Jul 26
Ferguson rips into City, and also talks other stuff
I’ve been trying my best to sidestep the ‘intelligent’ mudslinging happening between the two Manchester clubs.[I am of course talking about this] It could be passed off as ‘passion’, and ‘banter’, but really it has got a lot more mileage than it deserved. But since Tim Rich — continuing in what seems like a rather productive-looking Asian assignment for him — pulled off a fantastic interview with the manager, I think I’ll have to allow myself to be sucked into this.
“It’s City isn’t it? They are a small club with a small mentality. All they can talk about is Manchester United; they can’t get away from it. That arrogance will be rewarded. It is a go at us, that’s the one thing it is. They think taking Carlos Tev*z away from Manchester United is a triumph. It is poor stuff.”
And poor stuff indeed. There has been far too much going around with the Tev*z transfer and it has reached a level of silliness. Now Ferguson’s quotes will be put down as him allowing City to get to him, or rather, obsessing about City. But what would be ignored is that those comments were a direct reply to a question put to him. And there really was no two ways about it. Small club. Hence small club mentality etc.
The advertising campaign by City was quite obviously a concerted effort at trying to get under the skin of their rivals. In essence though, there’s little new in it; the time-worn reference to how United is not within city limits etc. But the fact is they are still a few defenders away from a decent, albeit unbalanced, team. The fact is players like Adebayor — as detestable as they may be — still had an iota of conscience to contact us and Chelsea before ultimately settling for Man City some handy wages. The fact is, Samuel Eto’o balked on going to City despite their FM-style wages.
And hence, to borrow from one of the other posters, I pity the fools that went to that club. They may yet prove everyone wrong and break into the top four. They may yet become title contenders in two years. But right now, they are a small club that behave like a small club; seizing on moments like the Tev*z incident to score some points. Another fact: Manchester is Red, despite City fans’ claims. And so what if they claim that the majority of United fans are outside Manchester? Tell that to their owners, who are quite obviously Mancunians who wear tea-towels over their heads just to look like Arabs [never mind their ambitions to build a fan base in Asia, North America, Mars etc.]
The manager also took time to lay into Tev*z. The Argentine seemed to have far too much time to obsess about Ferguson. It was only fair that he had some response come his way. When asked about players roles for the next season, in order to make up for the loss of Ronaldo and Tev*z he said, “Nani will improve, although he is not as mature as Ronaldo was at his age. I expect Anderson to improve and Darren Fletcher to establish himself as a big player in our squad. [Michael] Owen will get me goals, [Dimitar] Berbatov will be much better. And I don’t have to deal with a certain person who is miserable because he is not playing.” Wafer-thin veils used over there, if any.
He also talks about Wenger, Rafa among other things. It’s entertaining as always, but a bit boring for me to parse them any further. I’ve done the juicy bits, you can do the reading of the rest of the interview for yourselves now. Peace.
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Some interesting links (and some house announcements) you might be, well, interested to peruse:
1. An extremely objective piece on Liverpool-Kop, chastising Liverpool fans for jumping with joy over the Gerrard-ruling.
2. Scott draws a comparison of British and English XIs among Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, City and us. (I don’t know why he should even consider City — they don’t deserve to be talked in the same breath as the others in the big four.)
3. And if you haven’t already noticed, I have been quietly running another blog, for thoughts on football as such and occasionally, some other sports I follow. It won’t be as regularly updated as this one (if you can call this blog regularly updated, in the first place.) But let me present you, Throw-ins.
4. As a reminder, we are on twitter — and are rather active on it, posting 140 character-delimited thoughts throughout the day. Feel free to follow us there. However if you are not the twittering type, but are instead quite Facebook-y in your outlook towards life then you should consider getting in touch with a psychiatrist following us on our facebook page.
5. Soccerlens addresses a host of issues from Gerrard, to Beckham and the Galaxy. An entertaining read.
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Note: City fans looking to spew venom aren’t welcome. You don’t have to bother commenting if you are not interested in an objective discussion.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Jonny Evans: on Manchester United, Northern Ireland, Ferguson…
- On Premier League’s new media rules
- Man Utd v Man City: Preview
- Links for 2010-01-20
- Conflicting Reports Cast Cloud Over Fergie-Ronaldo “Meeting”
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Dan: Dan, sorry mate but he is total 100% processed A grade dog shit. You can protect him all you want and yes others screwed up on those goals too but Foster is the last line of defense and he is paid to do more or at least try to do more. He should have had the first goal by never allowing the cross to reach it’s target. As for the second goal, yes he may have come up short trying to save it but at least give it a try by diving, instead of ball watching on your heels.
