Feb 10
Man Utd v Man City: Preview
After weeks of speculation about City fans and the Munich tribute — and the minute’s silence versus the minute’s applause (mooted from some quarters) — we get to the day where we would have to realise that there is a game to be played as well. And, of course, precious three points to be picked.
On that poignant note, we shall preview today’s game.
There is an interesting interview on the Guardian where Ronaldo talks about keeping the shirt. It’s interesting to see him talk about the other shirts that he’s saved after a game. I wouldn’t spoil it for you so go read it to find out. He also talks about the Busby era and comparisons with the current lot. A nice read.
Carlos Tevez meanwhile talks about wanting revenge against City, after feeling ‘hurt’ following the defeat at the start of the season. One of lasting images of that game for us was Tevez’s glancing header that somehow contrived to miss the net. So our Apache has pretty much all reason to want to set things right this time.
He will have a little more responsibility than he has had in recent weeks as Wayne Rooney is suspended today. There have been murmurs that Danny Welbeck might be handed a shock debut. I wouldn’t bet too much on him starting though, although he might be sent on as a sub to give something different to the proceedings. There is a good chance that Ronaldo might be preferred upfront along with Tevez to share the striking burden.
So the starting XI would be more conjecture on my part than it has been so far this season. I honestly feel Scholes and Anderson must start. Scholes, because of the experience and the fact that it’s a derby game, and Anderson, because he’s deserved every bit of it from his performances so far.
Patrice Evra also finds himself out of the side tomorrow due to suspension. John O’Shea would be an able deputy although he wouldn’t have to face the pace of Martin Petrov, who could be a real menace on the left wing — something Brown would have to contend with.
Elano’s injury also means we will see the flying Bulgarian launch their attacks, so our right hand flank would have to be well policed.
Being a derby game our recent form does not count for much, although with the emotions of Munich in the backdrop, one would imagine our players to be extra motivated to go out and roll the bitters over. To be honest, they have been playing a bit crap over the past few weeks.
And before I end this, here’s the kit our players will be wearing for the game. A pity the captain is not playing today.
Prediction: 2-0 to United.
Also see: Manchester United v Manchester City preview.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Rooney Out For A Month
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
- Porto it is then…
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (542)
Stephen (491)
RedDevilEddy (462)
Craig Mc (349)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
can believe this, fergie needs to decide what his CM pair will be and keep it, are CM pair is as important as the CB pair, and need to be certain and solid. fergie pick your dam CMs and leave it like that.
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Will someone please explain why Fergie is unable to see that his team are fucking up every game that is physical in nature? Every game we lost was a scrap, from start to finish. They start closing us down, and we start losing the ball and the plot. For pity’s sake Sir Alex, look at this closely. It’s our greatest weakness.
Oh and by the way, the ref gave the game away. Hamaan getting away without a card, two clear penalty appeals not given- heh, refs are doing a good job of screwing United.
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What was wrong with van der Sar Dan? He made two amazing saves before their first goal.
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no onr is being negative,just realistic.when ronaldo is not perfirming,where are rhe trst?
does fergie chew half of giggs salary?is there some kind of arrangement to play him all the fucking time?
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Agree with you Dan on the CM pairing. We’ve rotated way too much in this area. There are hardly any forward passes being made from the midfield.
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kurt over the last two seasons, he has pulled alot of blinders, his form at the end of last season was bellow abysmal, any other keeper in the premier league could of caught the ball on the second rebound but no, he instead parried it.
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There goes the title for you
Tt’s a nice way to remember the Busby Babes losing to your city rivals you know. Then again what can you expect when you have fucking pussies like Ronaldo who just give a shit about looking good and making a few nice dribles then the history of the club i bet you he can’t name one person that died that day.
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well, well,…..the decision not to sign a back up striker either on a permanent or loan basis clearlt backfired lately, more so today! imagine if we have benjani or even defoe…could had made a vast difference…now that rooney is off form and saha ever injured! surely we cant bank on tevez alone to deliver all the time! crazy nuts! even welbeck wasnt selected for the bench!
