Aston Villa V Man Utd

Aquos76

Starting Eleven:

Carroll, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Fletcher, P Neville, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Smith



Keano, Bellion, Ronaldo, Miller, and Howard are all on the bench

Töpher

Just to level up this thread, seeing as it was listed as Aston Villa v Man Utd yet cleverly there's no villa news, /me appluads.

Starting:

Villa : Utd

1 Thomas Sorensen : Roy Carroll 13

15 Ulises De la Cruz : John O'Shea 22

4 Olof Mellberg : Rio Ferdinand 5

19 Liam Ridgewell : Mikael Silvestre 27

6 Gareth Barry : Gabriel Heinze 4

11 Nolberto Solano : Darren Fletcher 24

7 Lee Hendrie : Phil Neville 3

16 Mathieu Berson : Paul Scholes 18

24 Steven Davis : Ryan Giggs 11

9 Juan Pablo Angel : Wayne Rooney 8

18 Carlton Cole : Alan Smith 14

Subs

13 Stefan Postma : Roy Keane 16

22 Luke Moore : Cristiano Ronaldo 7

17 Pete Whittingham : Liam Miller 17

20 Vaclav Drobny : Tim Howard 1

26 Stefan Moore : David Bellion 12

Aquos76

Fair point I suppose. Sorry about that.

PHB

Giggesy :DD

Aquos76

He is really going to make it hard for the board not to give him that longer contract now. By far the best player so far tonight

Chong

Red Hot Giggsy and Scholes are outstanding.

Töpher

My poor poor Villa

A Dub in Glasgo

FT

Villa 0 - 1 Man United

Man United go 3rd on goal difference over Everton, Giggs doing very well recently and a big miss from Smith at the end

Chelsea are runaway leaders at the moment

PHB

Scholes was very poor tonight, as was the rest of the team.
Individual effort imo, great play from Giggs.

Giggs 1 - 0 Villa

p.s. Villa were a totally different team from boxing day.

The Muppet

PHB wrote:

great play from Giggs.

Indeed but does he do it often enough ? Personally I would hate to see him go
but if he can perform like that when his United future is on the line it does leave him open to allegations of not always trying his best.

PHB

see theres the thing, I don't agree that he plays badly a lot, he just doesn't play amazinga lot.
When hes off form, i still think he is incredibly valuable

smemon

ah, job done i suppose, another 3 points and another clean sheet.

was pretty boring imo, utd playing directly alot straight up the middle. villa were poor, but could have snatched a point on another day. pressure all on arsenal now tomorrow, chelsea & utd winning means not only are they in danger of losing touch with chelsea but they find utd breathing down their necks for 2nd spot.

The Muppet

PHB wrote:

see theres the thing, I don't agree that he plays badly a lot, he just doesn't play amazinga lot.
When hes off form, i still think he is incredibly valuable

Maybe , but why does he not play amazingly in more games? Two seasons ago it was rumoured that he would be sold in the summer and he started to produce wonderful performances, that summer Beckham was sold. Now again there is talk of him being sold and his performances have definitely improved of late.

I agree that even when off form he is as good as most but knowing what he can do it annoys me to think that a lot of the time he is not giving his all. I want him to stay and perform as he has in the last few games consistantly.

Aquos76

The Muppet wrote:

I agree that even when off form he is as good as most but knowing what he can do it annoys me to think that a lot of the time he is not giving his all. I want him to stay and perform as he has in the last few games consistantly.

Exactly how I feel. I couldn't have put it better myself.

dirkey_wynne

The Muppet wrote:

Maybe , but why does he not play amazingly in more games? Two seasons ago it was rumoured that he would be sold in the summer and he started to produce wonderful performances, that summer Beckham was sold. Now again there is talk of him being sold and his performances have definitely improved of late.

I agree that even when off form he is as good as most but knowing what he can do it annoys me to think that a lot of the time he is not giving his all. I want him to stay and perform as he has in the last few games consistantly.

