Sep 14
Liverpool 2-1 Man Utd: Questions Galore for Fergie
I don’t want to go over the actual happenings on the first Anfield defeat in God-knows-how-many-years but there are a few words (or shall we say phrases?) that can sum up our defeat quite well: (relative) lack of hunger, schoolboy defending and an injured midfielder.
I will seek to address some of my observations from the defeat more than making this a match report per se.
Desire:
Or should we say the lack of it? In the first 20 minutes, we looked the real deal. I started making mental notes on how scary we could be with the addition of Berbatov, and with Ronaldo yet to return. But what followed made the first 20 minutes appear a mere case of an adrenaline rush. Everyone’s been quick to condemn our lack of hassling in the midfield, but I would attribute this in part to Carrick’s injury. Because, before this we seemed in control and looked like the home side.
Liverpool, on the other hand, showed more desire to win the game. But even this wouldn’t strike me as new, because ‘pool have, in the past, controlled their home games against us only to end up in the losing side — which brings us to the next point…
Defending:
Often the saving grace for us last season, if you put Ronaldo’s contribution aside, Saturday’s defending would have made Titus Bramble squirm. EVDS, who still remains one of the better ‘keepers in the Premier League, has started making more errors for our liking. And the first goal was his fault. I wouldn’t fault Brown. He also fumbled earlier only for Kuyt to hit a United player instead of the target. Vidic’s red, later in the game, can’t possibly help matters ahead of our trip to Stamford Bridge next week.
Giggs ought to have put the ball out, but he didn’t, and we paid the price for the second goal. Both goals were avoidable. The first one even so because, going into half time, 1-0 up would have been psychologically crushing for the dippers (as against 1-1) because it’s been a mental block for them all this while playing United.
Tactics:
I was happy with Fergie’s intent to play all three strikers upfront, but was disappointed to see Rooney played out wide. Tevez has been in top form and when you are in form, you can do as well out wide as you can in the middle — and I say this because I believe playing Tevez out wide would have still helped him run amock. However, I fear for Rooney the most. I love the kid, I really do. Fergie admitted to misusing Rooney a lot last seaosn. Yet he decides to play Rooney out wide, away from the action. Why?
If he continues to do this, I will really start to worry about Rooney’s development. Whilst Theo Walcott continues to hog the headlines (and I do think rightly so) Rooney had a good game for England because of Emile Heskey. Rooney got to play behind a proper target man and it showed in his performance. Tevez’s trickery would have been better served on the wing than that of Rooney. Berbatov is million times a better player than Heskey, and hence I was looking forward to Rooney linking up with the Bulgarian. I’d rather have Rooney benched than see him shunted out wide in yet another game. It makes me sick to see the sting taken out of his game like this.
And why was Giggs brought in the place of Carrick? If Hargreaves was thought to be fit enough only for 20+ minutes then wouldn’t Nani have better added width to our attack (with Anderson pushed into midfield)?
Thorny Questions for Fergie:
I don’t want this to be a doom and gloom post. If we manage to win our home games against the big four and win the other games against the others with a few draws along the way I think we can still retain the title. But I have questions to ask Fergie.
How does he plan to integrate our strike force when Ronaldo returns?
I suggest, if he plans to play our attacking fab four at once (Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez, Berbatov), then Rooney and Berbatov will have to play in the middle, with Ronaldo and Tevez out wide. Otherwise it has to be either Rooney or Tevez on the pitch, behind Berbatov — not both.
What is his long term strategy for the ‘keepers’ slot?
I really don’t want Foster to break his head in frustration. I love EVDS, but I fear the increased frequency of his gaffes.
Other questions include the status of Hargreaves and Anderson (and possibly Possebon) in our first team mix. But then it would be too much negativity for my own liking.
We lost to a better Liverpool team, although we wouldn’t have really lost had we stuck with the basics of defending. Ferguson was right to have slammed the team, and I hope it works out as a spur for them to bounce back against a good looking Chelsea side.
Right now though, we entertain Joe Red’s Villarreal on Wednesday. Hopefully it helps Berbatov settle better into the club for now.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Rooney Out For A Month
- Porto it is then…
- Do you like Rio Ferdinand?