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Donibrasco if you’re being realistic then think about it carefully! If we beat Arsenal, and Arsenal draw against Chelsea, then will we not be top? Yes ithink we will! And that’s realistic. There is a fifference between what you said and being realistic, you were being pessimistic and don’t even bother denying it again. Were we not already 6 points behind Arsenal and made up the ground on them? Is it not realistic to think that Gallas will undoubtedly get injured for them again and they may just have a bad run of results? There’s no need for the negativity like, really! Especially you Dan, you’re normally quite optimistic so i’m surprised.
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i almost feel that we aint gona play at teh level we all want consistantly until we pap giggs n scholes. As good as they both are, there reachin the end of their shelf life. Simply not puttin in acceptable performances!! OUR CENTRE MID pairing HAS GOTA BE HARGO N ANDO. dont think we shud sign tevez permanently either. we need to play with some pace n strenth up top coz were jst gettin dominated! weve def gotta buy some igger lads into the squad. + Micah as hes unbeatable
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sorry conor, im just so pissed, we lose a derby, we make a mockery of the busby babes(a bit harsh but true), are form is absoulute crap, so many things wrong with the club right now!
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Our major strenght this year has been the defence, but today… Another awful game from Ferdinand and “normal” games from Brown and O´Shea. Having such a poor cover from the defensive midfield doesn´t help also. Pairing Scholes and Anderson proved to be a major mistake, due to the lack positioning of Andy and speed of Scholes (read Citty first goal). We were never able to stop Petrov, Ireland and Vassel movements.
Giggs is over..! He´s to slow to play either in the wing or in the “hole”. One player less in the pitch for United, everytime he plays. I am a great fan of him, but it´s almost embarassing to see him play. Maybe using him as a substitute like and impact player, really don´t know!
And about the striker position? Poor Carlos Tevez e didn´t win any duel with Richard or Dunne… Old problem, no need to talk again about the urgent need of a stiker. Only SAF doesn´t agree with that.
So… Unless we have a miracle from Santa Cruz & Crouch our final third of League will be very difficult. In the end, this is just the normal consequence of an unbalanced squadm which has been disguised by a fantastic year from Ronaldo.
Crucial week of the season: Citty, FA Cup with Arsenal and CL tie with Lyon. Round 1 – Lost.
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ok…we lost…. 2-1.. that means closely, but we all know thats not true.. here’s my analysis…
1. Its been 2 games now that we have been playing a full strength team (possibly Rooney and Evra could have been in, but we played the strongest available). And yet we have looked totally out of sorts… Its getting a bit alarming because even the FA Cup tie against Spurs, we were handed the lead by Dawson, We weren’t creating much.
2. Why can’t we score??? Ok, Carrick got 1 but then we never had the cutting edge…. Please don’t tell me that even with City’s water tight defence, we cant create… Its the basis on which our team plays…
3. Identify the problem areas… Our midfeild has been looking ordinary… Ronaldo drifts in and out of the game, giggs is playing abysmally right now.. Our central MF can’t seem to control the game whatever be the combination.. SAF heard our rants and put Anderson and Scholes, but even that did not work… Rooney is badly missed but injuries and suspensions are a part of football, ask Chelsea…
4. Our defence looks horribly out of sorts… I Don’t know why.. Maybe because the support from MF isnt there or what.. Brown was deplorable today.. constantly being caught upfield and out of position…
5. Possibly the pitch.. The pitch at OT seems too slow… for gods sake, we were playing Bolton style long balls today… but then again the stadium is ours 24/7.. Get used to it…
6. End of title race for us.??? Me thinks not and im a pessimist.. no, a cynic… Yet the season aint over by a long shot… We have Arsenal next week and we may put on a great display to buoy everyones mood….
7. Our inconsistency is also alarming. Every few games we have a Bolton or a West Ham… where is our momentum?
8. Lastly.. Even if we don’t win anything, Or even don’t qualify for Europe, its always going to be united Forever… nothing can change that in any of us…
By the Grace of god, Born a Devil. That too a red one.
