Oct 04
Blackburn v Man Utd: Preview
Blackburn away has always been a little tricky. At the moment they are above us in the table, and one would hope this is only an aberration. Today is the day to set things right as we attempt to scale the heights of the league table, before the players depart towards their international sojourn.
Before previewing the game, let’s take a minor diversion: Scholes and Fletcher have signed on to new contracts. While, in Scholesy’s case, it’s been an extension by one year, Fletcher’s got another three years added to his as he looks to fight his way into first team reckoning. I’d say his extension (Fletcher’s) is a recognition of his efforts and the club’s way of saying, “boy, you deserve this”.
Back to today’s game though, it’s a familiar face facing up to Ferguson, as Paul “Big Time Charlie” Ince leads his boys. SAF has said that he regrets calling Ince a big time charlie, as Keano says it was Gary’s fault for starting the altercation with Paddy Viera. It’s a strange day isn’t it?
Back to today’s game: Tevez will take the place vacated by an injured Rooney, whilst Berbatov will start alongside him. The back four would have a familiar look today, as hopefully, Fergie realises that Brown exists. In midfield, I think Fletcher will start alongside Giggs, perhaps. Ronaldo and Nani will be stationed in the wings. Let’s see what happens.
This is a short preview, so let me cut to the predictions: 1-0 to United.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Rooney Out For A Month
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
- Porto it is then…
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@antsBoy: I don’t have to go with the general consensus. I am an individual, NOT a sheep
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@Grognard: Grog, must have been a harrowing and sad day for you yesterday saying farewell to your friend at his funeral
, hope you are okay mate.
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@count berbatov: Count Berbatov
, like the name mate.
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@phoenix red</agree with you about Berba mate
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If not 42 goals, Ronnie will get 42 assists this season…
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@Craig Mc: Sheep do not think for themselves and therefore follow the herd..I don’t think that the individuals in here praising Rooney are basing their opinions on what someone says, it’s based on what they saw…
Your totally entitled to your opinion that Rooney didn’t have a good game, but when you’re the minority like in this case, it could mean that your opinion is “wrong”. Doesn’t matter though, it’s your opinion and you don’t have to agree to what is right. No probs!
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@Craig Mc: like the name too.
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will carrick be available against westbrom?
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@AndyCR7: I would definitely like that, but based on yesterday’s match, I have a sneaky feeling that Berba will have the most assists for us this season.
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@antsBoy: Right mate… atm he is the best passer of the ball in the team…
I like the players who are not selfish… he knows when to take shot and when to pass…
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@count berbatov: I don’t think so. But hey, are you “john freakin’ o’shea” by any chance?
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Craig Mc and Dan-u-ol; I am now satisfied that u either can’t deal with the fact that Rooney is indeed a great player when G\given a free role or just behind the striker role where he is best or you have just become obsessed with Rooney bashing that you throw common sense out of the window
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it was me who said that stats can paint a different picture, always have, always will.
and even though rooney scored, craig IS right, a lot of his passing today was poor(as usual) and it was either berba or ronny who set him up for a 1-on-1 with J.Brown(JB?
) and he floped, as usual.
Rooney did have a good game, but he still has those habits that annoy me, and many united fans, like he playing in defence, sloppy passes, the fact that he can put away 1 of his many 1-on-1s, the fact that he has become slightly big headed and stubborn, it is so frustrating to see this in a united forward. Rooney had a good game, but he still isnt the rooney me, craig and others want.
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@Jay wire: what did say? look through this thread before my last comment, and tell me exactly what i said.
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I mean this is actually pathetic but hilarious too. Special mention to Nani ,Tevez and Ronaldo whom you always give benefit of the doubt even when playing 100% crap. Ha ha ha ha ha
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@antsBoy: Its not right though in my opinion, and thats why I won’t agree with it
. Also, if as you say its alright to not agree with the general consensus, why be pompous and say like you did, ” you don’t have to agree with what’s right.” I don’t have to amend my viewpoint just so that you can say its right and approve of it, I saw the Rooney gameplay differently yesterday, even if I am in the minority. So, I have a different view on his play, yesterday, why that should be such a big deal to some of you?.
