Manchester United Banter Archive October 04 2012

04 Oct 2012 23:19:38
Banter side please.

Just a little thing I've noticed.

All the sad scousers are always stalking this page, even more than they're own. (Blair you seriously need to worry about your own crap ass second rate team)

But my point is, all the scouser posts always have more agrees than disagrees! Why, this is a united page! We should out number them even though they pay more attention to this page than us even!

04 Oct 2012 22:54:27
WTF is going on? Liverpool lose a game and they all come on here? You obsessed fools! Go away.

G.A.G.U.S {Ed004's Note - Tbf United fans did start going on about it... There wasn't really much point it has no effect on us...}

04 Oct 2012 22:51:22
Is it true shelvey celebrated by acting out his tackle on Evans? If he did he has just made himself look a bigger prat.

Caolán.

He was imitating Evans silly...

Lee YNWA

Is he not over it yet,i think he needs to move on,

phil

Phil, Liverpool can never move on. Everyone's against them, everything is a conspiracy. The word paranoia springs to mind.

Sydney!

04 Oct 2012 22:35:46
Don't usually visit the dark and egotistical Utd page. But thought I'd see if any of you were not biased and judged a team on their performance and potential. Times change I guess.

Yes, we lost. But some of comments are just plain ignorant. Me included sometimes...

Ed, I wanted to see Suso too, but he must be playing a part against Stoke of all teams! Nice learning experience I guess!

Di Natale is a very useful player at 35...

Lee YNWA

Lee, we do NOT care. Piss off.

G.A.G.U.S

Touche..well not really.

Lee YNWA

04 Oct 2012 22:16:05
Hey ho - guess Udinese are a teeny bit better than Norwich.

Mike

04 Oct 2012 22:10:17
We might not see Blair maine for a few days now, he will probably let it be known that he's been away on holiday or just recovered from ostridge flu on his return.

Supasub

Or his mum locked him in his basement by mistake..

I never hide, Supasub mate. Played well got punished for our mistakes. Glen Johnson was rubbish were as young Jack Robinson had a steady game. Thought Coates had a good game also (except the own goal of course).

I'm very, very impressed by the way we move the ball about, players interchanging, pass and move and we've controlled all our games (except the Arsenal game).

These mistakes are costing us dearly. The mistakes are coming from our senior players not our kids.

Blair Mayne YNWA JFT96

04 Oct 2012 22:04:56
Where is Blair and lfc now? Udinese just destroyed them, even if horse face scored a good goal, they lose at home against a extremely average side..

-JakeW

Didn't watch the game eh?

Ooops, you're a Utd fan, destroyed? lmao

Good, well thought out analysis you person!

True, udinese are no cluj. {Ed004's Note - Difference was Liverpool were at home and United won...}

Basle

Basel actually arent a bad side better than undinese. Also you must be a typical Liverpool fan talking about history as usual.

Caolán.

We had our 'b' team on Ed004 against a better team than the mighty Cluj. Except for Vidic you had your best available team on against Cluj and were poor. No doubt we are the better footballing team atm the moment. But a combination of bad finishing, mistakes and some bad decisions have counted for our bad results.

Blair Mayne YNWA JFT96 {Ed004's Note - What makes them better than Cluj? Aren't Udinese severely struggling in Seria A? Also pretty sure they didn't pack the defence all night..}

Difference being one was in champions league, the other Europa

They finished 4th in Seria A last year Ed, we had our b team out. And we still should have got a result. You seriously know nothing about football Ed if you think that Udinese are not better than Cluj. How you got an Eds job, ill never know???

PSG are struggling in Lique 1, with the season only starting. By your genius conclusions and superior (useless) football knowledge. They must be a bad side too. Just like Ac Milan, Anzi and REAL MADRID. Who have all started poorly in their domestic leagues.

Blair Mayne YNWA JFT96

The mate I spoke to gave the laughable response of 'they are better than cluj!'

I am unsure how this is an argument. One mainly because they aren't, they are 15th in serie a with one will all season. Secondly united just went away on a tough pitch and won, Liverpool played in front of their home crowd at fortress anfield and lost!

How does comparing udinese to cluj make any sense to make Liverpool sound better? It doesn't and is just a diversion tactic to pretend they didn't lose to one of the worst teams in Italy this season.

