Manchester United Banter Archive December 21 2012

21 Dec 2012 20:13:20
Good to see FFP start to grow a pair, wonder how long (if ever) they start to start to force clubs to work within their own means...

DodgyBanter

We can only hope

Gav

21 Dec 2012 19:01:05
just want to ask why we couldnt draw AC Milan in the champions league because Milan could only draw Barcelona when they were drawn so why could we not have drawn them?

Milan were barcas only option. i thought the same thing when i saw it but i worked it out that milan were their only option.

Aaronaldo7

I never saw the draw but im guessin the only teams left in was celtic or spanish both of which barcelona cant be drawn against

Madrid couldn't play Barca as 2 teams from same country each other until next round.

Yup the remaining teams who came second in the groups were Madrid, Valencia and Malaga.

Because Barcelona couldn't draw Real Madrid.

Sydney!

Which is a shame, if barca had played real it would have A) been a brilliant match, B) meant that one of the two favourites had been knocked out already and C) we could probably beat Milan.
Campian

21 Dec 2012 18:49:29
ronaldo:
"If I score against United I will not celebrate," he told AS. "I still speak to Ferguson. I miss him a lot, just like I do Manchester United.

"I felt really good there because it was like a family. I had six great years there and still speak to a lot of my former team-mates.

21 Dec 2012 16:38:34
Giggs is a legend but if he continuous to play for another 2 years I fear he will be remembered as the player he's now. It is much better for a great player to retire a year to soon than a year to late. I fear for the legacy of Giggs.

21 Dec 2012 17:01:32
have you been watching gary neville programme on espn classic?

I think you'll find Sir Bobby probably played on longer than he should have; it's not harmed his legacy. Don't disagree that it's time for him to retire,though.

AJH

Social media and sites like this didn't exist back then. You can hear the groan in the crowd when he came on as a sub vs Sunderland. Look at all the people on this site that get pissed off when he plays. He has had a fantastic career but it's time to hang it up.

21 Dec 2012 18:17:37
only cos a majority of us weren't alive back then and the ones who were prefer to talk about the good times rather than the bad. Whereas now we can all see how bad giggs is. In forty years time we'll all be telling our grandkids about the good times like the arsenal semi goal rather than bad times like norwich away. So kids will grow up with how good giggs was in his prime not how poor he was when he finished. Like my generation have with sir bobby.

21 Dec 2012 16:15:00
UEFA's Club Financial Control Body have banned Malaga (who are yet to loose a game in Europe) from European competitions for the next 4 seasons for failing to pay employees/tax. So all their players will get picked off cheap.. Another example of poor management in La-Liga Clubs.
According to UEFA, Malaga CF has until 31 March 2013 to pay their club debts if they want to continue in European competitions.

Please Sir Alex lets sign Isco.

RamoN 19

21 Dec 2012 14:49:14
According to reports today, Lewandowski has more or less signed, we are paying 66% of Macheda's wages and are hoping to find someone to loan him out too. Henriquez is off to Wigan also & finally Scholes is certain to retire. All of this has to be good news. What I'd love to hear next is that we secure the signing of Strootman in January.

Fresh!

SAF has just responded. Scholes is not to retire and Giggs could carry on playing for another two years. I'd wrap those newspaper headlines around some fish and chips, and add a nice pinch of salt.

Danny Pughnited


But seriously two years?

Signing Lewandowski is so pointless.

Percy

Honestly..he is a true legend but im starting to dislike giggs.. why wont he stop being selfish and do what gary neville did and realise he isn't good enough anymore and give a younger player a chance..

God help us if he stays for two years

Speaking this morning Lewandowski said:
I know nothing about [a move], pure speculation. I'm at home, resting.�

DP - I agree, another 2 years! I can only imagine Ryan has some kind of super injunction over the manager? : )

Gav

The manager is protecting Scholes and Giggs by saying they can play on. Scholes will definitely retire in the summer. He has looked out of sorts this season and he knows when enough is enough.

Sydney!

Lewandowski will be as good if not better than RvP within a couple of years. I would be gutted if he signed for one of our rivals. He isn't just a clinical goalscorer, he works very hard off the ball and him and RvP would be a handful for any defence.

