Nov 24
Jonny Evans: on Manchester United, Northern Ireland, Ferguson…
The BBC have a wonderful little feature on Jonny Evans. [video link here] If you haven’t watched it I suggest you do.
Evans talks about his family’s move to Manchester from Belfast, his relationship with the manager and his team mates. There is some high praise from the likes of Giggs and Solskjaer. Giggs, says how “we’ve hardly missed” our first choice centre backs whenever he’s slotted into the side in the absence of either Ferdinand or Vidic.
But more than that, it presents us a small window in to the player, the man — he looks every bit the part of a United player. Yet, he looks to shun the flash lifestyle associated with footballers these days. There are signs that he’s obviously surrounded by a good circle of people to guide him through that.
I know a lot of footballers these days say the same old stuff in interviews, but there seems to be an air of sincerity about Evans that isn’t there in say, Rio perhaps [no disrespect to him.] He also seems in awe of the club and that he feels genuinely privileged to play for the club. Now that’s the sort of thing that would leave a lump in the throat in these cynical times.
Other reads worth your while:
RoM, on replacing Ronaldo’s goals
In case you missed it, and since there isn’t much to be talking about right now, try the Soccerlens podcast.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Have a break, have a Premier League title
- Ronaldo Scores, Players Come Through Unscathed… So Far
- NI Milk Cup 2011 – Fixtures & Dates
- Will A Temporary Move Away From Manchester United Restore Jonny Evans’ Confidence?
- Match Preview: Rangers vs. Manchester United
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Beachryan: I was reading an interview with Ancelotti where he says at Chelsea he has been using the fitness and training regiment originally brought in there by Guus Hiddink. The reason for this is it limits the amount of injuries to a team. And seriously, Chelsea have had no real major injury concerns all season. Zhirkov was already injured when he was bought. It’s made me curious as to what exactly this regiment consists of because I am sick and tired of our injuries and the seemingly long time it takes everybody to return from them. Our back four has been decimated all season.
When I heard weeks ago that Rio was experiencing problems with his lower right leg and calve region I instantly knew that that it was related to his lower back problem. Having had a lower back problem for twenty years and having experienced all forms of Sciatica especially in the lower leg regions, I made the calculated guess that this was the cause of his problem. It therefore amazes me that it took over a month for United doctors to pinpoint the actual cause of his lower leg discomfort and finally declare that yes it was related to his lower back problem. DUH! No shit Sherlock I said to myself. It makes me wonder what kind of clowns are working for United in the training and medical side of things. Taking so long to diagnose a proper treatment or direction for Hargo, the inability to ever get Louis Saha healthy, the endless leg problems of Gary Neville (although for me, that was a blessing in disguise), the numerous other players with recurring injuries who seem to take longer than usual to return or recover. Maybe it’s all coincidence and I am going on about nothing but this Rio injury and the fact it has also been ages since we have actually seen a healthy Jonny Evans has me concerned about the kind of muppetry that is presently residing in the training room at OT.
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@Onkar: And you base your optimism on what exactly? Our prolific goal scoring and production? That was really evident when we played Liverpool and Chelsea. Is it our air tight defense of late? Is it our incredibly visionary and imaginative midfield who not only contain other’s midfields like Liverpools and Chelsea’s but who create a multitude of chances for our forwards to stick in the back of the net?
Sorry mate but if we played two games vs Barcelona they would clean the floor with us. Oh we would give them a battle but we do not have the midfield that will contend with theirs and we lack that little extra quality that we had with Ronaldo to breech their defenses. Our defending and even our keeping including EVDS of late has been anything but air tight and I doubt they could properly contend with the likes of Messi, Henry and even the Bitch Zlatan. I could see it being 3-1 or 4-1 on agg by the time it was all over. Sorry to be a downer but I base it on what we know about both clubs and what we have done since last year’s final when I thought we were going to win the game considering how many of their best were missing in the their back four that day.
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Just out of interest… has anyone seen a decent corner taken by Utd this season? I say this because in the last game, whilst I thought we played very well, especially in the first half (although in part this was down to Everton’s set up) every single corner that was taken seemed to never get any height and simply was headed away by the first man. I’d say its one of Nani’s redeeming features (the other being run-cut-in-blast-goal) to take a decent corner, however this year i don’t think hes even taken many good ones. Hopefully Hargreaves, or dare i say Adem will be able to take a decent corner… I only bring this up because I want Evans to get a goal.. and Vidic hasn’t been contributing like he once did. Now, perhaps its all down to a new tactic, but surely the point of taking a corner is to put the ball in the net via a beast of a header.
