Man Utd Thread:

[DuffleKing]

Just as rumours of United's demise were overstated midweek, I'm sure there will be an over reaction to this win today. Problems still remain but I think its fair to say United will not be far away when the league trophy is handed out, all things being equal. Very tough game next week but Vidic back this week was a major plus. Evra needs to be told where to direct his headers - was at the same shit once or twice today as cost United at Burnley. We got a small insight into Fergies brilliance as a manager today. Immediately te 3rd goal hit the net his first thought was "get Owen on - an ideal time for him to score". And so it happened and experienced and all as Owen is, you could see the relief on his face. The Owen deal was a no brainer even though United do need one more big player.

This Ronaldo argument is a bit funny but here's my take. Ronaldo "only" got 18 or 19 league goals last season his number of assists were not astronomical and his workrate (especially defensively) was crap. He is now gone so how will United make up for this? Rooney should get a couple more, already has 3. Owen will get close to what Rooney got last year. Berbatov will score around the same again and eveything else in the goals department should be similar. In terms of assists I think Valencia will get a pile. He has two already from 2 starts. He will make up for Ronaldo in this department PLUS he works back. So you can argue statistically that United will make up for his absence alright. However, what will perhaps be the biggestproblem is the effect Ronaldo had on opposition defences. He invariably tied up two or more players due to his threat. Valencia is very quick but not the same threat. The defence will need to be as mean as last year and if that'sthe case then maybe the unprecendented 4 in a row is on.

Fair enough assessment.

i stil think there's apossibility ribery could be signed, despite ergies talk of no more signings.

"when a player of this quality comes on the market, etc..."

[brokencrossbar1]

I would agree that there is more being amde of the Ronaldo leaving than should be.  The reality is that when teams have a stand out player the team mates always look to that player to pull them out of a hole.  Either consciously or unconsciously they will drop their own input by say 5-10% as they know they can afford it as their "star" is doing the business.  This happens in all sports.  As a result when the "star" leaves or gets injured it, IMHO, seems like the teams is missing their match winning ability.  That may be the case to a certain extent, but I also think that mentally they are unaware of the requirements to pull a game out of trouble.  If a team can get over this they will actually become a better team.  the best contemporary example of this is tyrone in my opinion who are a better team now without Canavan than with him as the other players have matured and taken responsibility and have a stronger team ethic.

Come May the top 4 will be the same as last year, the order may be different though with a different Red team on top and they will not be in London

[Hound]

At the moment Chelsea look the best team in the PL

Well Chelsea were blessed in their first game so I'd say Spurs and Arsenal have been the best, then Chelsea, then City, then United and Pool. But its early days     

Thought United were pretty dreadful up until they scored. Up until the goal, United were as bad as Wigan and a goal could have come from either side. But Rooney was a class apart, and no surprise that he created and scored the vital goal. At 2-0 they started to play alright, but it was easy then - but a nice boost to the confidence before the big game next weekend.

I think they'll try to outmuscle Arsenal (I can't see him play both Valencia and Nani) and will edge it by the odd goal and that will really get their season up and running.

[full back]

Reports from the last few days that Anderson had fell out with Fergie & is on his way out.
TBH, it wouldnt really bother me

Meanwhile that great bastion of information 'The Sun' reckons Robben is on his way to Utd
Please Fergie, dont sign him, just dont sign him

[mountainboii]

Reports from the last few days that Anderson had fell out with Fergie & is on his way out.
TBH, it wouldnt really bother me

Meanwhile that great bastion of information 'The Sun' reckons Robben is on his way to Utd
Please Fergie, dont sign him, just dont sign him

Any real sources on that, seen it in the BBC gossip column but apparently it was from the Daily Mail or the like so didn't pay much heed.