Sydney!

SAF said Giggs can play for another 2 years. He didn't say he would play for us for 2 years. With Giggs being linked with Monaco, perhaps Giggs sees a 2 year stint abroad as something that would help in terms of his coaching? Just a thought.

TK-Red

Percy

I can assure you, that signing Lewandowski for £12m would not be pointless.

G.A.G.U.S

I would love to see this team next year...

..............DDG..........
.......small....vidic.....
Raf.....strootman...buttner
....kagawa....Anderson
.............Rooney
......RVP....lewandowski

The Moon.

Moon

I hope we see a lot more than what you have and would be very disappointed if that is the extend of our summer activity.

Shahram

Im not sure lewandowski and RVP will work as a front 2 if you watch them they both take up similar positions.
RVP could drop a bit deeper but i dont think thats why fergy bought him.

lews and rvp are both best as out and out strikers for me and im not sure fergy really wants to play like that ,he nearly always plays 1 striker behind the other.
i may well be wrong and there has been a lot of rumours but im not sure we would of spent 24 mill on a 29 rvp if a move for lew was on the cards.

I also think when fit fergy will always play with wingers
jred

Paul Scholes retiring is never good news, yes hes not the player he was, but he is still a legend and will be missed, he helps youngsters with his experience and he knows whats good the the young players

Aaronaldo7

Jred, RvP can play very well behind the main striker, he plays there when Hernandez is playing. He played there often for Arsenal. Lew & RvP could quite easily play alongside each other too and just be fluid and mix it up a bit. Also I think RvP was not just signed for his quality, I think it was a statement to the fans who were worried about City's dominance in the transfer market and showing we can compete with them. We also couldn't let RvP join City or they would have been almost the finished article.

I think there is far too much linkage to this player for it to be just paper talk. This is so similar to the Kagawa situation. Kagawa denying everything, Dortmund denying everything. I think at the very least there is negotiations taking place. We will see.

Sydney!

Syd
come on pal I know your a fan of lewandowski , but is there any chance your trying to find a scenario where we sign him.
all of what you say is true and you might well be right but

RVP can and has played most of his career as a second striker but there is no doubt he was a good ss striker but he is a worldclass out and out striker so why drop him deep to accommodative some one else.

after the start he has had why would fergy be thinking to change where he plays.
I dont think fergy was trying to make a statement when he bought RVP , I think it was more a case he rated him that much he thought he was worth the money even at the age and couldnt miss out when such a good proven EPL player became available and so far he's been 100% right.

rooneys best role is deeper he brings a lot to the team so we needed an out and out striker and I think that man was RVP.
for me if we bought lew RVP's role would have to change and I dont want or think that will happen.

for me rooney rvp makes more sense than rvp/lew.

we have been linked to players before like this through papers and agents and nothing has come of it and to be honest if it wasnt for paper speculation the lewandowski to united wouldnt make much sense.
a. we have just bought RVP
b. our strikers are our main asset at the moment.
c. there are other areas we need to strengthen.
d.who would want to break up a rooney RVP front 2 .

for me it makes no sense pal but fergy moves in mysterious ways so who knows
jred

I agree with Jred, in the ideal starting 11 it would be one or the other for me. We would have to sacrifice a winger or midfielder to play both and I don't think that would benefit the team as a whole. RVP and Lew seem to offer pretty similar things. If anything I would see Lew as a natural replacement for RVP when he retires, it's just a shame he's not a few years younger

Gav

Gav
fergy has said he never thought RVP would really become available and when he found out he was he couldnt miss out.
That makes me wonder if he had an interest in lewandowski but dropped it when he got RVP and the papers are just continuing with the story
jred

SAF has also said he always knew he would get RvP months before and knew RvP only wanted to join United. That still never stopped United making a bid for Lew. I wouldn't expect RvP to drift as deep as Rooney does if playing behind the main striker, Rooney drift far too deep and plays a lot of the game in midfield. We still have no indication of Rooney's future yet and whether you like it or not a decision has to be made this summer. Perhaps there will not be a Rooney/RvP partnership next season? Perhaps the manager wants to move Rooney deeper, perhaps the manager will sell him. We simply do not know what plans the club have for Rooney yet. I am not trying to make things fit, I am looking at all possibilities of reasoning behind the club buying Lew, if the club buys Lew.