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@ Grognard – Indeed Ancelotti’s fitness regime (he brought that guy from the Milan labs with him, can’t remember his name) has made a difference – even more pronounced when you consider how much older they are.
Traditionally we’ve been pretty good about injuries compared to other teams, exceptions notwithstanding (I’m looking at you Glass knee saha!). I’m hoping it’s just bad timing. But one does wonder how players back int eh day survived…no subs and squads of 15 players!
Encouraged that Hargo is back at least on the same training pitch as the first team. It just worries me that they’re not letting him kick the ball yet. I mean, he was supposed to, amongst other things, be our new set piece specialist!
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There is no doubt that something is wrong with our physios. Every season we get defensive injury crises. Luckily we now have quite a lot of depth in that area but I still think a lot of our dodgy defending over the last two seasons can be attributed to the psychological effects of injuries.
If Chelsea bring in a big name signing in January the title is theirs. If they fail to strengthen I think the African Nations Cup would give us an outside chance at the title. Personally I think this could be the year that they win the Champions League. Barcelona are not as imperious as last season, we do not have the Ronaldo factor, Real Madrid are still a team in transition and no-one else is really outstanding.
I do not like us losing ground to Chelsea as it took us three years to break their dominance under Mourinho. But if you lose the best player in the world and do not even bother to bring any quality signings in then what do you expect.
It amazes me that Fergie would sell Ronaldo so easily knowing there would be no money available to buy a viable replacement. You can draw contrasts with the Beckham transfer, but it is completely different….we were nowhere near as reliant on Beckham as we were on Ronaldo. We have become a selling club.
If Barcelona came up with £85 million for Rooney and Rooney wanted to go we’d sell him I am sure. The only thing preventing that happens is Rooney’s own loyalty.
Thank God for FM2010.
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@CraigMc: There we go bro, we finally are in agreement on something. No way do we beat Barca with the ham n eggers we presently have going. Barca has how many world class players on the pitch? We have two, and according to you, Rooney is not one of them so then I as Onkar or anyone else, how are we just as good? We outplay Cheslea but still lose is an ongoing them with us of late. And we allowed ourselves to be beaten by Liverpool who are in a sadder state than us. We have no goal scoring ability or imagination compared to the likes of Barcelona who scored over 100 league goals last year. Our defense is beat up and playing poorly overall conceding not only goals but the kind of chances we never used to give up in the past. Our midfield minus Fletcher is pedestrian at best. In fact without Fletcher they are frighteningly awful. Our wingers have no guts or presence and cannot seem to enforce themselves in a game. Our strikers are the best defenders or midfielders we have. God knows they aren’t playing like strikers because they don’t know where the 18 yard box is and they have ben getting famine like supply from the rest of the team. I’d say that in comparison, we are in a world of hurt.
How many bad results do some people need to get the hint? And none of our supposed stars like Rooney or Carrick or Berba are stepping up and making the difference. Instead it has been the most unlikely of creatures. a tall gangly like individual known as Darren Fletcher has become our talisman in every way. Without him we would be dead and buried already. And some think we could be Barcelona? We couldn’t beat them last year when we had a better team and they were decimated by injuries at the back. Onkar and others need to take a reality pill and stop dreaming. Christ how I hate blind and naive optimism.
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@RichmondRed: I think there is a real misinterpretation here between what Craig is saying and what you are agreeing with. First off, Craig and I are not in agreement on whether he is a legend or a world class player and whether he is a pile of dog crap? Not I nor anybody else opposed to Craig’s feelings disagrees with the fact that of late Rooney has been shite on a stick and that he has been suffering since late last season with something. I have brought up his smoking and lifestyle habits, his weight, his work ethic and Fergie overuse of him. It’s all catching up with him but none of it I believe is fatal in terms of forcing the player into a permanent decline. I think proper rest, a change of lifestyle and a change of tactics by Fergie would once again make the lad world class. So we are all in agreement on his lack of form. Where we don’t agree with Craig is in his classification all time.
