Nov 02
Man Utd 4-3 Hull City: United Make it After Late Drama
United completed a victory against giant killers Hull in, what could have been, emphatic fashion but for a second half where the team conceded two goals to lend some drama to the occasion.
Fergie started with Anderson and the returning Carrick in central midfield, whilst Nani and Ronaldo were stationed in the wings. Gary Neville made a return to the musical chair that is our right back slot and Rooney partnered Berbatov up front.
It would have been reassuring for Tevez to have started the game but we all know Fergie seems to prefer Rooney over the Argentine — especially on current form. [As an aside, it should be noted that the only way Tevez is going to play at anything approaching his pre-season form is by making him play regularly -- something he's not getting lately -- and it's a sort of a Catch-22 situation for the manager.]
Hull have impressed all around with their ability to mix it with the small and mighty of the Premiership, so they were always going to have a go at us. However, as with first season over-achievers — like Wigan and Reading in the past — we’ve brushed them aside. And the first half performance showed just that.
True to type, Ronaldo returned to his goal scoring ways. Another brace follows the one against West Ham and he looks approaching his prolific best. It looks more like a confidence thing for him as he seems to be enjoying playing now. I know there seems to be too much being made of his body language lately, but his demeanour looks to be in direct correlation with his confidence and form.
A word on Berbatov, again: he may seem the most languid player on the pitch, but has undeniable class, and, more importantly, he heads the Premier League assist table (6 assists already); I suppose they were all from open play. He’s a top, top buy and I absolutely love the player.
Nani seems to be improving and looks to be showing a lot of improvement, and we seemed to lose a bit of shape after he was taken off.
Carrick’s return was welcome too, and if he can take more leaves out of the Fletcher book of making surging runs into the box, then he’ll become undroppable; he’s already very important for our ball retention, but if he adds goal scoring threat to it, it would be bloody awesome.
Of course, this was a side that was dominant and led 3-1 at half time. Upon resumption, they were 4-1 ahead. Then why the final scoreline? Were they just plain bored? Did they forget that the game extends beyond 45 minutes and that the second half was not a training exercise? Did they contrive to fluff the 4695 ridiculous chances that were on offer? At least Fergie seems to think so:
“We’re a bit low after that performance. We didn’t take our chances and that’s annoying. We should have scored 10 or 11 but we frittered our chances away and we’ve almost been left embarrassed. The only positive from today is that we’re creating chances. We’re playing some fantastic football at times. Ronaldo could have scored four or five. I don’t know how many chances Berbatov made today but we could have scored a lot of goals.”
Michael Carrick, who after returning from injury also makes a return to the press, thought it was due to some poor defending.
Those were the cracks that I thought I shouldn’t paper over. United must not go on one of those very frequent switch off modes where they invited the opposition after clobbering them, as if to say, ‘Hey, looks like I roughed you up enough. Now, come on. Hit me!’. It isn’t good for the heart, really.
On the whole, however, I suppose there’s been good football played till now and I believe some team will get absolutely spanked by us, someday. Significantly, Liverpool and Arsenal dropped points which also helped push us to number three. Despite Liverpool’s performances in the season so far, I still think Chelsea is the machine we’ve got to worry about.
Next up, Arsenal at the Emirates with a fair few injury worries. Considering Arsenal’s current situation it looks like the best time to be facing them.
Anyway we’ll discuss the gooners later on during the course of the week. At the moment kindly, excuse me as I head off for wee little nap to rest my tired eyes.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Rooney Out For A Month
- United Betting: Rooney to score, United to win?
- Man Utd Blog 2007/2008 Home Kit
- Man Utd 4-1 West Ham: One Hand On the Title
- Man Utd 1-2 Man City: City Do the Double
Tags: Match Reports
November 2nd, 2008 at 13:06
well said
November 2nd, 2008 at 13:07
oh yeh, and ronaldo seems to be smiling a lot more sice he said he wants to stay at man united for a long time
November 2nd, 2008 at 13:18
the team went dead after the fourth goal, bar anderson. I reckon, that when we’re away in the CL against tough opponents, saf will drop both rooney and tevez and play a 4-3-3 with nani and ronaldo on the wings, and berba upfront. just a thought. to me, that is our second best team.
