Apr 12
PFA Players Shortlist: Where’s Anderson, Rooney and Rio
The PFA Awards Shortlist is out. Those who haven’t seen it yet here’s the list. Have a look at it first.
PFA player of the year:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
David James (Portsmouth)
PFA young player of the year
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)
Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Micah Richards (Manchester City)
Now there will always be disagreements with the lists every year. But what makes things surprising is the absence of certain players on the list. Steven Gerrard inexplicably makes it into the list despite not doing much of note; Liverpool are fourth — and barely — in the table. So it’s not much to talk about this season. Torres, on the other hand, deserves his name on the shortlist. Ronaldo anyway looks like he’ll win the award. However it’s surprising that Rio Ferdinand or Wayne Rooney don’t make it to the list. It’s understood that Rooney had an underwhelming season by his high standards. But he’s had 11 league goals and 11 assists. Plus he clearly makes a hell lot of a difference to our side’s play when he on the pitch. He certainly has done a lot more than Steven Gerrard, despite his injury affected season.
And Rio Ferdinand? How the fuck isn’t he on the list?
In the young players’ list it’s surprising that some players, according to the PFA, are never too old. Fernando Torres is 24 years old. How in the world is he ‘young’. Or what is young anymore? Anderson has been the surprise package of the season, and considering his age and what he’s brought to the side in the absence of Scholes and Carrick at one point. He also had one of his better performances against the bigger teams, and that is a good metric to assess a players’ worth. Anderson did that especially against Liverpool and Arsenal.
So what do you think? Shouldn’t Anderson be on the PFA young players’ list? And how about Rio or Rooney?
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Arsenal: United End Arsenal’s Season
- So How Good Is Manchester United?
- Arsenal v Man Utd: Preview
- Preparing to beat Reading
- Future Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand named England skipper
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
is scholes even on the field?! wtf is he doing.
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id like to see scholes and park coming off for anderson and tevez. Shit 1st half but sure it will pick up…….
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Man that was bad. What happened to our passing. Arse were better team by far, I just hope that SAF does something about this. I would love to balme Scholes but he is not the only poor player. Our midfield is unexistant. It like we are playing in Emirates. people were saying trashing and all that. WTF?…not with this kind of play. we need to take midfield back, so andy might help. I just hope SAF does smth.
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Shit is it me or are we getting raped? Bloody hell i have a really bad feeling that manutd will lose this and then to chelsea and eventually the title..COME ON YOU REDS!
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OH SHIT
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YES YES YES
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Ronaldo! There’s nothing there to say. Only that Lehmann is a clown.
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Tevez and Andy for the Championship.
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I mentioned earlier that Park MUST come on only as a sub..his running is probably more effective against tired legs and rather ineffective against fresh players..
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you fukin geius Owen. what a fuckin strike. beautiful. YAAAAAAAAASSSSSS!
gOTTA KEEP IT TIGHT NOW LADS.
UNBELEIVABLE
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YESYESYESYESYES!!!! Just keep the lead!!! YES
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my house has 4 arsenal fans, 2 man utd fans and a french man, and my god singing loud and proud, come on united, just as i predicted 2-1
,
grognard, i guess your boy has been a revelation since fulham, now just wait for anderson
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I hadn’t cried for a long time but this goal was worth it.
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THANK GOD!!! This was a BIG BIG BIG win!!!
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Well you saw it all. man that was crazy…well it was time to put them from their misery
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big win.park and scholes played crap.after tevez and anderson came on we passed and played better football.one great free kick.just need to win 3 more games.
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My God! What a game. I need to let it sink in for a while and digest the outcome before I give my game analysis and player ratings. Suffice it to say, I think most of you already know who my man of the match is. Owen Frakken Hargreaves. WOW!
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For the most part we were outplayed but still won it! That is the mark of champions!
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YEAH! great result!
anderson and tevez were brilliant! so was rio and rooney tho he could have scored twice in the first half.
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Owen Hargreaves can do no wrong! I was always a fan, but the last two games have shown that the guy is purely world-class. Very versatile and excellent commitment, something which I feel terrible saying, that Ronaldo can never match. Of course Ronaldo is definitely going to be World Player of The Year this time and I hero-worship him, but Hargo…is quite simply, Hargo!
