Manchester United Transfer Rumours/Discussion 2006 :)

Headshot

my god uniteds midfield versus Arsenals midfield was crap

players like O shea and Fletcher are useless

i still cant believe there still at the club

and evra my god stay on ure ****ing legs

Poor Ronney,still not match fit

Sizzler

Piss poor performance from one of the field to the other, Evra actually kept the score down with some good tackles I thought!

WTF were Utd at, couldnt pass the fcuking ball 5 yards. Arsenal pressed the game extremely well, in fact it was probably to their advantage that Henry wasnt playing as the tactics worked a treat with 5 in the middle :eek:

Deserved nowt to be honest, a 0-0 draw would have been a good result!

A wake up call if nothing else eh, maybe what we needed

sprinkles

United midfield was utter sh*te! Can't believe there's no other option than giving fletch a run out. O Shea had a bad game.

Sizzler

Cant believe JOS STARTED and Carrick was on the bench :eek:

tdv

United havent made any progress what so ever from last season.
Ferdinand....how anyone can regard him as top class player is beyond me. Silvestre....Well he got subbed after 25mins which just about sums him up. Fletcher....Not good enough. Ronaldo...Is well over-rated, Im starting to think if he had moved to Madrid he would have done everyone a favour.
Rooney...Over-rated O'Shea...Just as pathetic as Silvestre. Brown...Not good enough.

evad_lhorg

god its gonna suck until either Giggs or park is back. Carrick just doesnt look worth the money or the time and oshea and fletcher, while they can put in some good effort especially Fletch, just arent good enough. Rooney was just not with it today but saying that Arsenal did very good at keepin him and saha out of the game. Trust Lehmans German head to stop us from scoring. git!

Nalz

Outpassed, overran for the first 2o mins of the game, on the whole Arsenal deserved their win - without Henry, Lauren, Sendaros and Van Persie.

Carrick was overpriced but I still have faith in him. See what I was saying about John O Shea? Does really good things at times and looks to have a decent game, then fúcks up totally at least twice per game. Fletcher is average, a light weighted grafter who is one footed that puts in the odd cross. Scholes will never be the same. I dont like goin on just on one game but it was very poor. Brown I thought played okay, as did Rio and Evra. Ronaldo is too frustrating...even though he is still 21 and the things he can do with the ball, yet there 8 or 9 times out of ten there is no end product.
Rooney isnt fit, but his judgement today was off. Poor performance.

One good point was the keeper looked very good, and there is life in Solskjaer. Bring back Smith,Heinze and maybe Vidic, say a few prayers to whoever your God is and we might get 2nd.

bucks73

tdv wrote:

Ronaldo...Is well over-rated, Im starting to think if he had moved to Madrid he would have done everyone a favour.QUOTE]

Definitely sold the wrong player to Real. They would have paid something ridiculous like 20m for that idiot. He was responsible for the goal thanks to a trick that didnt come off and he also missed the best chance of the game.

Waste of space.

evad_lhorg

Ronaldo only really frustrates me when he has tight angles on goal or when he has a free kick to take. he always gos for gloruy instead of playing across the box. really annoying.


he did give Lehmann a good smack thogh:D

bucks73

evad_lhorg wrote:

he did give Lehmann a good smack thogh:D

Amusing as it was, it was a poor effort. Where was the cool finish? Oh yeah, hes in Madrid.:rolleyes:

sofireland

Arsenal crowded midfield, no way could JOS or Fletcher break it down.

In fairness, we were riding our luck quite a bit. Happy with the keeper, thought he did alright. Brown could have done better for the goal. Ronnie shouldn't have dallied with the ball but Fabregas still had a bit to do, and got the luck as well.

Silvestre got injured thats why he came off, Evra did well i thought.

Rooney was short of match fitness, he'll get that back gradually, but we really missed giggs.

Carrick i thought did well, but i feel we should have started with him.

We're still second, its early days yet, only 5 games in, hopefully this will be the kick in the arse we need! (no pun intended)

MonkeyWrench

I think this result will probably do us good in the long run, we needed a kick up the backside early on in the season and were probably getting a little complacent after the initial good start to the season.

I think Evra played well at left back but Ferdinand again was not the type of center half that we vitally need. Himself and John Terry are Center backs for England but the gulf in their play is obvious as heck when you compare Ferdinands performance against Terrys for Chelsea yesterday, he was solid at the back and always a target for corners in the other half for Chelsea. Kuzchek in goal was solid I thought and that he gained in confidence as the game progressed.

John O'Shea is a player in my opinion who should struggle to make it onto the bench not to mind being part of the first team lineup. SAF has to pick Carrick from now on ahead of him to give the new lad more confidence.

I was impressed with Saha again up front and think that he will surely be in the top 5 scorers in the prem this season barring no major injuries. Rooney was non existent again and his first touch is not anywhere near what it should be.

