Dec 18
Gamba Osaka v Man Utd: Match Thread
It’s the semi-finals of the World Club Championship — a tournament, despite my being happy if we lift the cup, I couldn’t care less about.
To me, it’s a big distraction with an already crowded league schedule. The timing is most ill-advised with a jam packed Christmas schedule, and we are still playing catch up in the league despite slip ups by Chelsea and Liverpool.
But more on the scheduling at a later time. Now for the game at hand.
Japan based club, Gamba Osaka take on United in front of their home based fans. So they will be looking to give their all against our blow hot, blow cold lineup.
Fergie has been sounding about how great being World Club Champions can be. But really I hope he’s more concerned about our prospects in the league than Sepp Blatter’s pet project. Neville, Scholes and Giggs might play today. I’d rather have them play here than in the league at the moment — particularly Gary Neville.
Berbatov seems to be laid low with a mysterious Japanese virus, so Tevez and Rooney should resume their partnership. Rio and Vidic should keep their place at the heart of United’s defence while the rest of the team will be picked by Fergie’s whim and fancy — as has been the case throughout this season.
Predictions: 2-0 to United. I think we are just too strong for them, but I have been wrong many times.
Over to you. Take it away.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Man Utd v QPR: Preview
- Mourinho’s Inter, Liga de Quito and proof that Berbatov can be happy
- Derby Man Utd: Live!
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
I have no idea. Getting up at six thirty am to go to the blasted place is always annoying, but when it cuts across my (and our) beloved United, its downright unbearable.
Like?
0 
0
This is largely due to corporate strategy. Man Utd has really huge and strong fan base in the world than any other of the english clubs.
Who cares about losing once or twice to the scousers as long as the corporate top dogs pocket the money.
Like?
0 
0
and heroes will lose first before they wake up , emerge from near-sleeping and chase everyone with their tail between their legs.
Like?
0 
0
After the game I have to say Gamba Osaka put teams like Sunderland, Bolton et al to shame
@RedDevilEddy: Yeah I like that he’s scoring more goals this season, he carried the entire defense today cus it looked like Rio left his defensive brain back at OT. Maybe Vidic and Evans on Sunday if Rio is still suffering from jet- lag.
And also FINALLY, our corners reach some heads in the box, even if they were against Asian players who are generally smaller in stature to English and Europeans.
Like?
0 
0
Grognard,look at it from the small teams perspective…if they attack us they get thrashed 5-0. If they close up they might get 0-0 or lose only 1 or 2-0. They don’t have players to try to play against us. If I was a manager of stoke or Sunderland I would play 11-0 against United. I would never want my team to get embarrassed like they would if they opened up. It sucks but that the gap that exists in the prem these days and United just have to adapt.It makes for poor football but the small teams don’t give a shit at all. They’re fighting to survive!!
Tevez was FANTASTIC today. Thats the best game hes played alone upfront I think.. Rooneys finishing was clinical,he took the shots very early for once
Like?
0 
0
Yeh our corners need to be improved. We lose 10-15 a season with terrible deliveries. Vidic meet the ball if its there. When Giggs takes so many times it fails to beat the first man or hits a chip that makes it easy for defenders…Rooney has more or less the same problem. Nani is Ok but inconsistent.If we could get better deliveries(because thats the problem) we could rely on corners to bail us out in tight games… Because Vidic and Ronaldo are fantasic in the box
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: Everything you say about Vida I know you are right mate
.
Like?
0 
0
@Taehr: You are right. Against Spurs Park took our corners!
The players that takes corners for us are usually Nani, Rooney, Giggs, Ronaldo or Tevez. Nani doesnt play that often, so he should not take them as you need the sam player to take the corners in most games, so you can predict where the ball will end up. And Giggs is incredibly inconsitent. His corners can be good, but they rarely are. When he hits them well, we usually score. But most of teh time its either too long or too short. Rooent does well, I would like him to take our corners. But most of all I think Carrick should take our corners. A corner-kick taker should have an accurate foot, curl and power on crosses. Carricks got all that. And Ronaldo should always stay in teh box as his heading skills are one of a kind. With Vidic, Rio, Ronaldo and Berba in the box, we should score more. But I see that sometimes Andy, Rooney and Nani are in tehre. Why? Really, the suck in the air! Make Carrick adn Rooney take our corners from now on and we will probably score more.
