May 11
United 2-0 City: Two goals, and two statements
Derby day came and went, United need another four points for the title. A banner that read 33 years was unfurled. Ronaldo scored through another freekick and, with United’s domination of proceedings, the match was effectively over by the end of the first half.
A limp, unimaginative City side also contributed partly to the one sided nature of the first half. It was only in the second, when they tried their best to throw everything at United — not to mention, United trying their best to afford enough space and give up enough possession — when City held a sliver of hope to get something out of this.
United’s starting XI was without Rooney (rested) and Rio (out with some injury, depending on which paper you read). Evans came in for Rio whilst Rafael got a run out at right back. I did come across an interesting anecdote on the Guardian, concerning Rafael:
Hanging from the wall inside Rafael da Silva’s front lounge is a framed newspaper cutting showing a photograph of the young Brazilian beating Robinho to the ball during the first Manchester derby of the season. Beneath it, the Manchester United right-back has written with a thick dollop of teenage brio: “Rafael had Robinho in his pocket.”
Cheek isn’t in short supply, but he still showed he has a long way to go before becoming a good full back. His first season has been a revelation; not much has been expected of the twins, yet they made a pretty good transition into first team football. Rafael’s performances have been adequate, and on many occasions better than adequate, but one must realise that these efforts have come in the face of a lack of expectations; meaning mistakes tend to be excused. And it is for good reason. Last year Anderson was hailed as the second coming of [insert great midfielder], but this year he’s taken a while. Expectations can make a big difference to the way players are perceived and judged. Rafael didn’t have the best of games yesterday, when I thought O’Shea might have been a better choice on derby day.
There was a period of time, in the second half, when City had 61% possession. It doesn’t mean that much in the bigger scheme of things, but there were huge chunks of the game when we tried our best to give City a lifeline. At the end, it became a case of holding on and cutting out the obvious howlers; sticking to the basics seemed to be enough to see United through the second half.
I’m hurrying through all this because I needed to talk about things that have been eating into my head for the past few days. Carlos Tevez was like a man possessed yesterday. He was beating men, his striking was decisive and rattled the bar twice — with one going in off the upright. He looked close to the man I saw in pre-season. The player who had his terrifying mix of desire and actual ability to do it on the pitch. He did run around like a headless chicken and his first touch was a bit on and off. But if what he said in the press was anything to go by, his performance showed how desperate he was to prove a point.
Now I’m not against players proving a point on the pitch. Far from it. Players are meant to prove points on the pitch. That’s what their paid for. And a manager will take that any day. What irks me is the way some players go out to do it in the open, in the press.
I defended Tevez when he first came out with his statements of frustrations; he gave everything on the pitch, and it’s possible to make a telling case of Fergie preferring Rooney over Tevez on countless occasions. He’s also had some disappointing outings, when given the chance, but even that could be put down to a lack of continuous playing time. However, when a player keeps going to the press about it repeatedly, always trying to play the ‘fans are with me, but the club don’t respect me’ card, it begins to chip at the levels of sympathy I have in me for the player. There’s making a point once, and there’s ramming it down our collective throats.
Sort it out, Carlos. You are a good player, and if Kia Joowhatsisname valued you closer to your true value I’m sure Fergie/Gill would’ve had little worry over pulling out that check book. It’s not a lack of respect. Don’t make this harder than it already is. As fans we can chant “Fergie, sign him up!” all we want. But there’s a reason we are not in charge of signing him up; we’re fans overcome with emotion and caught up in the moment. We love players who’ve been good for us and, even if not good, who are honest triers. Sometimes, odd as it sounds, the men upstairs have a better grasp of financial realities and the value of a player with respect to the team than us.
I would have loved it had Tevez handled himself professionally like Gilberto Silva of Arsenal — who in his last season was stripped of captaincy in favour of Gallas, lost his midfield place to Flamini and saw himself phased out of the side, yet spoke nothing to the media about it. But that sort of professionalism is rare in football these days, and I could tolerate Tevez for his initial outbursts. But there’s only so many quotes in the press a mind can take.
I just hope it gets handled well from here on and, whatever be the outcome, it doesn’t end in tears for yet another Argentine at United.
