Feb 20
Lyon v Man Utd: Preview
Finally, some much needed Champions’ League action as United take on Lyon in the round of 16, first leg. It would be worth noting that Ryan Giggs, if selected, would make his 100th Champions’ League appearance — which would be quite an achievement.
Sir Alex has been in good spirits in France — he loves the country and you would too if you were a wine lover. However, he still isn’t the least bit impressed about Gallas’ let off for a blatant kick on Nani in the FA Cup.
Lyon manager, Alain Perrin, of Portsmouth fame — or should we say, infamy? — thinks United’s style would suit his side and he feels fairly confident of causing some problems. We’ll have to wait and see. To me, it’s really surprising he was appointed as Lyon’s coach, given his disastrous spell at Portsmouth–they were saved that season thanks to Harry Redknapp’s great escape–but apparently he is held in high regard in France. Which is again odd considering the stuttering season Lyon are having at the moment. There’s an article in the Telegraph that elaborates a little more on the ‘fall and rise of Perrin’.
Moving to the squad, there is no telling how Fergie plans to play this out today. The only thing certain is our back four. If he opts for a 4-3-3, which is highly likely given it is an away tie in the Champions’ League, he could opt to play Hargreaves, Scholes and Anderson in the middle. Hargreaves, because European experience was foremost in SAF’s mind when he bought him. Scholes, because, well, he is Scholes and Fergie didn’t start him against Arsenal. And Anderson, because he provides penetration, as Scholes can look to sit back along with Hargreaves. It must be said, at this point, that Scholes hasn’t looked to move forward and force the issue that often these days and, hence, Anderson’s presence in midfield would look to provide just that. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Giggs/Tevez could form a front three.
However, if he goes with a 4-4-2, I wouldn’t really be able to say what XI he would pick.
It could be tempting to play Nani instead of Giggs in the left wing, on the back of his performance against Arsenal, but I believe SAF would plump for Giggsy’s experience, despite his start-stop season. Nonetheless, the first XI, ever since we had four fully-fit midfielders to choose from, will always make for a good debate.
I think, if United get over their nerves–which usually dogs them in the away games of the Champions’ League knockout rounds–can easily beat Lyon, or atleast score a couple of goals. Surely, a defence with Jean Alain Boumsong at the centre can’t be that good?
Prediction: 2-1 to United.
Note: As I mentioned, in passing, yesterday, I will be at work and I won’t be able to watch the match today. So I will keep my eyes open for updates on some of those news sites, as well as the match reports of readers who post comments on here. I would put up a selection of match reports tomorrow from the comments section, so you know you have an incentive to post your insightful analysis–like many of you’ve done in the past.
Come on you reds!!!
Related items from Red Rants:
- Manchester United players need to do better
- Man Utd v Lyon: Preview
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
yea andy had a quiet first half but this will be good for him, he needs to learn how to play in a packed midfield, ronny has been good but his free kicks we’re poor, i think that we should take of scholes/giggs for nani to adda bit of pace.
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i think we may see nani after gigs took that nick that got ronny the free kick.
maby tevez
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we can take this lot by 3 goals if we attack more with andy ronny and scholes, tentative 1st half as you’ld expect, now lets give them a roasting, nani to come on with 15 to go, one of there’s to get sent off, come on you reds!
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too clinical a finish….too fine a goal…no wonder the continued interest in benzema…fight on united
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DAMN IT,
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this is a great take of the old guards for the more hungry youthful approach, i pray they can make an impact COME ON YOU REDS
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From now fucking on!leave the fuckin oldies on the bench!what a cross by nani!
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agree taehr minus the swearing match analysis tomorrow im too tired to do one
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Fair result. I’m content with a draw away in Europe. See YOU at Old Trafford Lyon.
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That goal could be absolutely valuable. How many goals has Tevez scored this season when its been totally vital?!
