Apr 26
Chelsea v Man Utd: Preview
I had a dream yesterday. Barcelona bangs four goals against us at Old Trafford. Then we come back and keep pounding their net, scoring goals in the process — and in bucket loads. But for some reason the score still reads 4-2, or something like that. Apparently we keep scoring but we still seem short. Then I woke up briefly and checked the date on my watch, and thanked my stars that it was only a dream. And then I slumped back into bed only for that dream to continue — the same thing on loop. We keep banging in the goals and we still seem short. Then we take the lead. Only for them to go on a three goal blitz. I didn’t know the final score because it became clear that they were winning, and try as we might we didn’t manage to overhaul them. I couldn’t take it any longer: I woke up, brushed my teeth, rushed to work and calmed myself over a cup of coffee.
Moral: Dreams can be rather crap.
Oh well, hopefully Ronaldo, Rooney and co read this (I know, I am so full of myself eh?) and vow to never let such a dreadful thing happen. Ever.
Right. Now that I’ve got that off my chest let’s move on to today.
In the midst of all the talk over our goalless draw against Barcelona, we may seem to have lost the significance of today’s game. It’s alright as long as it’s just us and not the players. Today is a day where we could effectively clinch the title and concentrate fully on the game on Tuesday.
But first the pre-match talk.
The Fergie is back in form. This time his ire is directed at Sky. The reason? The blindingly familiar issue of fixture congestion. We know these are the kinds of things managers say at this stage so we’ll leave it at that without further comment. Here’s the gist, though:
“The fixture is not fair in terms of its timing. Chelsea’s game was on Tuesday so they have had four days to get themselves ready, which is a big advantage, there is no question about that. It is not fair, but what can you do? If you shake hands with the devil you can’t complain. Football did a deal with television and the game is subject to television’s control nowadays. But we are suffering because of that. Chelsea have had four days’ rest and we have had two and a half. That extra day makes a hell of a difference.”[link]
United players were allowed to bask in the Spanish sun to rejuvenate themselves for a day before flying back to the isles, so hopefully that helps the players. Perhaps it was the sun that made Ronaldo’s mood swing for a moment to blurt for the 7856th time that he’d like to one day play in Spain, after being asked for the 7855th time.
SAF also reckons the incentive of the Premier League title should be enough for the players to shrug off their tired legs. Seriously, the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney and Rio have to be machines if they manage to come out of the next five days, or so, flying!
Team news, and there is some good news. And what news can be better than the news that comes from the horse’s mouth?
Yes, iron-man is to return after shrugging off his stomach virus like it was a dead fly on his shoulder — I exaggerate, don’t I?
Anyway, on to the probable starting XI, here’s my take: Fab four and EVDS at the back. Anderson + Carrick in central midfield. Nani, Giggs and Rooney, Ronaldo upfront. I think Tevez won’t start.
About Chelsea, I’d imagine Avram Grant would consult Hank Ten Cate, Steve Clarke or whoever in charge; take their advice; and then decide on some formation of his own anyway. So we’ll see what he has to throw at us.
I hope Fergie does attack Chelsea and not them show too much respect.
Prediction: 1-0 to United. Of course, an early United goal would guarantee a rout.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Porto it is then…
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Chelsea v Man Utd: Preview
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
Tags: Game Preview
April 26th, 2008 at 10:08
scary dream…
3-0 to united.
April 26th, 2008 at 10:11
[Dan]
Tell me about it.
April 26th, 2008 at 10:34
February 21st 2004-April 26th 2008. The time Chelsea went without losing at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League. Cant wait!
Scary dream RR, hope it wont happen!
But I too had a dream last night. United played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Avram Grant was smiling(:-o) and Fergie looked like the king of the world. United had a corner and Vidic scored. Another corner and Vidic scored again. And to complete the hat-trick, he scored with a curler from all but 40 yards. And to complete the rout, Ronaldo scored with a penalty. Wouldnt that be great? Sadly it was only a dream. For now….
Manchester United have had a great away form is 2008. Unbeaten since the West Ham game, drawn against Spurs, Rovers, Boro. We have played entertaining football all season and scored tons of goals. Ronaldo has had the best season of his life, We have seen a back 4 that has only conceded 19 goals in the Premiership. Our new signings have been amazing in their own aspects. Tevez has scored goals that we desperately needed at the time, Nani has shown what a talent he is, his corners and shots are out of this world, Hargreaves has protected the back 4 and scored some really good free kicks, and Anderson has amazed us with his dribbling skills, strenght, vision and the way he dominates other players like Fabregas and Gerrard. It has been a season to remember thanks to everything that has happened since we kicked off at Wembley Stadium against Chelsea. We won on penalties thanks to the magnificent VDS. When I look back at this season I will remember Ronaldos season, the way this team comunicates on the pitch, the Munich memorial, Uniteds amazing season and the games against Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle. And if we win at Chelsea, three more things will be added to that list! A Premier League trophy, a win at Stamford Bridge and the will to win that this team has shown. Now for the game.
If United win today we will be Champions again. United are tired after a week that has seen us play Blackburn and Barca. Chelsea got a day more rest and thanks to Riise-pudding, their confidence is high. In Barcelona Ronaldo missed a penalty, we defended like masters and spared players like Vidic and Anderson. I think Scholes will be found in the team against Barca so he should get a rest. Anderson was rested and turns out in the big games, so I think he will play too. I feel sorry for Lampard since he lost his mother, but his loss is to our good. United should play with a 3-man midfield to dominate Chelsea. That may prove the important factor for this game. My team:
VDS
Brown Rio Vidic Evra
Ronaldo Carrick Owen Anderson Nani
Rooney.
Prediction: 2-0 to United. We can win this quite easily if we score an eaarly goal, but since its Chelsea I think it will be a close match. Ronaldo and Rooney to score. COME ON YOU REDS! BE CHAMPIONS!
April 26th, 2008 at 10:40
Is anyone else wondering why Ronaldo has suddenly been made a striker? I know the amount of goals he has scored would make that seem obvious but he has scored those goals from the wing!
Why now, at this point of a season where he has played so well that comparisons with George Best are no longer unfounded (i think that speaks louder than any statistics), are things being changed around?
Maybe next season try him as an out and out striker, but not now there is too much at stake and we need the same Ronaldo we have had all season, not take risks by swapping his position.
April 26th, 2008 at 11:05
why did every1 have nightmares last night:-)
though mine was’nt related to footy but still i was freking lost in a jungle in hardcore rain and then thankfully i woke up
2 hrs to go big sunday evening for us here lots of people meeting up in both sides will be huge
I so badly want us to win
and RedDevil i guess ur dream was seen with open eyes …… Just kidding
Anyways will be tight and rough today and we’ll win it 1-0 ,and i feel some1 odd is gonna score
cheers
April 26th, 2008 at 11:10
Just to add: Ronaldo has scored against EVERY Premiership side except for Chelsea. I think that will change today!
April 26th, 2008 at 11:36
Ferguson will take the shackles off today and give us the chance to virtually secure the title in style. I expect 4-3-3 in the same style we’ve played against the other Big 4 teams, and some fluid counter attacking play.
April 26th, 2008 at 11:47
JB, You there mate? Got da lineups soon?
April 26th, 2008 at 12:15
ESPN is saying that there are a couple of important ommisions,.. haven’t confirmed it though
April 26th, 2008 at 12:15
Lineup:
GK: VDS
RB: Brown
CB: Vidic
CB: Rio
LB: Silvestre
RM: Nani
CM: Anderson
CM: Carrick
CM: Fletcher
LM: Giggs
ST: Rooney
subs: TK, Oshea, Tevez, Ronaldo, Hargreaves.
Fergie said changes, but I think this is a bit drastic.
April 26th, 2008 at 12:15
whoaaaaaaa… whats with that???
April 26th, 2008 at 12:16
chelsea team?
April 26th, 2008 at 12:17
Guys, the team isn’t too bad. One similar to it beat Arsenal 4-0. It’s very energetic.
April 26th, 2008 at 12:18
Cole
Terry
Calvalho
Ferriera
Essien
Mikel
Ballack
Kalou
Joe Cole
Drogba
April 26th, 2008 at 12:18
Worst lineup of the season… happy to see fletcher though…
No Ronaldo?!?!?!? I hope he will be substituted in the 2nd half…
April 26th, 2008 at 12:18
that is a good team
April 26th, 2008 at 12:19
I agree with Sam.. Was just a bit surprised..
