Aug 10
United snooze as Chelsea claw back to win Shield
The curtain raiser for the Premier League 09/10 is now behind us, and we can finally look forward to actual competitive football. Of course, the international friendly is almost surreal in its scheduling but we can break our head over it another day.
Here are a few thoughts on yesterday…
United started brightly and dominated Chelsea in the first half. They were quick off the blocks; Rooney and Berbatov linked up well, and Fletcher did a good job of snuffing out Chelsea’s formidable midfield. We attacked with purpose and should have been ahead by more than the solitary goal.
Nani had a bright game. I’ve had high hopes for him — I always felt he had the skills but his brain needed some sorting out. His brain seemed just fine, as there was marked improvement in his decision-making. The goal was beautiful, bisecting John Terry and Petr Cech into the right corner.
This has become a recurring theme in most of the United-Chelsea fixtures I’ve seen lately. Actually scratch that. This has been a recurring theme in most of the big games I’ve seen United involved in the last season (barring the Arsenal Champions’ League away leg, and the 3-0 defeat of Chelsea). We seem to fly off the blocks, get an early goal perhaps, and revert into a shell or inexplicably contrive to concede advantage to the other side. The second half was emblematic of the schizophrenia we’ve seen United display and I never saw us really deserve taking the lead in the second half. Carvalho’s goal almost seemed just to me, which brings us to my next gripe.
I’ve been supportive of giving Ben Foster the chance to prove himself. But yesterday he seemed very nervous and shaky. He hardly filled me with any confidence — and I suppose for the defence either — and if he keeps that form in the proper games, it will only be his Englishness that will keep him number one over Kuszczak. Sort it out, Ben. Foster fans can make all excuses they want about him, but he hardly inspired confidence in some of his decision-making yesterday — defence or no defence; not to mention, some dreadful kicking (which was supposed to be his strength).
And finally, onto the most contentious part of the match. Ballack elbowing Evra was a disgrace, but I won’t spend more inches debating on the German captain’s character. I was disappointed with referee, Chris Foy’s inconsistency. Whereas he didn’t play advantage when a Chelsea player went down he had no issues when Evra went down and played advantage leading to a Chelsea goal. Now I don’t have an issue if he’d played advantage for us in the first place. He has to give us an indication on how he interprets the rules. That’s all I ask. And I didn’t see that in the lead up to Chelsea’s second. That is all I will say on the incident.
In some bonus asides: I thought Berbatov sucked himself into a wormhole, during the second half. Some people claim to have seen him though. Nani’s injury was worrying, and I was really disappointed to hear reports that he’ll be out for a while. He will have a scan today, when the extent of the injury would definitively be known. Ben Hibbs, the Manutd.com resident journalist, however, provided an update on twitter that United’s doctors believe he may not have dislocated his shoulder after all. But nonetheless, a scan would only really tell.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Chelsea: Community Shield Preview
- United* 1-1 Chelsea: First Blood to the Reds
- Anderson talks – puts speculation to bed
- Some NOTW Nonsense + Community Shield Preview
- Community Shield Preview
Tags: Match Reports
Opti (541)
Stephen (485)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Nino: Zlatan is shit mate, most overrated player in the world!
How Jose managed to make a deal like that is honestly really admireable, absolutely amazing and puts Barca in a bad light. Why would they need Zlatan when they had Etoo? Much better player, and one that wont ruin for Iniesta and Messi. Before Zlatan went to Barca I was sure they were gonna be challengers to the CL, but now Im not so sure anymore… 
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@Footy4Eddy: I have fifa09 on pc.. not the box..
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@Footy4Eddy: where is ando
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@Anthony Los: He is taking a dump on Fabregas…
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PRLMXD4Zos
OMG, EPIC!!!
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New Post please.. @R.R
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@Footy4Eddy: Ibrahimovic is the best hold-up player in the world right now, though that could change dependent on how he adapts to barcelona’s play and how much berbatov ups his game for us. Those two are miles ahead of anyone else who plays up front with their back to goal.
