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Manchester United Thread

Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

I think all we need in the off season is for Tevez or Berbatov to leave. As long as one stays, I think we'll be a lot more fluid and just better next season. Bottom line is that Fergie doesn't know what his best team is - and for that reason we don't really play our best unless by chance. Next year we'll be back to under 60 games a season, and hopefully it'll mean some better football.

The big problem with trying to recreate the Rooney/Ronaldo/Tevez trinity that was so good at the counter is that teams have sussed us out in that regard. Almost no teams play us committing men forward. Even Liverpool in the patented 'hammering' of us at OT still essentially played with 8 outfield players behind the ball, then hoofed up to Torres and Gerrard. Teams know that if they keep 6 men back, 2 of ours are unlikely to trouble them. Watch how teams attack on corners now, compared to two years ago - they almost never overcommit, and certainly not at 0-0. Fergie realised this, and that's why we got Berbatov, someone who is supposed to enable us to score from posession play, rather than on the counter.

Fergie's master plan is to become more like Barca - keep the ball for 60% of the match and create openings in tightly packed defenses. And it's the hardest thing to do in football, imo. We don't yet have it down, but who knows, maybe with a summer and an actual first XI (or at least a first front 3) they can get that kind of understanding.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

You might be right about Sir Alex wanting to change things because teams started to read our game better but I dont think its something that would have stopped us. Barca have been playing the same way for years and they're still unstoppable.
I think maybe with Hargreaves in the side, we were able to keep two midfielders back to hold the center of the pitch while we had (atleast it almost looked like it) 4 forwards instead of 2 forwards and 2 wide players, roaming freely.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

Some of you lot are getting carried away on a lot of things, Tevez and Rooney never were a "Great" partnership, It worked mainly down to Ronaldo's unbelievable goal return. SAF knew that Ronaldo couldnt do that again. Berbatov adds something to our team which is that calmess to keep the ball when needed and be able to bring Ronaldo and Rooney into the game.

06/07 was probably the best football I've ever seen us play, it was sheer brilliance and mainly down to Ronaldo being at the time IMO utterly head and shoulders above everyone on the right and Rooney the freedom behind Saha. I hope to see Berbatov uptop next season like he did in his first year at Spurs.

Rune Barca arent "Unstoppable" they won a football match which in turn has made them "Officially the bestest team in the world ZOMG!" they have many weakness and Chelsea showed that, I think were a much more balanced side and even if we let Tevez leave and bring in no one I'll be able to understand that. Give Rooney the Iniesta role just infront of Fletcher and Carrick and Ronnie on the right:PRAY:

Also Anyone claiming Berba would slow our attacks down or can't play uptop then watch this.

YouTube - Berbatov - Tottenham Hotspur
 
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Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

Right...Barca arent unstoppable.Its essentially the same team if not weaker than the one we drawn and beat last year...having said that,our run last year in the CL was better than this season.I didnt believed we would go all the way to the final after our mediocre group games.

This is a good read from The Sun and I think its somewhat interestingly true.

United haven't got a leader.


One a skipper in the true sense of the word, the other a focal-point centre-forward with an unerring propensity for putting the ball in the net.

What United missed more than anything in Rome’s Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night was a leader in the Keane mould.

A man that team-mates look to when the road grows steep.

A man with the bloody-minded ruthlessness to get in among players like Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

A man like Keane, who didn’t shrug his shoulders and admit the game was up when Juventus went 2-0 ahead inside 11 minutes in the Champions League semi-final second leg in Turin in 1999.

Instead he dug deep, piled into Zinedine Zidane and Edgar Davids, pulled one back himself with a header from a corner and, from then on, there was only one team in it.

When United went 1-0 down against Barcelona, their players looked around for salvation — and saw nothing.

With shoulders drooped and confidence draining away, United were rudderless.

From the early Nineties, the club has been blessed with certain players who stamped their huge character and personalities on games.

And the opposition when required.

Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Eric Cantona and Keane all spring readily to mind.

Leaders of men, hard as teak, driven individuals who never looked for excuses — least of all from themselves.

One of Ferguson’s main regrets will have been his failure to sign Michael Essien when the chance arose — even more so with the injury-prone Owen Hargreaves completing just 17 league games in 21 months.

What a difference the rock-solid Chelsea all-rounder would make to this current side.

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Or Frank Lampard, of whom Ferguson spoke so glowingly the other day. Or, in your dreams, Gerrard.