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@Onkar: Excuses excuses excuses. We lost the game mate. Yes we got robbed but we still officially lost the game. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Shoulda, coulda, woulda is an ongoing theme with many on here. I prefer to use couldn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t instead. The great teams make their breaks and the great teams make their luck. We are luckier than most but not lucky enough it seems to beat Liverpool and Chelsea when we must. We win those games and it is us comfortably sitting in first. We lose them and we are 5 back. All because we are unable to score in the big games and unable to keep the ball out of our net when it counts. Sure Drogba cheated but they got away with it and we never get away with that kind of skullduggery do we?
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@Onkar: Again excuses. Last year our draw was ten times tougher. Last year we had to play the then top ten teams in the EPL on the road in the first half and the big three right after a Champions League game. Last year’s first half schedule was the schedule form Hell. This season’s is a picnic in comparison. Again, we need to stop making excuses and face the reality of the situation. We are not good enough to win this league and if we are to win it, we need an injection of players in January, a different tactical approach (which is not going to happen) and teams like Chelsea and Arsenal to slip up mightily. I can see Arsenal slipping up because of their youth and a few weaknesses, but Chelsea is buoyed by experience, skill, grit, drive, pride and a manager who is a proven winner. You do the math.
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@Will: The corners aren’t always the problem. It’s the players in the box that are the problem. Static and lifeless. One of the biggest improvements in Peter Crouch’s game thanks to Harry Redknapp is how he has gotten the lad to move around and towards the ball on corners and crosses. The goal Terry scored against us is a perfect example of the kind of headers we never score on. A defender moving right to left or left to right and glancing a header or moving towards the ball and not just waiting for the ball to reach him. Proper corners have more men in the box and have players assisting others like picking off a defender to free up a player. We also lack forwards with a true aerial presence. Look at how lethargic and lazy everyone is on throw ins. They are just standing around while Evra and others are looking to throw the ball in but have nobody open. We are a lazy and unimaginative team on set plays. We got away with a lot when we had free kick specialists like Ronaldo and even Beckham before him but the fact remains, we have always been shite at corner kicks.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong but I do not believe that United scored a single goal off a direct corner in all of the 98/99 Treble season. And i believe the only one was at the end of the Champions League final vs Bayern. Considering it was David Beckham taking all the corners then, one would have to be in shock over that stat. But it’s not Beckhams service that was the problem. United are not setup or well coached in this are of the game. Other lesser teams work at this stuff much more because they lack the talent and so set plays are their bread and butter, but for us, it seems like and added waste of time.
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@Grognard: I absolutely love Wayne Rooney. I am pulling for him to do well as if he was a sibling of mine. However, a certain doubt has crept in over the past 15 months or so that while his temperment has cooled, his intellect for the game has imporved, and his passion for football is through the roof, his skill set has peaked. I am not saying this with certainty. I agree with you that given the added changes of lifestyle and such in his life progress can be made still, but I have my doubts. Like any footballer, Rooney cannot do everything on his own. All world class footballers need others to help compliment their game. Ronaldo was that compliment to Rooney and likewise in the other direction. However, when Ronaldo was injured at the beginning of last season and was not there to compliment Rooney I begin to see a less threathening Wayne Rooney, just my observation. Just the year before that even I began to see a change in his weight, in his movement, in his ability to run at people. And when Ronaldo did not start the season last year I saw the same thing in Rooney I had begun to see the previous campaign. This continues today. Grog, I think Rooney is a brilliant footballer and I thank my lucky stars that he is wearing a United kit. I hope you are right. I hope your thoughts that a few changes here and there and Rooney will be the Wayne Rooney we all fell in love with when he first burst into Old Trafford. However, I am 50/50 on that happening. Of course those changes you suggested need to happen to get the best out of him, but he also needs a player or two to compliment his game and what we have right now does not do that in my opinion.
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@Grognard: FFS Grog just stop the crap eh? You don’t agree with Craig because you put your own WARPED and wrong interpretations on what Craig is saying, unlike other people. Why you feel the need to do this, who the fuck knows. But I would appreciate if you didn’t comment on my posts anymore, because you sure as fuck don’t read and understand them properly, and I will not comment on yours. In this way people on the blog won’t have to suffer long drawn out debates like the Rooney one. This is not a popularity contest of opinions Grog, where people who see what I see, have to be told like children by you that they don’t really see the Rooney debate in the way I am seeing it at all. There are as you say plenty of Rooney fans who agree with you Grog, so why you feel the need to try and convince others that they don’t see really, what they obviously do see I cannot imagine – Sad mate, just plain sad! Lets hope Red Ranter is around for when you call on him to intervene eh???