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Some Observations from tody’s game:
1. Giggs – time to get over the fact that he can’t do it anymore. OK, it’d be great if he could surpass Sir Bobby in the number of appearances, but please only as a sub from now on.
2. The importance of Rooney. Rooney-bashers – eat your heart out. Upfront there was dismal lack of creativity and link up play.
3. Scholes – Did not perform today. Considering that much of Utd’s game is based around pace, either Carrick or Hargo would do better, having more legs. Plus it seems to me that he’ll be very lucky to score more than 5 goals in the rest of his Utd career. Carrick, if gets his self confidence back, can hit a few, perhaps even more than Andy.
4. Full backs – O’shea and Brown are not very good going forward. Considering that the much of the game concept at Utd for the past 15 yrs has been attacking through the wings, we need backup both on the left and right. Boswinga, or the brazilian twins, please hurry.
5. Ronaldo is not very good up front. Witness last two games. At least another world class striker needed urgently. Preferably with strength and aerial ability. As mentioned by realred, twas embarassing how Richards easily marshalle Tevez, yet Utd players continued bombarding him with long balls. Shame Manucho hasnt got the work permit. At least I’d rather have Welbeck on the bench than 4 midfielders.
6. Proof that the League’s plan to play overseas is a guaranteed cock-up? Since Utd played in Saudi, their energy and form was below par, especially compared to the form showed just before the trip in question.
7. k9 – spot on. Utd are not competing in the “physical” games and i’m yet to see Hargo deliver the promise he set in the World Cup.
8. City – They palyed well and (cough)deserve(cough) their win. Perhaps the solution to England’s goalkeeping nightmare lie in the young gloves of Hart.
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im starting to wonder, does the team know something we dont? the last time we played this bad was when saf anounced he was retiring…
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ignore plz
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dont be a complete asshole, he was blatently saying bigger, as he was talking about how we need big strong guys in are team.
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look dude.. i aint trying to be an asshole here… thats y i said hope he dint… its easy ti be misread… im sorry for the mistake…
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poor performance. total rusbish.
cant remember who it was but recently some footballing legend said ronaldo isn’t the best yet cos he doesnt step up in big games and i think that has been quite evident in his previous three matches, against spurs, italy and city today. he just needs to add that to his game and he’d a much better player than he already is.
and didn’t really understand why anderson was taken off instead of giggs. the kid could have slotted in as a wing back and bomb forward when needed. ronaldo was lacking support down that left side with evra out suspended and i thought it was worth the risk playing anderson there with the game 3/4s gone.
tevez has to take more shots i feel, he tries to hold up play too often even when he’s in the box.
the second goal also showed how evra’s presence was missed. petrov wasn’t closed down fast enough when the ball was played back to him which evra would have usually done.
OH AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, GIGGS WAS SHIT AS USUAL. i dont see why he deserves to get games if he continues playing like that. nani’s way more effective and ji sung’s movement will make us a better team. the number of times he loses the ball is nuts, and what’s worse is he cant get up and chase cos he’s got absolutely no pace and acceleration. figo’s a better bet any day though he’s older than giggs, no?
just gotta hope rovers pull of something special for now.
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this is unbelievable, the whole team played shite, and the fact carrick was our goalscorer was the icing on the cake for a shite game, we played as if we we trying not to make a mistake, anderson for as much as i love him, was showing his inexperience, trying to go for the killer pass with each pass, we had no speed, no flair no creativity, and the fact park was our last attacking resort is quite disturbing to the lack of depth we have up front, is fergie getting to senile or does he still have on league left in him
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Oh and this does not bode well for the Lyon game. Lyon are superb in their attack.
The only good thing is that they too are having some defensive problems. Coupet is going through some dodgy pass, and their world-cup winner Fabio Grosso, is their weakest link. Fergie MUST put Ronnie against him.
+ Boumsong has just been broouhght in to “Strengthen” their defence. HA!
