Aug 26
Reds vs Spurs: 26 Aug, 2007 4pm BST
Watch this space for updates as we get match news.
Update: Nani scores. A scrappy win. But was it a pleasant sight! Anyway, still plenty of cracks to paper over. All in the report tomorrow. Sorry for not updating as promised, but I will get out a decent enough match report to make up for it.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Sky Sports Fixture Update
- Preview: Reds vs Spurs
- Everton vs Reds: Appalling But Three Points
- Reds 1-0 Sunderland: Full Time | Saha Saves the Day
- Rooney Out For A Month
Tags: Manchester United Fixtures · Manchester United News
August 26th, 2007 at 10:24
hay,why did you delete my comment.
August 26th, 2007 at 10:31
Hey lets our passions take place, am still believe we will back in the system and this will start today
August 26th, 2007 at 10:47
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 10:51
is berbatov definately gonna play because from what ive read he is still struggling with a groin injury?
August 26th, 2007 at 11:27
right now its 50/50 chance.
August 26th, 2007 at 11:34
Henize the wanker at it again
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11667_2686535,00.html
i cant wait for a united madrid match.
August 26th, 2007 at 12:15
Link to the full interview:
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/story_pages/sport/sport2.shtml
I like the way he wanted to be the top paid player at the club on the back of being out injured for a year. Delusions of grandeur I think.
August 26th, 2007 at 12:35
a crap player wanting to be the highest paid, rooney ronaldo nani giggs saha vidi hargreaves ferdinand neville carrick anderson, heck fletcher!! there all better than him but he has to be paid the most.
August 26th, 2007 at 14:56
so when are we getting updates.
August 26th, 2007 at 15:02
dan
The Heinze comments shouldn’t surprise you because they are true. Say what you want about his betrayal but it is a fact that SAF was very upset with him over the decision to play in last year’s World Cup. Unfortunately Fergie does have a bug up his ass about all his players on international duty. If it was up to him, the World Cup would be an amateur affair leaving professionals to dedicate themselves 100% to their clubs without these distractions for their countries. Perhaps Fergie is bitter over the fact he was not a regular selection for Scotland but the more realistic truth is he is tired of his plans for the club getting screwed over because of player injuries brought on or worsened by their participation. Also, his feeling is that you don’t slap the ones who feed you. It’s a selfish but understandable stance. Heinze was forever in his bad book over that decision. Gabby was a great player and good servant for this club and personally I will miss his contribution. That doesn’t make his latest betrayal forgivable though. He along with Liverpool were wrong but can you hold it against a player who knows he is a first teamer to want to ensure his future with a club that would offer him that. The ironic thing is that had he gone to LiverFool, he would have fallen right smack into the Rafa Rotation Machine and thus, he would have spent just as much time on the bench. This was a mess that could and should have been averted simply by Fergie having sat down with the player over a year ago and having a heart to heart. Instead the gaffer holds his anger inside and then punishes Heinze for the season until Evra is hurt. That’s not putting the team ahead of personal grudges. Fergie is does not come out squeaky clean in this mess. Beckham, van Nistelrooy, Keane, Stam etc, the list goes on of great servants to the club getting the boot because they had the audacity to challenge the Fuehrer. Don’t get me wrong, I love and deeply respect SAF and what he has done for United, but he is not perfect and occasionally his pride and stubbornness causes friction with certain players and eventually opens the door to their departure for friendlier pastures. The old boot tosser hasn’t mellowed a bit in my opinion, he can still be nasty with players as well as former coaches and rivals. I personally think his views and hard feelings for Sven Goran Erickson are a bit unjustified. The man had a lot of pressure on him and a nation snapping at his heals. Of course he was going to select Rooney for the WC if the doctors said ok. Get over it and move on. And Dan, the football pitch is not the ring for World Wrestling. You may have a grudge against Heinze but football isn’t a sport for barbarians to go out and get justice by physically hurting a player. I know that is what you meant because beating a Madrid side with Heinze on it is shallow revenge in my books. Although playing a Madrid side with RVN, Heinze and Becks would have been interesting. Well that won’t happen now since the fashion plate moved his runway to LA. Everybody should just relax on Heinze and get over it. Wish him well. Remember, it wasn’t long ago that he was beloved. It’s not like he stole our women now is it?
August 26th, 2007 at 15:18
grognard no, your talking crap now, its SAF choice to pick who wants to play at left-back, and hes won more titles than anybody else so i think knows what he’s doing, unlike ruud david and keano, they didnt go to our rivals, and they didnt say they would love to beat united, at a matter of fact, there all still good friends with SAF, heinze on the other hand is a downhill player demanding 1st team football which isnt on., i stoped reading after you said they all got the boot. im sorry, but what you said is crap.
August 26th, 2007 at 15:25
JB
I have news for you my friend. I don’t know of too many millionaire athletes in todays sport that don’t suffer from delusions of grandeur. The pay scale of professional sports as well as the media’s attention and that of the fans has caused this problem, and then we expect these guys to act like humble paupers in order make us feel better about them and ourselves. Nothing wrong with a bloke trying to get as much as he can. There were plenty of players getting a lot more for a lot less worth on the pitch. Yes he was injured, but he was injured playing the role of a warrior on the pitch for United. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not defending Heinze fully but I quite often feel that we the fans lose a little perspective over the realities of pro sports. Do we complain if a major corporation gives a raise to one of their deadbeat CEO’S, or when bloody actors get millions for a movie? Not really. Yet we get a bug up our ass when an athlete expresses his right to ask for money in a free market system. Nobody would say shit if United had paid him and he was still on the club. It’s the fact that he betrayed us over his demand to move to LiverFool that has us questioning his ethics, his greed, his selfishness and for all I know, his manhood. Hell most of us would wake up early to attend his town hall beheading. I wonder if we will treat Ronaldo or Rooney this poorly when the day comes that they have outlived their usefullness in Fergie’s eyes. I doubt they will go quietly in to the night because these things don’t usually end well. Just ask Becks, Keano, Stammer and RVN. Ego’s and feeling get bruised and things are said. Then again SAF probably won’t be around then. But still, lets not transfer our envy and YES, jealousy onto a player for taking advantage of a system that has been broken for a long time. These players were all just like you and I before the system got them. To say we would never do that is to not relate to the changes in their lifestyle and the pressures that come with that. Lets not forget that Heinze had a major part in convincing his good friend Carlos Tevez to come to OT. He must of thought well of the club to do that. Can we all just forget about Gabby Heinze and move on. PLEASE!!!!
