Dec 13
United blow chance to close gap
Before the Villa game, Chelsea had just drawn 3-3. There was all the motivation for the side to cut their lead from three to zero; separated on goal difference. The anticipation was also high among our lot; after all, we just beat sides by handsome margins with a joke of a defence. Surely the confidence was so high that we might have as well stuck in gardeners and the kitman at the centre of defence and yet manage to squeeze something out of the match.
Funny story: Saturday didn’t quite go to plan.
But while our defence, as stretched as it was (Vidic was just returning from his bout of flu) was to blame for their goal, it was the complete lack of cutting threat — actually anything — going forward that did us in.
It started with the obvious: Ferguson inexplicably going with a 4-5-1 formation at home. What was that all about? This is Villa. No disrespect to their status or their form in the league, but at home, given our record against their largely unchanged squad, we ought to have been a bit more positive. And to play like we had bags of lead attached to our feet was hard to understand. Moreso, when you have the chance to pair Rooney with Owen, a striker fresh off a red-hot display at Wolfsburg, you grab that chance with all the hands you have at your disposal — even the imaginary ones. Strikers like Owen deserve to be given the chance when they are on a roll. You don’t drop him from the starting line up immediately. It sounds a lot like rotating the side for the sake of it — which should never be the idea.
Despite all the talk about our lack of creativity and cutting edge, this season, we were capable of much better than the fare that was served up on Saturday.
Rooney started brightly only to frustrate for great parts of the game. There were also moments of desperation from him when he tried to do too much. Oh, and there was that dive! I’m not in the practice of getting on the backs of our players excessively, but I find the relative silence in the mainstream media on his dive astonishing. English star players like Rooney and that hypocrite, Gerrard, get away with a lot, I must say from the mainstream press. [This is not a rant on Rooney, although it feels like crap when one of your own players dive, but more on the double standards of the media -- near hysterical reaction -- when a foreign player dives.]
Also, I have to ask now: why Park yesterday? Why? I saw little point in him, and while he does very well for us as a defensive winger / wing back, Park as a winger is as useful as a blunt pencil for precision diamond-cutting.
Giggs, meanwhile, was having one of his off days. It can happen; he’s 36 years old. Can’t blame him necessarily as we can’t be expected to be reliant on him every week. Someone else needs to get that hint.
I won’t say who.
The manager later went off on one about time keeping to be taken off the refs’ hands: good idea, but we could have had all day yesterday, and still huffed and puffed. However, I’d like to agree with the other thing SAF said; that it was a bad day at the office. Having played our way through a horror injury crisis and still scored for fun over the past few weeks, I’d like to give him that benefit of doubt. Although I’m still in disbelief over our tactics.
4-5-1 at Old Trafford? Why oh why? Or as the kids, and most adults like to say these days: WTF?!
Related items from Red Rants:
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- Gamba Osaka v Man Utd: Match Thread
- United feel the blues as Everton blow the title race wide open
- Will Barca Win Be A Springboard For Success This Season?
- Four League Wins in a Row for United?
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (541)
Stephen (485)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@CraigMc: I know you arenot greatest of TONY fan but, comparing him with PARK was bit to much. Even on the given day he was better than PARK.
Secondly most of us are so spoilt due to RONALDO heroics in last few season we have forgot what exactly the job of winger is. I mean leave that man alone bro… He has I think 4-5 Goals in around 15 starts and couple of assists at least already. If he wasn’t following the RONALDO in the team we would have held him as a good signing isn’t it?? I mean its a decent return on the investement bro.. He is no RONALDO…. No one can …. Please try and look at him in issolation….
Lastly, when we went to buy him we always new what we were getting. It was always a player who will go wide by line most of the time and whip the ball in. So, if we don’t have a striker to advantage of that we should have not gone for him or else we should have gone for some one like may I say HUNTER… He need a striker who will attack the front post more often then not. Then only his efectiveness will incraese. I mean we are looking like a team of so many misfits isn’t it???
But, it has nothing to do with the players… For me it has to with people who have assembled these players….