April 26th, 2008 at 12:20
worst line up of the season??? WHAT!!! Full strength defence with carrick and andy and fletch not 2 bad
nani and giggs is gd aswell with rooney upfront whats so bad about that team???
April 26th, 2008 at 12:24
I think it is a good lineup. Anderson, Carrick and Fletcher can dominate a midfield, Nani and Giggs both are great crossers, one faster than the other. Rooney is a good striker if he only gets the good delivery. Except for Silvestre, I think those are amazing players and I think they will work well together. Prediction: United 2-0 Chelsea. Anderson and Rooney to score. COME ON YOU REDS!
April 26th, 2008 at 12:26
Nani and Giggs in attack?!?!
I know Nani is a damn good player…
But would like see him assisting more…
Last few matches, I felt he has had been selfish…
I don’t mean Nani shouldn’t have been there in the team lineup… But relying on him for goals is a bit too much to ask for… I hope he proves me wrong…
And about Giggs… no comments…
April 26th, 2008 at 12:30
we are not rellying on goals from nani we are rellying on him to assist rooney. We can’t play our strongest line up in 3 games in the space of a week. The game hasn’t even begun and your slaying the selection. Honestly there is no pleasing some fans!!!
April 26th, 2008 at 12:30
[AndyCR7]
You would expect Fergie to rest some players wouldn’t you. Considering Ronaldo’s been going at full tilt for a while it’s fair to keep him on the bench for now.
April 26th, 2008 at 12:33
Ah dudes, even I had a dream the night before. We lose 2-1 to Chelsea today (Giggsy gets the goal for us). What’s it with crap dreams! Hopefully, we can prove my dream wrong today, and then RR can get his dream proven wrong on Tuesday. It’s dream-shattering time!
April 26th, 2008 at 12:34
scary, but that line-up can get us a win.
April 26th, 2008 at 12:34
Thats what I’m saying…
Will Nani do what he is supposed to do?
I can see him wasting few attacking chances by not passing the ball to other players…
Again I say I hope he proves me wrong…
April 26th, 2008 at 12:39
I’m delighted! The worst thing that could have happened if we had played a full strength team only to be too exhausted to beat Barca at home.
We are only resting Ronaldo, Hargreaves, Evra, Tevez (who is on the bench anyways), Scholes (who is old and cannot be expected to play 3 games in a week…incidentally his exclusion means she is an almost certain starter against Barca), and Park (who is a squad player anyway)
But our team is still strong enough to beat Chelsea. You gotta fancy Carrick, Anderson and Fletcher against the Chelsea midfield and Rooney will relish the chance to play up front for a change and not have Ronaldo cramping his style
April 26th, 2008 at 12:40
AndyCR7 just let the match commence then you can comment on players performances don’t start before
a ball has been kicked
April 26th, 2008 at 12:40
Yeah it is also true that Ronaldo needs to be rested… And team should not rely on him too much…
3-0 to United…
April 26th, 2008 at 12:41
[Andycr7]
What other player do you have in mind? Park?
April 26th, 2008 at 12:47
fletch will play 70 minutes so he can play in the week.
April 26th, 2008 at 12:51
links?
April 26th, 2008 at 13:12
yea PLEASE- ANYONE PROVIDE A LINK TO WATCH THE GAME!!
Im in California, its 5.10am & iv just realised ESPN aint showing the match!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
April 26th, 2008 at 13:15
http://www3.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=10992&part=sports
April 26th, 2008 at 13:41
Shit 1-0 down. Why the hell are we playing so many long balls when Chelsea are so good in the air and our forwards are all short?
Now we are going to have to bring Ronaldo on and I’d have rather him fresh as can be for Barca.
April 26th, 2008 at 13:41
get sopcast and then go here: http://www3.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=10992&part=sports
April 26th, 2008 at 13:43
Ronaldo & Tevez in for Fletcher and giggs. We have nothing to loose anymore, so we might as well go down all guns blazing
April 26th, 2008 at 13:44
Aw Ballack! Shit! Nani has been really indecisive, Giggs has been slightly better than normal but still a passenger, Anderson has been in and out, Flecther has probably been our best player, Carrick has shown he can be the one to get the ball through Chelsea’s defence, and the back 4 have been bombarded with attacks but coped pretty well. Bad news about Vidic
I’d expect him back for midweek though.
April 26th, 2008 at 13:44
I don’t think they are playing long balls out of choice. They are being forced to. Due to lack of posession. This is Barca all over again.
April 26th, 2008 at 13:46
Really poor half and we can all see the dangers of going for a draw with an opportunistic counter attacking strategy. Great for us that there is 45 minutes to actually get our football going and I expect United to step up and get the precious draw by taking the game to them! Ronaldo and Tevez must be a certainty for at least 30 minutes now, or what do you think guys?
April 26th, 2008 at 13:47
It doesnt look like Vida will get a hat-trick today. Shit…
Fletcher has been amazing, a real lifesaver for us so far. Impressed by him! Nani has ruined some of our few chanses this match, he was really selfish and have had many bad touches. Ronaldo should come on, he usually plays well with Nani on the other wing. Ronny in for Giggs i swhat I say. And what are all these high balls? Rooney aint THAT great in the air! Ronaldo will change this game, I say 2-1 to United with Rooney and Ronaldo to score. I am a born optimist!
Just like against Arsenal we have to come back from 1-0 down. I know United can do it!
April 26th, 2008 at 13:49
one player causing all the trouble..and thats Drogba, they manage to pass the ball to him somehow..and then he balances play between j.cole,kalou,essien,ballack, who surprisingly are all at hand…unlike us, where our players tend to stay behind only relying on the front 3 to start and finish the attack….
nani has been wasteful, giggs cant cross anymore, rooney hasnt touched the ball enough,
there has been some help from the wasteful kalou, but j.cole looks dangerous and its good he hasnt seen much of the ball…
ronaldo must be brought on…!! make him prove himself…
still backing us for a recovery win..and break their home record…
April 26th, 2008 at 13:51
this rollacoaster has become too much.how do you surrender the trophy at this stage?
April 26th, 2008 at 13:51
Well, I agree that Fletcher is one of our best players but he was the one who lost Ballack which was a pity. I mean, can’t give him that much space to attack the cross and we paid the price. However, I am as stated in the earlier post also optimistic and think United will get one back!
April 26th, 2008 at 13:51
time for Ronaldo to come on, we need this result! come on you reds!
April 26th, 2008 at 13:55
Tbh I don’t know why drogba hasnt yet been sent off, surely it was dangourous play with his kneeing of vida, then there was the dive in the box and then pushing Flecther twice. I make that 3 yellows he should have got
April 26th, 2008 at 13:58
cannot beleive this. looks like another shite team Fergies put out on the big occasion. cnt beleive it??
Why is silvestre in for the in form evra?
Why is fletcher starting?
Why drop RONALDO!
None of this makes sence to me. cant beleive i aint watchin this.
Please lads dig deeeep
April 26th, 2008 at 14:03
LISTEN GUYS WE NEEDED TO REST PLAYERS SO THEY ARE FRESH FOR BARCA!!! We don’t need to win this game chelsea do a draw is an exellent result all we need is the 1 goal
April 26th, 2008 at 14:05
chelsea seem to be picking up the 2nd balls with at least 4 players in any given area, its their typical diomand shaped midfield that we cant really cope with, thers not much in the way of wing play with giggs and nani misfiring, ive gotta opt for bringing on tevez but i dont know about ronaldo, hes still going missing in the big games and we all know that ashley cole can shut him down effectively. Is it just me or are edwin and wesley becoming something of a comedy duo? WAIT A MINUTE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!
April 26th, 2008 at 14:06
anyone have the media player linc im stuck in london heathrow and cannot
acces the lincs on myp2p.
April 26th, 2008 at 14:07
WAZZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 26th, 2008 at 14:08
get him out of there…plssssssss…..we need him for Barca……hail him, salute him…go on..2-1 to the reds
April 26th, 2008 at 14:09
YAAAAAAAAS! WAZZAA YOU FUKIN SUPER HERO
April 26th, 2008 at 14:10
Rooney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Man even injured he did it. I was thinking if he was injured he shouldn’t have played, but o boy if I don’t feel sorry right now
April 26th, 2008 at 14:11
I agree with t_reason get Rooney off for Tevez and bring Ronaldo on for Nani
April 26th, 2008 at 14:14
It pains me to see Rooney struggling out there with his injury….WE NEED TO BUY A STRIKER. PERIOD.
