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There are some things that I just don't understand. The connection between Jesus, chocolate eggs and rabbits eludes me. The contents of Alex Ferguson's mind during important European games is also beyond my comprehension. There have been times in the past when the wizard’s substitutions have been inspired (1999) but this week wasn't one of them.
I am not wholly convinced that when we were coming under increasing pressure taking off two midfielders and replacing them with two attackers is the best policy. I applaud the ‘Manchester United-ness’ of the idea, but we lost. Nani has made his way into my good books of late but anyone can see that Valencia tracks back more. Just an opinion.
Everybody is entitled to a bad day at the office and I am not one to whinge when Fergie has delivered six squillion trophies to OT already – there is the feeling though that Van der Sar was the only person who earned his paycheque in Germany.
2-1 away is not the worst result in history but it certainly looks like an opportunity missed. Robben will be back for the next fixture and with him and Ribery on the field things would seem to be set up nicely for Bayern to play a counter-attacking game in Manchester.
Getting a one nil at home sounds feasible were it not for the fact that we are hosting Chelsea’s collection of hackers, foulers and cheats (marital and footballing – works two ways that) this Saturday. Without Wayne Rooney.
For those that love statistics which mean precisely nothing, we have won 11 games without the scouser this season, but my confidence is not at an all time high here. Not meaning to put any undue pressure on one player – Dimitar Berbatov, this is your moment. Time to show us what £30m can do. I place my faith in your boots.
Please take the time to check out Susie Schaaf's excellent blog for the Bayern view here
Comments
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Posted by Red Rupert on 04/01/2010
oh get a brain mate - the fact that our two fullbacks had a brain fart is not Fergie's fault. The substitution made perfect sense. Not only did our two fullbacks take leave of their senses but the team as a whole decided they'd save their legs for Chav$ki's visit and sit back and defend - United don't do deep defending and we wonder why we came back with a goal deficit instead of a lead.
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Posted by Patrice-Kigali on 04/02/2010
Hi Mark!
Two things to note here:
When defending, Keep Carrick and Fletcher on because Scholes is Not and has never been anywhere near good at defending. When attacking, keep Fletcher and Scholes on. The mistake was obviously to take off Carrick.
A number of times this season, I have seen SAF naming the starting line up or make changes and I am like "Oh my God, this is not right!" and to be honest more than 80% of those games have not been in our favour. Is the Manager loosing grip? Not necessarily, but time will tell.
Every united fan is looking up to Berba, but he needs to do one important thing; Time the movement of Nani and Valencia and be exactly in the box at the right time, then give a try the first time. Forget about the magic of ball control etc in the box.
Nonetheless,scoring slhd now be a shared responsibility (Berbe,Schoeles,Gigs, Park, Macheda, Vida etc).They can 100%
Believe, Believe...
ManU 4ever.
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Posted by MU fan. on 04/02/2010
It's really time for Berbatov to shine. If he wants to prove it to the others, that his 30million price tag is worth it, then now, its the chance. Chelsea and Bayern Munich. Yes Mark, I too do not have much confidence to believe that ManUnited can win these 2 games. If they carry on with the slacks and lose ball possession so often, just like what they did in Germany, we will probably lose the title, and forget about the CL. BUT, I know ManUnited never gives in, they never will. Dimitar Berbatov, do us proud!
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Posted by Eddie G. on 04/02/2010
When Ronnie left, Rooney stepped up to the plate. Now with Rooney on the sidelines, someone else will take over the mantle. Why? Because Man United never won trophies solely on one man's effort. In the wake of Wazza's absence, United still have likes of Berbatov, Giggs, Scholes, Park, Fletcher and even Nancy - all of whom can go one up in gear at any given notice (Yes I left Carrick out on purpose!)
I believe that United will get one up over Chelski this weekend. Here's to a cracking game at OT tomorrow!