Ibrahimovic to barcelona is a strange one for me though, he holds onto the ball and slows it down a lot which doesn’t seem to suit barca’s style of play. Perhaps they can get him releasing the ball quicker and maintaining a high-tempo passing game. If they can he will be more than useful for them.
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@tevez: To be honest I think Drogba is better than Zlatan at holding the ball up… When he is diving that is!
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@Footy4Eddy: To be honest, i completely forgot about drogba lol. Fair enough, he is close to them but i still think ibra and berba are superior. They just have so much skill, it seems almost unfair to say drogba is as good or better.
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@johnsom33: Sorry bro Stevie Me is just a Big Fish in Small Pond. That’s why he has saved their ASS many times
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One player which nobody ever puts into a World eleven and as much as he is one on my least favorite players on this planet is Frank Lampard.
For a midfield player to guarantee 20 goals a season is incredible, last season he scored 20, the season before that 20, the one before that 21 ect is a complete tosser but you cannot take away the goals from midfield a position where we now completly lack any goal threat at all, and that could cost us next season I am afriad if the forwards don’t set the World alight.
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@Stephen: Goals are all he’s got. He is a midfield workhorse with a goalscoring edge. Don’t get me wrong, scoring 20 goals from midfield every season is brilliant and is definitely an asset, but gerrard and xavi are well out of his league and players like fabregas and sneijder are also a class above him.
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@tevez: I agree mate, but you cannot take away his goals, his all round play is very average but 100 goals in 5 seasons is incredible and an asset to any side considering our midfield of Scholes, Anderson, Fletcher, Carrick and Giggs only scored 15 last season, but he is a cunt no doubt.
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@tevez: Give me Arshavin any day
.
Hey-Ho Ronnie has flu – ??? Swine flu. Well if you go and put your snout in the pigs trough, what do you expect?
. Aaaah Ronnie you miss the cold, clean Manc air eh? Makes the hairs on your chest stand up, and so bloody cold and robust, that the germs all hibernate to warmer climates 
.
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I hope chelsea stick with ancelotti’s formation because i don’t think it suits the players he’s got if he’s going to keep playing lampard in the advanced position and essien inside right. Lampard would be more effective starting deeper on either side of the diamond and although essien is fine on the right there is a holding position available in that set-up which he is made for. They also do not have a silky player to play in the hole, unless they use deco…
Our midfield suits that diamond more than theirs.
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@Craig Mc: My apologies then, sorry about that.
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@I_Bleed_Red: While I agree that Tim Howard didnt get a fair shake at United, I disagree in your comparison to Foster. Howard was miles better than foster, The only difference between the two is that Foster Is English(Vastly over rated) and Howard is American(vsstly Under rated). There isnt a doubt in my mind that had Howard been english he never would have left.
Also correct me if im wrong, didnt Howard get PFA Keeper of the year?
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@tevez: When he is on song, Drogba is the beest striker in the world. That might be a stretch now because of his age, but 2-3 years ago he was. You can call him a diving cheat and a cunt all you want. But he is a son of a bitch to defend against. I remember the season when we took the title back from chelsea, Chelsea had become so 1 dimesional it was almost comical. It seemed the only way they could score would be to lump it up to drogba and let him go to work. he would be up top all alone, and he still got them within a shout of the title.
I know virtually all of you hate the man, but he has always been one fo my favorite players.
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Thank you guys…
DIABLO power!
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My mate is currently in Manc land for his trial with United.
Stay tuned…
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@johnsom33: No problems mate – its cool
.
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@tevez: Schhhhhhhhhhhhhhush mate, you trying to give our hated rivals coaching and positional tips. You should only do that IF and when you get paid a lot of money for your wisdom mate
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@Footy4Eddy: Wow if your mate is signed, you will get all the INSIDE information and goings on at OT. I wish him luck!
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@Craig Mc: I wish him luck as well, he is an amazing player and would fit perfectly into United. At first I was a little jelous of him(…
), but now I am just happy for the guy! He thoroughly deserves it for all his hard work, and he may become one of the worlds best players one day! He has abitions, and skill enough to do something about it. We may not be as close as I am with my other mates, but I know him and we have had some tough encounters in the past. 