They do have the amazing di natale though (35 next week!)

Cheered me up again.

GDS

Ed, I am surprised that post from the muppet above me got posted.

We all think you do an excellent job on here and merely pointed out facts. I know you will, but ignore him, he is bitter and twisted and showed it with that post. Keep up the good work mate.

GDS

Blair, Udinese sold their best players during the summer so who cares where they finished last season, it's irrelevant you burk. They are struggling in a very poor league with the team that beat you.

Sydney!

04 Oct 2012 21:50:32
Why does everyone keep going on about signing Baines? We have Buttner now and he was brilliant in his first game for us against Wigan. Why would we replace him? Plus he's younger than Baines so he will most likely improve.

04 Oct 2012 21:35:39
Right i've been thinking alot today about our team and how we are trying to play ect(it was a quiet day at work. lol).

And here is what i've come up with. Sir Alex has always favoured a 442 with two wingers, now this was fine when we had a world class midfield pair and football was more simple. Now tactics have evolved and football has moved on. Playing with two traditional wingers now leaves you wide open in the middle and opposition teams will take you to task. You need to be compact and clever nowadays.

I feel the management has tried to move toward a new way of playing by dropping a ST(Rooney) deeper making it a more 4231 formation. Now i don't see them changing from that into a more 433 which seems to be the in vogue formation on here atm(and personally one i'd prefer).

So were gonna play 4231 and thats the end of it. But it doesn't seem to be working atm and i'll explain why. First off we have no DM, with this formation it is vital that you have a DM as the width comes from your Full/Wingbacks and as such you need someone to drop in and cover for them when their further up the pitch. The second of the midfield two should either be a deeplying playmaker or a high energy box to box player. Man City play this formation with Garcia(DM) and Toure(B2B), and it works very well. I feel if we were to play it then we'd have Carrick(deeplying playmaker) but we are missing that vital DM. Fletcher could play as a B2B player along side Carrick but we'd still be alittle open. So a proper DM is required. M'Vila seems to be the prefered choice of many on this site but i'd rather go for Capoue.

The second reason our 4231 formation isn't working is because we are still trying to play wingers. Wingers in modern football only have a place in a 451 formation which gives actual cover for them. Wingers by their nature are lazy without the ball and don't do enough defensively, they are also wasteful with possession, tending to whip balls in even if that isn't the best option as thats what their taught from childhood.
In a 4231 the wider players in the three need to be hard working and comfortable with the ball, they also need to be clever players who can use the ball in the best way possible and retain possession well. So who should play in the three for us? Personally i think the best candidates for our forward three are Rooney unsurprisingly along with Kagawa and Cleverley. Cleverley works best further forward, and likes to play clever inter-linking passes and to work an opening. These three are hard working which means we can play a high pressing game, they don't give the ball away cheaply, and they are great passers of the ball. It's also important to note that RVP isn't the kind of striker to like the ball arriving to him in the air, he prefers a through pass instead of a cross, and playing with Rooney Kagawa and Cleverley behind hiim that is what he'll get. Also with their ability to play left right or centrally it allows all of them to move and change position making it impossible to mark us.

These are the changes we should make inorder to make this formation work. I think until January and we can buy a DM we should line up like this:

_____________DDG
Rafael___Smalling_Vidic___Buttner
________Carrick_Fletcher/Scholes/Jones
__Cleverley__Rooney__Kagawa
_____________RVP

Obviously that is our best defence when fit, but we'd have to make do until everyone is back fit. Also we should change who partners Carrick depending on who were playing and our tactics for each game.

This would make us more compact and able to retain possession better, plus it plays to all our players strengths. Lets hope this is our managements plan.