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@Beachryan: The Milan labs guy and their techniques are becoming famous and are still a mystery. The reason Milan can have so many older players is because this lab has perfect a fountain of youth system that seems to rejuvenate older players and makes them not only play better and feel younger, but recover better and faster from injuries. The secret behind it is North American sports medicine. Juergen Klinsmann also brought many of the philosophies as well as specialized trainers with him from California when he was managing Germany. It works wonders compared to the old school ways of English teams and how they deal with injuries and fitness. I mean I still laugh when I see pictures of OT dressing rooms and training rooms. My high school’s training room had more state of the art machines and more modern looking dressing room than OT and all the other British stadiums. In North America we just laugh at the the large bathtub all the players get into to wash after a game. GROSS! In North America we use large showers for that. It’s faster and healthier.
The machines being used by NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA teams are state of the art and revolutionary when it comes to physical training and cardio workouts, They also limit injuries and do a great job preventing them as do exercise and Yoga segments. England is so far behind the times in so many areas of professional sports. It amazes me that they are actually able to compete with continental Europe. Germany, Spain and Italy are years ahead in sports technology and medicine and their training grounds and buildings are true state of the art and highly secured facilities that have all the tools and trappings to secure a player’s health and potential. Meanwhile, England is still in the Dark Ages.
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@colver: I said this yesterday and I’ll say it again. Fergie bit the bullet and finally allowed Ronaldo to leave the club against his wishes. If Rooney was also forced to leave, Fergie would up and quit on the spot just out of disagreement and rage. He would never allow for the selling of Rooney while he is Boss.
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@RichmondRed: I actually do not think his skills have peaked. He’s still far too young for them to peak. But they are actually regressing. That’s not because he has hit his peak and it’s downhill from there. Instead I think they are regressing way ahead of schedule due to the reasons I have given before. The good news I believe however, is that they could return and he could improve even more if some of those conditions are changed for the better. The most important thing is to get him of cigarettes, get him more rest and change the tactics and chemistry of the team to get him playing more like a goal scorer.
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@CraigMc: It’s because what they are saying is very much in agreement with what I have been saying about Rooney’s recent decline. You on the other hand have been going around talking about how useless and overrated Rooney has always been. There is a major difference there. And I do not appreciate the harsh words as they are incredibly mean spirited when you say I should not comment on your posts anymore and you will do the same to mine. I consider you a friend on this blog. Apparently this is a one sided relationship. And trust me, when it comes to reading comprehension, you are not in my league mate. That’s not an insult, thats a fact. Yes I am long winded but that’s because I can. I have the intellect, grammatical and vocabulary skills to be that way. So please do not infer that I am some kind of idiot who cannot make sense of your posts. Perhaps it is you who cannot make sense of your own thoughts because all along you have just been working us without actually believing a word you write. No need for you do disrespect me like this and to be this rude. I thought you and I were a little bit closer than that. Perhaps I was wrong?
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@Onkar: I don’t really know where to start. But no team however perfect can just waltz past any team. Yes Barca lost to Rubin the Russian champs, but that doesn’t mean they are not the best team in Europe. Real Madrid are considered to have taken over that honour by some quarters but even they lost to some random 3rd division team 4-1. Doesn’t mean they have been dethroned. Losing to crap teams is not a sign of anything, it is simply evidence of humanity of the team. The difference with us is we RARELY play well and these teams almost always play the very highest standard of football as it is known today.And on Xavi and Iniesta, I won’t make any noise about it because I don’t think it will go anywhere. I agree with some of the things that I think you are trying to say though
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@Grognard: Just out of curiosity…when do you think Robbie Fowler’s skills peaked? Statistically, Robbie Fowler was never the same after he turned 25. Fowler had four or five wonderful years with Loserpool before he leveled off due to weight problems, discipline issues, injuries, etc. I am not comparing their stories, but then again…
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@Grognard: Interesting. A few posts back you stated that if certain changes happened in Rooney’s life these changes could “once again make the lad world class.” That suggests that you do not see him as a world class player now…
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Grognard: I agree with your point. Rooney can be improved. The main problem is he is having to do too much work to make up for the inadequacies of the rest of our team. Part of it is to do with his personality. He wants to win so takes on too much and spreads himself too thin. The best thing we could do for Rooney is to sort out our midfield, get him a decent foil so that he is free to do his thing in the hole and cause havoc.