And who knows? Maybe one day we will be in the same team again…
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@Footy4Eddy: What position does your mate play Eddi? What position is he trying for at OT?
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@johnsom33: Drogba is a battering ram who causes problems there is no doubt about that, but he is all brute strength and no skill. You play the game to your strengths so when you’ve got it, by all means use it, but i give more credit to players who have great technical ability or mental attributes, rather than just great physical aspects to their game. Ibrahimovic and berbatov are strong lads who use their bodies well, but they are supremely skillful players. They have much more quality than drogba.
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@Craig Mc: I’m trying to convince ancelotti to swap his midfield for our midfield because they suit his precious diamond formation better
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Drogba got found out last season, and scored as many league goals as Tevez. Not world class.
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@johnsom33: Oh Fergie the Scotsman prefers an Englishman over an American, you need to loose that chip off your shoulder
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@johnsom33: @tevez: @Traverse: I share the view of johnsom here (this is a first, if i’m not mistaken!).
Drogba, for all of his questionable other attributes, is (or was) world class, especially 2-3 years ago. I confirm there was a time when Chelsea were only relying on Drogba as a battering ram, and amazingly they seemed to fare well enough.
Also, while he’s very strong and physical, people tend to underrate the technical aspects of his game, which are far from crap. Its just that playing for the Chelseas thugs, he doesn’t really have the opportunity to showcase these skills in a positive light.
For instance, he has a very sweet volley shot, has (or had) a quite good touch of the ball – controlling the ball from mid-air, and rarely missed his one on ones.
Its not for nothing that we were linked with him before Kenyon decided to swoop for all of United’s potential transfer targets.
But he’s still a dick though.
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@tevez:
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@NicoQB: One good season makes him World Class does it? He has scored 33 goals in a season, but in five seasons in England and the most bar that was 16, many people think Berba was awful last season, overrated, lazy and should be sold with fifteen goals, and now that piece of shit is World class?
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@johnsom33: Excellent point on Howard being named to the PFA team of the year in 2004. I had completely forgetten about that fact.
I don’t agree with the statement that U.S. keepers are underrated. That certainly isn’t a feeling held by managers in England (Keller, Howard, Friedel, Hahnemann, Guzan) I think most people agree that the keeper position is the strongest the U.S. produces, owing to the dominance of hand-eye coordinated sports in the states.
As far as whether Foster is being given a bit of leeway due to his nationality, there may be some truth to that, but I see that a good thing. It is a source of pride that M.U.F.C. consistly produces top British talent. That is not meant to sound xenophobic.
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@Red Ranter: That Arsenal paragraph was just genious… Sheer genious!!!
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@NicoQB: The irony is the whole preview was written by an Arsenal fan. Even the Man City one was brilliant. Just a fantastic piece.
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@Stephen: I don’t think SAF shielded him as much as I expected. He was out and out critical of his effort on the 2nd Chelsea goal.
I do think he got a free pass here though, with most folks feeling sorry for him and all and a convenient blindness to at least half a dozen goofs.
SAF has a history of impatience with keepers and I would expect a swift move in the direction of PIG if he fucks up again!!
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@Stephen: Not one good season.
At least two.
And I’m rating the player so much according to his statistics, but more becauseof the fact that his presence in the line up makes Chelsea a much more difficult team to beat.
His first season also he was very underrated. He brings much much more to Chelsea’s play that just physical presence.
And one of the reasons Lampard scores so many goals is that Drogba plays the role of the decoy – in the sense that defenders just can’t ignore him.
At Marseille also he looked every bit the complete striker, not just the battering ram he is caricatured to be nowadays.
Look I’m not trying to defend the man, just tying too look at the footballer without any shade of tinted colored specs. In a less defensive team playing more football he could have been much closer in style to a Torres than a Niaill Quinn.
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@Red Ranter: Yea, brilliant article on the whole!
