Manchester United Banter Archive May 06 2013

06 May 2013 23:01:06
I'd like to briefly outline two headlines that grabbed my attention earlier, one related to us and one that is not but we should be getting involved in.

1) Nani for Marchisio?
The main basis to this one is that Juventus have a surplus of quality centre midfielders but not a wealth of other attacking options and tried to sign Nani last year. To add fuel to this apparently he has said he would be open to a premier league move. A player like Marchisio is what we have been crying out for and I really hope it's true. On top of all that many people want us to sell Nani so it will please them as well.

2) Southampton join race for £10m enforcer Wanyama
This is the story that if true we need to get involved in. Apparently Southampton have shown interest along with Liverpool in Wanyama and believe they can get him for £10m. Even though he isn't the finished product yet he is young (21 I think) and has bags of potential and is strongly built so will be able to survive in the BPL. I really hope we don't let him slip through our fingers and another club sign him especially Liverpool.

So based on these two stories which may just be pure speculation we could acquire Marchisio and Wanyama for Nani+£10m. This will surely strengthen our midfield like we have been needing for years.

Our team seems a whole lot better if you imagine our midfield options to include:
Marchisio
Wanyama
Carrack
Kagawa
Jones
Cleverly
and possibly Rooney.

07 May 2013 00:08:31
Marchisio is a Juve man through and through. He won't be leaving. They play with a three man midfield. Atm they have Vidal, Marchisio, Pirlo and Pogba vying for the three places. But how much longer will they have Pirlo? and Pogba is young and is being phased in as his replacement. So Vidal and Marchisio are key players. So he won't leaving.

Wanyama has said he intends to spend another year with Celtic, and to be honest I think that could be a wise move, he still has some rough edges to smooth out. With Celtic he can do it with european football. So I doubt he'll move to Southampton to be involved in a relegation battle next season, not when he will have much better options on the table.

Personally I think for us we would be best placed using Jones in midfield next season with occasional games at CB when needed. Then in the summer of 2014 when Rio retires Jones can move back and replace him with Micheal Keane also having a place in the squad. And Wanyama coming in to do the job Jones was doing in midfield.

As for this summer i'd like to see us sign Strootman and Goretzka for midfield. Strootman can come in and play along side Carrick and Goretzka can be Carrick's long term replacement. With Cleverley Jones and eventually Wanyama as other midfield options.

Pogba is pirlo's future replacement? That can't be right, they are totally different players. Pogba and marchisio play a similar role.
While we are on the subject, I would much rather have pogba than marchisio.
Nomidfield

It was all going swimmingly well until you mentioned cleverley and Rooney in midfield. Neither of these please.
But I agree completely on wanyama, when Celtic played barca, he was a beast. Yes, he does need to improve in certain areas, but playing with better players should hopefully take care of that.
I think he will be a relatively cheap option as a DM, but we also need to get another creative midfielder.
Finally, let's hope that kagawa starts in front of Rooney next year and in his preferred position. We have bought this huge talent and started playing him on the left, come on fergie, let the boy do his work and stop playing people out of position.
Nomidfield

07 May 2013 11:37:17
Pogba and Pirlo may play in different ways but that does not mean one can't replace the other. Carrick has been Keane's replacement. When great players retire/move on it is best to replace them with a slightly different player. As if you sign a similar player they will never be as good as the player leaving. Also football moves on and that type of player may no longer be as relevent as previously. Everyone talks about the Makelele type player, but who have Madrid or Chelsea got into replace him? Khedira and Ramires to totally different players.

06 May 2013 22:35:00
I hope we can get Spurs or Madrid to take one of Nani/Young/Valencia to help offset the costs of buying either Bale or Ronaldo. Not only would the transfer fee help lower costs, but with such a big squad and the resulting wage bill, it makes no sense to have a player like Young making 80,000+/wk when he plays so sparingly. Its easy to look at sale prices as the only financial commitment, but the salaries actually end up being more costly, and it makes no sense to have a second or third string player making big money when their roles can be done by youngsters for far less money. If it costs 50-65mil to buy Bale/Ronaldo, it will cost twice that to pay them over the length of the contract. Eliminating highly paid non-starters would ease the financial situation and allow a move for one of the high priced superstars we need to get back to the top in Europe. It will also open spots for players like Zaha, Januzaj, etc who can do the job for a 1/4 of the price as Young or Valencia.