Like?
0 
0
Well, I havent seen the game. BUt from what I hear it was entertaining and United played like we know they can. In periods… Probably because of Jet lag, which should be fine by Sunday. We have 5 days to prepare for the Stoke game after Sunday, so it should be alright. Hopefully Fergie will give Anderson, Rio, Ronaldo and Rooney a rest. Maybe not the whole game, but at least half an hour. We need them to be fit for Friday.
Now, Ive seen the goals and I am confused about our corners. We havent scored on a corner in 74 attemts now, but suddely we score 2 in a row. Our last corner goal was scored by Vidic, against Hull and we scored with a Ronaldo header as well that day. Wierd… Well, Rooney got two goals and Ronaldo scored again. Long time since Ive seen him do that. Was it Stoke or West Ham? Well, the goals scored by the two R`s should give them confidence. And we all know that when Rooney scores goals, he doesnt stop until he gets an injury. So advice for Wayne: Keep fit!!! And Ronaldos goal will help him a lot. He needed a goal, and my God did he need it bad. This should help im get back to his old(winter 2007) form. He usually hits top form during Christmas, so I guess its time. Well done R`s!
Cant say too much about the game because I didnt watch it, but I know I am dissapointed we conceded 3. Bummer! We should never concede 3 goals in a game, and definately not with a back 5 of Neville, Rio, Vida, Evra and Edwin! Heard Neville made a mistake for the penalty, but it doesnt surprise me. i am sorry to say, but I realy feel his time is up. He should retire and be remembered as the legend he is, and not headless chicken we see these days. Sort it out Gaz! For your own good.
Hopefully we can win this trophy. I know it might be wierd to be crowned Champions of teh world because you beat team like Osake and LDS, but it feels nice to say:
Champions of Manchester!
Champions of England!
Champions of Europe!
Champions of the world! What is next? Solarsystem Champions? Universal Champions?
Well, this win will do us good. Now lets claim that League.
BTW; Champions League draw is tomorrow at 11:00 AM UK time. I hope we draw Real. Then Fergie and Ronaldo will show who is the biggest club.
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: Ooooowww! Now you made me wanna die to watch the game!
Why do you write so good match reviews? Brilliant mate, luved it. I think I should put up a list of teams playing the style of play we want to see in the Prem:
Games like the ones against Hull, Blackburn, Roma(2007) and today are what footabll is all about. Too bad other teams cant see that.
Hull City
Stoke
Blackburn
Boro
Chelski this season
That is 5 out of 19 teams. Even Arsenal, Villa, Everton and Spurs defended with 10 men behind the ball at their place. Discusts me!
Like?
0 
0
Shitty are losing 3-1
Spurs are drawing 2-2
United won 5-3
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: Control yourself mate. Goals do not make a great defender. And if you go back and look at the game you will find he was severely to blame for his lacks marking on the third Gamba goal.
Still, got to love Vida.
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: Thanks mate. Classic stuff from Fergie and dead on. Real Madrid is the Anti-Christ of football and FIFA let them get away with this shit. It’s yet another reason to hate the modern game. Slimy politics and dirty tactics and they suck on the pitch too.
Like?
0 
0
eh groggy, your tune has certainly changed! last season you didnt think andy had a chance at united, now you cant get enough of the guy!
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: Don’t worry about the moderation stuff. As RR said, it’s a glitch in the system and it isn’t easy to fix for him right now. Just ignore it.
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: Grog, I’ve got to admit that mi man Nani is seemingly going backwards. Like you Bro, I just don’t understand it. Last season he was getting balls into the box, and made many assists. This season, he is slower, and seems to halt between two opinions. He wants more time on the ball, instead of looking for the quick pass, sooooooooooooooooooo – he doesn’t deserve to play before others at the moment. I feel for the lad, because why are the coaches not picking his deficiences up and improving his game. I know that he is one of the ones who stays behing seeking to improve his game, with Ronnie and Andie. You know Grog, I have to ask myself what is going on with our latin lads this year, because none of them, Ronnie, Andie, Tev or Nani are performing as they were for us last year. I am left scratching my head Bro, but I think it has something to do with no Carlos Quiroz and some sort of disenchantment at not being more often in the first team. I will say this though Grog, surely we need a midfield that as you say, is able to dominate, but more so to be able to be more artistic in getting the ball and looking to send it FORWARD. I hate all this back passing and sideways passing, until in the end, we cannot go forward and break thru the opposition if our lives depended on it. I hate the continental type football that Fergie has installed. It used to only be used in CL, but now its every week in PL too, and we have become another Chelsea in disguise. Sorry but that is how it seems for me right now. I hate the present style we are using.
