Manchester United Thread

Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Everton this weekend, we usually do well against them at home, but in football these trends are meant to be broken , think they'll be up for it given their league position.

- Manchester United are unbeaten at home to Everton in the past 18 league meetings spanning nearly 20 years (W15, D3).

I believe Baines and Rodwell are injured, Baines being out in particular is a big bonus given his ability to whip in a dangerous cross or free kick. I'm guessing Gibson is available though, that worries me, a point to prove, can't let him shoot.

Oh, and we play before City, so it's a chance to put pressure on them, even if they are playing the imploding Wolves team, might make them think twice.
 
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Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

If City drop points against Wolves I will eat a football. Not going to happen.

This has always been the big match for me. I think if we take all 3 points, we'll win the league, but if we don't, then we might well lose it. Even a draw isn't helpful, really, because of the goal difference being pretty much over.

Will be an interesting match. Though we have a good record against them, it's always hard. I remember jumping up and down when Hernandez scored late last year. We've hardly looked like scoring much in the past few matches, could be a long day for United fans (as always).
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Cheers Pipa, get a curse in straight away :P

I think it'll be nervy and tough at first. Wonder if Young can get us another penalty.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Young to get a broken leg and sent off for diving.

I think it'll be nervy as fuck, I hope we score early but even if we do I can see it being 1-0 with 10 minutes to go and the nerves start to kick in.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

come on guys, you have the edge to win the title.. as much as i hate to realise it... i think you deserve it more than City...becouse they were the spenders and big favourites..i even gave Chelsea more chances to win it this season than to you...
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Problem is all of our success since Scholsey came back is still papering over the fact that we don't have a fully 'great' squad. Even in the past 4 or 5 matches we've only looked dangerous at times, and have had to rely on 2 dodgy penalties to take the lead in matches (to be fair in both we most likely would have won and were dominated, but still).

Everton will be a real test. Hopefully Gibson doesn't bring his shooting boots - he's yet to lose a league match for Everton!
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

United do have problems going forward from this season. There's no doubt in my mind that Scholes has been the driving force behind the recent resurgence, and without him, United would have drifted behind City. So kudos to Scholes and I guess Fergie for re-instating him to the side. But this isn't a long term solution, and everyone knows it.

Saying that, and with all the criticism they get for the type of team they are this year, I think it's been a truly stunning achievement if United go on to win the league. Let's not forget, that with this team they still have one of their biggest points tallies to win the league ever.

As a Liverpool fan, it pains me to see Man Utd winning this era. But over the last couple of years my hatred has turned to grudging respect, and now, I have more animosity towards City just because of their spending power and the way they have 'just arrived' on the scene. In previous years, I would have wanted anybody to beat United to the title, but this year, I genuinely hope they go on to do it. For me, it would be a tale of tenacity and teamwork v money and ego.

Now the refereeing decisions Man Utd get....well that's another story....
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

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Followed by

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That is all.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Think we need to revert back to the 451/433 next season, Fellani the free man in this game and caused us all sorts of problems. Almost certainly should of gone that way at 4-2.

What a game, and some of the goals were very special from both teams.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

I don't think I've ever seen such a complacent team. How many leads have we thrown away this season?
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

It's not just leads, we only begin to start playing when we concede also. :(( That's ruined my evening. ABU heaven, today won't be a good day.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

It was supposed to be "Simples" today Met.
I bet the hairdryer was blowin hot in the dressing room after the game just now.

Credits to Everton.4 goals at OT is no easy feat.Thats a 8 goal thriller with no winner!

Football...Bloody hell.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

4-2 up, at home with 15 minutes left.

Anyway, as much as I hate to say it - credit to City. They had their wobble, and when the win the title they will have won their last 6 matches. That is clutch form under pressure.

Our squad has never been good enough to compete with City. As a quick reminder - in 3 years City have spent more than United have in 20 years. That is the discrepency in squad quality right there. We've relied on players like Welbeck, Jones, Hernadez, Scholes and Giggs while City have Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko, Balotelli and Silva.

