Alcibiades Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 That was also not the best-taken penalty in the world, from Carrick. Ah, well.Berbetov must be holding penalty practice sessions :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Why do people persist in writing us off as soon as we start badly? We were shit this time last year. We were shit this time the year before. We've been shit this time almost every season under Ferguson.What we lack is firepower. Hopefully once Valencia and Owen settle and the team gets used to the new style we'll have more chances and players in better position to finish them. As for midfield, Anderson is fine. He has consistency problems and needs to work on shooting and positioning, but he can absolutely dominate a midfield. Also, he's probably our best remaining penalty taker and I can only think he passed it up because he wants to score from open play first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaldanya Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Man Utd lose, Liverpool Win and Tottenham is top of the league. Has the world got mad Tottenham top of the League.All I know is long may it continue. It makes our household a happier one!In other news Blues get their first 3 points of the season in a no-very-inspiring-game against Portsmouth. But I'll take what I can get.N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isis Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 I don't think that saying united's midfield is weak is writing them off, but that's touchy manc fans for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaldanya Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 I don't think that saying united's midfield is weak is writing them off, but that's touchy manc fans for you. That's cause manc fans are secretly convinced that we're all jealous and would support ManYoo in a heartbeat if we could. :huh: N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Let's face it Man Utd's midfield is shit. Park and Anderson are no more than average, Giggs is past it. Carrick is good but he can't run a whole midfield on his own.I agree. And that makes two weak opening games now, Man U were fortunate to take 3 points against Birmingham.I have no idea what Ferguson is thinking. I know he's been manager forever. I know he's had enormous success. I also know there have been times when I thought he made a poor decision and it turned out to have worked out. But this I don't get.Valencia was benched yesterday. He has promise I suppose, but he is not a Ronaldo replacement anymore than Owen is. And if you can't find a direct replacement for Ronaldo, then try to buy some other really excellent players. Ferguson doesn't do this, despite the Glazers proclaiming he has some 80 million pounds to spend. Anderson and Nani hardly got any time last season because they weren't deemed good enough. Now they're suddenly good enough in Ferguson's mind? Doesn't look like that on the pitch. I have no problem with Park in the sense that he does his work, he is like Dirk Kuyt, he can score a goal and is reliable. But you shouldn't rely on him to be your offensive drive. I don't understand why Berbatov was on the bench yesterday and had to come in as a sub for Owen.I wish Ferguson would try and strengthen the squad. Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs have been phenomenal players but both are veterans in their mid 30's. I'm sure they will both have good games once in a while but they won't carry the side.So on the one hand you lose Ronaldo and Giggs & Scholes can't carry it anymore ( couldn't do so last year really). That leaves Carrick and several fairly average players in midfield. Plus Rooney & Berbatov upfront, which is a good line-up, but if one of them gets injured what can come in? Michael Owen? 18 year old Macheda? That's called zero depth. And then defensively we have three first 11 players out with injuries, they will come back but that doesn't solve it all.Come on Ferguson. I'd rather this not be a wasted season. Seeing how Chelsea and Arsenal are doing you must want to keep up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 I don't think that saying united's midfield is weak is writing them off, but that's touchy manc fans for you.Horus and Argive saying Chelsea are the only team with the strength to win the title is most certainly writing us off, but that's self-centered whoever-you-support fans for you... :leaving: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wizard Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Let's face it Man Utd's midfield is shit. Park and Anderson are no more than average, Giggs is past it. Carrick is good but he can't run a whole midfield on his own.Darren Fletcher is the worst of them. Works his socks off for Man U but is a lazy bastard for Scotland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcibiades Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Valencia was benched yesterday. He has promise I suppose, but he is not a Ronaldo replacement anymore than Owen is. And if you can't find a direct replacement for Ronaldo, then try to buy some other really excellent players. Ferguson doesn't do this, despite the Glazers proclaiming he has some 80 million pounds to spend.I really don't blame fergie for not wanting to spend his money in this summer's ridiculous market. Man U could use more depth at center back, given Ferdinand's injuries and rumors regarding Vidic to Barcelona. But any half decent center back is going to have a 20 million pound bid from man city rolling in. Not to mention Real Madrid, who were in the market for defensive players at least for a while. I'm not criticizing man city (lord knows Chelsea fans cannot do that, haha), but it's the reality of the situation fergie finds himself in.Horus and Argive saying Chelsea are the only team with the strength to win the title is most certainly writing us off, but that's self-centered whoever-you-support