November 2nd, 2008 at 13:53
I know its probably bollocks but still i thought i wud mention it, according to tribalfootball (crap i know) we are going to bid 7 million for gremio star douglas costa. Not seem much of him and i heard he is an attacking midfielder so im not sure if he is for me. I think ando is fine and whilst possebon is not an obvious attacking choice, some of his displays are excellent and kaka like (not saying he is as good as him tho). I think we shud give possebon his chance and if we are to invest in january in the midfield department then i think a defensive general is needed more. As i said on the other thread yesterday, i feel we need another defensive player to cope with the continuing loss of hargreaves. Some1 like senna maybe, lassana diarra, palacios, i think some guy called marin plays there, makoun etc. Your thoughts?
November 2nd, 2008 at 15:20
@RedAllTheWay: Errr mate, when did Ronnie say he wants to stay at United for a LONG time?. Last I read, he said he THOUGHT he might stay next season. Has he made further press comments since then?.
.
November 2nd, 2008 at 15:23
@Matthew: Midfield General, myself and a multitude of other United fans couldn’t agree with you more Matthew Bro. An ENFORCER is what we need really, someone who lets few people get past him. Maybe we should send for Swarzenagger
.
November 2nd, 2008 at 15:27
Well said RR. We’ve learned a lesson at no cost yesterday. Bring on the Arse-nal.
November 2nd, 2008 at 15:47
RedRanter, just a few tetchy points in replay to your article Bro.
1. You said – “some team may get absolutely spanked by us SOON.” Quite possibly in the first half of a game Bro, but they sure as hell know they can spank us right back in the second, judging on recent performances
.
2. Considering Arsenal’s current situation, you say it looks like the best time to be facing them. Hope your right RR, but I wouldn’t bet my well earned money on it as a sure banker.
3. You feel Carrick is already very important to our ball retention. Not yesterday he wasn’t Bro, regardless of Jb’s stats, which didn’t seem to add up to some of us fans watching from the terraces
. Like I said though, he isn’t match fit yet.
4. Ronnie doesn’t do HAT TRICKS bless Him.
5. Rooney is sure as feck working himself up into one of his hotheaded RED card sending off’s. He was lucky yesterday, lunging into tackles he had no hope of getting, arguing and spitting venom at the ref, etc etc etc, all the usual loon stuff he does. Then he is so rattled, that all the great stuff he could offer us is lost as he runs around like a crazy head on speed. He has been doing so feckin well lately, he should stick to that, instead of letting his scouse pride get in the way when things are not going so well. Mind you, that Ref robbed him yet again of his 100th league goal, because to me he was just in line, and deserved the benefit of the doubt. Keep your feckin head though Roon, we need 11 players on the pitch at all times.
November 2nd, 2008 at 16:32
Nani is getting better, Anderson is getting better, Carrick is getting better, Ronaldo is not far from his best… And we managed 65 minutes until we relaxed, which is an improvement to the 45 minutes against WHU and Everton. But we need to manage 90 minutes if we are gonna win the Prem, Champions League, FA cup or even the Carling Cup! I think we should start against Celtic and then kill Arsenal off. You say its a good time to face them. I dunno. Yes, they are off form and are missing several players, but a good team has a habit of coming back strong after a downfall. But that is Arsenal, they didnt manage to come back from the loss to Hull or the draw against Spurs. And with them missing almost a complete team, we should hammer them. But since this is the Prem and its a game between two of the best sides in Europe, its not a safe bet. Still, Im optimistic and think we can win by 2 or 3 goals. If we start with Carrick and Anderson in the middle that is.
November 2nd, 2008 at 16:34
Hargreaves may get an operation. To be honest I think that is the best solution. He needs to do something with that knee and if he wants to play 30+ games during seasons in the future this is what he needs to do. Even though he may miss the rest of the season, we have Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson, Scholes, Giggs and Possebon to step in if they need to.
November 2nd, 2008 at 16:39
@RedDevilEddy: Carrick and Anderson in the middle?. I think you’ll find Fletcher has a finer record against the Arse’s bro.
