Oct 20
CSKA Moscow vs Manchester United: Preview
It’s been quite a week! From beach balls to touchline brawls and slack marking to summit embarking. Now Moscow and the artificial pitch awaits for Ferguson and his charges where three more points would go even further to sealing United’s progression into the next phase of the Champions League.
It’s worth noting that trips to the Luzhniki Stadium haven’t been too unkind in recent years either, although CSKA certainly won’t be a proverbial walk in the park synthetic grass.
Following his absence from Saturday’s victory over Bolton, Wayne Rooney continues to miss out with the calf injury he picked up whilst playing for England. That does, however, give another chance for Michael Owen to prove his worth and continue to develop a partnership with Dimitar Berbatov.
Ryan Giggs did get through 90 minutes against the Trotters on the weekend, although he has not travelled with the squad to Moscow. You would assume that he probably wouldn’t have been given the nod even if he was fully fit and with Liverpool in mind, it makes sense to allow the Welshman the evening off to rest up.
That could quite realistically present Nani with a terrific opportunity. Having scored an impressive goal for his country last week, the former Sporting Lisbon man should be chomping at the bit to show what he’s about and the ideal scenario may be to afford him the chance to go and express himself in Russia. It may be last chance saloon for the 22-year-old this season and it’s these sort of chances that he has to firmly clutch with both hands.
Patrice Evra is another to have stayed in Manchester so one would expect John O’Shea to switch to left-back with Wes Brown operating on the right hand side of the defence. Rio Ferdinand survived a further barrage of criticism following a steady showing on Saturday so he should continue alongside Jonny Evans with Nemanja Vidic possibly being rested for the trip to Anfield. Edwin van der Sar should continue in goal.
United will also be without Darren Fletcher and Park Ji-Sung through injury so that should see a definite start for Paul Scholes with one of Anderson or Michael Carrick alongside him. With Nani undoubtedly occupying one flank, Antonio Valencia, fresh from his first competitive goal for the club, should start on the other.
In the build-up to the encounter, Ferguson admitted that he wasn’t concerned about playing on an artificial pitch, hinting that he would be happy with a draw in Moscow.
“CSKA are a young side who know what they are doing and have one win behind them already,” the Scot said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“Also, their home advantage means more than usual because they play on an artificial plastic surface. I don’t have a problem with that, though, because we can cope and I am looking to our back-to-back games against CSKA to take us to 10 points and a place in the knockout stages.”
CSKA certainly shouldn’t be underestimated although despite Sir Alex’s best efforts to play down the need for a resounding result, and even with something of a depleted squad, three points should most definitely be in reach for the Reds.
The Moscow outfit are a little off the pace in the Russian Premier League, seven points behind leaders Rubin Kazan in fourth spot having played 25 games of the season (which kicked off in March). They did, however, beat Besiktas in the last round of Champions League fixtures and keep your eye out for goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, a player who has been linked with a switch to Old Trafford in recent times.
Prediction: 1-0 United
Squad in full: Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster; Neville, Rafael, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Brown, J Evans, C Evans, Fabio; Valencia, Scholes, Carrick, Anderson, Nani; Owen, Berbatov, Macheda, Welbeck.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Manchester United drawn with Besiktas, CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg
- Manchester United v CSKA Moscow: Preview
- Liverpool vs Manchester United: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Sir Alex’s men for the third consecutive CL final?
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Red Ranter:
This is what you have commented which for my understanding simply means that “transfer market is immaterial”…
It was all what you said mate… I did not put anything out of my own pocket….
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@Grognard: I will check that link too… If that link would help me it will be heavenly…. Thanks a lot matey…
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@Redrich: I’m glad to see no one is joining you on your ridiculous crusade to bash berba. It’s fine to feel frustrated by the performance on wednesday but your aiming your cannons at the wrong target. You seem to me like a person who just hates berba, I can confidently say you don’t like him. If you can find fault with him just because he refused to run after a wayward pass then there is no helping you. I remember king cantona’s words directed at the media and I’m going to quote them and apply them to you
You watch the game and wait for the moment that berba will do something that you think justifies crucifying and you come on here and expect us to join you in your bashing. When a so called professional player can’t even provide an accurate pass let alone a decent one you seem to point fingers at the recipient instead of accusing the professional.