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Posted by Onyeka on 04/03/2010
Yes it is now time for Berbetov to prove that he worth his prize, after our poor game at Germany is now time to consolidate it with 3 point at home against Chelsea today. To me i would like SAF to go for a break by pairing Berbetov & Macheda, Macheda as the point man & Bebertov beind him, J s Park & Hagreevs should be on the bench and would be introduced in the 2nd half of the game. I am sure this work.
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Posted by kayode on 04/03/2010
winning today match depends on charge SAF gives his players and every department on the pitch of play should be fortified especially the defence, young players like rafael shd start cos he is fast,and will combine well with valencia.Berby shd pls step up his game today and connect well with the crosses.fletcher is our unsung hero, doing a wonderfull job.and i think carrick shd start with him.winning today we must play a balance football knowing dat chelsea is a strong side. Gibson shd also be on the bench believe he can do something when all chips are down. Ferdinand shd pls improve on his current form has not been spectacular of late. lets do this for ronney, the fans, for our pride MANUTD FOR LIFE
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Posted by wuppy Cape Town, ZA on 04/03/2010
@eddieG agree with your comments, United is not about one man, admittedly, when Ronnie left I also had doubts but look what the team had done just justified my belief in a truly "united" team that we have. Liverpool with Alonso missing has crumbled, and we have prospered. I have faith in the boys for todays game. MANCHESTER UNITED for life!!
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Posted by Howard on 04/03/2010
Am not sure if Sir Alex reads these comments but will still post my view with due respect. I have no doubt in Alex’s managerial capabilities but sometimes I wonder why he sides with old players when he has better ones. Experience counts a lot but it is very close to exhaustion they all depend on time. Therefore it’s no good Idea to play Garry, Paul and Ryan. For Paul I understand but for the other two, they would come for lighter games or/ and last substitutes. Let young players do the thing because the old ones make old mistakes when you least expect them it’s not surprising therefore that Garry handles the ball the same way Paul did. The problem is with those who choose to play them longer than they can.
Howard
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Posted by liu on 04/03/2010
our dear valencia have turn the world's most dangerous wing when c.ronaldo is with man utd, to a world's most inefficient wing.....weak and slow. He cant produce cross with Gary neville doing most of the crossing. Valencia does not deserve to be in a club like man utd. When will sir alex wake up and see into this.?????
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Posted by christopher on 04/03/2010
corruption between man utd vs chelsea match at 4/3/10 fucker Mike Dean (Referee)
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Posted by Tony on 04/03/2010
Man u needs to get rid of berbatov he is too lazy and his mind is slow to react. I would rather have macheda even though he has no experience he runs more than berbatov and therefore creates opportunites and opens up the defense for midfielders to move up. i saw the chelsea game and berbatov missed at least 4 really good opportunities. than macheda came on and dude scored with his hand.
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Posted by bayo on 04/03/2010
I agree with that Berbatov shd step his game.Also there every need for SAF to Macheda more playn time inorder to have a ready made option once Ronney is out on injury or resting. FOREVER M'UNITED.
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Posted by tamba alie on 04/04/2010
pls sil alex u have a great chance to win that game on wenesday
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Posted by jonhboo on 04/04/2010
so without wayne Rooney Man U will never win? Berbatov where are u? 30,million means a lot. please can u tell Man U Fans the meaning of 30,million? is better to use Macheda then Berbatov......so berbatov if you where to be use, please make us happy.we are really hoping to see good action from you
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Posted by Raizzen on 04/04/2010
Its better to have them both. Berbs and Roon are 2 VERY different players. So in Rooney's absence, I think both Macheda and Berbs could be on the front. And Park wasted a handful of near chances and wasn't as effective, Nani should've subbed him earlier. Dont get me wrong I like Park just that he wasn't as effective on the game.
And its a frustration, not because we lost but because we fail to grab our chances. Chelsea wasnt all that scary, its just that we were funnier.
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Posted by Patrice-Kigali on 04/05/2010
The memories of loosing the last CL to Barca keep on popping up in my mind, now I am wondering what the results of these destructive eight days will do.