*
Another fine example of a player doing the noble task of putting himself over team was in ample evidence as Ferguson took off Ronaldo in an attempt to rest him. A shake of the head is understandable for a footballer looking to always be a part of the action, but throwing the kit away in anger and walking off abruptly after the final whistle is just sad. Ronaldo is a personality singularly capable of inducing awe and disgust in supporters, and it’s this see-saw of emotions that can actually be hard to take for many fans. To me, sometimes, it’s tiring. Dealing with Ronaldo as a Manchester United fan can best be explained by the following analogy — I mentioned it yesterday in the comments and I’ll mention this again, quoting from one of the comments at the Guardian sportblog:
George Orwell once commented that it should be possible for the human mind to encompass the facts that Salvador Dali was both a fabulous artist and a disgusting human being.
As a United fan, I think the same comment could be applied to Cristiano Ronaldo.
Now I am not calling him a disgusting human being, but merely applying the analogy where a person and his skill at his craft can evince entirely different reactions from people.
It’s shocking to see players looking to steal some of the limelight when we are on the cusp of our 18th Premier League title and the possibility of winning (and retaining) the Champions’ League.
But, we march on, nevertheless. We have to.
We’ll never die.
Related items from Red Rants:
- What Happens When A Player Doesn’t Get His Move?
- Spurs, Levy, Ferguson and Berbatov
- Did Fergie Bottle It?
- Tevez for £32m? Tevez Quotes Denied + Kaizer Chiefs Friendly
- FA Double Standards Come to the fore… again
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (541)
Stephen (485)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Johnsom33: I don’t know where you have heard the “Berba for Zlatan” rumour from but it is simply not going to happen.
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@Johnsom33: give it rest, you keep spouting your nonsense(and it is nonsense, that is lie, its not even a rumour) and grow up, you keep saying that to start a berbatov argument, and because its not working, you keep bringing this lie back up.
Its not funny, stop, its not rumour, you made it up.
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@Stephen: exactly,
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@Dan: I get the impression he a fan of the Swede mate
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@Dan, not fit enough shave carlitos eyebrow: What argument am I trying to start? And I didn’t make it up I read it on the guardian.
Speaking of made up stories, the Daily Mail has a flimsy story about ronaldo going to Madrid. Seriously how do UK papers get away with this bush league bullshit?
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@Karl: Are you joking mate? There is no manager in the history of the game that is better at man management than Fergie. It’s tactics he is not the best at. In fact it took the arrival of Queiroz and a few humiliating losses in Europe to make Fergie realize that he is not a tactical genius. But when it comes to managing players and getting the best out of most of them, I think he is in a class by himself. Sure he has had a few slip ups, but then being the best doesn’t mean you don’t occasionally fail.
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@Eric the Red: If I was Tevez, no matter how much I love the fans and my teammates, I’d jump for a move to Liverpool because I would be bent on revenge towards Fergie and Gill. Their lack of faith in Tevez and their lies and head games have left a scar in the man and I for one cannot blame him for going to the Scousers. Would I be happy about it? Of course not, but I could see why he would do it. Revenge is a mighty motivator. Also, Tevez is not English. No matter what he sees about the rivalry, I’ll bet it doesn’t register as being as bad as it is to him. I mean, he probably feels he could go to Liverpool and then show up at OT and get the reception he was getting when he went back to play in front of West Ham supporters. He is not stupid but he may be a little naive. 90% of the fans that sing and chant his name now with pride will turn on him instantly. For that reason alone I would hope he would want to leave United and always have the memories of the supporter who were 100% behind him to think about. And really, does Carlos want to go to a team that has Rafa the Rotator as manager? He’ll start one out of every three games and really, they already have their own Carlito in Dirk Kuyt who whether we like to admit it or not, has had a great season and is more instinctive at scoring goals than Carlito.
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@Grognard:Carlos has played 27 League games with 17 starts with a return of four goals, maybe this is the reason why we will not pay £32m, not their lack of faith.
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@Johnsom33: Yeah just seen them ronaldo rumours, god its started again and its only may. Well actually i say started but its been on for about a year none stop, but they seem to be starting to really kick in now its near the end of the season. Great 3/4 months of non stop transfer drivel to look forward to, i will try my best to completely ignore it but its hard when its on the internet and every paper and sports channel.
And as for tevez and being mentioned with liverpool, i cant see it myself. I actually think he would be perfect for them but i cant see benitez spending 30 million on 1 quality player. He prefers to spend that much on 5 or 6 squad players so i cant see him giving up on his beloved system of buying quantity over quality this season.
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@RedDevilEddy: That makes one of you mate but you are only 16 and I’m sorry but that limits your knowledge of the situation. I know you love Andy but please, that is a biased statement if I have ever read one. You mean to tell me that you think Anderson is better than Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson and Paul Scholes just to mention a few. Christ, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes (circa 2009) and possibly even Darren Fletcher are better than Anderson.
