Mar 06
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Manchester United: Preview
After picking up the first trophy of the season in last weekends Carling Cup final, in the process retaining the trophy and becoming the first side ever to do so. The week has since been littered with talk of the Glazers and a possible takeover from ‘the Red Knights’. Whether this will emerge as a reality remains to be seen, but one thing is certain, Wolves will be looking to take full advantage of any post-trophy winning complacency and financial speculation surrounding the club.
After midweek international duty many of the players will now have to focus on the game at Molineux against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Many would expect Edwin van der Sar to return to the Manchester United line up, though Tomasz Kuszczak will have something to say about that. A good display in the Carling Cup final and more over the same in midweek for Poland, the PIG will be looking to a prolonged run in the team.
Rio Ferdinand is available for selection and should partner Nemanja Vidic in central defence. Patrice Evra will be at left-back as ever, and Gary Neville may get the nod over Rafael on the right side against weaker opposition and due to the Brazilian carrying a slight knock. Jonny Evans will miss the game with a knee injury.
Some semi-exciting news, Owen Hargreaves looks likely to play for the reserves in midweek, so he may be in for a first team call-up very soon indeed, but Wolves have came maybe a week too soon. Anderson is out for the season and Giggs is still sidelined with a broken arm. It would not be surprising if United lined up with five across the middle, Antonio Valencia on the right, making his 100th Premier League start. Nani is back from suspension, so could be on the left, but Ji-Sung Park will probably get the nod. Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick should be the central midfield trio.
We have all heard the news that Michael Owen is out of the remainder of the season with a hamstring problem, so it seems we have an issue with our strikers. Wayne Rooney is also a doubt with a knee problem and Federico Macheda is only just returning from long-term absence. So the responsibility to lead the United front line should fall to Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian still has doubters and a good performance leading the line on his own will do nothing but help his case.
Sir Alex Ferguson though expects a battle, he said, “It’s a real dogfight down there. Wolves are fighting for their lives so we expect a difficult match. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re in a situation now where we need to win all of our games. They have to gather points to stay in the league, and it’s the same for all the other teams down there. It’s not easy, but knowing Mick, he’s never been one to shirk a challenge. There is no doubt that they will have a go at us. We’ll just have to make sure we’re prepared for a battle.”
All the talk after the reverse fixture in December was about Mick McCarthy’s decision to field a weakened team, a suspended £25,000 fine will put a stop to any likelihood of a repeat as the Yorkshireman is likely to field an unchanged side from the one that was beaten by Bolton last weekend.
The main dangerman for Wolves this season has been Kevin Doyle, the clubs top scorer with six goals thus far. Jody Craddock is having something of an Indian summer in the gold and black, whilst also contributing four strikes to aid the anti-relegation cause. One player of interest to United fans will be Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, a goal machine in the Championship, has struggled with the step up scoring a paltry goal in the Premier League this season.
Doyle does seem optimistic, stating “United have so many games and, no matter how good a player you are, with that amount of matches, it is difficult to do it week in and week out. I think that is why you have seen some of the results this season, with the top teams beaten. We have less games to play all season, so that is an advantage and hopefully that will show on Saturday.”
Wolves’ only victory in 14 Premier League matches against Big Four opposition was at home to Manchester United in January 2004. A 1-0 win, though last time the side met at Molineux United were 3-0 victors, in the FA Cup four years ago. As well as being the Premier Leagues lowest scorers with 21 goals, Wolves have failed to score in 12 of their 27 league matches this season.
United on the other hand have only won two of their last six away matches in the league and failed to win in both previous Premier League visits to promoted clubs this season.
A battle will ensue, that is certain. Wolves are fighting for their lives and may feel they have something to prove with a full strength side on show, but United are beginning to move into top gear and the Carling Cup may well act as a catalyst for a rousing performance.
Prediction: 3-0 United
Probable Line Up: van der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Neville; Valencia, Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Park; Berbatov
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- Manchester United 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Park Provides Inspiration To A Poor United Side
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Manchester United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers: Preview
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (487)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@CraigMc</ I think we will be fine with Fabio as Evras backup. But i do agree that Evra needs to be rested at least a few games! Fabio can easily start against the likes of wolves hull etc. giving him the much needed confidence that rafael has acquired. PLUS we have DeLaet and Oshea if reqd.
I would also prefer Di maria to joe cole (with his wage demands). J Cole has not looked sharp since return. maybe he will be much better next year but remember he is 28 already! so might not be a good bet. would be better to have Di maria with Park/Obertan as backup and also Giggs will be there next year for sure as fit as ever. Nani and Valencia can fight out right as many folks have mentioned. So all in Di Maria + Benzema should be good buys. Midfield, would prefer Rodwell or at least Sissoko for sure. BUT we wont get money to buy all these players unless we sell Ando, Carrick (am still not a fan) and maybe couple of fringe players. Icing on the cake would be Hargo returning fit!!