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tevez=solskjaer in disguise
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teves! come on you boys in red! job done, not the second half that i wanted but it’ll do, given our boys somat to shout about, we’ll have them in the return match, some goal by benzama! extremly tight. the substitutions was definitly changing of the guard. hargo did his job breakin up attacks as usual, ronny could have been better, andy was good enough when not slowed down by negative play, is teves the new ole?
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this get’s too predictable. Old guard screwes up the game and the new guys need to bail us out. SAF shouldn’t start both of them at the same time, but then again all is good that ends good.
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Im kind-off getting annoyed at the total lack of momentum. We had a resounding win against Arsenal and now this. Don’t get me wrong. Its europe and Lyon played well, but absolutely no passion, flair, enthusiasm on our side. At times the whole match looked like a training pitch excercise. The game was boring like hell and we were lucky although we kinda deserved the goal. Its almost 4am here so will post my analysis tomorrow
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…thats your opinion…
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Taron: They hardly screwed up the game. We went a goal behind, completely against the run of play, we looked comfortable by and large and our chances were coming mainly through Giggs when he was on.
Interesting to note that there was only one win in eight games. People talk about SAF’s tactics and mentality in Europe and momentum, but winning away from home in Europe in the knock out stages is not an easy task.
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Dan: Obviously its my opinion. That why I post it here.
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k…
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I am thankful to scholes and giggs for their service to the club. But it is time to sit them, it is an absolute crime that nani didn’t start tonight after his destruction of the gooners. I’m happy that tevez rescued us again let hope we can beat them at old trafford
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JB you see I am not talking about chances and all that. My point is that Lyon was bullying us around and our speed was gone. When that happens it screwes up our game. Our strenght is our speed. The old guard was on the pitch due to their experionce, but it wasn’t working, but when Tevez and Nani were in we started to get our chances. My point is that when both of them are on the pitch we play average at best.
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gotta agree with you jb, its tough away, nevermind my over optimistic half time analysis! we should deal with them in OT obviously by playing more positively, easy peasy!
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Taron: You could attribute us getting our chances as much to Lyon sitting back, our willingness to commit men forward, a switch to a more offensive formation and desperation as much as personnel changes.
I wouldn’t say Lyon were bullying us around, I thought we were fairly comfortable on the whole. No doubt there will be plenty of grumbling that we didn’t go gung ho, but you really need to be on top of your game to do that away from home in Europe. I would class it as a good professional performance.
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I thought we did a good professional job against a good Lyon side. 1-1 is a result which im more than happy with. Giggs and Scholes were always gonna start with the experience they have. I thought Scholes did well tonight, got forward more than we have seen him this season and that was prob why he was more tired and was subbed! Giggs wasnt really in the game and I think i’d have prefered Tevez to play out on the left over him and even Nani from the start.
The big question of the evening has to be – Who shaved Giggsys eyebrows?!
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hey
Olde guard played much better than I expected, Scholes in particular, spreading the game…
Still Nani and Tevez brought more to the game than they did…
Hargo still has to convince me, he’s absolutely not involved in any way in attacking play. Yes he’s DM, but still…
Andy was below the recent high standards he got us used to, decent performance tho.
Best defender – Brown, awful crosser, but very solid defensively speaking, at least tonite. Fact is, he could be the opposite of Evra.
Fair result on the whole…
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nico but nothing, i hate it when people start on hargo for not attacking more, the reason saf puts him in the team is to shield the back 4, lets say we play a team who are good at counter attacking, the hole team if forward apart from the centre backs, rooney shoots and misses, they break with 3 or 4 players, thats 2 against 3-4 players, hmmm i wonder if they will score.
ryan- I didnt even notice the eyebrows!
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What the hell Rooney was doing on the field?
He couldn,t even take the easiest chance to score in the first half.
Does he need an open net
for scoring?
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Use EXPERIENCE to see out games not to win games in the first place.
I can understand Fergie’s desire to use experience players like Giggs and Scholes in European games, however, when it comes at the expense of playing blossoming young talent like Nani and Tevez then questions need to be asked.