- Man Utd Blog 2007/2008 Home Kit
- Three Questions for Manchester United
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
Here we go again. U guys advocating 4 a team with Berba Rooney Tevez and Ronaldo starting are clearly in the same dreamland Fergie was on Sat. One of Roovez has to be on the bench. In fact all 3 strikers should be equally rotated. How do u play a system with 4 primary forwards at the same time? Thats insane. Such Playstation tactics and formations made us deserved losers at Anfield. Idiotic. Manucho is on his way. He should get a chance in the rotation. So what happens to players like Nani,Park,Anderson etc in such an idiotic formation that some of u are driving for? Absolute madness. Please lets leave Playstation fantasies in our consoles. Unbelievable
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@Liam: I saw it mate and I totally agree.
I didnt want him and every reason I gave was proved right in that game. he was nowhere for 85 mins. oh oh sorry….he was probably “conserving his energy” for the final third. Where are Stephen, Gabriel, or Craig Mc? Id like to hear them make excuses for Berbacrap.
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Liam- What are u on about? The long balls as u said were awful. So what was he to do? I get the feeling that people expect unnatural or even paranormal abilities from a player because he cost £30m. The long ball tactics nullified the midfield and were ultimately poor. Berbatov is very good at holding the ball and drawing defenders. This opens up space for our attacks to run into. Simple. Thats what he is best at. Unfortunately because the British mentality in football is still archaic and us having two Britons on the technical bench, Berbatov’s role is foolishly limited to ‘the big’ striker who knocks the ball to the on rushing ‘little’ striker with his head. So Vidic was foolishly delegated to be the long ball distributor. Thats not using Berbatov to his strengths. Watch his game with Spurs. He played with his feet to cleverly set up Keane and co.
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@Jay wire: so we bought a striker to assist the prolific Rooney and Tevez, sorry but he was bought specifically for height and goalscoring and if he doesnt start producing fast he will have been a waste. We are only going to get 3 or 4 seasons out of him so he should start now
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Jesus this is an absolute joke, Berbatov has played ONE game and has only played 30 minutes of competitive football prior to that this season and some of you are already on his back? There are many people who have said about the lack of class and loyalty that Ronaldo showed during the summer, at least we know that he is not alone in those traits.
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@Liam: @jstar7: Guys, whole team was playing bad on saturday… Berba was never delivered to create anything… And Berba is not Ronaldo who can dribble the ball from half line to the Box… Berba hardly ever got the ball… And if it wasn’t for Berba’s assist, we would have lost 2-0… more humiliating that would have been…
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Liam I was another that was not in favour of buying berbertov, I keep repeating myself that you cant have 3 strikers who think they all should play in the first team you need the balance, thats why I said we should have snapped up fernando torres who is exactly what united needed. and another thing I said how was he great in the air never seen him score loads of goals in the air for spurs.
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@JB: Yup. Couldn’t agree more.
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i agree with penguin about fergie needing a clear plan.
I saw it as a 442 at anfield. anderson on the left rooney on the right. it was always 442… carrick for giggs. giggs became the left winger, andy moved into the center. then scholes for hargreaves and so our midfield changed again for the second time. then nani for andy and giggs moved into the centre and nani on the left…. which was the thing that got me banging my head on the coffee table.
i surely thought we were going 41221 like with one DM in OH, wingers in nani and giggs, and roovez as the AMs… with that i thought we could wrest back some control… but no, i was foolish to think that we wanted to win the game…
hopefully fergie realises that his wide array of talent is for him to be used properly in the right situation. and not throw on the all his players with the ability to pass the ball around nicely and expect that to be the be all and end all.
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@JB: well if he wasnt match fit then why the hell was he played at all? and im not disputing that the whole team played badly. they were awful. but still…this was berb’s debut…his first match in a united shirt. i would have thought he would be busting his balls to show us fans how much it means to him! maybe im asking too much to want to see some passion from him on his debut against the freaking pool! if he cant get “active” or up his energy levels for a match like this….how the hell is he gonna do it for any other match!!
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@AndyCR7: no dispute for the assist. it was lovely and a great start. where was he after that?
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The only problem with our squad at the moment is that we could do with another young central midfielder. Obviously one who’s good enough for us straight away will be expensive, but I’d have preferred to see £20 mil plashed on another Anderson than £30 on Berba. Time will tell, I guess, although Possebon hasn’t looked up to much.
Anyone know him better than I do and feel qualified to judge on his abilities? Same thing with Manucho actually, does anyone feel qualified to pass judgement?
