Manchester United Banter Archive September 16 2013

 

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16 Sep 2013 23:34:23
I was chatting with a friend the other day and it dawned on me that all of our competitive games so far this season have been televised. I then realised that our next 3 games will also be live on television meaning that our first 8 will have been shown live. Come December 10th - 21 of our 26 games will have been televised.

With this in mind; am I the only one thinking that we should be pushing to negotiate our only television rights like the Spanish Giants? I'm not suggesting it's done quite the same as it is in Spain - but some sort of 'pay when you're televised deal' seems fair. Pigheadedness aside - we are a much bigger draw than any of the other English clubs and should see some sort of financial benefit!

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I personally think its outrageous that in this modern age, we cannot watch every single match for free on the tv, especially when I have a friend who lives in Croatia and every CL match is televised for free nationally, and half the time I can't even afford to go to the pub to watch it on sly, and end up having to watch a rubbish stream.
Money has ruined this game enough as it is, and by negotiating our own tv deal its just going to make it more expensive for the loyal fans who just want to watch they're favourite team play football, whether it means sly would put they're prices up even higher, or they put all the games on MUTV and then people would have to pay a subscription to that on top of slys already outrageous prices.

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17 Sep 2013 08:37:56
I think you'll find that kind of thing is reserved for teams like Barca and Madrid who are dripping with world class players and playing quality football.

{Ed002's Note - Referring to the original post, 25% of the TV broadcast monies is assigned to those clubs hosting live matches, so clubs are paid when a game is shown on television. Manchester United are contracted to the existing television deal. That will not change until a breakaway happens.

Referring to the previous comment from Jase, the TV revenue is critical to the survival of many clubs with EPL TV revenue to increase from this season. If you want England to go the way of Croatia you need to accept there will be far fewer high profile players coming in if you take away the TV revenue.}

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The reason not every game is televised is because if they were then attendances at the grounds would fall. In other countries they don't have this problem with the PL of course so they can show them all. It is the Premier League imposing the restriction in the UK in order to maintain attendances.
If you were a supporter of a team lower down the league would you find it fair that the bigger teams get more money from tv revenue because they are on more when they already have more money. I think the way its done is the fairest way for all clubs and helps make the PL competitive all the way down unlike some foreign leagues.

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No way should it change, look at how bad the Spanish league is in terms of debt and clubs on the verge of going out of business, our game and the germans is the right way of doing things in terms of tv revenue

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I am actually disgusted with what Barcelona and Real Madrid have done. They have ruined La Liga and made it so it will always be a two horse race. I wouldn't like us to do the same thing.

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If you go back a few years the spanish league used to be very competitive. Barcelona and real madrid routinely win the majority of their games 3 or 4 nil where as you just don't see that in the prem we are spoilt with the premiership as anyone can beat anyone on their day. The spanish league has become so predictable its a joke

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17 Sep 2013 11:57:05
Thanks Ed02 for the insight, I didn't fully understand the role the tv money plays for the smaller clubs. Obviously I didn't think it would have that much of an effect and would not want to force smaller clubs into administration, as that would just play into the hands of the sugar dadies (abramovich and mansour) who are ruining the game IMO. I would like to think that there is a way of reducing the amount of money players are paid, which I'm sure would be main expenditure for many smaller clubs, and the amount of tv revenue paid to the clubs, in turn making it cheaper for the fans who just want to watch football. Obviously this would be a perfect world which unfortunately we do not live in so in, it extremely unlikely that it is ever going to happen. Anyway Ed02 thanks for the info.
In response to welsh dragon, I can appreciate your point, and it would might affect the smaller clubs attendance but I don't think we would ever see old Trafford, anfield the emirates half empty, however on the off chance it was to happen, then perhaps it might convince the owners to lower ticket prices, and fans like my self would actually be able to afford to go to more than one match a year, in turn filling up the stadiums with fans who wouldn't normally be able frequent the games, as there is nothing like watching a match live.

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If all prem games are shown on TV, with less people paying to go to watch them, maybe the local town teams would see a rise in support and the lesser clubs will gain money from tickets, merchandise etc. Just depends when the live games are shown/scheduled.