August 26th, 2007 at 15:25
Grognard, I had this argument with you in another comment. I provided a breakdown of playing time of Heinze when he and Evra were available from approximately October to February and the playing time of the two was comparable. So the comment in the interview that Gaby thought he would be frozen out is complete garbage as is the assessment that Fergie was punishing. It was Heinze’s own recklessness in rushing his return from injury that compromised him last season not SAF. He even suggested in the interview that he viewed recovery for the World Cup as the opportunity to score points against his club manager, utterly unprofessional. Seeing the various media articles this weekend makes me think that what has happened his that his agents wanted a last big payday so it was either a big salary increase at Utd or move on for the signing on fee. Gaby didn’t want to move to a different country, wasn’t getting a big salary hike, so what was left – that’s right a move to Liverpool.
Found it – Heinze returned from International duty and was diagnosed with degeneration in muscles around his knee due to a premature/rushed return for his International team. The first time he was available was away to Reading. Between that game and Liverpool away where Evra was injured Heinze played; 5 out of 6 CL, 2 out of 2 League Cup, 2 out of 4 FA Cup and 13 out of 24 league games. Even with the fact a few of those appearances were as sub we can see he had a comparable amount of playing time to Evra when both were available. He played against Benfica, Arsenal, Celtic and Chelsea in that time, only absent against (ironically) Liverpool of the big teams.
August 26th, 2007 at 15:33
Sorry just seen your last post there. I am not questioning the right of anybody to get as much as they can. However he provided ONE year of good service and expected his salary to be doubled and put on a par with Rio, Rooney and Ronaldo despite the fact his value in terms of on the pitch contributions and commercial worth was nowhere near the aforementioned three. Sounds delusional to me.
August 26th, 2007 at 15:43
No saha no anderson, same squad retained.
August 26th, 2007 at 15:54
No dan I’m not wrong. Most of what I was talking about was before Gabby’s decision to betray the team. For the betrayal I won’t forgive him either. That doesn’t mean I wish him ill. Keane and Beckham have patched up their differences with SAF and have a great deal of respect for him but they both came out and said how hurt they were by his actions. Nonetheless, RVN from what I have heard has not buried the hatchet and is still running his mouth in Madrid about SAF treatment and what he considers to be a betrayal of him. Ferguson is the man who chooses who plays but it should be based on performance level not because he’s holding a grudge. Heinze wouldn’t have played at all last season had Evra not been hurt. Where I come from there is an unwritten law that says that no player will lose his starting spot because of an injury. When they are well again, they will get it back. When Heinze got injured he was considered one of the top two or three left backs in the world. Evra wasn’t even on the map. His snub of SAF orders to not go to the WC and not his injury were the reason he never got his position back. That is a personal grudge and not a decision made for the betterment of the club. SAF is God and who am I to question the man who has done so much for the club? All I’m saying is that Heinze should never have lost his job outright over his World Cup decision. Perhaps he should have been punished for choosing his international career over the directives of his club, but I don’t think he deserved permanent banishment to the bench. And his play would not have suffered if it were not for his rustiness. SAF has made hundreds if not thousands of great and correct decisions during his tenure. However, lets not make him out to be perfect. We have all seen that the man has made mistakes along the way to. His treatment of Heinze is one of them. Heinze’s actions afterwards are another story entirely and one where I take the side of the club. I’m just saying that this all could have been prevented had SAF lived by that unwritten law that I mentioned. For example, say this week United purchase the contract of Berbatov and he starts next week. Say after three weeks he has scored seven goals and Tevez has scored five. Would you like it and how would Rooney like it if he were benched because these players were scoring so well that he was forced to sit. He’s a team player and for a while he would suck it up and tolerate the situation, but for how long? Or say SAF is still angry at Ronaldo for the red card. And his inclusion of Anderson makes the team score at a prolific rate therefore, he is benched. Now I know those are far fetched examples but my point is simple. You don’t slap your first team players in the face when they get injured or if they are suspended for nothing. Heinze’s reaction to his banishment was wrong but understandable. The man is first team for the great Argentina and a middle of the road Frenchman has taken his job. I was pissed off for months over this and I couldn’t understand why Gabby was taking it. Well, I feel the Copa and his overall performance there woke him up to the reality that he is finally fully fit and healthy as well, he needed to find employment elsewhere. Liverpool’s tampering with the player is something I will never understand, but they must have done one hell of a brainwashing job to convince him this specific move was in his best interest. This turned out to be a battle of huge ego’s and SAF won with a TKO.
August 26th, 2007 at 15:58
Our bench is a fuckin embarrasent!we need a striker.dong?
August 26th, 2007 at 15:59
WTF happened to anderson and saha?
August 26th, 2007 at 16:02
Saha is apparently another week away, SAF didn’t want to risk him. Didn’t catch anything on Anderson, possibly his hamstring is still giving him grief.
August 26th, 2007 at 16:43
y do i feel…SAF wants to prove a point…picking up the same team…stubborn of him! seeing the game the way it is …no surprise to see a 1-0 win or a 0-0 draw….damn u SAF for lack of variety…
August 26th, 2007 at 16:47
i cant see where the goal is going to come we are lacking killer instinct in the final 3rd
August 26th, 2007 at 16:50
my question is why isnt hargreaves playing the long ball.
