Aug 05
United* 1-1 Chelsea: First Blood to the Reds
EVDS saved 3 penalties as United beat Chelsea in the Community Shield game. The first half was fiesty with tackles flying all over. United had the better of the Blues, creating more chances. Giggs rounded off a good move from Evra’s cross. Malouda took advantage of one of Rio’s famous short-naps with a smart flick to make it 1-1 in the first half.
The second half brought about substitutions and drifted off into some sort of a snorefest, with nothing to separate either side. Although United would edge them out by virtue of chances created in the second half. Nani played in the second half too, and took some good corners.
So first blood to United. Not that there’s too much to read into it. But a Cup is a Cup, and we’ll feel pleased.
Comments welcome.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Race for the title – United’s chance to lead the table
- Giggs and Brown to Remain Reds | Ex-Reds Clash | Wenger Threat | Takeovers And Other Such Nonsense
- Free tickets for United v Villa final
- Chelsea v Man Utd: Preview
- United Betting: Rooney to score, United to win?
Tags: Manchester United Fixtures
August 5th, 2007 at 17:15
Amazing job by van der Sar, hero of the game.
August 5th, 2007 at 17:17
i was impressed with nani overall, tho his first two or three touches were shocking, but i have that down 2 his boots wich he changed minutes after coming on, he took 3 very good corners wich i think it is something we lack, a good corner kick taker. Good 2 c OH and anderson but no sign of tevez
VDS great performance in the penalty shoot out.rio took our first 1 wich was a surprise but nonetheless it was a great pen. at times we were all over chelsea, rooney and ronaldo played well, as did giggs and carrick, silvestre wasnt 2 gd but evra did quite well. the defence was pretty solid, good sign! now looking 4ward 2 wednesday 2 get a good look at tevez!!!
August 5th, 2007 at 17:18
p.s loved the look on mourinho’s face during the pens! not so special anymore CHIN UP MOURINHO, CHIN UP!!!
August 5th, 2007 at 17:24
silvestre pissed me of, cus originally silvestre wanst ment to play(im guessing evra and nani) but then he made a big fuss, and even said he wants to leave the club, so SAF played him, and he played shite, i was suprised SAF didnt take him off at half-time.
August 5th, 2007 at 17:37
Yes!yes!yes!how i love it when we beat chelsea.the team played superbly rooney and ronaldo were fantastic.and giggs?the man is just a legend!although i had one worry.the defence.silvestre needs to leave he was just terrible.the goal was i feel a bit soft as brown should have been there and he wasnt even sprinting when malouda had the ball(i really hope gary will be back soon)other than that it was a brilliant game and as ollie y stated CHIN UP MOURINHO CHIN UP!
August 5th, 2007 at 17:39
Looking at Silvestre it just shows why Man Utd need Heinze to stay. Its pointless if the fullbacks think they are wingers and forget that there primary purpose is to defend. Evra and Silvestre dont come close to Heinze imo. That said i thought the teams performance was good. We were all over them at times.
Bearing in mind no Drogba or Shevchenko i would have liked the defence to get a better workout – and yes Rio was to blame for there goal.
August 5th, 2007 at 17:46
yh rio could have done better but where the f**k was brown??? that aside it was a good performance and the defence didnt do 2 bad tho silvestre was shite
August 5th, 2007 at 17:54
50 plus milliion pound spent and not a single defender bought!!
While i’m ecstatic with the win (EVDS was awesome!) – our defense was in shambles ….
i cant see how we’re gonna defend against much better strike force in much tougher conditions
when EPL starts! even if we get neville back soon and heinze to stay, brown and silvestre aint good enuf backup ..
silvestre was shit — he was playing more up ahead than in his own position …
i aint in england and dont get the opportunity to follow the reserve players … do we have good youngsters who can step in
and do the job at the back ?
August 5th, 2007 at 18:04
VDS was god!
And Nani looked ok. After changing his boots:)
good vision, tried some sharp passing. Good cornerkicks.