Like?
0 
0
@Rd: Very well said. If teams showed that kind ambition and heart and actually attempted to play the game properly, then the game in general would be in better shape and even more popular than it is. Do you think that if this economic recession continues that people will come out to see crap football? The EPL and other leagues that perpetrate the lie and promote cynical, dirty and depressingly oppressive football will suffer the hammer blow from God. The game needs to return to it’s roots and leave the dirty tricks, negative technical styles and greed behind if it plans to continue to grow.
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: Will do.
BTW. Ended in 3rd place for FIFA 09 competition of the month. This is the second competition, and I ended in 2nd place on the first one. First was a magic goal from Berba, second was Ronaldo toying with Arsenal defense. Im proud of my achievements. Im going for top spot next time, with Nani rabona to Rooney overhead kick and Anderson corner goal. I hope I have a shot.
About Vida, like I said I didnt watch tehg ame or Osokas goals, so its hard for me to say how he played today. All I know is that Vidic has scored 4 goals this season, and that is 4x better than last season when he only scored against Everton. Winning goal though. And I said that goals wasnt top priority for defenders, but its nice to see that some from Uniteds back line chip in with some goals during the season.
Like?
0 
0
@Taehr: Well I guess we are lucky that you don’t manage any of those teams because it is cowardly attitudes like that which has ruined the game. Now before you get upset I don’t think you are a coward. But that kind of football that you are supporting is cowardly and it’s the antithesis of what the game is all about and what it represents. The result has become so important that crappy teams actually find pride in holding a team to 0-0 tie while having given up 20 shots on goal and had none themselves. WOW! Yes that is a proud display isn’t it? It’s rubbish and it’s disgusting and criminal. Gamba came out and played football. All the credit to them. With some luck, they might have even beaten us. They missed some great opportunities and EVDS made some world class saves. Had Fletcher hit the post instead of scored and had Rooney’s shot gone wide, who knows what the result would have been. The game is a bout skill but it’s also about luck and inches. You go out and play to win by outscoring your opponent. If you are a minnow, you have nothing to lose so you might as well let it all hang out and go for it. Trust me when I say that Sunderland shamed themselves a lot more with that disgusting and putrid 0-1 display than had they gone out and lost 2-5. And the fact that you and so many others don’t get that is what contributes to the negative mentality in today’s game. Too many are more than willing to settle for a 0-0 result over 3-4 loss. And for all of them I have nothing but sympathy. There is no accounting some people’s bad taste.
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: “The result has become so important that crappy teams actually find pride in holding a team to 0-0 tie while having given up 20 shots on goal and had none themselves. WOW! Yes that is a proud display isn’t it?”
Tell me about it!
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: And I wasn’t even negative too. AMAZING!
The game I would ask people to watch if they had or still could (through streaming) would be last weeks Bayern vs Hoffenheim match. Truly one of the best matches I have seen in years and I loved the pace, attacking ambition of both sides and the physicality. Two teams fighting for first and playing the game at full speed and full emotions. It was top caliber stuff and masterpiece of a game. People in Germany are still talking about the game. If only all the slug managers who coach teams in England would watch that game, perhaps then they would realize that what they serve up to their fans every week is worse than scouse or shit on a stick.
Perhaps then they would wake up and feel the shame they need to experience before anything is done to change the look and feel of the declining English game. Take the Big Four out of the equation and i personally feel that England isn’t as strong as the Swiss or Belgian leagues. Rubbish players and rubbish tactics lead to rubbish football. Congratulations to all those teams and the infinite wisdom of the English FA for producing such an exciting and highly entertaining product……..NOT
Like?
