The Big One match thread (before/during/after)

segadreamcast

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Liverpool seemed to be playing for the draw by the end so I'm happy that United got the goal. Ferdinand & Brown were very good I thought.

By the sounds of this, I'd agree too. They were pounding on Liverpool's door for the last 15/20 mins it seemed...

BaZmO*

NoelRock wrote:

Hahaha, love the way the United fans re-emerge on the thread only when the goal is scored.

Probably cos they were watching the match? Sour grapes?

Good goal by Rio who actually had a great game. A draw probably would've been a fairer result, but feck it, a win will do nicely.

mayordenis

astrofool wrote:

It seems clear from this result that liverpool are in decline....

its clear from your comment you're going to die alone.

carpothepunk

The game deserved a draw,both teams played woeful

As for a lucky goal?the goal itself was an excellent header,no it wasnt a free kick,but thats the way it goes

Sour Grapes methinks

segadreamcast

BaZmO* wrote:

Probably cos they were watching the match? Sour grapes?

Good goal by Rio who actually had a great game. A draw probably would've been a fairer result, but feck it, a win will do nicely.

Not at all. Look at my posts. Just a shrewd and, frankly, honest observation.

PHB

jesus, the second half got a lot better.

Liverpool had domination for the first 20 minutes, and had lots of chances, specifically that Cisse chance, how did he miss it? It wasn't offside either, I don't know what hte hell that call was about, maybe Rio was inactive or some ****e :rolleyes:

Then there was 5 mins of resetting, then United took control for the last 20 minutes, and got chances, and took one. Zonal marking once again shows its weaknesses.

Fantastic result considering the weakness of the United midfield against two of the top midfielders in the world.

VDS - Made a decent save, but had very little to do, never challenged properly
Neville - Had a solid game, kept Kewell quite, but didn't offer much going forward. Had no outlet really
Rio - Man of the match even before the goal. Did everything you could want from him, fantastic.
Brown - Had a solid game, Crouch got the better of him twice, and I felt he should have been there to block Cisse's chance, but otherwise a decent game. Much better than Slyvestre.
Evra - Had a very good game I thought. He was actualy the impetus for a large portion of United's attacks. His final ball needs to be improved, but he has the ability to do it, it's just about getting used to the premiership
Fletcher - Had a decent game, kept Gerrard/Alonso quite, so I couldn't really ask for more.
O'Shea - Was poor I felt, shoulda got subbed anyway. Not a midfielder
Richardson - Had a decent enough game actually, suprised me, and it's nice to see Fergie giving him a chance in midfiled.
Giggs- If there was two MOM, he shoulda gotten it. Playing out of position as an AMC against Alonso, caused loadsa trouble and was fantastic overall. Also great delivery.
Rooney - Had a fairly bad game, but in the last 20 minutes he came alight, and its no suprise that United did too.
Ruud - Poor game, had two decent chances he coulda put away. Still not back to his best.
Saha - Had a decent enough game, won lots of stuff in the air, and gave an outlet.

OVerall pleased with the preformance of United.
First half Liverpool just edged it, but only very slightly.
Second half, first part Liverpool dominated and created chances.
Second half, second part, United dominated and created chances.

The differences between these two teams today, United scored there chances.

--

It seems clear from this result that liverpool are in decline....

Also United on their way to a treble probably

Brian017

Call_me_al wrote:

but you were lucky... was never deserved on the merits of the game

Unfortunately some football games are not won on merits. They are won on luck. Liverpool seemed happy with the draw and they got punished for it.

Chong

Thinking of it today Rio was class , that goal clearance was excellent.

Aquos76

fade2black wrote:

Man Utd will win.

(Just something for Hobart and the other quoters to use if the worst does happen...)

hey fade2black, I just thought I would quote you seen as the other usual suspects probably wont.

Well predicted.

Chardee MacDennis

Lemlin wrote:

One thing's for sure, the Liverpool strikeforce had better watch out or Rio will overtake them in the goal charts

i think we'll stick to worrying about having the joint best defence, and wait to see what happens when rooney gets a lenghty ban for doing something stoopid...

wheres me jumpa

poor game. only came to life when united got going in the second half. liverpool are the form team at the moment and they didnt show it today. defended well but were poor in attack and even in midfield. united had a shambolic midfield today but for the last quarter of the game it was this midfield that was on top.

united definitely deserved the three points. liverpool looked happy with a 0-0 which is always dangerous no matter how good your defence is.

spockety

What's all this rubbish about the zonal marking system?

