Apr 04
How’s the latest episode of the Ronaldo-Madrid soap opera an ‘exclusive’?
Give me an effin’ break! Or could I be really missing something? The Guardian have gone to great lengths to splash ‘Cristiano Ronaldo ready to leave for Real Madrid in £75m transfer’ across their site and yet, nothing in the articles printed carry any facts to back their claim (that this tale is an exclusive).
I am not saying that Ronaldo won’t go to Madrid; I couldn’t be arsed, to be honest. But what makes me really mad is the three articles dedicated to this scoop, the paper wants us to believe, has nothing by way of quotes or new developments, that actually makes this a story.
I tried my best. Was there a quote from Ronaldo? No. Was there something from the manager? No. But then, they would obviously deny this for the sake of our season. So I looked for quotes from the other side. Shockingly, even Mr Rent-a-quote Calderon hadn’t said anything here. Saying ‘it is widely understood’ can even be pulled from my substantial arse, and hence, does not cut it as an exclusive. I don’t care if Ronaldo stays or leaves, but, puh-leease, don’t regurgitate four month old quotes and sell it to me as an exclusive story.
I’m done with my say on this. Soon you’ll see Newsnow, inundated with headlines screaming ‘Ronaldo to Madrid – Done Deal’. I can’t give a hyena’s bottom debating whether he should stay or leave. That ship has long sailed for me, but it takes a few hacks recycling crap like this for me to start seriously considering the value of my existence in this world.
PS: Preview will be up later in the day. Oh, and now that it is out of my system, let’s cheer the end of the international break.
Related items from Red Rants:
- So How Does One Define Tapping Up?
- Interview with Phillippe Auclair
- Wayne Rooney Interviews Capello
- Breaking News: United accept 80m Ronaldo bid
- Episode 14 – CanTheyScore – Man Utd Podcast
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Vivek: It’s the Italian part I’m having trouble with.
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Ditto commnt 199. Ive never jumped and screamed that much since Moscow. My Easter break just got soooooo much better.
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Just got home from OT. 3-2, not bad for my first United game
I was sat in the third row, about half way between the half-way line and the Stretford End (by the tunnel). Got to see Macheda’s goal close up and it was fucking exceptional then and having seen it on the telly since i got home and i hadn’t realized just how skilled a finish it was.
As for the game, we played poorly for the majority, but we pulled it together when it mattered and won the match with a piece of quality. I have taken a lot of heart from the game, the general consensus from the fans as they filtered out of the stadium was that although we played poorly, the fact we won means that we’ve got the two losses out of our system..
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@Craig Mc: You know mate, I was thinking the very same thing about Rio. He needs to get his mother fucking (sorry for the language but I’m pissed) priorities sorted out and quickly. To Hell with England when it comes to compromising the future of Man Utd. Rio really showed me little in terms of loyalty and knowing what is most important. For me that is not the traits of a leader and captain. Here’s a clue Rio, always choose the one that pays you first, you mental bag of marbles.
And don’t even get me started on Rooney. Fergie should bench him for another 5 games as far as I’m concerned.
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@NicoQB: Some of the greatest players in history can be invisible for 88 minutes of a game but then come one or two moments of magic that turn a game and make their legend even stronger.
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@Grognard: I didnt follow the exchanges you had with Johnsom, else I sure would’ve been one of the more vocal suppoters of Kiko. I’ve been doin it on manunitedyouth not just here.
Good analysis, but I have to disagree on some points. No way Villa parked the bus. They played on their strength as they already identified the weakness of our back 4 with Fergie committing the suicidal move of putting Neville as centre back. And Ashley Young and Carew murdered him. I’m more miffed towards Fergie than Neville really, as I was already 100% sure that Neville could NOT play at CB and wondered how Fergie could not see it.
As for feeling sorry for Tevez, I agree that he has some redeeming factors playing for him, but this should not hide the fact that in around 20 minutes, not only Macheda was more involved in than him in the 20 yard box; but Welbeck also had a very good attempt saved by Friedel. I’m personally tired of the TEvez brigade praising how he’s done brilliantly to win back a ball he’s lost when he doesn’t get strikes on target or create opportunities for others. I’ve said it Tevez right now looks like a Defensive Midfieder in attack.
