Jan 27
West Brom v Man Utd: Match Thread
A depleted defence heads off to face the Baggies as United look to maintain it’s position at the top of the table. Everton earning an FA Cup replay against Liverpool hasn’t helped matters for us as we will now have an extra game in January with an already hectic schedule.
Paul Scholes came up with his first XI and, I have to say, I’m surprised Cantona hasn’t even made the bench. Of course, Vida or Jaap Stam losing out to Brown doesn’t make sense to me. But I wouldn’t argue about best United XI’s; it’s someone’s opinion based on the players he’s played with, and he’s certainly in a better position than me to judge. Here’s his first XI:
Schmeichel; G Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Irwin; Beckham, Keane, Robson (capt), Giggs; Van Nistelrooy, Sheringham.
Substitutes: Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Carrick, Butt, P Neville, Stam.
I also agree with Rob Smyth’s take on it in the Guardian.
Back to today’s game the lads have a good chance of beating Chelsea’s record of going 10 games without conceding. Records always make me happy, but it’s not what I really want today. All I need is a win. And I don’t expect us to waltz through the game either. Considering the injury situation I’d be happy if we can get a goal off Gary Neville’s left ear and win.
But a win is all I ask for. If we break the clean sheet record, great. But it should be only incidental. Reflecting the hunger to win is Paul Scholes:
“It’s great to still be here at this stage of my career. I know the end isn’t far away, but my desire to win things is as strong as ever. I’m at a massive club that demands you win trophies and we’re in a great position to be successful again this season. Hopefully we can see it through.”
Meanwhile Vidic will find out on Friday if he’ll play any part in United’s clash against Inter. His ban could extend upto three matches which beats me because, regardless of what the rules say, the Club World Cup is under the jurisdiction of FIFA and so it must apply to matches that directly come under the purview of FIFA; like Sebia vs Angola, for example.
Anyway, my prediction for today is 1-0 to United. Feel free to add yours below.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Man Utd v QPR: Preview
- Derby Man Utd: Live!
- Aston Villa v Manchester United: Preview/Match thread
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (487)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Grognard: I think the best pass I have seen this season by any player is the one from Carrick to Berbatov for the 2-1 goal against Spurs in the FA cup. After that comes Andersons assist for Rooney against Aalborg, then Evans 60 inch-perfect pass to Rooney during the 3-0 win against Chelski. If Scholes had done what Evans did there it would be marked as brilliant. So when Evans does it, how do you rate that?
Best passes of the season for sure… 
And I think the form of Tevez has been that he now plays like himself. He seems to understand Berbatov and they dont run into eachother as much as they did before. I look forward to see what our 5(!) strikers can do for us in the future. If Tevez signs that is! I hope next season we can have the offensive force of having Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov and Fraizer Campbell as strikers, with Welbeck possibly as back up or going on loan to get experience. Future certanly is bright!
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@Grognard: pato, i spoke about this guy during his internacional days in Brasil, amazing player, great skill and pace, i’m looking forward to his canarinho career flourishing in the future, i hope kaka influences his off-pitch lifestyle, then he will be a fixture for the next decade or so in a canarinha shirt. He would be a dream buy for united, though i doubt Ac will let him go without a fight
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@Grognard: I think Becks made a mistake Ronaldo seems smart enough not to do.
Beckham got married in a very early stage of his career, and his wife was very succesful at that time. She is horny for PR, and that has affected both his play and his desire to play football. I think that had it not been for Vic we might have had a Beckham considered a legend right now. Maybe even in the mould of Giggs! Ronaldo at LW, Beckham at RM. That would have been a really forceful wing play! Two completely different wingers, one good at taking a man on and Beckham good at crossing. For free kicks Becks could have taken those close to the box, Ronaldo they from nearly 30 yards or so. Ronalod could go into the box for Becks crosses and score on headers. Oops, my keyboard got dirty. 
Reall dream stuff, I luved Becks when he played for us. I followed him a little in America, but then I got tired of watching celebrities playing what looked like football with worse quality than the Norwegian Sunday League for 12 year olds! I would luv it if Becks finished his career here at United, maybe a transfer back to United in his last playing year would be nice. But I think Fergies dignity is too strong, and he would never do that. Still, good idea for us “fantasy footballers”. 