Excellent post Muppet. I agree wholeheartedly. I'm glad someone else remembers that time two years ago - was playing brutal all season till late on, when the rumours surfaced, suddenly he was outstanding. Just as now he's outstanding with need for a new contract. That's the thing - very valuable player, but why doesn't he play like this all the time? Seems to need a good kick up the a*se. Long may his recent form continue though - been top class.

crowl

maybe all he needs is one of those one year rolling contract things

wynters

Just look at all the 11 Everton players in the same boat as Giggs - playing for a new contract - and how well they're performing. It'd make you wonder wouldn't it.... it's shocking that they only make such an effort for selfish reasons. They're cheating their own managers and fans...

I thought Villa did OK considering the team we had out. We were on the front foot for most of the game. We need new a few signings in January though. Just look at the team that finished against United.... Steven Davis, Luke Moore, Liam Ridgewell, Peter Whittingham & Stefan Moore - all 19 years of age or less. Barry was being used as an emergency full back, Berson was making only his 2nd start, and Carlton Cole isn't even our player!

I think Berson has done exceptionally well in the 2 games this week - against Chelsea & Man Utd of all teams. He'd never lived outside his home town (Nantes) until he signed for Villa, and apparently he's had a very, VERY difficult time adjusting to life in Birmingham, so I'm delighted for him. He faded towards the end last night with fatigue but he does look an excellent player. He bossed the game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge - even Mourinho admitted as much. Not bad for your Premiership debut.

We have absolutely no cutting edge up front at the moment though. The Angel & Cole partnership just ain't working so we need a strker big time. Redknapp says he wants the Beattie sale to go through asap so he can use the whole of the January window to wheel n'deal with the money generated.... Doug Eliss' is infamous for his dithering, stalling & protractions in contract negatiations, but with 2 other concrete offers on the table for Beattie from Newcastle & Everton, this is one deal Doug cannot afford to drag out.....

dirkey_wynne

wynters wrote:

I thought Villa did OK considering the team we had out. We were on the front foot for most of the game.

Are you taking the p*ss? On the front foot for most of the game? You were absolutely battered in the first half, with Giggs totally running the show - albeit w/o us creating too many chances. Ye had a spell of about 15/20 mins at the start of the 2nd half where ye were the better side, but other than that I don't know how you're saying ye were on the front foot???

cournioni

PHB wrote:

see theres the thing, I don't agree that he plays badly a lot, he just doesn't play amazinga lot.
When hes off form, i still think he is incredibly valuable

Maybe your forgetting his hands on hips stance for most games he isn't bothered to play in. It does annoy me because as Muppet says sometimes he doesn't look like he is giving his all. You only have to look at his recent performances to see how well he can do as opposed to the hands on hips approach to the game.

There's no doubt that he is on fire at the moment though. I think everyone knew he was going to get a goal the other night the way he was playing. As Andy Gray says "What a finish!"

wynters

Well you're dreaming if you think you beat us comfortably Dirkey... I'm not sayin 'we should'a won' or anything, I'm saying that we were in your half for most of the game, you hit us on the break, and looked much more dangerous than us when doing so......

FROM TEAMTALK

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased to get his side's trip to Aston Villa out of the way this season.

United won 1-0 at Villa Park, with title-chasing rivals Chelsea and Arsenal yet to face David O'Leary's side away from home.

Ferguson said: "It was our hardest away game of the season, it was a fantastically open game, end to end, and they could have got something out of it equally, it was a fantastic game of football."

"Aston Villa played good football and have a great appetite, with young players that are not afraid."

"I look at that fixture and say 'we've been here, it's a difficult place to come and Arsenal and Chelsea have to come here'.

"It'll be interesting because when they (Villa) get their players back fit they'll be a real handful."

dirkey_wynne

wynters wrote:

Well you're dreaming if you think you beat us comfortably Dirkey... I'm not sayin 'we should'a won' or anything, I'm saying that we were in your half for most of the game, you hit us on the break, and looked much more dangerous than us when doing so......