Sydney!

Syd i see what your saying but I just dont think the lewandowski signing makes a lot of sense.
I also think signing lew would have a bigger impact on rvp position than rooneys.
rooney is a second striker rvp and lew for me are out and out strikers.
rooney and lew could be a pair quite easily
after the start RVP has had can you really see fergy changing his role if not where does lew fit in
jred

At the press conference, Ferguson added: 'We never thought we could get Van Persie. If you go back six months ago, I couldn't see us getting him.
'I thought Arsenal are not going to let him go. When I read he had refused a new contract, that is when we acted"

so like i said is there a chance that fergy was looking at lew because he never thought RVP was a goer.
jred

I for one would be gutted if RVP/Rooney isn't our striking partnership next season. Sounds better than Lew/RVP to me on paper. I think Rooney is wasted when he drops too deep, he's at his best arriving late in the box as a natural no. 10, much like against City

Gav

Jred, the manager has contradicted himself a few times regarding the RvP thing. The same German papers that kept us updated on Kagawa have been reporting the Lewandowski stories.

Lew and RvP could easily play alongside each other mate.

Sydney!

21 Dec 2012 14:10:15
Predictions for Madrid game, this personally is what I'm going for.
Away 2-1 Madrid Ronaldo to score two, de gea to pull of a string of wonder saves then in the 90th min we need an away goal chicha bangs one in!
At old Trafford 3-1 to us Rooney, rvp and a kagawa goal. In the 90th min cristiano to score and then come off to an incredible standing ovation from both fans and hug fergie on the way off.

Caol�n.

P.S fergies retirement gift could be ronaldo(he said hopefully)

21 Dec 2012 17:06:17
5-0 to them away
6-0 to us at home

Could you let me have Saturday's lottery numbers :-)

AHG

Away leg;

Real Madrid 3-2 Manchester United
Ozil 34'. Rooney 5', 78'
Ronaldo 50'
Benzema 62'

Home leg;

Manchester United 2-1 Real Madrid
Van Persie 18'. Ramos 84'
Rooney 86'

Ronaldo plays great over both games, but the quality of kagawa, Rooney and van Persie manage to scrape the tie.

The Moon.

Forgot to mention that Rooney gets a yellow card for trying to get Ronny sent off on 63 mins in the first leg. Also Real have 17 corners compared to just 6 for Utd over the two ties.

DodgyBanter

Ramos is injured Moon mate.

Sydney!

Sydney, he comes back and plays after 83 minutes just for banter.

The Moon.

AHG if I'm correct I'll give them too you ;)

Caolán.

Moon, you're freaking me out again :)

StevieK

Moon, you were meant to say "Ramos isn't injured", then I'd say well he will be for that game. Never mind the moment has gone :)

Sydney!

21 Dec 2012 14:05:10
If we really do buy Lewandowski next season
Do we intend to play a Diamond formation?
Your thoughts..

------------------------De Gea

--Rafael/Jones-----Smalling---Vidic---------LB/Fabio

----------------------Carrick/(?)

---Cleverley/Anderson---------------Kagawa/Young

--------------------------Rooney

-----------RVP/Chico-------Lewy/Welbeck

Shaun

The polar opposite to Barcelona/Spain who don't really use many strikers!
can't really see it working against strong teams

snakey

Agreed snakey, not sure what this obsession is with playing SO many strikers

Gav

21 Dec 2012 13:00:51
What with this draw everyone is so happy about, it got me wondering what people thought the best performance by an opposition player (against Utd) was. At the moment I can only really think of Ronaldo in '03, perhaps Le Tiss ages ago.

Anyone else remember a performance standing out?

Jaxer

--------------------------------------------------------

Kaka for Milan at OT/Seedorf and Gattuso @ return leg. Painful how we got completely outplayed :(

Deeps...