There was only one player out there on Wednesday with a similar capability to rouse a team — Wayne Rooney.

But the England man was so preoccupied with trying to find an effective role for himself within United’s swaying framework that he was caught between a rock and a hard place.

And where is the orthodox striker United need so badly?

Part of the problem pre-Rome is that they may well have been duped by the ease of their semi-final destruction of Arsenal.

Rather than coming to the conclusion that Arsene Wenger’s team was a soft touch, they congratulated themselves on the enormous success of playing Cristiano Ronaldo down the middle.

When they tried it again against a real team, they were found out.

At the same time, let’s not forget this United side has had remarkable success — three consecutive titles, a record 25 European games without defeat and back-to-back Champions League final appearances.

In many ways, it is testimony to Fergie’s ability that he has got so much out of a team that lacks certain fundamental strengths and one in which he has been forced to play too many square pegs in round holes.

Though some will say he has only been overcoming problems of his own making.

Yet as Ferguson suggested only this week, there have been a number of occasions when only good fortune and the failure of the opposition to take advantage of United’s frailties have kept them going — on both the domestic and European fronts.

Had Liverpool, beaten only twice in the league, been more ruthless at Anfield — where they dropped a staggering 14 points — they would surely have been champions.

Had Guus Hiddink been in charge of Chelsea all season, they too would have run United closer.

So what now for Ferguson?

Sadly, it would appear both Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs have had their time.

They were an integral part of the great era under youth-team coach Eric Harrison, rolling sublimely off a production line that, for the moment, has dried to a trickle.

Even more so when you consider that seven of the players who started for Barcelona in Rome came from their academy.

Are Park Ji Sung and Nani really good enough?

And what of Anderson, who blows as cold as he does hot?

And, surely, United cannot squander another £26million on Carlos Tevez?

Yet the greatest conundrum of all is Dimitar Berbatov.

It would have been almost inconceivable at the time he signed for £30.75m to predict the Bulgarian would not even make Wednesday’s starting XI.

For him then to suggest this week he would be none too confident if called upon in a penalty shootout said everything about his character.

Ferguson, though, will be intent on seeing Berbatov succeed.

For that to happen, he has to either play Rooney in front of him (which is difficult seeing as Rooney loves to drop deep) or bring in a striker like Lyon’s young Karim Benzema.

Or cut his losses.

Then there’s all the talk about Franck Ribery — an outstanding performer but, at the £40m price quoted, one seen more as a replacement for Ronaldo considering the growing concerns about United’s finances.

Most important of all, though, is the putting together of a DVD with all the composite qualities required in a new midfield powerhouse.

Perhaps they could call it “Looking for Eric, Roy and Robbo”.
 
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Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

YoungGun_UK said:
Rune Barca arent "Unstoppable" they won a football match which in turn has made them "Officially the bestest team in the world ZOMG!" they have many weakness and Chelsea showed that,
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Sorry, I think I used the wrong word with "unstoppable". I dont mean they're football Gods or anything. I mean, they've been one of the biggest teams in Europe (arguably top 3) for a very long time now and they've always played the same way. All they did was replace quality with quality and kept the ball rolling, most recently with Messi replacing Ronaldinho and Iniesta replacing Deco.
But my point was that when we were playing (what was arguably) the best football we've seen us play, we should have stuck to it regardless of how well the opposition might have "sussed" us out. We were great to the point where no matter how many players the opposition got behind the ball, we'd always crack them.
And whoever wrote that article seems to share a similar opinion on Berba as I do. And like I said myself in one of my earlier posts, him coming out and saying he doesnt want to take another penalty showed he doesnt have the character to be a United player. Remember when Ruud hit the cross bar against Arsenal and was mobbed by Keown and the rest of the gang? The character Ruud showed when he scored that next penalty against them is the complete opposite of what Berba is showing at the moment.
I think I get more annoyed at Berba the more I think about him. Imagine how Keane would have dealt with him if he was still around.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

It seems that we're being picked apart by everyone at the moment. Suddenly we have lots of problems.
Is it me or did we win three trophies this year and get to the semi and final in two more? We're shit!
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

Well right now you guys are the biggest losers in the world.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

marukomu said:
It seems that we're being picked apart by everyone at the moment. Suddenly we have lots of problems.
Is it me or did we win three trophies this year and get to the semi and final in two more? We're shit!
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Exactly

AK.Rabona said:
Well right now you guys are the biggest losers in the world.
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So winning 3 trophies and getting the final of the CL and semi of the FA cup means were "The biggest losers in the world" Yep I can see that logic

