Manchester United Banter Archive January 13 2014

 

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13 Jan 2014 21:55:28
Shame about ando, he failed to fulfill his obvious talent, I think there are numerous reasons for that both his own fault and the clubs, I really hope we aren't going to sign Claudio Marchisio, a player who struggles to get into the juve side because of pogba, i'd rather we give powell and or lingard a chance to be honest.

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Did I miss something? Has a deal been done to buy Anderson? Really hoping United can find buyings for him and Nani, Young as well but I doubt it.

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Agreed on marchisio. He's not the answer. We only need to bring in top players and he can't make the Juventus team.

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Have you seen that team? He could walk into our team and start immediately. They have one of the best midfields in the world. No shame playing behind Vidal and Pogba. Ironic, that Pogba couldn't make it into our team and now is a star for them.

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14 Jan 2014 08:15:00
People are reading too much. Anderson is being attracted by Fiorentina. Nothing has been agreed as per now. His wages would be a stumbling block for any move.

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"Shame about ando, he failed to fulfill his obvious talent"

I thought he did by finding every 24 hour fast food place within a 5k radius to his house. I can see him having a very long and distinguished career on master chef or Iron Chef.

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14 Jan 2014 09:59:48
GCU

Spot on. We should have shipped him 2 seaosns back, By then If cleverly is getting a chance in Midfield, Anderson would defo start.

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13 Jan 2014 21:35:41
I doubt he will see it but best wishes to Anderson for the future. One of the biggest waste of talents I've ever seen but it wasn't all his fault. For what it's worth, I liked him and willed him to succeed but it wasn't meant to be. I shall be looking to see how he gets on though, I'm sure he will do well in Italy.

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Lazy player and a waste of money. We should have sent him packing 2 years ago and would have gotten a lot more for him. Anyway wish him well, imagine all that pasta and pizza Yummy yummy

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Couldn't agree more GCU, I have no idea why fans were so supportive of Anderson. A player with so much potential, but couldn't be bothered his arse to behave like a professional athlete. I wouldn't be surprised if Fiorentina didn't take the buy option when they see how lazy/broken he is. But hopefully we have seen the rather rotund back of him.

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He could have been brilliant in fact a world beater imo. That is the danger of football sometimes they turn into Rooney's or Iniesta's but sometimes they turn into Freddy Adu's or Antonio Cassano's. All the potential you need but no determination to turn into the best you can. Sad story really.

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Agreed with cgu. He was being paid ridiculous money to be a professional footballer and he couldn't even get himaelf fit. Why are u feeling sad? He ripped us off.

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Like Rooney, Nomidfield? :)

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StevieK, totally agree. Anderson has not been afforded the same excuses or opportunities as Rooney. Its his own fault that he cannot keep himself fit, but he is another in a long line of players who have not succeeded at United because they have been asked to play a different role than that for which they were originally purchased. When he arrived here, Anderson was seen as one of the best young attacking midfielders in Europe, then SAF played him much deeper. I hope Moyes identifies players for certain positions and actually plays them there.

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14 Jan 2014 10:08:05
Betty

Good Point, Kagawa is the Prime example, Its shame If we sell him for any other player, He is a good player and played in his position, he is very handy.

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Don't like blaming Fergie too much for things, in light of what he did for our club, Betty, but you're right. Anderson suffered for SAF's refusal to strengthen our central midfield with central midfielders.

He didn't help himself either, but isn't it a sad reflection on our midfield over the last few seasons, that a half-fit Anderson still seemed more appealing than most.

One of our few midfielders who actually tried to go forward, rather than sideways or backwards.

Regardless, I liked the guy's personality, and I hope this move works out for him. He's still young enough to fulfil some of his potential in a different environment.

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Surely some of the blame for his fitness issues must go on the club.we employ dieticians and fittness conditioning coaches plus all the state of the art machinery to asses every players physical state.if anderson was never fit then these people weren't doing there jobs.

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Bags of potential, always had me on the edge of my seat when he'd burst forward.

But he's had too many chances. I'm sick of hearing that 'this year could be his year' only for him pick up another injury, and make a handful of ineffective appearances.

Seems like a cool guy though so hope he does well and it's a shame it wasn't with us that he reached his potential.

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Betty and Stevie - I completely agree with what you are saying. But like I said, another scape goat down for the beloved few on here who love having a go at OUR players. No wonder they can make statements like "No idea why fans were so supportive of Anderson". Well may be him being a Manchester United player had something to do with it?

Deeps.

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Sure, he had issues with his fitness but I think Ando is also just one of those people of a certain build as well. Even when he first came and was fit, he never looked particularly slim. There have been some great players who you would describe as stocky. I remember Maradona was often referred to as barrel chested. I am sure the press greatly exaggerated Andersons love of fast food. I just can't see SAF tolerating such behaviour for 6 years and keeping him at the club. For me, he has never been afforded to same understanding as others. He certainly has far more ability than someone like Cleverley but never got the same opportunities. I remember a couple of seasons back, Ando played a two of three league games and played well. Then our next match was a league cup tie, and SAF decided to go with Giggs and Rafael in midfield. We duly lost, embarrassingly and Ando was dropped again for the next few weeks. If Moyes had made such a team selection now there would be calls for a public execution!.