April 26th, 2008 at 14:19
AM I right in thinkin we jst took off anderson for oshea???
April 26th, 2008 at 14:23
yh anderson off so oshea goes to rb and hargreaves in the cm position. Now that chelsea will be
throwing everything at us we will have a chance to hit them on the counter
April 26th, 2008 at 14:24
is tevez on yet?
April 26th, 2008 at 14:26
[andyCR7]
absolutely right prediction abt nani,…he better start passing the ball on the counter…already wasted 3-4 attempts…cant afford to do that…
April 26th, 2008 at 14:38
April 26th, 2008 at 14:38
cant handle this. these cunts again. HOW LONG IS LEFT????
April 26th, 2008 at 14:40
aaah we have ROYALLY FOOKED UP
April 26th, 2008 at 14:47
well were still top of the league. please beat barca im heading to spain and i couldnt wear my kit if we loose
April 26th, 2008 at 14:47
SURELY THIS IS A NIGHTMARE
April 26th, 2008 at 14:47
now that makes it interesting! SHIT!
April 26th, 2008 at 14:48
Misery, can’t say anything else. I am going into hybernation
April 26th, 2008 at 14:49
That was a good laugh. Complacency may lose United the title!
April 26th, 2008 at 14:49
Feeling sick!
April 26th, 2008 at 14:49
What happening? I can’t believe we blew it again. Grognard, time to review the fairness in the game. We can blame the ref, and he did fuck up again, but we should’ve drawn atleast. Can’t believe those arseholes will be telling us that they are a better team…
April 26th, 2008 at 14:50
im utterly pissed, but we can still win the title.
April 26th, 2008 at 14:52
Bringing Anderson off and bringing O’Shea into midfield was a terrible substitution. Anderson was starting to get into the game, and just like MCRx3 said, it showed complacency. It came back and bit us in the ass. We could have brought on Tevez to keep the momentum and try on score a goal, or do nothing at all because we were doing well. And Utsav I don’t think the ref fucked up, definitely not for the penalty since it was the linesman’s decision, and he had a good game. Don’t go around blaming anyone else. I’m sure the blame will all get directed towards SAF anyways.
April 26th, 2008 at 14:53
Did it touch Carrick’s arm? I didn’t get to see the slowmo
April 26th, 2008 at 14:54
im pissed aswell but we just have to look forward to the barca game knowing that we are still ahead
in the prem and have west ham at home and wigan away which doesn’t look too challenging. COME ON YOU REDS!!!
April 26th, 2008 at 14:54
Damnit. Careless penalty given away costs us just when I thought we could have held out for a draw. Very similar to Barcelona but we were better on the counterattack second half.
Chelsea pressed us too much and we did not show enough composure and gave the ball away too much and hit too many stupid long balls. We only ever looked good when we got stuff going down the wings but Nani made some very poor decisions and Ashley Cole was too good. Ronaldo again was too easy to mark playing on his own up front and all he was able to do was win a few free kicks too far away to do any real damage.
On the plus side, great finish and composure from Rooney. More of that on Wednesday please. Just hope he recovers from the knock he picked up.
These sort of games we could use a target man if we are going to play this sort of long ball counter attack play.
April 26th, 2008 at 14:54
we played shit, AGAIN! we’ve not seen a good man united performance for a while now its starting to piss me off playing for a draw in these recent matches.
April 26th, 2008 at 14:54
I’m trying to find someone to vent my anger on, but in the end United
just played like shit
April 26th, 2008 at 14:55
Gut wrenching stuff,We will never stop doing things the hard way.Oh well bring on Barca.
April 26th, 2008 at 14:56
Can’t blame SAF guys. OSHea was on coz Anelka was. The players simply blew it. Only Giggs showed the urgency to carry forward our momentum of the 1st 20 min of the 2nd half.
April 26th, 2008 at 14:59
Wow, crap ending… As some guys say we should have drawn, but we got negative again after the equaliser even though we seemed to be able to hold them back. Still at the top and West Ham next week will show if we have a squad of true champions or not.
April 26th, 2008 at 15:05
We should still hold on for the title……..surely we’ll finish with two wins???
Fergie has to get a fukin grip of himself n stop playing ronaldo as a striker. Hes so 1 dimensional when he plays up front. it ruins the balance of the team.
ANDERSON HAD TO STAY on too. fair enuf we were trying to defend but it aint as if the boy is lightwieght. he defends like a beast!
wed better hope to god wayne wonders is ok…!
Got a bad feeling bout all this now
April 26th, 2008 at 15:08
I feel sick… Cant believe this! Why settle for a draw when we have the momentum and dont counter when we get the chance. Why, oh why Fergie do you do this to us. We have not played a good game since Roma! Champions dont settle for draws, they win matches. If the refs fuck up our season(Blackburn, Chelsea, Boro) I will be filled with anger and hate all summer! At least if we dont win anything. We must win at West Ham and WIgan, we have to! Ronaldo needs to be used as a winger, not a lone forward! Rooney can finish, we know that, but we need a striker. I am so pissed, cant believe what I just saw! I will now go to bed and hope that I wake up from this nightmare!
April 26th, 2008 at 15:09
i thought anderson was doing better than carrick was, didnt see why he should be the one sacrificed unless the barca game was what fergie had in mind.
west ham’s gna be dangerous as usual.. but hope we’ll pull through!
COME’ON YOU REDS!
April 26th, 2008 at 15:10
Hard luck on that penalty .. Utd would have probably equalized but for some crucial clearances.. barca might just have the edge now… i think i’ll go to the fox sports bar this time around
April 26th, 2008 at 15:13
ashley cole and sheva was their lucky charm really, two goal bound shots cleared off the line?
and nani’s gotta have his head up more often, he had plenty of opportunities to play teammates into good positions. but hes young and hopefully he’ll develop that.
i love the drogba ballack disagreement. essien’s reaction was hilarious!
April 26th, 2008 at 15:15
OK so vidic got injured, rooney got injured, and we dropped 2 points in the last 10 minutes. I wanna break something.
But i guess if we dont beat west ham and wigan we dont deserve to be called champions… hopefully this fires us up and we demolish those two.
arghhhh im gutted
April 26th, 2008 at 15:22
United has always prided itself on finishing the season strongly. Is it me or is it the case that for the first time we are displaying underwhelming performances one after another??
I can’t remember the last game we truly dominated. Was it Newcastle?
It was good nonetheless to see United have some good periods of play in the second half, but somewhere along the line I think that our defence has become so good that the teamplan has shifted from “score a few to win the match” to “score one and defend the lead”. And what happens when we don’t boss the game in midfield and get possession? We rely on mistakes from the opposition to score goals! Milito nearly at Barca, and today Paulo Ferreira.
If one person is to blame it is SAF, who constantly meddles with our midfield and forward line-up!
Q: How is it that the defence was the only segment that managed to keep its season-long standards??
A: Because it is the one segment that had least drastic changes, with only natural back ups replacing players injured or that had to be rested.
Realred: Silvestre and Fletcher both had a good match.
April 26th, 2008 at 15:26
I feel like we were robbed in this game. Absolutely LOOTED. Two goal line clearances, Carrick brought down in the box just before Ronaldo’s shot was cleared by ashley cole and twas a clear penalty, and Carrick’s alleged handball was hardly intentional, he clearly tried to move out of the way and the ball was bound towards the penalty spot after taking deflection from him. Why the fuck linesman, WHY THE FUCK!????
Positive points from today: Rooney’s goal, Fletcher’s return (he was easily a 7.5/10 today), Silvestre was topnotch, Anderson’s hustling and speed on the counterattack(why take him off????????)
Its upto us now. We can either be totally exhausted and drained and simply lose all our momentum and drive going into the game against Barcelona and the remaining premier league games, OR we can get our heads together and fight until our hearts beat. Champions are made of steely veins, and these three games (Barca, West Ham, Wigan) will be the biggest test for this team.
PS: Chelsea are thoroughly undeserving winners today. Its not just a fans passion speaking. Agreed, they came to us in the first half, in the second we were much better but werely terribly unlucky.
