Comments on: Tottenham 1-1 Man Utd: Tevez Rescues Point

By: Antimanu

Antimanu — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:34:40 +0000

Lucky to save the point!

By: alixedi

alixedi — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:04:17 +0000

ok … so we spent Â£30 odd mils on rooney b/c:

1. He was two footed
2. Could go past defenders
3. Could score from anywhere in and around the danger area

… and generally was considered to be the next big thing in English football …

So … a few questions …

1. When was the last time he scored with his left foot? and I am not talking about a scuffed deflection
2. When was the last time he beat a couple of defenders to have a shot at goal?
3. Hmm … this is interesting … When was the last time he scored from outside the box???

Add to that a terribly inconsistent first touch which seems to allude him many a times …

In his defence … he has improved his …

1. Vision in passing
2. Temperament

… but will somebody pay Â£30 mils for him on current form??? … im sorry guys but you don’t go out there and spend Â£30 odd million quids for ‘enthusiasm’ or ‘work-ethic’ etc … you can get that for much less …

By: karl

karl — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:37:11 +0000

Analysing my feelings, I would say that I’m more upset about relinquishing the lead at the top than losing to Spurs (United is one of the few teams where a draw=loss).
Our boys played badly, but Spurs really played well. As someone mentioned in this post earlier, we were really hustled in the match. Give credit to Spurs.

I just wonder hom much of an effect last week’s trip had on Saturday’s performance?

I think the worst performer on the day was SAF. He got it all wrong from the start:
1. Throwing Rooney out wide to accomodate for Ronaldo’s goal-scoring
2. Scholes/hargo paring providing nothing really (too defensive)
3. Should have started with nani and brign Giggs on to stabilise the game.
4. Again no striker on the bench

By: karl

karl — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:30:23 +0000

I made the following comment in the previous post. I know many will disagree, but this is what I’ve obsered.

I disagree with the midfield pairing suggested by most.
I think Carrick/Anderson is currently our best performing pairing.
Iâ€™ve noticed that with:
Anderson/Hargo – Anderson does not seem very comfrotable.
Hargo/Scholes – we lack real penetration.
Carrick/Hargo – Carrick does not seem to perform
Scholes/Carrick – both perform, Scholes tend to drop very deep
Scholes/Anderson – worked very well before Scholesâ€™ injury (Scholes might suffer in defence)

My pick would be:
1. Carrick/Anderson
2. Carrick/Scholes
3. Anderson/Scholes

This worries me a bit, because Hargo is currently (arguably) our best midfielder, but to me personally, he throws out the chemistry (when we need to play attacking).
Personally, I would use Hargo where we need to defend and use Scholes and Giggs as impact players to settle the team.

By: lovedale

lovedale — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:23:45 +0000

I am surprised to noticed that none of you guys were able to see Rooney’s desire yesterday. He was and is
still perhaps the only player in the squad who can change a game by sheer will power. We have all the talent in
the world, all that brilliance, but sometimes, it wont be enough. Just like against West Ham. Or Bolton. And I dont
even understand people ganging up on him because he is not scoring. Yes he is missing a lot of chances. But he
remains the best passer in the attack. Without him, in so many matches, the attacks always seemed incoherent.
And, Anderson is not starting regularly only because he had been playing most of the games when Scholes, Carrick
and Hargreaves took turns to get injured. He s 19. And he needs some rest. Something that I ve observed this
season is that, we have been consistently poor in the first half. Except in the odd few games like Arsenal, ‘pool,
portsmouth. It has ALWAYS required a half time bollocking from Fergie to get them going. I remember the fact that
we used to consistently finish games off in the first half of the game, last season.
One more thing I d like to point out is that, we ve performed poorly when the opposing team keeps pressing so hard.
West Ham. Bolton. And now Spurs. Its an obvious vulnerability.

By: fred the red

fred the red — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:11:06 +0000

this in my opinion is Uniteds most dangerous and attacking line up

EVDS
BROWN/NEVILLE
VIDIC
FERDINAND
EVRA
SCHOLES/HARGREAVES
ANDERSON
RONALDO
NANI
ROONEY
TEVEZ

I would definately like to see a Scholes/ Anderson partnership in some matches, could be sensational

By: Kurt

Kurt — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:58:28 +0000

I just think Rooney is being played out of position and he is really uncomfortable doing so. Although we saw earlier this season a few instances of magic from Rooney and Tevez, I think Rooney plays best with an out-and-out striker in front of him. He can’t lead the line effectively, he can’t play the wing; he needs to play as a second striker, and unfortunately that is also where Tevez plays. I’m not saying bring in a big man and drop one Tevez or Roo; that would be harsh. I’m a big supporter or the 4-2-3-1 and I have no doubt Rooney AND Tevez would be able to play at the same time effectively in this formation.

On the Old Guard vs. “New Guard” subject, there is no doubt in my mind that Nani and Anderson have played much better then both Giggs and Scholes this season, but at the end of the day Fergie is going to start the Old Guard because of their loyalty and experience.

By: fred the red

fred the red — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:51:53 +0000

As I said after the Spurs FA Cup match last week, Anderson must start in the centre of midfield from now on. He is the only one that has the ability to drive from midfield and opposing teams find it easier to mark players who are mostly static and playing in front of them. Hargreaves has an important role which everybody knows, Scholes is a brilliant passer of a football with a great brain and Carrick also can pass a ball well when he is on form, but all three of them play to deep and offer very little pace or movement in the last third of the field that would overly worry opposition defences which means they can concentrate on stopping our front men. Hargeaves and Anderson have proved to be good together and I would like to see a Scholes and Anderson duo given a chance.
Carrick has ability, but his lack of mobility is frustrating at times and Scholes is simply too old to bomb forward like He used to which leaves us with Anderson as the only solution, and what a solution He is, pace, power, skill, vision and great awareness for one so young, its time for SAF to cut this kid loose to cuase a bit of damage further up the pitch. His presence in our team gives us energy and drive and also gives opposing teams something else to think about.
Giggs for me is starting to show his age and should be replaced by Nani who is not the finished article but definately has talent and potential to be a good player.
Also, if Rooney is left alone, He will come good but if SAF starts messing about with the system and moves Rooney wide this could be a disaster not only for Rooney but for the whole team. Its not a time for panicking and changing systems, its simply a time for recognising the talent of Anderson and realising that some of our senior players are not what they used to be.

By: Nico QB

Nico QB — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:02:41 +0000

What could be done i to give the two veterans games, their appearance coming more and more occasional, as of Scholl at Bayern, Bergkamp at Arsenal, or McCLair some years back. In this way they are still shown respect while the young guard comes to the front.

By: Nico QB

Nico QB — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:58:07 +0000

The Anderson/Scholes; Giggs; Nani debate has become very interesting.

You guys should just remember that many many times before Giggs has been criticized, only to come back and still deliver the goods, notably by modifying his style of play.

But I do agree that he is getting olde and his lack of pace can be hampering the team’s performance.

Perhaps he should be picked on games where his vision can do good – e.g. in a tight and cramped defensive game. But still this goes against what Giggs said recently himself – that Utd are supposed to play a certain way to entertain the fans.

Still Im much more pragmatic about Scholesy. He has the best vision among all of our central midfielders and has been for years the metronome, dictating the pace of our game.
Like colver said, I too would like to see andy and scholes play together.

ALSO REMEMBER: Andy’s natural, original position is that of a left sided midfield!!! (Or a left winger, not even sure..) Would like to see him play on the left flank one day….