We looked alot more dangerous today when Tevez and Nani were on the pitch, no doubt about that. The pace and trickery puts opposition on the back foot when they have attacking players coming from every angle. Lyon were terrified of us in that last 20 minutes or so. This is the type of football we need to win games. Tevez has a goal every other game or something! And Nani is asist leader by a mile despite barely playing! His crossing is phenomenal and led to yet another goal tonight.
THEN, once ahead in games, it makes sense to bring on people like Giggs and Scholes. Experienced players, who know how to keep possession and see out games. Scholes is the master at slowing a game down and effortlessly keeping possession. Giggs too has the experience to know when to keep it simple and hold the ball.
Think this should be the CL team from now on:
—————–VDS
Brown—Ferdinand—Vidic—Evra
——–Hargreaves—Anderson
Ronaldo———Tevez———Nani
—————-Rooney
Then if a game is won, bring on Scholes for Tevez, and Giggs for Nani. Carrick has a role to play as well. His passing game is well suited for European games, and he can be usd interchangably with Hargreaves.
I just wonder if after seeing what happened tonight, Fergie will start to show more faith in the younger players. Scholes and Giggs definitely still have an important role, but it should be from the bench, not from the start.
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I think we saw benzema could be at united he reminds me of saha with the hold imagine him in europe for us and not against us i think if we want to possibly secure the future then he’s the one we should get part exchange for saha + silvestre + £5-£10m and phillip lahm for back up wing backs!!
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Viz: That is a vast undervaluation on Benzema, you’re talking £25m at least for him. You would be luck to bring in £10m from Mickey and Saha, and you rarely see transfers with makeweights like that anyway. That said he would be well worth the effort, this a player who is potentially Rooney/Ronaldo level for us IMO and opportunities like that don’t come round very often!
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RedAddict, I agree wholeheartedly. That should absolutely be our team.
Giggs and Scholes are legends and I love them to bits, but they slow us down these days and should mainly be used the way you argue.
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Hargreaves is looking more and more like a waste of money by the game. He is just way too negative. Whenever he gets the ball around the centre circle he just passes it back to Rio and Vida. I know a lot of you will disagree with this but our worst performances this season have been when he’s been in the side. does anyone remember before the world cup and everyone in England was talking about him being the team’s weak link and then after 1 good game against Portugal he is suddenly one of the worlds best players. I feel he was overpriced and is overhyped. I mean as Fletch showed on Saturday anybody can have a good game but it’s doing it consistently that counts and so far Hargo hasn’t had one good game for us.
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but with a player like benz on the team who do we sit him tev or roo. I love rooney but his finishing is killing me i know it must frustrate the shit out of him to try so hard and then have tevez come on for the last 15 20 and get goals from a suport role
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I think anytime now Rooney is going to go on a goal spree.Its just like last season where he got some hundred chances and couldn’t take it but he ended up with 11 goals in 16 games .Im sure he’ll break out on the shell.On the game ,a 1-1 is a good result since got the away goal.Now we’ll just bust the shit out of them at old trafford.
P.S
Arsenal could only draw.Now AC mILAN smash the shit out of them at SS !!!!!
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That game was very interesting indeed and United once again showed the patience and composure to fight back from a deficit to grab a very valuable draw and away goal. Didn’t you just get the feeling Tevez was gonna knock in a late goal? He has become more clutch and dependable than our beloved Rooney. Rooney is slowly but surely playing himself out of the hearts of many of his loyal followers. There comes a point when all the effort, running, attitude means little when the substance is not there. Bottom line is he is a striker and strikers are paid to score goals. He was never prolific to begin with but ever since his last foot injury he has not been the same. Plus, I am getting tired of his temper tantrums after every obvious foul or offside call made against him. Shut up and play already. He also seems tentative at times and quite often he shoots so quickly he doesn’t take the time to look and aim. He is really struggling to find his form. A perfect example was late in the game when Boumsong blocked a shot that Rooney just looked down and shot. There was a time he would look at a corner and aim a shot. Now he just rears back and fires. If I’m wrong about this that’s fine, it’s just my observation as a supporter. Not to long ago he used to crack them in like Benzema’s goal. WOW! Face it folks, if you want Benzema in United red, he will cost over 30 million to get. He’s looks like a stud not just because of his shot but his pace and overall ball control and skill.