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@Grognard: Yeah… You already know that you have played on my mind isn’t it???
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@Grognard: Yeah and he Plies a bloody sight better than he Glissades – wanker!!
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@Grognard: I totally agree with you on point which you said that we are playing this way since that semi final in the CL two years back. But, never had problem with that as it was very much restricted to the CL at that time. But since second half of last year he has brought that style to PL as well and that is where the problem. I mean he should at least try play the PL in Man UTD way.. BUt, we all know that he just doesn’t have enough quality in the team to do so. People come here and say that FERGIE is tacticly incompetent. I can’t believe people say it. I mean I agree that he may not be the most tacticly efficient man but, he is far from incompetent. I am damn sure that whatever he is getting out of this team is not and easy job. I mean all those tactically superior people won’t be able do this for sure. No one achieve so much with this group of player that he has got so far.. AND PEOPLE CALL HIM TACTICALLY INCOMPETENT…FUH GET IT..
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@Onkar: True, mate – and with the track record of so much success and the “breeding” of so many top players, it hardly makes sense to point the finger in his direction.
I think that a lot of folks have emotional relationships with the players, stick them on pedestals, and generally make them untouchable gods. It creates a “convenient blindness” to their failings and shortcomings, allowing them the benefit of every doubt and the good grace of countless second chances!!
If you cant blame the play of the players on the players, then who are you to blame???
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@Redrich: Yeah… Its like finiding the soft targets to attack… And thats what people do…..
Blame the manager and forget about the shortcommings of players…..
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any news on hargreaves and diouf?? kindly update>>
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@Redrich: But I think fans also put the manager on a pedestal. If the team performs badly they’ll go on an “in Fergie we trust” chant preferring to brush aside the performance of the players.
So it works both ways.
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@adie: Nothing more other than what the official site reports. That they’re applying for a work permit for Diouf and Hargo will return to full training next week.
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@Red Ranter: o ok. hopefully diouf should get games by the end of jan or something and hargo can very well be playing by mid jan.. would be nice to see players returning so that they give it their best. the title seems a little far fetched.. but with united.. we probably might make it 4 in a row. surely good times ahead.. unless we keep loosing to mid table teams.. nd that includes liverpool
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@adie: Diouf — maybe Carling Cup initially. I still doubt he’ll play for us by January. Also, it’s a good thing Senegal didn’t qualify for the African Cup of Nations.
Hargo — I won’t be holding my breath till he gets a run of games. We’ll find out only as late as March/April if he’s up to it.
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@Red Ranter: diouf seems to be a beast for the carling cup. But thats where he’s gonna start for sure. Pray that he’s actually the real deal.
As for hargo.. yup patience will be the key here.. lets just not expect him to covering every inch of old trafford. give him till the end of the season nd then decide if we need any1 as cover cause i dont see fletcher continuing this way next season too.. we surely need a DM nd someone who can play all over the wings as well as AM.. surely gourcuff seems right but even van der vaart could do the job. Just putting up my point.. not that Fergie sits here reading RR all day.
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@Redrich:
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@Onkar: If Rafa was running the team we we have right now, we would have about the same record as Liverpool. Fergie for all his faults has done a stellar job with slim pickings. Yes he has great depth but the overall quality of the starting eleven is not so great. Yet he manages to get more positive results out of the team than anybody out there could. Tactically he is not great, but the job he is doing is getting the best out of players through man management. He knows how to motivate and how to scare players into performing. And as long as he has them playing a ball control game that limits the amount of time the other teams has the ball, the odds say he has a much better chance of winning.
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Just saw the season 4 finale of ‘Dexter’.
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@Grognard: Couldn’t agree more. It’s what I’ve tried to be saying since the beginning of the season. We may lose Ronaldo and Tevez, and while there is concern in replacing them adequately, I always knew that as long as we had Ferguson he’ll keep things going for us. If not the title, a top two finish would suit me just fine.