You are welcome to your opinion mate but when you make that kind of statement, don’t be too upset if people like myself challenge you on it because frankly, it’s a bit out there if you know what I mean. And are you talking only central midfielders because if not, all I need to say is Giggs, Best, Ronaldo, Beckham to you to make you realize how truly wrong you are?
I like you and respect you a lot mate or I would be tempted to rage insults out at this statement. But I know you and I understand where you are coming from. But still, you are wrong mate. Sorry but that’s the plain truth. Sure put up a Mr. Green smiley up at the end but I honestly believe that what you are saying is sincere. If not please correct me.
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@Stephen: I’d add Michael Ballack and Andrey Shevchenko to that group who would see Mourinho’s man management as anything but special. Only a muppet would take world class players and subject them to ridicule and the bench just to make a point to the owner. And he calls himself a player’s manager. Mourinho is a tactical genius and he plays favorites with his players. He is king sized ass hole to many people and to half of every squad he has ever managed. But the starting eleven love him.
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@Karl: @Stephen: Add to that the fact that Mourinho’s man-management of youngsters / youth team players is inexistent.
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@Stephen: Paying a man well to do his job does not mean that the team is not mistreating him. Tevez has been treated poorly because he has been lied to and because he lost his starting job without being given a fair chance to fight for it and after a season when he more than earned the right to start the season as a starting striker instead of a bench warmer. Sure he was paid well as far as bench warmers go, but imagine you working for a company and heading up a department and then one day you come into work and without any notification someone else has your job and you have been demoted and now work under him in a much reduced capacity. How would you accept that whne you never saw it coming. Perhaps Tevez like myself should have seen it coming because lets face it, the talk about Berbatove started a good month before he signed, but still, why should Carlito who scored almost 20 goals the previous season and who was instrumental in helping us capture the super double feel like his job was in jeopardy. If anything, he probably felt that Fergie would work with a three man forward line of Berba, Tevez and Rooney and have Ronaldo go back to being a wide midfielder. Naive yes, but I bet he never thought this would happen to him. I did because frankly, I never ever thought he was good enough even though he played hard and scored some big goals for us.
Also, imagine this scenario. You are leading a team at work and your department is praised for the fine job and awards it has received. Then all of a sudden you are demoted and replaced by a new guy who just cannot get the same kind of performance out of the team and who doesn’t look like he is trying that hard himself. Meanwhile he goes missing on some key days but still gets praise from the Boss while your job hangs perilously by a thread. Imagine how you would feel then. Tevez is only a human being and if I were him, I would want out and I would seek revenge by trying to find a hated competitor to go work for. So why should Tevez be any different?
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@Grognard: You cannot use a work senario in football mate, Carlos has only scored 4 goals in 17 starts with a further 10 as sub, so using your philosophy he hasn’t exactly done a fantastic job has he mate?
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@colver: Wait a second there mate. United doesn’t want him. They are basically throwing him out on the street and you still feel you should have a say as to where he will go? This isn’t a transfer mate. He will be a free agent and if Liverpool offer him the right contract, he should take it. Why shouldn’t he? The United fans may have loved him but they never exactly fought to keep him either. Why? Because they are powerless to do so. His gripe and grudge is with Fergie and management. And they clearly are prepared to hang him out to dry. When that happens mate, there is no loyalty and nobody but nobody should begrudge or hate Tevez for going to Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal for that matter. He is then looking out for his career and if getting a little satisfaction over those who burned him is possible, then I’m sure he will consider it. And you would to if you were wearing similar shoes. “Dead to me”? Come on, get serious mate. That’s pretty harsh considering how badly this team has screwed him over.
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@Grognard: He in two years has been payed nearly £9m, won the Premier league probably twice won a Carling Cup, a Champions league and has a 50% 50% chance of winning another one, hardly been screwed over has he??
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@Stephen: Many have written and done worse in the history of pro sports and lived to see another day with their teams. You have a meeting about it, tell Stam how you feel about him and the book and you move on. What bothers me is that Fergie is also dishonest about why he got rid of him. Ininterviews he has never ever brought up the book. No, he claims that when Stam came back from injury he slowed down and so he sold him. Well that was total bollocks mate because not only did Stam go to Italy and remain a world class central defender, but due to his improved speed, he was even played at RB by Milan on numerous occasions. Ya Fergie, really slow. And Fergie went on to say that letting him go was his biggest mistake to boot. People should not forget that when Stam was here, he was a Vidic without the benefit of a Rio. He was frakken fantastic. I loved the Stammer.