As Martin Tyler said, it was a free kick that liverpool would normally swallow up.

Goals are conceeded all the time from headers at corners and free kicks by teams who man mark rather than mark zonally. I presume this shows up the weaknesses of man marking free kicks and corners, no?

Chardee MacDennis

Brian017 wrote:

Unfortunately some football games are not won on merits. They are won on luck. Liverpool seemed happy with the draw and they got punished for it.

utd played most of the game holding for a draw, they had 5 shots against liverpools 11, i think the stats disagree with you there.

Necronomicon

Ronan|Raven wrote:

How was it a free kick for the goal? Tackling isnt allowed anymore by the looks of it, yet Ferdinand gets away with nearly removing crouchs shirt.

Removing his shirt my ass, it was nothing. Crouch used his arm to control that chance anyway. Good play by Evra to win the free kick, can't see why everyone's sour about that, it was a clear free. And nothing lucky about the goal, it was a terrific header. Patched up United side, I'm delighted.
And as for everyone saying Liverpool deserved to win, possession alone doesn't win you matches. I don't think they ever looked dangerous up top, Rio and Brown and Cisse and Crouch in their pockets. And Morientes was on the periphery of things when he came on. United put the ball in the back of the net, Liverpool couldn't, therefore, United deserved to win.

mike65

Rafa screwed up with the 'tactical' sub, there was no need to swap defenders.

Mike.

spockety

Anyone just see the Gary Neville celebration on TV?

What a prize t**t!

spockety

mike65 wrote:

Rafa screwed up with the 'tactical' sub, there was no need to swap defenders.

Mike.

Which tactical sub?

Rafa didn't swap any defenders.

If you're talking about Kromkamp, he came on on 88.5 minutes, and he played right wing.

Aquos76

Fair play to Gary Neville.... United true and true.

Sky have just shown the incident Mike65 referred to.

Chong

spockety wrote:

Anyone just see the Gary Neville celebration on TV?

What a prize t**t!

Pure passion for the club he loves thats why.

Pigman II

spockety wrote:

Goals are conceeded all the time from headers at corners and free kicks by teams who man mark rather than mark zonally. I presume this shows up the weaknesses of man marking free kicks and corners, no?

But wasn't Liverpool critiscised frequently last season precisely for employing a zonal system for defending set pieces?

spockety

Aquos76 wrote:

Fair play to Gary Neville.... United true and true.

That's "through and through".

wheres me jumpa

i cant believe theres a debate about the freekick.

it seemed a blatent foul to me.

spockety

Pigman II wrote:

But wasn't Liverpool critiscised frequently last season precisely for employing a zonal system for defending set pieces?

While they were getting to grips with it?

Look at the amount of goals they have conceeded this season.

Now look at the amount of goals Man Utd have conceeded this season.

spockety

Willem D wrote:

Pure passion for the club he loves thats why.

Passion that spilled over into irresponsibility.

The Muppet

Good win for United, Rio was my Man of the match.

Aquos76

spockety wrote:

That's "through and through".

Yeah whatever.

PHB

Rafa is just a class act, seriously, all managers should act like him. Great guy

therecklessone

spockety wrote:

Pity he didn't get a mobile phone in the head.

I suggest you take a deep breath before you post on this thread again. Either that or find something else to do for the next week.

spockety

PHB wrote:

Rafa is just a class act, seriously, all managers should act like him. Great guy

Absolutely. "I prefer don't talk about these decisions".

Can you imagine Fergie or Mourinho retaining their dignity and composure in an interview like that after a match like that?

super_furry

Derby games are always a one-off where anything can happen - look at the amount of times Everton have turned over Liverpool over the years despite league position - same with Manchester City and United in recent times. Liverpool froze today and despite the result I still see nothing to suggest that United are a team on the slide while the Champions of Europe have a much brighter future.

Defeat hurts but not, I'm sure, as much as failing to make the group stages of the European Cup.

missingtime

Arrrrrggggg!!! I hate Rio Ferdinand. Why is it the player that never does anything in any other game scores against liverpool?

super_furry

missingtime wrote:

Arrrrrggggg!!! I hate Rio Ferdinand. Why is it the player that never does anything in any other game scores against liverpool?

