Feb 21
Kia confirms Tevez fears as Blackburn visit OT
Kia Joorabchian, the representative/owner of the rights to Carlos Tevez, reportedly said this to the Daily Star:
“Carlos is in the market now that United have not made any move for him. We are now studying other options and interested parties. There is no option left with United any longer.”
Actual quotes by his owner — although, considering the shady past of the businessman, it could just mean kicking United out of their slumber with regards to sealing Tevez’s contract — at the least, it points to problems with United stalling over the deal, intentionally. Or just balking at the asking price for the Argentinian.
What’s with us and Argentinian players? Veron didn’t work out. Heinze just decided to become a prick one fine sunny morning. And Tevez is not being wanted by the ownership, considering the extent they went toward securing him.
The pity is Tevez really has that honesty in his eye and desire to play for us — which is really not something one usually gets to see these days in footballers who come from outside England. [An example as recent as this -- of course, in this case you can't really blame the player for wanting to win something of consequence.]
The lesson from this — I know we are still in speculation stage and an official response from the OT hierarchy is certainly possible refuting these claims with a ‘we are still exploring it’ — is that loyalty has to work both ways. I know it’s business, you might tell, but when a player: has been an excellent servant for the club, is adored by fans, and, always keeps his head and gives his all when on the pitch despite his uncertainty over his future, it’s a shame Tevez’s exit may — and I stress, may — have to end like this.
A player like Tevez does not deserve this sort of a send off.
On to today’s game, Sam Allardyce, whose career has involved moving from a shit kicking side, to a club full of mad inebriated drunks for fans/owner, to a club that has, in the past, been known for its shit kicking expertise. So life has seemingly come full circle for him, one could say.
Big Sam, thinks United are not ‘untouchable’, saying we may drop points or concede goals at times. Fair play to him though. I’m already saturated lately with hyperbole showered on Giggs and Carrick as contenders for Player of the year awards when I think everyone is a distant second to Nemanja Vidic. We’ve had a distinctly average season, yet, have been doing better, according to the table. Yet, funnily enough, despite having been average, I think this is Fergie’s best squad ever. I raised that issue last season, but was not sure how that squad stacked up against the ones of ’99 and ’94. But I am convinced this one is our, and Fergie’s, best ever, despite the fact that we’re yet to pick domestic or European trophies, WC Championship apart. I can rattle off reasons ranging to the versatility of the players, the mix of youth and experience, and, chiefly, the ability to be, more or less, ‘injury proof’ having played so much, and travelled so much.
On the ‘untouchable’ topic, Benitez thinks we’re not untouchable. However, it being Benitez, I think he’s a pratt. So he can go shove his thoughts on our chances wherever he wants to. I can care less about the fat, fact checking, Spanish waiter.
Of course, in the past, I may have called him bitter and classless in casual conversations with many of my mates, although, I haven’t necessarily said them here on the blog. So I admit, it may have been unbecoming of me, for having said those things about him to my mates, and I apologise for that.
From here on, I shall call him bitter and classless also on this blog.
In terms of squad lineups, I can only guess but, I’m pretty sure Rooney will partner Berbatov. I really wish Ronaldo was rested at some point of time against the Stokes and West Broms of this world. He really looks jaded and could benefit from two games at a trot on the bench against relatively easy opposition. Sadly that has not happened. For all Fergie’s legendary man management ability, if I had a quibble, it would be his handling of Ronaldo this season. I tend to believe that the winger talks himself into the starting XI, but there has to be someone who’d tell Fergie that sitting him down a couple of games on the bench would be good for him, and United, for the rest of the season. Anyway, Blackburn have always represented a tricky encounter and, despite it being at OT, it’s not a game to rest Ronaldo. Nani could start on the other wing with Neville, perhaps getting a right back berth. Carrick is certain to start while his partner could be either of Fletcher or Giggs. I think the defence might pick itself.