Like many English players Rooney plays best in a 4-4-2. Yes he performed well in the 4-3-3 we used to play in the Ronaldo days but the leading light of that system was Ronaldo and Rooney took a back seat.
The best thing for this team would be to return to a 4-4-2 and that means we need another central midfielder who can pull his weight, so we do not have to do this wimpy loading the midfield whenever we come up against a half decent midfield. In an ideal world Hargreaves would return and he and Fletcher would solidify our midfield. But we all know that is unlikely to happen.
So long as we continue to play 4-5-1 all the time against good teams Rooney will never flourish.
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@RichmondRed: If Rooney’s career stalls because of weight/fitness problems, he unlike Fowler, can always be converted into a midfield player.
Still world – class at that!
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@NicoQB: Better covert him now only so that we will not have to make any excuses for his below 20 goals this season
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@NicoQB: Honestly I do not really believe we have seen the best of Rooney. However, I just cannot see him being a midfielder on a permanent basis. How old was Scholes when he became and out and out midfielder?
Oh, and world class…? I like how people throw those words around. Doing so deminishes its significance. There are very few world class players in world in my opinion and Rooney, while an incredibly brilliant footballer, is not world class nor has he ever been.
Wayne Rooney is becoming a United legend, but I would hold off in calling him world class.
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Looks like Liverpool are heading for the exit door. Fiorentina are 1-0 up against Lyon! But Barcelona are 2-0 up against Inter and Rubin drew so looks like Barcelona are going through
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Apparently Phil Brown has got the Hull chairman’s daughter pregnant. Eww.
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@Traverse:
really??!! that guy is just comical… guess she couldn’t resist the uber-tan 
well, that explains why he hasn’t been sacked yet 
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Liverpool, lol.
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HAHAHAHAHAHAH Liverpool OUT of Europe. Another trophyless season awaits Merseyside. All that needs to happen now is for them to get pushed into fifth place by Tottenham or Man City and it is bye bye Benitez, bye bye Torres!
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Liverpool…
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaah
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@RichmondRed: A truly World class player would get in the brazil football squad.
Rooney would.
On current form, so would Fletcher.
Whether they would get in the starting eleven is another matter.
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@colver: or hellow torres
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Liverpool cut of their noses to spite their faces, because IF they had not rushed a 70% fit Torres to play against United, then they would have had a fit player for their European encounters. Torres healing process was set back a good number of games by them pushing him to face us, and now that decision has COST THEM 30 million, and that’s just this season. If they don’t finish top 4, they will really pay for the Torres against United decision
.
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@Footy4Eddy: Eddi mi man – don’t be CRUEL to the Pool. Scouse GITS
.
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KRAP- Keep Rafa At Pool!!!
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@CraigMc: I verbally raped all possible Scouse fans I could find in Oslo!
Wild night mate, wild night!
Ahh, this is sweet!
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@Footy4Eddy: This.
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@Footy4Eddy: Were all of them GOBSMACKED by the Fiorentino result Eddi
.
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@Footy4Eddy:
– your KRAP – ‘Keep Rafa at Pool’ would make a fantastic T shirt slogan Eddi, all Mancs would buy it 
.
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@CraigMc: They were hillarioud mate!!!
When Liverpool scored it sounded like they had just won the Champions League, but when Fiorentina scored the place went all quiet after the loudset groan Ive ever heard in my life. 
Unfortately I started laughing, so the very next thing I did after seeing the look on their faces was to run like SHEEEEEEEEIT!!! Them doing their really best impressions of Stevie Me, trying to hit the innocent guy. And lets just say Ive got over 50 notifications on Facebook because of my “opinions” of their result. Liverpool fans went mental, saying the Europa League is now their target. I said thats aiming low, them saying thats all they can do, me laughing at their patheticness. 
I love this!
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@CraigMc: Considering of starting a facebook group with that, who joins?!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y91KgyeNRqk
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@Footy4Eddy: Eddi mate you need to be careful when winding up those Norwegian L’fool fans
. I would be because your all VIKINGS over there right – with steel helmets and horns 
.
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Anyone seen this?!
http://www.lfc-endofseasonparty.com/
Funny as f*ck!!