Shappy

I whole heartedly agree with you Shaps. Tactics have evolved into using short passing creative AMs just below a lone striker. And with our current fullbacks and mids, this type of formation is not unattainable. As you said, we lack a solid DM. Further, this formation allows us to use Rooney, Kagawa, and RVP together effectively. However, we are then still stuck with the question: what do we do about Valencia, Young, and Nani. It seems the consensus that Nani will be gone. Young could probably fit into one of the AM roles as more of an inside forward. Valencia, however, cannot fit in the attacking positions of this formation. He would have to be relegated to a wingback position on the right side, which IMO, Raf is our best player at that position. So if we are going to mold into these new tactics, do we sell off Valencia while his stock is still high? IDK

My ultimate lineup would be the ol' Christmas Tree formation with wingbacks, a DM who can still pass, two B2B, two AM, and a lone striker. This allows Rooney and Kagawa to play off of each other and RVP, allows the wingbacks to attack with the DM covering, and the B2B mids can use their energy and drive to help defendant, link to the attack, and control the mid.

_________________DDG
Raf_______Small_________Vidic_____But
_______Ando______DM______Clev
_________Roo___________Kagawa
_________________RVP

B

I thought about the christmas tree formation but felt it too narrow, having the three behind the front man allows any of the three to move wide to find space if needed.

I feel Nani is living on borrowed time, young could rotate as one of the three and Valencia could get games as the right sided wingback and just because that is our usual formation it doesn't mean we wouldn't need wingers in some games, it is a squad game now and i would be tempted to play 433 in some games and the cup games(as it provides more cover for young lads who could be making their way into the team) this would provide Valencia with plenty of games.

Shappy

Shappy mate, it must have been a VERY quiet day at work :)

StevieK

Trust me it was, and being self employed thats not a good thing. But it gave me some good time to think things through.

Shappy

Why are you guys missing Nani in the attacking 3. I think he is far more suited for that position. He has the ability and skills to retain the ball in that position. And i think the player should also be able to use the wing position if required.

So in my opinion he will more likely do better in that position and i also believe many would disagree with this :)

05 Oct 2012 10:37:31
Because the tactics in this formation require the attacking three to be intelligent and make the right decision at least 90% of the time, they also have to be hard working and press the opposition when not in possession of the ball. Does that sound like Nani? No he is lazy when not in possession of the ball and he nearly always takes the wrong option when he has the ball which infuriates his team mates and us fans. It also nearly always leads to us losing possession. Nani could be used as in impact sub to bring some directness to a game but I don't see him being happy with an impact sub role. So I would expect him to be off in the summer.

Shappy

04 Oct 2012 20:53:02
UNITED 25 man squad over 21yrs.
We've named only 24???
(maybe that 22yr old Mexican Herrera or Lewandowski coming in JAN or just playing it safe if Rafael or Evra got injured and we'd have to call back Fabio from QPR.

DeGea, Lindegaard
Rafael
Vidic, Rio, Evans, Smalling
Evra, Buttner
Carrick, Fletcher
Scholes, Cleverley, Anderson
Valencia, Nani, Bebe
Young, Welbeck, Giggs
Rooney, Kagawa
RvP, Chicharito

2 Loan players over 21
Fabio & Amos

1- What is the deal with these loans?
* shop window
* valuable experience
2- Is it worth keeping 3 goalies over 21 when we can only ever play one at a time? Amos will leave surely.
3- Have we better younger full back cover coming through?
Blackett as 3rd LB behind Evra Buttner.
4- Will Evra be sold? Fabio no#3 shirt.

Will have to be registered next season
Jones? Wootton, Vermijl, Brown, Petrucci, King, Brady, Macheda.
1- Except for Jones of course, will any of these players deserve to get into the 25 man squad or just take up a valuable spot like Bebe?
2- Do u think they will be loaned to see if they can perform to United's standard or just sold? James, Drinwater, Norwood ect.

My opinion is this for next season.....

Fabio will replace Evra (let's face it for 2 seasons has been shocking)

I personally think Giggs should retire but he won't. Scholes & Rio will also stay.

Johnstone will replace Amos sold to Hull.

Bebe & Nani will leave & James Rodriguez might come in.

I think King, Brown, Veseli, Wootton, Macheda will be shipped out as they will not see game time.
Brady, Petrucci, Vermijl will get Premiership loans to test their ability.