Prediction: 2-0 to United.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Breaking down the United-Tevez-Kia tug of war
- Twists Galore as Tevez Saga Continues
- Manchester United Sign Tevez?
- High Court Comes to Tevez’s Rescue
- Tevez Update: Is a Solution Finally In Sight?
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
Fuck, lets just play rooney at CB!
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@Dan: I think one of the guys will come through, not sure which one though. Would be a waste to put Carrick there, so I hope Evans makes it back on time.
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Dan, is that de laet kid even in our champions league registration list?
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@RedDevilEddy: Trust me mate, it’s not due to my bias. If a player is better and plays on a team i hate, I will admit it. Lahm may play for Bayern but he could play for Liverpool and i would say the same thing. Just like I say that Essien is the most dominating box to box midfielder in the world. I hate the guy and the fact he plays for Chelsea. But I also base my opinion on the fact that I have seen a lot and I mean a lot of Philip Lahm play. And I have seen a lot of Evra play. And there is no comparison. I’m sorry. You can disagree all you like mate and I respect that but you are definitely 100% WRONG. Believe that.
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@Orez: The bundesliga jibe doesn’t work with me mate. Lahm ahas been chosen on the top eleven of the last World Cup and last EUROS. He has produced at the very highest level and continues to do so. It’s harder to defend in Germany than it is England. In Germany even the bottom feeders will come at you and attack unlike England where they park the bus. And he isn’t just a better finisher, crosser and passer, he defends as well with better aerial ability and overall balance. Both have equal pace and mobility. I’d rate Lahm a 9/10 in terms of LB’s and Evra would be a 7.5/10.
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@Dan: One of the injured guys will be miraculously ready to play against Inter. No worries.
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@Matthew: I gave some kind of reply to your comment earlier, but Ill post it again.
Injury update is that Neville, Vidic and Brown definately are out. There are still some doubts about Oshea and Evans. Oshea is still suffering from the injury he got against Fulham, while Evans will have a scan tomorrow. He maaaaaaay be able to play, but I wouldnt hold my breath. I would love it if at least one of them recover, but if both are fully fit to play that game I would use Oshea at RB and Evans as CB with Rio, because I feel that Rafael is still not ready for the physical approach of Inter. Adriano, Zlatan and Cruz may be too much to handle for a 18 year old Brasillian… But we will see what happens! My preffered defense for Inter would be Gaz, Rio, Vidic and Evra, but we are defo gonna miss two of them. I am quite sure that if either Evans or Oshea recovers in time we will beat Inter 2-0 in Milan. They are very weak defensivly, and had Milan not had one of their worst days in finishing history, I feel they might have won that game. If we take our chances we will probably win. Zlatan doesnt scare me, and neither does Adriano. Rio can handle him.
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@Grognard: You cant be fucking honest!!!
To rate Evra as only 7.5 is simply madness!!! I respect your opinion, you know that from past comments. But giving Evra a 75 out of 100 and Lahm 90 of 100 is something I will never understand. I watch a lot of Germany games, and I will admit that he is great. He was actually, along with Torres, my dream signing until last summer. But come on, you cant possibly rate Evra that low. You know, and I know, that Evra has everything needed to be a LB. Lahm may be better attacking, but we are talking about a defender here. I wouldnt call Ruud the best defender in the world just because he is fairly good at tackling, good positioning and one of the most deadly finishers seen by mankind. You surprise me Grog, more often than not lately. But this… sorry, but that comment there is just too confusing to understand! I rate Evra 9/10. Lahm only get an 8 from me. Because we are talking about defenders, not wingers or strikers.
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@Grognard: World cup and Euro? Why do you use these competitions to rate someone. You said that you use facts, but many great players play for weak national teams and might never appear in these competition.In Evra case he wasn’t played in France, because Domenich rates Abidal higher and we all know how great “France” is under him. Also clubs are much stronger than national teams. The fact that Bundesliga lower teams have more courage then EPL-s doesn’t mean that Lahm is better. I already said the quality in Bundesliga is lower. The proof is their horrible record in the past several years in Europe…
These kind of argument is subjective. You have your point I have mine and we can use different methods, to rate differently, so there is no end to it. If we meet Bayern in CL, we will have chance to judge and even then I don’t think we will change our opinions.