August 26th, 2007 at 16:51
the build up play is good tho
August 26th, 2007 at 16:52
giggs lost in the bewilderness….worst patch of form ever…
August 26th, 2007 at 17:03
Another fucking draw on its way
August 26th, 2007 at 17:24
Wat the fuck!
August 26th, 2007 at 17:29
Nani!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 26th, 2007 at 17:36
wat a hit by nani!
August 26th, 2007 at 17:37
we better not concede now! come on united!!!
August 26th, 2007 at 17:43
Oh my god!
August 26th, 2007 at 17:58
Yes,yes yeeeess!!
August 26th, 2007 at 18:00
1-0 get in!
August 26th, 2007 at 18:01
we needed this not the greatest performance but oh my what a goal! 3 points and we are out of the relegation zone! hehehe
August 26th, 2007 at 18:04
Yes!!! It’s about time. There are a few of us over here in the USA excited about our 1st win. YES!!!
August 26th, 2007 at 18:04
Seriously, I am relieved but I need to cool down before I comment any further. I’m so frustrated by this team.
August 26th, 2007 at 18:04
Talk about dodging a bullet, far to close for comfort. Easily our worst performance yet our first win, it’s a funny old world! Still scrape a win against Sunderland, get Ronaldo and Saha back and then we can get going!
August 26th, 2007 at 18:09
rooney could be back in no time, he is jogging in training so it is all looking good for united!
August 26th, 2007 at 18:09
Ronaldo should be back next match yes?
August 26th, 2007 at 18:09
But still something is missing.do u guys see it?or am a talking shit
August 26th, 2007 at 18:13
What were the sky mouthers and jol going on about? Brown clearly chested the ball. Biased scum.
August 26th, 2007 at 18:17
Frustrating to watch but it’s a win. Hopefully things start to get better. Is Ronaldo back for the match against sunderland?
August 26th, 2007 at 18:28
The replays look pretty inconclusive on the handball but I can certainly appreciate why Sky and Jol thought it was a penalty. SAF said Brown told him it only touched his side but as I said, hard to tell one way or another. Jol is right in that Spurs should have got something; they certainly deserved at least a draw.
August 26th, 2007 at 18:29
No, Ronaldo’ll be back the match after next, its 3 games so ManC, Spurs, and Sunderland if i got that right
yes i saw something missing, a player to take up the giggs slot. giggs was as usual at his worst today. esp the last few mins where eagles was in a brilliant position, but giggs delayed and delayed and when he finally wanted to pass, it was intercepted. WTF?!
okay, hopefully this is the game to get united going for the next couple of games if not the rest of the season. hope to see saha and anderson sooner than later.
and btw, i was secretly excited when giggs took a knock on his hamstring. heh!
August 26th, 2007 at 18:37
Clear chest. Straight on angle for replay. Its sympathy for spurs behind the retina thats peepin through. Go see that again.
August 26th, 2007 at 18:38
ah ok after the next match then Ronaldo comes back in. Rooney should be fit also, so it’s back towards the front in points we go.
August 26th, 2007 at 18:49
Yep giggs is clearly clearly clearly playing bad i dont give a shit wat kind of a legend he is.he is killing us now.he was a great player but its over and thats the truth he needs be left on the bench.
August 26th, 2007 at 19:02
didn’t Giggs take a knee to the ass or was that someone else?
August 26th, 2007 at 19:10
I’d expect Giggs form to pick up in the near future; he does have a contract to renegotiate. Me a cynic, never! His knock looked to be at the top of the thigh. As for the penalty I hardly think you can say it ‘clearly’ hit the chest, the replays were inconclusive.
August 26th, 2007 at 19:30
ok missed the game coz fucking frnds bday treat
Anyways mutv 2mmorow replay for sure
Read the bbc match report looks like it was quite an open game can some1 give me a goal link if u can find any
at the moment i dont see1 any where
August 26th, 2007 at 19:33
Highlights:
1st Half
2nd Half
August 26th, 2007 at 20:35
i like the commentary
August 26th, 2007 at 21:52
Well it is time for me to vent my spleen. I am relieved as Hell and grateful for a second of inspiration and beauty to Nani for helping preserve a win for this disgraceful and seemingly overrated and pathetic crew of millionaires. This performance was worse than the previous three. Did they learn nothing on the training ground or Fergie and Queiroz completely devoid of any ideas on how to break down a defense. For God’s sake, Spurs had more quality chances to score when they went 1-0 down and had to attack than United have put together in the last two matches. With any luck and the amputation of Wes Brown’s arm they could have and should have scored 3 or 4 goals. Other than Nani, I cannot remember a really great scoring chance that United had. Perhaps Scholes flick in the first half, and thats it. For the sake of easier reading I will list my bitch list in point form for your reading pleasure or contempt.
1. Yet another game of static slow slogging play with hardly a through ball or long ball into space attempted.
2. No pace or sense of urgency on counterattacks. In fact there was one breakout in the first half that stalled at midfield because Scholes just put the breaks on. If I was there with a gun I would shot him.
3. When they were semi deep into the Spurs end, only one man even tried to enter the box other than corners.
4. Why don’t they break down the team they play with more ONE TOUCH football. It’s fast, hard for defenses to contain and is a sure way to bust through a wall or offside trap.
5. Tevez plays too far out of the box and quite often to wide to be of any value as a lone striker.
6. Once again no width and pace to go with it. Wasn’t this the reason Fergie preferred Evra over Heinze. And when he did cross the ball it was usually a slow worm killer that wouldn’t threaten a team of 10 year olds.
7. Other than the Scholes miss, the best and only chance they had in the box was by Ferdinand. When our best chances are coming from Rio, you know we are in big trouble.
8. Up until his fantastic goal, Nani was invisible. They need him to take charge of the ball like he is capable of. He’s not Ronaldo but he is great with it.