Will Macheda stay? Guiseppe Rossi rightly emphasized how he moved from Italy to get playing time. Italian teams are known to be reluctant to give 17-18 year olds playing time, so I see no reason for him to move immediately.
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@Nick: Not bad at all mate! Ive been to two, and I envy you!
Was Anyone else jumping about like lunatics when Kiko scored?
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@Grognard: Oh, I’m not slating him, his talent or his importance to the team. But clearly in no way way is he as committed just like he was playing during his footballing peak last season, not only scoring but murdering the opposition with runs and delivering the odd assist. That’s what I meant.
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@Madschester United: What are you, the fucking law or Homeland Security? We have to adhere to the rules of Madchester United? Waaaaaaa!
Cry my a frakken river. Of course you love Ronaldo, you are whining and crying just like him now.
Hey pal, I’ve got news for you. This a RANT site. So let us fucking rant without your personal digs at everyone who doesn’t play by your rules. We are all individuals and we all have a right to express ourselves in the way that best suits us. So stop being the thought policeman, mind your own business and talk about your views on players and the game and let us all do the same without your personal indignations bringing us down.
Either that or start your own United or Die police blog suited for the fascist control freaks of the world.
And you wouldn’t like seeing my body language right now…….
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@Madschester United: Yipppeee for you.
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@NicoQB: You said it mate. Some people need to be told off for their United fascist groove thang.
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@Dan: You know I was just thinking somebody would curse us with a version of that.
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@NicoQB: They parked the bus in the last twenty minutes and extra time. Before that, they were full value for their effort and play. And as for Tevez, again I point out his travel and change in altitude would normally have floored a bull. I was shocked that he last 45 minutes yet almost the full game regardless of the chances he had. Remember, he got really crappy service all game long. He worked very hard and that does deserve kudos under the circumstances.
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@Grognard: Mate, easy on the fascist allegations. He hasn’t made personal attacks here.
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Today was a classical illustration that this season when teams have a real go at us they can dominate the game. We are very lightweight especially in midfield. You can blame the makeshift defence and yeah it was appaling but there was no protection at all from midfield. Our game was also very narrow-not entirely surprising when we only had one striker who was around 5 foot nothing but we never really tested their fullbacks. But then this season a lot of our play has been through the middle and that is quite easy for teams to defend against.
Still we got through it. It was definitely a wonder goal from Macheda. But it was Ronaldo who got us back in the game. After that goal we got the self-belief to go for the win while Villa decided to play for the draw. With a defence like that I could tell we needed to score three to win the game and Ronaldo provided two of them.
If Ronaldo does leave at the end of the season we are crying out for a natural goalscorer. Macheda looks like three years along the line he could be that. I just pray we give him enough first team opportunities to develop
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Actually that is a good point about O’Neill. I read somewhere that the problem with promoting guys like O’Neill and Moyes to big clubs is they still have the mentality to avoid losing ingrained in them. Actually Benitez has that himself and that is one of the reasons he’s never achieved anything in the League with Liverpool.
The main reason I want Mourinho to replace Fergie is that Mourinho is a winner. He made Chelsea invincible for much of his rein and while I don’t like the way he made them play, they always played for the win.
Today although we were outclassed for most of the game we never lost the will to win and despite the poor performance we can take real heart from the way in which we won. We didn’t lose our heads like we did in the Fulham game, we just dug deep, took advantage of Villa’s passivity and won the game.
We are playing poorly this season. But so long as we retain the desire to win we can still go all the way. Just like we did in 1999 when we came from behind against Juve and Bayern to win it!
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Sorry to post yet again but my thoughts are dispersed today.
I think a huge reason for our blip was that early in the season we relied too much on our defence and assumed that because we wouldn’t concede all that was required was to score one goal.
Therefore the moment our defence started to leak goals we were screwed because we’d forgotten how to come from behind and win games. Essentially we rolled over like in the Liverpool game and in the Fulham game we just lost our head because we couldn’t deal with going behind.