If it were true I'd be quite annoyed. Anderson is a very expensive long term investment, if he were to be shifted now he wouldn't demand half the £18 million that was paid for him. It would be a lot of money down the drain. Maybe Fergie is just giving him a bit of tough love by leaving him on the sidelines for a bit. Party time might be over now his best mate, by all accounts, has fecked off to Madrid and its time to put the head down and fulfil his potential. There is definitely a long standing fitness problem somewhere in there too, he hasn't played a full 90 minutes in a competitive fixture for United in nearly a year, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was holding back his development.

[118cmal]

Reports from the last few days that Anderson had fell out with Fergie & is on his way out.
TBH, it wouldnt really bother me

Meanwhile that great bastion of information 'The Sun' reckons Robben is on his way to Utd
Please Fergie, dont sign him, just dont sign him

Any real sources on that, seen it in the BBC gossip column but apparently it was from the Daily Mail or the like so didn't pay much heed.

If it were true I'd be quite annoyed. Anderson is a very expensive long term investment, if he were to be shifted now he wouldn't demand half the £18 million that was paid for him. It would be a lot of money down the drain. Maybe Fergie is just giving him a bit of tough love by leaving him on the sidelines for a bit. Party time might be over now his best mate, by all accounts, has fecked off to Madrid and its time to put the head down and fulfil his potential. There is definitely a long standing fitness problem somewhere in there too, he hasn't played a full 90 minutes in a competitive fixture for United in nearly a year, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was holding back his development.

To be honest I think this may be his biggest problem.  I know he goes out at least twice a week, and drinks champagne every night he's out.  No-one else at the club goes out nearly as often and a few more nights in would do him no harm.

[mountainboii]

Champions League

Ideal draw:
Rangers
Olympiakos
Debrecen

Nightmare draw:
Real Madrid/ Inter Milan
Fiorentina/ Atletico Madrid
Rubin Kazan/ Wolfsburg

Think we're due a tough group 

[qub la la la]

CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, Wolfsburg. Tough enough draw.

Arsenal have a fairly handy one and they should come through that. Chelsea and Liverpool have an equally tough draw as United imo.

[Minder]

If United had drawn Rangers we would have had both sets of fans chanting "f**k the Pope"

[Eastern_Pride]

IMO United have a fairly handy group, Wolfsburg are fairly handy, Besiktas aren't bad but it should be an easy enough group to get out of.
Arsenal got the handiest group possible, Liverpool got a group in which 3 teams can win it and Chelsea likewise. Can't wait for Milan-Real and Inter-Barcelona though!

[mountainboii]

IMO United have a fairly handy group, Wolfsburg are fairly handy, Besiktas aren't bad but it should be an easy enough group to get out of.
Arsenal got the handiest group possible, Liverpool got a group in which 3 teams can win it and Chelsea likewise. Can't wait for Milan-Real and Inter-Barcelona though!

Like the way you are comparing Liverpool and Chelsea's 2nd seeds to United's 4th, with no mention of having to head to the strongest Russian club (despite them not winning their league last season). United have a marginally tougher group than those two the English sides, with no handy points won like the 6 Liverpool and Chelsea will get off Debrecen and APOEL. Arsenal's group is a joke, its like a Europa Cup group.

[EC Unique]

If United had drawn Rangers we would have had both sets of fans chanting "f**k the Pope"

[EC Unique]

Edwin van der Sar was named UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year following his Champions League exploits last season, and Sir Alex Ferguson described the Dutchman's dedication to remaining at the top of the game as "absolutely unbelievable."

The veteran stopper, who kept seven clean sheets in Europe last term, fought off competition from Chelsea's Petr Cech and Barcelona's Victor Valdes to scoop the goalkeeper gong. He was presented with his award in Monaco prior to the draw for this season's group stages.

"The award couldn't have gone to a better professional," Sir Alex told ManUtd.com. "Edwin's dedication to football in the last few years has been absolutely unbelievable.

"It's an award that is thorougly deserved and I think everyone in football will applaud that."

[Minder]

If United had drawn Rangers we would have had both sets of fans chanting "f**k the Pope"

Celtic v United last season.

[EC Unique]

Minority

At least Utd are not buying clapped out Rangers rejects