May 29
Will United Meet Great Expectations?
Two years ago, few people would have predicted Manchester United’s return to the top of world football. Ferguson had just sold Ruud van Nisterlooy and then refused to replace him with another striker, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Manchester United was under a cloud of uncertainty following his antics against England in the World Cup quarter-final. Furthermore, many thought that Michael Carrick was not a solution to Manchester United’s midfield weaknesses.
But, two years on we look at what has happened since the summer van Nisterlooy had left the club and stand amazed. The departure of the big Dutchman has allowed Manchester United to develop a fast, free-flowing style of football; the jeers aimed at Ronaldo every other game in the Premier League have inspired the Portuguese winger to become the world’s best player; and, Micael Carrick has proven to be worth every penny of those £18.6 million spent on him.
While United were only beginning their ascension, another club was beginning to fall. Just two years before that eventful summer that sent United on its way to glory, Barcelona were desperate to end a trophy-less five year streak. Manager Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho had been at Barcelona for a year already but they failed to take the Catalan club back to its glory days. So, Rijkaard went on a spending spree bringing Deco, Samuel Eto’o and Giuly to the club, among others.
That year Barcelona mesmerized the world of football. Their magnificent style of play was built around a Ronaldinho who was hitting new heights every time he had the ball at his feet. But he was not alone: Puyol offered great defensive stability and a midfield composed of Xavi, Deco and a young Iniesta glittered with creativity. In front of goal, Eto’o was just perfect and a year later a young man named Lionel Messi was promoted to the first team.
In 2005 Barcelona won the La Liga for the first time since 1999, but failed to win any glory in the Champions League after losing to Chelsea in a memorable tie. The following year, they would make no mistake: the League Championship and Champions League awaited Rijkaard’s men at the end of a long, grueling season. Ronaldinho had just produced a nearly perfect season. He was by far the best player in the world at that moment.
In the two years since, Barcelona have not lifted a trophy. The downfall of Ronaldinho and fatigue are blamed for their recent failures and Manchester United must look to avoid falling into the same trap as Barcelona.
There are interesting parallels between Rijkaard’s team of two years ago and the Manchester United of today. The most obvious being that both have relied on a marvelously talented player to take them to glory and both had the element of experience in their squad — remember how instrumental Henrik Larsson was to Barcelona’s most recent three trophies? Ferguson has similar wild cards in Scholes and Giggs.
Now Manchester United are bracing themselves for a season full of expectations and matches. Ferguson’s men could play as many as 59 games next season excluding the Carling Cup. They have played 56 official games this season and had time to spare on a friendly in Saudi Arabia. Overall it does not sound like a huge hike in the number of games, but there are two main factors to take into consideration. One: two of those games will be played in Japan and they are quickly followed by the busy Christmas period of the Premier League. Two: last season was not preceded by a major international tournament in which Manchester United had many representatives.
Apart from the fatigue, which will surely be at a high next season, Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo, in particular, will be under the microscope. After two glorious years, many people expected even more from Ronaldinho and when he failed to deliver, the world of football climbed on his back a brought him down definitively. Ferguson will surely look to prevent Ronaldo from being victim to such expectations.
Overall, next season looks very promising for all Manchester United fans, but history is not with them. Highs like these tend to come to a premature end, but hopefully, Ferguson will know how to deal with complacency which could build up in the squad and he should be able to take care of the fatigue issue with the large number of players he has at his disposal. After all, he did win the league in 2000, didn’t he?
Do United have it in them to sustain their dominance like in the 90′s?
Related items from Red Rants:
- Conflicting Reports Cast Cloud Over Fergie-Ronaldo “Meeting”
- SAF Sounds Words of Caution | Safety Arrangements for Roma
- United Face Tricky Trip to Stoke
- Ronaldo Wins Ballon d’Or
Tags: Manchester United News
Craig Mc (195)
RedDevilEddy (170)
Opti (138)
Ian (97)
Moscow is my heaven (97)
Penguin, I do not think that somebody actually knows when their hunger is gone; they could think that they are as hungry as ever, but, subconsciously their desire to win diminishes and they just become more and more complacent without realizing.
