Feb 23
Newcastle v Man Utd: Preview
A familiar foe awaits us at St. James’ Park. The mad Geordies have done enough to get their manager, Sam Allardyce, sacked without giving him enough time. Their messiah, and said familiar foe, Kevin Keegan hasn’t exactly had the messianic influence the fans have come to expect from him. Give him more time is their call now, apparently. Oh the irony!
But despite their horrendous season and poor recent form, we would be well advised to go and do the job to keep the pressure on Arsenal and, of course, hope they drop points. Really, we have to be doing the job of winning every game from now on if we have to entertain hopes of retaining the title.
Scott on Republik of Mancunia has done a fine job tabulating SAF’s record against Kevin Keegan and it does make interesting reading. On that evidence, they’ve squared off on 17 occasions with us winning 8, drawing 5 and losing 4. So 9 games have been points dropped which isn’t very nice to hear before today’s game. And yes, you never know with these kind of games — the Magpies were absolutely shite before they held Arsenal to a draw. So there is a good chance that they will cling for dear life as they look to arrest the downward spiral their season seems to be taking.
And so, it is essential that we get off the blocks from the word go to settle the issue early in the game — which brings us to the topic of much debate, in recent times: the formation.
There has been lots of dissenting voices criticising Fergie’s soft spot for the club’s veteran players. That is even clear now that he’s made public, his intention to keep Neville, Scholes and Giggs well beyond their playing careers at the club. Now words can’t do justice to their contribution to the United cause, but from recent performances, Scholes and Giggs have been a little off pace. This has been clear from the introduction of younger replacements during the course of the game, who have shown to be more than capable of freshening things up and bailing the team out. We have seen the urgency Anderson injects into our game every time he steps on to the pitch, and we have seen Nani turn in some mature performances of late — although, admittedly, he needs to do it more often to prove that he’s actually improved.
So the happy headache of the midfield situation would continue to dog Ferguson, so long as all are fully fit.
Since I’ve thrown in a reasonably elaborate discussion on our formation problem I’ll leave the actual formation prediction part out to you to debate on. Although, I would play a 4-4-2 with Anderson and Hargreaves/Carrick in the middle with Tevez and Rooney resuming their strike partnership. I would still play Giggs on the left (Ronaldo on the right, in case you have any doubts) because I can always bring Nani on as an impact player if things don’t go right. I guess that’s what impact players are for, aren’t they? Giggs has to either start or sit on the bench, because with his form, at the moment, he surely can’t be an impact player, can he?
And yes, I would always link to an article involving Keegan talking about what ‘might have been’. It’s the usual stuff, some things delusional, some things that partly make sense, and some repentant. Oh well, that’s Kevin for you.
Anyway, that is a longish preview, I think. So let me end it off with a prediction: United 2-0 Toon.
Come on you reds!
Related items from Red Rants:
- Update on Red Rants
- Man Utd v Newcastle: Preview
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Man Utd vs Newcastle Utd: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
Tags: Manchester United News
Craig Mc (195)
RedDevilEddy (170)
Opti (135)
Moscow is my heaven (96)
Ian (95)
taehr, hargo wasnt just bought for the CL, you realy need to analyse his games to see what a true asset he really is, he does atchully run past defenders, he does get forward(but that anoys me), and he is 1 of the best passers on are team.
that fabiano(i keep saying fabinho lol) sounds like a perfect super-sub.
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Sorry Taehr, I wasnt really directing anything at you specifically, and I really did get your point. I, myself, am not that high on Hargreaves (I only think that he should come on in games like today, when we have the game in hand and want to not press as much). I was only trying to make the point that when a player isnt as diverse as say an Anderson or Ronaldo, and then they struggle with whatever it was that makes them a integral part of United (ie Carrick’s passing and Hargreaves’ defending) fans’, like us (and I’m guilty of this too) tend to write them off as not good enough. This especially shows at United where the fans are diehard and the team is world class.
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[Taehr]
For me a defensive midfielder has to do the job expected of him, first and foremost, which is to protect the back four and break up plays of the opposition thus handing the ball to the more offensive minded people in the team.
Claude Makalele, quite easily the best defensive midfielders of modern times had no pace to speak of, no shot whatsoever (apart from the one shot that he managed to score for chelsea), and could at best pass the ball over shorter distances. But my God, could he tackle and read a game! The thing about Makalele, and players of his kind, is there are matches when they are almost invisible while playing a crucial role in the team. Real Madrid sold Maka because of this precise reason — that they hardly ever saw the merits of keeping a player that seemingly did ‘nothing’. They missed him very badly and until last season they didn’t win the league nor the champions’ league since his departure in 2003. And guess what, Real Madrid were beset with all sorts of defensive worries since then. Zidane’s presence, and that of a whole lot of Galacticos, couldn’t do much to arrest their slide.
