United Away - League Cup QF

Hatch99

I personally would love to see us play a full strength side, and go there and give it a real go. Assuming they play a weakened team, this is a great chance to get to the semis again.

ohnoigotsick

i'd go with a decent team for us , resting defoe and lennon perhaps

---

gomes

---

--hutton dawson bassong bale--
bentley jenas wilson kranjcar/rose

---

pav/crouch keane

---

yiddo

Hatch99 wrote: »

I personally would love to see us play a full strength side, and go there and give it a real go. Assuming they play a weakened team, this is a great chance to get to the semis again.

agree. sky saying they are playing a weakened team so we should go for it. shuffle the starting 11 but keep the same squad of18 we had at Villa.

mickman

pav wont get a look in at this same i would say

gomes
hutton dawson bassong ekotto

bentley jenas pal kranjcar

defoe keane

DOC09UNAM

I'm a United fan, and i'd almost like to see Spurs go through and Rally for the Cup, I can see another fielding of the team that lost to besiktas for United..

mickman

pav wasnt even on the bench on sat.

RichMc70

As far as silverware goes, this competition is probably our best chance and therefore we should play our strongest team for this one.

The likes of Man U, Chelsea etc might feel that they can afford to play weakened teams but we're not yet at that stage.

COYS

mickman

guys we have played a weakened team in every round so far. not once has our best 11 been picked

Hatch99

Yes but its been poor opposition bar Everton, and that was at home !

everdead.ie

ohnoigotsick wrote: »

i'd go with a decent team for us , resting defoe and lennon perhaps

---

gomes

---

--hutton dawson bassong bale--
bentley jenas wilson kranjcar/rose

---

pav/crouch keane

---

Kranjcar is cup-tied actually isnt he?

mickman

he is actually

ohnoigotsick

everdead.ie wrote: »

Kranjcar is cup-tied actually isnt he?

thats right.

dos santos is still injured i'm assuming

mickman

Provisional squad: Gomes, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Corluka, Bassong, Huddlestone, Lennon, Keane, Palacios, Jenas, Crouch, Defoe, Alnwick, Hutton, Bentley, Bale, Rose, Pavlyuchenko, Naughton.

mickman

better news about modric

"Meanwhile, Luka continues on his road to recovery. "He trained with the youngsters this morning (Monday)," reported Harry. "He played in an eight-a-side game, I watched some of it and he looked to be moving much, much better, so hopefully he's on his way back, but we want to make sure he's right.""

everdead.ie

mickman wrote: »

Provisional squad: Gomes, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Corluka, Bassong, Huddlestone, Lennon, Keane, Palacios, Jenas, Crouch, Defoe, Alnwick, Hutton, Bentley, Bale, Rose, Pavlyuchenko, Naughton.

I'd love to see Naughton in there at right back or even right wing
Agree with redknapp don't rush modric back let him recover instead of breaking him for another few months by rushing him back early

mickman

to be honest 4th in the league is ten times more important than the league cup but united are the only team that we havent been in years (league, cup etc) so a victory would increase the confidence even more i would imagine.

RichMc70

From the official club site.........

Team News 30 November 2009

Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King remain out for Tuesday night's Carling Cup tie at Manchester United.
'Woody' missed Saturday's 1-1 draw at Villa with a groin problem while Ledley is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained against Sunderland.

Harry Redknapp confirmed Saturday's central defensive pairing at Villa - Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong - will start again at Old Trafford.

Luka Modric (fractured fibula) and Carlo Cudicini (wrist, pelvis) remain out while Niko Kranjcar is cup-tied having played in the second round of the competition for Portsmouth.

Harry also confirmed that Robbie Keane will start and eluded to making a few changes - as has been the case in the Carling Cup so far this season.

"We've players who need matches - the likes of Alan Hutton, Gareth Bale, Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane - so we'll change a few around and freshen things up a bit," said Harry. "The good thing is we've plenty of options."

Meanwhile, Luka continues on his road to recovery. "He trained with the youngsters this morning (Monday)," reported Harry. "He played in an eight-a-side game, I watched some of it and he looked to be moving much, much better, so hopefully he's on his way back, but we want to make sure he's right."