Example: a couple of years ago I played football as a central defender. My partner and I were absolutley superb. Everything about our game was top-notch and I actually think we were the best centre backs in the league. Then, we get to the playoffs without conceding a single goal and we each scored twice.
We had a break before the play-offs and we trained several times. Each time the two of us pushed harder and harder because we realized that we must keep up our good work. In our first playoff game, a tackle just didn’t feel like a tackle and an interception was just another opportunity to dribble a bit. Our job was done and although we gave it our all. It just wasn’t good enough anymore.
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anyone says that united are a one man team clearly do not watch united games fact, go look at the united at the start of the season vds brown ferdinand vidic evra nani were the ones who were crucial in getting united those 1 0 wins. nani clealy won united the first 3 wins of uniteds season without that contribution united would not be champions.
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Jos, cech was asked who he would rather having playing up front for the team he played in, ronaldo or drogba? He said drogba because when the team is under pressure you can lump the ball up the park and you know drogba will do something with it. A predictable response. He wasn’t asked who he would rather face.
Describing totti as a support striker isn’t right as he has played brilliantly for a few years in a lone striker position for roma. He drops deep, but in the end he’s not playing off anyone else so he’s not a support striker.
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http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=715782
here we go.
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Grognard: Iagree totally especially about the AMF. Out CM dont score…
How about Aimar??? 28 years old. Very creative and cheap.. Atleast a decent stop gap arrangement before we can spot someone with potential….
Also,get Huntelaar asap…
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Grognard; Point very well made.
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Conor you dont actually Believe that do you? Ronaldo is the European golden boot winner, but teams fear Rooney more? Madrid are offering outrageous transfer bids for him, and yet nobody ever inquires about Rooney (not even the tabloids) so please save the bullshit about Rooney being more feared. It is an insult to ronaldo to even begin to compare the two. The sad thing about it is 5 years ago Rooney was head and shoulders above ronaldo. But for whatever reason we aren’t seeing the growth in his game that we expected.
And just to be clear, I like Rooney I think he is united quality, but I stop just short of the world class tag.
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Johnsom33; Make of it what you will, I never said that he was a better player, but while looking through the Barcelona blog before everyone was saying they fear Rooney more, and I have a mate who is an AC Milan fan and he says the general consensus is he is more feared. Probably because he is better in the big games.
I’m not even going to comment on why no-one bids for him or why the tabloids don’t talk about him leaving, it’s blatantly obvious.
Most United fans feel that we overrate some of our players, but in truth we most definitely underrate Rooney, he is much more appreciated and admired in Europe.
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Let me just make a swift comment about the article.
You state the European Championships as reason for the next season being harder. Well, we only have 5 players participating. VDS and TK, both goalies and only one a starter. Ronaldo and Nani – only Ronaldo a regular starter. And finally Evra, who we don’t know how much will play – but probably a fair bit since his season was far better than Abidal’s.
So all in all we won’t be hit by that big tournament. Actually, England not qualifying can probably turn out as a big favour for us come next season, since we have the most english players in the squad.
And about next season.
Arsenal have already lost a very important player in Flamini and will probably loose Hleb as well. Adebayor is craved by some of the major clubs, but they’ll probably retain his services. Rosicky and van Persie are constantly injured, and Eduardo will take his time to get ready. They have a lot of work to do, if they want to maintain their position.
Chelsea – well they’ll most likely loose Drogba, and maybe even Lampard, when Mourinho is inserted in Inter Milan. And more of their players might leave for bigger clubs, let’s wait and see.