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@Orez: Their record in Europe over the past couple of years is no worse than Italy’s…
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@RedDevilEddy: I’m sorry Mate but when I grade I grade on a lot of factors. Problem is that Evra has a lot missing in his game. You only focus on his strengths but you don’t say anything about his weaknesses. A fullback that can’t cross a ball worth shit is pretty important. A fullback that can’t use both feet to shoot or pass is limiting and he has nowhere near the capacity Lahm has to score goals. Even when he dribbles and cuts inside, it’s not with the drive and confidence that Lahm has nor does it always end up with the finished result of a Lahm surge. Look at his World Cup goal or his winning goal against Turkey or the goal he scored for Bayern a few weeks ago where he dribbled fity yards went through everybody and then scored a cracker. O r the numerous crosses that have found the head of Toni or Klose for goals.
I’m kind of insulted that you would question me about this. You say you respect my knowledge and wisdom yet you question me on this when I am absolutely positive that I am right. I don’t get it. Trust and faith mate. Don’t just say you respect my opinion value my opinion and then trash it when it doesn’t agree with your clearly biased opinion of Evra. He is currently the number 3 choice for France for crying out loud. Yes he’s good but he has holes in his game. His off the ball marking is terrible at times and it was yesterday too. Lahm is not perfect but he’s pretty close. He has a bad game once ina while but his great games far outnumber his bad. Had you watched as many games as I have you would not question that.
@Orez:
Sorry mate but the World Cup and the EUROS has defined greatness in the sport for decades now. Players have won European Player of the Year and even World Player of the Year because of their performances in these tournaments alone. It is a tremendous measuring stick under the greatest pressure of all. The fact you dismiss this FACT, tells me how unaware you are of the importance of playing at the highest level. It’s tough for some players that are stuck playing for small countries who are not big on the World stage. But that is not the problem in comparing Lahm to Evra. Lahm has been outstanding for his country, Evra has had to sit on the bench mostly for his. Lahm excels for his club team and Evra excels for his but Lahm means much much more for Bayern because he truly is their best German player. Only Ribery is a better player on that team filled with stars. Evra is not in the top five players on United. And still, I think Evra is a very good player. But please, don’t try to convince me and others who watch the world game that Evra is better than Lahm because that is just laughable. The fact that German teams show more attacking courage forces Lahm to be tested more on the defensive side of the game. His marking is as good as Evra on the ball but he is also superior to Evra off the ball in marking and in the air. That is a fact. You can have your rating and thats fine. I respect that but I disagree with it and I don’t need a one game or two game challenge in the CL to prove me right or wrong. A player can never be judged by a game or two. The fact that world opinion by FIFA UEFA, and the world footballing media agrees with me. That’s good enough for me. They watch both players and know far more than a United fan who just happens to be taking sides based on his loyalty. I happen to be united fan and Bayern fan. I am more of United fan but there is no question in my mind, Philip Lahm is superior to Evra. This is not subjective at all. It’s obvious and a fact.
Only significant time and a change of form for both of these players will change my mind. Sorry.
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I rate Lahm above Evra. But really I cannot think of anyone else Id rather have as our left back. That January transfer window in which we bought Evra and Vidic for a shade over 10 million in total was some of our best business this decade.
God knows why we got De Laet. We sell Silvestre who for all his slips and injury proneness is an experienced central defender with a bunch of international caps and we buy a kid who only really has competitive experience in the Belgian league. This is not the first time we’ve had defensive injuries pile up and we should sort it out and get a bit more cover.