We are going to concede more goals this season. Defensive injuries, tiredness, lapses in concentration will all accumulate. So we need to invoke the never say die attitude we used to be renowned for and score more goals than the opposition.
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@Craig Mc: Sorry Bro but i dont agree with your sentiments about Rooney at all. He is and has been one of our best players, so i really cant understand the animosity. He got unfairly sent off in my opinion, and you cant fault the lad for effort. But i sense we’re always gonna dissagree on this one. I for one am really looking forward to the return of Rooney@Grognard: bench him for 5 games????!!! Grog, do you want to see United win trophies this season?
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On todays game, wow that was like a cup final and we have another 8 to go? My nerves were shot to fuck during that game, but what a result? Absolute magic from Macheda at the end, and Ronaldo (thanks for getting up off your arse more Ronny!)
Today we saw the squad of this team perform, thats exactly what we needed, fair play to Fergie for having the balls to make changes early enough to make a difference. Both Welbeck and Macheda looked up for it and it should be a warning shot across the bow of our more expensive non performing strikers.I thought Fletcher, and Evans were unlucky not to score, although Villa were very unlucky too on numerous occasions. Neville got skinned a bit too much by his own admission.I thought Villa bottled it with 20 mins to go and United smelled blood, top marks for endeavour and never say die attitude right to the end.
Bigger questions are going to be asked of us in the near future, I just hope, with the return of our missing regulars, we’ve turned the corner and can play with more confidence and start playing with a bit of the swagger that we’ve come to expect over the years from our Red Devils. Dont get me wrong i love the drama and excitement but i’d also love a one sided 4-0
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@Grognard: Nothing wrong with parking the bus for the last 20 min when you’re winning. We’ve been guilty of this before – Barcelona springs to mind.
Teams that should be denounced are those whose game plan start with parking the bus, and this for 90 min.
@colver: “..we relied too much on our defence… forgot how to score goals..”
Just saying that I concur completely.
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Ok so todays game was exciting for the neutral and ended in ecstacy for us UTD fans but in reality it was just a continuation of one of the worst runs of form we’ve had for many years. For Aston Villa to capitulate in taht game the way thy did was shocking and for me shows the general weaknesses of teams outside the top four.
I don’t think the football has been of a very good standard this season in the premier league and UTD’s run of clean sheets and one nils proves that. Even Arsenal and Chelsea have been mediocre although they appear to be coming good now. Wether we like it or not the scouse are playing the best football at the moment – a fact which only goes to prove how poor teams have been this season.
For me the Macheda goal showed us exactly what Berbatov should be doing and this has been a big problem.
We have lost the cut and thrust of last season by pandering to Berba and to be honest all I can remenber of him this season is a long list of piss poor finishing.
So….on to Ronaldo. If I had any doubts that his heart is not with Utd before today then those doubts have been completely obliterated after todays performance by the Portugese mercenary. Ok he scored two goals but his first was laughable in terms of Villa putting a dwarf on the far post – the only place he could have put it. His second was speculative- going for the low corner in hope. Apart from this he was so non-commital and passionless by ANY standards that I wouldn’t have been suprised if he’d have just walked off the pitch muttering something about the nice Madrid weather under his breath. His giving the ball away for the 2nd goal was compounded by his standing completely still to watch what he knew to be a makeshift defence struggle and concede. THEN he had the sheer fucking audacity to stand there and gawp as if he couldn’t understand how they could have defended so awfully!!! I’m sorry but, genius that he is, the guy does not want to play for us anymore. It is a perplexing problem for Fergie but sadly part of the modern game and UTD fans have to perform a double think with Ronaldo: wanting him to succeed and play with the same passion for the team as he did last season whilst really knowing that no matter how good he is his heart is elsewhere. He plats only for his own future and I think only some of the older contributors to this site can see it. The players know it, Fergie knows it and if you want one of the reasons why we are playing so badly now then IMO look no further.
Can we go on and win the league with this mercenary element? Maybe. But I for one will be happier when he goes and I can be sure that every player on that team is singing from the same hymn sheet.
