Jul 27
United gravy train chugs back after Asian jaunt
So after completing the Asian money-making exercise leg of the pre-season, United return to Europe with a stop in Germany (Munich, in particular) to play in the Audi Cup. This ‘Cup competition’ involves United playing two matches on Wednesday and Thursday (of this week). With such a demanding schedule, I honestly hope they are in the plane to Munich, like right now.
In this Audi Cup we’re speaking of, we will be playing Boca Juniors on Wednesday whilst Bayern play Milan in the other game. The winners of each will play each other on Thursday, whilst the losers play each other in a third-place match. And that’s really about it. This means we get to face some decent opposition where we can hopefully glean a little more about the way our side is shaping up than a rather pointless day of kickabout against Greentown something-something club. [Lawyers reckon I must add "with due respect" while referring to that Greentown something-something club. So, with due respect...]
In the friendlies that zoomed past, I couldn’t catch a single match in its entirety live. So I had to rely on reports on blogs, highlight reels on youtube, and other forms of the social media sphere such as facebook and twitter to see what other fans thought of some of the players. The general consensus, if there was ever such a thing, is that we seem to be switching back to a system that was more predictable and classic — the one that relied on wingers providing telling crosses. We do have a couple of players capable of providing consistent delivery. Zoran Tosic and Nani have been able to do so quite well this pre-season and so has Darron Gibson. As an aside, I always saw Gibbo as a central midfielder and not a right sided one (although he has played in that position in the past).
Berbatov seems to be showing more hunger while Macheda has managed to take the chances presented to him. For a 17 year old striker looking to make his mark, that’s about as good as you can get. And finally — the biggest plus so far — Michael Owen is still fit. I just wildly knocked on some woodwork as I wrote this.
And that, sadly, is all I can say about the Asia tour.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Adebayor gave his perspective of truth (after all, truth is really a matter of opinions, no?) on his transfer to Man City. When asked about Ferguson’s comments that he wanted to come to United/Chelsea he said, “There was interest from other clubs but I don’t want to dwell on that now.”
There have been question marks raised over our ‘keepers, which has prompted Edwin van der Sar to declare that it would be hard for either of the two backups to dislodge him from his number one spot. Well, if we were to mix owl vomit with beaver turd and place it in a bowl by the goal post, would even that stench from the concoction struggle to dislodge him? That is the sort of question we must ask. And, would Ben Foster and co be prepared to withstand that stench to become our number one? We shall have to wait and see. Because, that, to me, is the real way of identifying the best man for the keeper’s job at United ever since we lost Schmeichel. Honest.
* * *
Meanwhile, some interesting links for today include…
1. Mark Ogden wraps up reporting United’s final Asian pre-season game against Greentown H… (with due respect) club with a glowing report on Owen.
2. Mark Hughes thinks the poster was “a bit of fun between the fans” — conveniently sidestepping the fact that it was a banner created by the club (like, official stuff, and all that).
3. Nicolas Anelka thinks Chelsea are a far bigger threat to United on account of Ronaldo and Tevez’s departure.
And that’s about it. I’m off for now, and you know you can find me throughout the day on the comments or twitter, or facebook.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Should Tom Cleverley Be Recalled From Wigan When Park Leaves For the Asian Cup?
- Ferguson on mid-season trips: last season & this season
- Man Utd 1-2 Man City: City Do the Double
- Ronaldo Wins Ballon d’Or
- Roundup: Vidic, Evans, Tevez, Heinze
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (485)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
Hi everyone, coffers full again! Good article Red Ranter. I’ve not posted for awhile because i cant!! I’ve lost broadband for the moment, and i keep up with Red Rants on my phone although i can only post when there are a few comments up. Once it gets busy, i cant post
Anyway, delighted about the way United seem to be pulling together as a team. It will be interesting, as RR said, to see how the boys perform against tougher opposition. They seem to be gelling with the newer additions too, and Owen has impressed me. Bring on Munich and the new season.
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Nice article,it summed up what’s been happening in the last few weeks,point to note though, you said united’s new formation is more predictable and classic, does that mean united are back to fast paced wing play and that they are focusing on attack rather that over emphasizing on defence?
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@spizzy: The football from last season was not as exciting as what we are used to, but we still were equal second top goals scorers in the league which cannot be sniffed at.