Does anybody know if any research has been done into the transfer of main stream support to lower level football, linking it with TV games not being shown at 3pm on a Saturday?

I know quite a few people that have started to support their local conference team due to ticket pricing/petrol costs to follow their Prem team.

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16 Sep 2013 22:16:53
Enjoyed watching the U21s tonight (with the sound turned down!).

Januzaj looks so composed and confident. Someone hit the nail on the head earlier, when they said he knows he's that good.

Lingard looks better every time I see him. Looks like he's starting to believe he can do it. Good composure again for the second goal, and good tenacity for the fourth. Amazing what a few first team appearances can do for these lad's confidence.

Blackett looked good, if a little lacking in mobility. Like the way he gets forward, and runs with his head up - good assist for Lingard's first.

Love watching Varela. Getting the hang of the defensive side, slowly but surely, but superb going forward - his link up play, cutting in, with Lindgard and Januzaj, was a joy to watch.

In fact, the second half all round was a joy to watch, after a very poor first half. Attacking at speed, intricate passing, lovely threaded through balls, and some great crossing.

Warren Joyce has done a great job there, and the lads obviously are loving every minute of it - you can see the enjoyment they get from knocking the ball about. Just hope their natural exuberance and ambition on the pitch, don't get totally trained out of them.

Biggest smile on my face though - young Will Keane coming back and getting on the scoresheet.

First step on the long way back for the lad.

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Couldn't agree more Stevie, I thought the way all the other players look to Januzaj to control the game mimics what Scholes was like for the first team.

Lingard and Januzaj as always looked a class above the rest and I really believe them being involved in the pre season has set them up to have a great year progress wise.

Glad to see Will back to, although the goal was offside and it wasn't the hardest goal to score just the fact he was back playing with 60 minutes under his belt was great news.

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We don't get MUTV out here and I am always envious and never get to see the young guys everyone talks about.

What kind of striker is Will keane and who does he compare with best? {Ed007's Note - Can't you get a stream of the matches? I'm sure someone will know how......

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Go on vipbox any game any sport all free :)

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Wziwig.tv had it on earlier. It's taken over from frontrowsports for me now.

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@GCU
Will keane did play a cameo for the first team a season before he got injured, also you can stream the matches as you prolly won't find many youtube video's of them

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Thanks guys, just watched the second half of U19 European Cup Leverkusen game. Kind of very sloppy but we won 4-3.

First time ever seeing the young guys and the one thing that did stand out some the young lads are quite big even at this age and are going to be physically quite intimidating once they are fully grown and if they make the first team.

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16 Sep 2013 22:08:30
So pleased for will keane to score tonight on his return!

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16 Sep 2013 21:24:20
So lewandowski agent says he has been talking to napoli about the player, got to wonder why if he is of to Munich

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Read that too. I also read a few months ago that his agent is a nobody and Lew is the only player of any value he has and desperate to orchestrate a big money move for obvious reasons.

Odd story especially with him coming out with it. If he is potentially available, we might see a bidding war between lots of clubs and we would be stupid not go after him even though we might not need a striker currently and can always move hernandez or Welbeck on if we had to.

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I still expect him to go Munich but Chelsea might make a move

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He already admitted turning down mourinho at chelsea. Arsenal and spurs would also be a possibility and their style of play might suit him more.

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His agent is simply doing what he is paid for.

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16 Sep 2013 19:06:28
So Adnan was left out of the Champions League squad for tactical reasons. David Moyes: "If we had put him onto the 'A' list now, then we would never have been able to class him as a youth-team player. So we needed to wait for two games to do that."

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Makes sense to me, he can play every game after the first 2 and hopefully he will be ready by then. I am loving moyes quotes about him being good enough to start, must be going his confidence the world of good.

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When I heard Adnan wasn't in the CL squad, the first thing that came into my mind was that he was going out on loan. I had to control the urge to post on the rumours page that how my uncles barber knew that he was going out on loan. I had also chosen Wigan for him.