April 26th, 2008 at 15:28
Thats it T- we have to demolish WESTHAM & WIGAN.
Can you imagine leading by a goal with ten minutes remaining?!! would just be too stressful.
GOTTA PUT BOTH THOSE GAMES TO BED ASAP
April 26th, 2008 at 15:29
Is anyone else beginning to think Fergie doesn’t know how to manage such a big squad? I think he wants to believe he can chop and change with no effect, but in fact the players just dont’ know where each other are going to be. We were so good last year because we stuck with a consistant, winning formula. I know we have to rest some times, but not only does personnel change, the formation, tactics, pace and everything seems to all over the place. I don’t think the players know whats going on
April 26th, 2008 at 15:32
Mihir, Carrick was not brought down, he fell down. And it was a handball from a fair distance and its not as if th ball was travelling at pace. Why does everyone blame the ref
? Because they are easy targets. We have been gifted decisions or the opposition team have had deicisions denied against us, so we have no need to complain. Referees are shite in the Premier League, but they don’t try to make bad decisions just against us.
Also although Chelsea didn’t deserve to win, nor did we, it was a well fought out draw, or at least should have been if Ronaldo was playing.
April 26th, 2008 at 15:37
Here’s a question for everyone; if SAF somehow became the catalyst of losing the PL and the CL would anyone be happy to let him leave? I would never be happy if such a thing happened, but I was having a discussion with a few mates and they were of the view that “he has become senile and makes decisions which cost us points, plus Jose is available and SAF would be leaving a good, young team with many Portuguese speakers”. And I was just was wondering what everyone else would think.
April 26th, 2008 at 15:38
Nico QB: I agree, the only person to blame is SAF. I think if he would settled on a starting XI the team wouldnt be so up and down. We all have a pretty good idea of what our strongest XI looks like, but I dont belive they have had enough games to gel. Look how good the partnership of Rio and vidic has been this season. I attribute this to SAF not tinkering with it. Yes, we do have a great group of central midfielder but I think it is a case of too many chefs might spoil the soup.
hopefully we can win our next 3 games, but in the summer SAF really needs to focus on who he is going to ride with in the middle of the park. cause all this rotation isnt helping anyone.
April 26th, 2008 at 15:41
I don’t think we had a bad game.What worries me is Saf’s cowardice and the fact that he is constantly defended by the “real” fans 4 his negative tactics.The past 2 games have once again proved that a lack of offensive ambition will hurt us.Its not the way the team is built so let’s quickly throw it out of the window.Starting on Tuesday.This trend of being overly cautious should end.We played OK and were beginning 2 get into the game,then u have Anderson subbed 4 O’Shea in order 2 get a draw.What in the world did he offer defensively that Anderson can’t offer
April 26th, 2008 at 15:46
Conor iv been saying this for a while. The old boy is going senile! His team selections/tactics/ substituions all hinder our chances of success as far as im concerned.
ITS INFURIATING.
However- I still cant see anyone else in his position! he IS the club in so many ways
To answer your question tho, id hate to see MOurinho at OT- Hes too much of a cunt for me to want him! Hes not the right man for our club
So what dya reckon the chances of Newcastle doing us any favours next week then??!
April 26th, 2008 at 15:47
Jaywire, how often does SAF play negative tactics? Rarely. He gets defended because he knows it is not in our nature but believes with the changing times that sometimes a bit of negativity can be a success. Lets look at 2 separate examples: 1. Chelsea. Played defensively for 2 years in a row and won 2 championships with pure domination. 2.The CL in recent times. AC Milan, Porto and Liverpool(twice) all won the champions league based on defensive tactics away and then slightly more attacking at home. Sound familiar? If we win 4 more games our season will be a total success. That’s how I see it.
Realred, Mourinho may be a cunt but he’s successful. If he came here to play the shit on the stick football that Chelsea played though, there is no way I would want him here.
And I think the chances are very, very high. I’m expecting a 2-2 draw. I’m sure KK would love it, if he could do us a favour.
April 26th, 2008 at 15:48
Conor-With all due respect 2 u and your mates,Mourinho should never be allowed anywhere near OT even as the groundsman
April 26th, 2008 at 15:51
Any particular reason why Jaywire? 2nd best manager in world football without a doubt. I still favour SAF over him though.
April 26th, 2008 at 15:52
Beachryan, Ive been thinking that for a while now. When was the last time we played the same starting 11 in the same system 2 weeks in a row. Our form was much better when Scholes was injured and I think Fletcher was to at the start of the season, leaving us with only Carrick, Hargreaves and Anderson to choose from. Now dont get me wrong ,I dont like to see players getting injured but whenever SAF has to many options to choose from our team gets chopped and changed until the momentum go out of them
April 26th, 2008 at 16:00
Conor-The teams u mention with the exception of Milan,play the negative game throughout their season.In fact Porto don’t play like that anymore since Mourinho left.Point is that is how those teams are built.Defend first and the rest is a bonus.People like 2 throw this theory that defensive football will win u the tough games and trophies.The issue is it works only with teams who are specialists in that department not teams built on attack.People will tell u the defensive teams which have won the CL but forget that in between attacking teams also won playing their game or reached the final
April 26th, 2008 at 16:02
This is obviously the worst case scenario…having to battle right to the death, which is not desirable but does make everything much more interesting. What seemed like a comfortable cushion after the Arsenal game has turned into a cliffhanger almost over night. The saying it ain’t over till it’s over has once again been bestowed. Looks like we are going to do it the hard way, AGAIN. It’s not the best way to go about things (leaving things in the last minute always has its dangers), but if you look at it from another perspective, this is a very good lesson for the young players as well as a reminder to the veterans that nothing can be taken for granted, NOTHING. It sounds like a broken record, but championships are not handed out, they are earned through one hard-fought victory after another until the end. Hopefully, this defeat does not bring the team down, but rather provide fuel to propel themselves to an even higher level than they have achieved thus far, and carry United to the finish line with two MASSIVE titles.
Considering our nightmarish start to the season and our position at the start of the year, we are in a very desirable position. Chelsea has two more games to go as do we, if we win our games there’s nothing Chelsea can do but pray; we are in control of our own destiny. Like everything in life, we have to look at ourselves and give our best effort before we have the right to worry about others. This is not the time to hang our heads low, it’s time to face our fears and conquer all obstacles…this is the time when we need to support our team more than ever! United we love, united we die, united we triumph!
April 26th, 2008 at 16:03
any word on vidic? I didnt see how he got hurt.
April 26th, 2008 at 16:06
And the reason I don’t want 2 see Mourinho,is because he is a passionate servant of the game we hate.If managers should be hired purely for trophies then he would do and also Fabio Capello and OT will quickly become a white elephant and we would start offering free tix just 2 fill up seat as Mourinho’s last team do
April 26th, 2008 at 16:08
Fuck am I pissed for obvious reasons. I was sleeping when the game was on here at 4:30am but I was recoding it only to find out when I woke up that the disk was faulty. Probably a good thing because I would have had to witness a nightmare. I cannot and refuse to believe that Chelski and that ass clown Avram Grant beat us. Honest to God I don’t know what to think of this? If ever Chelski were ripe for the picking at home, it was today. How could we lose?
I will watch the game this evening but what really gets me is that a useless and completely uncreative outfit like Chelski found a way to crack our defense for two goals. It doesn’t surprise me that we were only able to score a goal but how did we let those misfits score two when they couldn’t manage that against far inferior opposition over the past weeks.
From what I am reading we had a lot of bad luck and poor refereeing again but that once again the team lacked offensive ambition. If the latter is true again I have nothing positive or encouraging to say about Fergie and his increasingly lack of testicular fortitude. I will however wait until this evening to make my views truly felt once I have seen the game. Right now though, I am truly shocked and gutted. What has gone wrong and nobody should be that confident against our bogey team West Ham. Not when we are clearly off the rails like this.
April 26th, 2008 at 16:08
Jaywire I do know that teams can win playing attacking football. But the only team who did it the whole way through the Champions League in the last few years was Barcelona. Same goes for teams who got to the final playing football. I hear a few people mentioning Arsenal, but their success in that Champions league was through keeping consecutive clean sheets. Plus everyone seems to forget the match against Madrid when they played on the counter attack the whole time, and scored through Henry.