Nick Cave said:
What is true is that even with that midfield you won the League quite easily, that says a lot for the rest of the Prem...
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Are midfield is pretty good, The Premiership is up their with any league in the world and we probably do have the 3rd best midfield in the league behind Liverpool and Chelsea but overall its shown its good enough to win the PL 3 times on the trot, reach the final of the CL 2 times on the trot so it can't be that bad.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

That video you posted is top draw Young...Berba does have that zip in him in those clips,especially that goal against fulham where he sprinted past that last man and volleyed it into the net! Most of his play and goals oozes class so I hope we can whip him into shape and fitness in the summer.14 goals in 42 games is not too bad for someone who did not have a preseason stint and he came to us in January! Looking forward to a better and fitter Berba next season.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

He did. Broke the British transfer record, only for it to be broken again minutes later by Robinho.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

January?!! Sorry,what was I thinking...yeah...same time as Robinho...

Nice referral to Teddy "I Won The Lot" Sheringham...If you lot think Berbatov is too slow to play for us...Sheringham was a slouch!!
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

----------------van der sar
--brown/rafael---ferdinand---vidic----evra
-----------carrick fletcher/hargreaves
--ronaldo-------------------------------anderson/nani/park
--------------------rooney
-------------------berbatov

i think if that team was put out in the final players like rooney and ronaldo could have influenced the game and led the team, its just hard for them to do it when they're being played out of position. other than that left side i think we're sorted, even now we have enough players that can play there and hopefully one of them will step up next season.

you guys are getting way ahead of yourselves, you worry too much. i think berbatov'll come good next season, with a full training camp and this seasons experience with the team under his belt plus being hopefully fully fit he could be great.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

I'd agree with the assumption that Berbatov is being harshly treated, and in the right form he is unstoppable. I mean who else do you have, every club needs a pure CF.

I heard you were linked with Huntelaar. As Fergie likes his skillfull interchangable players, wouldn't he be a replacement for Berbatov?
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

phrase said:
Nice referral to Teddy "I Won The Lot" Sheringham...If you lot think Berbatov is too slow to play for us...Sheringham was a slouch!!
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We played a very different style of football back then. And Beckham was our main provider.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

Well the point marukomu originally meant, was that Teddy was seen as a failure in his first season and then went on to prove all the doubters wrong the next season.

The thing is with this situation, Fergie will do what he thinks is best for the club and he certainly wont be held to ransom by someone he owes nothing to and who is putting himself before the club. He saw that we were being sussed out and tried to change our style a bit and to give us a plan B he signed Berbatov.

It's being said that Berba has the wrong character to be at the club (maybe he does) but on the other hand, is someone like Tevez who undermines the boss and is putting himself before the club really the kind of player we need. I respect Carlos for what he's done for the club but some of the things he's done recently kind of annoyed me. When SAF was giving his speech at the end of the Arsenal game when we were presented with the trophy, Tevez was inciting the fans and they started chanting over Fergie. Now I'm sorry but Fergie is up there with the greatest managers of all time, 20+ years of service and loads of trophies and people were disrespecting him over a guy who is gonna leave for nothing in a few years anyway to go back to Argentina!! Work that one out.

Tevez is a mercenary, he's got no ties to us really, that will show if he signs for City or Liverpool if we don't match the fee. I'd like him to stay but I just think he's gone about this the wrong way.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

I think Trezeguet would be a delightful addition for you lot...
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

I really think Berba will come good next year - and at his price it's worth keeping him anyway! Having watched most of our games this season, he could have easily had 10 more goals had people been willing to look up and pass the ball in the box. In the run after Christmas without Rooney in particular, I got so angry watching Tevez burst into the box, take all the defense with him they blaze over, leavin ga wide open Berba standing at the back post waiting. Ronnie too. With Scholes done and Rooney off the pitch, we lack awareness, especially in the final third. Berba offers that in spades, but he's the only one which is why I think he's become such a provider.

The more it comes back to it, the more I'm ready to part with Tevez. Would have been nice, but only nice. I'd love to see our team grow next year with exactly the squad we have. The only position I'd like to see strengthened is goalkeeper, because Foster is somehow the most injured player in the squad, which is unheard of for his position. (other than Hargo).

