Order a bouquet of red roses now. Go home with a box of chocolates and find the slow CD, this was a result for the romantics. Owen Coyle’s purple clad side in their wooden stadium sent United home looking like planks.
One of the best atmosphere’s we’ll experience this season thundered their players along and, in the first half certainly, Burnley played considerably better than United and deserved the result.
Fletcher and Beatty were noticeable threats all evening and were it not for another superb performance from Evra we could have been in deeper trouble. Every pass United made was chased and harried. Bad news when the passing gods are not on your side.
You need to go back forty-one years and eighteen fixtures to find the last time Burnley turned over Manchester United. Back then we had three solid dead ball specialists in Law, Best and Charlton. At Turf Moor today we had Michael Carrick.
Phelan after the match, “he took the ball quickly, I’m sure a lot of others wanted to take it.” Excuse me? Hang on a second. Does that mean to say we don’t have a recognised penalty taker at the moment? I wondered who was on free-kicks on Sunday (Giggs apparently) and now penalties are up for grabs. Maybe we should give one to Foster, or even better, I can jump out of the stand and take one myself.
Jensen saves Carrick's passback
That seems to be a fairly basic part of the team’s organisation that is not sorted out. At the back, errors are somewhat excusable. It really is a plaster-cast defence at the moment but unlike last year the plate is not being stepped up to. Brown looks very clumsy but I suspect a few more games and they should all find their groove.
Something to take note of this year is there are now nine teams from the local area in the top flight. That’s an awful lot of regional pride up for grabs and United’s is the biggest scalp of all. People talk about the top-4 mini-league but the North-West championship will matter to many.
Well as Burnley acquitted themselves, United really should have been more ready for this. This is a side who frightened the lives out of Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea last year. They know how to take big teams by surprise. Their game plan wasn’t rocket science, go for it in the first half and protect the lead in the second. We should have enough experience to counter that.
In the second half things improved marginally. We were certainly more dangerous after Valencia came on and Berbatov is just pure class. The man has a first touch from Mount Olympus, it is a joy to behold and when everyone else is on his wavelength great things will come. Owen's sights are off a bit and at the moment I suspect my garden shed could beat him over a 100m. Usain Bolt he ain’t.
Nonetheless, the league will still be won and lost in January and February and when we have our first choice defence playing we will earn more points. And we will probably need to be earning them against the other top teams. First up is Arsenal. Good thing they aren’t playing brilliantly across the board. Oh wait…
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Comments
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Posted by N Patrice on 08/20/2009
Hi Mark,
People will say it is too early to be worried but i
don't see this United team lifting the EPL let a lone seriously challenging for Champions League.
Yes, Berbatov has that touch and ball control from... but was he bought mainly for that?
To be honest, a team without a classy midfield can not rely on one established striker for a whole season.
Something has to be done for sure.
ManU forever.
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Posted by Denis on 08/20/2009
if u can't beat the 'lowlies', use reverse psychology against the 'upies'!!
thinking u will beat the top teams with that kind of performance is wishful thinking.
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Posted by MarkPayne on 08/20/2009
Patrice
I don't disagree with you. Four in a row has never happened, if anyone can do it, it's Fergie, but I have my doubts.
There are 5 or 6 world class teenagers at the club and I can see us next winning the league in 11/12(as mentioned last month).
We will still challenge but any major trophies will definitely be a bonus this year. Mind you, everybody looks a little clumsy right now. It should be a great season!
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Posted by Victor on 08/20/2009
I think the selection of the strikers is giving sir Alex a problem why not try our teenages upfront?
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Posted by AA on 08/20/2009
No right back, no defensive midfielder, no attacking midfielder... No glory...
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Posted by Mambwe Yafeti Phiri on 08/20/2009
Hi,am a Man-u fan and i feel whether we have injuries we need to step up and show these teams whos boss.I love man-u to the death and what i saw last night i still have faith,this was just the third game,we can improve on set pieses and penalty shoots
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Posted by Eddie G. on 08/20/2009
Hey Mark.
Insightful as ever ;)
I'm not really gonna press the panic button, but my fingers hovering dangerously close to it. It isn't so much the result, really. If we played our hearts out and still get beat then I can't have anything to say.
What really worries me with each passing day is that my steadfast belief that no player is greater than his club is starting to get a tad shakey.