I think manu will still be fine against the lower teams but they really need to shape up the midfield and centerbacks before the next really important game...

gracehopper

United were beaten by the better team on the day. Arsenal passed well, moved and looked a lot sharper than United. John o Shea, Ferdinand and Brown were all very poor for United. Gary Neville also struggled with Ljungberg all afternoon. Rooney’s had his worst game in a manu jersey and Ronaldo was his usual petulant self. I don’t understand why he gets to take the freekicks. He is rubbish at them. I could put my foot through the ball for every freekick and do it just as badly as he does. Absolutely no invention at all. OK so the ball moves in the air. Whippee!!! any good keeper will just palm it over the bar if unsure. Ronaldo clearly has talent, but I’m beginning to wonder if he has the brain to become a great footballer. There are some things he does during a game that would make you think he is a few sambo’s short.

In terms of Arsenal, Lehmann was excellent, Eboue handled Ronaldo well and the 5 in midfield worked tirelessly. Despite playing so well Arsenal were still lucky to score with Ronaldo’s mistake. Ronaldo also gifted Baptista about 5 mins earlier.
Adebayor is decent and worked really hard but he hasn’t got the quality of Kanu, I suppose he is only 22 so we’ll see. Lucky to get the goal but a well deserved win. It's an easy enough decision to pack the midfield when you see the likes of O Shea lining up against you.

dr.bollocko

I must say I thought that arsenals midfield 5 struggled to get into the game, and it would have flowed a lot nicer without that kind of containing football.
The play seemed to bypass the midfield frequently because of it. Also, I have yet to be impressed with Carrick, and ferdinand needs a trip to the glue factory, he's the new Sol Campbell he is.

Though I must say that Solskjaers shot and the resulting Lehmann save was just a fantastic footballing moment, threading that low shot through the teeniest gap that immediately closed and the way it was swerving into the corner before the nearest of quick glove touches sent it skimming just around. Its just breathtaking to watch that 4 seconds of footage.

madds

I'm hoping Fergie plays Heinze in the centre when he's fit again and drops Ferdinand. Brown is a good player but suffers from jitters when partnering Rio in defence. A Neville, Brown, Heinze, Evra defence will do for me.

In midfield, whilst Giggs is out I'd start Smithy ahead of Fletcher on the RHS, telling him to tuck in a little to protect Carrick & Scholes. Ronaldo would continue on the left but told to get his act together.

Saha and Rooney to continue up top. Rooney didn't show any of his explosive pace or touch yesterday - let's just hope it is a lack of games and not something more serious.

Madds

_blank_

madds wrote:

Ronaldo would continue on the left but told to get his act together.

Genius. Why hasn't Alex Ferguson thought of this?

bucks73

seansouth wrote:

Genius. Why hasn't Alex Ferguson thought of this?

Fergie would be better off telling him to get his things together.

Attractive Nun

When's Heinze going to be back? I thought he was in full training already...

tdv

madds wrote:

I'm hoping Fergie plays Heinze in the centre when he's fit again and drops Ferdinand. Brown is a good player but suffers from jitters when partnering Rio in defence. A Neville, Brown, Heinze, Evra defence will do for me.

In midfield, whilst Giggs is out I'd start Smithy ahead of Fletcher on the RHS, telling him to tuck in a little to protect Carrick & Scholes. Ronaldo would continue on the left but told to get his act together.

Saha and Rooney to continue up top. Rooney didn't show any of his explosive pace or touch yesterday - let's just hope it is a lack of games and not something more serious.

Madds

Yeah I like the sound of that. Heinze did a great job for Argentina at CB & Evera seems to be setteling in now. Take Brown out tho for Vidic & put Park in on the right & send Ronaldo back off to the Zoo.

Necronomicon

tdv wrote:

Yeah I like the sound of that. Heinze did a great job for Argentina at CB & Evera seems to be setteling in now. Take Brown out tho for Vidic & put Park in on the right & send Ronaldo back off to the Zoo.

Brown is our best defender imho, he's a rock. Vidic still hasn't settled and shown his best.
I'm still a little bewildered at some of the posts here, can't believe how willing people are to jump all over players at the first slip. Calm down guys, get behind the team instead of abusing it.

tdv

Necromomicon wrote:

can't believe how willing people are to jump all over players at the first slip. Calm down guys, get behind the team instead of abusing it.

Its been 3 years since the last tittle. Its not the first slip & it should be the last slip but it wont be.

Nalz

We are a little bit of a shambles squad wise I dont agree with the comments about our backline, I think Brown,Rio,Vidic,Heinze,Neville,Evra,Sivestre and co are all decent. Its the lack of bite and creativity in Midfield. Someone said to me today that letting the Senna deal die was a mistake, regardless of whether Carrick, Hrgreaves our both signed. I tend to agree. Paul Scholes will never be the same, neither will Giggs (who we're kinda missing). I just hope Ronaldo (and all it looks to be now is hope) comes on in terms of end product, Rooney gets back to himself and we start getting points on the board.