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that is the mark of champions because the whole team was piss poor and we still went out with the win. my preferred line-up for the rest of the season would be hargreaves at right-back, andy and carrick in the centre, rooney tevez upfront and park over giggs until nani comes in. player ratings
vds-7.5 it would of been an 8 if it were not for the goal
brown-4, piss poor
rio-8, looked a bit lost at one point but managed to bring himself back in the game
pique-8, didnt do anything wrong in my eyes
evra-8.5, bursting runs that deserved goals
ronaldo-7, he would get a 6 but he scored so
scholes-N/A, i dont think he was on the field today…
carrick-, carrick, average game
hargreaves-9, highly influential throughout the game, and has now proved we have to skill full players with the accuracy of beckham
park-5.5, a bit below average really
rooney-8.5, excellent game, would of been a 9 if he scored
tevez6.5, kept getting on the ball and created a few chances
anderson-7.5, exactly what the team needed
giggs-1, not enough game time.
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right wigan, get us a draw will ya.
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yay yay yay yay yay!!! I couldn’t breathe for the last 10mins!! Felt like they would score in injury time again (just like at the Emirates)…esp with the way Brown kept doin them favours…anywayz, BIG WIN..HUGE WIN..one small step tdy..giant leap towards the title!!
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Very nervy performance, handed Arsenal so many chances…but…class shone through (for about 5 minutes)
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rio was given the man of the match award. IMMENSE PERFORMANCE !!
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Oi, Hargo definetely put in a great performance, but hail that of Ed Van der Sar!!
Was it not for him, the scoreline would have reflected Arsenal’s dominance.
One point of worry though. The players want to play offensive, counterattacking football when at times some possession could do no wrong.
My prime culprit (among others) would be Rooney who always looked to run the ball forward when he got possession, despite us being totally overwhelmed by Arse possession.
Rooney had a good match though, I’m only pointing out that someone – the manager? – should have put a lid on this excessive willingness to counterattact.
We have been overall lucky that Gallas screwed up to allow us a lifeline back into the game.
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Rio, MOTM? Now it seems they wanted to repair the injustivce of him not being nominated for PFA awards.
With him nearly scoring an owl goal that’s intriguing to say the least.
Hargo or VDS would be much more worthy winners of the MOTM.
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yes he was Nico, and hargreaves presented him with the MOTM champaigne at the interview. He held arsenals attack quite magnificently to say the least, and that also when hes not 100 percent fit.
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Sure we’ve won every game that Park’s started, but it’s not as though it’s because of him. He’s piss poor, sorry. Park is a sub, not a starter for a team like Manchester United. Hopefully Nani will return soon. We could have used him in the first half before the intro of Tevez.
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I stand corrected. Rio is by ten miles the world’s best defender at the moment. He played better than most of the other players today and helped United to a fantastic victory over the gunners, although I have to say that Arsenal deserved more. Still no complaints given that both teams played well and was very entertaining affair.
Rooney needs to contral his temper, but otherwise he was alright though his finishing incapabilities once again shone through. Anderson was the difference and my admiration for Hargo is starting to be justififed. Pity he was not MOTM and I think Hleb had a shot at it as well.
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Phew!! You know it was a good match you were shaking after it
We were atrocious in the first half but fought like men possessed in the second. Congratulations to the lads in the second half, not all of them had good games but you cannot question their commitment to the cause.
Ratings:
VDS – 8: a string of excellent saves. I’m reluctant to criticise him on the goal as we will probably never know what exactly happened.
Brown – 6: a poor first half, got booked and was careless in possession. Improved in the second half and was much sharper in the tackle. Still it is a shame that there isn’t more time to get Neville some match sharpness.
Ferdinand – 8.5: Once again I’m reluctant to criticise on the goal. Similarly the own goal attempt was an absolutely horrendous ball to try and deal with and Rio had no choice than to have a swipe at it. Other than that he was exceptional again. Commanded the backline, cut out attack after attack particular in the first half when we were been hit from all directions. MOM.
Pique – 7.5: Good performance but you can still see some inexperience with him. I’m content enough for him to be the third choice CB now but I will be delighted when Vidic returns (hopefully against Blackburn).
