Dec 13
Tottenham v Manchester United – Match Thread
According to my watch, Manchester United take on Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in about 4.5 hours. I imagine there’s plenty of people here looking to sound off pre and post match, so I’ll stay out of the way after a few links to keep you good company:
- If you can’t watch the game (stream or on tv), you can follow the live blog with Victor here.
- Brian Kingston has written an obituary on Gary Neville’s career (I repeat, his career, not the man himself) – it’s a good read but I wonder if Nev will know when to call it quits considering that the time came and went at the end of last season…
- Looking beyond Tottenham, Al Ahly lost to Pachuca 2-4, so there’s one potential Club World Cup opponent out of the picture.
- No news yet on whether Carrick, Ferdinand or Berbatov will play, although Ronnie is supposed to make an appearance and our troublesome twosome Rooney and Evra will be sitting out due to suspensions. It’s why we have these ‘squad players’, you know…
Alright then, my prediction for the game: Tottenham 1-1 United. Over to you.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
- Aston Villa v Manchester United: Preview/Match thread
- United on Top of the league, for now
- Man Utd v QPR: Preview
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (89)
Craig Mc (26)
Ian (18)
@Patrick: How can you say Ronaldo “single-handedly” carried the side last season? When we had players like Rio bossing the defense? Don’t you think Ronaldo’s goals would have been negated if we didn’t have a world-class defender in Rio to also carry the defense? Ronaldo was a huge contributing factor, but to say he “single-handedly” carried the side is a bit ridiculous and OTT imo.
@Martin: Look, your team in on top of the table and your title reign didn’t actually end in November this year, you’re still competing, be happy and scurry off to RAWK.
Like?
0 
0
@ Shyam – The thing about Arshavin/VDV/Sneijder is that we don’t play a system that would accommodate them. We’d have to completely change it to fit them in, unless you put them on the left wing which isn’t really their speciality. We don’t play with an attacking midfielder (actually we seem to play with two Berba and Rooney, but I kid…) our two central midfielders are more like defensive midfielders, sitting back and protecting the defense and letting the other front 4 do the attacking duties.
I like all of them as players, but don’t think we need them unless we change the system.
Like?
0 
0
@Shyam: Nothing will surprise me anymore. Injuries and lack of form or not, besides looking at the training pics, theres nothing else that really shows he really wants to be here.
@Stephen: I’m probably alone, but yes I do, of course everyone doesn’t care about it until (if) we lose and then it’ll be back to “oh we’re so shite, we couldn’t beat some team from Japan”, “Fergie f**ked up the team again”, “sack Phelan” and bla bla bla.
@the three Rs: Hmmm, I wonder, Vidic as the captain for a few games?? How’d that work out?
Like?
0 
0
@Rd: I don’t mean to suggest that we wouldn’t have won a match, but we certainly wouldn’t have been lifting any silver without him. While other players certainly figured large in our success last year, it was his play and his play alone, IMO, that separated us from the rest of England and Europe. The rest of the squad made us a top club, he made us the best.
Like?
0 
0
@Nelson Otieno: I remember him telling me a few months ago that he would be taking a nice vacation around Christmas. With that said, I thought he would have left the site with someone to monitor and manage it in his absence.
Like?
0 
0
@realred: This is a big event for the club and the Boss realizes that the 3 older players will never have another opportunity to play in such a tournament. He will play them for the first game and whoever plays well enough will start the final. He already has come out and declared Rafael his first choice at RB (the Guardian) and that he would start the final. You know Fergie and his rewards for loyalty towards the old guard.
Like?
0 
0
@Stephen: The Japanese do. They are making all the money for it while we will suffer jet lag and fatigue for a month due to it. Sorry for sounding negative but even Capello has warned that this could hurt our title chances. He suffered the same thing while managing in Italy.
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: Arshavin is just naming elite teams he would play for. Nothing in what he says impresses me as a real statement of intent to play for us. He’ll probably end up at Chelsea even if Roman has said there would be no more purchases in January. That rule would be broken for his countries best player for sure. United should try to get him if only to keep him out of the clutches of Chelsea. He would help our team in a creative ways but he also would help the team by picking up the tempo. Arshavin doesn’t like to play a system where we circle the wagons and just wait. He likes fast paced counter attacking football and he and Ronaldo would be dynamic together on opposite wings. But Fergie won’t go for him. He’s rather waste half the amount on a no name Serbian kid who is playing God in contract negotiations instead. On the left side I rate Arshavin second only to Franck Ribery. Getting him will be a coup for any team.
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: It’s just a glitch that was created by accident when Ahmed added the last thread. There is nothing to it and when he reads these comments or when RR returns, it will be taken care of. No need to get upset about it. It happened to me last week and ever since, has stopped. I’m sure it’s just a programming glitch.
Like?
0 
0
@Patrick: That I agree with because theres a whole world of difference between what you just said which is- he made us a better team and contributed to our success and saying that he single- handedly carried the team last season.
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: You can also add Ribery, Arshavin, van der Vaart and a few other big name midfielders who we could have signed had we shown a little ambition in that area. And need I say the chance we blew at getting Huntelaar up front will haunt me for years.
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: I am 90% sure he has gone overseas to visit family and friends. He may not have taken a laptop with him or he may just have said he needed time away from everything so he could relax and decompress. With that said, I think he probably didn’t say anything because had he told everyone that he would be away, there would have been anarchy on this site. As it turned out, there were a few skirmishes. It’s too bad Ahmed is too busy running his own blog or his ability and knowledge to run this one would be more than welcome until the Red Ranter returns. HINT! HINT! We need another thread there mate. Things are slowing up again.
Like?