Berbatov? Was he the goal poacher SAF wanted?
An 18 year old comes from the bench to give a team a glim of hope and your eyes are still glued to Berba? keep on dreaming.
Let me ask you; If you were to select the best in the team that started against Chelsea to play Barca in the coming CL final, would you pick more that five players? Not that i don't like them; after all some have made me happy for many years before, but I am sorry, I wouldn't. Only Fletcher, Vidic, Nani, Evra and VDS wld be on my list.
If we are eliminated by Bayern(I am sorry if northing changes we are bound to)SAF and all of us who love united will not forget a week where we negligently lost two most important European titles.
SAF; accept that you made an error(we all do) to sign Berba and move on.
ManU 4 ever.
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Posted by Spencer on 04/05/2010
I thought Man Utd lost to Chelsea because of the linesman and referee. It should have been a penalty when Park was foul in the penalty area. Probably because Park is an Asian and not a star, hence, the referee over-look that the foul is a penalty. As for Drogba's goal, he was way offside. It's surprise that the linesman can miss it totally. Such an error obviously cause Man Utd the 4th title in a row.
Personally, Park was the most hardworking among all the players follow by Evra, Vidic and VDS. Scholes, Valencia, Giggs, Berbatov, Gary and Ferdinand were not-performing. SAF should have replaced them earlier. I thought Park should not be replaced. Hope to see more energy and unity when they play against Bayern on this Wed.
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Posted by Tricky on 04/05/2010
UM any team with nevile and scholes is not going to win anymore nore with giggs these players are past it im sorry its time for a change at united fergie is losing it the player selection for chelsea said it all.
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Posted by samson on 04/05/2010
i am bothering about this thing Owen Hargreaves is suppposed to return 4rm injury from at least one year or one season
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Posted by Tego (Mauritius) on 04/06/2010
Hi Mark
It is too easy to criticize SAF. Had Berba taken his two golden opportunities; there would have been nothing to say!
Barda missed but so did Tores against us!!
Why don't we accept the fact that cfc is a championship-winning team with better substitutes than us? That is one reason for losing.The other main reason is that Giggs and Scholes lost too may balls in mid-field thus spoiling what otherwise could have been a threatening attack leading to goal.
In my opinion, despite any SAF's mistake in wronly choosing his starting line-up or Berba missing chances and mistiming his passes to Nani and Valencia, we lost last two matches because Oldie Neville could not cope with Ribery and Malouda, two of the most dandgerous players in the world. Due to fatigue he handled the ball last Tuesday and then on Saturday he watched Malouda rushing by his side and then crossing to Joe for the first scrappy goal.
All in all I still believe that without Rooney we can rely on our young players
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Posted by Bob Johan on 04/06/2010
Agreed that Berba and Rooney absolutely diff kind of players. Berba is more on supporting, hold the ball for Rooney to open up space, timely run with pace and be in the box while other midfields came to aid. Now, will all due respect to SAF, Berba can't be a lone striker (forget about previous game) when it comes to fast pace game. Therefore, the need of 4-4-2 (two strikers up front) formation is crutial for Man Utd for all remaining games. As I had said many times last few seasons to my football foes, grooming ronaldo is best for the club (sold for $80M) but not best for the team due to strikers do not have many scoring opportunity as now we are paying the price. The lack of scoring ability due to that practise except for Rooney of course but now he's injured, hmm can we look for Tevez now? Oppss he's not around.
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Posted by Brian on 04/06/2010
Last 2 Games rating...
Evra? 3/10 hmmmm, how is runnin around in a hole,and asking your side winger to cover for u - 2 games in a row - make u Utd material?
Berba? 2.5/10 - rating goes down when i shudder to think 30mil!!! And if u don't impress now, will June be better?
G.Neville - 5/10 - could be better, but why the hell did u handle the ball? VDS was near to clear.