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16 Sep 2013 16:51:14
People saying that adnan is not the type to chase money. How do they no this. Any of them actually know him and either way just pay him or juve or barca will. he's going to be top notch

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I hope we just pay the kid and not try and save pennies. We are pound foolish and penny wise in some of our dealings.

I don't want to bring up Pogba but 30k and some playing assurances would have closed the deal but SAF just hates to give in on anything.

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God
Yer I hope we have learned a lesson

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Oh, no! We have great history, players should play for free.

It's a new world, does not matter how great is your history, if you want to keep the best players in your team, you got to pay.

He asks what he wants and the. We negotiate, if we don't pay, he will get it elsewhere. I hope we don't make the same mistake as we did with Pogba.

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16 Sep 2013 15:58:16
Just a fort with the increased pressure at the top if the table from us Chelsea city spurs arsenal and I hate to say it Liverpool, then there is a strong chance that arsenal wouldn't finish top 4 next year which in turn could allow us to make moves for some of the players whom are defiantly needed cl such as oil and wilshere

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Why do people think that because RVP WANTED to sign for us that every Arsenal player would be interested?

If RVP was still at Arsenal there is no way in hell he would want to leave.

They've got a team capable of winning the EPL this year IMO if they can keep the majority of their squad injury free.

I'm sorry but they're better than both spurs and Liverpool.

They will not drop out of the top 4 and we won't bid for or be interested in any of their players if they fail to qualify.

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Moon, the only thing Arsenal have over Tottenham is quality attacking midfield.

A trio of Wilshere, Oziland Cazorla, on paper, is better than Lamela, Eriksen and Sigurdson. But in central midfield Tottenham are better stocked.

In defense and striking they are on the same level imo. Should be interesting

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Sorry moon but u can't shoot down jacks opinion then go on to say arsenal have a great team capable of challenging for the title! wots different to the team that scraped 4th last season and finished over 15 points behind us? except for Ozil?
Media fever has caught over u very much I must say!

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Regardless of the quality in their team their manager alone Mr Wenger is far more experienced than AVB and Brendan blimmin Rogers. Just like SAF possibly gave us an extra 15 points a season with his exceptional managing ability Wenger has a similar affect with Arsenal IMO.

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Hmm Oz, wenger worth 15 points a season? Really? So wot the hell has he been doing for 8 years? Giving others a chance?

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Arsenal are awful at the back.

Keeper 5/10
Sagna on his way out
Jenkinson - doesn't look good enough for champs league RB
Mertersacker - Slow and Clumsy
Gibbs - Injury Prone and not that effective, again mid-table quality
Vermaelen - Out of favour
Koscielny - Quality a lot of the time but makes stupid decisions.

Basically a mid table defence, and weaker than last season as Vermaelen is out of favour now and Sagna is a year older.

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Szchesney 7/10 still only 22
Sagna/ 8/10 and not on his way out
Jenkinson is quality
Gibbs is quality
Mertasacker is not clumsy
Koschieny best defender but does make some bad decisions
Vermaelen just came back from injury

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People writing arsenal off after the villa game, my opinion is they will finish in the top 3

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Watford gooner, there's no way Szchesney is a 7/10, yes he's a great shot stopper, but he's not even that consistently. His decision making is appalling, and yes he's only 22 but he's been your number 1 for a few years now and has shown no real sign of improvement.
I think mertesacker is underrated, yes he's slow but his positioning is good, and obviously is great in the air.
Vermaelen was probably your best defender, but he hasn't looked the same player since, and he hasn't "just" come back so I can't see him being the same player he was.
Koscielny is probably the most overated defender in the premier league, he may be good in the tackle, but he is a liability.
Jenkinson is a good player but he's only young and needs to improve, he's not quite "quality" yet.
Sagna a good player but not great though.
All in all your defence is shaky at best. However having said all that I think your midfield and attack will make up for your defensive frailties and I predict a top four finish for you this year, if Giroud (who I think will be a player in line for the golden boot this year) and Ozil can stay fit.
Anyway good luck for the season, I have a soft spot in my heart for arsenal, and would rather see you guys do well over chelski or man $hitty.
I have to admire wenger really for making a quality team with virtually no funds, and never comprising his style of play.