And Grognard while West Ham may be our bogey team at Upton Park, we should be confident that we will beat them at Old Trafford. We didn’t even try against them at Old Trafford and they are on bad form. And Wigan should be safe by then, so we shouldn’t have too hard a game.
April 26th, 2008 at 16:34
Conor-I think we have been watching different competitions.Firstly,Real Madrid won it twice in 3 years after us playing the most attacking football throughout the tournament and they didn’t play negatively coz quite frankly they can’t.Secondly,I don’t believe u should go away from home and attack recklessly but show a constant desire 2 go 4 offense.Counterattackin is actually attacking as Arsenal did in Madrid and will get u a result.Contrast that with our game on Wednesday when we travelled all the way 2 Catalunya with the sole intention of protecting VDS at the easiest ground 4 an away team 2 score
April 26th, 2008 at 16:51
Jaywire by recent times, I mean 2003 onwards. Around the same time Greece won the Euro’s by being defensive and a few years later the Italians did the same. It made people think the best way to be successful is make your team very hard to beat. And you don’t seem to realise our team was set up for the break with Tevez, Rooney and Park all having the energy to go on the counter attack to support Ronaldo. We just had a terrible game offensively and couldn’t string more than a few passes together as people already said.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:02
Allegedly anderson was injured that is why fergie pulled him out,all the games todfay are heading towards draws then we get fucked twice in a week.Crikey who’s ass do we have to kiss around here to get some good old luck .Hope this defeat gives the lads a good ol’ kick up the ass to snap them out out this free -fall.We have been horrible in our last five games(Boro,Arsenal,Blackburn,Barca,Chelsea.)Why do the lads always have to do things the hard way.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:03
There are rumours starting to circulate that SAF is going to retire at the end of next season. I dont know were the romours are coming from but the club saw fit last week to come out and deny that it was true. If it was true then personally I would like to see Frank Rijkaard get the job coz I think what happened at Barca this year was down to the players, not the manager
April 26th, 2008 at 17:08
Fred although I have so much admiration for the football that Barcelona play, Frank Rijkaard has no motivation skills whatsoever. The players may have underperformed, but it is up to the manager to get them to start performing. I heard no such rumours by the way.
Any links?
April 26th, 2008 at 17:09
I think Queiroz has gone too far with his rant.We as Manchester United should and i repeat should never rely on favourable decisions.We need to go up against the grain on tuesday and play like we have never played before.the time for the virtues of character and fortitude should shine out and let it be known that we are the real Championees.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:10
A GROUP of Manchester United players were involved in a post-match bust up with Chelsea groundstaff during a warm-down session at Stamford Bridge.
After the game, which Chelsea won 2-1, United’s Patrice Evra, Paul Scholes, John O’Shea, Gerard Pique and Gary Neville were on the pitch when they were asked to move.
The row erupted when the players refused to come off the pitch and an altercation broke out between Chelsea stewards, groundstaff and the United players
this article is on: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1047159_postmatch_bustup_at_chelsea
April 26th, 2008 at 17:11
Fred: If that is the case then it is Rijkaards fault. It is his job to root out dissention and stamp his authority on the team. If his team is lacking in motivation it his job to give it to them or replace the players at fault. And on a related note Barcelona’s problems are not just applicable to this season. You could see the problems starting to arise early last season and he failed to deal with them adequately in the summer.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:17
Oh please give a rest about the CL and the bloody Barcelona game. Right now that is the least of United’s problems. For the past three weeks I have written about my worst case scenario being that we would be tied by the time we played West Ham and Wigan. I wrote about how those two fixtures worried me. West Ham because they seem to have our number and Wigan away, who under Stevie Bruce are playing good and passionate football. These games are not givens. Fine, if we win next week who cares about the Wigan game, but what if we lose or draw? A win or draw for Chelsea against a tough Newcastle could put them in the drivers seat on the final day of the season at home. Could it all slip away from us, and if so, what is the reason?
First off, I have to believe in my heart of hearts that we will not only beat West Ham, we will annihilate them. With so much to play for at home, do we have the energy, passion and form to do that? I’m not so sure. From what I have read Rooney was injured again and so unfortunately was Vidic. We are falling like flies and now we have picked a time to find our worst form of the season when it most matters. Can we just turn it on next weekend and put the title race to rest? Better yet, can we do it after what I’m sure will be a titanic struggle against Barca in midweek? I honestly believe we will be Barca, especially since Fergie rested Tevez, Ronaldo and Hargreaves. He obviously and correctly decided which game mattered most to him, but I honestly am on pins and needles over the upcoming fixtures. Are we capable of losing to Barca and then also losing to West Ham after having lost to Chelsea? Possible but highly unlikely. If we did, it would mark the worst spell in Fergie’s career at United and the team’s worst collapse ever because of how much was at stake. It just can’t happen…can it?
People say this team is better than 98-99 and I for one do not believe that in the least. We are certainly a side that plays differently and has more diversity in styles of play but we are not as good because we don’t have the depth at the needed forward position that the 98-99 team had. And to be honest that is what killed us today and also hurt us deeply and forced Fergie defensive decision in Barca. If Yorke or Cole were tired or off form or injured, we had Ole and Teddy to come in and really not even skip a beat. Now we have a knackered Rooney and Tevez. If one doesn’t play we are useless. If both play, we have nobody on the bench to relieve them when things are not going well. Ronaldo has had too much of the goal scoring responsibilities dumped on his lap and whether we want to accept it or not, he is and always will be a winger or RMFer. We simply have no depth at forward and it is killing us. And yes to some of you who have bitched about this, we have no scoring punch from the center of the midfield too. Although I contend that this may not be vital, it is nice to know that when things aren’t clicking up front, a Diego, Ballack, RVDV, Gerrard, Lampard etc can snatch a goal with a moment of inspiration and skill.
No way are we better than 98-99 when we had 4 quality strikers. a Roy Keane to control the game and midfielder like Scholes who back then could score goals from and advanced attacking midfield position. We also had Becks and Giggs at a time when their form was immense and when they could turn a game with a flick of the ball. Where we weren’t as good was defense. Why? Because Ronny Jonson was not Vidic and Dennis Irwin (God love him) was not as good or as multi-dimensional as Evra. But we had Stam who was as good as either of our present two towers and we had a young and highly reliable Gary Neville. But most of all, we had Schmeichel. One of the top 5 keepers of all time. No disrespect to EVDS, but in my heart of hearts, Schmeichel would have kept the header from reaching Ballack and would have saved the penalty today. Why am I so bold with that comment? Because time after time after time he did it in the big game for us where he was always larger than life. No folks, even if we win the League as well as the CL this season, there is no way we are a better team than that legendary side. All we can boast right now is we have the World’s best player. With all the positive stuff that is written about us there is very little I can say other than without Ronaldo we would be struggling to beat out Liverpool for fourth. Without him we are nothing, and that my friends is the bottom line. The truth hurts but we need two quality strikers, a RWB and a goals coring midfielder to add depth and further diversity to our team. We are presently exhausted and don’t have the diversity and the depth in key areas to make the difference. If nobody cannot see that as plainly obvious reason for our imminent or possible collapse, may I suggest an ophthalmologist immediately.
Sorry for the negativity but this one hurt big time as well, it clearly exposed som major problems that need to be addressed and dealt with immediately and after the season ends. Anything else will be a let down and a betrayal of all the loyal supporters of this team. After all, denial is not a long river running through Egypt.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:22
Julio; if you think that Queiroz went to far then you must not have read SAF’s rant:
“It’s a major decision that’s cost us the game,” Sir Alex rued on MUTV.
“To give a penalty kick for that in a game of such importance, on the linesman’s say-so, is absolutely diabolical.
“Granted the ball hit his (Michael Carrick’s) hand but he couldn’t get out of the road. He didn’t lift his hands above his shoulders or above his head, and the ball was going straight to Rio Ferdinand anyway. The referee should have seen that.
“It was a major decision and if the title is going to come down to decisions like that, we’re in trouble. If we’re not getting the decisions we deserve, we’re going to have to perform really well.
“In the last few weeks we’ve been knocked out of the FA Cup after not getting a penalty kick. There should have been a clear penalty kick at Middlesbrough from Mike Riley when the Boro player dived and saved the ball. And the same linesman we had today, Glenn Turner, disallowed Wayne Rooney when he was clean through and he was five yards onside. Then last week at Blackburn, Rob Styles, who’s turned down five penalty kicks for us this season, doesn’t give one out of three.