So come next season our 25 man squad......
DeGea, Lindegaard
Rafael, Jones
Vidic, Rio, Smalling, Evans
Fabio, Buttner
Valencia
Young, Giggs, J.Rodriguez, Giggs
Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Cleverley, Anderson (still no midfielder brought in)
* I think Fergie is gonna see what Powell, Petrucci, Lingard, Cole & Tunnicliffe have in their locker when Scholes & Giggs leave.
* Also he does seem to want the Ando Clev duo to work.
Rooney, Kagawa
RvP, Welbeck, Chicharito

Under age back up not on loan.
Johnstone
M.Keane, Thorpe
Blackett
Cole
Tunnicliffe
Lingard, Powell
W.Keane, Henriquez

So to sum it up

In
J.Rodriguez 22m or Gaitan 18/22m

Out
Evra 3.5/5m
Nani 18/22m
Brown 200k
Wootton 400k
King 1m
Macheda 2/3.5m
Bebe 700k/2m
Amos 700k/1.5m
Veseli - released

Loan
Petrucci, Brady to a Premiership Club.

TJ

P.s the other reason Fergie won't buy a midfielder to everyone's annoyance is.....
1- He has been quoted as saying Jones can move into midfield as cover when needed.
2- Sentimental game time showed to Giggs & Scholes.
3- He's very stubborn, after splashing 20m on Anderson he wants it desperately to work.
4- He may not trust them, but he knows of the talent of the likes of Petrucci, Lingard, Cole, Tunnicliffe, Brady & of course the Crewe superstar Powell.
5- Erikssen & Goetz seem to be no#1 replacements for Giggs & Scholes. Both are happy to stay another season on so. Fergie WILL WAIT. He will leave this Club to Pep, Solskjaer, Jose or whoever in great shape & to dominate for seasons to come.

TJ

Are you Shappy in disguise?
Are you Shappy in disguise?

DodgyBanter

Nope, i've posted further up:-p lol.

Shappy

04 Oct 2012 22:15:45
For me, the 25 man squad next year will be (or should be):

De Gea, Lindegaard, Rafael, Fabio, Vermijl, Buttner, Baines, Vidic, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Wooton, Valencia, Young, Anderson, Cleverly, Strootman, Carrick, Fletcher, Petrucci, Kagawa, Rooney, RVP, Welbeck, Chicharito/Lewandowski.

Thats 25. I think that Wooton, Vermijl and Petrucci all deserve a chance and should be ready (Vermijl and Petrucci could well make loan moves which free's up a bit more space) - this may mean that we can get someone like Hummels as I think that we may well need a top class centre back depending on Vidic's performance amongst others. Johnstone will be 3rd choice keeper, we can't ruin Amos career, it simply isn't fair as he is able. Bebe and Nani I'm pretty sure will leave and everything points towards the arrival of Ince who is a wide left player. King, Brown, Veseli and Macheda will all be sold, and I think Brady will too.

Evra & Ferdinand should leave, Scholes & Giggs should retire. People say we should not sign Baines, however he would be an excellent signing at the right price, we can't solely rely on Buttner until he has been tested against the best. Fabio I think will play second fiddle to his brother at right back. We do then of course have players like Henriquez, Tunnicliffe, Powell, Blackett, Lingard and the Keane's in particular who may have a future at the clubs.

I do think that a midfielder will eventually be signed. Meulensteen last year said that we were not interested in Strootman - that invariably means that we are. He is what we need and will be available for under £20 million which is our prefered price range. Jones will also be used as a DM though. And for the record, I don't think that we have much chance of signing Gotze.

Fresh!

Lol Shappy!

Just read back and saw ur post-thought I'd somehow got confused and posted that against urs!

Abundance of long posts on here this evening, anything to avoid watching Liverpool :D

DodgyBanter

Lol, under £20m is Rotherham's favorite price range too ;)

DodgyBanter

Marnick Vermijl won't need registering next season. The rule states that any player who is 21 on or by the 1st of january of the year the league starts in has to be registered. So if the player is 20 or younger on the first of january 2013 then they DON'T have to be registered for the 2013/14 season. Vermijl doesn't turn 21 until the 13th of january thus he doesn't have to be registered next season.

Shappy

Jones will not have to be registered either. I very much doubt Wootton, Fabio or Anderson will be in the squad next season, with Fabio especially if Baines is signed. If Rio leaves he will be replaced by a decent CB, not Wootton. I wouldn't be surprised to see Herrera in there too.

Sydney!

