Oct 27
Man Utd 4-1 Middlesbrough
So our boys play host to Middlesbrough on the back of, what has been, a free scoring run in the past three games. We have put 4 past three teams, consecutively, and if we do repeat that today, we would be smashing a 100 year old record for scoring 4 goals in each of 4 matches.
It certainly would be a handy record, but that would be the least of the priorities when the lads step on the pitch.
Boro, managed by the obnoxious Gareth (wonder how he even got his coaching badge) Southgate have been poor this season. They have been leaking goals and their attack seems to have lost its potency ever since the sale of Yakubu and Viduka. In the past, they had good records against us as well as the other top four sides. Many of us might remember the 4-1 hammering that made Keane blow his top on that mysterious MUTV interview. But that Boro side, had the two strikers just mentioned, as well as an in-form Mendieta. And we had a thread bare midfield.
This time, though, it looks almost certain that Owen Hargreaves would return to shore up things at the centre. His presence would free up Anderson, and for the first time I must say that I feel fairly confident despite Scholes’ absence. That is the effect, the presence of a high octane midfielder like Hargreaves, can have. I do remain cautious, however, of his chances of lasting the entire game. While it looks possible that he might start, I believe he will be on the pitch for an hour at the most. If we are cruising at that point then he will, in all probability, be taken off for someone like O’Shea or Fletcher to keep things simple.
I would expect the boss to play a 4-4-2. Anderson will partner Hargreaves at the centre; Tevez and Rooney upfront; and Giggs and Ronaldo on the wings. There is a chance that Nani might be preferred over Giggs in an effort to use the veteran in short bursts — especially ahead of the crunch game against Arsenal, next week.
In defence, things look like the usual. Brown-Vidic-Rio and Evra will continue as usual. But given, there are certain last minute tests that Evra needs to clear before he can be confirmed fit to play, Pique could as well deputise at left back.
In short, this game must be won. Boro are there for the taking and we must spank them suitably. Especially with that twat of a manager they have who, along with Boateng, went on a whining spree about Ronaldo’s disputed penalty.
Prediction: 3-0 to United. We should have too much class for them. (A brace from Rooney, and Tevez to score the third.)
Related items from Red Rants:- Boro v Man Utd: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Rooney Out For A Month
- The need for a right-back and a forward | Title race blown open
- Manchester United’s tough, tough April fixtures list
Tags: Game Preview
October 27th, 2007 at 10:24
i would hate to have to defend against a on-form rooney.
October 27th, 2007 at 10:56
their two big strikers are gone.those two gave united a lot of
problems last year.they were holding the ball really well.
so,there should not be any problem to pick up 3 points today.
hope to see Her-graves
October 27th, 2007 at 11:03
thats not funny, at all.
October 27th, 2007 at 12:12
U - N - I - T - E - D,
United are the team for me,
With a Nick-Nack-Paddy-Whack,
Give a dog a bone,
Why don’t borough fuck off home
October 27th, 2007 at 13:51
well my day has been shit alreay, my pro evo copy hasnt arrived yet, and its been expected since wednesday, bloody royal mail, hopeful, man u can do what the brasil national team does for me each time i watch them play, cheer me up, i want a thrashing today, no mercy, anderson and hargo to boss the midfield, ronaldo and nani terrorize the wings, rooney and tevez to confuse center half,s another 4 goals for united hopefully
October 27th, 2007 at 13:57
im super pissed, my sopcast nor my tvu arnt working, so i quickly downloaded tv ants, utter crap so far, somebody give me the name of a relible service please.
October 27th, 2007 at 14:08
of of course its not fucking working. . the game doesnt start for another hour man.. calm down
October 27th, 2007 at 14:10
no when i say its not working, i mean its not even opning up.
October 27th, 2007 at 14:15
well if youdownloaded the program it should open automatically if you click on the united game link. . of course that wont work for another hour. . try clicking on a sopcast channel thats playing now. . if that doesnt work then try uninstalling and reinstalling sopcast. . and if that still doesnt work then your fucked
October 27th, 2007 at 14:19
I’ve got Starsports up and running at the minute on Sopcast and it’s working fine. Click one of the Sopcast channel links to open the program and then check if Starsports is working (the link on the website is currently giving channel offline for OJ TV).
October 27th, 2007 at 14:22
This site’s pretty handy in finding out what channel a game will be on
http://www.myp2p.eu/Matches/Match2.htm
October 27th, 2007 at 14:23
Team News:
GK: VDS
RB: Brown
CB: Ferdinand
CB: Vidic
LB: O’Shea
RM: Ronaldo
CM: Anderson
CM: Hargreaves
LM: Nani
CF: Tevez
CF: Rooney
Subs: PIG, Pique, Simpson, Fletcher, Giggs
October 27th, 2007 at 14:27
sop cast wont open, everytime i click login it dosent log in.