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/teamnews301109.html


Looks like Harry will be making changes then.

everdead.ie

Heard there that Gio is back in training i'd love to see him get a run out he's only shown glimpses of his talent so far but I still think he could be unreal

Hatch99

So most likely Gomes Hutton BAE Daws Bassong Lennon Palacios Jenas Bale Keane and Defoe ?

mickman

bentley instead of lennon i would imagine

mickman

dos santos now in squad, not back from injury yet

Hatch99

mickman wrote: »

bentley instead of lennon i would imagine

Even though Harry reckons Bentley needs a game,Id play Lennon, his pace on such a big pitch could murder Utd.

mickman

yeah but he wants to give bentley a game so it will be bently id sa

Hatch99

We'll see Mick. My god, your sharp with the aul replies

mickman

sitting at my desk at work so forum access all day :-)

StillRickyVilla

mickman wrote: »

to be honest 4th in the league is ten times more important than the league cup but united are the only team that we havent been in years (league, cup etc) so a victory would increase the confidence even more i would imagine.

+1.
Finishing 4th is HUNDRED times more important than the league cup. Finishing 4th would transform us as a club & would be a pivotal moment in our history.

The league cup would be nice to get, but it doesn't really mean anything anymore, unfortunately.

I hope Harry plays the reserves/youth team and we lose.Lets concentrate on what really matters these days.

Look at the bigger picture people.

p.s don't get me wrong, i'm fond of the competition & have great memories like Nielssons winner - i just feel football has moved on making this cup pretty much meaningless now.

yiddo

StillRickyVilla wrote: »

+1.
Finishing 4th is HUNDRED times more important than the league cup. Finishing 4th would transform us as a club & would be a pivotal moment in our history.

The league cup would be nice to get, but it doesn't really mean anything anymore, unfortunately.

I hope Harry plays the reserves/youth team and we lose.Lets concentrate on what really matters these days.

Look at the bigger picture people.

p.s don't get me wrong, i'm fond of the competition & have great memories like Nielssons winner - i just feel football has moved on making this cup pretty much meaningless now.

looking at the big picture would mean winning as many games as we can in all competitions.

Btw are they giving cups out for coming 4th now?;)

StillRickyVilla

yiddo wrote: »

looking at the big picture would mean winning as many games as we can in all competitions.

Btw are they giving cups out for coming 4th now?;)

4th means Champions League qualification along with the money, the ability to attract Top Top players - and yes, with that comes cups, proper cups like the PL title, CL and FA Cup.

IMO i would rather put all our resources into the above - instead of getting tired and injured playing meaningless fixtures.

None of the top clubs care about the Carling Cup and infact its a source of great amusement to our rivals' fans when we celebrate success in it.

RichMc70

StillRickyVilla wrote: »

+1.
Finishing 4th is HUNDRED times more important than the league cup. Finishing 4th would transform us as a club & would be a pivotal moment in our history.

The team finishing 4th would also have to play qualifiers to reach the league stage. Not sure if I'm correct but I believe the draw would be seeded. Taking into account our lack of european competition, I suspect we would probably be drawn against a potentially big european side with champions league pedigree and therefore a very tricky hurdle to overcome.

Of course, this is all theory and therefore maybe we should discuss it in more detail IF we finish 4th.

Whether we do or not finish top four is a long way off, so in the meantime I'd happily take success in the League Cup.

therecklessone

StillRickyVilla wrote: »

4th means Champions League qualification along with the money, the ability to attract Top Top players - and yes, with that comes cups, proper cups like the PL title, CL and FA Cup.

Or 4th means qualifying for the CL play-off qualifying round, where we'd come up against other non-champion sides. This seasons included:

Lyon
Anderlecht
Celtic
Timisoara
Stuttgart
Sporting
Fiorentina
Panathinaikos
Atletico Madrid

Of those clubs Lyon are definitely ahead of us on coefficients, and both Sporting and Fiorentina should overtake us by the end of this season. There is no guarantee we would be seeded in that qualifying round, and could conceivably come up against a decent side. I'd love us to qualify for the CL, but as Pat pointed out, there's no trophy for 4th place.

Ironically one of the benefits of qualifying and winning games in the Europa League would be to help us achieve a higher seeding in the CL should we ever qualify.

StillRickyVilla

When the clubs themselves take this cup seriously then I might!

