Aug 18
Man Utd 1-1 Newcastle: Deja vu?
A start similar to last season, only improved by the fact that this was a score draw unlike the 0-0 start against Reading.
On a day when Chelsea thumped a piss poor Pompey, it’s sad when the only good thing one can report was Aston Villa’s dismantling of City. Personally the day was made worse when I found, to my horror, that I am #121 out of the #173 members that had signed up for the RR Fantasy League.
Many United fans have been quick to laugh off claims that Chelsea are among the favourites for the title this season. It would be foolish to write off the Blues, but not because they are playing earth shattering football, but because we lack some key components that will make a big difference to our side.
Ronaldo is not the key component, though. He is an important player, without doubt, but we are more than that. It would be cowardly to hide behind the oft stated injury excuse too. But any team, shorn of so many players will struggle. And a poor pre-season, where we couldn’t play with anything approaching our preferred starting XI partly exposed some obvious flaws in our preparation for the new season. The absence of Carlos Tevez (who had to leave due to a family bereavement) exposed those flaws.
The team started off brightly with neat and crisp passing, and had Rooney’s pin point cross with the outside of his foot (that Campbell met with his head) gone in, then we’d have been in a different mood today. But it hit the head of Shay Given rather than the ‘keeper attempting to stop it, and instead, it was the Barcodes that took the lead off a corner. Again the corner, prior to Newcastle’s goal, was not dealt with properly, with EVDS looking suspect dealing with a high ball.
To be really honest, United’s goal appeared out of the blue because, for all our superior possession, I couldn’t really see where we were going to get a goal. Steve Taylor was off the pitch briefly and we took advantage of the centre back’s absence (and a brief period of indecision in the Newcastle box) to sneak in a goal through Fletcher.
The second half saw an even more dire performance. True, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs — who were among the better performers on the day — limped off and the enforced substitutes were either incompetent (John O’Shea) or were too inexperienced (Possebon and da Silva) and too late to make any sort of an impression to affect the proceedings. But the team seemed incapable of moving the ball even into the box leave alone creating chances. Rafael da Silva was brought on far too late and saw too little of the ball. Although his run did see him get felled on the edge of the area. But it was a case of too little too late.
We were poor, and we hardly gave the visitors’ defence anything to worry about. And considering they had they 5974th defensive pairing in the last couple of years, they should have been tested more than they actually were. Rooney picked up a needless yellow card and he’ll have to rein in some of that temper if he plans to avoid early showers in this new Respect-themed Premier League season.
So are there positives to take from today? Well, thanks to the seven subs rule we could blood some youngsters into the team. Rodrigo Possebon looked very good technically. He looks like a Paul Scholes of the good old days. But yesterday he played like a Carrick of his early United days — more sideway passes than forward. But I will put that down to the fact that it was his Premiership debut and he’s just 19. Decision making will improve with games. Rafael da Silva looked lively on the few seconds that he actually got the ball. But bringing him on in the 85th minute was always going to be asking too much of the lad.
I wasn’t pleased with the way we played yesterday, but if Tevez returns we could certainly win against Portsmouth, who have looked wank the two times we played them in pre-season and against Chelsea. We’d however, have to hope that we sign Berbatov this week and hope he gels in instantly in time for Anfield and Stamford Bridge.
We are definitely title contenders, but we need someone like Berbatov if we have to mount a sustained challenge on all fronts. Let’s not make any pretence about it.
* * *
In other news, speaking of Berbatov, he likened himself to Cantona yesterday as he broke his silence on his intent to ‘follow his dream’.
“I’m now at Tottenham but no one can disagree with me wanting to follow my dream. I’m not angry about the decision of Juande Ramos to name me as a subsitute. I’m not crying. I only show my emotions to my close friends and family. If I had been laughing when I was on the bench, people would say I was an idiot. Eric Cantona never smiled, but I don’t know if anyone ever asked him why he didn’t look happier.”
The Cantona comparison is extremely teasing, not to mention what club is in the back of his mind. The dreams part though, was straight out of the Ronaldo book, don’t you think?
Related items from Red Rants:
- Update on Red Rants
- Rooney Out For A Month
- Man Utd vs Newcastle Utd: Preview
- Man Utd 2010/11 Season Fixtures Announced
- Keegan ‘I’d Love It’ Returns To Geordie-land. Heh!