0 
0
I am here. Updated blog. Two things everyone may want to read:
1. Reasons for being away.
2. Another interesting piece.
Like?
0 
0
@the three Rs: WOE there mate. I’m on the wrong side of 40, not 50. Although there is nothing wrong with that, no need to add ten years to my burnt out and abused carcass.
And yes Fergie needs to instill a little bit of his old school discipline when it comes to Ronaldo and Rooney. After all, he has both players under contract and so if they don;t like his discipline, that’s just too bad. There is nothing they can do about it. Problem is, he doesn’t seem to want to go down that road. Also, it’s easy for me and others to state that they need discipline and that Fergie needs to show an iron hand but none of us are privileged to be behind the closed doors at OT or at training to really see what is going on. Bottom line is we just have no idea what to think. And it is frustrating as Hell because all our judgments, right or wrong, are made with very little if any inside information. We literally are on the outside looking in.
Like?
0 
0
@Shyam: Fergie has warned us many times that the Claderon nonsense will not end. Real Madrid and Marca their official media pussies will continue to unsettle the player as well as us with rumors of Ronaldo imminent departure. It’s all BULLSHIT. To all of you, stop reading it or buying in to it. It’s rubbish. Nothing has changed. Ronaldo’s form has suffered due to injuries and not being in the best of shape to start the season. It has frustrated him and even if he is frustrated with the supporters, he is going nowhere unless Fergie declares he is going. And we all know Fergie’s position on that. So from the Prince of Fucking Darkness I offer a little bit of positive light and express to you all my confidence that Ronaldo will be with us for this season and next. After that, I say good bye to him and thank you very much. As for Senior Calderon, I say desperate times call for very desperate measures. This is a man fighting for his professional life. He’s on his last legs at the Bernebau and he probably won’t be around after this season after the members vote him out. And who knows if his successor even wants Ronaldo. It was the pursuit of Ronaldo and not taking care of off season needs that has destabilized their team. Schuster was first to go, Calderon will be next.
Like?
0 
0
Well, if we beat Gamba, we’ll face Quito… If we lose, we’ll play Pachuca for 3rd (although I’d rather not think about that).
I just can’t believe that I have to wake up at 3:30AM to see it, if there are any links online. Otherwise I might watch it on tapedelay on TV at 6PM in the evening.
If anyone else has any experience with tape delayed games, here’s my question: Do you watch it with the knowledge of the final result in mind, or just keep yourself in the dark and watch as if it is live? I usually try to do the latter.
Like?
0 
0
@Red Ranter: Welcome back mate. Trust me, you have been missed.
Like?
0 
0
@Rd: Fair point, mate.
I suppose that this blogs proclivity towards exaggeration is rubbing off on me. 
Like?
0 
0
@Red Ranter: YEEEY!!! You are back again mate! Long time, no hear. Missed you mate!
Things have been kinda boring and sometimes out of control, but Ive kept it cool. Just wanna keep RedRants RedRants. 
Like?
0 
0
@Rd: I think you got it wrong buddy!!..We have Berba drifting behind due to the lack of midfield penetration through the center…Actually we really need one of those players…Our system last year worked on a fluid attacking system which included clever inter play and movement on and off the ball…At present we brought in Berbatov to act as a pivotal point for all the movement(havent work the same way yet)…atleast in my perspective!!..
But we still opted for the 4-4-2 formation and guess what…we exposed our on limitation that we dont have a good attacking midfield who can create the game through the center of the park…all our plays are coming through wings where ppl are double marked…This is forcing attackers like Rooney and Berbatov to come back and create the game more from the center of the park which leaves a big hole in the box…
If Fergie is planning to continue with the same tactic we badly need either of those 3 players…Three of them fit nicely in the system and provide that extra edge (long distance shooting and creativity) in the center of the park which is sorely missing in the current squad ….and our opponents are aware of it too..
Teams now know that if they shut down the play from wings United is struggling…they do it with 8-9 ppl behind the ball and hope for the rub of the green their way.They have nothing to lose ..either a point or 3 points..win-win situation ..purely from a statistic point of view.!!
Like?
0 
0
Apologies, Grognard. The extra years I’ve naughtily attributed to you must be down to your mature writing style as well as your knowledge of footy past and across swathes of Europe. An insider’s view of the club would indeed be fascinating but it’s an insider’s view of Fergie’s head that would be most revealing at the moment, I think. Agreed, he has a few of that rare breed, one-club players, nearing the end of their playing lives and he obviously wants to treat them respectfully. In the past, sentimentality has rarely obscured his overview so I hope team selections can be objectively made; but I fear they have not been of late. The one thing I’m hanging on to is his spoken regard for young Rafael, backed up by his selection. I desperately want Anderson to be afforded the same opportunity but fear his Scottishness gives Fletcher an unfair advantage, even if perhaps only subconsciously.
Like?
0 
0
@the three Rs: wow that was good now pass that shit over here
Like?
0 
0
@the three Rs: I honestly don’t think Fletcher’s heritage plays any role in Fergies decision. I really feel he rewards loyalty and commitment to the club. One of the reasons Anderson may not be starting all the time since his last few outstanding efforts may go back to his media quote of always dreaming of playing for Inter. This kind of crap does not sit well with Fergie. Players like Fletcher, Neville, Giggs, Scholes and Park keep their mouths shut and that is why they play often. Anderson and Tevez proved just the past few weeks that a spurt of great form will not ensure you anything with Fergie, whereby loyalty and devotion to the team will get you far. At least that’s what it seems like to me.
And yes, wouldn’t an insiders view of Fergie’s mind be great. Instead of all the bull that’s delivered to the media, an honest interpretation of everything he is doing and thinking would be great.
Like?
0 
0