“As for today, when Ronaldo came on he was grappled almost to the floor by Ballack (at a United corner) and it was a clear penalty kick. Then Michael Carrick went down in the same way, the referee (Alan Wiley) was right there and again he didn’t give it. The game hinged on major decisions and unfortunately they didn’t go our way.”
I don’t like blaming referee’s but he makes a good point. However this sounds like Wenger’s rant that a few fans were telling him to stfu about. Still irrelevant though since if we had played well enough today and against Boro we would have won it on our own, Blackburn was just down to pure bad luck.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:27
Shit seems we all feel the same way. I do think that our tacticks were fault, but please don’t touch SAF. We were unlucky too, if 1 of the goal line clearences would have went in, we all would have been happy. let me repeat smth that someone else already posted, if we can’t beat West ham and Wigan then we don’t deserve the CL. I agree with this because I don’t think 1 win in 4 is a champoinship run. We already screwed up Blackburn and Chelskie we should correct our mistackes. It will be a laughing stock if the Toad can do a double on his 1st season.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:29
Grognard; you can talk about whatever you want. But others here are talking about Barcelona and our match against them since they are our next opponents. Therefore we should be focusing on them rather than West Ham or Wigan. Stop trying to draw attention to yourself just because you feel like having a rant.
Show some consideration for others.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:33
SAF sounds like Wenger in that…
April 26th, 2008 at 17:37
Right now doubt and disbelief is creeping into the minds of all United players. Only a miraculous and splendid display against Barcelona will wake them up from this malaise and nightmare. Fergie field your best and let them play. I will not bitch if they come out and attack to their heart’s content and still lose. At least we can say we went down fighting like we are capable of. Right now his tactics and lack of balls is not only hurting the team, it’s devastating millions of loyal supporters who support this team not only for it’s history but because of the positive and attack oriented football they are famous for. One game in Barca was understandable and forgivable. But now you have taken it too far with negative tactics and poor squad selection against Chelsea. If the uninjured players you have cannot find a little extra energy and adrenaline to play out the remainder of this season without a day off, then I will never ever get this game. This kind of shite never happens in hockey, basketball or American football. I’m sick of seeing soccer players being treated like delicate little animals or babies that need their nap time.
We only had a maximum of five games left to play. If players cannot dig down and make it happen right now, then I suggest he mismanaged his roster much earlier in the season. Now is not the time to be doing a Rafa Benitez for Christ’s sake. Play your best. If the fail at least we can say we threw out our “A” team and it wasn’t good enough. But right now all I can say is that Fergie is outguessing and second guessing himself. For fuck sake, we just lost to Avram Grant and a team in total disarray. How can I hide the shame? All will be forgiven this week if we win two games but still, it should not have had to be so difficult. Fergie seems to be lacking that old killer instinct. Does he even throw shoes or use hairdryers on players today? Or is he afraid that players like Ronaldo will want to bolt the team for Real Madrid if he raises his voice. I’m starting to think he is losing the dressing room because the team does not look fired up with an extra gear brought on by adrenaline and fear of Fergie. Fergie needs to go OLD SCHOOL!
April 26th, 2008 at 17:38
Sorry Rio attempts to kick wall, misses and kicks Chelsea steward
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=562244&in_page_id=1779&ito=newsnow
April 26th, 2008 at 17:45
Conor that is an incredibly unfair and insensitive comment. I honestly never expected that from you. I have never been inconsiderate of others. It’s just that AT PRESENT we just lost to Chelsea. Shouldn’t we be ranting about THAT game instead? It was a fair statement, where your statement directed to me was very hurtful and surprisingly so coming from you, who I have never had any problems with in the past. You just got personal mate.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:50
United’s season now hangs by a single thread on one game: Barcelona. Win that, and the players will be buoyed. Lose, and I can see them slipping up against either West Ham or Wigan.
The players have let the manager down in the games against Barcelona and Chelsea. It’s as if the enormity of the occasions have got to them. They have shown both Barcelona and Chelsea way too much respect. That must change. If we lose, we lose. But for goodness’ sake let’s us lose in the United way, by taking on the opposition and showing no team undue respect.
United must do to Barcelona what Milan did to them last year. Unleash an opening 25 minutes of fury, by which time the game could be beyond Barcelona. What they cannot afford to do is play a game of chess. If so, they’ll be picked off at some point. The arithmetic is simple. I believe that Barcelona will score at least once. United must set out to score at least 2 goals. That will be tough.
April 26th, 2008 at 17:57
Oh Grognard, you take things to heart so much it is quite ridiculous.
It was directed at you because you were the only one telling everyone what they should be talking about, when really it is there choice. You did this earlier in the week and RR pointed that out to you. We can sit here and talk about the Chelsea match, but to tell you the truth, it bores me. I don’t like looking over matches that we lost because everyone becomes overly negative and I couldn’t be bothered with all this negativity. And don’t worry you shouldn’t expect any more ‘problems’ with me, I don’t hold grudges, they take too much effort. 
Although saying that, I don’t think my comment was overly insensitive.
April 26th, 2008 at 18:00
Dont know what it is this season but as a 25 year supporter Im finding our last lot of games and the performances harder and harder to stomach, any body else feel like theyve been pummelled by a heavyweight boxer after our recent results
April 26th, 2008 at 18:09
Fred; no can’t say I have. I prefer to savour the best moments and forget about the worst ones. I remember our 1999 season wonderfully, but I don’t remember any of the 2002,2003 or 2004 seasons.
April 26th, 2008 at 18:12
I’m sure it’s already been mentioned and I hate to say it, but holy shit Fergie fucked this game up. Utter, utter fuck-up. Obviously on the balance of our season he’s been more than great, but Jesus, not starting Ronaldo? Bringing off Anderson? Replacing him with O’Shea, not Tevez? Leaving Giggs on for the full 90 despite his anonymity for all but 10 mins of the game (70-80)? What the hell? Today we went out for the draw, and as happens when you do that, our negativity cost us and we lost, deservedly. The title is still ours to throw away, but on the recent evidence would you put that past us? The run-in used to be OURS. We used to win all the bloody time at the end of seasons. That was one of our greatest strengths.
To briefly address the penalty: you have to expect those to go against you away. Carrick was foolish in the extreme to not have his arms behind his body, and even to not leave it for Rio. We can have no complaints, really.
Looking ahead, to Barca, I still think we’ll win, and by the looks of things set up a final with Chelsea which we will find much harder than against Liverpool. This current squad needs to get away from all this “best ever” crap and win when it counts. And for Christ’s sake, Rooney needs to realise that when he plays up front alone he needs to be on the offside line constantly, not dropping into midfield. Pluses, though: Silvestre looked sharp, Fletcher was outstanding and Anderson had one of his best games for a while. I’m starting to think that our midfield depth is both a strength and a weakness. It gives us options but no settled team. I think we should start Fletcher, Scholes and Anderson against Barcelona, although I imagine Fletcher will not play what with his recent return from injury.
Every game now is huge, but it is looking more and more likely that we will throw it all away. I truly hope that’s not the case.
April 26th, 2008 at 18:14
Conor, it just must be me then, Im still enjoying the wins, but finding it harder to deal with the draws and defeats and finding it icreasingly harder to stoamach some of SAFs tactical decisions
April 26th, 2008 at 18:19
Fred; SAF’s line-ups have been surprising on many occasions for a few years now, I’ve grown to expect the unexpected. Saying that, I would never have expected him to rest Ronaldo in this match. And I’m sure most people are finding our recent performances and results disappointing, I have a more selective memory and just forget most of the dull matches. Which is easy because of the team we support and the football they play, for the most part.
April 26th, 2008 at 18:49
Fergie has been getting away with questionable selection choices. FLETCHER?? He’s been injured WHY IS HE STARTING?? Still it was quite a hard break the penalty because we had secured the draw until then. Chelsea are the luckiest motherfuckers alive! They get result that are soooo fucking improbable all season. Oh well lets see if we can get something out of this season. Maybe we need to lose everything to learn to buy players better.