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http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/2292/editorials/2010/03/09/1824442/top-10-most-overrated-players Interesting link. Rio is on the list
and also Veloso!
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@godzilla: Pfff I’d take anything written on Goal.com with a pinch of salt. What defender wouldn’t suffer without another CB to partner them??
Also his troubles this year mostly concern being injured 99% of the time and he’s always been considered error-prone by just about everyone. Still a class act when fit.
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I still think we are all playing football manager. We are not Manchester City or Real Madrid. With debts as big of ours, where an earth are we going to find £80 million? The Ronaldo money went into meeting our interest payments. If you look at our financial accounts last year we only just broke even, which means without the Ronaldo money we would have had losses of around £50 million.
The most I can imagine us getting is around £50 million. And you can guarantee with Chelsea, City, Real Madrid all active in the transfer market, player prices are going to go through the roof.
Di Maria will cost at least £30 million. If Benzema is available Madrid will not sell him to us and if they do they will make us pay £30 million to recover their money. Goalkeepers such as Akinfeev and Neuer will cost at least £20 million. And Rodwell will cost £20 million despite only having a handful of games for Everton.
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@colver: That’s what I DISRESPECT about Fergie – always lying to the fans to save either his own face, Gill’s face or the Glazers. What’s their to respect about Management lying to the supporters, and especially to the most loyal supporters in the world?
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@[OPTI]Madschester United: You have got a new Game Theory mate
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BN : Brown is out for 4 to 6 weeks with a broken Metatarsal
GN : Rooney is fit, and trained with the squad this morning
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@colver: Like I said above, we were talking about fixing our problems, and who those players where after considering the factors. I strongly believe the Glazers will dig £80mil from somewhere for Fergie to spend, claiming it is the Ronaldo money that was ‘there all along’ as an attempt to quell the fans protest (as many fans would accept this line). Who have we been scouting, and who does Fergie love… and those were the names.
Obviously without that assumption, we’ll probably sign Joe Cole (and I think we will anyway) and Valon Behrami.
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Rooney’s fit, which gives SAF a big balls test – does he play Berbatov? As one who believes his presence is underrated, I hope so, particularly as we have a lack of quality in midfield, and a Berba-outlet will be a welcome relief valve. That said, I’d find it hard to scrap Nani or Park, just due to their speed and ability on the counter. If he’s feeling reckless, I hope to see:
————-VDS————
-Rafa—-Rio—Vida–Evra—
——Scholes-Fletch——–
-Nani——-Berba—-Park—
————Roon————
With a view to bring on Valencia at 60 mins to exploit space.
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Traverse, well I hope for the sake of our club you are right. I just have no idea where the money would come from, other than by borrowing MORE money….and that surely isn’t going to be good for the club. As I mentioned earlier, without the Ronaldo sale we were loss making last season and all the Ronaldo sale did was cover our losses so we broke even. Do we really want to mortgage our future any more?
But if £80 million does magically materialise:
Behrami and Joe Cole are both injury prone and although more realistic deals as they would come on the cheap (or in Cole’s case for free) Id prefer someone more reliable. We do not want another Hargreaves or Owen.
I’d like to try for David Silva and David Villa. Silva would add some creativity and Villa is a goal machine. If we bid £50 million for the pair, Valencia may be tempted.
Benzema seems to have attitude problems and I do not see him enjoying being part of a squad rotation system at United. As for Di Maria, everyone in Europe seems to want him and figures of £30 million are ridiculous for a player who isn’t proven at the highest level and plays in an inferior league. There is too much risk involved.
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@[OPTI]Madschester United: Obertan is not a naturally left sided player. I don’t know if you have noticed but like Nani, he avoids using his left foot and cannot cross with the left which makes his game predictable and slow on that side. As for Giggs, forget about it. Giggsy has long been removed from being a left winger except for maybe as a sub. His pace is gone and so Fergie wisely moved him into a more central role. Didn’t you get the memo?
Also, focussing on a goalkeeper is the most important position for this team over the next few seasons.
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@RM: I hate them mate but I do not like to laugh at the misfortune of any other team because one day that team could be us. Remember, this team will not be managed by Fergie forever. And the cracks have started to show this season thanks to the Glazer’s lack of care. So be careful who you make fun of, you could be somebody else’s target in the not to distant future.
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@RM: You mean that same United side that has lost three straight to LIVERPOOL?
