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Manchester United Thread

Rooney is a special player. To get rid of him for Lewandowski would be madness. Lewandowski is completely average in comparison

Selling Rooney would be difficult. He doesn't strike me as someone who wants to live abroad, he couldn't join City after all the death threats etc. he received at mere speculation of such a move in the past, and so, other than a crazy move back to Everton involving a huge wage cut and someone like Baines/Fellaini in p/e, there's really only Chelsea
 
I think so far Ian Holloway has best summed up my opinion of the matter, I genuinely don't get the huge deal with Rooney not starting, not being in the squad would have definitely raised some worries but that wasn't the case.

Rooney is a 'World Class' player IMO but he's not our best player IMO which is probably an opinion which is held by those who were shocked that he didn't start. I just see it for exactly what it looked like, 'tactically' it made sense to play different players, had we not had Van Persie he would have unquestionably started up front as our number 9 but I think it made sense to start RVP instead, I think he's 'a little' better in that role and he's currently ahead of Rooney in that pecking order.

now looking at the three behind RVP, I think Rooney is a better player than all three at this moment in time but is he a better winger than Nani? No and the problems Nani caused Real in that hour he played were evident with the goal we scored and his general willingness to dribble out of tight area's and utilize his pace to counter attack. could Rooney have done the same job Welbeck did? maybe but he'd have brought slightly different qualities to Welbeck who similar to Nani has the tight close control and pace to hit Real quickly and also being a support link-up player (Rooney may have the edge with that though) and after the performance he put in at the Bernabeu he deserved that role and it made sense to me.

now finally we come to Giggs, I'd say this was the actual suprise with who SAF decided to put ahead of Wayne, Ryan Giggs playing his 1000th game for United tasked with the same job Rooney was asked to do which was move to the right to try and nullify Ronaldo with then having the ability to wiggle his way out of the situation and considering Rooney was sort of at fault for the goal we conceded in Madrid and generally not doing all that great in that role when deployed there at the Bernabeu and the performance Giggs then went to deliver I don't understand the 'shock' of it.

If anything Rooney wasn't even the surprise omission, Evans had a much better case of deserving to start the game but I don't see hundred's of stupid Pundit's wondering whether he's off or not, maybe Evans name wouldn't sell the same amount of paper's as Rooney's name would? :))
 
I'm starting to think Fergie was a bit slow to respond to us going down to 10 men, when you take into account how Chelsea and Inter shut out Barca in the past few seasons.

Could we have defended with a back four and a bank of five in front like Chelsea and Inter did, where Milito was moved to the right wing and Drogba to the left?

Just something to think about. I know it's no easy job shutting out Ronaldo, Ozil and co. even with 11 on the pitch but we didn't respond well enough IMO.

Our response to going 2-1 down was fantastic but by then the tie was already over.
 
Aboutreika18 said:
I'm starting to think Fergie was a bit slow to respond to us going down to 10 men, when you take into account how Chelsea and Inter shut out Barca in the past few seasons.

Could we have defended with a back four and a bank of five in front like Chelsea and Inter did, where Milito was moved to the right wing and Drogba to the left?

Just something to think about. I know it's no easy job shutting out Ronaldo, Ozil and co. even with 11 on the pitch but we didn't respond well enough IMO.

Our response to going 2-1 down was fantastic but by then the tie was already over.
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I fully agree. Even the ones that hate Utd seem to recognize the mental resilience our teams are known for. After the red card however you could tell that not just SAF but all the players were in a complete state of shock. Getting a red card when you re clearly worse than your opponent is one thing..getting it when you're in control however is another. I understand the human emotion component to it as even me as a mere viewer felt like I just had he wind knocked out if me, let alone the players on the field. Still, they re the highly paid professionals and were not. SAFs response seemed way too slow in bringing on subs or changing up the formation. After the second Madrid goal we suddenly started looking like an 11 man 10 man team..one can wonder if we d have perhaps been able to pull it into overtime had we played that way after the modric goal.

The Rooney rumors seem completely stupid to me, and mere tabloid rumors. Folks are quick to forget that we have one of Europe s most potent attacking lines this season, and Rooney continues to be a big part of that. Getting knocked out of the CL lottery changes nothing about that. I'm not sure what to make of the Lewandowski rumors.I'm not sure where he d currently fill a void.I'd be more interested in replacements/backups for Evra and Carrick. The first perhaps more so than the latter. Buttner is solid but not sure he is long term utd material. I think this summer s transfer window will be one of the most exciting we've seen in a while.
 
