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Manchester United Thread

Good game today, I thought with everyone thinking we would get a battering we might just sneak a 1-0 and we almost did :)) Rooney had a good game apart from the freekick he gave away which lead to the goal. Berba was poor but he can be excused for it when he's had no matches to ease himself in. Ronaldo didnt do much but again similar to Berba can be excused at this stage. Evans was good today with Rio as usual putting in his dominant performance. Overall a point was what I felt would be a good result and thats what we got. :))
 
Bingham67 said:
Ye but its not just this season he been poor guy dont deliver enough its shame because he has way more potential then he shows.
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Last season 18 goals broken foot and out of position! All stats showed he didnt play we didnt win.

Season before over 20 goals playing behind Saah. Rooney has broken his foot 3 times..give him a break.

Tevez has been great for us but he has stifled Rooney as SAF has to take into account that Rooney has pace so if the both play Rooney hs to play up top.
 
Dead Man said:
Last season 18 goals broken foot and out of position! All stats showed he didnt play we didnt win.

Season before over 20 goals playing behind Saah. Rooney has broken his foot 3 times..give him a break.

Tevez has been great for us but he has stifled Rooney as SAF has to take into account that Rooney has pace so if the both play Rooney hs to play up top.
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I know stats dont tell whole story though just because he scored dosnt mean to say he played well plenty of players do crap only to pop up score from doing bugger all in game.

Im not saying he crap player i just think he dosnt deliver to his full potential he has Ronaldo is someone i class as playing to full potential majority of time. So many times i been disappointed with his performances and i might be only one here but im not only one elsewhere thats for sure. I know his injurys have not really helped player never seem to get full potential back especially after leg break but i can only judge on what i see.

Might look over critical but i do think over rated he good player but nothing more and maybe im focusing more on bad then good but i been annoyed so many times. Even if he is played out of position or what still can show decent game imo especially if played in that position for long time you can learn to adapt.

Racking my brain to remember where played in every game last season difficult but he had good games out of position im very much sure of that.

Edit: After watching Hansen bit on Motd showed it for me i would say i was over critical with his first half as he made some good balls the pass for the goal though was only come off good because Bosingwa shocking defending. But second half was awful he played out of position ye but the balls he had to make second half were bread and butter. Especially the shot on goal failed to control his temper which cost us they didnt show the bad pass where Rooney was bullocked either but this another problem highlights dont show full picture. All the stuff he had to do was pass to someone around him and keep the ball something Rooney should been able to do with ease regardless of position on pitch that dosnt influence that. That shot was easy to put on target Rooney in form would of knocked that in they also failed to show him stumbling few times aswell once in decent position on goal.

So in a way it was 50/50 game from Rooney still think it wasnt a good game from Rooney for me he not been right for while be that something off pitch i dont know but look at Ronaldo he put all that work in to perfect how he is you dont get it all on plate. I wont deny Ronaldo form last season was alot to do with team mates including Rooney but him as himself has perfected way he play he was so raw when he come but look at him now you only reap benefits in life from hard work you put in.
 
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Aboutreika18 said:
Absolutely delighted that Park got a goal today. He's a very hard-working and underrated player
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Ye i quite like Park always seems to give his all and underratted alot wouldnt say fantastic player but good none less.

Evans was great today first half wasnt tested so much but second half he played well done what he had to really. Also question mark on Neville for me just come back from long lay off so dont want to be to critical yet so give him benefit of doubt.
 
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I think the injury to VDS might have cost us the game. If we hadnt have used that substitution up, we probably would have taken Berba off and brought on Tevez. I thought Berbatov was OK. I think we've made that signing knowing he has some quality but we havent adjusted our system to accommodate him. One thing I really like about him is that he has this coolness about him. He never seems to be panicing. It comes across a little arrogant but with a bit of confidence too. Some of his one touch passes were good especially ones he made in tight angles, kinda like what Saha would sometimes randomly pull off. I think he needs some time and will have to be ready to be 2nd choice before he really starts scoring like we know he can.
Overall, I thought it was a decent performance considering how early it was in the season and the players we were fielding. We have to remember its Chelsea, so a draw isnt as bad as one against any other team that we arent competing with.
 