9. Evra is a useless crosser so stop playing him like a wing back and have him send long balls for our strikers to chase like Gabby used to.
10. Once again the team had no composure when shooting but most of all, they just weren’t shooting enough. Hargreaves tried a few and narrowly missed once and so did Carrick along with Nani’s gem. Not enough.
11. We need more brave runs into the box. I don’t care about offside at this point take a chance and for God’s sake give them better service. Stop passing the ball up front right to the players feet. Get them running forward or side to side and lead them.
12. Carrick is bloody useless. He is the worst bloody buy United have made in 15 years and that includes Djemba Djemba and Veron. He just isn’t cutting it and he isn’t comfortable with this kind of pressure. We bought him for his passing and his passing wouldn’t make the grade at Blackpool or Milwall.
13. Where did the confidence and the swagger of this team go? They look unsure of themselves and even more concerning, they look scared.
14. I’ve absolutely had it with Louis Saha. He is a crybaby, puffder French wimp who lacks the heart and the courage to dress for a must win fixture and endure a little discomfort. Suck it you loser and take the pain. Take one for the team. They needed you today you tosser.
15. Did you notice any difference in approach after halftime? I sure didn’t. Fergie’s arrogance has run over the top. You have n frakken bench to speak of. The only thing you can do is is change the tactics. So what does he do, he is so scared and lacking in confidence that he takes out or one lone striker after we have the lead. This is what bottom of the table teams do to survive. Have we reached that status?
16. Berbatov was clearly unlucky not to have a couple of goals and Spurs should have won the game easily. They also looked a lot more organized and creative on attack. For me this is very sad.
17. When Spurs went down I noticed many of their player who were on the attack actually circulate in the United 18 yard box. Why was United not doing that in all of their four matches.
18. Zokora’s long through ball to Jenas in injury time is the kind of passing United have lacked. Jenas made a meal out of the opportunity but the pass was sublime.
19. I’m afraid and ashamed to say it but both Giggsy and Scholes have had it. They better find the Fountain of Youth fast.
20. I was pissed off with Jose Mourinho last year when he made the comment that he wouldn’ trade his squad for ours and only Ronaldo and Rooney were of any real value. You know what, I’m beginning to agree with him. I don’t think we can beat Birmingham, Fulham, Reading and the rest of the minnows with this sorry bunch. Ronaldo and Rooney,please get back soon.
On a positive note;
1. Hargreaves looked fantastic in defensive midfield. A great buy.
2. We won
That’s it folks
August 26th, 2007 at 21:59
i don’t know about you guys, but it must have felt really really good to be in that corner into where nani did his celebration. . it felt quite amazing watching it on TV
August 26th, 2007 at 22:16
I think one thing this match proved is that it was a stupid decision not to buy Gareth Bale – that guy is class.
missed the first half due to Gaelic football Sunday here in Ireland but we looked very shaky in the second half and nearly had a panic attack every time Berba got near our goal. Lucky Nani finally found his shooting boots or it would have been another frustrating draw. Oh well, three points in the bag and hopefully get Saha and Anderson back against Sunderland and start to find form.
Grognard-calm down it’s not all doom and gloom.
Red Ranter-what is up with the commentary in those highlights they don’t even sound interested
August 26th, 2007 at 22:31
Grognard, can’t you go and get your hands on some valium?
You bore me.
If you don’t like what you see, don’t watch.
Its numpty United fans like you that get on my tits. Give it a rest will you?
We won…..end of.
August 26th, 2007 at 22:36
i dont suspect we can rely on 30yard thunderbolts every weekend.
hopefully we can now go on to score 2 or more in a game.
August 26th, 2007 at 22:36
Actually Liam I am quite calm. That doesn’t mean that I cannot describe my displeasure and frustration over matters I have no control over and over something (United) that I care deeply about, and that I take great pride and satisfaction over supporting. Perhaps you may think I need to get a life, well maybe you are right, but right now supporting and even criticizing United is a big part of it. You may see three points out of today and a cup half full of wine. I see many problems not being dealt with and cup half empty with vinegar. To know me is to know that I am a bit of a perfectionist and I cannot and will not tolerate mediocrity. You won’t see me pulling for Fulham or Birmingham any day soon. Life is to short to constantly fill your plate with disappointment.
A few short comments on Tevez and on Berbatov. United management and we as supporters must give Tevez time to assimilate to this team’s style (or in recent terms, lack of). Supporters and management at West Ham were down on him last year and he ended up showing all of them and everyone else what a classy player he is. He has a lot of pressure on him, most of it unfair and he is trying to get used to a system that seems dated and uninspired. He is working hard and making the runs but the service to him has been horrible as well as the tactical system they are asking him to work with. Thus, when he gets a half chance he rushes it or forces it. Wayne Rooney has never faired any better when we have adopted 5-4-1, but at least he makes daring runs into the box. This helps when Ronaldo is on the pitch too.
And about Berbatov. A classy player with tremendous skills and creativity that can turn a defense inside and out. Truthfully, I hope he stays at Spurs. They need him more and Martin Jol deserves a break. We on the other hand need our lads to look themselves closely in the mirror and see if they can find what once made them an imposing goal scoring machine.
August 26th, 2007 at 22:44
To Bootifullgame
At least I have something to say. Sorry pal but this forum is for anybody who wants to share their views. I generally hate mud slinging so I’ll make this as sweet as possible. If you don’t like my posts and you find them boring, DON’T FRAKKEN READ THEM and move on to the next. As for your posts, When I can make through the jibberish and actually find English or even something intelligently written I’ll let you know. Until then keep your personal thoughts to yourself and stick to posting and reading what you like. I’ll do the same thank you very much.