The last 15 minutes of that game today were magical. That is why I love UTD. But it was the traditional, open, attacking football we are famed for – the type of football that has ben missing for all of this dour season.
So what now? A return to the tight defensive displays and cagey one nils? We have to become organised at the back again AND find some scoring rhythm up front – all in 15 games if we’re lucky.
For Porto I would put Macheda on the bench along with Ronaldo and Berbatov. Now how contraversial is that?!!!!
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@colver: BINGO!! You’ve hit the nail squarely on the head. Without our defence, the 1st half of the season would have been disastrous. Sooner or later injuries, or suspensions or lack of form was gonna make them permeable, and when the flood gates opened, was our attacking corps gonna bail them out?, hardly!!
I’ve said it all along, without the big, target man up front, Berbatov, Tevez, and to a lesser extent, Rooney and Ronaldo are ineffective!!
Machedo’s influence on the game was devastating to the Villa defense. His physical presence unsettled them and they weren’t the same after his introduction. Other than just heart & desire, his size and strength opened the cracks that hadn’t appeared before!! He caused them to do, what they caused us to do, defend desperately. Clear the ball, but not pass the ball. Our possession increased and the pendulum began to swing our way!
With regards to individual performance, I just couldn’t really laud or condemn anyone. You have to admit that up until the 2nd Villa goal, we were a shambles at both ends of the pitch. A defensive midfield that almost looked like they were wearing the wrong colored shirts and an attack that probably should’ve scored some Viagra at the break.
But what I will say is that it’s really good that Ronaldo scored the 2 goals, because if he hadn’t he’d still be wringing himself out from the collective spit of 75,000 fans!!!
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@themec: mate, i have to disagree with your views on Ronaldo, I know he’s got attitude issues, but I’m not gonna put it down to where his heart is. I can’t think of anyone scoring 2 goals, when he’s heart is not in the team.
The last magical 15 minutes were in fact kick started by Ronaldo, he instilled the belief that we could win the game. You could see the way the whole team responded, albeit I reckon fletcher had a great deal of fight in winning possesion and pushing forward well.
I’m not a Ronaldo lover, but I want him to stay.
I may well be proved wrong in the end of the season, but I think he wants to stay as well…
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@ anybody?Have we seen the last of Nani and are we going to be saying goodbye to Teves?
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@NicoQB: nothing wrong with parking the bus, just that it was the wrong tactic against a united who were hungry, no desperate to win, they could’ve score again against us…which is scary
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Fergie’s winding the scouse up again!
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@Grognard: Unlike you I do not make personal digs against any of these great ranters nor do I think I own this blog.
I am not sure you know what a fascist is by your definition or as it relates to my comments. Also, anything posted on this blog is public information and there is no law that states that I cannot comment on everyone’s rants/claims/beliefs.
I kept my comments general and PG so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings but you are always personally maimed by any comment that strays from your mile-long list of comments on this blog… I am sorry, Grognard, for hurting your feelings again.
I just find it outrageous that we cannot support Ronaldo, especially since he plays every one of our games and we do not know more than 5% of what goes on in the locker room or behind the scenes at OT. Thus, when people claim that Ronaldo hates it here or that his left thumb pointed the wrong way (i.e. body-language), their comments (read: not them personally, especially not Grognard) deserve a bit of reasoning a la Madschester United.
In addition, drawing comparisons to Cantona and Rio’s prior offenses against United and their fan-support seems make my case that Ronaldo should be cheered (not jeered) stronger.
Lastly, if this was a true rant blog no conversations/discussions would be allowed (by Grognard, I assume
) since rants are really just emotionally-laden shouting… so please get of your soap-box and treat each “rant” (or comment as I prefer) as equal as long as no personal attacks or threats are their basis.
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@phoenix red: I don’t think anyone expects Tevez to sign for 32m. If his ownership doesn’t lower the stakes I would be shocked that he could remain for 09/10.
Nani’s tenure is much more cloudy. If he, himself, could except a substitutes role he may well develop into a top rate player for us. I fear, though, that his ambitions will make him impatient and that will probaoly be it for him!