November 2nd, 2008 at 16:42
Nice article RR
Yesterdays game was really interesting and tbh, it was kinda refreshing to see a team retain their fight after going 4-1 down at OT. The were a lot of positives from the performance, like the amount of chances we created, the movement up top and our midfield’s improved display. However, there are a few negatives, like our poor finishing, lax defending and poor substitutions. Since talking about negatives seems to be the order of the day, why don’t i have a poke 
First, our poor finishing. Like Fergie said, we could have had 10 or 11 goals yesterday and the fact that even the ABU’s confirm this is just testament to the amount of chances we created. Our movement in the final third and the rapid nature of our counters is great, but most times, either the final pass is careless or the touch/finishing is poor. We are scoring goals, but we could be scoring a whole lot more if we were more clinical in the final third.
Then, it’s unto our lax defending. The defence seems to be a bit absent-minded or just switch off erratically a few times this season. People complain about the midfield, but our defense have been caught out mostly on set plays or over the top passes and runs. They seem to be less sharp and organised than last season. Maybe it’s the musical chairs Fergie is playing at the RB spot, who knows? But we are not exhibiting the same chemistry in defence as we did last season, and as that chemistry was the key to our claiming the CL title, we better sort it out, sharpish.
Finally, the poor substitutions. I know part of the reasons for Fergie’s subs were due to the next two big matches coming up and also him under-estimating Hulls tenacity, however, they didn’t work out quite as well. Tevez for Nani was the first howler, maybe Fergie wanted to see the fab four in action, but that unbalanced the team and given Hulls’ resilience, we were left wanting when they countered. Giggs for Carrick was the next howler, why we brought on an attacking player for a defensive one when we needed to close the game down was, IMO, careless. Ando is not a holding player and expecting him to do that after playing and running about in attack from the start was asking too much. This was the main reason we couldn’t retain the ball in midfield after Carrick left. O’shea was a much-needed sub, but was one sub too late. Either he or fletch should have come on for Carrick as opposed to Giggs. Maybe Fergie was frustrated at our poor finishing and wanted to get more goals so introduced Giggs, but at 4-1 up and given Hull’s never-say-die attitude, we should have brought on Fletch/O’shea sooner.
Fergie seems to recognise this and is doing his best to instead point to our poor finishing and referee mistakes, but I think this will be a lesson learned for him. Never under-estimate your opponents and try to play the best formation possible. The good thing was that it was a lesson learned at no cost and it couldn’t have come at a better time as we might make amends by convincingly beating either Celtic or Arsenal both away from home.
November 2nd, 2008 at 16:44
Another point that needs to be stressed upon is the tact of the substitutionsn happening. Nani was emoved when he was lending great balance to the midfield – for Tevez, a striker. We then had four strikers ( well almost) in Roon, Ronaldo, The Berb and Tevez himself. Where were we accomodating them>? it certainly didnt seem like the situation where we were desperate for more attacking impetus. Why then werent we stabilising our midfield earlier on? He got O’Shea right at the end for Anderson and we were playing with all four strikers on pitch with Rooney on the right when all that we needed to do was finish off the game calmly. Someone someone needs to go through the logic of our substitutions carfully. Wish we got Gus Poyet, heard he is free. He can talk quite a few languages as well…
November 2nd, 2008 at 16:48
@RedDevilEddy: So that would definitely rule Hargreaves out for the whole season, at his age missing out on a whole season might not be the best idea. He’s nearly 28 now, and really with his asset being his speed he won’t last much longer than two seasons. We’re probably better off managing it until he retires.
@Matthew: Possebon’s nothing like Kaka, in playing style or what his best assets for his game are.
November 2nd, 2008 at 17:02
@RedDevilEddy: Not good news at all, especially since my understanding of the situation is that surgery isn’t even a particulary sure fire way of dealing with the problem. Looks like Fletcher will be getting alot of game time this season.
@UnitedUnited: SAF probably got Tevez on to give the four strikers a chance to play with each other in what should have been a fairly easy situation. To be fair almost any team that goes 4-1 down at OT would have just given up and there wouldn’t have been an issue. It is to Hull’s great credit that they didn’t. Even when Giggs came on I’m sure SAF didn’t think there was much of threat and if it hadn’t been for some sloppy bits of play (both offensively and defensively) then we would have coasted the rest of the game. Football does like to turn round and bite you in the ass unexpectedly from time to time though
November 2nd, 2008 at 17:03
@RedDevilEddy: Poor Hargo, this stuff has been dogging him since his arrival.
