Dec 21
Manchester United Make History As World Champions
Rooney scored the only goal of the game in the 73rd minute and Van der Sar denied Quito with quality saves to crown Manchester United as World Champions and officially the best club football team in the world (we already were, but it’s nice to have FIFA and UEFA bowing down to us, don’t you think?).
This was a much-improved Manchester United performance and against a spirited Liga de Quito side who gave the European champions a run for their money and were it not for Edwin van der Sar’s brilliant keeping, might have tied or even gone on to win the game.
It was just as sweet to see Arsenal and Liverpool battle to a draw at the Emirates a few hours later. The result now leaves United with two games in hand to Arsenal (a point behind and Liverpool (7 points ahead).
Realistically speaking winning those two games in hand will give United a leg up going up against Liverpool in the reverse Premier League fixture at Old Trafford, and if Chelsea draw or lose at Goodison Park the title race is well and truly open and, dare I say it, there for the taking for the World Champions.
And before I sign off, some food for thought – we are quick to criticise our players when they fail to live up to our impossibly high expectations. At times like these it’s only fair to stand up and salute the professionalism the team has shown through this (to some quite pointless) competition and the way key players (Rooney, Rio and VDS came to mind but the rest did their part as well) stood up and did the job for the club – the same players (Rooney and VDS especially) who have gotten much stick for their less than stellar performances this season.
Bring on Stoke and Boro, and hopefully the WORLD CHAMPIONS can turn it around in the league and take the title third year in a row.
Note: You can read the full match report by the excellent Tom Clark, or follow the discussion in the match thread.
Related items from Red Rants:- Who the f*** are Man United?
- Will United Meet Great Expectations?
- The Guardian’s 09/10 Season Package
- Thursday links and some pre-almost-weekend mumbling
- Ryan Giggs – It’s SIRtainly inevitable!
Tags: Match Reports
December 21st, 2008 at 20:00
December 21st, 2008 at 20:35
It is sad the way the British press had dismissed the World Cup. Everywhere else in Europe and South America is treated as the pinnacle of a team’s achievements and so should it. The fact that we played a team from Ecuador today makes it look less important than it should but 9 out of 10 times it will play the great South America teams such as Boca, River and Sao Paulo against the Champions of Europe. If this not a top competition I don’t know what is it.
December 21st, 2008 at 20:43
“a spirited Liga de Quito side” I hardly think so. They were a pedestrian bunch of hacks and cheats and they deserved nothing from this game. We had three times the number of quality chances they had and if not for one player, they may not have had a chance all game. All their chances were outside the box and although EVDS did have to dive to make a few saves, no team can deserve to win or even come close if that is all they can muster. Even when ten men down we owned their pathetic little asses and they are lucky we never humiliated them by three or four goals. If they deserved a goal or two (which they didn’t), we deserved five or six. Like you said, kudos to our gang for playing well and caring enough despite adversity. Now I hope this quest doesn’t come back to kick us in the head because it will be doubly tough to recover now that they have another 12 hour flight back to Manchester. Fortunately the next two games are up against Stoke and Boro. I’m surprised the FA and their conspiratorial scheduling committee never scheduled Liverpool and Chelsea after our return. So lets hope for the best and kick ass and take names in the second half. Today United did us proud. I congratulate Fergie and the whole squad for a job well done. Now if Fergie could see the light and could see fit to do me a favor and bench Park for life, then I’d be a happy man. That boy is USELESS in caps.
December 21st, 2008 at 20:55
@frankie: They are right to dismiss it because no teams anywhere else in the world other than perhaps Boca and a few Brazilian sides even come close to matching up with the top 40 elite European sides. The Champions League is the Creme de la creme of club football and the FIFA World Club Cup is and amateur hour marketing ploy that does nothing but sabotage the current European champions tile aspirations. And why must it always be held in Japan? What have they done to deserve this so called honor? It’s nothing more than a selling point and a marketing tool to spread the sale of team kits all over the planet but especially in the highly lucrative Asian market. Yes like I’m going to take LDU Quito of Equador seriously after we had to beat Barcelona and then Chelsea to win the CL. I don’t think so.
Perhaps two decades ago when South American teams were very strong due to the fact that not all of their great players were playing in Europe, perhaps then they were a legit contender and opponent. But unless I see a Boca side with Riquelme or Flamengo or Santos side from Brazil, I really couldn’t care less. Still, it’s nice to win it because the shame of losing to such minnows would be hard to swallow. And ask yourself this question, when the whistle blew and the game was over, did you jump up and down and go hoarse crazy shouting United forever while running to the nearest pub to party with friends? I rather doubt it. But I know millions of United fans did just that two minutes after the whistle blew in Moscow back in May. That alone should answer your question as to why the British media doesn’t care. Because truthfully, it’s no big deal when you compare filet mignon to hamburger.
December 21st, 2008 at 21:03
To cap a great day off, Lets all look at this;
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/a-massive-relegation-on-the-cards/
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
December 21st, 2008 at 22:03
It’s a fantastic achievement to win it in my opinion. It is devalued by bitter scouse cunts like Souness who didn’t take it seriously. He only hated it because there is much stricter security in Japan on shoplifters and he felt he had no chance of stealing something to take back to Merseydive. I bet he was sitting there anxiously hoping that Liverpool would beat Sao Paulo back in 2005. If any other English club apart from United won it, I bet there would be a huge fuss made in this country. Jealous cunts. United>England.
December 21st, 2008 at 22:54
@Kings: I live in Liverpool, and I agree with you wholeheartedly.
December 21st, 2008 at 23:09
Bah, a trophy is a trophy. From the Charity shield to the Champions League
December 21st, 2008 at 23:33
@Rd: See that’s the problem with football. Too many trophies to play for. After a while it’s like every trophy is a consolation award. One thing I do like about being brought up with North American sports is that all teams play for one trophy and that’s it. Football has the Super Bowl (and it’s super because it has no competition), hockey has the Stanley Cup, etc. It means more to know you win the big one in your league. The only exception to that rule for me is also going for the Champions League because of it’s international significance. As for the FA Cup, League, Cup, FIFA World Club Cup, Charity Shield and European Super Cup, it’s all so unnecessary for big clubs. I hate putting down the FA Cup but today it is nothing more than a consolation prize.
December 22nd, 2008 at 0:34
It’s money, money, money – but I still don’t understand what Grog meant when he said that Barca, Chelsea and Bayern didn’t take part. I thought this was compulsary, not optional for the CL winners, so Grog please explain what you mean
.
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:37
@Craig Mc: What I meant was that they got a free pass form this thing. They weren’t at risk for getting red cards or injuries that can be used against them in the Champions League. No red card should be transferable to either the CL or the Prem. I’m sure if United had an option to play in this tournament or not they would not. They know what their priorities are and 24,000 miles of jet lag and sleep deprivation isn’t something they would willingly want to accept. And FIFA rewards their sacrifice (and that’s what it is) by ensuring that Vidic’s red card burns them against Inter. That’s just total fucking girlyman crap that is what I hate about the game and the sissy’s that run it. It’s unjust.
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:59
@Grognard: Oh OK Grog, I gotcha meaning now
. I’m sickened by Vids red card. The inter Milan game will be WON in MF – I feel sure of this. Wish we had a STRONG MF to dominate play, but alas 
.
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:28
@Craig Mc: I also have confidence in young Johnny Evans to fill in.
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:55
Man utd would of played in this tournament regadless of whether they could or not, simply put down to money. Which we obviously need.
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:08
Shit!!!!I didn’t know that Vidic’s card will be valid for the CL game. This sucks. It says a lot that I don’t care about the trophy now, that I know that we will be missing him for Inter game. It’s 2 months away, but I think it’s a big lose. Last time we were missing defenders in Milan,it wasn’t a pretty sight.
Congrats to the guys for the win. I am happy that they worked hard, cause as someone already stated, the lose would have been hard to swallow. Also their keeper had a great game too, otherwise the game would have been over even before the sending.
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:52
@Grognard: We get 9 million cash for winning this. SO now, the Glazers dont need to dish out extra money for the Tosic deal, if it gets done that is. I may have missed it in your comments, but what do you think of Anderson in particularR? I thought he was pretty good yesterday, made a crucial tackle, setup Rooney who bungled. Barca, Pool lost in the same competition 1-0 and we won it. Isnt much of a point but then, a win is a win and we are being paid rich money for it. So I guess, it was worth the effort.
December 22nd, 2008 at 8:15
@Grognard: Since I’m a asian so it is a bit hard feeling for me to hear your comments on Park. Well honestly his ability on attack was quite disappointing but his effort on the pitch is inarguable. I know what Grognard you expect from every manu players because I read most of your comments but I really doubt any best team can have every players with perfect performance. Everytime I will be very happy if i found Park in the starting lineup, but winning is the major purpose of football games so i also doubt why SAF didn’t bring out Nani when Park was sucks! Did anyone notice that now Nani & Tevez or even Anderson are only cup-players? What’s on SAF mind?
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:55
@UnitedUnited: Yes but how many million do we lose if the fatigue from this causes us to lose the league and a Johnny Evans mistake (playing for a suspended Vidic) knocks us out of Europe? It’s a big price to pay if it sabotages our season.
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:00
@3Vunited: First off, the fact that Park is Asian has nothing to do with my feelings. I am not a racist and my dislike for a player never has anything to do with his nationality. I just don’t like Park as a player. Yes not everybody on the pitch can be world class but Park is not even international class in my books. He has a very poor offensive skill set and I’m sorry but unlike many on this blog, I don’t get seduced by just hard work. There has to be a prize at the end of a hard days work and Park rarely ever delivers anything tangible and concrete from his performances. He’s not good enough to be a Man Utd player and that’s the bottom line. Sorry to disagree with you but that’s just the way I see him. But most of all, his nationality has nothing to do with my feelings. He could be from Mars for all I care or he could be my first cousin.
As for what is on Fergie’s mind these days…..God only knows.
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:01
@3Vunited: I think the reason Park plays is due to balance in the team. Without Park we become more vulnerable, so SAF plays him to help in defense. It also doesn’t hurt his cause that Nani and Giggs are out of form. Just watched the 1st half and I gotta say that our guys, including Park, played good. We created many chances and even though we couldn’t score, I saw many glimpses of our last year’s form. This was a much improved play from several of our players, specifically Andy, Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:34
@Orez: Park plays to give young Rafael cover, simple.
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:13
@Grognard: Of course I know you are not a racist!
Agree with you in 50/50 that I also think sometimes Park’s performance were really not good enough but without his never give-up energy, players like Rafael or Neville will be more difficult in defence. But sadly, you don’t get seduced by just hard work.
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:18
@Orez: I think if Hargreaves isn’t injured, maybe he will be the 1st selection ahead of Park!
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:21
@Stephen: Well said.
@Grognard: Yes that might be true, but looking at the brighter side of things, this might be the ideal platform for young Evans. he has always proved to be the next titanic defender in the team after Vida and Rio. This is his big opportunity. Coming to Park, although he makes some very fine runs, his ability in the final third is appaling. He had a clear goal scoring opportunity yesterday and he screwed it up, yet again. He is just not an option. By now everyone in the world must be knowing that United’s attacking threat would be nullified as soon as the ball is passed to Park. He either complicates things for himself and falls down or back passes. The few times he forays into the box with the pass and all that is needed is a calm finish, he misfires or doesnt fire at all. There are many in the world who are of a better quality than Park, defensive qualities or not.
And speaking of finishes, what did you guys think of Van Persie’s goal against Pool. Must say that was a cracker of a finish. Although the result was perfect for us, Arsenal played some attractive football. But as always, they just dont have it in them to force a result.
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:24
Andy is plying very deeep ….and when ever he has gone up the field he has impressed me…so y is he playing so deeep ?
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:39
@Grognard: @UnitedUnited: Like someone said Grog – did you see what happened to our lot the last time we played in Milan without our best defenders?
. We played and looked like amateurs 
.
Nemanjah should be ashamed of letting the lads down with that kind of fiasco, if he is banned for the CL games.
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:47
http://media.redlog.pl/files/images/2008/12/manchester-united-ldu-quito-final.zip – ~70 high resolution photos from the final
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:50
@Craig Mc: It was a something of nothing mate, matey went down like a hooker on prom night!!
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:54
SAF said “After the Inter-Continental Cup in 1999 we went back home and beat Everton 5-1 three days later” ……….bring on Stoke
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:22
grogy
you are forgetting Brown here! He should be back for Inter games. He was a collosus against Barca. We should be just fine.
Its wrong to blame WCC for Vida’s moment of madness. If he had not reacted like that, we would have collected winners 5m USD (desperately needed in these times) without any casualties and also strengthened our profile in the East (very important from marketing point of view). And I disagree with your dismissing cup competitions like that. Every game Utd play should be important for us. We cant realistically expect to win PL or CL every year. And I would think every club on earth (including your beloved BM) would love to win WCC (for it means you’d have to win CL first!!!)
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:49
good point jos, brown can always easily fill in at centre back so long as he has had a good number of games back in the squad before the inter game. I like evans alot but maybe this kind of game at a packed san siro may be too much for him, i dont know. So if brown is back and ready to fill in at centre back then i would probably prefer brown but i do think that even with vidic missing our back 4 is still alot stronger than inters. Inters strength is in the front 3 of ibra, quaresma and a n other. However ibra and quaresma especially are rather lazy and always run the risk that they will not turn up. Our midfield has to be strong because if we play like how we have this season they the tie will be over after the game at the san siro and thats for sure.
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:50
Greetings! I see people are still mad about us winning that tournament in Japan, a tournament that made us officially the best team in the world. What is so wrong about that. Yeah, I know we might suffer from the jet lag and possibly being very tired, but come on! Its Stoke for crying out laud! Its not Liverpool or Chelski or Aston Villa, its Stoke! A team that we beat 5-0 at Old Trafford with Oshea, Welbeck, Gibson and Manucho! WTF lads? Maybe they beat Arsenal, but Arsenal lost to anybody those days. Hull, Villa and Fulham… Shit! We are in brilliant form, we just won a tournament that crowned us best team in the World, we created gazzilions of chances, Ronaldo looks like he is back to form and Anderosn is playing like a combination of Gattusso and Kaka! What more can we ask for? We drew against Spurs, alright. But we drew them White Hart Lane. All the top 4 have faced Spurs. 2 at home, 2 away. Liverpool met them at the Lane, and lost 2-1. Arse and Stalins Bitches met them at Emirates and Stamford Cock, and they both drew. We got the better of all results. We have beaten Shitty away, we are brilliant. Cheer up lads, its Christmas!
And when its Christmas, you know the real Santa(AKA Cristiano Ronaldo) always turns up to help United by scoring goal after goal after goal. We face Stoke. STOKE!!! Damn, they suck! Delaps throw ins? What can they do? We have Vidic, Rio, Ronaldo and Carrick to clear those SOBs. And we face Boro on Monday. A Boro that lost 5-0 to Chelski in North-east England. Then its Soton. We have got a marvellous chance to catch up with the rest. Villa is probably the team I fear most at the moment. Chelski havent won a game at Staford Bridge since…. well, I cant remember! And Liverpool drew to Hull, Arsenal and West Ham. Arsenal have lost Fabregas to injury, Adebayor for 3 games, they have a defense that are lecking goals(Even Robbie Keane scored against it!) and they have a midfielder that cries when he gets subbed off. I know the last one is the fans fault, but it shows the lack of confidence the Arsenal camp have. Do I fear any team? NO! Do I think we can win the next 6 games(Stoke, Boro, Soton, Derby, Chelski, Derby)? YES! Do I think we can win the CC, the Champions League, the FA cup and the Premier League? OF COURCE! Why not? We are the best team in the world, we have the best players and the best manager, and we have the best fans. If we can find our momentum, our playing way and our confidence, we can achieve everything! Has Manchester United ever done things the easy way, anyway? 
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:53
I know I sound very, very overconfident, but I am happy. Or drunk/drugged.
Whatever, its Christmas, its United time, its free from school. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY! Disagree with me all you want, but I wont change my mind about things. Things are looking up, and may I say, FINALLY! 
December 22nd, 2008 at 13:08
@Matthew: Inters team:
Julio Cruz
Maicon Materazzi Cordoba Maxwell
Zanetti Muntari Cambiasso
Quresma Ibrahimovic Mancini
I can see Rooney vs Materazzi.
“Oh yes, there will be blood!” Damn, that is gonna be feisty! The two mad-heads of football will meet, its just a quetion of who is gonna accept the most bashing. Hopefully Wayne will. Because if he does, I can see Materazzi getting an early red card.
Ronaldo vs Maicon. That is gonna be the clash of the game. Ronaldo is fast, so is Maicon. Ronaldo has lots of tricks, but so does Maicon. Ronaldo doesnt like to face opponets that lie on him the whole game, but Maicon is like that. Ronaldo is good in the air, very unlike Maicon. Ronaldo will have big trouble beating Maicon on the ground, bu in the air Ronaldo is God!
Anderson vs Cambiasso
Two fighters, two pass-masters, two south-americans and two midfielders with the same metality. Team over player! That is gonna be really interesting. I cant say who is gonna be best this game, or the stregths, because a lot can happen to these players in 2 months time. Only 2 months ago Anderson wasnt even on the bench, now he is our best preformer. He even got past Scholes and Fletch in the pecking order. On current form, Andy would win this battle. But if Andy gets dropped for a few games until February for no apparent reason, his form might dip and it will be hard to call. I wish Andy the best of luck…
Rio vs Zlatan.
Hard to call, but I think Rio will win this. Zlatan is a little like Ronaldo, he moves where he wants and comes up with moments of brilliance. But can Rio handle him? Time will tell
Well, well. The best CB in the world against the “best player in the world”, according to “The Special One”.
Evra vs Quaresma
Quary likes to cut inside to have a pop at goal. But he is also a great crosser. Ricardo Quaresma is fast, skillful and does things even Ronny cant do with the ball. I think that if both these players are on top for the games, Quary will beat Evra. It hurts to say, as I dont really like Quaresma anymore, but if he can do what I know he can, then Evra will look like a cheap hooker in a bar where there are only drunk men. But I pray to God that Quaresma wont be on top that day. He is very inconsistent, and its hard to call when he will preform or not. He can be brilliant for a game, then suddenly suck for the next.
December 22nd, 2008 at 13:10
@Matthew: Oh yeah, Brown. He might play that games. But I dunno. If its between Brown and Evans I would choose Wes. But this is Fergie, and eh has done wierd things with his team this season. We will see, but I am sure Wes will do a great job if he is put in.
December 22nd, 2008 at 14:40
Yy@RedDevilEddy: go back and watch the brazil thrashing of Portugal, one of the turning points is when Ronaldo switched sides away from maicon allowing him to run wild all over Portugal. My bet is that ronaldo will play on the left in front of evra, and park will be almost exclusively tracking maicon. I also doubt he will play raphael, he will opt for brown at rb then slot it evens for vidic.
December 22nd, 2008 at 14:54
@Grognard: I find it kinda funny that inter has 2 players in zlatan and quaresma, that I rate very highly. At the same time those are 2 players you have little time for. This is one instance in that I pray to god I am wrong about.
As for the racist thing, park is rubbish. The fact that he is Asian has nothing to do with it, I really don’t know why people Try and pull that card in their desperation to defend him.
December 22nd, 2008 at 15:25
Yeah…Park is when shite compared to the rest of the United squad, but he’d probably be a regular starter in most teams outside the top 4. Maybe he should stick to covering Mariah Carey singles….
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VpgKB9WvkUQ
December 22nd, 2008 at 15:29
@RedDevilEddy: Wasn’t Materazzi sent off last year in the first leg against the dippers at Anfield? I think he cost them the tie with that moment of madness…let’s hope for some more from the Italian loony this time around too!
December 22nd, 2008 at 15:34
I reckon that for the Inter tie…we will win 3-1 on aggregate. I can see us drawing 1-1 at the San Siro and finishing the job off 2-0 at Old Trafford…exactly as we did in the 1999 quarter-finals!
December 22nd, 2008 at 15:40
@RedDevilEddy: Since when did Julio Cruz decide become a goalkeeper??
Unless I’m missing something, I think you meant Julio Cesar lol….
December 22nd, 2008 at 15:52
RedDevilEddy, looking at that inter team i gotta say that there aint alot in that team that scares me. There arent too many players there that scream class in your face. I like cambiasso alot, ibra is excellent when he can be bothered and maicon too is an interesting player. Quaresma for me is no worry, nor is mancini. These 2 are just nothing special in my view. They have a few tricks but are extremely inconsistent and i dont see much else in them, just my opinion though. Inters midfield apart from cambiasso just looks average in my opinion and if they do play that midfield 3 then i can see us actually dominating their midfield and we dont do that to much teams. So for me i hope to see a united win and hopefully as long as we dont make any stupid tactics i can see us running out winners pretty comfortably.
December 22nd, 2008 at 15:54
@Nino: Yeah, probably.
Julio Cruz is the striker, right? Dont follow the Serie A, so just put up the names from the FIFA 09. So its Cesar?
December 22nd, 2008 at 16:01
@Matthew: Muntari played for Pompey last season, wasnt even their best player. Says something…
Zanetti is actually as RWB, but transformed into a CM because they need a leader in team. Cambiasso is great, one of the best midfielders in the game. But on current form, Andy can shut him up. Cambiasso doesnt seem to have any weakness, except for speed. That is where Andy and Carrick will rule him. He is gonna be their bitch. 
Ive seen Mancini play against us for Roma and he never impressed me. Zlatan is a good player, but will never be one of the best until he gets consistent. Tries too much, or too little and that makse him vunerable. Quaresma is incredible, but he is more tricks than footballplayer. He would be better off like a footy freestyler, not a footballer. Good crosser, but goes for glory too often. Depends on how his mentality before the game is for me to judge him. Materazzi is a doofus, will be blasted by Rooney. Got sent off at Anfield last season, always plays dirty… Hey, who else than me hopes that Ronaldo will have a good day at the office on his free-kicks that night? 
I think we can win that game. In Italy and in Manchester. I will tell you one thing. Except for Zlatan, Maicon and Cambiasso, every player in that team is overrated. Come on! Zanetti, Muntari, Mancini, Maxwell, Cordoba… Jesus Christ, whats next? Noseworthy?! 
December 22nd, 2008 at 16:14
@RedDevilEddy: Anderson has only started games against Aalborg, LDU Quito, Blackburn in the league cup, Villareal the last league game he started was Arsenal away on November the 8th. I can’t quite agree he g=has taken over from Fletcher and Scholes is being eased back.
December 22nd, 2008 at 16:18
Was going through an old interesting post on why we sold Becks and Ruud cheaply to Real.
http://redrants.com/why-becks-and-van-%E2%80%9Cthe-man%E2%80%9D-were-sold-so-cheaply-to-real/
the post has the below winners of Liga and PL.
2001 Real Madrid-United
2002 Valencia-Arsenal
2003 Real Madrid-United
2004 Valencia-Arsenal
2005 Barca-Chelski
2006 Barca-Chelski
2007 Real Madrid-United
After the post we have 2008 winners
2008 Real Madrid-United
Now with Real in the dumps 2009 is definitely not going to have Real as the winner. Barca seem the hot favourites. So going by the interesting stat, will it again be:
2009 Barca-Chekski
?
Going by the way we are playing, i would be inclined so say so. We just cannot score!!
i have always been skeptical about Berba and i think there was too much hype around him. dont think he just has it in him to be a cantona. and with we compromising on Tevez coz of berba we are also screwing up our backup plans simultaneously with our primary plan going awry. Ronnie is nowhere close to his last years form and to be honest we are really look weak. just not good enough to win the league or the CL. Inter is going to be a tough tough challenge in the CL. SAF really needs to dig deep and come out with some strong changes and some strong decisions for us to really have any chance of winning both the trophies again.
December 22nd, 2008 at 17:27
Does anyone actually rate Quaresma? He makes Ronaldo look like Roy Keane with regards to doing the basics, Zlatnose Ibrahimovic is a big time bottler in the Champions league, and is his own biggest fan.
I am looking forward to giving Mourinho a big welcome back to England overtated rent boy.
December 22nd, 2008 at 18:32
@UnitedUnited: I in fact made the point of this being a great opportunity for Johnny Evans a few posts ago. He is good enough that there is no need to panic. I panic much more when Gary Neville is playing over Rafael. By that time Wes Brown should be back too.
As for Park, It’s refreshing to hear somebody feels the very same way about the player as I do. Honestly, what the Hell Fergie sees in the boy is beyond me? I know lads who play for the Vancouver Whitecaps here at home who have more to offer than him.
The lad just isn’t good enough to be a United player. Why Fergie continues to perpetuate the lie and play this lad over even Nani and Giggs has me confused. If forced into a corner, I’d play Fletcher wide right before I started Park. As bad as Nani has been all you need from him is one moment of sheer class and you have a goal amongst all his dumb ass mistakes. As long as his dumb ass mistakes don’t cost us goals against, I’m willing to wait him out and hope he plays himself to form.
December 22nd, 2008 at 18:37
@Craig Mc: Yes he should be but what is done is done. Just three days ago everyone was praising him as a God and stellar defender of the decade. Now he is a bum who should be ashamed. Christ mate, he threw an elbow out of retaliation for a crude tackle and got caught. You know how many players do that in a game and never get caught? It’s common practice. And it was much more of a shove than a out and out elbow. Personally I would have given him a yellow and swift warning. Also, the last time we went to Milan we got thrashed because we weren’t good enough. If we lose again, it’s because we aren’t good enough, not because of Vidic. Evans is more than qualified to take over for a game. It’s a great opportunity to bloody him in a truly epic match.
December 22nd, 2008 at 18:39
@Stephen: Too true. The scumbag embellished it big time and like I said earlier, to me it looked like more of a shove than an elbow violently thrust at a player. Much ado about nothing I’m afraid.
December 22nd, 2008 at 18:42
@jos: I’m not forgetting Brown but I also realize that he will still not be fit enough to beat out Evans for that night. At least I don’t think so and really, Evans has earned that shot for the number of good performances he has delivered this year. But having Brown back will be a sense of relief because I don’t want to see Neville on the pitch again as long as I live. Both he and Park can take a long walk of a short pier for all I care.
December 22nd, 2008 at 18:44
@Stephen: Quaresma is not good enough for inter or any top side in Europe. I dunno why people have this false hope about him, and how they spend millions for him. Zlatan blows hot and cold too much. The only forward of theirs who will surely create problems for us is Julio Cruz.. just cuz he’s their only forward with brains.. and he’s a lucky s.o.b as well besides being a good target man.
@Godzilla: I’ve seen that before too.. weird huh!
December 22nd, 2008 at 18:47
@Grognard: Oh please don’t even say it.. i get nightmares thinking of what could be if Neville starts!!
December 22nd, 2008 at 18:49
@RedDevilEddy: Easy lad, all that sugar will put you into a diabetic coma. Just reading it made my blood sugar level rise a few points.
The eternal optimist. Good for you mate. You are a fine and much needed balance to the Prince of Fucking Darkness (me) and you should feel good about your club, even if it is all bollocks and mirrors. 
I’m a little more rooted in the reality of the moment. The part that tells me we could only hit the side of the barn 5/100 times from 4 feet away. That we are weak on the left side of midfield and have no proper backup for Ronaldo on the right. That our strikers strike rate is appallingly bad and that Fergie continues to play a style that lacks courage and ambition. Other than that I agree, we are definitely the best in the world. God love ya. 
December 22nd, 2008 at 18:53
@RedDevilEddy: The only matchup that concerns me is Rooney vs the Materazzi. I’m afraid that Materazzi’s dirty play will be condoned and eventually Rooney will snap and get sent off. Ibrahimovich will never be one on one against just Rio. He will have to contend with Evans in the first leg and Vidic in the second leg too. And Ibrahimovich always disappears in big games. That guy lacks testicular fortitude big time. I’ve never liked him and always thought that he was a fair weather player. Nothing this season has changed my mind on him.
December 22nd, 2008 at 18:58
@Johnsom33: Excellent point. Maicon must be stopped and that is one good thing about Park is he will stick to him like glue or a really annoying pest. What does that say about our attack down the right flank though? Non existent. This will make us very predictable offensively. Always going left will allow Inter to adapt and really cause Ronaldo problems when he has the ball. 0-0 at the San Siro. Talk about excitement. The game has really gone to the dogs with this over analytical cowardly style of play. I hate the Mourinho’s and Benitez’s who have brought such cynical tactics and boredom to the game over the past decade. Now Fergie has seen fit to follow suit. It’s sad really. I’ll be shocked if we see anything other than 0-0 or a 0-1 loss at Inter. It’s just in the cards.
December 22nd, 2008 at 19:00
@Craig Mc: Craig bro the elbow wasn’t as bad as the ref and the player(cum actor) made it out to be… it probably was a yellow card offense but no more.
If we have Wes fit for the Inter game, and Evans in good shape too.. we shall do fine at the back.
December 22nd, 2008 at 19:09
@Johnsom33: The poor fellow may have felt I was being racist because there are relatively few Asians playing in Europe. Why pick on them is probably what he was thinking. As for Quaresma and Zlatan, they both bore me with their inconsistency and i consider both players very soft. They are not big game players and when things get physical or tight, they disappear. Quaresma especially for me is woefully overrated. Ask yourself why no Spanish team had any interest in him over the past several seasons? Because they saw him as a floater and as a lazy player who doesn’t buckle down at crunch time. Not a terrible player and quite gifted at times, but nothing better than what we get from Nani in the department of enigmas and inconsistency. Ibrahimovich is a very skilled player but he doesn’t like it in the box when it gets physical or congested. If we had a DMF player that would constantly harass him and get in his face, I’d guarantee he would be invisible against us. Problem is we currently don’t have a player to fill that role. Just keep from getting caught on a counter and he won’t be a factor.
December 22nd, 2008 at 19:12
@Nino: If we see more than two total goals over the two legs of this drudge match I’ll be amazed. Mourinho will shut us down and they aren’t as good as they think and we should have no problem shutting them down. As I am being negative and fearful of the Special One as well as lacking confidence in our ability to finish, I am predicting 1-0 for Inter in Italy and 0-0 at OT. Inter moves on through boredom and negative tactics and Mourinho gets one over on the Boss yet again.
