Team v Valencia - The Official Thread

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

Fergie's said he's playing his strongest team hasn't he? Be interesting to find out what he thinks it is. I predict O' Shea in midfield and G Nev at right back.

strongest available team - and he decides who's available

he may still hold one or two in abeyance

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

strongest available team - and he decides who's available

he may still hold one or two in abeyance

Was just a bit of light mocking TT.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

Was just a bit of light mocking TT.

Aye, saw what he said about Hargreaves yesterday.

Trying to shame the £#%&!er into retiring now, we could do with the insurance.

He pretty much wrote G.Nev off this week, didn't he? and he's injured. Safe to say, I don't think we will be seeing our present number 2 worrying the turf of Old Trafford for a while, if ever.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

Was just a bit of light mocking TT.

was ignoring the specific mention of o'shea and neville tbh as i considered it to be a poor attempt to mask your derision. actually that sentence turned into something i wasn't expecting it to be. oh well, £#%&! it. automatic writing ended at some point between the first and second full stops. shall i log off yet

Originally Posted by dunk

He pretty much wrote G.Nev off this week, didn't he? and he's injured. Safe to say, I don't think we will be seeing our present number 2 worrying the turf of Old Trafford for a while, if ever.

hope so...

Strongest possible team at the moment which, IMO, is:

VDS

Rafael
Vidic
Rio
Evra

Nani
Carrick
Scholes
Park

Rooney
Berbatov

Some serious decisions to make for that Arsenal game. Considering how stifling their midfield is of paramount importance, I think he'll revert to 4-5-1. Which might not be a bad thing.

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

Some serious decisions to make for that Arsenal game. Considering how stifling their midfield is of paramount importance, I think he'll revert to 4-5-1. Which might not be a bad thing.

you're probably right, though it will be revealing to see whether he has woken up and does it by adjusting rooney's position accordingly. however, it isn't essential to be totally predictable and go 4-5-1 every time you play against one of the top sides. i hope this will ultimately be the lesson of the 2010/11 season. i'm confident it will be.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

you're probably right, though it will be revealing to see whether he has woken up and does it by adjusting rooney's position accordingly. however, it isn't essential to be totally predictable and go 4-5-1 every time you play against one of the top sides. i hope this will ultimately be the lesson of the 2010/11 season. i'm confident it will be.

You mean Berbatov leading the line in a 4-5-1 don't you? Obviously you do cus' it's you.

It would never have worked last season, or the season before because the Bulgarian was hopeless and Rooney was scoring for fun. Don't blame Fergie you boring know it all @#%&!. We would have won the league, and probably the Champion's League last season if Rooney never got injured. And we would have done it with Berbatov sitting on the £#%&!ing bench.

It might work this season though, seeing as Berb seems to have pulled his finger out his arse, whenever Rooney's been on the pitch with him anyway.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

you're probably right, though it will be revealing to see whether he has woken up and does it by adjusting rooney's position accordingly. however, it isn't essential to be totally predictable and go 4-5-1 every time you play against one of the top sides. i hope this will ultimately be the lesson of the 2010/11 season. i'm confident it will be.

My concern is always getting overrun if it's just a two. Scholes gets overrun, Carrick gets overwhelmed and Fletcher gets overworked. Anderson might get the nod, but that might be more of a 'gamble'. I must admit, I do like the stable base the 5 man midfield usually gives, but it's imperative that Berb/Roon doesn't become isolated. Rooney could be deployed on the left, I suppose, but Park is pretty good in the big games too. Tough decisions, but a good problem to have.

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

My concern is always getting overrun if it's just a two. Scholes gets overrun, Carrick gets overwhelmed and Fletcher gets overworked. Anderson might get the nod, but that might be more of a 'gamble'. I must admit, I do like the stable base the 5 man midfield usually gives, but it's imperative that Berb/Roon doesn't become isolated. Rooney could be deployed on the left, I suppose, but Park is pretty good in the big games too. Tough decisions, but a good problem to have.

my concern is that last season arsenal passed us off the pitch until the og, and using 4-5-1 to try and counter that possibility made no difference at all because they are generally better at it than united, especially at Old Trafford.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

my concern is that last season arsenal passed us off the pitch until the og, and using 4-5-1 to try and counter that possibility made no difference at all because they are generally better at it than united, especially at Old Trafford.

So you'd go with?.....

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

So you'd go with?.....

i'd attack them with classic united fast passing, mesmeric movement and put them on the back foot from the first time we get the ball until their precious little mockney heads are spinning. i'd use our best combinations all over the pitch - Evra and Park, Nani and Rafael, Berbatov and Rooney, Vidic and Ferdinand and Carrick and Scholes, with the only question being on Scholes' fitness afaik. plenty of variation in that line-up as well, particularly with Rooney and Park able to operate in combination from the left to support Berbatov

i'd be a bit more excited heading for the ground if i knew this was how we were going to appraoch the match, put it like that

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

i'd attack them with classic united fast passing, mesmeric movement and put them on the back foot from the first time we get the ball until their precious little mockney heads are spinning. i'd use our best combinations all over the pitch - Evra and Park, Nani and Rafael, Berbatov and Rooney, Vidic and Ferdinand and Carrick and Scholes, with the only question being on Scholes' fitness afaik. plenty of variation in that line-up as well, particularly with Rooney and Park able to operate in combination from the left to support Berbatov

i'd be a bit more excited heading for the ground if i knew this was how we were going to appraoch the match, put it like that

So basically, play really well, scores a tit full of goals and @#%&! them! Sounds like a plan!

Tempo is all we have now. Discuss.....

evans has been left out of the squad today...

Originally Posted by manutd99

evans has been left out of the squad today...

Not really a shock.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

Not really a shock.

It's a good thing. We know he has the skills, he's just lost the confidence.

Originally Posted by Gorilla Monsoon

It's a good thing. We know he has the skills, he's just lost the confidence.

will he get it back is the question... He is now the 4th choice defender at united.

Originally Posted by manutd99

will he get it back is the question... He is now the 4th choice defender at united.

Not necessarily a permanent thing, Smalling could just as likely suffer a slump in form, we haven't actually seen him tested yet.