Aug 25
Preview: Reds vs Spurs
United face Spurs in what has now been widely regarded by fans as a crunch game. In fact it the game is considered equally important for Spurs fans, who despite having won the last game, have gone over board in their reactions towards Tottenham and Martin Jol, in particular.
United on the other hand have yet to win a game this season and are already playing catch up. As mentioned countless times here, in this site, and many other sites, the team has been playing well. It’s only the final third where they are not being able to get anything decisive done. Or are they plain unlucky?
SAF has said that Hargreaves, Anderson and Saha are fit. Even EVDS is deemed fit to play. Gary Neville has overdone his training and ended up aggravating his injury, thus keeping him out for another 2 weeks. While Hargreaves will start, there is this feeling that Fergie might persist with his 4-3-3 formation. Despite Saha training for the last two weeks without any hiccups, it is more likely that he will start on the bench. So will Anderson.
Martin Jol’s defence is shaky, with Ledley King a long time absentee. None of the defenders are Micah Richards, so we should be able to beat them comfortably. But stranger things have happened. The ‘crisis’ at Spurs might just spur (no pun intended) the players on to a blinder of a performance, and we just hope that doesn’t happen. Berbatov is fit and is expected to start.
Prediction: 2-0 to United (Tevez, Nani to score.)
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
- Man Utd v Tottenham: Preview
- Free tickets for United v Villa final
- Giggs and Brown to Remain Reds | Ex-Reds Clash | Wenger Threat | Takeovers And Other Such Nonsense
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
Tags: Game Preview
August 25th, 2007 at 10:44
I thought Berbatov was injured. I would like Anderson to startn alongside Tevez, with Saha coming on for him at half-time if all is not going to planned. I think we need to get off to a good start otherwise as the game goes on we could find it hard to score once again.
But I predict 3-0 (Tevez 2, Nani)
August 25th, 2007 at 10:48
We will win.no doubt in my mind.i am looking forward to anderson playing.and saha too .i predict 3 1 with tevez,anderson and hargreaves scoring
August 25th, 2007 at 11:23
I like how everyone envisages the new boys scoring
Ill just settle for a chelsea-esque 1-0 win with either a deflected goal (hell, we dont have lampard)/ own goal/ penalty
August 25th, 2007 at 11:28
why not a match preview for sunderland…for good old keano…red..how abt it?…a win will do for me BTW
August 25th, 2007 at 12:01
berba will start, probably.
sunderland? they’ll be smashed to bits, I fear. I’m hoping it’s different, of course, but I can’t shake the feeling
August 25th, 2007 at 12:03
R.i.P ray jones
August 25th, 2007 at 12:10
Redranter: I believe Gary Neville actually caused another injury (thigh i think) rather than aggravating his ankle problem. I suppose a new, relatively minor injury is better than him aggravating a long term one.
August 25th, 2007 at 12:57
Ahmed, i actually think sunderland will muster a draw.
August 25th, 2007 at 14:55
the wrong team won. C’MON YOU SUNDERLAND.
August 25th, 2007 at 15:01
Scousers won 2-0 anyways bakc to the original
We win 2-1 tommorrow tevez to score atleast 1 other any1 else
but something inside me says we’ll score a lot
August 25th, 2007 at 17:39
I am expecting a revival and an inspired outing by United. I want to see pace and imagination on full display. Anderson should get his debut and he will be nervous, so don’t expect much from him. On the other hand, the presence of a second striker may just be what Tevez needs to be set free and show more of the skills that made him so desirable. Tottenham will be determined but very nervous as they will be playing on egg shells due to the internal controversy regarding the future of manager Martin Jol. They are ripe for the picking.