Evra – 8: Good in the attack and solid defence despite Arsenal having almost free reign down his flank in the first half. One world class through ball in the first half to set Ronnie free.
Ronaldo – 6.5: Fairly quiet for most of the game. Balls of steel for the penalty and acted as a useful pressure valve late in the game. Still needs to work on being more influential when facing quick and mobile full backs.
Scholes – 5: Very poor, completely off the pace and was probably the wrong man to select when you are trying to knock Arsenal out of their passing game.
Carrick – 7: The only midfielder to show up in the first half. Tried manfully to turn the tide but was being outmanoeuvred by superior numbers and lack of support from Hargreaves and Scholes. Solid distribution with the occasional dash of brilliance. Had a quieter role to play when Anderson came on to shore up the midfield.
Hargreaves – 7.5: Presume the MOM awards are due to the free kick. Quiet in the first half but grew into the game in the second. Exceptional free kick and set piece deliveries were good all afternoon.
Park – 5.5: Read Scholes. A slightly unusual choice as he looked dead on his feet on Wednesday night. Never got to grips with the game but he never got much support or a good supply of the ball.
Rooney – 8: Missed a couple of chances but they were very good saves by Lemon. Caused Arsenal bother all afternoon even when he was isolated. Tremendous movement all day and excellent work rate in the second half to help relieve pressure on a number of occasions.
Subs:
Anderson – 8: He may lack guile and finesse but his all action style was a huge factor in finally starting to break Arsenal’s stranglehold on possession. Provided much needed energy and helped break the constant stream of attacks directed through the middle on our defensive base of Carrick, Ferdinand and Pique.
Tevez – 7: Held the ball up well and helped make it stick with our forwards. One superb 20 yard blaster which I could have sworn was in. Still wouldn’t have started with him in a game of this type but he is an extremely useful sub to have. As SAF said in an interview yesterday he is a busy little bugger
Giggs – n/a: A couple of nice touches and held the ball up well. Too little time to rate him accurately.
SAF – 8: Got the initial team selection wrong IMO but made the right changes at the right time to turn the tide. I would assume the hairdryer got a blast at half time
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As i said before ” U don’t know what u miss , when Anderson does not play ” .. Grog mate u r wrong abt Anderson .
He may not have Assists or Goals to his name however his physical presence his immense.
I remember a Arsenal blogger who said immediately after the arse away match .. “Half Pirlo Half Gattuso ” , ‘Watch out’
Well his physical presence is More than Rooney or Tevez !
Did u see his body challenge on Adebayor and the way he brings the foul on him .
He may not have goals or assists because of his simple logic ‘ First to Fifth Gear ‘ ..
He is a Defensive Offensive QB !
He cannot be compared to any player as far as i know may be Gerrard .. He is a rare breed . He will be one of the biggest stars in the coming years !
Anderson reconquered the midfield for us .. That sums it up
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If sagna and Flamini played for arsenal today, it would make greater difference. May be they should have won the match.
Arsenal played well. They dominated manchester united in the first half. We got no momentum in midfield. We lost the ball too easily.
Wenger managed to lift the spirit of the squad. Arsenal put pressure and fight for each ball.
One of the reason for which Anderson played was that the Arsenal players were exausted. Imagine that Rooney and ronaldo we out of force at the end of the game although they were rested against Roma.
This Arsenal team is very dangerous. With a fit squad and some major re-enforcement next season, they will be a major threat for the title.
I think it will be difficult to keep their team together without being dismantled.
Hats off to arsenal and manchester united.
It was a great game with lot of pace and was played and a very high tempo until their batteries we exhausted.
The difference today was the bench. If anderson and tevez started the match, they would not have the same efficiency in the second half. Park played his part by exhausting arsenal.
Bring on blackburn.
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Ronaldo is ICE-MAN! He is “mr. reliable” and the worlds best player. Impressed by Owen today, Fergie said he wouldnt start! But thankfully he did. Amazing free-kick and his all around play was immense. Rio my MOM today. He totally dominated the game. He almost gave me a heart attack when he was close to scoring an own goal. Anderson was amazing after he came on! He is a special player, no-one is like him.
