Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 12/13

stooge · 20-08-2012 10:57PM

One match doesn't prove a point but I feel that Valencia was wasted at right back, Evra has lost a few yards of pace, and the midfield needed a strong physical ball winner. These were areas most people were saying that ferguson should have invested in over the summer. De gea made some great stops but I'm not convinced he has the authority and strength to take high balls. Rooney was shocking. Kagawa was decent.

Can only get better though

Pro. F · 20-08-2012 10:58PM

Let's just nip this right in the bud right now. We were not dominated in midfield tonight. We dominated possession all night, it was the final third where the problem was and that was mostly down to Rooney having a nightmare and Everton defending like heroes. Everton played the ball long to a monster of a player going up against a back line extremely lacking in areal strength, they didn't use their midfield at all other than for defending. Tonight was not an example of what is wrong with the United midfield.

Jimmy Iovine · 20-08-2012 10:58PM

Jame Gumb wrote: »

Eh, significant news...

George Soros has purchased 7.85% of Manchester United.

He bought it 11 days ago. Not sure how they managed to keep it quiet for that length of time especially with the whole IPO thing going on as well.

http://www.businessinsider.com/george-soros-manchester-united-2012-8

How much do the Glazers own now? It's still over 90% is it?

Professional Griefer · 20-08-2012 10:58PM

adox wrote: »

I really don't get all the Cleverley hate on here. What exactly do you expect him to do? He had Scholes and Kagawa along siðe him. None of the 3 are defensively minded.

Also Nani was brutal tonight no doubt. But people calling for him to be sold? I mean wtf???????

Shouldn't be sold but hes held way too high with some fans here, as said a while ago. Nani is a brilliant player, but he doesn't produce the goods consistently. I'm sick of seeing him shoot from miles out and just sky it. But then he can score screamers, like against Chelsea last year.

Welbeck shouldn't have started tonight as well. He didn't play poor, but he wasn't good either. Can't wait to see Hernandez play with Kagawa.

And the defense. Its just depressing.

keane reminded me as well. Raf was on the ****ing bench yet he still played Val there. Why?

Jame Gumb · 20-08-2012 10:59PM

Look at Nani's performance tonight and look at Hazard's performance yesterday.

Fans are entitled to be frustrated with him. On the one hand, posters talk about him being worth £30m. Then he delivers utter drivel like that.

And as for Cleverley, all we get is hype. He wasn't good tonight. I'm not writing him off but I'd like to see some actual evidence that he's up to it.

And look at Anderson...as fat as a fool. They're not my words. I was watching the game with two girls and they were laughing at him (as in "look at the state of your man!").

I'm f..king raging.

bmcc10 · 20-08-2012 11:00PM

stooge wrote: »

One match doesn't prove a point but I feel that Valencia was wasted at right back, Evra has lost a few yards of pace, and the midfield needed a strong physical ball winner. These were areas most people were saying that ferguson should have invested in over the summer. De gea made some great stops but I'm not convinced he has the authority and strength to take high balls. Rooney was shocking. Kagawa was decent.

Can only get better though

De Gea seems to have filled out more and i thought he was far more commanding
punching balls and not flapping at them..

The_Kew_Tour · 20-08-2012 11:00PM

Pro. F wrote: »

Let's just nip this right in the bud right now. We were not dominated in midfield tonight. We dominated possession all night, it was the final third where the problem was and that was mostly down to Rooney having a nightmare and Everton defending like heroes. Everton played the ball long to a monster of a player going up against a back line extremely lacking in areal strength, they didn't use their midfield at all other than for defending. Tonight was not an example of what is wrong with the United midfield.

Im glad somebody saw what I saw. Thought United Midfield was nowhere near as bad as mentioned.

Just An Opinion · 20-08-2012 11:01PM

Some serious over reacting going on here lads calm down, yes we're all disappointed to lose the opening game especially with such a poor performance, particularly from certain players. Never an easy place to get a result and tonight Everton really had the bit between their teeth. Plenty of improvement needed yes and it will happen so sleep on it and less of the crazy talk of 'Fergie losing the plot' and the likes. Best thing about tonight is, Saturday it's another game, move on!

Chancer3001 · 20-08-2012 11:02PM

against a back line extremely lacking in areal strength

dont think Vidic would like to hear that!

Jame Gumb · 20-08-2012 11:02PM

@ProF and The Kew Tour

We needed a defensive midfielder to protect the back four.

Cleverley and Scholes aren't capable of playing as a two.

Professey Chin · 20-08-2012 11:03PM

Chancer3001 wrote: »

against a back line extremely lacking in areal strength

dont think Vidic would like to hear that!