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16 Sep 2013 15:25:56
just to add to the which is harder to win the old euro cup or the champs league, this should help, liverpool won it by beating these giants during the years of the european cup one year.
crusaders of ireland.
trabszonsper 2nd round.
st.etienne quarters.
fc zurich semi.
monchengladbach in the final.
now stoke would probably win in that field.just saying.

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Oi! Mick! Stop copying my posts, and think up some of your own!

{Ed044's Note - Maybe Mick was referring to the year Widzew Lodz knocked Man Utd out of Europe or was it the year Man Utd fell to the mighty Videoton?}

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Rotor volgograd in 95 remember that bloody shocker that was in the uefa cup had never even heard of them and to be honest I haven't noticed them in european competition since

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Mighty videoton? isn't that a transformer?

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Ed044, no-one is saying that these teams aren't capable of springing a surprise every now and then.

However, more often than not, teams like Liverpool in their 70s/80s heyday, should be beating the likes of Crusaders, Zurich, Dresden and Bruges, then getting down on their knees and giving thanks for such an easy route to a major final.

{Ed002's Note - You are right, just like Manchester United walked all over the likes of Lille, Partizan Belgrade and Ferencvaros.}

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I think these posts, despite actually being quite a good point have hit a raw nerve with the eds.

Once again nobody is suggesting it wasn't difficult back then and nobody should take anything away from Liverpool (as they would never suggest we only won the league last year because the other teams are poor!) but what people are saying is that the champions league is more difficult now, and it is pretty obvious based on stats and history that it is.

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Yeah have to agree I was merely pointing out esrlier that whenever you get into a debate with a scouser you get the famous 5 times statement lol which is old news myself as a united fan do not keep using 13 times or 20 times because its rather boring. It certainly has touched a nerve but the fact is woteva top flight trophy any team wins is a massive achievement

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16 Sep 2013 21:31:10
Imo the way the Champions league is structured now makes it a tougher competition, you have to play more games and against tougher competiton. That shouldn't take anything away from the accomplishment of the teams who won it as the European cup, they won it on merit. As they say you can only beat what is put infront of you.

But the fact that no team as won the Champions league back to back goes some way imo to show how much tougher it is in its current format. Even the great Barcelona side a team many will say is one of the greatest club teams of all time couldn't win it back to back.

Now there are more teams of greater quality competing and you are required to play and there for beat more teams too.

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Shappy agree 100%. The whole thing was why in the case of CL people mention it along the same line as European cup, which was a very different competition with different rules for qualification.

The Cup winners Cup is gone now and replaced by Europa League even though the cup winners get in but people do not consider them the same as the format has changed and qualification rules have changed.

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Yeah that's true we would of done it in 2009 but were well beaten by a truly wonderful Barcelona side. what's everyones thoughts on how we will do this season? That would be my 1 critic of fergie in he became very cautious in his later years as manager which worked against us as we are much much better in going after teams instead of being negative we often got punished

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Let's look at it a different way at various times ac, Munich, Madrid and the scouse have all won the European cup back to back or dominated for a period, was it easier to win, well that's not that important because at the time them teams where the stand out team's in Europe

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16 Sep 2013 23:04:59
Ed, you're quoting individual games in which we've struggled.

I was referring to two complete Liverpool runs to consecutive finals, when I think anyone with any knowledge of football history, would say that the opposition was not of the highest calibre.

Is there a problem with comparing those type of run of games, with national champions only and no pre-qualifying, to the situations we have today, with the possibility of at least three big teams playing each other before they even reach the knockout stages?

That was the whole point of the comparison in the first place - between the respective tournaments and which was tougher, not between teams' histories.

I think most football fans, certainly any I chat to, and no matter who they claim to support, would lean towards the view that the Champions League is harder to win nowadays, and as both Liverpool and ourselves have won the modern incarnation, then it's not trying to put one over them to say that.