06 May 2013 21:09:17
Looks like Sunderland or Newcastle are going to go into the last game of the season with one going down.

Shahram

Think Norwich could be in huge trouble if they don't get something from WBA game on Saturday, as they play Man C on the final day away.

Andy

Opps yeah forgot about Norwich.

Newcastle have arsenal on the last day and Sunderland play spurs which most likely will be an Arsenal, Spurs win.

I think next week will be huge for all these teams as their last games are all very difficult.

If Wigan beat swansea you will have 4 teams on 38 points.


Shahram

Would love to see wigan beat swansea and it'll be squeaky bum time for a lot of teams at the bottom of the table. lol

Even better would be spurs beating Chelsea, it would be a great last couple of weeks both at the top and bottom.

Shahram

We are all wigan fans till the end of the season.
Nomidfield

My money is on Newcastle or Norwich. Let's hope it is not Wigan. I won't complain if it is Sunderland though.
Nomidfield

06 May 2013 20:04:51
What do people make of Sessegnon?

06 May 2013 20:44:21
He sounds like some kind of sausage. Lol.

06 May 2013 21:12:57
Mmm with some Dijon mustard and some nice cheese, Camembert or Roquefort perhaps. And a good claret. Bertie Wooster

Good player for bottom half club. Ok player for mid-table. Not good enough for top 4.

If you're getting at the possibility of him joining united - no! Getting on a bit now and just hasn't got enough quality

Good player for bottom half club. Ok player for mid-table. Not good enough for top 4.

06 May 2013 18:58:46
Paul pogba has been banned for 3 matches for spitting at opponent. No wonder fergie got rid of him. His attitude stinks and People still whine about why we let him go. T45

SAF didn't "get rid of him". He left.

Sydney!

Sydney it was very much in SAF hands, I am led to believe he asked for too much money and SAF wouldn't agree so in other words SAF let him go

Yep so that we can now pay 3 to 4 times the salary and a hefty transfer fee on top to get a decent midfielder.

Shahram

Don't worry Sharan it's not our money.

Carl

Yep shahram, makes no sense at all. I think the only losers were united.
Nomidfield

So sid or anyone else still wish we had pogba in our team? The guys a disgrace. To spit at some1 is absolutely disgusting, it shows what kind of mentality the kid has, mufc has no space for some1 like that. T45

It is just simple human stuff. A player with his ability watching some of the guys who were playing for us in the first team would think, I am better than these guys and demand game time and money to go with it.

I do agree that SAF did not want to give him what he was asking for and he took the option to leave.

It is easy to criticize people but you know the old saying charity starts at home and most of us in his shoes would have done the same.

Shahram

06 May 2013 20:49:08
I think it can be foolish to judge someone without knowing the fulk details. If Evra spat at Suarez after being racially abused would you condem him? I'm not saying Pogba was racially abused but you don't know what was said or had happened in the build up. You don't know the history between Pogba and the player he spat at.

Its easier to jump on his back as we don't like him as he turned his back on us. And we don't even know the the reasons for that.

I agree with shahram, yes pogba may have seemed like a spoilt brat but his performances this year with juventus you could argue that his demands were less than getting a new midfielder of the same quality. If juventus sold him now they'd fetch 25 million for a 19 year old who already has played for france. We let a great player slip through his fingers.

Great post s
Shahram

Nick86

Who cares?

He is a player of another team in another country. He wanted more money and games and left, it's a shame yes but can't we all just move on?

Brendan81

06 May 2013 18:28:59
Utd v Liverpool U21s live on MUTV freeview for the game

MUTV isn't working my end so I have to watch the game on LFC TV.

It will be muted of course ;)

Sydney!

I see Liverpool have brought Shelvey into their U21 side just for this game.

I guess they do not have much faith in their youth players.

Sydney!

06 May 2013 16:21:55
Is it safe yet? I was away at a wedding over yesterday and today so have caught up with the deapair and doom following the game this morning. Why is anyone surprised? The league is won, SAF is giving games to get medals, and our underlying issues have not gone away. All the talk of a forward is distracting as our issues are pretty much all across the midfield and out wide. Carrick has been outstanding but apart form him, I can't think of a midfielder that has had a food year. The wide players have been at best average and often poor and we have soft centre, we have been dominated on several occasions. There isn't a lot wrong wi this squad but we really do need a backbone and an injection of creativity. I have no idea what will happen this summer, SAF possibly expected Cleverley to kick on this year (he hasn't) or Anderson to finally deliver on his promise (he hasn't either). I really do hope he has quality midfield targets in mind; we might promote a coud of youngsters to feature next year but they are not yet the answer. In the meantime, don't expect us to pull up any trees in our remaining games

Food year? Good year!