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Him being a Manchester United player who was pulling in tens of thousands every week and, yet, for the best part of three years struggled to last a full 90 minutes. The idea that a professional athlete doesn't keep himself fit enough to play a full match is outrageous. The idea that fans will celebrate this type of player is worse. Some players are stuck on the bench because they don't have the talent, Anderson was because he just couldn't be arsed to make the effort, yep we should applaud him for sitting on his fat arse and still taking home a fat paycheque.

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Yes Maradona was stocky but unlike Anderson he was, at the time, the best player in the world.

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SteveieK, you have come out with some rubbish remarks but this one takes the biscuit.
You are seriously comparing Anderson to Rooney? In what way did Rooney rip us off? We agreed a contract with him, he has won us many titles and nearly won us the title when City pipped us. Even last year, when all of you were ranting on how rubbish he was, he manager 16 goals and a load of assists.
And remind me again, has he not played his socks off for United this year or any year?
Anderson has never got himself fit and that is totally unprofessional. If he was working for me, he would have long gone.
So please, let's not start an argument for arguments sake, just read what you wrote and you realize it is a load of twaddle.

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Danny - Stop being theatrical mate! No one is applauding him. Some of us were trying to make a point that he is a good lad and deserves our best wishes if not anything else. No one knew that he would turn out to be a flop, so supporting him while he was our player is not sacrilege like you think. None of us are privy to his eating habits, don't tell me you served him the kebabs. The SAF that we know would never tolerate a fat guy sitting on his arse for 6 years collecting his pay check. So if you are going by what the press says, then so be it. But then I am not surprised, "We lost the match because Anderson had too many kebabs".

I respect your opinions Danny, but lighten up a bit mate. what's with this animosity? You may not like a player, but wishing him luck when he moves on is not criminal.

Deeps.

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Nomid, I'm sure StevieK will answer for himself but I am pretty sure the comparison with Rooney was due to his lack of fitness over the last couple of years. Fair play, he has knuckled down and got fit this year, but last year Rooney looked overweight and very unfit, hence the Ando comparison. Rooney is obviously a better player than Anderson, but unprofessional is unprofessional regardless of name or reputation. But I do agree, it is not acceptable for a professional football to not keep himself fit.

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14 Jan 2014 14:16:49
Pink Manchester

I would defo wish him good luck, If Fiorentina agrees a transfer fees and He takes a pay cut to join them.
Seems unlikely.

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Deeps, the animosity towards players in our team from some on here is ridiculous.

If they're not deadwood, they're utter cr*p or waste of spaces.

I've had my issues with Rooney, but you know once he pulls on the shirt and tries his best, that I support him.

Then you get the likes of NoMidfield, who welcomes a new signing to the club, with the assertion that he's the biggest waste of money ever, after only a handful of games.

Spolit, ungrateful brats, the lot of them.

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NoMidfield, Betty's pretty much answered it.

Before you get your knickers in a twist, read your original post again, then mine, then see if you can spot the point I was making. Come on now, it's not difficult.

Here's a clue. Paid lots of money. keep yourself fit.

So again explain to me, regardless of their respective talents, why do you rave about Wayne, yet slate Anderson?

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Oh Danny, you're such a drama queen, mate.

Big difference between someone saying they like Anderson and wish him well, and 'celebrating' him.

Not like you to over-exaggerate to try and make a point.

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13 Jan 2014 20:59:34
Is Schneider really back on our radar if Anderson finally goes!

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I don't think Schneider is on the cards, but we may bid for Goondogin, Vedhal or Coke.

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Goondogin?
Is that what an Arsenal fan does in secluded country car-parks?

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Gary at cb? Macchiato in midfield?

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Or Andre Hairier, Markeesio and Paul Pogber!

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Ha ha, brilliant response CAM.

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Danny

I'm sure you didn't mean to but you made me laugh out loud. Either you were in a rush, have very fat fingers, or you were taking the mickey. Very funny though

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13 Jan 2014 20:50:26
So with scouting efforts looking like picking up pace with Neville in Spain and moyes in Turin, who do you think we will sign over the next two windows and which transfer windows will they be signed in? Lots of talk about Vidal and Pogba at the minute, but not sure how true Pogba would be but with moyes as our new manager and not Fergie there is always a chance. Interesting that the juve director mentioned players that definitely wouldn't be leaving but never mentioned Vidal at all. Then there is coentrao on loan? Would be a great improvement on a ageing evra.

What do you all think?

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I'm actually a little concerned that we're stepping up our scouting efforts at this particular time. It's possible that we're giving our targets a last check-over before putting in bids and more so that we're scouting these players with a view to signing them in the summer - but why are we doing it now?

Moyes will have known that he would be spotted at the weekend and part of me worries that these very blatant scouting appearances are an attempt to appease the fans and make them believe that a signing is possible.

If we were serious about putting in bids for these players they would have been thoroughly scouted months ago and bids would have gone in as soon as possible rather than half way through the transfer window (not to mention that we would have put in bids by now given the importance of the Chelsea game this weekend and the fact that if deals can't be agreed for our main targets the time remaining for us to move on to other targets is fast decreasing). If we're scouting them with a view to signing them in the summer - surely it makes sense to scout them in a month or two once they have got back in to the swing of things (they've just come back from a rather lengthly winter break!).

I hope that I am wrong but can't help being a little cynical given how poorly the club performed throughout the previous transfer window.

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Redseven, would you rather he'd just watched a player on YouTube?

The guy really can't win.

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No, StevieK. As I said - I'd rather he watched them play a month or two ago before the winter break. The chances of them being anywhere near their best in terms of form and match fitness are very slim. Add to that the fact that we are nearly halfway through the transfer window and are seemingly yet to submit any bids and I think I have a valid reason for questioning why Moyes chose now to go over.