Aah, I happy days at the moment…
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@Mr.Muhozi: Pato, or “the duck” as some Italian know im, is a quite good footballer. He is not in the class of Aguero though, and I doubt he would cost more than £20 million. He is a player for the future, but he is not a player I would like to see at United. Good player maybe, but I think that he really aint much better than Fraizer Campbell. Call me mad or stupid, but as an AC Milan watcher I really think so.
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@Mr.Muhozi: What bugs me is United were after him as well as Milan and they allowed themselves to lose out to AC. We were close.
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@RedDevilEddy: OK, you’re mad and stupid.
Pato is ten times the player Campbell is. His pace and imagination and his ever improving finishing and aggressiveness is fabulous to watch. When the Grognard drools over a player, trust me, he’s worth it because I don’t go ga ga very often.
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@RedDevilEddy: I do not agree with your statement that Becks lost his desire to play after meeting and marrying Posh. I think he was always professional and always played hard. It was Fergie who had a bug up his ass about the distractions and influence she had over him and frankly, he was out of line because a manager does not get involved in a player’s personal life like that. That was his wife for crying out loud, not a girlfriend. He was a father and a husband and regardless of their lifestyle, he deserved more respect from Fergie. So Fergie waited for Becks to have one bad performance and the show went flying. I’ll always remember how Fergie benched Becks near the end of his career but I’ll always remember him sitting in the second leg against Real when we were down and out and losing the game 3-1 and Becks came in as a sub and scored two big goals to at least win the game and capture a little pride back for the club. I wonder if we might not have won that tie had he not been benched in the first place. Fergie felt betrayed by Becks. Why? I have no idea. Becks felt betrayed by Fergie. From where I sit, I can see Beck’s case far better than Fergie’s. Sorry Fergie supporters, but Becks was wronged.
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@Stephen: I am like Groggy here a big Becks fan. If I ever become a proffesional I owe it all to him, as he made me start playing and luv this beautiful game. But I think that it wasnt Beckham himself who wanted to leave United. It was more Victoria, as the filthy bitch she is. She was horny for public relations, and just wanted money or more ways to get famous. She even ruined Becks career by making him move to LA, do you really need more proof?! I remember in 1996, when Becks scored that goal against Wimbledon from the half way line. He was really shy about it and didnt wanna praise it so high. He was practically like Scholes until 2000, when suddenly everything changed. It all started with Vicotria making him ain for fame and reputation rather than success at his boyhood club. He shaved his head, got in various commercials and ads, started behaving like a cock and then the boot accident. Does anybody really remember why that happend?! Nobody honestly knows, as The Sun and other papers made the whole thing sound as big as the sun melting. He was then like Ronaldo is now. A target for Media. Every move was being watched, every look on his face “judged” his feelings. It must be terrible. Yeah he was a party boy, but that is something that fits to his looks. He wasnt a Ronaldinho like partyboy as he cared more about football than anything else, but Giggs admitted that he liked to party with girls. A little like Ronny is now.
Becks will forever have a big importance to me, so it hurts me when another United fan says he doesnt matter so much. Maybe not personally, cause I cant decide that. But for the club he did wonders, for the evolution of United he did wonders. For the fame United got around the world he did wonders! If the car-crash called Victoria Adams hadnt hit him, he would have been a legend here. I am sure of that.
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@Grognard: If Becks had bothered to pull his finger out like that in the first leg of the tie we might have actually went through
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@Grognard: I will always believe that Posh was the reason Becks lost the belief of Fergie. Maybe he could have been more patient, but we do not know what happend behind the scenes at Old Trafford. Posh was a fart rolling around in the underwear, and I will never think anything else. She ruined Becks career! Becks would not move to LAG. Neither would he have lost the trust of Fergie. She did not change him as a player, but as a man. And we all know that matters just as much to Fergie.
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@RedDevilEddy: He still is a legend at OT mate. You do not have to begin and end your career at OT to be a legend. And I think you are throwing far too much blame on Piosh. Sure she is a skank but she has been a loyal one to him and mother to his kids. The fact hshe elevated him into a pop culture icon is what bothered Fergie. All he wanted was yes men and footballers on the team. Nobody with a bigger ego than him. So he tolerates Ronny now because he has had enough years to mellow and realize that he was being harsh and unfair. And she never wanted to go to Madrid nor was she the one that pushed for the LA deal. It was Nike and their circle of celeb friends that pushed them to that. It was all about selling the Beckham name on merchandise. Posh had long ceased to have a career.