Agree and as for new players for next season I won't be holding my breath

06 May 2013 14:34:14
As a Chelsea fan, curious to know would United fans rather have Bale, Mata or Hazard at their club if they had a choice? I think you only have a chance of getting one of them and that is Bale, but if you had a choice who would you pick?
EH17
P. S: Congratulations on another title, feel you have edged it quite a lot this year but to quote Arnie we will "be back!"

Bale.

JK92

06 May 2013 16:08:53
For me it would be Mata, he is more versitile and more consisitant than the other two. Hazard will probably be the better player long term though. Bale is a very good player but when confronted with a player as strong and fast as him he becomes very limited.

Bale.

Between Hazard and Mata, its tough. Hazard is younger but I can't help but love Mata.

Interesting question". Hazard is undoubtedly a great player, just think he's a bit of an arse to be honest. Bale is probably the best player in the league right now but I do have a soft spot for Mata. Depending on the price, probably Mata, but I suspect I am alone on that one. {Ed007's Note - It's a straight choice between Mata and Hazard for me, and I would choose Mata all day long.}

Bale
Jred

Shappy - your claim about bale is ridiculous, let's be honest what defenders are really as fast as bale? not many.

06 May 2013 19:57:13
There aren't many, but Rafael has had him in his pocket more often than not. Bale can be marked out of a game if matched for pace and power. Bale hasn't the close control or skills to beat a player with he just uses his pace and strength to get past players. His crossings isn't great he tends to just whip balls in hard and low. his shooting has been much improved this season but he does have a tendency to play with his head down too much also.

I'm not saying Bale isn't brilliant at what he does, i'm just pointing out his limitations. At what he does there are very few if any as good as him. So you could say he is world class, but being world class doesn't mean he is amazing at every aspect of being a footballer.

Bale

Shahram

Shappy
Your assessment is about 2 years out of date
You say he can be marked out the game well only if he is man marked as he drifts across the pitch looking for space.
Look at his goal last week he picked the ball up on the right hand side.
His days as a winger are over and have been for 2 year.
Hes learned to exploit space and use his power and pace to full effect.
You say he hasn't the close control or skills to beat a player yet when it comes to beating players he must be one of the best in Europe.
To say he becomes limited is a joke.

Hazard and Mata are also top players

Shappy mate

I'll have ain't of what u r drinking. His fellow professionals and the football writers ited him player of the year ( and young player of the year). The only other player to have done that previously is Ronaldo. I'm not comparing him to Ronaldo but your judgement of him is a tad harsh

AJH

The sign of a great player is scoring crucial goals over and over. Another 6 months on current form and he will be in the running for the balon D'or.

At the moment he is the scariest player in pl and can do that bit of magic at a moments notice. I would be over the moon if he played for us on the left wing.

Shahram

100% Mata, no doubt about it

Brendan81

06 May 2013 22:06:29
I'm not saying he isn't a great player, his performances this season speak for themselves, especially since the turn of the year.

But there are still aspect of his game which he needs to work on, if he can learn to become more adept with the ball, and learn how to beat a man with skill rather than pace then he will be a contender for the Ballon d'or.

But I have my doubts. Spurs have a much better first team than Arsenal and one that isn't a million miles behind Chelsea. So with an amazing player like Bale in there team UCL qualification should be assured?

If Bale is as amazing as people make out then he should be able to carry his team the little step they need to get fouth place?

Ronaldo would make that Spurs team be a top 2/3 team as would Messi. Infact a 23yo Ronaldo or Messi would carry them to those heights.

If Bale lost his pace tomorrow would he be half the player he is today?

And one day he will lose his pace.

Maybe I am abit harsh on Gareth, but probably because I don't look at him and see the 50m+ player the press will have you believe he is. He has been voted the best player in the league this year by his fellow professionals and the press (who have a huge boner for him). But that is only within england, let's see if he comes third in the Ballon D'or which is voted by the entire footballing community.

