Manchester United

[PearLBLacK]

Credit due to City for the title man. League format never lies. Mancini has his nitwit moments and he has this grandiose aire about him that he needs to keep in check for the sake of his locker room. If he can manage to pull together his cards, they may start grinding out results more often than not. They have the talent to repeat, but they lack consistency on the pitch at the moment.

Chelsea - I can't overstate the importance of their coach. To be able to manage that CL glory with THAT squad and make believers out THAT squad leaves me speechless really. If he can perform that magic, the sky's the limit for Chelsea in league so I can't write them out. They haven't faced stiff competition just yet (Newcastle first half was tight) but that will come and they will be tested in the coming weeks.

Arsenal - I have them as contenders this season. Time will tell if they can manage to outlast the others and not bottle it, but we'll see.

100%

 

[silky_soccer]

I always love coming on here and reading the dross.

Ok, 2 CL's with 12 League titles. Remind me, up until the 2 you've won recently, how many CL's to league titles did Barcelona have? hmmm.

Giggs and Scholes. Yup, got to agree. Want Anderson to stay fit as he's been good when called upon, just struggles to stay injury free. Played very well last night. Think he will Help Kagawa immensely.

Weak Backline? no. Injury ridden Backline? Yes. Rafa, Rio, Evans, Vidic, Evra, Smalling, Jones and Buttner is NOT weak at all. If we keep them all fucking fit, its the opposite. Evans has been MASSIVE for us over the last 6 or 7 months, to the put where we almost didnt miss Vida.

Nani, Young, Valencia... Speaks fot itself.

Kagawa, Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck, Chich? Pretty impressive forwardline.

The only thing we desperately lack is an established Centre midfielder. Which im hoping is a void that Anderson can fill, as everyone that watches him regularly knows the potential the guy has got, Urgency, pace, drive and (albeit inconsistent atm) a good passer.

 

[AnfieldEd]

I have to agree I think Man U will win the league. RVP will give them that extra that they missed last year.

 

[FCBarca]

You're living in fantasy land, silk...United's midfield is a relic and even the midtable teams will give you lot all sorts of problems due to the inability to maintain possession...The game has been changing and United are behind the pack

 

[silky_soccer]

You're living in fantasy land, silk...United's midfield is a relic and even the midtable teams will give you lot all sorts of problems due to the inability to maintain possession...The game has been changing and United are behind the pack

Not really, We're a relic when we play either one of Scholes or Giggs against any sort of mobile midfielder. Which for some reason Fergie continues to do.

I reckon a midfield of...

Carrick------Anderson
------Kagawa---------

Is fecking good, IF the brazillian can stay fit. Also all very good at maintaining possesion.

 

[FCBarca]

Anderson is never going to come good for you lot, the wild card is Cleverley but he's still very much unproven...Either way, your back 4-6 can't play the ball out from pressure and are technically inferior to pretty much every side they are facing

It's shocking to see, honestly...Fergie didn't adapt and missed the boat while RVP remains isolated/uninvolved

 

[silky_soccer]

Anderson is never going to come good for you lot, the wild card is Cleverley but he's still very much unproven...Either way, your back 4-6 can't play the ball out from pressure and are technically inferior to pretty much every side they are facing

It's shocking to see, honestly...Fergie didn't adapt and missed the boat while RVP remains isolated/uninvolved

Anderson, if you'd been watching, has been good, whennever hes called upon, hes just hardly ever able to be called upon but something like 6 goals in 10 starts. But as i say, he needs a run of games.

Technically inferior? no way. ATM, we are far too immobile, and allow teams to much time on the ball as we have no midfielders with the engine (Clev and Anderson aside) to press the opposition. Fletch coming back may help this.

RVP hasnt been hugely involved, but has still got 5 goals to show for himself.