Sometimes he looked overwhemed by the atmosphere but overall he did a good job.
While it ended 1-1, we were the better team. NICE~
Plus a good start stepping over chelski’s head and starting the season.b
Anyway I can’t get used to the sight in which some half crazed retart aims for Ronaldo’s ankle.
August 5th, 2007 at 18:11
JK
yeah i was worried about that. . i saw at least 3 challenges on ronaldo’s ankles that i didn’t like. . one from SWP . . one i think from ben haim and the i forget the other one. . probably maloude. . (decent goal, people will blame rio but like Ollie Y said, where the hell was brown? last season rio and vidic had to take on a lot of quicker and smaller players cause our fullbacks didnt get back half the time. . in retrospect its amazing we didnt conceed more often
August 5th, 2007 at 18:19
what kind of boots did nani take off? im looking at new ones on ebay and dont want some shite
August 5th, 2007 at 18:21
no it wasnt the actual boot it was the studs!
August 5th, 2007 at 18:35
joninjapan
it was obi mikel that did the third, who else was anoyed at how andy gray wos comentating!!
August 5th, 2007 at 18:44
More than the boots, I think Nani was just nervous! You can’t really blame him, playing in such an important game and that too against Chelsea, at Wembley, its enough to make anyone nervous.I thought most of the boys did well, they were a bit rusty, but I’m sure they’ll get better. Evra on the left of midfield that was a bit surprising, but he was great! Great cross for the first goal! And Giggs, what perfect placement!
Edwin was terrific in the KO! Feels great to beat Chelsea right at the start of the new season. Here’s to hoping that this is the first of the many pieces of silverware we’re going to get this season!
August 5th, 2007 at 18:49
ye i remember somone saying something abt the grounds and cleats getting stuck in the pitch
August 5th, 2007 at 19:19
well i missed the match but found some links u can chk out
All goals pre match after match interviews and penalty shoot out
August 5th, 2007 at 20:04
Well watched the videos and am feeling high as well thanks 2 friendships day today mixed with blenders pride and the reason of united winning added more taste.Though i missed the match i got the news (Cell phone is a gr8 invention)
Felt really good about seeing united win but that malouda goal made rio look like shite and i feel tha money spent over him might be worth it gota look forward to this lad.
Read the comment abt brown but i’ll have to get the match of the torrents to see more .
Overall i am happy,we are adding cups and trophys so we can add more silverware and chase these scousers out.
August 5th, 2007 at 20:23
grat win cant wait for the start of the season beat chelski bring on reading
August 5th, 2007 at 21:01
Im just watching the cup in rotterdam.and it hit me.why dont we bid for drenthe?i mean heinze is probably on his way out and evra isnt convincing.silvestre proved today that his time is up at united.but this drenthe lad is just brilliant he has the physical presence of heinze and the attacking ability of evra(even better)sell heinze and silvestre and buy this lad for left back he is brilliant!but thats football manager for you.
August 5th, 2007 at 21:06
mate thats what i said 2 great mind think alike lol
August 5th, 2007 at 21:18
Just got back from the game, Silvestre was soo bad it actually made us laugh! Evra really stood out today I thought he was fantastic going forward and defending + covering up Silvestre’s errors. I was worried for Nani after his first 2 touches but he didnt hide and showed some good touches and vision.
One thing no one could understand was – how on earth did Ashley Cole win man of the match?! he was pony!
STAND UP FOR THE CHAMPIONS….