It's the completely overboard stuff that ruins it for me. The english press will have you believe he is the third best player in the world behind Messi and Ronaldo. so better than Falcao, better than Xavi, better than Inestia, better than RvP, better than Vidal, better than Schweinstieger. See how ridiculas it is.

I'd put Mata, Tevez, Rooney, Muller, Kroos, Gotze, Ozil, Agureo, Robban, Ribery, Lewandowski, Suarez, Cavani, Silva, Yaya Toure all as good or better than Bale. that's what I find ridiculas about it.

Shappy
The fact that your trying to compare him to messi and ronaldo says it all really,
If ronaldo lost his pace tomorrow would he be half the player he is today.
As for the English press well how about what zidane said
He said: “This year the player who’s impressed me most is not actually playing in the Champions League.
“He’s playing in “the other cup” and that’s Bale. He’s unique

"He makes things look easy, his pace is frightening, his acceleration is unbelievable because of his ability to go through the gears in very little space.
“Plus, he’s very good technically which is also important. We mustn’t forget that he plays football very well!
“And he’s really impressed me. I’ve seen him two or three times live, including recently at Lyon, which wasn’t necessarily his best game.
"Every time he got the ball he can surprise you. ”
Asked about the comparisions of Bale to world stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Zidane added: “He’s perhaps not quite at the level of the other two but he’s different.
“So personally I don’t think he's far off"

"A player like Bale can be the difference between a big club winning the league or Champions League.

"They would be getting the best player in Europe this season and he is at an age where he can still play at the top for another 10 years.

"What I like about him is that he has this electric pace but also a big footballing brain to go with it. That is very rare. "
Jred

06 May 2013 23:58:18
Don't listen to Real Madird's cheif recruiter try and butter up their next target. Of course he's going to go over board with the compliments. He also said that a player like Bale should be the difference between winning the league or a cup, and he's not inspired Spurs to either.

I'm not saying Bale is a bad player, i'm just saying he isn't as good as the press make him out to be.

Of course Bale is a very good player, and on current form he is up there in that second band of players who fall short of the special catagory of Ronaldo and Messi.

But is he worth twice as much as Gotze? No of course not. He is a 30-35m player being bigged up as if he is something truely special.

I will guarantee that people on this site would rate him higher if
A, he played for United.
B, he played for Dortmund
Jred

Pastore, hazard, moura modric all went for 35 ish imo bale is worth more.
Rodriguez is valued at 35 again I would say bale is worth more.
Gotze went for the price stipulated in his contract not his market value.
Falcoa and cavani are going for 50/60 mill
a player is worth what some one is willing to pay for him and if spurs put him up for sale this summer I think they would get more than 30/35 mill
Jred

06 May 2013 13:55:17
Moyes now 6/4 to be SAF assistant next season WTF!

If he is the next manager, then god help us. Klopp is the only one for me.
Nomidfield

06 May 2013 12:40:00
What a massive overreaction!
We have won the league at a canter, we lost in the dying minutes to a very good team, whilst we are clearly in holiday mode.
Get over the midfield issue. Its tiresome!

Yeah, let's get over the fact that our team with a wage bill of over £200m a year, only has one decent midfielder in it. Let's get over the fact that Chelsea (3 times), city twice, spurs twice, soutahmpton, fulham, even reading, out played us during our games.
It really is quite tiring with all these people who will not have a bad word said about the team, manager etc. If your ambition is just to win at all costs while playing crap football, then I don't share your level.
We have been used to united playing attractive football and challenging the top European teams. So we'll keep trying to get our views heard as we do not want to stand still and watch the likes of Chelsea, city overtake us.

Agreed we are at best a workman like team no quality, and we will be found wanting next season unless we buy at least 3 quality players, city and chelsea will improve so must we

Our wage bill is under 200m only Man Citys exceed 200m.

06 May 2013 12:22:47
What do you guys make of paddy power slashing the odds for Moyes to replace SAF this summer?

Aamir

Nothing.
SakHere

I don't think it means anything TBH, I really hope we don't go for him though, not good enough and plays boring football.

JK92

06 May 2013 12:38:53
If we're daft enough to appoint him then we deserve everything we'd get like sliding down the table to join liverpool.

Was just reading this myself, 7/2 into 1/2 overnight. I think he would suit us to an extent. Not sure how he would be in attracting players, or asking the Glazers dig deep tho.