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world team of the decade:
buffon
nesta cannavaro thuram maldini
makelele
figo zidane ronaldinho
ronaldo henry
no one from england….
ferdinand should have been there
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@Stephen: I don’t care that much about beautiful football, let the gooners do that, i just want to win,and see lot of goals, like the season we took the premiership from chelsea 2005-06 i think, we started that season on fire,four goals within the first twenty minutes, and that was the season opener, and also 2007-08,we played exciting open football and won the champions league.Will we see that sort of football again??
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@owen: 4 of the back 5 are Italian… What a surpirse!
Also, I think Ronaldo has done more than Figo this decade… Figo played well from 200-2004, but after that he ahs been nonexistent. Ronaldo played well since 2006, but he has not pnly played well but torn all opposition apart. Ronaldo>Figo…
And Rio>Cannanvaro
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I disagree with RedRanter about our playing style. I think we are more UNpredictable even though most of our goals have come from crosses. We have scored goals in every way, and I think opposition will have difficulty finding out what we are going to do. Rooney and Berba are being used even more, we seem to score goals through the middle, around and on the counter attack. I am not really optimistic about this season, because I feel it will be a transititon phaze. But from what I have seen we might win some things this season. Cant wait for August!!!
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@spizzy: I think we will mate, but like you as much as I am a footballing purist I like to see my team win.
Also the season before last we mixed it up, played some great football and football to win like Barca away.
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@Stephen:Hows it going Bro? Thats what alot of us want the mix between Style and Success, now that our One dimensionality has gone i look forward to seeing more of the old United Way, lots of players contributing to the cause and of course, Attack, Attack, Attack
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@Footy4Eddy: personally i think its a bit soon to comment on our shape/style. Although i’d hope, like yourself, that we weren’t too predicable, even with a 4-4-2 i want to see lots of movement and not so much rigidity
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@phoenix red: I am well mate, good to see you back, I totally agree playing great football and winning doesn’t always go hand in hand, I like the fact that we can mix it up a bit.
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Some thoughts after having seen all of our preseason matches (god bless you Sky+):
1. Owen looks rather good. Yes the opposition has been rubbish, but his movement and energy have been very apparent. He is always making runs and always making life difficult for his marker. I’ve seen him a bit for Newcastle, and he’d stopped doing that, in favour of standing around.
2. Rooney looks grumpy and slow. Not good. Doesn’t look overweight like last year, but both speed of thought and feet are failing him. Hopefully he’s just gearing up.
3. Berbatov will always destroy crap teams who give him space. He still needs to shoot occasionally. Actually, anyone in our team should learn you are allowed to have a pop outside the penalty box.
4. Nani looks fired up. And jacked, clearly all his time not playing was spent in the gym.
5. Tosic is tiny. Really really little. But has good delivery. Time will tell. Looked more threatening than Park. Speaking of which, with Valencia coming in, Welbeck likely to be out there…is Ji going to get games?
6. Anderson is worrying me. Has all the same attributes as when arrived. Good dribbler, good eye for the great pass – but problems executing. Poor positional sense, poor defensive covering, poor loss of the ‘easy’ ball. Would be nice to see some progress soon.
7. If you serve Macheda, he might well score. But he doesn’t seem to do much else.
8. Gibson has looked better than Carrick on this tour. Carrick has been w*nk.
9. Stick a fork in him, the ginger ninja is done. Sorry, love him, but done. Giggs is not, and keeps looking younger. Makes no sense.
10. Foster keeps getting scored on by goals that don’t appear to be his fault. (other than the backpass one). At some point it stops being coincidence.
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In my opinion the Asia tour is good for the team. Look at it this way, The Asia teams are less physical which means that there is less chance of injury while the players regain fitness, it is a great way of getting the team’s confidence up. If you look through the games, Rooney scored 2, Berba scored 2 and got a few assists, Owen scored 4 and Nani and Macheda all chipped in. Even Anderson nearly scored. This means that when we get to the tough stuff the forwards are already in a goalscoring rhythm and that’s what we need so there’s no adjustment period at the start of the season.
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Hi guys, I’m here from the Daily Mirror to promote the launch of our new 2009/10 Fantasy football site. Bigger and better than ever before, if you register before midnight tonight and only before midnight tonight, teams can get free entry. With the top prize being £75,000 and a full spread of £150,000 there is nothing to lose so get playing
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@Daily Mirror: Ill join on one condition, you put “www.RedRants.com” on the back of the daily mirror
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@Daily Mirror: What is Fantasy Football?!