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Gabriel: mate, just because he has scored for the reserves, doesnt mean he’s the better player, and if saf picks rafael over fabio for 3 games straight, it kinda does mean he is more deserving, or else saf wouldnt of picked him.
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@Red Ranter: @dan(u-ol): Fabio hasn’t regressed, if anything, he has played better than Rafael in this game and most others they’ve played in. Just cause Rafael had a spirited performance in ONE friendly doesn’t mean squat.
I believe Fergie is favoring Rafael as he wants competition btw the two. Both twins know Fabio is better, and Fergie favoring Rafael will make Fabio work harder and Rafael also do the same to prove they are equally as good. If Fergie went with the popular opinion and played Fabio first, then got the same spirited display, all of us will be sayin the same about Rafael – not good enuff – and he might not have had that motivation Fabio has to improve(as he already knows Fabio was better).
Fergie knew what he was doing, and I think it s unfair to judge players based on limited performances.
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@Gabriel: Ok mate, I was saying based on what Dan was assessing. I just got the stream up and running. We need to give both of them time tbh to really see how they grow into.
But on first glimpse they both look a little special.
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im not being bias mate, i have seen them both play, before and in the present, and right now rafael is the better player. tell me, why do you think fabio is better? To me it sounds like your judging them by the media, thats just what it sounds like to me.
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and no one saying he’s not good enough, we are saying he is not having a great game right now, and also he looks like he hasnt adapted as well as his brother, you honestly dont know how amazing rafeal has been, because to not play for a year, move to england and be given 2 starts and a league debut, and play at the standard he has, is an amazing thing to do. players need to adapt to the life style as well as the playing style of england and manchester, and we are simply saying that rafael has done this better.
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@dan(u-ol): I saw them play in the U-17 world cup, and Fabio was the better player; I’m sure you can agree. What has happened now is Rafael thru good fortune or Fergie’s plan has gotten more opportunities to impress and he is being hailed as the better when Fabio hasn’t had the same opportunity.
I really don’t like to say who is better as I believe it is unfair to either of them especially when they are playing in the same team, but I was playing devil’s advocate, so I mentioned the one that impressed me the most over a long period of time. Also, in this game, who has been playing better, No.7 or No.11?
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btw, I thot Foster was injured?
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@Gabriel: again, he was the better player at the world cup, BUT a move to england is a different ball game mate, they have to learn to adapt and what im trying to say is(and im putting it in caps RR, because i dont think gabriel understands what im saying) RAFEAL HAS ADAPTED TO ENGLAND BETTER THEN FABIO HAS, so rafael is setting the better standard, is takes time to adapt and Rafael has done that amazingly well and quicker, hence why je was on the bench yesterday and got game time. i am going to jusge mate because i cant see any rule saying i cant, and right now rafeal is better the fabio, simply because he has adapt faster better then his twin.
a little fact for you, i doubt you knew this, but in their youth, phil neville was considered a better talent and had more potential then his brother gary, but look how that turned out, gary is club captain of a team that has recently won 2 premier league titles back to back and a champions league, and phil is thte captain of scouser blues…
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@Gabriel: he had a swollen knee, he’s better now, i expect a couple of reserve games and then the challenge for no.1.
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drinkwater is on hot form, 4 goals in 4 games for the reserves!
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berba’s “dream” comments are different from Ronaldo’s though.
Berba dreams of winning titles, whereas Ronaldo dreams of leaving England for Spain, where he would presumably continue to win titles.
in other words, Berba dreams of a move up, whereas Ronaldo is dreaming of a lateral move.
he still shouldn’t be talking to the press about it though.
then again, its the press that badger the players into making statements eh. i mean, its not like berba held a press conference to tell the world he dreams of winning titles. . that would be. . arrogantly retarded.
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@dan(u-ol): got the point mate, you just replied earlier than I did so I didn’t read that comment
Rafael has certainly impressed more since they both arrived, but i reckon both will push for places in the first squad soon.
As per Rodrigo, I believe this will be his chance to shine; Carrick is out, so is Ando and Hargreaves plus O’shea didn’t perform too well, I think he might play a big part this season.