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@Stephen: Of course they won’t, so lets bench the player, destroy his form and confidence and that will bring his price down right? Wrong. His agent won’t play that because the world footballing community isn’t that stupid. They all know how good Tevez is and how ruthless Fergie can be. Just ask Stam, Beckham and van Nistelrooy. All survivors who lived to tell and fight another day. Tevez will too.
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@Grognard: I agree as I said he was a superb player.
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@Grognard: What?
What did I say?
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@Grognard: And all have been replaced, as Carlos will be. I love Tevez but he simply isn’t worth the money, great effort and attitude but I want more for that sort of money.
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@Grognard: Oh, just saw my comment. Sorry, I did not write that. If my guess is right, its just one of my mates fucking around with me. They know I like this site and they know I luv Andy, so I guess one of my mates have just written with my computer. We were at the school library, so… Cant trust your mates, can you?
You knwo that despite my bias towards Anderson, I still feel there are lots of players in midfield being better than him. Keane, Scholes at his prime, Beckham and even Giggs! So Im quite surprised you thought that I could make that kind of statement. Despite my huuuuuge Andy bias, I have never gone as far as saying that he IS the bets midfielder in the world or sumthign close to that.
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BTW, got tickets for the Arsenal game. Hope we lift the title that day!
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Something is definately going on at OT. Recently when the press asked Fergie and Ronaldo in interview together about Real Madrid, neither could look the press in the eye, and were shifty! Usually Fergie has just flat out denied that Ronnie is going nowhere, and that firmly. So to be honest nothing will surprise me.
Tevez has been a moouthy little shit all season, both him and his agent! They don’t have the class or finesse to understand how things are operated at OT and they are not done in the public media forum. Tevez bouts of VERBAL DIARRHOEA have not helped his case. His goal celebration on Sunday was not in the least bit funny for many fans. Also threatening United with a move to L’Pool, well let the little shit go there then! Like I said, his NO CLASS shows in all of this mouthy behaviour.
What I dont bloody appreciate is that Ronnie and Tevez have caused unnecessary problems AT A VITAL time in our season finale programme. To upset the harmony at such a vital time, shows what they are all about. We did not need this with 3 games to go, and ALL STILL AT STAKE. I feel a lot of anger towards them right now. Fergie needs to put a team out at Wigan that WANT to fight for the United cause and get the wins we need. Hope United fans are NOT chanting Tevez and ARGEN BLOODY TINA after Tevez’s I’ll play for the KOP outbursts. So fuck off and go to Looserpool then! As always players can and will be replaced!
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@RedDevilEddy: I do remember you putting him into your top three players of all time though mate
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@Stephen: My top three FAVORITE players of all time, not three best.
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@RedDevilEddy:
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@Stephen: It’s hard to get your form and wheels going when you start one out of three games. He like Nani needed a run of games to find his form, not one game in and two games out. And if not for Berbatov’s poor second half, he may have started 4 or 5 fewer games than he did.
Look, I realize he hasn’t scored a lot and if you go back two years you will read comments from me stating that he is a good player but we should not sign him because he’s not good enough to be a United forward because he is not the prolific goal scorer that we are looking for. And yet they got him on loan and he scored close to 20 goals for the club in all competitions. Not prolific but pretty decent. But lets not forget what chances are created for others because of his work rate and ability to create havoc on opposing team’s defensive alignments. He does serve his purpose and his inclusion into the Tottenham game we just won is proof positive of how his presence can change the game around completely. His running and work ethic gave us that game. Oh sure I would prefer Huntelaar or Aguero or a number of other strikers over him, but lets get realistic, our budget isn’t big enough. And we do not have to pay 432 million for him. Adjust and negotiate a smaller number and lets all remember than 10 of that 32 has already been paid. So getting him for around 18 to 20 isn’t the end of the world.
I say keep him for his leadership and work ethic and the fact that the team likes him and the fans love him. United should not be ruled by what the fans want but a clear cut fan favorite like this is an exception. To let him go is a direct slap in the face of the majority of all the Man Utd faithful. The ones who cannot afford the expensive tickets and the private boxes. The blue collar average Mancunian who sees in Tevez a little part of themselves. Fergie, don’t slap them in the face. They are the heart and soul of your team’s history, wealth and support.