My ratings:
VDS- 8,5. Saved our skin many times. Mistake on the goal, but everything else he did showed why he is our number 1.
Brown- 6. Terrible in the first half, opened spaces for Arsenal all the time. His tackilng was awful too. But in the second half he played well, but he almost scored an own goal.
Pique- 7. Good game, but he is no Vidic.
Rio- 9. Amazing! Blocked on 3 yards, tackled everything and made Adebayor his bitch. His reaction to Owens goal showed how much he wants Manchester United to win this trophy and how a real leader acts.
Evra- 8,5. Another great performance by the frenchman. Good attacking, but he was a rock in defese. No one came past him. Showed Walcott who was the boss.
Ronaldo- 8. Thought he had a good game. Not a Villa or Newcastle kinda performance, but kept possesion when needed and almost set up three goals for Rooney. Had problems against Clischy, but when moved to left midfield he really turned up. His penalty was amazing, it impressed me. He never stops doing that. I was worried after he had to re-take it, but showed nerves of steel to score it. If he only had done so against West Ham…
Carrick- 7. Good first half, but dissapeared in the second.
Scholes- 5. One word: Terrible!
Owen- 9. He was all over the pitch and showed what lies in him. His free-kick would have made Ronaldo, Beckham, Juninho and Riquelme proud!
Park- 5,5. Good game in mid-week, but made many bad passes today and didnt look like he wanted to win.
Rooney- 8. Work rate: Amazing. Finishing: Not good. could have had a hat trick had it been on another day.
Tevez- 7. Good cameo. Fought as usual and gave much needed energy to our side.
Anderson- 8. What a game by the birthday boy. He ran all over the pitch and made a difference. What he did with Adebayor was great. He is unike! BTW, did u see what he did to Lehmann before Owens free kick? He waved his arms and distracted the german so he didnt get a clear view of the great shot.
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Incredible drama played out on a large theater. WOW! I was pissing razor blades for two hours. My heart sank a bit when Adebayor handled the ball into the net. And Wenger cries about not getting breaks. Why more of a big deal wasn’t made about that goal is beyond me. Still, United kept their composure and got a lucky break with the Gallas handball. Certainly a penalty so Wenger better not whine about that one. The last 30 minutes belonged to us although I felt Bendtner was very dangerous in the air. This kid has made enemies at the Emirates and I think he is going to be gone at season’s end. I think he has tremendous promise and I like his nose for goal. His finishing needs a little work but I think he would be a great and inexpensive buy. But Wenger would never sell him to us. Anyway, the rest of the game analysis can be better explained through my player ratings.
EVDS 8.5/10 – His best match of the year. He was terrific and saved our bacon many times from great anticipation and solid positioning. A little suspect on the goal but every other time he was dead on. Especially at saving the mistakes of Rio and Brown.
BROWN 6 – Was God awful again in the first half but rebounded with a much steadier performance in the second half. Hleb and at times Adebayor had their way with him. He is looking more and more out of place and tired as the season winds down. Perhaps Fergie should consider Neville for a start and 60 minutes against Blackburn.
RIO 7 – I’m not so enthused by his performance as some other like JB because his gaffs could have cost us two more goals. Football isn’t basketball. It only takes one mistake to kill you and his almost own goal would have destroyed us. He still was steady for the most part but he did have a few horror moments.
PIQUE 7.5 – Much more steady and comfortable back there but still needs to be more assertive and quicker when clearing the ball. He is clearly becoming my choice for 3rd CB over either Brown and O’Shea and Silvestre.
EVRA 8 – Came close to being my man of the match because I think he did an outstanding job of defending and countering on the left side. Looked totally in control out there. This lad has come a long way since the beginning of the season when i was missing Heinze.
RONALDO 7 – OK, so it was not vintage Ronny but nobody is going to be outstanding with two markers on him all day. He still ran hard and ran at players but mostly nothing was coming off for him. His penalties were taken with ice water running though his veins. He didn’t just score one great penalty, but the second was completely unstoppable. And believe me, when you can beat Jens Lehmann twice when he guessed right both times, you really have done a job because Lehmann is the best penalty stopper in the game.