04 Oct 2012 20:03:16
hope your all watching lpool in the harder to win cup tonight, o and dont forget part 3 of the riveting , fascinating, being liverpool ,tomorrow night .................lfc

You should win this one as Udinese sold all of their good players.

Sydney!

Hope your right syd, lol.

Seriously lfc, we don't give a sh*t.

G.A.G.U.S

Let's not forget the more glamorous cup too, I'm sure Barca, RM, and United would switch places with u in a heartbeat. What a joke your club has become.

Lfc

Like the rest of us, you're obviously aware Liverpool will not win this competition so you are trying to convince us as well as yourself that this competition is the hardest European one to win, bless you, next thing you'll be telling us it's harder to win the championship then the premier league!

Ports

04 Oct 2012 20:57:44
harder to win cup are you serious, ok il happily swap barca madrid bayern city dortmund chelsea arsenal ajax milan e.t.c e.t.c. e.t.c

ps. havent watched a second off that crap, id rather see a documentary on how to watch paint dry

1991devil

Is this another fake ...lfc ?
It's seems so daft?!

DodgyBanter

Joe Allen is the second coming of David "the crab" Batty.

Supasub

04 Oct 2012 19:38:53
How come i'm seeing a lot of sell Hernandez posts? I don't think the guy has done anything wrong compared to Evra/ Nani/ Macheda who surely are all more likely to leave.

I tend to agree. SAF has clearly decided to give him his chances so far this season, ahead of Wellbeck at times. And he's not been all that bad. I do think he really has to show what he can do though in this, his third season. Then a decision on his future may be made next summer

Gav

04 Oct 2012 17:43:32
Someone said, we lack the passion, hunger that we all saw in Dortmund. Dortmund has been playing with that passion, hunger and as team for last couple of years now. Hence they have great understanding between players, playing as unit defensively and attacking as unit. Which intern leads to such a beautiful game, being underdog against big spending Bayern with the superstar players, but they win as a team. Sahin was heart of everything 2 or 3 years ago. He left, Gundowan(known for his bullish play) came in not that same player, but he did his job. Kagawa was the heart of attacking, and he left they are still managing. Because there are team, a unit and united team.Our team needs that desperately, before we even talk about buying world class players. We should atleast try and bring out the best in players. I can understand Saf sentimentality, and I agree, Scholes is still class and Giggs and Patrice has so much experience, Carrick has experience and better passer than CLeve and Ando but without trusting and giving them the necessary push Cleverly, Anderson and Tunnicliffe, they can never full fill there potential.
He wanted fast pace football, thats why Berbatov(Class of his own) was left whole season on bench and finally sold. But where is the pace he is talking about. Infact we have slow down a lot.

Rio Ferdinand, He knows he has lost his pace, thats why he is sitting deeper which leads to his partner sitting deep which allows other teams to attack, thats what happen on 1st half game against Tottenham. Instead of doing what he is doing he should learn from player like Puyol who still very good defender with his lost of pace. We have Smalling coming back soon and hopefully P.Jones as well. I have yet to see how good Wootton or Keane is, and if they can step up.

Everyone is crying out Patrice, the guy was top player 3 years ago, but now he is no where near that. Buttner has every potential to succeed. And I thought he did well on his debut, but to Saf, Patrice presents in dressing room and his experience out weight his horrendous defensive performance.If we do decide to buy,
Wanayama(won't cost more than 10m, solid defensively, scores and runs for full 90 mins like young Essien), Subotic or Hummels, Eriksen(midfield Maestro) and James Rodriguez if Nani is to sold.


We need to defend as unit, attack as unit, I know we can play that, because we are UNITED!!!


Red Samurai

Great post, the only way we can start becoming a unit is when the old guard are gone, Giggs and Scholes need to retire and Evra, Carrick, Ferdinand etc. need to be sold and bring in young hungry players.

-JakeW

04 Oct 2012 16:52:40
Sydney, I don't need to cover what you have said about your opinions as a formation, but do you not think that this would be sufficient, and this would be with just one signing...

____________De Gea
________Smalling__Vidic
Rafael________Jones_______Buttner
________Cleverly__Strootman
_____________Kagawa
__________Rooney__RVP

That could work quite well as Jones would drop back as a third centre back there by meaning we don't get split down the middle, Cleverly and Strootman are box2box players. Rafael and Buttner provide good width. This all enables the front 3 to do what they do best and go on the attack?