A draw not bad result but i think it was frustrating for me amount of 1-0 leads we take but fail to kill off the game and pay price.

Game was there for taking at beginning of game i was really surprised how Chelsea turned up they looked rather shellshocked. (Deco injury maybe surely not?) I was expecting them to attack more then they did straight off but then they got the form back as match went on.

Its crap start to season but so was last season thing will improve im sure of that it has been tough start team wise.
 
I'm more frustrated with the fact that we came close to ending their home record but failed. It would have meant more to me than the 3 points.
 
I'd of bitten your hand off for a 1-1 before the game, so I guess I'll take it. I think it's important to have some perspective on the season so far. For me the hardest 4 away trips in the prem are: L'arse, Pool, Chelski and Pompey. And we've limped through 3 of them already. So hopefully we can now get on with things.

One thing I do find bizarre (along with having those 3 matches in our first 4) is this, listing each mid-week European match and following weekend fixture (except Pool). Check the pattern:
UEFA Super Cup
Away to Liverpool
UEFA CL Group Round 1
Away to Chelsea
UEFA CL Group Round 2
Away to Blackburn
UEFA CL Group Round 3
Away to Everton
UEFA CL Group Round 4
Away to Arsenal
UEFA CL Group Round 5
Away to Man City
UEFA CL Group Round 6
Away to Tottenham

I mean, seriously, can anyone look at that and not raise an eyebrow? Our away matches against almost the entire prospective top 10 follow a mid-week European game.
 
It was an acceptable result to be honest.Well,my formation was not meant to be but we did locked them down in the first half and 15mins into the second.The game was blown open when Ronaldo was introduced.I guess the gaffer was going to kill the game by sending on Golden Boy.Wrong move.

The goal we concede was Berbatov's fault.The line was well pushed when the freekick was swung in by Lampard.Berbatov however played Kalou onside by not paying attention to the line hence,the goal.

Berbatov,Ronaldo,Neville looked well short of fitness.They should be given more games,especially the Bulgarian,so as to achieve mutual understanding on the pitch with his team mates.

A predicted result but on another day,it could well be 3 points for us.
 
I was suprised Wes didn't play as well. I'd have played him instead of Neville purely because he's quicker. Neville made a silly foul just outside our box in the second half just because he was worried that Drogba would skin him, instead of just forcing him into the corner. But we got a point and should still be pleased with it. If we win our game in hand we'll only be 3 pts behind (though we have to win it first).

Lee Dixon has a good article up on the BBC site showing why we did well against Chelsea: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7629224.stm

Whilst Ronaldo is getting his fitness back I'd like to see us play Rooney & Tevez behind Berbatov against Bolton, with 3 in the middle - Hargreaves, Anderson & Park. I reckon it would work, and if not we can bring Ronaldo on for Berbatov and go back to our default tactics of 4-5 players who change interchange positions.
 
Jamesy said:
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Lee Dixon has a good article up on the BBC site showing why we did well against Chelsea: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7629224.stm
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well, if we leave out the part where he seems to imply that both chelsea's fulbacks push on the same time (wich is a ridiculous bullshit, that no coach in this world would ever allow to his fullbacks), it was a pretty decent read.

the marking on the fullbacks wasn't really intensive however, as bosingwa often found a freeway ahead of him, and ashley cole often performed some terrible crosses from the 3\4 pitch, even when there was room for keep pushing and trying a proper cross from the goal line (i also saw scolari yelling at him more than once...... he was probably screaming something like "keep running u damn bastard! stop crossing from that position!!" :LOL:).

both park and hargreaves were set on coverage rather than marking, wich was actually a pretty gode move, as they were pretty much perfect. we can't say the same about evra instead, who definitely lost the matchup versus joe cole . i can remember at least 3 big marking mistakes by evra, who allowed joe cole to cut on the centre any time he wanted to.

pretending rooney didn't play a good match is absolutely unagreable imo. he did the usual great job in attracting the opposite defenders (and mikel, who almost played as an advanced libero :SS), and by doing this he also gave a big help to berbatov. moreover he did a fantastic play and the 10th minute (great shot) and served a sweet assist to ferdinand, just a few minutes later... not to mention that great vertical opening for evra, in the action that brought to park's goal.
sometimes he doesn't show a lot of coolness in finishing the plays, but, given all the hard work he does everytime, this is absolutely justifiable (especially if we consider he still didn't reach his best form).