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For those who care, my first video as Footy4Eddy is finished. Its about Wayne Rooney, one of my favorite players at United. Along with Andy, Vida and Nani…
Please tell me what you think!
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Has anyone else been watching the UEFA Under 19 European Championships?
United has 4 players at the tournament (should have been 5, but Amos pulled out injured)
England – Welbeck, James and Drinkwater
Serbia – Ljijic
Ljijic has been brilliant for Serbia, he set up both of their goals against Spain.
James and Drinkwater, much like the rest of the England team have been a bit tentative, but Welbeck has been very impressive despite not always playing in his desired position. Against Ukraine he chased a hopeless ball and put pressure on the Ukrainian goalkeeper, causing the keeper to foul him and win the penalty that got England back into the game. In their final group game to qualify for the Semi Finals, currently playing against Slovenia (Half-time at the mo) Welbeck has scored two goals in what has been a first half rout (5-0). James and Drinkwater are on the subs bench for this match, having played in the first two games.
here’s a link – http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/index.html#
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For anyone who is interested, Manchester United’s Under-16s are playing in this years Milk Cup.
Their games are being shown live on BBC Northern Ireland, which can be viewed free online by anyone within the UK from this link – http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/11_16/blastni/media_sub_emp.shtml
A game is just about to start, against Co Antrim.
United’s team -
1. Sam Johnstone
2. Michael Keane
3. Zeki Fryers
4. Sean McGinty
5. Tom Thorpe
6. Ryan Tunnicliffe
7. Rav’el Morrison
8. Etzaz Hussain
9. Josh King
10. Will Keane
11. Robbie Brady
12. John Cofie
13. James Wren
14. Larnell Cole
15. Jesse Lingard
16. Luke Giverin
17. Rico Gomes
18. Michael Ngoo
And here’s another link with information and fixtures -
http://manunitedyouth.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/northern-ireland-milk-cup-2009-a-preview/#more-2168
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@Footy4Eddy: Problem with that video mate is that Rooney’s good, but he’s not that good. You got him doing things he’s never even tried and Pele wouldn’t dare to.
Good job nevertheless.
By the way, you never let us know why you decided on the name change? I still don’t get it because RedDevilEddy was a catchier moniker.
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@Grognard: On FIFA 09, I can make Anderson look like Huntelaar and Bebratov look like Roy Keane…
Glad you liked it though. 
The reason for changing my name is kinda complicated. It was something personal, somethign I just had to do. Long story, bottom line is I had no choice…
But the name Footy4Eddy will be catchy soon, you will have wet dreams about my name. Its that good!
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@Grognard: You kinda made your keyboard dirty when you saw the last goal from the corner, didnt you?
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@Nick: A few youtubes woud be most welcome.
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hi grog, u r back…
where were u…
i was also busy scoring goals for man utd
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Carrying on with yesterday’s debate about what should we do if the Berba-Owen partnership ends up being too good to bench any one of the two:
What about this:
———-VDS———–
Brown—Rio–Vida–Evra
Valencia–Carrick–Ando
——–Berbatov——-
—-Rooney—Owen—–
Valencia and Ando give strength to the midfield while being able to act as wingers. Berbatov becomes a creative forward, and can switch with Rooney.
Though I’d love to include Nani.
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It will be intersting to see how we get on in this Audi Cup, the opponents we have been facing in Asia have been about as good as the Dog and Duck.
In Munich we will be playing better sides so we can really judge but I am encouraged with what I have seen from Berba, Owen and Nani, but Anderson is still a total waste of space but will be happy if proven wrong this season.
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@NicoQB: Against the better sides that team would get taken apart as too soft, if you swapped Valencia with Hargreaves or Fletcher then it is still attacking but will have a stronger spine, you cannot play one midfielder mate if Valencia and Anderson are to act as wingers as well as centre mids.
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@Footy4Eddy: Whats so complicated about a username?
You’re not in a situation where you’ve discovered god what have you, are you?
If so, im christian, nothing wrong with the username, its just a nickname.
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@Stephen:
It will be interesting. Two games in two days, he will have to play two different teams so most of the squad will have to play 70-90 mins.
