Manchester United Banter Archive March 26 2014

26 Mar 2014 22:12:08
I can't for the life of me believe that the Glaziers will sit back & do nothing about our demise. Surely they (as they are only in it for the money) will realise that they need a successful club to reap the rewards? After all when they took over the club, it was an attractive product. The club had a successful manager at the helm, big name players wanted to join the club & the trophies kept rolling in.
Now we find ourselves so far off the pace it's embarrassing. Our 2 bitterest rivals are fighting it out for the title (which is absolute agony for us supporters to have to swallow) & we have a manager who is so tactically unaware it's shameful.
I started following United in 1976 & was bought up with United, though never in with a chance of the title, at least playing attacking football, with wingers, with pace, with flair.
It's always been the United way. Look at the great wingers we've had; Hill, Coppell, Kanchelskis, Giggs etc etc. I'm not even including Beckham as he didn't have the pace to beat his man but with his brilliant crossing accuracy he didn't have to.
We want to see our club play with style, flair, spirit, fight. Not try & nullify our opponents but also do nothing offensively ourselves in return.
In our last 2 home league games, we've had just 2 shots on target!!
Please Glaziers do the decent thing. Listen to the fans as Moyes has finally lost the supporters. Cut your losses & get a manager in that knows what he is doing & gets the best out of the players.
I actually think Villa will beat us on Saturday as the confidence is "shot". That surely would be the straw that breaks the camels back?

26 Mar 2014 19:55:53
I just got back from Manchester today after going to the game last night. I travel over a couple of times a year if I can because I live in Dublin.

First off that was the worst performance iv ever seen live and it was heartbreaking stuff. No passion, no determination, no power, no poise, it was men against boys. Our players aren't comfortable on the ball. When we get pressure put on us, instead of having players showing for the ball and trying to play our way out of the danger the ball gets hoofed up field regardless of who's up there. Moyes has had the players in training for 8 months. We have no shape. We attack at a snails pace, our link up play is awful. We sit too deep (I know we always sat deep but that's ok when you can counterattack with pace) We lack an identity.

Regardless of who your first choice manager to take us over was. When Moyes got the job, 99% of us were behind him but its time for the club to hold their hands up and cut our loses. The job is too big for him and I can't see him rising to the occasion.

If we have a decent transfer window with a top coach like Klopp taking over I think we could be back in the mix.Let Moyes spend 100 million in the summer and we're looking at the end of us challenging for top honours for a few years.

He has to go!

I thought he would have done a lot better than he has this season.
Pellegrini, Mourinho and even Rodgers haven't seemed to have struggled in their 'transitional period' over the last 12-18 months.

Whether he should get the summer window to try and bring in players should be seriously considered by the board.

Are the top class players going to want to come to play for Moyes.

Also if they do give him the summer window and start of next season to try and get the club back fighting for the title again and this form continues, will it be too late by November/December to get a new manager in with the experience and reputation that would be needed to take over the job.
No top manager would want to leave a club who are in the champions league and going for a title in their domestic league.

If they are to change manager it has to be done before the window opens.

Moxy

I agree and to avoid what happened last summer a new manager would need to arrive before July 1st

26 Mar 2014 19:50:47
It would be nice to see some of the younger players given a chance for the rest of the season. The lad Wilson looks like a top prospect - a natural goal scorer. I also think Buttner should see out the rest of the season at LB. Evra has been a great servant to the club; but like Vidic and a few others, he has already moved on.

I would like to see a shake up for this weekends game. We should revert back to a 4411 and use Valencia and Nani on the flanks, IMO.
After yesterdays tripe, I think I would be happy to see United's veteran team turn out. At least they would show what it means to wear the shirt.

26 Mar 2014 19:41:45
Not going to dwell on the past but more look forward to villa at the weekend. My thinking was that now with RVP out it should give us the opportunity to see a line up I have been hoping to see. Sticking with the 4231 I would love to see Wazza up top on his own (where he belongs to become our leading goal scorer) then for the line of 3 I would scrap the wide men and play more of a 3 attacking midst whom can roam and interchange with kagawa starting at LAM Januzaj RAM and Mata starting in the centre where he belongs.

What do people think

Agree

26 Mar 2014 18:24:29
On a brighter note, my boy came home today :-) so don't worry lads only another 18 years and United new midfield enforcer will be driving us on :-)

Again a massive thanks to everyone for your positive thoughts and a thanks to the eds for posting them :-)

{Ed004's Note - Congratulations mate}

Great news Chris, buzzing for you all ;-)

Great news CTR. hope you've got your lads name and number on your shirt?

Nice one Chris. Glad it's worked out so well.

{Ed007's Note - That's great news Chris.}

Congrats to you and your family ctr

Now the fun begins Chris, enjoy it all.

Great news, Chris! Any chance he would be ready for the weekend?

Nice one mate. Now the fun begins for you and your misses.

:)

Great news Chris, is everything ok now?