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@jstar7: He isn’t a Tevez though, he will never run about the pitch like a mad man. If you are waiting for him to do that then you are in for a very long wait. He is meant to bring a touch of class, vision and smart movement to the team, not work rate. For all his running about, Tevez did not make much of an impression on the game after his goal yet he gets a bye because he appears to be ‘committed’.
Regardless of that it is exceedingly harsh to judge a player on ONE performance, in one of out HARDEST away games, when only ONE United player managed an acceptable level of performance. In addition the comment about the competitive football this season was meant with regards to his match sharpness. Simply being pumped up for a game does not necessarily make you match sharp.
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@michael: Given that we are running with 5 CM’s at the moment and that only one is nearing retirement age why have you identified that as the part of the squad that needs improvement?
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@jstar7: no dispute for the assist. it was lovely and a great start. where was he after that?
Where was anyone after that?
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@JB: again, if he wasnt match sharp why play him in one of the HARDEST away games? and im allowed to judge him on his performance in that game, which was awful…simple as.
oh and tevez didnt just “appear” to be committed, he WAS committed.
and i am sick of hearing that berba gets a bye from doin any work for the team cos he is bringing the “class” to the team. Im sorry but didnt we win the PL and the CL last year. Did we not do it by playing some great football? are we that lacking in creativity and class that we need to bring a player to add some flair to our boring and stale style of football?
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@Red Ranter: granted the team was poor all round. but should we not have expected more effort from someone on their debut? if he hasnt permormed by xmas are the same people going to be saying things like “he is not getting the support he needs”, or “he is not getting the right type of ball to produce”?
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Right time for my two pennies worth on the game. IMO opinion there is a danger of over analysis on this one. I share many of the concerns expressed, from trying to wedge Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov into the same team, to formational issues, defensive organisation, Edwin’s form and issues over whether Phelan is the right man to replace Quieroz.
That all said I do not view this performance as that far detached from our last two visits to Anfield. The two prior year’s yielded 1-0 wins, this year a 2-1 reverse. The difference? Simply put, individual errors. If VDS does not flap at the deflected Alonso shot and Giggs clears his lines I genuinely believe we would have scrapped a 1-0 win from the games.
Like previous visits we contributed very little attacking wise during the game and our midfield couldn’t get a hold of the ball. It’s not as if we never reverted to hoofing long balls up the pitch in CQ’s regain or prior to Berbatov’s arrival. It’s not as if there weren’t days when our midfield was overrun and our attack was non-functioning last season. At this stage if we can get in and out of Stamford Bridge with a draw then we can start building the season from there without having suffered too severe damage.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have some long term concerns for the team. The team selection was odd, given the personnel on the pitch were suited for a 4-3-3 why did they start in a 4-4-2? More to the point, why was the formation not changed after it became apparent that the 4-4-2 was being too easily overrun?
Secondly I do not believe Scholes has a place in a two man CM when away from home any more. He is fine at OT when we are generally in control and in a three man midfield with two others to do his running but he looked his age yesterday.
As for the starting line up with all of the big names, a 4-2-3-1 looks like a possibility, with Tevez, Ronney and Ronaldo as the supporting 3. You probably couldn’t use it in every games, particularly the bigger ones where one of Rooney/Tevez would probably be dropped for an additional midfielder. But it doesn’t look anymore unbalanced/unfeasible than some of formations last year that almost turned into 4-2-4’s at times.
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@jstar7: The sensible thing to do usually is to give a player the benefit of doubt before immediately jumping on his back — even if you didn’t approve of his initial purchase.
Jumping on his back after seeing 15 bad games, instead of the one bad one has more credibility. You do realise that this is a new system he has to adapt, and he’s had no preseason whatsoever plus he came back straight after the international break.
I would give him some leeway even if I was dead against his purchase.
But I was for buying Berbatov so I would give him benefit of the doubt.
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@jstar7: Fine Tevez was committed. But it was commitment that had little positive effect or contribution. So from that respect was there much difference between him and Berbatov, other than perception?
Players are different. Hargreaves will run about more than Carrick, but Carrick will pass the ball better. Park will cover more ground than Giggs/Nani, but they are the better crossers. That doesn’t make one better player better than another, just different and you generally have to live with those natural traits. Ronaldo will rarely run himself into the ground doing defensive work but you indulge him because of the other things he brings to the table. The same theory applies to Berbatov.