The loss at Burnley does not concern me, but rather the thought that the team that won three consecutive EPL titles on the trot is not Man Utd, but rather CR7 United.
I really hope I'm proven wrong. And for the record, you ain't taking that penalty anytime soon. Word on the grapevine is that their physio is a couple of names above yours in the waiting list. Your moment of glory will have to wait for now ^_~
Kudos on the post, as always :D
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Posted by Arzerouni on 08/20/2009
Last nights performance was not something that any ManU fan can be proud of. We were beaten by a better side (A side that just got promoted to the EPL). Sorry Mark the league won't be decided by beating the top 4 clubs but rather teams like burnley. Fact: Last season, the EPL was not won by beating the top 4 clubs; as we lost to Liverpool twice, Arsenal once and drew against Chelsea once, hence we dropped 11 out of the possible 18 points against the top 4 clubs, but we did get 68 out of the possible 70 points against the clubs at the bottom half of the table.
As for our team, since rooney will be the top scorer at the club he should take all the penalties. Scorers need easy chances to motivate them to score more, Rooney can't bust his behind day in day out for Man U and not even be first choice to take penalties. besides in his short but accomplished career at ManU, rooney has only missed one penalty out of 5, so that's an 80% success rate,better than everyone but Anderson.
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Posted by Arzerouni on 08/20/2009
As for transfers: Our squad is big enough to compete for the EPL however, our starting 11 is probably 5th in the country hence, Champions League is out of the question. Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City and possibly Liverpool have better starting lineups than us, so winning against those teams will require a great performance from a starting lineup that can be considered at best "good". To change that we needed to sign one great winger like: Silva or Ribery and a great CM. If Hargreaves does come back our CM will be fine but as for our wingers, Valencia is no ronaldo and has only one move: drop the ball to his right and cross. we need a pleayer who can dribble better, Nani can do that if he puts his mind into it and so far he has, but valencia is simply not good enough to be a starter at Man U. If Fergie does win the league with this starting 11 then that will be his greatest accomplishment ever.I believe in the Gaffer and im behind his every decisions,so lets pray that his genius works again
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Posted by barri- Kentucky on 08/20/2009
Not a great result last night but there is enough class throughout the entire organization to ensure another top finish in the league. From my perspective though, I would be more worried about the playing relationship between Rooney and Berbatov. Did anyone notice the consistent level of frustration from Rooney towards him? I don't think Berbatov is Rooney's type of playing partner and I'm worried that they might struggle.
Valencia is the real deal but Park needs to go..too light and not strong enough. We've sold enough shirts in Korea it's time for a transfer.
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Posted by MarkPayne on 08/20/2009
Eddie,
I can outshoot that physio anyday of the week! Interesting point about 'CR7 United'. One of the guys on the times podcast said "winning the league with that side was Fergie's finest achievement". That misses all the Aberdeen stuff but we were playing around him last year. I hope this season we see more of a TEAM at least.
Arzerouni
5th best?! Rooney would start for any of the top 4, VDS is the 2nd best goalie and any of them would take our 1st choice back 4. I'd take Gerrard and Mikel for the middle, for sure, but I think we are capable of beating anybody. This is a stronger team than that which beat Roma 7-1.
Barri
Ronney is always frustrated, that's why we love him. He'll never be happy until we're 3 nil up.
Body language in games is one thing but if you'd had an argument with the missus before kick off would you look happy-could be anything, don't read too much into it.
They train together and Rooney has talked that up, I'm still betting Berba will win over the doubters.
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Posted by antoine on 08/20/2009
Hi Mark, I love your blogs, all the way in Canada :)
A lot of MU fans are frustrated with Berba, but I think the problem is the way Fergie is using him. Remember how he scored so many goals at Spurs mostly playing as a pointman ahead of Robbie Keane? Not even CR7 has as elegant a touch as Berba, so I think Fergie needs to figure out how to get the best out of him. We cannot keep demonizing the guy.
Secondly, if we are relying on Rooney to score 20 goals this season, then we are in deep trouble. I love Wayne, but he is no Van Nistelrooy. Rooney is good at what he's good at. Weekly goals is not his stock in trade.
I have to question Ferguson's decision to keep playing Park & Anderson as attacking midfielders in a team of United's stature. I know Hargreaves absence is mainly to blame for this, but those two are no Gerrards or Kaka's.