Honestly, the way you protect your reserve players is commendable but it is also incredibly nauseating because you can never see faults in them despite the obvious proof. The lad has glaring weaknesses in his game and I for one am horrified when he’s out there. You can disagree all you want but for me the proof is in the pudding and that’s all I need. Trust me when I say, there is no position on the pitch I understand better than the one of goalkeeper and I have watched and studied the very best in the game for many years and I really do believe in my heart of hearts that I am a very good judge of talent at that position. Ben Foster is not good enough mate. Trust me on this. Sure he is capable of the odd great game and marvelous save or two, but overall his game is lacking and terribly inconsistent.
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@Grognard…I think Rooney is one of those players who just takes time to get his fitness up to standard…itmight be due to his body type…just guessing…he definitely isn’t there yet…he also seems to do much better when he starts games..this game granted he played the whole second half, but he was out of sync with the rest of the team…I’m not worried about the Roo..he’ll get there…
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@Don: You are probably right but I just can’t forget the way he played at the end of last season. The fire and spark and that extra gear were missing in his game and I have yet to see them so far this pre season. I hope you are right.
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@grognard…too funny…I am of the opinion that Foster is a good keeper not a great one…I am not convinced yet he is United quality..and as we all remember shifting from the Barthez days to EVDS days…a good versus great keeper can make all the difference…from the confidence in the back four all the way up the pitch…so Foster needs to start stepping up in my opinion…
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@Don: Also, a little hint for you when you are aiming your replies to an individual. Click on the little gray arrow next to the person’s name and that will allow you to respond to his specific comment and it will have his name show up in red for you. It will make things easier for you.
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@Grognard: ah thanks for the tip!
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I won’t react to that dan sorry
….
Im looking forward to seeing valencia now. IF nani and him can run at defenders as they can we would have lots of pace down the wings. What happened to rafael? That said fabio is almost exactly the same as him
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@Grognard: ’100% processed A grade dog shit’ haha
that had me in tears
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@Taehr: rafa dislocated his shoulder. im very mad about this because when i dislocated my shoulder, it is a reoccurring injury. Lets hope he gets better.
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The question I have have is will Fergie dare to bench Rooney and try the Berba owen partnership if those 2 keep plugging in the goals?
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@Anthony Los: thanks mate, If I remember correctly fabio did his as well…
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@Taehr: no way, no ronnie is gone rooney will get all the time in the world, regardless of how good or bad he plays.
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@Taehr: Fabio, I sense, is a much better defender than Rafael.
To be fait to Foster, when he conceded his second goal, most of the players (and that probably included him) were looking forward to trudging back to the dressing room. He still could have tried better for both goals, and on the first goal, a proper defender, and not Rooney, should have been man-marking the scorer.
@Don: @Grognard: About Rooney I agree with Don, he only needs to score regularly, and his form will pick up. But right now Owen looks like the bargain of the season. Two months ago, his actual value was negative, whereas now he must easily be worth 9 or 10 million £. And amazing to think that he will also likely be an asssert in terms of shirt sales, judging from the reaction of those asian fans.
And lastly, Berbatov – was he actually that good? I for one will say no, he wasn’t. Ok, actually he was pretty good, but not as good as people here and on other sites are claiming. He just did what he was doing last season, except that now he’s doing it a bit further up the field as there is no Ronaldo to hog the zone, and that makes for perceived improved efficiency.
And even more importantly: Where the hell is Craig
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Berbatov: the Assist-O-Matic
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Is it me or when Nani scores, his team mates are less willing to celebrate with him?
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@NicoQB: They dont wont to get knocked-out!
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Incidentally today was Giggs first hat trick for the club. Easily my favourite player.
I wouldn’t worry too much about Rooney. He always lets himself go during the summer and it takes him longer than most to get back to match fitness and match sharpness.
Lets hope Fergie is serious about playing Rooney in his preferred position. I really admire the way Capello has given Rooney confidence, got him scoring more consistently and got him playing at his best. Fergie needs to do that because we’ve wasted Rooney’s talent for so long.
I like Foster but he gets injured too often and hasn’t got enough games under his belt and we do not have the luxury of grooming him in such an important position. We need a keeper with big game experience at the highest levels of the game to replace EVDS.
We have money in the bank and the big teams aren’t in the market for keepers so we won’t have much competition. So this season or next season I want us to buy big name keeper to replace EVDS.
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The least you can say about Foster it that he has his feets on the ground
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@Dan:
True!!!