FROM TEAMTALK

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased to get his side's trip to Aston Villa out of the way this season.

United won 1-0 at Villa Park, with title-chasing rivals Chelsea and Arsenal yet to face David O'Leary's side away from home.

Ferguson said: "It was our hardest away game of the season, it was a fantastically open game, end to end, and they could have got something out of it equally, it was a fantastic game of football."

"Aston Villa played good football and have a great appetite, with young players that are not afraid."

"I look at that fixture and say 'we've been here, it's a difficult place to come and Arsenal and Chelsea have to come here'.

"It'll be interesting because when they (Villa) get their players back fit they'll be a real handful."

I never said we had it easy. Perhaps I misinterpreted your post, but I felt when you said ye were on "the front foot" for most of the game, that you meant Villa were the better team. Imho ye were not the better team. Ye had more possession but showed no real creativity when ye had it. I felt we were the team which looked far more dangerous, and never really felt threatened or felt in danger of an equaliser.

dirkey_wynne

I took the following from Sky sports.

skysports wrote:

Match Report
Giggs puts United third
Manchester United moved back up into third place in The Premiership as a single goal from Ryan Giggs was enough to defeat Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Sir Alex Ferguson' side are dragging themselves back into the title race and they now go above Everton after their single goal success in the Midlands.

Giggs produced an inspired first half display that eventually settled the match and United had to work hard against Villa, who battled but showed little in the final third of the pitch.

Villa did not make enough of their chances, and it should have been 2-0 in the final minute when Alan Smith missed an absolute sitter.

Wayne Rooney had an early shot saved by Thomas Sorensen in what turned out to be an open and entertaining first half.

Giggs started off brightly and a trademark run and shot was deflected just over the bar by Ulises De La Cruz.

Giggs was a thorn in Villa's side as the Welshman looked in great form, and this time he was only denied by a great diving save from Sorensen.

Villa were contributing to the game with some neat passing whilst in possession, but it was always the final ball or cross that was just off.

They were handed the chance to get to goal when Roy Carroll's throw bounced off Carlton Cole and landed at the feet of Nolberto Solano on the left.

Solano chipped a ball in for Liam Ridgewell but the young defender's close-range header was just within the grasp of a relieved Carroll.

Just a minute after going so close, Villa found themselves behind and the goal inevitably came from the impressive Giggs in the 41st minute.

The 31-year-old flicked Rio Ferdinand's ball out to John O'Shea who immediately returned the favour and Giggs spun as the ball fell his way before drilling a low shot beyond Sorensen.

Lee Hendrie almost conjured up an immediate response, but his long range drive was saved by the diving Carroll.

Cole wasted a great chance for Villa when his shocking first touch ended any chance of making something of Solano's great through ball.

Hendrie then had an effort deflected over the bar as Villa started to exert some pressure on the visitors.

Roy Keane came on for United as Sir Alex Ferguson looked to steady his side, with fellow substitute Cristiano Ronaldo firing a shot into the side netting just after the hour mark.

Carroll then flapped at a Peter Whittingham free kick 15 minutes from time as United's 1-0 lead started to look more and more under threat.

However, United regained their grip on the match in the closing stages and saw out the time remaining in comfort.

The scoreline could have been doubled a minute before the final whistle when Keane squared for Smith, but he somehow hit the bar from four yards out with an open goal.

Aston Villa 0-1 Man Utd - Player Ratings

Aston Villa Team Name Manchester United
0 Goals 1
4 Shots on target ( Inc Goals ) 4
2 Shots off Target (inc woodwork) 8
2 Blocked Shots 3
6 Corners Won 9
14 Total Fouls Conceded 11
1 Offsides 2
0 Yellow Cards 3
0 Red Cards 0
48% Possession 52%