October 27th, 2007 at 14:39
Are the log in details already filled in for you and have you pressed the rightward facing arrow button near the top of the window to open the player window?
October 27th, 2007 at 14:51
i log in as anonymous, everytime i log in it says “can not access sopcast service”, its a shame, it was working perfectly this morning.
October 27th, 2007 at 14:51
http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/. u can try this but only on internet explorer
October 27th, 2007 at 14:53
As Ebrahim says give this a go otherwise try the other players.
http://4.livefooty.doctor-serv.com/sat27.10/ManU_Middlesbrough.html
October 27th, 2007 at 15:07
1-0 to man u.nani goal
October 27th, 2007 at 15:08
thanks jb but still not working, i guess ill read text messages.
October 27th, 2007 at 15:09
1-1 Jeremie Aliadiere goal
October 27th, 2007 at 15:26
u can try tvu player.channel starsports.restart the pc and try again or reinstall it
October 27th, 2007 at 15:27
it wont open, everytime i try to open it.
October 27th, 2007 at 15:35
2-1. rooney goal
October 27th, 2007 at 15:52
halftime 2-1 to man u. they are playing attacking football.nani goal was wonderful.we had so much chances.we should had 5 goals
October 27th, 2007 at 16:00
O’shea is too slow today.He shouldn’t have allowed the cross to
go in.And nani,what a goal…
October 27th, 2007 at 16:04
why the hell is my sopcast link showing some polish netball game!?
October 27th, 2007 at 16:14
and how is tevez playing~?
October 27th, 2007 at 16:16
great save by van da saar
October 27th, 2007 at 16:17
3-1 tevez goal.what a played by rooney and tevez
October 27th, 2007 at 16:22
Now that goal is a work of genius.
October 27th, 2007 at 16:23
TEEEEEVEZZZZZZZZZZ I LOVEEEE U MAAAAAAAANN~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 27th, 2007 at 17:03
4-1 there goes that 100yr old record - now lets make it 5 games in a row against arsenal!!! god would that make me happy or what!! UNITED > PREM
October 27th, 2007 at 17:05
good, man u scored 4 goals, ima bit happy, but i wana be playing master league now,
October 27th, 2007 at 17:09
anybody got highlights?
October 27th, 2007 at 17:41
Boy am I getting comfortable and very used to this. Another fine display from the lads. The Tevez-Rooney partnership is really starting to come around. Although Tevez scored two goals, it was Rooney who was absolutely out of this world. His pace, vision, passing and instinct was just superb. He has played many great games for United over the years but dare I say that I think this one might be very close to the top. It’s much more than scoring goals. The lad does so much more, and now he seems to have more sense to play more and wait in the box. This means more goals and that is what he’s doing as well, scoring more goals.
On the flip side, this was one of Ronaldo’s poorest games of his United career. He just wasn’t there mentally today and yet he was still dangerous. What’s great and what should put fear in the hearts of all our opponents is that the team now has so many weapons that they don’t need both Rooney and Ronaldo firing on all cylinders in every game. Nani is more than capable of turning a game on it’s head and certainly Anderson looks like he is becoming more and more comfortable and familiar with the English game. Anderson needs to add one major element to his game though. There were a few opportunities where he had a chance to take a crack at goal and was to timid. Instead he passed off. He will learn. Even the back pass king Scholesy knows when to take a shot at goal. It adds an extra and vital dimension to the midfield. And Nani is certainly not afraid to take a crack at goal. OOOOOOOHHH AND WHAT A GOAL! I also like the fact that Nani shows hunger for the ball in the offensive third of the pitch. This was the case in Rooney’s goal. FANTASTIC!
I was not only relieved to see Hargreaves out there. I was overjoyed to see him play well and show much needed Keano style leadership. Fergie made the right move to sub him out for Fletcher though to prevent aggravating that suspect knee. My only knock on Hargo is that to my eye he looked perhaps a half stride slower than usual. This may have nothing to do with the knee but with game conditioning. I’m sure in the near future he will find it and be even more of a pest to the opposition. He was so good and very composed with the ball at his feet in dangerous areas. Man I love Hargo! If he was going to leave my beloved Bayern, I’m overjoyed that it was for my number one love United.
Overall a truly great display although I have to say that Middlesbrough defended like a band of sisters (nuns) on a Saturday afternoon stroll in the park. They were sound tactically but lacked grit and hunger to tackle and defend closely. They certainly don’t resemble the playing style of their manager.
A few negatives for United other than Ronaldo below average display.
Rio was asleep at the wheel today and it cost us on the goal. He didn’t play terribly but he was not all there. Wes Brown had numerous chances to make telling crosses with little pressure on him and he failed miserably. Occasionally he does surprise us, today wasn’t one of those days. And finally, when the score was 3-1 it seemed that United took the foot off the accelerator. They didn’t look to kill off the game. Then Rooney changed that with a fantastic counterattack breakout that lead to the 4th goal. After that they looked hungry to get more but lacked that final telling pass. A small quibble from an otherwise outstanding performance. Just keep it up boys, I can’t get enough.