Its early days, but I wouldnt put too much euros on them beating Reading next week

tdv

There's to much ****ing pressure on Rooney to start off with. When you look at Messi at Barca he's as good as Rooney but there's not half as much pressure on him to perfrom as Rooney, because at Barca there's loads of other players who can stepo up to the plate. Rooney is to young to be the main player.

evad_lhorg

Messi is better I think. but I agree. too much pressure plus the English media have overhyped him making everyone think he is the best thing goin. he is over0rated but still amazing

Attractive Nun

I can't believe some of the ridiculous ideas that are coming out in this thread. Ferdinand is our best defender, maybe not our most consistent, but he only makes the very odd howler these days. Brown and Vidic are close to equals in my book, and Evra and Silvestre are fine on the left until Heinze's return. We have no problem in defense, there's no need to go mad on the back of one defeat in 6.

Obviously we have a problem in strength in depth elsewhere, but everyone's conclusions about our starting XI are premature at best. Giggs and Scholes are past it? Scholes is 32, has just come back from half a season out, was MOTM against Celtic, and just because he failed to command the midfield (a midfield of Rosicky, Fabregas and Gilberto - playing the best football I've seen from Arsenal since last year's Champions League) with the sham that is John O'Shea, he's past it? And Giggs is in the form of his life. Alright, Carrick hasn't done much to prove his price tag as of yet, but he hasn't played badly by any means. And, with Scholes overrun in midfield and Fletcher given the right wing, Ronaldo (who has been playing very well this season, IMO) was the only threat we had from midfield against Arsenal.

Ronaldo---Carrick---Scholes---Giggs - it's not a bad midfield.

sofireland

Attractive Nun wrote:

I can't believe some of the ridiculous ideas that are coming out in this thread. Ferdinand is our best defender, maybe not our most consistent, but he only makes the very odd howler these days. Brown and Vidic are close to equals in my book, and Evra and Silvestre are fine on the left until Heinze's return. We have no problem in defense, there's no need to go mad on the back of one defeat in 6.

Obviously we have a problem in strength in depth elsewhere, but everyone's conclusions about our starting XI are premature at best. Giggs and Scholes are past it? Scholes is 32, has just come back from half a season out, was MOTM against Celtic, and just because he failed to command the midfield (a midfield of Rosicky, Fabregas and Gilberto - playing the best football I've seen from Arsenal since last year's Champions League) with the sham that is John O'Shea, he's past it? And Giggs is in the form of his life. Alright, Carrick hasn't done much to prove his price tag as of yet, but he hasn't played badly by any means. And, with Scholes overrun in midfield and Fletcher given the right wing, Ronaldo (who has been playing very well this season, IMO) was the only threat we had from midfield against Arsenal.

Ronaldo---Carrick---Scholes---Giggs - it's not a bad midfield.

I agree... seriously guys, get behind the team.
1 defeat in 6 FFS

The_B_Man

I'm sorry, but personally, i think Ronaldo is dragging us down. Hes a glory hunter.

Watching the game at the weekend, i knew exactly the out come of that free kick he had on the edge of the box after lehmann handled it.

100% of the time, its a shot, and its over. i cant even remember the last time he scored! sure, hes fancy, but im not a fan of his in any sense of the word, and i think we perform without him.

sofireland

The_B_Man wrote:

100% of the time, its a shot, and its over. i cant even remember the last time he scored! sure, hes fancy, but im not a fan of his in any sense of the word, and i think we perform without him.

Yeah so what, thats up to SAF and CQ to sort out.

Didn't he score against Fulham? Good goal too if i remember

Anyway, he has talent, maybe he's just not being coached right!

Jimi-Spandex

The only thing we're lacking is depth in midfield. Perhaps another striker, but if smudger comes back well in the next month or so, we'll be fine. We lost to a late goal against arsenal and if it wasn't for a couple of wunder saves from mad jens we'd have drawn.

I haven't been happy with Brown and Rio so far this season. That said, they're not getting great protection from midfield. This worries me, as I think Fletcher and O'Shea have been having good games by their standards. I think we all agree that not signing Senna was a mistake. We can only hope we get through till january still in Europe and in contention for the league.

sofireland

With the squad we have, we should have no problems getting through to the knock stages of cl

Premiership, i dunno... we are a bit lightweight, i'd say our preferred midfield going forward will be

Ronaldo - Carrick - Scholes - Giggs (if fit)

We're lacking in the middle,

AthAnRi

The_B_Man wrote:

I'm sorry, but personally, i think Ronaldo is dragging us down. Hes a glory hunter.