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No offence, mate. But I'll trust them as football professionals, who've been in the game for a lifetime, to know how and when to scout players.

It just seems to be open season at the minute for conspiracy theories.

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Maybe, just maybe he isn't thinking about January but scouting players for the summer? Because, to me, Juventus parting with their best midfielder in January seems highly unlikely.

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Surely it couldn't be anything that boring and straightforward, REDFAITH? :)

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How about reading posts before responding blindly to them?

Why would we choose to go and watch players now for the summer when they've just come back from their winter break and will not be anywhere near their best in terms of form and match fitness? We'd get a much better idea of what they're capable of scouting them once the season is up and running again!

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I think his trips abroad are legit, and not to appease the fans, but they are slightly worrying.

After the summer fiasco, I'd have expected our targets to have been determined, scouted and solidified by the time the window opened to avoid another shambolic window.

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And like I said, redseven, how about trusting the scouting to the football guys who do it for a living, day in, day out, and stop with all this conspiracy nonsense.

None of us know why they were there, mate. This club has enough dramas going on at the moment, without people making up ones that don't exist, just because they're bored and have got 10 minutes to kill :)

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Stevie - Trust the guys who performed so splendidly in the summer window? I'm not sure I can.

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Redseven - targets were identified in the summer, and good ones at that.

Moyes and his scouts didn't do the negotiations.

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13 Jan 2014 20:00:41
I will genuinely miss Ando! I really hope he discovers some form at Fiorentina. Nice lad, had some brilliant moments. Will never forget his penalty @ UCL final or him sh***ing on Fabregas. Fun guy and am sure a dressing room delight. let's hope he gets over his fitness issues and apparent laziness. I know not a lot of people here like him. But 6 years at a club is a pretty lengthy spell. Best of Luck!

Deeps.

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I actually quite like him. Its kind of ironic really that his fitness is an issue, but when be plays he brings more energy and urgency to our midfield. There have been times when I think he has been quite hard done by from the point of view he has had some really good games and then been dropped for no apparent reason. Having said that, as a professional footballer getting himself fit is a very basic requirement. I hope his next club show more belief in him and he makes a success of it. If he plays regularly and gets fit I would not be too shocked to see him at the world cup because he undoubtedly has the ability, though I suppose he is running out of time for that now.

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True Betty, but that is one more scapegoat down ;-) . I think we sometimes muddle the line between a joke and an insult. Some of the stuff about Ando that was posted here was the latter. But, each one to its own though. Ironically we are losing our only midfielder who could run at players ;)

Deeps.

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I always liked him, Deeps. One of those guys who always looked like he was enjoying life - no bad thing.

Really gutted it hasn't worked out for him, but I suppose you can be a bit too laid back for your own good.

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Deeps

Really why because he was a clown and fun lad.

We wasted a lot of money on him and iIhave to question his commitment. I will not miss him and hope we clear out a few more and time to move on for the club. Too many passengers in the squad.

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Like the lad but I agree with Shahram!

Next I would like to see Nani and Young joining him on the way out, if we get replacements of course.

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Stevie - Very well said my friend. Dying breed, players who just enjoy being here/enjoy life in general. It really is not a bad thing, but it does show the levels of cut throat competition that exists. I think Italian football will give him the chance to display his talents on a consistent basis.

Shahram - You really are a ruthless businessman LOL ;-)

Deeps.

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I liked him, thought he had huge potential. I can't believe he is simply lazy, there must be more to it than that.

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Bet he was enjoying life! Taking all the money and not bothering with getting himself fit. He was a total waste of money.

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Deeps

I think Fergie had certain favorites in this squad and it clouded his judgement to a point. We are going to see a drastic change of personnel in the next 2 to 3 years and guys like him have to go first and early without any second thoughts unfortunately.

This idea of being half pregnant does not work a far as I am concerned and in order to usher in new players and better quality of football the old non contributors have to be ushered out.

For the minutes he plays he is more expensive than Messi and Ronaldo and we can surely find players in our academy who can give us those minutes at a fraction of the cost and they will work their a. s off and more appreciative.

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LMAOF, GCU please could you explain in medical terms "half pregnant"?

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13 Jan 2014 19:38:59
Oh come on GDS2 - sticking up for your hero is to be admired (even if does seem a little sad) but don't spoli it by pretending you were only teasing
to get a response and then make it even worse by suggesting you knew it would be me who responded (even though I have only posted on here a couple of times in recent weeks/months.)
Make your statement and stand by it without getting all mealy-mouthed, why you sound more like Disney every day

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For goodness sake Puzzled, get a life, this is a banter site!

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Paulo - do you understand irony?

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You think this isn't exactly what I wanted? GDS 1-0 puzzled. I knew somebody would take the bait just glad it was a scouser.

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Puzzled

Leave my mate alone and hobble back to your own site. We have banter on here not the nasty vindictive rantings you lot enjoy on your page. Good start this year, interested to see if you can sustain it.

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AJH - good start indeed - and WE too have had our top players out for periods (no name no pack drill). I
do not think anyone 'over here' believes we will get the title but top four is very achievable with what we have. let alone any additions we make this window. For once our immediate future is much rosier than yours

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13 Jan 2014 19:04:21
Congratulations to cristiano Ronaldo for the ballon d'or win! Now come back to old Trafford! If only

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Here here, long overdue, the lad's a legend, please come home, we can but dream

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Yeah, absolute quality and thoroughly deserves the award. 69 goals in 59 games! unbelievable record. I still think he will come back to United, but as he signed a new contract it will now be sometime in his 30's, I just get the feeling he might want to end his career here, I could be totally wrong though.