Just wanted to add that my boy is 16 months old and like to wake up at 4.30 in the morning and make lots of noise for not other reason then he likes the sound of his own voice. He sounds like pterosaurs when in full flow.

Congrats, we surely could use a few good defenders :)

Great news mate, really pleased for you and your family.

That's great news CTR it's the only thing that has made me want to post after last night. Hope you have got him a kit!

Thanks guys :-)

AJH, yes everything is fine atm a few follow ups as he gets a few months older but they are saying they hope for a full recovery :-)

GCU sorry mate he's gunna have that midfield sewn up, Stevie sorry dude I dnt think he has any match fitness yet but ill give him till theweekend as United could do with his dribbling abilitys in the middle.

Great news mate. If only our players had a fraction the fight in them that your little lad has already shown. Showing how it's done.

Great stuff CTR, makes the game yesterday totally insignificant. Put a smile back on my face again. Just enjoy those sleepless nights, I actually still have sleepless nights thinking of the sleepless nights :-)

Great news Chris. Delighted to hear it. May he continue to flourish. Enjoy every moment.

That is so good to hear. I remember telling my Mrs how serious a condition your son was in and she cried (the only time she has ever been interested in anything on this site, mind). Will tell her this.
So happy for you all.

{Ed007's Note - I was in the same boat Roman, my Mrs was asking me every night if I had any news.}

Congrats mate chuffed for you and mrs ctr :)

Best news all season! Your story and the response from the football family has been heart warming.

26 Mar 2014 18:04:15
This season eh.

Admittedly a lot of the blame should lay with Moyes, but I actually think 80% of the blame lays with the playing staff.

There are only 5 players that I would like to see starting for United next season out of our current bunch.

- David De Gea, Jones, Evans, Mata, Rooney.

There are players that need to go or are going, of which I'm not overly bothered about.

- Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Nani, Giggs and Young.

There are those who seriously need to step up when called upon or risk being shipped out.

- Rafael, Smalling, Hernandez, Carrick, Welbeck, Cleverley, Van Persie (his work ethic is terrible), Valencia, Fletcher, Kagawa and Buttner.

Then you have a couple who are beginning their United careers and hopefully will progress into something whether it's a squad player, etc.

- Powell, Lingard, Zaha, Januzaj.

When you look at our squad, we've got a huge number of players not producing consistently, now that may be due to lack of service, lack of cover, etc. but the fact is their not performing.

For example, let's suggest that out of those 16 players who could be leaving this summer, 9 of them actually leave, or retire.

That means we've got 9 players to replace. purchasing 9 players in one summer is silly. and even over 2 summers, it's still a bit silly. so what can we afford to do before we make certain signings?

In order of priority (whether it's depth or quality)
- Central midfield
- Left back
- Central defenders
- Left Wing
- Right Wing
- Right back

If we were to sign 2 CM, 1 CB and a LB this summer. which is 4 players. Then promote Powell, Keane, Zaha/Lingard, etc. to the first team. then We'll be left with only the Right back to fill and potentially the wings.

3 Central midfielders will enough. 2 starting, Powell rotating.

2 Central defenders will be enough, Keane and Garay/Mangala, whoever.

1 LB, hopefully Shaw and then we have Buttner to cover.

Zaha and Lingard could provide cover and much needed directness and width, although it might not be of the highest quality, rotating with Nani, Young, Valencia, Januzaj, Kagawa and Mata will hopefully see us through the season with enough variation of wingers.

at RB we don't 'NEED' players, we have Rafael who is of adequate standard, the we've got Smalling, Jones and Valencia to cover and although they may not be ideal they certainly provide is with a stop gap until next summer.

A successful summer and I'll think we'll see Moyes come in to his own next season.

Come on Moon, Danny has asked a question below - what have you seen that gives you confidence Moyes will be alright? I haven't seen a single thing

Very good post, not much I could argue with.

AJH, refer to the post I posted after this one.

I explain it all :).

Giggs is an absolute legend and I hate the fact his contribution over 23 years is reduced to appearing in a list of players that should go. I'm sure it's not meant that way but you know what I mean.

I'm less than convinced about Jones but agree he has potential. Januzaj would be in my list, one of the few plus points from this season.

Ben,

Giggs is an absolute legend.

However, if you take away his status, his name, and who is is to Manchester United. and simply look at his playing quality (regardless of age) then he shouldn't be a United player.

He plays for us based on reputation (which is fully justified).

The only reason he's on the 'out' list is because he's most likely retiring.