You seem to say that rooney does well alone upfront, you seem to forget the first night away in the CL when he was alone upfront and was as effective as a woman F1 driver. He was very frustrated upfront and even threw a tantrum when subbed, but that seemed to escape you didn’t it redrich. In his last 5 games,I watched as rooney botched our efforts, played terribly and shouted the heads off at our midfield for not giving him the ball, yet I never once heard you say that rooney was terrible. But yes, lets all castigate berba for his excellent play when he is given the ball, frustration when the ball isn’t delivered to him and his lack off enterprise in running after wayward balls, after all rooney has great control,superd passing skills, creates excellent chances to fellow forwards and is never angry at his fellow team mates, all he does is calmly tell them to do better next time.
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@spizzy: Thumbs up bro….
Great response… 100% with you on Berba things…… 
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@spizzy: excatly what i was going to tell redrich, I mean, 4-5-1 needs midfielders to give the lone front man service, or redrich expected berba to run back, get the ball, create a chance for himself then score. Some people are hard very hard to please.
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@Onkar: @Man Utd Jaluo: Fergie’s tactics in europe are a tad frustrating, I don’t know if you guyz saw it but when owen came on we basically increased our opportunities a hundred fold. Fergie is very cautious in Europe, which is quite annoying especially when he chooses to cower and put up a defensive approach against minnow teams. It’s quite understandable to do that against barca but not that russian team. His defensive approach will take us far,maybe even to the final but when we finally loose, it will be a very big heartbreak for us. It’s one thing to loose when you know you gave your all, but to loose when your forced to play anti football is hurtful beyond belief. When you know your a dangerous side going forward and just a bit of adventure and risk will probably get you a win.It happened last year in the final, that’s why most players were gutted in the end, because they knew they could do better and us fans felt totally devastated because we knew united were better than that performance.
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@spizzy: I agree to an extent what you said. But, as far as Russian affair is concerned I would like to give Gaffer benefit of the doubt precisely for the point you have mentioned. Owen’s Introduction in Last 20 mins. I mean we all knew that a point would have been a good result as well. But still he might have sensed our domination and went for attacking change and that yielded the desired result a GOAL. I won’t be unppy if Man UTD is ready do this that control the game for 70 mins wore the opponent down in there own back yard and then throw in the attacker to finish the game of. And I think Owen is the best weapon we have to do this. But, I seriously have a problem if…
1. He will employ such tactis in Home matches
2. If he gets the lead and then he goes other way around and try and defend the lead…
But other than these two things I have no problem with system of play irrespective of opponent.
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Hope this is just mind play, all the rags have it that Rooney and Fletcher may not play on sunday. Its even on the official site. Fingrs crosssed.
Nev says we’d rather lose to lpool but win the title, I say we’d rather beat/batter/whip lpool and win the title. Am crying for revenge, honestly the double they did against us last season was too much to bear.
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I demand vendetta!
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First thing is first, if any of you studied that game, you would have felt absolutely sorry for berba. He worked his socks off and was surrounded by players with low football IQ. He actually did all he could do. I was excited by the prospect of watching ando in his natural position and was thoroughly disappointed.he needs consistency in his natural position, with at least one forward with natural instinctive off the ball movement, that could feed of berba as well. That’s why rooney berba will never be prolific, both are creative players that like the ball played to feet. We have become boring and predictable. Never the hot knife through butter through ball, always the go to thw wing and cross. Oh and blame the crossers, never the strikers who have poor movement, and are always lingering, never anticipating. I still maintain, nani and anderson should start every match with carrick and fletcher in middle and any two upfront. Or else those two will loose what little confidence they have left. Let’s bring the giggs and the scholes in the second half should the other two be ineffective. Do that for 7-10 games and let’s see how it pans out.