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United reacted bad to the red card. When Terry got his red against Barcelona last year, Chelsea reacted better.
The sending off left a hole in the team and Mourinho put Modric in that hole.
In matches like this you see that Ferguson is more of a motivator than a tactical genius. I know Ferguson is arguably the best manager ever, but even i makes mistakes. I think both he and the team were too much upset by the sending off...it happens to the best.

About Rooney: i admire his versatility. He is one of the better players in the world, but he always remained a team player.
A couple of years ago he gambled for a better contract and got one, but IMO Ferguson has never really forgiven him. With a contract like this one could expect that he has the lifestyle of an athlete (cfr. Cristiano Ronaldo), but look at his shape at the beginning of the season and there are rumors that Rooney went to a gig before the Madrid match...IMO after the contract business, Ferguson is more critical towards Rooney and IMO he has every right to be.

About Giggs: he was great against Madrid. Nice gesture aslo towards Ronaldo (the signed jersey he gifted him). He is a much underrated player, one of the alltime greats of United. There is so much fuss about Best, believe me that Giggs is a better player...
 
gerd said:
About Giggs: he was great against Madrid. Nice gesture aslo towards Ronaldo (the signed jersey he gifted him). He is a much underrated player, one of the alltime greats of United. There is so much fuss about Best, believe me that Giggs is a better player...
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George Best, once said: "Maybe one day people will say I was another Ryan Giggs."
 
SAF banned two newspapers from attending the press conference due to the Rooney leaving rumors. I guess folks who cant stand the guy will probably get some kind of twisted satisfaction out of seeing him down like this... He really seems upset. Kudos to him for saying the fans deserve a great performance after their support on Tue: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21714392
 
Yeah we did react pretty poor, we could have been a bit stronger mentally and made some adjustments and pretty much parked a '4-5' bus but I genuinely think we'd have been fighting the inevitable.

Madrid would have attacked non-stop for 30 minute's and we needed a bit of luck and Modric scoring a brilliant goal from 25-30 yards out dropped our heads knowing we'd have to score again.
 
Yeah I feel like people are slightly twisting the narrative to fit the result. For 15 minutes we were okay, defended well and didn't really give up chances. Then Modric hit in a long range goal off the post - and that's hardly a player known to do that.

If that had hit the post and stayed out, the narrative would probably have been how well resolutely United defended for 20 minutes after the sending off, and how Fergie was right not to change things around and risk it.
 
God, are you lot still talking about that decision? Pffft typical United fans, living in the past! :P


I don't think it was a red, but i can see why the ref gave it, from the view he had it looked like reckless, dangerous play, simple as that really.


One thing I would add is that Alex Ferguson has been hilarious this season, he went mental over this decision when his player is sent off for something innocuous yet it wasn't so long ago he was accusing an opposition player of attempted murder and said he should be banned for a long time for hitting van Persie in the head with the ball :LOL: Gotta love that.
 
I don't disagree there. Fergie has been all over the place this season in the press. Half the time I get it (Tuesday night, and despite the OTT comments, what Williams did was about 100x more dangerous than what Nani did) but the other half I've no idea.

He's definitely not some machievellian genius. I think he's just a grumpy old man, who happens to the best football club manager in living memory. I'm down with that.
 
It's been pointed out already but do you lot think SAF took Tuesday night so bad because it might have been his last chance at winning the CL? :ANX:
 
Well United have to get a prem team in every round (assuming they go through) and given our recent draws have been worst case scenario every time (or best case scenario if you're Sky/UEFA, weird that) I'd expect nothing less than another City/United semi final.

It's a single match at Wembley now right?
 
Again, great vision by Carrick for the pass to Hernandez...

But Cleverly and Kagawa has been playing very very poorly in this first half...giving away the ball way too easily and making poor decisions. sad to see Nani injured, but seeing him walk off the pitch again brought back some mixed emotions...haha
 
Seeing Nani appreciate the crowd and vice versa was nice to see when he came off. Perhaps the red against Real ends up being good for him in feeling appreciated in Manchester.still hope he sticks around. Once he gets his emotion under control hell find the consistency were all hoping for.

