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The old Man Utd Thread

ThePixelbarks

By ThePixelbarks
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phresh

phresh

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Well Valencia's now scored as many goals as Ronaldo did in his first season at United, and yet he still can't smile

1 more goal and he'll have equalled the number of goals he scored at Wigan in 1/4 of the time. Not bad going really! If we're being realistic 10-15 goals from a winger in his first season for us is an excellent return.

The thing with having Obertan and Valencia on the wings is that you have some serious pace on both sides of the field. Really looking forward to seeing if Obertan and Evra can build up an understanding.

Ferguson said that De Laet will probably play alongside Carrick (and I assume Fletcher and Evra) on Saturday which will be interesting! De Laet has always done well when he has played but never seems to get more than the odd game.

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bowser123

bowser123

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We've really not been great but the 3 points are more or less in the bag. The Scholes/Gibson combination appears to be just as rubbish as the Carrick/Anderson one.

:(

Shame really, but not a surprise.

We all know the lack of continuity in midfield is fucking every one around and effecting performances, but the constant tinkering with the tactics is probably as bewildering. Start of the season and before it kicked off, it was all about a 4-4-2, Rooney up front as a striker. Didn't really last long.

Last three games have all been different formations. Villa 4-5-1 with Rooney on his own is pretty shit at home, what compounded it was when we conceded it changed to to up top, only it was Rooney that was shifted out wide. West Ham was different to that, and last night back to 4-4-2 but even then it's a constantly changing front 6. Helping absolutely nobody. One consistent factor is we look so much better when Fletcher plays in the middle.

What I find interesting is that for pretty much every game bar their League Cup defeat, Chelsea have consistently played the same team with the same shape. Is Ancelotti mad and not worried that his core players are playing so much, or is he right in valuing the consistency. Anybody can name Chelsea's best and starting 11, I don't think Ferguson even knows what our best team is and his selection is like a tombola at times.

It's hard to be critical given how far we've gone in the last two years in every competition and how the value and use of the squad has been critical in that. Then again we haven't played that well with the style and flair as say the Saha-Rooney-Ronaldo-Carrick-Scholes-Giggs team that won the league and went close in Europe. They were rarely changed until post Xmas when Saha was injured, but that core played and we not only won but did it with style.

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fatbob

fatbob

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1 more goal and he'll have equalled the number of goals he scored at Wigan in 1/4 of the time. Not bad going really! If we're being realistic 10-15 goals from a winger in his first season for us is an excellent return.

Or 1/6 even!

Thats what playing in a better side does for you!

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phresh

phresh

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:(

Shame really, but not a surprise.

We all know the lack of continuity in midfield is fucking every one around and effecting performances, but the constant tinkering with the tactics is probably as bewildering. Start of the season and before it kicked off, it was all about a 4-4-2, Rooney up front as a striker. Didn't really last long.

Last three games have all been different formations. Villa 4-5-1 with Rooney on his own is pretty shit at home, what compounded it was when we conceded it changed to to up top, only it was Rooney that was shifted out wide. West Ham was different to that, and last night back to 4-4-2 but even then it's a constantly changing front 6. Helping absolutely nobody. One consistent factor is we look so much better when Fletcher plays in the middle.

What I find interesting is that for pretty much every game bar their League Cup defeat, Chelsea have consistently played the same team with the same shape. Is Ancelotti mad and not worried that his core players are playing so much, or is he right in valuing the consistency. Anybody can name Chelsea's best and starting 11, I don't think Ferguson even knows what our best team is and his selection is like a tombola at times.

The biggest problem for for us is that there is a serious lack of balance in the squad. We can play 4-4-2 with conventional wingers but don't have a first choice centre forward who makes the right runs (Rooney does at times but not enough). When Owen came on last night the contrast in his movement in the box compared to Berbatov/Rooney was like night and day. Berbatov shows some sublime skill that remind you just how good he is but how difficult is it to make a run across the box when the winger is looking to cross it in?

