United's Defence (Merged)

kmart6

United's defence has in honesty fallen to pieces since Rio's ban kicked in and I really think it is going to affect there chances of winning the Premiership this year.The last few games have been dreadful including tonight going on what I heard from commentary.

Do you think Fergie should have strengthened the defence in the transfer window and not the forward's department???

Is there a way to solve it??

crowl

full time 3-2 to boro. what a joke. thats like 8 goals conceded i think in the last 3 games.
What should United do to sort it out? Do u think a new signing will come in during the summer even if Rio returns?

zAbbo

Quick Quick, all manu fans post about there carp defense

Villain

JUNHINO with 2 headers.

It will take a lot to solve that mate.

Oh my Have Utd lost the plot, they are one of the richest clubs in the world, they have one of their center halves banned for 8 months and they don't buy a defender in the Transfer Window????

Go Alex, Go Alex:D

Pacifico

Originally posted by bazH
Quick Quick, all manu fans post about there carp defense

And arsenal fans to laugh

Aliminator

Damn right.
HAH HAH. 5 pt gap is it?

The Premiership on ITV should be great tonite
as will MoTD. African Nations Semi's.
finally, not losing a game all season is coming in handy!!!!

elbow316

I have to say, I'm really going to enjoy watching Ferguson trying to keep his team right up there, now that he doesn't have that supply of home-grown players coming through.
Seriously, he's made a couple of outstanding buys in Van Nist, Keane but in the main he buys dodgy players. I would feel his pain but then I am an Arsenal fan

kmart6

Like come on!

Of all people to score but two headers from the little f**ker

crowl

Just 2 points for arsenal fans....
1. You also lost to Boro
2.Manu have come back from worse than this so dont start celebrating yet(remember last season)

mike65

I'm loving the idea of a Utd v City 5th round tie!

Mike.

donhughberto

Rio must be some player jesus this is so not funny, Anelka will have a field day if fit to face Utd. Prem title should go where it deserves to go anyway. Arsenal are in top drive at the moment! Big mistake not buying cover, big mistake!

5 points behind a team which don't look like losing, wonder did anyone get on at reported odds of 12-1! I will have a nibble on city at weekend at likely odds

Pacifico

Originally posted by kmart6
Like come on!

Of all people to score but two headers from the little f**ker

tis pritty sad

eirebhoy

Originally posted by kmart6
Do you think Fergie should have strengthened the defence in the transfer window and not the forward's department???

I don't think he should have bought a defender because when Rio did come back him, Silvestre, and the new signing wouldn't be happy on the bench while Brown definitely wouldn't be satisfied being 4th choice. Maybe he should have paid a few million to loan a player til the end of the season.

elbow316

1. You also lost to Boro

In the Carling cup
We tend to hammer them in the league.....

2.Manu have come back from worse than this so dont start celebrating yet(remember last season)

I also remember two seasons ago when we won the league at Old Trafford

eirebhoy

That 5 point gap doesn't mean a lot as Arsenal still have to play Chelsea and United. They play Chelsea next week and if they beat them Chelsea have no chance, if they lose Chelsea are only 2 points behind.

James R

Rio is by no means the best defender in the world imo but what he does bring to the Utd defence is organisation. Silvestre, while he is very good, is pretty quiet and Brown doesn't speak much either. They're missing Rio's leadership at the back. If you look at any matches hes playing in, when the camera flashes to him hes always talking or pointing or looking around him to see whats happening and thats what Utd miss.

Possible solutions are to (a) move Keane back to centre of defence (b) Put Wes at right back and Gary Neville at centre back or (c) put O'Shea at centre back or possibly (d) throw a young lad in at the deep end and see how he does - the young lads can't be that bad they won the FA Youth Cup last season after all.

Time will tell. Wouldn't be too worried about the Boro defeat as they are like a bogey team for Utd but they can't afford to slip up too much from here on in.

PHB

I can see after this Roy Keane having a shot at the back, Man Utd. have a hell of a lot of depth at midfield, with class acts barely getting their game, same can't be said about their defense.

James R

Yeah. To be honest Keane should have been played there already but its Ferguson's pride again getting in the way of things. If he drops Brown and puts Keane back hes admitting he fecked up by not signing someone and that will kill him

BKtje

G Neville is injured and we miss him as someone said we have no leadership at the back atm. Any one know when G Neville is back?

James R

Neville should be back for Saturday as far as I know. I know hes not the biggest but he'd be good at centre back. He's played there before, hes a good tackler and he organise as well. Him or Keane moving back is the best solution imo.

Xterminator

Its not the 5 point lead that Arsenal have, that should be worring Fergie, it the boatload of goals they've been letting in! You cant ship 8 goals in 3 matches, and not make a few changes!

Before Wes Brown was injured he was actually playing better than Rio IMO. Howeve he is taking his time to get back into the pace of things, and form a partnership. Still it should be a good test of fergies management to see if he can come up with a formula to solve his current defence issues.