Why play him if he is not match sharp? I don’t know, you would have to ask the manager. But if he wasn’t match sharp and was picked anyway then it is hardly Berbatov’s fault.
We did win the CL and PL last year but you are sticking your head in the sand if you think there weren’t some flaws in the team last year. As has been pointed out on ample occasions it was the solidity of the defence and Ronaldo’s one man demolition show saved our hides on numerous occasions. For my money there were numerous occasions lat year when we were sorely missing a striker like Berbatov.
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@JB: We don’t really have 5 though, do we. We have Scholes and Hargreaves who can’t play consecutive games more than 5 times a season, Carrick who is very good but often seems short of confidence, Anderson who for all his greatness cannot score a goal and then Possebon who has played approximately 9 seconds for us.
It’s not that I think we lack quality there, I just think that considering that next season Scholes is likely to be peripheral if present and that we already had 2 class strikers, a goal-scoring winger and 2 youth strikers that our manager apparently rates highly it seems up front wasn’t the cleverest place to spend £30 million quid.
No doubt Berbatov is good enough, I just think that If we’re going to play a 3-man midfield most games then we need at least one midfielder who’ll get 10 league goals and/or another player like Carrick or Barry.
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@michael: Fair enough point, I’m concerned about the lack of goals from the middle of the park as well. The only problem is that if you buy another top class CM you have the same problem as up top, what do you do with them all? It is a juggling act to get them all proper game time as it is.
P.S. Is Fletcher dead or just invisable
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I know this is going off on a tangent but I feel it is relevant. AIG’s shares have fallen nearly 80% since the start of the year and the current credit crunch isn’t helping them either. I don’t know how much money they sponser Man Utd but I hope it isn’t a large percent of our revenue as they, like XL(the sponser of West Ham), might go bust. Maybe this has been a contributing factor as to fears that we don’t have a lot of cash to spend?
As for the game I’m disappointed we lost which is of course a natural feeling. I’m also disappointed in the way in which we lost but I am now hoping we go to stamford bridge now and totally destroy them.
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@JB: Ha ha invisible I guess, especially when you consider that he’s been our best player (or one of) this season… Bit of a flop by me, that one
. But still, he can do a job and do it well but he’ll never hold down a place in the team.
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@Anderson8: I wouldn’t worry about that. If AIG goes bust, the Manchester United brand is big enough for us to net another sponsor who may be willing to even pay more than AIG are currently — considering our success on the pitch. It can only be good for us.
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@Red Ranter: Yeah AIG are only our sponsors because they lent the Glazers the money to buy us, aren’t they?
So, in the unlikely event AIG goes bankrupt, what happens to our debt?
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@michael: That’s a theory peddled by MUST and the like and I have seen very little in the way of evidence for it. AIG own a large stake in a hedge fund which was used by the Glazers when funding their takeover. How that jumped to AIG effectively getting their shirt sponsership ‘for free’ I don’t know. We are funded to the tune of £56.5m over a four year period by AIG, the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in the UK.
As for the debt, it will stay regardless of what happens to AIG.
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hey RR
off topic but how about a redrants league for the UCL…? at uefa.com ??
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we have the players to dominate football for years as far as im concerned however i fear for us unless we get a new tacticaly astute coach. Sometimes fergies tactics/ substitutions amaze me & i dnt think Phelan has any particulary clever ideas of how to accomodate all our superstars cohesively into the team either.
This will be contraversial but i strongly feel Giggs has to retire as he clearly has very little to offer the team any longer. He broke the appearance record AND won another European Cup. Hes holding back the development of our young squad that need to develop quickly so that they are prepared for the inevitable retirement of the old guard.
I dont think Scholes should start in the big games any longer unless he is on FIRE. Hes still a classy player with great passing but as an all round player he is below par. From what i can see his little legs just cant keep up any more!
I know hes young and inexperienced but i am convinced Possebon would be a better option for us in midfield instead of scholsey. His physical presence alone would help us i feel.
I just hope Fergie can see and accept what is happening before his eyes and act accordingly.
The way i see it our main Midfielders in a couple years will be Carrick, Hargreaves and Anderson. To me as a midfield three they work perfectly together. Thats assuming Hargreaves can stay fit!