Liverpool – well I doubt they have much money to buy players unless they sell. There’s talk of them buying Barry from Villa, but then they’ll loose Alonso – same type of player at same level. No difference there. And they might upgrade their full backs, but let’s just see how good a free transfer like Degen is. They need forwards and strikers, and I doubt they have the money to buy what they need, which is real quality. Torres and Gerrard simply can’t carry them to the top alone. To me, their most important “new” player will be Daniel Agger returning from injury, because they need a playing defender. They have surely missed him this year.
And then there’s us. We might sell a few fringe players like Pique, but SAF has already stated that he will get players for the positions in which we are a little short, aka at least a striker. He might replace Pique with Richards, and I think they’re at about the same level, so that’s fine. And just remember that we already have some marvellous young players, who will develop immensely in their second season here: Nani and Anderson especially.
All in all, I say that the other clubs have a lot more work to do than us, if they want to challenge next season.
And for CL: Let Inter Milan have Drogba and Lampard if they want – won’t make a difference. Barca will rebuilt big time and probably won’t be a threat. Real Madrid and AC Milan are too old and not strong enough.
It looks good, if we can keep the spirit high, and I don’t see why we shouldn’t with a team full of young hungry players and great leaders.
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Steve – I agree with you about Nani – but if you are on this blog long enough mate, you will find Nani is not greatly appreciated as much as he should be. Though there are a few FAR sighted people who remember his sometimes vital contributions. Although I don’t believe anybody thinks United’s team are a one man band, though the player himself Mr Ronaldo may believe that he is so. You just keep remining us of Nani’s great contributions to the United PL trophy though, because it is appreciated by Nani supporters.
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MEXES interview at manutd.com be4 the ManU – Roma game
“United are lucky because they have so many other great players, like Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes. Rooney is very strong, and he and Ronaldo are a great combination.”
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&newsid=547799
Rooney doesn’t even have the body form Ronaldo has but still he seems a more creative and more technical player.I mean have you ever seen his belly?When it goes off and becomes pure muscle then we talk about who ‘s better. Also, let me remind you his debut in the CHL agains Fener.The fact that we rarely see games like these from him is just an illusion.wait and just see. Don’t judge a player based on one or two seasons appearances.
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I feel Rooney’s first instinct is for the team whilst Ronnie’s is
for himself and wonder if Ronnie’s success sits uncomfortably with
Wayne for that reason. Interesting that he was recently quoted as
being keen to see Tevez’s stay finalised but has tended to be less
forthcoming about Ronnie during the recent mediafest. How does
Huntelaar’s pace compare with Fabiano’s? I feel that the new
striker needs to be swift – was so impressed by Benzema.
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If it is at all possible fergie should get Micah Richards. He would be perfect cause he excels at both cb and rb. Then I think we should go after someone like Santa cruz, he is quality but I dont think he would be upset about being a 3rd choice striker.
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richards is over rated.
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He’s certainly an unfinished article and has to work a lot on his technical side to the game. But he’s fast and strong, and those attributes are a good start for a young defender.
If we buy him, he might be ready in a year or two for the back position. He’d never be good enough centrally I think. Doesn’t quite have the positioning and awareness imo.
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this is nani’s contribution for the season. but there are so many fanboy ronaldo lovers they are to stupid to see the entire picture of uniteds season and the other players who have made a massive contribution not even redsranter has realiesed to.
Manchester United 1 Tottenham 0 nani scores the winning goal
Man Utd 1 Sunderland 0 nani’s corner gets the win
Everton 0 Manchester United 1 nani’s corner gets the win
Manchester United 1 Roma 0 nani sets up the winning goal for rooney and had a great game.
villa 1 manchester utd 4 nani sets up the first goal for rooney
Man Utd 4 Middlesbrough 1 nani scores the first goal and closes down downing to get united the second goal.
