May 05
Slow Monday Roundup
Well, not really a round up. I have my hands full, so I’ll be off the blog today. I’ll pop in once in a while just to ensure you behave nice.
However feel free to discuss whatever pops in your mind. Today Chelsea visit Newcastle and they haven’t won at St James’ Park since 2001, which is a strange statistic to be honest. A loss would virtually guarantee us the title on goal difference. Let’s hope Keegan does us a favour.
Meanwhile the Sun reported that Nani could be fined two-weeks wages for the incident. It was clear from Fergie’s post match comments that he wasn’t impressed by Nani’s antics the least bit. An old-fashioned bollocking would have surely been in order, but one would hope that only good can come of this. It’s a good opportunity for the young Portuguese star to have a good look at himself and work on improving his attitude. And at this juncture it’s come at a much better time than, perhaps, a few games ago.
Anyway, I’m done with this for the day. Will get back tomorrow with more worthwhile stuff to talk about, I assure you.
Over to you…
- Quiet Monday Roundup
- Monday Roundup: Smith, Richardson and Torres
- United are on vacation, you should be too
- United 4-0 Wigan: The Goals Are Coming!
- Worry over Rooney and Vida | Evra’s Abuse | Curbs Plans Weak Squad
Tags: Daily Roundup
May 5th, 2008 at 10:04
In my dream last night I saw United buy Rosicky off Arsenal and he was playing quite well for us next season, too …
May 5th, 2008 at 10:11
manucho scored 2 goals to bring his stats to 5 apps and 3 goals which is quite cool.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:59
manuchos goals. Take a good look at the second one, hopefully he will be doing that all season long…
May 5th, 2008 at 12:27
Come on NEWCASTLE UNITED! Win the trophy for us. If Steve Bruce can do us a favor, why cant Butt, Smudge and Keegan?
May 5th, 2008 at 12:45
Ahmed speaking of dreams;i had one last night about the champions league final rooney dribbles he’s way thru the entire Chelsea team,what a run the unleashes aterrific volley which leaves Cech rooted to the ground.What i don’t know is if we won the game???Because someone woke me up.Urrrgh
May 5th, 2008 at 13:07
i know its only speculation, but why are we being linked to Dean Ashton, i mean, we are two wins away from being the best team not only in england but in the whole of Europe, yet it seems the best addition to our squad can only be in the form of Dean Ashton? come on, i can think we should set our sights a lot higher in terms of possible strikers.
the other player we seem to be endlessly linked to is Bosingwa, don’t know too much about him, other than he’s apparently similar in style to Evra, except he plays on the right.
also, anyone seen that Flamini has almost certain to join AC.Milan? best bit about that is the Arsenal won’t get any money as its a free, could this be the start of a influx of players jumping from a sinking ship?
May 5th, 2008 at 13:50
A “slow Monday” on the day you could win the title (bar a mathematical freak)? I guess it won’t be slow on here if Newcastle win……
May 5th, 2008 at 14:16
there is agood interview of Rio Ferdinand at http://www.manutd.com
May 5th, 2008 at 14:18
hopefully we can win the title tonight and not worry about putting astrong team on sunday.give some of the boys some rest before the big game n may21st.
May 5th, 2008 at 14:41
Will I think you mean an exodus of players rather than an influx…Staying on the topic of dreams and Arsenal, lets buy Adebayor! Or at least bid for him to piss off Le Prof! He has all the tools necessary to become a world-class striker within a year or two and he might want to leave aforementioned sinking ship. You never know in football
May 5th, 2008 at 14:44
nino, in a couple of years he’ll be retiring from football lol.
May 5th, 2008 at 14:51
Dan if that was the case then so would Tevez and Torres
May 5th, 2008 at 15:03
Why in the world do we require another world class striker.This is not fantasy football,its the real deal.If we buy another world class striker,then let’s also dispose of either Rooney or Tevez,to create a balance and go thru the process of getting the new striker 2 get acclimatised 4 a whole season.But can enlighten me as to the logic of that whole process.
May 5th, 2008 at 15:09
Adebayor is only 24 years old so I doubt he will retire aged 26 at his peak in football years. I cannot see us signing him from Arsenal but it could be a possibility in 2 or 3 years if he moves to Milan at which point he will be very highly priced. Hopefully we find our own Adebayor style player in Manucho to add an extra dimension to our attacking play. I’ve also been impressed with Kenwyne Jones who plays for Sunderland he is pacy, strong, good on his feet and a big aerial threat and with good supply from midfield is always a goal threat.