 

[zanela]

City: Coached by an imbecile. Has Agüero, Dzeko, Tevez and Balotelli in the squad and publicly moans about the owners not spending money on RvP. Tells the whole world that Tevez will never start again for City just to make him his #1 striker the next season, benching the likes of Dzeko (who's their most on-form striker at the moment). Publicly blames his players for making mistakes. And then he fucks around with 3 man backline formations, acting as if he was Pep Guardiola. Except that he's failing hard at it. Probably took a look at Serie A and thought: "Hey, herp derp, I'm an Italian coach too, if Napoli, Udinese, Juventus and Fiorentina can play 3 at the back, I can as well!" City didn't win the league last season. United lost it. 8 points with 5 games to go. Yep, United definitely lost it (and only on goal difference as well), despite being so shit that Basel kicked them out of Europe.

All true. As for the highlighted part, he also did the same last season killing his form post-WHL. Has almost ruined the Bosnian's reputation and career, by playing a system that not only doesn't suit him but by giving him garbage min. 3 mins injury time when the game needs to be won. Really?! And if that wasn't proof, criticizing the Bosnian for his performance in a game he didn't even play. like wtf!? Playing Savic over Micah at CB, when the former was becoming the bane of the team. Add to that, he's a fair-weather manager. He'd push his entire team under the bus if it saves his job. And then complain how he has to work with a limited squad. God, how much i hate him. what a joke of a manager.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Compare, and I rate Kagawa btw, that United mid versus

Arteta-Diaby-Cazorla --------------Ramsey

OR

Mata-Lampard-Hazard----------------Ramires, Mikel, Oscar

OR

Garcia-Yaya-Silva---------------Nasri, Kolarov

and you will see that United is not as far ahead of the pack as you and others are making them out to be. Carrick has had one moment against Gala and besides that hasn't provided much. Your mid is going to be reliant on Kagawa that much is clear. Anderson is hit and miss with injuries and not really rated but I'll admit he had a good game against NU.

 

[silky_soccer]

Carrick isnt expected to provide goals and assists, its not his role in the side.

And im not disputing the fact that the TOP sides have better midfields than us, its obvious. What im disputing is that all the sides will outplay and are technically superior, which is complete horse.

We need either someone to step up + a signing, or 2 signings.

 

[Banana-Rama]

it seems like fergie has run out of ideas in terms of the midfield, he seems incapable of identifying and signing quality players for that centre mid position, the team is also too reliant on pinging the ball wide, i don't understand why we don't play more through the middle with quality like kagawa and rvp.

at the moment the team is not a compact unit, the two centre mids play too deep leaving too much space between them and the amc, the wingers stay wide and rarely come central, fergie is setting the team up in a 4-2-3-1 but they are still playing like a 4-4-2, i don't think the transition to a more central possesion based game will happen while fergie is manager, he loves his wing play and he'll stick to it.

i am hoping for pep guardiola to succeed fergie as he will definitely change it up and focus more on possesion and a strong midfield, tactically united are a bit of a mess at the moment but we'll keep winning matches due to having better players then most other teams in the league............

 

[Ursegor]

What im disputing is that all the sides will outplay and are technically superior, which is complete horse.

I'm not watching every United match but the ones I'm watching you are failing very very hard. You got outplayed by Everton, Southampton and 10 man Liverpool so far and even Galatasaray matched you, hit the post 3 times and should have had at least 1 penalty. Correct me if I'm wrong. And this isn't something new. Last season you got battered by teams like Newcastle and Athletic and couldn't hold on to a draw against Basel (yes, a simple draw would have sufficed to progress, you didn't even need to win). Either I'm watching the wrong games or your midfield isn't your only problem. To me defense is as well. Rafael is a defensive liability (falling asleep against Athletic and his Olympic performances come to mind) and he's injury-prone. Rio is not the Rio from 2 or 3 years ago. And Vidic will never be the same again. Once you fuck up your knees, it haunts you forever. Ask Puyol. Out for how long again? 2 Months? And Rooney? Last time I saw him on the pitch he didn't even look like a professional footballer. Your forward 4 might be the second best in the league after City's on paper. But it isn't a cohesive unit. You have wide players who are traditional wide players (Nani, Valencia, Young) and bombard the box with crosses. At the same time you have Kagawa in the middle who's a pass & move footballer who wants to play through the middle but doesn't get the ball in central areas as much as he needs to to influence the game because your central midfielders behind him are so weak. It's like watching Messi starved off the ball at Argentina. I also don't so see how Rooney, RvP and Kagawa will work together once Rooney is fit. Rooney on the wing? Kagawa on the wing? That makes you even weaker through the middle. You are very lucky your main rivals are being managed by Mancini. Give that City squad and the money ressources to a proper manager and he'll walk the Premier League for years to come.