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You could see how much it meant to him when he broke down in tears. the amount if hard work, training he puts in according to teammates is incredible. Thoroughly deserved and congratulations to him.

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True legend and one of the greatest players talked about. Can't imagine him working under moyes though unfortunately

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True legend and my favourite player by a long way. The summer was the time to get him, we will see him here in this 30s though I'm sure. Very happy for him and then little boost to the bank balance that he has given me! Bravo!

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He definitely deserves it. Top player. Very committed, and at the top of his game for years.

Moyesy sign him up ;)

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13 Jan 2014 18:36:26
the fact that Barca have more players than Bayern in the team of the year is frankly disgusting

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Alaba should have been in there ahead of Alvez, Dante ahead of Ramos and Schweinsteiger ahead of Xavi.

The aforementioned were all at one time or another the best in their positions - but all three (none more so than Xavi) have dropped in terms of performances over the past few seasons.

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Agree apart from Dante, I think Dante is the one clear week link in the bayern side

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I've always thought Dante to be one of the best bargains ever in football

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Regardless of whether or not you think Dante is worthy of Fifpro - my point is that Ramos really isn't. Hummels, Kompany, Dante, Chiellini, etc are all better central defenders.

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13 Jan 2014 17:39:15
A poster said that if Nani and Anderson are to leave then we need to replace them. I highly doubt this to be the case. Personally I think that we need to thin the squad out, there are too many players in this team that will never make it and are still here obstructing the path for others. I think if we didn't have Anderson we would of had Powell in and around the first team, we kept Anderson to give him a last chance. This is the case for many of our players. If you look at the Madrid and Barca model, they have pretty small squads packed full of quality but also with room for young players to come through like Nacho, Jese Rodriguez etc. Most of the players that will leave will not need replacing like for like and its safe to say that we need to let go than more than what we let go.

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I think its a case of a dozen going over the next 12 months, and a few of those will be folks clogging up the squad.

We need a core of 18 players with the rest of the squad made up by young players.

My outs would be Rio, Evra, Vidic, Buttner, Fabio, Giggs, Nani, Anderson, Young, Macheda, Bebe and that clears a lot of space.

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Couldn't agree more, a core 18 of De Gea, Lindegaard, Rafael, Jones, Evans, Smalling, Garay, Coentrao, Carrick, Fletcher, Gundogan, Fellaini, Valencia, Januzaj, Reus, Rooney, RVP, Welbeck.

That would be ideal core of players, then Powell, Lingard, Keanes, Henriquez and perhaps new signings like Rotariu to make up the rest of the squad.

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{Ed004's Note - I would go for Vidal and keep Kagawa as well}

13 Jan 2014 17:31:53
an honest assessment of what I think the top of the table will end up as come may.

man city and chelski to battle it out for prem, backed by a couple of billionaires, both teams have quality players, man city prob have the better squad as chelsea lack a top striker
prediction: man city 1st, chelsea 2nd

arsenal are going to struggle to really kill off teams without walcott, and thus drop points, I can actually see arsenal getting more draws than wins from now on. this is not because walcott is so prolific or anything, but oppositions can set up differently with him not in the team, making it harder for arsenal to break opponents down.
simply that even though they have an excellent midfield, they're defense is still vulnerable and they're attack is somewhat limited. given the start they had in first half of they're season, I can't see them dropping enough points to go below 4th
prediction: 3rd

so really the last champions league place comes down to 4 teams, as it stands it's
4th liverpool 42
5th everton 41
6th spurs 40
7th utd 37
now, it is not a matter of winning every game that we have left, but at least matching the results of those around us and then getting the win when we play them. if we can go the rest of the season and maybe lose only 2 or 3 then I can certainly see spurs losing more than that, I can realistically see everton losing to both liverpool and city so they will be in a similar boat to us, so can we win more games than everton. I believe we can
however, as much as it pains me to say, I think liverpool will win more than we do. the difference, I believe, is fear. with saurez and sturridge up front, teams are more scared to have a go at liverpool which they hadn't in the past, an is subsequently one of the reasons why liverpool often failed against lesser teams. we have seen that trend with our opponents this year, whether its because teams have figured us out with a pressing game, not having SAF on the touchline or rarely playing both RVP and rooney, teams aren't afraid of us anymore and I think that will make the difference
prediction: 4th liverpool, 5th Man Utd, 6th everton

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There will be one or two points in it I'm sure.

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The good thing is that Liverpool's record against the top teams in the League is no better than ours, we need to beat them though.

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I think the highest factor for the rest of our season is getting, and keeping Rooney and RVP back. If we can get them back and scoring we still have a real chance of top 4. Beating Liverpool in itself would close the gap to just 2 points which is nothing when we still have 51 points to play for. And don't forget in such a close season goal difference could be crucial. We desperately need Rooney and RVP back, and we will challenge top 4
If they miss much more of the season it will be too late to make a challenge

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I'm an everton fan it's good to see you haven't mentioned us and were down to 6th below you even though were playing much better football, that's not biased either

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And this is the utd page! You are playing well but once Rvp is back we will move on past you?

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13 Jan 2014 15:52:57
Advertisement:

Take advantage of the post-world cup environment to languish on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal.