Manchester United 4 Dynamo Kiev 0 nani sets up the third goal for rooney
Man Utd 2 Portsmouth 0 nani sets up the first goal for ronaldo
Tottenham 1 Manchester United 1 nani’s corner gets united a last ditch equalizer
man utd 4 arsenal 0 nani’s corner helped get the first goal, nani ripped the full back apart and put a great cross in to get the second goal. nani scores the third goal. and nani’s cross gets the fourth goal. this game was propably the reason why arsenal collapsed.
lyon 1 man utd 1 nani put in a great cross get the away goal.
man utd 3 0 liverpool came on has a sub, nani’s corner got the second goal and scored the third goal.
blackburn 1 1 man utd nani’s corner got united a late equalizer
he has won united 26 pts got has us to the quater finals of the champions league and saved our bacon at the start of the season and near the end of the season. have people after seeing this contribution going to give nani the credit he deserves because he has done more then anderson this season yet nani has not got a song like anderson.
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Next season certainly will start with great expectations. I feel that complacency will, if at all, set in cup competitions. Such competitions need tremendous fire in the belly and the desperate do-or-literally die attitude in crunch situations. On the other hand, the premier league is more about consistency over the entire period of the season, which I can safely say, is the USP of Man Utd.
Having said that, there is definitely reason to be hopeful as Rooney will want to prove that he isnt any inferior to Ronaldo. Anderson and Nani will be given more playing time and will gel into the team better, so will Tevez. Hargo, as has rightly been pointed out, has come into his own world-class self only late in the season, and he will want to continue from where he left off.
Fergie will certainly make sure that no player feels he is untouchable. Anyone who makes a mistake needs to have a rod rammed up his behind. Well not literally, but the point is to cultivate a healthy competition for places, which will ultimately benefit our team.
P.S.: Arshevin seems like a very good buy, and he won’t be that expensive either. But then, any new winger we purchase will have a serious lack of playing time unless someone out of Ronaldo, Giggs, Park and Nani is injured.
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dan, Richards could be to us what Sergio Ramos is to Real Madrid. Think about that…
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[steve]
but there are so many fanboy ronaldo lovers they are to stupid to see the entire picture of uniteds season and the other players who have made a massive contribution not even redsranter has realiesed to.
You having a laugh mate? Have you seen my player ratings? Read my articles before you come to a conclusion about me not acknowledging other players’ contributions.
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Steve; I’m all for getting behind Nani and everything but comparing him to Ronaldo at this stage in his career is absurd.
To make your points less deceiving, you could put it like this:
Manchester United 1 Tottenham 0; Nani scores the winning goal. Fair enough.
Man Utd 1 Sunderland 0; Assist for the winner, good contribution.
Everton 0 Manchester United 1; Same as above.
Manchester United 1 Roma 0; Assist for Rooney.
Villa 1 Manchester United 4; 1 assist, could have won without it.
Man Utd 4 Middlesbrough 1; 1 goal, again could have won without it.
Manchester United 4 Dynamo Kiev 0; An assist in an easy match, made very little difference.
Man Utd 2 Portsmouth 0; An assist, could have one without it.
Tottenham 1 Manchester United 1; Last minute assist from a corner, vital.
Manchester United 4 Arsenal 0; Played a big part in nearly every goal, great contribution.
Lyon 1 Manchester United 1; Another important assist.
Manchester United 3 0 Liverpool; came on when Liverpool were tiring, an assist and a goal but no overall contribution.
Blackburn 1 1 Manchester United; A vital assist in the dying minutes.
That is a completely biased view against Nani, just to counteract you argument. So overall, he got us through one tie in the FA Cup, 10 points in the league and two important assists in the Champions League. So overall it was a good contribution, but Ronaldo beats him in every aspect at the moment and probably always will.
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Yes Conor, agree with you actually. Rooney is a much better player than Totti when it comes to tracking back and helping the team when not in possession. But we’re talking about a CF right, or a second striker.. So, the relevance of the defensive part of the game is less important to me..
But still while I rate Totti higher for this position, I still rate Rooney as a better player on the whole.