1 player doesnt make a back line. And Vidic is good in the air but he's still a few inches shorter then Fellani(even without the hair)

Felexicon · 20-08-2012 11:03PM

And breath

Very frustrating tonight.
Fergie needs to explain to Rooney that although it will make him a fan favourite, it hurts the team when he drops so deep, as we completely lose our shape. Plus it means he's gases in the last 25 minutes.
Valencia and Nani should never be played on the same wing again. How Valencia cannot see that Nani is going to try to beat his man on the outside every time is beyond me. Numerous occasions when Valencia got in Nanis way.
Saying that when Nani moved wings he didn't look any better.
A note to Evra. If Tony Hibbert is looking world class then you are playing sh1te, try something different.
Kagawa looked a top top player. His touch and distribution in tight areas were fantastic to watch.

Have to say although Fellani was quality against us yet again, I don't really see him as the solution to our midfield problems.
Maybe I just hate him because he's always so good against us.

Your Airbag · 20-08-2012 11:03PM

Pro. F wrote: »

Let's just nip this right in the bud right now. We were not dominated in midfield tonight. We dominated possession all night, it was the final third where the problem was and that was mostly down to Rooney having a nightmare and Everton defending like heroes. Everton played the ball long to a monster of a player going up against a back line extremely lacking in areal strength, they didn't use their midfield at all other than for defending. Tonight was not an example of what is wrong with the United midfield.

Only after Everton went one up and decided to protect the lead. Before that they cut through us at will. Everything went through Fellani and they hit the woodwork twice.

Everton have exactly what we need. A strong presence in MF that can out muscle others. Its no point having all the possesion if you do nothing with it. Once the ball hit Fellanis chest the whole Everton team mobelised around him. He was the difference tonight.

Fart · 20-08-2012 11:04PM

I can't say I'm a fan of Cleverleys first touch.

It causes him to lose a crucial half-second to a second for him to keep the flow of the game flowing in the midfield.

keane2097 · 20-08-2012 11:07PM

What game were people watching that they think Fellaini's performance says anything about our midfield? He played farther forward than Rooney for most of the game. The closest he came to our MF was marking Carrick.

Pro. F · 20-08-2012 11:09PM

stooge wrote: »

One match doesn't prove a point but I feel that Valencia was wasted at right back, Evra has lost a few yards of pace, and the midfield needed a strong physical ball winner. These were areas most people were saying that ferguson should have invested in over the summer. De gea made some great stops but I'm not convinced he has the authority and strength to take high balls. Rooney was shocking. Kagawa was decent.

Can only get better though

Aren't you the guy who had never posted in the United thread until the day you started replying to Sean Bateman and encouraging discussion with him when everybody else was ignoring him?

Felexicon · 20-08-2012 11:09PM

Jame Gumb wrote: »

@ProF and The Kew Tour

We needed a defensive midfielder to protect the back four.

Cleverley and Scholes aren't capable of playing as a two.

I don't think that's true for tonight but may well be the case going forward this season.
A defensive midfielder wouldn't have been able to protectthe back four from the high balls lofted into Felani. And that's where Everton were causing us trouble. It's not like they had it on the deck passing it through our midfield.

Pro. F · 20-08-2012 11:14PM

Chancer3001 wrote: »

against a back line extremely lacking in areal strength

dont think Vidic would like to hear that!

The other three are all relatively weak in the air. So yes a back line lacking in areal strength. That was obvious if you had bothered to think about it.

Red Crow · 20-08-2012 11:15PM

Pro. F wrote: »

He scored 34 goals last season. Even if he did nothing else that would mean he had a good season. You need to give yourself a slap.

What have you been smoking? I said he played crap last season and he did. He was pure muck again today and looked poor during pre-season. Then again you don't rate Michael Carrick...

20-08-2012 11:18PM

keane2097 wrote: »

What game were people watching that they think Fellaini's performance says anything about our midfield? He played farther forward than Rooney for most of the game. The closest he came to our MF was marking Carrick.

That's pretty much it but a defensive minded midfielder with a bit of energy would have made an extra hurdle for him. Look at the effect someone like Phil Neville who is decent but not great had at making United's attacks more difficult. It was the source of the balls to Fellaini too that were a problem with Clev and Scholes not closing down fast enough. So while creatively and in possession they were fine, there was no bite in midfield or pressure on Gibson and the likes when they were making those long balls.

Pro. F · 20-08-2012 11:18PM

Jame Gumb wrote: »

@ProF and The Kew Tour

We needed a defensive midfielder to protect the back four.

Cleverley and Scholes aren't capable of playing as a two.

