£#%&! knows where you go after that

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

Really, don't wanna start a row but I though he was terrible, particularly first half, probbly wrong though.

he was £#%&!ing brilliant

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

How did everyone think Ronnie played?

Meh. He was alright, didn't look like beating his man very often mind. His effort levels were high, but he wasn't as threatening as normal.

Originally Posted by rebelcountyred

he was £#%&!ing brilliant

OK. Opinions/Arseholes and everything.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

How did everyone think Ronnie played?

not great. gave it away for the goal and struggled to make much of an impact. defenders seem a bit wiser to him this season. can't decide if that's 'cos they've genuinely sussed or if he's phoning it in 'cos he can't be arsed.

plus this myth of him being a threat from free kicks is getting £#%&!ing ridiculous.

Originally Posted by taff

not great. gave it away for the goal and struggled to make much of an impact. defenders seem a bit wiser to him this season. can't decide if that's 'cos they've genuinely sussed or if he's phoning it in 'cos he can't be arsed.

plus this myth of him being a threat from free kicks is getting £#%&!ing ridiculous.

Has only scored from 4 in the league this year hasn't he?

Most in the league last year, most this year. Some people are never happy.

I thought the Porto defensive mid (Fernando?) just prevented either Ronnie or Rooney operating in the center, between the defence and midfield, did a brilliant job. When Ronaldo and Rooney moved into wide positions in fact, whenever anyone was in a wide position, the Porto Full backs and cover did a truly fantastic job of preventing the cross/pass into the box.

Ronnie kept trying though, to his credit. He is just out of form and needs a break from the game.

The summer can't come quick enough IMO.

If Ronnie stays, I still want us to sign that Wigan winger, or Ribery in my dreams.

Originally Posted by dunk

I thought the Porto defensive mid (Fernando?) just prevented either Ronnie or Rooney operating in the center, between the defence and midfield, did a brilliant job. When Ronaldo and Rooney moved into wide positions in fact, whenever anyone was in a wide position, the Porto Full backs and cover did a truly fantastic job of preventing the cross/pass into the box.

Ronnie kept trying though, to his credit. He is just out of form and needs a break from the game.

The summer can't come quick enough IMO.

Fletcher and Park on the wings did not help us at all, mean that we tried to play everything through the middle into their strength.

Nani has been very hit and miss but if Ronaldo was going to play up front we could have done with him on the wing, more of a threat with ball at feet than either that was out wide today. I know Fletcher went to the right early on to try and stop their left back's surges, but having a direct opponent who could threaten him in behind could have accomplished the same trick.

The less said about Park's attacking potential on the other side the better.

A midfield 4 of Park, Carrick, Scholes and Fletcher is very pedestrian, makes it hard for Rooney and Ronaldo when most of the attacking responsibility is left to them.

Originally Posted by Tiberian

Fletcher and Park on the wings did not help us at all, mean that we tried to play everything through the middle into their strength.

Nani has been very hit and miss but if Ronaldo was going to play up front we could have done with him on the wing, more of a threat with ball at feet than either that was out wide today. I know Fletcher went to the right early on to try and stop their left back's surges, but having a direct opponent who could threaten him in behind could have accomplished the same trick.

The less said about Park's attacking potential on the other side the better.

A midfield 4 of Park, Carrick, Scholes and Fletcher is very pedestrian, makes it hard for Rooney and Ronaldo when most of the attacking responsibility is left to them.

True. Unfortunately injuries and Nani's performances have forced us into this position.

Next season is the one for me, was before the season started and remains it now. The reason being that you just can't win everything every season, and next season is going to be amazing, IMO.

Originally Posted by dunk

True. Unfortunately injuries and Nani's performances have forced us into this position.

Next season is the one for me, was before the season started and remains it now. The reason being that you just can't win everything every season, and next season is going to be amazing, IMO.

I like you dunk.

I still think this season could be amazing though.

silly me?

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

I like you dunk.

I still think this season could be amazing though.

silly me?

Strangely, even if we win the lot, it just feels like a let down season. We have played the whole time with what feels like a hangover from the achievements of last season, the football has been effective at best, infuriating at worst. I can't think of a season that has filled me with less enjoyment than this, even including the 'barren ' years between 2002-05.

A bit of failure will not do these players any harm at all, I just don't want us to lose this £#%&!ing title.

Originally Posted by dunk

Strangely, even if we win the lot, it just feels like a let down season. We have played the whole time with what feels like a hangover from the achievements of last season, the football has been effective at best, infuriating at worst. I can't think of a season that has filled me with less enjoyment than this, even including the 'barren ' years between 2002-05.

A bit of failure will not do these players any harm at all, I just don't want us to lose this £#%&!ing title.

No. 18 is what matters.

just got back and very dissapointed. i understood the importance of not underestimating porto but going in at the start of the game with 5 man midfield and just rooney up top invited pressure as we just hit aimless long balls to rooney and they got their hopes up with a lot of possesion early on and the goal. i think park does a good job for team often but thought he was poor tonight along with carrick and scholes. was evans injured? if not why was he taking off instead of o'shea? porto will now be full of confidence and a 2-2 result is brilliant for them as they can now sit back in the second leg and use their pace to counter attack which they seem to be very effective at.
people can slag berbatovs 'energy' and work rate all they want but he provides an outlet upfront who holds the ball up and brings others into play which we were lacking tonight

Originally Posted by rubbernecker

Sunday's game was more of a relief than a confidence booster

Correct.
In all the Macheda related euphoria it's easy to forget how bad we were on Sunday, particuarly first half.
I didn't feel 'confident' after Sunday, just chuffed to £#%&! that we didn't have to see the dippers above us in the Table for any longer than 24hrs (for this week at least )

In fairness to the lads, we don't half have some bad luck with injuries in the sense that we always get them to a certain area of the pitch all at once - ie; half the defence missing or 2 of the 3 strikers out.
It's happened a lot over the past 2-3 years.
Of course this is NEVER, I repeat NEVER brought up in the Press because they're too busy worrying about Arsenal & Liverpool's injury list.