And that is what we need at the moment. A midfield sparkplug. If only we had an extra Berbatov to throw into midfield...
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Posted by Rishi Dayal on 08/20/2009
I was in complete disbelief when I saw Carrick take the penalty, too, Mark. How can we not have a set penalty taker?!?! That's just ridiculous. I don't care how many titles Sir Alex has won, he should have a penalty taker set before the season starts, not testing them out in Premier League games. I think, if anything, we'll finish around 2nd or 3rd this season. It'll be like the 03/04 season. This will be our year to rebuild the team. Of course, there's always a good chance we can win the title. After all, we are still Manchester United ;).
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Posted by tego (mauritius) on 08/20/2009
The main problem is lack of a distributor as Cantona and a terrific striker as Solksjaer.
Giggs, Owen n Garrick had 4 1-to-1 chances between them besides the penalty. The match could have ended 1-5 or 2-5 or even 3-5 but unfortunately the cruel fact is that if we do not buy these two missing players we won't be challenging for any trophy this season.
Actually we have only 3 top players Evra, Valencia and Rooney (who cannot be relied upon as striker although he is an excellent all-rounder).Vidic and Ferdinnad would make it 5 world-class players.
Liverpool and Chelsea have at least 9 world-class players and should logically occupy the top two places in May 2010. Arsenal will be there provided they don't have injuries and suspensions because their squad is not as strong as that of lfc and cfc.
We can create dozens of chances but we do not have reliable strikers. No one who played against Burnley was up to the mark.
Berba:too lazy; Park:too mad a runner;Rooney: poor striker etc
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Posted by Chuma on 08/20/2009
Hi Mark, Great post as usual. definitely one of the high points of my day after that disappointing loss. I KNOW we'll bounce back just hope it doesn't take the lads too long to sort themselves out. I'm really worried about their wastefulness in front of goal. I think it might take a chomp off our rump if not addressed early. Keep up the good work!
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Posted by Ron Rhodes on 08/20/2009
How can Michael Owen be in the starting 11 at Manchester United? He is just plain done. Two years of sleepwalking at Newcastle and now he's doing the same with a REAL team. There has to be a better option.
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Posted by Mark - in Canada on 08/20/2009
Mark
As others have said, great article.
Yes we should have a penalty taker. Why not Rooney? He's got the power to smash the ball in.
I think Nani and Valencia will be good wingers. They have pace and bring something a little different. I used to like Park for his industry but the poor guy has the touch of an elephant. I also am quite bemused by Tosic. He makes Evra look big. I can't see him making the grade as an EPL winger. Has he properly played yet? Loan him out.
As for strikers we are fine in all reality. Rooney and Berba as starters are class. If Owen scores great. If not, let's hope he is teaching Welbeck and Macheda well.
I think the team is hurting in CM at the moment. Hargreaves is a loss. There are plenty of quality players available. Send some $$$ back to Madrid and take Van Der Vaart and Sneijder. Attacking, creative CMs who can hold and pass a la Xavi and Iniesta. Send Obertan back in exchange for Gourcuff. While we are at it raid Chelsea for Essien!!
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Posted by Hans on 08/20/2009
Wait, was our starting midfield of Giggs, Park, Carrick and Anderson the same one that started the UCL Final? Why yes, I think it was! And that sure worked out great, right?
When Rooney gets frustrated he drops back too deep, leaving Owen or Berba alone. Nothing happens then.
Too many square passes by Carrick and other distributors. When we had CR7, he could negate this with penatrating runs, but Carrick is little more than just a passer at the moment.
Evra is not as dangerous as he doesn't have a left midfielder to team with. Valencia looked promising but our defense will improve. Missing players like that will take its toll.
Ultimately, our major problem still is, and has been for a long time, we are lacking a Roy Keane-esque central midfielder. He had the ability to pass like Carrick, but was a ferocious defendence and finisher. We need a Ballack, or Xabi, but we have Anderson...remeber how he has looked the last few times you have seen him.
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Posted by Octavio Rodriguez on 08/20/2009
I remember a time when the midfield consisted of David Beckham,Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, and Nicky Butt. The best midfield in all of Europe when teams such as "Burnley" were wiped out before half-time. Sometimes you would have 3-0, 4-0, or 2-0 clean sheets against these teams and by the time we reached January or March United were crowned Champions. My point is, that United have plenty of quality but sometimes they lack heart and that is what Carlos Tevez had, I know to many he probably just ran aimlessly but everytime he played he made his presence felt unlike "Berba", who plays like he's on Xanax.