And tevez, perhaps Totti, is not playing as a support striker (though I get the impression he does with Vucinic as main striker), but with his attacking skills and passing and positioning he looks like one to me…
Which comes down to the very core of the problem with Roo – what’s his best position. I think it is still CF considering that he plays best at this position.
And Chris, given the choice between Carrick, Xavi and Iniesta, I would still go for Carrick because of the English factor, which is not negligible, while I still consider the spaniards to be superior players.
johnsom33 – agree. The thing about Rooney not developing his game also has to do with Ronaldo developing his game, or rather adapting his game to the way we play. Ronaldo’s become one point of our 4-3-3 trident and has developed his game accordingly, running and cuting in to take shots, headers… Rooney, for all his natural talents and potential, we have the impression that he just doesn’t know. Even Capello is publicly stating that he should go back to being the Rooney of 3 years ago.
And Nani certainly had an important contribution to us winning th title.
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coner did I compare nani with ronaldo no, and that is very arrogant statement to say united could do without some of those contributions. the fact of the matter is nani has far more assists then ronaldo to his name, are you serious nani made no overall contribuion to the liverpool and middlesbro games, tell me this how many players could have scored a type of goal nani did against boro none. is there anyone in the current squad that can take a corner like nani the answer is no.
without those contributions especially at the start of the season we would be potless and when you add it all up united are not a one man team. if vds brown ferdinand vidic evra hargreaves anderson carrick scholes ronaldo nani giggs tevez rooney in your squad is a one man team that has got to be the most talented one man team in the history of football.
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Nico, I do not think that people are evaluating Rooney as a second striker or as a forward, they evaluate him overall ability which is what makes him special. As a centre forward he is, wait! I won’t go there.
Conor, Steve, alternately you could have a an argument that EVDS was even more important to United’s title charge:
vs Reading (0-0): made a few saves. Vital
vs Portsmouth (1-1): same as above.
vs Man City (0-1): made a few saves. Came to nothing.
vs Sunderland (1-0): made some saves gave us three points.
I am sure you get the point. Each player was vital to the team in his own little way and they are all responsible, in equal measure, for the club’s success this year. No player should be singled out for taking United where it is now because they all gave it their all. From Ronaldo to Park to Silvestre. Without either of them there is a chance that United will have failed somewhere along the road…
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[steve]
Neither Conor, nor I, nor the vast majority of the people on here are claiming that United are a one man team. In fact we wouldn’t like to have our club be called that. Only that Ronaldo with his 42 goals is a sizeable contribution, don’t you think? He has been a stand out performer along with Rio. But every player had a big part to play in our win.
So really we are all on the same side with regards to that. So what is your point?
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Simple point: people are underlining the contributions that Nani, for example made to the team. They are goal-scoring contributions, but I think that players should be assesed on more than that.
We should look at the whole team and try to see what each player contributes in terms of skill. Example: Nani crosses very well, but is sometimes selfish. Very much like you have done in your trilogy of articles…
I guess what I am trying to say is that we should not look at specific events of a player’s season to assess him; rather at the season as a whole. For me Nani was an average Premier League player. He started in spectacular fashion but finished like a Derby player. His contributions cannot be ennumearted in a short list.
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richards is no sergio ramos. ramos is a class higher than richards and will always be. but yeah richards would be a great addition to the squad nevertheless. been reading about fergie going for a double swoop with dani alves and fabiano.
alves would be a great buy, but im not so sure about fabiano. seems to be a one off kinda player in my opinion.
lets hope we land hamsik ahead of jose!
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Dani Alves, Huntelaar and Veloso if Silvestre leaves.
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guys,the reason rooney is played out of position is that he can not seem to master one.even fergie admitted that he has yet to find out his best position.after five years?i hope he developes but at this stage in football,22 is not young considering the pressure of being at atop team.dont get me wrong i love him.only worried
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yea, i was watching the giggs tribute on sky sports last night, and right at the end, it brought a tear to my eye, he’s legend, and players like him dont come often, he has been such an icon, and its a shame that his form is letting him down, i think if we an win the FA cup next season, he should retire, and leave us on a high.