The Argentine Fernando Redondo at OT.
he had the best game, the Raul goal he set up was amazing. he kinda backheeled it to himself round Henning Berg (I think it was HB, I'll probably be corrected.)
The Brazilian Ronaldos hat trick wasnt too bad either.
More recently Oscar De Marcos and Munian were outstanding for Bilbao

Snakey

Snakey

That's the one i went for.

Simmo

Wanchope (sp) couldn't handle those gangly legs haha

Jono

Ha ha, Paulo Wanchope! that's a player I didnt think of, what a goal that was. To think people are complaining nowadays when back then the mighty Derby county were beating us at OT
When was that? '96?

Snakey

Simmo, I can't remember SAF praising another player as much as he did Redondo after that match. What happened to him, he was amazing and then just dissappeared.

I think Redondo moved to AC Milan, but soon suffered an injury that kept him out for around a year. As a gesture he refused his wages as he felt he hadn't earned them through playing games for the club.

A top player and a top guy.

Adz

Cyril Regis - United 3-5 West Brom

AJH

21 Dec 2012 12:21:41
Johnny Evans has just signed a 4 year contract. He said : "I'm delighted to sign my new contract. I am so proud to play for such a great club, and there's no better feeling than playing football in this team and winning games.

"I have always felt that this is the right club for me. Even when I was 9 or 10 years old back home in Northern Ireland, clubs asked me to go on trial but I didn't go because I knew that Manchester United was the place I wanted to play football. I have come through the Academy here and developed as a player with the help of all my team-mates, the manager and the coaching staff. I would love to play here throughout the rest of my career."

Great news and best of luck for the lad.

Mick

We couldn't possibly find a better CB who will be willing to sit on the bench a lot of the time. He's still young, has a wealth of experience already and has improved drastically over the years. Great news!

Gav

21 Dec 2012 12:04:37
I guarantee we beat Madrid 2-1 and 2-0. Guarantee it. Stick your bets on boyos!0

MPez

I will hold you to that.
Campian

I think its gonna be a high score draw in the first leg and then we beat them at home 2-1 or 3-2.

DesiRed.

Mpez

LOL you sound like Joe Namath, only difference was he was actually playing.

Shahram

21 Dec 2012 11:10:53
According to the sun Scholes is definately retiring this summer

Pardoe

Giggs too and maybe Ferdinand

snakey

Thank god!
Maybe we can move on and buy two new midfielders?

Simmo

21 Dec 2012 10:36:50
Is it just me who's delighted with the draw? Madrid are the team I wanted to play can't wait to be sat at OT singing viva ronaldo!


Anon

Are you a madrid supporter?
jred

I really dont want people to sing viva ronaldo... we support manchester united not madrid.

Guessing you 2 don't go to a lot of games...

Anon

But we all love ronaldo. he have us some amazing moments

Anon
singing his name is one thing singing his name when his playing for the opposing team is another, will you be jumping up and down when he scores?.........

as for games, I go about 10 times a year now, gave my season ticket to my son
jred

"It will be fantastic to have him back... When he comes on to the pitch at Old Trafford he will get a great reception, quite rightly.
"After that they can boo him as much as they like" fergy
my thoughts exactly
jred

21 Dec 2012 09:03:51
"I will not celebrate my goal if I manage to score at Manchester United," the 27-year-old said after Thursday's draw.

"[Ferguson is] a fantastic person. A human person. He taught me many things," .

"Like I said before, he's like a father in football. I really miss him and my relationship with him."Ronaldo

has any body noticed that when ever ronaldo talks about his time at united he refers to fergy.
I know a lot would like him back at the club but to me with out fergy im not sure he has any ties to the club.

by the time ronaldo leaves madrid if fergy has retired I dont think there will be any emotional return to united he will go to the highest bidder.
jred

Much will depend on whether Ferguson steps away from the club altogether.
I have a feeling he will remain in some capacity and I know Kloot fears this. However it will only be a problem if the new manager isn't strong enough to cope. Add to this if it was Mourinho Ronaldo may look upon him as someone he wants to continue working with

Red Man

I said this the other day SAF is the only advantage we have over other teams. Soon SAF will leave and then we have zero advantage so all this ronny returning is called pipe dreams IMO.