Many people have endeared themselves to him because of some of the potential he’s shown in the past, but to me, he lacks good decision making skills thus far and so deserves his place on the bench.
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@phoenix red: I do. Question should be does Rooney want us to win anything? If he does, he should try to grow up. I think Fergie needs to speed up that growth process by benching him. If that hurts us, so be it. Sometimes you need to sacrifice for the future of the club. Too many want their cake and eat it too. How else is a Rooney supposed to learn?
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http://www.mediafire.com/?wvmnzzmhtwj
Macheda goal – Get it while you can!
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@NicoQB: Parking the bus is for losers. United have done it a few times where they were lucky enough to be ahead of a team that had out played them. I have stated that what we did against Barcelona last season was an outright disgrace. So I will stick to my guns and say that no team that honestly wants to win a game is going to win shite by parking the bus on the road and allow a team that was in slumber mode to wake up and have a go. It was tactically inept by O’Neill and that lack of courage cost them.
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@Grognard:’Sometimes you need to sacrifice for the future of the club.’ That is something you said about Rooney but I find it more apt in this case.
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@Madschester United: You can support any player you want mate. You can say anything you want good or bad against any player or any team for that matter. What you shouldn’t do is try to make judgments on others for having views that do not coincide with yours. Yes I took great exception to your comments because I have always been ultra sensitive to those who try to tell other show to think and act. Piss on that!
If I want to criticize a player like Ronaldo (and people on here know that he is one of my all time favorites) or Scholes or Rooney etc, it’s my prerogative. Telling me or anyone else that we can’t make a judgment or express a thought on a player because of his body language or whether he wears pink underwear or talks with a lisp, is a load of crap.
As far as what ranting is and about me getting off my soap box, perhaps you should not only get off your soap box, but take some of that soap and wash out your mouth with it because everything you are saying about me is utter rubbish. I am not known for personal attacks on this site. Far from it. However, I am known for defending myself or others against individuals who feel it necessary to invoke their beliefs and new world order on all of us. You feel what you want about Ronaldo and all the other players, that’s fine and I respect that even if I happen to not agree on some of your points. Just stop trying to tell others what they should think and how they should act.
You sir were the one out of line here, not me. I was wrong in a moment of anger for referring to your actions as fascist. I apologize for that, but I seriously doubt I will get a sincere apology from you regarding your demanding and authoritarian tone towards the way I and some others may think about players on our team. Don’t think you can hide behind the fact that you never named anybody from this blog in your indictment. It was the tone and nature of that indictment that offended me greatly. If you cannot see why, then there is no hope for you. As for me, I am a pretty sensible and easy going guy. What gets me hot under the collar is others telling me what I can or can’t say and what I can or can’t do. So forgive me for defending the rights of individuals to express themselves without censure and censorship from individuals who don’t like it when we say something about their heroes that rubs them the wrong way. Get over it.
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@Liam: Sacrifice is a vewry relative term. I don’t believe a team should ever sacrifice it’s style of play or standard in order to cheaply get by an opponent. We beat Barcelona in the cheapest snake in the grass manner last year and i for one was ashmed. I have been a United fan for 30 years and I have seen us win a lot of games and lose some heartbreakers. What I had never seen up to that game was us parking the bus intentionally, tactically playing without forwards and playing a disgusting despicable style of football in trying to beat a team that was not better than us on paper. Why did we capitulate like that? Many will say winning is all that matters and how we win is not important. I say to Hell with that. There is a reason why I an millions of others in Manchester and around the world have chosen United to be their choice in teams. It’s because of their style of play and their collective heart and desire. It’s about standing tall and playing attractive attacking football and trying to beat your opponent in a manner that can make us all proud. That was thrown in the toilet last season against Barcelona and we have yet to recover from that mentality and malaise.
So forgive me if I do not applaud any team for parking the bus and playing not to lose. It’s everything I hate about the game and everything that is terrible about football. There is no excuse for it even if there is a defense for it.
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@phoenix red: Grog and Craig have an obscured view of Rooney, and it’s because they can’t see past his temperament!
