Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 9:28 am  

Utd were awful and did not deserve to win the game I thought. City should have a penalty in the first half too. Rooney is becoming like Ronaldo, everything goes through him, we desperately need some new players but we won't get any in January. A winger, an attacking midfielder and a centre back.

Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:17 am  

Chris Dalton wrote:

I kind of agree thats disrespectful, and to be honest there are no routien wins for most teams in the premiership any more. But you kind of sound bitter, you don't feel hard done to do you?

Not at all, it's just that for years we could only see the attitude of big-time charlies from afar. Experiencing it first hand is spew-inducing, and at times i don't think some of them realise just what they are saying.

Don't get me wrong, we've picked some fans up along the way who can go away and die for me, but they don't stand out as much as they do at the "Big 4". That quote earlier in the thread about modern football being w@nk, well the fans have played a huge part. And that's sad.

Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:07 pm  

PAUL M wrote:

Utd were awful and did not deserve to win the game I thought. City should have a penalty in the first half too. Rooney is becoming like Ronaldo, everything goes through him, we desperately need some new players but we won't get any in January. A winger, an attacking midfielder and a centre back.

We've not played well all season. Once again the thing that let us down was our passing in the final third. Rafael was the best player on the field in the first half, and apart from his goal Rooney was pretty poor in the first half. Berbatov was quiet and Giggs was pretty poor.

Evra was lucky to not get a second yellow, Fagan was lucky to not get 4 or 5 yellows. Vidic and Brown played really well, and limited Hull to very few clear chances. Rooney played much better after his mistake, and produced a great pass for Berba's goal. Dawson was unlucky with the OG, he had to try clear it, felt a bit sorry for him, as he was probably Hull's best player on the day.

I don't think Hull deserved to get anything out of the game, apart from the penalty they didn't really look like scoring, they only had a couple of long range efforts. Tommy K still scares the $hit out of me when he was the ball at his feet, although Myhill made him look very composed on the ball with some of his efforts.

It was another win, but poor performance, yet we're still only two points behind Chelsea. Weird season so far.

Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:18 pm  

Sexual Deviant wrote:

Not at all, it's just that for years we could only see the attitude of big-time charlies from afar. Experiencing it first hand is spew-inducing, and at times i don't think some of them realise just what they are saying.

Don't get me wrong, we've picked some fans up along the way who can go away and die for me, but they don't stand out as much as they do at the "Big 4". That quote earlier in the thread about modern football being w@nk, well the fans have played a huge part. And that's sad.

Personally I think you're having a cry over nothing.

All Mark did was say that United picked up a routine win. They are the champions, they'd have been expected to win, and they won 3-1.

Quite simply there was no reason for you to throw your toys out of the pram.

Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:52 pm  

Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:

Personally I think you're having a cry over nothing.

All Mark did was say that United picked up a routine win. They are the champions, they'd have been expected to win, and they won 3-1.

Quite simply there was no reason for you to throw your toys out of the pram.

Oh, and i forgot to add that "Big 4" supporters truly believe that their opinion is everything.

Thank you for emphasising the point.

Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 2:47 pm  

Robbie Rotten wrote:

Who do we think will be in and out of Eastlands in January, then?

I felt at the start of the season their full backs were weak and they still look pretty average. Maybe another centre half in and move Toure to right back? Or do they need proper full backs, i.e wing backs like your Maicons etc.?

It will be interesting to see what formation he decides on using during his time there, I didn't see the game on the weekend but I managed to see a bit of his Inter side in his last season and I rarely recall the use of wingers. Could we see a diamond being used, similar to that of Chelsea's, with Robinho playing the 'trequartista' role? In his Inter side, the full backs were the providers of width, no offence to Bridge, Richards and Zabaleta, but they're not your flying full backs with flashy technique, they're solid, workmanlike players who are solid squad players, but nothing more, at least for a side with aspirations.

I've not read too much about the Mancini situation, but is he seen as a long term investment, or is he simply a stop gap until the summer, where the window for managers will be much more open? I personally saw him as a stop gap, I think he could surprise a few people, but I can see him doing a similar job to that of Ramos at Madrid last year. He'll get things back on track, get a few much needed players in, attempt to lay some foundations but probably won't be the man who the club see taking them forward in the long term. I think he's an underrated coach, but I don't think he was City's number one target, nor do I believe that he was the ideal coach to take the club to where they want to be, but I'm no expert.

I dont think its any secret that City's preferred choices were Mourhino, Hiddink or Wenger. I dont think they've appointed Mancini expecting to sack him in the summer, more that he's something of a gamble and they want a get out option.

I dont really think we'll get a clear view of his tactics until the injured/absent players are back. At the moment he's just making do with what he's got available.

Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 3:25 pm  

PAUL M wrote:

Utd were awful and did not deserve to win the game I thought. City should have a penalty in the first half too. Rooney is becoming like Ronaldo, everything goes through him, we desperately need some new players but we won't get any in January. A winger, an attacking midfielder and a centre back.

