Dec 23
Man Utd v Everton: Preview
I had a good Saturday which was only tempered by that good-for-nothing Robbie Keane who couldn’t score a penalty past Almunia.
But today is a new day and one hopes we put several past the other Scouse team to make it a good Sunday.
In team news, we should expect Rio, Tevez and Brown to start; apparently they had some knocks soon after the Liverpool game. I suppose the partying (and subsequent bollocking from SAF) would have been enough to shake them up.
Not much else in team news, and I expect the same team of last week to start this time round. I am feeling a little lazy today. So I will link you all to several previews.
BBC’s Preview
Preview on Soccernet
My Prediction: 2-0 to United.
Alright then, I’m off now. See you after the game!
Related items from Red Rants:- Everton vs Reds: Appalling But Three Points
- Everton vs Reds: Preview
- The International Break Will Help United Significantly
- Manchester United did not break Premier League rules in Howard “deal”
- United’s Injury Blow… And Boost.
Tags: Game Preview
December 23rd, 2007 at 11:08
my starting line up for mersyside b team:
VDS
pique rio vida evra
ronaldo hargo andy nani(hasnt played in a while)
rooney and tevez
browns form has dropped dramaticly sice the contract talks and i think pique is playing better than him.
December 23rd, 2007 at 11:52
my starting line up for mersyside b team:
VDS
simpson rio vida evra
ronaldo hargo anderson nani
rooney and tevez
December 23rd, 2007 at 12:14
Line up:
PIG
Simpson Brown Vidic Evra
Ronaldo Anderson Carrick Giggs
Rooney Tevez
Subs: Heaton, Saha, Nani, O’Shea and Fletcher
Rio reportedly picked up a knock in training.
December 23rd, 2007 at 12:16
hargreaves?, i swear simmo wasnt in the squad.
http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=70737 thats a sexy offer but we have anderson already, not much point of us having him, unless 1 f them become a super sub for the other.
December 23rd, 2007 at 13:54
good match so far, something tells me andy will score.
December 23rd, 2007 at 14:53
WE GOT LUCKY WITH THAT PENTALTY, sorry for the caps lock, but it had to be said, anyhooo that boy ronaldo that boy ronaldo that boy ronaldo
December 23rd, 2007 at 14:56
what a win, everton will surely give arsenal a run for their money next week.
December 23rd, 2007 at 14:58
All credit to Ronaldo. Great match from him. Despite a few early miscues, O’Shea’s entrance proved to be the right idea. That was the hardest game on our Christmas list, good match to build on.
I’m concerned about Carrick’s interest level. He looked quite lethargic out there. Does anyone know what happened to Hargreaves?
December 23rd, 2007 at 15:11
That was too close for comfort!
December 23rd, 2007 at 15:12
Dan Dos Santos is a completely different player to Anderson, obviously Anderson’s better
And yeah Arsenal will definitely struggle against them , and they haven’t been playing that well recently either. What a stupid tackle by pienaar by the way!
Kusczack - Can’t kick the ball. Other than that he didn’t have to do much. Couldn’t save Cahills header.
Simpson - Surprisingly poor. Young players are expected to be inconsistent so lets hope he just had a bad game.
Brown - Made a few stupid tackles but fairly solid.
Vidic - Without Ferdinand he was slightly off-key, but still a rock.
Evra - Provided good width on the left and made a few good tackles.
Ronaldo - Provided most of our attacking threat in the final third. his first goal was brilliant and his penalty was confident as always.
Anderson - Played lots of great forward pases, kept possession well, dribbled well and tackled well. But he needs to cut out the diving.
Carrick - Average - He only plays well when we play well. good passing range and kept possesion well.
Giggs - Probably my man of the match - Dribbled brilliantly, great vision, great crossing and got into good positions when crosses were made. Won the penalty.
Rooney - Had a few shots, played in alot of good crosses and attacked the back line plenty of times.
Tevez - Chased the ball as always, made good runs, but it was a bad day for him, too many crosses were made which isn’t his game.
December 23rd, 2007 at 15:40
One thing I did notice was that our passing and team shape went to hell as soon as Carrick was withdrawn. He may not have stamped any authority on the game but he still played an important purpose by keeping our possession ticking over. To be honest I thought Anderson was pretty average, he tried to force things too often and Tevez’s touch was poor today.
In addition you’d think as a keeper PIG would have been taught how not to kick a ball into touch every time! The defence was also pretty shaky; as it virtually always is in Ferdinand’s absence (I would regard him, Ron and Roon as the three essential components to our side). Finally Simpson had a mare, I wonder how far away G Neville is from fitness, wouldn’t be 2 weeks by any chance
December 23rd, 2007 at 16:05
This is an article on ESPNsoccernet : http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=493297&root=england&cc=4716.