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@Jay wire: Rooney may be a great player in your opinion Jaywire, but in mine he isn’t. That isn’t to say he doesn’t have some great games, like the one for England against Croatia. He is not consistently great for Man Utd for some good time, and maybe you need some common sense to see that.
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@Craig Mc: I agree with Jay Wire, this is turning pathetic and hilarious now.
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@Jay wire: Tevez, Nani and ESPECIALLY Ronnie, don’t generally play 100% crap though do they?. In fact just ask your friend Rooney regarding that, because Ronnie even in his ordinary performances, still finds the talent to make consistent Rooney assists.
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@antsBoy: Well you kept up the hilarity, and still now, by keep responding. Let the fuck go why don’t you?. You aint gonna change our opinion, no matter how much you want to gang up on us – your responses are equally as hilarious as ours. If you don’t want to continue the debate, fucking leave it alone.
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@antsBoy: yes i am.
i just changed my name, count berbatov sounds good to me. 
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@Craig Mc: When did I say I didn’t want to continue the debate? And I have no desire to change your opinions too. I thought it was possible to make you and Dan “reflect” on your opinions, but I guess that’s of no use, you won’t change it. Like I said before, no probs at all. I’d stopped it at comment 106, but I guessed it pissed you off so you had to continue it. I’m ending it again now…
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@count berbatov: You’re right, it does sound better. Ditching poor old Sheasy for the new kid in town eh?
lol, juz kiddin.
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@antsBoy: I continued to answer peoples posts and questions to my post. I said from the beginning that I knew I wasn’t agreeing with the majority, buts thats not because I want to disagree just to have an arguement mate, or to goad Rooney fans. I genuinelly believe that Rooney’s performances have not been the best for quite some time now. Gabriel once said to me that he would like me to write Rooney is better than Ronaldo, and I would love to give Rooney this accolade, if indeed he is over some time better than Ronnie, when Ronnie is over his injuries and on form. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to see Rooney performing at the highest level as he used to CONSISTENTLY do so at one time. But in my opinion, he hasn’t done so for a long time mate, but I wish he did, and hope that he does. I can’t be fairer than that. But just because I have a different opinion than many of you on Roons performances for a while, doesn’t mean you Roon fans have to take it so personally. That’s all I am saying Ants boy.
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@antsBoy: PS Ants boy, I agree with you, it should be ended now.
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@Craig Mc: I agree mate, else this will go on all day.
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Berba looked on a different planet compared to ANY of the other 21 players out there
The touches, the through balls the flicks
And the tracking back and ball winning he did a couple of times and the playmaking after dropping deep. He was the main reason why we did not miss scholes or carrick’s creativity this game…
30.75 Mill was definitely worth it..The best CF we’ve had since Cantona…
Sorry Horseface…
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Here’s hopin to Chelsea’s run at SB being ended today!
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@antsBoy:
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@nagraj: I so agree with you. Berba is quality. I had thought he was too slow getting to the ball for his one on one chance with the goalie, but seeing a replay of the incident, he actually got to the ball first, but just couldn’t scoop it round the goalie’s sliding in
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well, i hope villa and shitty will do their feckin jobs. villa to win and shitty to draw.
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will never understand rooney bashers first it was that he needs to score and make assitst . now he is scoring and making assits what does he need to improve his passing and his game . maybe u shold sit down and ask yourself wat is that you want from the Roon
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@lil zee: i think they want rooney to be a one man wrecking machine.
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@lil zee: I wouldn’t go as far as to call them Rooney ‘Bashers’ but seeing the fact that most of them can only and mostly take away negatives from Rooney’s man-of-the-match performance yesterday, it makes it hard not to see them as such.
Like you said before, it was a case of him not scoring; he has done so for three games in a row, plus his assisting too. Now it’s a case of his passing was ‘woeful’ despite having a pass completion ratio of 79%. Other players had misplaced passes and worse ratios, but Rooney had to have all of his perfect.
If it is not that, they are using the ‘inconsistent’ card, saying they can only acknowledge his stellar performances when he does it consistently; is three games in a row not consistent 
I’m not saying people are not entitled to ‘their’ opinions, all i’m saying is that ‘their’ opinions seem to be a tad unfair/biased. If after three above-average performances, culminating in a man-of-the-match performance from the lad cannot get a simple ‘Rooney had a good game’ response from a fan of United, heck a fan of football in general, then you know there is some bias or naiveity going on.