It’s his venom and spice that makes him the player that he is, and to harness it would not allow him to find his potential.
You & I know that, SAF knows that, Fabio Capello knows that but Grognard and Craig want to put him in jail!!
Oh well, there’s no accounting for our opinions, is there!!
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@Madschester United: Good points again, but I am afraid they are going to be in vain.
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@Grognard: Let me interject here. What MadschesterUnited said were very valid, and harmless and well within the comments policy. Nothing he said here warranted the sort of reaction from you.
And before you respond to my comment, read the comments policy again. Madschester’s first comment was well justified. Also, you don’t have to be someone else’s guardian. Let the commenter in question speak for himself. If anything, I’d be the one to do that job.
MadschesterUnited, there is no need for you to apologise.
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@Grognard: Your point about you liking United because they don’t “park the bus” or get past opponents “cheaply” really begs the questions;- “Would you still like them if they did?” and “do you really think that they will”
Such an idea on the heals of todays game is weird, especially considering we didn’t have a bus to park!!
The last 30 mins of the game epitomized everything that I love about United. Their fight, their spirit and their individualism!!
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we do what we need to do to win games,
but the culture and spirit of our club is to take it to the other team, hard and fast. hence why most other teams tend to park the bus against us,
even liverpool did it against us, all their goals were against the flow of the game.
But SAF knows when to use the right tactics “most” of the time, and sometimes if we come up against a team with a lethal strikeforce ala Barca, we do what is necessary to win, which we did.
but thankfully we have what it takes to go hard nearly all the time,
if we used that tactic on a weekly basis…and used it to win all our games,then its a different story… but we don’t. hell we coulda done that after our first goal, but we didn’t.
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@Grognard: i reckon the only way that tactic will stop is if the rules changes somehow, ’cause teams will only play to the extent of the rules…but it’s not an easy thing to govern.
any ideas of any rule which could be introduced to stop this type of tactic? because it’ll only make the game better to watch with more goals being scored, everyone wins!! well except for the teams with no class
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Can Macheda play for us against Porto? Is he included in the CL squad?
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@Grognard: I agree with RR on this one… But will no longer consider this case an issue and will keep on discussing the topics that arise on this blog. If Grognard still has problems with my comments then I do not see it as my problem.
Today was one of the most emotional games of the season and the last gap goal was HUGE for us with regards to the 3 pts AND the boost in morale. This game may come back to be the most important game of the season – and Fergie’s gamble with Macheda and Wellbeck may be the best move of the season. Unfortunately, only time will tell but we now have points on our side again.
Can’t wait until Tuesday but I do have a question:
Why did we play Sunday and then again on Tuesday while Pool/Chelsea/Arsenal all played Saturday?
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@antsBoy: I don’t think we can expect much more from Macheda —- the pressure will be too great now that he has shown us his better side. I still think Tevez is far better than Macheda but it does give us a good 4/5th striker option or power sub
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@antsBoy: He’s listed in our squad on uefa.com, so I assume he is. Good question though, we may need him!!
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@Natzca: I was thinking about these proposed rule changes from wenger/ranters. And I don’t like them for one reason.
1. Once we award points for goals we will have to ask what is next … should nice goals be counted for more than boring goals
I would rather they fix the poor refereeing and introduce technology to make sure that the “few” goals we have today are valid goals.
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@Madschester United: Well he adds a much different dimension for us. I, for one, would be interested to see if he could repeat that impact!!
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@Redrich: Yes on the added dimension – like an impact sub, but I think we are being hasty in extrapolating his abilities based on 30 minutes in his debut. I know he has done well for the reserves, I just don’t want to set his bar too high too early.
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@Madschester United: “Why did we play Sunday and then again on Tuesday while Pool/Chelsea/Arsenal all played Saturday?”
I’d imagine it’s because both games are home games? But I can’t see why the Villa game couldn’t have been played on Saturday?
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@Madschester United: Agreed, but what are our options when the the Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov combo doesn’t seem to work most of the time!!
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@Redrich: I hate spicy food.
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