December 22nd, 2008 at 19:16
Despite my negative prediction and my somber feelings about our chances against Inter, it is important to note that this tie is almost three months away. A lot of things can happen to both clubs in that time. We could find great scoring form, injuries to both team or just one could decide it one way or the other. So forgive me fro even trying to predict something that is so far away. It’s not accurate to make predictions until the week of the games.
December 22nd, 2008 at 19:20
Please, let this be the one that skips moderation
…
Interesting week so far I must say.. We are The Champions x3!!!!
Don’t know why the media were a tad dismissive of this achievement or the Cup itself 
It’s not like English teams win it every year (Liverpool have tried how many times and failed everytime 
). Maybe it’s just cause they are all jealous ABU c*nts, but we all knew that, so no surprise there.. anyways, F*ck ‘em, we are CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!!! 
Now unto Stoke this friday… I actually thought it was a home game, but having found out it’s away, I’m conflicted as to what to expect from Stoke. Will it be the usual closed, aggressive, “brave”, 10-men-behind-the-ball rubbish OR will they be seething after the trashing we handed them at OT and come out attacking, looking for revenge and some good ‘ol pride? I’m inclined to say the former as that is just the way the British game is at the mo
No balls whatsoever, just cowardice and jealousy, same as the media and it’s audience. 
Hopefully the boys got all the encouragement and pride in playing and winning for United from the trip to Japan. I mean, the crowd, fans and reception were just awesome and you could see the players genuinely enjoying it, especially after they lifted the cup. Hopefully, this spurs us on to trash Stoke with some total football
I’ll be enjoying that on an overstuffed belly 
December 22nd, 2008 at 19:51
@Grognard: I cant agree more with you in case of Quaresma and Zlatan. They bring moments of brilliance but never saw them take over a game or season with their so called “skill”…
Against Inter, our biggest threat is going to be the Midfield..They are bit like Chelsea in midfield…strong and dominating..with Muntari,Cambiasso and Zanetti…they dont have that much creativity but they certainly have some hard tacklers and good in the air midfielders….They certainly are not going to allow Carrick/Scholes to dictate the game from the center of the park and we need to find alternative ways of attack…
one good way is to play Ronaldo and Rooney behind Berbatov and give them free roles up front..This will atleast take one guy from Inter’s midfield towards their backline and Carrick/Scholes can make use of the space to make the game…Another good one would be to leave Rooney-Tevez-Ronaldo to hussle around their defense which would provide that extra shield for our midfield..but that will be too attacking imo..
Mourinho is a master tactician and he always have something up his sleeve…He defintely plays negative football but to all our frustration he plays effective football..
Outscore them and outsmart them are the only ways United can walk over Inter…Fergie’s defensive tactics is not going to work…May be he can prove me wrong!!!
December 22nd, 2008 at 19:56
@Grognard: As for Park, i agree with you that he is not United first team class at all, even when he is on song…but as O’shea or Fletcher he is a good squad player to have..He doesnt make you dance for him but he certainly do the job required from him..,,I think Fergie values that…moreover after Nani’s performance in the semi final and Giggs “age” field in the contract he does not have much choice to make…does he?
And i think thats why we are trying to bring Tosic in to play as a true left winger…We dont need a wizard on the left wing…Tosic fits the bill coz i heard he can make good crosses and is a deadball specialist…May be thats what Berbatov needs behind him to start clicking for United
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:04
@Grognard: Will Materazzi start mate ahead Chivu and Sammuel?
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:07
@Stephen: I would think he would just to get into the heads of Rooney, Ronaldo and Berba. But that is a good question nevertheless.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:09
Also Inter are very overated Muntari probably has been their best player this season although I have always been a fan of Stankovic.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:09
Have any of you caught the last “I’m on Setanta Sports”? It was classic. Fergie gave Rooney the boot and toaster treatment for breaking curfew. Too funny. And as the Special One would say, “Let slip the dogs of Champions”.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:13
@Stephen: Yes Inter are overrated but then again so were Chelsea under Mourinho. He gets the very best out of a very average or under performing lot. He is a master tactician and man manager. He knows what buttons to push and when to make a key tactical switch or player change. Unlike Fergie who will take off a good player to bring in Giggs and Fletcher. His substitutions are so predictable and yet still so shocking. How does he manage to do that? I mean you know he will make a really stupid substitution and yet we still find it hard to understand it.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:18
@Grognard: I think Chelsea were better than average matey but I get your point.
Fergie’s subs are very predictable and somewhat bizarre, but Fergie gets more out of players than Mourinho, the Portuguese twat gives players great belief Fergie is more of a motivator in my view gets the most of of players, Jose just gives players conidence it could be said over confidence.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:20
We can’t underestimate Inter. They are a good team. Quaresma and Manchini are not in form, but they have other great players. I do think that the biggest threat is the freaking “special one”. His record against SAF is one of the best. In any way, that game is long way out and we should concentrate on our current opponents. We need to take care of Stock and then Boro and we can’t afford loosing more points.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:23
Mourinho was lucky to beat us when he was in charge of Porto and Chelsea had to a degree unlimited funds, remember the last season he was in England we won the league.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:25
@Grognard: Yes grog, the most perplexing part of our game is Fergie’s substitutions. I used to be very good at predicting his subs, but now, its almost like rolling a dice.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:29
@Stephen: Fergie learnt the hard way that winning or qualifying after two legs in the champions league, you have to be absolutely frugal in the away tie. Honestly, i think if Fergie gets it right tactically, we will win in san siro 1-2.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:32
@WhiteY: I think we will win, we are not playing the Mourinho ego, we are playing Inter Milan the team and player for player we are a better side no doubt.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:34
@Stephen: That over confidence ruled the Prem for two years and a total of three losses. I think he lost a total of 8 games in a little more than three seasons as manager. And truthfully, the only players on that team that I would take over their counterparts on our team is Ballack, Lampard and Cole. I wouldn’t select Terry or Carvalho and certainly not Alex over Vidic and Rio. Bosingwa may be better than Neville and possibly Brown but I would seriously take the youth and potential of Rafael over him. Evra over A Hole OOPS! I mean Ashley Cole, Ronaldo over everybody and Rooney, Tevez and Berba over Anelka, Kalou and Drogba. Mikel is ok but I would select either Hargo or Carrick over him too. Joe Cole, Ballack and Lampard are the reason they do what they do.
Even though we have not been in great goal scoring form, we have far better and more explosive players. And our defense is sublime. And right now I don’t think there is that much of a difference between EVDS or Cech. Two years it was Cech hands down but he has become much more human since his head injury. And Cech couldn’t stop a penalty if his life depended on it. Unless of course Ronaldo takes it.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:35
@WhiteY: The one thing you can predict about Fergie’s substitutions today is their unpredictability and their lack of logic. Also, lets face it, we don’t have the quality in depth that we used to have because three of our players are very old and Park and Nani are useless.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:37
@Grognard: Essien over Fletcher
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:40
@Stephen: I Think the Gaffer should choke the midfield in san siro. I’m sure Grognard would kill me, but i would go for Park on the right, Fletch and Carrick in the middle, Berba and Rooney up front, Ronaldo on the left. Tevez and Andy coming on later in the game.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:40
@WhiteY: Anything is possible as we all know but if there is more than one goal scored at the San Siro I will be totally god smacked. I just don’t see it happening based on the two teams and their style of play. But then again who expected Liverpool and AC Milan to go 3-3 in the final a few years back. That is the great thing about football, it’s unpredictability. To be honest, the games are two months away and a lot can happen between now and then. The team that will win will be the one that avoids key injuries and suspensions. We’re already down one with Vidic missing for the first tie at least.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:41
Mourinho plays turgid anti football, I know people will say that we havn’e exactly played wonderful attacking football this season but my belief that it will come again, once Berba fully finds his feet and Ronaldo finds his form again.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:42
@Grognard: Nani is much like Fergie’s subs, totally clueless at times. Sometimes i want to have faith in the boy like Craig Mc does, but even the lad has no faith in himself
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:42
@WhiteY: I would play 4-4-3 Scholes, Andy and Carrick in the centre with Berba through the middle flanked by Ronnie and Wazza.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:47
@Grognard: Vidic missing will be a big BIG issue. I have too much hope for Johnny but lets face it, Vidic has the experience and concentration needed for such ties. Any lapse in concentration even for a second can decide the tie. But since Vidic is definitely out, i just hope Brown gets to fitness real quick.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:48
@WhiteY: Thats why we must pack the midfield, give the defenders cover.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:49
@Grognard: The only players I’d take at United are Lampard and Essien full stop. I dont know, but most times i feel lucky the Ballack thing fell through.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:52
@Stephen: Playing Scholes would not be a bad idea especially if he picks up form. But playing Scholes and Anderson at the same time will leave too much of the defensive burden on Carrick. If i were to play a three pronged midfield, i would go for Fletch, Carrick, Scholes( Anderson), with Rooney on the Right(fuck all that “hole” crap). Anderson and Tevez will make definite impacts as subs near the end of the game.
December 22nd, 2008 at 20:56
@WhiteY: Scholesy plays very deep these daysmate, Carrick screens and gets the ball to the Ginger price to open up the Inter defense, with Andy doing the leg work.
December 22nd, 2008 at 21:01
@Stephen: Picture this,Scholes makes a wild tackle all in the name of playing deep and wahla, a beautifully glowing red card follows. Verdict, end of tie because then Mourinho will show why he is so good.
December 22nd, 2008 at 21:05
@WhiteY: But he plays deep now mate, he doesn’t get into the box as much and playing Scholes you always run that risk, but you also get his quality which Fletch doesn’t have.
In my view Scholes is worth the risk, he tackling has and is poor, but he can dictate the game in the San Siro which is what we need.
December 22nd, 2008 at 21:12
@Stephen: The best formation in my opinion would be 4-3-3..
VDS
Brown-Evans-Rio-Evra
Carrick-Fletcher-Scholes
Ronaldo-Berbatov-Rooney
In case we need to be more attacking we can bring Anderson,Tevez and Nani in place of Fletcher,Brown and Scholes or if we need to be defensive, switch Berbatov for Park and O’Shea/Anderson/Gibson in for Scholes..
December 22nd, 2008 at 21:14
@Shyam: Pretty similar to my team mate, I think against an Italian side especially one managed by the negative tactics of Mourinho we need plenty of bodies in the centre of midfield.
December 22nd, 2008 at 21:42
@Stephen: This one also wont be bad…coz i think a route 1 approach is not going to work against a defense which have Materazzi/Samuel..
VDS
Brown-Evans-Rio-Evra
Carrick-Fletcher-Scholes
Ronaldo-Rooney-Tevez
Cuts the route 1 out which means players should look to open up the game with their tricks and flicks…Berbatov fits in this tactics too but he is a touch slow for the situation esp counter attacks…Ronaldo-Rooney-Tevez combo are hopeless finishers (Ronaldo??..but surely he will be overmarked and outmuscled) but they certainly are clever players and creates atleast 10-12 decent chances in a game and we cross our fingers and hope one goes in…
December 22nd, 2008 at 21:44
@Grognard: Hi-hi.
I dunno about the sugar rush, more of a happy hangover from last night. I luv Christmas! Together with my family and girlfriend, doing stuff I like and watching 6 United games while there is no school is just wonderful! Can it be better?! 
Im very positive at the moment and I really am optimistic about our chances. Come on, you cant possibly think that we have no chance of winning the league? You know me, I will always think things ar egoing upwards. Especially when things really do, then it is hard to get me down to earth again.
December 22nd, 2008 at 21:44
@Shyam: I agree but Berba will start and maybe he will hold the ball up better. Materazzi probably won’t start as their best defender is Cordoba, or in my view Chivu.
Ps good to see Terry sent off!!
December 22nd, 2008 at 21:50
@Shyam: Ronaldo outmuscled by Inter?
A fucking retard that gets sent off for nothing, a short south american version of Park, and left back called Maxwell, who should play as a left winger becuase he has no idea about what defending is? Maicon is the only player I can see threaten Ronaldo on the ground. Materazzi will probably get sent off for something stupid, like hacking Ronaldo from behind after a stepover(hoepfully he doesnt break his leg… 
), when Rooney si about to shoot or just for touching Ronaldo a little too much. And yeah, I think Marco Materazzi is gay. He is a little too consentrated on making men fall when close to him and touch them with his monster strenght. 
December 22nd, 2008 at 21:57
Okey, who else didnt enjoy that?! John “Baby Tears” Terry got sent off. Suits you right. He will now miss the United game. Unless the red card also is for FA Cup games.
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:14
unfortunately it is, but I’m sure it’ll get reduced to 1 match on appeal, even if he had cut the guys head off with a hacksaw..
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:18
@Stephen: You know as bad as our football has been this year, if we just put away 15% more of our chances we would be looking fantastic. It’s our poor finishing rate that has our overall system of play come more into question.
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:18
@WhiteY: No argument there.
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:21
@Stephen: The problem with a 4-3-3 with those midfielders is that we would be very slow in the midfield. Anderson is our fastest guys but Carrick is a lead foot and Scholes has lost more than a step. We need a Hargo in there instead of Scholes and that would be a good setup. So we’ll have to wait until next year.
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:25
@RedDevilEddy: I meant “Who else enjoyed that?”, not who didnt enjoy that. I luved it!
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:25
@WhiteY: WOA! Thems fighting words.
Ballack is my favorite player so I will defend him. Truth is he is a fantastic player but even though he has been good at Chelsea when healthy, he has always been played out of position except for that period when Lampard was out with injury. And if you remember then, he literally carried the team on his shoulder. I love his presence in the box and his vision. I also think he is dynamite on free kicks and automatic on penalties. We would have been fantastic with him scheming in the middle. I think it’s a shame he was so stupid to sign for Chelsea. I hat the fact he plays for them with a passion. But then all is forgiven when he puts on the Germany kit. He would have looked great Manchester red though.
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:31
@RedDevilEddy: Of course we have a chance of winning the league. As poorly as we have played, Chelsea and Liverpool haven’t exactly looked unbeatable themselves. In fact the EPL this season has looked very mediocre for sure. We need to make up those two games we are behind and we need to win those. And depending on what Chelski do tonight, we will either be 1 or 2 points behind. When that happens, all I can say is GAME ON. Until then, we cannot afford to meaninglessly give away points to minnows. Stay within three of the leaders and let our home games against all the leaders decide this championship. We just need to stay healthy. Nobody is going to convince me that those other teams are better than us, even if we have royally sucked so far this season.
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:33
@RedDevilEddy: How will he miss the United game? We don’t play them for a while from what I know. And a red card in the EPL does not count in the FA Cup. Two separate competitions…as far as I know.
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:34
@Traverse: Yes there are rules and there are rules for Chelski. We are living in very unfair times.
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:38
@Grognard: And judging by Alex’s double stamp that just went unpunished, Roman’s cheque book is going to be doing some work over at the FA video evidence department…
December 22nd, 2008 at 22:49
did you see that
lucky fucks
December 22nd, 2008 at 23:05
0-0 Chelsea! That means we are now eight points behind Pool, seven points behind Chelsea with two games in hand and home fixtures against both teams to look forward to. Like Grognard said we’ve been poor so far this season but so have Chelsea, and Liverpool’s luck won’t last.
Liverpool will slip up in the second half of the season but I believe Chelsea will raise their game. The question is whether we’ll be able to raise our game and start scoring goals especially away from home? Will Rooney playing as a number 9 find the consistencey he has lacked or will we get another goal drought followed by a flurry of goals and so on? Will Ronaldo raise his game to the level he achieved last season and put himself in contention for another Ballon D’Or? Will Anderson live up to the promise he has shown in recent games? Will Nani find his way? Will Berbatov score some goals to add to his already impressive assists total?
One thing is for sure I cannot wait for the second half of the season!
December 22nd, 2008 at 23:14
@RedDevilEddy: It depends on which Rio turns up, and this season we never know which
@Craig Mc: But consider the back-up we had against AC Milan to the back- up we have now. I’d have loved to see Brown at CB cus he handles it well, but no Hargo sadly and I’m not sure if Rafael can handle it.
@Grognard:I’d have to disagree, IIRC I think the FA Cup is the oldest living competition in footballing history so i think its carries a little prestige at least imo.
December 22nd, 2008 at 23:16
On the League, has it become harder or has the big 4 just gotten crappier? None of the big teams can seem to buy consistency if their lives depended on it.
December 23rd, 2008 at 0:24
@Grognard: Our next 3 PL games: Stoke, Boro, Chelski. We have a CC games between Soton and Chelski, but Stalins Bitches aint in that competition anymore.
December 23rd, 2008 at 0:28
@Rd: The top four have all been below par with the exception of maybe Liverpool, and even they look like they are playing at full throttle just to stay there, whereas Chelsea and particulary ourselves look like they have another gear or two to find and although our performances have been far from vintage this season, I honestly believe that we are the ones who are the closest to finding those gears coz in most games were we have dropped points, it has been our finishing that let us down, so now that we have gotten Japan out of the way, we have an opportunity to get our Title challenge into full swing, coz in my opinion if we can go on a good winning streak Liverpool will crack under the pressure and Chelsea look thier best days are behind them.
December 23rd, 2008 at 0:32
@colver: Actually, we have 32 points now with 16 games played. Chelski have 38 in 18 and Liverpool 39 in 18. We wil be equal on points with Chelski if we win both those games, and only point behind Liverpool. But we cannot say for sure that we will win those games, and we might even be many points ahead of Chelski when we have played against Fulham and Wigan. We may also be many points behind.
Many questinos will be needed to be answered in this second half of the season, and I hope most of them will be positive. Hopefully Rooney can prove a dealdy finisher(for once). Hopefully Ronaldo will play up to his usual standard now that we face more medicore teams. Hopefully Anderson will get more games so he can prove what a brilliant midfielder he is on a consistent basis. And hopefully Berba will score more goals. BTW, Wayne is our top scorer with 10 goals now. Nani will have to improve his game, or maybe Tosic will prove a brilliant signing. Time will tell, but I have this feeling that United will have the best year in the clubs history in 2009. Maybe its just because I am a United-supporter by heart and soul, but I am confident this team will achieve lots and lots of things in the near future.
UNITED!!!
December 23rd, 2008 at 0:39
@WhiteY: Fergie get it right tactically – lets hope so mate,
, would be sheer miracle indeed, the way things have gone so far this season. If however we have the same luck as we had against Barca away last season, our defence playing as magnificently – we could get the 0-0. Yet with Imbrahimovich, and Chelsea’s ex nutter striker too, in such good form – mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 
.
December 23rd, 2008 at 0:51
@Rahul: But it shouldn’t have happened Rahul mate – it was totally unnecessary. Vidic needs to engage his brain, and so do most of our reactionist players. You know who they are, without me telling you all
.
December 23rd, 2008 at 0:55
Well, Ive gone through some stats about this season for Untied. Check this out:
And to say that he hasnt gotten so many games, well he has played 25 games, scoring 7 goals.
Most apparances: Carlos Tevez!
Most goals: Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are joint top scorers on 10 goals each. Ronaldo has 8 in the league, 1 in the Carling Cup and 1 in the FIFA Club World Cup. Whereas Wayne has 4 goals in the League, 3 in the Champions League and 3 in Japan. Ronny has played 21 games, Rooney 23
Most assists: In all competitions, Giggs lead with 8 assists. Joint second place are Ronaldo and Berbatov with 6 assists, Rooney comes 4th with 5, then Anderson and Tevez are and joint 5th place with 3 each.
December 23rd, 2008 at 0:59
Okay – without a doubt, going on past head scratching decisions of teams put out by Fergie, here is the team we will field to play Inter away
.
Thomas
Rafael Evans O’Shea Evra
Gibson Giggsy Scholesy
Park Berbatov Nani
Bench – who the feck knows
.
No I don’t think I am joking, and I am NOT drunk. Wouldn’t surprise me that’s all. Yeah, well maybe PIGS MIGHT FLY
.
Sorry Sir Fergie, I still love ya
.
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:30
@RedDevilEddy: If Ronaldo gets 20 for the season it’ll be good considering what a shit season he’s having (by his standards). We really really could have done with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Not saying Berbatov was a bad buy…but the Bulgarian is not exactly prolific either.
I have a feeling that we will turn it up a notch after New Year’s though and really get into our stride in the 2nd half of the season, as the first half has been pretty much stop-start in terms of form. I’m with you RedDevilEddy on this one mate…I really think the Premier League trophy won’t be leaving the OT cabinet this season!
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:39
What i find really funny and strange is that even though we are playing far shitter than we did last season, we are actually in an even better position than we were this time last year. We are still in contention for all four major trophies, and have only suffered two losses in all competitions (barring the UEFA Super Cup), and both of those to fellow Big 4 teams (compared to this time last year, when we were losing to the likes of Shitty, Bolton and West Ham). We are effectively a point behind the leaders (taking the two games in hand into account) compared to last December, when we were five or six points behind Arsenal. I think this shows how far we’ve come as a team…that we can play this shit and still be in such a wicked position….as opposed to how backwards we’ve gone as many fellow commenters have been saying. So God help our rivals when we finally do hit some kind of form resembling our best!
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:51
Does anybody know of any decent Inter Milan blogs written in English? I’d be really interested to read their take on the CL draw and how they view us and whether they are as fearful of us as we are of them……
December 23rd, 2008 at 7:32
@Craig Mc: Honestly Bro, you are getting on Vidic far too much. He doesn’t have a history of being out of control and his reaction wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be. On the other hand you supported Nani at the end of last season when he truly pulled a boner of retaliation. Not fair mate.
December 23rd, 2008 at 7:35
@Nino: This is all because the quality of the Premier League has fallen badly this season. The top four teams are not as good as last year and the rest of the league is just total shite. We have played terribly and are still in the thick of things because none of the teams in front of us have the killer instinct or quality to take advantage of our mistakes and increase their point lead. Total losers.
December 23rd, 2008 at 7:49
@Grognard: Or grog you could as well say that rest of the PL has picked up compared to last year. The likes of Hull and Stoke have given hopes to all clubs that big 4 can be beaten. Aston Villa are playing great, Hull have been pretty good and same can be said for few more sides. big 4 are dropping points every here and there. what else do you need???
Its becoming the most exciting season ever!
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:42
@Grognard: i think thats pretty unfair grognard, their are good teams in the league and despite what you may think, there are teams that are good outside the “top4″ just look at arsenal(
), Hull, newcastle are showing good form and so are fulham.
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:54
@Grognard: and which league is better mate?
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:03
@weezy: the bundesliga
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:06
@dan(u-ol): Good point also Villa are strong, with the top four qualifying for the next stage of the champions league with Spurs, Citeh and Villa all through to the next stage of the UEFFA cup it seems the entire league is just more competative,
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:07
@dan(u-ol): Ha ha no chance!!
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:50
Says it all: http://therepublikofmancunia.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/ronaldofifa.gif
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:13
@RedDevilEddy:
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:55
Nino comment 117, well i have family in italy who are actually inter fans and i dont know any inter blogs but from what my cousin who lives over there says that the view of the inter fans is that we were the main team who they wanted to avoid even over barca. Italian teams dont like playing english teams apparently as the english teams have changed their style so much over the last few years that they dont know how the hell we are gonna play against them. My cousin said that they would fancy their chances alot more against barca than us because they feel they can work out a spanish teams system more easily and can then stop them playing their game. As i said this is just my cousin speaking but he did say that there was alot of disappointed groans from the inter fans when the draw was announced as they really didnt want to get us. Make of that what you will.
December 23rd, 2008 at 13:09
@Matthew: Honestly, who wants to face us? We are the best team in the world, not only in Manchester, England or Europe, but THE WORLD! We rule every team when we are on song, and there is always gonna be some teams that are gonna be on the recieving end of it. My Grandpa, who is a huge Inter fan, says he thinks United will go through. He doesnt see how Inter can win against us, and most Inter fans have problems picturing how thery are gonna score against a team so compact and great defensivly. And, who are deadly on the counter. They cant attack with too many players, as Rooney, Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson all know how to turn the picture of a game in the matter of a moment, and they cant attack too few as we will kill them! Difficult facing us, ey?
December 23rd, 2008 at 13:22
I just wish Hargreaves was fit for the Inter game, Carrick, Scholes and Hargreaves in the centre would be far too strong for the Italians, not that there are too many Italians playing for them.
December 23rd, 2008 at 13:27
@Craig Mc: I got what u were saying bro.. it was surely avoidable. And i struggle to recall who the ‘reactionist’ player you allude to might be..
!!
December 23rd, 2008 at 13:31
@Stephen: We have no Italians (in the first team).. but if Fergie has his way.. we’ll be more Italian than any existing Italian team! Just like he game against Barcelona.
It is a good thing as well as a bad thing!
December 23rd, 2008 at 13:39
@Rahul: We not that bad!!
December 23rd, 2008 at 14:54
@Rahul: We play the best and attacking football in this country, bar non and that includes Arsenal.
The main task Fergies embarks on is to the win the game/tie. If we went to the Nou Camp and opened up and played expansive football we could have gone back to Manchester with our tales between our legs and three goals down. Against open sides away you have to be compact, hard to beat and take advantage of the home leg, it is simple.
You either want to win and play decent football, or you want to play naive football and loose, like Arsenal. Peronally I think we have the balance superbly, Ok it has not clicked this season yet but it will, and 2009 should be another trophy laden season.
There are people who want Mourinho as the next United manager, if that does happen then we will see some win at all costs, turgid football which we certainly are not about. United do win but at least try to win with some style, maybe not over two legs because it is important to get there, but we do get fans out of their seats.
December 23rd, 2008 at 16:01
How to make united play attacking football again:
*start rafael
*by a quality winger
*start anderson
*in with the old, out with the new, please fergie, bring back CQ
the first 3 stars are in process(rudolph has said neville and brown face a tough time with rafael here, tosic and adem, anderson is starting more)
CQ will be out of a job soon(have you seen Portugal lately!), and there is only one place in the world he would want come to!
December 23rd, 2008 at 16:09
@Stephen: Excellent point Stephen. We are an attacking side but there are games in the season where we require to be compact and disciplined which would look like a boring Italian side. But its all about tactics…Barca,Liverpool away last season are good examples of that..
It is a sign of good side…adapting our game depending upon the opponents. Against Inter we are in a dilemma because they are a rigid,hard to score against and disciplined team..So at San Siro do we attack or do we play neutral considering the second leg is at Old Trafford. I think we need to go there with the same mentality as we did against Roma, may be a much more defensive than that…We should rely on our counter attacks to be productive and hopefully walk away with an away win..
In Old trafford, there is no doubt we have to attack,outscore and impose ourselves on Inter or they are a capable team to punish us with some costly away goal and 10-man defense formations!!
December 23rd, 2008 at 16:31
@Grognard: Disagree there mate. I think the standard of the Premier League has improved. Teams like Aston Villa and Everton were mid-table nobodies a few years back but are now consistently challenging the Big4 on a regular basis. Traditional cannon fodder teams such as Hull, West Ham, Fulham, Stoke, Sunderland et al are no longer the pushovers they used to be. Of course, the common factor is that they all play shit-on-a-stick football to achieve this, but you can’t really blame them with the resources they have at their disposal can you?
The Big4, with the exception of Liverpool, may not be playing as well as last year but they are certainly not weaker outfits this season. Only Arsenal you could say have gone backwards due to the midfield firesale of Hleb, Flamini, Gilberto etc. One thing you have to admit is that the Premier League is far more exciting this year than in probably any season in it’s history! Soo many upsets and the general unpredictability of results this year means a far more open and competitive playing field. The title is up for grabs by no less than five teams (well, realistically three…) and IIRC, at one point this season there was only six points separating the 5th placed team from the bottom team.
December 23rd, 2008 at 16:42
@Stephen: I agree with you mate. I recall having this debate with Grognard and a few other commenters a week or two ago, who were all clamouring for open, expansive attacking football against the big teams in Europe, and I remember saying exactly what you just said. Like you said, you can’t just go to the Nou Camp and play gung-ho as the most likely outcome would be the home team picking us off on the counter at will and killing the tie right there. To do something like that just smacks of tactical naivety. I am not proud of the ultra-defensive approach we adopted in Camp Nou, which I though was a step too far, but the team had to be compact and play a bit deeper than usual in a game like that.
December 23rd, 2008 at 16:54
a big deal was made of wayne rooney stamping on that aalborg player. despite the ‘victim’ saying that the media overhyped rooneys stamp, everybody continued to kick a big fuss about it. but now that terry was sent off for a terrible redcard challenge, for the second in my recent memory, he will probably have it rescinded. but how about this from alex.
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/alexstampcahill.jpg
December 23rd, 2008 at 19:10
@Rahul: Rahul Bro – reactionist players – try Rooney, Ronnie, Nani, for starters
. It is a disease that seems to be spreading, and needs to be stamped out. Also Tev was dishing it out for a while there beginning of season. And now Nemanjah, reactionist against dirty bastard Drogba and Terry in CL final 
. Grog mate – Vid is catching the disease slowly you know – 
.
December 23rd, 2008 at 19:14
@Nino: Yes the standard has inproved thanks to the recent trend on one man ownership of clubs. Plus, i think the scouting network is relatively better nowadays. Clubs can get good players from Brazil even Ecuador just to improve their league standings.
December 23rd, 2008 at 19:28
@jos: No, I don’t buy that argument I’m afraid. Every year teams will get worse and others will improve. The point is the quality of overall play and the entertainment dollar being offered had been very poor. So many 0-0 or 1-0 games and top teams lacking courage and ambition when they play each other. It’s been boring and disgusting. And then you have teams like Man Shitty and Tottenham who have gone completely south when both should have been in the top 6 or 7. The league is total rubbish and if we can’t win this year, then we are too.