Hope RvP or Welbeck comes on soon, were looking a bit flat so far in the 2nd.

Nice goal by Hazard, don't understand why Rafa didn't start him. He gave us trouble before.
 
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yeah, Hazard is a tremendous player...especially against us. not sure why he wasn't starting instead of moses...

We did not deserve to win at all, couldn't pass, couldn't tighten up our defense, it was as if at 2-1, we still thought we'd hang on and win when Chelsea believed they could win and played with a lot of vigor...
 
Can't believe SAF didn't change the midfield. We were so far off the pace, and he did nothing to change it.

However, how good was the first goal? Might be my favourite of the season.
 
Been at work so only watched the 2nd half but that was the worst I've seen you play since the derby at our place last season.

PS. Rio is a bellend
 
What the fuck was that?

Yet again at 2-0 up we've given up and let the game pass us by. If SAF can't see it then that's the most worrying thing, don't know if it's a mental thing or not but they seriously need to learn how to keep going and batter teams like we used to.

Valencia can fuck off. Carrick and Cleverley looked tired, I'd pay for Rooney to leave myself as well.
 
That was a performance from October/November. Thought we'd elimianted that from our season, but the whole 'oh we've scored, game done' mentality was back in force. Put some pressure on us and we crumbled.

I like Cleverley and love having him in the squad but he's 24 this year and I honestly don't think he's going to be United starting class. Ever. Tonight was probably his worst performance (and one of the worst I've seen from anyone in years) but his upside just isn't high enough to justify his low form.

In a massive, unheard of shocker, I think maybe Fergie should be looking at a midfielder.

Oh and whoever it is that Ecuardor sent back from international duty in September, can we please send in some Delta forces or something to get our Valencia back? I know this guy kinda looks like him, but clearly isn't a footballer.

All credit to Chelsea, they deserved to win today.

Oh and City next round if we do make it. Our draws this year have been utterly, utterly ridiculous.
 
beachryan said:
I like Cleverley and love having him in the squad but he's 24 this year and I honestly don't think he's going to be United starting class. Ever. Tonight was probably his worst performance (and one of the worst I've seen from anyone in years) but his upside just isn't high enough to justify his low form.
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There's a certain french lad who I saw today for Juve... How bad was that transfer for us, a potential world class midfielder. :COAT:
 
spektarm said:
There's a certain french lad who I saw today for Juve... How bad was that transfer for us, a potential world class midfielder. :COAT:
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I'm a youth team junkie and that was almost the lowest I've ever been about transfers, second only to when we lost RVN.

Fergie absolutely f*cked that situation up. I think in Pogba he saw a young player that wasn't over-awed by Fergie and United, and questionned whether he'd be able to work with that, and what that attitude would do to the squad. But it's no excuse for playing Rafa/Park over him and letting him b asically rot.

All that said, Pogba isn't actually the type of midfielder we need. He's more forward-thinking and less defensive minded. Carrick needs a partner with legs, energy and dynamism. Not another relatively relaxed play maker. He'd be a great Carrick alternative, rather than complement.

I think we'll get Wanyama in the summer. Fergie has some power in Scotland still and he's a United fan. Might cost us more than he's worth at the moment (under 10m imo) but he's only 21 and if he can improve his technique, the sky is the limit really. He's got so much to his game already.
 
Also, holy bejesus if this is right:

De Gea's save preserved Ferguson's record of never having lost when leading by 2 goals, in 39 years of management.
 
WANTED:Worldclass attacking midfielder and winger. Valencia seems like a good kid but man he was utter shite again today.
I agree with Godo; one of our worst games in a while. Valencia wasn't the only one to blame. We looked absolutely drained for most of the match. Thought the Real game wold n some weird way act as a motivator but it seems the opposite happened. DDG saved our asses again indeed.

P.s. is it just me or do we make Hazard look like freak in Ronnie when we go up against Chelski? Wonderful goal he had but again we let him run rampant when he came on.
 
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Hazard's pretty special to be fair, tore us a new one in the second half but we seemed drained in the 2nd for some reason.

either genuine fatigue or mental fatigue, either way can't play that crap or the 12 point lead will evaporate similar to our lead last season.
 
Valencia has been really poor this season. Not sure if he has some sort of personal problems or is carrying an injury but he's gone completely off the boil.
 
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