{Ed002's Note - As far as I can see you appear to be whining with no rationale and no objective. How much better could Liverpool have done? Could Manchester United have done better? It would be nice if it were banter, but it is not. A comparison to your position to it being harder to win now would be it was harder to get in to before.}

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16 Sep 2013 23:05:23
GDS2

You seem to be correct and it was not meant in anyway to diminish other teams achievements. Just a observation after looking at all the groups today and how difficult it is now as the 2nd, 3rd and even 4th place teams from La Liga, Bundesliga, Pl, italy when they had 4 spots are all difficult opposition and capable of winning where in the old days they did not get in, that is all.

What has changed is you can get a 3rd place team that gets in who were average and goes out a buys some serious talent in the summer and can win it.

On another note, Arsenal's group looks very tough and interesting to see how they make out and good measure of how competitive they will be in the PL title race.

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In saying it was harder to get in before is quite a good point so it evens itself out if u put it like that. let's leave this debate there now because the Ed's are upset at this one and move onto sumin else

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16 Sep 2013 15:15:46
Is the united game on tv this week(leverkusen game). Is it wed or tue

cheers

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Tuesday on ITV1.

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Tuesday on itv

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I am sure you could find that information out without posting on here, its not exactly banter. The game is on Tuesday and there are tickets available, get yourself down there.

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Does anyone know if there's a way to watch itv on the iPhone without wifi, I only ask as I'm laid up in the bloody hospital at the moment and there's no tv on my ward, and I will be gutted if I miss our first cl match of the campaign. Any ideas would be welcome.

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Discharge yourself!

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Never mind, I've just discovered that the itv player no longer needs WIFI to use it. I feel a bit silly now lol.

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I tried that this afternoon pancho but my girlfriend kicked my ass all the way back here lol!

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16 Sep 2013 12:01:38
Just a thought (that I will get shot down for). But I wonder if we could move for Ramsey at the end of the season. If Arsenal have yet another trophyless season then surely a player of his improving quality will want to make the step up like RVP has done. Just a thought. Also I think Mata still may become available at the end of the season, but that is just my opinion!

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He chose arsenal over us. I respect that and that should be the end of it.

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If you don't get shot down mate it will show how fickle most are on here. I was hounded for having him in as one of the Arsenal CM'ers that would walk into ouur team and was criticised no end for it.

I think as I always have that he is a top player and to be honest I think he is far more suited at Arsenal with their style of play than ours.

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The only player I'd sign from Arsenal that isn't Ozil would be Wilshere which is highly unlikely. Unless Wenger is sacked after another trophyless season in which case Wilshere said he would probably quit the club although I think he'd move abroad to be honest.

Ramsey's just having a good spell of decent form at the moment, not shown nearly enough for me to rate him that highly.

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I've got to be honest think wilshere is overrated most probably because he is english. I thought ramsey was the better player before he had that horrific injury with the shawcross tackle. Ramsey did have the chance to join us but went to arsenal as he thought he had better chance of 1st team football let's see if ramsey/wilshere can be consistent over the course of the season hasn't happened yet.

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Ramsey is a good player, and someone who looks like he is starting to kick on since his leg break. If he can carry this form all the way through the season then he is a player who should be under consideration next summer.

He chose Arsenal over us as at the time he fely he would get more playing time at Arsenal than he would for us, which at the time was probably a fair comment. But he remains a huge Manchester United fan and Giggs is his hero. So if he finds his playing time limited with Ozil signing then he could easily be persuaded to sign for us imo.

He does have a lot of the atributes we need in our midfield, he is a great passer of the ball, he is solid defensively, runs himself into the ground in each game, and has that creative spark and vision to create chances.

The problem is that Arsenal are highly unlikely to sell to us again after RvP.

So good player who has potential to be great, but unlikely to sign for us anytime soon.

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Wilshere is not overated at all. Since his injury he hasn't done well but did you see him against Barcelona? He looked so comfortable and in control against the best midfield in the world at the time and that was just that game. I don't see either coming to United though mainly because the price would be way too much, unless its a similar scenario to RvP with a year left on his contract not wanting any other team but us.