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we need a proven goal scorer. i feel rooney is much more a complete player then your high class goal poacher or striker. He wants to be more involved in the game when things arent working. Maybe saf should make a bid for saha now that he appears to be fully fit. Saha is good as any goal scorer in the league. Maybe united should tempt with a swap deal involving berbatov plus cash.
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@tom: Are you being serious?
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@Grognard: Cheers m8, for taking time to respond to my
I note in Giggsy acceptance speech “I am playing for the greatest manager of all time” now that says volumes!
I can see past that, all i would say, I truely enjoy reading your thoughts( put together with skill)
Also I should just like to add, I am new to this blog, and its not a fear of getting a mauling @ your hands, and I know you have that in your locker from reading a lot of posts
and not a small amount of humour! If you think your under appreciated , Personally i think you are wrong.Anybody who cant see your knowledge and wit, well thats there prob Grog.Keep up the good work
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@Stephen:
I thought that too, but just read it as windup 
But hay ho everyone is entitled to there opinion
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I have an even better idea rather than just berba and cash, lets chuck in Fletch as well, just to secure the deal!
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Arshavin is starting to grow on me.. what a sexy player!
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@tom: United should have NEVER got rid of Saha in the first place, it was the DUMBEST shit move ever! What amazes me, is that Everton could do in a short while, what United backroom staff couldn’t do in the lengthy time Saha was at OT – that is convince the lad that knocks and aches were all part and parcel of the game, and NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. United on the other hand wrap their wounded players in cotton wool, and ‘humm and aaaah’ about how we don’t want to push them and bring them back too soon – PLEASE! You can see this with the Hargreaves situation, instead of grabbing the bull by the horns, they plead once again that it is a mental thing with Hargo, and that we want to take our time. Recovering players at OT are treated with the same LONG TERM CAUTION as United play their games these days. WTF are we always being so cautious about. Saha so far has played a good few games for Everton, and is convinced by their physios that he can play thru a few knocks and bruises. Sickens me what goes on with our medical staff at OT – but there you go – CAUTIOUS bloody Nancy’s all over the place. Wonder our lads don’t want to commit hari kari with the disputations and doubts that smother them every time they get a minor injury. Brucey, Hughesy, Robbo, Cantona, Keane would laugh at the goings on in the treatment room at OT these days
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@Red Ranter: Easily pleased then RR – SAF will keep things going alright, it is how he is keeping them going that concerns me these past 2 seasons!
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@Grognard: He has them playing a ball control game that limits the opposition amount of time possession of the ball – really Grog, you believe that
. I think we give the ball away so cheaply these days, especially in the final third, and certain players are bloody specialists at it – starting with Rooney, you work out who the others are, I am sure you know who they are Grog 
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@adie: Tell you what mate, lets not play Hargo at all this season eh – I mean he might just FALL OVER A BLADE OF GRASS and do himself another serious injury – must be cautious eh?
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@Merlinus: 29 year old midget. No thanks. He is temporary help for Arsenal. In a year or two he will be an old nedved.
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@Red Ranter: I would play Diouf, he can’t be any worse than some of the strikers we have on staff at the moment!
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@Red Ranter: Most United fans are afraid to tell it as it is, because they get called NOT PROPER FANS. I mean have they any idea what a proper fan is? A proper fan is someone who bloody cares enough about his beloved club to call shit, shit, when indeed it is shit
. They are willing to be called not proper fans to highlight poor performances, wrong things going on at their club in the hope of a revolution – the party liners on ROM are very good at calling names -
anybody who says anything they consider to be criticism of the Manager or team, and not kosher to what is deemed PROPER fan-ism on their blog – is whiplashed as a blue nose or fucking bastard dipper – its true!
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@Redrich: A bit like Nani-ism isn’t it Rich
, that lad is on such a pedestal 
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@CraigMc: I know. It’s sad. Unfortunately being a fan seems to entail behaving like neanderthals abusing people if they say a certain thing that doesn’t conform to majority opinion. Oh well, that’s how it has degenerated into, and it also feeds into a new form of hooliganism — something which is not physical but full of verbal garbage.