This will be contraversial but i really think we need to get rid of Ronaldo as soon as possible. The wee prick doesnt deserve to wear our strip any longer.
When he returns to the fold he will no doubt only further compliacte the team selections for Fergie & Co.
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Moan, moan, feckin moan. I remember everyone saying Sheringham was crap, Andy Cole was crap, Ronaldo was one trick pony, Evra and Vidic were deemed crap that 1st season. Now its Berbacrap after one game, with players who he had never played with before, not trained with, and had no proper idea of our system of play. Berba also picked up a knock, and that didn’t help. Suddenly, he has to come in, and safe the feckin day, when United was shit all round. They do what they always do, when the midfield are continually LOSING the ball, and they are under pressure. Just pump the ball up the field, anywhere will feckin do. I bet Berba has never been so feckin confused in his football life. He probably thought he was playing a system Fergie had sent them out to play, but what was that system, even I was feckin confused. Was the system, listen defenders, our midfielders are so shit, that they cannot play keep ball under pressure, so just keep lobbing the ball up to Berbatov. Was that the system, because that’s what they did. Stop feckin blaming a player who has only just joined us and has to find his way. The other United players should have been making it easy for him. Another thing, I don’t think Fergie should let Ronnie back into the team, until the rest of the players have learnt to play football without him. Ronnie is reports are true, is already talking again about new challenges. What he means is, I have sat and watched this lot play, and I don’t think we will recapture the last two seasons. So, let him sit for a bit more, until we prove whether he is right or not.
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campbel was an unused sub today vs villa and gio looks the real deal.
he looked to be trying to be ronaldo on the right today cut in and shoot or flick vs cross 4 to 1 but had some good shots and his close control is good like many diminutive spanish speaking forwards.
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Craig mc: What reports on Ronaldo? The only thing I have seen from him lately is his comments about the fans loving him again as soon as he starts playing and how he wants to go down as one of the best players ever.
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@JB: players have to prove themselves to me when they join. Especially if they have played in the PL for a while and allow me to build an opinion on them. Also especially when he rejected us 2 years ago and cost us 20m more than what he cost 2 years ago. Is it unreasonable to think that he could have waited the extra couple of weeks to make his ‘dream move’? Then if I remember correctly he went to the tabloids saying how Spurs were going to finish higher than United. For that price we could have got Eto’o and some change which would have been a better option IMO
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@JB: Mate, I was just reading on news now about some interview Ronnie had given to spanish/portuguese D’abo or something, where he did say that Manchester United still love him, but that players need NEW challenges. It mentioned the name to whom the interview was given, or statement, whatever. But I still said, IF the reports are true, because they are often misquotes. However it was part of the same statement about Man Utd still loving him.
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@Craig Mc: seriously Craig, some of the comments I read about Berba here were plain ignorant! He was actually one of the better players on the pitch for us on saturday. Well, after a performance like that, I guess a witch-hunt was inevitable and Berba took over the role of Joan of Arc.
The only thing that went wrong on Saturday was Liverpool came organised and hungry while we came disorganised and confused. Fergie fell into the trap Barcelona did early last season and put all his best forwards and central midfielders, then said, ‘Go, play, enjoy yourselves’.
We cut the look of an incoherent team on saturday, due to the fact that we had Anderson (an AMF) and Rooney (a SS) playing as SMF, then when Carrick got injured, our midfield collapsed. It is obvious Ando and Scholes can’t play with each other, both have the same functions. When Carrick got injured, Hargo or fletch should have been put on pronto, we needed a midfielder to control that game for us and neither scholes, an injured carrick or anderson could do that.
The defence now had to cope with liverpools’ counter attack alone because there was no MF in front to cover that space in front and slow down opposing counter attacks. Our midfield really was non-existent, tevez did not create anything for Berba and Berba did the best he could with all those wayward long balls tossed by Vidic.
Rooney kept the width, but could not do much with Brown not able to overlap due to him keeping an eye on Riera. Anderson didn’t know what he was supposed to do and Evra was left to create width on the left, hence always left us open on the left for a scouse counter which only vidic could deal with since we had no holding midfielder. Tactically, we were outclassed by Rafa’s in-game astuteness.