April 26th, 2008 at 19:03
Chelsea not only needs to say “Thanks” for the side referee, they should also say “Thank” for Sir Ferguson’s great decision. Because he kept the 34 yrs old man – Giggs on the ground for 90mins. Although the lineup was not very strong, I think using Anderson should be more suitable than Giggs on the ground after the score was 1:1. Anderson skill was indeed not very good, but he was younger and could destory the possession from others. Moreover, how much advantage or benefit did Giggs provided in the past few months? He was a great player before, but not for now. This is the truth. If Sir Ferguson wants to throw the title away, he can keep using Giggs in the comming few game.
April 26th, 2008 at 19:15
Abu; Fletcher was our best player, that’s why he was playing. And maybe you should read this again with regards to buying players.
April 26th, 2008 at 19:31
Fletcher is just ok, but he is not first class. Besides, he is seldom in the field so his experience cannot be growing so fast. To be honest, many players in ManU are not first class, may be third or forth class I should say, like Brown, O’Shea, Anderson, Saha, Nani, Hargreaves, Carrick, Evra and Park. Giggs and Scholes are old and they cannot play for a full game. The worst things is although they have a many midfield players like Carrick, Anderson, Nani, Hargreave, Flether, Scholes and Giggs. None of them is the best man for midfield. The new guys for this year like Anderson and Nani are terrible. Are they really in the game? Sir Ferguson, can you buy some good players? Otherwise, you are still using the old players. But, they are really too old.
April 26th, 2008 at 19:37
Don’t worry, Chelsea have to play Newcastle…joking aside, I thought the team selection was good today, just a bit blunt up front to start with, Nani wasn’t inspired but it’s not easy when you don’t get that many starts.
Chelsea were good, they won a lot of headers and knockdowns…they are very physical…they have players who know how to shield the ball well and wait for others to make their runs.
I thought the team hung on well and then started to dominate in the second half, Chelsea looked quite groggy after the goal…I thought “yes , this is it we can go on and win this” just take off Rooney (hobbling like mad by now)and Giggs and bring on Tevez and Ronaldo…that way you gain in attacking threat and in defense with Tevez running at everything that moves.
But no, Rooney was left hobbling for what seemed ages and O’shea comes on instead of Anderson? Anderson is the guts and the thrust for the team right now, sure he’s not perfect(who is) but he really sets the tone.
After that the threat went and Chelsea started gaining back the momentum…Didn’t see Ronaldo after that apart from the last few minutes, not his fault though
Still love SAF though although he might have got it wrong this time…they are still in front though…
April 26th, 2008 at 20:22
Dimitar Berbatov
Mario Gomes
Lisandro Lopez
Klass Jan Huntelar
These are just a list of my prefered striker this summer if we do buy a striker, but there something more important than that and that is, who would replace Fergie? Now this isnt a comment based on todays match and I dont mean that we should replace him now but the time will come and sooner rather than later so who do you guys think is best suited for that position, it would surly e the biggest shoe to fill ever in all of footballing history so what do you think??
April 26th, 2008 at 20:27
The positive side of this fucked up game:
At least it is plain for all to see that we have got to start playing offensively again.
Or at least not settle for defence and wait for the counter.
I for one was amazed at the number of people who thought the Barcelona game was ok. What ended up in an acceptable result on Wednesday (“with a tight and disciplined performance” – which many fans thought of) could have been a complete fuck up for a single goal. Now hadn’t Carrick handballed, we would be hearing those same litanies.
Now SAF has got to throw caution to the wind and start playing attacking, flair football. The only football style suiting United really. The past month or so, people seemed to forget it.
April 26th, 2008 at 20:51
Barcelona have conceded the Spanish Liga after choosing to rest their stars for tonight’s match against Deportivo La Coruna. They are losing 2-0. The match has not yet ended.
Barca has rested Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o, Xavi Andres Iniesta and Gabriel Milito.
We are playing on two fronts unlike barca.
We need fresh players to face barca.
We just played on Wednesday(away) and then had to travel to face Chelsea(away). The players did not have time to recuperate.
We are playing on tuesday while Chelsea has an extra day rest to face liverpool.
Fergie rotated the squad, gambled and lost. He is blaming the ref so as to relieve the pressure off the players’ shoulders.
We need to stay positive. We cannot to be out of gas when facing Barca. The squad is being streched to its maximum limit.
The fact that we have only 2 recognized fit strikers in the squad, we are facing problem upfront.
Hopefully this problem will the adjusted for next season.
bring on Barca.
April 26th, 2008 at 21:24
Saudi red devil; now I don’t really want to get into the striker debate because it is extremely tiresome and we’ve still got a while to go until the transfer window actually opens, but why Lisandro Lopez? Have you even seen him play?
He is such a basic striker who brings nothing to the team other than physical presence. His finishing isn’t even that great either.
April 26th, 2008 at 21:30
Truth is our attack is too lightweight. With Ronaldo and Tevez on the bench we had two players who had scored over half our gooals this season. So it was always difficult to see where the goals were coming from. Our midfielders often won the ball but had no-one to pass to so resorted to long balls which Chelsea could easily deal with given their aerial strength.
Rooney picked up an injury, and I’m guessing Anderson did too. Tevez I guess was being rested for Barcelona….his fitness is not great. So I think a lot of Ferguson’s tactics are dictated by injury problems.
Nani was very very disappointing. Poor poor decision making. He was never going to get much change from Ashley Cole so should have passed instead of going for silly shots or trying to dribble.
We had quite a bit of possession on the flanks but no-one to cross to in the middle.
I worry that the way to beat Man U is just to shut off the centre and let them do what they want on the wings because there will never be anyone to cross to. Even when Ronaldo is running down the wings he is always looking to cut inside, which makes Man U way too predictable.
April 26th, 2008 at 21:41
Well, Lisandro stays in the box a lot but not too much, tall and has a nice header, which after todays match we seem to really need that kind of striker I put him in there as last option because I believe Manucho and Wellbeck will impress next season in one way or the other ho would be just back up plan if they didnt.
April 26th, 2008 at 22:01
We all saw what happened to liverpool when Rafa rotated his squad..They could not achieve anything and we all made mockery of them..When they have played a fixed squad in recent games they have got some good results….Why is SAF making the same mistake now? Why is he rotating the squad? He should play the same players in every game now so that they have a proper understanding of each others positions.We have been paying the price for too much rotation.The players seem confused about their roles.
Rooney sometimes plays as a lone striker,sometimmes on the wings.Ronaldo is the same..We have only a few games left and i think the players can cope.Please Fergie don’t rotate.
We have not been playing our natural game in recent times.We have been more defensive and we have tended to lose our shape in recent games.It has backfired for us.I hope Fergie decides to revert back to our attacking 4-4-2 formation in rest of the matches.Anyway we don’t have another option as we need to win all our remaining games left or we go empty-handed for the season.Play Ronaldo on the wings where he has been most succesful and rooney and tevez up front..GO UNITED.
I hate to say this but i’ve a bad feeling about our chances this season..BARCA are more than capable of winning away from home and they need only a draw.Moreover our morale will be down after the chelsea defeat..WEST HAM are our bogey team and to win away at WIGAN on that dreadful pitch on the final day under tremendous pressure is going to be a very difficult task..
Oh God if only we didn’t have this dip in form at such a crucial time of the season and top of that we have had all the referring decisions going against us.I pray that my worst fears are not realised…..
April 26th, 2008 at 22:14
The whole thing about West Ham having the better of us in the last few years, think about it; they beat us when Alan Curbishley first took over and had that ‘new manager rush’, then we gave up against them on the last day of the season last year. And this season they beat us because we were lazy on our set pieces. They aren’t on great form and we should beat them. And as Wigan should be safe by then we definitely have the quality to beat them.
The only reason we stopped playing football was because we were playing against two big teams and we felt the need to try and nullify their threat rather than impose ours. We will beat West Ham and Wigan and score a minimum of 4 goals in the process.
April 26th, 2008 at 23:10
After reading some of the comments here, I feel the need to let off some steam and rant.
Firstly, I don’t understand this bullshit about our squad being lightweight. For the last eight months or so, the media, SAF and what have you have led us supporters to believe that we have tremendous strength in depth and that we had a brilliant chance of glory on three fronts. Now that we have lost ONE game, people are crying out that we need ten new strikers and five attacking midfielders etc. Funny how these people weren’t saying that when we were winning games earlier on this season. So what is it? Do we have strength in depth or not?