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@Man Utd Jaluo: Yes indeed, Diouf is another Gerd Mueller when it comes to positioning. The boy has a great radar for finding the right spot. And then he becomes Professor Stephen Hawking when it comes to finishing.
Enough already with this glass 1/10 full crap that some of you spout like poverty stricken children who are content with the wooden toy in the sandbox while everybody else gets Transformers to play with. 
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@Man Utd Jaluo: Fabio seems to be made of glass. The twins came to the club and Fabio was the more more highly rated of the two, but he cannot seem to stay on the pitch without picking up an injury. Injuries and competing at LB with Evra has meant he hasn’t progressed like Rafa on the right. He hasn’t been able to take his opportunities like Rafael because he always has to subbed when he has been given time on the pitch.
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We have a real selection problem on Wednesday. With Carrick and Anderson out, Scholes and Fletcher are the only experienced midfielders we have. There is no way I want us playing Gibson, who is Championship standard at best.
But then the problem with playing Berbatov is that our best chances against AC Milan are going to come on the counter attack and Berbatov will slow us down.
I’d go for a 4-4-2 with Berbatov simply because if Berbatov plays deep we will do better at keeping possession and that will go a long way towards keeping Milan from hurting us.
The other interesting option is to play Park in the middle to mark Pirlo like in the first leg and play Nani and Valencia on either wing and go for a 4-5-1.
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@[OPTI]Madschester United: The idea of VDS getting a season contract extension to tutor a high profile future GK signing isn’t logical. Any GK signing we make will have to take full control of the position without VDS’s shadow lurking over them. Kuszczak’s rumblings to the media after VDS signed on for another year should give you an indication how well it will work out if we sign either Adler/Neuer/Akinfeev and VDS stays on the books. GK is too much of a fixed position to sign a new keeper for £15-25m and still have a veteran but highly capable keeper like VDS around. If and when VDS wants to stay on to mentor the young keepers at United he needs to retire and join the coaching staff to allow them to have their chance. It wouldn’t work out like the Owen/Larsson signings to partner/mentor Rooney because I doubt VDS would accept a bit part role. Think of Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann or Lehmann and Almunia.
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@Traverse: What makes you think we’re looking at Behrami. There’s no talk in the media and he has never been singled out or mentioned by Fergie or any of the players.
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@rsg:
PIG has also commented on MUTV that VDS has never offered any words of advice or encouragement to him or foster – now this mite be just his focus to stay the top keeper at utd, but it could also be that he doesnt see himself as (or want to be) a coach. or maybe he just doesnt like his understudies very much lol
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@Beachryan: I doubt we will play Berba and Rooney with two wide men leaving only Fletcher and Scholes in midfield. Fergie doesn’t have the faith in our midfield to only play 2 CMs and he’s probably right. Especially in a Champions League game, against Milan with their midfield and considering how the 1st half went against them the last time around. In the Eveton game at 1-1 Fergie showed his cautious approach and lack of confidence in our midfield by taking off Berba and replacing him with Scholes. Expect more of the same.
Berba and Rooney could both start if Park is given a free role with Pirlo marking duties, Valencia or Nani on the RW and 2 out of Fletcher/Carrick/Scholes in midfield. But that will mean there’s no threat on the LW, as usual.
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@colver: I forgot about Carrick’s red card.
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@rsg: Fabio is no more injury prone than his brother. The real reason you don’t see him as much is because he has not grasped the defensive part of the game as well as Rafael and because he has a world class LB in front of him by the name of Evra. Rafael only has Neville, and a couple of CB’s who masquerade as RB’s in his way.
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@rsg: The bottom line is EVDS will be a our starter next season which means Fergie is going to hold of for one more year before buying his true replacement. This means a year of Foster as the backup and United will search for a cheap #3 guy to replace Pig who is smart to leave because after his great play this season, he still has received no bloody respect or appreciation.
I see Neuer being out of the picture because I feel Bayern will pounce and buy him because they want a sure fire star keeper for years to come and because Neuer’s steady girlfriend lives in Munich. Adler is a possibility in two years as his contract is not up at Leverkusen and Akinfeev in my books is not good enough.
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@Grognard: Have we made the step to calling him ‘World Class’ from ‘Skinned Sausage’ ?
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@rsg: I’ve seen it in the papers that Fergie has had him watched, and he isn’t signing an improved contract with West Ham.