The main issue Fergie needs to address is player selection, if we play a 4-4-2 like saturday, play ‘wingers’ on the wings eg. Nani and Park. In midfield, strike a balance btw an offensive and a defensive midfielder eg. Anderson (AMF) and Hargo (DMF). Our player selection/formations so far this season have been very incoherent, i don’t know if Fergie is tryng to adopt a new system or he is unsure of who to play, but as Double champions, we are the team to beat, hence, we have to show up with our strongest, most suited and most effective sides to ensure good results.
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Craig Mc: Seems to have been a bit added on to that interview then. From what I read there doesn’t seem to be much to get worried about though.
Liam: Fair enough on players having to prove themselves to you, but do you normally give them as much time as one game to do that
And he didn’t come to us two years ago because we didn’t express a firm enough interest and were dithering about because of the RVN situation at the time. He wanted a bit of certainity over his future and Spurs provided that. And I believe his comments at the time were that Spurs were a club on the up, which the media probably spun into an insult to United.
To be perfectly honest it looks like you have been against this transfer from the start and can’t wait to stick the boot into him.
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@jstar7: berbatov is a man united player FFS.cant we show sum loyalty.whts the point arguing that we needed him or not? fact is,he wears a red shirt and THAT should be reason enough to earn our respect….how come we slate ronaldo for being disloyal when thats exactly wht we r?
Berba should start most games,n roo behind him..tevez will be an exellent supersub…
rooney is better than than tevez.
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Let’s get one thing straight Craig, people like Liam and me and plenty others said it quiet clearly that we did not want berbertov signed for united simple as. There are many reasons why he should not have been signed 1 his age 2 we already had rooney and tevez are already first choice strikers all united needed was a more physically strong forward not another link up player. 3 he does not provide enough in 90 minutes and someone got that right but said it all wrong by defending him, he is no ronaldo he is not going to run at players that’s exactly the main reason why he should not have been signed in the first place, torres and ribery were clearly available in the summer of 2007 and he got two players one at the moment is not good enough in nani, and the other half of the time his overall finishing and behind in the box in tevez is not there. If fergie thought not getting torres was because of his finishing then I don’t think tevez was any better. What made me laugh is half these idiots on here thought signing berbertov would solve the problems even though berbertov is clearly not in christiano ronaldo’s league.
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@JB: I am trying to give him a chance but my instinct just keeps telling me that he is wrong for us. I really hope I’m wrong but 30m is a disgrace considering we could have gotten options that suit our style for less
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@jstar7: Did u say tevez was comitted? to wht? giving the ball away? or making bad tackles?could hav been sent off…..if it was rooney,some ppl wud be talkng about selling him to man fucking shitty..fact is,tevez was shit for like 84 mins of the game.i hav jus rewatched the game,n i can tell u that carlos tevez made just about FOUR offensive contributions the whole game.(goal,missed chance n 2 good thru balls)n u still tawk about berba having disappered…oh n by the way,wasnt carlos tevez supposed to be the man in form???i’d rather hav sheasy play supporting striker thn letting tevez play on with his supposed good form…
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@Liam: like who?
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@Liam: im with ya on all that. totally agree.
@Craig Mc: wondered how long itd take you. “Now its Berbacrap after one game, with players who he had never played with before, not trained with, and had no proper idea of our system of play” yes, it is. why was he played if he hadnt trained with them and had no idea waht he was doing? and no, i dont expect him to come in a save the day. i expect him to put the effort in…especially this being his debut.
@Gabriel: “He was actually one of the better players on the pitch for us on saturday.” …no he wasnt. he started well with the assist, then dissapeared for 85 mins.
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@Liam: You are perfectly entitled to think he is not the right man for us but at least have the good grace to give the situation a chance to pan out before you castigate the guy.
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next year we will have campbell back…we dont own tevez yet,lets jus drop the idea.dont make his deal perm.that wud leave us with a strike force of roo berb manucho n frazier…bad eh? naah…its pretty darned good.the money saved could be invested in another winger…watched alexis sanchez play for chile the other day,looks a real deal…lets snatch him.if ronaldo goes,use the money to buy ribbery…we’d be well off long term! wht do u guyz think?
