We missed Saha on Saturday.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

We can't afford to offload Saha and replace him alone. Ole is finished (sadly) and Smith is garbage. Those two as the back up strikers next season worry me. A lot.

I agree, but I can't see Balsa-boy wanting to play second fiddle to someone else next season, especially if we can get half-decent money for him. Ole might as well pack it in now, and Smith is a 3rd string striker at best. This effectively means we need 2 strikers this summer, which is why I'm coming round to the idea of Bent plus a major name (although I doubt it's going to be Eto'o or Torres - more like Huntelaar).

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

Giggs wasn't as well marked. Saw more of the ball and had better opportunities.

When you consider the chances Giggs had, his terrible ball control and positions he found himself in - he was poorer than Ronaldo.

I'm not pointing fingers, but it's a simple observation to point out that Giggs has been poor in recent weeks, looked tired and was way way below par on Saturday.

So Giggs 'found himself' in good positions, but Ronaldo just didn't 'see the ball'

I see.

When I play football at my shit level, if I don't see the ball - i go looking for it.

If I don't then I would consider myself to have had a poorer game then when I get forward and try to make things happen even if they don't come off.

Most of the few good things we did (apart from the Rooney one man v whole defence runs) involved Giggs.

nft

i'm sick of the Giggs and Scholes fan club. if you're playing shit you should be dropped, end of story. those 2 have been crap for the last month or so. seeing Giggs pass the armband to Scholes was a complete joke. might as well given it to me. nft.

Originally Posted by Gypsum Fantastic

So Giggs 'found himself' in good positions, but Ronaldo just didn't 'see the ball'

I see.

When I play football at my shit level, if I don't see the ball - i go looking for it.

If I don't then I would consider myself to have had a poorer game then when I get forward and try to make things happen even if they don't come off.

Most of the few good things we did (apart from the Rooney one man v whole defence runs) involved Giggs.

nft

Giggs was played in a position where he is naturally harder to pick up. If Ronnie and Giggs had played in each other positions then Ronnie would've seen more of the ball and I'm sure would've done more than Giggs did.

Above all else, Giggs touch was awful all day.

I don't want to get drawn into a discuusion about who was out shittest player because I don't think we can, or should, blame anyone in particular. But Giggs seemed more interested in whinging to the ref about a 'goal' he scored by bundling the keeper over the line than he did about converting the two best chances of the game.

Ronaldo had 2 men on him all game. Giggs had an open goal to win the match and £#%&!ed it up. that's my assessment.

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

Giggs was played in a position where he is naturally harder to pick up. If Ronnie and Giggs had played in each other positions then Ronnie would've seen more of the ball and I'm sure would've done more than Giggs did.

Above all else, Giggs touch was awful all day.

I don't want to get drawn into a discuusion about who was out shittest player because I don't think we can, or should, blame anyone in particular. But Giggs seemed more interested in whinging to the ref about a 'goal' he scored by bundling the keeper over the line than he did about converting the two best chances of the game.

Giggs spent the whole game doing animal impressions. Half the time he was a rabbit in the headlights, paralysed by the occasion. The other half he was like a goldfish mouthing inanely after he £#%&!ed yet another opportunity up. I guess it's just a case of him running out of steam - he's not a player who can dig deep when he needs to (never really has been in that respect), but when it's your captain, that becomes a problem. There's a singular lack of steel in the team at the moment, and I think the Hargreaves acquisition may go some way to resolving this. We still need a firebrand, shitstormer of a striker up front though, to take some of the pressure off Rooney and give him some space to play.

Originally Posted by Torquemada

Giggs spent the whole game doing animal impressions. Half the time he was a rabbit in the headlights, paralysed by the occasion. The other half he was like a goldfish mouthing inanely after he £#%&!ed yet another opportunity up. I guess it's just a case of him running out of steam - he's not a player who can dig deep when he needs to (never really has been in that respect), but when it's your captain, that becomes a problem. There's a singular lack of steel in the team at the moment, and I think the Hargreaves acquisition may go some way to resolving this. We still need a firebrand, shitstormer of a striker up front though, to take some of the pressure off Rooney and give him some space to play.

I concur.

Originally Posted by El Calafate

i'm sick of the Giggs and Scholes fan club. if you're playing shit you should be dropped, end of story. those 2 have been crap for the last month or so. seeing Giggs pass the armband to Scholes was a complete joke. might as well given it to me. nft.

scholes was easily our best player on saturday for me

Originally Posted by Torquemada

Giggs spent the whole game doing animal impressions. Half the time he was a rabbit in the headlights, paralysed by the occasion. The other half he was like a goldfish mouthing inanely after he £#%&!ed yet another opportunity up. I guess it's just a case of him running out of steam - he's not a player who can dig deep when he needs to (never really has been in that respect), but when it's your captain, that becomes a problem. There's a singular lack of steel in the team at the moment, and I think the Hargreaves acquisition may go some way to resolving this. We still need a firebrand, shitstormer of a striker up front though, to take some of the pressure off Rooney and give him some space to play.

How about Ronnie as an out an out striker/centre forward and mould the rest around that.We need at least one extra fast wide player as well maybe.
Is Rossi coming back? Where will he play?

scholes was easily our best player on saturday for me

agreed..i thought scholes, rooney and vidic were our best 3

scholes was brilliant saturday

Originally Posted by mr.sitter

agreed..i thought scholes, rooney and vidic were our best 3

He was one of the ones that took the sharpness off our attacking philosophy.
Dithers and obfuscates 'the play'.

Originally Posted by Gog Coch

How about Ronnie as an out an out striker/centre forward and mould the rest around that.We need at least one extra fast wide player as well maybe.
Is Rossi coming back? Where will he play?

Ronnie is better coming from deep - either wide or centrally. He should be taking the ball from any of Carrick, Hargreaves, or the 4 defenders and pulling the opposition out of shape. Our striker should be doing the same to their defence - pulling them out of shape, holding the ball up, running through them, with Rooney playing off him. Saha was able to do this but no longer has the balls or the physical strength to play for us, so we need to get someone else who can.

Rossi, if he comes back, will be competing with Rooney and Scholes for a position, and so can only really be considered a second-string striker. We still need a first option. I'm not convinced it's Huntelaar anymore, but the idea that we could afford Eto'o is fanciful in the extreme. Tevez could do a job, and I would personally love it to be Torres, but I don't think either is likely.

Scholes can pass, no doubt. but imo he slows down the play too much. he also goes to the back four to pick the ball up, what the £#%&! is that all about? let Rio do it, ffs! nft.

Going on the last few games of the season one could say that father time has taken a far firmer grip of giggs than scholes, perhaps it is because scholes has never depended on speed in his game whereas it has been the building block of giggs, giggs has looked tired, he had an exceptional early season but sadly couldn not sustain it. Giggs can still play a crucial role for us but we need a younger winger to take the pressure off him, it would be nice next season to have a fresh giggs on the bench ready to come in when required. Scholes can play on for at least two more seasons at the top level.

Scholes, Vidic, Brown and Rooney did well. The rest had a below average game, apart from Giggs who was abysmal.

Originally Posted by Sparky6899

Scholes, Vidic, Brown and Rooney did well. The rest had a below average game, apart from Giggs who was abysmal.

Agreed. I was particularly disappointed by Carrick too.

Still, he's still learning and will develop even more next year.

I find it reassuring that we look as good as we have in years, have won the league and we are still two or three players short and players like Carrick, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Rooney, Rossi, Foster, Fletcher will all improve.