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Can’t wait to not miss all the pre-season games. The time difference is annoying and the lack of BBC coverage of the times is bothersome. Maybe the Munich Tourney will make my watching easier…
Pre-season is after all just preseason
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just to touch on the city top 4 issue id have to say that any pretentions the club has of reaching that goal for at least 2 or 3 years are completely unreasonable. They’re building on the basis that money wins matches ala Chelski but what they are forgetting is that Chelsea had a reasonably exciting and sturdy ‘foundation’ team in place long before the takeover and the influx of new talent it brought with it. As good as Ireland was last season and Dunne/Richards can be against United where are their talismanic players, their Lampard/ Coles and Terry’s? Its insane to expect their mercenary squad to gel attall this season, let alone challenge for honours. As for fergie telling it like it is i think its a shame the story is filtering out of news outlets as more of a tirade than a measured and completely fair response to a direct question; this was no Rafa tantrum but we all know cit-eh will perform the mental gymnastics to make it so
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I’ve just had a frightening thought.
the way Owen’s been playing recently, and the understanding he may have developed with Berbatov… Will that mean that Rooney will once again be relegated to play on the wing for important games?
I’ve always been the first to push for Rooney’s central role, but noone expected Owen to fit so well in our system.
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@NicoQB:
It could happen but there are easily enough games to accomodate all these players in their preferred positions, dont let this Tevez business get you thinking Fergie will be dyng to placate benched players with constant game time
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@Elsammio99: Yep, rotation’s the word. But still, I’m thinking of games like a CL semi-final. If Owen manages to replicate the kind of form he’s shown in pre-season throughout the league, I would hate to be in Fergie’s boots when it comes to selecting the starting eleven.
Even though that would be greatly beneficial to us!
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@NicoQB: nooooooooooooooooooooooo to roony on the left thats nanis spot if owen is too good to bench then roony should be the
wait for it … CAM with diamond formation hargo as dm
but i think that owen will be saved probably both owens will be saved for big games to keep them healthy.
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guys there is a rumor going around that we are very interested david silva. here’s what the rags say.
http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/222/transfer-zone/2009/07/26/1403969/manchester-united-revive-interest-in-valencias-david-silva
this is a spanish report (im not spanish i got it from bbc, all i did was put it in google translate to read it)
http://www.marca.com/2009/07/25/futbol/equipos/valencia/1248532820.html
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@Taehr: I call it as I smell it mate.
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@Anthony Los: Rubbish. Did you watch the match against Greentown?
That should give you all the necessary information about whether this target would be needed at OT.
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@NicoQB: The fact that Berbatov is further up the field is major. But, he seems to have more hunger for the ball and to be involved. Last year he was almost trying to avoid being called upon. He is more aggressive by far.
And as for Owen, he has always been a great player when healthy. And the health issue is major because it comes up every season. Last year was a big low for him. Nagging injuries and playing for a poor team with no attack or imagination. The service he is getting so far this exhibition season is more than he received all last season from the inept Newcastle midfield. If he stays healthy he could well exceed Fergie’s prediction but the fact is, injuries will derail him as they always seem to do so. Just wait when he has to play in the hard tackling EPL and gets a few too many lunging tackles on those legs. I have no issue with Owen as a skilled player. It’s Owen and his addiction to hospitals that concerns me.
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@colver: As Rooney gets older his off season bad habits will take longer to recover from and he eventually will break down more and more. His smoking concerns me and there is no excuse for modern day footballers packing on weight in the summer. He needs to dedicate himself to his body and well being, not just his club, or it will eventually catch up to him.
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@frankie: And his head up his ass.
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@Anthony Los: Fuck David Silva. Much ado about nothing. Nani if given a proper chance to play and perform will be just as good. I love Nani and I want the Lil Man to get his chance.
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ACHTUNG ACHTUNG CRAIGMC:
Speaking about Nani Love, where the fuck are you CRAIG? Are you not over your little shit fit? Enough with the vaginal temper tantrum and get your ass back on this blog because you are missed and needed bro. Sorry if I was a major factor in frustrating you with my negativity but what I had to say a few weeks back had to be said and now it’s out of my system.
So stop being a Mangina and get your ass back here because the blog isn’t the same without you. We all crave your wit, humor and banter and above all, the site is in serious need of Nani Love. So enough with the self imposed exile their Napoleon. Your Red Rant nation requires your presence.
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Tosic with a stetson hat = Jake Gyllenhall in Brokeback mountain.
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@Anthony Los: Sorry, I read David Villa! But the comment I wrote still applies!
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@Grognard: Did something happen with Craig?
I was surprised not to read him for the past week or so, and he is indeed very much missed.
Let’s start a Bring-back-Craig-a-thon!
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@Grognard: Maybe he is more aggressive. But had he done the same thing he did tonight against greentown but in lower areas of midfield, people would be slating him for his laziness, his reluctance to run his ass off, and whatmore.