December 23rd, 2008 at 19:43
@dan(u-ol): They are all rubbish because they play a rubbish style of football that has zero ambition, courage or entertainment value in it. All that concerns half of the teams is to stay up in the Prema nd the other half are only concerned about getting a spot in Europe. The whole motivational value of the league is driven by the extra money for making these goals possible. Hull City and Fulham are all crap but they are not as crappy as West Brom, and Man Shitty. Arsenal are a joke as are Liverpool and Chelsea because none of them have any killer instinct and I must say we have been disappointing too although, I have never felt we lacked killer instinct. I have always blamed our technical style and use of players for our own ineptitude at times.
Listen mate, it’s all about personal taste and tolerance. If there are many who still feel that the EPL delivers an interesting fast, exciting product, then all the power to them. I however will consider myself a footballing elitist and a snob by saying I have seen much much better and what I am seeing right now is total rubbish and a ripoff to millions of paying fans who are starving for entertainment and goals. If one tolerates getting ripped off, then ripped off is what they’ll get. I am so fed up with the EPL that I only watch Man Utd games. I refuse to sit through any other games involving the other 19 head cases in the league. They all play as if AV Grant was managing them. BORING!
December 23rd, 2008 at 19:55
@weezy: In terms of entertainment and clubs playing the game with a proper attitude I would say that The German Bundesliga rules supreme. The Dutch League likes goals too. Spain is not bad. I am not a big fan of Spain but they entertain you most of the time. Just this week the two leaders played and it was a very exciting game. Fast paced and back and forth with conviction. Very rarely do you see a game like that involving two teams from the top four. There is the odd exception but good games are far more common than bad games in Germany, Holland and Spain because the poor teams don’t always play like the poor teams do in England. There is no setting ten men behind the ball and Sunderlanding it. And the top teams love to score goals. Barca, Real, Valencia, Atletico all love to score goals. Only Villarreal plays a cautious game.
In Germany and Holland the quality of the players may not be as high as Spain and Italy and not as good as 6 or 7 clubs in England but the style of play, ambition, pace and general adventure of the teams is second to none. I have watched thousands and thousands of games in my life and I have to really struggle to think back to find a better game than the Bayern Munich vs Hoffenheim clash two weeks ago. The two league leaders letting it all hang out and yet, still managing to be physical and prevent the game from being a shootout. It ended 2-1 for Bayern but the game was as good as any game I have seen in the EPL since 1999. In fact the only club game I would rank with it in the past ten years was the famous FA Cup semi-final of 1999 when Giggs scored his historic goal. Trust me, it was that good. Now if only they would play like that in England and Italy. Two countries loaded with great world players yet restricted and hampered by managers and organizations that play and tolerate cowardice and conservatism in the game. It’s a shame and i for one am sick of it. You certainly don’t have to agree with me and you can love it until the Sun turns green, but I for one am really fed up wasting hours watching mud dry. If not for United, I wouldn’t waste a minute on the EPL.
PS Another league that has adventure and ambition but where the quality of play is lower is Argentina. Not as many goals as I would like but teams don’t hold back on each other either and home fiekd advantage is not as big a deal.
December 23rd, 2008 at 20:03
@Stephen: All of you are judging who is good and who is not by points. It’s not about points, it’s about entertainment value and how exciting the games are and how much offensive emphasis is put into a game by both teams. Villa is a good team but that doesn’t mean they are overly ambitious in the way they play. In fact despite all their starting talent and speed, they play rather conservatively. Hell, against United they played like they were a road team at home. Caution over everything. It’s just wrong and in this ever increasingly bad economic state in which the world is collapsing into, trust me, football will eventually feel the hit big time. Too much money, greed and wealth being shared and not enough respect and concern for the poor blokes who have to park their butts in the stands or sit in front of their tv’s paying for a pay per view deluge of boredom and theatrical gamesmanship. It’s eventually going turn off more and more people with an IQ because economics is going to force many to choose between having season tickets at the Stadium of Light or do they save for a rainy day. Keep boring people and offering a product that shows no respect to the paying customer, and that will happen. Already attendance in NFL games, NHL and NBA games is drastically down due to the economic downturn. Football is going to get zapped big time. Just look at how empty the stands are at Blackburn or Boro games. I never saw that even last year.
December 23rd, 2008 at 20:07
@RedDevilEddy: We just finished playing relative minnows compared to who we usually play and I seriously doubt that we killed them. Killing an opponent is beating him 4-0 5-0 6-0 or better. Beating teams 1-0 or tying with them 0-0 is hardly showing the dominance you seem to think we have mate. Are you watching our team in another dimension?
We are good and get better but we’re not as awesome as you make us out to be. Now Barcelona based on their form this year is closer to the team you are describing. 
December 23rd, 2008 at 20:09
@Stephen: He’s preparing for his next operation on his other knee. Questionable whether he will be ready for the start of next season yet alone the Inter game. It’s nice to fantasize though. He is certainly missed.
December 23rd, 2008 at 20:11
@dan(u-ol): You mean in with the new and out with the old, don’t you?
December 23rd, 2008 at 20:21
@Nino: They may be better but they are not making the league better. What makes the league better is the style of play used by the majority and especially the style of play being exhibited byt the top 4 and the bottom 4. It’s about ambition and entertainment. Results will happen, teams will win lose or draw and who wins and who loses is not important. What is important is that when you sign dozens and dozens of wolrd stars and bring them into a league to entertain the British crowd, it’s important that teams allow these players the ability to play without tolerating constant fouling of stars and then allowing many to get away with their dives and theatrics. Consistent refereeing would be nice but more ambition towards attack by minnows in the league would force the better teams to also step up their offensive game instead of allowing so many games to become battles of attrition and trench warfare. If you honestly feel the English game has no flaws and that you are supremely entertained, nothing I say will change your mind. But I for one have neither the time nor the patience to put up with such garbage. It’s watch United for me and then switch over and watch the Bundesliga, a little bit of La Liga, the Erie Divisie and then the Argentine league. I want nothing to do with Serie A (the Anti-Christ of football) and the rest of the EPL.
Yesterday my friend asked me who he thought would win the Everton vs Chelsea game. I said to them that both teams badly needed the game so I predicted 0-0 jokingly. Well look what happened, 0-0. Prediction correct. And it’s easier to predict a game when you know what both teams are going to serve up. I was also correct on Arsenal vs Liverpool. At least I give Wenger credit for trying to entertain the masses despite the fact his team is lacking a lot in certain areas and in experience. If all managers had Wengers attitude the stands would be full and pay tv would be going through the roof. He at least believes in entertainment. Too bad I hate Arsenal.
The EPL is becoming more and more like the French League.
December 23rd, 2008 at 20:32
@Nino: I’m not advocating going into the Nou Camp and playing gung ho football. I realize that a tie like that is played differently. But that in a nutshell is what’s wrong with the game. That you need to go there with that kind of a chicken shit mentality to get the proper result. Lack of ambition and attacking flair as well as sheer attacking arrogance has left the game completely. We are living in ultra cautious times and it is reflected in our football. My biggest concern is not the Champions League and the crap they serve up. The politics, national pride, money and prestige that is up for stake in that tournament makes it almost impossible for teams to show ambition and throw caution to the wind. But there is no excuse in a domestic league. The EPl needs to change the way they do business. Punish teams for 0-0 draws, add points for goals scored and alter the promotion and demotion rule to take that unnecessary pressure of lower teams as it is no way to build a team through time and patience. Too much is expected from a recently promoted team and not enough time and patience is given promoted teams to settle. Before you know it they are back down and this fact alone causes them to play with fear and no ambition. Ten men behind the ball because one point means more than risking all to win the game. Now if you all cannot see how wrong that is, I have nothing more to say. The game is about scoring more goals than your opponent, not who allows the fewest goals. The both mean the same thing but the attitude is completely different. And in there lyes the problem.
December 23rd, 2008 at 20:33
@RedAllTheWay: He’ll have it rescinded simply because he is John Terry and a Chelsea player and the FA is in Abramovich’s back pocket. They are a disgrace.
December 23rd, 2008 at 21:07
8 posts in a row groggy, bored much?
well on holiday over here in sweden i just watched a old match and i must say they attack from the get go, now wonder why larsson and ibrahimovic (who i feel is not that great) are good attackers, it seems like how the league plays is how the players develop, and the english will never develop players as long as they incorperate a 10 behind the ball mentality, look at the french league, brasilian league, attack is a must, and its how the game should be played, joga bonito
December 23rd, 2008 at 21:27
@Mr.Muhozi: I like to respond to everyone separately. Also, the blog is so dead that I can be writing posts for an hour and there won’t be anyone else who does the same in that time, thus eight in a row. This blog has really died off badly in the past month. Partly due to RR’s vacation and partly due to the fact that the EPL has been a bore and there is nothing very positive to talk about, even when it comes to United.
As for the French league, they do not attack. The French league is the most defensive league in the world with the fewest goals. If you ever get a chance, join up with “Maxxed Football Forums” online and download games form the seventies and early eighties. I especially recommend you download some older Bundesliga games if you are really into entertainment and lots of goals. A dozen games watched from that era will make you seriously question whether you ever want to watch a non United EPL game again. Enjoy your holiday amongst the Vikings.
December 23rd, 2008 at 21:30
@Grognard: Damn Grog, been reading some of you posts and I agree in some aspects. I agree that teams should not play 10-0-0, but games where there are two teams only thinking about attacks wont happen in some time. At least not on a regular basis! Maybe its you who are in another dimension!
Football isnt only about scoring goals, its also about using you brain for tactical purposes. I dont wanna watch United vs Sunderland types of games, no way, but I think watching two teams going out on the pitch just to attack without any reasonable mindset would be stupid. FIFA 09 like! I think the Italian style of football s alright, defend and wait for the counter attacks, but I dont think the Sunderland style is a jam. Defending and waiting for counter attacks is a good play, but you have to seize the chance when you have it. If Ronaldo gets the ball on the counter Rooney, Tevez and some other needs to follow too! Not only Christiano. If you want succes, you have to play smart. Not shitty style! 
December 23rd, 2008 at 21:38
@Grognard: Wanna watch attacking mindsets? Check out the Dutch League. Bundesliga is alright, but the Dutch league has got the most goals. Maybe less from now on because Huntelaar is leaving, but its all attack there without any tactical ability to defend. Advice to Fergie: Never buy defenders from the dutch league! Staam was one of a kind, but players like Heitinga, Boularouz and Kromkamp says it all.
About this site being dead, maybe its because people are busyu with other things. I noticed that there were very few people covering the LDQ games on this site, very few ROOOONEY!!! or CHAMPIONS!!! or IS THAT REF FUCKING BLIND?!!! Its holidays, people like RedRanter and such may be in the Caribians or the Englishmen may be in Southern Europe/Africa. Me myself am here with my girldfriend, family and friends. Got time to watch United, but cannot spend as much time on this site as I usually do. Its Christmas tommra Grog, whats you gonna do?
December 23rd, 2008 at 21:50
@Grognard: i want the muppet(phelan) out! the man has the tactical knowledge of our mothers when it comes to football! then again, our mothers would be able to tell the difference between a good player and park.
i dont even class park as a bad player, bad players are better then him.
December 23rd, 2008 at 22:08
@dan(u-ol): Phelamb out, Carlos Queiroz in. He aint doing a good job for Portugal, and with him back maybe Nani and Ronaldo can find back to their form. And Park out, Silva in.
December 23rd, 2008 at 22:18
@RedDevilEddy: Dutch leagues have a lot of goals because they lack quality defences and their league is rather pathetic besides the top 3 teams: Ajax, PSV, and Heereveen/Feyenoord.
The eredivisie is a glorified Championship league
December 23rd, 2008 at 23:09
same old chelsa always cheating
December 24th, 2008 at 0:06
@Grognard: But mostly because people are bored of posting, and there posts keep getting the awaiting moderation thing due to the strange glitch problem in the system
December 24th, 2008 at 1:06
Yeah the blog isn’t as lively as it was last season, just like United aren’t playing as well as last season! lol. Especially towards the tail end of 07-08 there were some great debates and discussions going on here. No disrespect to RR as I realise he is extremely busy but these days I find Republik of Mancunia a more up to date blog than this as the owner Scott usually has every single morsel of daily United news covered…he posts up to 6-7 new articles a day, which is pretty incredible!
December 24th, 2008 at 1:24
@Nino: I agree, Scott is doing a marvellous job at RoM. Been there a while, but for me Redrants is always gonna be THE site!
December 24th, 2008 at 2:11
@RedDevilEddy: lol true say…Red Rants has definitely got, in my opinion, a unique and special community feel that NO other United blog on the net has I think!
December 24th, 2008 at 3:42
@RedDevilEddy: Mate, if the game wasn’t about scoring goals, they wouldn’t have erected two posts at the end of each side as well as a cross bar and attached two onion bags to them. It’s always about scoring goals and beating your opponent. But culturally speaking, certain countries lack the testicular fortitude to play another country all out and see who scores more goals. So they concoct this things called tactics as well as over analyze and dissect the technical aspects of the game so much so that they end up creating a monster that looks and smells very much like an Italian war trench.
There is no excuse for the way the game is played today. So many skilled players who have shackles placed on them due to the overly defensive, hard tackling and overly technical aspects of the game that simply quash the fun and the beauty from the game. There is no beauty in defending for a 0-0 result. Watch a game from 25 or 30 years ago. You don’t see 10% of the diving and theatrics you see today. Unless you see Italy play.
December 24th, 2008 at 3:57
@RedDevilEddy: The Dutch league has plenty of technical ability and tactics. It’s just that the overall quality of the players is not up with Spain, England, Germany or even France. But at least they play the game better. Not perfect, but better. Attacking and trying to score goals is not playing stupid. The idea is to attempt to score goals while still doing the necessary things to prevent your opponent from scoring on you. The problem today is that the latter takes precedent over the former. Preventing goals should not be more important than scoring goals. Not in a professional game where the teams and the leagues have the nerve to take people’s money and them feed them garbage to watch. Sorry but I love to watch a game with goals. I’m not asking for 8-6 or 7-5 scores. Just give me some more 3-2 and 4-3 games as opposed to dozens and dozens of 1-0 and 0-0 games. That kind of shit doesn’t wash in North America. You bore people like that, and they stay away. That’s why this game has never caught on big over here. We are brought up playing sports where there is a lot happening and where many points are scored. football (US version), basketball, baseball and hockey have way more points scored per game on average than soccer. When hockey started getting to defensive and technical, the league automatically stepped in and changed the rules and altered the game to open it up a bit more so that there would be more offense. I’m niot even saying that we need to change the game on the field. Just change the motivation. Reward goal scoring and attacking play and punish overly defensive play and results that end 0-0. How about zero points for a 0-0 tie. And one point for every goal scored while the team that wins gets 3 points but gets four points if they win on the road. Then you add the points for every goal they score. It would change the point system completely but after a while people would get used to adding up a team’s wins and then the number of goals they scored to figure out the points they have. This would stop teams from playing for a 0-0 or 1-0 game as the reward is nothing or small. These concepts may sound wild to some but the game is broken and it needs to be fixed. We need to bring back attacking entertainment into the game. Look at the scores form the 1954 to 1970 World Cups. Scoring fests were common. My God, will we ever see a World Cup final again with 5 or 6 goals? It’s a shame so many have such a closed mind to what i am trying to promote. Why would somebody settle for 0-0 or 1-0 is beyond me. Then again, the British are known for their boring food and dull sexual habits. Injecting a spark of life in their football would do wonders for the game, it’s look, feel, finances and attendance. To me it’s no brainer.
And yes, Dutch defenders are crap. Stam and Krol are the best I can remember.
December 24th, 2008 at 4:00
@RedDevilEddy: This site wasn’t dead last year around Christmas. So I don’t think it’s because of the holiday season. Passion for Manchester United is too great for us to vacate over a few distractions. One always finds some time to check in. Or at least I used to think that was the case.
As for XMAS, I’m spending the evening with relatives and gorging myself with food.
December 24th, 2008 at 4:03
@dan(u-ol): Hey Dan, moy mother is a big proponent of Total Football and believes in the use of a sweeper. That alone makes her more qualified than Phelan and therefore, she should not be mentioned in the same breath with that muppet.
December 24th, 2008 at 4:05
@Craig Mc: No mate, this has been going on for a long time and well before the moderation thing popped up. This site is suffering from a case of apathy and I am asking……no I am begging for people to wake up and show some interest in it and in Man Utd and start posting their thoughts. Where is everybody? For all of you who have been away, COME BACK. We miss your contributions.
December 24th, 2008 at 4:07
@Nino: Yes that’s true but I for one am not the kind who trolls from one blog to another. I picked one I liked and i will stay with it until the end. I am loyal and patient. But I am feeling frustrated of late.
December 24th, 2008 at 5:34
@Grognard: Lol who said anything about trolling? I haven’t deserted this blog have I? Red Rants is still the premier United blog on the net IMO, especially for venting your spleen ans letting off steam about the team, but Red Ranter regrettably cannot update it regularly due to personal circumstances and so I, like many others I am sure, am forced to look elsewhere for my daily fix of all things United.
December 24th, 2008 at 5:43
@Grognard: Hopefully Grognard when you win the writing competition and RR makes you an administrator you can update the site regularly in his absences and breathe some new life into it!
December 24th, 2008 at 5:52
One last thing before I sign off for the night….THERE’S ONLY ONE CQ!!! Phuck Phelan!!
Oh, and a very merry Christmas (and happy New Year) to everyone in advance!!
December 24th, 2008 at 8:43
@Nino: 169. That will be the day I stop reading this blog
December 24th, 2008 at 9:44
@Nino: I haven’t submitted anything yet and there is absolutely no guarantee that I will win anything or be selected. Yes I write a lot and I am controversial but who knows, when the pressure is on, I might choke. I have a few friends locally who feel I should start my own blog but truthfully, I’m not motivated and I enjoy Red Rants. I just hope in 2009 it comes back to it’s former glory.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:45
@Nino: The same to you mate. All the best for the holidays and may 2009 be as good to United as I hope it is for you.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:38
Merry Christmas to everyone!
And a happy new, red year!
Santa wears red and white…
December 24th, 2008 at 11:24
@RedDevilEddy: merry christmas dude.
December 24th, 2008 at 12:18
merry xmas from the land of the vikings
GOD JUL
and when i get back to london grog ill watch some classic games
December 24th, 2008 at 12:22
In the languages I know:
Merry Christmas
God Jul
Feliz Navida
Gezuar Krishtlinjes
Merry Xmas
December 24th, 2008 at 12:23
@Mr.Muhozi: God Jul! Og Godt Nytt år!
December 24th, 2008 at 15:16
Well you all know how I feel about Rooney’s loutish behaviour whenever he is feeling frustrated, and his inconsistency of goalscoring form, but I was overjoyed for him when he was stood there with that Gold Ball after the world club cup game. Seeing Ronnie with the silver ball, and Monsa with the bronze, wonder if Rooney was thinking to himself, I want to be standing on that stage nicking the Ballon d on from you next year Ronnie. More importantly, will it inspire him to determination to excel by practice, practice, practice, until he does get all those world prizes. He needs to look after his body more, and note that he has to do extra work to snatch that world trophy out of Ronnie’s hand. Yes folks, this really is Craig Mc hoping he does just that – its not Christmas spirit talking either, it is me hoping for more and more striker improvement consistency in Rooney, he has it in him, if he works, and cuts out the reactionary behaviour.
December 24th, 2008 at 16:05
Because i see lot of ppl talking about different leagues in here…Anybody for a world team of the year 2008??…This would be my picks
Casillas
Maicon-Vidic-Ferdinand-Evra
Ronaldo-Xavi-Sneijder-Messi
Torres-Kaka
Very difficult one…could not find a good defensive midfielder….so i had to put 2 box-box midfielders in there..
December 24th, 2008 at 16:22
@RedDevilEddy:
God Jul! Og Godt Nytt år!
back to you i’m getting to grips with this swedish keyboard it’s pretty weird öåä
December 24th, 2008 at 16:55
@Shyam:
Casillas
Ramos-Vidic-Rio-Evra
——Gattusso—–
Ronaldo——–Messi
——–Kaka——–
Torres——Rooney
Dont shoot me for putting Rooney or Gattusso in there, but if I should rate any player in the world how they play on a good day, that ios the ultimate team. Rooney can to everythign asked from a striker on a good day, even head the ball into the net. Front 5 of Torres, Rooney, Messi, Ronaldo and Kaka would scare the shit out o fmost defenders!
December 24th, 2008 at 16:57
@Mr.Muhozi: Er det non deilege sheier med dei der?
(Sorry for sucky Swedish, not my first lanuage)
December 24th, 2008 at 17:03
@RedDevilEddy: That is a pretty good one…Is Maicon better or Ramos??..Were you able to find any other young player of Gattuso mould??..in any league??
December 24th, 2008 at 18:43
@Shyam: Very easy team to pick especially when one considers the Euros too.
GK Casillas
RB Maicon
CB Rio
CB Puyol
LB Lahm
RM Ronaldo
CM Senna
CM Ballack
LM Ribery
F Torres
F Messi
December 24th, 2008 at 19:49
@Grognard: I had this difficult choice to make between Puyol and Vidic…i would rate Sneijder/Xavi above Senna even though Senna is good..Technically Sneijder and Xavi stay ahead of Senna…Moreover i was more keen to find a young team in attack..Ribery is one i missed…Ribery in for Kaka is a good swap!!
Sneijder injured is one of the big reasons Madrid is struggling ….i would love that guy play Scholes role in United..Actually he kind of reminds me of old Scholes…He n Guti ran the show for Madrid!!
December 24th, 2008 at 20:08
@RedDevilEddy: God Jul og Godt Nytår! Hvor i Norge er du fra? @Mr.Muhozi: Hvad med dig Muhozi?
Har i setjulekalenderen “The Julekalender” på tv. Der er en dansk version og ny norsk version af det geniale jule show
December 24th, 2008 at 20:19
you really love ballack dont you grognard! i cant stand the cunt!
December 24th, 2008 at 21:06
@Madschester United: Et sted i Norge hvor man finner Lyn, Stabæk og Vålerenga.
@dan(u-ol): Cant stand that cunt either! Dickhead, the complete opposite of Scholes(personality). How can two players that are so like in playing style be so different in personality? Would have loves a Ballack in United in 2006, but now I think we are okey. Still, a midfield of Hargreaves, Ballack and Anderson is not a thing I would say no thanks to. He has only one thing that we miss in our midfield: Heading and leap. Anderson cant head, Ive never seen Hargo or Carrick do it before, Scholes was a master before but seems to have lost it and Fletch is just Fletch.
December 24th, 2008 at 21:18
@Madschester United: You know, the Julekalander must be the most depressing and damaged show in the world. Watching it makes me want to throw the TV out of the livingroom. Or move into the TV and cruch them all.
Merry Christmas!
December 24th, 2008 at 21:45
Grognard, i usually agree with most comments you make cos they are good, but i gotta ask how come you put ballack in your team? I cant say that i remember him being in excellent form for chelsea and honestly cant remember him doing much in the euros either for germany. I dunno maybe its just me but i cant think of him doing anything partcularly great that warrants him a place in the team. Surely xavi deserves a place somewhere after his excellent performances for spain in the euros where he was crowned player of the tournament. Apart from that though i would have to agree with the rest of your team mate.
December 24th, 2008 at 21:46
I would like somebody to make a list of all the bad things that Phelan has done. Why is it him and not Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov blamed every time we don’t win a game. It’s always Phelan’s fault and ‘CQ would have won that’. CQ would have won shit! Everyone thinks because we won the CL and league with him he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. OK then, I want Steve McLaren back then if that’s the criteria, maybe Brian Kidd! (yeah I said it
)
December 24th, 2008 at 22:34
@Liam: instead of listing the bad, list the good things about him, if you can find any.
December 24th, 2008 at 23:09
@Shyam: I just don’t see Ferdinand making it in there, but it would be cool to have 3 out of 4 of the defense be from United.
@Fred The Red:Nah Liverpool are far from full throttle, not taking anything away from them but besides 3-1 at B’burn and West Brom, I’ve yet to see any game where I can comfortably say they were the better team and deserved all the points.
@dan(u-ol): And I doubt anyone on this blog unless he is a player in disguise knows how much effect Phelan is having on the team, so I don’t see why he should get slagged off everytime something goes wrong with United.
Merry Christmas to everyone, I’m off to flirt with ROM, I can’t help being a promiscuous reader, lol
December 24th, 2008 at 23:50
@Liam: O Dear, somebody rattled your cage obviously –
. To answer your question though Liam, you know I blame Rooney everytime we have a bad game don’t you 
December 24th, 2008 at 23:52
@Shyam: I pick my team according to specific positions. A team should have one of their CMF players as a defensive player. Therefore Senna wins over Xavi. And too many people forget just how great Ballack was last year for Chelsea and how he lead Germany to the the Euro Final. His leadership and his class were very underrated. I personally have never been big on Xavi but Sneijder is a joke. So he scored a few nice goals. That does not make a season. I can name ten midfielders I would pick over Sneijder. Also, what’s Gattuso? Are you serious mate? He was average at best last year while his team struggled mightily. As for Evra, sure he had a good year but he still is not in Lahm’s class. Not only that but Lahm was outstanding in the Euros up until he hurt his foot just before giving Torres the room to score the winning goal in the final. Something I forgive him for because of his great play and fantastic offensive runs. Unlike Evra, he can score goals and cross the ball too. I like Evra but for me there are four or five LB that are better than him. I know it’s tough to omit him when we are United fans.
December 24th, 2008 at 23:52
@dan(u-ol): Same here Bro, we share the Ballack hate
December 24th, 2008 at 23:54
@Grognard: Why is Nani missing from that list – you forgot him didn’t you Grog
.
December 24th, 2008 at 23:56
@Grognard: Why is Nani missing from that list Grog?. You forgot him didn’t you
December 24th, 2008 at 23:59
@dan(u-ol): Personally I don’t give a damn mate.
Yes I love him but I absolutely hate the fact he plays for Chelsea. But I cannot ignore what a statement of intent he made last year for Chelsea. How he lead the team from total turmoil, turned up his own game and lead them into a neck and neck race against us while also scoring the game winning goal against us with a few games left in the season. He was massive for Chelsea and he was massive for Germany. The fact that he lead both his teams to three finals has to stand for something. His stats were very good and frankly, whether one likes him or not, he earned that spot on my team of the year. My team includes players I like but it also includes players I don’t care about one bit. I hate Puyol, Casillas and Maicon. Torres is a great player but he plays for the Scouse and Senna is a great player but he doesn’t make my heart jump with joy either. Obviously I love Rio and Ronny but I am also a big fan of Ballack, Ribery, Lahm and Messi. I’d challenge anyone to tell me why they don’t belong?
December 25th, 2008 at 0:02
@RedDevilEddy: Ballack is unlike Scholes in style. What are you saying mate? That’s like comparing Ronaldo to Luca Toni. And to call him a cunt while saying it would have been great had he signed with United just sounds like sour grapes to me. I hate the fact he chose Chelsea and not United but I’m more pissed off with him for leaving Bayern for Chelsea. I love Bayern and if anyone is going to leave Bayern, it better be for United. That’s why Hargo gets a pass and why he is in my good books. Still, Ballack was fantastic last year and he deserved praise for his accomplishments.
December 25th, 2008 at 0:03
@Rd: I think he does…coz there arent many defenders who play like Rio…I meant in style..He is great reader of the game and anticipates and will be in the right place right time most of the time..I dont think you will ever see a bloodied Rio or Rio putting is body in line..he is that good that he usually dont have to do those…Cannavaro was of that kind but i dont think he is as good as Rio in reading the game…he is more agile…
There are many defenders like Vidic…Stubborn,brave,strong and unbeatable in the air…but there arent many who does all this as consistent as Vidic..hes awesome in his right…
I picked 2 of them becoz of the understanding and form they have shown all throughout 2008…Rio try to kill the game with his ability to read and anticipate the game…Whenever he goes wrong he have an ever willing Vidic to throw himself around!!..so they picked themselves onto that
team..
I picked Evra because for the last 2 seasons we didnt have a left footed attacker and have we ever felt that??…
December 25th, 2008 at 0:07
@Matthew: I don’t know what you were watching last season mate but Ballack was immense for Chelsea after Mourinho left and especially when Lampard was out for a long period of time. He took the leadership role of the team on his shoulder and ran with it. Scored big goals, assisted on many and was just commanding with his presence. And he was also very stellar if not outstanding in the EUROS. He did score the single most outstanding goal of the Euros too. It’s easy to dismiss a player if you hate him or the team he plays for but Ballack deserves praise for last year. Yes I like him a lot but I am being unbiased in my picks. I hate Chelsea but he deserves credit for his rebound season once Mourinho was gone.
Also, Xavi gets far too much credit for a 6 game tournament. He struggled a lot last year along with his entire Barcelona team. I’d pick Fabregas and Arshevin over him.
December 25th, 2008 at 0:11
Id just like to say Merry Christmas to all posters and ranters on this wonderful site. Have a good un!
December 25th, 2008 at 0:13
@Liam: Listen mate, far too much credit is being given to the muppet Phelan for our indifferent form this season. Yes he is an idiot but I’m starting to believe the bigger idiot in this comedy is none other than Fergie. When it’s all said and done, the decisions are made by him and all Phelan does is play the role of yes man. Fergie is the cause of our problems but it would have been nice if a true footballing mind and motivator like Queiroz was their to help him and bounce ideas off of him. I doubt Phelan knows how to spell the word idea, yet alone try to form one.
December 25th, 2008 at 0:14
grognard, well maybe it is just me then but i gotta say that i wasnt too impressed with ballack last year in his overall performances as a whole but i can see why you chose him. I dont really watch much german footie but how is diego at werder doing, is he any good/good enough last year to have got into your team? Anyway im gonna go now cos its getting late. Just wanna say merry xmas to everyone and what a great blog this is. I have only been on here for a couple of months but you guys really are great and i respect all your comments. Peace out everyone.
December 25th, 2008 at 0:16
@dan(u-ol): Frankly none of us are close enough to the team and allowed to watch their training sessions to accurately rate his effectiveness. We are basing his abilities frankly upon how the team has played. That’s incredibly unfair and I have been guilty of this as anyone else. Like I said earlier, Fergie has to take the brunt of the blame on our poor form.