Not denying that Moon. Just think he deserves his own list ;-)

26 Mar 2014 16:36:01
If Moyes could clearly show the direction we are going in and the way he wants the team to play etc., then I think the majority of us could ride this season out, count it as a massive blip and hopefully come back stronger next year, with a fresh renewed sense of hope. However, throughout the season it's like we've been getting worse and even though I would love Moyes to turn it around and prove everyone wrong, as I have nothing personal against him, I just don't think he will and is way way way out of his depth. All the big names coming out saying he needs time and financial backing, but why? What has he done to show he deserves all that? I feel their stubbornness (Fergie, Bobby etc.) might be our downfall in the end, if something doesn't change in the summer. We need a winner and a leader, two things which Moyes isn't. I'm not sure our season could get any worse, perhaps if we were battling relegation or Liverpool won the title! But seriously, it has been a major disaster from start to finish, the problems were there even in preseason when we were getting beaten by teams most of us never heard of and obviously the worst transfer window in our recent history. Sorry about the rant guys, but I just want what is best for our club like you all do and seeing us becoming a laughing stock and losing our sense of identity in the process is more than disheartening. We are the reigning champions of England and shouldn't be anywhere close to the situation we are in. Is our club guilty of not moving with the times? But being too loyal and trying to replicate past success? So what's next? Bayern humiliation? More home losses against lesser opponents? Even lower in the table? I've tried to be patient and optimistic this season, but now it's pretty evident Moyes has run out of ideas and a lot of fans have run out of patience. Surely this is only going to end one way

Also forgot to say, how good was Scholes last night on Sky? Blunt and straight to the point with everything he was asked about. Didn't seem too happy with Moyes' 11 or the new signings either. Think we need to get him around the first team again, knows what he is talking about and the way United should be

Agree refreshing to see some straight talking, get him in the dressing room and Moyes office now.

Scholes on tv surprised me, I liked his blunt stance - about us and Arsenal.

26 Mar 2014 14:44:14
3 straight games and no Januzaj. Is he just being "rested"?

26 Mar 2014 13:48:14
A question to Everybody, Eds included. We know Moyes will be given time to put his mark on the squad and bring in players he wants but what will happen when he has done that and his Team are out on the pitch? We can clearly see he is tactically not the best.

So in 18 or 24 months time when he has had the opportunity to purchase the players he wants, what will happen tactically? He can't buy tactics and its obvious that he is not the kind of manager who studies the opposition. World Class Players without the right tactics will be brought down a notch or two.

So is the long term faith in Moyes really worth it?

I don't think so.

I think your wrong with one point, I think he is a manager who pays far too much time focusing on the opposition and not enough time on perfecting a system that works best with the players he has at his disposal.

But as to your question what will happen in 18/24 months time, well we'll be playing 442 with emphasis on over loading the flanks and hitting teams on the counter. we will be predictable and will win games against the lesser teams but still be unable to win against the best teams due to Moyes negative tactics.

What'll happen then is he will be fired and a new manager will come in and the squad will struggle again as the new manager will have new ideas and will want to play football in a different way which maybe several of Moyes buys won't be able to play, we could also struggle to attract the best players as we will be looking at playing our 3rd season in a row without champions league football.

Or alternatively Moyes will do something we haven't seen him do in 12 years of management and totally change his out look on the game, he'll adopt modern tactics, and bring in players to play those tactics. we'll play quick exciting one touch football and be destroying teams and wondering why we ever doubted Moyes.

Which do you think is most likely?

I think you all need to settle down and stop being football manager. The players for most part are poor and perform very poorly under this manager.

Having said that most of these players are not in anyway or form the future of this club under this manager or the next manager.

A few good signing will make a big difference and you lot refuse to see things for what they are.

They were just much better than us and we were poor. This city team has our number and has beaten us in 5 or 6 and not the first time they have made us look very ordinary.

Shappy, Moyes is a defensive manager who sets up to defend, when we go 1 nil down in the first minute I think his plan fell apart. He does not seem to have any idea on how to break down opposition teams.
I think Moyes will be gone in 2 seasons time and a new manager will come in, leaving us building again as he will want to instill his own ideas into the team.

GCU do you think tactics have nothing to do with it so? when we have lost against lesser teams than us what does that mean. Its not just the players at fault, althought I do agree a few additions will make a difference, It can only go so far without the right tactics and knowledge of the opposition.

In 2002 we lost 9 league games and we were terrible. The team needed rebuilding and we were declared dead.

There were those who called for fergies head, all fans who are football managers :) that he was too old and tactically not astute enough and we needed a change. 10 year later he retired with arguably the best 10 years of our football in terms of achievements.

The crowd is fickle. In 2009 I took 80 percent of my life time savings and bought all the financials, when all my investment banker friends were hiding under their beds and advising people to stay in cash. Use some common sense and see this team for what they are instead of looking to blame dm for everything.

Shahram

You know that why and I usually agree but not perhaps on this one. The difference in 2002 was we had SAF, a proven winner and were still playing good football. We hade the Djemba Djema years but SAF had credit and the bank. What gives you confidence that Moyes can do this, he has no track record and his performance this year has been dire.

AJH

In 2014 we have cleverly :). It is not a defending moyes but rather a view that this team has been poor and has had shortcomings for quite a long time and age and changing manager has finally caught up and it had to happen.