But like the article said, Shearer had the same problem and his operations cleared it till his retirement. Maybe that will be the best course of action, as he is the holding player we need in certain games.
Seeing that he will be out till next year, who do we reckon can play that holding role while he’s gone? I think Fletcher can do it comfortably. Something to note, is that most of his best performances for United have been in that position. This season, he has been given more freedom to go forward and has also excelled, but whenever directed to hover in front of the back four, he does it exceptionally.
We don’t always play with a holding player, but when we do, i think Fletcher can be relied on. Maybe that’s why Fergie was resting him in preparation for our upcoming matches??? We definitely need a holding player in those games and Fletch is the only one I can rely on to do that, sorry John
Also, Hargos’ injury may pave the way for Rodrigo to return prominently to the 1st team midfield fold. He was a defensive mid in Brazil and has always played a Carrick style position whenever in the United first team. When he played with Anderson against Boro, he was playing deep and did a very good job there… I would like to see more of our youngsters move up into the 1st team.
November 2nd, 2008 at 17:13
There was a little Man called Nani, who came to United for a fee.
.
In his early games, got us off the hook, with points off Spurs x 3
Some people give him a raking, curse his decision making,
.
He should do that, he should do this, but he gets lots of feckin assists
Makes me smile when he’s on the wing, Evra and him have a thing,
No one can beat them, on their side the opposition get nothing.
Nani is nippy, great at overhead flippie’s, to Stretford End applause.
Got his CL penalty, whereas Ronnie?, think Ronnie was missing his balls.
Nani’s not appreciated like Andie & Ronnie, and this is such a shame.
.
For as a result, Little man Nani is probably off to Spain
November 2nd, 2008 at 17:27
@UnitedUnited: Bro, you are beginning to understand what so many fail too. That Fergie doesn’t put on substitutes for TACTICAL purposes, but just to give different players a run out
. If he did sub players with tactical incentive and prowess, then like you say, he would not have taken off a midfielder at a time we were under the cosh, to replace with a striker. But there you go mate, some people will still find excuses to support Fergie. I support and applaud his great manager ability, none better. Yet his lacking ability to see the patenly bloody obvious where substitutionary nous is concerned – no mate!.
November 2nd, 2008 at 17:33
Van Persie is suspended for Arsenal vs. Man Utd!
November 2nd, 2008 at 17:35
@Craig Mc: There is news that Hargreaves has agreed to an operation and will be facing 6 months off!
November 2nd, 2008 at 17:42
Craig Mc, thank God some1 on here agrees with me in the belief that we need a tough midfield enforcer. I posted this a while back and people didnt agree with me so im not surprised 2 c us get dominated in the central midfield areas against the likes of everton, even yesterday and further back against liverpool. We have hargreaves who is up there with the best of them, but when he is injured (as he seems to be half the season) who do we have who is our enforcer. Fletcher 2 some extent but no1 else. Last year chelsea had makelele, mikel and essien. I know thy always have 2 much players but i still think we shud be like them. Essien is out for them for most of this season, and has he been missed so far, not hugely as they r still sitting top of the table and playing well. If hargreaves or carrick were 2 be out for the whole season we wud never win the title and i think this is a huge problem for us. I wud love it if fergie cud do a wenger and pull out this gem from somewehere and he cud solve this problem but i doubt we r even looking. If we come up against the likes of barca, real or the like later in the champions league u will all see our midfield get dominated becos we do not have an enforcer in our team. I feel this and not the striker was the final jigsaw we needed and still do, and until we get this enforcer we will not dominate as we all think we will. Ur opinions please.
November 2nd, 2008 at 18:08
Red Diablo, that news just further adds to my beliefs that we need another defensive midfielder brought in.
November 2nd, 2008 at 21:10
@Craig Mc: Great one Craic. Made me laugh bro.
