doing. He needs to appreciate and respect the team he left. He wanted to leave so bad,fine, but now he seems to have no problem trying to decimate the club further by poaching our other stars as well.
What is needed is Fergie giving him the hair dryer treatment over a nice phone call and let him know just how little his actions are appreciated at OT, and how Fergie will bring back Roy Keane for a one time only return vs Real Madrid to settle the score, OLD SCHOOL.
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Vidic will be sold, and we will not buy a replacement. We’ve already got him in Smalling. Or, Evans is gonna take over for Vida, and Smalling is gonna be the back up. So it’s gonna be Evans and Rio as first choice, Smalling and Wes as back ups. Then of course we have got Sheasy, De Laet and young Reece Brown who can do a fair job there.
Evans is good, really good. I’ve got faith in him, looking forward to see him partner Rio against Milan on Tuesday.
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Yess, seems like me mate Ohi got in at United!
Good luck mate, hope you really make the grade.
The future of United…
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If we have the funds available in the summer we should try and poach Ashley Young from Villa. He is simply too good of a player to not be playing champions league football.
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@Grognard: huh
“The incident happened in the middle of the pitch and I don’t think I merited being sent off.”-Nani
from your article
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@gator: I blatantly violent tackle is a red card offense mate. Where the hell it happened on the pitch doesn’t mean a damned thing. That’s like saying killing somebody outside is more fair than killing him in his bedroom. I just do not see your way of thinking on that. If it’s in the penalty area it’s a red card and a penalty shot to boot. That would be the only possible alternative. I said that if I were calling it I would give him yellow only because he got the ball. But I also know the rules and the rule clearly states that if it looks violent enough it will be called regardless of whether contact with the other player was made. So my bias in that case means nothing also.
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@Grognard: i was referring to you assertion that Craig was on a lone crusade and that nani supposedly admitted guilt and you gave an article with quotes as evidence. the quote i used was from said article and was of nani owning the punishment but denying guilt. that is all.
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@Grognard: At some point ppl were criticising Nani for neglecting his defensive duties,now he is not supposed to concern himself with such. I actually concur in a sense. I believe neither him nor Scholes should continue to be burdened with defensive duties because they are liabilities when they try to defend. But relevant to this discussion,I don’t believe Nani is brainless as ppl make him out to be. He has poor tackling skills and it’s not the first time he has tackled like that. And yes there was enthusiasm involved and a lot of zeal. If Nani is not supposed to be making tackles like that as u say then definitely it should be even more the requirement for Wayne Rooney. For me it was a red card offense but there was room for the ref to be lenient,but he stuck to the rules strictly and that’s fine. But it wasn’t out of stupidity,he just can’t tackle. Same as Scholes and Ronaldo. It’s a skill of timing and if u slide in without timing it absolutely right u risk being sent off not due to being a nail head but due to lack of skill. He probably thought he could make it in the heat of the moment and zealously went 4 it.
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@Stephen: Thanx mate for ur appreciation.
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Okay I’m glad that Nani has actually apologised to his teammates though indirectly. I just hope Fergie doesn’t punish him further even though I appreciate that his sending off might have been the reason we failed to win that match. I think missing 3 domestic games incl a cup final is punishment enough for him. But we still need him desperately because I believe he has enhanced our team play in many ways. Creatively and technically so he should not be sent to the dog house where Anderson now resides,because I don’t see Park as a good alternative
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@Grognard: He did the same with Nani and Anderson when they were still in Portugal so I don’t think we must not expect it.
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@Johnsom33: I third this. We need a left sided player, and I’d be amazed if we haven’t made contact, knowing how much Fergie rates him.
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Arsenal just won the BPL! (video at bottom of page)
Enjoy the 10 minutes of madness… gotta love them gooners… dreamers again and again.
Glory glory Man United! BELIVE
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@Traverse: I’m not sure we have a trading relationship with Chelsea. I can’t remember the last time the 2 clubs dealt players with one another – But I agree, it would be a great move for us.
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@EduardoDaVinci4: Certainly a possibility, mate.
Lots of talk that we are a “selling club” now – and that would be confirmed, in my eyes, if we have a quiet time in the summer window!!
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This story seems to be getting some legs, and implies that a successful boycotting campaign could help in motivating the Glazers to sell.
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@Jay wire: I guess when he decided to headbutt an opponent two years ago he was showing off his incredible intellect then eh?
Rhodes scholar material that boy is. He’s an idiot, but a very talented one.
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@Grognard: The boy’s learning though, Grog.
He now apologizes for his mistakes. Next step – Don’t make them in the first place.
In a few years we could expect him to have a run of 8-10 games.
Just so Craig doesn’t get mad, I’ll say this is PROGRESS.
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@Redrich: He is on a free transfer so Chelsea wont be involved!
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RONALDO: Only God knows my future, I could even return to Man Utd!!
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Did any of you see MOTD highlights yesterday??? Wastelands was half empty practically, for quarterfinals of the FA cup. You could see the masses of empty blue seats everywhere in the ground. Yet City fans swear they are packed out every week – right
. I notice3d the ex Man United players Shawcross, Higginbottom etc were resolute, and fought like fuck against City after Shawcross sad error for the City goal. So glad they got a goal back, because they deserved it.
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Apparently Man Shitty are working on Nemanjah Vidic in the very same tactical way they did with John Terry, to get him to Wastelands in the summer. Perhaps that is the problem with Fergie and Vidic, because something is not right there. If Vidic is seeing the poung signs over at wastelands like Tevez did – then Fergie is right to leave him out of our team. If it is true – then fuck off Vidic – you fucking RAT of a man.
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There is no justice in the world…
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@CraigMc: he wants the team he is used to because they worked FOR him… and made him look good… nothing more….
haha can u imagine KAKA doing the leg work for him like rooney does? or any other team mate in RM doing for ronaldo what anyone in man utd did for him? haha he misses being able to bang in goals from everyone efforts i guess?
not that he is lacking in that department… but spanish teams’ defences other then RM and barca are pants, scratch that… all of them suck… and i believe he knows it too…
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@Wink:
Couldn’t agree with you more mate – good point! You know Ronnie so well 
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@CraigMc:
Vidic would never go to Man City; he is not a cunt like Tevez. But, I would hate to see him leave as he is one of our most consistently great defenders who had a large hand in our clean sheets run last year. I just hate seeing players leave on bad terms (e.g Beckham, RvN, possibly Vida). If the rumours are to be believed, then Danish youngster Kjær would be his “replacement” but I don’t think he is anywhere near Vidic’s level yet; we will see how he does for DK at WC2010
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