October 27th, 2007 at 18:21
agree with grog on his take…
but i must state again that the defense is going to sleep at times. against arsenal… that would be a disaster… all four goals conceded in the past three games were gifted goals that came because the defense was napping….
another point to gripe about… but isnt too big a deal is hargreaves’ lack of vision. honestly he tackled great and bossed the midfield. but he was passing poorly…
overall im happy tho… just ranting;)
October 27th, 2007 at 19:24
Rooney and Tevez are so smart it’s frightneing
October 27th, 2007 at 19:35
Wink; Nothing wrong with a good rant. I agree 100% about the defense napping but not about Hargreaves. Hargo’s job is not to be a visionary. His job is to be a ball winner. A few of his passes in non threatening areas were a bit off but other than that he did a Paul Scholes job of controlling the game with composure and sensible passing. Give him a few game sto get his winfd back and you actually will see offensive skill and vision from Hargo because he possesses plenty of it. He’s not Scholes or Carrick offensively but he is light years ahead of them both defensively.
October 27th, 2007 at 19:59
anybody got highlights
October 27th, 2007 at 20:06
We’re the best around.
October 27th, 2007 at 20:38
hightlights get cha highlights somewhere
October 27th, 2007 at 20:49
the 101 Goals website has some
October 27th, 2007 at 21:43
Can check my humble blog for highlights
http://squaretan.com/manchester-united-vs-middlesbrough-videos-goals-and-highlights/
Anyway another 4 goals we scored! Four seem to be Manchester United favorite number of late. Bring on Arsenal next!
October 27th, 2007 at 22:13
thanks
October 27th, 2007 at 22:38
Good display but not fantastic. It was more individual moments of greatness than the whole team playing collectively great. In defense of the defense the team are playing more attacking as a whole and have reverted back to the ‘we’ll score more than you’ tactic. Quite honestly I wouldn’t care if Arsenal score 4 against us next week as long as we score 5. Would anyone else?
October 27th, 2007 at 23:48
I’m with you on this one Liam.
I also got the feeling that we’re like the Barca of old with “we’ll score more than you” during the game. I’m sure SAF is not happy with this though.
October 27th, 2007 at 23:57
Harsh Liam, there were lots of good attacking moments and they were often involving at least 2/3 players linking up with each other, that seems like good team play to me. Only the first goal was what I would describe as a solo effort.
October 28th, 2007 at 3:37
I’m with you JB. I thought there were moments of great team play that Liam seems to have missed. And as concerned as I am with their defense, their were even moments where they played well as a collective supporting and backing each other there. The defense really hinges on to factors. If Rio is awake and if EVDS is alert enough to anticipate and react to a long shot. If they are, we are impenetrable, especially with Hargo out there.
What there attacking game has going for them now is better flow, pace (urgency) and players instinctively knowing what their teammates will do. What better example of this can you have than Tevez’ two goals? IT’S A BEAUTIFUL THING! As long as they can play like that, Arsenal may be able to beat them in a one game throw a coin situation, but they cannot overcome that kind of form for an entire season. Why? Because United has proven experience and grit at this level. Arsenal’s new boys do not. Talent alone cannot take them the distance. The way Chelski are now playing, I don’t even think that Arsenal will finish second when it’s all said and done.
October 28th, 2007 at 5:01
With you JB
October 28th, 2007 at 9:53
i agree with grognard. anyone else think nanis goal was a fluke!
Heres hoping for an scouserville young guns draw.
October 28th, 2007 at 11:39
I don’t think Nani’s goal was a fluke but it did have a bit of hit and hope about it. That’s why if I was voting for goal of the season I would pick Tevez’s first ahead of it.
October 28th, 2007 at 15:29
Every goal that is hit outside of 20 yards is a hope and a prayer, even for the elite boomers of the game. It’s just that some not only have the leg strength, but the talent to make it more than others. Nani is that kind of player. He’ll hit one out of every five or six long shots he takes. From out there those are excellent odds. Nothing fluky about. It takes talent, class and a bit of luck. Nani is special and he will only get better and better. He also hits a ball much better than Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s overall game is better but his long shots are straight as an arrow with no spin to create a curve. We also need to look at Nani or Hargo to start taking free kicks. If I see Ronny ram one of his one dimensional specials into the wall again he will be demoted to my second fave player in the world behind Riquelme. Now there is a man that knows how to take a free kick. He makes Beckham look like an amateur chump.
October 30th, 2007 at 15:10
I don’t think it is fair to label nani’s goal as a fluke because it is clearly what he was trying to do but as Grognard says all shots from that distance are hit with a hint of a hope and a prayer.
Also that was a hugely effective performance against a Boro’ team that actually came to have a go at us and that made it into a really decent game that was a pleasure to watch.