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Any place where I could see the highlights of the reserve game against blackburn?
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@spizzy: In defense of Redrich, he is always very fair with his criticisms. He may or may not like certain players but he does not have a habit of pounding on them due to an intense dislike. People often criticize me of this and yet, I too am just calling things as I see it. To me Ben Foster is total crap but that isn’t because I have some kind of vendetta against Ben or because I dislike him intensely as a person. I just don’t think he is a very good goalkeeper. Redrich must feel the same about Berba and although I disagree with him, I respect his opinion and always respect his fairness and honesty. Lets face it, we cannot all agree on everything and above all, we all see the game differently on many different levels.
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@Man Utd Jaluo: Redrich was mostly upset by Berba’s body language and what looked like and extremely increasing case of frustration that looked to him that he wasn’t trying on balls that were not perfectly placed for him. I don’t agree with him on this but it’s a fair observation because Berba was pissed off and very frustrated over the muppet like service he was getting. We all need to remember that Berba has a lot of pressure on him because he is not scoring a lot of goals and so placing him up front all alone like a sacrifice to King Kong without giving him the kind of service he requires to succeed under those conditions probably payed with the man’s insecurities and paranoia took over. I’m sure at the end of the game he was worried whether he would be blamed again for a poor game when in his heart he felt like his teammates were letting him down. This is undue pressure that’s not coming down on him from the Boss but from the media who constantly whine about his lack of goal scoring. I know he is very happy and very humble to be with United but at the same time he wonders if he will ever have midfield teammates who can ever get him the ball on a consistent basis.
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@Onkar: And I explained in a follow up comment what I meant by immaterial. Immaterial not in absolute terms, but in the context of the Daily Mail article.
In case you didn’t follow what I meant to convey, all I was trying to say was whether or not we buy Akinfeev, that article has no bearing on it.
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@spizzy: I didn’t agree with Redrich on the Berbatov assessment, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a vendetta against him. He was actually warming up to him prior to the game. I think you should do a little homework on your fellow commenters before throwing allegations at them.
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@one united: OK I am one who felt very sorry for Berba but on this one I have to side more with Redrich. He did not work his socks off. Quite often he was found loping around and his frustration with the lack of quality service did effect his willingness to go all out on some balls. Balls that had he gone all out for, he still wouldn’t have gotten to. He’s not lazy like many think, but he is also not one to use up excess energy on a forlorn hope either, and that is probably what makes many folks not take to him. He’s not one for the blue collar crowd. He’s an acquired taste and an expensive taste like caviar.
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@Red Ranter: Well said mate. Redrich is probably one of the wisest if not wisest members on this blog and always a voice of calm and reason. So if he gets upset with a game or a player, he usually is quite justified, but very fair. I don’t happen to agree with him on Berba this time although I can see his point to an extent. I just prefer to throw most of the blame on those who did not deliver the balls to him properly.
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Berbatov is class for me he is the Anti-Tevez (Anti-Carlosist), he is a United player anyone who thinks differently does not understand the culture of the club.