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Also would be nice if everyone moved on to the new thread to carry on the discussion. That post is green with envy.
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@Onkar: NO mate I wont leave Valencia alone, when he plays like he did against Villa. Nobody is untouchable in Craig’s book Onkar, not Rooney, Valencia, uncle Tom Cobbley or all
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@Redrich: Rich – Rudolf Nureyev is back from the DEAD, he will be able to ballet step and pirouette his way thru any defence, leaving them standing and putting the ball in the opposition net – he is a ghost you see. We certainly need someone who can ghost passed defenders and get the goals. Nureyev will play for free too
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@Footy4Eddy: Errr we had Ronnie then mate
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@CraigMc: It’s not a question of being easily pleased. It’s about context. Of course I’m not satisfied with the way we’ve played, but I think any other manager, in this situation with the resources would have been overseeing a floundering side. Not a side that’s second in the league. It’s relative merit I’m talking of, and if you asked me if I’d rather be Liverpool or Arsenal or United at the moment, I’d take United and Ferguson any day.
I’m not best please with the way we’ve played, but I expected this season to be a hard graft. I predicted that in my season preview, so I’ve been prepared for it.
In short, United’s playing style this season hasn’t surprised me. When you had lowered expectations in the first place going into this season, you don’t have much to complain about. Had we played this way couple of seasons back I would be mad. This is why you don’t see me screaming fire after every dire performance. I’ve been more excited when I see a surprise 4-0 result.
I continue to maintain it’s a season of transition for us. I won’t complain even if we finish 2nd. Of course, I won’t be pleased if we finish below 2nd.
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@Red Ranter: Where we differ is that I never settle for second place. Sometimes you have no choice but you never accept it willingly before it actually comes to fruition. I wouldn’t call it defeatism as much as pessimism. As negative as I get, it never enters my mind that I’ll accept anything but first place. Otherwise what the Hell are we watching for? I’ll never understand the fans of minnow clubs who have no hope in the world and who have to settle for pot luck and scraps to satisfy their urges. To them I say…..LOSERS. Love your local team support them, but always have a big club to support also as we all need something to cheer for that has the potential to bring home the bacon. Many of us (me included) are acting like this season is purgatory. No, purgatory is being a Wolves fan or supporting Hull and Bolton. I am fortunate that as a young lad I had the common sense and extreme good taste to latch on to two clubs that just happen to be giants and successful ones at that. I am thankful that I am a Manchester United and Bayern Munich supporter. At least every season leaves me with optimism and the potential for silverware. Now if we could only get rid of the Glazer’s.
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@Red Ranter: Yeah like I said RR they abuse by calling true fans blue noses or bastard dippers! Doesn’t stop me getting into it with some of them though – their your not true fan is like water of a ducks back to me – I still tell it as it is. Although I will say there are some VERY solid MEMBERS of the United faithful on that ROM, and diehards for the United cause. So wouldn’t like to tarnish them all with the same brush! At the end of the day they are United thru and thru! I just wish sometimes they could understand though, that when other United fans have to say what they think about the team, Manager etc, they would be able to see it doesn’t make them any less a proper fan!
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@Scotjimland: Thanks for the kind words and vote of encouragement mate. Seriously, it makes my day to know somebody out there appreciates my contributions. I have never ever set out to offer my opinions in order to piss people off. I just call it as I see it and unfortunately, sometimes things look gloomy. But it’s because I am a perfectionist and when it comes to supporting teams, an elitist. I have never supported loser organizations or teams that are not committed to winning. Therefore, no matter what sport, I expect my teams to maintain their dominance as well as their style of play. When they don’t I respond.
United has given me over three decades of thrills with a few spills. At no time, not even in the mid 80′s did I feel I was supporting a loser organization. Sometimes we have to take a hit for a few seasons in order to rebuild for another dynasty run, but overall, we have had a tremendous run at this club and I for one am appreciative but I also am spoilt rotten. I do not want the party and good times to end. And I fear with the Glazer’s running the ship and their thriftiness that Fergie has been forced to compromise his natural attacking tendencies in order to keep this team floating above water. That’s where somebody like me comes in and starts to attack, question and challenge the status quo or events of the present. It’s great to know that there are those people out there like you who have the intelligence and common sense to understand what I am all about and who appreciate what I offer. It makes all the hate and abuse I get from some much more tolerable. Thanks again.