Fresh!

Why not? After all we would still have Valencia and Young if we wanted to use wingers for a particular game or whether the manager decides during a game that he wants to use wingers. Personally I would use Valencia ahead of Rafael as that would save a substitution. I do wonder where the manager was planning on using Jones this season had he not been injured.

Sydney!

Fresh!
that looks a well tidy line up!

04 Oct 2012 19:02:22
I think we should play 3-5-1-1

Smalling Vidic Evans

Rafael Cleverley Fletcher Anderson Buttner

Rooney

Van Persie

04 Oct 2012 19:22:47
I have to agree, it does look good. We have been using a three in midfield more times this season than ever. Jones I imagine will be played there as he won't play ahead or Rafael or the centre backs when all fit..

Fresh!

04 Oct 2012 15:30:00
I've never really noticed or even taken interest in the Mike Phelan situation, but last night all I saw was David Platt next to Mancini giving advice and helping the players out. Surely that's what we want from our assistant?

Hoppy

Welcome out of the darkness ;) Having Mike Phelan in such an important role is a real problem for us. People say that our midfield is weak but IMO its because we have poor players. With the right coaching and tactical approach we could quite easily cope with the players we have.

TK-Red

Agreed, it's difficult for us to assess as fans but surely you would expect the assistant to look busy during the 90mins and constantly be looking for ways to positively change things against the opponent?!

Gav

04 Oct 2012 19:05:13
We'd be better off having Knobby the Gnome than Mike P.

I think Fergie missed a trick not bringing in Gary Neville on the coaching staff.

Andrew B

04 Oct 2012 12:33:21
@ Sydney, Hi mate hope you're well, I've been thinking bout our exchange re. Defensive positioning and you are right about both our fullbacks being high up the pitch like barca, and you would like to see a defensive mid stay back to make a 3. I think this works only because barca have sustained periods of possession and the other team drops very deep making them less of a counter threat. I just think we need more pace and power in the team then we would be fine. On that note Im staggered nobody came in for mvila last summer! He' s one of the best defensive mids in Europe, there must be an undisclosed issue with him. Can anybody tell me why Arsenal pulled out?

Brendan {Ed002's Note - I would not be so sure that Arsenal are completely out of the picture for M'Vila. Someone associated with Arsenal's transfer process told me that Wanyama had become the preferred option to replace Song - but obviously that never came about.}

I would use Rafael/Valencia & Buttner/Baines as fullbacks and sign a defensive midfielder. They will be the width so no need for wingers and we would have two extra midfielders more central where we are struggling. This way we could still play two upfront.

Baines, a DM who can play CB in emergency & a striker would be my shopping list for the summer. Surely Fabio & Evra would fund Baines. Scholes' & Giggs' salary saving and the sale of Anderson would fund a DM'r and perhaps if Hernandez doesn't improve he will fund a new striker. Seems simple, but obviously not quite plain cut.

Sydney!

My ideal shopping list would be a CB, 2 x CM (one DM, one box-to-box), LW and ST.

Depending on how the season turns out and how players perform, the following would be ideal;

Outs:
Anderson (if he sorts out his fitness and is consistent I'd be more than happy for him to stay).
Macheda
Nani
Hernandez
Evra
Giggs (retired)

Ins:
Kurt Zouma
Wanyama
Strootman
Rodriguez
Lewandowski

Don't think that's too unrealistic.

rpc

Rpc, great choices there mate. I think all are doable, but Porto are very hard to deal with. I do not think the club wants a winger per se, more of a right side of a front three and Rodriguez would still fit the bill. I would only buy a CB if we were losing Rio, I am sure Wanyama could fill in on emergency.

Sydney!

I agree with most of your choices rpc however there are a few issues that may hinder that selection. First, if we are moving away from a winger system, then Rodriquez may not fit in as smoothly (but he is someone who may be able to come into a more central role). Lewandowski will want playing time. With both Rooney and RVP ahead of him, he might find it difficult to come to United, especially if both Welbeck and Hernandez are still around. I would rather us save that money and spend it on the mid and def.