I hope that he sticks to the front of the attack and even gets a bit more selfish. But I really don’t mind when he’s in Assist-O-Matic © mode too!
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Berbatov and owen is a match made in heaven. I have been looking forward to this partnership(much more then a rooney-owen partnership) and its a match made in heaven.
Berba can play the flick on, and thread balls through, because he knows with owen, a proper striker, he’ll get onto the end of them, and most likely score.
With rooney and tevez, its different, they arent and will never be out and out strikers.
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@NicoQB: mate, are you the poster called ‘The Continental’ on RoM?? Cuz that line was exactly the same as on there and posted at the exact same time too
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@Dan: True… I think, based on matches so far, that a Berba/Owen partnership would bear more resemblance to the Berba/Keane one, in which berba shone in at Spurs. Owen is more similar to Keane and he just lives in the box man.
The flicks and touches today from Berba to find Owen and some others were just sublime (although, the chinamen gave him ample space). Fergie seems to have lost that itch which makes him tinker with players’ positions and roles on the pitch. He admits to playing Berb and Roon out of position and forsees them being more fruitful playing further up the pitch, in relation to the Berb and more thru the middle for Rooney. Although, I think a Rooney/Macheda partnership would be dynamite (based on that sublime pass from Rooney for Macheda’s goal 
)
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@Gabriel: Yeah, its me!
Used to post under the same nickname as I do here, but I just love dirty tackle’s impersonation of the Berba! 
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@Dan: @Gabriel: From what I read on Scott’s match thread, apart from that one great ball from Rooney to Kiko, they were’nt exactly on the same wavelength throughout the game.
Early days still, though I’d like to see how the Kiko – Danny tandem fares with the first teamers behind them.
But as of now, Rooney is the odd one out among our strikers, as he has no obvious partner to dovetail with… Maybe Owen as they did play well together in Euro 04 was it?
But let us not give too much thought to these considerations, as I said its still early days and its not like the opposition can be taken as reference material.
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@Gabriel: Here ya go!
The Continental drops by on redrants…
Well hello there.
It seems that you lot have been entranced by the sheer beauty of my Berba-skills. Or was it my mugnificent receding widow’s peak which captured your whole attention? I know the Greentown boys were in awe of it!
It allowed me plenty of time to spread passes here, there and everywhere. HA-ha! You didn’t expect me quoting the beatles, did you?
Anyway, I’m off for now. My cousin Timitar Berbatov has rigged some cctv cameras in the ladies’ rooms in the stadium. Oh! I can just picture the chinese women dying to get lots of Berba-love. Not like the time we went to Bangkok and got duped by the ladyboys.
But that’s another story…
*cough*
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Here’s SAF off manutd.com:
“I also expected the form we’ve seen from Berbatov. Last season was a strange one for him and we maybe didn’t use him in the right way, but we know exactly how to use him now – further up the pitch, playing as a centre forward.”
Seems like the boss is finally realising that one way to get the best out of your payers, is to actually play them in their preferred position!
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@NicoQB:
Yeah, I’ve read one of them posts before… the one where his shirt was half on and he was lounging on some hay 
… hilarious picture followed by an even more hilarious post. 
… Well hello there… classic!!! 
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So off we go! I dont think todays game was so much of a real “game”, the opposition were worse than the 11 year olds I know around here. I bet they wouldve done better. Evra hit the post twice, Andy hit the post, and Rooney came close a few times. It was more of a target shooting practice, which I think is vital for this team. Good to see Owen scoring again, he seems lethal!
Nani played well, hope that does wonders for his confidence.
Oh, and Berba was fucking immense!!!
More of these kinds of performances and he will be a favorite in my book. But he still has a long way to go! 
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Where is Craig? I see Grog has retuned, but I havent seen Craig in a long while. And just when Nani is performing so great… COME BACK CRAIG!!!
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@Grognard: What happend?
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@Gabriel:
@Footy4Eddy: I don’t know really. Apparently there have been some words exchanged between him and Grognard…Redranter should start a new thread entitled COME BACK CRAIG!
Just to make sure it gets his attention. Or something including Nani.
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@NicoQB: Yes. He got pissed off with the negative tone of mine and others rants a few weeks back and basically said he was taking a walk. I don’t think it was permanent but I do think it was rash. He needs to remember the times he was pretty angry and abrasive towards others in his “I will be Nani’s champion” days when one little negative about Nani would start a firestorm. That’s what’s so lovable about the old lug. ‘m afraid living in Toon Town has softened him up a bit and made him lose his passion for a good fight. That and impending fatherhood. I hope he comes back soon as he is the Ying to my Yang.
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