I don't disagree with that at all. But that was not what caused the problems tonight. Cleverley and Scholes both did well tonight. All of Everton's threat came from the ball directly to Fellaini.

Your Airbag wrote: »

Only after Everton went one up and decided to protect the lead. Before that they cut through us at will. Everything went through Fellani and they hit the woodwork twice.

Everton have exactly what we need. A strong presence in MF that can out muscle others. Its no point having all the possesion if you do nothing with it. Once the ball hit Fellanis chest the whole Everton team mobelised around him. He was the difference tonight.

They didn't cut threw us at all. They played long balls all night.

Fellaini wasn't playing in midfield.

Yes United dominated the possession even more after Everton took the lead, but up until that point United were already dominating the possession a lot.

Sgt Pepper 64 · 20-08-2012 11:18PM

Havent seen such a mood swing since Chelsea signed, and them played Torres!

Is there a "has RVP scored yet" and "Has Fergie been sacked" site yet?

On a serious note, maybe the signing of Kawaga has affected the normal formation and it will take time to settle?

Jame Gumb · 20-08-2012 11:19PM

Fellaini was superb but he's not the answer to our problems.

We need a box to box tackling defensive midfielder. A destroyer. At this stage I'd stick Phil Jones in there. The preference should be to source one but he's the closest to it that we have.

Felexicon · 20-08-2012 11:19PM

But isn't it great to be able to talk about a meaningful match again!
And not a quote from twitter in sight

adox · 20-08-2012 11:19PM

I thought Utds midfield three played some lovely football especially in the first half. Welbeck and more so Rooney just didn't produce enough at their end.

Vidic just back from a long lay off. Carrick playing beside him. The defence was always going to be under pressure.

We have the makings of a fantastically fluid footballing team. We are still short a player in midfield but we know that and it ain't likely to change. We still have more than enough to challenge for the title again, no doubt about that. Kagawa is such an exciting signing. Looking an absolute steal for the money. He's going to have a huge season for us.

Having said all that Rooney and Nani were beyond awful tonight.

UnitedIrishman · 20-08-2012 11:20PM

Actually thought Cleverley did alright tonight. We just weren't at it tonight and Everton is a tough, tough place to go when you don't match them in sharpness.

Kagawa was impressive enough, does everything pretty simple and as Neville pointed out after the game we just didn't get the ball to him enough.

Nani, seemingly untouchable to a few, is ridiculously frustrating. Stop taking corners. Stop trying outrageous flicks when everyone else has worked hard to keep the ball for the last couple of minutes and are waiting for an opening. Beat the first man with a cross. And try turn up for an away game every now and then. Rooney's first touch was all over the place, looks like we'll have to wait for 5-6 games for him to be back on form as per usual at the start of the season.

I'm not too downhearted, it's the first game of the season and Everton is a right tough place to go. Add in that we had a winger at right back and a center mid playing at center back and we were always going to be in for a hard night.

keane2097 · 20-08-2012 11:21PM

UnitedIrishman wrote: »

Actually thought Cleverley did alright tonight. We just weren't at it tonight and Everton is a tough, tough place to go when you don't match them in sharpness.

Kagawa was impressive enough, does everything pretty simple and as Neville pointed out after the game we just didn't get the ball to him enough.

Nani, seemingly untouchable to a few, is ridiculously frustrating. Stop taking corners. Stop trying outrageous flicks when everyone else has worked hard to keep the ball for the last couple of minutes and are waiting for an opening. Beat the first man with a cross. And try turn up for an away game every now and then. Rooney's first touch was all over the place, looks like we'll have to wait for 5-6 games for him to be back on form as per usual at the start of the season.

I'm not too downhearted, it's the first game of the season and Everton is a right tough place to go. Add in that we had a winger at right back and a center mid playing at center back and we were always going to be in for a hard night.

What did your name used to be again? Were you banned/stopped posting for a while?

Jame Gumb · 20-08-2012 11:21PM

How can Rooney be so obviously unfit and out of shape? Are these guys professionals at all?

Pretty funny that there are posters attacking De Gea. Even the infamous one wouldn't have done that.

Pro. F · 20-08-2012 11:22PM

Eli Manning wrote: »

What have you been smoking? I said he played crap last season and he did. He was pure muck again today and looked poor during pre-season. Then again you don't rate Michael Carrick...

Are you trying to say that you only meant that he played muck in a few games? Rooney was more consistent last season then any other attacker in the PL other than RVP.

If you are saying that Rooney played muck all of last season, then you are just wrong. It's an absolutely idiotic statement.

Joekers · 20-08-2012 11:23PM

Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 12/13

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