*Official* Reading v United Match Thread. Teams & More 5:30pm Misery abound.

Originally Posted by Tiberian

Thought the attacking shape in that first period was far better than recent games, Rooney from the wing instead of mucking things up through the middle, Young had a good first half, Anderson looking sharp.

Get Kagawa in for Fletcher and Nani for Young and that might be the strongest attacking line up.

Still shocked at the Jones sub, there were 5 outfield players on the bench, 4 of them were better choices for that change.

Back to square one with Anderson

Anderson has never got away from square one to now be back there - he's still there; exciting player in some parts of his game, but almost completely clueless about team shape, unable to work back with energy for much of the time, and ultimately both his defensive discipline and his fitness are both almost laughably unreliable.

the Jones sub seemed fairly straightforward to me Tibs, with Rafael already out and goals going in at both ends, Ferguson needed more than usual to keep a joker up his sleeve (Hernandez), and that meant he needed as much flexibility on the pitch as he could get.

to me the second half shows good management, not bad. the first half on the other hand - not recognising the threat of their left winger - was a bloody liberty. Rooney is able to do a job out wide and in a limited sense he can be effective there - including backing up attacks on the opposite flank by getting into the box from the back post, which is where his goal finally came from - Evra and Young ripped them apart down their right, and that part, at least, Ferguson - the players - got spot on.

Originally Posted by Alan

The @#%&! should be ashamed of himself. Manchester United being forced to play a defender in midfield because the manager is scared of reading? £#%&!ING READING?!

GTFO frogson you spineless old @#%&!

you are utterly clueless

Originally Posted by MJ Ramone

If Fergie has the balls to pick his best side & doesn't fall into the same trap as last season (ie; experience & 'do a job' square pegs in place of match winners & positive Footballers) I think we'll win there too.

just remind us what you think his best side is again

don't mention anyone who isn't in it, just the XI to start.

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

Anderson has never got away from square one to now be back there - he's still there; exciting player in some parts of his game, but almost completely clueless about team shape, unable to work back with energy for much of the time, and ultimately both his defensive discipline and his fitness are both almost laughably unreliable.

the Jones sub seemed fairly straightforward to me Tibs, with Rafael already out and goals going in at both ends, Ferguson needed more than usual to keep a joker up his sleeve (Hernandez), and that meant he needed as much flexibility on the pitch as he could get.

to me the second half shows good management, not bad. the first half on the other hand - not recognising the threat of their left winger - was a bloody liberty. Rooney is able to do a job out wide and in a limited sense he can be effective there - including backing up attacks on the opposite flank by getting into the box from the back post, which is where his goal finally came from - Evra and Young ripped them apart down their right, and that part, at least, Ferguson - the players - got spot on.

Can not agree about Jones, have mentioned it on a few threads but thought it was a panic move. Utd had 65+% possession in the first half and were cutting through at will. The defending was abysmal but it was more about poor individual performances in the middle. I take your point about not doing enough about their left wing, Rooney from the right worked in an attacking sense but they had a lot of joy down that side.

When Jones comes on, it goes to 50/50 possession, a very scrappy match in the second half, again it was not as if we were using him in any defined defensive way, he pressed fairly aggressively but most of the time he was the main support to Van Persie, with predictable results. I think he will be a very good player in a few years, probably as a CB but his running power makes him an interesting prospect for a box to box midfield role, but as a link player it was very odd.

I have a blind spot when it comes to Anderson, freely admit it, I enjoy watching him play, always feel that Utd are a more exciting and interesting team to watch when he is playing well.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

just remind us what you think his best side is again

don't mention anyone who isn't in it, just the XI to start.

Thanks in advance.

Well as I have said before, traditionally I'm with you & Frog£#%&! that United are always best as a 4-4-2 ...I love to see pacey counter attacks & exciting wing play.
But alas, we neither have the wide men or central midfield to afford us that luxury.
So for me our best 11 is some kind of 4-3-3 formation.

(I assume Anderson will be out)

De Gea

Rafael
Rio
Evans
Evra

Carrick
Cleverley
Powell

Valencia/Welbeck
Rooney
Van Persie

...far from ideal & Powell only gets the nod because the other options are unthinkable.

Originally Posted by MJ Ramone

Well as I have said before, traditionally I'm with you & Frog£#%&! that United are always best as a 4-4-2 ...I love to see pacey counter attacks & exciting wing play.
But alas, we neither have the wide men or central midfield to afford us that luxury.
So for me our best 11 is some kind of 4-3-3 formation.

(I assume Anderson will be out)

De Gea

Rafael
Rio
Evans
Evra

Carrick
Cleverley
Powell

Valencia/Welbeck
Rooney
Van Persie

...far from ideal & Powell only gets the nod because the other options are unthinkable.

so in other words you don't have a best XI, it's just a sentence you like to use

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

so in other words you don't have a best XI, it's just a sentence you like to use

That's probably about right. I know the players that don't get in my 'best 11' but not 100% over the ones that do.

Originally Posted by Tiberian

Can not agree about Jones, have mentioned it on a few threads but thought it was a panic move. Utd had 65+% possession in the first half and were cutting through at will. The defending was abysmal but it was more about poor individual performances in the middle. I take your point about not doing enough about their left wing, Rooney from the right worked in an attacking sense but they had a lot of joy down that side.