In this day and age, you know your team has issues when you talk back a 33 year old to come back so you can get 20 games and 60 minutes from him and then you have a 39 year old as your best option for some of your biggest fixtures. To make things worse you go spend 30 million on a striker to get one and half seasons out of him and then 24 million on another close to 30 strikers. All short term stuff and zero planning to fix longer term issues.

What has happened to the our great wingers, which is part of our DNA.


Realistically are players like, Welbeck, Cleverly, nani, young, rio, vidic, evra, good enough for a top 4 team in the league and are they good enough for any of the top clubs in europe.

For a club that is by any measure amongst the biggest in the world, how have we come to this?

Are smalling, Jones, rafael top quality defenders? can you see them playing for any of the quarter finalist in the CL.

So in short ambivalent as you say and not surprised. I do get a kick out of how some have got their knickers in a twist and obsessed with moyes being the reason.

It was never going to be easy after having won the league last year to make wholesale changes.

GCU you are doing the same in reverse blaming the players for all our ills and not dm, he has made two signings, mata the new winger and Fellaini, who we seemed to e lumping the ball to last nite, that instruction didn't come from the players it came from dm.
It was Moyes who named the side last nite, mata on the wing, oh no then cleverley, whoops try again, kagawa, oops oh I know Valencia.
Tell me GCU why are you so convinced about dm, what is it you have seen?
Please educate us.

Eric

I am not in the Education business mate:)

if you think 2 signings are going to fix us then there lie the problem.

I am not trying to draw comparisons but take chelsea as an example. they have played 4231 for yonkers during the ABV, Di Matheo, Benitez and now mourinho.

They spend 200 million in 3 windows before mourinho arrival and since his arrival he has bought 8 or 9 players and shipped out and few and still clearly says not his team and probably after a summer of 4 or 5 more purchases he will be satisfied. All in all I think you will see about 12 signings and probably 5 or 6 leaving.

We need new wingers, centre backs, left back, central mids. If you think you can fix that in 6 months and a couple of signings you are a better manager than anyone out there. We need 6 to 8 in and probably 6 to 10 out and will not get it done in one go.

26 Mar 2014 13:27:06
ED with the overall opinion about Moyes being negative on this forum and majority of the people believing that he's not good enough for the post what do you think will be the opinion among Glazers?

I mean in the past few weeks we have read Sir Bobby Charlton, Paul Scholes, Ray Wilkins all come out and say that Moyes is the right man and we should persist with him. Sir Alex obviously feels the same.

All these are club legends(Maybe not Ray) and all feel Moyes is the right man and should be given time.

I personally am not sure whether we should keep him or sack him. At this moment I feel we can't trust him with 100+ million. but wait. these guys know more about football than I do

(Banter please)

{Ed004's Note - I couldn't tell you what the glazers think as I do not know them but there was an article recently stating Ed Woodward has been in contact with I think it was Joel Glazer 2-3 times a day. That to me suggests they are worried and keeping a close eye on proceedings}

The majority of fans do not spend their time on forums and are in many ways a lot more mature and have other things to be preoccupied with :)

Believe it or not I have 3 guys who are united fans who work for me and they are all like no big deal we will be better next year. My best 2 friends also united fans and they seem to be okay with it. Forums like this are for hard core fans and not necessarily a reflection of what the average fan thinks.


We have no pace and until we fix that we are a little bit of old lion without any teeth.

Like Shahram says, what we need a an injection of pace. A quick central midfielder, one quick LB and a quick RB. Look at Liverpool, they have an average defence, but they keep scoring for fun and if you can outscore someone, then you are most of the way there. A CB who will push up into the midfield giving the midfielders more licence to push forward. In theory new signings, more importantly the right signings will improve us. I just think if the manager was more decorated, then the players would respect him more and would inevitably play better.

Sydney

I was not regurgitating stuff and had not read what the pundits had to say but just read scholsy saying without pace down the wings we are toothless.

I think we need a left winger in the form of Draxler, reus, griezman. Rooney and RVP excel when there is service from the wings and they can run onto balls into the box subject to us breaking with pace and not having 7 opposition players defending in the box.

It was quite startling how much slower our guys were compared to city and not just one player but as a team we looked 2 paces slower than them.

I couldn't agree more.

26 Mar 2014 12:28:53
Just a quick question out of curiosity.

Say we buy some decent players this summer and next season we win the league but the brand of football is still excrutiatingly boring.

Moyes out?

Football was always going to be boring under Moyes, when he first arrived he was asked if he will play exciting football, he stuttered and avoided the question three times in a row. His brand of football is not exciting. Then again neither is Jose's, but he does win. If you are playing boring football, then the least you should be doing is winning trophies.

Wot u smokin, man u won't win league next season

Firstly, how many sides who play boring one dimensional football win the PL?
I would say none as you have to have a Plan A and B at the very least, depending on whether you are winning or chasing a game.

There is some thought about Mourinho's teams not playing attractive football, which I understand. However he always has world class players in his teams and some exciting ones in an attacking sense.