December 25th, 2008 at 0:18
@Craig Mc: Watch it mate or nasty words will follow about Louis Nani.
December 25th, 2008 at 0:26
@Matthew: Diego is a great player with great offensive skill. Problem is he plays in Germany and I have yet to see how great a player he would be if he had to play against tougher teams on a more consistent basis. His one weakness is he doesn’t have a great deal of pace but he has finesse, vision, a great shot and desire.
As for Ballack, I love the guy but it sickens me to watch him play for Chelsea. With that said, I watched a lot of Chelsea games last year and nearly every Germany game and he was great. Don’t mistake his season last year under AV Grant with his injury prone year under Mourinho. Mourinho was a pratt and an idiot by not using him properly and by playing favorites with his boy Lampard. For me Lampard is half the player Ballack is, and it made me sick to see how Mourinho played them off against each other. Ballack was an idiot for leaving Bayern and even dumber for not signing with us where he would have had no problem fighting for his place.
With that said, I still think he is great and last year he proved that. Lets not forget the game he had against us at Stamford Bridge. Winning goal as well as player of the match. I must admit though that he does tend to disappear in cup finals.
And Merry Christmas to you too mate. All the best. Cheers.
December 25th, 2008 at 2:15
@Grognard: Of cource I got sour grapes! I would have luved it if Ballack would have joined us, but he chose Stalins Bitches and the mighty Stamford Cock over United and the fortress Old Trafford. Only for cooking money. You understand me, I never really liked Ballack. He was never one of the players I liked outside United. But I would have luved it if he joined us, because his playing style and commitement to the cause would be perfect for our team. But he passed the chance. People that decide other teams over United, names like Mikel, Ballack, Adebayor(yeah!), Bosingwa, Torres or even Ramsey(even though I cant blame him..), are in my book of most hated players in the world. Only Torres is not in there from those kinds of players, because as you know my feeling for him are the same as yours for Bollock!
And Scholes and Ballacks playing style were the same a couple of years back. Scholes was a master of timing runs into the box, as was Ballack. They both had rocket shots, scored lots of goals for midfielders, pass-masters, good in the air(Ginger Ninja was that before remember?) and they could carry a whole team on their shoulders. That is what I meant by their playing style was equal.Comparing them would not be like comparing Ronaldo to Luca Toni! It would be like comparing Ronaldo to Ronaldinho…
Merry Christmas mate! Off to bed now. Nighty, night!
December 25th, 2008 at 2:18
@Shyam: Your words about our defense: AMEN!
December 25th, 2008 at 2:56
@Grognard: I have to disgree with you on Sneijder..I was pissed when he said he dont want to come to United (when the swap deal Ronaldo-Sneijder talks was on)..He is dynamic,creative,make good runs,always looks up and forward when on the ball. He is the out-of-the-mill replacement for a veteran like Scholes…Although i will rate Scholes a little higher than Sneijder.. May be you should watch him and Guti pull strings for Madrid..
Madrid are a way better team when they have Sneijder-Guti in front of Diarra(M.Diarra) and NistelRooy to score their goals.
December 25th, 2008 at 4:27
@RedDevilEddy: I can understand your feeling towards Ballack and I have no problem with anyone that doesn’t like him. But as long as you can respect and acknowledge his ability as a player. I was supporting and defending the fact that his skill and ability last season deservingly places him on a the world eleven for the year. Regardless of our personal likes. I do have a couple biased dislikes however that would never ever get on my top eleven for any year, no matter how good a year they had. I would not be able to live with myself if I ever included John Terry, Didier Drogba or Thierry Henry. I just hat those scumbags. On that not, have yourself a very merry Christmas. For me I am snowed in and definitely experiencing a white Christmas. Odd for Vancouver.
December 25th, 2008 at 4:38
Nearly 20 to 4am on Christmas day and still can’t sleep. I’m going to be tired in the morning
December 25th, 2008 at 4:38
@Shyam: I have watched Sneijder play for years mate. He’s a very good player but he’s not in the class you are building him up to be. He is not in my top 15 AMFer or CM’s in the world. Very good with moments of brilliance but not the world beater you make him out to be. And Guti bores the Hell out of me. The two work well together but I wouldn’t call it incredible. Actually when he is awake and motivated, I’d even rate van der Vaart over Sneijder. For me the top attacking midfielders in the world that aren’t just wingers like Ronaldo would be Ballack, Ribery, Diego, Arshavin, Riquelme, Pirlo, Ronaldinho, Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas, Schelotto, Moutinho, Xavi, Juninho and Kaka. There is another list of ten or fifteen like Anderson, Carrick, van derVaart and Sneijder that I think are good, but they are not yet in that upper group. Just my assessment. I didn’t include defensive midfielders in that category so players like Essien and DeRossi who also has great offensive skills are not in that group. Consistency and staying healthy for most of their careers is a must to eventually get to the upper echelon.
December 25th, 2008 at 4:40
@Liam: You must be waiting for Santa.
Some advice to you mate, he ain’t coming. 
Merry Christmas to you
December 25th, 2008 at 7:31
@Grognard: haha well my bros woke me up at 6 but funnily enough I ain’t that tired. I suppose I’ve got Pro Evo to keep me company now
December 25th, 2008 at 10:59
@Grognard: Well, I think Kaka is better than Ballack. And even though this hurts to say, so is Gerrard and Essien. But that is just my views. Cheers
December 25th, 2008 at 11:44
@Grognard:
December 25th, 2008 at 11:45
@Grognard: HAHAHAHAHAHA
December 25th, 2008 at 11:47
@dan(u-ol): Dan, you got Xbox Live?
December 25th, 2008 at 11:52
@RedDevilEddy: Yep i sure do! i dont know if i can play now though.
December 25th, 2008 at 12:56
@dan(u-ol): What is your username? Mine is the same as I use here(I use RedDevilEddy everywhere!
). Ill play you on FIFA 09 if you got time someday. Lets see whos the best… 
December 25th, 2008 at 13:17
Question: Have you gusy also noticed that Ronaldo is playing an awful lot on the left wing this season. Except for the CL final against Chelski and the home game against Arsenal in teh League I cant remember Christiano playing in that position last season. I remember some of his performances when he played on the left wing in the 2006/07 season(away goal vs Reading in september, away goal vs Fulham in February, Bolton and Lille home in March(4 assists in 2 games), and the home game vs Blackburn in March), and he was terrific! He got assist after assist and goal after goal. Going through some of the DVDs from the 2006/07 season and the 2007/08 season I noticed that in his first “brilliant” season Ronaldo played most of the games on the left wing. But last season, even though being almost everywhere up front, he spent most of the time on the right wing, cutting in and coming in for crosses from Rooney(who tends to go out to the left), Nani, Giggs and even Evra once. Can that be the reason Ronaldo hasnt scored so many goals. I know, he started off on the left wing, but last season he was brilliant playing as teh right winger. But now Rafael has emerged and Fergie feels we “need” Park in the team. And the South-Korean cannot play as a left winger, therefor Ronny is there. Some of the games Ronaldo has played there this season:
Shitty away.
First half Blackburn away.
Aston Villa away.
First half Arsenal away.
Stoke at home.
West Brom at home.
Everton second half away.
Spurs away.
LDQ.
That is actually most of teh games he has played. From those 9 games he has gotten 3 assists and 3 goals. But in the other 10 games where he has played as a right winger/kind free role, he has gotten 7 goals and 5 assists. Does that tell you anything? Maybe Fergie needs to wake up and realise that Ronaldo i s a RIGHT winger, not a left winger. Could prove the difference come the end of the season. Or am I just talking like a mad man?
December 25th, 2008 at 13:40
@RedDevilEddy: DANIEL TERROR
a lesson lads, dont let your brother pick your gamertag!
December 25th, 2008 at 13:45
@dan(u-ol): Ill send you a friend invite later.
December 25th, 2008 at 13:49
@dan(u-ol): Eh, Dan? Was it you who lost 13-2 against a certain muz80 a short while ago?
Is this your profile?
December 25th, 2008 at 14:22
“mkl carrick iz da cool plyr, mez thinkz”
December 25th, 2008 at 17:14
@RedDevilEddy: hehe that guy was owning me like 5-1 so i just gave up and started giving out own goals!
December 25th, 2008 at 17:36
@dan(u-ol): When can we play?
December 25th, 2008 at 17:46
@RedDevilEddy: ill be on now
December 25th, 2008 at 18:10
@dan(u-ol): Too bad Dan. You almost had it! But, never forget the power that Wayne has inside!
Why didya leave the last game?
December 25th, 2008 at 18:12
@RedDevilEddy: haha, stolen at the end, my life story in fifa you know. sorry i left in the 2nd game, im about to have my christmas dinner. im definitely playing you again though, prepare to lose
December 25th, 2008 at 18:18
@dan(u-ol): Enjoy your dinner!
But spend your time with your dinner wisely, because its the last enjoyment you are gonna feel today! 
Prepare to get crushed! I know your weaknesses…
December 25th, 2008 at 18:28
Anybody ekse think they can beat me on FIFA 09? If you got Xbox Live, send RedDevilEddy a friend request and invite me for a game.
My record: Played 309. Won 290. Lost 19. 0 draws. Im up for everything.
December 25th, 2008 at 18:40
@RedDevilEddy: Kaka is better than Ballack, but not last season when he missed games, was off form and when Milan collapsed.
Remember, it’s not the eleven best player, it’s the top eleven of 2008.
December 25th, 2008 at 18:44
Merry Christmas to you all. And to all those who don’t celebrate Christmas, Merry whatever and all the best.
December 25th, 2008 at 19:44
Okey, here is my match review frommy game vs Dan. Yeah, Im really, really bored! Why did my mum have to invite an unknown elder to my house? Shes eating all the food and wont leave!
Damn…
RedDevilEddy kicked off the match with Berbatov and Ronaldo. Ronaldo went straight for Chelseas defense with a run that sccreamed goal, but when Ronaldo was about to set himself for the shot Terry came to the rescue and stole the ball. First attack over. But the Terry gave it away to Anderson, only for himto play a terrible pass to Ronaldo. Cole intercepted it and Chelski had again control of the ball.
After 39 minutes Chelski got he break they needed. They had passed it for 10 minutes with the United strikers trying to win the ball back, but Terry, Bosingwa, Mikel and Carvalho played too many passes for them to get into position. But then, with 6 United players chsing for the ball in Chelseas field, Mikel played a pass to Lampard. He ran to Uniteds end of the pitch and was about to take the shot, but Anderson and Carrick reached him. But only nearly! Instead of taking the shot, he passed it to Drogba. Donkey Didier made a brilliant feint and made Vidic look like a fool. He was 1-on-1 with Van Der Sar and finished it expertly. United 0-1 Chelsea.
In the last 5 minutes of the first half United decided to play keep-the-ball and waited until the half-time whistle. At the break they made a change, making Rooney ST and Berbatov CF. Chelski started the second half without any problems, keeping the ball like they did in the first. But United was about to take over. After some surging runs from Drogba, some through passes that were too short and passing the ball like only the Chelski of 2007 could, United were getting frustrated. They got more aggresion and won more corners.
Ronaldo won two chances from Nani corners, one header too weak and one too high. But after a 4th corner, Evra got the ball on the left side of the 18-yard box. He got the ball past Mikel and was in the inside the Chelsea box. He tried to pass it to Ronaldo, but it was too short and Lampard cought it out. But Lampard clearence fell straight to Rooney! He was under pressure on teh edge of the small box, and hit the post! United were getting closer and closer…
Then, after 76 minutes, Chelski made a mistake in their own half. Mikel gave the ball straight to Berbatov, who passed it to Rooney on 20 yards. He got past Terry and finished brilliantly in the short corner from 16 yards. United 1-1 Chelski.
Straight from the Chelski kck off they went for the lead. Cole and Ballack combined on the left hand side and passed it on to Drogba. BUt he didnt get control and Anderson won it. He passed it quickly to the half way line to Berbatov. He found Rooney on 40 yards, with Carvalho on his back. When Wayne Rooney got the ball he made a body feint whcih put the Portugeeze defender fall to the ground in an attempt to something that looked like a sliding tackle. Rooney came closer to the Chelsea box! 30 yards, 25, 20! He was in, and 1-on-1 with Cech he fooled the goalkeeper and put the ball low past him. Wayne was exelled with pleasure and happiness and took a knee slide before praying for this goal. United 2-1 Chelski. With 5 minutes left on the clock Chelski went for another goal. But they couldnt. The last minutes were dominated by tricks, show offs and misjudged passes. In the end United won thanks to the miracle that is Wayne Rooney!
Just really, really bored, so excuse me for this looong comment.
December 25th, 2008 at 19:46
@RedDevilEddy: FIFA has become the most annoying game on the planet for me. I used to like it but got tired of it taking about 10 seconds for a 2 yard pass to make it to it’s target and not being able to round the spider ‘keepers. Pro Evo is much more free flowing. In the 1 Live game I’ve played I went 2 nil down early and clawed it back to win 4-2. It was great. The only downside is that the rosters needed updating when I put it in and that took a while because they make other improvements such as adding more licensed teams.
December 25th, 2008 at 19:49
@Liam: Ive played lots of games when Ive come back from 2-0 and 3-0 down on FIFA 09. Just today I went under 2-0 after half an hour, but won 5-4 in the end. FIFA 09 is better than PES 09. No contest, you cant say anything that will change my mind!
December 25th, 2008 at 19:51
@Grognard: Oh, 2008? Sorry, didnt catch that! Thought it was the best 11 of the players in the world, everytime, not only in 2008. Well, then my team would be:
Casillas
Maicon-Rio-Vidic-Evra
Ronaldo-Fabregas-Essien-Messi
Torres-Benzema
Cheers, and merry Christmas to you to. To everyone!
December 25th, 2008 at 19:56
@RedDevilEddy: i agree eddy, pro evo since it went on the xbox 360 was on a massive downward spiral, fifa is the way to go, i got my first fifa since 2003 when giggs was on the cover and i must say they have come a looooooong way, pro evo on the other hand well…
December 25th, 2008 at 20:03
where the hell is ronaldo in this pic
December 25th, 2008 at 20:05
@RedDevilEddy: thats verry accurate, im impressed! now that you know my strength is slow, possession play, do you reckon you have a tactic to beat it? i remember in that match, i had the ball for extremely long periods of time, its what im best at. my weakness is beating a player 1-on-1 i cant do it. so i have to pass around, you’ll notice, that when my winger is on the ball, i play it back to the full back, then the full back plays a though ball back to the winger to beat the player. i need atleast 2 players to beat a single player which is pathetic, but what can you do
?
December 25th, 2008 at 20:26
@Mr.Muhozi: You noticed too?! First thing I noticed with that pic when I saw it was that Ronny wasnt in there. When I saw that picture in a bigger version, I saw that Ronaldo is laying between Anderson and Nani.
December 25th, 2008 at 20:27
@dan(u-ol): You will see!
Ready for another game?
December 25th, 2008 at 21:10
sorry i couldnt start the 2nd game. back with the family, having dessert and watching eastenders
p.s, haha your own goal was a classic! bloody almunia sucks though.
December 25th, 2008 at 21:11
Dan…….. You alright there man?
December 25th, 2008 at 21:20
@dan(u-ol): Had to be a little nice, its Chritmas time!
And I was leading 6-0… 
December 25th, 2008 at 21:44
@RedDevilEddy: HAHA, bloody almunia, hes so shite! the best players on arsenal where fabregas(at one point, he dazzled your whole midfield) and van persie. denilson had a few good through balls.
December 25th, 2008 at 21:49
@dan(u-ol): Yeah, but I scored some slick goals!
Im still upset that Carlitos overhead kick wasnt a goal. 
Stil, I ripped you to pieves. Told you I knew how to handle your tactics!
December 25th, 2008 at 21:50
“Pieces”
December 25th, 2008 at 21:52
@dan(u-ol): Glad to see Andy get a goal?
December 25th, 2008 at 21:55
@RedDevilEddy: yea that was a good goal, and it was exactly what im talking about! almunia shoulda have saved that, it was going at like 1MPH, and half decent keeper would of saved that, he has the reaction time of a blind man!
before someone says i shouldnt be making fun of blind people, because they could be reading this site, think about what your saying…
December 25th, 2008 at 22:07
@dan(u-ol): Actually, blind people have brillliant reactions. So, you meen Almunia was good then?
No, honestly. Ive seen that so many times, but its still funny when I watch oppositions keepers do that. Its horrible, but thats what fun with FIFA 09. Its more realistic. Keepers dont get the ball every time, and such stuff happens. I liked my 4th goal thouch, Waynes piledriver. Low shot was great, you know you hsould try that! Because, if you shoot low into one of the corners from that distance, the keeper is never gonna save it. Maybe from 2 yards more out, but not from where I shot from. Ive done that lots of times and people have done it against me. You should try that, it is as good as a safe goal.
My own goal was brilliant though, was it through the legs of VDS?
And you know you could have had a much better game if Rabin Van Persie had scored on that chance in the 5th minute. You were unlucky it hit the post.
December 25th, 2008 at 23:09
@dan(u-ol): Well I might be related to a blind person you know? lol
December 25th, 2008 at 23:29
Stuffed. That turkey had two juicy wings. Can we have ours back sometime soon? Fulsome greetings to all. Looking forward to pegging back that superior goal difference that the rent boys have at present. Utd MUST be top scorers in the league.
December 25th, 2008 at 23:42
@RedDevilEddy: yea it did go through VDS legs, then when he trie to stop it going in, he kinda kicked it in lol.
how i wish RVP had scored that goal! possession play with arsenal is a lot more difficult then with chelsea/arsenal.
December 25th, 2008 at 23:42
@Rd:
December 26th, 2008 at 10:29
bloody hell people! ive just slept, come back and seen no comments since my last post yesterday! wheres eddy
December 26th, 2008 at 10:42
@dan(u-ol): Im here. Just woke up too! You know Im from Norway, so I sleep during the night,
That didnt make any sense, did it? Well, Im up but Im surprised to see that lack of comments on this site. Where is Grognard? Craig? Stephen? Nino? Colver? Guys, we have a game today rememeber!? We are playing Stoke in 3 hours time, its not time for sleep anymore, wakey, wakey!
December 26th, 2008 at 11:03
Okey, since I see there is probably not gonna be a match preview from either RedRanter, Ahmed or Penguin Ill better make one on my own. We gotta learn about our opponents and how we can beat them right?
Well, its Boxing Day! yeeey! Did anybody get anything nice for Christmas or was it just scarves and socks?
I could have gotten better presents myself, but I cant complain. The biggest persent for me would be that United win today. Thats what amtter the most. So Stoke have beaten big-guns like Arsenal, Villa and Spurs at Teh Brittania. Good for them. That they beat Arsenal or Spurs in that period doesnt surprise me, but Villa?! Come on, they are better than that! Well, its very much because of the “Delap-Throw”. I can see tham causeing problems today, especially Fuller and Shawcross, but i dont worry too much. With Vidic, Oshea, Rio and Ronaldo there they shouldnt be any problem. They have got some injuries but not too many. Kitson, Sidibe and ??? are doubts, but Pulis hopes that they can all be fit for the game.
United now! We are the best football club in the world! If that doesnt tell you anything you better go to the doctor. Even though we beat teams like Osaka and LDQ, its what makes it WORLD CHAMPIONS!
If we beat Milan, Barca, Lyon that amkes us European Champions. You gotta face teams outside our continent to be crowned worlds best, and we all know there arent many good teams outside Europe. So suck it in! The Jet lag might eb a worry for us, probably also our biggest problem, but Fergie says his team are fit and ready. Good to hear. Evra starts his suspension today so he will take no part in this game. It is probably Oshea that will step in, but we migth see Fabio later if we lead. He made his comeback against Everton in the reserves last week. Our biggest chance of scoring today are counter attacks. Stoke will use every throw in as a corner, and defenders will come up. United will need to be quick and deadly on the counter, and that is why I hope Anderson and Nani plays today. Well… ‘
Team prediction:
VDS
Neville-Rio-Vidic-Oshea
Ronaldo-Anderson-Scholes-Nani
Rooney-Berbatov
Score prediction: 3-0 to United. Rooney, Ronaldo and Scholes. This aint me being cocky, Im just putting up the most logical result.
Cheers. Merry Christmas!
December 26th, 2008 at 11:05
Okey, since I see there is probably not gonna be a match preview from either RedRanter, Ahmed or Penguin Ill better make one on my own. We gotta learn about our opponents and how we can beat them right?
Well, its Boxing Day! yeeey! Did anybody get anything nice for Christmas or was it just scarves and socks?
I could have gotten better presents myself, but I cant complain. The biggest persent for me would be that United win today. Thats what amtter the most. So Stoke have beaten big-guns like Arsenal, Villa and Spurs at Teh Brittania. Good for them. That they beat Arsenal or Spurs in that period doesnt surprise me, but Villa?! Come on, they are better than that! Well, its very much because of the “Delap-Throw”. I can see tham causeing problems today, especially Fuller and Shawcross, but i dont worry too much. With Vidic, Oshea, Rio and Ronaldo there they shouldnt be any problem. They have got some injuries but not too many. Kitson, Sidibe and ??? are doubts, but Pulis hopes that they can all be fit for the game.
United now! We are the best football club in the world! If that doesnt tell you anything you better go to the doctor. Even though we beat teams like Osaka and LDQ, its what makes it WORLD CHAMPIONS!
If we beat Milan, Barca, Lyon that amkes us European Champions. You gotta face teams outside our continent to be crowned worlds best, and we all know there arent many good teams outside Europe. So suck it in! The Jet lag might eb a worry for us, probably also our biggest problem, but Fergie says his team are fit and ready. Good to hear. Evra starts his suspension today so he will take no part in this game. It is probably Oshea that will step in, but we migth see Fabio later if we lead. He made his comeback against Everton in the reserves last week. Our biggest chance of scoring today are counter attacks. Stoke will use every throw in as a corner, and defenders will come up. United will need to be quick and deadly on the counter, and that is why I hope Anderson and Nani plays today. Well… ‘
Team prediction:
VDS
Neville-Rio-Vidic-Oshea
Ronaldo-Anderson-Scholes-Nani
Rooney-Berbatov
Score prediction: 3-0 to United. Rooney, Ronaldo and Scholes. This aint me being cocky, Im just putting up the most logical result.
Cheers. Merry Christmas!
December 26th, 2008 at 11:06
We need a new post, this site is becomg pretty boring.
Plus, my comments take hours to write because it sometimes stops.
December 26th, 2008 at 12:30
United have scored 8 away goals this season, compared to 30+ last season according to Sky TV – bloody awful form, but then I have been complaining about the ineptitude of our strikers all season. Not like they haven’t has chance, after chance, after chance is it
. Hope they get it together today, but I still can’t see it, after the SITTERS missed in the World Club Championship game. Hope we start sticking them away though, or no chance of PL or CL repeat trophy wins.
December 26th, 2008 at 12:32
@RedDevilEddy: Neville?? Scholes and Anderson doesnt make sense to me either. Carrick and Andy or Scholes and Carrick.
Fergie might even decide to rest Carrick and start Gibson. Cant see Nani starting ahead of Park too.
December 26th, 2008 at 12:42
UnitedUnited, man when was the last time nani started a game it feels like bloody ages ago. I like others on here really dont know what fergie sees in park but hes the boss so we gotta respect his decision. As for the match today i do expect an easy victory but our away form has been shocking this year so any kind of win would do me. I hope berba scores today i really do, alot of you on here have been slating the guy, i personally just think he needs more time. Do you know that in his 2 campaigns with spurs he only had 6 and 7 goals by xmas but finished the season with 23. Hopefully he will do that with us. As for the team 2day well i personally would go for this:
vds
rafael rio vidic o’shea
ronaldo ando carrick nani
roon berba
only problem is that with nani never coming back to help out defensively oshea could get alot of runners down his side and personally i dont wanna see that cos oshea will probably get skinned by them, so maybe park should start 2day instead. Anyway guys hope we can snatch a win although a good thrashing would be excellent and would complete the xmas period very nicely.
December 26th, 2008 at 12:47
Also after all the banter in the press about how that win would encourage us, about how it is a great confidence booster and all that jazz, it still was still the same pattern of play that we displayed in Japan as well. 1-0 wins. Against LDQ a team which was slightly better than Gamba defensively. If I were the manager, I wouldnt be shouting over the roof tops about the win. Yes, it must be a good confidence booster, but then, hold your hooves, didnt we almost struggle to put away the winning goal against erm, LDQ ?? So shouldnt we be looking at ourselves and thinking that we did win, but just about managed to. Anyways, looking at all the members of the team talk, Rio, Fergie, Rooney et al, seems like it really was a great confidence booster.
Coming to today’s game, Stoke are half-giant killers, but I really dont see United break into much of a sweat against them. I mean come on, its Stoke after all. We crushed them at OT, dont see any reason why we shouldnt crush them now. I am hoping for some goals from Count Berbatov. Been long since he scored eh? My team would be :
PIG
Rafael Rio Vida O’Shea
Park Carrick Scholes Ronaldo
Rooney Berba
Subs: VDS Gibson Tevez Andy Nani Neville Fabio
December 26th, 2008 at 12:47
Alright Dan? That result was awsome! Why did ya score the own goal in the first minute?
December 26th, 2008 at 12:55
@RedDevilEddy: to compensate the fact that you won the first match but it didnt register as i couldnt finish the game. i couldnt even give you a rematch because it froze again. im gonna let it cool now. Hopefully we can play again later.
New rules:
eddy can NOT be man utd
December 26th, 2008 at 12:55
team news anyone?
December 26th, 2008 at 13:05
@dan(u-ol): Dan, you need to understand one thing: On FIFA 09 I AM Manchester United!
December 26th, 2008 at 13:11
Manchester United:
GK: Van Der Sar
RB: Neville
CB: Ferdinand
CB: Vidic
LB: Oshea
RW: Ronaldo
CM: Fletcher
CM: Scholes
LM: Giggs
ST: Tevez
ST: Rooney
subs: Kuszczak, Berbatov, Park, Carrick, Welbeck, Rafael Da Silva, Evans
No Anderson or Nani? I hope this team can beat Stoke. Im sure they can, but this season the question is weather we want to or have the composure to.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:11
i have looked at the starting 11 and im 100% sure fergie has gone senile.
Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, O’Shea, Ronaldo, Scholes, Fletcher, Giggs, Rooney, Tevez. Subs: Kuszczak, Berbatov, Park, Carrick, Welbeck, Rafael Da Silva, Evans
close your mouth, a fly might come in.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:12
official team news just come through
Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, O’Shea, Ronaldo, Scholes, Fletcher, Giggs, Rooney, Tevez.
Subs: Kuszczak, Berbatov, Park, Carrick, Welbeck, Rafael Da Silva, Evans.
So all 3 of the old boys are playing.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:13
Neville? o’shea? giggs? fletcher?
fergie has lost it for sure!
December 26th, 2008 at 13:15
i thought that fergie said the days that we saw giggsy on the left were well and truly over, so how come he is playing there today when we still have the option of playing nani and even park or ronaldo there. And ffs neville in over rafael. I think scholes still has a bit left in but giggs and nev should not be starting in this game. On the face of it stoke are an easy team to beat but they will be up for it and in our faces and i just dont think the oldies can handle this. I know they are legends but jesus is fergie the only person in the world who cant see that they arent good enough.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:16
seems anderson is a cup player at best in fergies books.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:19
@Matthew: i agree, with everything you said. i hope its a 4-3-3 with scholes fletcher and giggs in the centre. But something tells me rooney or tevez will be sacrificed and be played in the wing and giggs upfront.
Im glad grognard isnt here, i would hear him yelling from canada if he saw this team.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:22
dan(u-ol), i gotta say that sometimes i think this season, the players on the team sheet have been selected on reputation and not their actual form. If you wanna look at form anderson has been our best midfielder for weeks since the carling cup game against b’burn. So why doesnt he play today and scholes does. Scholes played 60mins against that team in the semis of the world championships and that was it. No final appearance and just a few mins of league games. So why does he get ahead of ando who i thought was 1 of the best players in the whole tournament. I think fergie is playing favourites now and no nani again just confirms that. Does giggs deserve a game 2day, no but he starts any way. Come on fergie give nani a start and a run of games ffs.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:26
BREAKING NEWS
ferdinand out…
December 26th, 2008 at 13:27
dan (u-ol), even if we did play with scholes, giggs and fletcher in a middle 3 where the hell is the attacking player of that 3. Where is the gerrard or lampard of that team that will get forward a bit. Scholes lies deep now and just plays the creative player ala deco, fletcher is the hustler who protects the back 4 so what the hell does giggs do. He hardly gets forward at all, why no anderson there. In the last few weeks he has been getting forward quite a bit and whilst he is no gerrard, at least he could provide us a bit more of an attacking threat. In effect we are almost playing 3 deep lying midfielders that even italian teams dont play. Come on fergie just unleash them all and lets kill stoke instead of all this defensive crap.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:28
@Matthew: its true, fergie does his teams on his feelings(park starts every match because of CL final) instead of skill and form.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:29
dan, please tell me you are lying and rio isnt out.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:32
@Matthew: nope, im not, replaced with the young impressive irishman, evans.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:35
ok dan, evans is an excellent player but wouldnt it be just our luck if rio is out for a few weeks. Well im gonna go now and watch the game, i hope we win but if we dont we all know that yet again it is shitty tactics that have cost our team. Lets hope for an easy win then.
See you all.
December 26th, 2008 at 13:41
Seasons Greetings everybody, hope all’s well wherever you are in the world.
Team selection doesnt fill me with confidence but then again I cant remember the last time we looked that confident! No Nani or Ando? Por que??
Happy boxing day all!
x
Oh, and come on the lads!
December 26th, 2008 at 13:42
I’ll be back laughing at your overreactions after the comfortable win we are about to witness
December 26th, 2008 at 13:52
@Liam: Yeah, all we need to do is get an early goal, and snuff Delap out, just like the game at Old Trafford!