August 26th, 2007 at 23:03
woah lads easy with the warfare
remember we’r all united under the red banner.
funny thing i found out today
4 games played
63% possession
2 goals
frankly we gotta get started lol
August 26th, 2007 at 23:11
I agree Elton with both your comments. Even with my “RANTING” I do feel that we will eventually get things turned around. You have to have faith in a manager as great as SAF and in a squad that is as good as this one is capable of being. But there are times when my faith is challenged. Today was one of those days. Also, patience has never been one of my virtues. I need to find some. The problem is I hate Chelski so much that I am in panic mode. The thought of losing out to them or even Liverpool scares the crap out of me. It’s a pride thing.
August 26th, 2007 at 23:42
MOTD 2 replays in fact suggest that there was no contact with Brown’s hand in the penalty incident.
Grognard, there are times when teams are just not clicking and have to do everything they can to struggle through until they do. This was one of those days. The Telegraph did an excellent analysis of our first three games and with even marginally better finishing we would be sitting here with 12 points on the board. Today the team just wasn’t working and unfortunately given our depleted resources there was not much SAF could do to mix it up. Yes the performance was utter dross (for me only Hargreaves and Evra came away with any credit) but such is football. If the team is performing like this in a couple of weeks with Ronaldo, Anderson, Neville and Saha back in the fold then fair enough fire away but today was an important games that we had to grind out. Such scrappy wins have been enough to get teams going in the past so don’t underestimate the result today.
5. In theory people are meant to move into the centre to replace the gap left by Tevez, which worked well last year with Rooney as a lone striker.
6. Evra provided more threat than most of the so called attacking players.
8. At this stage Nani should not be starting, nevertheless needs must.
9. Completely lost me how that would help.
12. You know as well as I do this is complete rubbish/ranting.
13. Confidence is fragile and can disappear at the drop of a hat. Nerves probably played a big part.
14. Not much point in rushing Saha back for the sake of one game and crocking him.
15. 55 mins, Eagles on, switch to 442. As for the Tevez sub he had obviously run out of gas and the sub was to provide extra running power.
16. Other than the first 5 mins and a 10 min period in the second half Spurs looked largely devoid of ideas. As for Berbatov he only played for about 10/15 mins and seemed to spend a lot of time sulking.
18. Looked like a long punt that nearly came off.
19. Everyone is entitled to a few bad games and in other circumstances Giggs would probably have been benched already.
20. Shock horror, team suffers when its 3 main sources of goals are missing. This is the same Chelsea squad who made hard work of Birmingham, should have been 2/3 down to Reading after the first half, where comprehensively outplayed by Liverpool and scraped a win against Portsmouth. There is a fine line between success and failure and the two teams are on the opposite sides of the line at the moment.
August 27th, 2007 at 0:01
JB, I don’t like to compare our attack to Chelsea’s because their style of play is a disgrace to the game considering the talent pool from which they have to choose from. I’m afraid my feelings on Carrick are not rubbish and I know it. He’s a decent player who would be a star for ten or twelve other teams but he isn’t first team material for a club that wants to not just be EPL champs but CL champs as well. His passing this season has been just awful and unimaginative. Regarding Berbatov, great strikers don’t have to be evident or noticeable for long stretches in a game. RVN was quite often invisible and then bang bang, two goals. Berbatov may have sulked a bit but he did play well in my opinion and was unlucky. As for Brown, sorry but thatwas a marginal hand ball. HAND does not just mean hand. The ball hit 50% left chest and 50% high forearm. Even so I would not have called a penalty because it was completely unintentional and he was to close to the ball to even be able to avoid it. I can agree in principle to all your other points because they are well thought out and make good sense except Saha. Perhaps it’s my Canadian upbringing and the reason North America generally doesn’t accept footy as a must see sport, but sometimes players have to suck it up a bit and play with pain. American football and hockey are far more demanding sports physically and are of course very rough yet players play with numerous injuries and in many cases slow healing ones. If his injury was recent I wouldn’t have said a thing like I ammum about Rooney’s injury. But this fellow’s injury goes back to last year and it’s pretty alarming that he hasn’t healed up to now. It was no way as serious as Neville’s. He lacks heart and guts in my eye and I doubt you nor anyone can get me to think otherwise. Still, nice try. Thanks for the feedback. I need some positive ranting that can back itself up rather than just the same old “we won” BS. I hope we can handle Keano’s bunch next but I am really looking forward to Rooney’s return to hopefully see what two striker can do on the pitch at one time. Despite my rants….UNITED FOREVER!
August 27th, 2007 at 0:03
Just a quick question, is there any chance that we sign berbatov before the transfer window closes? Or should we? From what i saw today, this guy is class. He created things from balls that had no business on net, although im not to sure how much of that was our own ineptitude.
August 27th, 2007 at 0:41
yo grogard, nice to see such passion! 2 things; I agree with your underlying frustration despite the fact I KNOW that within a few months weel be playing immence (overzealous media definately blow “supposed” club crisis outta proportion- were a fickle bunch!) As far as im concerned its Fergies poor judgement and team/formation selections that are fuckin us. i really cant remember i saw him make a good substitution?!!?? today for example, he played the still unfit tezev up front by himself (which he clearly aint suited to) which is all fair and well when considerin the injuries etc but in the second half we were Crying out for a physical presence up top inorder to get tevez involved. So instead of putting Dong on (a pla
August 27th, 2007 at 0:57
Grognard: Have to disagree on Carrick, he was a mainstay in a team who WON the league last season and came within 90 mins of a CL final. I felt he overshadowed Scholes in our first 2 games and his passing generated 3 good chances against City which a sharper Tevez may well have taken. On a number of occasions last season I noticed a significant drop in the quality of our possession if he was missing/subbed off. If anything he is too subservient to Scholes when playing with him. That said he was poor today (but he is hardly the exclusive holder of that tag today). Don’t know what coverage you get in Canada but both Andy Gray and MOTD analysis suggests that there was NO contact with the arm.