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@JB: Fair enough but I wouldn’t put the blame for that first leg all on him, but I sure give him credit for winning the second leg. They were done and dusted until he came into the game. He showed his pride in that game and he showed his commitment to the team.
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@RedDevilEddy: But it shouldn’t And you make her out to have created a monster. Becks is anything but. He is still a good guy who is welcoming, honest and friendly to everyone around him. The reason he has such a strong reputation amongst the players all over the world is because he still is well grounded and humble. Yes he is guilty of bad taste in clothes, and haircuts and in that you can blame his wife, but she never turned him into a stuck up snob who thumbs his nose to the fans. I think she is being unjustly crucified by people when the blame is fully on Fergie. And that’s fine, I don’t hate him for it. He did what he felt needed to be done for the betterment of the team.
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@RedDevilEddy: wow im surprised you said that, for me pato has all the skills necessary to make it big in the world stage. He is better than Aguero, but maybe that is my nicely Gold and Green tinted glasses doing me the favour. Do not get me wrong thin Sergio is an amazing player, and i have never said that before for a dirty Tina-man before including the dude called messi.
I just think when it is all said and done, pato may have the better career, and the 2010,2014 world cups to boot to
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@Grognard: Well he was the worst United player on show in the first leg. As for the second leg we were creating chances all night long. He may have scored two goals (one an excellent free kick, the other a tap in that was heading in regardless) but I wouldn’t give him all the credit for the second leg. RVN, Giggs and Ole were relentless in their efforts to turn the game round.
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@Grognard: I must admit, it saddens me deeply to hear united failed to sign the lad, the last time i went Ga Ga over a player was when anderson was saving Gremios arse and promoting them back to the Serie A of Brasil.
The first time i saw pato give Puyol a hard time when he was playing for the Nacao Vermelha, i knew he was going to be a star, never have i been so sure of Brasil having a great striker in the making since Adriano,(until he his incredible fall from grace) . Pato could end up like ronaldo de lima, only without Ronald De Boer to ruin his career. I mean he has already broken one of Pele’s record, why not go for the main one of 77 goals for the selecao. I hope he does become like him (Ronaldo De Lima), and it’s great we have found a number 9 to love since dealing with the inconsistencies of Luis Fabiano and that pitiful thing known as Vagner love.
Excuse all this talk about Pato is getting me hungry
I’m going to order some peking duck, who want’s to join me
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@JB: Don’t you think you are hanging the lad for one game? Becks wasn’t and never will be super human. He is capable of very bad games but his good games far outweigh his bad. How quickly Fergie forgot all those great performances.
How do you explain the fact that Fergie benched him because he left practice to check on his sick child? Read Beck’s book. Despite all the shit that went on, he has nothing bad to say about Fergie and has always shown class towards the team. It’s more than I can say about the fans that turned their back on him and who hold a grudge against him for being forced out of the team.
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@Mr.Muhozi: It’s Beijing Duck now.
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@Grognard: No I don’t. In 2002-03 the poor to average games far outweighed the good. Anyway the point I was making was with regards to your assertion about him winning the second leg and what might have been if he started. Well the reason he didn’t start was because he was the worst player on the pitch in the first tie and his failure to convert a good chance at 3-1 in the Bearnbeau was a critical moment in the tie.
And its a bit rich slagging SAF of for forgetting all his great performances. It normally only takes a couple of sub par performances from a player before most of the contributors on this blog are ready to drop them. But then the 6-2 away to Newcastle, 2-2 at Highbury and 4-0 at home to Liverpool suggests plenty of justification for the decision.
As for the sick child, the issue was that Victoria was attending a fashion show at the same time. And he never left training to check on him, he just didn’t turn up that day full stop.
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On the seventh day, God said, “Let there be football.”
And it was good.
Later that day, God said, “Let there be one team to rule the others and set the standard for excellence.”
With that, he plucked a star from the heavens and placed it on a strip of red and white.
God said, “Let them be called, Manchester United – England’s team.”
Later that day, God said, “Even footballers need arseholes.”
So he made their fans.
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@JB: Contributors on this blog are not SAF. I think it’s reasonable to assume that we would expect more from him than from ourselves when it comes to being fair to a player. You clearly are not in Beckham’s corner and that’s fine. But I for one am tired of others putting him down because frankly, he was one of the greatest United players of all time. And much how you don’t like it when I lay into Scholes, I don’t particularly like it when Becks gets the same from you. So lets call it even and go on.