Midfield is just absolute carnage, I reckon if you were to list out all our midfield combinations this season you would struggle to find any pattern whatsoever apart from Valencia playing regularly. Giggs and Scholes have both shown they still have more than enough quality to still play at this level but they can't do it every game so other players have to be bought in. I'm actually getting angry just typing this knowing that even when we have some defenders fit we'll still be playing Carrick and Anderson in the centre knowing full well they are shit in a 2 man centre mid. Just think how bad it's going to be when Hargreaves is back and we have another player in our CM revolving door formations.

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What I find interesting is that for pretty much every game bar their League Cup defeat, Chelsea have consistently played the same team with the same shape. Is Ancelotti mad and not worried that his core players are playing so much, or is he right in valuing the consistency. Anybody can name Chelsea's best and starting 11, I don't think Ferguson even knows what our best team is and his selection is like a tombola at times.

The way I see it is that it doesn't really matter to Chelsea. They can play the shit out of their core players and replace them once they're fucked, but United don't have the same endless pot as Abramovich and we need to try and keep a steady stream of young players coming through with Giggs and Scholes for support.

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fatbob

fatbob

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So, Champion's League draw tomorrow at 11am.

Who do we want?

A.C Milan

Bayern Munich

Internazionale

Lyon

Olympiakos'

Porto

Stuttgart

None of them stand out as especially easy, I suppose Olympiakos' and Stuttgart are the weaker of the bunch but no pushovers this year.

D. Beck wants a Milan vs United tie, and i'd be happy with that as a glamor tie which we should probably come through. I'd be wary of Porto again, and Bayern and Inter are have some of the best players in the world - that when pulling in the right direction could beat anyone.

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phresh

phresh

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Ideally you'd want one of the bottom 4 on that list but if were honest we should be able to beat any of them over two legs (with home advantage in the second tie). I'd actually quite like AC Milan as we should be able to get revenge for the semi final defeat a few years back.

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phresh

phresh

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If we play the game at a premiership pace then we should be able to stroll the game. They are old, slow and with Ronaldinho they have a player who makes Berbatov look like he has the work ethic of Rooney.

Not sure what bought on the Mourinho subject again but if I was a betting man then he would be down as the favourite. It’s tricky really as there are very, very few managers (if any!) who like to play with pace out wide, have the balls to throw caution to the wind and also have the man management skills as Ferguson. In the PL the only manager I would consider is O’Neill but I wouldn’t be overly confident with him in charge. Even if the football was to suffer slightly you know Mourinho gives his players immense self-belief and if you have the quality in the team then you can’t really go too far wrong.

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DC Lemon

DC Lemon

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Mourinho is yesterseason's Special One. He achieved something incredible with Porto (with a little help from dodgy decisions), couldn't really fail at Chelsea, but isn't really doing anything out of the ordinary with Inter.

The man at the top of every chairman's wishlist today is surely Guardiola. Especially while he continues to keep the Madrid Globetrotters at bay.

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fatbob

fatbob

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Mourinho is yesterseason's Special One. He achieved something incredible with Porto (with a little help from dodgy decisions), couldn't really fail at Chelsea, but isn't really doing anything out of the ordinary with Inter.

The man at the top of every chairman's wishlist today is surely Guardiola. Especially while he continues to keep the Madrid Globetrotters at bay.

He'll never leave Barca unless hes asked to by the club itself.

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fatbob

fatbob

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Man Utd

29 Kuszczak

03 Evra

30 De Laet

08 Anderson

16 Carrick

18 Scholes

24 Fletcher

25 Valencia

28 Gibson

07 Owen

10 Rooney

Substitutes

12 Foster, 20 Fabio Da Silva, 13 Park, 14 Tosic, 09 Berbatov, 19 Welbeck, 26 Obertan

Fabio back on the bench, so we have cover for our only consistently fit defender. :P

I spy a Tosic too, I thought he had been returned to sender.

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