When Jones comes on, it goes to 50/50 possession, a very scrappy match in the second half, again it was not as if we were using him in any defined defensive way, he pressed fairly aggressively but most of the time he was the main support to Van Persie, with predictable results. I think he will be a very good player in a few years, probably as a CB but his running power makes him an interesting prospect for a box to box midfield role, but as a link player it was very odd.

I have a blind spot when it comes to Anderson, freely admit it, I enjoy watching him play, always feel that Utd are a more exciting and interesting team to watch when he is playing well.

fair enough. don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was a good idea to bring jones on and use him like that. I'm just saying that's how fergie has always done it - keep an attacking sub up his sleeve when he thinks we could need it; in theory jones was the most flexible option [to already have on the pitch] for a forced reshuffle later on...

in terms of their left, it's not that he didn't do enough to counter it, it's that he didn't do anything, and Rafael just couldn't cope. when a decent winger on blob gets enough opportunity to run one on one at any right-back in the world he will get by him and cause mayhem two or three times and that's what happened. obviously Ferguson is hamstrung by the absence of Valencia, but I wouldn't have a clue how on earth he thought Rooney playing out there was the answer.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

fair enough. don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was a good idea to bring jones on and use him like that. I'm just saying that's how fergie has always done it - keep an attacking sub up his sleeve when he thinks we could need it; in theory jones was the most flexible option [to already have on the pitch] for a forced reshuffle later on...

in terms of their left, it's not that he didn't do enough to counter it, it's that he didn't do anything, and Rafael just couldn't cope. when a decent winger on blob gets enough opportunity to run one on one at any right-back in the world he will get by him and cause mayhem two or three times and that's what happened. obviously Ferguson is hamstrung by the absence of Valencia, but I wouldn't have a clue how on earth he thought Rooney playing out there was the answer.

I think Fletcher was part of the Jones issue He has been badly off the pace in the last few games. Added very little yesterday, part of the problem on the right wing, as much as Rooney did not cover Rafael, Fletch was very slow in providing support. I was expecting him to be subbed at HT or soon after but Jones coming on made that very unlikely and to me limited the potential for attacking changes later on.

We could have had this in our midfield yesterday.

Originally Posted by Rhodzy

We could have had this in our midfield yesterday.

7 touches preceding a sideways pass. Lest we forget...

Originally Posted by Rhodzy

We could have had this in our midfield yesterday.

Bet that pass went straight to tevez :shakehead:

Originally Posted by Tiberian

I think Fletcher was part of the Jones issue He has been badly off the pace in the last few games. Added very little yesterday, part of the problem on the right wing, as much as Rooney did not cover Rafael, Fletch was very slow in providing support. I was expecting him to be subbed at HT or soon after but Jones coming on made that very unlikely and to me limited the potential for attacking changes later on.

yeah that's right, I suggested a narrow side midfield to cover their left sided attack (Fletcher inside the full-back basically holding Rafael's hand ), but tbh I didn't even consider that Rooney would be used out there! I expected it to be Fletcher tasked with pointedly helping Rafael, but it just didn't happen.

everyone's all about how bad we were yesterday, but when you break it down we basically got stung at right-back, and got hit by two deadballs from superb deliveries, hardly a secret of Reading's play. the rest of it wasn't bad at all, but you can hardly blame the manager for deciding his team needed all the help they could get to make sure they didn't throw that £#%&!ing game away.

Everton haven't lost a game with The Gib starting.

Originally Posted by Rhodzy

Everton haven't lost a game with The Gib starting.

whats the general view of him over there?

Originally Posted by TripDownMiseryLane

whats the general view of him over there?

Kenwright on here seems to like him. They got him for peanuts too.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

yeah that's right, I suggested a narrow side midfield to cover their left sided attack (Fletcher inside the full-back basically holding Rafael's hand ), but tbh I didn't even consider that Rooney would be used out there! I expected it to be Fletcher tasked with pointedly helping Rafael, but it just didn't happen.

everyone's all about how bad we were yesterday, but when you break it down we basically got stung at right-back, and got hit by two deadballs from superb deliveries, hardly a secret of Reading's play. the rest of it wasn't bad at all, but you can hardly blame the manager for deciding his team needed all the help they could get to make sure they didn't throw that £#%&!ing game away.

the three goals we got from outfield play were fantastic, the third (rvp's) especially. don't know how many touches there were in the move but it was a fantastically worked move and goal, wonderful stuff.

i was at the match and really enjoyed it.

better than some shit, ground out 1-0 win - 'yay, we kept a clean sheet and the defence was solid'

£#%&! off.

Originally Posted by borsuk

the three goals we got from outfield play were fantastic, the third (rvp's) especially. don't know how many touches there were in the move but it was a fantastically worked move and goal, wonderful stuff.

Yes, 3 of the best team goals Utd have scored this season.

Young has his best game in a long time as well, some superb link up play with runners around him.

Originally Posted by borsuk

the three goals we got from outfield play were fantastic, the third (rvp's) especially. don't know how many touches there were in the move but it was a fantastically worked move and goal, wonderful stuff.

we played very well in bits... can't agree with times report that said every goal was avoidable (yes, if you are prescient).... but we also give the ball away far too cheaply and our defence was pretty awful. we were only playing reading. they're not mugs, but we should be thinking about how we can beat barca and real.

this just doing enough and sometimes not quite doesn't inspire confidence.