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Dan – What has the FA cup got to do with his retirement?
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not much, it would just feel fitting if we won the top cup prize in england, before he retired.
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donibrasco, fergie said he wasn’t sure what his best position is because he’s great when he’s aggressive up front but he also offers a lot when he drops into space. He’s saying that he is brilliant in either position so it’s hard to pick out one of them as his best.
I think as long as he’s played in one of the forward positions i would never describe him as being out of position. It’s only when he gets played on the wings that i’d say that. Play him right up front or dropping in, he can influence games either way.
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[Grognard]
I agree with your points mate. I agree we have shown more mental fortitude than our rivals, as well as the fact that we’ve had our fair share of injury worries (though not as much as our rivals). But I think you understand my rant was due to my desire to see us reach the *next* level of domination in Europe. Also the fact about being a one-man team – I feel it’s got more to do with the media hype/talk around Mr.Gallardo rather than what happens on the pitch. That’s bound to happen when we’ve got a superstar in the team, but you gotta accept it gets to you after a while. And if does get to us fans, it will get to the other players as well – that cannot be good in the long run.
You’re also right when you say we need a new attacking option, as well as a striker. I think we all agree we need someone like Huntelaar, but it’s yet to be seen if Fergie feels the same way too.
[Steve]
Relax mate, I love our team and all our players, but I also want us to get even better. Scouser/Chelski fan? Heh, Funny!
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Anyone who doubts the benefit of Carrick only as to view the trophy cabinet!!???? The proof as been simply made fact – to Pl’s and a CLCup!! He may not be the All-action midfielder offer top 4 sides have (Gerrard, Essien etc) but his passing and subtle inteligent defensive play as proved crucial. I’m Hoping we’ll see in Hargreaves that stronger play where we tend to get overrun by physical teams like Chav$ki!
Expectation will be immence. It will be hard to repeat. No team as retained the CLCup as it is known in this format. Winning the PL 3-in-a-row is rarely succeeded!
As long as we see improvement, what i would say is keep this in context if we fail to proceed as far as we expect.
IMO this team as so much potential that the future can only be RED!!
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redrants I did not say you and conner thought united are a one man team but there are a phew on here and on other forums who have said that. Andrei if you are stating nani is average because he crosses very well and creates a phew chances and dont get enough goals then you could not have been beckhams biggest fan. like I said uniteds first three victorys all came from nani’s two corners and his wonder strike that is 9 pts and we won the league by two points.
obvious ronaldo’s contribution has been massive make no mistake about that, but we have seen torres have an insane season and his influence has been has great to liverpool has ronaldo has to united and liverpool have won nothing so there is something extra and special in the united team that has won them the double.
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Conor – re your list of Nani games stats – stop showing off mate LOL!.
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I totally disagree about Carrick. He has never dominated a game like a good midfielder should. He dosen’t work enough and isn’t a great tackler. All he really offers is passing.Anderson on the other hand offers all the above traits.
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Steve; No-one here thinks we are a one man team. The only successful one man team I can remember is Maradona’s Argentina, he basically carried them to success on his own. We are the best team in Europe right now.
Paddy; Your view is shared by many, people just don’t like Carrick and probably never will. The thing is he was proven when we bought him and without him we wouldn’t have won the league this year or last, and probably would have lost to Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.
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Paddy: It is interesting then that if Carrick is so inferior to Anderson, that the greatest manager of his generation made one an ever present in the critical last dozen games of a CL/PL double season and the other barely made an appearence. Go figure
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yes paddy and paul scholes was such a great tackler and could run with the ball and close people down. I bet you are a joey barton fan to, thats why england win nothing because they lack the midfielders who can calm the game down take the sting out of the game and pass it with flair craft and guile.
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