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@Gabriel: possebon is just so confident, his passing is so sublime that if he started the rest of the season(or until andy comes back) we wouldnt even miss carrick.
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you cant call an outfield player world-class if you judging them from a reserve game, but you can certainly judge goalkeepers, foster has been marvelous, i hope to see him in the first team soon.
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@dan(u-ol): Rodrigo does exude confidence, doesn’t he? However, yesterday was an eye-opener for all those Carrick detractors. As soon as he left, the team performance dropped. He has been very instrumental in our success over the past two seasons; the only reason people slate him is cuz he doesn’t go forward a lot, but that’s what he was instructed to do, as at his time of arrival, we had no DMF!
I see this year as his year, Rodrigo and Anderson will be the supporting cast in midfield.
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@Gabriel: yea thats true, but thats only true because we brought on o’shea instead of possebon.
the match just finished, final score 1-0 united. your see guys, its good to look at our youth because then we know where we stand on bringing youth into thte first team. somethink i’ve known for a while but never pointed out was, that defensivley, are youth system is absolutely great, the defenders we are bringing up are great, good enough fur us and/or premiship.championship sides.
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@Gabriel: I thought Carrick doubters were extinct?
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@johnsom33: lol, well if they weren’t, they’ll be nearing it now!! He is one of the most under-rated members of our first team.
On a seperate note, did anyone notice our lack of width yesterday, really unusual stuff for a United side. i think Groggy is right, we have built this team around ronnie, and we do not have the adequate cover/appropriate gameplan to cope with his absence.
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@Red Ranter: Not necessarily RR. Last year there were many times the Tevez Rooney partnership had problems cracking a defense that played ten men behind the ball. They simply couldn’t get thorough and they had no height to rely on. It was especially noticeable in those few games where Ronaldo was given the day off. They are great players but they are not out and out target men or goal poachers in the classic sense. That’s what was needed yesterday or a midfielder who could test the keeper from outside of the box. Ronaldo and Nani were missed in that capacity and Scholes was found wanting. I’d like to see more of Possebon. I think he has the Scholes-like tidiness and control and he apparently has a great shot. His composure makes me feel very comfortable when he is out there.
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@Red Diablo: You’re just going to make yourself ill waiting in anticipation of something that looks increasingly more and more like it won’t happen. Fergie is not acting aggressively enough and he has to stop using tricks out of Ronaldo’s book of promising something in 48 hours and then delivering nothing. That promise has really deflated many of us. Relax mate and don’t think about it. The more we worry over it the less chance of it coming out good. Very frustrating indeed.
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WOOT, WE GOT 1 BILLION QUID JUST FOR PLAYING THAT STUPID FRIENDLY IN JANUARY! http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/08/18/manchester-united-saudi-markets-equity-cx_ll_0818markets19.html read the 4th paragraph! this must be the surprise, we are not in debt, which makes me think, what the fuck is fergie doing, we should signing players left right and centre for fuck sake.
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@colver: I couldn’t agree with you more. On all points. Our lack of width is a problem and it allows us to play right into the hands of opponent defense. This is why I was also crying for another winger like Sanchez, Ninis or Marin. I watched Marin play for Moenchengladbach yesterday and he was outstanding. Great skill and all over the place. They are playing him more like an attacking midfielder now because they know they need him to get more touches of the ball in order to succeed. Players like this are young and can be brought along slowly but they also give us that needed depth we are lacking in wide positions. But what the Heck do I know, Fergie is never wrong, right?
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@Red Ranter: Didn’t Fabio score a wonder goal last week. I had read that he was impressive for us in pre season training. People were saying he was unlucky because he was better than Raphael but he had stiff competition on the left with Evra. Have they even considered playing these very talented lads up front as wide midfielders or even wingers? Raphael for one seems to want to live in the attacking third of the pitch.
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@Gabriel: You act like we’ve never played a game without good ol’ CR7. We handled it quite fine last year, and we will this year. RR is right to say he isn’t THE team. I agree we didnt have any width, but to be honest, we didnt play any wingers. Fletcher certainly isnt and Giggs looks more likely to be our 4th striker than our LM. We will be fine, and Chelscum will drop points. As soon as the dam that is Chelsea cracks, they will certainly crumble.
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@Grognard: they played as wingers in todays match, and the goal wasnt that great, hardly a wonder.