Top class players wanted for part-time rebuilding work. Maximum wages (150,000 pounds + per week). No foreign travel required.

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13 Jan 2014 15:48:08
the rumoured Nani/ Anderson loan deals are interesting because it may suggest that Moyes has replacements lined up for January.

i believe Nani will be replaced by Dorian Rotariu where as the Anderson deal could see one of Vidal, Gundogan, Koke or Herrera coming in. Although these deals are realistically more likely to happen in the summer, I actually think that Powells return from loan will effectively replace Anderson, and one of the aforementioned players ending up as Giggs's successor, with another from that list being the same for Carrick (who will most likely retire at the end of next season.

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I think Ando and Nani indicates Powell and lingard coming back

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13 Jan 2014 14:49:41
Hi Eds,
If Manchester United were to sign anyone this window, do you think priorities will be in the midfield and wide areas?
Just would like an idea of your thoughts and where you think the areas for attention are?
Cheers
KINGGIGGSY

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{Ed002's Note - Midfield and a wide player.}

Thanks Ed, I agree.
Last question today, Are Vidal and Reus realistic targets for United and in your opinion do they have a chance of signing them?
KingGiggsy

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{Ed002's Note - See previous answers.}

12 Jan 2014 21:38:02
Eds, any truth to the rumors that Roma are need of funds to lessen their debt and as such are going to offloading some players? Haven't a clue about their finances but i've this a couple of times now. Benatia, Pjanic and of course Strootman would improve us.

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{Ed002's Note - You sound like a Liverpool fan.}

Ouch. that one hurt Ed!

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12 Jan 2014 18:46:47
Hi edds, if you have a minute could you please update us on the contraeo (spelling) rumours, there sounds like there might be some truth to these rumours, and the word is that something could happen this week.

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{Ed002's Note - See previous answers.}

13 Jan 2014 14:09:26
Did Syd make a prediction about how far ahead of Liverpool we will finish? I can't seem to see anybody on the site mentioning it!

Give it a break everyone, Syd make a prediction, he explains the same thing every single time, that he didn't expect the transition to be as difficult as this as nobody did. Also, nobody would have expected a team with Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson in the midfield and Kolo Toure at the back to be anywhere near getting Champions League football.

Calling him out on it once is fine but I see people disagreeing with Syd's OPINION and every time using the line 'well you said we would finish ahead of Liverpool. '. We have all said things that were not correct on here, it is football, 'anything can happen' and this season it certainly has done.

We are at a very tricky time in the season, I saw a post earlier saying the teams above us will not drop 8 points. If you include the games they play against each other and against Arsenal, Chelsea and City they are guaranteed to drop a lot more than 8 points, they can't all beat each other, so that was a bit of a strange thing to say. A win at weekend would be massive and a huge bonus, but top 4 will be made based on being able to beat the 'smaller' teams in all the upcoming games and beating Everton, Spurs and Liverpool.

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I still think we will finish above Liverpool, Spurs and Everton but behind City, Chelsea and probably Arsenal.

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I see Disney has a new apologist in GDS2. If you make silly statements you expect flak don't you?
I also notice that Diz is going away for a few days - have the critical views become SO hard for him to bear?

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GDS2


Woooooooooooah now, fella.

How many times exactly did you call me out on here, last season, when I said we wouldn't finish in the top 4 after we didn't strengthen our midfield?

That was my opinion, and you hardly gave me any breaks for it. Syd was just as hard-headed with his "We will win the league and we will finish at least 20pts ahead of Liverpool" which he repeated several times.

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Red_sky,

Fair point mate but that was generally just banter between us 2 and I wouldn't say your opinion doesn't matter because of that prediction.

I wondered who would be the first to say I was a Sydney apologist, puzzled was one of the people I thought it might be, I only said it to see if I could have a bit of a laugh with people rather than the same old posts about who we need to buy.

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GDS2

True enough, I deserved it really but point taken. Syd's a good egg but those were extremely bold words and i'm not surprised posters are having a dig about it!

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And gds2, don't forget you told us we will finish in top 4 a few weeks back and asked my opinion and I said we'll finish 5th at best.
So it will be interesting to see how things pan out.
I hope we win the league, but pigs will not fly.

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Nm,

I still think top 4 pal, £50 to charity against johndenton if not. It's just my opinion though I wouldn't expect people to bring it up every time I post like people do with syd, suppose it was a pretty bold statement, nothing wrong with a bit of optimism though, would have been correct more often than not over the last 20 years though.

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Really GDS2?

Syd is a nice lad but he's always making predictions of everything and to make it sound true. Its a banter dite but seems that few people here think that they own it. If he feels offended vecause people don't aggree with him it his problem.

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We will finish above Liverpool.
Whether we finish above Everton is a different ball game :(

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Nick,

Yes really, thought I would post something a bit different to 'Ed who do you think we should buy' and 'do you think we will sign anyone eds' and thought I might provoke a bit of a discussion as well as winding the scousers up.

It's banter, I post banter and get told I am stopping people having banter, crazy this site.

So eds, who do you think we should buy?

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Nick
Never have I agreed with a post more

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So be it GDS2.

Arsenal, Liverpool Everton and Chelsea will start dropping points next game and we'll finish 2nd. Now we are talking banter.

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Nick,

I think you have misunderstood the term 'banter' pal, google it and have a read, maybe you will learn something.

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I just did thanks to you.