Jono

Red man
i hope it is mourinho i also think he could be out of his job by xmas
jred

Jred

Madrids loss would be our gain but I think they will see what happens in the CL. That club is near impossible to manage , Mourinho proved his point last season, the man is a genius

Red Man

How did Jose prove himself last season? With a squad of player that he has at his disposal and Barcelona having to play several games more than RM for winning the UCL, why is he a genius for winning La Liga? I think Jose has been a failure so far.

Sydney!

Sydney

Barcelona played more in winning the UCL? I thought Chelsea won it.

Did Madrid not beat the much proclaimed unbeatable Barcelona team with a record points total? Has Jose not shown with all his previous triumphs that he is a genius. Porto winning the CL, inter their treble then falling apart when he left? What he did with Chelsea? Yes he had money to spend in places (not so much Porto) but the teams still needed coaching.
Madrid are near impossible to manage the ridiculous politics and the power of the Spanish clique in the dressing room. They sacked managers after winning major prizes.

Mourinho is a genius and I like his style, he is not that different to Ferguson which is why I think they really get on. Mourinho is a manager whilst Pep is more of a coach which should go in Jose's favour when we select our next manager.

Red Man

Struck me after hitting send that you meant the Club World Cup extra games for Barca. Still, Real were totally exceptional last season and it was down to their brilliance rather than Barca's paucity

Red Man

21 Dec 2012 08:07:59
Henriquez loan move to wigan confirmed.

Also a story about us having already agreed a deal on Lewandowski and being announced at the end of the season, if true this must mean someone from the current strikers rooney, welback, hernandes will be moved on as there are too many on the books that can be starters for other clubs and Henriquez and Keane also back next year who need game time.

Makes you wonder if we are in for a massive overhaul in the summer with giggs, ferdinand, scholes, nani, macheda, and possibly Anderson,evra also going or being squad players and fletcher being a bit part player now.


If true could mean 4 to 5 major signings this summer and gross expenditure of 80 to 90 million.

Shahram

Could the 'gross expenditure' be being part funded by the sale of Rooney? Hope not, bit it's certainly possible.

Sydney!

I can't see Wayne Rooney staying at the club for no more than 2 years unfortunately, just have weird feeling.

-JakeW

Sydney, I don't know but if we sign Lewandowski, one striker is definitely going.

If it was Rooney then our net spend will be over 100 million easily as him an nani alone will bring in 65 million add 5 more for fringe players leaving and total of 70 mill.

If it was chica or Welbeck and nani then we are looking at 35 to 40 mill.

A net of 50 to 60 mill and we will be looking to spend anywhere between 85 to 120 mill, which means lots of major signings and probably a complete new look team and maybe a different playing style.

I just think there is too much news on Lewandowski for it to be just a rumor and he has now come out and said United will be difficult to turn down.

Sounds like the Kagawa/Powel ordeal, where things were kind of agreed before the season ended. We all know how SAF likes to do his summer business early and usually things are in motion before even the window opens.


Shahram

OR.......

Fergie really does see our CM as adequate and he is prepping those year extensions right now!

Jono

I read the Lewandowski on

They usually post rubbish, but the fact that we've been linked to him for the best part of 2 years must mean something.

Mick

I really dont think united will spend 100mill in a transfer window.

i think fergy is happy with his attack and rightly so but there has been a few quotes from fergy referring to having a similar attack to 99 and that it only worked as ole and sheringham were happy on the bench.
At the same time there are rumours coming out that chica is unhappy on the bench so fergy could be having a little dig, so who knows.

rather than selling rooney and going on a FIFA like spending spree i think fergy will add 3 maybe 4 players at the most with only 1 being a star name
jred

Welbeck and Hernandez.