May 5th, 2008 at 15:21
Cheers for the correction Nino. but i doubt that we’ll be able to get Adebayor, i’m sure he said something to the effect of “Utd wanted me but i turned them down to play football worthy of 3rd place but no higher” or something similar.
whats the deal with Manucho? those goals looked pretty good, very poacher like and he has a good head on him. but thats the Greek league(no offense) shouldn’t he be playing more regularly? if he’s expected to play for Manchester united, surely he should be playing every week in Greece. plus whats the state of his work permit etc. will he be eligible to play from the start of next season or not? and if so could we bring someone up from the reserves, Campbell has had a decent spell on loan at Hull and theres always Welbeck. or dare i say it…Saha..
May 5th, 2008 at 15:32
Newcastle lineup:
GK: Harper
RB: Beye
CB: Taylor
CB: Faye
LB: Jose Enrique
CM: Barton
CM: Butt
CM: Geremi
RF: Martins
CF: Owen
LF: Viduka
subs: Forster, N`Zogbia, Smith, Cacapa, Duff.
COME ON NEWCASTLE UNITED! DO US A FAVOR!
May 5th, 2008 at 15:34
Ashton’s a United fan, hence the speculation. Probably said something about United recently which is why the press is talking out of its arse.
United will apply for the work permit during the summer (source).
Campbell / Dong / Welbeck / Brandy aren’t good enough / consistent enough to play for United yet. Saha is…well, Saha. If Manucho comes through then our 3rd striker problem is solved and we can blood a couple of youngsters as our 4th striker when needed. Otherwise we’ll need to buy.
May 5th, 2008 at 15:49
Jay Wire:
Say Rooney gets a season long injury, then what do we do?
We need quality in numbers mate. Saha is unreliable. Welbeck, and Manucho untried.
I’ve said it a few times but a fit Saha is our perfect 3rd striker but that just wont happen so we need to buy.
May 5th, 2008 at 15:52
I’m sure S.A.F has got it all in hand. right now I’m just wanting the Geordie’s to do us a big favor. if they do i promise we’ll only beat them 4-0 next season.
May 5th, 2008 at 15:56
rsg, he says he’s 24. im not trying to be racist(not that its possible) but it is common in africa to forge legal documents, and adebayor looks more in his 30s, he looks nothing like a 24 year old. But that my opinion. i could be wrong, i doubt it though.
May 5th, 2008 at 16:17
I see your point about Adebayor’s age, apparently Obafemi Martins is just 23! Hope he can or any newcastle player can bag a goal today
May 5th, 2008 at 16:32
bloody hell that was close, newcastle almost score!
May 5th, 2008 at 16:32
bloody ell tht was close, newcastle almost score!
May 5th, 2008 at 17:01
SMUDGE IS ON FOR 2ND HALF… this is made for the back page…
May 5th, 2008 at 17:08
It’s half time and Newcastle do look likely to take at least a point from the game if not the full 3. Their build up play has been good just not the end product but you can guarantee Chelsea picking up the pace and bringing on subs to change the game. It’s looking good so far and Martins is playing like he is hoping to impress SAF.
May 5th, 2008 at 17:27
Chelsea were bound to score the way the second half started, terrible defending from the free kick but another good header by ballack. I don’t see newcastle coming back into the game now but I hope I’m wrong
May 5th, 2008 at 17:27
NOOOO…its ballack again..trying to choke us…
May 5th, 2008 at 17:29
[Sig]
Smudge? Smudge? Alan Fuckin Smith is an absolute waste of polyester. He is the most deficient footballer Man U have ever spent good money on. I was happy when he got sold, until Viduka got injured today and he comes on and cant even control the ball.
Since he got injured he has forgotten that football is not about sticking ur ass into defenders bollocks!!
Shite!
May 5th, 2008 at 17:30
Bastard! It was coming though! I sincerely hope Newcastle can somehow muster an equaliser now through Owen or Martins…
May 5th, 2008 at 17:45
Cheers for that pass across the box ‘Smudge’!! Shocking.