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13 Jan 2014 14:03:37
We may not finish top four, perhaps the damage has already been done and we cannot better Liverpool by five points between now and May, but my point is both sides will drop points, whether it's us this weekend or them in a couple week's time. We need to get our best players fit and we need to improve, that may happen, it may not, but I have faith that we will turn things around. I just hope we do it in time. That's all. We will have to wait and see. I am now off for a couple of days now so you will have to continue the negativity without me, chin up :)

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I think Liverpool will drop a few and we will have a strong run in. Both sides have very difficult fixtures coming up and also a game against eachother. If we win at OT then there is no reason why we can't finish above them.

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13 Jan 2014 14:41:13
Sydney.

If It was just Livepool, Things would have been fine, There are 2 others, Spurs and Everton.

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I would worry about Spurs more than Liverpool and Everton. If we win 12/13 of the next 17 we will finish top four.

We have a pretty good run in where the others have very tricky run ins in the last 6 but Spurs. Spurs have a difficult feb/march schedule.

With a healthy squad of Rooney and RVP, I like our chances.

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Wow, that's a big shout, win 13 out of the next 17 matches. Where is this optimism coming from. We can't beat anyone in the top 9, apart from arsenal.
We have to play chelsea. arsenal, Everton, Southampton away, and have city, Liverpool at home. These are not easy matches.
I think realisticly, we will win 9 of the 17.
But and it is a big but, if we buy a couple of top players in January, then we could achieve your total of 12-13 wins.

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Why is that a big shout?

A healthy united team is a top 4 team period. With Rooney and RVP I would bet on it, without them quite difficult unless we get goals from the wings and midfielders.

Babmi and hernandez are not good enough for top 4 pl team without scoring midfielders.

Here is one for you, if we do not get a result against chelsea I expect the odds on us for a top 4 to diminish and will bet us finishing top 4. I know I am sick LOL.

If we sign a couple of players depending on who signs it may make a difference or it might not as they might never settle in time to make a difference.

I am more interested in seeing our players, who are injured back and getting a run of 8 to 10 games with the manager being able to pick from a healthy squad.

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13 Jan 2014 13:24:13
We simply cannot play hardball with Juventus.
Theya re in no need of any reinforcment in Jan, Top of the league with 10 points, out of the CL, they would wiat till summer to land Nani.
We must pay their asking price for Vidal or Marchisio. and I honestly don't think Vidal would move now.

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Totally agree Attitude.
In fact I think that we are wasting our time, I don't think that they would sell for 30-35 million.
Vidal has already said that he is happy at Juve.
It's a non-starter in my opinion.
We need to look at Benega who is avilable at 12 million and wants to leave the club he's at now.
Another is Gundogen, he still hasn't signed an extension and we have the perfect bait with Kagawa.
At least test the water, 15 million plus Kagawa.
Dortmund have already said they would welcome him back.
I can see this transfer window turning into another Cesc Fabregas saga where the players he wants do not want to leave the clubs that they are at.

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Your last line is perhaps telling. Perhaps United understand that and will wait for the summer.

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Vidal has just signed a new deal so whether he would move or not is questionable. It depends whether he wants a new challenge whilst at the peak of his career. The only leverage we have on Juve is Nani, but I'm not sure how strong that would be / how strong there interest in Nani is.

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Pogba and gundogan will be good. But we have to get the cheque book out and pay serious money for them. If we haggle, they'll go elsewhere. I think we should have learned our lesson by now?

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I seem to be remember Ronaldo signing a new deal and what happened to him.

Look at Suarez, just signed a new deal but still widely tipped to be off in the summer.

Look at Nani, signed a 5 year deal, still expected to be sold this summer.

Players sign new deals all the time, the selling club can ask a higher fee based on them having longer on their contract and the player gets a pay rise and can ask for an even higher wage when they move on.

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13 Jan 2014 12:10:31
Ever Banega is a must.
He's handed in a transfer request, doesn't want to be there anymore and is available for as little as 12-13 million pounds.
Fantastic talent, yes I know he's had his problems off the pitch but for that amount it has to be worth taking a risk.
Imagine getting him on the cheap then maybe getting in Vidal or Herrera in. We would have a superb midfield to pick from.

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13 Jan 2014 12:45:17
I agree he is a good player. Infact very good player. But Doubt he is Injury prone?

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It all comes down to whether or not we really have funds available. If we do - why settle for Banega? He's a good player but some way off the kind of standard I'd expect us to be signing.

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Could be trouble, lots of off-field unsavoury incidents.

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He is better than what we have but I would hope that we would be looking to bring in better players than him in the summer. However a January move for him would really help us on our way to the top 4. A must at that price though. Spending £12 million all window getting Banega and Coentrao on loan would be brilliant business and would be of great help.

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13 Jan 2014 13:21:14
I think we are linked with almost all 21 year old Spanish Midfeilders.

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13 Jan 2014 14:02:07
Has he handed in a transfer request as I can't find anything to confirm? Would be a massive indicator if he has, and I for one would be delighted if he came to Old Trafford.

WF Red Devil

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Isn't Banega a 26 year old Argentine?

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Yes, Banega is in his mid twenties and is Argentinian so Attitude your post doesn't make much sense. Banega would be very good acquisition this summer. Everything has gone quiet on the Guarin front with Chelsea, could be interesting?

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13 Jan 2014 14:41:57
Anon.

Yes and we are not linked with him.

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I think we have been linked with him, and he does want to leave Valencia. Don't think he has a reputation for being injury prone either. He did however has a long layoff with a double leg break. Apparently he got run over by his own car after leaving the handbrake off at a petrol station lol.