And as for Fergie, I’ll put him down all I want for some of his not so great decisions. That doe snot mean I have no respect or love for the man. With that said I loved my father dearly but I had some titanic disagreements with him.
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tosic vs liverpool
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@Grognard: You’re right, contributors are not SAF and there are a few who could do with remembering that when trying to second guess how he handles his players. But I’m not in anybodies corner on this one. Beckham was a world class player on his day, a great servant to the club and an all round nice guy. He was also a media whore, he seemed to be becoming less focused on his day to day duties with the club and his form had dipped in 2002/03. I’m sure SAF was hardly an angel in everything that went on, but by the same token I don’t by into the image of the spiteful, vindictive ogre that some seem to have.
You mentioned his autobiography, well I think there was a couple of telling comments from him after the Madrid defeat. He mentioned how he felt warm inside after the crowd response to him, how he wanted to wake his kids and tell them about Daddy’s great performance on the night and subsequently how he was annoyed by the look on SAF’s face after he missed a free kick when watching a replay of the game. To be perfectly honest he sounded more worried about David Beckham than he did about the fact that Manchester United had just been knocked out of the CL. If that is really the case then the decision to sell him was completely justified.
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ANDERSON INTERVIEW
Injury may be keeping him on the sidelines, but very little gets our bubbly Brazilian midfield magician down, as we found out when we spoke to Anderson recently…
You said it was “a dream come true” to join United. Enjoyed the last 18 months?
I’m still living the dream. It hasn’t ended yet, and I don’t want it to! I love playing here and I want to achieve a lot more for United. I want to win a lot of trophies.
We saw you dancing when the team collected trophies in Wigan and Moscow last season. Where did you learn to dance like that?
I learned to dance this way with my friends. Do you like it? We’re always dancing and it makes me feel happy, which is important.
Who’s the toughest opponent you’ve faced since arriving in England?
Javier Mascherano! He’s the hardest to play against. He’s so strong and he tackles with so much power. Of course, he’s from Argentina and I am Brazilian so maybe that is why! I’ve also had good battles with Steven Gerrard, Denilson and Cesc Fabregas. They’re all very good midfielders, but Mascherano is the toughest.
When will we see you hit the back of the net?
[laughs] Maybe one day I’ll score a goal! Perhaps a shot will fly in or somebody else’s will hit me on the way to goal, or maybe I’ll be allowed to take a penalty! Sure, I’m bothered about not scoring but what’s more important to me is that we win.
So how will you celebrate your first goal?
I think I’ll be so excited that I’ll just do a lap of the pitch!
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Beckham was a model professional and playing for us I never had a problem with what he did on the pitch. But his celebrity status did piss me off. Effectively he was moonlighting. All footballers do a few sponsorship deals but Beckham did it on such a scale, I can understand that Fergie began to doubt that Beckham was capable of juggling a modelling career, the celebrity status, a family AND playing for the best team in the world.
Fergie didnd’t do him much credit by the way he handled it, but selling Beckham was a good call, although I think we could have fleeced Real for a few more million.
Remember that selling Beckham and Ole’s injuries paved the way for the acquisition of a certain Ronaldo who is easily the best player Fergie has ever had in all his 22 years at the club. Beckham was a good player but Scholes, Keane, Giggs, Ruud Van Nistrelrooy and Stam were all better than him…..and the star status Beckham had owed little to his on the pitch performances and much more to his celebrity wife and generic good looks.
All I can say is thank god Beckham was not playing for us when he started modelling underwear and doing poses and shoots that can only be described as gay!
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@Grognard: On the wage demand thing, I don’t know who you want to believe, but Sir Bobby Charlton is his book, did say that there were some wage demand issues with Beckham and he did turn down some offers. I’m inclined to believe Sir Bobby.
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@ Colver: I’d take a Roy Keane in his prime over a Ronaldo for my team, any day. Ronaldo may technically be superb, but Keano brough skill along with lots of intangibles. I’d say Ronaldo is just another in a long line of greats to be coached by Fergie, each with their own strenghts and weakenesses.