I don't know where to start with pinpointing what's wrong at the moment.
The fact none of our midfielders can beat a man or tackle is a bit of a problem, the fact our defence are litterally taking it in turns to be on the treatment table isn't helping matters either.
We don't score enough goals full stop. Although hopefully the manager might play with 2 strikers in the away leg...we can but dream.

We were probably lucky to get a draw tonight in all honesty. Only Rooney turned up in my opinion (& I'm not just saying that because he's my boyfriend) & that's nowhere near good enough.

I guess in conclusion it's a combination of fatigue, #@&%!iness, too much 'rotation', too many games...& (although this shouldn't affect the players, but it probably does) too much £#%&!king hype in the Press. £#%&!ng Bookies 'Paying out' on the Title after the Newcastle game Idiots.
£#%&!ing 'odds on' to win everything.
People suggesting that drawing Porto in the QFs was a 'by' into the next round

I can't see how we turn this alarming drop in form around now

Not having a pop at Ronaldo here, but he seems very reluctant to beat a man these days. He gets a defender 1 on 1 right on the edge of the box, or in the box and he'll just lay it off. Bizarre considering that's what his game use to be.

The most depressing thing is that there is very little that can be done to sort out the loss of form. Most of the players are £#%&!ed in the head right now. You can see the lack of confidence when they get the ball - unsure of their first touch, nervous and they play themselves into trouble and give the ball away. I'm still struggling to believe how many times that happened tonight. I can't recall the last time I've seen United play such sloppy football in so many consecutive games.

So, what can be done? Nothing in my opinion. Fergie can %@#$&! the players or try and fill them with belief, but there's not much he can do if they play like @#%&!s when they get on the pitch. Fixtures are piling up, as are injured and jaded players so the options are slim. We just have to ride it out I suppose. A clean sheet would do us a world of good; here's £#%&!ing hoping we sort things out against Sunderland or we could be neck deep in shit.

You really couldn't ask for a worse time to go through a purple patch. This is normally when Fergie's sides are at their peak. It's going to be extremely difficult to qualify now which is such a shame considering the relatively decent route to the final, but isn't that typical of United. I just hope we've got the heads and the legs to hold on to top spot in the league.

Originally Posted by MUFC One Love

Not having a pop at Ronaldo here, but he seems very reluctant to beat a man these days. He gets a defender 1 on 1 right on the edge of the box, or in the box and he'll just lay it off. Bizarre considering that's what his game use to be.

It's just one of a million things not quite right with United at the moment. He doesn't seem confident of beating a man and instead of just turning on the jets and bursting past a player, he slows to a halt and makes it easy for the defender. It must boil down to a lack of confidence which seems to be the biggest problem the whole squad has right now.

Originally Posted by TreeFiddy

The most depressing thing is that there is very little that can be done to sort out the loss of form. Most of the players are £#%&!ed in the head right now. You can see the lack of confidence when they get the ball - unsure of their first touch, nervous and they play themselves into trouble and give the ball away. I'm still struggling to believe how many times that happened tonight. I can't recall the last time I've seen United play such sloppy football in so many consecutive games.

So, what can be done? Nothing in my opinion. Fergie can %@#$&! the players or try and fill them with belief, but there's not much he can do if they play like @#%&!s when they get on the pitch. Fixtures are piling up, as are injured and jaded players so the options are slim. We just have to ride it out I suppose. A clean sheet would do us a world of good; here's £#%&!ing hoping we sort things out against Sunderland or we could be neck deep in shit.

You really couldn't ask for a worse time to go through a purple patch. This is normally when Fergie's sides are at their peak. It's going to be extremely difficult to qualify now which is such a shame considering the relatively decent route to the final, but isn't that typical of United. I just hope we've got the heads and the legs to hold on to top spot in the league.

Good post.

Get as many players back as we can, few days rest for Sunderland, hopefully get Rio back in there to steady the ship, get a clean sheet and win and we should be OK. I'm just desperate for the title now, that's all I'm thinking of, get that won and get them rested this summer then start up again with hopefully a fresher squad and 1-2 additions (I think 2-3 may be sold this summer).

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

No. 18 is what matters.

Blonks is spot on for once,all that matters is the title,if we give it to them we will be always chasing the scouse @#%&!s,this was always going to be the hardest test and i am not surprised the scouse @#%&!s are giving us a run,focus and its ours.This not conceding and winning 5 trophies it taking our eyes of the main one.

Originally Posted by TreeFiddy

It's going to be extremely difficult to qualify now which is such a shame considering the relatively decent route to the final, but isn't that typical of United

It is a shame.
We could have been the first Club to retain the Champions League...& we still might of course, but it's such a waste of a great opportunity.
However, if we carry on playing as we are we're out of the competition. It's as simple as that.
We need a huge game from Rooney, Ronaldo & co in the away leg now.

Originally Posted by TreeFiddy

I just hope we've got the heads and the legs to hold on to top spot in the league.

Exactly.
Talk about being on a knife edge. The chance to win 3 Titles on the spin, the chance to equal the scousers...but any slip will see Steeeevie 'diving @#%&!' Geeeee get his hands on that Trophy