I agree we looked short outwide yesterday with Valencia having a nightmare and Giggs not fully fit, it looks like the club are doing all they can to offload Tosic and Nani in the window. We're being linked with Ben Arfa in the french papers after he's fallen out with Marsellie. I rememeber when he first came onto the scene and he looked like he had a big future in the game but has struggled the last couple of years.

Central midfield is a strange one for me as Carrick is a fine player when on his game but has been poor so far this season, Scholes has blown hot and cold and Fletcher has been solid the problem is there just doesn't seem to be any pace in the middle. I'm hoping that Hargreaves can comeback and show somekind of form which may give Carrick a bit more confidence going forward. We have a couple of attacking midfielders with alot of tallent already at the club but i think this season is too soon to bring them through.

As for signing a centerhalf when fit Ferdinand and Vidic are a great partnership with Evans and Brown great backup it's just freaky that this season all our injurys have hit in the same position which will probably never happen again. Who could we sign with quality but be happy to sit in the reserves as 5th choice Centre half?

The Itallian press say we'll sign Sebastien Frey from Fiorentina in January but i'd be supprised at that.

Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 8:42 pm  

mutt1 wrote:

I agree we looked short outwide yesterday with Valencia having a nightmare and Giggs not fully fit, it looks like the club are doing all they can to offload Tosic and Nani in the window. We're being linked with Ben Arfa in the french papers after he's fallen out with Marsellie. I rememeber when he first came onto the scene and he looked like he had a big future in the game but has struggled the last couple of years.

Central midfield is a strange one for me as Carrick is a fine player when on his game but has been poor so far this season, Scholes has blown hot and cold and Fletcher has been solid the problem is there just doesn't seem to be any pace in the middle. I'm hoping that Hargreaves can comeback and show somekind of form which may give Carrick a bit more confidence going forward. We have a couple of attacking midfielders with alot of tallent already at the club but i think this season is too soon to bring them through.

As for signing a centerhalf when fit Ferdinand and Vidic are a great partnership with Evans and Brown great backup it's just freaky that this season all our injurys have hit in the same position which will probably never happen again. Who could we sign with quality but be happy to sit in the reserves as 5th choice Centre half?

The Itallian press say we'll sign Sebastien Frey from Fiorentina in January but i'd be supprised at that.

Ben Arfa sounds a big of a handfull off the pitch, but £5m was mentioned, which is probably worth a punt - i think some of Obertans cameo's show how little Nani appears to have come on, one consistently makes the right pass, the right run and the right option, the other doesn't.

Agree the midfield can be somewhat one paced with little 'drive' - Carrick has bags of talent, but just doesn't produce it often enough, for me, especially when paired with Scholes.

Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 8:57 pm  

flipper wrote:

Ben Arfa sounds a big of a handfull off the pitch, but £5m was mentioned, which is probably worth a punt - i think some of Obertans cameo's show how little Nani appears to have come on, one consistently makes the right pass, the right run and the right option, the other doesn't.

Agree the midfield can be somewhat one paced with little 'drive' - Carrick has bags of talent, but just doesn't produce it often enough, for me, especially when paired with Scholes.

Yeah he seems to come with a bit of baggage but rememeber the last Frenchman Fregie signed who came with baggage. Think he made the wrong choice staying in France when Fergie wanted him the other year as he seems to have let his game slide.

It's a strange one the midfield as it seems like we're in the middle of a transition period with Scholes and Giggs coming to the end and the youngsters who arn't quite ready for the first team just yet. From what i've seen of the youngsters coming through the likes Eikrem, Cleverley, Pogba, Petrucci and Morrison all look to have what it takes to make it at Old Trafford

Re: Festive Football Chat : Mon Dec 28, 2009 9:34 pm  

flipper wrote:

Ben Arfa sounds a big of a handfull off the pitch, but £5m was mentioned, which is probably worth a punt - i think some of Obertans cameo's show how little Nani appears to have come on, one consistently makes the right pass, the right run and the right option, the other doesn't.

Agree the midfield can be somewhat one paced with little 'drive' - Carrick has bags of talent, but just doesn't produce it often enough, for me, especially when paired with Scholes.

I think that's a tad unfair on Carrick TBH. Sure he had a poor start to the season, but after a Fergie bollocking, he picked his form back up and was close to his very best before having to be shipped to centre back. He did pretty well there TBH, considering he was getting a different CB partner just about every two minutes.

He wasn't at his best yesterday don't get me wrong, but he was one of our better players. I agree that when paired with Scholes he isn't at his best, although this wasn't the case when he first joined us. For some reason Carrick always seems to be the one that gets all the criticism when United have an off day, when most of the time he's one of the better players. Yesterday, Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov, Valencia and Evra all had worse games than Carrick.