X

jesus_thats_gre

Originally posted by Aliminator
Damn right.
HAH HAH. 5 pt gap is it?

It was a six point gap this time last season, dont get too cocky just yet chap!!! Arsenal can **** up! Hopefully they wont though!

The Muppet

After watching the hight lights last night I wouln,t blame brown for any of the goals. As has been said it is down to a lack of communication at the back and that needs to be addressed now. I thin fergie will swap brown and Neville and that should sort out some of the problems.

As for the League it is no longer in our own hands and I don't like that but if we win all our remaining matches Arsenal can not afford to lose another match and can only afford 1 draw. IF they achieve that we will have lost the title to an exceptional team.

p.pete

Unless United pull a defence out of their proverbial pretty soon they are going to struggle to achieve anything that they did last season. Last season was exceptional in the fact that nobody was particularly brilliant. This season is exceptional for the opposite with 3 clubs playing outstandingly.

The standard so far has been phenomenal with Arsenal having their best ever start and united still matching them. The last 3 games have been a struggle however and they are only going to lose further ground to Arsenal and Chelsea unless they stop leaking.

God help them in the CL:D

The Muppet

Originally posted by p.pete

God help them in the CL:D

Thanks Pete us united fans needed that pick me up this morning.

I have faith in Fergi. He will turn Forlan into a world class defender in the next week.( he aint no fncking striker anyway)

zAbbo

Fortune looked suspect for 2 goals. Forlan should keep his eyes open when headering the ball

p.pete

Originally posted by The Muppet
Thanks Pete us united fans needed that pick me up this morning.

I have faith in Fergi. He will turn Forlan into a world class defender in the next week.( he aint no fncking striker anyway)

This'll cheer ye up, I still hold onto hopes of Liverpool finishing ahead of united this season - such misplaced optimism:(

TwoShedsJackson

Originally posted by p.pete
This'll cheer ye up, I still hold onto hopes of Liverpool finishing ahead of united this season - such misplaced optimism:(

I think that could be a bit overly optimistic alright

The Muppet

Originally posted by p.pete
This'll cheer ye up, I still hold onto hopes of Liverpool finishing ahead of united this season - such misplaced optimism:(

LOL

If Utd continue to conceded goals as they are it could well happen?

thegills

Neville should be back for Saturday as far as I know. I know hes not the biggest but he'd be good at centre back.

LOL, Danny Murphy will vouch for that.
Basically Utd. have always been suspect in defense. They win games when they are riddled with luck or else the forwards are on fire. For example, they normally only beat Liverpool when say Dudek or Carrager have howlers, Bayern in the CL too.
Brown is rubbish, O'Shea is just an average full-back, Silvestre looked good only beside Rio, who is a waste of £30M. Sure Blanc even looked good until recently. Howards honeymoon period is over too.

They are in trouble and god help them if anything happens to Ruuuuuuuuuuuuud

zAbbo

The team they put out last night, looked quite ordinary tbh.

What if Van N. was to get injured :eek:

GuanYin

Originally posted by p.pete
Unless United pull a defence out of their proverbial pretty soon they are going to struggle to achieve anything that they did last season. Last season was exceptional in the fact that nobody was particularly brilliant. This season is exceptional for the opposite with 3 clubs playing outstandingly.

The standard so far has been phenomenal with Arsenal having their best ever start and united still matching them. The last 3 games have been a struggle however and they are only going to lose further ground to Arsenal and Chelsea unless they stop leaking.

God help them in the CL:D

WB to the soccer forum pete

To be fair I laughed at you more than a few time swhen you sugegsted Utd would finish 3rd or 4th, but unless the defence gets sorted Chelsea, at least, could easily but some light between themselves and Utd.

The defence is really bad, they don't seem to have any sort of understanding and while its almost understandable having trouble with Radzinski, Fergeson, Rooney and Kilbane's movement and presence I find it hard to believe that Juninho could get the time and space required for him to win the ball in the air. Going forward they still seem strong and Boro's defence is actually prettygood, so the two goals count for alot.

However, Boro are absolutely muck going forward, and the only real threat down Riverside way is Juninho. The fact he was allowed such space to score is worrying.

What makes things worse is I see shakey times off the pitch to come for Utd. If this has any sort of knock on effect in the dressing room (Will Fergie be allowed stay on as manager if M&M take over...he'd be sueing his employers..) then I would say this season is over for Utd.

Its almost like American Wrestling for the extra-storylines outside the sport

p.pete

Originally posted by bazH
What if Van N. was to get injured :eek:

That's the question we all ask but he's been fairly injury free over the last few seasons. It's the same for pool with Owen and Arsenal with Henry. Liverpool have suffered as a result of Owens' injuries but RVN and Henry been sound. Chelsea are probably the only team that are resilient in terms of front men.

Pepe LeFrits

Originally posted by The Muppet
I have faith in Fergi. He will turn Forlan into a world class defender in the next week.( he aint no fncking striker anyway)

haha, he's good at directing the ball away from goal thats for sure!