November 2nd, 2008 at 21:17
Anybody wanna back me up for United bidding for De Rossi or Essien? I would love to have Essien in our team and with him not getting any games for Chelski he may want to leave. After all, he has Mikel, Lampard, Ballack, Deco and Belletti in front of him. Essien is a player Fergie admires, and he tried to sign him in 2005. But Essien is a United fan and he may want to move to us if he got a chance. Had it not been for Lyons stubborness Essien may already have been at us.
November 2nd, 2008 at 21:30
To all you gamers out there. Gears Of War 2 out and IT IS THE BOMB! oh and Need for Speed Undercover out on the 18th of this month!
November 2nd, 2008 at 21:34
@RedDevilEddy: essiens injured mate…
@Red Diablo: WHAT! its coming on the 7th over here!
November 2nd, 2008 at 21:41
@dan(u-ol): Really? Too bad. Anyway I have it. That too for Rs. 300. That is about 4 Pounds.
Anyway. IT IS THE BOMB! It rocks. Man the amazing gameplay and graphics. Marcus Looks even more awesome!
November 2nd, 2008 at 22:01
@RedDevilEddy:
Essien’s not getting games, he’s one of the first names on the team sheet for them!
De Rossi’s said a number of times he only sees himself leaving Italy for Spain, but his ideal situation is to stay at Roma and become a legend like Totti(his words not mine), so you can rule that one out too.
Really there isn’t anyone good enough. Not like we need one anyway, seeing as we’ve won the league twice and the Champions League without one over the past two seasons.
November 2nd, 2008 at 22:16
@Matthew: Matthew mate, actually there are a good few United fans that believe we need to strengthen our midfield, even last season we needed to. We haven’t got an enforcer, even though we do have some MF’s who can see and execute a pass, others are good tacklers/combatants (not Giggs or Scolesy
), and then Hargo who if on the field is good at defending and breaking up play. Some of us were pushing last season for another strong MF enforcer. You onyl have to think about how we were hanging on for last 20 mins against Barca, and in a good few of our games this season. Everyone knows, that United are poorer than poor at holding on to a one nil lead. That is why many were biting their feckin fingernails in the Barca semi final at OT. I think luck was very much with us, when I think about the semi at Barca and Terry’s miss in the final. I have always felt out MF are lightweight, and nothing has happened this season YET to convince me otherwise. Like Jb said though, it is not easy to find such a player, but there is one out there somewhere 
November 2nd, 2008 at 22:19
Well craig mc, i heard that xavi of barca may be available as he rejected a new contract from barca. I know hes not exactly a midfield enforcer but he can do a job there and is an excellent player but probs more in the carrick way. Ur opinions.
November 2nd, 2008 at 22:37
@Red Diablo: Its the DAILY MAIL…since when does anyone take what they write seriously? It might be true, but we’ve not seen any solid confirmation yet, weren’t they the same source saying Fergie was offloading Hargreaves and Tevez saying that Fergie RUINED his playing form and playing style. We don’t know if he’ll be out or not yet.
November 2nd, 2008 at 22:42
Rd, thats very true we dont know if its true but the point is he is about as injury prone as saha and we have no real back up for him which we need.
November 2nd, 2008 at 23:05
I agree completely on the substitutions. Id rather Ferguson rotated and then used tactical substitutions rather than this policy of giving Tevez half an hour run around, Giggs twenty minutes and O’Shea five minutes regardless of the match.
Tevez for Nani was a howler and when we put Giggs on for Carrick we lost some control of midfield. At 4-1 up all we needed to do was steady the ship but instead we kept pushing men forwards, losing possession and then got hit by lucky goals.
For those sort of situations we should work on a 4-5-1 formation getting penetration on the wings from Ronaldo and Nani but keeping the midfield under control. Berbatov can play up front on his own.
I cannot really see us getting a midfield general. Carrick and Anderson seem to be our future with Fletcher and Possebon and perhaps Hargreaves if he gets over his injury problems as backup.
To me that is not a world class midfield. Especially when you consider the quality we have elsewhere on the pitch. Ok you do not need a team of world class players and Carrick is very good at what he does and Anderson shows glimpses of being very effective for us. But I miss the days of Keane and Scholes in their prime and before that Keane and Ince.
In terms of midfield options what do people think about Veloso? Ive seen him play a bit and he is tough-tackling and plays with style and is quite defensively minded.