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Our defense is usually way more solid and Evra will be back to firm things up. Also I think at times our current team is more suited to Continental football than the league, because against physical, well disciplined, defensive teams like Man City we get shut out.
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We were very poor today…i m just so angry…my day was ruined by the perfomance
i think everyone will agree that today ferguson made a lot of mistakes.
anderson and hargreaves are our best CM…they should be picked against better oppsition.Ronaldo is most lethal on the wing…he should play there and welbeck should at least have been on the bench. the decision not to sign another
striker in jan also backfired.we can’t rely on saha anymore.giggs is about to be finished and we need a left winger.nani can fill the role bet fergie is not playing him enough.
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the funny thing is, when i went on rants like that last week after our draw everyone told me i was being an idiot, but i was just pointing out that we seem to think that we will get help from someone other than ourselves. We’ll we need it now. Here’s hoping blackburn get the best of arse tomorrow night. Then we are still in it. I don’t consider chel$ea that much of a threat (although they are probably our greatest threat other than ourselves) because they still seem like they tend to drop easy points also, like us.
The thing that scares me the most about this game is city put up 2 against us with only 1 striker. I sincerely hope that SAF re-evaluates the situation and brings in at least 2 defenders (preferably fullbacks) as cover for evra and whoever starts on the right (Sergio Ramos is looking good right now) and at least 1 more striker for cover. I realize that the striker situation isnt as dire with Manucho and Welbeck, but i think selling saha and getting a decent striker who can play the odd game and still be effective would be a great pickup. I do agree that Rooney does get (seemingly) complacent with his place in the squad sometimes, but even so, he is still the engine that drives this team. So I will take a complacent Rooney over just about any other striker offered (within reason).
We can still win the league, but above all, we MUST win at least 1 piece of silverware this year.
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where the fuck was wellbeck…no striker on the bench..and saf believes we dont need a striker as they r cup tied..doesn’t he care about the premiership..he was using vidic as a striker in the final minutes.is there something behind the scenes that we dont know.probably that saf is not getting the funds that he wants to buy a good player.there was a report that we made a bid for benzema and then its over..maybe sir alex has limited funds so that he cannot enter a bidding war for a big name player..
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I am absolutely gutted.It was a fuckin disgrace that we couldnt win today.Fergie is fuckin us up.Its harsh but its the truth.Giggs must not start for fuck sake!brown can leave.He fuckin thinks he is important?he can fuckin leave!He gets caught out upfront,and the amazing thing is he doesnt do shit in attack.Ronaldo must not talk about himself being the best.Because he isnt.To be the best you must be the best against the best and he plays like shit against any half decent team.Today the most disappointing thing was welbeck.Fergie should have shut his mouth if he wasnt going to include him.I mean,whats the point in bringing on two defensive mids?And it was an absolute farce that vidic ended up upfront.That article that penguin wrote?well well well…
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moreover we r playing like shit for the last two games..we didn’t deserve anything from the spurs game and we didn’t get anything from this game..and it has coincided with ronaldo’s poor form.it seems that we cannot create anything in the absence of ronaldo.There r two big games coming up in arsenal and lyon.what if they man mark or block ronaldo off?anyway he doesn’t turn up for big games..i hate to say this but i fear that teams have worked out how to stop us..if they congest the midfield and block our passing game and mark ronaldo we don’t have a big striker to put high balls over the top unlike arsenal[adebayor]chelsea[anelka,drogba]liverpool[crouch]
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im a newcastle fan, just wanted to show respect to all man u fans for 1958
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panks actually i dunno if uve realized but or four losses this season have been in the absece of rooney. Our losses dont coincide with Ronaldos poor form, but with rooneys absence.
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Both our fullbacks were awful today.there was no width in our attack.they dont overlap.o’shea is too slow and brown cannot cross.what the fuck does brown want more money for?sell him.we desperately need to strengthen in this department and we have to get a big striker or else give wellbeck a chance at least..curse that shit piece of glass saha…we could have done with him today..