And denigrating Beckham’s on the pitch performances…wow, were you around watching back then? He was the best player on the right side midfield for years in the premiership. If anything he was more consistent and more effective than Giggs for most of the years. He also ran his lungs out for the club, and right up until his last few months with us always looked like a player that would run across coals if Fergie asked him to. Becks was one of the finest footballers in the world, regardless of his extra-curriculars.
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The issue with Beckham and his contract is true, we offered him £90K+ a week which at the time, and remember this was 5 or so years ago was a hell of a lot of money but Beckham wanted a further £20k per week image rights.
I also heard that United had 22 unsuccessful meetings with in the club in regards to his contract, and could not come up with a resolution. Personally I think Beckham did well for our club, in has last season Ok he didn’t play to his high standards but nobody does when deep down they want to leave, look at Ronaldo, only joking boys!!
Fergie always sees the club as the most important, no player is bigger than the club, and after the boot incident in 03 after teh FA cup game against Arsenal when Fergie dug him out about not tracking back Ashley cole, and Beckham and Fergie kicked off and the rest is history.
The die hard United fan pushed out of the club by the ever ruthless Ferguson is not a story that rings true at all with me, if he wanted to stay enough he should have knuckled down and got on with his game, Fergie saw that he was a media whore and thought football was no longer his priority , being one half of the Beckham media cirus was with his wife the ringleader.
Beckham is a footballing legend for the wrong reasons his fame, he will and is not a United legend, Best, Charlton, Law, Edwards, Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Robson and to some extent Keane are, why? simply because they put the club first before themselves something that Beckham didn’t do.
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“There was more positive news for United; Owen Hargreaves made a significant step in his long road to recovery after successfully undergoing a second knee operation last week. “It was completely successful and better than the last one,” said Sir Alex. “The last operation was more difficult, but this was a more clean-cut problem. He will certainly be ready for the start of next season.”
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@Stephen: Exactly, most people always make it out like “oh poor Beckham, loved United sooo much, but the evil tyrant kicked him and pushed him out of the club”. Branding, media rights and fame all came before football for him, why else would he move from Spain to a far lower quality league? Which is why I always think its massively unfair to players like Giggs, Scholes and Best et al to put Beckham in the same class of Man United “legends”
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@Rd: I am not anti Beckham, when he played for us he did a really decent job, but the way that the press and some fans see Fergie as the evil Megalomaniac and Beckham the poor defenseless boy who all he wanted to do was play for Manchester United, but Fergie kicked him out is utter rubbish.
Beckham was addicted to fame and money and not football, and to be fair that was his choice, management is not a popularity contest and if someone is putting something before his job then the writing is on the wall.
RDE said he was practically Scholes before 2000, is wrong his head was turned well before that and his focus did also. I am not saying he did a bad job for the club beacuse he didn’t, he was argualbly MOM in the champions league final, but he was baggage. I heard a lot of the players were fed up with the fact that extra security had to be put on when he was playing, or training and he adored the attention, hence why he signed for the Galaticos.
All I am saying we are better off without him, and a United legend never, next people will be telling me he never cheated on his wife.
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@Stephen: If he was addicted to fame and money and not football, that should have reflected on his performances…But i dont think that ever happened..Even in Real Madrid, his on field performances (bar some during the start) were world class..He has his own lifestyle,fame and glitz and flashlights which are part of the package…
And i have to say Fergie did kick him out…There was nothing wrong on both sides..Fergie stood by his principles of life and Beckham stood by his!!…
He was always a world class performer and nobody can bend it like he do!!
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@Shyam: He was poor in his last season mate, but as I said I can’t pick holes in him as a player for us, he got too self obsessed and that was the main issue with Fergie, any player who plays for United puts football first, simple.
Fergie did not kick him out, there wasa contract on the table Beckham decided to leave, he still played 31 league games in his final season hardly being kicked out was he?
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Vidic only gets 1 match ban for europe. Fuckin’ eh!
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@Traverse: Thank fuck, but to be fair we have had 8 different defensive combo’s this season, and Ibrahimovic is the most overrated footballer on this Earth, behind Torres!
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@Beachryan: That is my exact point. Regardless of his lifestyle and questionable taste in fashion, he was a model professional and busted his ass for the team up until the boot kicking incident. It got to the point that if he had a bad performance , it was the fault of his wife or his lifestyle, but if Scholes or Giggs had the same kind of performance, all they needed was some rest. Clearly his choices in life rubbed Fergie the wrong way and his decision to get rid of Becks was very personal. I think he felt he was losing the dressing room buy allowing this one player to unintentionally make a fool of him. Beckham’s lifestyle and Fergies disciplinarian demeanor were like oil and water and something had to give.