One loss and people are coming out with all this negativity such as wondering whether we are going to finish the season empty handed. One bad game and ‘fans’ are talking about how ’senile’ the mighty SAF is and even contemplating getting rid of him! FFS was he ’senile’ when we trashed Arsenal 4-0, or beat Liverpool home and away? Talk about knee jerk reactions! To put it into perspective, if we had been won our last five games (convincingly), all the talk would have been how we would annihilate Barca, West Ham and Wigan by five, six, seven goals. I hate to say it, but certain fans are being too fickle in my opinion, too used to glory. We have NO divine right to win games and trophies, and we deservedly lost today. I for one have no complaints about the final score, or Carrick’s handball, although we were unlucky with the two goalline clearances at the death.
All I am saying is that people have to take the bad with the good. I am convinced that we will still overpower Barca (who also lost to Deportivo tonight) at home, as well as West Ham and Wigan (both of whom have nothing to play for this season) to win the title. But might I add, in order to do so, SAF needs to get out of this defensive mentality ASAP! Where did he even get it from though? We had never played in this way before this season….
Nevertheless, we are the mighty Manchester United! We mustn’t lose our heads because of this caveat. If we re-group, focus, play our BEST players in their RIGHTFUL positions and most importantly, return to our principles and ATTACK, we will still win the Double!!
April 26th, 2008 at 23:33
[Red-Ranter]
Mate, I sincerely hope your Barca-Manutd match nightmare doesn’t come true. Mine did today, and we lost 2-1 just as I feared. If Giggs scored, it would have totally freaked me out!
Anyway, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that I believe we will win our next 3 matches (Barca, West Ham, Wigan). Don’t get me wrong, but a defeat like today’s was not out of the blue, rather it was due sooner or later. The problem with getting last-min draws/undeserved wins is that you’re not forced to raise your level of play and you tend to keep making the same mistakes, so you’re bound to get punished. Our last loss was at Portsmouth ( Mar 8 ) and since then we’d been on a winning streak till the Boro game. It would have been better if we lost to Boro or Bburn, cos I believe we would have been on the up from then on itself.
About the CL Final:I so badly hope that Chelsea get there along with us. It would be so perfect to get revenge for what happened today!
April 27th, 2008 at 0:03
Good rant Nino, I agree. Although I think that really only Grognard thinks that we don’t have strength in depth, and thats mainly because he is looking at our striking area, not the squad as a whole. That is because he focuses on the striking department a lot because that is where he feels we don’t have the Muller or Huntelaar he craves. I agree we need one more striker to make up the numbers and free up Rooney, but not two. On the subject it seems on the whole Tevez is now looked at as a future super sub, which although is a good idea, I find it quite unfair on the little hobbit because he tries so hard.
April 27th, 2008 at 1:28
Fully agree with Nino!
Look we are going through abit of a blip… I’m pretty sure we will come out the other side as double winners, although the Chelsea match does leave a bad taste in the mouth.
April 27th, 2008 at 1:30
NO antsboy it would NOT have been better if we had lost to Boro or Blackburn, because that would mean that we would be one point behind Chelski with two games left to play, meaning that THEY not us would be in the driving seat for the title and hold their destiny in their hands. Duh!!
April 27th, 2008 at 1:47
Also I’d just like to point out that, in the probable event that we do go on to retain our title, we should go down on bended knee and thank a certain Mr. Emile Heskey. For without his timely, unlikely intervention at the Bridge last week, we’d actually currently find ourselves two points behind the chavs and the title would be all but gone. A very scary thought now I think about it….
April 27th, 2008 at 2:33
Funny dream you had. Last week when we played the first leg, I had a dream before getting up to catch the game (game time over here for ECL is 3am) that Ronaldo was putting away a penalty kick (eerily similar to the one he missed at the Nou Camp) to put United up 3-2!
I was ecstatic but I woke up to find that I had overslept, it was the 82nd minute of the game and it was locked at 0-0 and Ronaldo had missed the penalty in the 3rd minute!
BUT…in my dream, United were wearing home colors. A premonition for the 2nd leg perhaps?
April 27th, 2008 at 2:37
[Nino]
Oh my, you state the obvious mate
What I meant is, we would never be in this position of losing today to Chelsea, because our shabby play would have improved without a doubt. Ofcourse what I say cannot be proved..so it’s just gut feeling I guess.
April 27th, 2008 at 2:39
Hey, Newcastle have begun to play better haven’t they? Please oh please, beat Chelsea next week for us; and I hope United don’t mess up at home. Tevez to score against his former team, at Old Trafford like last season and win us the title at home!
April 27th, 2008 at 2:48
Conor; I have no problem with United’s depth anywhere else but at striker, so you are correct. But honestly, am I wrong? And as for the poor little Hobbit, he’s completely useless until after the 80th minute in most games. Use him as a sub and to Hell with fairness. If he doesn’t like it he can go play for Hobbitan FC or the Brandybuck Wanderers.
April 27th, 2008 at 2:56
Fuckin’ Bollocks. I still can’t stay calm. Need some painkillers and head for an early nap. Will gather my thoughts — as hard as it might be — and come up with the report tomorrow.
Fuckin’ Chav Cunts!
Bollocks!
April 27th, 2008 at 3:02
Newcastle messed up Chelsea’s title ambitions last season IIRC with a 0-0 draw, practically handing us the title on a silver platter, so it’s possible lightning can strike twice
Antsboy: of course what you say cannot be proved. We could have lost to Boro/Blackburn and still have gone on to lose to Chelsea, hence being in a worse position than we are now, which was what I was trying to say. You can’t legislate for bits of luck which go against you, however well you play. Anyway our poor results recently have more to do with Fergie’s defensive tactics rather than a lapse in form I think.
April 27th, 2008 at 6:46
Nino: People aren’t pissed off coz we lost 1 game. We have now drawn against BBurn, Boro. Escaped against Le Arse and lost to CSKA Chelski. The most feared thing has happened. A slump at the wrong time.
Its really alarming, because here goes another match where the passing was totally switched off. I mean seriously, what the heck are these players doing in the match. We were doing so well against the likes of Villa because of our possession and hence passing. Keep the goddamn ball.
I hope this is visible to the United management and revert back to our old style of play, call it a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1 or whatever…
April 27th, 2008 at 9:48
Utsaz, a slump? Middlesborough was probably the only team we should have beat but they played very
well. Blackburn are a great team with a fantastic keeper who stopped us thrashing them. We beat
Arsenal so what are you complaining about you can’t be picky about that. Barcelona are one of the
very best teams in the world and so 0-0 was a great result. And Chelsea are also a good team so
a defeat was allways very possible.
April 27th, 2008 at 9:53
The performances haven’t been up too all the fans high standards but it’s the business end of the season
where the results count more than the performances. Lets just look forward to Barca knowing we are still in
pole position for the title and have a slight advantage over Barca. I can’t wait!!!
April 27th, 2008 at 12:41
Great Man, I assume you are actually just pretending to be a Manchester United supporter to mind everyone up? Because you’re comment was just plain stupid.
April 27th, 2008 at 12:48
Grognard; No, of course you are not wrong. We are in dire need of a striker and everyone should be able to realise that. The only reason I used your name is because you were the one talking about the squad depth of ‘99 and this possibly might have made Nino think that our squad is not deep enough overall. But I’m not sure we need 2 strikers! I mean that would mean at least 1 of them would be on the bench most of the time and I don’t think many people would agree to that. And I assume if you bought 2 strikers Tevez would be fourth choice?
April 27th, 2008 at 16:11
Conor; I’m looking at the 4th striker being either Manucho or Welbeck as they should not expect to see much time except in emergencies and in League Cup games. Depth of 4 strikers is ideal because of the obvious reason but also because you can have the flexibility to mix forwards in games for a different style of attack and look. Fergie could really do that in 98-99 with the Four Horseman.
April 27th, 2008 at 18:19
No but you said we should buy 2 more strikers. 2 more strikers + Rooney and Tevez = 4 strikers. But yes I agree, the new Four Horsemen + the rest of our team would be a fantastic prospect.
April 27th, 2008 at 22:01
Conor; Lets not forget Philip Lahm at RWB. I still prefer him over Hargreaves or Brown at that position. Hargo should be our holding midfielder. After all, that’s why he was bought.
April 27th, 2008 at 22:06
I agree. I would readily take Lahm and I’s sure he would be available for a price below £10m, but I’m not sure how much SAF wants him. It’d be great if we got him