Valencia - 3/10 - Goals n Crosses dont come from Wingers defending - unless its absolutely necessary! Dude, wake up!
JS Park - 6/10 - Utd is all about the moments. If u miss them, u miss all!
Vidic & Ferdinand - 8/10 - Much as we've conceded, Since u 2 got back together, Carrick and I breathed a huuuuge SIGH!
VDS - 8/10 - You are great Sir! You keep it up.
Macheda - 7/10 - 20 minutes in 2 games and 1 goal in the basket, i wonder what u did/said to SAF to not deserve more playing time...
Nani - 6/10 - How much more self belief so you need? Ronaldo n Rooney r not on the pitch, its yo best chance...
SAF - i hope!
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Posted by iahamd on 04/06/2010
hey guys theres no need pointing fingres as to who should step up after rooney's ankle injury, the fact remains MAN U have to win all the remaining games at any cost and hope that the chelski bandwagon slip up- the team as a whole is full of character all they need is to believe in themselves and for us fans to be behind them all the way, "there's still light at the end of that tunnel if you look close enough, dim... but it's there"
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Posted by gobie on 04/06/2010
Too much relying on Rooney is backfiring now. I believe that a team needs a very good MIDFIELDERS. MU should stick to Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher as defensive midfielders. Whereas Valencia & Nani will be attacking midfielders. Gibson & Giggs will be the ideal substitutes for this pair.
Get Berbatov & Macheda to pair as strikers with Gabriel Obertan as sub for them.
If possible drop Gary neville - to prone to hard tackling & unneccesary bookings....
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Posted by The Grimace on 04/06/2010
I have heard there is a nice rest home for the elderly in North Wales, only an hour or so's drive from Old Trafford. I think it would be a good idea if SAF arranged for Giggsy, Scholesey and Gary to go there for a few weeks. Football is a young man's game and they ain't young any more.
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Posted by macdonald chikwanha on 04/06/2010
please fergi this is our last hope just throw caution to wind and play your best team since all decision rest upon you take your best shot i know you can do it god bless you
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Posted by JJ on 04/06/2010
I love MU very much. the one thing I know is that they win because of their winning mentality, not because of quality. MU is probably the only team I have known that does not beleive in quality; but loyalty, loyalty and loyalty. That's why you have Giggs, Neville, Scholes etc. still playing. Remenber when we failed to take the league for 3 seasons? Why was that? Keane's loyalty. Now we have Giggs. As for Berba, I don't blame the guy himself. As far as I knew him before coming to MU he was not an outright striker but he played more of a free role behind the strikers. SAF should have seen that and knew where to fit him. He is not played in his comfortable position. He has no speed to command the centreforward position. I do not believe he enjoys his football now and it is taking away his confidence. Berba is a good controller and passer of the ball. That's it!
Chelsea game; our quality was just too low for Chelsea. we need to change that loyalty mentality and start thinking quality.
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Posted by saeid on 04/06/2010
Man Utd is built on young player, yet AF has no faith in his young players .Berbatov he was a mistake the AF still does not want to admit. He has scored less than half of what rooney has scored and played more .Teves come back pleaseas you bring life and exitement to the team .Giggs ,neville please quit playing if you care about your team.Paul still has a few games in him.Good luck for the rest of the season , WE NEED IT.
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Posted by shi K on 04/06/2010
Sir Alex Ferg its time you gave chance to the young brazillian twins Raphel and fabio,for sure Garry is now tired and need to give chance to young ones.we need fresh blood for Gods sake
Shi K
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Posted by bax on 04/06/2010
come-on guyz, can't you be positive just for the love of the team and players that try hard to bring joy to us? Everything happen for a reason. Save for Berba the rest of the players are trying. I how could he fail to even cause a smart save from the Chelsea? Can anyone please tell me, IS HE A STRIKER? Wazza watching the Saturday game must have felt the pain that fans experience. Hargo should be back.United needs more strikers.
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About
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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