0 
0
@dan(u-ol): And what’s wrong with that mate? Last year he didn’t belong. Hell for 13 games this season he didn’t belong but he has made major strides ever since that Blackburn game and now he looks like a player who has confidence and courage to try to make things happen. He is getting more scoring chances and eventually he will score but his passing has been great as well as his attacking forward runs. I am happy to say that perhaps I was wrong about the boy. But he still has to prove that he can maintain his consistency and improve his play as well as his stamina.
Like?
0 
0
@Craig Mc: we’re CQles, thats what! phelan out! CQ in!
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: thats exactly what i saw in him when he came to united. the media and youtube sold us a different side to his play, but when he came to united, from his very first match i knew what he was about, extremely accurate passes, and energy
Like?
0 
0
@Craig Mc: I have answer for you regarding our Latin contingent. Carlos Quieroz. Simple as that. It’s got everything to do with communication and culture and he was able to get into their heads, calm them down and build confidence. I said before the season started that if the club continued to pursue Latin speaking players that it was vital that the next #2 should be like Queiroz, a man of Latin roots. Instead Fergie hires a muppet who as far as I am concerned has done a poor job communicating with all his players and has had no positive influence on our Latin boys. Good question, why if Nani is continually making the same mistakes is he not taken aside on the practice pitch and drilled on how to react to certain situations? Simply put, Fergie is too busy and Phelan is muppet of Elmo proportions.
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: Yeeeeyyy! Finally, my hard work has paid off!
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: Yeeeey! Finally, my hard work to try to convince you about whta this boy is about has paid off!
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: What’s really sad is that Rio, Evans and Vida are much better in the ir than our strikers are.
Like?
0 
0
Grognard… I didnt say I support that kind of football, I hate it because lets face it it makes our life much harder but I can understand that when youre a team like that,and fighting for survival in the relegation zone the result is the single most important thing. They dont care about pride or showing attacking ambition because at the end of the day pride wont help you stay up will it?
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: Hold on there. WOA! I am warmingover to the boy but I am not yet completely sold. Consistency, goals and more improvement in his finesse game is what I need to see. He also needs to prove to me that he can go 90 minutes. Right now I’d still take a van der Vaart or some other smooth and offensive minded midfielder over him. But, he is definitely warming the cockles of my heart more these days.
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: Well, Vidic is the best in the Prem in the air! And then comes Ronaldo, then Rio. But I think hte reason we dont have any good headers in our striker departement is because we play with two AMs instead of two wingers. Ronaldo is an RAM and Nani/Park and LAM. That does that our wingers cut inside, and thereofr dont need to cross. I think we should get a good header of the ball up front, maybe Amauri or Owen. But I dunno where that leaves Ronaldo… Anybody else think he should be transformed into a striker if we buy 1-3 new wingers?
He is brilliant in the air.
Like?
0 
0
I wish Anderson would try and dribble a bit more though because he just doesnt get hassled of the ball…hes done it a few times but not enough and I think he is one of our quickest players so…Welbeck should have got a chance today!
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: I didnt say you were sold. I am just happy you see the talent this boy has. Finally!
Me and Dan and others have been saying what kind of player Andy is for some time now, but you didnt see it before the Rovers game. Me myself knows he has things to improve, but I am happy you finally see the strong footballing sides of this young Brasilian called Anderson Abreu de Luis Oliveira. 
Like?
0 
0
@Taehr: Yeah. I remember some runs by him against Villa and Liverpool last season. Had it not been for Stevie Me, he might have scored his first goal for us at Anfield. He has a really good forward-minded style to his game, and he is a brilliant dribbler. He doesnt do it as much as he did before, but if he did he might have gotten more assist, hell maybe even a goal or two. I hope he scores soon, been waiting a long time.
Like?
0 
0
@Taehr: Our fastest players:
1. Evra
2. Ronaldo
3. Anderson
4. Rafael
Yeah, he is one of the fastest. Maybe Welbeck comes after Rafael, but if we count Campbell as a United player, he defo is in the top 5. Remember his chance vs Pompey in January? Showed everything about him! Forward-minded, good ball control, brilliant turn of speed, fast, good acceleration, bad finishing…
Like?