November 2nd, 2008 at 23:06
@dan(u-ol):
Well, De Rossi is unlikely to join us but it would be worth a try. I think we are covered well in midfield really, as long as we have Ronalldo we dont need a DM. We have Hargo for some games, and Andersona and Carrick can both do the job. Also Possebon and Gibson are coming soon.
@Conor:
Oh, I didnt know he was injured, I just thought he was dumped.
November 2nd, 2008 at 23:12
@colver: Anderson and Carrick are now used to sitting back in games that they need to. Anderson at Anfield last season, Emirates and Boro at Old Trafford showed that. He has a mix of being both offensive and defensive, something that works out well for us. And Carrick does that too, he played as DM against Barca and Roma both home and away last season. He can do the job, his passing is an attacking weapon in itself! We tend to play a 4-2-2-2 formation for most games during the season with 2 DMs, 2 wingers and 2 strikers. With Scholes and Keane it was a 4-1-2-1-2, with Keane behind, Becks and Giggs on the sides and Scholes pushing forward. We have moved on from that time, so a DM should be unessacary now.
November 3rd, 2008 at 0:21
@Matthew: There’s no chance Xavi’s leaving, he’s Barcelona through and through and he’s in the form of his life there right now. He’s a pretty rubbish tackler too, brilliant player but the exact opposite of a midfield enforcer.
November 3rd, 2008 at 0:50
@Matthew: A little too early for the Saha comparisons, he’s only being with us for a year. I agree, it’ll be nice to have a player like him, but i won’t say its an imperative need.
@colver: There was rumoured interest in him, but that arose some days before we played Sporting, so they was speculation it was one of Fergie’s mind games. But before everyone starts thinking of players that would fit in that position, we don’t know if Fergie actually has any plans to fill that position. He should have a pre- match conference before Celtic, so hopefully we’ll knows whats actually going on with Hargreaves.
@RedDevilEddy: A Man Utd fan??? Where’d you get that, plus i doubt he’d come to us anyway, he sprouted some sh!te while at Chelsea, plus I’m sure he’s still very much in Scolari’s plan, and once he’s fit, he’ll be first choice again.
November 3rd, 2008 at 0:56
Lassana Diarra anyone
November 3rd, 2008 at 0:58
Lasana Diarra
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:09
Chelski are all guns blazing at the moment, goals galore. Yet if we win our game in hand, we will be 2 points behind them and L’fool. We have three away games coming up, so lets SEE whether our MF of Carrick, Fletcher and Andie will be able to contest, so we are not again with our backs to the wall gameplay when the opposition start to stampede. I seriously hope that Fergie doesn’t put Rooney, Tev and Berba on the field at the same time again, he has to choose 2 out of three at any one time in a match. Celtic are going to come at us with venom, so we don’t want too many lightweights in our side.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:12
fred the red, yep i mentioned him
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:25
@Craig Mc: I reckon Fergie will begin with Carrick and Fletch in midfield against Celtic. Ando, O’shea or Giggs will come on for either depending on the nature of the game then. I hope they come out with all guns blazing so we can kill ‘em on the counter, then Fergie shuts up shop after we got the goals.
That will be the ultimate tactic. They are playing at home and after the battering we gave ‘em at Old Trafford, they might wish to regain some pride by coming at us. Pleeaase, Strachan, make my day, just attack!! 