December 26th, 2008 at 14:13
we’re giving the ball away way too easily, especially ronaldo.
December 26th, 2008 at 14:16
Well Arsene Wenger wins the most blatantly obvious post of the day competition, apparently according to him ‘ villa win not win the title!’ Surprising stuff there arsene, anyhow merry christmas y’all, big boxing day present from united please
December 26th, 2008 at 14:26
snooze fest resumed……..EPL is now turning into the most boring league in the world……….
December 26th, 2008 at 14:45
@elsammio99: Snoooore! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Damn, I miss Osaka!
COME ON UNITED!!!
December 26th, 2008 at 14:47
This season fergie is really making stupid decisions..im sorry but playing scholes and fletcher is stupid in mid and leaving carrick out?…giggs on the wing is too. We cant afford not to win this game and all the blame must be on fergie if we do. Ronaldo is having a shocker POOR !
December 26th, 2008 at 14:48
@Liam: so, are you laughing? cause im not!
December 26th, 2008 at 14:51
@Taehr: What is with you guys???…the team is playing an away game against a good physical side after a 20 odd hr journey!!…and I dont think any of the players are playing bad…they are just picking up and i think is going to grow as the game wears on!!… Lets wait till the end and see how is it going…
I dont see why scholes,gary and giggs are facing the wrath as they are doing good out there…
December 26th, 2008 at 15:01
what a athetic team. what the fuck is Fergie doing out there , what the fuck is going through his mind? seems as if hes reverting back to a seriously boring time when football was meant to be played with little skill,imagination,speed or strength.
i feel sick at the sight of that team…..
so have we had many chances?
some1 fill me in pls
December 26th, 2008 at 15:11
I just had to jinx the game didn’t I. I couldn’t just have said nothing
that said we didn’t play too well against Stoke at OT just got the breaks our way, like that Tevez offside not going our way there would have gone right at home
December 26th, 2008 at 15:22
carrick and rafa need to come on quick!!! why is fergie so fuckin laid back this season
December 26th, 2008 at 15:23
shicking tackle on ronaldo, but Im sad to say that sending off only ensure the stoke draw. I bet they dont even venture past the half line for the rest of the game.
December 26th, 2008 at 15:29
i was watching the last 15 minutes of this game because i been sleeping after a hectic xmas day, and i must say this team is pathetic atm, fergies team selection is appaling
has the whole game been this bad
December 26th, 2008 at 15:30
and as i write that tevez scorss
talk about humble pie
December 26th, 2008 at 15:31
I love Tevez
………..Carlito!!!!!!!!!
December 26th, 2008 at 15:32
thank fuck carlito…not home n dry yet tho
December 26th, 2008 at 15:32
thank god
December 26th, 2008 at 15:34
now is the time to irritate them…..they deserve that
December 26th, 2008 at 15:35
I say we sit back in our own half and hold the ball. lets make these cowards come out and try to get it, so we can then carve em up.
December 26th, 2008 at 15:36
Thank You Tevez! Where would we be without him!
Well Played Berba, Fergie got it right with that change
December 26th, 2008 at 15:38
4 MINUTES!!
THIS REF’S BEEN ABSOLUTE S***E!
(sorry for the caps RR, if you’re there)
December 26th, 2008 at 15:40
I thought the 2nd half was brilliant btw and Stoke played their part in it we just got a lucky break
December 26th, 2008 at 15:44
so what happened to the “Brave” Stoke City? As soon as they went a goal down, they didnt have the heart to chase the ball and go for the equaliser. Absolute cowards, they never even dreamed of getting 3 points out of this game. they came here for a scoreless draw, and that is just dreadful.
December 26th, 2008 at 15:46
@johnsom33: Yep, and they’ll be portrayed as heroes in tomorrows papers. What a bag of steaming s***e
December 26th, 2008 at 15:50
Hats off to G.neville,Giggs and Scholes…I think they were better than Ronaldo and Rooney. I dont know why some guys were all over them with them doing no wrong.. Why is ronaldo and rooney losing their head so often nowadays??…2 red cards was imminent…fortunate that guy from Stoke fell into Ronaldo’s trap inviting the challenge..
G.Neville played very well on the right and also provided the aerial cover that was required..Scholes controlled the game’s tempo and with Fletcher played a good waiting game..Berbatov provided that magic touch which we expect of Ronaldo/Rooney..
Tevez right place right time as always!!
December 26th, 2008 at 15:55
Love the way Tevez celebrated the goal
December 26th, 2008 at 15:57
Thank fuck for that!! Stoke fully deserve what they got in that match – a morale crushing defeat – after all, what were they expecting after such a cowardly display?
I’m seriously fed up of all this rubbish 10-man behind the ball crap. I know they don’t have the talent to contain our firepower in an open game but come on, have some pride while playing at home!! How would their fans feel selling out the stadium and going home after not only cowardly display, but a heartbreaking defeat?
I blame the media and the chairmen of these clubs for all the unnecessary pressure they put the managers under. I was listening to the commentary on SKY and the guy was encouraging the play, calling it heroic and brave, WTF?? As if that was not enough, he was supporting their OTT physical play!! Are they out there to play football or karate? I mean, not long after he was praising that wilkinson thug, the guy almost destroyed Ronnie achilles tendon!! I’m sorry but England as a whole embraces cowardice and thuggery, if the media stopped praising such nonsense maybe the fans would follow and the managers would actually attempt to play some entertaining footy!!
That said, we should try to find a way round this system as we would be unfortunately seeing a lot of it this season.
I am not gonna criticise the line-up as we have, I think, 9 matches in 4 weeks. Hence, we need to rotate and rest certain players. Our next match is in a few days and we should maybe see Carra and Ando on the middle with Nani/Park/Ronnie on the wings. Bring on the Boro!! The one thing I like about them is that they don’t park the bus and always give a good game, hopefully it will be more interesting. 
December 26th, 2008 at 16:01
@Man-U-cho: word. i also loved how everyone was so happy for him. he deserved that, carlito.
December 26th, 2008 at 16:01
Thank god for berba
. I was praying he’d make a difference when he came on. Cant wait for all the “utd steal an undeserved victory from brave stoke” headlines 2moro 
what a pile of horse****. What a bunch of cowards and thugs masquerading as footballers. I hope they get relgated 
Rooney was very lucky not to be sent off though im sure the FA will find some way to suspend him somehow. Wow what a frustrating game and what a relief to get the 3 points
December 26th, 2008 at 16:05
@johnsom33: they had plenty of attempts and were looking for the goal before Wilkinson was sent off. When they were down to 10 men with 15 minutes to go of course they weren’t going to push up, just as if we were at Stamford bridge in the same position I wouldn’t have wanted us to go gung-ho. After the goal it was near the end and they must have been exhausted and I for 1 thought it was a great 2nd half and we could have lost just as easily as we won.
December 26th, 2008 at 16:05
Can anyone tell me how the game went?? Couldn’t watch the game because of family and all that.
December 26th, 2008 at 16:05
we have some real problems when we are struggling to beat stoke, real problems. Alot of the blame comes down to ferguson and some of his crazy tactics. Fletcher is a decent squad player but is no more than that, so how the hell does he start every game? All he does is play 5 yard passes, and that is it. He tackles a bit and runs around but thats all. Carrick can do this and his ball retention and passing is 20 times what flecthers is so if its a choice between flecth and carrick, it will have to be carrick every time. Also no ando, how come. And as for giggs on the left well, we really need to delve into the transfer market this jan and buy a new left midfielder because that is easily our weakest area in the whole squad. And finally, why the hell does berba play behind the main striker? It should be him tapping in those goals not playing behind. Is this down to berba deciding to play there, or has he been told to play there by the manager?
December 26th, 2008 at 16:26
@Matthew: The same Stoke that beat Arsenal and held Liverpool???? Plus the fact that we’re just coming back from a trip half way around the world. I’m not denying the team is not up to a 100% but to use this match as evidence is kinda unsensible, imo. Anyway, carry on with the usual overreaction that’s rife on here.
December 26th, 2008 at 16:27
skysports headline says “Brave” stoke..unbelievable…
December 26th, 2008 at 16:31
The same as we had problems last season when we struggled to beat Derby? Stoke are a decent team and didn’t deserve to lose 5-0 at OT. They drew with Liverpool at Anfield and beat Arsenal (something we haven’t managed this season). The players sleeping schedules were messed up by the trip to Japan and that’s taking the fact that it was Christmas day yesterday and a lot of the players have young kids who would have woken them up early. We won the game, be happy instead of all this criticism. We have to be the only fans who moan constantly after a good away win
December 26th, 2008 at 16:34
@Rd: damn beat me to it
why does my iPod have to be so slow to type?
December 26th, 2008 at 16:40
Rd, we are the supposed best team in the world and yet we struggled to stoke. I dont care if liverpool or arsenal struggled to stoke thats their problem, all i care about is how we do against those teams. I dont think i am over reacting as to how the team did. Yes we won, but had we drawn every1 would have been going crazy. Stoke are an extremely poor team that we should be beating home or away week in week out comfortably. Had tevez not scored i have to say it would have largely been down to the awful tactics. Yes we are still in the title race but everyone on here has to admit that we have performed extremely poor all season and are lucky we are still in the title race.
December 26th, 2008 at 17:03
@Matthew: Stoke were in no way poor today, of course they chose their usual cowardly tactics of kicking and defending for their lives but they weren’t poor(I’m watching the match right now since I couldn’t watch it live). Extremely poor all season?? By what standards, even by United standards, we’ve been mediocre, far from extremely poor, we’re still 6pts behind the leaders, I don’t know how that qualifies as extremely poor. All I’m saying is considering the Japan trip and the messed up time- zone, I’m happy with the 3pts, thank you very much.
December 26th, 2008 at 17:12
liam, lesson learned
never doubt dan!
New rule:
carrick or anderson(preferably anderson) HAS to start evey game. they are our only midfielders who can play a through ball.
scholes cant, he can play diagnol balls, not through.
December 26th, 2008 at 17:23
Rd, we are very lucky to be in the position we find ourselves at the minute. If chelsea hadnt been so crap at home this year we would be miles behind and with no chance on winning the title. And when i say we have played poor this season i mean performance wise. We have hardly played a game this year where we dominated from the off, took our chances, got the 3 points and really looked like champions. The only games where i can honestly say this is true was against blackburn at their place, celtic at home, stoke at home (5-0 obviously), and west brom home again. Maybe a few others but for most of the games this year it has always been nearly, almost etc. We dont finish teams off and some of our attacking has been atrocious. I understand that it is hard to score when a team has every man back defending but we should be used to that because teams have been doing it for years and we have spent 90 million on our striker force so we expect some goals. Maybe our performances will start to pick up but you cant deny that we look a shadow of the team we were last year.
December 26th, 2008 at 17:49
Agree with Matthew we are not playing nearly at the same level of last year. Partly may be because Ronaldo is a shadow of the player he was, petulant and ineffectivel. Also Berba has not yet reached the level we all expected. Our midfield is a little predictable, particularly Fletch.
I can’t undertand why Ando is not playing regularly. He is potentially our best midfielder. Also, Nani can be infurating but he should have a run in the team to regain his confidence.
December 26th, 2008 at 17:58
@Rd: You just keep making all your excuses mate
. The Japan trip, doesn’t make up for all the SHITE performances by our strikers (I won’t call them strike FORCE – they are not) this season. We need somebody, ANYBODY, who can open up a packed defence, because none of our MF can do a good job at that. Sorry.
December 26th, 2008 at 18:04
@Craig Mc: yes one midfielder can. his name is anderson
December 26th, 2008 at 18:06
@Shyam: Shyam Bro – if the ref’s did give Rooney and Ronnie red cards for their ‘big girls blouse’ petulant behaviour, then maybe Fergie would kick their arses and knock their feckin heads together, because I for one think their tantrums are an embarassment. United have lost their discipline this year, but then Rooney never had any anyway
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December 26th, 2008 at 18:07
@dan(u-ol): Mmmmmm – still think that is debatable Dan(u)ol
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December 26th, 2008 at 18:33
agree with dan, why is ando dropped when in the last few weeks he has been great and has also started to come forward a bit more, his first goal looked imminent.
December 26th, 2008 at 18:57
@Craig Mc: Thats your opinion, and I don’t see how the Japan trip doesn’t excuse the strikers since they were all there.
@Matthew: I’m not denying that we’ve been far from top form, my point was that using todays match as an example of how average we’ve been this season doesn’t hold water considering the circumstance
December 26th, 2008 at 19:10
Rd, ok mate i see what your saying. Arsenal winning 1-0 by the way despite being out played.
December 26th, 2008 at 19:11
whine whine whine… someone didn’t have their stuffing yesterday
We are gettin the points, maybe not playing as well but as a team, we are still adapting to this cowardly 4-5-1 formation every team has decided to employ against us. Blaming the strikers is just clutching at straws, how many clear opportunities did each of them get today? especially against a defense where there are constantly two men on each of them?
The bottom line is we need to improve our give-and-go joga bonito football
That’s the only way to break down two lines of defense. We need to retain possession, be patient and find those killer passes. Unless we score an early goal and force the other team to attack, we are unfortunately gonna be looking at similar performances this season. It’s sad, but as champions who have the capability to hand out drubbings and concede few, most teams just prefer to park it and get a draw. It’s up to us to change our style and overcome this new hurdle. 
December 26th, 2008 at 19:12
We have a match on Monday and this team was selected with that match in mind. Middlesborough are a better team than Stoke and we would need Carrick and Anderson. Neville and some of the others who featured didn’t play the final in Japan so they started the game today. Sometimes the negativity in this blog is beyond words.
December 26th, 2008 at 19:25
Gary had a decent game today and at long last put some decent crosses in.
Fletch and Giggs on from the start, and then Park about to come on but Carlitos scored first. No Anderson or Carrick. It’s so frustrating seeing Fergie’s team selections. There was nowhere in the team today that an injection of pace could come from. A few of the short fuses may also be due to some of our forward players being as cheesed off as us.
December 26th, 2008 at 19:34
@dan(u-ol): Yeah because Anderson has been head and shoulders above everyone this year in goalscoring and assists
He has only had one game in the last year that I can look back and say he played well and that was in the Carling Cup. Other than that he has been average at best. I’m beginning to think if John O’Shea was Brasilian he’d be hailed as world class
December 26th, 2008 at 20:06
Nobody on this site has had the ability in the past to shut me up but today Fergie and United did you all a big favor fro the near future. They left me almost speechless. What more can I say? What’s the point? This team managed by a stubborn as Hell old codger who sees nothing wrong with what he has been serving up, just continues to play like shit and he continues to make moves or not make moves that perplex and befuddle us.
Sure we can chalk this one up to jet lag but I for one will give three main reasons why we barely escaped with a 1-0 win at Stroke Shitty.
1. Once again we went up against the ten man wall for most of the game. When that happens, just forget about watching a football match. Do you think I was going to wake up at 4:30am to watch what I was certain was going to be a 1-0 trench war classic? Not on your life. Thank God for DVD recorders. Shame however that I have wasted yet another dvd this year recording a Manchester United game. I mean what’s the point?
2. Jet lag. As if we didn’t know that wasn’t going to affect the team for a while. Even without it, the result probably was going to be the same anyway.
3. FERGIE. A manager who not only has no clue as to what to do to get this team playing better and how to tactically beat these opponents who set up walls in front of goal and do nothing but defend for 90 minutes. Old fart without a clue and a staff of total yes men who are also clueless monkeys who have come along for that dull carriage ride in the country. And to add insult to injury, he continues to play undeserving players and sits Anderson down because frankly, he’s too good at this moment to be starting for us. And if that wasn’t enough, on Christmas Eve he gave all United supporters the greatest of Christmas gifts when he let us all know in his abrupt and I don’t give a fuck what you think way that there would be no new signings during the January transfer window. And lets face it folks, it’s not like this team needs any new blood now does it? Why we just have such incredible depth and diversity on our team that every game we can mix and match and always come out 3-0 winners.
Frankly I just don’t care anymore. This season has been a bore and a beast of burden from the get go. I have not been so depressed and put off by the game as I have been this season. It all started with Spain spoiling my 2007/08 by defeating Germany and then it continued with the Ronaldo/Real affair and the constant lingering and delays signing Berbatov. Once the 08/09 season started I had a bad feeling in the back of my mind that our team was going to have problems. I stated before the season that Scholes, Neville and Giggs could no longer start and that Fergie needed to add not just on player but two or three to really give this team an edge and some offensive options in the midfield. It was obvious to me, a supporter what was going to happen and to be completely honest, the team has exceeded my expectations when it comes to futility. Actually they are in better shape in the league than I expected by now, but I don’t give them credit for that as much as I give Liverpool and Chelsea many thanks for also playing like shite and not making the most of their lead and showing the killer instinct to pull away more when they had their chances.
We are very fortunate to have those underachievers ahead of us because we have been total shite all season and are still within striking distance. But honestly people, can we be expected to win the title this year when we can’t score more goals than one per game against fucking crap opposition? Is it really possible. Rooney is inconsistent as Hell, Ronaldo is a shadow of his former self, Berbatov is not Berba, Tevez has struggled all year to find form and playing time, and our midfield is as useless and unimaginative as one could possibly imagine in their worst nightmare. And all this in the most unattractive and depressingly boring football league on the planet.
Frankly speaking, the only other reason we are still in the title race is due to our great defensive back three (Neville does not count), consistent if not spectacular keeping by EVDS and the emergence of Rafael which has kept that back four playing well. Without our defense, we would seriously be in a world of shite. This club has fractures in several places and a manager who is to blind or to stubborn to realize it, and even more stubborn to do something about it. Not one tirade, not any exhibition of anger or frustration. It’s like he doesn’t care anymore or he’s just going through the motions. And then he treats us all like muppets by telling us through the media that we are in store for more of the same in the second half because he does not see anything wrong with our side and that no additions are needed. Is that him talking or the Glazer’s? Have the owners stolen Fergie’s mojo? How can we expect passion from the club when it’s clear the manager has none? So I ask you, why are we all such gluttons for punishment? Why do we continue to attend or tune in to these games week after week after week knowing full well that the club is not playing well and that nothing is being done to improve our stock? I for one am sick and fucking tired of wasting my time on unattractive, uninspired and unimaginative football by a team that has spoilt me over the past two decades by playing attractive, inspired and imaginative football?
I am fed up and I am seriously doubting whether I will tune into any more United games live. Why should I sit and put myself through two hours of the same old drudgery week after week after week? I may not be working right now due to my health but my health certainly does not need the stress and added disappointment I get from 2 to 4 hours of weekly boredom, and frustration which has got me all depressed and pissed off. Frankly speaking, as a die hard fanatic, it’s not healthy. So until this team shows a consistent and positive form I will record the games and watch only if the team scores goals. Goals make the world go round and they are the reason why I love the game and why United has been my team for 30+ years.
If United want to bore me and inject Italian style bullshit into my blood stream while also showing little imagination, style or creative depth in finding away through a ten man wall, then I for one need a break from them. Frankly, it’s not worth my time or effort to watch this team in this kind of form. Some may say I am not a loyal fan or that I am only a fair weather fan but I respond to those claims by saying that I am just being a self preservationist. I don’t need this shit to make my days and weeks miserable. United are no longer the bright moment in my week. They have turned into a descending black cloud of boredom and negativity and frankly, I already have enough of that kind of crap in my life. I don’t need to overdose on it.
December 26th, 2008 at 20:07
all of you who are blaming fergie for team selection, and not picking carrick and anderson…i dont think that was a mistake. fergie had the tight schedule in mind and wanted to use the squad players and i think today’s game was the right time to do it. we have about 10 odd games in the coming month, and if fletcher, gary etc are not going to play against the bunch of talentless bullies (or brave english lions according to the press) that stoke are, then when are they going to play.
although i agree that all three of gary, scholes and giggs should not have played together.
now i am slowly beginning to lose interest watching united playing strokes and sunderlands in the epl. These teams are disgrace to football and don’t even try to come out of their own penalty box let alone half.
Give me hull city or even gamba osaka anyday….
me defending fergie doesn’t mean that i am happy with the teams performance, i think we are far from reaching last year’s form. i hope we go into the top gear as soon as possible…..
on the other note….is anyone else concerned about Liverpool’s chances of winning the league this year? i am very concerned, i cant imagine the day if they win the league, i would rather rent boys win it.
December 26th, 2008 at 20:53
Was I the only one who thinks that Stoke were ok today, I mean they were nothing special but they did have some chances to take the lead and showed some adventure. Also nobody has mentioned Cristiano kicking out anytime he is fouled which will only encourage more fouling. This team needs to get rid of him IMO. He just isn’t motivated last season. He has nothing to play for now as he has achieved it all. We need a new star who hasn’t achieved anything and has the hunger to do well
December 26th, 2008 at 20:54
@Shyam:
You are spot on mate. I have criticized fergie for selecting the old boys in the past, but today Neville, Giggs and Scholes put in good shifts and were instrumental for us. Stoker were rubbish by the way.Such bloody cowards!!! and to think the media will portray them as the superheroes who lost due to an unlucky break!
December 26th, 2008 at 20:55
@Liam: liam, goals and assist mean shite all if the midfield cant play a single through ball. its not because anderson is brazilian at all, its because hes our only midfielder right now, able to play an accurate through ball. i dont give a monkeys if fletcher has scored more, in a CM, your first duty is accurate passing, your second scoring/assists. fletcher is our worst passer of the ball when it comes to midfielders.
December 26th, 2008 at 20:57
@vikas: Totally agree with you. As you put, if the old timers can’t play against Stock, then when can they play. Last year SAF did something similar, when we went to Bolton, we lost that day, but we won today. I haven’t watched the game, so can’t comment, but I had a feeling that it’s gonna be hard game, I even thought that we might loose points. I know we are scrapping our way so far this season, but at least we are still there. Boro next and I hope for better times.
December 26th, 2008 at 21:50
@vikas: Without trying to start a riot on here for criticizing our manager, its about time we all started to realise that SAF is not, and never has been good at picking the right team needed for the game at hand, never mind coming home from Japan, he has been picking the wrong teams for practically every match this season and he is being too loyal to certain players that carry no attacking threat whatsoever.
Today was a perfect example, Stoke set up to stifle our play when we entered the last third of the pitch, they put themselves about and totally shut down the space that our forwards needed so in my opinion the forwards had an almost impossible task.
Our problem did not lie in our forward play, it lay in our midfeild coz of our 4 mids today, only one carries a serious forward threat and that is Ronaldo, that allowed Stoke to concentrate on just 3 of our players, Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez and this my freinds makes it far too easy to nullify our attacking threat.
I have been saying for a long time now that Carrick, Scholes and Fletcher are too similar to play in the same team together coz they sit too deep, and Giggs is finished as an attacking force, and when all three are on the pitch at the same time we look pedestrian when we attack.
To make matters worse, SAF was about to take Tevez off and put the wing wizard Park on just as Tevez scored, is he having a laugh, whats wrong with Nani, he may be inconsistent but he is 100 times more dangerous than Park or Giggs, and he would have stretched Stoke out wide and gave us a threat from both wings, coz against teams like Stoke, you need to carry a threat and good movement from all over the pitch coz we cant expect our forwards to shine whenever the opposition can concentrate on them and not worry to much about our midfeild, who are simply woeful at running up to and beyond our forwards, and that fact is both undeniable and disgraceful.
Fletcher and Park are not good enough for United, Giggs is finished and Scholes must be used Sparingly, that means against teams like Stoke, Anderson and Nani must start.
Also, we didnt half miss Pat and Raphaels forward contibution today, coz these two also give opposing sides much to think about.
December 26th, 2008 at 22:02
@Fred The Red: Whether or not Nani is a 100x(over exaggeration) better than Nani or not, I’d much rather have consistent but less talented Park who were can be sure will help to cover the defense a little and provide some threat going forward even if he is frustrating in front of goal than inconsistent but skillful Nani whose end product is zilch.
December 26th, 2008 at 22:06
a win is a win is a win!
@Fred The Red: Really?… Fergie has never been good at a setting up the team for a match???? Are you seriously saying that 20 years of success have been due to ass’t managers or luck.
Fergie is a genius manager both in terms of tactics and man/ego-management.
We have a tight schedule and need all players to be part of the team effort to come through January with max pts and min fatigue. Fergie is ensuring that is happening.
THE END
December 26th, 2008 at 22:10
@Orez:
yes we are still there and, we have only played 7 home games out of 17 as opposed to pool and chelsea’s 10 out of 19…
We actually have a better chance of winning the league than them….but our form does not give me that confidence…
December 26th, 2008 at 22:14
I think as we did today we need to play 4 of our best players – Ronaldo,Rooney,Tevez and Berbatov in the starting eleven against teams like Stoke,Sunderland who dont have enough pace or quality to threaten our backline…
December 26th, 2008 at 22:15
@Fred The Red:
i agree that fergie’s team selection has not been up to the mark this season but i will not accuse him for that for today’s game, given the tight schedule and players still struggling with jet leg.
yet i agree that all three of old guards should not be on the pitch at the same time….
December 26th, 2008 at 22:22
@Fred The Red: Claiming that he never picks the right team is a little overboard. I understand why he picks this team though. You see, as I said we are still in the contention, and I think SAF doesn’t want to risk much. He doesn’t think that we have time to integrate the youngsters and our hard schedule didn’t help. I am sure if we were out of contention, but with CL guaranteed he would have played them. As for me I agree that Nani and Anderson should start every game, unless we expect and attacking and hard game from opposition (any of other top 4 and some hard away games), in which case Park and/or Fletcher should start. Carricks position I believe is not up for discussion. At least Nani and Andy should be subs. The only logical explanation that I have is, that they were really tired, that why they were not even on the bench.
P.S. On a better note Arse drew and what a game and Hammers spanked Portsmouth, which was another great game.
December 26th, 2008 at 22:24
Apparently my tirade has come upon deaf ears. No comments for my post considering how venomous it was? It’s just another symptomatic problem that comes from this team’s season so far. We don’t even have the passion or interest anymore to debate each other or read a post that’s more than a few sentences long. I guess I’m wasting my energy and effort on a group that frankly just doesn’t care any more. I just don’t know if it’s United, Fergie or me? Probably a combination of all three. Anyway, I am getting tired of making the effort if nobody seems to care enough to comment.
December 26th, 2008 at 22:27
@Grognard: you havent made a post for like the last day? check the post your talking about, if it says, “awaiting moderation” it means WE cant see it but YOU can.
December 26th, 2008 at 23:07
@Grognard: i was also waiting for your reaction on the game but didn’t see any…
December 26th, 2008 at 23:14
@Grognard: What are you talking about Grog?
There is no post from you in the last 39 hours. About this place being boring, of cource it is! We havent had a new article for a week. The longest discussion yesterday was my game vs Dan. So that should tell you something. Its not that we dont have tome nor interest to read posts, its just not happening anything interesting these days. Tevez scored, woo hoo! We won the game, nothing special. We all knew Stoke were gonna be a tough test if we didnt score early, which we proved by scoring in the 83rd minute. Plus, Ronaldo getting frustrated? Nothing new. Rooney being inconsistent? Nothing new. Fergie screwing up team selection? Nothing new. People having different opinions about Anderson? Neither that is new. Somebody has to get a new discussion up here, cause Im boring my arse off!
December 26th, 2008 at 23:22
@Madschester United: SAF is a genious at some things and is brilliant at most levels of management, but his ability to pick the most effective team for a particular match, and his ability to read the situation if things are not going right and make changes accordingly, [ which is called tactics], are not his strong points and has always been his achillies heel, but the sheer quality and superiority of his players has always partially hid this, except against the big teams in Europe, they have exposed this on numerous occasions.
A brilliant manager, possibly the greatest ever, but not without fault.
@Rd: Park protecting the defence against Stoke, do me a favour.
Park would not start for any of the other top 4 teams in England, so if hes not good enough for them hes certainly not good enough for us, and the same goes for Fletcher.
@Orez: Yes, I might have went overboard stating that he never picks the right team, but he does pick the wrong team team on a quite consistent basis as any body who has attended OT over the last 20 years will testify.
December 27th, 2008 at 0:34
@Grognard: I find it hard to keep going on about the same things over and over again. Fergie is stuck in his way and sentiment has severely clouded his judgment. I dont care what anyone says, just cause Neville puts in a halfway decent shift once in 10 games, it doesnt warrant him a place in the side. Rafael is 18, and he can play 2 games a week. But it is use mentioning that because fergie is gonna play his special players.
December 27th, 2008 at 0:37
all you Scholes, Giggs, and Neville lovers. We arent saying that they are useless players. The objection that I have along woth many others, is that fergie plays these players at the expense of our future stars. It is a crime that Fergie often opts to play giggs in th middle of the park instead of Anderson. And whle Fletcher isnt old, he is more or less peaked as a player. and anderson is already better than him. so by keeping Anderson on the bench you are stunting his develeopment as a player.
December 27th, 2008 at 0:42
@Fred The Red: Couldn’t agree with you more Fred
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December 27th, 2008 at 0:45
@Orez: How can Nani and Anderson be tired ???, Fergie never plays the poor sods. He’d rather play the numptees
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December 27th, 2008 at 0:46
@Craig Mc: Thanks mate, I was hoping that the cavalry would arrive and back me up, your not allowed to point out SAFs faults here
December 27th, 2008 at 0:48
@Rd: Nani’s end product wasn’t zilch last year though, when he was PLAYING regularly. You need to ask yourself why the feck the lad is regressing under Fergie and his team
.
December 27th, 2008 at 0:50
@johnsom33: couldnt agree more mate, Anderson, Nani and young Raphael bring with them energy and dynamism to our team, something that was severely lacking today,
December 27th, 2008 at 0:52
@Liam: If this team needs to get rid of Ronaldo for kicking out, then your precious Rooney should be gotten rid of too, if that’s your criteria for getting rid of a player. And Rooney doesn’t even get half the clogging Ronnie gets from the opposition, so Lord knows what he would be like with his mania if he did.
December 27th, 2008 at 0:56
@Rd: Well our strikers weren’t in Japan for the rest of the season, so what’s their excuses for shite striking performances then?.