CARRICK 7 – Worked very hard and had to cover the invisibility factor of Scholes. No he never offered much from an offensive point of view but his defense was strong and Fabregas wasn’t much of a factor thanks mostly to him. There were times though that his lack of pace hurt him on the offensive side of things.
SCHOLES 5 – Trust me this one hurts me to give it but Scholsey reverted to his earlier form this season where he just looked over matched and invisible out there. Lets face it, he does not have the wheels to run with Arsenal and neither does Giggs. Yes he can still play but he is only really successful against lower clubs and not teams that have pace and quality marking in midfield. Never really made any mistakes but he was the primary reason I felt that United looked like they were playing with ten men for 55 minuted of the game. The thought of him starting the Champions League final or any of the Barca games is now beginning to scare me. Then again, his lack of pace is more suited to continental style football anyway.
PARK 6 – As usual he really runs hard but he never really plays well when the opposition play a full court press style defense. He likes room to run and find spaces to exploit. When somebody is closely marking him, he becomes invisible even if his work rate is high. Should have been more of a factor considering Arsenal’s attention was focused more on Ronaldo.
HARGREAVES 8.5 – May have seemd quiet in the first half because he was working hard defending due to United’s poor defensive tactics and lack of off the ball movement. He got in a few good crosses from the left side and his corners all game were quality but well defended by the Arse. His running and adventurous nature returned more in the second half as well, he showed a lot of courage and passion in his tackles and confrontations. Tireless running and being a pest like not other. What can I say about his free kick. All year I was saying that his ability to hit quality free kicks was Beckham-like and possibly even better and more consistent than Ronaldo’s. I’ve been proven correct twice now. Especially when you consider the relatively few opportunities he has had to score two. His is a beautiful finesse approach and really he should be allowed a crack at every third kick to give teams more think about as well as worry about. Hargo’s Da Man! How many more are going to join the Hargo Appreciation Society this week?
ROONEY 8 – As usual worked very very hard and ran all over the place. However, not until Tevez showed up, did he ever get a lot of space to move in to or did any movement off the ball begin to create opportunities. Should have scored a couple but Lehmann once again showed why Wenger’s pride and arrogance has cost him the title. Honestly, Almunia over Lehmann? Give me a break.
TEVEZ 7.5 – Along with Anderson was the real energy and tactical change that was needed to take the game over and kill of the Arse. He ran like a rabid terrier after every 5-/50 ball and almost scored what would have been the goal of the year.
ANDERSON 8 – Perhaps this may be to high a mark for a player who played 25 minutes but his energy and pace really injected life in an otherwise lackadaisical and lethargic United attack. His running and marking completely destroyed Arsenal and that is why we saw nothing from them in the last 25 minuted other than a great Bendtner chance headed weakly. I t may have been Anderson’s birthday but I think we all feel that he rewarded us with a vital gift today. I also feel he rescued SAF from a lot of criticism in tactics and player selection today. Still has a lot to learn but you cannot knock the lads energy , engine and defensive prowess.
GIGGS ? – Not enough time to make a real judgment. Although I have to ask why you would bring in an offensive winger/mf for your best defensive midfielder when you are trying to protect a one goal lead with a few minutes left. Was Hargreaves struggling? A risky and confusing move with no disrespect to Giggsy.
FERGIE 6 – We were lucky to win this game. Fergie got the tactics all wrong for 60 minutes and he really blew it by selecting Park over Tevez and Scholes over Anderson. Why? Arsenal is a young team that uses pace and skill in their buildup. Right there it means that Anderson should have started as he did at the Emirates where he played Fabregas out of the game. Scholes just hasn’t got the pace and when you consider Carrick is a bit of a lead foot too, it was asking for problems. That is why Arsenal controlled the midfield and was winning every 50/50 ball. Anderson eliminated that threat.
Park is a good little player but like i said earlier, he plays poorly when defenses press. Tevez and Rooney running all over the place would have cause much more problems for the Arse as well, it would have freed up Ronaldo more.