Saha is an interesting case. It appears SAF thought he was faking injury/mentally weak and was ready to sell him last season. However there is a suggestion that the medical department detected a previously unnoticed problem in his knee which was operated on during the summer. It would seem that this injury was traced as a possible cause for the niggling injuries last year. Ironically this injury seems to have earned Saha a reprieve as it provided justification for his previous problems. Nevertheless I agree that Saha is ‘soft’ and lacking mental fortitude/heart but that is the hand the club has been dealt. Saha’s attributes make him extremely valuable to us and as such he needs to be managed in the most appropriate and effective way, whether we approve of it or not. If that means Saha and the medical staff have to be absolutely 100% sure he is ready to play so be it.
P.S. On Neville, I don’t believe that injury is as serious as you think it was. This is not the first time Gary has had an ankle injury where rehabilitation has run way over schedule. The first incidence I believe stretches back 4/5 years ago after an ankle injury in an England match. RedIssue had sources suggesting there were concerns over Gary’s long-term fitness in the club back at Christmas time. It is important to note injury wise things are not always as simple as they may seem, nor is it simply a question of heart.
Real Red: I can’t agree with criticism of SAF at the minute. Through a variety of circumstances he has been left with 7 senior midfielders/forwards and he is deploying them in the most sensible fashion he can. I would agree with complaints with the system if Saha or Ronaldo etc were available but I understand why is reticent to put on the likes of Dong (who is not ready for level plain and simple). What SAF started with was the strongest line up available to him and his substitution on 55 mins was the only real positive change that he could make.
August 27th, 2007 at 1:07
yo grognard, nice to see such passion! 2 things; I agree with your underlying frustration despite the fact I KNOW that within a few months weel be playing immense football (overzealous media definitely blow “supposed” club crisis outta proportion- were a fickle bunch!) As far as im concerned its Fergies poor judgement and team/formation selections that are fuckin us. i really cant remember the last time i saw him make a good substitution?!!?? today for example, he played the still unfit tevez up front by himself (which he clearly aint suited to) which is all fair and well when considerin the injuries etc but in the second half when we were Crying out for a physical presence up top in order to get tevez involved he did nothing. instead of putting on Dong (a player who by putting him in the squad, he musta felt confident in his ability to contribute )he foolishly elects to play the truely ABYSMAL giggs as a lone striker. Thats surely the actions of a man going seinile as its clear to see the Welsh Wizzards legs have given up on him completely. As far as im concerned il be happy if giggs doesnt start another game for us. F needs to draw a line under his blind compassion! Secondly i totally disagree with you about big Louis. The boy is sheer class when fit n allows our team to fulfill its full potential.END OF. Leads me on to my last comment………..Fergie shuda def shuda bought a replacement for saha, a traditional no.9 as unfortunately he cannot be relied upon. Now HOWEVER we have 2 identical/ undroppable players who pose no ariel threat at all when all we needed was a tall fast striker to play with wazza. SIMPLE. weve got a bit of an issue developing….lets just hope and pray Carlito and Wayne hit it off! peace
August 27th, 2007 at 1:21
JB its wierd- dont get me wrong im from glasgow n i fuckin love fergie. All im saying is that our transfer policy has been pretty shite over the past few years..It took keanos outburst for him and the club to get a grip of themselves. I love our new signings (been the best summer of me life!!) but i just feel that by buying tevez he has built a fairly fundamental fault in the squad? hope im wrong but weel have to wait and see. Oh yeah- we should have got Wesly Sneijder from Ajax- he is a new and improved scholesy. When the squad is fully operational were gona be untochable mate! Nani+ Ronny+ Wazza+ Anderson + Tevez etc will run the show
August 27th, 2007 at 1:28
JB
Thanks for clearing the Saha and Neville injury situation up for me. You are closer to getting top information than I am. And if what you say is the truth, and I have no reason to doubt you than I owe Saha a bit of an apology. Still, I do think he is soft and he has shown that to me even when he was healthy. This injury or it’s seriousness may be why he wasn’t sold to another club. As for Neville, I’d think twice before I questioned the heart of the captain. Personally he is a soldier and although he too can be a bit brittle, he has played often with injuries, so for that reason I will give him a pass. Now back to Carrick. I agree that at times last year he looked good and I will agree with you about his habit of becoming subservient to Scholes on the pitch, but that speaks of lack of self confidence to me. Certainly Ronaldo has never suffered from shyness on the field and quite often has tried to do too much. I see his physical tools but he has to use them. The list is high of players with great potential and skill, but how many of them have failed to live up to it for whatever reasons. I do wish the lad well but he has to show me that he has what it takes to take command of the midfield and make a statement. And try making some bold passes forward than just the safe one. Scholes too has been guilty of this. For all the negativity surrounding Giggs, he is the one player who is trying to make the penetrating pass or run but it’s just not coming off for him and heis looking bad because of this. Slumps come and go and fortunately this one is at an end. Now if Chelski’s and Liverpool’s would begin, I’d feel a lot better. Both those teams play dull technical football but they both (especially Chelski) possess this machine like capability to just churn out uninspiring win after win. United on the other hand have had the reputuation of playing attacking, attractive football with the occasional hiccup. Defensively we are playing well considering the opposition hasn’t really threatened us so far. I fully expect the attack to come together but Fergie has to become less stubborn and rigid. I agree with you today about his lack of options but he could have made a few on field tactical changes which may have helped. However, he decided to stand pat. Unlike me, I do give him credit for not panicking and hell, after twenty years with United and hundreds of wins, I’ll stick by him, even if I do rebel against him once in a while. Now it’s on to Sunderland. Keano better know his damn roll and bow done to the man. Somehow I doubt that will happen.
August 27th, 2007 at 1:31
Real Rant
You make good points. I’m with you. Lets just hope the magic returns before it’s too late for the EPL.