May 5th, 2008 at 17:46
darn…we got to win against wigan now….
May 5th, 2008 at 18:02
never send an army to do a devils job…
May 5th, 2008 at 18:03
AC Milan have signed Arsenal’s Flamini on a 4 year deal. HA HA
May 5th, 2008 at 18:26
I should have known better than to expect a bunch of Looney Toons to finish of a man’s job. Now it’s up to us to shape our destiny. One thing is for sure, we will be up for the game at Wigan because there is something to play for. Our defense should do the business and hopefully we can snatch a couple of goals to take the title. Once again my beloved Michael Ballack has let me down and stabbed me in the back. He now owes me big time and he will need to pay up by leading Germany to victory at UEFA 08. It still breaks my heart that he plays for Chelsea, although it could be worse. He could have played for Liverpool.
May 5th, 2008 at 19:59
to be honest, never thought they would do it. still totally in our hands. lets hope Bruce has relayed that pitch.
May 5th, 2008 at 23:04
Yes its common to have forged papers to improve age but Adebayor looks like a pampered pussy who wouldn’t have the type of balls it takes to forge papers. Nigerians and Dominicans (US MLB Baseball scandals) have that hunger. Shit If I was a baller I’d make myself 18 again.
May 6th, 2008 at 4:50
Guardian Unlimited - “A replica of the Premier League trophy will be taken to Stamford Bridge to be presented if Chelsea win the title, with the real version going to the JJB Stadium. The league is also expected to mint two sets of winners’ medals. “The trophy will have to be on standby at both grounds,” a Premier League spokesman said.
The original trophy is at Wigan
lol
May 6th, 2008 at 6:23
Don’t we get to keep the original at Old Trafford while we are reigning Champions? I know we get to keep it out right if we win the league for consecutive times or am I mistaken?
May 6th, 2008 at 8:02
…..Really think Ballack was “the one that got away”!! All i keep thinkin is how better a team we’d be if Ballack replaced Carrick! Doesnt sit well with me admitting it but its the truth. If only Ballack wasnt a greedy cunt we would have had him too! To be honest the whole episode with him choosing chelsea over us confirmd a lot to me. He had the oppertunity to be a main player in a midfield that was pretty desperate for an injection of authority….. As a professional he should have been xcited by the thought of taking the worlds greatest club back to the top!! Instead the prick goes for the easy option by joining a team FULL of quality midfielders for an exrta 15G a week! (Theres no questioning the fact he would have played significantly more game time at us- surely as National captain etc etc thats what he would have wanted??)
Hes a serious player but hes an arrogant wanker. Probs better off without him i guess!
nice to see manucho netting a few more goals. He seems pretty efficient to me!? What makes his case so amazing is that these are his first games in european football. Hes real wet behind the ears! Think he looks a real striker though….just what were looking for as long as he can adapt to the pace of Prem
May 6th, 2008 at 9:28
realred; Yes Ballack is the big fish that got away. But I don’t think he chose Chelsea for the money. He would have received a similar amount here as well. With him it was more ego and wanting to play for a club with a lot of similar mercenaries. He wanted the Champions League and he honestly felt after the two seasons Chelsea had back to back that his best chances lay with the Blues. Remember, two years ago United were a third place team struggling to keep up with Chelsea and Arsenal. He was seduced by the challenge of playing for the very in form Mourinho and I think he had his fill playing for old school managers in Germany that were like Fergie. Little did he know that Mourinho would betray him through his own arrogance and closed mindedness. Right now it has all turned out right for him because he is arguably the team’s MVP this season. He is one of my favorite players yet, it kills me to watch him play for a team I despise. Yes I’m angry he never chose United, but I am angrier he left my other favorite club Bayern Munich. So it was a double slap in the face for me.
Truth be known, Ballack instead of Carrick would have made us incredibly hard to beat. And that’s no disrespect to Carrick. It’s just that Ballack is that damned good and his passing quality shots and headers in the box would have been a godsend to a team that is littered with greatness already, but lacks that central midfielder who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and shake it senseless. Also, Ballack has always been a big game player. Nothing wrong with arrogance realred. You wouldn’t be saying that if he was strutting his stuff and sticking his chest out for us now would you? It’s a shame we missed out on him.