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I think the main issues are ppl watching a player’s performance and narrowing down to that player without looking at surrounding circumstances. As I said earlier, Berba’s role was completely reliant on service and support. You pass to him and you move into good positions for him to pass the ball back. The service however was non-existant and at best poor. I like Nani, and I defend him, but to say he delivering good crosses throughout the game is incorrect. A good cross is not one that is blocked on it’s way to the target. It has to reach the player or at least somewhere close to the player where they can actually try to do something with it. There were absolutely no crosses to reach Berba in the 1st half. From both flanks. It is not correct to suggest that he should have intercepted lost causes. That’s how players are fouled. And it’s unnecessary and you’ll be unsuccessful. As I saw it and I’m convinced most will agree with me, we played through the wingers. O’Shea would pass the ball to either of Scholes or Anderson, who almost always proceeded to pass to the wingers, with admittedly excellent crosses that always fell behind the fullbacks. The wingers did try to play Berba in the box but their crosses were not great. Esp Nani’s. He got the assist(kinda) to his credit but his final ball was poor in most plays. But besides that, both he and Tony along with Fabio and Krasic were the most exciting players to watch. Which should be a big plus and it is. Just hope he gets some part to play on Sunday. If Anderson starts on Sunday I’d be most happy because that means the boss is beginning to see him as an important part of our campaign. It would do his confidence wonders. But it isn’t the most probable thing to happen, neither is it the wisest for the game on Sunday. But I’ve seen he is gaining some confidence in his game and is improving with every game.
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@Stephen: Ji-sung Park is not a class player, and he is a United player. And you don’t have to understand the culture of the club to figure that out. Knowing or not knowing the club’s culture has nothing to do with objectively analysing the quality of a player.
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Was just passing by…
So how is everyone?
And Seriously….
I’m just gunning for Sunday…
Will have a huge gathering at my place….
The last time that happened was at United’s defeat to Arsenal due to the Nasri Double….
Hoping for better pastures!
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@Red Ranter: And that is why many of us question why Fucking Sticks is a United player in the first place!
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@Onkar: That site is amazing, I think it’s going to change my life. You’re the man, Grog.
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can we get some sot of Liverpool preview page? It’s only like… you know…. the biggest game of the season so far and everything
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@Traverse: Patience is a virtue, sir.
The draft’s ready. Will be up as soon as I get off work.
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@Stephen: If you dont get Berbatov, you dont get football…
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cant believe some united fans to be honest, that we play boring football away in europe. i think the manager has it spot on, or should we just go back to the days of 99 when it was just all out attack. WAKE UP people. two finals in 2 years playing the way the manager is playing now. it took him years to figure out that this is a sensible tactic away from home and its working. alright it wont be as effincent now we dont have ronaldos pace, but stop your moaning, we have to keep it tight away from home and then hopefully sneak one. two 1nil wins away from home, thats good in my book. playing an open game i remember losing a fair few games away from home. so if ya”s dont like it flick over and watch chelsea playing, it wont be long before you”s are flicking back. MUFC, bring on the scum.
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@spizzy: My opinion of Berbatov’s performance is based on what I saw and how I rated him based on the role he was asked perform.
I disagree, somewhat, with the argument that he was solely a victim of poor service and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I generally hold a player much more accountable for his own success that do a lot of you.
He was placed in a very thankless task, that of a sole striker playing away in the CL. Difficult, even for the very best, to perform to the high level expected form us all, but what you have to expect is a high level of commitment to do what is seemingly an impossible job.
I have no interest at all in a personal vendetta against Berbatov (or any other player on the United squad) and the very last thing on my mind is to create an anti-Berbatov movement. On the contrary I’ve become to appreciate his skills and, on several occasions this season, been absolutely thrilled by some of his play.
However a broader understanding of my opinion will reveal that I believe the Rooney/Berbatov pairing has, so far, proven to be a colossal mismatch. Neither player finding anything in their current skill-set that could act as a catalytic advantage to the other.
The key would be for one, the other or both to work toward a symbiotic partnership that would help both the team and them as individual players.
So in more ways than one I found Berbatov’s game on Wednesday very disconcerting.
His performance based on the role he was asked to perform, was way below United standards, his growth as a United player and as a team member was to say the least regressive and the petulance of his display was very worrying considering the amount of give and take a healthy relationship with Rooney will take!!
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@Red Ranter: Really?. I just assumed that Park and Foster were going to be up for the Balon D’Or. Such class, skill and quality is hard to define and they both truly define what today’s club culture is all about. It’s to Hell with the artist and hello to the no talent workaholic.
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@Grognard:@Red Ranter:
Thanks for the kind words in my absence, guys.