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He can be very good or very bad. A little bit like nani and can give the ball away quite a bit.
Never sees a pass he does not like :) he is miles better than cleverly and for 12 million if true would be good signing if the bigger targets are not available till the summer. the reality is we are not going to sign 30 to 40 million players for every position and guys like him would be very good signing. Always a risk if they can settle in to pl in time to make an impact with 17 games left.

I also think mentally for the team it would be good to bring in a couple of new players.

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He was very hit and miss in Championship Manager 08. Just saying.

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13 Jan 2014 10:05:00
I fancy that Moyes may now have seen the light when it comes to Kagawa. He needs to be behind the striker and not stuck out on the left. The problem for him now is, what do we do with him when Rooney is fit? Is Rooney going to stay? Don't know if the ed could give his opinion on that. If he doesn't stay then we have his replacement in Kagawa, but if he stays then I fear that is it for Kagawa even though I think he would be the better player for us in the coming season as Rooney at some point will let himself go again once he gets his next big pay day. It's an interesting one. We could of course go for the 4-1-4-1 formation that I wrote about last week but I can't see Moyes doing that ever.

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When kagawa has had say 5 good games in a row moyes may see the light.
Has kagawa had 2 really good games in a row yet?

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Does it really have to either Rooney OR Kagawa though? I mean rvp looks back to his usual injured self and Rooney has struggled as well. When Rooney is fit stick him up top and put Kags in behind. I don't believe its an either/or situation. We need to have quality in depth in my opinion.

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Sadly Fresh I think DM has already made up his mind about Kags he won't be here long

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Jred

To be fair has kagawa been allowed to play five games in a row in his favoured position?

Given the fact we have chelsea next that may be the case again too.

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I agree Pardoe.
Bookedredmole read or listen to Rodgers on the Liverpool game :) good call betty.
Trumours I think we will with both Evra and Rafael doing just that in the second half on Saturday.

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Agree with Benny here. RVP will probably be out for most of the season. Why not play Rooney up top with Kagz in the number ten role?

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The Chelsea game could be Kagawa's defining moment at Manchester United. If he starts then Moyes has faith in him and its looking a bit better for him. If he is benched for Giggs or Hernandez then he won't be here past the summer.

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I would be amazed if we get anything at Chelsea without RvP & Rooney. At the Bridge you get few chances so you need to take those chances. I am not convinced Hernandez or Welbeck are clinical enough. Both need three chances to score one. games like this you need to take your chances.

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It will be a matter of taking our chances as Syd has said. I don't think we should field two strikers, a 4-5-1 come 4-3-3 with the ball is our best bet. We need men in midfield so I would have Valencia, Fletcher, Carrick, Kagawa and Januzaj with Welbeck up front. If Januzaj doesn't start I will be fuming. Hazard and Willian will take turns on Evra (unless by a miracle we get Coentrao by then) and they will both get the better of him - that will be the problem.

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Kagawa, rooney and adnan playing behind the lone striker, rvp when fit. And two from Jones, fletcher or carrick will give us enough steel and plenty of creativity.
But we will then have to try play through the middle where most teams are playing these days.
Also if required, adnan and the full backs can provide the width.
This team will be much harder to play against than when we play with two wingers. Also, we will create a load more as our wingers can't cross anyway!

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13 Jan 2014 08:46:51
Message to Ashley Young:
Next time you go down in the box, you need to make it clear to the officials that you are claiming a SPANISH penalty. lol

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Betty what is this Spanish penalty? Have I missed something

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Did you see the penalty awarded to Liverpool yesterday? If not, Sterling went down, shall wd say, very easily with minimal contact. Very soft to say the least. The sort of incident certain players from certain teams (being diplomatic!) would have been criticised for. After the game, Brendan Rogers on tv said it what he would call a "Spanish penalty" because you see them given all the time on the continent.

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Ha ha didn't see the game as busy but thanks for the update lol

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13 Jan 2014 08:03:35
Mng to all.

Game against Cheslea would decide our seaosn. If we loose, the gap would increase upto 8 points and I honeslty don't see any of the above teams dropping 8 points Nor we winning the remaining 16 games. We have to get a result against Chelsea.
We need signings this week, or else we could wait till summer.

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I still think we will make 4th - a win would be huge but I can count on one hand how many times we have won at the Bridge, especially against Mourinho who hasn't lost there for god knows how long. It would be a fairy tale though for Moyes who is struggling to break the special one's record.

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Hi Attitude.

The "problem" is more that we need ALL the above teams to drop 8 points not just one of them. I do agree we absolutely have to get a result at Chelsea or we can waive goodbye to Champions League football for next year.
Unless we win it qualify that way!
Now wouldn't that be the perfect storm for Scousers to finish 4th but we push them out by winning the Chanpions league. damn, just woke from the dream.

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Attitude, so what about when Liverpool play Chelsea and we play Norwich at OT, could three points swing back our way then? Or what about when we play Liverpool at OT? What about when Liverpool play City and we are playing Hull at OT?

Points will be dropped by both sides between now and May. Next week's result will have little bearing on the outcome of the season.

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13 Jan 2014 10:28:26
Fresh.
I am not sure, How did you conclude that TBH, Spurs Liverpool, Arsenal/Chelsea, Everton, they won't be dropping more than 8 points. I can't see that.
We are yet to face, Everton, Liverpool, Arsenal and City, and you expect us to take 12 points with this team?.
We Must get a result this weekend, Its a Must

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Or what about when Liverpool play Arsenal and we play Fulham at OT? My point is there is a long way to go, even after this coming weekend.