But I kinda missed the point/fun in the City paragraph though…
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@NicoQB: It’s just satire. Ribbing on Sparky’s arrogant claim recently on his being a top class player in his time etc etc, and seeing that he’s now facing the sack as his strikers miss sitters. Just a subtle bit of sarcasm there which I found delightful.
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@Craig Mc: In my team we dont exactly have a position. We have two or three…
I am left back, defensive midfield and right back. Ohi brotha is CAM, both wings and can play as striker. So he is versitile… Incredibly fast, strong as a ball, the tecnique of a young Ronaldo and… Well, lets just say he has everything needed for a footballer!
But he could really improve on lifting his head some times. 
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@NicoQB: What else he he? For me he is battering ram with an awful touch, attitude and is is classless and if it wasn’t for the over self confidence he would be no more than Emile Heskey.
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@Redrich: PIG is awful mate and regardless of what people think of Foster, who is a top keeper in my view, PIG is a liability and Fergie knows it.
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@Traverse: Drogba didn’t get found out, he just didn’t give a fuck. He is a known cancer, and he throws his toys out of the pram when he doesn’t get his way. But when hiddink got there he started to care again(also he had to improve his play for a new contract). His class is unquestioned but he is his own worst enemy and his attitude and character has seriously undermined his career.
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@Stephen: Im no fan of foster, but anyone suggesting pig is better than foster is having a laugh.
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@NicoQB: Also Lampard scored goals for West Ham, one season he netted 14 times in a season, I dislike Lampard but saying his goals are down to Drogba is simply not true.
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SAF does stick his neck out doesn’t he? Then he does NOT like to admit he was wrong. Scottish pride m’thinks. SAF told the whole world that Foster would be the England keeper in the next world cup and for years to come. Personally I do not see any signs of that myself. SAF however hates to lose face, and so he will make every kind of excuse to prove himself right, where his wrong proclamations are concerned. Some United fans think Ben will prove SAF right, but others believe SAF is so far off the mark on this one. Guess we will just have to see eh? Time will reveal all. All I care about is that Ben doesn’t cost us the PL, and in Europe this year, because SAF’s need to be right in his judgements. I think SAF is usually right on so many things, that it is hard for him if his prophecies on the odd occasion turn out to be major blunder
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I am not saying by the way that SAF’s proclamation on Bens future will turn out wrong, I just don’t know. I do not think that Ben is any more blunder prone than PIG, or that the goals he has conceded are always down to him either. As I mentioned before, our lads need to stop all the continuous bloody foolish and boring backpasses, that put our GK’s under so much pressure. We have nearly come unstuck so many times thru errant backpasses to our keepers
. Ban the backpass to GK’s, lets get back to playing football to get ourselves out of defence, MF etc.
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@Craig Mc: For him to be England’s number one he would need games, which is what people said about Tevez who was a striker and in that position a run of games simply is not as important as a keeper.
England are not furnished with top class goalkeepers at the moment, Green for me probably should start, but does not play Champions league football and is not a Capello favorite, Robinson has made more mistakes than “Calamity” James and Joe Hart is on loan to Birmingham, so if Foster gets games and his confidence for me he has the ability he will play.
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@Stephen: I hope so Stephen bro, and you know I agree with a run of games, because I felt that way with Nani, so I would be a hypocrite to say any different regarding Ben. Ben has to PROVE CONSISTENT though Stephen, because his performances are not consistent mate. Some times he is bloody brilliant, like against Derby, where he almost won us the game singlehandedly season before last. Then he has games not so brill. Like you say though, a good run in the first team is essential, before any of us can really judge his competency. He does pick up injuries though, he is unlucky there. I want him to succeed that’s for sure, but I guess we have to wait and watch
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@Stephen: It is especially important for a striker to get a run of games with regards to scoring goals. The vast majority of strikers need to play consistently in order to score consistently. If they are selected erratically then they struggle to get into a goalscoring rhythm. When they are scoring, their confidence soars, they play better and are likely to score more. If they then don’t play, it breaks their momentum and they struggle. Strikers benefit hugely, and moreso than players in other positions, from a prolonged run in a side.
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