August 5th, 2007 at 21:21
CHAMPIONS EVDS was fantastic
August 5th, 2007 at 21:45
Lets not make such a big deal over a meaningless game. Why they waste their time and effort on such useless events is beyond my comprehension. Giving out trophies for friendlies seems like such over-hype. Anyway I was glad to see United receive a little sweet revenge. What I would like better is for SAF to unlock the shackles and stop using such defensive minded tactics against a team that has no intention of attacking or playing offensive football. Christ, Mourinho never even fielded a striker, so why didn’t SAF simply start Nani and Anderson and sit down down less creative players like Sylvestre and O’Shea. Chelsea is no longer a team we should fear. They should be respected but not feared. They simply do not have the attacking potential to match United. Instead United fall into Mourinho’s trap every time and start playing a slow unimaginative and cautious game. I’d rather lose 1-0 after having created numerous chances than win 1-0 having created one or two chances. Manchester United are the team that the rest of the world admires because of their adventurous approach to attacking football. Chelsea’s style mimics the personality of their manager, defensive and cowardly with a dash of antagonism and cynicism. As for the match, I though Ronaldo was alright but generally uninspired. Rooney’s finishing was bloody horrible except for the penalty. The best player on the pitch for me was Evra. His attacking runs and close marking was very good. Although I am not overly critical of him I have been loud of my praise and preference for Gabby Heinze. I hereby say that I could be wrong. Evra’s pace and offensive vision is far better than Heinze and perhaps when it’s all said and done SAF may be correct in selecting him over Heinze. I still think that Heinze is an exceptional left back though. As for the shootout, I was sure United would win because Petr Cech couldn’t stop a penalty if his life depended on it. If you don’t believe me check out his history in shootouts. He totally sucks! EV at least stops a few and boy did he do a job on those Chelski boys today. UNITED FOREVER!!!!!
August 5th, 2007 at 21:55
I am back after a big summer break from the red rants
It is nice to start the season to see the blues fall as the first blood to the Reds. Although it was a glorified friendly as Lawro says and much cannot be read into it, we Reds cannot stop reading into it as it makes us feel better.. can we?
From United’s perspective Ronaldo and Evra were probably the sharpest players on the field other than the Dutch stopper. At the start of the match it was very frustrating to see Chelsea trying to kill the tempo of the game with some very defensive passing of the ball. The excitement has started when Ronaldo got the ball and he made a superb run down the left wing. Rooney had his moments too, although I feel his sharpness has to improve a bit more.. His new striking partner (Tevez) will be back to make him feel comfortable. The passing of Carrick was good. It makes me wonder if there are any other players barring Scholes and Pirlo with such wide variety of accurate passing. But at times during the game he was sloppy too and hopefully the workout helps our pass master.
Am I the only one who thinks that it was good for United that it went into penalties, than United win it comfortably in normal time? Crazy me? No.. If someone has noticed, Van der Sar wasn’t very confident during the whole match. Before the penalties also he wasnt very confident. It might be due to the high profile mistakes he has been making since the end of last season, preseason or he might have been concentrating for all you know. When Foster isnt around having our No 1 with low confidence is very dangerous. Now that he has won the match double handedly (he used both the hands you see
) it should have done a world of good for the Dutch man and that is very encouraging for United.
Shawn Wright Phillips has created some problems to the United’s left side of the defence but “I wonder if SWP makes love like he plays football. Lots of great moves, hard charging up and down the bed and in the end….nothin. No finisher. That face he makes after running 45 yards and crossing the ball to no one is the face of erectile dysfunction. (courtesy: football365 mailbox)” sums it up all.
The goal of Malouda was very good. People might fault Rio with that, but I think the credit has to be given to Malouda. It was a classy goal. None other than “The Great Dane” would have saved that goal.
It was very frustrating to see chelski players aiming the ankles of players. SWP or Joe Cole aimed at Vidic too. And that Tal Ben Heim.. what a bas***d he is. Made Rooney get a undeserved yellow and the referee didnt spot his shove.
Positives from the game:
1) United got a high profile well deserved workout before the actual thing starts.
2) Nani was horrible for a minute, but after that was OK. He has taken the corners, and it shows the faith on him, and has delivered them at good places.. so well now I would say he played good
3) EVDS has his confidence back
4) Time and again.. Giggsy is just lethal when he plays the free man role. He is not so effective making those runs down the wing, but his postioning and passing is proving to be priceless. I think only one of Giggs and Scholes would be on the pitch in non-important matches next season and they would be playing the free man role.