I'd say your on the money Bertie! Disappointing performance. What the hell has happened to Valencia, he has worsened over a very poor season. Yesterday Valencia was woeful. We all know it, get a decent midfield (need 2 players), add a decent wide player (in addition to Zaha) and we will definitely improve. Rafael did not deserve the sending off, that twit Luis on the floor laughing! We lost the game to a superior midfield, I do not like Chelski at all but do like Mata / Oscar / Hazard and their No. 7 (forgot his name). We have won the league and I appreciate the manager, team etc. however we must continually improve.
A man united!

06 May 2013 11:32:37
Giggs you absolute legend. When it was all going off about Rafael and Oscar started waving an imaginary Red card Giggs was having none of it. At one point I thought he was going to take the whole Chelsea team on. Must admit I did want Jones to wade in and chin somebody. I hope some of the younger lads were watching and realised that it still means something to some of the players to wear a red shirt and just a word of warning to Oscar. If you have a girlfriend or wife you better watch her 24/7 as Giggsy seemed quite mad

Vidic probably helped calm things down too by pushing all our players back and away from the CFC players and the ref.

JK92

06 May 2013 11:46:05
Very funny kloot however i'm sure the Chelsea boys already keep the wags locked up given that terry is at the club and hasn't played as much the last couple of months. MrE

06 May 2013 09:55:59
if QPR demoted from premiership. Then Remy and Tarbat could be good option as squad player. What do u thin guys. Question to ed is there any interest from man united? {Ed002's Note - None.}

Surely this was meant for the Liverpool page.

Melbourne CFC

06 May 2013 13:47:46
Melbourne even they wouldn't be that daft surely.

Jesus, I despair with some of the suggestions on here. You were taking the p. , s I hope?!

Caroll, Downing and Adam for well over £50m mate. Being daft is something they excel in.

Melbourne CFC

CFC

Actually I think those 3 cost them close to 65 milll lol

Shahram

06 May 2013 08:57:49
I would really like to see James rodregues and hummels coming but ed who do think you will join? Thanks in advance {Ed002's Note - I have said previously and will stick with that.}

06 May 2013 07:36:15
Hearing that we are being linked strongly with a move for Juan Fernando Quintero, which I really hope proves to be true.

I watched quite a bit of the South American U20 Championships and was impressed by Columbia, and this guy was their driving force, scoring five goals from midfield. He's a very creative midfield player, technically very good and he picks up nice positions in those little pockets of space between midfield and attack, but what impressed me most was his willingness to get involved by dropping deep and then running at people from deeper positions, so he is very unpredictable. Also capable of scoring goals as he showed in that U20's tournament, although at club level he hasn't been as free-scoring.

If I had any criticisms it would be that he did seem to be very left-footed, although it's not a major problem I guess and we could be doing with that balance in midfield. Although not the biggest, he looks very strong with a low centre of gravity, similar to Jack Wilshere in that sense. He's been on loan at Pescara, who have just been relegated from Serie A, from Atletico Nacional in his homeland. Apparently Inter Milan and Juventus are also sniffing around him, but this seems like the kind of deal Sir Alex would look at with him being young, full of potential and relatively cheap. Would be a good signing imo.

I would get rid of Anderson, Fletcher, Scholes, Valencia, Bebe and Macheda. I believe we need two central-midfielders, a winger and a left-back. If Quintero is going to be one, I would like to see Sven Bender come in as well. He is the unsung hero of the Dortmund side and just goes about his business quietly but so effectively, breaking up the play and releasing the ball, allowing the more creative players to do their thing. Having this insurance policy is a great bonus to a team in allowing them to express themselves. At left-back I have said many times Luke Shaw is the answer, he could come in and bed in slowly next season, learning from Evra and would be ideal to replace him full-time within a year or two. Finally, the dream is of course to bring Ronaldo home. I believe it CAN happen and that Cristiano probably wants it to happen, so hopefully we can get the deal done, even if it means using Hernandez as part of any deal. For me he is the best player in the world, an absolute phenomenon who loves the club, and that really says it all.

Thoughts?

GRD

06 May 2013 10:05:57
You'd keep Nani? I don't see Dortmund selling anyone else after Lewandowski and Gotze.

06 May 2013 10:22:20
I also watched him in that tourdament and thought he was outstanding. My only reservation with him is he is a No. 10, he plays as the link between midfield and the attack, we have Rooney, Kagawa and Powell who are best suited to this role. Do we need another youngster struggling to get games?