Congrats to the lads today they did well. Now lets take care of the Looney Toons on Saturday and move on.
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Nani looks a good winger. Always looking for the cross and is confident cutting inside for a snapshot. Tevez could have started ahead Giggs in that line up but of course Giggs century was at stake. If Rooney has hopes of starting a scoring run he’s gotta get games with Tevez. Their interplay is always excellent.
Also a different goal threat is needed because Fergie has to keep the team fresh hence the brilliant man managing. Its obvious he needs a player or two to fill the gaps(Full Back and Striker?). Eat your heart out Benitez. Consider if say Benzema starts upfront while Rooney takes a more supporting role deeper into midfield. You can have a Carrick/Hargreaves Anderson Ronaldo midfield. In that way it still feels like 4 3 3. Rooney isn’t a striker, that’s becoming clear. Maybe its forcing the issue, more and more he reminds me of Scholes’ role in the team when he was younger, Striker/Attacking Midfielder (at one point Scholes was a striker can you believe!!). Don’t get me wrong I hope and pray Rooney becomes the goal machine we wish but if he played as he does from box to box rather than as an out and out striker it would be just as effective–maybe more. What do you think Rooney to be the new Scholes? He’d be better then Alan Smith that’s for sure.
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Does anyone know how Nani’s crosses are from the left? Or left footed? He looks good, but what happens when we buy another Left sided mid who is actually left footed? Would he be preferred over Nani, because from what I see, he plays a pretty ball from the wing? As a side note, The 40 pounds or whatever is looking really good for Benzema and Ben Arfa with Arfa playing on the left, which is why I’m asking about Nani.
I agree with you Grognard about Rooney, but the thing that is funny to me, the same people that talk about Rooney not being ‘guaranteed’ a spot in the side seem to forget that Scholes and Giggs are both featured regularly despite disappointing performances time and time again. I absolutely love both of them for what they have done for united in the past, but there comes a point when you are the limiting factor to how great we can be. JB you can’t deny that whenCarrick and Nani came on for Scholes and Giggs we had a much more flowing style of play. Our passes linked well and we were contantly going forward. There was no stopping and controlling the pace. We look much more dangerous with Ronaldo, Carrick, Anderson and Nani in the mid and with Tevez featured upfront with Rooney than with any other line-up.
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Guys, Benzema has already declares that he’s not so keen on playing in England and that he prefers a transfer to Italy or Spain, which means that he’ll probably go to Chelski! As for Ben Arfa, he seemed too selfish and he needed a ball on his own yesterday.
The most important thing now is to go through to the next round, but after last year’s Roma we approach these games with more self-confidence, so I think we have the right to be optimistic. Bring on Newcastle!
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sorry… ‘declared’
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whenever scholes and giggs are on the pitch,we cant score goals.that
said,i see giggs the worse one in lyon game.i’m not too confident for
the old trafford game because lyon is a good counter attacking team
and with benjema in their team,they can score a goal out of nothing.
we need to be at our best in terms of tactics and gameplay to win at home.
lets not forget that.hope fergie goes for benjema like he did for tevez.
for one time,we have to compete fynancialy against the likes of real,chelsea and inter.
a striking department of rooney tevez and benjema will be perfect,because of their quality and
the playing time the will get each
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So much for Benzema having a quiet night huh! The guy is good
Scholes and Giggs should no longer start that is something Fergie needs to consider coz they take so much pace away fropm our game now and Giggs is giving the ball away at a unexceptable rate
All in all 1-1 is better than 0-0 so i’m happy
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Ok. So now for me the dullness of the night has worn off, I can post with a clear mind. United played quite well. We set out our stall in the first half and asked them to attack We were somewhat lucky that they did not convert one of the 2 chances they fot. But even they set out almost the same way as us. Result: first 60 mintues of football was one the worst i’ve seen that untied has been involved in. Boring. The second half United came out with some initiative and we were playing like a home team is supposed to.