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seeing as nani is a bit hit and miss… Ashley young??? Great player english and can score…
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@Viz: Nani a hit and miss? C’mon mate, give him a break, he’s just off form at the mo. I would give him more time so he can get his head round the fact that he is not capitalising on his abilities at the right place and time on the pitch for United. The lad doesn’t seem to get it, but maybe a harsh word (in portuguese
) from CQ during the int. break will get thru to him. Ashley young is great but Nani can even be better…
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i bet rooney can score for england. =)
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Ive sat back for a while now and just read the comments on this blog without entering the debates for myself but some of the comments here today have spurred me into action coz somewhere along the line both sides of the Rooney and Nani debate have lost thier balance and have been overstating one side of the argument and understating the other.
AS a United fan of over 25 years I can say that I would like all the players who pull on a red shirt to perform well and contribute to the team but some contribute more than others and it is these players that usually become the fans favourites, but it is usually these players that polarize opinions coz their performances come under the most critical attention.
Rooney firmly falls into this category and as we can see, has polarized fans opinion to the extent that it is starting to become a little bit silly coz the knockers are ignoring what he has being doing well and his supporters has been ignoring what he has been doing badly coz both sides of the camp have valid points but I fear that this debate has led to both parties judging some players more harshly than their own favorites
and this my freinds is were the balance needs to be restored.
Speaking as a Rooney fan myself heres my stab at a balanced view on him,
Theres no doubt that Wazza is an extremely talented footballer who has as big an influence on our team as anybody, he is selfless, hard working, has great awareness and vision, can create and score goals and last but not least, puts the TEAM FIRST.
But theres also no doubt that in the last season or so he has underperformed and at times has lost his first touch and been sloppy with his passing. Add to this the chances he has missed in some games and you can see some justification in the criticism he has recieved.
SAF has not helped him by shoving him into almost any position but the one he favours the most and because of this the boy has definately lost his way a bit but since the Croatia game, when he has played for United he has played in his more natural postion and even his detractors would have too admit, although not without fault, his performances have been vastly improved and at the very least we should be welcoming his positive contributions instead of highlighting all of his faults.
What he done well yesterday far outweighs what he done poorly and I have every confidence that if he gets a run of games in the position that he prefers then we will get the Rooney we all hoped for coz form is temporary, class is permanent, and make no mistake about it Wazza is class.
As for Nani, a blind man on a galloping horse can see that he is an extremely talented footballer who has the ablity to be one of our most creative wide men but his problem is not a lack of talent or ablity, it is his selfishness and poor decision making and what is making him look worse is that it appears that he is trying to impress too much, he needs SAF to give him reassuring arm round the shoulder and told to go out and enjoy himself whilst also thinking about the team first.
Some of the criticism of Nani on this blog, particulary last week was unjustified, yes he may have faults but lets not forget that he is a work in progress
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Anyone got links for todays games? Justintv seems to be down!
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“Some of the criticism of Nani on this blog, particulary last week was unjustified, yes he may have faults but lets not forget that he is a work in progress”
Well said fred, couldnt agree more
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Liverpool down 2 goals at HT!
but City up 2 goals. 
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city are leading,
villa are losing, 
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@Matty: who scored for them shiek boys mate?
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Some people forget that the game of football is played by people, and by virtue of that, nothing is set in stone.
words like could, should, will and the like are all not applicable to this game.
Should have had 7 or 8 goals? could have had a hat trick? come on guys, you forget the difference between FIFA 09 and real life already? we won, lets just be happy we are kicking in gear and things are going our way…
i dont know about you, but i am happy we are playing good football again.
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@Matty: i’d rather City win and Liverpool lose… just wanna see them knocked off the top three. They’ve been playing average football and don’t deserve to be up there!
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@Gabriel: agree with you mate.
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damn that torres
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shit liverpool rallied back.
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Phuckin Loserpool! And Kuyt of all people!
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F*CK!!!!! I feckin hate that Kuyt prick!!! Can’t freakin believe this.. both the rentboys and scousers haven’t dropped points, WTF?
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