StillRickyVilla

therecklessone wrote: »

Or 4th means qualifying for the CL play-off qualifying round, where we'd come up against other non-champion sides. This seasons included:

Lyon
Anderlecht
Celtic
Timisoara
Stuttgart
Sporting
Fiorentina
Panathinaikos
Atletico Madrid

Of those clubs Lyon are definitely ahead of us on coefficients, and both Sporting and Fiorentina should overtake us by the end of this season. There is no guarantee we would be seeded in that qualifying round, and could conceivably come up against a decent side. I'd love us to qualify for the CL, but as Pat pointed out, there's no trophy for 4th place.

Ironically one of the benefits of qualifying and winning games in the Europa League would be to help us achieve a higher seeding in the CL should we ever qualify.

Mouth-watering stuff! A CL play-off game against Lyon, Sporting or Fiorentina would get the heart-pumping - would be one of the biggest games in our history!

Mullo76

Agree that 4th spot is priority but we are already in the qtr finals of the carling cup, 4 more games to win it. If we cant handle 4 extra games between now and March how will we handle CL if we get there. The boost the players/club would get from a trophy win would be immense and I think this would assist rather than detract from the league. Understand what happened last time we won it but think we are a different proposition this time. Anyway looks like Harry will make changes so we shall see.

StillRickyVilla

Yep looks like Harry making plenty of changes tonight as will, ofcourse United.

I'm sorry I just can't get excited about Spurs Reserves v Man Utd Reserves. Clearly both clubs priorities lay elsewhere.

I'm not so sure we would play second-string in the semis or final. Which would mean our first team playing a 2-legged semi in January on the back of the Xmas programme and the whole 'Cup Final thing' in March which, as we have seen in the past, can be hugely distracting.

To get into the Top 4 needs an absolutely monumental effort. It is possible but only by maintaining our focus and form and stearing clear of injuries and tiredness to our key players. Once we get there we can attract top world class players with the money & prestige that CL brings meaning we would be better equipped squad-wise in future seasons.

Ofcourse I want to see Spurs lift a cup, but I want to see, Spurs lift proper cups on a regular basis year on year, and go for titles. Not pretend we've been successful by winning the Carling Cup when no club is taking the competition seriously.

Just my opinion.

yiddo

StillRickyVilla wrote: »

when no club is taking the competition seriously.

Fairly old sprinkling of "big" clubs look to have taken it seriously in the past 10 years....

League Cup winners
2000 Leicester City
2001 Liverpool
2002 Blackburn Rovers
2003 Liverpool
2004 Middlesbrough
2005 Chelsea
2006 Manchester United
2007 Chelsea
2008 Tottenham Hotspur
2009 Manchester United

DOC09UNAM

yiddo wrote: »

Fairly old sprinkling of "big" clubs look to have taken it seriously in the past 10 years....

League Cup winners
2000 Leicester City
2001 Liverpool
2002 Blackburn Rovers
2003 Liverpool
2004 Middlesbrough
2005 Chelsea
2006 Manchester United
2007 Chelsea
2008 Tottenham Hotspur
2009 Manchester United

There's a difference in why they took it seriously though, when Man United took it seriously last year they were trying to win all possible trophies they could, a Quintuplet i think they were going for.

Same reason with chelsea in 2007, and spurs, well they deserved to win it in 2008 after that epic match.

Liverpool will try and get anything they can because they're not winning the league anymore, and they don't usually drop out of the top 4, so they've nothing to lose, don't see them taking it that serious this year, as they are under pressure on all fronts.

StillRickyVilla

yiddo wrote: »

Fairly old sprinkling of "big" clubs look to have taken it seriously in the past 10 years....

League Cup winners
2000 Leicester City
2001 Liverpool
2002 Blackburn Rovers
2003 Liverpool
2004 Middlesbrough
2005 Chelsea
2006 Manchester United
2007 Chelsea
2008 Tottenham Hotspur
2009 Manchester United

But like i've said before. ALL clubs don't take it seriously. The Top 6 or 7 only care about trying to get into the CL. The rest only care about staying in the PL! The ALL play weakened teams for the Carling Cup.

These statistics just tell me that Man U and Chelsea' reserves are better than Bolton and Portsmouth's reserves!

DOC09UNAM

Man Utd: Foster, O’Shea (Vidic 76), Evans, Ferdinand, Evra, Ronaldo, Scholes, Gibson (Giggs 91), Nani, Tevez, Welbeck (Anderson 56).

That was United team for the final last year vs Spurs.

Not exactly a completely weakened team.

Foster Gibson and Welbeck are the only non starters.