What Utd fan wouldn't want Hazard and Ramires not too mention Ronaldo, Di Maria, Modric and a host of others.

I would not like Manchester United to play the exact way that Chelsea do. I also wouldn't want a manager like Mourinho who didn't give the youth players a chance and only built a team for today. This is not the Utd way.

However success breeds success and so we currently do need to brng in lyers to raise the quality and get u back o track then the young players in our squad will benefit an develop i.e. as per 1990.

DM knows that Utd have to play with some flair, pace and power. If we play something below this for a period in order to improve overall results and while builing a new team then most Utd fans would accept this temporarily if they can clearly see a "work in progress".

To answer your question, Hoggy, we do. The last 2 league titles the club has won have been done so whilst playing appallingly boring football. Last year we had RVP's goals to bail us out and in 2010/11 I lost count of the number of crap performances where we still came away with 3 points. I thought that was sll going to change at the start of 2011/12 when we introduced Welbeck and Cleverley with Anderson alongside him; the start of that season saw some fantastic football but then the City thrashing rattled Fergie, IMO, and he went back to trying to be "solid".

TK-Red

Even though I can't stand him and don't agree with pst things he says, David platt was saying, when he was at city given they were in the same city, they would go and watch quite a few games united played and on so many occasions they would wonder how on earth did we won the game having played so poorly.

Sorry TK-Red but you are not right.

The team has been in general decline for years which is something that all Utd fans agree with. I also agree that last sason we won the league by being the best out of a bad bunch which is part of the reason that we have been found to be short this season.

However to say that Utd were one dimensional and boring last season is simply not the full truth. There were a number of games last season where we fell behind and then found a way to come back and win i.e. the formation was altered to try and change the game etc. Don't think the 3-2 win at City was boring football either! The quality might not of been up to previous teams but the desire and application to tactics was Ok.

Utd were also the top scorers last season scoring 20 goals more than City and 11 more than chelsea. We also let in more goals than both City and Chelsea. That's not a team playing pure boring 1-0 football!

As a Utd fan I support the team at all times (blind faith) and accept sometimes that we don't play the best football in the world.
However apart from Barcelona and perhaps Bayern Munich no one plays dream football all the time and is successful.

You have to get off your seat for the passion of the game and not just because we played unbelievable football and cut a team to shreds.
In some respects I witnessed more excitment and passion watching Utd in the 70's and 80's when the quality of the football was poorer but the hunger from the supporters was relentless!

Now some people just don't get excited unless we play dream football.

26 Mar 2014 12:07:31
Did we really expect anything else last night. We are one of the slowest teams ever and we were playing a quick powerful side. The time and space given to Silva, Toure, Nasri, Dzecko was ridiculous. I think we would have done better sticking with Carrick at CB as Rio is finished and Carrick is too slow for midfield anyway. The biggest difference in the two teams last night for me was Fernandinho. He gets around the pitch covering his defence and breaking up our play and also getting forward to add options for their midfield and attack. When was the last player like that for us. so a question for the ed's has Akangameini( spelling?) got a squad no and could he be given a few games to see if he can make the step up, I believe he could be that sort of player for us, certainly better than Cleverly.

26 Mar 2014 11:17:28
Not MU related, but to be fair we do not have much to talk about that we haven't already discussed previously. I expected Everton to fall away towards the end of the season and in a way they have done, they have fallen away from the leaders, but they are still in the race for 4th spot. If City beat Arsenal at the weekend, then the league is theirs IMO. And if Everton beat Fulham also, then can Everton finish 4th this season? They have a game in hand on Arsenal and Everton need to visit Goodison. That would be an almighty fall considering people on here thought they would win the league due to their great first half of the season. What do people make of Scholes' comments? I think he was spot on. Wilshere hasn't improved since he was 17. Arsenal do lack a leader and have done since Viera. Similar to us in regards to Keane. Certainly a strange season thus far.

{Ed004's Note - I think champions league could hamper everton next season they have played very well however is there squad big enough. I'd certainly be happy for them if they achieved it. I think that's why Moyes is adamant in keeping Rooney as he sees him as one of the leaders we need. Maybe why he liked the look of Vidal so much in January as well}

Lol syd I've never seen a single post on here saying arsenal would win the league, title contenders maybe, which I think they have been .

You should have a look at my post that started the arsenal debate it was about the arrogance of United fans saying we are title contenders because we always are and arsenal aren't because they drop of.
I think arsenal have been title contenders United unfortunately not.