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Posted by locco on 08/20/2009
hye mark..wow it's quite hot with man utd losing to burnley.somehow every single united fan have their own theory and want to advice SAF.come on you guys..believe in SAF.he know what he's doing..let see how the players react for the next game n how they will treat burnley when they visit OT..no worries guy...it's still early.as i told before we r not goin to b on top 4eva...it's lucky if we win 4th in a row...plus we need to get rid of CR7 midas touch..everything is new now...the most important thing is all man utd players cannot be overconfident. i can feel that few of the players r overconfident n seems like they can beat burnley with one eye..we must respect every opponents n treat them with our best effort..
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Posted by David Lamin on 08/21/2009
Long Live Man U, the best team in the world. Wait, are we still the best at least in England? Answer is a big NO. I see Man U finishing in below sixth. Why, because Fergie does not want to accept reality:
Carrick - mediocre, lacks character, panics easily, loses the ball more than any other midfielder, 75 percent of the time he does not know where he is kicking the ball. He feels secure in the shadows of Rio and Vidic/Evans which is why you hardly find him in midfield where he should be. Should be playing in the reserves
Fletcher - poor lad, good work rate??? always chasing, chasing after the ball, chasing after opponents, never stopping to read the game. Never stopping to think what his opponents would do and try to thwart their plans. He is always so far away from opponents he cannot make decent tackles (yeah he gets a couple of good tackles. Should be playing in the reserves
Will continue the analysis for each player
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Posted by Nicholas Arwa on 08/21/2009
I can't blame players, sombody like Michael Owen is he fit play a team like Manchester United? my opion is big no. A'm not hapy with the coach, he is selling but not buying. I think this will be the worst seasion ever.
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Posted by vinay u on 08/21/2009
This is just the beginning of the season,just like last 2 seasons we dint make a good start to the season. thats ok. but to prevent many more shocking results this season,we need to have a strong midfield especially a creative playmaker so that we can fill the void thats left over by cristiano. let carrick do what he's good at,and anderson drifts in the empty space and i addition to that a goal scoring or a creative playmaker in order to make this season a glorious one. i would suggest jauo moutinho from sporting lisbon. go united!
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Posted by George on 08/21/2009
Mark,
Enjoyed you post, as did many.
I couldn't help wondering a few things as I and a few other members of the weekday faithful hung our heads and sighed in an NYC pub when the final whistle had gone on Wednesday...
1. As a top club, how do you prepare for a team like Burnley? The gulf in class is (presumably) vast, and yet this was no doubt the biggest game of the Claret's season--and perhaps the biggest opportunity for glory in recent times. Burnley played with heart and with pace, and I don't think a cagey, clinically minded United had an answer for that.
2. Jensen, "the Burnley Beast", did very well in goal.
3. Who are United? Say what you will about the negative CR7 effect, but as a club, Man U were always more than Ronaldo. However, that only matters of the lads themselves believe it. Time for Sir Alex (and all of us) to quit wondering if Christiano would have converted "here" or "there"...time to for Giggs and Carrick to be confident that they can do it themselves!
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Posted by Arzerouni on 08/21/2009
Hey Mark,
I stand by my belief that our starting eleven is 5th at best whereas our entire squad of 30some players is probably 1st in the league, hence we still have a chance at winning the league but cup competitions no way. As far as I can see our starting line-up is as follows: Van der Sar, Oshea, Rio, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, carrick, Giggs or Hargreaves when fit, Nani or Park, Berba and Rooney. Out of that team, only our 3 defenders (rio,vidic,evra) are world class and Rooney. Giggs is a legend and has an outstanding first touch and vision but he is no longer world class, so if we compare this starting eleven with Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City, we can see that Chelsea's Keeper is a bit better than ours and there 4 defenders are simply better than our four not because terry or carvalho are better than vidic and Rio but because bosingwa is better than Oshea, as for their midfield they are second best in the world behind Barca, in attack Drogba is par with rooney and Berba
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Posted by Arzerouni on 08/21/2009
is better than Anelka. AS for Liverpool they have Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt (not skills but will power), Johnson and Mascherano that are world class. we can see they have a more balanced team because their world class players are across the defense, mid and attack. Arsenal's midfild simply better than Man U and their strikers are on par with us, their left back is just as good as evra and right back is better than O'shea, so it's only our CB and Keeper that is better than ours. As for City, i'll take their starting midfield and Strikeforce over ours any day. But their defense is simply bad, except for Richards. Their goalkeeper is probably 3rd best in the league behind Cech and Van der sar.