I’d alsolike to make a comment regarding the fact that United’s greatest error in the transfer market was not going after Franck Ribery. I have been shouting about his abilities for a long time now and I have watched him play this season for Bayern and all I can say is this man is in the top three player in the world, hands down. His skill on and off the ball, pace, imagination, passing, striking accuracy and temperament are incredible and a treat to behold. In fact Bayern Munich right now look like the best team on the planet, and believe me I am not exaggerating when I make this comment. Yes they play in the Bundesliga and yes that league may not be the EPL or La Liga but has been underrated for years now. All the teams in the Champions League can take a sigh of relief that they will not be facing this juggernaut this season. Their pace, imagination, flow and diversity of passing and style as well as their quality attempts at goal are to be admired. Two of the three opponents they have face this year have played them very physical and have put up the same defensive wall that Reading, and all the other of United’s opponents have. The difference is they have the pace, and quality to break that defense and get numerous top qulaity cracks at goal. Today the Hannover goalkeeper stood on his head or the 3-0 Bayern victory could easily have been 7 or 8-0. Hannover reduced themselves to terrible fouling and numerous yellow cards in order to cope with the Red Wave. It was an awesome display considering Klose and Podolski did not play and Toni left after 28 minutes due to injury. He did score a great goal while getting that injury though. After that it was a very young and inexperienced striker named Wagner who played and his contribution was minimal. Instead the Bayern midfield stepped it up a gear and put on a dizzying display of style and substance that left the Allianz Arena and myself in awe. Jaw dropping football. Fergie should watch how his good friend Ottmar Hitzfeld takes advantage of the talent he has and how a midfield can take complete charge of a game not just by possession but by creating numerous goal scoring opportunities. Finally the thing that I noticed the most was after they scored their second and third goals, they wanted more. They had a killer instinct that even great United clubs of the past have lacked. WOW! In fact that is a problem that has always haunted the English game. The inability or reluctance to finish off an opponent with vigor. Chelsea proved that today. Once they got up 1-0, they sat back and did very little. That was total rubbish.
August 25th, 2007 at 17:59
indianpunk I hope we score a lot, but with the absence of Rooney&Ronaldo I doubt it.
Anyway a win is all we need:)
With all the noise in team, I don’t think Berba will be a threat. After all he is the main
target of the media(Beside Jol). He will have doubts about his career.
It should be an easy match for us with Hargreaves killing their attackers.
August 25th, 2007 at 18:55
grognard, i was agreeing with your post until i saw the comment about frank ribery, this guy, is so inconsistent, its unbelivable, man u and arsenal have been linked with him for years but they saw better player out there, man u should win this guy i hope, i cannt wait for it, will be watching it in high definition
, so i pray anderson, does play some part ,and unlike the pre season games dribbles with the ball cus that when he is most deadly when he runs with the ball, i hope for 3-1 man of the match tevez or hargo
August 25th, 2007 at 19:18
Anderson in his last outing against Glentoran looked well short of being at full fitness and I assume that’s why he was not dribbling much. I would guess that SAF would not put him in if he was not near or at full fitness.
August 25th, 2007 at 19:30
yeah we all hope this is gna be the start of something that’ll run through the rest of the season.
and i think ribery is a great and highly underated player, yes he might have been inconsistent during the world cup and all, but if anyone has seen his performance for bayern since he joined, it has been nothing short of brilliant. superb footwork, pace, vision, crossing and striking technique. complete all round player, plays across the midfield with no difficulties.
a great buy for bayern.
another player united should be looking at is his ex teammate Nasri. this guy has potential no doubt. vision is there, pace and technical ability as well. remember the name!
as for the game with spurs, i hope to see more pace, creativity and quick decision making. i think so far whats lacking is the extra cutting edge which split defences a part like last season. the first 3 matches had chances, but not many clear cut chances. more half chances rather. this time round they’ve gotta be more counter attacking minded. yes joga football is great to watch, but sometimes a goal is worth more.
lineup i’d like to see’d be similar to what you guys have already mentioned, same back 4, scholes and carrick and hargo, with nani, anderson and tevez in attack. no giggs please!
August 25th, 2007 at 20:16
Adil
I must have watched 30 to 40 matches involving Franck Ribery and I must say with total honesty I have never seen the inconsistency that you speak of. He seemingly is outstanding all the time, especially for France and now for Bayern. I have seen all three of his Bundesliga games and three exhibition games he played in for them and he was the man of the match in every single match. He also seems doubly motivated to prove himself in Germany and his efforts and flair have won over the Bayern crowd who enthusiastically cry out RIBERY RIBERY RIBERY with utter joy. He’s just fantastic in my opinion. Sorry to hear you don’t agree. As for Anderson, he is young and full of talent but I am afraid that he has been built up to be the next Ronaldinho, which he isn’t and will never be. I hope his confidence doesn’t get shaken while he learns the English game and adjusts to the physical play as well as pace of the game in England.
August 25th, 2007 at 23:26
you red monkeys are long overdue for a spanking, taking into account how many times you’ve cheated us over the last few seasons. By this time tomorrow your season will be over.
August 25th, 2007 at 23:43
Didn’t see Ribery much last year but I remember a French journalist (Xavier Rivoire, who is normally pretty spot on) saying he had been ordinary for Marseille for large parts of last season.