GDS

How many times must Hernandez say he is happy with the situation at United for people to believe him. He is a very genuine lad and he wouldn't say it unless he meant it. It is no more than journalists causing trouble. Hernandez has been used sparingly over the past couple of weeks as I think the manager wants to keep him in shape for the business end of the season. Cleverley, Anderson, Hernandez, Jones, Smalling, Welbeck have all been used carefully and I think they will all play a massive part in the run-in. I think the manager wanted to use as little as possible of them in the first half of the season and hope Giggs, Fletcher and Scholes can get us within touching distance by Christmas. I think we will see a lot of the above and even Powell play a big part in the run-in.

Sydney!

Syd
the latest comments come from his dad
jred

Syd
im pretty sure i posted similar about a month ago
jred

Jred, you did and I fully agreed with it.

Have you seen direct quotes from his dad saying that he is unhappy with life at United? Because I heard him a couple of months ago after a game saying he loves it here and he is learning from RvP and the stories about him unhappy were untrue.

Sydney!

Syd
im sure i read quotes from his dad saying something along the lines, he needs games and will asses his position at the end of the season but i cant find any so maybe im wrong, it might of just been paper talk
jred

Jred, I wasn't calling you a liar, it's just certain media sources will do anything to stir up things at United to try and unsettle the morale.

Don't get me wrong I do not think Hernandez is unhappy or wanting a move, but wouldn't rule out United accepting a bid north of £20m.

He is a very good player to have in the armoury and he does make the club money in merchandise, but I think the club would prefer Lewandowski and we do have Henriquez.

Sydney!

Syd
if he's happy to sit on the bench I would keep him as I think he's perfect as a "super sub" but there's not many players like that and I can understand why.
But I dont see fergy rotating either of RVP or Rooney much, if we are going to beat the likes of Madrid we need them 2 to click, so I think his playing time will be limited , Welbeck is also really going to struggle for a game which is a shame because at his age I think you need to be playing to improve
jred

I like Hernandez and Welbeck and I think they will both get plenty of game time with injuries, rotation etc, but I agree that Welbeck should be playing more regularly at his age.

Sydney!

21 Dec 2012 01:40:08
whats all the noise about real madrid
there is an amazing tie ie

l'pool vs zenit

cant see two supporters with everthing common , zenit would role a red carpet for suarez its all happening at klanfield

nikz

I hear Terry has been approached to act as Zenit's club ambassador ;)

On a serious note I expect Liverpool to beat Zenit as they are just as poor as Anzhi.

In the meantime the gulf in points difference between United and Liverpool will increase over the course of the season.

Sydney!

21 Dec 2012 01:07:08
Comparison time!

Mourinho vs. ferguson = ferguson
Casillas vs. De Gea = casillas
Adan vs. lindegaard = lindegaard
Arbeloa vs. rafael = rafael
Smalling vs. Ramos = Ramos
Varane vs. jones = varane
Carvalho vs. Ferdinand = Ferdinand
Pepe vs. vidic = vidic
Marcelo vs. evra = marcelo
Coentrao vs. buttner = coentrao
Carrick vs. alonso = alonso
Scholes vs. modric = modric
Khedeira vs. fletcher = khedeira
Valencia vs. di Maria = Valencia
Cleverley vs. kaka = kagawa
Ozil vs. kagawa = ozil
Young vs. Ronaldo = Ronaldo
Nani vs. callejon = nani
Benzema vs. Rooney = Rooney
Higuain vs. van Persie = van Persie
Morata vs. Hernandez = Hernandez
Welbeck vs. Rodriguez = Welbeck
Alex vs. Anderson = Anderson

Manchester United 13/23
Real Madrid 10/23

All of this was pretty pointless anyway, considering football is unpredictable but I thought I would try and show the doom merchants that there isn't that much difference between the quality of their squad and ours.

The name Real Madrid maybe one of the most feared in football but I guess you've all forgotten that we are Manchester United and we NEVER go down without a fight.

Just a quick subject change, I'm going with Dortmund to reach the final. Who are you guys backing to do well?

Have a terrific Christmas everybody!

Ed, what is your opinion on the UCL draw? Not just united but every team.

The Moon. {Ed004's Note - I thought it was a brilliant draw all round. We get to see the return of Ronaldo and there are some other top games. This game will show if we are capable of winning the champions league}

Clevery v Kaka = Kagawa wins! Cheeky Jap!!