StillRickyVilla

DOC09UNAM wrote: »

Man Utd: Foster, O’Shea (Vidic 76), Evans, Ferdinand, Evra, Ronaldo, Scholes, Gibson (Giggs 91), Nani, Tevez, Welbeck (Anderson 56).

That was United team for the final last year vs Spurs.

Not exactly a completely weakened team.

Foster Gibson and Welbeck are the only non starters.

Again like i said, usually come the semis, final stronger teams get put out - which is my fear with Spurs with the Top 4 in mind. And as you say, even in the Final itself, Man U fielded a weakened team!

DOC09UNAM

StillRickyVilla wrote: »

Again like i said, usually come the semis, final stronger teams get put out - which is my fear with Spurs with the Top 4 in mind. And as you say, even in the Final itself, Man U fielded a weakened team!

I think for any team that wants to seriously challenge for 4th or above, they need to be fielding the reserves and subs in matches like the carling cup, and the early Fa cup rounds...

And Aside from United, i'd love to see Spurs win it, because when they are on form, the can play beautiful fúckin football... Wigan were destroyed by two absolute legends!

they need to hold onto Lennon and Defoe to progress higher than where they are.

StillRickyVilla

DOC09UNAM wrote: »

I think for any team that wants to seriously challenge for 4th or above, they need to be fielding the reserves and subs in matches like the carling cup, and the early Fa cup rounds...

And Aside from United, i'd love to see Spurs win it, because when they are on form, the can play beautiful fúckin football... Wigan were destroyed by two absolute legends!

they need to hold onto Lennon and Defoe to progress higher than where they are.

Absolutely mate.

We want to be up there with you - and its possible if we don't get distracted!

DOC09UNAM

StillRickyVilla wrote: »

Absolutely mate.

We want to be up there with you - and its possible if we don't get distracted!

The way they are playing at the moment?? Definitely, unlucky not to beat villa aswell at the weekend, and if ye could finish 4th at liverpools expense, that'd be even more sweet :P

golfball37

Newcastle and Everton both fell at the qualifying round after they believed they had the hard work done in finishing 4th. I certainly wouldn’t fancy us against a seasoned European team especially at WHL where we just allow good teams to play it seems without any pressure.
I’m not sure it’s fair to say the Carling Cup has diminished that much, if anything it’s the FA Cup that has. CL is so important now that the FA cup really is a joke. The carling Cup never had the profile to begin with so it hasn’t really suffered imo. What other club can say they beat Chelsea in a club final since Abramovich has been there? Us and Man u. I don't care what ye say but that is something to be proud of. Finishing 4th then getting a hiding off Lyon would be even more painful with an empty trophy cabinet, what then would we have gained?

As for tonight- Spurs at 10/3 is well worth a flutter. Besiktas beat the same team last week and they were 8/1.

curraghyid

i dont see any point in not trying to win the cc,i am not being pessimistic but august and top4 is along way off and we havnt exactly been awash with silverware for the last ten years.
im sure harry and the majority of the squad want to win every game win tonight, two more games and your at wembley i fail to see any negative side to that.

mickman

yeah thats true but it would be a disaster if palacious got a serious injury 2nite

everdead.ie

Kuszczhek
Nev Brown Vidic De Laet
Obertan Ando Gibson Park
Berba Welbeck


bench: Owen Giggs Tosic Carrick Fletch Kiko Amos

Can't find our's yet

everdead.ie

STARTING XI -
Gomes;
Hutton,
Bassong,
Dawson,
Bale;
Bentley,
Palacios,
Jenas,
Lennon;
Keane,
Defoe.


SUBSTITUTES - Walker, Corluka, Naughton, Huddlestone, Rose, Crouch, Pavlyuchenko.

Hoping to see Naughton & Rose play they look great prospects

everdead.ie

http://www.vshare.tv/live/13/Skysports_2/1

yiddo

everdead.ie wrote: »

STARTING XI -
Gomes;
Hutton,
Bassong,
Dawson,
Bale;
Bentley,
Palacios,
Jenas,
Lennon;
Keane,
Defoe.


SUBSTITUTES - Walker, Corluka, Naughton, Huddlestone, Rose, Crouch, Pavlyuchenko.

Hoping to see Naughton & Rose play they look great prospects

Harrys "weakened" team don;t look too bad

mickman

goal was against the run of play

hutton playing well. defoe missed a sitter

mickman

game over at old trafford