0 
0
@Taehr: And that’s a problem isn’t it. This fight to stay up is purely financial in intent. That’s a very corrupting influence on the game and the whole system has to be dismantled and restructured. Many love the idea of promotion and demotion. I for one have never been a fan of it and that may have to do that I am Canadian and that no North American sports league is structured that way. Instead we have a playoff system at the end of a season that crowns champions instead of a separate cup competition. Why punish a loser even more than they have already punished themselves? Demotion isn’t the answer. Personally speaking the Premier League should consist of the twenty financially and historically strongest sides in the English game. Hell, I’d go one further. I’d reduce the number of teams to 16. I personally don’t feel it’s every English team’s right to fight for a place in the Premier League. Let the bottom 3 or 4 leagues operate like that. To keep some form of fairness, demote one team and one team only. That would ensure that only the champion of the Coca Cola League would be promoted. Frankly, they are the only one who deserves to come up. This would release many bottom feeding sides form having to play negative football to stay alive. I seriously doubt 10 teams would be playing like that in order to survive when only one position for demotion is at stake. And lets face it, at least ten teams in the EPL play shite football that promotes this brand of garbage.
Also, the point structure needs to be changed to promote winning games and scoring goals. 4 points for a win, 1 for a tie and 1 point for every goal scored. Add to this subtracting a point for every 0-0 tie from both sides and I think you would solve the problem. Football is part of the entertainment business. It’s high time they woke up and realized that. And if more English fans went to a game sober, perhaps then they would realize that they were witnessing a colossal ripoff and bucket full of shit being served up to them. The game is severely broken and it needs to be fixed. FIFA and the FA need a revisionist in charge and not the corporate lackey’s that are there now. Empty suits with empty heads.
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: The best player in the air in the EPL and perhaps all of football is one Michael Ballack. And as much as I hate him, John Terry is also excellent in the air in the attacking zone.
That hurt writing that, believe me.
Like?
0 
0
On a side note, Frazier Campbell looked pretty dangerous today for Spurs. Personally that boy needs to play more because his hustle and instinct makes things happen.
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: I understand.
Its difficult to say Chelski players are better than us at something. Thankfully its only a few things. We are better than them in most areas and aspects. 
Even though, I think Vidic is better than Terry in the air.
Like?
0 
0
Honest question that I want to get many answers for: Who do you hope we meet in the 1/8 finals in the Champions League? The draw is tomorrow at 11:00 am UK time, and we can face Inter, Real Madrid, Sporting, Lyon or Atletico Madrid. Me myself, hope we draw Real Madrid. Of every team in the world, I ahte them the most. Their supporters, their players(Heinze, Ruud, Guti…), tehir staff adn most of all tehir president. Fuck tehm all. I wanna beat them so bad! Hope we face in February
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: Ronaldo is without question the fastest player on our team. I read during the offseason that he is the fastest player in the premiership, even faster than Walcott.
Like?
0 
0
@johnsom33: Evra is faster than Ronaldo. And Agbonlahor is the fastest in the Prem. Without ball for everyone. With the ball, Ronaldo is fastest.
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: To be honest, no matter how awful Real Madrid are right now, I still think they’ll raise their game against us. As for me, screw RM and their shite spewing ways, I’d rather we get a team that I can be confident we can beat, so I’ll be hoping for Sporting
@dan(u-ol):@Craig Mc: But it doesn’t seem to be affecting Anderson who seems to have even grown more as a player than when CQ was here. Nothing against Nani, but why doesn’t anyone ever blame NANI for his own lack of form, maybe he’s not as good as we thought or he might be having the SS syndrome. Nani’s lack of form is being blamed on Fergie, CQ’s departure, the coaching staff, Phelan, but never Nani?
Like?
0 
0
@Rd: You saying that the coaches are not responsible for doing their job then, and seeking to understand what is wrong in players games, and looking to resolve the situations?. Why the hell do we need to pay a load of money for coaching staff then Bro?.
I don’t agree with most on here who are speaking of an Anderson improvement – sorry lads. I still don’t think he is contributing much to our game, he is very impotent in the final third. But then so are all our strikers, unless we are playing against another team of hobbits as we were today
. I am definately not completely sold on Andie yet, not by far.
I didn’t say Nani had to shoulder no blame for his loss of form, but I think his problem is FAR, far worse than just loss of form mate. He IS going backwards at our club, and I do think he needs to move to where he will get regular football and good coaching and attention paid to the flaws in his game. That’s just my thought anyway Bro.