If I was Fergie to be honest, I would have done the very same thing. I love Becks but he had become bigger than the club, not so much in his head but in the head of millions of fans, the media and some of his teammates. He had become a distraction even if he was only good old Dave one on one. I’m sure it was a tough call for Fergie but one he felt forced to make. I don’t like the boot incident or the benchings att he end of his United career because for me they were only out of spite and not based on poor performance. JB talks about his poor performance in the first leg vs Real Madrid. Yes he stunk but hang on, he wasn’t the only one to do so. To single him out like that after all that he had given for the club up to that point was calculated head games. Fergie is the master of head games and planting doubt in players. As soon as you cross the line in his eyes, you are as good as gone from the club. I also feel he treated RVN poorly after what that player had done for the club and after he had even pledged his career to the club. But you don’t have a bust up with Fergie’s boy Ronaldo and expect to survive. And I suppose this is why I am defending Becks and RVN and Roy Keane for that matter. All great servants to the club who made a mistake or two but who deserved better than what they got from the Gaffer.
Now I look at the antics of one Ronaldo on the pitch, off the pitch and especially last summer. A player whose ego is far greater and more irritating than anything Beckham ever did. I don’t recall Becks crashing his Ferrari, or calling upon escorts or partying so loud that the coppers come a knocking. I don’t recall Becks acting like an ass on the pitch, diving all the time, whining all the time and just walking off the pitch after an injury. But that’s ok because in Fergie’s eyes, Ronny is his special little hand puppet and he can do no wrong. He is an extension of the Boss himself. Perhaps then you can see why I feel a little burned and bitter over the way Becks , RVN and Keano were treated. They were not perfect but did they deserve the boot for what they did? The debate rolls on.
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@Stephen: Ask yourself this, how is what Beckham did regarding his contract any worse than when Ronaldo held his team, his manager and his supporters hostage for the entire summer more tolerable? How is what Beckham did any different than what is going on with Carlos Tevez as we speak? It was business and he was right to try to negotiate what he felt was what he deserved. Lets face it, his image rights were important because in some ways, his popularity transcended the sport. At no time did he come out and say it was his boyhood dream to play for Real Madrid and that he did not want to be held back from his dream. No, his only dream up to the day he left was to be a Manchester United player for life………but with perks and privileges due to being a Spice Boy.
Yes Becks wanted his cake and he wanted to eat it too, but at least he wanted to eat his cake at OT. I cannot say that about Ronny. And you joked about Ronny’s effort of late, well that is a valid point. When Beckham had a few poor games where his form had dropped off, Fergie like a bloody shark used that against him and pounced on him. Ronaldo has been asleep at the wheel all season and not once has he been disciplined, talked to or benched. Sure he was coming off an injury but he should have been fit and healthy well before now. I actually feel for the lad and have defended him but sometimes, even I question whether his heart is still in it. His lack of maturity and his cry baby antics are annoying to say the least. Did Beckham act like this? Was he given a half season to iron out his poor form? Did he avoid the manager benching him and his wrath? NO! NO! NO! Double standards from where I’m sitting. But I will admit that from where I am sitting, it’s pretty far away and I obviously do not have all the information, but then again, none of us do. I have heard Becks side of the story, but Fergie has not told his…..yet. No matter my love and respect for the gaffer, I will always believe in my heart that David Beckham was made an example of by his manager and treated unfairly due to his ever expanding celebrity status and his “posh” marriage. And for me that was Fergie being way out of line and making a judgment on a player that had nothing to do with his football, but was personal. He read far too much in the situation at hand and in the contract negotiations that as far as I’m concerned were normal and no different than what Ronaldo is trying to secure with his pretentious CR7 label.
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to be honest the only united player that gets on my nerves and warrants any of your criticism ought to be gabriel heinze.
RVN, beckham, Stam, Keane, all got booted outta the club for falling out with fergie or with some aspect of the club situation. but not one of them backstabed united like heinze…
all of fergies forsaken like those mentioned above, and the flops like veron, kleberson and djemba-djemba (name sounds like “toilet-toilet” in my native tongue) cant be faulted in my book, at one point in time, they bled man utd red and thats all i need to be thankful to em.
in some other news, i was trolling around some liverpool forums the other day and i found out that they rated nani as the only hopeless case in the team
dirk kuyt was on par with park ji sung, except that park was the more creative.