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@dan(u-ol): Why wasn’t this publicised earlier? If that is true, then we are one lucky-ass club!! Not only will our debt be almost wiped out, we will have millionaire owners to boot. (that’s unless they took the money for themselves already)
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@Gabriel: Those are very valid points mate. Yes they need to stay with United and be given plenty of time to adapt by playing with the reserves. Next year will be the year for the Da Silva twins. The one I would give the time to right now is Possebon, but even he will probably be demoted once our entire midfield returns intact.
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@Grognard: Would agree we need another wide presence though, tbh we probably cant have enough. Thought Ninis played through the middle though. Love the look of Sanchez, or even Menez. Its not about Fergie being right or wrong either, its about him actually having the power to do something. Of course hes going to make mistakes, but be honest, he gets things right far more than he gets them wrong.
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@Dan that has to be million has to be
then again they are swimming in us currency . 
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@dan(u-ol): I think he picked him because RB is less sure than LB for our team. Evra owns the LB position where on the other hand there is a three way battle for the RB spot with Brown Neville and even R Da Silva making a claim. I think Fabio is fine, he just is the unlucky left side player. Possibly moving him up to LMF spell off Giggs every so often might be a good idea. But I think a full year in the reserves will make Fabio really scare Evra next season.
Both the brothers need to lose those awful Marx Brothers haircuts though. YUK!
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@dan(u-ol): That has got to be a typo. 2 billion? More like 2 million. Two billion and you could by the EPL. That has to be a massive mistake by the writer of the article. Our team is not worth two billion.
Still, they did make some cash and so they should just fork over the money and buy a striker now.
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i know, but this could be the surprise and i really want to be true lol!!
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@Comma: Lets come back to your thoughts on this in a month from now and lets see then if you were right about that. Personally I think you are wrong but I sure would be happy to be proven wrong myself instead. I think this next month and half will tell the world what kind of team we are without Cristiano Ronaldo.
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@Comma: mate, I never mentioned Chelsea, you seem to be worried about chelsea, maybe it’s because right now, they look the stronger team? Why should our success be dependent on the possibility of Chelsea dropping points?
Besides, you just explained my point in your post, “I agree we didnt have any width, but to be honest, we didnt play any wingers. Fletcher certainly isnt and Giggs looks more likely to be our 4th striker than our LM”. Like I have been saying for quite some time, we do not have appropriate cover in the wing department!! Fletcher, Hargreaves and co are not wingers. Our squad definitely needed a new striker and a young winger with potential for this season. If we had any good wingers in the reserves, then we wouldn’t be lackin width at the mo, which is the crux of our attacking style.
I’m not going to blame injuries/absences, because that is what losers do; but I am going to blame naiveness and arrogance if we continue to stumble without the reinforcements our squad needs. We have a strong squad, but in those two areas, we are not as strong as we should be, that was highlighted yesterday.
Luck/Success is preparation meets opportunity, if we are not well prepared for the season, we will fail to cease that opportunity to succeed.
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@dan(u-ol): I saw the goal and although I would not call it a wonder goal (like Maradona), it was very special. Good to know that they are being used on the wings to build up their confidence and flexibility.
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Hello Mates
We are all saying the same thing lads.
FERGIE; PLEASE SIGN BERBATOV.
RONNY; WE NEED YOU BACK.
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@Grognard: MY hear bleeds! With Despair!
Where are thou? Thy Berbatov?
Oh Alex Ferguson! We see your teams short comings! We see your team’s need to score goals! Thy should not despair, for God has prescribed for you 2 options!
Thy shall sign Huntelaar, Or THOU Berbatov is waiting for your call!
So Thy Fergie must reward us fans and stop thy’s miserliness!
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i’m seeing a lot of negativity, and i think that this may be unfounded.
anderson was supposed to be second string last year, and turned out to be sensational. i think our new brasilian teenagers could prove to follow in his footsteps.
a bit more experience, and they’ll be fantastic additions to the squad!
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Comma, I have to disagree with you mate. The only time Ronaldo was missing was the suspension early last season, and United did not do well without him. We did not do well in those games. Ronnie was the soul of our team last season, and we would have won nothing without him. To say different, is to be in denial.