 

[hellsangel1]

I always love coming on here and reading the dross.

Ok, 2 CL's with 12 League titles. Remind me, up until the 2 you've won recently, how many CL's to league titles did Barcelona have? hmmm.

Giggs and Scholes. Yup, got to agree. Want Anderson to stay fit as he's been good when called upon, just struggles to stay injury free. Played very well last night. Think he will Help Kagawa immensely.

Weak Backline? no. Injury ridden Backline? Yes. Rafa, Rio, Evans, Vidic, Evra, Smalling, Jones and Buttner is NOT weak at all. If we keep them all fucking fit, its the opposite. Evans has been MASSIVE for us over the last 6 or 7 months, to the put where we almost didnt miss Vida.

Nani, Young, Valencia... Speaks fot itself.

Kagawa, Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck, Chich? Pretty impressive forwardline.

The only thing we desperately lack is an established Centre midfielder. Which im hoping is a void that Anderson can fill, as everyone that watches him regularly knows the potential the guy has got, Urgency, pace, drive and (albeit inconsistent atm) a good passer.

Anybody that thinks Rafael is not weak doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. Evra has also been past it for quite some time. And the fact that you seem to be waiting on Anderson really shows the desperation at United.

 

[hellsangel1]

I don't disagree with your assessment of United. But you have to look at the rest of the league as well and while United have regressed badly, so has the rest of the league. Who could challenge them? On paper: City, Chelsea, Arsenal. In reality:

City: Coached by an imbecile. Has Agüero, Dzeko, Tevez and Balotelli in the squad and publicly moans about the owners not spending money on RvP. Tells the whole world that Tevez will never start again for City just to make him his #1 striker the next season, benching the likes of Dzeko (who's their most on-form striker at the moment). Publicly blames his players for making mistakes. And then he fucks around with 3 man backline formations, acting as if he was Pep Guardiola. Except that he's failing hard at it. Probably took a look at Serie A and thought: "Hey, herp derp, I'm an Italian coach too, if Napoli, Udinese, Juventus and Fiorentina can play 3 at the back, I can as well!" City didn't win the league last season. United lost it. 8 points with 5 games to go. Yep, United definitely lost it (and only on goal difference as well), despite being so shit that Basel kicked them out of Europe.

Chelsea: Torres = . Mikel = . Lampard = . Terry = . David Luiz = . Ramires = good. Mata = good. And Oscar and Hazard are 20 year old talents. 20 year old talents don't win you titles. They'll finish behind Arsenal.

Arsenal: Well balanced all over the pitch this season. Cazorla makes them forget about Cesc. Solid at the back. Podolski will always bang them in. Still you feel that a world class striker is needed. And at the end they are Arsenal. They always find a way to bottle it.

So, yeah. Another United year due to the lack of serious competition. What is it again? 12 Premier League titles but only 2 CLs in 25 years?

I agree with most of your post. I also feel that while Arsenal are solid and balanced they also are not exceptional in any area. If they had RVP, I would make them contenders but i'm not entirely convinced by Podolski, I remember his time at Bayern. I also never really liked the Giroud signing. I just never convinced that he could be a consistent goal scorer.

 

[Theodore Evelyn Mosby]

United sucks and represent they everything hypocritical in the Premier League.

Accusing Manchester City of trying to buy the league when they set the trend of record-breaking transfer records