I'm hearing mumurs that Fabio might be deployed as a LMF next year, giving us more options. From what I've seen in the reserves (that's where he plays) could certainly do a job. I held out a lot of hope for Nani, but don't know what has happened behind hte scenes. Talent, but maybe no head for it.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

You're right about Foster but we need a back up so that Foster's development isnt stifled.
Other than that, we need some midfielders I think. If/When Tevez leaves, we should push Anderson up front a bit more so that we're using Berba, Anderson, Rooney and Ronaldo while Park moves back down into midfield.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

Yeah I suppose there's Amos and Zieler from the youth team but we dont know how he'll turn out for a few years yet and Kuszsack just doesn't cut the mustard.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

I see a lot of people arguing about Berbatov / Tevez, and my opinion is they are both quality players that any team will love to have in the squad. It all depends of the kind of football you play, the depth of your squad and the management skills of the coach.

I think Manchester Utd was great this season and has benn the best team alongside Barcelona. They both were favourites and both deserved the trophy, even if Barcelona played more spectacular during the year.

People criticizing Man Utd are obviously fanboys of some kind and show little respect for football itself.

And finally, I think the real problems of Man Utd are in the midfield and you need some Xabi Alonso kind of player. Someone who can tackle, cover positions but also play short and long passing constantly. In fact, I think you need 2 players of that kind to rotate them during the year.

Next year will be hell. There are lots of matches and the world cup at the end. Teams will need that extra players to mantain the rythm all year long.

Congrats to united for a great season and good solid football during most parts of the year.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

PetrovLFC said:
I'd agree with the assumption that Berbatov is being harshly treated, and in the right form he is unstoppable. I mean who else do you have, every club needs a pure CF.

I heard you were linked with Huntelaar. As Fergie likes his skillfull interchangable players, wouldn't he be a replacement for Berbatov?
Click to expand...

Completely different players, Berbatov has footballing ability in abundance, while Huntelaar is pretty awful at everything other than finishing which he's great at.

RuneEdge said:
You're right about Foster but we need a back up so that Foster's development isnt stifled.
Other than that, we need some midfielders I think. If/When Tevez leaves, we should push Anderson up front a bit more so that we're using Berba, Anderson, Rooney and Ronaldo while Park moves back down into midfield.
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Yeh I think we'll need a to sign a keeper, Its a shame as I think we would give Foster the chance but his injury record can't be overlooked so I can see a first team keeper being brought in like Hugo Lloris or Steve Mandanda.


Some quality posts their lads, I don't agree with the fact we should bring Anderson forward as such but play him in the "hole" or out wide but he also is the potential player Drekkard is talking about us needing, the thing is he's still young and as it showed against Barca isn't ready for a test like that yet. But we do need a player like that. With Scholes and Giggs on their last legs and Hargo being out for so long another CM is needed. The LW flank is another position up for debate and with maybe a Tevez replacement needed we could be looking at 4 new players needed. I hope we can fill two of them (Mainly GK and CM) with the likes of Macheda/Wellbeck CF options and Ljajic being a real prospect on the left wing.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

I thought Tosic was the left winger , and Ljajic was more of a central play maker.Any news on how he finished the season at Belgrade and when is he likely to join us?
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

but if you bought Huntelaar, surely that would signal the end of Berba?

Huntelaar would play right up top and Rooney/Tevez?/Ronaldo would play behind or wide of him.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

northstandhero said:
I thought Tosic was the left winger , and Ljajic was more of a central play maker.Any news on how he finished the season at Belgrade and when is he likely to join us?
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Yeah that's right about the positions. Ljajic comes in January I think and as far as I know he's been doing quite well. There's a thread of redcafe following him with updates and like I said he seems to be doing okay, though nothing major. He's only 17 though so plenty of time to blossom.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

PetrovLFC said:
but if you bought Huntelaar, surely that would signal the end of Berba?

Huntelaar would play right up top and Rooney/Tevez?/Ronaldo would play behind or wide of him.
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If we bought Huntelaar, he'd either be 3rd choice to replace Tevez (which he wouldnt like as thats the reason he wants out from Madrid) or if you wanted to play him then it would be something like this

Ronaldo--Berbatov--Rooney
--------Huntelaar--------
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread.

Well well, the past few days have been funny (strange)

everyone I meet keeps talking about Utd this Utd that...

didnt we just win 4 trophies...

Yes we were outplayed by barca in the final..

but it doesnt take away from what we've done...

lol ive heard sum fans talking up their season (and they won fuck all)

anyhoo, few changes next year,

and we start again...

Have a good summer!!
 
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