August 26th, 2007 at 0:08
groganard, i have watched watched anderson whilst he was in the u-17 tournament, whilst he played for gremio and porto, and trust me, with the right training he can be better than ronaldinho, first of all he has a better attitude and always wants to improve himself, unlike dinho who just likes to party, hence for his terrible form last season,
now for ribery, my uncle who is a massive marseille fan, says ribery is an over-rated player, that should not be getting as much attention as he should be, he has a goo world cup then everyone jumped on his bandwagon, in his opinion, samir nasri has more talent than ribery in his lef foot, and from my own assuption from watching ribery, one match he will play very well another he will play very poorely, i admitt i do not watch every match of his like you do, but from what i see samir nasri is alot better than ribery
August 26th, 2007 at 0:30
Some good news on the striker front from a SAF interview:
“As for Rooney, he’s fine. He’s jogging and he even wanted to play against Spurs! It’s quite possible he’ll be back in three weeks.”
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_2686195,00.html
August 26th, 2007 at 0:52
I’m going with a 2-0 scoreline only, but we play excellent attacking football n dominate! Tevez n Saha to score!
August 26th, 2007 at 1:20
Samir Nasri is an excellent talent, no doubt but I’m sorry, I don’t buy the analysis on Ribery. I have seen too much of him to believe he is ordinary and underrated. Unlike a lot of stylish players with flare, he also possesses substance by turning his moves and creations into goal scoring opportunities. He should have won the Golden Ball award instead of Zidane and he has WOW’d me on many occasions since. I’ll definitely respect your opinion as well as your uncle’s but I just don’t think you guys are looking at him clearly. A player like him can’t be world class every night. If one is so good, other teams will often create tactics like putting two men on him or fouling him at every turn. This can make a star look ordinary a times. On the other hand, too much attention tends to open up the field for other to excel. This is why Bayern look so good. He isn’t the only star on that team to concentrate on. In Marseilles, he was the top dog with little support of that kind around him. On the French national team he is a star because the same reason I have given.
As for Anderson, I can only hope and pray that he ends up living up to the hype that surrounds him. Say what you want about Ronaldinho and his partying ways but he was and still may be the best player in the world. I am not going to assume that Anderson will be that because of his performance in 17 year old tournaments. If I had a pound for every 17 year old who was hyped as the next Maradona or Pele, then I would be quite the rich man.
Don’t get me wrong, I want the lad to do well and I am very hopeful, especially under the care of SAF, it’s just that I am being cautious with praise for the lad at this point. To be honest, he hasn’t won me over like Cris Ronaldo or Messi had at a similar age. Time will tell.
August 26th, 2007 at 8:26
BUY SAMIR NASRI! THE BEST OUT THERE!
August 26th, 2007 at 8:28
oh cant wait no more
August 26th, 2007 at 8:32
until jan no ones coming so cut this buying crap and transfers rumors and lets get on with the game
August 26th, 2007 at 8:34
The problem with united so far this season is our inability to score as the game goes on.last season we would normally score very early which would force teams to attack us.and we know what happens when teams attack us.this season we arent scorin early in games.if we do manage an early goal.in lets say 10 minutes then we will definately win the game.our players will have pressure lifted of them and will be free to do what they do best.
August 26th, 2007 at 10:46
Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Heaton, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, O’Shea, Evra, Silvestre, Fletcher, Eagles, Carrick, Scholes, Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson, Giggs, Saha, Tevez
the squad, i reckon silvestre left-babk and evra left-mid, nani right mid, and its a tossup for centre mid, it will be hargreaves/carrick against anderson/carrick/scholes. upfront tevez, or anderson and tevez.
August 26th, 2007 at 12:58
A very good win like 5-1 or even 7-1 (remember AS Roma?) will do us a a big good. We shall have kick started the season and we can now rise from there. I would not fancy 4-3-3 system. SAF should revert to familiar 4-4-2 with Saha and Tevez in attack. Hargreaves at defensive mid and Scholes as AM. Flanks = Nani & Giggs (or Fletcher). RFB = Wes Brown, LFB = Evra CDFs = Rio and Vidic.
GO GO MAN U GO!!!!!!!
August 26th, 2007 at 13:17
SAF will pick silvestre at left-back, lets be honest, and evra at left-mid.
August 26th, 2007 at 14:29
I’m predicting 3-1 for United but my gut is telling me 1-1. We should be able to beat a very unsettled side (due to the Jol mess this past week), but then this might be what Spurs needed. To gather round their beloved manager and fight for him. I think it might be too much pressure on them and Spurs usually don’t play well at OT. I agree with Taehr about the urgency for United to score an early goal and force Spurs to have to attack. That should open plenty of space and perhaps we can take advantage. Also, Paul Robinson’s confidence is probably fragile right now because of his England-Germany calamity, as well as his early season poor form, so United,PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SHOOT THE BLOODY BALL. And try to get it on target. Finally, I am going out on a limb and also predicting a Tevez goal today. In fact, he may even score two.