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@Stephen: It’s not all about goals mate and you quickly and conveniently forget what he did for us last year when he was allowed to play a fuller role. And yes you can use that kind of analogy because 99% of the supporters of that team live that analogy every day of their lives. They relate to it and for that reason they can look at this situation for what it is. A direct slap in the player’s face and gross case of disregard and disrespect for services rendered.
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@Stephen: You don’t get it mate, so I am not going to waste my time trying to get you to see the light. He has had a lot to do with making those things happen and has been promised a lot but had nothing delivered to him. He’s been lied and manipulated and finally underused and disrespected. And above all, he lost his starting spot to a player who hardly works with any effort and who has delivered hardly nothing at all.
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@Grognard: I agree if we can neg the deal to a further £10m then an all round package deal of £20m then sign him up.
Also the fans want whats best for the club, or should do we all want him to stay but not for any cost, season ticket prices have already risen and a lot of people cannot afford to go anymore, and if we spend massive money on a player who really is a sub then the fans will be more annoyed as it comes out of their pockets.
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@RedDevilEddy: Don’t play innocent with me mate.
“Anderson is the best midfielder I have ever seen in a United shirt!
”
That’s what you said and you got Grognified for it.
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@Grognard: Well he has delivered more goals and a different option with guile as well height so more of a target, are you saying only Carlos can create space? He is similar to Rooney but not as good, I have my opinions mate and I see my own light.
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@Stephen: I agree he isn’t worth the money but he should not have been teased and played with and then benched for a player who is worth far less of the money he is getting. Double standard don’t you think?
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@RedDevilEddy: Nice try mate.
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@Grognard: Honestly didnt write that, you should trsut me on this one. No way is Ando better than Keane or Becks!
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I think we all need to take a little step back and realise that we don’t know anything about Tevez’s situation. Anything. We know that he’s a United player, but I’ve read some reports that say it’s until the end of May and some that say the end of June. if the papers can’t get that right, then we have to consider the fact that they know only slightly more than us; they too are relying on whispered rumours and self-serving press releases. The things we DO know are: Tevez is a Utd player. Both Tevez and the club have publicly professed a desire to continue on together. The club, despite record earnings, is far from financially secure. And Tevez is unhappy with the rotation system, feeling he has been left out of many of the biggest games.
Everything else is pretty much just rumours. Yes, the club have not made an offer, but Gill and Ferguson give very different reason for this than Kia and Tevez’s agent. I know who I trust, but that’s beside the point. And not having wrapped the deal up now doesn’t mean we don’t want to or won’t want to. It’s possible we’ve got a swoop for Benzema lined up and want Tevez in case that falls through. It’s possible we just don’t want him and we’re trying to make him look bad before he goes. It’s possible we need our reward money to buy him outright. the point is, anything is possible here.
We shouldn’t start speculating on behind the scenes machinations to manipulate his price (either upwards or downwards) because we simply can’t know. He and many fans feel the club has done badly by him, but Berbatov needed time in the team due to no pre-season, and has (despite Tevez apparently only playing against poorer sides) been on the winning side 70% of the time, compared to Tevez’s 61%, while adding a dimension to the team (that we arguably don’t benefit from, but nonetheless) that Tevez cannot. Added to this, Tevez has continually made statements to get his contract situation into the media, a tactic unlikely to endear him to the angry old Scot whose opinion matters. It won’t be until this whole dispute is resolved that we will truly know how this unfolded, but to say that the club has screwed him over is to swallow his and Kia’s story hook, line and sinker. And to say that he’s screwed the club over (which admittedly is what I think) is doing a disservice to a player who, no matter his faults, plays his fucking heart out every single time. We should reserve judgement on this whole scenario until we know what actually happened: we don’t even know the wages he’s demanding, or have a concrete price. Patience is, as ever, a virtue.
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@Stephen: Any PLAYER who threatens Manchester United with going to Looserpool to play for the Kop, deserves to have his bags packed and be sent up the East Lancs PRONTO. Little shit! If he hasn’t learn’t enough to know that such statements of intent are an anathema to Man United fans, then he knows nothing about the Man United history or ethis. What a thick shit!!!
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@Grognard: Berbatov is worth far less than Carlos, really?
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@Craig Mc: My thoughts exactly.