The very fact that we're anywhere near them is a testament to the lack of quality in the league overall, imo. I used to give the credit to Fergie, but in every match we've lost this year he has been woefully outdone tactically. Today, up 4-2 in an open game he didn't change a thing. We've seen it time and time again this season - leaving Giggs on despite offering nothing, playing bizarre formations in Europe.

Anyway it's a great day for City, but I cannot believe their fans don't see the bittersweet nature of winning a title being reliant on a player tha tso badly doesn't want to play for their club that he flew halfway across the world to play golf instead. But what do I know.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Feels like Blackburn away in 2009/10.

Just a sense of loss.

Still in our hands but don't fancy our chances at the Etihad.

Never do it the easy way.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

So far this season according to some fans, we've lost it, we've won it, then lost it again, and the season hasn't even ended yet.

Football wouldn't be football with these ups and downs. The fans, manager, players need to be positive going into this next match and believe we can get a result.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Ay, had the day to calm down the nerves for now but it will be pretty unbearable on the 29th, feels a bit like a CL Final.

Could do with this guy to calm us down.
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Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

We've still got the another Portuguese lad who'll do :))

"There is anger from the players because we wanted to win (against Everton)," Nani told MUTV.

"We're disappointed to lose four goals. But that's football. It can happen sometimes.

"We have to keep believing in our qualities because we still have a great opportunity to win the title. It's a huge game.

"It will be a difficult game, but if you want to win the league you cannot think about the atmosphere or the opponents. Of course (we can win)."

Added so much to the offensive side of the team and we've missed his quality badly, I don't think we really need to worry about creating/scoring when we get the trio of Scholes, Nani and Rooney in the team unfortunately it just coincided with the defense collapsing.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Ahead of the title decider (and let's face it - it will be a title decider), wanted to review expectations and the season in general, so it won't be biased depending on the result. Curious what others think.

At the start of the season, and given the new players arriving at Pool, Chelsea and City, I thought if we stayed in the CL positions and also managed a good cup run or two then it would be a great season. I hoped that we'd see many young players bedded, especially after several impressed so much in the summer tour. Cleverley, Smalling, De Gea and Welbeck all looked set to feature heavily in the season, and the throw back to relying on youth was something I was really looking forward to.

I genuinely did not expect us to be up near the title by the end of the year. We still had a dodgy midfield, had just lost Scholes, Hargreaves and clearly something was up with Fletch yet no replacement had come in. City on the other hand had added Dzeko, Nasri and Aguero in the past few months - genuine world class, proven talent. Chelsea had spent >£100m as had Liverpool, so I expected them to both be better squads than ours - though a bit older with less potential. Our defence was going to feature Smalling, Jones and the twins - none of which have great experience yet, and be put in front of a new keeper who himself was young and unproven in the prem. I expected Vidic to be our most important player, and Ferdinand to barely feature. I thought the title was going to be between Chelsea and City - and that Fergie would have to focus on cup runs as we didn't have the quality over the course of the season.

So here we are. There have been some disappointments: a lot of our youth players actually haven't bedded as well as we thought. Smalling, Chicarito, Jones and Anderson have all been mixed all year, very rarely showing that quality that you need to make it at United. Losing Vidic has been huge, probably the singe worst player we could have lost (including Rooney). We had an unlucky draw in the FA Cup (the two hardest away fixtures in a row so early in the competition) and duly went out. We f*cked about in the Carling Cup again, and went out - and for some reason Fergie f*cked about in the Champions League and paid the price there.

But the league has been a monumental surprise. Despite having an out of form captain playing every match all season, a limited central midfield dependent on an un-retired 37 year old we're still in with a shout. So of course, had someone offered me a 3 point lead going into the final showdown of the season I'd of bitten the proverbial hand off. Put it in perspective, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liveprool fans would love to be in this race.

So regardless of the sheer deflation we may be about to feel on Monday (and losing an 8 point lead to CITY is so un-United and un-Fergie I almost want to crawl under my desk and cry) I think most of us would be happy with this situation, back in August. If we end up potless, I don't think we can call the season a failure, and I think we're heading in the right direction. Our squad is young, talented and have shown occasional glimpses that this could be a very, very formidable team with a few additions.