Armen Tanzerian

Here's another dodgy business practice for Magnier & McManus to investigate: Is John O'Shea being kept around simply to keep the Irish daytripper/megastore shopping contingent happy and the tills ringing when Keano leaves? Lord knows a game in Manchester wouldn't be the same without a load of tricolour-carrying muppets.

On a more serious note, JOS is having a crap year. What is gone wrong with one of the brightest prospects in world football last year?

woosaysdan

united have fallen apart at the back if we brought keane back into the centre of defence and played scholes and butt (yes butt) in the central midfield it could work out alright for us!!!

Ronaldo7

Its worrying but its exciting. They will come over this and we will see what their defence is capable of.


Were gonna be ok. O Shea and Neville can both play centre back. Brown hasnt been at fault for most of the goals. Its just been poor defending as a unit. Thats so evident against boro. Brown will definitely get better. Silvestre is gonna be the rock of that defence in my opinion. As for CL, we have a good chance. Our midfield is amazing. Our attacking play at our best is easily up there with Real Madrid. Our defence is like a big learning process but our defence as individual players aint bad by any means compared to any of the top european teams.

elbow316

"united have fallen apart at the back if we brought keane back into the centre of defence and played scholes and butt (yes butt) in the central midfield it could work out alright for us!!!"

I'd agree with woosaysdan, move Keane back to central defense to get some communication there. Butt is more than capable of holding central midfield allowing Scholes to get forward and do the damage.

To be honest Ronaldo7, Man U's attacking play is a long way off Real Madrid's and even Arsenals. Without Ruud, the goals would dry up big-time. I actually think Arsenal would cope better with the loss of henry as we play a system were people interchange more at the moment.

Pacifico

Originally posted by elbow316


To be honest Ronaldo7, Man U's attacking play is a long way off Real Madrid's and even Arsenals. Without Ruud, the goals would dry up big-time. I actually think Arsenal would cope better with the loss of henry as we play a system were people interchange more at the moment.

Which they have already done when Henry was rested.

Pepe LeFrits

how about keeping the topic on topic for a change eh?

woosaysdan

we have the baby faced assissan back (solskjaer) and saha scoring aswell so while ruud would be missed he wouldnt be missed as much as everyone thinks

Emboss

Originally posted by Henry_14
Which they have already done when Henry was rested.

nice sig.....

Why don't you add in our titles since the first year of the premiership, fa cup and european V Arsenals ?

Pepe LeFrits

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ronaldo7

Originally posted by elbow316
To be honest Ronaldo7, Man U's attacking play is a long way off Real Madrid's and even Arsenals. Without Ruud, the goals would dry up big-time. I actually think Arsenal would cope better with the loss of henry as we play a system were people interchange more at the moment.

here whats the story? Are you trying to make me laugh? ****s sake.

Ok lets just agree to disagree.

Bannor

Originally posted by Ronaldo7
Were gonna be ok. O Shea and Neville can both play centre back. Brown hasnt been at fault for most of the goals. Its just been poor defending as a unit. Thats so evident against boro. Brown will definitely get better. Silvestre is gonna be the rock of that defence in my opinion. As for CL, we have a good chance. Our midfield is amazing. Our attacking play at our best is easily up there with Real Madrid. Our defence is like a big learning process but our defence as individual players aint bad by any means compared to any of the top european teams.

As Real demonstrated last year the defence is a shambles as a unit. Replacing Barthez was a good move but the loss of Ferdinand is going to cost them dearly. O'Shea can play at centre back but he is nowhere good enough to be considered as a first choice player for the position even in Ferdinand's absence especially in the European games.

They should be okay in domestic competitions until the end of March - there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to out score the likes of Man City, Leeds, Fulham and Tottenham because those teams don't have the midfielders to pressure the game. Arsenal will be the first real test and it's a game where they could be looking to set a new league record - 30 games without defeat in the league.

elbow316

here whats the story? Are you trying to make me laugh? ****s sake.

Who's scored more goals this season Ronaldo? That might actually be a factor in determining the best attack y'know......

Pacifico

Originally posted by Emboss
nice sig.....

Why don't you add in our titles since the first year of the premiership, fa cup and european V Arsenals ?

Well i just thought i'd try and match the sad sigs on this board. Like tinkys and "Theres more to come from Reyes - Wenger":rolleyes:

smemon

Originally posted by kmart6
Do you think Fergie should have strengthened the defence in the transfer window and not the forward's department???

sums up his mindset really, he wants goals, not boring 1-0's, scraping victories. yes they've conceded a bucketful of goals, BUT they've scored a bucketful too. brown isnt match fit yet, he's been rushed into the team following ferdinands ban. he's a decent defender once he's 100% fit.

my guess is by next month utd will have tightened up big time. cracking matches though the past few, that's the manu i want to see more of. they've upped the tempo big time since christmas but just need to shore up that centre of defence.