We could play him deeper, but defensively he is poor so we would need to play someone very defensive alongside him I midfield to cover him.

My worry would be that we would try and convert him into a deeper midfielder like we've tried to do with Anderson. He plays just like Anderson did when we signed him.

He is best either being given a free role behind the striker to create or maybe playing as part of a midfield three.

06 May 2013 12:24:19
Thats the sort of thing we'd do Shappy. It worries me we'll do something similar with Powell. MrE

He sounds like a good young player. From what you described he plays in the same position as Powell. But more importantly he is another one for the future whereas our midfield needs top class players right now.

Danny Pughnited

Shappy

I am completely in agreement with your last point. This tendency of "grooming" players to play at a position where they aren't at their best is annoying. How many players have we played out of position over the years? We are doing it with Powell, did it with Anderson, even Cleverly is much better as a CAM. I think Fergie likes versatile players, which in the long terms serves good for the club but does limit the careers of a good few. Collateral Damage? He gets the best out of the players eventually but I have to say when some of their natural talents go to waste, it feels a little hard done by. Nani and Young were told to stop trying to beat a man and keep possesion. I may be wrong here, but I do think there are too many players played out of position. What is Jones' best position?

Deeps.

06 May 2013 13:15:17
If we signed Quintero then he could play on the left of the 3 in a 4231 formation with Powell or Zaha on the right and Kagawa in the middle. That would work well and be a good long term team. He would certainly allow us to play with three AM's behind a main striker. But my gut says if we sign him we will try and play him too deep.

More potential, when we actually need proper proven talent.
Fergie is not proving great with "potential". Need we mention, tosic, obertan, bellion, Anderson, nani, etc. All players with potential, but non are any good.

06 May 2013 16:18:31
Don't be a fool no name, when you buy potential there is always a risk. I see you forgot to mention De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Jones, Hernandez ect who are all showing signs of doing well. We will always sign young players with potential, but we will also sign more proven players. We rarely sign someone at their peak as we did with RvP, we also signed Berbatov and Veron at their peak with varing degrees of success. So we prefer to buy younger players with potential such as Ronaldo and try and turn them into great players but at a much more sensible cost.

I think we'll sign Strootman and Lewandowski this summer who are players just short of their peak but more prove class players, I would expect us to sign one or two young players with potential as well maybe Goretzka and Quintero. If we got them four it would be an amazing summer.

Shappy, it wouodl be good for Powell to feature but you can't expect him to become a 1st teamer overnight

06 May 2013 16:33:40
Good God man Bellion was a decade ago get over it already.

06 May 2013 16:37:14
I didn't mean as first choice straight away. I would play him in all the domestic cup games and a few minutes in the lesser league games and ease him in.

06 May 2013 00:37:06
SAF, you owe me two hours of my life back. One striker, with the never ever going to score Valencia and Anderson to back him up? We could have played for a week and not scored. Then the substitutions, which make even less sense. Today was one example of why SAF can be quite frustrating. A match like today was predictable from the moment the team sheet came out. There are these odd matches when SAF doesn't see what every person watching the match does. It was a terrible match for most of the players and for the referee, but I think SAF had the worst day of all. He put out a team that had no chance to succeed, and he didn't even get any youngsters involved despite putting out a formation that was never going to work. Five midfielders, not one of them can link up with RVP. MOTM for me was Anderson. Today was a perfect example of what he brings that no other CM on United can, which is his ability to turn a player and make piercing runs at the defenders. If there was more than one striker on the pitch (or anyone not named Antonio Valencia) he would have created far more chances. Good news is that once I saw the team sheets I knew it was going to be 1-0 Chelsea, so I made some decent money, and Chelsea's win makes Spurs less likely to make the CL, which may have been SAF purpose all along, as today's plan does not suggest he had any interest in winning the match. I know I'll get scolded for calling out SAF, but this happens every 5-6 matches, where he seems to be the only person on earth clueless as to why he's about to watch an underwhelming performance by his side. Today, SAF didn't give the boys even a chance at success. Trophy is won, so oh well, but if I'm going to take time out of my weekend to watch a match, the least he can do is remember to call me before kickoff and warn me not to waste my time. Hard luck to Rafael, that was nowhere near a red card. But you've earned your summer vacation kid, so go to a beach somewhere while we stumble across the finish line without much effort it appears.