If you weren't one of the people thinking Arsenal could win the league, then why does my post concern you? A bit paranoid aren't you? Paranoid android :)

Ed, don't think champ league would hamper us, as we would invest the money champ league brings, aslo moyes knows everton inside out yet he buys fellaini instead of ross barkley, nice one davey

{Ed004's Note - Would there be enough to invest to replace Lukaku and barca loaned can't spell his name and add significantly to your squad?}

Ed, lukarku would cost 17 mill, we can get del boy 4 another year on loan, and we av fellaini money still in bank, thanks

{Ed004's Note - I can't see Lukaku being sold mate, and will barcelona send him on two loans? These aren't very likely. Though love optimism hope you're right}

Syd
I honestly haven't seen a single post saying arsenal would win the league.
I think they could of if they had a bit more luck and avoided injuries, they are one of the teams capable of winning it this year

004, Everton have no doubt benefited from their three loanees this season. Barkey has come of age which some of us predicted a couple of year's ago, but without Lukaku, Barry & the young Spaniard, would they be in the position they are currently in? No chance, but credit to them and I will certainly be cheering them on for 4th when we are mathematically out of the running.

Everton fans believe Moyes kept the team too safe (negative), that he would prevent the team from playing freely. It's hard to argue against that to be fair. It seems Moyes has turned us into his new Everton.

{Ed004's Note - I agree 100%}

Jred, I do not believe Arsenal were ever genuine title contenders. That is my opinion. Sure they were one of many challengers, but could they really have won the league. Not for me. Arsenal had all of their luck earlier on in the season. You cannot be lucky all the way through the season. All teams have injuries. With City going out of the cup to Wigan, Arsenal now have a clear chance to win a trophy for the first time in nine years. That was lucky. City took Wigan lightly and paid the price, they wouldn't have taken Arsenal lightly. So AW has had a bit of luck there.

Anyway we will see how season pens out soon, but am looking forward to united game at goodison park, you think daveys getting a hard time at ot, wait till he comes to goodison.promise u it won't be nice

Jred, So have Arsenal been unlucky for the last 8 years?

At the start of the season no neutral fan would of put Arsenal as serious title contenders. Yes they have improved a little bit and had a good run for a while. However they have been found wanting when they play the big teams.

Without a world class striker, centre back and centre midfield player they are likely to keep coming up short.

Anyway things may change if Arsenal win the FA cup this season.

Sydney

Sometimes you can be very silly, I posted the same thing 2 days ago saying arsenal might have a dg fight on their hands for 4th place.

The only reason Arsenal have fallen off the pace is their injuries have really killed them, whilst the other top teams have stayed pretty much injury free with the exception of City, but then again city has the best squad of players to deal with injuries.

Everton is not a better team, neither is martinez a better manager than wenger. Players win games and in Arsenals case their injuries have come at the worst time.

GCU, because my opinion is different to yours, I am being "silly"?

No my friend it's you who's being "silly", Arsenal have shown each year for the past ten years that they bottle it. it has nothing to do with injuries. They cannot beat the bigger sides and that's why they will not win the league. You sound like an Arsenal fan making up excuses.

Sydney

LOL don't be so touchy. Look at the players they are missing. One would argue 4 sure starters and that is difficult to overcome for any team.

I'm not touchy either Shahram. Oezil has been average all season. He will be better in the future, but he has not been missed. Wilshere hasn't made much of a difference this season. Ramsey has been a loss, but Rosicky has been a more than adequate replacement. Arguably Arsenal's 2nd best player this season. Well, according to Merson which doesn't mean much ;)

Arsenal are serial bottlers, they do it every season. Injuries or no injuries they wouldn't be winning this league, this season.

You forgot Walcot, take a look at his goals per minute stats. I wish we had him on or right wing.

Ozil might have a hd a rough lat month but he is world class and you know better to dismiss a player like that not being available for selection.

I short, their best midfielder, best winger/forward, most creative number 10 and also injuries at the back. Not ways as it destabilises a team.

Maybe they would not have won the league but I believe they are not that far off and with their financial being in a good place, they will buy and are 2 players away from being a genuine bet.

26 Mar 2014 10:15:50
Reports that Barcelona are to offer Messi a new contract which will put him on a financial par with Rooney. I know who I'd prefer to have in my team and it's not Wayne.

He'd been on nearly £100k more a week as basic wage, Rooney's basic wage is under £250k/w.

Not sure about that I've read reports Rooney gets a solid gold clock for every corner he takes.

26 Mar 2014 09:52:24
just out of interest, and not that it would have made any difference, but does anyone know why kompany was only banned for one game whilst vidic got two?

bodgerico

26 Mar 2014 07:09:42
Avid reader, don't post a lot. Before I start, just a quick question for everyone here on the Manchester United page, where are you guys from, I'm from New Delhi, India.

Now, getting on to the match. It was terrible, nowhere near what you expect from a team of Manchester United's caliber. We weren't fluid, no penetration, no burning desire to win the ball or impose ourselves on the game.

Few things that left me shocked and nearly reduced me to tears:

1. Evra - He's not a leader anymore, he can't produce an inspiring performance himself, how on earth does he expect to inspire players. Last night, he tried to beat Navas (who is a million times quicker than him, Zabaleta (who owned Evra), and even if he got pass them, his final ball was embarrassing. Defensively he is bl**dy liability. Loses the ball, doesn't run after his man. Positioning sense is zero, half the time he is out of position, other times a mere spectator.