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Id have Ramsey over Wilshire anyday, whilshire imo is accident prone and injury prone, but that's not saying he can't turn into a great player but for now I think the lad has become worldclass by the media without actually playing that well imo

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Wilshere is vastly overrated. But he is still a very good player. I said we should buy Ramsey last summer, it seems that would have been a good idea. It was only a matter of time before his form returned.

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16 Sep 2013 10:15:52
Just wondered what peoples view on coming up with a change in classifications of European Trophies.

Whilst this might upset the Scousers and Real madrid fans, a lot of their trophies were won during a time when the competition was very different and much easier to win in my opinion, with very few clubs participating and much easier to get through to the finals.

I think the current CL is a very difficult to win and much better competition than what used to be, hence why no repeat winner to date.

This is based on the fact that who knows what would have happened if 2nd and 3rd place teams where allowed in and they were genuine contenders(Bayern last year, Chelsea the previous year) and could beat other teams and the above 2 might have a lot less CL trophies to brag about. {Ed007's Note - You are kidding aren't you? You try telling guys like Billy McNeill and Bobby Charlton that it was easy to win the European Cup. And if it was that easy why did Utd not win it more often?}

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I guess your 1968 European Cup win under the great Sir Matt Busby counts for nothing then?

What about Fergie's Cup Winners Cup triumphs in '83 & '91 were they easy too?

What utter drivel you guy's spout.

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Ed007 perhaps the reason we did not win many euro cups at that time was because we never won the 1st division to qualify for the European cup {Ed044's Note - Manchester United had made it to the semi-finals of the European Cup three times before winning it in 1968 and did so again the following year.}

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Ed, I think the point is, that once you were in it, it was an easier trophy to win.

For instance, in 1977, Liverpool only had to get past Dinamo Dresden, Benfica, Moenchengladbach and Bruges, to win it.

1976 appears even easier, in that they only had to get past Crusaders of Northern Ireland, Trabzonspor, St Etienne, FC Zurich, and the Germans again.

While it was still tough, and I'm not taking anything away from the effort required to win it, I don't think you can compare it to today, when even some of the qualifying groups would be worthy of a path to the trophy.

If only Utd had been good enough to be able to win a few league titles back then, and we hadn't suffered the disaster in Munich, who knows how many more times we would have won it.

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Its a good point brought up by god created united to be honest. Back then it was straight knock out with no groups so there was less games to deal with with less teams meaning obviously you didn't have as far to go in order to reach final so it is a very good point. The problem is though the champions league even though that's wot its called is not a league it is a cup and the best teams certainly do not always win in knockout competitions. No offence to liverpool but they were nowhere near the top team when they won it in 2005 after finishing fifth in the league and also chelsea finishing 6th and winning it in 2012 so sometimes it can be bit of a mismatch in that respect.

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Ed007

I never said it was easy but easier. You played 5 games and usually the first 2 were against easy opposition and you were pretty much in the quarters. Nowadays you play an obscene amount of games with all your other domestic competition just to get to the knock out stages which requires big squads and some good fortune.

I also think there is a lot more parity in football today than in those years, where pretty much Spanish and Italian clubs and obviously that Bayern team were dominant and picked up the bulk of their silverware.

Just a view and I don't believe you will ever see any team winning it 5 on the trot or 3 for a matter of fact. The point was it is a lot harder now to win it than back then and please feel free to share that with SBC :)

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Shahram,

I agree but it is a bit pointless really discussing it. Liverpool fans will always come on like the one above calling us 'you guys' and saying we don't know what we are talking about.

But let's be honest, if the champions league was how it used to be Dortmund, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Napoli, AC Milan would not be in the competition this year. Are we really saying that without them teams in United wouldn't have a better chance of winning it this season?

Nobody is taking away that Liverpool won it 5 times, but of course it is more difficult now.