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RedDevilEddy, ok then cheers then mate for getting back to me. I would hope at least 1 player gets back in time for the game, they must be a bit hopeful for the game or they would be completely ruled out already like brown and neville. Why do we always seem to get injuries in the defence in the latter stages of the champions league, is it a curse? We had like 3 players out at the san siro last time against AC, last year against barca we had vidic out, and this year we have vidic suspended, brown and neville out, with evans and brown doubtful. Wish we would have taken up the option of getting panucci, he can play anywhere across the back 4.
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@Liam: What you mean, cause I am sure Milan won CL 2 years ago, but don’t remember anything like that for Bundesliga clubs.
@Grognard:
European Player of the Year and World Player of the Year is being decided by several hundred people (reporters, coaches and captains of national teams). Opinions of couple of hundred people are not facts. There are many other holes like these in your argument. I am not going to point it out, because I believe arguements on the web are pointless (my personal opinion and I am not trying to insult anyone). I only replied not to be rude, seeing that you spend time typing that all. I have read it all and I just don’t agree with you.
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@Orez: Who cares who selects the awards and how many. The bottom line is they take those competitions a lot seriously than you do for judging talent. Those competitions are crunch time. When the cream rises to the top. They are perfect stages to showcase one’s brilliance. Sorry but there are absolutely no holes in my argument whether you think there are or not. You have yet to validate your position with one bit of common sense and proof that stands up to my argument. I don’t want to argue with you but next time don’t bring a knife to a gunfight OK.
It sounds like you will put down any selection or voting institution if it does not agree with you. So you don’t agree with me, that’s fine mate. But that doesn’t make you right. Because you have simply never made your argument. All you did was put down my argument without actually offering a valid and constructive point of view that one can look at and examine and compare. I too am not trying to be rude but it must come across that I am because I cannot figure out any other way of letting you know that you landed on your butt with this one. Honestly, the world footballing body has acknowledged Philip Lahm as the best LB in the world. This in not just hundreds of people. Every football magazine, every professional web site has acknowledged that he’s the man. So why can’t you agree with this? These are the same people that have given awards and praise to the Pele’s, Maradona’s, Ronaldo’s, Beckenbauer’s Cruyff’s Platini’s, Zidane’s etc. I think FIFA has a better network of judges who evaluate the best players in the world and award them accordingly. Yes there is a little bit of regional bias there I’m sure, but overall they get things right most of the time. I have mty favorites and my biased opinions too but Philip Lahm is not picked from that emotional criteria. I pick him because after seeing him play at least over 100 times, there is no doubt in my mind that he is the best. Now when you go watch the Abidal’s, Zambrotta’s, Grosso’s, Lahm’s, Clichy’s, Evra’s, Chivu, A Cole’s, etc, I hope you make your decision based on many hours of knowledge watching all of them and not your personal gut feeling based on your personal preference. That my friend is the easy way out. I love Evra and yes Lahm is my favorite but having watched all these players many times leaves me to one conclusion, Lahm is the best and Zambrotta is number two. I do feel however that Evra is better than Abidal but not by much.
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@Grognard: Fine then how’s about we say Lahm’s the best RB in the world and Evra’s the best LB. A bit of diplomacy never did any harm
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@Liam: To Hell with diplomacy. I’m right.
Besides, Alves and Maicon are better RB’s than Lahm. Now where is my bias for all those thinking I’m picking Lahm out of bias? 
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@Grognard: I already put my argument before. In your opinion national teams is where the players realize their full potential and in my opinion clubs are. My argument is simple. Evra has been playing in the highest standard then any other LB in the world and won much more then anyone else. The EPL and CL winner employed him for over 2 years in one of the tightest defenses in the world. These are facts. EPL is the best league and we won it twice and we are also semi finalist and winners of CL. The only thing you put as your argument are either your own opinions or personal opinions of other people. FIFA and UEFA are one of the biggest biased and full of shit organizations ever. I make my own judgment who is the best player in any position. You talk about their judgment, but where was their judgment, when in CL team 2008, there was only Ronaldo from our team. Where was their judgment, when in 2007 Kaka(having great season in CL, but being horrible in Seria A) won best player while Ronaldo, scoring more then 25 goals and shining in both competitions came 3 after Messi who didn’t do shit that year. In the end seeing that you trust their judgment so much, you can just say that Lahm is the best cause FIFA says it and I will just say that I don’t agree with FIFA. If we had a chance to meet in real life, I would have been glad to spend hours to try proof my point, but as I said before, arguements on the web are pointless.
