Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson: The Greatest.

Originally Posted by Casanova85

Safe to say that Bundesliga clubs were SAF's Nemesis?

Anyway, 96-97 Dortmund was a beast.

Nah, spanish clubs without a doubt.

aside from beating barcelona 1-0 in 2008, I can only remember us beating deportivo in 2002.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

Liverpool lost every away game in the champions league last season apart from Porto didn't they?

The 3-0 at CN should have been the end of it. Sadly, Barcelona decided to play their worst UCL match of all time (other than the 1994 final) at Anfield.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

Nah, spanish clubs without a doubt.

aside from beating barcelona 1-0 in 2008, I can only remember us beating deportivo in 2002.

Yeah, that too, Madrid in 2003 and 2013, sad...

Originally Posted by Casanova85

The 3-0 at CN should have been the end of it. Sadly, Barcelona decided to play their worst UCL match of all time (other than the 1994 final) at Anfield.

barca have been a bit wishy washy ever since Iniesta and Xavi left

Originally Posted by Sparky***

barca have been a bit wishy washy ever since Iniesta and Xavi left

Absolutely. Their trademark 75% possession in midfield is over. Any of those two small geniuses injured, and Utd might have won the 2009 or 2011 final.

Originally Posted by utd99

Look, I know this is his dream job and that he didn’t have a massive amount of leverage, but he should have known that his chances of success would have rested heavily on being able to suck the poison out of that dressing room asap. He must have been watching what was going on in the seasons leading up to Mourinho getting binned, and probably had the inside story too. Why would Roy Keane sitting in a tv studio know what these people were going to do and he didn’t?

Who says he didn’t? I recall ole being slagged off for saying it will take a few years. Maybe it’s the fans who need to get realistic.

Originally Posted by Casanova85

Absolutely. Their trademark 75% possession in midfield is over. Any of those two small geniuses injured, and Utd might have won the 2009 or 2011 final.

We started with two massive Handicaps in 2011 Park and Valencia.

Originally Posted by Casanova85

Absolutely. Their trademark 75% possession in midfield is over. Any of those two small geniuses injured, and Utd might have won the 2009 or 2011 final.

Perhaps the 09 final, but 2011 Barca were at the absolute peak of their game.

They only dropped the possession based football when Valverde took over. A lot of the Barca fans out there seem to hate him because he doesn’t set his teams up in the “Barca way”. That’s despite them walking the league the past couple of seasons.

Originally Posted by Jammy Dodger

Who says he didn’t? I recall ole being slagged off for saying it will take a few years. Maybe it’s the fans who need to get realistic.

A few years to get back to the top perhaps, but what’s in the interim, nothing? Are we supposed to just ignore what happened at St James’?

Originally Posted by Casanova85

The 3-0 at CN should have been the end of it. Sadly,

Especially when they had THREE breakaways in the last couple of minutes to make it 4, maybe even 5, and wasted them all, almost chuckling about it. That utter spaz up front missing an open goal.
How I laughed. Ha ha ha

Anyway, Fergie eh?

Originally Posted by utd99

Players then had nowhere near the power they have today. Keane was absolutely correct when he cautioned that this lot will throw Ole under the bus the same way they did with Mourinho. Already the stories are spreading about McKenna and how much they dislike training; either the journo’s are making it up (possible) or there’s a poison pill (or their agent) in the dressing room.

If I were confident Ole knew how poisonous these @#%&!s are, and that Woody was on board with a cleansing I’d be more optimistic, but I keep coming back to that line about ‘building a team’ around Pogba. I think that statement was incredibly naive, even if it was PR.

I don't think they're chucking Ole under the bus. When I watch us I don't see players not trying and not caring. They're just playing shit. I'm sure they don't want to be playing shit. Aside from Sanchez I haven't felt anyone has been not interested. Perhaps Rom on occasions.

To keep the thread focused on SAF. I wonder what would have happened if Man Utd had faced Barça in the Round of 16, QFs or semis in 2009 and 2011, instead of the final, which is a completely different kind of football match (no mistakes allowed, 90 tense minutes, fear&pressure, neutral ground, etc).

Originally Posted by Neo

No WUM, but 2 European Cups in all those years was a piss poor return.

We should have had one or two more, yes. But despite his general success, SAF wasn't always the luckiest there.

SAF has as many UCLs as Sacchi, Mou and Pep.

Originally Posted by Casanova85

SAF has as many UCLs as Sacchi, Mou and Pep.

Allegri has £#%&! all tbf.

Damn your edit game is swift.

And I will say it again, we might easily have won in 2009 (becoming the first to retain the CL in nearly two decades) had Fletch not been banned for bugger all

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Allegri has f*** all tbf.

Damn your edit game is swift.

Damn, man, you were quicker!

Originally Posted by red in cumbria

And I will say it again, we might easily have won in 2009 (becoming the first to retain the CL in nearly two decades) had Fletch not been banned for bugger all

Utd nearly scored two before Eto'o's goal (triple mistake by Carrick, Vidic and VDS). And that header by Messi, of all people...

Originally Posted by red in cumbria

And I will say it again, we might easily have won in 2009 (becoming the first to retain the CL in nearly two decades) had Fletch not been banned for bugger all

Not if everyone else played as shit as they did. I reckon that’s one we could play again and get a different result. 2011, where we actually had a go, was probably always going their way as they were just a better side.

There were a few dodgy things happened to united over the years.

The 'offside' Scholes goal against Porto.

That year we were 'paired off' with Kaka's AC Milan because the final was at Old Trafford.

That Fletcher ban.
That Rafael ban.
That Nani ban.

And to think city thinks that Uefa hates them lol

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Not if everyone else played as shit as they did

Mighty Fletch would have ensured they didn't

Originally Posted by utd99

A few years to get back to the top perhaps, but what’s in the interim, nothing? Are we supposed to just ignore what happened at St James’?

The interim is sorting it out. We’re not as far off as we currently appear. Add the two decent midfielders that ole supposedly wanted, along with a few more sales, and we’d be in much better shape. So much so, it would only then probably be a matter of fine tuning rather than fundamental changes.

Originally Posted by Casanova85

To keep the thread focused on SAF. I wonder what would have happened if Man Utd had faced Barça in the Round of 16, QFs or semis in 2009 and 2011, instead of the final, which is a completely different kind of football match (no mistakes allowed, 90 tense minutes, fear&pressure, neutral ground, etc).

We’d have been knocked out. We’ve always lacked the kind of self belief Liverpool have in Europe.