lot of people keep praising tevez's hard work, wich is agreable. but i honestly have the feeling many man utd fans don't rate properly ronney's great contribution. tevez continuous movements are aimed to double the markings on the opponent ball carrier.
well rooney does it aswell, but with his "sacrifice" not only he puts a lot of pressure on the opponent ball carrier, but he also leaves "sweet" holes in the opponent's backfield, by attracting at least 1 defender and leaving some free space upfront. this free space has been (and i'm not just talking about last match, i'm talking about the whole last season) vital for ronaldo's, giggs's and scholes's cuts, whose job was made much easier by rooney's off the ball movements.

u guys have one of the most brilliant and unique attacking players in europe today. rooney deserves much more credit than he gets imo, considering what he has been doing in the last 2 seasons. up until last season there was just 1 foward in europe able to do what rooney does; totti. but last season rooney proved he can do totti's job, even better than totti himself (wich is something i never expected).
and u can be sure that the next ballon d'or (ronaldo) is very, very grateful to rooney, as wayne was one of the main factors in ronaldo's performances last season.

getting back to the match, i thought fletcher and evans were brilliant. evans especially was almost perfect.

about berbatov it's pretty obvious he's still far from having a decent form. but i can already see him getting inside manchester gameplan pretty soon, as his first 25 minutes were very good. then he slowly disappeared from the pitch (he has huge responsabilities in kalou's goal, as Phrase pointed out), but that's quite obvious, since he wasn't able to face a proper summer athletic training (let's not forget he joined manchester very late in the transfers window). :))

anyway it was a nice match to watch, from a neutral point of view. talking about technique, it wasn't really a great match, but that's pretty natural, as we're still early in the season, and many players are still in a bad shape.
and it wasn't great under the tactical aspect either, as chelsea looked quite a mess, speaking of tactics (but they have their injury problems, so that's pretty normal too).
anyhow still it was a very intense match (as only premiership matches can be), with some moments of sexy football (especially from man utd). :))
 
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matherto said:
Evra is probably the best attacking full back in the world. Whether hes the best full back in the world overall is up for debate of course.
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in order to say that one player is the best in the world in his role, u should follow all the top leagues on a regular basis, Matherto. ;)

evra is one of the best attacking LEFTbacks in europe, not the best (as there's no such thing as a world's best in this role atm).
and, given his attacking skills, he's also one of the best overall LEFTbacks in europe, but once again, not THE best. :))
 
It would be nice to hear your thoughts about the Liverpool-United game too Ben :-pp

Very, very impressed with Evans.
 
Pogatetz just completely nailed Possebon. Dont know how bad he is but he needed oxygen and had his leg strapped up, reminded me of the Eduardo tackle big time. Poor guy, I really like him as a player, hope he hasnt broken his leg.
 
Ye he went right through him got the ball but legs were high deserved sending off for me was shocking and dont look good with oxygen and all.

Was decent game from us though Anderson, Nani, Ronaldo tearing up first half. Good header from Ronaldo for first cant have to much complaints about there goal was good finish. Game was there for taking after sending off and took advantage mistake in defence from Boro left Giggs through and dinked it over Jones to make it 2-1.

Got to see abit of Manucho didnt do to bad for brief spell was on and Nani completed scoring in 90 min good game overall. :))
 
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Aboutreika18 said:
Dani Alves, Phillip Lahm and Sergio Ramos might have something to say about that. ;))
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Having seen Alves against Gijon, he's got the athleticism but he's not brilliant. Maybe it's just the bedding in phase for Barca because I know how good he was for Sevilla.

Lahm doesn't quite have the pace of Evra, but hes better defensively from what I've seen (Euro 08 final not withstanding)

And Ramos has the full lot, hes the perfect full back IMO.

But as far as attacking purely, from what I've seen, and lo zio, granted I don't watch every league religously, but I do see a lot of matches from different leagues, I've not seen a full back since Roberto Carlos that attacks like Evra can.

Probably something to do with him being an ex-striker eh? :))
 
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