December 27th, 2008 at 1:06
@Craig Mc: Im afraid that Ronaldos best days at United could be behind him, and its not because of a lack of talent or bad attitude, its the lack of protection he is currently getting from referees, which was shocking today.
Even Real Madrid kicked lumps out of Messi two weeks ago and it seems like special players are going to be targeted now, so Ronnie must learn not to show his frustration so openly, coz this will just encourage them more, even to the extent that Stoke fans applauded off a player who basically set out to stop Ron at any price.
December 27th, 2008 at 1:20
@Fred The Red: You know Fred, this is what is sickening me about football today. I go to stand on the terraces to see the good players strutting their stuff, and not to see the THUGS prosper. Ronnie is never on his feet during matches, because whenever the ball is anywhere near him, he is whalloped to the floor. Both Ronnie and Rooney should have been off today, as their frustration caused them to lash out at defenders in response. Rooney was NEVER grounded at all as Ronnie was, so what’s his excuse for elbowing etc?. I am getting sick of it all Fred, it is making me want to stay away from travelling with United. It is not football anymore, it is just a prison playground for thuggery.
December 27th, 2008 at 2:19
@RedDevilEddy: Post #339 mate. Kind of hard to miss I would think.
December 27th, 2008 at 2:29
Johnson 33 You’re absolutely right. It was a dreadfully disjointed game with bad temper an undercurrent throughout. Both Rooney and Ronaldo could be in trouble if the video is looked at as one swung an arm and the other a leg. Ultra defensive tactics are despicable but if anything is going to produce 3 points it is patience, not losing the plot. Man management is Fergie’s strongest suit but he seems unable to stop this petulant, counter-productive behaviour.
The play in Japan had far more urgency and that came from Anderson, and raiding full backs. Without those today, it was slow and predictable. We, the fans, keep coming back but it is not exciting us. These players need fresh ideas and I can’t see where they’re going to come from.
December 27th, 2008 at 2:35
@Grognard: This is the post 339 for us @vikas: We can’t see your post.
December 27th, 2008 at 2:48
@Grognard: Eh, Grog? The post #339 is Liams complain about Anderson. I dont think thats yours… Looks if it is more than 2 smilies, if it is 3 smileys or more the comment is awaiting moderation. Dunno why to be honest, but that is the case…
December 27th, 2008 at 2:50
@dan(u-ol): For crying out loud, I am getting really pissed off with this site and it’s stupid moderation error. I can see the post perfectly well on both my computers so I am not sure what you mean. So what if it says under moderation if it shows up. I am confused by the whole mess. Why I can see it on two different computers while you can’t is an enigma to me.
December 27th, 2008 at 2:51
@RedDevilEddy: Every post I make today seems to be awaiting moderation.
December 27th, 2008 at 2:54
@vikas: Red ranter better start fixing the problems on this site before enough of us get pissed off and quit it. I have responded numerous times and half of my posts await moderation. My big response today on my computer is #339 but does not show up for you guys like that. It’s pretty hard to contribute and not be seen half of the time.
December 27th, 2008 at 2:56
@Grognard: Lets see if it shows up if I post it again; Here goes,
Nobody on this site has had the ability in the past to shut me up but today Fergie and United did you all a big favor fro the near future. They left me almost speechless. What more can I say? What’s the point? This team managed by a stubborn as Hell old codger who sees nothing wrong with what he has been serving up, just continues to play like shit and he continues to make moves or not make moves that perplex and befuddle us.
Sure we can chalk this one up to jet lag but I for one will give three main reasons why we barely escaped with a 1-0 win at Stroke Shitty.
1. Once again we went up against the ten man wall for most of the game. When that happens, just forget about watching a football match. Do you think I was going to wake up at 4:30am to watch what I was certain was going to be a 1-0 trench war classic? Not on your life. Thank God for DVD recorders. Shame however that I have wasted yet another dvd this year recording a Manchester United game. I mean what’s the point?
2. Jet lag. As if we didn’t know that wasn’t going to affect the team for a while. Even without it, the result probably was going to be the same anyway.
3. FERGIE. A manager who not only has no clue as to what to do to get this team playing better and how to tactically beat these opponents who set up walls in front of goal and do nothing but defend for 90 minutes. Old fart without a clue and a staff of total yes men who are also clueless monkeys who have come along for that dull carriage ride in the country. And to add insult to injury, he continues to play undeserving players and sits Anderson down because frankly, he’s too good at this moment to be starting for us. And if that wasn’t enough, on Christmas Eve he gave all United supporters the greatest of Christmas gifts when he let us all know in his abrupt and I don’t give a fuck what you think way that there would be no new signings during the January transfer window. And lets face it folks, it’s not like this team needs any new blood now does it? Why we just have such incredible depth and diversity on our team that every game we can mix and match and always come out 3-0 winners.
Frankly I just don’t care anymore. This season has been a bore and a beast of burden from the get go. I have not been so depressed and put off by the game as I have been this season. It all started with Spain spoiling my 2007/08 by defeating Germany and then it continued with the Ronaldo/Real affair and the constant lingering and delays signing Berbatov. Once the 08/09 season started I had a bad feeling in the back of my mind that our team was going to have problems. I stated before the season that Scholes, Neville and Giggs could no longer start and that Fergie needed to add not just on player but two or three to really give this team an edge and some offensive options in the midfield. It was obvious to me, a supporter what was going to happen and to be completely honest, the team has exceeded my expectations when it comes to futility. Actually they are in better shape in the league than I expected by now, but I don’t give them credit for that as much as I give Liverpool and Chelsea many thanks for also playing like shite and not making the most of their lead and showing the killer instinct to pull away more when they had their chances.
We are very fortunate to have those underachievers ahead of us because we have been total shite all season and are still within striking distance. But honestly people, can we be expected to win the title this year when we can’t score more goals than one per game against fucking crap opposition? Is it really possible. Rooney is inconsistent as Hell, Ronaldo is a shadow of his former self, Berbatov is not Berba, Tevez has struggled all year to find form and playing time, and our midfield is as useless and unimaginative as one could possibly imagine in their worst nightmare. And all this in the most unattractive and depressingly boring football league on the planet.
Frankly speaking, the only other reason we are still in the title race is due to our great defensive back three (Neville does not count), consistent if not spectacular keeping by EVDS and the emergence of Rafael which has kept that back four playing well. Without our defense, we would seriously be in a world of shite. This club has fractures in several places and a manager who is to blind or to stubborn to realize it, and even more stubborn to do something about it. Not one tirade, not any exhibition of anger or frustration. It’s like he doesn’t care anymore or he’s just going through the motions. And then he treats us all like muppets by telling us through the media that we are in store for more of the same in the second half because he does not see anything wrong with our side and that no additions are needed. Is that him talking or the Glazer’s? Have the owners stolen Fergie’s mojo? How can we expect passion from the club when it’s clear the manager has none? So I ask you, why are we all such gluttons for punishment? Why do we continue to attend or tune in to these games week after week after week knowing full well that the club is not playing well and that nothing is being done to improve our stock? I for one am sick and fucking tired of wasting my time on unattractive, uninspired and unimaginative football by a team that has spoilt me over the past two decades by playing attractive, inspired and imaginative football?
I am fed up and I am seriously doubting whether I will tune into any more United games live. Why should I sit and put myself through two hours of the same old drudgery week after week after week? I may not be working right now due to my health but my health certainly does not need the stress and added disappointment I get from 2 to 4 hours of weekly boredom, and frustration which has got me all depressed and pissed off. Frankly speaking, as a die hard fanatic, it’s not healthy. So until this team shows a consistent and positive form I will record the games and watch only if the team scores goals. Goals make the world go round and they are the reason why I love the game and why United has been my team for 30+ years.
If United want to bore me and inject Italian style bullshit into my blood stream while also showing little imagination, style or creative depth in finding away through a ten man wall, then I for one need a break from them. Frankly, it’s not worth my time or effort to watch this team in this kind of form. Some may say I am not a loyal fan or that I am only a fair weather fan but I respond to those claims by saying that I am just being a self preservationist. I don’t need this shit to make my days and weeks miserable. United are no longer the bright moment in my week. They have turned into a descending black cloud of boredom and negativity and frankly, I already have enough of that kind of crap in my life. I don’t need to overdose on it.
December 27th, 2008 at 2:57
why dont you get some more bloggers? there are never any posts. ever. like one every 3 days. and you do a ton of posts when you want us to vote for you. but just for those days..lame…
December 27th, 2008 at 11:00
@cristiano: You don’t post enough to qualify to comment mate. The blogmaster has personal reasons for why this blog isn’t renewed at the moment as it used to be. The wheels are in process I believe to remedy present problems.
December 27th, 2008 at 11:02
Grog, hang in there mate – and just try not using smilies for the moment, as Eddy says, I think there is where we have a problem with the system.
December 27th, 2008 at 11:04
@Craig Mc: i like the comeback craig
December 27th, 2008 at 11:06
@cristiano: That IS what will happen-soon. Most likely, grognard will be doing posts, as will Redranter, ahmed and hopefully penguin will come back from his hiatus
December 27th, 2008 at 12:59
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1206/udinese/2008/12/27/1029649/udineses-sanchez-i-want-to-play-for-manchester-united
what do you guys think about this lad?
check it out
December 27th, 2008 at 13:05
@john freakin’ o’shea: we where linked with him in the summer, looks a good prospect. i would buy him for £5-7 million pounds.
December 27th, 2008 at 13:08
Grog, did you entered the competition already? you must bro, so that there will be new posts from time to time.
December 27th, 2008 at 13:10
@dan(u-ol): 5-7 million? i think udinese will not give him for that price, we pay over the odds to get a guy, so if we are to land this guy, we’ll probably pay about 15 mil
December 27th, 2008 at 13:17
@john freakin’ o’shea: Not a chance fergie will pay that much for him, £7 mil maximum. there are many more players as good as, and even better then him that are around his age. why not get them for a cheaper price then him with an inflated price?
if you wanna know what im talking about, lennon, hes a good player worth 7 mil, can develop into an excellent winger. worth 7 mil, but clubs will have to pay 15mil+ for his services no doubt.
tosic, same as lennon, a good player, and we will hopefully be getting him for 7 million, thats(hopefully) his worth.
December 27th, 2008 at 17:43
dan, yep hopefully we can bring in tosic and he will be able to help that left sided part that i think is pretty weak for us. Also cover on the right would be good cos i cant stand seeing fletcher play there as he did at the start of the year.
December 27th, 2008 at 18:10
Im also very excited to hear alexis sanchez say he would like to play for us. I know players say this all the time but he seems like a good kid from what i have seen of him. I watch the italian teams alot due to my italian heritage and i gotta say this kid looks special indeed. If i had to compare him with some1 in the premier league it would probably be a mix between walcott, ashley young and nani. Sanchez has great speed, he is one of the fastest players in all the italian league, but maybe thats just because the league is so slow so i dont know. He has great crosses on him, maybe not quite up to the standard of young but still a bit better than nani. Add to this his skills and you get the idea of what he is all about. He has done a good job with udinese so far this year but if we are serious about him i would make a move for him sooner rather than later because all the top clubs are watching him at the minute.
December 27th, 2008 at 19:47
i am fed up with other supporters. dey are so fecking naive. what did alex get away with?? a stamp maybe? maybe it didnt hurt but oh well
that stamp was far worse than both rooney’s and ronaldos put together. and alex got away with it as the referee said he would NOT have given a red card had he seen it.
so, no fear. nothing will happen to rooney or ronaldo. but adebayours sending off was a stupid in the head.
but terry, as usual, will have his red card taken away.
December 27th, 2008 at 20:08
@john freakin’ o’shea: I am planning on submitting something for the competition but there is no guarantee that I will get a chance to write lead in posts. If I do, I plan to take advantage of it. Thanks for the vote of support in that area though.
December 27th, 2008 at 20:24
@john freakin’ o’shea: The problem with Sanchez is that it makes no difference to Fergie if a player says he wants to play for us. Fergie goes after the players he wants regardless of their interest in the club. So help me I will tear my hair out by the roots if he tries to sign Benzema who I am certain doesn’t care for the team and who doesn’t want to play for us as a first or second choice. Sanchez would be a nice signing but Fergie would rather have Tosic who would rather play around and not settle on a contract because he thinks he is better than the club. What kind of moronic kid he must be. A complete nobody from Serbia who should feel honored and privileged he has been claimed by United. Instead however, he balks at the wages offered to him.
But that’s the kind of players Fergie has shown interest in of late. The type who show me moments of real uncertainty when it comes to loyalty. Benzema, Silva, Senna are just a few names of players he has looked at seriously who have always maintained a love and loyalty for other clubs first and United last.
Fergie must have quite the ego to feel he can convince players to want to play for us. Frustrating as Hell. Two players I am certain would sign for us if they were approached would be Sanchez and the German keeper Rene Adler. No complaints with EVDS but rather than sign him up for another year at 40, use that money properly and sign Adler who is a life long United supporter. But then again, why would Fergie sign a great keeper who idolized and patterned himself after Schmeichel? I’m truly tired of the old man, the Glazer’s empty bank book and all the goings on at OT these days. This club is stuck in limbo and shows no sign of trying to extricate itself from it’s own mundane existence. The team needs a real wake up call and a shake up as well. New blood would do this, but Fergie would rather parade the same old over the hill gang of Neville, Giggs and Scholes for all of us to see and fall asleep to. Just too depressing for words.
December 27th, 2008 at 20:28
@dan(u-ol): That’s a valid point but there comes a time when you should buy a player who costs 7 million over a player who will cost 9 or 10 million because he wants to play for us. A foreign player wanting to play for us seems to me to be much more important than pursuing a player for a few million more who will want to jump to Spain the first chance he gets. Loyalty and devotion to the team from the outset seems to mean very little these days.
December 27th, 2008 at 20:36
@Grognard: i think thats pretty unfair on tosic. He wants to play for us and has repeatedly stated that the deal will go through, its the agent thats fucking about.
Benzema has recently stated he wants to play for us also. I’ll admit, adler should be at united, foster probably is good enough for united and england but adler is in a class of his own.
Again, the agent can contact united and persuade us to make a bid. nowadays the agent plays a big role in the players career, thank god scholes hasnt got one or else he might not have been the same player.
December 27th, 2008 at 21:29
grognard, about tosic i heard he was only offered 150k a year which is about £3,000 a week. Now to you and me and all us normal folk that is a huge amount of money and of course we would jump at the chance to be earning that kind of green each week. But tosic is a professional footballer, there are probably 15 year old kids in the reserves earning that much so why should a player who supposedly is close to getting 1st team football be getting such a small wage. I mean why should john o’shit be getting around 50 grand a week when tosic is getting 3 thousand, its madness. I really dont know what the hell is wrong with our financial side of our club. We piss about trying to buy players, it takes 10 times longer to agree the fees than other clubs, we overpay for players massively and then seel our players too cheap. Quite frankly if these reports on tosics wage being 3,000 a week are true then i say good on him, sometimes our arrogance is pathetic. He has to make a living too and getting that kind of money is pathetic for a player who plays for the best team in the world. Hopefully we will offer him a real wage now instead of something tht sounds like a joke.
December 27th, 2008 at 21:34
grognard, i didnt know adler was a lifelong united fan, well just more reason to buy him then. What a talent he looks, i dunno about you but he has impressed me so much i think he could have the potential to be as good as schmeichel but thats just my opinion by the way. Only problem is it seems fergie hates buying german players so we probably have no chance of getting him but i do think first we should give foster a chance, preferably soon so we get an idea of if hes good enough.
December 27th, 2008 at 21:46
@Matthew: dont get grognard started, really
Fergie doesnt hate germans, he was ready to buy that cunt ballack, and turned us down for FA united FC, we where ready to buy lahm, then he ruled himself out off the move. Hargo is the only player we bought from the bundesliga successfully, barely. Germans dont go to united for some reason, and that must put saf off buying german talent. Seriously, people accuse him of not buying germans, when its germans thinkng they are too good for united!
December 27th, 2008 at 21:48
@Matthew: if thats true then good on him, a £7million signing and you offer him 3k a week? pathetic that is. i wouldnt take it at all, and if he doesnt come to us, i surely will not dislike him, ill respect him much more if he didnt.
December 27th, 2008 at 22:01
ok dan, its just there has to be a reason why in fergies long 20+ years here he has never bought a german and only 1 italian (rossi). Italy and Germany are 2 of the best european teams ever so i was just wondering why in all this time we never bought one. Especially for me being half italian i would love to see more italians at the club not just the reserves but actually getting 1st team games.
December 27th, 2008 at 22:38
@Matthew: how many italians play in the PL? 1, a fat third rate left back playing for the scum! fact is, Italians generally stay in italy because they think they’re to good for anywhere else. rossi was born and raised american, thats why it was easier for us to get him.
December 27th, 2008 at 22:39
@Matthew: i do have high hopes for macheda, but the second a big italian club comes knocking, hes gone.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:00
@dan(u-ol): Honestly Dan where do you get your information? Tosic has an agent who follows the players orders and demands. further more Benzema came out last week and said that Chelsea was not an option for him because he was determined to play for Real Madrid. Stop protecting these primadonas just because you would like to see them in United red. They are not United players and seriously doubt whether Benzema will ever be. As for Tosic, his dream has always to play for an Italian team. Not what we need to hear from a player we are trying to sign.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:04
@Matthew: You take what they offer you and you prove to them that you deserve more a year or two later. What is Tosic? A Serbian nobody with no pedigree or background playing for a great team. He has a lot of nerve confronting the biggest team in the world and telling them he wants more. Take the offer mate or shove it is what I’d tell him. There are many more just like him out there who would jump at the opportunity. Alex Sanchez is just one that I feel is just as good if not better who would love to play for us and has made that need public knowledge.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:09
@Matthew: Adler is a great keeper but he is still young and capable of a few boners here and there. He let in a bad goal against England but if one watches him as much as I do, you realize just how good he is and what the future holds with his continued development and improvement. I still prefer Manuel Neuer of Schalke or even Artur Boruc of Celtic who is as good a shot stopper as I have ever seen, but also prone to the odd gaff or two. All of these keepers are world class and capable of great things in front of an already great defense. I think Fergie is going to the well once too many times by wanting to sign EVDS for yet another season. He has been stellar for us but it’s time to think about the future and sign up a great keeper before the other teams sign these boys.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:19
@dan(u-ol): What a load of rubbish. Honestly, where do you get this stuff, Ricky Gervais? You named two German players who decided Manchester was no their first choice. What about the hundreds of others over the past twenty years that were more than good enough or better than the players Fergie eventually settled on. You better believe he has a bias to Germans because his track record fully indicates that. Selecting two superstars who happened to select two other big teams to play for isn’t exactly a hardy endorsement and defense for Fergie’s anti German attitude. Frankly one has to be a proven world star from Germany to be considered. What about those players when they were just making a name for themselves like Ronaldo, Evra, Rooney, Vidic, Rio, Ole, Yorke, Cole and other were? Why not sign up great German prospects like Marin, Alder or Kroos before they become so big that it will take them too much to buy them and when they will be competing with Europe’s other big clubs for their services? Sorry but your case for Fergie’s defense falls flat due to the lack of tangible evidence. He’s a biased bigot who hates German players and that mate is the bottom line.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:23
@Grognard: you start you comment with “where do you get your info from” then end it with “tosics dream has always to play for an Italian team”
So grognard where do YOU get your info from?
Agent create transfer rumours with or without the clients knoledge. they are ONLY in it to get as much money for themselves as possible.
You tell me why tosic, a £7million pound signing, should accept £3k a week? yea its united, but he still has to make a living, it is still a JOB in which you get payeed for. £3k is the wage that the creme de la creme of league one are earning. If you where offered a chance to join united, for £7million, but was earning less then o’shea, fletcher, park, PIG etc wouldnt you want more? wouldnt you want to feel appreciated?
December 27th, 2008 at 23:26
@Matthew: Rossi for me does not count as an Italian. He is American born from Italian parents. He may play for Italy but for me he is like Hargreaves. Hargo is and always will be nothing more than a transplanted Canadian. For me birthplace determines one’s nationality, not what his parents were or wish. Fergie has had a few Italians in the past. For me the most infamous was the keeper Taibi which in his one game for us allowed a classic clunker of a goal. Above all, he has adopted an Italian style of play which is the worst thing he has ever done to the team and to his supporters. And what we are seeing this season is the results from that Italian influence on our play. Defensive minded cowardice. I love Italy and their history, food and culture but as far as football is concerned, their game is living embodiment of the anti-christ.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:29
@dan(u-ol): When United expressed interest in signing Luca Toni, he still chose Bayern Munich instead of playing in England. But you are right, Italians generally think their league and football is superior but that is changing. More and more players are going to Spain, Germany and England. Zola, Canaavaro and others are paving the way due to the increasingly poorer quality of play in Italy and the corruption and fanatical abuse and threats players receive over there.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:35
@dan(u-ol): I read an article in one of the online English papers two weeks ago. Honestly, I cannot remember which but I think it was the Guardian. Dan I don’t make things up to service my case. I don’t need to. So don’t insinuate that I am liar please. On the other hand I feel I made my point regarding your defense of Fergie by using Lahm and Ballack. Not enough ammunition I’m afraid to beat the Grognard today, because what I brought up has a lot of validity and asks the big question of the Boss.
And spare me about the whole Tosic affair. I doubt very seriously that any of the numbers being discussed are the truth because United would never allow for that kind of stuff or any of their player negotiations to be revealed to the public. That’s all media bullshit and you know it too. Tosic is just a spoilt brat who has delusions of grandeur and who also knows his stock just rose big time in all of European football, just because United tried to sign him. So his agent and him decide they want to play games. He’s not Tosic, he’s a tosser.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:37
@Matthew: *Sigh* another player pulling the I’m a fan of xxx club and its been a life-long dream of mine, its so overused now I don’t even take them seriously anymore.
@Grognard: Actually If there’s something I’ve noticed with Fergie, its that he doesn’t start taking a player really serious until the said player has played vs. United and then impressed him. And on Fergie having an ego, who can blame him? I don’t wanna sound cocky but we ARE MANCHESTER UNITED and history and successes should be enough to sway footballers. It doesn’t mean it will, but it should so I can’t blame Fergie for thinking that way.
@Craig Mc: Yes of course when any of the foreign players are going through a patch of bad form, its always the fault of evil Fergie and his hatred for the younger players and love for the older ones
This season Nani hasn’t given Fergie any reason to play him regularly, so I don’t see why he should start cus you seem to have some kinda love-in for the Portugese players in the squad. Plus I don’t get the part about the strikers, they were all in Japan too, so how are they not excused?? So now I see the older players are numptees too…typical.
@Fred The Red: IIRC correctly, the young players played vs. Derby County last season which in my imo was this seasons version of Stoke City, how come the energized young players didn’t add anything to the team and we came out with exactly the same scoreline?? Except it was an even worse performance and the players had not traveled anywhere before the game?
@Fred The Red: What is your definition of starter, how many games has he gotten this season and do you think he’ll get more than 35 games max this season, so how does that qualify him as a starter??? Carrick probably wouldn’t be a starter at Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool either, does that mean he’s not United quality too?
@Fred The Red: Then congrats to Fergie on 20 decades of pure luck, since he’s been picking shite teams for the past 20 years, the other teams we’ve been competing against for trophies must have been really bad or we’ve just been really lucky.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:39
@dan(u-ol): Feel appreciated? For what, for crying out loud? He hasn’t done fuck all for us yet. Wait until he plays a season and accomplishes something before he starts making demands. Right now he should be acting more like the kid Munoz in the movie Goal and be willing to sign on for peanuts just to get the chance to play for a great club. He’s a Greedy little prick who simply has no right to be so demanding. He should take what is offered graciously and shut up.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:41
@dan(u-ol): How do we know thats what United REALLY offered him besides what we read in the press??? I have no idea (just like you don’t) what United were offering him but considering he’s a risk buy, what do we know of him besides youtube vids and a few highlights that some have seen?? I don’t believe United offered that low, it might just be his agent angling for a better offer.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:43
@Rd: He has signed many a player that he never coached against. Much is made about that because of Ronaldo but that’s not the truth at all. He has a very large scouting operation that is paid a lot of money to scour the planet. His problem is that quite often he will judge a player on one game he watches live or on tv, and that’s not an accurate assessment. I wonder why he has never gone after Arshavin after seeing him destroy Ranger live and watching him play well in the Euros. I can’t say he hates Russians because he did have Kanchelski at one time. I am far from figuring him out.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:47
Here is my post from yesterday that keeps on getting moderated. I took the advice and removed the smileys to see if that might make it show up for all. If any of you already have seen it on your computers, my apologies.
Nobody on this site has had the ability in the past to shut me up but today Fergie and United did you all a big favor for the near future. They left me almost speechless. What more can I say? What’s the point? This team managed by a stubborn as Hell old codger who sees nothing wrong with what he has been serving up, just continues to play like shit and he continues to make moves or not make moves that perplex and befuddle us.
Sure we can chalk this one up to jet lag but I for one will give three main reasons why we barely escaped with a 1-0 win at Stroke Shitty.
1. Once again we went up against the ten man wall for most of the game. When that happens, just forget about watching a football match. Do you think I was going to wake up at 4:30am to watch what I was certain was going to be a 1-0 trench war classic? Not on your life. Thank God for DVD recorders. Shame however that I have wasted yet another dvd this year recording a Manchester United game. I mean what’s the point?
2. Jet lag. As if we didn’t know that wasn’t going to affect the team for a while. Even without it, the result probably was going to be the same anyway.
3. FERGIE. A manager who not only has no clue as to what to do to get this team playing better and how to tactically beat these opponents who set up walls in front of goal and do nothing but defend for 90 minutes. Old fart without a clue and a staff of total yes men who are also clueless monkeys who have come along for that dull carriage ride in the country. And to add insult to injury, he continues to play undeserving players and sits Anderson down because frankly, he’s too good at this moment to be starting for us. And if that wasn’t enough, on Christmas Eve he gave all United supporters the greatest of Christmas gifts when he let us all know in his abrupt and I don’t give a fuck what you think way that there would be no new signings during the January transfer window. And lets face it folks, it’s not like this team needs any new blood now does it? Why we just have such incredible depth and diversity on our team that every game we can mix and match and always come out 3-0 winners.
Frankly I just don’t care anymore. This season has been a bore and a beast of burden from the get go. I have not been so depressed and put off by the game as I have been this season. It all started with Spain spoiling my 2007/08 by defeating Germany and then it continued with the Ronaldo/Real affair and the constant lingering and delays signing Berbatov. Once the 08/09 season started I had a bad feeling in the back of my mind that our team was going to have problems. I stated before the season that Scholes, Neville and Giggs could no longer start and that Fergie needed to add not just on player but two or three to really give this team an edge and some offensive options in the midfield. It was obvious to me, a supporter what was going to happen and to be completely honest, the team has exceeded my expectations when it comes to futility. Actually they are in better shape in the league than I expected by now, but I don’t give them credit for that as much as I give Liverpool and Chelsea many thanks for also playing like shite and not making the most of their lead and showing the killer instinct to pull away more when they had their chances.
We are very fortunate to have those underachievers ahead of us because we have been total shite all season and are still within striking distance. But honestly people, can we be expected to win the title this year when we can’t score more goals than one per game against fucking crap opposition? Is it really possible. Rooney is inconsistent as Hell, Ronaldo is a shadow of his former self, Berbatov is not Berba, Tevez has struggled all year to find form and playing time, and our midfield is as useless and unimaginative as one could possibly imagine in their worst nightmare. And all this in the most unattractive and depressingly boring football league on the planet.
Frankly speaking, the only other reason we are still in the title race is due to our great defensive back three (Neville does not count), consistent if not spectacular keeping by EVDS and the emergence of Rafael which has kept that back four playing well. Without our defense, we would seriously be in a world of shite. This club has fractures in several places and a manager who is to blind or to stubborn to realize it, and even more stubborn to do something about it. Not one tirade, not any exhibition of anger or frustration. It’s like he doesn’t care anymore or he’s just going through the motions. And then he treats us all like muppets by telling us through the media that we are in store for more of the same in the second half because he does not see anything wrong with our side and that no additions are needed. Is that him talking or the Glazer’s? Have the owners stolen Fergie’s mojo? How can we expect passion from the club when it’s clear the manager has none? So I ask you, why are we all such gluttons for punishment? Why do we continue to attend or tune in to these games week after week after week knowing full well that the club is not playing well and that nothing is being done to improve our stock? I for one am sick and fucking tired of wasting my time on unattractive, uninspired and unimaginative football by a team that has spoilt me over the past two decades by playing attractive, inspired and imaginative football?
I am fed up and I am seriously doubting whether I will tune into any more United games live. Why should I sit and put myself through two hours of the same old drudgery week after week after week? I may not be working right now due to my health but my health certainly does not need the stress and added disappointment I get from 2 to 4 hours of weekly boredom, and frustration which has got me all depressed and pissed off. Frankly speaking, as a die hard fanatic, it’s not healthy. So until this team shows a consistent and positive form I will record the games and watch only if the team scores goals. Goals make the world go round and they are the reason why I love the game and why United has been my team for 30+ years.
If United want to bore me and inject Italian style bullshit into my blood stream while also showing little imagination, style or creative depth in finding away through a ten man wall, then I for one need a break from them. Frankly, it’s not worth my time or effort to watch this team in this kind of form. Some may say I am not a loyal fan or that I am only a fair weather fan but I respond to those claims by saying that I am just being a self preservationist. I don’t need this shit to make my days and weeks miserable. United are no longer the bright moment in my week. They have turned into a descending black cloud of boredom and negativity and frankly, I already have enough of that kind of crap in my life. I don’t need to overdose on it.
December 27th, 2008 at 23:49
@Rd: Excellent point Rd.