EVDS is rated as well as pepe reina
and that their midfield is better than ours
that bit bout park is mootable, but come on, EVDS is heads and shoulders above reina, and only gerrard can be rated above our midfield.
carrick/scholes > alonso
Hargo/fletch/anderson > maschpotatos
Possebon/gibson our reserve midfielders > lucas
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@Stephen: No you are wrong mate. Yes he was addicted to money and fame but he was also addicted to playing football. He always has been, or I’m sure he would have retired by now and started to enjoy the spoils of his rich and famous lifestyle. Lets also not forget the countless examples of what a good person he is, his humanitarian work as well as his treatment of common fans. The big problem is that the media had more to do about creating the Beckham image and brand than Beckham himself. He just went along with it. His greatest dream has always to play football. He still loves Man Utd and is always quoted as saying positives about the team and Fergie too. He just want sto be liked and appreciated like anybody else. What really gets under my skin is how disappointed everyone was when it was leaked that United were trying to sell him to Real Madrid. Back then 99% of the fans were on Beck’s side and sympathized with him. But distance does not make the heart grow fonder and a couple of seasons wearing the white of Satan’s side and he now is looked at as an opportunist and as a mercenary.
Bottom line is like Wayne Gretzky in hockey, he did not want to go, but he was not given much of a choice much like Gretzky was not given a choice by an owner who wanted to cash in on his value. Fergie never wanted Becks and he was going to be damned if he was going to stay at a team he loved, when the manager hated him. So lets leave all the other petty jealousies about his lifestyle, his money, his image etc aside. Beckham the footballer showed his determination and pride as a player in Madrid and he is now showing it again with Milan. His ambition is motivated I’m sure by England caps but that’s cool. It should be. United could still have benefited by that ambition had our manager not seen fit to make an example of him. No he is not as good a player as Ronaldo, but he’s ten times the human being.
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@Shyam: Well said mate, and very correct also.
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@Stephen: “He was poor in his last season mate, but as I said I can’t pick holes in him as a player for us, he got too self obsessed and that was the main issue with Fergie, any player who plays for United puts football first, simple.”
All the things you just said in that comment can be attributed to one Cris Ronaldo. But it seems he can do no wrong in the eyes of the Boss. Double standards I believe?
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@Wink: I agree with that. I was a big fan of Heinze and I was one of those that preferred him over Evra. I was always in his corner but his betrayal of the team by wanting to go to Liverpool was the last straw. Had he wanted to go anywhere else, I would not have had a problem but you do not go to Liverpool and then Chelsea and Arsenal also. The tradition of not selling players to Liverpool is sacred and Heinze was spitting on that. So we all collectively spat right back in his face. Beckham, RVN, Stam, Keane and all the rest who got the unceremonious boot out of OT never deserved it like Heinze.
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so grognard, hows huntelaar doing?
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@Dan: Give him time mate. He needs to get used to everything just like Berba needed time. Also, it’s difficult to break into that lineup as long as that dinosaur Raul calls the shots. He has control over the team and who plays and who doesn’t. Hopefully Ramos will have the balls to put that punk in his place once and for all. It’s tough to move to another club in mid season and above all, a different country where there is no time to get used to your surroundings. How about giving the lad a while to settle in before bashing him. He’s a class player and it will eventually come out. You’re just setting yourself up gor a Grognard sized F U and I told you so when that time comes.
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@Grognard: well i fear that will be a long time to come
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Holy shit….did anyone else see that elbow from Bayern’s captain, I forget his name the Dutch guy Van Buyten maybe, but wow that was dirty. No card either which is amazing
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@Grognard: Mate when have I ever said Ronnie is any better?
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@Wink: Mascherano is a nutcase, and he offers nothing really offensively or creatively, but he is fucking money as a pure defensive midfielder. I would rate him a better Makallele type than the Frenchman himself. He can also man mark the best players in the world out of a match completely. Check out Liverpools second final against Milan, Masch owned Kaka for 60 mins then Rafa makes a retard decision and subs him off, and Kaka goes on to get two assists.
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@Grognard: haha Fish, hook, sinker
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@Dan: You can fear all you like for as long as you like mate.
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