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@rsg: Milan has to attack so a team that is built for the counter for me is the best matchup. I sit Berba down and play the lineup Fergie used vs Arsenal with Rooney all alone up front and hoping to get support from either Nani or Valencia on the right and hope that a stacked midfield will lessen the quality and quantity of distribution into the Milan forwards.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the game. I heard yesterday that no team in the history of the Champions League has ever come back after losing the first leg at home to capture the tie. This historical note speaks volumes for me and tells all of us how uphill Milan’s task is. If I had to predict an outcome tomorrow, it would be 1-1. United should be cautious but be willing to counter with pace. An early goal by us will open the floodgates, but I think it will be a tight game with little room in the center of midfield and United playing a patient ball control game. No Carrick will make it hard as we are also missing Anderson as a backup. This is why I think Fergie has no choice but to go with a 4-3-3 as he doesn’t have enough central midfielders.
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@Grognard: I agree that Rafael doesn’t have the same competition on the right so he has an easier time getting games under his belt, although I don’t understand him being favored over Wes when fit at RB. I seriously reckon Fabio is made of glass, whenever I think back to him getting playing time for the first team I always remember him getting sent off or substituted as well from some injury. If anyone has his official game stats to confirm or disprove this, it would help. I don’t know if this is also true for reserve games. Maybe the kid is just unlucky, when fit he will never get his chance because of Evra and when given a chance to play he can’t seem to stay on the pitch.
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@[OPTI]Madschester United: I agree on benzema and I think its still too early to know how fergi will spend this summer.
If one of Kiko or Diouf can impress enough before the market opens they may just keep benz away. And if it turns out we need him so bad we can trade vida for him summer after this as he will be a year older and we may have some backup ready.
Hargo has a chance to postpone a new midfield purchase.
That said Dimarea looks to be a real target as the david silva rumors have slowed down. ether would be great.
that leaves a keeper to buy and ill leave that speculation to the keeper watchers on here.
but i would expect PIG to leave if we bring someone else in. so there is a little $$ comming back. maybe 3-4m and
gibson can probably go as well he seems to have been an experiment that didnt come off too well. We needed goals from mf and he has that cannon. too bad.
I see no reason we cant get a lw, keeper, and young cm this summer but well prolly shoot our wad on benz only to have him pissed off and on the bench.
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If we go with a 4-5-1 who do we play in midfield? I like the idea of playing Park in a free role marking Pirlo, but I am not comfortable starting Gibson. For me he is next to useless.
Milan have an uphill battle but with players like Ronaldinho, Inzaghi and Pato they have players who can win matches. They managed three goals at Real’s home ground and while our defence is better than Real’s our midfield can be sieve like at times and Vidic and Rio are a bit short of match fitness.
As Fergie often says, records are there to be broken and a team as experienced as Milan will not be overawed by Old Trafford.
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@ rsg – Yeah exactly what I meant, Park and Berba always dropping in to make it a 3 when we don’t have the ball, and moving back up when we do. Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve played asymmetrically. It would be more of a 433, or a 4411 then 442. Fergie will rightly be a bit cautious. But with only Scholes being able to pick a counter attacking pass I think we might need Berba to give us some relief from a constant barrage.
Dunno. Guess we’ll find out!
Hope Arsenal win tonight. Still bitter about Porto loss a few years back. For so many reasons.
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@rsg: rafael was like that too but off late you can see that he has buffed up a bit which if Fabio can emulate would be a welcome addition even if he is a right footed left back…
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This summer our priority should be a couple of midfielders as replacements for Giggs and Scholes both of whom should be slowly phased out next season. That means a creative midfielder and a left winger. In Fletcher and Carrick we have two defensive midfielders and even if Hargreaves does not come back we have a reasonable amount of cover for that position.
We should be wary about spending a lot of money on a striker. 4-5-1 is our formation of choice with Rooney establishing himself as a superb lone striker, and in the run of the mill league games Berbatov provides ok support and is not that injury prone. What we really need is an experienced striker who is capable of leading the line and does not mind only getting a dozen games a season. That is NOT Benzema.
I’ve heard things about a player called Zidan. He is coming up to thirty and as he plays for Dortmund he would see Manchester United as a step up. Perhaps Grognard could offer an opinion on him.
Ireland would be an interesting option for midfield. Proven in the Premiership, a goalscoring midfielder and City do not really need him. The problem is getting them to sell for us.
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I also like Hulk as a player! He and Rooney as a strike pairing would batter any defence!
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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/359591-gary-neville-a-true-manchester-united-legend
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@ Colver – I’m sorry mate but from the half dozen times or so I’ve seen Hulk play – he’s rubbish. Even more one footed then Valencia, has no football brain whatsoever and his only great feature is his ability to go in straight lines and pummel the ball. Definitely not United quality*
*If we sign him and he becomes a 30 goals a season player, I apologise in advance.