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Exactly GDS2, less opposition then the probability of any team winning it is much higher so infact you had more of a chance to win it back then. This 5 european cup nonsense is old now though let's be honest scousers about time u had a new one. People saying about our group I have to admit I think it is certainly the toughest group we have had in a good few years. Remember the group of death so to speak in 99 with us barcelona bayern munich and the danish giants brondby haha! {Ed007's Note - And if Utd had won it more times you wouldn't be shouting it from the rooftops Damon? I think it is only 'old' to you because it is LFC fans saying it and maybe a bit of the green-eyed monster. The European Cup or CL is what it is, teams can only play against what is in front of him, why try to belittle a part of your own club's history just to point score over rival fans?
Should the same reasoning be applied to past World Cups, or what about the FA Cup when it has not been won at Wembley?
It's ludicrous to even consider it, and as I said, you are belittling the achievements of some of the finest teams and players ever to play the game, including your own club's.}

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GDS2

It was just an observation as we won our two CL trophies having qualified as champions of England, where in the case Liverpool, Chelsea, Bayern they qualified in the additional spots that is now granted. I can't remember if there have been other winners who did not win their league since the CL started.

Take the 1980 as an example when we finished the season 2 points behind liverpool and they end up winning the european cup the following year. In today's format, we would have been in the competition and you wonder what if especially given our pedigree in those days for being a great cup team and the knock out set up would have suited us.

Anyway nothing wrong with riling up a few scourers and hope swansea sticks it to them today LOL

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Correction we qualified as the second place team for our 1999 CL win. Forrest won their 1980 trophy even though they finished second in 79 to Liverpool but had won it the previous year and were automatically in.

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Ed007 not belittling things, I just think they should have left it as the european Cup and CL trophy.

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Shahram,

We did NOT win the league in 1997/98 so therefore did not win the champions league as champions of England. We had to qualify (against LSK Lodz if I remember correctly)

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In reality we were champions of england because by the time we won it against bayern munich we had regained the title but I agree at the time of qualifying arsenal were current league champions.

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Deluded the lot of you, and jealousy will get you no where

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GDS

I already corrected that we finished second to Arsenal in 98 season.

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I must say this but how are liverpool fans even on this page? I have never even visited the liverpool page as I have no interest so surely none of us united fans should get mocked for what we say on our own page. Just a thought {Ed044's Note - As has been explained by another Ed, the fans of a couple of clubs are really pretty poor at banter.}

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@Ed044

Perhaps they need to get a little more KLOOTy? ;)

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Real Madrid came 4th in the league when Del Bosque was manager and back then it was only top 3 Champions League qualifed they won CL then and had to have special dispensation to play in it the following year like pool when they started in 1st qualifying round

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Shahram,

We must have posted at the same time mate

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To be honest who cares? now its in the past, was it easier to win back then? Probably but in truth all I care is we have the chance this year to win it! That hurts liverpool more than any of this diminishing attepts at there great triumphs 30+ years ago, they deserved to be champions of europe then and now they deserve to be what they are now!

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Its not belittling Ed's its banter between 2 big rivals nothing more it would certainly be boring if we didn't have each other that's for sure. Both teams have done very well in a range of competitions and I certainly respect that if you balance it all out its pretty even I am proud to say we have won it 3 times there are teams out there who have never won it only a few years ago it looked asif only barcelona were better than us we are not at that same level now but I think we will rise again {Ed007's Note - It is not banter and it is belittling past achievements of clubs, including your own. It would have taken a brave man to tell Matt Busby that his EC win shouldn't count because it was easier to win it back then. I always thought Man Utd were as proud as Celtic of winning the EC back then, especially after everything the club went through before managing to win it. All this talk is belittling one of the achievements that helped mould Man Utd into the club it is today.}

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I really couldn't agree more ed

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007, no-one is saying it doesn't count, that's just ridiculous.

But surely we're able to compare tournaments, then and now, just as we compare teams from then and now.

We know there are lots of different factors to take into account in that argument, but it doesn't stop us comparing great sides.

Why should it stop us comparing tournies? {Ed007's Note - The OP isn't comparing anything, he is basically saying the old EC is less prestigious than the CL, which is a nonsense. For a Man Utd fan to say that, considering what the club went through in the previous 10 years to their win in '68 is astonishing. The format of the tournament is irrelevant, it is still the same prize and deserves the exact same plaudits and prestige.}

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Well said 007, I saw the OP earlier today and had to cringe a little, at the end of the day, now the premier league is going to be more difficult to win than ever this year, but would anyone say it should start a new era and all past achievements made by SAF, or any other manager for that matter, should be discounted. Of course not.
I understand that the CL is more difficult than ever to win nowadays but that should take nothing away from those teams, and players, who gave there absolute everything back then to win the most prestigious competition in world football.