fans for you... :leaving:I don't mean to sound like I'm writing Manchester United off. It's early yet and anything can happen, blah blah blah. I just say what I think is most likely given current circumstances. Any Chelsea fan should be sobered by looking at our start to last season: 6 points from two games. Ancelotti hasn't yet done anything Scolari didn't do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcibiades Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Darren Fletcher is the worst of them. Works his socks off for Man U but is a lazy bastard for Scotland.We sorta see this with Dempsey for USA team too. He's a workhorse for Fulham. But he pulls on the US shirt, and decides he's Pelé: Doing little tricks with the ball and loosing us possession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Darren Fletcher is the worst of them. Works his socks off for Man U but is a lazy bastard for Scotland.Perhaps he just looks better when he's surrounded by good players. :smoking: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 I think it's a touch premature to start saying that Man U are in trouble because a team that was manifestly their second string narrowly lost the second game of the season. Might be better to wait a couple of weeks if you want to reach a sensible assessment of the title chances of any team. Is it really inconceivable that a Chelsea or Liverpool team missing six first team players would have lost to Burnley?The wisdom of putting out a reserve team for the second league game of the season is another issue. Seems daft to me, I admit.Also, Fletcher is a 'lazy bastard' for Scotland? I think you have been watching some other Darren Fletcher, BW. Any game I've seen he worked hard, but he can't win them on his own. (In that sense Hereward is right.) The tendency to heap blame on the 'big names' for any crap result is a serious but common flaw amongst the Scottish fans and press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireball07 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Chelsea have a bit of depth but when Essien and Mikel go to the African Nations Cup, they'll be lacking again. Man Utd will have a stronger team if Valencia starts, he is a good player. If they changed to 4-3-3 with Fletcher, Carrick and Hargreaves (when fit) in the centre and Valencia, Berbatov and Rooney in a front 3 they'll get more chances. They don't have the wingers, Nani is crap, so is Anderson, Park's a hard worker but nothing special, while even Fletcher is just a hard worker.Arsenal aren't losing any players for the African Nations Cup apart from Song so they're more likely to go all the way.As for Liverpool, I don't think they'll do it. Haven't got the midfield... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wizard Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Also, Fletcher is a 'lazy bastard' for Scotland? I think you have been watching some other Darren Fletcher, BW. Any game I've seen he worked hard, but he can't win them on his own. (In that sense Hereward is right.) The tendency to heap blame on the 'big names' for any crap result is a serious but common flaw amongst the Scottish fans and press.Every game I've seen in the past couple of years he doesn't get involved enough. It doesn't help that Scotland managers have always played him out of position, usually in an attacking role when he's at his best as the defensive midfielder. He'd be a lot better there than Graham Alexander anyway. :thumbsdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renasko Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Chelsea have a bit of depth but when Essien and Mikel go to the African Nations Cup, they'll be lacking again.But they'll still have Lampard, Ballack, Cole, Deco, Zhirkov and Malouda. :stunned: They're hardly lacking in the midfield department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireball07 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 But they'll still have Lampard, Ballack, Cole, Deco, Zhirkov and Malouda. :stunned: They're hardly lacking in the midfield department.Still no real defensive midfielder and that's the most important position on the pitch. They'll probably play Ballack there and he's no Mikel or Essien. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLU-RAY Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 A related question we were wondering about a couple days ago: anybody know why the hell the African Cup of Nations happens every other year? The Euro is every four years, is that not the standard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Still no real defensive midfielder and that's the most important position on the pitch. They'll probably play Ballack there and he's no Mikel or Essien.Neither of those two are particularly good defensive midfielders either, it's probably the weakest aspect of Chelsea's central midfield options. Mikel is just an average player and Essien could be a quality defensive midfielder but he's so talented it's a bit of a waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 The Copa America also used to be every second year, but lately the intervals have gradually increased (1999, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2011) and will be every four years from now on (but not the same years as the Euro or World Cup). The OFC Cup of Nations are also held biannually, but I doubt that any top clubs would notice that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireball07 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Neither of those two are particularly good defensive midfielders either, it's probably the weakest aspect of Chelsea's central midfield options. Mikel is just an average player and Essien could be a quality defensive midfielder but he's so talented it's a bit of a waste.I think Mikel is a good player, I must say. He's good in the tackle and gets in a good bit of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.