DanB

Moon Fergie has a pretty poor record against Mourinho and most of the guys you have listed in our favor are not first teamers and their his

21 Dec 2012 11:14:17
Di Maria is clearly more talented than Valencia, Arbeloa would edge it on experience and Benzema/Rooney is a draw at the least (Somebody believes that English over-hyped is better than foreign under-hyped).

Jolly Red

DanB - well you know what those cheeky japs are like!

Anon - and who is to say both sides will be able to play their first XI? It's a squad comparison mate.

Jolly red - di Maria is more inconsistent than nani...well maybe not quite but there is a reason a lb in marcelo plays on the right hand side more often than not. I don't think arbeloa is Any better than the likes of Martin Kelly or Maicon. And well I don't see benzema giving the work rate that Rooney does, ability wise they may be level but when you include what they do for the team and how important they are then Rooney wins hands down every time.

I think you're the type of guy that stands round saying all these Spanish league players are great even though you've only seen them in the UCL and the odd time you've caught the incredibly unreliable and awful revista de la Liga.

If my answers are bias slightly it's probably because I'm a Getafe fan - a rival of the Madrid clubs.

The Moon.

20 Dec 2012 23:54:29
I don't get the negitivity surrounding the UCL draw. I thought it was a very interesting draw in that with the exception of Celtic Vs Juventus and Shaktar Vs Dortmund that all the teams were drawn against equal in quality to themselves, I mean Schalke Vs Gala, Malaga Vs Porto and Valencia Vs PSG all look interesting ties.

But i don't get this ill feeling about our own draw.
There are two things that make playing in europe great.
The first being able to test yourself against the best teams in europe. And the second being able to win the best club competition in the world.

You can't do the second without doing the first.

European nights are all about playing the Barca's the Milan's the Bayern's and of course Real Madrid.
These are the ties we should crave. The return of Ronnie, Jose and the chance for redemption after Madrids last visit to the theatre of dreams.

This is the dream tie, sure we could have had an easier game against some lesser team but it wouldn't have the same sparkle that the Madrid game will have.

From where i'm standing this is a no lose situation.

If we are knocked out at least it'll be by a great team, and we'll be able to focus on the league and hopefully it'll show up the weakness's that need addressing.

If we are to win the UCL this year then we'll have to beat teams of Real's quality to do so, so why not start now. We seem to play better against the better sides. Maybe Beating Madrid will be the catalyst that propels us to greatness this season.

To be honest the only down side to possibly getting knocked out is the slight financial loss of not being in the competition anymore. And lets be honest as fans should we care about such things? We want our team in the UCL to play in great games against great sides and to win it. In order to do that we need to come up against the great teams like Real Madrid.

Lets all look forward to two potentially great games, lets shout and cheer our team on, lets try the forgotten art of supporting the team, let's be entertained by some of the best footballers on the planet, and when the dust settles if we are to come off worst from the bruising encounter of europe's heavy weights then at least we'll have done the team proud, and at least we'll have been entertained. As lets be honest there is a team just at the other end of the M62 that would love to just be involved in such a game. Maybe we should count our blessings, this time last year we were in the draw for the micky mouse cup.

Shappy

Its a shabby format though. it kinda allowed mcmanaperm to pick out utd ball. imagine if the fa cup draw was done from an open pot there would be uproar! notice too he didnt even look at writing on the ticket, he knew hed fixed it up nicely!

Spot on Shappy. I agree with everything you said.

I also cant understand the negativity of some fans, especially jono, who has written us off already. We are capable of beating Madrid, they are only superior to us in the midfield department, and with Vidic back on form and the likes of Rooney, Van persie, Kagawa and, hopefully, an on form Valencia, we can create chaos in their defense.

Mick

Yeah, Jono stop being so negative :)


We are going to win 6-2 on aggregate:)

shahram

I agree with what you say Shappy but youve gotta be honest when the ball was drawn and you heard the words Real Madrid, the first word that came into your mind was "sh*t."
I cant wait but I would have preferred to meet them a bit later.
Bloody love it if we win though :-)

snakey