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@Jim: I am happy to help mate. I too was in Heaven there for a few months as I scoured their forum for old World Cup games and anything I could find with old Bayern Munich and West Germany as well as games with George Best and Cantona. Sometimes the download speed or efficiency of some of these providers will get on your nerves but most of the time, it’s great to download a game and either watch it on your computer or do what I do, which is burn it on to DVD and add it to my collection of must have games.
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@Redrich: My pleasure Red. You earned it as you are the man around here in my book and certainly have been friendly, fair to me with plenty of words of wisdom that has helped keep my passion and temper in check more than once. You deserve to be heard and respected. Just sorry I couldn’t quite agree with you on Berba, but that also may have to do with my bias as I love the guy and his style of play for me is an a acquired taste that’s not for everyone. Anyway, cheers mate.
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@Redrich: Totally agree with you on the Rooney-Berbatov partnership. Like oil and water mate. Too be honest, I am shocked when i think back that he did well with Robbie Keane but it’s because Keane was always willing to stick to his area and not try to be everything to everybody like Rooney is very prone to do. But also, as much as the partnership does not work, the tactics used by Fergie also do not suit Berba well. Add to that that he needs a midfield general who constantly looks for him and delivers him the ball and you have just what Berba is looking for.
I remember a time when I was a young adult playing basketball for a city league team and having to cope with a coach who continually misused me and played me out of my natural comfort zone at center. Always top of the key where I was not as good and too far away from being able to get to rebounds and too far away from the corners where I could use my outside shot. I struggled to fit in and although we did well as a team, we never won the championship. This went on for two years until the coach quit and I actually got the job as playing coach. Well I changed everything selfishly to allow mw to fullfill my destiny but you know what, I got away with it. Not only did my offensive scoring and defensive shot blocking and rebounding improve, but we won that elusive championship for two straight years until I quit, due to work demands and my ball and chain (aka woman). I bring this up to show how the misuse of a talented player can severely hurt the potential of a club. With me playing down lower my scoring went up about 15 points a game but the teams offense increased by over 12 points a game and defensively we improved by a dozen points less allowed per game too. For me it was a sin to misuse the center on a basketball team. The position is a dominating position and for him to constantly use me in areas where I could not properly input my skill set into a game was wrong and criminal.
Anyway, it was a moment of great satisfaction for me to prove him wrong and to succeed based on my own opinion on how I should be used and how the team should play. I also forced the team to play more fast break style and that was easier to do now that I could get a rebound and quickly give an outlet pass to start it. So the moral to my story is that coaches sometimes do not understand or have a clue on how to bring the best out in a player and thus briing out the best in a team. They are to stuck and too rigid in their own game plans and tactics to understand how these tactics interpret themselves to each player in the squad. In Berba’s case, Fergie has made major mistakes and he has even admitted them. Yet he continues to sacrifice the lad game after game despite admitting that last year he played him in the wrong manner. I don’t get the man some times.
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goals of manchester united reserve vs blackburn reserve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as4Xlnv9N4Q&feature=player_embedded#
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@Grognard: I just worry that the team as a whole, is not built for Berbatovs “speed”. His style of play is contrary to the efforts being made in the formation of this team.
The whole approach of the offense over the last 2 seasons have left me often exasperated with frustration.
1/. Why play with 2 wingers when we don’t have anyone in the box to latch on to their efforts!!
2/. Why tie Rooney to a high striker role, when for his whole career, he’s been the most dangerous when poaching the scraps?
3/. Why pair Rooney with Berbatov in the first place?, neither one of them wants the role they’re being asked to play.
It seems inevitable that at some point SAF will create a drama and one or the other will be on the outs!
This time, though, it’s plain to see what is what. SAF has created his own striking nightmare!!
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@Grognard: As corny as it sounds, I just like to call it as I see it! Don’t have an agenda, and very few prejudices.