May 6th, 2008 at 17:29
Essien is the one that got away. He’s chelsea’s most important midfielder this season. Ballack has come in to a bit of form recently though, and there’s no doubt he’s a good player.
May 6th, 2008 at 17:40
tevez; “A bit of form recently”? I’d say that has been a lot more than a bit of form in my opinion. While Essien, Terry, Drogba, Lampard, Malouda, Carvalho, A Cole were all struggling with poor form for large periods of this season, Ballack not only resurrected his career, he resurrected Chelsea. And in doing so, he woke the rest of the bunch up.
And yes we missed out on Essien but he was never as serious a target to Fergie as was Ballack. Essien would have been massive for us as well though.
May 6th, 2008 at 18:38
agree with tevez on Essien. Right age (I believe he is like 24 or 25), a powerhouse midfielder (of all players in the EPL or possibly in the world) he is the one who would have done full justice to Keano’s jersey). Carrick is just not good enough ( an euphemism for saying the same thing is that he is a different type of a player!!!)
Ballack has had good games recently but he is at the end of his career (prob thats why Fergie didnt pursue him like OH). He is pretty costly as well at 130k a week. Although if you ask me I’d have preferred him over carrick (who cost us 18m + wages… compared to this 130k a week doesnt seem bad) This is not to slate Carrick but he is often very average and needs a OH type of a player playing with him. With him in team we now play without a proper ACM!
May 6th, 2008 at 19:04
Ballack is gonna feel like BOLLOCKS if we win the double and he finishes up with nothing!. Chelsea were as lucky as shit when they narrowly beat us at the bridge, with the officials help. We should have had a penalty just after they scored theirs! Even the ref said after the game that he would have given a penalty, but Ronnie was given the advantage. That was no advantage, and the pen should have been given. But if we win the double, then we can stick one finger up to the ref’s who have done us this season. One things is sure, WIGAN will be rocking!. Notice how all of the Chelsea team and officials are crowing about Wigan playing their guts out. No way Hosea!. United need to play their winners!. So Hargo, Tevez, Rooney, Ronnie, Rio and Vid if fit, Fletcher (yes I said Fletcher lol), Brown, Evra, Scholes. These should play deffo.
May 6th, 2008 at 20:05
Essien has been more consistent over the season, ballack has been in a bit of form recently. Whenever essien is not played in midfield for them they tend to struggle. Essien was probably the player fergie wanted more, with his age and style of play, as he played in a position we needed to strengthen.
May 6th, 2008 at 20:27
Ask yourself this though, would we hae won the title with a Ballack/Scholes CM last season. Ballack is no doubt a superior player to Carrick but would he have provided the team with what it needed last year? I really don’t think he would of.
May 6th, 2008 at 20:28
you guys talking about essien and ballack so highly about them.
like we would have done better this season with them. but its 1 win for the league and we are in the CL final. if thats not good enough for anyone i dont know what is.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:27
JB; I don’t know how you can say that. Ballack is so far superior to Carrick in all areas of the game that to compare them is pointless. To not think his addition to United wouldn’t have been immense is naive to the extreme. Ballack would have given United 10 more goals on his own not to mention just as many assists, more quality free kicks, as good a defense and that little bit of grit and pride with his chest pumped out. He is a proud and arrogant player who on the right team can transform a good club and make them great. United was already a great club but I do think his goal scoring ability coupled with his steel would have made United even better while giving them another offensive outlet, especially on set piece situations. I for the life of me cannot understand how you could think that the captain and driving engine of Germany wouldn’t have made United a better team. Of course he would have. The man is a world class talent and on top of all that, he is a big game player who leads by example. His only real weaknesses are that he doesn’t have great pace (he’s still faster than Carrick) and he doesn’t play well if he’s injured.