December 28th, 2008 at 0:10
@Grognard: The world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. There are always going to be periods in every sports team where they are low on form and you just have to live with it. Look at the NBA, a team can go on a four game winning streak one week and lose all the next weeks games. Look at Bayern Munich, they were rubbish 2 years ago and now it looks like they will win their 2nd league in a row. Barcelona finished something like 9th in La Liga a few years ago. Just be happy that when United have slumps they can keep themselves near the top
December 28th, 2008 at 0:49
@Liam: No, I look at Bayern Munich who have dominated the Bundesliga for over 30 years and who when they had a down year, completely gutted the team and bought a half dozen new players who have once again brought them to a dominant position where they not only challenge in Germany but in Europe.
On the other hand I see a United team that is living in the past and standing pat despite the glaring weaknesses and aging player that are bringing it down. It’s really not about being in a slump or losing. Really, they are in perfect position to make a run for the league but it’s their lack of energy, and positive play and ideas that need to improve. And what is being done to address our needs? NOTHING! Fergie is his arrogant stubborn wisdom feels that nothing is broken and that the team is in fine shape. I guess the millions of supporters who loyally follow this team and who feel concerned over it’s lethargic and uninspiring play are just a pack of idiots. We are being lied to and made to look like fools due to our team’s inability to fix problems due to the lack of funds being made available to the Boss. Clearly he has no money to go out and buy and thus he comes out and lies to us by telling us that he is not interested in looking for players in the January transfer period.
Football is not rocket science. Fergie might know a lot more than us but he can’t fool us either by denying that the team is not in need of an injection of new blood and a change in strategy and tactics. I honestly wouldn’t mind if the team struggled more to win this year but was playing attractive, attacking football and was positively breaking in new players who would once again bring the team up to prominence in a year or two. We are so spoilt on trophies that we need a year every five or six where we rebuild a bit. Instead the team seems stuck in Purgatory with no clue how to get out. If we have to count on our team to win every game they play by 1-0, we have serious problems ahead. It’s not the slumping that bothers me, it’s the lack of doing anything about it that drives me nuts. We need a definite change in approach and dare I say, in leadership.
December 28th, 2008 at 0:51
@Grognard: I dont think the league is boring..I watched Arsenal vs Liverpool,Man city vs hull city,Wigan vs Newcastle…they were the games we expect out of the best league..quality movement,inter play and end to end games…
Either United is boring or other teams are resorted to boring tactics against United and our manager doesnt seem to be bothered as long as he gets points (1 or 3)..
December 28th, 2008 at 1:14
Grognard, agree with your comment 411 completely 100%. I can see this season going pear shaped and when a team goes from being world beaters to average in a year you have gotta look at the squad and see that there is something wrong with it. This is usually in the form of a player clear out. I can see this season being a particularly bad one for us, maybe winning the carling cup and thats all. In this event obviously going from premiership and euro champs to that would have to mean there would have to be considerable changes. However would there be, no i doubt it. As i have said countless times us at the minute remind me of barca of last season. They had a player in ronaldinho who was great but won all he had to win and just stopped trying. Now that to me sounds like a certain portugese player that we have at the minute. The only difference was that after 2 season of barca getting worse, they made a clear out. Look at them now, almost certainly spanish league champs, favourites for the champs league. After winning the cup in may fergie said he wouldnt make the mistake of 99 and keep the squad unchanged, but he did do that and just added 1 player in berbatov. He didnt sell the players who obviously arent good enough either. Neville was never gonna come back to his previous high standards, giggs form had dipped all last year, only scholes of the oldies should have continued. Park was dropped for the final but now he is suddenly good enough for 1st team every week. Fletcher and oshea are loyal no denying it but their ability is limited. Would they get in the 1st team of the other top 4 or even villa and everton? We added so little to our squad that even tho we knew ronaldo was out for weeks we were happy to play fletcher as his replacemnt. Come on we should have brought in 3 or 4 new players instead of playing garbage like him. And as for phelan, well what a crap assistant he is. People say cantona, solskjaer for next manager, well we should have given them a chance as assistants and see how they did. People on here couldnt do a worse job than phelan. So no im not surprised of our poor form this season, and whilst yes we are still in the title race points wise, our performances have been garbage all season and its just a matter of time until we are out of it. Sorry for all the negativity in this post but i think too many people are sugar coating the problems with us. I am not at all confident any game we play now, i expect a 1-0 bore game with boro if im honest. Goodnight all.
December 28th, 2008 at 1:26
@Matthew: Heheheheheh..mate are you sure you’re not Grognard’s long-lost biological sperm donor son or something? ‘Coz skim-reading that…I assumed it was him until I saw your name at the top instead of his lol.
Tell me which team in the modern era has won a League-CL Double or Treble and gone on to equal or better that achievement in the following season?????? I have said this before, and I’ll say it again, but I think certain United fans are too accustomed to success that they are out of touch with reality and expect Doubles and Trebles every season, which is fackin ridiculous in my opinion!!
I had a very strong feeling last summer that we would struggle to replicate the dizzy heights of last year, no matter what we did in the summer, and consequently I am not surprised at all how our season is panning out so far. I would be immensely happy if we just about managed to retain the PL, but win nothing else this season, or finish 2nd and win one of the the FA/Carling Cups or even both.
December 28th, 2008 at 1:31
High expectations reduce joy
December 28th, 2008 at 1:35
@Matthew: You do make a good point of blooding a Cantona or a Solskjaer as SAF’s assistant. Anybody but Phelan in my opinion. Of course, the greatest (purely hypothetical of course!) managerial double act of all time would be SAF with Arsene Wenger as his No.2!! Shiiiiiit – our team would be pretty much unstoppable if that ever happened!!!!
Not sure I agree about the fringe players…the likes of Fletcher, O’Shea and Park know they are not good enough to start every week, but they patiently wait on the wings and play their part dutifully when required. They were just as vital to our success last year as the likes of Ronaldo and Tevez, so I would not condone their sale at all.
December 28th, 2008 at 1:42
There’s a large Carlos Querioz shaped hole in the fabric of Manchester United FC this season. It’s no coincidence that we have won, at the very least, a Premier League title in practically every season he’s been at Manchester United – his spiritual home. Nuff said!!
December 28th, 2008 at 2:04
@Grognard: Glad to finally see a comment that makes me think.
I have a question for you? Will you rather play brilliant football and draw, or play hard, ugly football and win? We cannot do both all the time, especially when we face teams like Stoke, Sunderland and Spurs. They have no quality in their ranks, and they know that the only way they can have even a slight chance of getting a result is battling us with raw strenght and stubborness. The problems are there to be solved. Im gonna put up some points to what can help us.
1. MIDFIELD: You say we do not have any creativity in our midfield. We do. But unfortunately we only have 1. No, its not Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher or Giggs, it is the young brasilliand kid thats kalled Anderson.
He can play those throuch passes that you crave, he can run and attack like a warrior needs to and he has the power and energy to tussle for the ball with Essien, Mascherano and even the really worthless Reo-Coaker. He has shown in the games this season, not only against Blackburn, but against LDQ, Sunderland, Aalborg, Arsenal and Boro that he can pick and play the pass that can make the difference in the end. Rooney is a master of timing runs, and if he could finish like a striker needs to then Andy to Rooney= Goal! Anderson is a must in games, but Fergie think s it times to “neuture him” into the side. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT ABOUT!!! What happend to “If you are good enough you are pld enough”? Or is that just bullshit?! Anderson is what this team need to be a succes and anyone that disagrees with me dont even have to bother. My opinon will never change!
2. Ronaldo: I know, he is a big worry this season. Kicks out on a defender every game, loses his head and I havent seen him score in a looooooooong while(I didnt watch the Osaka game). What has happend to him? Even in the games where he suffered from being bullied, he came up with the goods! Liverpool, Arsenal, Birmingham, Roma to name a few. He just doesnt have the same quality anymore! But why? His injury? Flirt with Real? Ballon DoR? Berbatov!? Many possibilities, but he should manage to pick himself up. I dont care if he is depressed, happy or suicidal, I just want him to play well and score goals and get assists and win games for us. Is that too much to ask for? lol(cant use smilies)
3. Fergie: He has done miracles. And he still does. But I am afraid his feelings for the old guard will ruin this team. I mean, Neville over Rafael? Scholes over Anderson? Giggs over… Well, we dont buy a new LM. And Oshea, Park and Manucho? I dont like to question Fergies decisions, but What the Fuck are those 3 players doing in Manchester United. Our cover at LM is Park. Not Nani, but Park. Arsenal have Walcott, Chelski Malouda, Shitty Petrov and even Liverpool have Babel. We have Park. PARK!!! I just wanna scream! Its embarrasing! Screw Park, put him and his short stumps in a boc an ship him to neverland(AKA Liverpool). We have a brilliant defense, brilliant midfield(qhwn chosen the right players), a brilliant keeper and the best strikers in the land. How come we suck so bad then. Simple. We dont play on our strenghts! What is Nanis strenght? Crossing. Anderson? Throuch passes and real energy. Ronaldo? Scoring goals and dribbling defenders mad. Rooney? Timing runs. Berba? Positioning. And last, but not least Evra? He is the complete LWB, but he has been incredibly defensive these last weeks. Either its because of Rafael, Park or Nani I dunno, but if we are to play entertaining football and win game by 2/3-0, we need to do what I said. Play on the teams strenght…
December 28th, 2008 at 2:06
@Grognard: Just scrolling back to see the posts of the last couple of days I have been away from this blog…I would love to see Artur Boruc at United mate! Fucking class goalie! Rene Adler or Igor Akinfeev would also be most welcome between the sticks at United too.
There’s plenty of good goalies closer to home too, playing in the lower echelons of the PL. The likes of James, Friedel, Jaaskelainen, Schwarzer (made an awesome reflex save against Spurs the other day)..I’m not suggesting that we sign any of them as a replacement for EVDS, but they are all certainly good enough to play for the Big4.
ALL goalkeepers make mistakes; there’s no such thing as a perfect goalie.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:13
@Nino: Couldnt agree more. And I would like to add something to that: Low expectations increase happiness.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:19
@Nino: James has not been the goalie he had been the last seasons this year. Like Ronaldo, something seems to be wrong with him. Friedel is a keeper of a team in the top 4, Astone Villa. They are better than Arsenal thats for sure. Villa to end in CL spot in may? I hope so(but only if its not at our expence
).
Neuer, Akinfeev, Boruc and Ricardo. All brilliant keepers that I would be happy to se as replacements for VDS when he retires.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:57
@Shyam: United are boring MAJORLY so this season mate. Can’t keep blaming other teams tactics, like a lot of people do.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:57
@Shyam: A needle in a haystack of dull, uneventful boring matches. Sorry but you’re not convincing me based on one game. Every week there is one or two good games. But there are also 8 or 9 terrible ones. Far to many to call the league entertaining. And results don’t make a game good. For example, if West Brom was to beat Arsenal 1-0, that may seem like great upset entertainment but to me, it’s just a boring 1-0 game. The more we tolerate this garbage, the worse it’s going to get. Managers don’t care about entertaining or pleasing fans. They care about saving their jobs. Which makes me wonder why they took on that career in the first place if all that would concern and consume them every day would be survival.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:03
@Nino: None of us expect doubles and trebles every season, but htat should not exclude us from trying to achieve those goals. One thing we should be trying for is the EPL championship every season. If you don’t have large goals in front of you, you are prone to fail.
And there is nothing wrong with another individual echoing my feelings about things because frankly mate, I’m not wrong. You may think I am and that’s fine, but I know and a lot out there reading this agree with me 100%, whether they want to admit it or not.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:06
Happy belated Christmas to All
December 28th, 2008 at 3:10
@Matthew: Very well put and very accurate, especially your comments on bringing in 3 or 4 players to add new blood and push some of the lazy fat cats. Ronaldo is starting to look a lot like Ronaldinho. I have defended him all season claiming, lack of fitness, injuries and being hacked at every turn. And all those might be valid reasons for his fall in form but I have to say for the first tie that I am questioning my loyalty and wondering if Ronny is truly happy and content playing with us? He’s not even half the player he was last year. Part of it has to be the injuries, the part has to be the way teams are marking him and fouling him but I also think the style of play is hurting his creativity. Rather than play the fast break run and gun style that we used in many games last year and most famously against Roma two years ago, we now play a slow, plodding build up that waits for the opposition to set ten men behind the ball and give Ronny no room or ability to begin a break or run with pace. Frankly speaking, the only player I could trust to find a way through all that would be Riquelme with one of his great through balls or finesse lobs passes on to a running Rooney or Tevez.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:13
@Grognard: Personally, I blame Mourinho. He brought that dour, cynical, over-funded and (awfully) successful style to the premiership. It seemed to change everything. While I think the quality at United has grown considerably in the past 6 years, the spirit and mentality has become conservative, cautious. Boring. I miss Keane.
I also think that no small part of this also lies at the feet of Ronaldo – because he is prodigiously talented and can pull a result out of nothing; because he is a sulky fuck, and a terrible sportsman – I feel he makes those around him worse, not better. Goes for Portugal as well. His progress will be limited by his ability to glory in the success of his team and his mates. Think of real heroes in other sports (Gretzky being the greatest example, Jordan another). If he can’t mature in this sense, then I think that Ronaldo needs to be sold and the team re-built without its best player.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:15
@Nino: Lowered expectations reduces one’s chances of finding a beautiful girl. One should never have lowered expectations. Might as well marry the neighbors fat and ugly daughter if that’s going to be our attitude in life. I have an old saying that I tried to live by until I hurt my back. Shoot for the stars because if you shoot for something far enough away, you might reach the moon. Too many shoot for the sky only, and where does that leave you? On the second floor of your house.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:15
@Rd: What are you a psychiatrist now?. I never mentioned anything about the older players being numptees, but of course you second guess everything don’t you mate?. As to the portuguese love in – did you ever hear me raving about Andie – I don’t think so. Ronnie yes, and even you cannot say that he was not our best player last season and season before, and would be this season if opposition defendents didn’t hack him down all the feckin time. Nani has regressed, and it does have a lot to do with the playing time players get. Players find their form by playing regularly, as we have found with most of our players this season. Personally, I have said, and continue to say that Nani would find his form much quicker away from Old Trafford, and I hope he understands this and moves to sunnier climates. Also, I think Ronnie should go with him too, for one reason, gifted footballers cannot play to entertain in the PL anymore, with THUG oppo defenders, and referees who do not give protection. I hope the whole portuguese contingent leave OT, because they are little appreciated now, judging by fans comments on this and other blogs. You might be a lot happier then Rd
.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:17
@Nino: Truthfully, I think Solksjaer is being prepped to take over for Phelan. I think you might even see him as Fergie’s #1 next season. He just needed a season managing the reserves to get his feet before Fergie called on him for more.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:21
@phoenix red: Hey Phoenix mi man – yeah, and happy new year coming up mate
.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:26
@Grognard: Never said we should not be attempting to win all trophies in sight, as a team of our stature should be doing so, but failure to do so is NOT the be-all and end-all! I would happily go through a trophyless transition season this year if it meant that we returned to our imperious best the following year! We don’t have a divine right to win trophies…(even though it seems like it with the silverware coming in every year!)
You and Matthew do have some good points, notably that we do look lifeless and devoid of ideas and inventiveness this season. I do agree with that we could definitely do with an injection of new blood in January, possibly in central midfield and on the left wing (Tosic go fock off!). I do disagree, however, with the unrealistic expectation that fans have of repeating or bettering what we did last season. It just won’t happen…. as last year was a one-off because all the stars and planets and cosmos were aligned perfectly for us and Ronaldo had the greatest individual season in the modern era of football.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:29
@Grognard: In my case, lowered expectations increased my chances! I met a truly special girl when I was least expecting it three years ago! Still going strong!
December 28th, 2008 at 3:29
@Nino: The post that I plan on submitting for the upcoming writers competition tackles the question as to what the real problem is this year. I have said all along that the problem is not just United and Fergie, it’s the League and the attitude that’s prevelant right now in the European game. Look at Liverpool and Chelsea in front of us and Villa and Arsenal behind us. None of them look as good or as unbeatable as one would expect. In fact both Chelsea and Liverpool have looked as anemic as us. Take a way their two games in hand and we are no better or no worse than them. What’s that say about the quality of the league when the big four look average and ordinary? It tells me that the bottom feeders are like the Borg from Star Trek fame. They have taken the big four’s shots and now they have adapted to that kind of attack and have figured out a plan that neutralizes even the best of teams. What a great advertisement for the game of football. Instead of trying to figure out a few ways to get more chances to score, teams are developing defensive walls to basically destroy a game completely. So how long will that be tolerated by the league? The NHL put up with the neutral zone trap which destroyed hockey for ten years before they changed rules to try to eliminate it or at least limit it’s effectiveness. The NFL always adapts rules to protect the star players and to allow for more offense. And baseball, well they will allow cheaters and the use of steroids, corked bats and balls to further enhance run production because scoring is what gets asses in the seats. When will football realize that goals are what get asses in the seats, not 0-0 battles of attrition.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:34
@Grognard: Grog Bro, Ronnie would have to be crazy to want to stay at United much longer. Many fans haven’t got much love for him now, he is either three man marked or hacked down mercilessly (FROM BEHIND IN MOST CASES), and utterly vilified from the terraces everywhere he goes in England. I am not joking when I say that opposition fans are baying like wolves to see him maimed by one of their players – and truly I am not exagerrating Grog. United fans little support him either from the terraces as they used too, so he probably feels – feck this, what’s the point anymore. He was FORCED to stay in the first place – lets face it, he wanted to go to Real Madrid. Now Fwrgie has vilified Real Madrid so much with his comments (though in some cases justifiably so), that Ronnie’s chances of going there now are RUINED. I cannot see him being happy about that, so yes, he probably is both disappointed and disatisfied.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:35
@RedDevilEddy: It’s an often used cliche but truthfully, winning isn’t everything. A famous baseball manager Leo Durocher once made the claim that “winning wasn’t everything, it was the only thing”. Well truly, I don’t buy into that. Yes a win is important but at what cost? A 3-3 tie is a great game to watch and very tense and exciting. A 1-0 game may have tension but the lack of chances and boredom created by 90 minutes of this crap, is not good for the overall game.
Wait for my big article in the writing competition when I rock a lot of people’s worlds. I have so much I may have to submit one part and offer the second part later on.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:40
@Grognard: Maybe the FA/PL should change their points system, that you only get points for SCORE draws, and nothing for no score draws – that would really put the cat among the pigeons. Opposing teams would have to come out then and try and score, or finish up empty handed
.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:41
@RedDevilEddy: I feel your frustration and pain mate. I agree with you about Anderson even if I am only 75% sold on him. The rest of the midfield is very mediocre to me. Park? Well you already said what I would say but with fewer four letter expletives.
The old guard is holding this team back big time. But what is holding the team up more is that we have very little quality to replace the old guard.
Anderson and Rafael are ready but few others are good enough or ready enough to replace what Scholes and Giggs gave us in their prime. We need to buy players and Fergie does not get that. Therefore, I don’t get Fergie.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:43
@Nino: Good for you Nino, glad you found a good woman, and it sounds like your relationship is solid
.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:44
@Nino: Yes Boruc is a class keeper and I do like Akinfeev and Malifeev of Russia. The ones you mentioned in the EPL are all as old as EVDS but they are great keepers. I actually think Friedel is the best in the league and the keeper I would want backing my team in a big game. He is clutch in big games.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:45
@RedDevilEddy: Sorry mate but I think Ricardo is very average.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:48
@Craig Mc: It’s a combination of the two Bro. I mean what’s the point of playing with a DMF when the other team sets up ten men behind the ball? Why not overlap your fullbacks more often? United does not try to alter their game to break down these negative defensive formations. That’s because Fergie is not a tactician but just a man manager. This team really misses Queiroz in my opinion or at least a quick thinking innovative assistant that has tactical genius written all over his forehead. Also, our forward play with their backs to the goal and too far up for us to be effective against these kinds of defenses.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:50
@Craig Mc: for me too Bro! actually looking forward to it! hope the standard of footie we’re playin improves though
December 28th, 2008 at 3:53
@Craig Mc: R. Madrid are fucking shite and have been so since 2003, when they sacked Del Bosque after he won them a Double. I think Ronaldo moving there now would be tantamount to a semi-retirement as the current team consists of has-beens and also-rans (Cannavaro, RVN, van der Vaart, YSB Heinze). They only reason why then have won the La Liga for the last two seasons because Barcelona were in transition from their own League-CL double in 2006. I think Ron will stay for another year or two at the current best team in the world but you’re right; Ronny is stuck between a rock and a hard place but it is a situation of HIS OWN making so I don’t really sympathise with him lol.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:55
@Mountfort: Ronaldo will never be Pele, Gretzky, Orr or Montana. He hasn’t got their class. Even though i love him, he’s a spoilt ethnic punk that has had too much thrown at him and he has been corrupted by it. He’s not the first. One who was even worse than him was Diego Armando Maradona.
And I agree about your Mourinho comment 100%. It’s really to bad that the league never learned more from Ferguson’s teams and Wenger undefeated Arseanl side that played attractive attacking football. But you see, too many teams with no talent picked up on Mourinho because they felt that was a system that their team’s could play and keep the score low. And to think there are those dreaming of Mourinho as Fergie’s successor. To them I say SHUTUP!
December 28th, 2008 at 3:57
@Craig Mc: Accurate truths from my bro the Craigmeister. Well said mate. The league is killing the skillful players, and that alone is unforgivable because they put fans in the seats. What would suit Fergie well is for Nani to go to Spain and then win the European player of the Year award.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:58
@phoenix red: Belated Merry Christmas to you mate and may you have a happy and eventful 2009.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:00
@Grognard: yo Bro, having a good one? off the box i mean! too tired to debate, gotta crash
I’ll chat tomorrow, United till the day i die 
December 28th, 2008 at 4:02
@Nino: I totally agree with you. I feel thatin some key areas the team is getting old and slow. We needed to bring in new players to compete for those positions and if that meant a year with no trophies, so be it. But at least try to play entertaining Man Utd football.
Mark my words, people are laughing at Arsenal this year but Wenger is a genius and he knows what he’s doing. Add a defensive midfielder to that team and some grit and experience and they will be very hard to beat. But he is right to bleed these young players now.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:05
@Nino: Lowered expectations means more like settleing for hamburger rather than waiting for Filet Mignon. So your girlfriend doesn’t qualify for that because you never settled for average.
Mad TV had a little sketch every week for years called Lowered Expectations and it was all about people settling for crap.
Shooting for the stars is no guarantee you will get all your dreams. But experience has taught me that you have far less of a chance of attaining greatness by sitting around waiting for it.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:07
@Craig Mc: Right now I bet Barcelona is looking very appetizing to him eh?
December 28th, 2008 at 4:08
@Craig Mc: That’s one of many things they should do.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:09
@Grognard: thanks Bro, these days i’d just settle for happy, got some stuff to chat about bro, but not now, too tired! Whats the story with the anti smiley police? and i’m not talking about ronny bashers
United till the day i die 
December 28th, 2008 at 4:12
@Grognard: Hell Grog, now wouldn’t that be bloody awesome mate
. Little Man Nani in Spain, and developing into one of Europes best. We live in hope Bro.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:15
@Nino: Nino, I agree mate. I am not saying that Real Madrid are in any way great, but Ronnie really wanted the move there
.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:16
@Grognard: Decided to have an alternative Christmas dinner this year, we had the finest of irish beef fillet, and very nice it was too, would love to see the same served up at United!
December 28th, 2008 at 4:18
The fact that UEFA introduced the away goals rule in the 90’s was probably the saving grace of the Champion’s League. We would have otherwise seen the Stoke’s of Europe rearing their ugly heads.
I think something like that should be introduced in the Premier League: teams get an extra point for every two goals they score away from home. I don’t know if the following idea will work in real life, but (mostly away) teams who register less than five shots on target in a match should be punished heartily (either by a hefty fine or by a single point deduction).
I think Grognard already said this, but also something like the system used in the Amsterdam Tournament should be implemented to reward the good guys who try to play offensive attacking football. Not necessarily a point for each goal scored (or you would see the likes of Man Utd and Arsenal on nearly 200 points at the end of the season! lol!) but something like an extra point for scoring three or more goals in a win or a draw. Minus points should be also deducted for a 0-0 for both teams.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:41
I was just thinking….a special incentive for any team who breaks the 80-goal barrier in a Premier League season: an extra five free points! And an extra 10 free points for any team who can reach the magic 100-goal mark over 38 games. Now THAT would really spice up any title race!!!
December 28th, 2008 at 6:37
@phoenix red: I’ll settle for a succulent Middlesbrough stew made with a four or five goal spree which has been long over do.
December 28th, 2008 at 6:47
@Nino: wow man points galore! seriously man that will never happen specially with the cunts that is running the FA, i’m glad that my spanish roots have been playing attractive football, specifically my grandma’s homeland of barcelona.
December 28th, 2008 at 7:00
@Nino: I personally have no problem awarding a point for every goal scored regardless of whether they are home or away goals. If leaders are going to have 200 points at the end of the season, then so be it. They would be worthy leaders. Imagine no points for 0-0 draws. A team that won 25 games during the season and scored 80 goals would have 155 points without counting their points in draws.
However a team that wins 10 matches and draws 15 and scores 40 goals gets a total of 70 points. Hardly rewarding if they don’t try to score or win a game. It’s what teams like that deserve. Lets look at two hypothetical leaders and see the difference in their points with one playing attacking football, and the other playing defensive negative football.
I planning a very meticulous examination on how we can improve the game. I’ll post it in the near fututre.
December 28th, 2008 at 7:04
@Nino: Yes but it ewould not help the bad teams as they would no that that was an impossibility for them and therefore, they would still play their negative ten men behind the ball style. As if Stoke would ever get delusional enough to open up their style because they thought they had the talent to score over 80 goals. But how about punishing teams that finish 0-0. Zero points for a 0-0 tie. Two 0-0 tie in a row and a points subtracted from the teams point total. I bet you that would stop the walls from being formed.
December 28th, 2008 at 7:38
@Grognard: When I proposed the 80-goal idea, I did not necessarily have the likes of Stoke in mind. I was targeting teams in the top half of the table who do have the talent to score 80+ goals, especially outfits like Chelsea and Liverpool who try to win the title playing crappy one dimensional football (the number of absolute bore-fests those two have played out in recent seasons whenevre they’ve met is enough to reduce a grown man to tears!!)
I do especially think, however, that away teams who set out to play 10 men behind the ball should be severely penalized by whatever means possible!
December 28th, 2008 at 8:03
Or how about a completely radical change? Only award points for a win and none for a draw (even a score draw) or loss. That would really see teams going for the jugular, as they know they’ll finish empty handed if they don’t win the game. However, I realise the downside of this rule would be a scenario where a team scoring first would try and protect the lead for the rest of the game, and so there would probably be a lot of scrappy 1-0 wins. But if the opponents equalised it would put pressure on the team to score again and try and seize the three points and so the game would open up once again.
It’ be really funny though to see the points column of the league table in multiples of three!
December 28th, 2008 at 10:51
@Nino: Yes but when you propose revisions to a league they have to be made with all teams in mind. There needs to be incentive for the bottom of the table clubs too. 80 goals is just not realistic for them so it would not push them into altering their style. Penalizing them for defensive play is more the way it should go because it forces them to at least think positively and attack. On that we definitely agree. And it’s not just away teams. Many of the bottom feeders set up the ten men behind the ball at home too, especially when they are tied with 20 minutes to go. Four points for a win and and extra point for every goal after the first in a game as well as no points for a 0-0 draw. Lets watch them squirm then. Imagine a 4-0 win for a team would net them 7 points rather three. 4 points for the win and three for every goal after the first. Give it some time and everyone would catch on. It would bring quality and excitement to the game and quickly faze out pretenders like Liverpool if they want to play one dimensional boring football.
December 28th, 2008 at 10:59
@Nino: I already suggested that although I amended it by making a bit of a compromise by just not giving points away for 0-0 draws. 1-1-, 2-2- etc get a point because they scored goals and tried to attack. Sure some teams will win some scrappy 1-0 games but in the back of their minds 1-0 only means 4 points in my system. 2-0 would get them 5 points and so on. Remember that a win is 4 points and points for goals happen only after the first goal is scored by each team. So if a team wins 3-2, they get 6 points and the losing team gets 1. Might seem like harsh punishment in a game but it will promote winning at all costs and scoring goals. This kind of point system would bring a renaissance of attacking and enjoyable football, I’m convinced of this. But the powers that be are to bone headed and stubborn to consider anything to help improve the game. Instead they will wait until the game is half dead due to the upcoming depression or recession and they’ll wonder why the seats are half empty. If finances become problematic, more and more fans will stay away, especially if the product is poor and boring. One day they will get a rude wake up call. But now many think the Grognard is just a radical trouble maker who’s thinking is science fiction and totally insane.
December 28th, 2008 at 13:24
given is having the game off his life right now!
December 28th, 2008 at 13:35
this is silly a week now and not yet a new post, i hate to say this but this site may die a slow death with this much inactivity
December 28th, 2008 at 13:41
well im changing the channel!
December 28th, 2008 at 13:51
NEWCASTLE SCORE!!!
December 28th, 2008 at 14:01
@Grognard: I read your earler post were you stated that the old guard are holding us back, I agree in theory, but its not thier fault, its Fergies, it baffles me how he cannot see how playing 2 or 3 of these guys at the same time seriously slows down our attack, throw in the ineffectual Park and the forever spinning but going no where dangerous Fletcher and you have the backbone of a rubbish team.
December 28th, 2008 at 14:22
@dan(u-ol): did I not show you that you never jinx it!
December 28th, 2008 at 14:32
@Liam: this is depressing to watch
December 28th, 2008 at 14:40
@dan(u-ol): For the first time this season, I am getting really worried about Liverpool, I now believe they mean business. I hate them
December 28th, 2008 at 15:10
Man-U-cho, i wouldnt worry about liverpool too much. Liverpool do look good at the minute but lets see if they are still in the same position in 2 months time before we call them real title challengers. They have some tough looking away fixtures coming up so maybe they will drop points there. They also struggle to finish off lower teams at home and have continued to do it this year too with draws against hull, fulham etc. I think chelsea are the main team to beat so forget liverpool for the minute. I just hope we can get a nice comfortable win tomorrow against boro and then a good 10 match winning streak full of goals and no more 1-0 wins.