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@Cyclops-Red: It will and am looking forward to it, Valencia and Vida have flown out there also which is a good thing, it will good for the four strikers Berba, Owen, Wazza and Kiko to continue with their education of each other as next season we need goals from these boys.
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@Stephen: Valencia is no spring chicken mate, at least that’s what the player reports tell! He’s no Palacios, but still has grit just like Park, except he can actually cross.
The point with that formation is that the moment one of Ando or Balencia starts on a run, assuming winger like behaviour, the other switches into defensive mode and becomes midfield enforcer.
Anyway, this was just an experimental line-up to accomodate Berba, Roo and Owen.
Agree that Hargreaves would be strating ahead of him, but its the same old story with him.
As for Fletch, he’s always underwhelming on the right, even Hargreaves is better than him as RM, I’d much rather he plays in the traditional flat midfield four as enforcer.
——————-VDS—————-
Brown——Rio–—-Vida—-–Evra
Valencia(Nani)–-Fletch–Carrick–-Nani(Obertan)
—–—-Rooney——Berbatov
Subs: Owen…
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@Footy4Eddy: Anything to do withthe word “devil”?
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@NicoQB: I think that is a decent starting line up mate, I like all United fans love 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 but feel the system is somewhat dated as most top sides now play 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 and pack out the middle.
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@NicoQB: If it is something to do with the word “Devil” then maybe Eddy needs to change his allegiaces to Southampton, the Saints.
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@NicoQB: Well hello there.
Interesting formation, but we would be absolutely slaughtered in the big games, especially with Carrick as the sole midfielder. I feel this is how we should line up nxt season:
——- GK ——
RB — CB — CB — LB
—– CMF ———-
RMF —— CMF —–
———————— LW
—– SS ———–
———- CF ——
GK: VDS, Foster, Kuzcy
RB: Brown, Rafa, Nev
CB: Rio, Vida, Evans, Craithcart
LB: Evra, O’Shea, Fabio
CMF: Fletch, Hargo, Gibbo, Scholes
CMF: Cazza, Giggs, Ando
RMF: Valencia, Park, Obertan
LW: Nani, Welbeck, Tosic
SS: Berba, Rooney
CF: Owen, Macheda
This is what I feel suits our team, with regards to the players we have. The back five pick themselves. The more defensive midfielder would have to be Fletch and the more attacking, Cazza, if I was to pick a first choice pairing. The right midfielder’s job is to whip in crosses, help a bit in midfield and valencia would do that just well, with park a worthy sub. The left winger is a position I designated for our more defensively-lax attacking wingers (Nani, Welbeck etc). Nani just doesn’t defend and he’s great at shooting, dribbling and just an awesome attacker, plus he’s not goal shy, so why not give him a more attacking role, free of the need to drop back and protect Evra. Fletch can do that as he is primarily a hovering defensive mid. Welbeck has also proved useful on the left and this position would suit him well; Tosic, I believe is incapable of defending, given his slight build and his key talents (crossing and extreme left-footedness
) would be more useful on the left wing than in midfield.
The supporting striker would have to be either Rooney or Berba. They both can play upfront but are more suited dropping deep and playing off someone else. The good thing is they can interchange, hence can still start together if need be. However, I believe we have two more suited poachers in Owen and Macheda. Those two just live off the last defenders, always in the box, not goal shy and definitely know how to score. The perfect players Berba and rooney can dovetail off. Plus, with one player always pushing the defenders back, Rooney/Berba can act as a third central midfielder if need be and playmake ala messi in the CL final.
thoughts??
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@Gabriel: The attacking midfield players we have are Carrick who scored 4 goals last season Anderson 0 and Giggs who is 36 in November and scored also 4, Lampard scored 20, this is an area I believe is our weakness we need more goals next season from midield especially now the greasy one has left
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@Stephen: Yeah, that’s unfortunately true
However, if Carrick is allowed, no, forced (I mean literally, threaten him with a fine if he doesn’t get at least three shots in a game or sumthin 
) to play further up the pitch, his goal/assist tally would increase as he has all the qualities required to be a successful attacking mid. He is also very similar to lampard, apart from the fact the guy has no ‘balls’. Always taking the safe option; pass back, don’t get too involved in the box. I mean, everytime he ventures forward, something productive always happens. The biggest example of this was the 7-1 trashing of Roma. Maybe fergie deploys him in a deeper position because he really didn’t have a reliable defensive mid, but I reckon Fletch can do that now and with Hargo coming back, we should be covered there. 