Bleh; At this time in the year and with all that has gone on so far, I think many of us are struggling to find interesting and relevant topics. So please indulge some of us if we go a little off the reservation and talk about what ifs and and what might have beens. We might be one win away from the league and the CL but it may have been a lot easier if Ballack had not made such a great comeback. I read an article today from the BBC where the writer pointed out statistically what a massive influence Ballack has meant to Chelsea’s second half performance and has shown how many points, wins, goals per game etc they have had since his injection in to their lineup. If he had not been on the team, They would have finished a distant third and United would have wrapped up the league two weeks ago. He has been the difference in their resurgence. He also cost us a win against them as well. Now how many points do you think we would have as a team if he had chosen us over Chelsea two seasons ago? He really is more of the missing link in our team than even a goal scoring striker has been. A central midfielder with all his skills and the ability to net between 10 and 15 league goals a season would have been fantastic for us and would have made winning the league and the CL that much more easier. I’m not just about now and winning. I’m about winning and getting even better. Arrogance and greed for more keeps you on top. United should never settle for what it has now. It should always try to improve and get better or fear falling behind it’s competitors due to complacency.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:48
The way we play moves get started from central midfield. Scholes and Carrick are probably our first choice partnership, and they both have the ability to unlock defences with killer passes as well as dictating the tempo of a game. Because counter attack is so important to our game, they are very important players.
The areas where Ballack likes to operate tend to be occupied by our forwards. Carrick and Scholes tend to play deep soaking up pressure, making interceptions then spraying passes to start counter attacks.
Essien would have been the new Keane though. However I do not even think Keane would fit into the side we have at the moment.
If we wanted to upgrade Carrick a better choice would be someone like Xavi. But while Carrick is a long way from world class, he is a major factor behind us being able to play the way we do.
May 7th, 2008 at 5:38
colver
we play the way we do because of the players we have and not the other way round! if we had other kind of players then we would be playing in a different way! The same is true for L’Arse or Liverpool or Chelsea as well! Every team plays to the strength of the players at their disposal.
If we had Essien in the team, he would be an automatic starter every game (bar when injured!) There is simply no midfielder in our team at present who measures upto him! And same is true for Ballack as well. Chelsea have got the strongest midfield in the world. No other team comes even close. Thats why they are such a gritty team.
May 7th, 2008 at 6:47
[JB]
I have to agree with Grogs here. Ballack is far superior to Carrick in almost all respects and he would have provided our team with what it needed. I can’t think of any aspect of his game that’s inferior to Carrick.
May 7th, 2008 at 18:39
Jos; I don’t think are more than a handful of midfielders on the planet that measure up to Essien and Ballack. Like I’ve said before, add either one of them to our midfield and watch us go from fantastic to unbeatable. But, it’s really pointless because that will never happen.
For all our great signings, we always will look at a few that got away and wonder what might have been?
May 7th, 2008 at 18:51
RR/Grognard: I’m not arguing that Carrick is a superior player to Ballack. However as we can see with the England team, great players do not necessarily make great partnerships. I would have been happy with a Ballack/Carrick, Ballack/Carrick/Scholes and a Carrick/Scholes combo last season. But a Scholes/Ballack partnership, I’m not convinced it would have worked. I could write some reasoning for my argument but Colver identified the main jist of it.
At any rate, we are trying to judge his use to us last season on this year’s form, not a particulary good or fair way to judge it. I still would take him in heartbeat though, but I agree with the earlier sentiment that Essien was the one that got away.
May 8th, 2008 at 20:11
Well…theres no doubt that ballack is a better player than carrick. However..carrick aint shite either. He was a crucial link in our team that regained the prem last season and is an important player in our side. He isnt world class…but hes good enough to be in a top class club.
Consider the current way united play.We like to keep their midfield a little cautious…giving the fullbacks and the wingers full license to bomb forward. That’s one of the main reasons for the record-breaking season ronaldo has had.I think this combo with rooney and tevez upfront is the best we had. Ballack would have upset the rooney and tevez combo…there’s no doubt that ballack is world class but we needed carrick and hes good…sure he can improve but he complemenents the way we play
Essien is the one who got away…but is essien really better than hargreaves? I asked my brother this too and i think i would rather have hargreaves in my time. Reason:-Hargreaves is a good crosser..and his engine has a better mileage. Essien may have been the much-hyped car from the reputed manufacturer which did live up to the hype..but hargo’s the less-fancied one that’s done even better.
May 8th, 2008 at 21:48
Essien is really beter than Hargreaves. I can’t say I’ve seen anything to suggest Hargreaves has a better engine than Essien and while he may be the better crosser, Essien has the better shot. Bottom line for me is that Essien dominates more games than Hargreaves. I would gladly gift wrap and deliver anyone of our CM’s in the morning if it meant getting Essien in exchange.