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Hello boyz!! Long time since I visited these hallowed threads.. and I’ve got some news to see if anyone else has come across this.
This is Fergie quoted in an interview with a French magazine whose readers voted him as the best manager in the world:
““He is an excellent footballer. He reminds me of [Zinedine] Zidane in the way that he positions his body – the ball seems to be glued between his feet. Defenders can’t get near him. But whatever you do, don’t say that I want to buy him.””
Guess who he is talking about????
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@Orez: Because he is fortunate enough to play for the best team in Europe does not automatically make him the best LB in the world. The fact he does play along side Vidic, Rio and Rafael, Evans, Neville and Brown only strengthens my argument as Lahm’s defender teammates are good at Bayern but not as good as United’s. Your arguments against UEFA and FIFA smell of bitterness and anger as a United fan who believes more of our players deserve consideration. Perhaps but remember that football is a team game and perhaps the best compliment that our team gets is that it doesn’t get as many personal accolades for it’s players because we stand out more as a unit. Their are hundreds of other teams with great players so one can imagine how difficult it is to select more than one player from one team to an all start selected squad. In 2007 Messi did much more than shit. He had a very fine year and scored some of the most breathtaking goals of that year. And yes Ronaldo got screwed. Why? Because KAKA won those awards for the fine games he had in a small little tournament called the Champions League. Like the World Cup and the EUROS, that tournament is much more magnified in importance than the 40 odd other games a team and a player play that year. That is my entire point regarding awards being given for these high profile moments.
It is too bad we couldn’t meet and discuss our passion for the game and for the players over a few beers and a couple of laughs. You sound like an intelligent person who certainly knows what he likes and what he believes and although we don’t agree on the Lahm vs Evra point, i’m sure we would agree on lots of other points. After all, we do live and breath Man Utd red. And in that case we are united like brothers. And I wouldn’t say we were arguing mate. Just a passionate debate which the web unfortunately limits the showing of our truest intentions and feelings. Still, I do respect what you have to say and look forward to chatting with you in the future on all things United. Cheers!.
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@Grognard: Fair enough mate. I am also sure that we will agree on many issues. I tend to agree with you more then not, specifically on your long posts when you rate players
@Rahul: Benzema I presume? I haven’t seen that article, but I heard SAF had a go on Wenger on the same article too.
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@Rahul: Who is he talking about?? Benzema??
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I have watched Benzema play enough to say that he in now ay whatsoever reminds me of Zinedine Zidane. Not even close. That’s Fergie trying to charm the little bastard enough to make him want to come and play for him. Fergie is sly and smart enough to know tha Zidane is Benzema’s idol and that comparing him to him would go down good with the moody bastard. I hate Benzema and only hope he snubs Fergie for Spain. United can do better than that Real Madrid loving French/Algerian piece of moody egotistical trash.
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@Grognard: Yes that seems to be the case, Also i feel people now are rating Alves very highly, i want to see him perform when Barcelona goes through a lean patch, that will give the exact picture of the character of the player.
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@Grognard: Ya that’s absolutely right about benzema, Especially in this kind of economic pressure, buying him will be pressure on the club both from fees and salaries point of view. As in my view we have to shell out good amount for him if spanish teams are in competition.
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http://therepublikofmancunia.com/milking-it/
another great video from RoM, similar to the one i shared here couple of days ago, enjoy!