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16 Sep 2013 00:53:27
Eds do you know what's happening with Wellington Beuno. I know he went to that Belgium team I can't spell but iv just seen him tweet saying he's 'back off to Brasil and that's for the opportunity' {Ed044's Note - I think it is as explained before and Bueno Wellington is just a kid that something may happen with in the future. He has spent sometime with Anderlecht and is going home.}

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16 Sep 2013 00:40:40
So, people are saying that Manchester united are going to do absolutely nothing this season and will finish outside the top three. I would just like to clear this up as sensibly as I possibly can!

Manchester united have been up there and fighting for titles and in all comps for the last. 20+years!

We have the same team that won the league last year with 2nd highest points total! Not only that but we also held Madrid away! and if it wasn't for some poor decisions from the man in black on the night we would have more than likely beat them at OT

We have strengthened the centre of the park in the form of Hair doo! whom although we paid over the odds for, he is a very reliable and strong defensive midfielder who will add a bit of steel in the midfield. Just because he's not a world cup winner nor a "marquee" signing let's not under estimate him, he tore us apart on many occasion home and away against everton and even secured them all 3 points! added to that he is also good for 7 or 8 maybe more with better players around him, goals a season add that to 25-30 from RVP, 10-20 from rooney, hopefully 10 or more from Danny Welbeck (hopefully) and other goals dotted around the pitch then we have no worries in that department either!

Now onto the defence, if we can keep the big two in the middle at the back fit (unlikely) but if we can then there is absolutely no issue there, we have decent cover in the form of evans and jones anyway, plus rafa and evra are always solid at the back!

People slating moyes for the transfer business is absolute stupidity. he names the players he wants and our good friend ED goes and gets them, or at least that was the idea of it! it didn't happen and I feel sorry for DM because he really went in for some quality! before anyone mentions ronaldo! ronaldo agreed a new contract back in july it as surfaced, it just wasn't made public because ronaldo had prior engagments to sort out! I still think ronaldo will return! I just knew it wouldn't be this summer just gone!

Now let's look the The glazers reaction to no "Marquee" signing! they were furious about it and sure as hell won't let that happen again! come January I think we wil see a good couple of top quality talents added to the squad!

In all honesty we are the only one of the big clubs who has no "Director Of Football" spurs have one of the best, hence why they have been able to bring in some absolute stunning signings and for bargain price! its all about contacts and this is what these clubs have, unfortunately we decided not to do this! and although Gill did a decent job, its clear that Woody won't do half a gooda job in the transfer market! top bloke and making united richer and richer with business deals, but the football side is None!

Top and bottom of it is, I don't think we will win the league this season. it will be close, but we will win something, my guess is the FA Cup! I hope we silence the critics and win the lot but who knows! just wanted to put my opinion across!

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I like the positivity behind this post but there are a couple of things that I really can't agree with.

You say evra is always solid at the back which makes me think you haven't seen us play for a long time, he really isn't.

Also, ronaldo is not coming back, he would cost too much and for what we would spend on him we could sign 3 quality players that would improve the first 11.

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Redkez I admire your optimism but personally I would be surprised if we spend big in January for a whole host of reasons. That said I think moyes will do a good job and i'm very glad we signed fellaini as he is very well suited to the style of play I think moyes is trying to implement. My biggest fear was if Carrick got injured who would be our midfield but having fellaini negates that.

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You really think the glazers were furious there in control they would know what is going on daily they don't like parting with cash :(

{ed002's note - i think the perspective needs to be that efforts were made to buy players that the club saw as improving the squad, but they could not be obtained for the price the club valued them at or for other reasons. sensibly, the club did not make knee jerk reactions and buy for the hell of it. i am an advocate of keeping league tables hidden until 8 games have been completed.}

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