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we cannot always depend on rooney..what if he’s injured or suspended as in the game today? we should learn to play without him or we should find a backup.doesn’t saf realise that tevez cannot play as a lone striker upfront,it’s not his game,he likes playing behind a frontman..i think the gaffer is getting old and he’s losing some of his sharpness.
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I think that we really do need a right wingback and a target man. Ronaldo should not play as a striker, but isn’t a genuine winger anymore. Giggs should be dropped from the starting XI, as should Scholes. They should be used as super subs who fire us up at the end of any game. We need a big man up front, Tevez isn’t going to win any headers and we cross and chip in to the box a lot – hence the play of Vidic as a striker in the end. I think the easiest solution to our problems would be a 4-2-3-1 formation with Rooney, Tevez, and Ronaldo (Nani can rotate with them) behind a new signing of a striker. Anderson and Hargo behind them in the engine room and a defense with two wingbacks who get up and cross. Just my opinion, but I do think this would be a great formation for us and get us great results; we need a focal point and we don’t have one in the team.
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Coincidence that we looked shit in our last 2 games with Scholes coming back? I think not. He might have been class but the speed has gone and he plays so deep he might as well be DM but he cannot tackle so…..
Fuck I don’t know anymore. Really angry and disappointed after today. On January form Carrick and Anderson should have played and Nani or Park instead of Giggs but it’s an emotional and sentimental time so SAF plays his fledglings who are way past it.
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One thing I look on the united bench there’s no attacking depth than what is on the pitch which is where we are really struggling we need a striker badly and why did SAF play Scholes with Anderson they not even had a chance to play together competitively, he should have played Carrick with Scholes or Hargreaves with Anderson and saying that he should’ve played carrick and scholes because both both players didn’t play any international football this week no excuses we need to sort the problems fast hopefully arsenal do anything but win otherwise it’s going to be really tough to win this year…. SQUEAKY BUM TIME as SAF says!!!!
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Relax, its still 12 games to go. It was a terrible game, I still feel sick. But United is United and we will always raise up! We learned some things this weekend:
1.Scholes should be a sub, he is getting old and he doesnt have the speed this young United team need. Anderson and Owen should be Uniteds CM partnership.
2.Ronaldo is a winger, not a striker.
3.We need Rooney, cause he is really important to this side.
4.Benzema and Richards should be Uniteds top transfer targets this summer.
5.Giggs shouldnt be playing! What is Fergie thinking playing him in important games? I know he has experience, but he never uses it anymore!
6.The players felt pressure today because of the occasion! That is one of the main reasons why they didnt play well.
7.Park is better than Giggs and Nani when it comes to vision, passing and crossing.
8.United is like a phoenix! They will never die, they will be the best and strongest, unbeatable.
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it’s retarded when you think of the talent available to SAF, but how he uses it at times like this really defeats the purpose of having a talented squad.
why play giggs when he’s obviously out of form? and personally, i dont rate hargo that highly cos he’s too one sided. yes, he does well in protecting the back 4 and should be used mainly in CL games. at times flowing moves will break down due to his lack of attacking ability, hence carrick and anderson to me will be a much more exciting partnership.
nani needs to have more game time in order to grow quicker. limiting him to 2-3 games every 7-8 wouldn’t do his progress much good.
what i’ve noticed is, during the “revival” where united started winning most of their matches 4-1 after the poor start to the season, the team had much more passing and movement. it was a lot of 1 touch football which was obviously a joy to watch and a great example of that was the tevez goal vs boro, but at some point of time individuals started taking over. i see players stopping the ball when they receive the pass, run with it for a few meters or so and then passing it. if united are to split defences of “big” teams, quick passing and movement will be essential as we dont have forceful players who can hold their ground and work their way into the box.
for today im’a rovers supporter! former arsenal boy bentley’s gna destroys the gooners
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I agree Nino, and I must say Fergies biggest mistake is to play Giggs and Brown instead of Nani and Simpson. We need to add speed to our attacks and both Simmo and Nani are fast. They think fast to! But I dont agree with youa bout the CM partnership of Andy and Carrick, cause Uniteds best form this season(winning four games scoring four goals) was while playing Owen and Andy. Carrick is more of a passer and Owen is more ofa tackler. Andy is both so its difficult to say who he plays best with considering their abilities.