Whatever happens Monday, the future is still bright, and for me this season has shown far more promise that I could have hoped for back in August.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

I'm looking forward to being a transfer muppet this summer.

Actually feels like we might bring someone in who might have been wanted by a lot of clubs/other fans.

It's quite clear where we are with this squad. As you said, they're young, there are glimpses of just what we could become and that's more positive than anything this year.

We've capitulated and lost titles before (Arsenal 97/98) and it felt absolutely huge, but then the year after we won the treble so who knows what'll happen this time round.

I've been fretting about Monday ever since Pienaar scored last weekend but I'm not so sure it'll be a walkover for City. That said, if I'm even remotely positive about us then we lose so feeling like this isn't a good thing.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

I think taking everything into account if we lose the title to City on Monday the season's ultimately been a failure. It's just my general feeling on it.

I think we've got a really good team, potentially great but I do think we dropped the ball in the Summer with certain signings and maybe not making certain signings but in the whole we've bought a lot of potential that has yet to prove themselves but look good/OK at the minute. SAF has been quite stubborn with his philosophy of "Well he's not as good as Scholesy so what's the point" and I get that but we have to be realistic in that were not probably going to find someone THAT good (and he really is! in 6 months off and he's walked the league) and it meant in the end we only really stepped it up once he returned from retirement.

Young for 18M. He's not a bad player, he's pretty good but I still just don't get it. I mean could we not have invested that in a CM instead or even if we did sign a winger could it not have been someone whose maybe a bit more raw but with a lot of potential (funny were STILL being linked to these type of players!)

In terms of are competition, I'll be honest I felt they all went backwards apart from City and Spurs and both went from fighting for 4th to the 2nd and 3rd best teams before Arsenal finally got it together a bit, in all honesty I didn't expect much competition domestically this year so City did surprise me as I expected this was a year too soon for the challenge they provided.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

I would agree with you but City are likely to post a points total > 90 points - which is phenomenal whichever way you look at it.

We'll likely achieve more points than last season, when I felt we massively overachieved. At some point you just have to hold your hands up and say, yes with £500m in transfers and LOSING £150m a year in operating costs you can indeed buy the league (not the least bit bitter ;))
 
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Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

It's a guarantee that City will win the league at some point soon.

Just a miracle that they haven't already this year.
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Argh, just when I thought it couldn't get worse, apparently Nani is injured again. This season we've almost had literally 6x as many games missed by first team members as City. When did we start having such a bunch of crocks?
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Argh, just when I thought it couldn't get worse, apparently Nani is injured again. This season we've almost had literally 6x as many games missed by first team members as City. When did we start having such a bunch of crocks?

Since Quieroz left?

Dunno if you can read into it like that but we did pretty well with injuries in 07-08 (Hell, even Hargreaves played a lot), won the league and Champions League and then he leaves.

08-09 we had a defensive crisis in the midst of the long run without conceding if I remember correctly. Or at least, one of Rio or Vidic was always injured.

09-10 we have a defensive crisis culminating in playing Carrick, Fletcher and De Laet in a back three against Fulham at the Cottage.

We had a fair few last season and then this year has been beyond ridiculous and quite frankly not good enough.

Dunno what the medical team are doing but they're not doing it right. We're worse than Arsenal and that's (usually) saying something.

Also, can we please, please sign Gylfi Sigurdsson.
 
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Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Wouldn't be surprised to see Nani start Monday :P
 
Re: Manchester United Champions Thread!!!19!!!!!

Also, can we please, please sign Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Yes please! Wouldn't cost the world, has genuine talent and a goal threat from the centre of midfield - something we really lack.

My only concern is that I've never seen him as part of a midfield 2 - at both Reading and Swansea he normally had 2 other players around him. Not sure what he did at Hoffenheim.

My first choice is still Javi Martinez. Personally I think he'll go to Barcelona and play as a CB as Puyol gets phased out, but would love him as our DM.

Re: Injuries - the most worrying thing is that these aren't injury prone players. Vidic, Carrick, Valencia, Nani - none have really missed many games in the past but this season have joined the twins, Anderson, Cleverley and of course Michael Owen as perennial treatment table buddies.
 
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