Nonetheless I would love to see Strootman and Wanyama come into the squad. I think they are what the squad needs most. Zouma has great potential but we have Smalls and Jones as two young CB, unless we move Jones up to DM in which case I would love to see Zouma come in. Better yet, lets just get rid of Evans and bring in Zouma - he's mid table talent at best.

B

I think we need to see what saf is doing at the end of the season. If he stays then he'll buy more wingers. if he goes then the new manager will probably have a clear out. Let's hope Klopp is the man!

04 Oct 2012 10:44:30
CL Game 2 CFR Cluj-Napoca

It was a boring game to watch even as I tried switching channels, a dull performance, yes we had a lot of possession, but what surprised me was we just failed to convert our dominance into goals, 2-1 win is a win but our overall performance was disappointing.

As usual this season, we were behind in no time and we have to thank God that their winger had to leave the field in 25 odd minutes as during his short stay Evra and Evans looked really very ordinary and far off the pace. Their first real move they converted into a goal, expected a better effort from De Gea instead of a try with his feet even though most goalkeepers wouldn't stand a chance of stopping that shot, but again De Gea again came up with two brilliant saves.

Our team was made to look better than normal as Cluj players tried parking the bus right from the start of the game, with 10 players in the final third of the Cluj arena trying desperately to repel our attacks and succeeded for most part of the game except for a lucky goal from RVP even though Rooney's delivery was excellent but RVP's second was worthy of another excellent delivery from Rooney. RVP and Rooney were the only highlights of the game, and our front three with Kagawa, RVP and Rooney look will only get better. Chicha was MIA most of the time, Ando and Cleverley were certainly made to look good by the open spaces left by the opponents in their attempt to park the bus.

Our defense was very nervy throughout the match and I still cannot understand why we did not start with Keane or Wootton in the centre and Buttner on the wing, Evra has totally exposed his lack of speed and sense of positioning and Fergie would be asking for trouble if he starts our next two big games with Evra and Evans. Rafa was okay but did nothing out of the ordinary in the match but was not beaten most of the match.

Happy to see that the "Robin and Fat man" (as some of our opposition fans put it) triad looks really promising and hope the old man (Fergie) does continues with this fantastic link up for the good of our club and the game.

This summer there were waves after waves of speculations and rumours about players our Club would sign and happy that there were a couple of good additions but it did not cover the weakest link in our game and hence a lot more speculations about January transfers are already making rounds in the cyber world. How I wish our midfield and defense was totally overhauled.

I have been saying it right from the end of last season, we need two great defenders and two great midfielders, one DM and a box to box, there are lot of candidates still available, in defense we can still go for Dede, Hummels, Papadopolous, Ogbonna, Varane (in preferred order) and in midfield Strootman, Vidal, M'Vila as DM and Cirigliano, Mouthino, Cabaye, as box to box and Isco and Gotez as CM and with our wings being ineffective we could need someone like James Rodrigues, Nani has to go no point in keeping him. I am not saying we should buy all these players but two defenders and one DM and one box to box are a must if we have to win something soon, rest is optional depending on who is sold. With these changes we could beat any team in the world. I know I am dreaming but no sin in that, is there ?

Off the topic what a performance by Kaka last night, Benzima's goal and Hart's keeping, just fantastic individual performances - Fred

Fairly in depth summary considering you were switching channels...die hard fan right?

As soon as you said you changed channels I thought 'muppet'. How can you analyse a game you didn't watch?

You call Rooney 'Fat Man' and Fergie 'The old man'. Not even a united fan I'd imagine?

Probably that person Fredthered back with a new name!

GDS

I love posts like this, complete nonsense from an expert who didn't even watch the game. Stunning.

AJH

04 Oct 2012 09:05:30
Just a little something for you here. Why was Ole in Manchester this week. I am just wondering if he may get the Blackburn job. I AM KLOOT

Hopefully Phelans job!

supasub

Why not Ole Gunnar as no.2 ?

04 Oct 2012 00:44:06
Dortmund look like a great defensive side, I'd love 3-4 of their players; Gundogan, Lewandowski, gotze, hummels ect. On another note James Rodriguez looked quality tonight and bagged a tidy goal, food for thought...


Anon

And Ronaldo got a hat-trick........