2. Rafael - This guy probably has what it takes to become a damn good right back, but maybe not suitable for the english league. His erratic behavior, poor crossing ability and lousy tackles just sum what he reallly offers to United. Agreed he had an amazing 12-13 season, but this season he has been nothing short of an amateur player who doesn't know what to do.

3. Cleverly - This guy got a lot of stick from the fans and the whole petition episode did not help his confidence either. But, I think the decision to start with him last night was a poor one, he doesn't look like someone who is ready for big games like these. No confidence on the ball, never wanted to beat a man and attack. Tried to play out wide, but that's not his natural position is it. Don't know where he fits in the squad.

4. Juan Mata - Record breaking move from rivals Chelsea, but produced nothing, he has to be given more time to gel and adjust with his new team-mates, but I think when it comes to an individuals own performance, it really hasn't gotten us off our seats has it?

5. Fellaini - I used to really like this player, playing for Everton, this guy has terrorized many opponents and scored some crucial goals for them. But he just looks lost when he plays for United, he has good composure when the ball is played to him, but then sometimes he takes a lot of time to release the ball, which at that level of football, is a crime. He needs more time to fit into our squad and I think given time he can be a good CM for our team.

5. Welbeck - He is good with his forward runs, gets into good positions and tries hard to beat a man with pace (don't know if he has any skills to get past an opponent), but I don't think he is United quality. He seems to take too long to take a shot or sometimes is just unable to show that little bit of composure required. 3rd choice or maybe a 4th choice striker, nothing more.

6. Rooney - Say what you want about him being a money hunter and everything about him holding the club ransom for a new deal. I think this guy really digs deep to play for United. Always running up and down the field, defending, attacking, creating something all the time.

Last but not the least, I really think David Moyes doesn't understand what Manchester United is all about, it's a big task, yes. but he really isn't United material, he just doesn't seem to have the pedigree to excel here. His team selection, his tactics just don't seem to work and he isn't daring enuff to try something new. He doesn't look confident while giving interviews, all the time its about how big a task it is to manage such a big football club. I think after a while these talks about big club and it being a daunting task to manage it seem irrelevant. Fans and players take in what the manager says and what the manager portrays, you can have the best players in the world, but if the manager cannot inspire them and instill confidence in them, then even those players would struggle.
Too many home defeats this season at home, Old Trafford is not what it was.

It's really long post, considering I'm writing all this while at work, but I just had to share what I felt about a club that I have been supporting as a child.

All in all, I think Glazers really need to rethink their decision to hire Moyes. I think after losing to all the big guns (except Arsenal) and losing rather embarrassingly, I think his time is up or rather it's nearly up.


Thank you Eds for letting me rant like this. (also where are you from, sometimes I think you are to footabll rumours what Stig is to TopGear, unknown and probably not from this planet).

{Ed004's Note - Need to register/log in. Ed 7 from Scotland, I'm from NI and no idea were Ed 2 is from. I agree that Evra must go though it is obvious Left back is a top target for the club. I think Rafael can be a top player though he has regressed since last season. This summer we need a Centre back, left back and central midfielder urgently and over next few a rb if Rafael doesn't improve, another cm and a winger. There's 6 signings already required. But I think our biggest issue is one of RVP or Rooney must go}

I don't think it matters if we were to sign Shaw, Carvalho & Kroos. Sure we would improve slightly, but I think the main thing holding us back is the manager. I think the season has proved that. Under better management last season we were much better, Mata who is a world-class player has made little improvement. Adnan has made little improvement, Fellaini has made little improvement. Rooney has improved this season. What would we be playing like now had SAF stayed and we had signed these players. Like I said, I think we would be a much better side if the players were happy and confident under the manager.

I just wish DM resigns.

City Liverpool Chelsea and arsenal have all played better football this year than we did last year.
I think fellaini and Mata in particular will prove to be good buys but as always on this site because they haven't come in and been amazing it's someone faults.
Players sometimes take time to settle for a number of reasons .

On the game last night I'm not sure what we could of done, that was our best back 4 available and it simply wasn't good enough.
I can understand the logic of playing 3 in the middle but the problem is the players aren't good enough.

I'm sure a lot of fans would of liked to see Mata Rooney and kags but I think that would of left us even shorter in the middle .

I'm actually quite confident we will see a much better United team next year as I think we will finally do what we should of done years ago and buy the required level of footballer

Jred

We'll spend a lot of money indeed, but there's no excuse for the poor performances against the big teams. We were humiliated by City, Liverpool and Chelsea, 2 of them at home. Losing against Tottenham, Everton, Newcastle. almost every team. This is not good enough with this squad.

This Squad is good enough to win and play better than that. You have to admit whether you are in favor to Moyes or not.

I think people are getting used to lose.

Moyes is not good enough for this Organization.