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I still don’t get Fergie’s strange fascination with Benzema. The boy has no urge to come to United, would clearly clash with our team ethic and spirit and those two things have to be major considerations. Can you imagine him and Ronaldo getting along? Absolutely not. All I hope is that Fergie is running diversion, and our real target will come quietly at the beginning of the summer. Whoever that may be.
Any bets the press harp on about Ronaldo long enough for something to get done about it? Biggest worry for me is him being suspended for 3 games. That’s about the only thing that could dent our title hopes…
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@despicable: Actually Barca is going through a lean patch right now. They lost on the weekend and have squeaked through some difficult games of late. Alves has looked pretty good and very dangerous in all those games. He is the real deal but I for one prefer Maicon who has more power in his game
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@Beachryan: How do you know that, he has not come out and stateed his desire to sign him.
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@despicable: And even if we were to somehow get him, how long will it be before he complains about life in England, English food, women and the rain? And then how long will it take before he complains about not starting every game and how much better he would feel in Madrid? The guy just has bad attitude and trouble written all over him. I just don’t see why Fergie would want this kind of player knowing what the potential for trouble is?
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@Beachryan: That’s a good point mate. Fergie could be using this as a big diversion to keep the Madrid’s and others focusing on Benzema while Fergie swoops in on somebody else like Aguero and buys him before the others can react fast enough. You never know.
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I would prefer Agbonlahor, English quick and oh yes good!
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@Grognard: I would like to know what back four you would play if you knew that O’Shea is injured. Would you pit James Chester into the bull ring? Because what bigger stage than the Champions league? Or would you be wise and careful and put someone like Fletcher at CB? Or would you altogether take a different route and put Evra in the middle and play both the twins?
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@Stephen: In the same article that Rahul shared, Fergie said something about Lyon doing good business. Seems the owners wanted 55 mil for him. He said, ” In that case, I am not buying him”. Or something very similar. Couple with this the blasphemous comparison with Zidane, it does show that he is pretty interested in Benzema.
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@Grognard: I doubt that, we already have 1 shorty and may be even 2.
@Stephen: Not good enough. Agbonlahor seems like someone who needs confidence to be of any use and for that he will need to play a lot of games, which I don’t think will happen, unless someone is injured.
I think that SAF is waiting the end of our season, for competition money to resolve Tevez issue. If we have a great season, I think he will be signed, then again it will depend on other transfers too. I do hope pricks at Bernabeo will concentrate on Kaka this summer and let us rest for a change.
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Ferdinand, Evra, O’Shea, Evans, Fabio, Eckersley – Those are the defenders travelling to the San Siro.
Rafael is also injured, just in case we thought it was only one position we had to fill with an emergency choice – it’s actually two. I’m guessing therefore we’ll play:
————VDS————-
-Fabio–Rio–Eckersley-Evra-
——-Carrick-Fletcher—-
———–Giggs———–
-Ronaldo———–Rooney-
———–Berbatov——–
With Park and Tevez likely to feature, as Rooney and Giggs will be forced to continually track back. I’m most worried abotu set pieces and corners. Evra and Fabio are fairly mediocre in the air, and who knows who the other centre back will be. Does anyone watch enough reserves to give an opinion of Eckersley?
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@Orez: He is only 22 mate, and has everthing.
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Now we do not even seem to have Rafael. So we don’t even have a natural right back in the squad! Why does this always happen to us. There is something seriously messed up with our physio/fitness guys because we seem to go down with more injuries than any other team.
We only have six defenders in the squad. Two of those are carrying injuries. Two are reserve players who have as far as I can recall never played a single game in Europe and very few games in the Premier League…and almost certainly never come up against strikers of the calibre of Ibra and Adriano.
I’m really really scared.
We need two tall central defenders to deal with the aerial threat of Ibra and Adriano. Id go for Fletcher and Rio in the middle and then go with Fabio and Evra on the flanks.
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Heres hoping Rio remains fit, doesn’t slip on soap in the shower and break his hip which would just bring us to a point that we just have to forfeit the game. I can’t have that insufferable maddeningly self-obsessed freak Mourinho gleefully declaring his team’s superiority over us!