It deals with the Players of the season so far for various Premier League clubs.
Is this serious or a spoof? Ricardo Carvalho as best player for Chelsea? Vidic is good, but the best player this season? And the explanation that Man Utd’s showing has been mainly defensive?
Just unbelievable!!
December 23rd, 2007 at 16:17
nah, never play o’shea at right back again, i couldnt believe my eyes when i saw him playing, great game for anderson, his confidence is rising, brillient passing. nani needs to play at sunderland on boxing day, he hasnt played for like a month. discluding roma.
December 23rd, 2007 at 16:26
Shreyas: The article is right in that our defence has been our main strength this season, but I would contest that Vidic has been outshone by both Evra and Ferdinand this season. The argument that Vidic is more important than Rio strikes me as being from someone who is in the Terry and Carragher fan club i.e. valuing blood and thunder and last ditch tackles over intelligant play and reading of the game.
As for Carvalho, I can’t see how he can be his clubs best player given that he has only played 7 league games this term.
December 23rd, 2007 at 16:38
Meanwhile, Derby are leading 2-1 against Newcastle. Fuckin’ hilarious!
They look on course for doing the double against them.
December 23rd, 2007 at 18:17
Lucky win for us. It was clearly a penalty. Pienaar and Moyes knows that. After the match, my friend called me telling me that Giggs dived!
Who cares anyway, we got the 3 points. That is what matters most!
December 23rd, 2007 at 18:58
Dan,anderson had a good game?I love the lad but today he wasnt too good.rooney was bad and tevez too.simpson showed why he cant be first team,he allowed a cross to get played into the area and he didnt even attempt to block it!carrick was the same as always.dont know where hargreaves was and frankly I dont want to know.kuzchak is fucking pathetic.and he says he wants to be in the first team,ha ha ha.ronaldo is brilliant.he may not play too well in big games but today he carried the team.
December 23rd, 2007 at 19:26
Ronaldo was brilliant, together with Giggs. Rio was sorely missed and Hargreaves seems more and more necessary. Rooney needs a goal (again!) immediately and Kusczak needs to be calmer.
December 23rd, 2007 at 22:16
anderson was great today, the paases he came up with, i dont know what match you were looking at but everyone played fantastic, simpson could of played better, but he was more solid as a right-back than o’shea, though i still believe pique is currently the best choice at right back.
December 23rd, 2007 at 23:39
Now that we haven’t used all of our money on s big name striker, we should buy a real replacement for Neville. My choice: SERGIO RAMOS.
December 23rd, 2007 at 23:42
Well first of all we got lucky, Everton is a good team and they defended well, but let’s not take away our players achievments. A lot of staff has already been stated about Ronaldo, best player of the match no arguement their, however let’s not forget Tevez and Rooney, they haven’t scored only because Howard had a great game and Lescot cleared of the line. Giggs got the PK enough said. Evra and Vidic were rock solid and Anderson and Carrick (Hargreaves would have done better) did well too. The promlems were Simpson and Kusczak and the question is where the hell where Rio and VDS?
December 23rd, 2007 at 23:55
For those wondering where players were today see the following link. Unfortunately it looks like were stuck with PIG for most of the festive period.
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=517137
December 24th, 2007 at 0:59
I agree with Dan, I thought Anderson played well, he was direct and we needed that in this match, he might have been too direct at times but I still think that without him we might not have won today. Kurt, there is close to no chance that we will get Sergio Ramos as he is settled at Real Madrid. We don’t need a big name signing during the January transfer window, I don’t think, for any position. We can’t just throw money around and become the new Leeds.(although I know that would never happen under Sir Alex)
December 24th, 2007 at 5:26
Today Anderson wasnt playing that well. I guess he had an off day. Sergio Ramos would not come in handy for United as he wont be able to play for the Champions League.
December 24th, 2007 at 6:19
carrick was holding anderson back.because carrick wasn’t aggressive enough in his defencive duties.
December 24th, 2007 at 8:31
What an exhilirating game. I got real nervous - cool!
I though Anderson was very average yesterday. Perhaps its just our expectations of the lad, but it was a bit dissapointing. Not to say he played badly.
Tevez imo, played below his own standard. Rooney had an average game. However, you have to admire his vision and ‘natural’ instincts whih he displayed even yesterday.
O’shea kept on kicking the ball away (I wonder if Brown on wing and Pique in the center would have worked?)
Howard was brilliant for Everton. As was the entire Everton squad. They almost pulled it off.