Plus, Ando might still turn out ok, he hit the post on sunday
. He just needs to get some frackin composure!! Gibbo is also looking like a handy attacking mid; has a good shot on him and does thread some nice balls thru. 
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@Gabriel: Carrick is just not a natural goal scoring midfield player mate, he likes to play deep and dictate play, Lampard soley looks to score which is a different mindset.
Gibbo may be an option if he gets a run in the side, Anderson for me simply hasn’t got it to make it at United I am afriad but would be the happiest man alive if he proved me wrong, but not scoring in two years shows he isn’t a player who will chip in with 10 – 15 goals a season.
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true… I believe that’s because he was initially instructed to do so on his arrival at United and he just found his comfort zone (plus the ‘cahones’ thing, Carrick is just a gutless player
). He played a bit further up at Spurs and I think he can make a good go of it if allowed to. besides, like you pointed out, we have fletch and hargo to play deep and the only players with the technical/physical ability to play as an attackin mid are Giggs, Ando and Gibson. Of which one is prob gona retire nxt season, the other is incapable of scoring unless it’s a penalty and the last is just getting his stripes for the first team. So why not give Cazza a go if we have a reliable defensive mid??
Nevertheless, I do feel we are just gonna continue utilising two central midfielders for the forseeable future; one look at our set midfielders and it is clear very few can either be a complete attacking mid or a defensive one. All I want is for one of the midfield pairing to at least venture into the box now and then.
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@NicoQB: perfect lineup except i wld give owen 45 mins a game because if he is given anything less he cant really do much.
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@Gabriel:
They would probably get a nose bleed!
We simply do not have a midfield player who is natural in the box, this is an area we probably should have addressed in the summer but the midfield was not even looked at really bar an offer for Costa. I see your point that Carrick is worth a go but for me it is not a natural going forward, his best tally in season is 6 and he has only 22 in 392, Lampard has scored 130 in 417 games so Carrick is not even close.
I feel the goals will have to come from Berba, Wazza and Owen who may surprise a few people and be a big hit next season, well here’s hoping.
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@Dan:
Its not religious, its something about RedDevil. Nothing about the devil or God or Jesus or Sir Alex Ferguson(yes, I rate him as highly 
). I just got in a situation where I could keep the name RedDevilEddy, couldve changed it to anythign I wanted. But went for a more different approach, and chose the name Footy4Eddy because I got the numer 4 shirt for me team recently. And Ive always liked that number. 
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@NicoQB: No, but had somethign to do with the name RedDevil. No religious meaning or anything…
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@Stephen: Ahh me too, I miss the 4-4-2 so much. But this coming season I have a kind of hunc that we’re going to see it a bit more.
However it requires the dominating defensive midfielder, which still remains the one big question mark in our line up.
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@Footy4Eddy: Oh ok. Well, whatever rocks your boat!
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@Stephen: NO WAY DUDE!!!
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@Gabriel::lol:
I just can’t imagine the REAL Dimi Berba greeting someone like this!
Anyway, the point of my first line-up was just trying to fit in Roo, the Berb, and Owen. I agree that the midfield there is a bit of an unkwon quantity, but we’ll know a bit more about Valencia come mid-season.
Your line-up is actually quite juducious but I still think Roo and Berba are more likely to feature as no.1 and no.2 striker respectively.
Central midfield I agree more or less, but left midfield I’m not so sure. Much will depend on Evra’s defence, as we all know, its not been very good since he came back from injury/suspension.
But basing myself from what I’ve seen from the pre-season games, it seems that Fergie will be willing to experiment with Nani on the right. Which would be interesting if he manges to replicate the kind of performance he showed against Greentown – I know, I know its just Greentown, but the the truth is that he’s a right footed player who has been played almost exclusively on the left last season.
Oh and I should mention that I believe that Obertan also can play LW or RW…
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@owen: I’m back but only for short spurts. I am involved in a killer move from a large house into an apartment and the move, the packing, the cleaning and rubbish removal has been murder on me and very time consuming. Provided I survive the ordeal, I should be back in full Grognard mode by the beginning of August. And keep on scoring.
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@Footy4Eddy: Nah, it’s the monitor I have to wipe clean. Killer range you know.
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@Grognard:
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