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We can win the title tomorrow. We can equal the Liverpool record of most domestic titles won. What we can win these next two weeks are what we have dreamt about for many months, some even years! So I think all this talk about Tevez is stupid, we should be talking aout other things now! Goal to the season, will we win tomorrow or draw, possibly lose? Player of the season, who should play instead of Fletcher in the CL final? There is so mucho to talk about and all I see is people ranting about Carlito? Sure, he will be missed. But he is not irreplacable, I actually feel losing him would only make our dressing room better. He doesnt give anything to our side that Smudge wouldnt, which says something. I am careless wether he stays or leaves, as long as United keep winning trophies. And that is what we should be talking about now. TROPHIES!!!
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@michael: Michael Bro, Tevez and his agent have said in interviews to the media, that he will go to either L’fool, Man City, Chelsea or Arsenal, i.e. the great pretence that all the top clubs want him. They did say that he would play for the Kop mate – which will not endear him to any TRUE United fans. It is the same tactic that Maschereno used with the same agent, when he wasn’t getting his permanent deal – I will go and play for Manchester United. I hope they don’t get away with that damnable threat this time
.
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@RedDevilEddy: No we can’t (win the title tomorrow). We need 4 points, not 3.
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@Craig Mc: Hopefully it won;t work, yeah. I do feel that he deserves to play for us, that he’s earned a new contract, but as has been said numerous times, he’s not worth the figures we hear being thrown around, and the comments certainly don’t help his case.
I think next season he’ll be playing in the defensively shocking Primera Liga, being given all the space he needs and getting a good few goals, which will be followed by pundits screaming that Fergie made a a terrible mistake letting him go. Liverpool can’t afford him (and wouldn’t play him, Torres is their lone striker), and although I could see him moving to City I think if it came to a choice between an English club with Champions League aspirations and a Spanish or Italian club with Champions League football he’d choose the latter.
Best really to just ignore it/him until the season’s over. As RedDevilEddy said, there’s trophies to be won!
Predictions for Wigan, anyone? Steve Bruce will view this as another chance to audition for the top job, and Valencia will want to show off his ability. Their side works very hard, although I can’t see them matching our desire. 3-0 with a good few worrying moments, I reckon.
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New post up btw.
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@Eric the Red: If we beat Wigan, there is no chance we are gonn lot to both Arsenal and Hull. Maybe one of them, but not both! So I cosider winning tomorrow clinching the title.
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@Stephen: Carlos creates more problems with his terrier like presence. Making all kinds of runs that spread defenses and cause them to lose their shape. And as for seeing the light, perhaps you do see your own light mate, but it’s just not the same color as mine, and that’s fine. You are more than welcome to it.
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@michael: Just because we don’t know what is happening behind closed doors, doesn’t mean we can’t comment, give our thoughts or predictions or even criticize. Remember mate, this board is for ranting. Ranting doesn’t only happen over well known facts. A lot of ranting comes the way of conjecture and gossip. And we are all free to participate in that and to come up with our own theories based on what we know and our gut feelings, right or wrong.
We aren’t trying to emulate the London Times or the New York Times in terms of honest and true journalistic integrity. We’re just supporters giving our opinions on something we all know very little about.
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@Craig Mc: So let me get this right mate, if we shit on him, that’s ok, but if he decides he wants to shit on us for the sake of payback, that’s not, correct?
Hardly fair if you ask me. We don’t own him so I really don’t see how he owes us any loyalty. He was just a loaner mate.
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@Stephen: I didn’t say that. But if you want to put words into my mouth yes. Take last year into account and also take the fact that until the last game Berbatov has been awful in the second half, yes it’s true. Now having said that, I still like Berbatov a lot as a player but his first year here has been nothing to write home to Bulgaria about. Tevez on the other hand has had some great games and has also not played in a lot of games. And he too has had some poor games but at no time has he ever taken the field and not given his all. I can’t say that about the Languid Transylvanian Surfer Dude, who has acted all season like he was just waiting calmly for that one killer break to hang ten.
I have said many times that I prefer skill over work ethic so don’t go trying to make something out of nothing. I don’t really want Tevez here for anything more than 15 million but I do respect his attitude and professionalism and he has done nothing wrong to be thrown to the bench before he even had a chance to compete for the starting role. As soon as Berba arrived, he started. Hardly fair treatment for somebody who was instrumental in last season’s success and who even in diminished time and capacity this season, still found the time to score a lot of big goals. While he fought for his starting place with all his heart and soul, Berba did an awful lot to lose his spot. And when he did, did Carlito benefit? No, Fergie decided to go with Rooney and Ronaldo or throw in Macheda. How many slaps in the face can good honest hard working player take?
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