I hope Fergie has learned his lesson with those three. Just pick two and if you wanna give the odd man out a run out, do it at the expense of one of the chosen two. I am thoroughly enjoying the options we have upfront but if not utilized properly, it’s no use having them.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:51
There’s no doubt that we are playing some great counter attacking football but we are not converting enough chances which may end up coming back to haunt us at the end of the season if we are not careful. Against everton we should have been 4 up going into the second half. Against west ham we completely switched off in the second half The game against Hull was far too close for comfort towards the end. I gotta give Hull credit though because they kept fighting to the very end. One of the things that was worrying is our hesitancy in defense. We do not look has solid as last season and I believe that SAF has to stop messing around with the right back position. Wes Brown had the best season he has ever had for united last season and he needs to be our first choice right back. It has obviously unsettled the rest of the defense. IMO rooney, ronaldo, berba and tevez have not been able to gel together and shouldn’t be on the pitch all at once. Nani needs to be in the starting line up more often as he is a true out and out winger with pace and deadly crosses. He has been excellent recently and deserves his place in the starting line up against Celtic. Although I suspect SAF will opt to play park in his place as he loves to do in CL.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:04
@Gabriel: Gabriel, Fergie usually plays more MF’s in CL away games doesn’t he?. Be careful what you wish for though mate. We have hardly been scoring much away from home, and if Celtic come at us with venom for most of the game, which they will of course, together with their partisan raucous crowd driving them on, mmmmmm doesn’t bear thinking about to me. Our lot haven’t actually had any proven composure when under the cosh mate, have they?. And under the cosh we will be for good parts of this match. I fear also Nemanja and Roon rashness giving away free kicks around our box. Remember Nakamura?. Anyway, I hope for a great United win, but I fear our recent panicky ways, when under fire.
.
By the way your tactics sound good – Fergie should sign you up for coaching duties –
. But knowing Fergie’s no rhyme or reason tactics and personnel, I doubt we will see the good things you suggest coming to be 
. I wish though 
.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:08
@Fred The Red: Yo Fred the Red, Lassana Diarra, I haven’t seen too much of. The Arsenal got rid, but I believe Wenger said it wasn’t because he wanted to let him go, but because Diarra was impatient for action and didn’t want to sit on the bench – so yeah, maybe Bro
.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:34
@Craig Mc: wouldnt worry too much about Nakamura. He’s playing desperately bad and is homesick. Celtic will once again be pretty impotent although they will be better.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:54
Does anyone agree/disagree with my last post
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:31
@Fred The Red: Not good enough for Chelski apparently, and he also couldn’t get in the side at Arsenal. He has some matches for Pompey where he is outstanding, but others where he is invisible. So yeah…what I’m saying is, not good enough. I would take Carrick over him every day of the week.
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:32
@Aron84: I think most people would agree with what you’re saying in there pal. Brown for starting RB spot, Nani to get a run of games and dont play all 3 of Carlos/Roon/Berba at the same time. Sounds about right!!
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:22
@RedDevilEddy: The last team Essien will ever be sold to or go to freely is United. I just don’t see it happening. The player United should go for is Marco Senna. He is exactly what we need defensively plus, he has a good offensive mind as well and score a goal or hit a long free kick as well.
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:27
@Red Diablo: What really pisses me off is how some games are released in Europe before North America when they are made here. I had to wait three days after the North American release date to buy FIFA 09 here in Vancouver and the game is developed a mile away from my house. Just pisses me off as I am kid when it comes to this stuff and I am incredibly impatient in general. I still have to wait two weeks for Gears of War 2 but at least Tom Clancy’s End War is out on Tuesday. That game looks to be the bomb for sure. Voice activated control of military tactics in a WW III scenario is just making me wet thinking about it. Hope it doesn’t disappoint.
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:30
@colver: Veloso is overrated but versatile. He would not be a bad pickup as he is friends with our Portuguese contingent and that would create more harmony on and off the field but there are better players out there. Man I would really like to see Marco Senna. He was the player of the tournament at EURO 08 in my opinion. I think he has a lot to offer. Problem is getting him and making him want to come as well.
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:35
@Aron84: We are creating enough chances. It’s our finishing that stinks. I don’t know what our percentage is on scoring from good chances but I bet you it’s less than 20% which of course means 2 goals in 10 chances. That’s not good enough in the EPL. Most games you will be lucky to get that many good chances to score. The team needs to hit over 30% for the scoreline to look more respective to the actual dominance on the pitch.
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:18
Everybody is looking at the midfield and other areas of the team for letting Hull’s score three goals. Actually if you look at the replays two of the three goals were Evra’s responsibility. In the first one he was not close enough to the guy who scored (admitedly it was a very good cross) and in the other one Mendy dummied him far too easily. He is a very good attacking full back but he has always been defensively suspect and it showed on Saturday.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:13
@Aron84: I agree with the RB point. Wes was brilliant at RB last season. He’s a good defender (nevermind the bollocks that he is a weak link). He’s even progressed in terms of attacking play in the RB position (not great, but still good enough), and has a good understanding with Ronnie. Why screw it up by getting Neville games ahead of him? Beats me.