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Super teams, the likes of which we seem to be constructing up front rarely if ever work as intended. On paper a fab four would be unstoppable but if the galacticos experiment taught us anything, its that big names, bigger wage packets and even bigger egos dont gel well, fletch is our leading scorer for god’s sake!. Also regarding a few of the ranters on here expressing their annoyance with the whole berbatov aquisition, fair points your making ther about his suitibility in the united system but where were your problems on deadline day when the majority of you were desperate for us to buy a new frontman? Sure we would have been up shit creek had rooney or tevez been injured during the season and for that reason COVER was needed, but berbatov’s love of sulking, his disapearance during many games and his commanding 30m price tag will ensure that he gets started in games he dosent need to play in. We need more players like Oshea, Fletch, Ole and Park who will quite happilly sit on the sidelines until called upon and put in a fantastic display regardless, real club servants who’ll fill in. Did Teddy and Ole have any problem losing out to Yorkey and Cole during the glory days of 99 or vice cersa? Essentially fergie needs to get over the whole fifa/pes obbsession that we all(myself included) have with fielding a super team, forcing ourselves to accommodate the best individuals, (usually out of position) over team players.
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@jstar7: Well, jstar7, I expected this reaction from you, seeing you were against the guy before he even kicked a ball for us…
Berba was playing CF/big man on saturday, meaning, his job is to stay up the pitch, wait for supply from midfield/tevez, push the defence back and lay the ball for tevez and co. Before Carrick got his knock and our midfield was functioning, he did that perfectly and even set up a goal for Tevez. As soon as the supply stopped, he was left aloof, only able to try and cope with the wayward long balls tossed in by defence, which coincidentally led to him getting a knock.
The reason we bought Berba is because we required a big man with intricate play skills to stay up the pitch (as opposed to roovez), push defences back (hence create space for roovez) and score in-the-box goals. His job is not to go roaming about the pitch looking for the ball, that’s the midfield/SS job. Yesterday, he played his role well, unfortunately the rest of the team were confused as to how this system works.
If he began running about the pitch, leaving his responsibilities, it will be a case of ‘he is the same as Roovez, why get identical strikers?’. To criticise a player who did his job to satisfaction, despite poor service from his team-mates, especially after one game is, IMO, ignorant, naive or biased.
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@jstar7: Your such a feckin laugh mate. Why don’t you ask Fergie why he was played, and go crying to him
. I didn’t pick the team, I didn’t advocate that Berba should be played, I just said that Fergie would play him, and I was right. Why he left him on so long, ask Fergie. I don’t know what team you wanted yesterday Jstar, but you sure didn’t get it judging by your anger – shame!. That isn’t down to me, but I stand by what I said in my post about Berba, no matter what you personally think about it. If the kind of effort wasn’t there you wanted, then I feel for you mate, but if Fergie felt the effort wasn’t there, it’s up to him to sort it out. No use you venting your spleen on me mate, it doesn’t wash – Geez 
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@Craig Mc: Weirdly, i was thinking about this idea today. Though i doubt Fergie would do it, but I’d like to see us play with a fully fit Hargreaves and Carrick without Ronaldo, and lets see how the team holds out. I still maintain that if we had Carrick on or had brought on Hargreaves earlier, we might have scrapped a 1-0 win. I just had a though…maybe Phelan selected the tactics for yesterday’s game???Lol On the part about new challenges, like i said earlier, I’m not surprised cus i still think he’s leaving this summer, though some people think he and Fergie agreed on some kinda deal that sees him leave when Fergie does.
On VDS: I think he said he’d consider his future in December right? Whether he’d want to continue for another year on just wrap it up this season. After yesterdays game, if i were Fergie I’d start giving him signs that his shirt his no more safe like Arsenal did to Lehman
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@JB: I am not going nuts am I mate, I did read that in the report of the interview, I think it was on Setants
. You know how much I have fought for Ronnie JB, with those who want him out, and who hate him and do not want to support him for his antica in the summer. That is their prerogative though. So you know I wouldn’t just have made this up. I read it from the Setanta bulleting on News Now. 
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Love hearing your take on Berba JB, and one which I agree with obviously.
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@Rd: Yeah mate, it is such a pity that Hargo and Carrick are often carrying knocks etc. Well Hargo more than Carrick with that blasted Tendonitis. I love Hargo, he is a winner, if only he could get fit and stay fit
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Edwin has never really been brilliant on crosses has he, I mean when there are a lot of players in the area surrounding him. Shame really, but Edwin’s best days are also behind him.
Anybody know if Saha played for Everton against Stoke, cos I missed the news the update on that one.
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