Defensively we played right into Wenger’s hands. I hate it when we sag back into our third and play a lose zone against a face pacey team who plays a lot of give and go’s and who run well off the ball. They could easily have score more goals if it weren’t for their poor finishing and EVDS. Fergie finally got it right after the 60th minute and after he injected Anderson and Tevez in the game. Before that, I felt Arsenal had been giving us a good butt kicking despite the score. Why were we showing a team which is very down, demoralized, tired and full of internal turmoil so much respect. We played like it was a road game and we were down to ten men. Honestly a hand ball and a beautiful free kick rescued our butts tonight, no thanks to Fergie for this on. If we had lost I would have skewered him over the coals like a good souvlaki.
Anyway, it’s over with. Arsenal are dead and buried and we got a vital three points. Our depth and their lack of depth was the difference today. Now I need to sit back, pray and ask for thanks as I am a member of the Church of Owen Hargreaves. And happy birthday Anderson. More of the same will win me over even if you can’t hit the side of a barn from 3 yards.
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Oh Maybe Rio was MOTM then…
I don’t know I guess I was too busy despairing at our failure to keep ball more than 10 seconds to actually notice that Rio was having a great game!
If JB says it, then it must be true
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I’m reading where the Man City owner is threatening Sven with the sack if things don’t improve soon. First he gets humiliated and dressed down by the Mourinho puppet and now this? Poor poor pitiful Sven. What he needs is his old reliable Beckham and Rooooooneyyy, Wayne Roooooooooneyyyy. Just no respect for the Gimp Man (You need to have watched “I’m On Setanta Sports” to get that reference).
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Nico; With all due respect to JB, Rio could be comatose in the local bar during the game and JB would give him a 7.0. Clearly one of his faves, as Hargreaves is mine. I’ll forgive him his over inflation of grade if he forgives me mine. The truth is he almost cost us the match twice but in fairness, that almost own goal was a difficult situation and i really cannot see how else he could have played it seeing as the real culprit Wes Brown never tracked back.
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Great game today, credit to arsenal for coming to old trafford and having a go, not many teams would. The game was even. Arsenal’s passing was slicker in the first half and our midfield wasn’t competing – not really a game for scholes and carrick. Scholes done nothing, too old and slow, slack passing. I never noticed carrick was playing for the first 20 minutes, not involved. Hargreaves at least had a bit of energy about him. We had the best two chances of the half though – rooney should have done better when ronaldo cut the ball back, but lehmann got lucky with the second one. Park also got in the way of ronaldo having a good heading opportunity, while adebayor missed a good opportunity with a poor shot. So, arsenal slightly shading it at half time, but even enough. Second half we were the better team, although arsenal (or bendtner) had a few chances at the end. The subs made a difference, bringing youth and energy to the team. VDS was at fault for the goal, it should have been his ball a mile. Brown’s not the best, especially going forward. A good full back is a great outlet when we have the ball, brown just doesn’t offer that. Evra does though, he was good. Rio was excellent. MOTM. Pique doesn’t have a left foot…
It was class when anderson muscled adebayor off the ball. Bullied by a midget…
It was class seeing tevez running around diving into tackles. Funny…
Great free kick from hargreaves.
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To be fair to Rio he had two ‘gaffs’. On the goal he said he heard a shout from the keeper so I’ll give him that. Second one error was the near own goal. To be fair to him that was an absolutely wicked ball to try and deal with and as a CB all you can do is put your foot on and pray. Even if you blame him for both I would give him higher than a 7 because he was covering for Brown a lot and his defensive shielding in Carrick was getting absolutely overrun in the first half.
Nico: Thank you, now if we can get Grognard to believe everything I say is true we’ll be flying
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Also, bendtner is just crap. He should have scored, but he got both headers at the end wrong. No good in the air, no strikers insticts, for someone who’s ment to be a targetman type
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HAHA wasn’t i a bit of a psychic today, predicted 2-1 and we got 2-1 i just said pick your own scorers i won’t bother with a review, since others have beat me to it, though i will post something interesting
2003 Juventus eliminated Real Madrid, AC Milan eliminated Juventus, AC Milan Champion
2004 Monaco eliminated Real Madrid, Porto eliminated Monaco, Porto Champion
2005 Juventus eliminated Real Madrid, Liverpool eliminated Juventus, Liverpool Champion
2006 Arsenal eliminated Real Madrid, Barca eliminated Arsenal, Barca Champion
2007 Bayern eliminated Real Madrid, AC Milan eliminated Bayern, AC Milan Champion
2008 AS Roma eliminated Real Madrid, Manchester United eliminated AS Roma….
Man Utd to win champions league!!!?!?!?!?!