August 27th, 2007 at 4:36
SIGN BERBATOV! OR ANELKA! OR DIEGO MILITO! OR KANOUTE!
August 27th, 2007 at 7:14
Gongard your comments are too long drawn: too much flab little substance. Coupled with a sadistic approach they are dangerously close to being stagnantly boring. And for your knowledge- self indulgence is not intelligence. I suspect that you also post under the name of jb?
August 27th, 2007 at 7:34
[R...]
They seem to disagree on certain counts. Although I must say it would be better if you actually countered his arguments rather than attacking him. To be fair he does take out a fair bit of time to write all his long comments. I don’t agree with many things that he says, but that doesn’t give me enough reason to slate him. Remember, Slate his ideas with those of your own, not the person.
No, I don’t think he posts as JB.
August 27th, 2007 at 8:12
Normal service resumed? I think so. Spurs was a massive boost to the team, I think we just needed that win under our belts and we should be up and running in the coming weeks. Coupled with the fact our prized players are slowly returning to action, the rest of the league should be very afraid!
Come on you Reds!
August 27th, 2007 at 8:22
How I wish everyone had the same commitment as exibited by Rooney, the lad is already training and was even asking to be considered for the Spurs game, altho tongue in cheek! Hint hint Louis!
August 27th, 2007 at 8:28
Countering him just doesn’t seem to be worth the effort. Anyway point taken mate. But what i certainly wish to is to lock gongard and shera in a room and throw away the key. Will serve both of them right. On top in nine months we can have a perfectly researchable phenomena, provided one of them turns out to be a woman.
August 27th, 2007 at 10:01
A win is a win, fullstop!!!! How many times has Chelsea won without entertaining and still carry the 3 points. I ask, what would you all have liked? Another dominant performance without a win or a dull display with a win? Hey you guys please appreciate the 3 points first, mending can be done during the next game…….I felt relieved, greatly relieved…
August 27th, 2007 at 11:42
I can assure you R… that I’m nor Grognard, I’m from Northern Ireland rather than Canada for a start. If you wish take a look at the Heinze discussions, I can assure you we have rather differing view points on a lot of things. You probably think we are the same person because of the long posts but it takes a fair few words to argue with the man!
Grognard: Just want to clarify a couple, yes I agree Saha is soft but he is what he is so we just have to live with him (unless we land a replacement). I am not for one second questioning Neville’s loyalty, commitment or professionalism. I was merely trying to illustrate the interesting difference in perception and attitude towards two players who both have pretty poor recent injury records and who both take far longer to recovery from injury than would be expected from other players. The most interesting thing with Carrick will be if he can step up and form an effective partnership with Hargreaves in the longer term as Scholes is phased out.
August 27th, 2007 at 16:29
Grognard, you whiney old woman.
What exactly is it you don’t understand about my post? It is actually written in English, so if you’re struggling to make sense of it, then perhaps book yourself into nightschool for some English lessons sonny.
I realise you are one of those little people who thinks that what he says is important enough for people to sit up and take notice, but the fact is your assessments have been unimaginative to say the least, predictable at best. I stopped reading at paragraph 3, yawn.
I can read that kind of crap in The Sun everyday.
August 27th, 2007 at 16:42
I’m very sorry. I thought this was a blog where supporters….NO, Fanatics of United could share their thoughts, have friendly disagreements and basically converse to their hearts desire. I wasn’t aware that illiterate and mindless bullies like R and Bootifulgame who themselves are incapable of expanding a thought into more than one sentence without proper spelling, ran the show here like hooligans in a back alley outside of OT. I may seem a little long winded to many of you with 4th grade educations but the fact is I was a fan and whether my posts were negative or positive, I felt that I wanted to contribute my thoughts. It would have been nice to have readers that HEY! could read and actually take in an idea or someone’s thought without bursting a blood vessel in their already vacant heads. There have been some great replies to my posts and I enjoy and learn quite a bit from some as well as my supposed clone in Northern Ireland JB. I enjoyed our posts to each other mate. At least he like myself, Red Ranter and a few other have a few brain cells at work between the ears. Agreeing with each other I think can be a lot more boring. Interesting conversations have never started from full agreement or acceptance of another’s ideas. As for the other two I mentioned at the beginning of this post and a few others, I have a few kind suggestions for you as well and a comment. Perhaps you find me boring and annoying. What I find boring and annoying is posts that are one sentence long that have nothing of interest to contribute to a conversation on United. You don’t have to read my posts, just skip them if they so offend you. Don’t lash out at others who offer a different viewpoint than your own. It just show how limited in patience and intelligence you are and how intolerant you are of things and people you can’t control.
To Red Ranter, JB and anyone who cares….or even doesn’t. I was enjoying this blog but apparently a number of you were finding it difficult to tolerate me. Therefore I will give this blog a rest. At least for a while. When the material starts to get personal and stops being about United, thats when I get bored and that is my cue to STOP. Personally I feel I was contributing something worth while. I guess I was wrong. I’m sure this blog will do just fine with the stylistic and incredible rhetoric contributed by the “Road” Scholar R and his back alley understudy Bootifulgame. Let the pointless bullies and hooligans win.
Best wishes to Red Ranter with this site. And to JB, continue to offer us good and valuable posts. UNITED FOREVER!
August 27th, 2007 at 18:06
Hey BootiFOOL
Those guys in the Sun get paid for their ability to write. Unlike you hanging on street corners trying to decide which direction to take. All you do spew venom and hateful comments towards people you no nothing about. It is you who are boring so sod off will you. You got your wish I’m through trying to converse with the likes of you. OH, and it’s night school (that’s two words, not one). OK Einstein? So perhaps you should stop skipping class and take your own suggestion.
August 27th, 2007 at 18:45
All I can say is thank fuck we won !!!
The tension watching that match was almost untolerable I can only imagine the pressure the players were under and it showed.
I’ll not go into too much moaning about how bad we played as many have already covered that just a few points.