Like?
0 
0
@Craig Mc: As much as we can blame the loss of Queiroz and the hiring of Muppet Phelan, Nani himself has to take some of the blame for his poor play. He comes across as aloof and angry every time you see him on camera. Some players just aren’t very coachable and some need to be coached by specific types of people for the best to come out in them. I hate to say it, but I think Nani is a memory come the start of next season. I think he will go back to Portugal or to Spain.
And as for Tosic, fuck him, Ribery said he would be open to talking to Man City and so if that’s so, then Manchester United should not hesitate and try to buy this player come this Summer. The missing Neville brother is just what this team needs and if Fergie doesn’t try for him and allows lesser teams like Man Shitty to grab him, then United has totally gone to the birds.
Like?
0 
0
I had to watch the match this evening, so I am a bit late getting in on the discussion. My thoughts are as follows:
-Nani is, as I’ve said repeatedly, a blackhole. A complete and utter detriment to the side every time he steps on the pitch this season. He absolutely refuses to make a pass shorter than 20 meters. I simply don’t know where he gets his ego from. You’d think by the ambition of his game that he was the reigning Ballon D’or winner. Simply not the case. All this talk of his unlimited potential is funny because his game is simply that: potential. He sees things in the same manner of most great wingers, but he executes his ideas like he should be playing for Blackburn Rovers. He is the new Kieran Richardson. All ambition, zero results.
-Anderson. You Nani-Anderson folks took a real beating today. I simply don’t understand what kind of an impact he had on the match today besides serving as a pacemaker for the side. He seemingly never entered the box–Fletcher made more positive runs in his 20 minutes than Anderson did in the full 90. I understand that he was in the holding position–at least I hope he was or else he’s just fat–so I forgive him for not getting forward with much regularity. But, man, score a goal, get an assist, make a crunching tackle, make an incisive through ball, HAVE AN IMPACT. In fact, the Anderson-Fletcher midfield pairing was completely irrelevant in the first half. The play simply went around them. They weren’t very aggressive pressuring the ball. They weren’t involved going forward. I don’t understand what their function was aside from retaining possession. Surely against a side like Gamba we could have been so brazen as to embark on a five man attack in the first half. But we couldn’t because Anderson isn’t fit enough to double back and Scholes can’t tackle. Can’t go forward with them, can’t go backward. Hilarious.
-Defense. We won’t be able to play in the manner we did this evening against better competition. I’m not even speaking of Neville’s handball or the Evans-Ferdinand blunder that left a giant passageway through the middle of our defense. We played about as narrow as a back four could possibly play. There were balls played 4 yards inside the right side of the 18 yd box that were too wide for Evra to recover to. I would imagine that all four defenders could have reached out and touched each other at all times. They were like a mobile wall. When we play teams that can play with better width we will not be able to play in that style. Ronaldo, to his credit, did a nice job of recovering to help Neville out, but usually our wingers are not all that dependable on the defensive end. Plus, it simply asks too much of them to be involved in every attack and then retreat to cover the flanks on defense. All this while we field a defensive pairing with dubious responsibilities that provide such weak cover that our back four is forced to play in unison, all holding hands a meter apart from each other.
Ronaldo. Brilliant. All the people who doubted his spirit would have to reconsider after tonight’s match. He was positive, generous and dangerous in his play. He recovered well on defense and was very close to a hat trick. Most importantly, he looked like he had a great deal of fun today. Maybe the reason he so often fancies a transfer has nothing to do with Manchester United but simply with the cynical play that predominates England. He was in his element in a match such as this. He was more inclined to support defensively because he knew that regaining possession in the middle of the pitch would necessarily lead to opportunities. Not so in the EPL, where everyone seems to pack the whole team in their own half of the pitch and use 1 or 2 players to counter attack. It makes sense to me now. His style of play is simply better suited for more wide-open matches. If he wants to move to Spain or Italy to pursue a league more compatible with his talents then I can understand his desires. Not suggesting I want him to leave, just that I can understand his fascination with the opportunities abroad.