About the topic of the hour – the defensive midefielder, Senna is great but he is out of the age bracket now. Abrahomovic would have Essien killed before he can move to United. Getting DeRossi is unlikely. I see no ‘readymade’ product for us to buy from other clubs. We’ll either have to mould someone existing to play the role, or take a gamble by buying someone unproven, or get someone from the resreves (Gibson I dont see as United material, but maybe I’m wrong in that).
About the game, getting Carrick off was the first BIG folly. Getting Giggs on for him, was the second BIGGER folly. Getting Nani off was the BIGGEST problem I had with the whole match. How I miss Queiroz!!!
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:19
Rooney’s temper is getting just getting more out of hand. Someday he’s gonna kill an opponent and get a life-term or something, and we’ll be screwed.
Why not send Rooney for some meditation and Yoga to the Tibetian monks for a week. Tevez can play a full game, Fergie can check out if Berba and Tevez can click, and hopefully the shaven madman comes back a little more at peace with the rest of the world.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:48
@Rahul:
Rooney was acting like a rabid dog out there, wasn’t he? Maybe Coleen wasn’t giving him anymore action.. I heard that’s what marriage can do for your sex life. 
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:35
@Gabriel:
Yes, rabid he was.
In the last minute of the match he dove into what was a vicious challenge on the flanks. Though he got the ball, it was pretty apparent that he was too ablaze with anger to do anything else.
Having said that, he played 2 exceptional (no.. genius) passes in his ‘Enter the Dragon’ mode after the yellow.
Pray Fergie, counsel the boy!
November 3rd, 2008 at 13:10
@Gabriel: Well maybe Rooney was a thug to Colleen in the sack also
.
November 3rd, 2008 at 13:13
@Rahul: Rooney doesn’t need counselling from Fergie mate. What he needs is for Fergie to do what Capello does with him, make Rooney realise 1 strike and YOUR BENCHED
.
November 3rd, 2008 at 14:58
@Craig: That would work too!!
November 3rd, 2008 at 17:48
@Rahul: sorry but I don’t agree. Rooney was just frustrated on Saturday because nothing was going his way. The fans and media are pressurising him to score his 100th goal. The sooner he scores this the better because this is starting to get out of hand after only 2 games without scoring. When he sees Nani blaze a shot over the bar with him standing in space or Berbatov waiting until he has a defender on him when he was clean through is going to make him frustrated
November 3rd, 2008 at 19:01
@Liam: I know he was frustrated, just that his way of venting out his frustration is becoming more aggressive in tackles n stuff. which is risky!
November 3rd, 2008 at 19:26
Damn I forgot about Lassana Diarra. He would be a good option and is playing well below his level at Portsmouth.
November 3rd, 2008 at 20:54
@Liam: That does not excuse his childish behavior. Honestly I wish people would be less selfish and concentrate on the big picture. You don’t want any actions taken against Rooney because you want the team to win and to hell with the laws of the game and common decency and fair play. Rooney is out of control and he needs to be sat down by Fergie as a strong message that his temper tantrums and yellow cards will no longer be tolerated. It’s bloody well time he grew up and got the pugilist attitude that lives in his family out of his system.
November 3rd, 2008 at 21:10
@Grognard: Keane was getting sent off well into his 30s. Hell, Eric Cantona kicked somebody over the advertising boards! Did Fergie try to change them? NO! It was their passion that made them the players they were. For every moment of madness you got 10 moments of brilliance. People seem to always need something to criticise him for
it was a bad tackle, get over it. Countless other players have made them and countless others will make them. Rooney is just observed through a microscope and anything bad that he does is blown way out of porportion. Would the same big deal have been made if let’s say Paul Scholes or Steven Gerrard had made it?
November 4th, 2008 at 5:58
@Liam: Cantona kicked the guy over the hoarding, and got himself a long vacation. He didn’t repeat the thing again. Keane was a midfield general, his job was to track those s.o.b’s down and stop them at all costs, so it was part of his job description to make hard tackles. Paul Scholes does get panned for his tackles (maybe not by Fergie, but by most others). Screw Steven Gerrard.