5) Evra. If he improves his game a bit more defensively he is up there with any left back in the world. His attacking abilites are awesome for a left back (although he played a winger in this match)
Negatives:
1) Silvestre: Kick him out please…Buy/swap Chellini. Or give Jonny Evans a chance to prove himself. He plays at that position for his country and he should be groomed.
2) OShea: He was very much non existent except for the rob of the ball from Joe Cole in the penalty box. That is what happens when you play a goal scoring machine in a defensive role
3) One of Eagles/Pique/Evans should have been given a run. Buying world class players is fine.. but developing them in our own backyard.. priceless…
Man of the match: Patrice Evra. (A.Cole .. someone please explain me why)
He saves on the left.. he saves on the right… that boy Edwin made Chelsea/Lampsy look like s***e.
P.S. Hey Red Ranter is it possible to have a chat room sort of thing.. so that we can have some fun during matches..
August 5th, 2007 at 22:00
smudger scores in his debut good luck mate
August 5th, 2007 at 23:29
sharathciddu great post. 100% agree with you
August 6th, 2007 at 0:56
It’s true. The way we won it, it will give VDS confidence.
Lady luck helping us at the right time&place:) it couldn’t have been better.
August 6th, 2007 at 6:31
im with sharathciddu with the idea of a chat room thing 4 matches!
August 6th, 2007 at 7:50
Gr8 post sharathciddu could’nt have done better
August 6th, 2007 at 8:51
Man of the match should definately have been EVDS. How often does a goalkeeper face three penalty kicks and saves them all? I think this will give the Dutchman the much needed confidence before the EPL starts. Anyway a win is a win and beating Chelsea will always be sweet!!!
August 6th, 2007 at 10:55
All said we did it again.over those S.bridge burgers.But here comes my question who on earth gave Silvestre that chance,he is pathetic.the match was an indicator of what we need.
1.Ronney missed chances——–Tevez will solve them.
2.Chelsea thriving in Midfield—–OH will close that up i bet that was the last for people to roam in our midfield.
3.SWP flying all over his wing——Gary will be well soon.though on the other hand this is a clear sign that Heinz should go nowhere for the time being.
August 6th, 2007 at 10:57
we have done it again.over those S.bridge burgers.But here comes my question who on earth gave Silvestre that chance,he is pathetic.the match was an indicator of what we need.
1.Ronney missed chances——–Tevez will solve them.
2.Chelsea thriving in Midfield—–OH will close that up i bet that was the last for people to roam in our midfield.
3.SWP flying all over his wing——Gary will be well soon.though on the other hand this is a clear sign that Heinz should go nowhere for the time being.
August 6th, 2007 at 13:59
I thought the match was ok though I agree with Grognard’s comment that we tend to play into Chelsea’s hands in games against them (the FA cup final is a prime example).
I think people are being a bit harsh on Silvestre, I’m not his biggest
fan and think he should be sold, but it was only in the 2nd half he faded big time due to lack of fitness. Apart from that he was ok. Brown was IMO more to blame for the goal that Rio who lost his balance at a crucial point. Brown let Malouda go then never bothered covering back, unforgivable mistakes at fullback.
August 6th, 2007 at 16:52
STILL SHORT OF ONE GOOD BACK UP STRIKER AFTER SELLING SMITH AND ROSSI! SIGN ZIGIC OF RACING! OR ANELKA! OR PAZZINI! WAT SAY U MY FRIENDS?
August 6th, 2007 at 17:24
gudjohnson, palladinho.
August 6th, 2007 at 17:35
maybe even mido,
August 7th, 2007 at 8:17
for the chatroom – guys, something is in the works, I’ll update you guys here on RR and on SL shortly.
August 7th, 2007 at 13:35
a win over the blues is always sweet cos you’all never expected your team to win…we played you guys without a single striker and youa’all still feel good about your game…lets see what you guys can come up with against us this season…WE’RETHE BEST………Listennnnnnnn