-Rooney. Complete class. Everything you want from him. Great runs, great finishes. Simply brilliant. Although that kicking incident was unnecessary and inexcusable. I don’t know what you can do about this. The lad is poorly wired to compose himself at times.
-Neville. Ouch.
-Vidic. My favorite player in the side every time he steps on the pitch. A joy to watch. Great spirit, great drive, great play. A true professional.
Ferdinand. Not his brightest day. Seemed a little jet lagged in his mind, if not his body. He and Evans clearly weren’t on the same page, but Ferdinand should have provided better support when Evans went out to cover for Evra. Considering how narrow our back four was playing today, why it was that Ferdinand allowed a gap of 10 meters to grow between he and Evans was beyond me.
-Tevez. Eh. 6/10. Middle of the road. So-so. Neither up or down. Left no impression on me or the match.
-Fletcher. A great day for one of my favorite midfielders. Always happy to see the lad take advantage of the minutes provided. The definition of a squad player and I mean that in the most complimentary light.
Like?
0 
0
This boggled my mind: Dimitar Berbatov leads all Manchester United attacking players in the Actim Index.
Like?
0 
0
@Patrick: Interesting review. I agree with a lot of what you said but I have to disagree with your comments on Anderson. Before you showed up on this blog I was one of the loudest critics of Anderson but in the past month the lad has turned it up a notch. In fact he is the only one moving forward making a through ball pass or entering the box. Hell if he could jump and head he would have had a sitter in this game. He has holes in his game but he also offers energy and moments of class. He needs to work on his finesse, his composure in the box and his stamina but I think those will come. He will never be the goal scorer we all would like but then again, we can’t have everything.
I wouldn’t worry to much about how the defense played. This game was a match played after a long flight to Japan. Even Ronaldo admitted that the squad suffered from jet lag in the second half. Ronaldo was class tonight and yes you are correct, he looked like he had fun tonight. He was playing against a team that wanted to play football instead of rubgy. It must have been a pleasure and a major relief for him to play a game in front of fans that appreciated and love him as well, he must have thought it was a dream to play 90 minutes in which nobody tried to cripple him.
I am sick and tired of the destructive brand of football being displayed in the EPL and especially what it is doing to the stars of the league. Ronaldo already missed a lot of time. Torres has been out for a long time, Drogba (although he deserves it) has missed time, Ballack, and a cast of many have been constantly cut down this season by poor tackles intended to do nothing else but injure. And the FA does nothing. Instead, they give Patrice Evra a four game ban for something so ridiculous that it’s not even worth talking about.
Hopefully the team will carry the momentum of this win into the final and win it convincingly. I do worry about the jet lag issue and what ramifications this trip is going to have on our title aspirations. Many teams from the past have struggled upon returning from this tournament. Hopefully United’s depth will help us survive this.
Like?
0 
0
@Patrick: It shouldn’t really. Other than the obvious lack of goals, he has done everything that has been asked of him. The problem is what is being asked of him is taking him out of his natural game. Although I am not a Zlatan Ibrahimovich fan, Berbatov does remind me of him. There style is similar and quite often they look like they aren’t doing much, but just when you least expect it, they surprise you. In Count Berbatov’s case he just jumps out and bites you with a great moment of genius or a visionary pass or turn and shot. We need to see him playing deeper in the future if we are going to see more goals from him. United’s style of play, especially against defend at all cost teams is really hampering his expressive style. For one who is considered impatient, I have more than enough patience for the Count. He is class in my books.
Like?
0 
0
@Patrick: Agree with your Anderson comments. Didnt see him make that much of an impact. Agreed that the ground was slippery and wet, but in that case should he adjust his game to pass the ball properly?
Neville was bad. His throw ins found more Gamba players than Uniteds. There was a hand ball initially which the ref miraculously refused to acknowledge. Nani was poor. His passing was bad. Rio had at one point passed to a Gamba player which almost resulted in a goal. What stopped him? EVDS. Now, I think Rio will be rested for Sunday’s match.
Patrick, I didnt find Ronaldo’s free kicking abilities becoming any better today. I simply cannot understand what the problem is, he took two in the first half and both of them were poor, both of them straight to the keeper, the first one lacked venom too. Giggs was only lucky to have sent in those corners. But that apart, I think he had a decent game.
Like?
0 
0