Anyone who says we were lucky with our goal is dreaming b’coz we did more than enough throughout the match to atleast draw. We should’ve probably won.
But what really disappointed me is that there were 6 minutes of play left after our goal. Lyon was on the backfoot. But our defence kept passing the ball among themselves. We should’ve atleast tried to get a second. ThATs what we are accustomed to see United do. That really disappointed me.
We should have little problem in the second leg. Lyon are decent and may get a goal but not good enough to get a draw.
We should play with Carrick and Anderson in the center. And Tevez should play. Probably with Saha. Not b’coz im against Rooney but the Lyon defence would have more problems with a striker up with them and one dropping from deep.
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United were boring and defensive.
Whatever happened to attacking teams in first half and killing them off?
To be honest we ent really gotta clue in Europe and last night showed it!
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look i think we need to clearify the hargo situation, Hargreaves is -tve, because he’s a centre DEFENSIVE mid, the hole point of us buying him and putting him in the team is so he shields the back 4, and no liam, hargreaves doesn’t just pass to rio and vida, scholes does that, he does paa it forward atchullyit anoys the fuck out of me when people says hargreaves is shit just because of him being negative when thats what he’s in the team to do, i cant wait till the day when hargreaves pushes forward we get counter attacked and and concede a goal, then you’ll be saying where was hargreaves! its his job to stop play like that where was he!
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UEFA must do something to those f*cking disgrace Lyon fans.
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Utsav, you’re absolutely right. The last minutes of the game were a disgrace. We support Manchester United because they’re supposed to play attacking football, or at least some football. The two central defenders exchanging passes reminds me more of AC Milan. This is not us. Ok, we needed the result, but at least we could pass the ball forward, just for a change. I felt ashamed yesterday right after I felt proud for Tevez’s goal.
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(hiepdn)
I could see the green laser twice on TV… it happened in the first half of the first half.. So there is no way UEFA can miss this
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Laser thing sucks, typically UEFA will just turn a blind eye to all bad things that happen on the continent. United would be kicked out if it happened at OT. Then again I don’t really know how to stop them, I mean the gizmos are tiny and could esaily get into the stadium, and then finding whoever has it would be really tough to, especially in real time.
Thought it was a professional if uninspired match last night. Lyon were tough to break down all night, and our goal had a least a little fortune around it. We didn’t create much before or after the subs. The thing with Giggs is that he can play very clever balls and can be quite effective, but more often then not he doesn’t seem to keep up with play. It’s either behind him when they’re attacking or in front of him when we’re attacking.
Scholes was alright, nothing special. He really needs more options in front of him when he play so centrally. You could see so many times he’d get hte ball in the circle, look up and just be like, oh, there’s rooney all alone with two giants marking him, here’s Giggs right next to me and Ronaldo is double teamed. So he’d just keep interchanging with Anderson. Not sure Carrick woudl have done any better.
Hargo is invaluable, but does give away the odd crucial foul. I also couldn’t believe he got booked after someone complained and asked hte ref to book him. Ref then booked the player for asking AND hargo. I don’t get it. The thing about Owen is that we don’t really need him against teams that play 4-5-1. Then again, with the amount of defending Ronaldo does, Hargo spends 90% of his time providing cover for Brown, cause Ronny is standing hands on hips on the halfway line looking back like, what me worry?
Have set ourselves up well, but if they score early could be a long night at OT!
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I guarantee uefa do nothing about this like the FA!! hopefully arsenal mess up at brum this weekend they drew earlier at the emirates so hoping they mess up at st andrews!! Good performance by united i think 451 was wrong should have stuck with 442 cos tevez makes it into a 451 most of the time anyway!
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Toure out for upto 4 weeks… That leaves Senderos to defend against us when they come again to OT
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why wud they come again to OT in 4 weeks? I thought next game with l’Arse was to be sometime in april only…
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