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4411 val fletch scho nani
berb
roo
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@rsg: I love Wes Brown to but the reason Wes is not favored over him has been a combination of injuries but mostly, Rafael is the club’s future at that position and it is important for him to get as much opportunity to play so that when he is fully counted in on in a year or two, he’ll be up for the task
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@gator: Mate, I’ll be amazed if Park does not start in a game where United are protecting a lead. Expect Nani to sit and Park to start on the left side to pester Beckham or even in the middle in order to pester Pirlo.
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I am amazed nobody seems to be asking where our beloved Red Ranter has been for a couple of weeks now? About ten days ago he dropped us a quick note of apology but I for one still expected him to be back soon after that. But it’s been ten days now and there isn’t any any sign of him.
If you read this RR, here’s me hoping you are alright mate and that you will be back very very soon. All the best.
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Well Rafael will get another baptism by fire from Ronaldinho. If Milan have any sense they will play two men up front so Ronaldinho can get one on one with Rafael without Rio or Vidic available to cover.
By the way Grognard, seems you are right about Bendtner. A well taken hat trick.
You have to admire Arsenal for managing five goals against Porto, who as we saw last year are no pushovers.
Lets hope tomorrow night we beat Milan comprehensively to finally lay rest the humiliation of 2007.
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VDS
Rafael Rio Vidic Evra
Valencia Fletcher Scholes Park Nani
Rooney
I’d expect Park to start over Gibson as he and Fletcher are more defensive and will do lot of legwork, which will be needed against a skilful Milan midfield.
Nani and Valencia will operate from wide and Scholes will pick out the passes.
I hope we score early, meaning Milan will need 3 to win.
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@Grognard: I think he’s still tweeting, but it is unusual for this length of absence.
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@Grognard: We can start rumors about him:
I think he is on the board of Red Knights and will use our discussions to lead United Takeover
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@Traverse: Mostly agree with that although I do think that Park will play on the left and Valencia edging out Nani on the the right.
If Fergie doesn’t want to risk playing Gibson, he’ll probably go with Berbatov in a 4-4-1-1 (which is how we usually play if both Rooney and him start) and then switch out Berbatov for Nani if we start getting pressed – basically reverting to what you’ve just said.
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@colver: I watched the Arsenal game against Porto and I find the 5-0 scoreline extremely flattering to an average Arsenal side. Arsenal gave up way too many shots and allowed Porto to get close on goal on many occasions — add to this that Almunia was as pathetic as usual. If Porto had been a decent side, Arsenal would have been lucky to get away with a draw.
Porto were extremely wasteful in possession and their defense was horrible — tripling up on any arsenal player in the box with the ball led to all their goals. The way Arshevin and Nasri walked through their defense are excellent examples of this. Allowing Bendtner to continuously win all headers did not help either.
Up front, Hulk was a shadow of what we thought he can do. Selfish and wasteful with what he had. Add into this an utterly pathetic midfield who passed the ball away constantly and you have a 5-0 beating on your hands.
Arsenal are still pants. Bring them on!
@Grognard: If no team has ever overcome a home loss in CL, I feel better. I cannot see Milan outscoring us by 2 goals at home. I have an inkling suspicion that we can win a la Roma 2007.
BELIEVE!
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@[OPTI]Madschester United: They’re not just pants, they’re girls pants – the ones with elastic waist bands, that allow for their bloated expectations!!
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@Redrich: My single greatest wish in life is for abominations like Twitter to cease and desist. The most inane and asinine invention of the new millennium. I just hate it when I hear people are “tweeting”. I love technology but not this.
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@[OPTI]Madschester United:
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@[OPTI]Madschester United: We aren’t the kind of team that can blow them out like we did Roma four years ago. I think we will play it tight. If we are lucky to get an early goal, that will open the game up and allow us to overtake them with the counter attack. Milan would be smart to not start Beckham as he was useless in the first leg. That lineup and formation Milan used did not work for them and so I expect them to make changes. If Milan’s manager wants to make a name for himself, he would best be advised to not select his team by sentimental means. I love Becks but he is not what they need in this game. Bring him in late if all they need is a goal and he may deliver the telling cross or free kick. His lack of pace hurt them in the first leg.
As for United, I expect them to come out like a ball of fire in the first 10 to 15 minutes and try to put the tie away. If it fails expect them to fall into a more patient defensive posture unless of course catastrophe happens and we fall behind 0-2. Again I will repeat my prediction is 1-1 and a bad week for Italian teams.
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@Grognard: To me it makes no sense at all. If you go on there, it’s impossible to follow what the heck people are talking about!
When I read your comment, I thought I’d go and see if his nibs is still alive – apparently he is!
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