His peak also coincided with Chelsea’s meanest defensive records in their history — not to mention, making Terry look an infinitely better player than he actually was.
Hargreaves at least has a decent shot, can pass reasonably well, and has pace. But I wouldn’t mind if he sacrificed these attributes and stayed back to protect the defence because that was precisely why he was bought. I am willing to give him more time before I really start judging him, just as I took my time to draw conclusions on Carrick.
So people, let’s climb off Hargo’s back for now, shall we? Give him some time.
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even though saha scored, he was really lazy! when he passed the ball to rooney he didnt even bother moving into the box he just dawdled outside.
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thats what ive been saying for the last few weeks RR, hopefuly people will listen to you, maka is pure class at what he does, i swear he went for about 2 years without shooting!
goodnight united!
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Oh and here were Florentino Perez’s quotes when he sold Makelele:
And Zidane’s subsequent opinion, when Beckham was bought while Makelele was sold:
I digressed a bit, but I found these quotes quite interesting and relevant here to share with you all.
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hmm,
my previous point about DMs – look at Roy Keane, Pat Vieira at his best, Edgar Davids, even Michael Essien… They all could participate in the flow of an attack
Being a DM doesnt mean its acceptable to be crap in other departments of play. Unless you’re a world class DM in your specialty as Makelele that’s acceptable.
But I’m yet to see Hargo do those world class performances. OK I’ll wait for some time for him to put on some good displays. Still he was our most expensive player and I just hope he starts delivering at the highest level. He was really a class act in the world cup. And it would be good if he took a few free kicks as Ronny seems to suffer from the Roberto Carlos syndrome – free kicks are impressive the rare times he manages to score from them.
oh and dan, hargo is a good passer but not one of the best of the team. Carrick, Scholes, Anderson, Rooney are those.
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To those applauding Torres as a true finisher: rarely has a striker been more critizised of missing so many chances. It’s practically been the story of his career, and it amazes me that one hattrick makes people thin he’s a genuine goal poacher. Simply a lack of knowledge of the game imo.
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And i didn’t even read the rest of your post there Taehr. I know that Pique isn’t a RB, and that he doesn’t have all that much pace. I’m not even suggesting that we shouldnt start him over Brown. I was just wondering what the problem would be giving him a run out in a game like today, where we had the game in the bag and didnt really feel pressured all day. I dont think there is any reason to let both players walk when at least one could have been prevented. And with Pique likely to go for the same reasons Rossi did, playing time. We could easily give the kid a run out in games that are in hand.
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About Pique – isn’t it worrying that such a young player seems to be so slow? And the few time s he played he looked dodgy – misplacing himself and misreading the game…
OK vida looked dodgy too in his first few months but at least he wasnt that slow. Remember that the Spanish league is played at a slower pace than the EPL and that may be why Pique fared well while on loan…
Oh at least he seems to score a few goals.
About the Luis Fabiano guy – interesting article – the guy has potential though I would never sign a player who’s obviously prone to bouts of lack of self confidence, especially a striker. That would be like having a second Saha , no?
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What do you all think of that American striker Jozy Altidore? I watched the US game vs Mexico game a few weeks ago and he looked like a very good striker. Beautiful headed goal, and he can finish well also.
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To all you Hargo detractors I say BOLLOCKS! Hargo is a fantastic player who has had a problem getting enough games in to get match fit. His injuries have put him behind schedule a bit and although I think he has played well, he is capable of so much for. He is a great defensive midfielder with flashes of offensive skill and vision. No he is not Makalele or Keane and he is not overly physical but he annoys attackers and causes turnovers. I think he will really show his class next season after an off season to really heal up and get back to 100%. This season he has been playing at 75% max.
Regarding Fabiano, I haven’t got much to add. The player doesn’t float my boat, sorry.
Comma; It is easy to see what the difference has been in Carrick’s game in the past month. Besides a more positive and aggressive attitude, he has been braver when it comes to forward passes as well as his now occasional dribble forward. He also has become more decisive. Quite often he used to delay his thought process until he was stripped of the ball. Now his assertiveness is instant and his passes have real purpose. He’s also taking the occasional shot or two in a game. That’s all I can ask for. His defensive skills have been good all year so if he continues to perform like this, Hargo and Scholes will find it difficult to get playing time.
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Regarding the Eduardo injury. Just terrible. What really disturbs me is that hacking tackles like that are common place against our best players. Will it be long before one of our stars gets destroyed by some clown on these bottom feeder teams who resort to roughhouse tactics to in order to beat quality sides? I hope the Birmingham player gets a long ban and that Birmingham get fined as well. I want us to beat Arsenal but not this way. I want to beat them at full strength.
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Tomas,
for certain goal poachers, some misses are acceptable. RVN, he had, and still has a great scoring record, yet I remember that he always seemed to miss the odd great opportunity, then scoring another. What made him so good was that put himself in an amazing number of good positions to maintain the high scoring rate.