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@CraigMc: Sha was a royal crud bag. If he had stayed with us he would have spent his time in the infirmary because he hasn’t got the bottle mate. He plays for a decent team but not a contender and he hasn’t got fierce competition breathing down his back so he shows up and performs. Put him on a great team where he has to feel the pressure to perform and where the competition for time is fierce and he breaks down due to a gusty wind. He is a gutless little prick who would rather spend time in bed than have to actually fight for his place. Don’t be fooled by him when he plays for minnows. He is a gutless wonder, Mr. Louis Saha is. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
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@CraigMc: Ball control in the last game 68% United, 32% Villa. The stats do not lie. I f we didn’t play ball control football, we would be even more sloppy and wasteful. By playing the safe boring pass and always back passing to maintain control of the ball, we limit the time the other team has the ball which limits their chances of scoring. It does not eliminate it completely but it also works when a team lacks the skill and imagination to easily break down other teams. Patience and ball control more often than not rewards that team that possesses it. Our record proves that. You can argue all you want mate but I am 100% right on this even though I agree with you that we should be playing a different brand of football. But Fergie is right not to do so, because we haven’t got the talent for that.
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@Red Ranter: Isn’t that the truth.
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I’ll give you some results for our upcoming games –
Man United 1 Wolves 2. (Tomaz PIG scores the single United goal).
Man Utd (CHILDREN) 1 – Leeds 2
Man Pity 3 – Man United children 0 (Tevez scores hat trick for City).
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@Red Ranter: I too would accept this season to be a hard graft or a transitionary period if ti were not for two lingering things in the back of mind. The first is that I do not see things getting better as long as the Glazer family is in charge and second, Fergie will retire soon. Then what? If we do not put serious money into improving the team and find an heir to Fergie’s throne that is dynamic and perfectly suited for the job, then our demise may be worse than we think and the club’s decline may continue indefinitely. That has been my mantra from the beginning and why I am not happy with the present. I see it as the beginning of something a whole lot worse.
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@Grognard: Mmmmmm m’thinks you’ve settled Grog! But go back to my post, I believe I said we are always conceding possession in the final third, and that more oft than not. I couldn’t care less about dinking the ball between the MF and defenders, and back to the goalie all the time, because I am usually asleep on the terraces with that brand of nonsense going on. I don’t agree that Fergie is right to settle for it either – SORRY!
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@CraigMc: MY GOD!
and they call me the negative one. 
Traverse, why aren’t you picking on Craig and accusing of all the negativity? Why is always thrown down at my feet? I don’t think I have ever exaggerated our demise quite like Craig has of late.
It’s pretty sad Bro when the Grognard is crying for you to be a bit more optimisitic.
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@Grognard: I can’t agree with you ever on that one Grog, sorry!
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@CraigMc: We don’t always concede possession in the final third. In fact, more often than not one of our midfielders ends up extricating us out of a bad position by back passing and having us start the attack over again. And it is officially ok to lose position in the attacking third. That is where you are expected to make things happen and even the best of teams will lose the ball more often than they will score. It’s all about controlling the ball in our end and in midfield and keeping the opponent from manufacturing scoring chances or keeping the ball themselves. In that area we are frankly excellent. Now if we had skilled individuals in attack who could figure out ways to unpark a bus, then we would not be bitching about United’s careless giveaways in the attacking zone.
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@CraigMc: That’s Ok mate. I’ll learn to live with the disappointment.
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Worldwide Newsflash for 2 weeks time – headlines, headlines, sensational headlines! Man United GIFT Man Pity their first piece of silverware in Donkeys years – GET THE POSTER DOWN from the Strettie end NOW.
– that negative enough for you GROGMEISTER? 
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