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Posted by Arzerouni on 08/21/2009
So based on the number of quality players on each team, Man U stand 5th or 4th at best among the top clubs in the premierleague, however that does not mean that we will end up 5th or 4th in the league, in fact if we finish under 2nd place I would be shocked. But the bootom line is we need to get rid of alot of players at the club and start buying some midfielders because Giggs and scholes will be done in a few years and I don't think Gibson or Passabon or Welback are worthy successors of such outstanding Oldtraffor legends. if Hargreaves can play the entire season that would help alot, but looking at our entire midfield we don't have a single midfield player that starts on a good international side, Valencia is the only international starter and he plays for Ecuador.
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Posted by Arzerouni on 08/21/2009
And for every one who thinks that we are writing here to educate SAF, then don't worry there is not a single human being who knows football better than SAF, however, if Sir Alex was allowed to use the money he got from Ronaldo's sale I'm sure he would have considering the fact that he must be dieing to overtake Liverpool before he calls it a day, but the Glazers have frozen those funds and that is the truth. SAF would have been better off taking Sneider, robben, Vand der Vaart and Casillas for Ronaldo than 80 million. at least we would have had a team that can compete in the champions league and easil win the PL.
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Posted by antoine on 08/21/2009
Great post Arzerouni. You said it well!
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Posted by Chuma on 08/22/2009
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Posted by popofinfin on 08/23/2009
From the pre-season games to the last 3 games, I have noticed a common trend. Not sure if anyone has noticed, but I feel that this trend seems to be the Achilles Heel for the moment. It is not the CR7 effect directly, but it seems to me that there is an indirect effect to the team. If anyone do noticed lately, please pay attention when ManUtd have the ball in their possession in the final 3rd of the field, you would have discovered that the decisiveness to move the ball if missing. From the '87, I have followed SAF's team, there is always this characteristic string of passes before a final blow to the opponent is delivered. The old games played using a very 'scary' tactic, coercing opponents back into the final 3rd, then with fault-tempting passes just in front of the defenders/midfielders. The moment the momentum of the attack is lost, anUtd will pass the ball back to Centre Back or fullback to change the rhythm of the attack, waiting for an unwanting opponent to commit.
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Posted by popofinfin on 08/23/2009
After the oppenent have commited out of the defence position, this is where SAF scary tactics starts. It seems that every of the attacking players (Centre Forward / MidFielders / Full Backs) knows how to take turns in taunting the opponent's defence line telepathically and run into useful positions to score goals from all over the places. The manner of getting the goals showed hat everyone understood the final objective and were selfless to achieve the target of team win. For the last 6yrs, this tactic was modified for one man, and that is CR7. He has been given the permission to be selfish, and had all the power to demand for ball, passes, free kicks, penalty ..etc, you named it and he was given everything. SAF saw a player that can be considered his own 'George Best', so the whole team was tuned to compliment CR7's style of play. Just like when RVN was around, DB was the instrumental tag-team player for providig the goals. So was Andy Cole, he had Yorke. But there is 1 thing ...
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Posted by popofinfin on 08/23/2009
There are no decision-makers in the current team, not because they do not know what to do with the ball, but they are 'lost' with not being familar with one another's new roles. With CR7 gone, there is focal point for the attack. Keane was the orchestrator ManUtd was missing, for his determination and understanding of the tactics of SAF. He seems to be the only decision maker that still remembers what needs to be done. The strength of ManUtd comes from teasing passes with intent, waiting patiencely for the kill. With new players in the XI lineup, there are bound to be miscomm and thus the fluidity and understandind is missing. The Core team must strengthen the bonds with the new XI boys (Valencia/Owen/Foster) and make they understand the attacking philosophy of SAF. SAF treats MU as his Rock of Gilbraltar, though he knows when and how to work a Champion Horse for winning. Till all players understood, this horse will be running on the spot. "Attack is the best form of defence" - SAF.