What a lot of posters don’t understand is that things said here are just our opinions. Sometimes it’s a popular one and sometimes not. Nothing said is gospel or written in stone!! Except, of course, that Foster has a hard time catching a cold!!
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@Redrich: Well in terms of speed the only team that is truly suitable for Berba’s pace is in the Special Olympics side for Bulgaria.
Now having said that, I find that United does not utilize their speed and Fergie prefers to play ball control have them all stand around like statues at the Pantheon in Rome. What good is speed if you don’t use it and as far as having wingers to cross the ball, first of all their crosses need to get anywhere near the target before we can start blaming the target for screwing up. Nani’s and Valencia’s corners in Moscow were just awful.
But I do agree with the fact that Fergie has tried to fit a bunch of square pegs into round holes and it has had very mixed results. Then again, his tactics are so rigidly slow, overly cautious and dull, I seriously doubt any great player could easily move in to the team and quickly adjust and fit in without a problem. As Wenger put it, we are playing anti football. Well I don’t totally agree with him but there is some truth to what he is saying.
I have only really seen us play one half of truly inspiring and entertaining football all season and that was the second half against Man City. So really, before I blame Berba or Nani or Valencia or Anderson, I point a finger at the Boss and ask him in all seriousness, what the frak he thinks he’s doing with this team’s style of play and long lasting legacy and reputation for playing attacking fast paced football?
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@Redrich:
Poor Foster can’t even catch a cold. Classic.
I agree with you mate. At the end of the day all this blog is for is to share opinions and nothing is written in stone because all we are is fans and none of us has any clout or stroke at Old Trafford to affect policy. Too many make it their duty to go after people on all the blogs and attack them for simply offering their opinions. Like that is some kind of a crime if you are saying something that isn’t overly popular or conformist. Had this blog been formed in Ancient Roman times I would have been fed to the lions or at least flogged and sent into slavery like Judah Ben Hur for some of my controversial comments. It’s just the cross we all have to bare in order to participate on a blog. There will always be those who resent others offering opinions that do not coincide with theirs. And by the way to others out there, Foster Sucks!
Better prepare myself for rowing duty in the Galley. 
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@Grognard: I guess I’ll reserve opinion on SAF for a while yet.
I just can’t get away from the fact of what he has achieved for us and what he might hold around the corner for the near future. The evidence of his legacy impresses my opinion mightily.
But I have to admit that I find myself questioning an awful lot of his tactical decisions, and the way in which he has gone about compiling this team makes me nervous about what is left in that old “war horse”.
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@Grognard:
Don’t know ’bout the Romans but we better watch out for the FBI (Fergie’s Bureau of Investigation). They could have us all up in front of the HCUUA (The House Committee on Un-United Affairs) and we’ll end up writing blogs for Citeh and Bolton and worse!! 
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@Redrich:
Thank God I’m in Canada. About the only thing you can get into trouble in Canada for is not liking hockey. That’s a hanging offense up here. 
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@Redrich: I guess the thing that has me question Fergie is the 180 degree turn he has made in his tactics and the stubborn insistence on starting players like Park, Anderson and Foster when they aren’t good enough and players like Neville and especially Scholes because they are just finished.
I look back back historically through my life and examine the careers of great managers and coaches in sports a little bit closer to home and I do see a trend with legends who reach a certain age. Whether it be Don Shula, Tom Landry, Leo Durocher, Tommy Lasorda, Scotty Bowman, Vince Lombardi, Paul Brown and many college coaches like Bobby Bowden that eventually their age makes them a bit soft and there comes a time where players just kind of tune the out a bit. Nobody has tuned Fergie out thank God but he has gotten progressively softer and has become very lenient with his players as well, I think he has shown a tremendous favoritism to players he prefers and has completely wasted or ruined perfectly good footballers because for whatever reason, they weren’t his cup of tea. But mostly I am seeing an increase of caution and less risk in his management of recent seasons and this is a sure sign of age and the clock running out on his tenure. He is conscious of this and he doesn’t want to be too bold with his decisions for fear of them backfiring on him, so he plays it safe…………….AND BORING.
