Manchester United Banter Archive December 03 2011

03 Dec 2011 23:29:43
Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were absolutely fantastic today. You see how the great man operates, building. always building!

03 Dec 2011 21:41:06
I remember a couple of years ago, Macheda was bagging them week in week out for the under 19s. He was class! Even Sir Alex said he was the best player he had ever worked with who was under 20. He even said he thought Macheda would b uniteds next fan favorite like Ronaldo was at the time.

I wonder what happened in Macheda's head that he suddenly jus lost all his potential? We've seen it in small doses but I'd love for him to get it back. He could b a great number 9 if he jus knuckled down a bit.

Big Mac

03 Dec 2011 20:14:38
What do u guys think about newcastles midfielder gatteri signing for utd ?

03 Dec 2011 20:03:52
I really do feel that we have lost the fear factor, despite the victory today, once again we didnt put away as much as we should have. A few years ago when Tevez and CR7 were here we were the best team in the world for me.

So, my proposal is to buy Ronaldo back. Firstly, it makes financial sense. And please don't tell me it doesnt. Say we spend 100 million on him, the revenue that we would get back from his transfer would cover 3/4's of it....bost shirt sales...etc. Also, letting players go would account for his wages. Berbatov, Gibson, Kusczack etc...would fect about 35 million in total. Plus there wages would mean that 400,000 would be off of the wage bill. That would pay for Ronaldo's wages as well as someone like Rodwells.

Secondly, i think if he wins everything this year then he will want to comeback. He wanted to win everything with Madrid, it was his dream, but i reckon he'll soon be back. He'll the two fingers put up to City showing that we still have the bigger pull and will be Fergie's parting blow to them.

RedDevil19

03 Dec 2011 19:49:00
Was feeling so down after seeing city ripping apart another opponent and United just not getting the goals
BUT then something MAGICAL happened on the 90th minute which brought a smile to my face :-) HESKEY's attempt to score.

The Truth

03 Dec 2011 18:50:01
We need another goal! valencia is beginning to wind me up with his below par performances of late, keep waiting for him to come good......still waiting.

JWalk

03 Dec 2011 18:43:17
liking the menopausal man talk forum ed lol...

03 Dec 2011 18:36:42
I think SAF has a real soft spot for Jones, ive never seen him celebrate a goal like that, waving at him like a grandfather lol.

JWalk

03 Dec 2011 18:06:12
Nani is looking good in the middle. Wanted to see him play there for a long time. Not under these circumstances though. Get well soon Chicho!

03 Dec 2011 17:53:30
1-0 united, jones

keightley!

03 Dec 2011 17:27:47
Why would you rest a goalie beats me I don't understand different back 5 every week 18 mil on a goalie should of just brought a cm for that

03 Dec 2011 17:06:06
jones and carrick in the middle... prob the best we can put out at the moment!
Has Fergie finally realised how useless Gibson is and left him out of the team completely.

CRAIGY!

03 Dec 2011 16:55:56
Lineup:

Lindegard
Smalling Vidic Ferinand Evra
Nani Carrick Jones Young
Hernandez Rooney


oooh! {Ed004's Note - Is that the official line up? Looks like Carrick is going to be allowed to get forward today. Also good to see Smalling starting as well}

03 Dec 2011 16:21:33
Please be very fair when you answer this question. How many players do you think are there in United squad who can score in 1 on 1 situations (say atleast 80% of the time) ?
For me it would be Nani who has the calmness, composure and tricks to go around the keeper or in some cases take on 2-3 defenders inside the box to score. Not saying our other players cant score but they seem to be in a hurry to shoot or sometimes wait too long. At this level and such oppositions these chances should not be wasted.

03 Dec 2011 14:48:56
"Shappy

I have to disagree a little with your comment Sir Alex has planned for it.

We are in decline and I am glad that finally people can now see that. I likened it to 2005 when SAF had inferior players he had bought like Djemba, Miller , Kleberson. It is not far from where we are now. However in 2005 SAF had bought the brilliant Ronaldo and Rooney plus we had Keane, Giggs and Scholes.
For the last three years we should all have been able to see the problem in midfield and also in attack but there is a touch of arrogance in many gained by years in the gluttony of success resulting in a refusal to see the obvious.
In 2008 and 9 we had our best team but it was buoyed by Ronaldo's spectacular goal tally.
SAF has not prepared for life without Ronaldo, Scholes or Keane. He knew Ronaldo was leaving a year before he did yet didnt prepare. Ronaldo was irreplaceable however SAF didnt even use the money to strengthen the areas of the team that needed it. Nothing has really been done to deal with the midfield or to properly replace Ronaldo's goals.

I would rather believe the problem is one that the owners are causing by not giving SAF the money to replace people, possibly in wages however there is an element of my thinking which says SAF is stubborn and wishes to have the loyal hard working type player who fits within the idea of a player he likes from his upbringing. It may be a bit of both however we are in decline until the cheque book comes out and buys a quality CM and a striker at the very least plus a left back. I can't see us buying real quality because of SAF stubborness and the Glazer greed, after all their model is working in terms of profit at Tampa so why change it here.
This season is a turning point, at the end of it I fear we will have won nothing and have players of a quality that would struggle to qualify for the Champions League under anyone else other than SAF or Mourinho. If that was the point when SAF leaves we would be in trouble and that is a key difference from 2005. SAF is very much nearer to retirement now than in 2005 making us more vulnerable.
If we are to transition and regain our place in the elite we need quality in summer.

Red Man"

How can you say SAF did not plan for life after Keane and Scholes leaving is beyond me.