That was the story of Andrew Cole, always slated for missing chances and never given credit for the positions he created himself.
I’ll admit though that I don’t follow pool enough to know that Torres misses chances.
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Great performance by the guys, I really think we can win the Prem now! Torres is a player that would have been great for United, but now Tevez is one of our best players, so I would fancy him over Torres. Remember who scored at Anfield when those two met?
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I am almost at a loss for words about eduardo. No one deserves that, I wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy. After seeing the pictures I almost cried. My thoughts and prayers go out to him, and I pray he will be able to play football again.
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Didn’t see the Eduardo injury… Was it as bad a break as smudger’s against Liverpool in the cup match
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Grognard people have every right to feel a little deflated about Hargo’s performance this season considering what we paid… I know he has had injuries and will be much better next season given he isn’t playing in any summer tornaments.. If i remember correctly you’ve given abit of shit to Saha in the past… and as far as im concerned the pair have pretty much given the same on the pitch this season in terms of effectiveness.
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i think pique seems to be a bit similar to senderos, anyone else think so?
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Shannon; Please spare the self sacrifice speach already. We didn’t pay shit for him, the club did so stop acting like the money came out of your pocket. Hargo cost a lot and yes he has been a bit of a disappointment because of that but he still has played well and often enough to not be labeled in the same category as the Balsam Wood Bomber Saha. Also, Sha has been disappointing us for a number of seasons now. Check back with me in 2010 and we can revisit the Hargreaves matter then and see if your case has more merit then.
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Shannon; Eduardo’s break was just as bad and perhaps one can say it looked worse too. You won’t be seeing him play for a long time. I doubt he will play next season yet alone be out for the rest of this season. Taylor should get a season long ban for his criminal act. Then maybe other goons will wake up to the fact that they cannot survive the league’s justice and thus help preserve and protect the stars of the BPL from thugs like him.
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Yeah seen the foul… bloody hell. Agree on the ban… Can you imagine the out cry if it was a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Tell you what though with all the Arsenal injuries… a treble could be on the cards
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It’s not as though Taylor wanted to break Eduardo’s leg. The game was just beginning and sometimes players will try to intimidate their opponents with a few hard tackles. Let’s face it, if Eduardo’s leg hadn’t broken and he had gotten back in the game, Taylor would have simply got a red and we wouldn’t be talking about this. I don’t think that he deliberately meant to hurt Eduardo, but only Taylor knows the truth.
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Hargo’s been good, just injured.
Eduardo’s injury is very unfortunate – Matt Taylor wasn’t just late on the tackle, it was a stupid challenge considering that Eduardo was going to flick past him anyway.
The ref gave the red card because of the injury, not the tackle.
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Heres the thing with hargo-When we play against sides like lets say newcastle,his break up play is not needed at all.If he does play then we are sacrificing our attacking flair.I believe he was bought to cancel out opposition stars -kaka and alike.But if he plays we cant play only two mids.We would have much little creativity.So we put another midfielder in and play 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 and we all know how that ends up.how many games will hargo get?Against derby,newcastle we dont need him.Carrick does a much better job because he can split these sides.So how is he supposed to get any fitness for this year or the next.We dont need him to beat 90 percent of the leagues teams.anderson,scholes,carrick are enough.maybe injuries
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I hope Eduardo makes it back to a sturdy career after that sickening injury. I don’t know much about what the FA deems to do but a life ban isn’t exactly warranted for a leg break in a match. But definitely a lot more than a simple red card is called for.
I wonder if the FA should introduce punishments for injuries as- time served in a ban to be equal to stat based estimate of time out on the injury of victim. Might be a decent rule, except that teams might use thugs wantonly for the effect. Sad for football that such incidents happen. Taylor was a dunce to have tackled that way on anybody. At least 3-4 months out would serve ‘im right. And Edouardo looks to be out for at least 6 to 8 months.
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The problem is not how awful the tackle by Taylor was but how bad the end result was. The tackle was high with studs up. This happens all the time in football. And that’s the problem. This shit has to stop. Unfortunatley for Taylor he needs to be made an example of for the good of the game and for the future security of all players, especially the stars. If a tackle that could well have been career threatening is not severely punished, then the game has gone totally to the dogs. It’s unfortunate for Taylor but his imitation of Vinny Jones needs to be squashed and a message sent around the footballing world. These tactics must stop or more severe bans will begin to occur. And this goes for star players as well. They must not be left immune to these punishments if enforcement on severe and unwarranted tackling is to be stopped.
As for Arsenal, this will have to force Wenger to use Bendtner more and put pressure on Saha’s hospital buddy Van Persie to stop letting minor injuries last a season long. The guy is a wimp and really soft. Arsenal are fucked but good.
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