Fergies subsitutions are awful and have been for sometime,I guess in his defence he didn’t have much to choose from but playing the last 15mins with no forward is asking for trouble, it was like
watching Spurs 1 up away from home we just invited pressure.
As for Carrick who has been pretty poor so far, I just don’t think
he’s sure of his role with Scholes and Hargreaves in the team. He takes all day on the ball and his passing has been below par.
I can see Fergie going with Scholes and Carrick at home and Scholes and Hargreaves away and against bigger teams.
Tevez does not look at all ready to play yet.
August 27th, 2007 at 19:43
All commenters especially BootifullGame, Grognard (and some other blokes – you know who you are):
There is a very good chance, as we just saw in this post, that the comment section could degenerate into a slanging match of some sort. I’d hope you show some restraint and avoid slanging the person you disagree with. Either reason with his ideas, or if you find that impossible ignore it and deal with it. Read the other comments (and the articles) and if that doesn’t interest you, then I guess it defeats the purpose of visiting this blog in the first place.
Grognard,
I should hope that when you tell others to ignore your comments if they don’t like, then it should be rather easy for you to block them out of your head too. Them attacking you is a rather tenuous reason for you to stop commenting. After all they don’t own the site. It’s best to ignore and reply to the majority of the other comments that are generally okay. Your efforts and contributions must be appreciated even though I may or may not agree with your comments. As long as you indulge with something constructive, which you do, I am fine with it.
And oh, you can convey good points in two or three lines too. Do not discount those people who drop in with a line or two. Points can be made in long posts like yours, and they can be made in shorter ones.
So there… Hope you guys get it. Let’s be civil here, shall we?
August 27th, 2007 at 20:09
Grognard,i liked ur comments.A true supporter is one who not only rejoices in the good performances of the team he supports but also analyzes the shortcomings of his team.
Some of the supporters are ready to accept mediocricy but are not willing to say what they know in their hearts to be true.I like people like u who talk from their hearts and don’t care to please anybody.You don’t need to be sorry.Everybody has the right to speak what they feel like so keep going and don’t care what others think.
August 27th, 2007 at 22:09
First off, thanks to Red Ranter for his suggestions and comments and a special thanks to panks for making me feel better and more appreciated. I certainly don’t expect everybody to agree with me and I in turn won’t always agree with them. What we can agree on is that we are passionate about Manchester United and that we care about how they perform. I am not as old as some have commented but I do like to write and perhaps I write a bit too much, but that is me and I like to express my thoughts in a thorough manner. I am more than willing to stop with the slanging match. I certainly didn’t ask for it and I certainly didn’t like participating in it. I’d rather save that anger for Chelski fans. I am however one who doesn’t like being insulted and it is hard for me to ignore someone who insults me. I’m just trying to have fun writing about a topic that interests me. I enjoy reading most of the other’s comments whether I agree with them or not, and I don’t mind short comments at all. I just want them to have a purpose and a point. It’s clear that some of the contributors are kids or blokes who may have had a few too many at the pub. Either way, I don’t slag them, and they should ignore my posts and leave me the hell alone. I’ve contributed and still contribute to numerous blogs on different sports and subjects and I have hardly ever been attacked in this way. It has come as quite a shock and surprise.
I will take the positive advise and move forward. I would just hope my antagonists do so also. Had I contributed last year to this blog, you would have been reading mostly enthusiastic positive posts from me. I was thrilled with the way the club played all year except against Chelski in the FA Cup and against AC Milan in the CL. So if I come across as negative, and this mentality is boring some or many for that matter, then again, I’m sorry they all feel that way. I’m not a YES man and I don’t jump on the conformist party bandwagon when a team wins an ugly match in which they played like tossers. I call it as I see it. So I guess I am pissed over the fact that I was being attacked for my honesty and sincerity. And I honestly think that’s a shame. I guess their are a lot of intolerant, short tempered people who get bored if they have to read something over a few sentences long. So I guess my frustration level is at an all time blogging high. I do need to cool off before I post my views in the future.
August 27th, 2007 at 22:50
Grognard: I wouldn’t let it get to you. From what I’ve seen of this blog in the past week or so is that most of the posters are fair and respectful, but like anywhere there are always one or two who are not. Similarly there are a lot less superfluous posts here unlike some other boards. Trust me it is positively peaceful and intellectual here when you compare it to the occasional war zones that are Redissue and Redcafe!
While I agree it is important not just to be a YES man you always need to be careful to avoid becoming a NO man as well. Sometimes a team irrelevant of its best efforts just doesn’t perform and while we should cast a critical eye over the situation we should also be thankful that we dodged a bullet. Sport is as much about the lows as it is the highs. From a personal perspective I have to say I have enjoyed debating with you despite our disagreements in a wide variety of areas!
Just one more point and I am doing my best here not to sound like a pedantic jackass! Part of the reason your posts seem long is that quite often they are not split into paragraphs seperated by a blank line. A solid block of text can be quite off putting at times when it comes to reading it.
August 28th, 2007 at 0:29
Thanks for the feedback JB. I’ll break my posts into paragraphs from now on. I truly agree with your comments. I’m not really as negative as I come across. I do like to get the pot boiling and to stir up a little discussion. I’m very aware of team’s highs and lows but I guess I have to expect much more from United and I found their form disturbing to say the least. Thanks again for the positive vote of confidence.
I just read that Ole has called it a day and retired. I wish him the best and will always be grateful for his loyalty, service and goals output. Especially a goal he scored in the CL final of 1999. Thanks for the memories OLE.
August 28th, 2007 at 8:03
You got a short fuse mate. Any way take a look- ‘the cat sat on a mat’, which according to you would be- ‘in this line the writer draws our attention to the fact that a domestic feline pet is in a prone position on a small carpet’- “pompous rubbish that does no one any good,least of all the writer”. I am finished with you anyhow.