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@CraigMc: Ive got my crew with me, would have beaten those lads had it not been for me having a math test tomorrow, which I spent 5 hours reading for today. Im afraid of noth`n!
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Xavi and Iniesta are just magnificent. Jose Mourinho’s side totally outclassed and outmanouvered it’s not even funny. Talk about disappearing in big games,with Iniesta man of the match. Anyway let’s make this relevant to this forum
. We would do well to take lessons from Barca in terms of football and team management(though they should emulate us in organisational stability). If we are humble enough to do this we will definitely be firm on the road to the pinnacle of football excellence. Why do I make comparisons with Barcelona? Firstly because just as we used to(up to 2007), they firmly believe in free flowing attacking football. Also, they,just like us , believe in team work,so we have a lot in common.
Where they are ahead is obvious;the quality on the pitch and team management.One thing we could start with, and this is not by learning from Barca alone but it’s basic football sense applied by all football teams bar two i.e. United and Liverpool. Some flippin consistency in team selection.Every single coach in Europe,before the season begins, is fully aware of the tactics they will apply for that season.Consequentially,like a movie director he has main characters specifically cast to play these plans out and a supporting cast as well and even stand ins.Pep Guardiola’s main cast is that of Messi,Xavi,Iniesta,Ibra,Keita,Henry etc and these play in almost all the scenes.We should also learn to apply this principle and select our main cast and stick to it. As in movies,chemistry is critical and it is the main ingredient for fluency. That’s why Barca can just as well play with blindfolds and still outscore the opposition. We reached such a level of excellence in 2006-2007 with Scholes and Carrick playing almost every game. The combination of Rooney and Ronaldo was lethal but beautiful to watch(only Quentin Tarantino would get that).That would not be possible without consistency.Now we have played something like 11 different midfield combinations so far this season and it’s clear in the way we play.No direction,fluency or confidence,just disjointed and confused.
We could also learn certain aspects of tactics and techniques from them. Like how to pass a football from one team mate to the other and quit those damn long balls(are you listening Vidic and Carrick). These things are taught in training and that’s why Barca,Milan,Arsenal,Chelsea and Madrid are near perfect at it.This goes hand in hand with receiving a pass and making runs off the ball. Our tactics make us too predictable. Everyone patriotically sticks to their positions like WW2 soldiers especially chief culprits Carrick and Scholes. Move around and open up.Now these things are all about tactics and techniques and the coaching staff is responsible for this.
Another area we could learn is in the youth dept. We have exhibited zero balls in this aspect. Barca have excelled in this dept and have shown massive faith in their youngsters. As we are speaking they have recently unleashed another one from their long line of talented youngsters. Pedro,has already recorded something like 10 goals so far in his breakthrough season coming from Barcelona B(equivalent to our reserves). Pedro can be compared to Macheda or Welbeck. They have also just recently extended another youngster’s contract by the name of Sergio Busquets(was involved in Rome)who played today in midfield. Another youngster debuted in Europe tonight by the name of Jonathan Dos Santos,young brother of Barca youth product and current Spurs player Giovanni. All these players featured tonight against Inter and the first two are already becoming regulars. We also have enough quality in the young players,yet we insist on playing them as rarely as possible. There is no reason why Rafael and Fabio should not be trusted more especially with the right back position. Macheda should have played at least 4 league games by now and all our matches should include at least two youngsters in the starting line up. Let’s show some faith in this crop and play them some games of significance.
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@RichmondRed: He’s not playing like a world class player right now but I still think he is one. Being in bad form for a spell does not drop your status you have developed over an entire career. He would have to go like this for at least another year before I said to myself ok, he’s not ever coming back.
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@colver: Totally agree. It’s great knowing that somebody else sees it as I do. Encouraging really considering how others are buying a lot of crap being sold on here by some.
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@Jay wire: Well said. I agree with you entirely on the Barcelona way of doing things. United is running it’s on field product like an old boys club and volleyball team. What I would give for some stability. The problem with playing your starters most of the time with a large squad is that there are other good players who are sitting on the bench getting more and more disgruntled. That’s unless the environment for them is so great, they love the club so much that they all start feeling like John O’Shea and Ole Gannar Solksjaer.