who knows, lets beat barca then maybe just maybe
p.s RICK, please may you improve your spelling, you can install a simple spell checker on your web browser to make peoples life easier, i find it hard to read your posts, i apologise in advanced if english is not your first language
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I think Parks getting alot of undeserved stick tbh. He wasn’t at his best in the first half but neither was Rooney or Ronaldo. The 3 central midfielders were all just too defensive minded in the first half and that led to the front 3 being isolated and too well covered. In the past it would have been less of an issue as even playing poorly as he did today Scholes would have been alot more adventurous and linked the Defence/Midfield with the Striker/Wingers alot better and given the Arse defence more to think about.
Ronaldo got alot more possession once Anderson and Tevez came on and I think Park would have been the same. Infact I suspect he would have been more effective than Hargreaves was as a winger (I was thinking that it would have been Scholes and Brown off, with Hargreaves going to RB)
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Tevez; Your view of Bendtner is not fair mate. “No striker’s instincts”????? Are you kidding. In order to get the cracks at goal that he gets he has to have a striker’s instinct. He’s just not a sharp finisher. He like Anderson and others is very young and that part of the game will improve. A lesser goalkeeper may not have been positioned as well as EVDS was so I think you are being woefully unfair to the boy. Adebayor was making more of a meal of great opportunities than Bendtner.
JB; Don’t count on it mate. Although you could say I have come around a lot regarding Carrick and Scholes. Although Scholesy had me nearly fall of his bandwagon today with a thud. Another performance like that and I will be all over him like black on night. By the way, when are you going to come around to my way of thinking? Or am I too Stephen Hawking for you?
Wakey. Sorry mate but Park was invisible and he always is against a press style defense. Ronaldo on the other hand had two men on him most of the time. Park should have done better but it is true that the central part of the midfield was either non existent or too defensive so support wasn’t great. This didn’t help the offensive scheme of things until Anderson and Tevez were inserted into the game.
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highlights can be seen here.
http://www.attube.net/view_video.php?viewkey=9a4022a2c4c5a5ca3ee1
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Good one, Mr. Muhozi, let’s just hope the trend continues for 2008 also
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Did anyone notice that the introduction of Giggs did two things. One, it showed up Clichy’s tired legs, which suited Giggs’ play very well. And two, the game opened up, even if just for a few minutes. Suddenly there was newfound composure on the flank and the best part- there were two changes of flank in under a minute.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to say Giggs should start. He’s too old to go up against pacy fullbacks who have the ability to quieten Ronnie, let alone him. But there are some things about United’s style of attack that only Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes can offer. Gary’o too, if he makes it back. These guys are super-subs when the game needs slowing down or opening up. They can cling to a ball (Scholes) and deliver long Rooney-seekers all over the pitch. It doesn’t matter how slow they’ve gotten or how quick the opposition is provided it isn’t quick enough to close them down before they can launch their passes.
There was nothing wrong with Hargo’s play except that he has limited range with his exquisite crosses and aerial balls. Not so Giggs. A 60 yard flank changer is quite something of a skill and not too many people can do it accurately.
I fancy these two (or three- oh cap’n, my cap’n) to come on as subs for younger, more agile starters when there is a need for the beautiful long-passing, width using style of attack that is so patently United’s.
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Howcome players don’t share MotM awards these days? In that case, Rio and VDS would surely take it..one bottle of champagne not enough for two eh?
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Rio did not deserve Man of the Match. Not by a long shot. Christ, he almost cost us dearly twice. EVDS was very good and saved our bacon on numerous occasions. Him sharing the MotM award with Hargreaves sounds like a better choice to me. But then again, that is why we debate. Differing opinions and perspectives. I think we are all in agreement thought that Scholes sucked today. I cannot recall the last time I saw him play where I never saw him play because he was invisible. It was shocking.
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When is the PFA awards?
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