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We depend on what other teams will do. There's no guaranties that we'll win all remaining games(Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Newcastle, Everton and Chelsea next week) TBH I don't see it. nor the other teams will loose this much. Everton and Liverpool are playing better and consistently than us, it will take hard work and new signings from DM to make the top 4 even top 5 is difficult now.

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I think a draw is a good result and we might look back later in the year and recognize that. Out of all our losses the Spurs loss for me is the worst result of the sea on given how things might play out. We got robbed of a penalty and should be level on points with them and in general a smaller gap.

Arsenal will drop points today.

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Syd!

This is the issue, we don't even know if we'll win the games you mentioned. So, I think you count to much on their games than ours.

We stil have to play Arsenal, Everton, Newcastle and Chelsea away, none of them are 3 pts guaranted and then Liverpool (winnable) and City(?) at home, so we do have difficult games as well.

Top 4 is harder than never.

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Sydney

I seem to remember you announcing to everyone on the site that "WE WILL WIN THE LEAGUE" and "WE WILL FINISH 20 POINTS ABOVE LIVERPOOL".
Still confident?

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We can't afford to drop many more points or lose many more games . I would say we can't afford to lose anymore than 2 and still make top 4.

We are 5 points behind 4 place if we lose 3 games that gives Liverpool the chance of dropping 14 points and still getting 4 place

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Nick, I am not counting on anyone's games, I am simply pointing out that both teams will drop points between now and May and next week's outcome will not decide whether or not we finish in the top four. That's all I am pointing out.

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Simmo, and last season I said we will win the league and finish 30 points ahead of Liverpool. You cannot get it right every time. If SAF was still manager I have no doubt we would finish 20 points ahead of Liverpool. The players have not dealt with the manager change well at all. I hoped the transition would have been smoother, sadly it wasn't and we are suffering for it.

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13 Jan 2014 12:49:53
Sydney

Who cares Arsenal dropping points, They are 15 points ahead than us. and what If they Beat us at Emirates.We loose on Sunday, We might Miss the Top 4, to either one (Liverpool, Spurs or Everton)

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Attitude,

Teams drop points all the time. If you look at patterns of results there are often several weeks a season where one of the 'top sides' is upset. They either drop 2 or 3 points, its quite normal. Everton have a small squad and I think are coming to the end of their run. We will make 4th.

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13 Jan 2014 13:17:01
Fresh

You need to wake up from your dream, All the above teams who are fighting for the top 4 are stronge. their Injury worries are almost getting over, Spurs, Liverpool, Cheslea and Everton are stronger than Ever.

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13 Jan 2014 13:19:21
Sydney

Wrong!. With this Team SAF would struggle, Might be Top4 place, But No chance of Title. City are unplayble, Pellagreni is their Best signing in Years. With aguero and Negreado, they are almost Untouchble,

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Attitude, who's talking about Arsenal? And they are 8 points ahead of us, not 15. And what if we beat them at the Emirates? What if, what if?

ALL teams will drop points between now and May, it's now about who drops the less. let's wait and see.

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13 Jan 2014 07:17:47
Does anybody else think that the longer we wait to make a bid for a player, the harder it will be to get the players we want and need? The selling club will not have as much time to find a replacement. As an example, it was reported in the last transfer window that daniel de rossi and roma had an agreement that after a certain date no bids would be discussed as they wouldn't have sufficient time to find a replacement. Of course we made contact after that date. that's why in a previous post I bought up the idea of player plus cash swaps cause the targets we have been linked with just happen to have their clubs linked with some of our players. I know they rarely happen

Any thoughts?

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Goes without saying. But I hope we can secure a couple of signings. Coentrao and Vidal or pogba will be great.
One area I'm worried about is strikers. Rooney has been out a lot, maybe the training is catching up with him! Also, rvp doesn't seem to be anywhere near recovering. In my opinion, Diego Costa is made for United. He's aggressive, holds the ball very well, excellent finisher, and never gives up. As much as it pains me to say it, I would get him in asap and if possible do a swap with Hernandez, who seems to have stalled.

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It makes things into more of a rush and panic. I think the ground work that the staff are doing is definitely for the summer. Davide Astori I have read is available on a free in the summer so would be a good move anyway - that is probably one of the players Moyes was watching. And it certainly looks like we are going in for one of the Juve midfield 3 this summer, the ed says Vidal and that is probably true but rumours are flying around about Marchisio and Pogba so we shall have to wait and see.

As I have said for the majority of this window, we will get Coentrao and only Coentrao. But plans will be being made already for the summer, Astori, Garay, Mangala, Vidal, Pogba, Marchisio, Gundogan seem the ones that are getting the most attention at the moment.

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Yer i'm worried bout our strikers as well, hernandez does not look match sharp at all, his touch against swansea in the cup was absolutely awful to begin with

I still rate falcao and think he would do great for us, plus he is not cup tied. I know he would be expensive but every fan wants united to make a statement and sign some world class players.

This is our chance to do just that. we spent 27 million in the last transfer window, who cares if we have to pay a little extra this window to get the players we want, if we finish top 4 it will be worth it. we can offset that by selling the players we don't need.

with the world cup at the end of the season, player prices will go up with good performances and may end up costing more then they do this window. what I can't understand is if these players we want have get out clauses then just pay it to secure them!

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