Barcelona doesn’t have a problem gaining loyalty from it’s players because it is one of the two big names in Spanish football. This equates to one of the big two names in South America also. Kids who grow up in Spanish or Portuguese speaking countries automatically grow up dreaming of one day playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona. When they are finally selected or bought by the club, they are treated like royalty, their parents are treated like royalty and the bond and loyalty for life is sealed. The club does everything to make them feel wanted, loved and appreciated even if they rarely start or if they are too young to start.
United on the other hand has cultural block that they cannot help. This block hurts their chances when it comes to building security and loyalty from their young foreign players and the players they buy who do not speak native English. We are constantly looking to buy talent from South America yet we have no way nor do we try to make these players fit in well and feel a part of life in Northern England. They come from hot climates like Brazil or Argentina and then they get stuck in the cold and the rain and have none of the cultural advantages and staples that makes life easier for them. They are forced to have to learn another language and in many cases, just don’t. When United buy more accomplished players from other countries, they come with the hope and the aim to become regular first team players. Then Fergie either benches them or rotates the Hell out of them so much so that they lose rhythm, form and confidence. Anderson, Nani, Tevez, Rafael, and the list goes on and one of players who are trying or have tried to make a go of it in Manchester but have either failed or are failing because the country and culture as well as weather is too different and the team does not allow for their own expression and interpretation of the game not to mention the endless rotating and bowing to the old boys club that is Neville, Scholes, Giggs, a trio that have kept many a good player down in my books.
Fergie has had his foreign successes and Ronaldo and Cantona were great ones, but overall, he has failed badly with non English speaking purchases. The team just isn’t warm and cozy like Madrid and Barca are to these types of players. They just don’t work at making it better by helping these players either get more acclimated to their new and very foreign surroundings, or by playing them more and helping them get more acclimated to the game the team system and the league. Instead Fergie builds them up with praise and early confidence only to break them down. He has done a masterful job destroying both Nani and Anderson as well as others by making them out to be more than they were, playing them out of position, demanding of them to lose their natural instinctive way of playing and then rotating them until they have lost any momentum and confidence in their form. Instead he continues to parade the old guard while youngsters who I feel are ready to play rot in the reserves. Young players on a reserve team are like fruit on a tree. They reach a ripeness and they begin to rot. I am already seeing the rot in Welbeck and Macheda as well as Gibson, Fabio and a few others. Some might say they just aren’t good enough to play for the first team. I say they are but Fergie is too much of a coward to break one or two in with a regular and fair shot. He gives them one game or one half and if they don’t wow him like Ronaldo, they are sent back down.
Sure Fergie has a lot of pressure on him to get results but he is allowing the team around him to age along with him and they aren’t getting any better folks. Macheda for one should have had more games up to now. Gibson is also one player I wanted to see more of and it’s good to see Rafael back because anything is better than watching O’Shea at RB. Would Evans be getting the chance he has gotten had it not been for Rio’s back injury? Nani has never had a fair run out there and Anderson who I don’t care for continues to be the height of inconsistency because he is not played enough. Trial and tribulations of having a deep squad in England.
Finally, if Man Utd or any top English team wants to be like Barcelona, best for them to start treating their players the same way and best for them to start buying players from countries that have English as a strong second language and where the culture and the weather isn’t so foreign. Lyon only buy French players or foreign players who speak French. And if they dabble in any other language, they stick to one. In their case it’s Brazilians. But they have an active team of scouts who pick quality kids in Brazil, not just primadona’s. They nurture them, bring them to Lyon, take care of their needs, their families needs, get them a home and get them started with French lessons. They have a liaison hired full time to help them get their kids in school, buying specialty items that they require as well as cultural needs. Everything is taken care for them. All they have to do is play football. And when a team like Lyon invests so much in a player like that, what they do is play them. They get their chance and aren’t stuck in the reserves or on the bench rotting while 35 year olds take up all the playing time. It’s a young man’s game but nobody would get that impression from the way United operates.
United needs to change their team culture and their buying strategy if they want to be like Barcelona. If I was running United I would buy UK players for loyalty and depth and Norther and Central Europeans for the basis of my squad. They mostly speak English, they understand rain, snow and cold and they can adapt as easy to English culture as I can if I lived there. And let them continue their Brazilian experiment if they need to. But it will fail long term, I guarantee it.
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@Jay wire: Barca should never even have been in the final. They are frauds.
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@Aymen: And Manchester United should not have been in the final either because they were even greater frauds based on how they succumbed to Barcelona in the final.
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