Because he's a big time Charlie that doesn't feel he has to do work in the 'smaller' games. United fan's dislike of him prove this.

PHB

Not a chance, that's why he is a legend. Pure gentlemen. It's never blaming other people, its just taking it on board, accepting it, and moving on.

Chong

spockety wrote:

Passion that spilled over into irresponsibility.

There is no point in getting angry about it like its over and in fairness man utd only won by luck I will admit it.

Ronan|Raven

Fair play to Rafa a true professional.

Fighting Irish

This game was pretty close imo, liverpool defended brilliantly United played brilliantly, whoever got a goal in this match deserved to win, fair play Man U

PHB

utd played most of the game holding for a draw, they had 5 shots against liverpools 11, i think the stats disagree with you there.

But stats are silly.
Liverpool had three decent chances in the game, and didn't take any of them.
United had three decent chances too, and took one of them.

Aquos76

Fighting Irish wrote:

This game was pretty close imo, liverpool defended brilliantly United played brilliantly, whoever got a goal in this match deserved to win, fair play Man U

Very well said.

missingtime

Whatever about Rio Ferdinand, I'm gutted. I thought after hearing about chelsea drawing at home we would have stuck in.
I really thought we would have got a better result.
Stupid Rio and Cisse grrrrrrrrr

spockety

missingtime wrote:

Whatever about Rio Ferdinand, I'm gutted. I thought after hearing about chelsea drawing at home we would have stuck in.
I really thought we would have got a better result.
Stupid Rio and Cisse grrrrrrrrr

We will still finish 2nd, so hold that thought.

Plus only one team playing at Old Trafford today still has a chance of playing the Champions League final this season, and it's not Utd.

Fighting Irish

utd played most of the game holding for a draw, they had 5 shots against liverpools 11, i think the stats disagree with you there.

:rolleyes: United weren't looking for a draw, liverpools defence and midfield just stood there ground well and didn't give united much of a chance, United seemed to up the tempo a bit 2nd half trying to get something more from the match

KdjaCL

Rafa stuck on Kronkamp to ensure the draw, Kronkamp let Rio have a free header. Bummer


kdjac

missingtime

spockety wrote:

We will still finish 2nd, so hold that thought.

Plus only one team playing at Old Trafford today still has a chance of playing the Champions League final this season, and it's not Utd.

Yea i suppose. Still a bit sore though. Very unsporting of me I know.

Kulgan

spockety wrote:

Anyone just see the Gary Neville celebration on TV?

What a prize t**t!

What happened?!

spockety

missingtime wrote:

Yea i suppose. Still a bit sore though. Very unsporting of me I know.

Understandable. But we should allow them this win, after all, it's probably going to be the highlight of their entire season.

redspider

This was a typical Man U / Liverpool game as in very close where it looked like a single goal would take it and thats what happened. Liverpool, if anything, had the better credentials for the taking of all 3 pts as they had the closest chances in the match. Cisse's miss from 4 yards was unbelieable and was easier than Ferdinand's goal.

I think most Man U fans will feel elated to get all 3 pts and most Liverpool fans will feel deflated as Man U stole it at the death. The stats also support it. Given the late time of the score, there was no real way back.

That doesnt settle 2nd place, by any shape of the imagination. And even though Chelsea slipped up badly today, they should get back into their gear, and Livepool should recover from this. This was a game at home at Man U, where Liverpool were more deserving of the points. That should be sufficient ammunition to motivate the players.

time for another consolitory beer ....

redspider

ps: at least Celtic won well earlier in the day ....

Lex Luthor

Ah they showed them too much respect...could have finished them off earlier. Gotta give Man U credit for sticking in there. Cisse can go to Marseille for free. FSP should have been playing from the start or early in the 1st half.

redspider

KdjaC wrote:

Rafa stuck on Kronkamp to ensure the draw, Kronkamp let Rio have a free header. Bummer

I'll have to have a closer look at it tonight in slow mo, I didnt spot it at the time, but if that is indeed the case, it supports my remark from last week that bringing him on with a few mins to go is a complete waste of time, and in this case as it sounds from you KdjaC, highly dangerous.

redspider

mike65

What happened?!

Neville after the goal ran back down the length of the pitch to the Liverpool fans and kissed the badge (ugh!). After the final whistle I belive he was at it again. 606 phone in is full of it right now.

Mike.

spockety

He didn't just "kiss the badge".. he was being quite animated about it.