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Credit to city tactically…
Tevez is a monster…our only player yesterday..
Giggs is at the end
Nani is not the answer.
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We really really missed Evra… and Wayne
Fuck!’
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I noticed that we can play a 4-5-1 very well… We did it well in the last few minutes… Obviously it will suit Rooney mmore than Tevez to be a lone striker. But OH got to sit in front of the defence, Carrick got to move around and Scholes just stayed up. Plus The wingers too get more space to attack.. This whole season, we have lost against teams that packed the Miidfield… Bolton, West ham, city… What say we play them at their own game?
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after all this tym, fergy hasn’t learnt one important lesson from the scousers acrross,that rotation policy simply cant work. for the 5th game in a raw man utd has begun with a diff midfield pairing, is fergy trying to break bernitezs’ record.
why try please old guards like scholes and giggz while its plain clear that they suck.
the season is still not lost and only way top salvage it is for fergy to realise that 1)_ ronaldo aint no striker, 2) scholes and andy cant work in midfield 3) giggz is done and should never feature unless we are leadin 4 zero.
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Ronaldo has scored 27 goals this season but the evidence that suggests he is not United’s most important player continues to grow. On the four occasions United have now lost in the league since August, Wayne Rooney has been absent from the side. On this occasion he was suspended and United certainly missed what he brings to the team — that devastating combination of artistry and aggression, that understanding he enjoys with Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. Yesterday they both looked utterly lost in his absence.
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All u rooney critic mates, can u all keep quiet now & give him all the respect he desrves. ROONEY!!!, ROONEY!!!! ROONEY!!!!! ROONEY!!!!!!
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You guys really are amazing. Every second post is like a suicide note and off the rest go on a rant – Fergie is a b*stard, Giggs is a b*stard”.
You have enjoyed a barely interrupted diet of success for years. You are second in the league for Chrissakes. Cheer up and get real – you played badly, we played well.
Keep taking the Prozac.
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As a lifelong City fan, can I thank you for the funniest read Ive had all year. Lets recap.
We have blanket media coverage on ALL channels of the aircrash. It was a tragedy, but had it been say Aston Villa we wouldn’t have gor a quarter of that. Its been totally over the op.
Then we City fans had to put up with 2 weeks of media attack and Red aggression that we allegedly were going to disrupt the minutes silence. Guilty till proven innocent, gee thanks.
Then we’ve had the crap you people and most Reds spout. Ie you’ve the bestest manager, every player is named as a matchwinner, City are nothing and will be swept aside 4-0…hell lets say 20-0 why dont we.
So what happened:
1. City players and supporters act with dignity and class as we always were going to and observe the silence.
2. Sven and Alex put down wreaths. AND FERGIE IS CHEWING GUM. How disrepectful. are you gonna take that up with HIM, the same way you attacked us unjustifiably. No class.
3. We beat you in a good performance.
4. all the players who you painted as saints before are now totally crap. giggs should retire, fergie doesnt know what he’s doing etc.
Classic! apologies for the odd typo, its hard to see the text while typing through tears of laughter.
Toodle Pip.
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Idopas dont you wish your club was massive enough to have there own board?
good luck in the uefa cup oh wait maby next yr.
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fairenough the min of silence was class cheers to that!
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Gator,
We do have our own board, it takes no cost to put this up? Or didnt you know that?
My fun is coming in YOUR board and asking the difficult questions. Which Ive notice you avoided.
so lets try just one of them for you. Why in a week where we had to take shit as City fans about how we were going to disrupt th silence – guilty before the fact. When we did as we were always going to and respect it. The ONLY person to disrepect it was your manager, chewing gum.
Are you big enough to a) apologise to us for the unwarranted crap we took, and b) condem your manager for disrespect?
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