How the hell can you slag of Valencia and then give Anderson man of the match.
Why is everyone so quick to right of Toni and then continue to hold onto this dream that Anderson will suddenly become the greatest player ever for united. He is shocking, and is very far behind any player at united. He is a very poor professional that needs to get his priorities right. We can go on about his injuries and say well if he didn't get this and he didn't get that.
Poor old Valencia who gives his all to the club, and let's face it has been a very good servant for us, is slagged of. Well heres one for all you Anderson believers, what if Valencia hadn't snapped his leg in two? Maybe he would be an even more present member of squad that he most certainly contributes too. Far more than a lot of duds still at the club, from Anderson, Nani, Young, Cleverly and Welbeck.

aaallj5

06 May 2013 01:52:11
What match where both of you watching Anderson and Valencia where going past the other player all day the team could not find the final ball

Anderson played a number of wonderful passes and fantastic penetrating runs. Valencia just gave it away, albeit after running down the sideline and crossing nowhere near a United player. I'm not commenting on Anderson's professionalism, just his performance. As for Valencia, he can be useful when Rafael needs support and when there are at least two strikers who are in the six yard box. BUt now that Rafael has developed into a reliable defender, and since we rarely play with two actual strikers, Valencia is a completely misfit for the way the team plays now. He's a 4-4-2 winger who does nothing but cross the ball. Will never score goals regularly and I'm still in shock that someone can become a professional footballer without being able to pass the ball 10 yards with his weaker foot. Even Giggs will use his right foot in an emergency! Just a frustrating day all around, and quite predictable from the team selection and substitution decisions. Evra gets hurt and they send on Buttner for a midfielder!

I agree with Bmac, both Valencia and Anderson were shocking.
Valencia cannot go pas this man, no pace, no Valencia, simple as that.
Anderson, suffice to say that he will never play in a top team midfield. But he's managed to be in ours, in and out for the past few years! How can a professional footballer in May, where he should be fit, run out of steam after 60 mins? He always looks unfit and to be honest, I'm really getting p. ed off with him playing at the expense of kagawa, Powell etc.
As for saf, agree with KG, the team, tactics, selection, substitutions, all made no sense at all. If we are going to give Chelsea the match, then we might as well give our younger players a chance. The whole thing was inept, from the manager to his players and the selection, tactics, or lack of it.
Before anyone starts saying that we have already won the league, I will tell you that firstly there were 75,000 people who travel led from all over the place to watch this dross, secondly, we can't just turn our form on and off, thirdly, Chelsea have beaten us three times this season, come to next season, they will be rubbing their hands with glee to play us as they know they can beat us. And lastly, this was our chance to knock them out of the CL spot for next season which would have been huge blow to them, instead, we let them off the hook. They'll now qualify and Mr abramovich has got his cheque book ready and mourinho is running there as we speak!
Nomidfield

The reason people are saying that Anderson had a half decent game and was one of our best perforemers on the day - is because he seemed to be the only player in red who 1) dribbled the ball past players into space, and 2) played a number of forward thinking balls, both into feet and chipped out to the wing. Whilst we had 0 cutting edge in most areas of the pitch, Anderson did at least provide a bit of drive from midfield.

Not sure why so much hatred towards Ando - I still want him sold because I think he's injured too often. But I still like him and am able to recognise when he out performs a number of our other players.

06 May 2013 12:05:02
I agree with the Badger. I think he's had too many chances and given his injury, fitness and weight issues this summer surely he has to go. He does look good when he plays, but his inability to complete 90 minutes is a major concern. He has a spell of three games where he reminds us of what he can do, then the shock to the system of actually playing means he twinges something and its another month on the sidelines. Its a massive shame as I like the guy and his style of play and there's no doubting his ability or talent. When we signed him and I had to youtube him I was so excited at the prospect. Also his first season was immense bossing the likes of fabregas and gerrard. My big worry is that we can't shift him come summer and we get another season of carrying him as a passenger in the squad through 75% of the season as we have yet another injury hit stop start mess. Shame as he does offer a lot to the midfield as he's the only one win can drive forward and run at players with the ball and replacing him won't be cheap. MrE