United vs City (May contain scores)

smemon

Dewey wrote:

Well i was at the match yesterday(first time ever at old trafford)

bloody hell, not a bad start to your life at old trafford! how did u get tickets if it's your 1st ever match? through a package or something? frustrating to watch im sure like on tv, has anyone mentioned the 2 peno's, at least 1 of which was cast-iron?

unlucky again for utd is all i can say, we've been plagued with bad luck the past year or so, both on and off the pitch.

Jivin Turkey

smemon wrote:

utd didnt have anything to do at the back because they cut attacks off at source, closed down people well and got back in numbers. despite city's defensive approach you still have to keep an eye on anelka, wright-philipps, mcmanaman etc... that they did flawlessly. (the 1st time ive ever seen that, as i said before).

im going to be the complete optimist here and say we've got the 2nd best defensive record in the league. on paper, we have the best strikeforce too but unfortunately the strikers aren't as good as the defence atm.

United didnt have anything to do because Anelka was up front on his own and had one of those games we have seen him have all to often. How many times did he wander aimlessly offside. My local team would be able to cope with him in that form.

United might have conceeded the 2nd least in the premiership, but you should also note that they have scored the 5th least. Best strikeforce? Hardly, not even on paper, because they arent going to play all 4 of them at once.

smemon

Jivin Turkey wrote:

United might have conceeded the 2nd least in the premiership, but you should also note that they have scored the 5th least. Best strikeforce? Hardly, not even on paper, because they arent going to play all 4 of them at once.

yes, but look... utd aren't going to go all season with all 4 strikers misfiring. i think most people can see that, however despite not scoring this season, the defence has managed to keep a few clean sheets and looks fairly solid especially with heinze in there now.

what im saying is the strikers form will come in time, its just a mere blip. (the odd thrashing in europe is proof) whereas our defence has been relatively solid and consistent. thats an optimistic way of looking at our season so far, im not trying to heap praise on the side and gloat over being 11 points behind chelsea. it's just a bit of hope for us utd fans when we're being written off by most.

Dr Bolouswki

If its any consolation to the reds (not that I wish to console you) it was a very unpleasant game for a city fan to watch. 94 minutes of fear and agony. We came for the point, and due to good defending and a slightly off form attack from utd we got it. Soemone said it above and I'd echo it, I think it was just one of those games. You were unlucky not to score at least 4, but I'm thankful for that.

Singing the praises of Utd's defence for that game is a song without any meaning - they had little to do, as City played practically the whole match in their own defensive 3rd. Hot air about 'balls being cut off at source' blah blah is true, but if the midfield cuts off the ball how does that make the back four great?

Willo flood was good defensively, but had nothing going forward I thought - SWP's witdrawn role and the constant utd pressure meant he had little impact also. Anelka, to be fair, did nothing, but I thought he was offside far too often considering he had little to feed off.

I wouldnt write utd off for a long time yet, we've seen them bounce back many times before, but a bouncing ball eventulally is just rolling. I think 3rd and 4th are very open at the moment, and judging on the season so far, its ludicrous for utd fans to be confident that 3rd or 4th is a given.

Everton, Liverpool, Bolton, Newcastle, Villa and 'bourough along with Utd are all in for a shout for those two spots. Yes Everton and Bolton and probably boro and villa are likely to fall out of it by then due to squad size, but unless utd's form improves soon, they could still be hoping come April/May

It's weird whats happening to utd - but I'm happy to see their dominance starting to wane. Give it 2 or 3 years and I'm confident the same band-wagon-johnny-come-lately-laissez-faire Utd supporters (no offence to genuine Utd football fans) that we hear so much from on these boards will be quitely switching allegiances, mustering their most plausible renditions of 'well I always had a soft spot for chelsea' lines....

Go on the citeh!

The Muppet

Good Post. Interesting you think Chelsea will be "the new Utd." I'm not sure, I still think a full strength Arsenal will be the team to beat over the coming seasons.

A mate of mine is a city fan , He rang me yesterday and the first thing he said to me was " you jammy B******* you were steeped in luck on sunday" and then he just laughed at me as I went off in my tirade.

smemon

whatever about catching chelsea or arsenal, 3rd place is safe. we've beaten liverpool and arsenal whilst on a bad start to a season.

it's relatively early to be deciding on spots but the league starts to take shape at christmas, it would be a very brave man that bets on utd to finish outside the top 4. never before has it happened (in the premiership) and even with weaknesses, utd aren't in such a dramatic decline just yet.

i agree theres too many part time supporters, im seeing it now that arsenal have won a few things, the chelsea 'supporters' seem to be comming out of their shells too. theres nothing more annoying than having japenese tourists and suits filling the old trafford stands and taking away from the atmosphere, at any ground for that matter.

the one place in the world were you get the hard core fans week in week out is celtic park. even if people only get over once or twice a season, they make the most of it and create an atmosphere that can only be evied all over the world imo.

dirkey_wynne

PHB wrote:

Sorry Giggs shot was a lot harder than it looked.
First off the keeper had it covered and it had to be really curled, which he tried to do. the defender was also right beside him and was like a half milisecond from touchign the ball, he took the shot and was unlucky it didnt get in.

No champions league? You must be joking
Yeah maybe we'll have a bad season and get third, so be it, but 5th? you must be mad.
While disappointed I'm not concerned.
It was one of those games, Unied didn't do anything massivly wrong, it just didn't fall for them.
It happens sometimes

I would agree normally. But you really have to hit the target. That was the thing coming out of Fergie's mouth most often preceeding the game "All I can say to my forwards is to make sure they hit the target."