Rafael Da Silva by the way has a game that is more suited to the PL than his brother. Rafael is a little terrier, close up and in the face of opposing players, he is all go like Tevez, and never stops for most of the game. He has the spirit of a combatant. I have watched them for reserves and when they played with our 1st team, and I don’t think Fabio has that kind of combatant temperament of his brother. Players with that kind of fighting, all action spirit, it is just in them. They are born with it. Not everyone has it, but Rafael does. He doesn’t care how big or tall, or high profile the opponent he is facing, he gets STUCK in. He is my kind of player lol.
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http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1575207.ece
Thank God! Fergie has finally started his journey for a forward! I guess we WILL get one by Friday!
Oh and on another note! What about the England captaincy? Would be great if Rio puts one over Terry! AGAIN!
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@dan(u-ol): Phil neville had more potential than gary….nah can’t be true.
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@scoop: Yes, but i thought the community shield game counted as part of the ban, if so, Nani should be back
@dan(u-ol): $1billion?? Either theres a typo or those Saudi Arabians have too much money to burn, i think it was in the 1-3mil range, $1b seems a tad ridiculous, doesn’t it???@Grognard: Actually i like their haircuts, lol. Anyway on converting them to wingers, i think Evra has shown to use that good LR/RB’s don’t always make good wingers, due to the more number of players marking them on the wings as opposed to in the defense.
Anyway on the striker issue, i refuse to believe we’re broke or don’t have enough money, but i just can’t see why Fergie doesn’t see we need that. He has contradicted himself already by saying we need a striker twice last week, and now “allegedly” he says we don’t need one, though i doubt he means that.
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@Red Diablo: This is just a reprint of something he said before the Newcastle match, its not something new. The only new thing is that “The Sun” just added their own bit about bidding for Santa Cruz.
@Craig Mc: I’m not arguing your point about Ronaldo being vital to the team, he is a key to the teams success, but not THE key. Also i don’t have the starts but i seem to remember we’ve won some games in Ronaldo’s absence while we’ve won NONE in Rooney’s absence.
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We drew one game and now everyone thinks the title race is over. I mean when was the last time a team won the league after drawing the first game? Oh wait…didnt somebody do that last year?!
as usual everything is doom and gloom. We were abysmal in the first few games last season and still won. If somebody had snatched a goal yesterday or if Rafael was fouled about 3 inches closer to goal we would have been saying that it was a hard earned win and how we would have thrashed them with our first team. I mean we played Possebon who is about 6th in the CM pecking order. All teams at one point or another will slump and against Pompey I’m sure that it will be proven again why we are the best team in the world
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@Mesh: Nobody is questioning that mate but that does not answer our biggest concern. That being the need for a tall striker. Without one we will have tough times ahead.
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@Red Diablo: I’m tired of all the talk. Fergie needs to SHOW ME THE MONEY! Make a deal and stop talking the talk and walk the walk.
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@Grognard: Hmm! I will call Fergie first thing in the morning! But when I wake up, I wont have to because Rio would be England Captain! And Fergie would have signed either Huntalaar, Santa Cruz OR THE BERBA!
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@Liam: I don’t think anybody is thinking that way Liam. Last year it took us 6 games to wake out of our slumber, but lets face it, Chelsea looks new, improved and hungry. We can’t afford to tank it until Ronaldo returns. If their isn’t a little show of panic coming out of OT I’d ask if they had a pulse over there. We have legit concerns and those needs need to be addressed. All the positive thinking in the world isn’t going to do us much good when Chelsea has a 12 point lead by the time Ronaldo returns. Just remember, we scored zero against Pompey last week, while Chelsea put 4 by them this week. That tells me how far we are behind. Our returning warriors will help but few of them other than Ronaldo will help us score more goals. We need to find some goals and if that means buying one, Hell 2 strikers, then we must do it.
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@Grognard: Manucho is tall and strong. He is physical, will put himself about and win his fair share. If he gets his permit he could be a useful alternative, in a game where a team is sitting with 10 behind the ball. In that situation and the team is short on ideas creatively, throw on the big man and he’ll cause bother.
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@Grognard: I think chelsea will be better this year and will play more attractive football and i look forward to seeing that, but i’m not overly convinced by their opening game. James was at fault for two goals, sol campbell was lagging for one and the penalty wasn’t a penalty.
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