December 28th, 2008 at 15:41
@Matthew: Goal difference could be a factor hey,
Fulham are leading Stalin’s cunts right now, which is sweet indeed 
December 28th, 2008 at 15:50
Man-U-cho, true but the title hasnt gone to goal difference ever or at least not that i can remember. I see what your saying though and yes we do need to improve our goal difference much more. However lets wait to end of feb and early march to see if liverpool will be proper challengers. After all last year arsenal were top until march time when they surrendered their lead and handed us the title. If pool are top around that time then i may start to worry but at the minute im more concerned about our own poor performances and then chelsea to worry about the scousers. Time will tell though.
December 28th, 2008 at 15:53
@Craig Mc: You confuse me here, let me get this straight(I think I’ve asked you this before). You KNOW if Ronaldo and Nani stay, their presence adds value to United, but yet hope they leave because you’d like to see them develop elsewhere and because fans don’t appreciate them? Why would you hope to that the team gets weakened? On Ronaldo…maybe the refs would be a little more protective of him if he wasn’t a SERIAL DIVER even before he started getting hacked a lot? I can’t really blame the refs who hasten not to give decisions in his favour, its a case of boy who cried wolf with him.
@Nino: Do you think that’d ever happen, don’t you see the way the English press praise teams like Sunderland, Stoke, Bolton as “brave” and praise thuggish defenders like the Stoke Idiot that got sent off and Terry as brave English- type defenders. Unless there are some radical changes within the FA, that’ll never happen.
@Grognard: A question. You claim to have supported United for over 4 decades, so when United were rubbish in the 70’s and 80’s and had a long barren spell(we weren’t playing attractive footie that time), how did you cope? Did you constantly take breaks from United and then come back when they’re playing well and winning again?
December 28th, 2008 at 16:36
Craig Mc, i gotta agree with the point Rd just gave on ronaldo getting protection from the refs. He brings some of it onto himself when he starts diving around and the refs give him the free kick so they feel they have to balance it out by giving some of the real challenges oh him the other way. He really doesnt help himself ronaldo by acting like a 6 year old girl going down to every challenge even though some of them hardly touch him. Its embarrasing to watch and also gives everyone the ammunition to claim he is a diver. Now fair play to ronaldo he has cut out alot of his diving and thats good but he still does go down too easily sometimes. But yes he should get some protection against the thugs that just want to break legs and shouldnt really have anything to do with this sport. Go and play fu**ing ice hockey if you wanna do that. But my point is that if ronnie wasnt so two faced and going down too easy then the refs would protect him better as they would no more times than not that it was a serious tackle if he is on the ground holding his leg and is not just him faking injury to get that player sent off.
December 28th, 2008 at 16:54
Hahahaa…Fulham got a last-min equaliser against Chelski…brilliant!!!
December 28th, 2008 at 17:01
love it when Chelski drop points, absolutely love it
Now bring on Boro 
December 28th, 2008 at 17:06
Ignore Liverpool, they are not important. Chelsea is where our battle is, and with 3 games in hand we are 7 points behind them. I’ll take that!
Middlesborough tomorrow night should cut that to 4, and our next premiership game then is….. Chelsea at Old Trafford. We could be 1 point behind, with 2 games in hand over them.
I’ll take that too
December 28th, 2008 at 17:12
@Man-U-cho: If I remember correctly, Arsenal were in a similar position last season. Look where they ended up!
I wouldnt worry about Liverpool, they are shite. Newcastle is not a team, the only thing that keeps them from playing in Conference is Shay Given. And Bolton suck without Anelka. I wouldnt worry about them, they will slip up. They are overrated and they will lose their belief during January because they will lose more games, they will draw and they will make mistakes. That is what the Scousers are about. Dont worry, they will slip.
December 28th, 2008 at 17:14
@Traverse: Ive said it before and I will say it again: We are in a much better position that some people will have us think. We can definately beat Fulham and Wigan at Old Trafford, and we have the easisest games left. We are 2 points in front of Chelski if we win those two games, and 1 behind Liverpool and they still ave to comt to the fortress that is Old Trafford. Cheer up lads, 2009 is gonna be great!
December 28th, 2008 at 17:20
@antsBoy: luved it!!!
December 28th, 2008 at 18:23
@Fred The Red: I’ve always said that the brunt of the blame falls at Fergie’s feet. He continually puts out useless lineups and stands firm with a group of players that are either well past it or were never good enough to start for this team. And the only time things are going to change and this team starts looking different is with a regime change. After twenty years that would sound a bit too drastic and very risky but I also see a man who is nearing 70 and who cannot go forever. If and when the right person is available for the job, I think he should be given the position and Fergie must then go quietly in the night. I won’t say the game has passed him by but I will say that it is obvious to me and others that he is not putting in the time and effort nor showing the passion and emotion for the job that he has in past years. At times I feel the inmates are running the asylum as too many are allowed to get away with bloody murder and the intensity and passion has left not only the team, but it’s manager. It all starts and ends with Fergie.
December 28th, 2008 at 18:26
Eight goals in two days by Liverpool. We’re at one. How many can we expect from our game tomorrow with Boro, one, two? When Liverpool starts scoring at will while we are stagnant and dull beyond belief, you know the world is messed up beyond repair. Jeez I hate football this season everywhere other than Germany. At least the Bundesliga is fun and entertaining still, and sick shit like Liverpool leading is not the shite of the day.
December 28th, 2008 at 18:48
@Rd: I have been a supporter of United since 1977. Frankly they weren’t bad in the 70’s but yes they stunk in the 80’s Still, I was a fan because as a kid you latch on to a team that captures your imagination by the style of football they play. In 1977, I like the way United play the very few times I got to see them. And living in Canada it was very hard to support or follow the team up until the formation of the Premier League because frankly, the tv coverage here in Canada was crap. I must have seen a dozen United games from 1977 to 1991. I stayed loyal but other than what I read by buying British magazines, I had a very limited knowledge of what I was supporting. Unlike the Bundesliga and my other favorite team Bayern Munich who I saw and read about regularly. In North America there was a tv program from the mid 70’s right up to the end of the 80’s called “Soccer Made in Germany” It was a condensed 1 hour long highlight of the previous week’s game of the week. Over a 34 game Bundesliga schedule I would see Bayern play on this program at least a dozen times. I got very familiar with that team, their players and their style of play as well as the rest of the league too. Add to that the numerous times I got a chance to watch Germany play in the Euros and Wolrd Cup as well as other tournaments and I was spoilt on German footy. During that long period of my youth I got very little English football. In fact until the late 80’s when a Saturday morning 2 hour highlight package started airing, the only thing we got was the FA Cup Final. I got to see much more of Liverpool and Spurs and to be honest, I was a pretty good fan of Spurs during the Glenn Hoddle, Ozzie Ardiles era. As for Manchester United, not much but I still had my loyalty switch turned up to high despite my lack of exposure to the team.
My love and total devotion and passion for the team really got it’s rebirth in 1992-93 with the formation of the Prem. All of a sudden we got more games on tv in Canada and for whatever reason there seemed to be more United games than other teams. I was exposed to a young Giggs, Schmeichel, Hughes, Robson etc and I just loved the team and the way they played. But I became fanatical when I first saw Cantona wearing red. By that time I was seeing at least 15 games a season but by 1999 I was seeing probably two thirds of a season and nearly all their European games. Over the past three years with the start of Setanta I get to see and record every United game played except the odd Carling Cup tie. So now I am living the dream. Do I love United more than Bayern? Yes but only barely. I still have a passionate love affair with the German club and German football and that will not change. Imagine the feelings I had before the 1999 Euro Final when I knew one of my two loves would win and the other would lose. And how it happened left me numb as I wasn’t quite sure how to react. Perhaps I didn’t show United all the love I wanted on that evening in Barcelona, but I sure made up for it last year in Moscow when I was heard screaming from joy 100 miles away on Vancouver Island.
So there you have it, my history with United. I wished I was closer to experience the team more often for most of my youth and young adult life, but those are the breaks.
December 28th, 2008 at 18:51
@Traverse: Everybody seems to be eliminating Liverpool while worrying about an injury riddled and one dimensional Chelsea that are over loaded at a few positions but woefully empty at others. Unless the January window improves their lot, I’m starting to believe that Liverpool may be the biggest threat after all. They just aren’t losing like in past years.
December 28th, 2008 at 18:53
@RedDevilEddy: And you don’t think our anemic offensive output is eventually going to betray us against opponents. So far we have been winning most of the 1-0 games. But when we can’t score, how long will it be before we end up losing 1-0 games or just dropping more points by drawing 0-0 or 1-1?
December 28th, 2008 at 18:53
Boy, I am number 500!!
December 28th, 2008 at 19:09
citeh are soooooo massive that they cant be bothered to win a game. hahahaha
December 28th, 2008 at 19:09
@Grognard: Shit!! You beat me to it. Although I agree with your comments Grog. Berbatov was brought to make what was supposedly a jigsaw puzzle with one missing piece, complete. But then what has happened is that the strike force has been appalling this season. Although we have been creating a truck load of chances, our finishing seems to be poor. Now, the inclusion of Berba has rendered the magical trio of Tev-Rooney-Ronaldo, “ineffective” for lack of a better word. I attribute this lack of scoring/finishing ability to the time taken by Berbatov to settle into this club. Ofcourse, it can be said that Fergie has a hand in this when he perhaps asked him to playmake than play off the shoulder of the last defender. In my view, Berba has been very good as a play maker. But then, was he bought for creating chances for others or for scoring, remains the question. If the guy is good at play making, but is really an out and out striker, then doesnt it speak volumes of his ability? Fergie must be really having a grand scheme in his mind, if he is seeing that his ploy isnt working and that Berba has effectively killed the goal scoring machine that the magical trio was. But if fergie is still persisting with this approach then maybe, he sees something that we dont. Something that has convinced him that this lack of Goal scoring form until the 84th minutes against Stoke, and something similar against LDQ is only the lull before the storm. So I guess, unless Berba settles fully into whatever role he has been assigned and if that role is defined clearly, then I guess we will be back firing on all cylinders. Berba traditionally has scored more goals post Christmas than he has before it. But then it will be fool hardy to expect him to repeat that again, if he continues to play as deep as he is doing now. On a side note, Berba was brought on as a sub in the Stoke game. Was this because he was being rested after that virus or was it because Fergie has started to realize that he is better off with the magical trio operating. Or am I being far fetched and fergie has turned senile? Is this really the lull before the storm? I hope so!!
Red Ranter – One suggestion. the writing competition was for a month. It was announced more than 10 days ago? If there hasn’t been any activity since then, then why hold the competition for so long? Surely people who really want to write wont write for more than a week. I know that writing a good article wont take more than 2 days even if you do all the research in the world. The blog is getting boring, let someone take the mantle as soon as possible. Red Rants devoid or almost devoid like this, of activity for a month, is not something all of us would look forward to.
December 28th, 2008 at 19:09
damn i spoke too soon
December 28th, 2008 at 19:11
city are celebrating a draw with the bottom club like they won the world club cup.
December 28th, 2008 at 19:18
@UnitedUnited: I see what you are saying mate but Berba has never been the problem. Fergie is to blame for the setup and style we play and playing Burba far out instead of in the box isn’t exaclty going to net him more goals. What this team needs is more creativity from midfield. Anderson has given us this over the past few weeks or so but Fergie still feels like sitting him down.
I also agree with you on the writing competition except I think the reason for the delay is because Red Ranter is on holidays and because he cannot take the time to evaluate the entrees.
December 28th, 2008 at 19:21
@gator: grrrrr…u did mate
December 28th, 2008 at 19:23
@gator: In all honesty, that game wasn’t half bad and had a thrilling end too. The game was open and when the teams in the PL play open footy, it is always interesting to watch. It really pisses me off when every other team decides to park the bus against us, home and away!!! I mean, they don’t do the same against liverpool, that’s why the scousers are having a good run. If we went to Newcastle, I bet u they would have parked the bus and defended like their lives depended on it.
December 28th, 2008 at 19:25
YAY!!! I got a comment published, after weeks of trying!! I was beginning to think RR had a vendetta against me
December 28th, 2008 at 19:35
@Rd: Good Lord Rd, your the confusing one mate
. You were saying last night that Nani (particularly), and Ronnie too in his present form this season are not contributing to the United cause. I am sure as others on the blog will testify I didn’t mistake you on that. Today you are saying they are of VALUE to us, and that if they go they will weaken the team – what’s all that about?. I don’t understand why you don’t get where I am coming from mate. An international player, which Nani is, needs regular first team football. Especially when a player is in a run of bad form they need to get some REASONABLE playing time, and Nani might as well not be there, the amount of on field opportunity he is getting. What is it Rd – like every 4 or 5 games he might get a chance, and then sometimes only as a sub. To develop the player needs more football time, and OK if as you say he is not good enough to merit a place in the team, then how the hell can you in the same breath say that the team will be weakened if he leaves. I don’t get your psyche Rd, and I am not just trying to be disagreeable with you mate – honest.
Regarding Ronnie, I don’t know if you attend United games or not, especially away games, but Ronnie is roughed up like nobody else in the United team, and that is a fact mate. Every PL opposition crowd are a pack of feckin wolves, baying for one of their players to do him serious harm, and cheering every time one of them seeks to maim him. That sickens me mate, and yes I am there most of the time witnessing it. The United faithful who used to GET Ronnie through every game when opposition crowds were spitting and foaming at the mouth on him, are timidly quiet this season. Yes, he has a rep for diving, but I am sorry he doesn’t and hasn’t needed to dive this season, because he is hacked down persistently (MOSTLY FROM TACKLES COMING FROM BEHIND), which last time I checked were illegal, and yet the ref’s allow them persistently on Ronnie. I don’t care if our team is weakened, not when a player is treated and vilified as Ronnie is. If he stays in PL, we will have an Eduardo on our hands – sorry but that is how I feel. If you don’t agree fine. Besides MANY UNited fans have thrown Ronnie to the wolves, and have eaten him up themselves in their attitude this season. So apart from our team being weakened, you tell me Rd what is in it anymore for Ronnnie to stay with us in the present climate. I love Ronnie, I loved what he did for us the last two seasons, but I think many United fans, unlike you Rd, want the lad gone. So there you have my explanation, like it or not mate.
December 28th, 2008 at 19:40
@Gabriel: Woah Gabriel mi man, don’t use morethan one smilie, because the fault with the system is related to use of smilies. Or did you know that already Bro
?
December 28th, 2008 at 19:46
@Mr.Muhozi: Give over moaning mate
, the site is not INACTIVE, it’s just that all the activity is situated in the one thread – haha.
December 28th, 2008 at 19:48
@Rd: No I realise that won’t ever happen but hey, we can fantasise about it at least!
December 28th, 2008 at 19:56
If Liverpool are still top come March then I’ll eat my hat and take them seriously, otherwise they’re simply mere pretenders. Chelsea maybe might be out of it this year as they look fucked at the moment. Arsenal disappeared without trace a long time ago. Man Utd I hope and pray can close the gap on the dippers to a point by winning their three games in hand – and then when the scum come to OT we’ll hopefully fuck them over there and take pole position during the home straight aka Squeaky Bum Time lol. Well that’s how I hope it’ll work out anyway…
December 28th, 2008 at 20:01
@Craig Mc: Just read that on one of the comments actually…
What’s going on Craigy? It’s like the rest of the league have signed a waiver to only play for 0-0 draws with United, home and away, this season. I mean, every team we play against nowadays just settles for a draw and rarely show any attacking ambition, what’s that about? Look at Villa and Arsenal; Villa played an open game and tried to score against Arsenal but when we went there it was another case of 8-1-1. What makes it more annoying is they are not doing the same against the freakin scousers (Newcastle today: wanna bet when we go there next yr, they’ll defend with ten men?).
Still though, it’s not like we’ve been successfully trying to overcome this tactic. There is a distinct lack of regular forward, incisive passes from our midfield and that is not good, especially against two walls of four!! We need our midfielders to be more adventurous against these sort of teams, at least for the simple fact that if we give away possession, the opposition would give it right back due to their lack of forward players.
I’m hoping Boro come with an attacking mindset tmz. Fergie has been trying to sweettalk Southgate into playing an open game, but as he is in the relegation zone, I doubt he would play that way. Although, the boro do like to attack, maybe we might be in for a lively on tmz afterall… here’s hoping.
December 28th, 2008 at 20:11
@Nino: I seriously wouldn’t write off the scousers this year. The one thing they have going for them is that other weaker teams around them play an open game at their respective homes and most times, a bit defensively at Anfield. This is why they have done well away from home and struggled a bit at home. This, unfortunately, is not the same for us. Every team has just given up on playing proper footy with us but just adopt spoiler tactics, home and away. The team that actually surprised me doing this was Villa. Look at the difference in their tactical setup btw when Arsenal came to their stadium and when we came there. Same goes for every other team.
If the rest of the league keep under-rating the scousers while reserving their season’s best defensive performances for us, then it will be a bumpy road to May. Same goes for Chelski and maybe the Arse.
December 28th, 2008 at 20:12
http://www.fifplay.com/fifa10_ideas/#comment-51684
eddy, you know what to do.
December 28th, 2008 at 20:58
@Gabriel: Well Gabriel I really dont think its the parking of the bus business to be honest. I mean if we all speak the truth, like we should, we cannot say that we haven’t had CHANCE after CHANCE after CHANCE of gaping goal opportunities. How many times has Rooney, Berba, Tev, Park etc etc etc missed SITTERS. I don’t blame the oppo WALLS, I blame the total ineptitude of our strikers to actually hit the target. O how I wish we had somebody WITH COMPOSURE, then Gabriel mi man, we would be SINGING
.
December 28th, 2008 at 21:01
The scousers are flying, and this really builds up confidence and a feeling of invincibility, until somebody gives them a HIDING, and then we will see. But who will knock them off there perch eh?. Not us, if our strikers don’t bloody wake up and smell the trophy losses
.
December 28th, 2008 at 21:42
@Craig Mc: True, the strikers are not as clinical as they should be, however, they cannot bear the grunt for the whole TEAMS’ inability to create and convert chances. Part of the blame has to go to the team setup and blunt midfield.
This team for the last two years have been playing an unconventional 4-2-4, where we had two deep lying midfilders and 4 forwards who interchanged in attack. Mostly, the duo of rooney and tevez were there to create space for Ronnie and chip in with a few when the opportunity arose. This they did well and we saw Ronnie shine as the focal point of our attack. Unfortunately, this stunted the goal-poaching and clinical abilities of the Roovez as they were, majority of the time, having to play from deep to create chances as the midfielders wouldn’t. This is a habit that they got used to and with this new formation are trying to exorcise.
Also, with regards to this new formation, we are supposed to be going thru the middle – thus having an attacking midfielder to create opportunities for our strikers – and also from the wings – thus having strikers positioned in the area to receive crosses. This is where the problem is, we still employ two deep lying midfielders, even in games where the opposition sit back and defend. Hence, our strikers, instead of concentrating on the penalty box and poaching, are having to come deep to create play themselves. This is wrong, as they would not be in dangerous positions to convert chances and even when they manage to get into the box, the chances that you speak about will be mostly half-chances, nothing concrete!! This is due to no concrete supply and attacking support from midfield.
I would use Rooney as an example. Let’s consider his form under Capello for England and his form for United. Although he has begun to put in goals recently for United, it is obvious that he is more dangerous/clinical for England because he doesn’t have to play deep and create stuff, rather feed on the supply from midfield and convert chances. Look at when we have played with a genuine attacking mid this season (someone who actually hovers in and around the penalty area), we have managed to create and score plenty, why? Because the forwards are where they should be and not marauding around the half-way line. If we were creating genuine chances, believe me, our strikers would convert them. The problem is we are not and as we don’t have the most clinical strikers, it’s even a bigger problem as those half-chances remain as they were, half-chances.
December 28th, 2008 at 21:55
@dan(u-ol): Thanks for the link Dan. Ive stated my expectations…
), but I dont think 3 million people know it. Just ask if you wanna know it and Ill play a game against you so you can see. Cheers.
Are you playing many live matches? Cause if you are, I will tell you a secret that will make you unbeatable. Of cource, the people that know the secret can break down it down and ruin your tactics, like me(
December 28th, 2008 at 22:01
@Craig Mc: Know it. Our strikers are suffering from a syndrom called “impossible to score goals”. Except from Tevez, he could have scored two against Stoke hadd it not been for a blind assistant ref.
I really dont know what to do. Buying a new player is not the answer. Neither is getting rid of Wayne, Tevez and Berba. I still believe that Rooney and Tevez are the perfect partnership up front for us, with Tevez`s brilliant positioning and Waynes ability to create something out of nothing. Berba really doesnt add anything new to our attack, at least not anything helpful. So why play him? We made the mistake with Veron, better not make it again. Every player needs to find their feet. Tevez is for me our best striker at the moment, while Wayne is colosely behind. Tevez has got some goals lately and created many chances for us. And Rooney is very inconsistent, but has done magic for us lately. So, bench Berba for Boro and try out Tevez, Ronaldo, Nani and Rooney again. The totempel of our succes last season…
December 28th, 2008 at 22:42
@RedDevilEddy: i cant play right now, but PM me the secret, please.
December 28th, 2008 at 22:45
@Craig Mc: Lol, I never said Nani was of no value to the team, I just meant that he hasn’t been contributing anything when given the chance and so I don’t see why everyone keeps clamouring for him to play. I’ll definitely love to still have him here. On him meriting a run in the team, I believe the squad should be selected based on form and right now judging by the time he’s played(bar Celtic) he hasn’t been that good. I’m not advocating him to be sold, I just don’t see why he should be playing. If Fergie plays him again(which i think he should against Boro) and he does well, then he should get a run to carry on that form.
On Ronaldo, I actually agree and sometimes I feel sorry for him, If i were him getting hacked every game I’d have probably punched a player already, but I still think he got himself into this with his serial diving even before he became as huge as a threat as he is now. Thats probably why refs are hesistant to protect him cus now they probably feel they can’t tell when he’s being seriously fouled or when he’s play acting again. Sad but true.
December 28th, 2008 at 23:16
@Gabriel: Well that is part and parcel of being the defending champions. Every team raises their game when they play the defending champions the following season as it’s their cup final, which is why it is so hard for a team to retain the Premier League title, so kudos to Man Utd for having done so last year and in years gone by. We truly are the best English team of the modern era, no question!
Aston Villa probably genuinely believed that they were as good as or even better than Arsenal in their current state, hence their fearless, open approach against the Gunners. We have had the Indian sign over the Villans in recent years, which is why their setup was different when they played us as they probably feared yet another battering at our hands.
December 28th, 2008 at 23:50
@Nino: I know mate… the unfortunate thing is these teams don’t raise their overall game, rather they raise their defensive game and show no ambition to properly attack. United are versed in counter attack footy and when we come across this defensive setup, we are almost impotent. This is one of the reasons Fergie wants to play a more central, build-up play style of footy (hence Berba). The problem here is we refuse to utilise an attacking midfielder (which is vital to this approach) instead we use Berba/Roon as attacking mids and hence eliminate that threat these strikers are supposed to pose in the box, what with our wingers now actually playing as wingers.
IMO, the solution is simple, play either Carra/Ando/Scholesy as genuine attacking mids instead of two central ones. Relieve them of their defensive responsibilities, afterall, most of these teams rarely come out of their half!! Our strikers can then actually play in the box where they should be, meeting the crosses from the wingers, poaching goals, converting chances created by the attackin mid and also they won’t be double marked as this attacking mid can distract some of the defense.
Also, maybe we need to improve our give and go a bit. We have possession but it’s not penetrating/effective because too often we misplace passes, don’t make incisive runs or thru passes. It all might be a bit new, but that is the best way to overcome two walls of four defenders.
December 29th, 2008 at 0:38
@RedDevilEddy: Eddy, Eddy, Eddy
, Berba doesn’t add anything to our attack?????. Mate without Berba’s delicate chip over to Tevez in the Stoke game, it would have been a DRAW and not a win, because nobody else was offering anything in breaking down the deadlock. So Berba most definately added 2 points to that game for us mate.
December 29th, 2008 at 0:45
@Rd: True, True mate – but how many others of our players after injury come straight back in and are given a run to regain their form???? Think Ronnie, took him about 5 games to get some kind of flow, and he isn’t there yet. Same with Giggsy, Scholesy, etc etc etc. Doesn’t seem fair to me at all, but then whether people like to admote it or not Rd, Fergie has, and always will have his blue eyed boys.
Anyone know if Terry is back from suspension for the game against us or not?.
December 29th, 2008 at 0:55
@dan(u-ol): The first thing I would do is bring back the indoor 5-a-side mode from fifa 97 (i think).. that was awesome… then i’d make it playable online
December 29th, 2008 at 1:16
@Traverse: Haha that was classic mate! I still have the FIFA 97 CD which I got free when I purchased my 1st ever desktop PC back in 1998. I used to score 180 degrees goals all the time in the indoor mode…. also the way the ball rebounded all around the arena whenever you missed the target was too funny!
Man Utd v Liverpool was the match I used to play all the time in FIFA97….I remember the squad with the likes of Schmeichel, Irwin, Kanchelskis and Cantona in it lol
December 29th, 2008 at 1:57
@Craig Mc: He can have those moments of brilliance, but he really doesnt add anything NEW to our attack. Tevez and Rooney could break any defense open last season, and they still can. Its just that we dont score on the chances they create for us. Ronaldo is having difficulties with Berbatov this season, as Ronaldo is played as an actual winger. I think that if Berba hadnt joined us in the summer Ronaldo might have been playing better and we would have scored more goals. Berba does the little magic once in a while, but its kinds his place that our team gets in the situations where we need him. He still has to prove to me that he is United-quality, and some few nice touches and assists wont do that for me. We bought him to be our number nine, but he is playing like a number 8. If we needed someone to make the goals for us, I would buy Arshavin. Simple. He doesnt do what he was bought for and what we need him for, which is my biggest problem with him. I am one that gets easily impressed by players, and when I say Berba hasnt impressed me at all it should say something.
December 29th, 2008 at 2:39
@RedDevilEddy: I f someone was known as a master criminal, you wouldn’t exactly get to see his talent if he was locked away in a maximum security prison. Berbatov is a true talent whose skills are being wasted inside a system that works counter to his skill set. Don’t blame him, blame Fergie. All things considered, I think Berbatov has been quite good under the circumstances.
December 29th, 2008 at 3:08
@Grognard: If Berbatov wanted to play a different style he would. He’s playing in the position for us that he’s played every time I watched him at Spurs. If you go back to the transfer deadline day thread you’ll see that I said I didn’t want him because he plays behind the other striker and we already have 2 players who play there. We didn’t need a star striker. We only needed somebody to come off the bench when teams park the bus. How come we were able to break down the teams who park the bus last year and not this year? I’ll tell you and it does have to do with Berbatov. Ronaldo has now been pushed to the wings for every game due to the fact that Berbatov is playing through the middle. He has stopped coming inside which stops him exchanging positions with the strikers and due to the fact both of our midfielders seem to think playing the role of quarterback will work instead of actually getting forward the opposition can just wait for us to come to them instead of what we had last season which was the 3 forwards pulling defenders out of position and creating openings. we’d be better off giving Ronaldo the free role because on the wings he is isolated and since he is allergic to team play he will just be shut down by the defense, one way or another
December 29th, 2008 at 5:37
Good point Liam…
December 29th, 2008 at 8:27
@Liam: This is not Berbatov’s fault. The last few games they have played without him and the team sucked just as much. When will all of you understand that this is tactical and technical issue and that nobody but Ferguson is to blame. He has created a square peg in a round hole environment and you are being unreasonable in expecting players to naturally adapt and fit in over night. And Berbatov did not play the same style at Spurs I’ve watched many Spurs games over the past two years as well, I followed Berba’s career with Bayer Leverkusen. One often thinks he is playing higher but he did not. It’s his nice finesse passing that makes one think he did. I remember many many times when he was playing deep in the box and getting to the end of ball sent in to him. If I have any knock or criticism of his play this season, it’s that he has been very tentative with the ball and rather than shoot he automatically passes. His assist against Stoke was a perfect example of what I am talking about. A goal hungry striker would have struck that ball and tried to beat the keeper, but instead, Berba passed across the box to Tevez. Unselfish but also a sign indicating a lack of confidence in his own finishing ability. This comes from a few misses and clearly not enough clear cut chances to build confidence on. Again, a problem with the system and style of play that doesn’t allow a player like that to get at least five cracks at goal a game. He’s lucky if he gets one and ecstatic if he gets two.
December 29th, 2008 at 9:47
@Liam: LOL. Very, very funny…
“…and since he is allergic to team play…”
Compliments of the season to everyone here on RedRants.
I just want to emphasise a point that have already been raised.
Everybody is now moaning about teams “parking the bus” against us. But, if we can effectively play against such formations, then surely teams will have to try other alternatives? It’s not their fault for playing “boring” football. (They need to play for points). They would be outright stupid not to apply that tactic against us, knowing we have no answer for it. I believe that at the end of the day, our team is responsible for the “boring” tactic. We are suffering because of our “one-dimensional” type of play.
To summarise, “If we want it to stop, we need to learn how to counter it”.
December 29th, 2008 at 10:45
@Karl: Very well put Karl. And that is the major problem. Fergie seems clueless on figuring out a way to do it. What was even more frustrating is watching how Liverpool was able to destroy their last two opponents with nifty ways of breaking down the wall. Gerrard’s first goal yesterday was a master class on through ball passing which United never use unless Anderson is out there. Finesse is the key and we have none. The only finesse we have other than Berbatov is of the selfish variety. Ronaldo basically passing to himself.
December 29th, 2008 at 11:12
@All, come to new post.
December 29th, 2008 at 11:28
@Grognard: LOL…”Ronaldo basically passing to himself”. I have no idea of why these Ronaldo sayings seems so funny? I still like him a lot. Although I can do without a lot of his antics, I realise that it is basically a ‘package deal’.