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@Mihir: I am really scared, it reminds me of our last visit to san siro, when we had second choice defence which KAKA ripped through.
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Against Milan at the San Siro our defence was Brown, Vidic, O’Shea, Heinze
We conceded three goals with that defence. God knows how many goals we’ll concede with Evra, Rio, Eckersley, Fabio
We gotta pray Ibrahomivitch and Adriano have off-days (which isn’t exactly unusual for them) and Mourinho is too chicken to really put our defence to the sword.
As they say attack is the best form of defence and as we have a full strength midfield and attack we can put them on the backfoot for most of the game. The worst thing for us to do is try and soak up the pressure because defenders as inexperienced as Eckersley and Fabio will crack.
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@colver: O’Shea has travelled so I guess he plays, Rio, O’Shea, Evra and Fletcher at the back is not great but no other option.
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So has Evans, so might be Ok.
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Sorry i could not respond earlier,.. my internet connection went kaput.
Although everyone has figured out it is ‘that slut Benzema’!!
Grog i hope ur right about Fergie using this as a diversion. But it could also be the genuine desire to sign him… he seems to be in the mood of signing players who ‘keep the ball well’ or ‘get between the ball and the defenders’ these days.. as he said of Berbatov and Tosic. And there lies my fear (apparently for a lot of the regulars here as well) that he is indeed fascinated by the slut.
I see nothing of Zinadine Zidane in him…. If Fergie wants a Zidane type player, he should buy Gourcuff instead (Laurent Blanc will understand and sell him to us for a reasonable fee). He’s the only one player who reminds me of Zidane’s style, technique and ability (somewhat cuz he is still unproven).
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@Rahul: Gourcuff is on loan from Milan.
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@despicable: Exactly what i remember as well mate!!! the only grace is Inter have no one the likes of Kaka. Otherwise it has ill-omens cuz Adriano can be a bitch to defenders smaller than him and Ibrahimovic is being well fed by Mourinho the only thing he lacks to perform on big occassions – confidence.
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@Stephen: yea mate I know.. but the loan deal says that they can make the loan permanent if Bordeaux want him (for 15 million if I remember correctly). And I don’t see why Bordeaux won’t take the option (I read it somewhere credible that Milan don’t have the right of refusal if Bordeaux wanna make it permanent). But yes, he cannot be bought straightaway. I was just looking at the Zidane element anyways.. no real hopes of landing him.
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@colver: Worrying news…
Im really gettins cared right now. Rafael may not be good in Europe, and against Inter he may be exposed many times. But with him at least we have a natural RB! We have got to fill that spot too now. Im gonna make two lineups, one for the best case scenario, and one for the worst. Here goes!
Best case scenario: Oshea and Evans passes fit and are able to play the game.
Oshea-Evans-Rio-Evra
Now that is not a bad defense. It has the power and strenght to handle Inters front line. Evra, Rio and Evans are all very quick, and shouldnt have so much problem.
Worst case scenario: Oshea and Evans are still injured and cant make the game. Then I would think/hope this defense.
Fabio-Carrick-Rio-Evra
Some people may think its best with Fletch there, but Im not so sure. He does too much running to be a CB, and would be caught out lots of times. Positioning isnt Fletchers stringest point, but chasing other players is. While Carrick is good positioner, and can do lots of defensive jobs like tackling, heading and clearing the ball. And hopefully Fabio can show some of the signs he did against Spurs. We will just ahve to wait…
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@Rahul: I do like the player mate and think he would be a decent punt obviously depending on the Hargo situation in the summer if he ever gets back to the player he was.
@RedDevilEddy: If your worst case senario is our back four then god help us!
Playing Fletch instead of Fabio is logical, he has experience and is also right footed to gives us balance but not ideal.
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@Stephen: Ah Hargreaves! I pray he is back to his old level after the surgeries he’s had. He is exceptional when 100% fit.
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