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Posted by Joel on 08/23/2009
Anyone notice that the midfield that thrashed Wigan (Nani, Scholes, Fletcher, Valencia) was completely different than the Burnley line-up of Giggs, Anderson, Carrick, Park?
Giggs aside, those other three midfielders are not up to scratch. Park constantly lost the ball, Carrick looked panicky, and Anderson just doesn't belong on a Top 4's starting XI.
Why Ferguson started Park over Berbatov or Tevez against Barcelona is absolutely beyond me. He's an opportunist, not a playmaker, and should be used sparingly as a sub.
I think we still have a good chance to win the league. Foster is developing nicely. Owen is going to make a fantastic substitute, he makes great runs (and unlike Newcastle, this is a team that can pass well) and poaches in the six-yard box. He just needs to get his finishing back and that little bit of confidence. I think it will come.
We also have Obertan, Tosic and Macheda waiting in the wings.
If we beat Arsenal on Saturday, we will win the league.
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Posted by Richy red on 08/23/2009
What is it with all our so called supporters,2 games in and the doomsayers are out.Have faith in the Boss and boys.We all would like to win every trophy every year,but not always going to happen.I am more concerned about the debt level club is saddled with,now that will bite for a long time.
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Posted by Nemesis on 08/24/2009
to all the "fans" of man u criticizing the team. find yourselves some other team or why not change league completely? If u were real fans you would have stood by your team. Am a man u fan i still believe in the team. you guys dont remember how fergie won the league with kids? valencia needs time to gel in but based on his performances up till now he can be a major force on the wings. nani is growing fast and carrick is a classy midfield. he's a distributor. even scholes has trouble passing like carrick(check his accuracy over range). berba is a wonderful forward. he passes and scores. so wat if he doesnt score much or run much? he's still indispensable to the team. as for owen he'll come up. give the lad time. he's just come to the squad. man u is still a major candidate for champions league let alone the premier league
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Posted by Sw. on 08/25/2009
Man utd would not be just a 5th or 4th team, Arzerouni. Remember, the team is still adapting to a team without Ronaldo. New players needs time to adapt to Manutd's tactic. Nani and Valencia will soon show the world that Ronaldo will soon be replaced. And, for those who look down on Owen, think again. Arzerouni, are you kidding? Arsenal's striker is on par with manutd's? I think you can be a Arsenal fan alr, i cant believe you said that. And, when did Arsenal's left and right back better than Manutd? Even Rafael is better then Arsenal's right back.
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Posted by Arzerouni on 08/25/2009
I have been a Man Utd fan since 1996, just like all of you Man Utd fans I have been through the highs and the lows, but to be an optimist is just fooling oneself. Man Utd does not have a concrete starting 11, except for in Defense and Rooney. so as I said it before, ill say it now, Man U will go as far as Rooney takes them this season, and Rooneys three goals in the 2 wins prove that. If Man Utd can win the next 3 league games then we have a shot at the league. Have you guys seen Chelsea play this season with their diamond midfield? they are the team to beat, now I hope they stumble soon, but I can't see them dropping points against the Burnley of the league, so if we want to win we will have to beat the teams at the top including Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and Tottenham. if we don't get six points against tottengam, city and arsenal and liverpool and at least 4 points against Chelsea then we can't win the league. But I hope we can win the next 3 games and get back on track.
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Posted by Mike P on 08/25/2009
I am a Utd fan but this midfield is not good enough. Remember the days when we had Giggs and Beckham wide with Scholes attacking the penalty area and Keane destroying everyone in his path. Now we have the likes of Park, Carrick, Anderson and Nani starting on a regular basis. Its a disgrace. Fergies needs to invest that money in an attacking central midfielder. Otherwise it will be a long year.
Posted by Denny on 08/26/2009
I have been a United fan since the 80's, we never panic, we are UNITED. Now, watching the match on saturday reinforced my stance that we still need that gifted midfielder who can ignite our offence, Andeson has the capabilities he just needs some confidence to go along with his game, that will come as he plays more. Believe me, we will be O.K.
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Mark Payne writes about football for a variety of media outlets. He reported on the 2010 World Cup for Australia’s ABC network and worked at one of the FIFA fan sites. He has been ESPN’s Manchester United correspondent for four years. His writing attracts a worldwide following and in 2011 this blog was nominated for an award. To contact Mark for football discussion e-mail him on markpayne.editor@hotmail.com at any time. He wears lucky socks on match days.
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