I love the man and have the utmost respect for him but I am also a true die hard United fan that became a fane well before Fergie and has been used to 35 years of football played a specific kind of way regardless of whether we were winning or not. The game has become to much like a chess match in recent years and it has lowered itself into a battle of managerial egos where the game suffers and all that matters is the decision or result. I expect this from the likes of Mourinho and Benitez. I never in my wildest dreams expected Fergie to become one of them. And truthfully Red, it breaks my heart. I love this team more than anything and it kills me to have to sit through one of their matches these days. Seriously, I’d rather do laundry and clean the house. Much more energy and creativity is being utilized there than what is happening at most of those games.
Thank God I have FIFA 10 and Football Manager to ensure my team plays the way I want it to. 
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@Grognard:
I’m headed north, better get my skates on though!! 
I’ve had a long day, mate. See ya manana!!
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Eddy I have finally decided to get into a Manager Mode season in FIFA 10 and have chosen Wolfsburg as my team because frankly, I am bored to death with United and sick of most of their players. Anyway, i made some smart acquisitions (love their new managerial transfer engine) and bought Toivonen, Drenthe and Toni Kroos an boy is this team a treat to play with those strikers Dzeko and Grafite up front. Honestly, if Edin Dzeko was this awesome in real life he would be a must buy for United. He has scored some spectacular goals for me and his first touch is just sublime in this game. Also, I am really beginning to love this game because when I played Boca vs River Plate Riquelme was not only awesome, but he scored a god like free kick which almost put me to tears. My God how I love this game now that I can finally get the free kick mechanics to do my bidding. WOW!
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@Redrich: Take care Red. Look out for the FBI.
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@Grognard: @Footy4Eddy: I just kicked chelsea 9-0 at the professional level. Onto the world class now. I have only managed measly 1-0 wins in earlier attempt, I’ll see if I can get to 3 or 4.
I tried those long shots from far but none goes in, and that commentator always says the same thing after, \\
stupid commentator. So whats the trick to those long shots? the free kicks however are great, I have scored so many I can’t even count.
@Redrich: I might have been a bit rash on my assessment of your berba rant,You may not have have a thing against the bulgarian but you have to admit you came out more like a hater. With these comments
I’m in no way trying to force you to conform to my way of thinking, or impose my ideas on you, you are free to say whatever you want, but when you say it expect people to disagree with you.
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@Grognard: I own an Xbox 360, but use it more as an entertainment hub – Netflix, media streaming etc. I’ve tried my hand at FIFA 09, but for some reason, I’ve begun losing interest in the whole FIFA/PES series and become a more committed FM guy. Either way, I was a huge gamer as a kid, but I think I’ve realised now that part of me has grown up. Only cerebral games like FM interest me these days. Even FM I can’t spend time on these days as it will kill my social life entirely.
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@Red Ranter: No criticising him is, Park has nothing to do with it.
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@spizzy: No worries mate.
Conforming to your ideas is not on the cards and please feel free to disagree with anything I put forth. It’s an open forum here!!
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@spizzy: The long distance shot is much simplified. Instead of having to press the right button to add power now you don’t have to do any thing but shoot. The game recognizes that it’s from a distance and will accurately portray the player’s ability from long range. You just need to make sure not to over press the shoot button to avoid doing an Anderson and sending it into the 40th row of seats. If you have a player who has a long shot range of near 90, the rest will be taken care of. What I still want to know is how to perform Ronaldo’s dipping free kick. I score easily on mid range free kicks because all I do is swerve them around the wall. But kicks that have to go over the wall for me are still a bit of a problem. The other big glitch I noticed in the game was that every game i have played with Wolfsburg in Manager mode has been in rain and the second game of season (mid August) was in driving rain with signs of snow on the ground. WTF?
Now i have heard of Global Warming and all but winter in mid August in Germany, that’s a first. 
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