The end of season will be massive for the future of this club. Every single decision will affect positively or negatively and 200mil won't make much of difference if you don't have the right person to manage it.

We'll be crashed against Bayern and then will fight for the 7-9th against Newcastle and Sotton. Wow, how low and disgraceful we became this season.

Nick86, spot on. Great post and so true.

26 Mar 2014 08:06:34
Can anybody confirm or deny if Moyes has played the same side two games in a row? I understand its a squad game but I don't think he has, last night should of seen the same side as the one that beat west ham. Or similar.There is no consistency. No core to the team. No wonder we can't get a run put together. David Moyes is treating this season as preseason. And as a result our home form is on par with crystal palace (no disrespect to palace) who have axed a manager.

But

The really upsetting factor from last night is that we, Manchester United, gave up at 70 mins. The belief has been sucked out of the team? How? By who? I think we all know. And so should the powers that be.

Well said agree with your sentiments

26 Mar 2014 07:58:02
not clever/lucky/good but most importantly BRAVE enough for this job!

so ironic that the man who does everything (and i'd say he works hard on it too ) not to lose, not to concede to stop them playing ends up losing all the matches against any half decent opposition

he is the wrong fit for this club and will never be brave enough to get us over the line in big matches, I said all along that I hope the standards don't drop so much this season that next season we would be glad that the current champions!! will finish in the top 4 and this is exactly were we are, he probably will get top 4 next year and be here for 4-5years but we could have had so much more from a progressive manager (pep, klopp etc)with youth added and an exciting brand of football, ohh sigh!

mediocre manager, mediocre football, mediocre results, mediocre succes and mediocre expectations!

he who dares wins and the board went safe (or so they thought) and mediocre is all we have now

let's hope one of the big wigs is pulling there hair out and demanding better than mediocre

moyes out now before we turn into everton!

26 Mar 2014 06:48:07
Thought I'd sleep on it before posting. Things don't look any better this morning. We have lost 10 league games this year, 6 at OT, 4 against non top 4 teams. We knew transition would be difficult but I don't think anyone saw us falling so far so fast. DM continues to bounce from blunder to blunder, I cringe when I see him being interviewed now, wondering what nugget he will come out with next. His language, demeanour and approach is transmitting to the players. Dave, pick your best team and send them out, stop tinkering, stop playing people out of position, stop with negativity.

I'm also worried by Sir Bobby's comments that 'we have definitely picked the right man'. If he truly believes this then we are in for a long haul. I have seen nothing that suggests DM will be able to get the best out of players. We can spend millions and still struggle which then leaves us with nowhere to go. The club is drifting, lacking leadership and direction. It seems like a nightmare but unfortunately, when I woke up this morning, it was true.

I'm just pleased we didn't pick the "wrong man" then, imagine how bad that would have been, although I don't know who else could have been on that shortlist - Dave Basset, Neil Warnock, Joe Kinnear - but I fairness all three of them would have probably gotten more from the team.

Pride comes before a fall, I hope our hierarchy man up and accept they made a mistake and rectify it before it's too late - digging our heels in is only going to make matters worse.

26 Mar 2014 03:23:36
Getting rapped at home by every top team! He really needs time.

We habe identith crisis. We don't know what we are doing or which direction qe are taking this club.

This season showed how can you ruin a team in one season only. Everything the board did this season was wrong starting from the manager and now the price to pag will be to high.

We'll be just like the other teams, we'll have to spend load of money to get back to the top.

Funny, now we have to make sure Newcastle and Sotton don't catch us up.

This is just to much to take. I wonder what Bayern going to do to us.

I thought we played pretty well in the first half. But unfortunately didn't do much after that. With better defending we could have avoided those goals and result could have much better

(banter please eds)

I am really sick of this now. It isn’t even about us being beat; it is the manner in which we are beaten that is hard to take.

Man City is a top quality attacking side, but they can be got at. Yesterday, we had good opportunities to exploit space. Yet every-time we got into good positions, the players’ who played with such purpose and quality on Saturday, gave the ball away every-time. Our passing in the final third was appalling; and I have to ask myself why this is. Is it a psychological problem that seems to afflict the players’ when we play at home? I mean, is it a coincidence that we had the best away record in the league, in terms of points accumulated, in comparison to our shocking home record?

I am generally worried for the future of our great club, because there is clearly something not right at the club. Everything seems to be going backwards. Yes, we have these snippets of hope in terms of a decent performance against poor opposition; but when we come up against a top side, we are literally blown away; and I don’t believe for one minute that is because we lack quality.

Not sure where we go from here. I am not sure that this problem can be solved with money being splashed on players’; for if the will and direction isn’t there, then 200 million on players’ will do little to turn us back into a major force.

I am going on Saturday to the Villa game; and for the first time in my life, I don’t feel at all excited about the prospect of going to see my beloved team.

Where has it all gone wrong?

"Where has it all gone wrong?"

Dave Moyes

There were some high winds yesterday but I'm pretty sure we were figuratively blown away.