He did buy Hargreaves didn't he? He was the replacement for Keane as far as i am concerned. We chased him for two full years before getting him in 2008, so SAF certainly did plan for life after Keane. Now is it SAF's fault that he went through injury problems?

He also bought Anderson for a pretty high fee back in 2008, it was certainly hoped that he would eventually take over from Scholes, not exactly a like for like replacement obviously, but SAF would have been planning to change the system to use an attacking midfielder. It certainly seemed to be working well in 2008 and to a certain extent in 2009 too. So i don't think we can blame SAF for lack of planning.

And if you wish to ignore the attempts made to sign a midfielder this summer, then any discussions with you are futile. We all know, nobody can compete with city on wages, nobody. You match the wages they are offering, they just go on and up the stakes even further. To even try to compete with that would be financial suicide, Glazers or not. They get the player they want unless his heart is set on some other club. The whole football world needs to accept that now.That is the reason we have lost out on Nasri.

Modric was not for sale, even 40 mil (or whatever it was, sorry for quoting random prices Ed002) from chelsea couldn't make spurs sell. There certainly were lots of attempts made to resurrect the midfield problem this summer, and i am sure we will try maybe in January and definitely in the summer.

The players you say would be quality and "interesting". I have a few points to make and a few questions as well.

Thiago- NOT FOR SALE. Don't you get the message mate? With Xavi coming close to the end of his career, why would Barcelona sell one of their brightest young prospects? I don't think any wages or price can make this player move to United. Oh, by the way, we there are rumours that we tried to move for him in the summer as well, and Barcelona quickly moved to make him sign a new contract. Why will Barcelona sell this guy, and why will he leave? Is it more first team opportunities? He seems to be playing in almost every game there from what i am seeing.

Higuain- You say it would be "interesting" to see if he moves due to "lack of first team opportunities". I don't see where there is lack of first team opportunities at Real Madrid. They easily accommodate him, Benzema and Ronaldo in the same team at one time with the formation they play. And the number of games that will be played, there will be absolutely no problems in keeping him happy. Real Madrid have already come out quite clear saying they don't want to sell, and why would they? Just like you say we need 3 top strikers, they need them too! What more first team opportunities is he going to get at United anyway? Leave Real where he is competing with Ronaldo and Benzema for the first team place, and join United where he will be competing with Hernandez and Rooney? Hardly better first team opportunities here.

Even if they buy Neymar, it will be Di Maria that goes out the door and not Higuain.

Sturridge- He is the only form striker Chelsea have. The Drog is leaving. Torres, well your "suggestion" to be bought last year by United, thank god we didn't (sorry, could not resist having a dig!) and Lukaku who we have not seen anything of really. So why will Chelsea sell one of their very few bright young players to one of their biggest rivals? Money being offered will hardly make a difference at Chelsea, and why would Sturridge leave? He seems to be playing every game there too.

Martinez- This will be interesting, but again its a seller dictates thing. Bilbao are the most stubborn club to deal with, worse than Tottenham. Bilbao over the years only sell their players when they have completely peaked, price has maximized and they have got whatever they could get from the player. Even the mighty Real Madrid couldn't make them sell their start striker.

But if and when they do decide to sell, i agree that this will be interesting, something can be done here.

The point i am trying to make here is, that it is not as simple as only two reasons, SAF not planning (supposedly) and the Glazers not giving him enough money, i think it is incredibly difficult in the transfer market with the players you think are interesting and the reason we have not signed either of them yet imo, is not SAF, or the Glazers but the fact that the clubs simply will not sell, and the player simply will not move.

I hope you answer this constructively, like you usually do.

Do the eds have anything to add about the mentioned players?

REDFAITH {Ed001's Note - Bilbao have two strikers, in Munain and Llorente, they are likely to sell one to raise much needed funds and enable them to keep Martinez. I think you can forget him moving any time soon. Thiago is also unlikely, Fabregas is there to replace Keita, not Xavi, Thiago is seen as Xavi's long term replacement. Higuain is not struggling for games, Di Maria is a City target and they expect him to go, though nothing is set in stone yet, along with Kaka, Neymar is unlikely to replace Higuain. Sturridge is going nowhere, they have high hopes for him.}

03 Dec 2011 13:42:36
Team that will play Villa

DeGea
Jones Ferd Vida Evra
Nani Carrick Giggs Young
Hernandez Rooney

subs

Morrison
Pogba
Park
Fletcher
Gibson
etc etc

Mike the Moston Red

03 Dec 2011 11:28:38
I must be the only person who thinks Gibson played ok against palace don't get me wrong I don't think he is good enough for our first 11 but he played ok on Wednesday.
Every move came thro him , he made a lot of passes and didn't give that many away I think the main problem was the movement infront of him
jred

03 Dec 2011 10:29:26
Got a horrible feeling Gibson might start today.

03 Dec 2011 06:51:13
Watched the youth cup win against Torquay last night in lousy weather but have to say how impressive Adnan Januzij was he is quick silkly and has great vision. I don't want to put early pressure on him but he looks like he could be the real deal in a couple of years
anyopne not knowing the result we won 4-0
ARB

03 Dec 2011 00:27:30
Before we play Basle i'm gonna put forward the name Xherdan Shaqiri, now i know we've been linked to him before but we could pick him up fairly cheap(i think the asking price was around 5m in the summer). He's still young and could be moulded into a great player with us, and if money's a issue then he won't break the bank. You could play a formation like this:

______Cleverley_Carrick______
__Nani____Young____Shaqiri__
_________Rooney_________

now i'd like to replace Carrick with someone more defensive like Sandro(could be possible if Harry is to take the england job in the summer). But the front four can all move around and swap positions making it almost impossibe to mark them.

let me know what you guys think.

Shappy