Watching the game at the weekend, i knew exactly the out come of that free kick he had on the edge of the box after lehmann handled it.

100% of the time, its a shot, and its over. i cant even remember the last time he scored! sure, hes fancy, but im not a fan of his in any sense of the word, and i think we perform without him.

Last season I would have agreed with you 100% this season though he has certainly been producing a lot more than last. He's definately more direct and he even got one of his frees on Target against Spurs.

He's always gonna be a bit fancy that's just part and parcel of his game but I'v been well impressed so far this season.

bucks73

sofireland wrote:

Yeah so what, thats up to SAF and CQ to sort out.

Didn't he score against Fulham? Good goal too if i remember

Anyway, he has talent, maybe he's just not being coached right!

????????

Its nothing to do with Fergie if the muppet blows a couple of free kicks high and wide. Its not that hard to keep the ball down. He just hits it as hard as he can and hopes. Probably closes his eyes too.

As for the correct coaching, he was a lot more frustrating when he arrived and Fergie has got a lot of the diving and step overs out of his game. It used to be ridiculous. IMO he is still a waste of a shirt and I would start Giggs or Park ahead of him if both were fit. At least they are willing to work for the team and will track back if they lose the ball.

bucks73

Jimi-Spandex wrote:

The only thing we're lacking is depth in midfield. Perhaps another striker, but if smudger comes back well in the next month or so, we'll be fine. We lost to a late goal against arsenal and if it wasn't for a couple of wunder saves from mad jens we'd have drawn.

I haven't been happy with Brown and Rio so far this season. That said, they're not getting great protection from midfield. This worries me, as I think Fletcher and O'Shea have been having good games by their standards. I think we all agree that not signing Senna was a mistake. We can only hope we get through till january still in Europe and in contention for the league.

Totally agree. With Hargreaves out of the picture, I think Senna should be bought in January.

Aquos76

bucks73 wrote:

Totally agree. With Hargreaves out of the picture, I think Senna should be bought in January.

Hargreaves doesn't think so...

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News, Owen Hargreaves has refused to rule out the possibility of joining Manchester United in January.

The England international was fined by his club Bayern Munich over the summer after making public his desire to move to Old Trafford following a successful World Cup campaign.

The German giants resisted Sir Alex Ferguson's attempts to bring Hargreaves to The Premiership for the first time, and the tenacious midfielder was forced to remain in the Bundesliga where he broke his leg on Saturday in a game against Arminia Bielefeld.

Whilst beginning his recuperation from the serious injury, Hargreaves took time out to explain to Sky Sports News that he has no regrets about pursuing a switch to Old Trafford over the summer.

Moreover the international star refused to rule out the possibility that he could join The Red Devils when the transfer window opens at the start of 2007.

"It's tough to say, I don't know [about moving in January]," said Hargreaves.

"I've said what I would have liked to happen and obviously it didn't happen and I think it's important if you have an opinion that you stick to it even though you might receive some criticism here and from the club.

"What happens in the future it's not really down to me, you saw that in the summer and I'm looking forward to when I go on the pitch doing well and playing well because these things all started from me playing well as a footballer.

"Hopefully I can do that and we will see where my path leads."

With Hargreaves now out of England's next two Euro 2008 qualifiers against Macedonia and Croatia in early October, and Aaron Lennon also missing due to injury, there have been suggestions that David Beckham could be welcomed back to the international reckoning after being axed by Steve McClaren.

Hargreaves certainly believes the former captain still has much to offer The Three Lions.

"There's always room for David Beckham," Hargreaves added.

"He actually rang me up and left a message on my phone, it's strange to have the support of people like that, to see how I'm doing.

"At the moment he is not in the picture but I don't think you can ever close the door on Becks because he is such a resilient individual in the past and still has a lot to add to the team.

"But obviously those aren't decisions I make or he makes, they are obviously down to the manager."

Under the new guiding hand of McClaren, Hargreaves has emerged as an indispensable member of the England team, playing in a new look central midfield with Frank Lampard that has allowed Steven Gerrard to roam free on the right.

The Bayern star is now hoping that McClaren can bring 40 years of under-achievement to an end for The Three Lions, particularly in the wake of a desperately disappointing World Cup.

"The potential is there now, we just need to make the most of it.

"I think we have got everything in place now the onus is on us to do very well, to prove to people we are a great team and that is what we are hoping to do in the future."

Reflecting on his own injury, Hargreaves, who could be back in action by mid-November, is focusing on recuperating fully and returning stronger after suffering the fracture.

"I think the most important thing is to not think why and what could have been, things were going so well I think if that's the case you deal with the good and the bad the same.

"I'm looking forward to getting healthy, I'm taking a small break at the moment and I'll come back even stronger."

Link

wheres me jumpa

The big things I took from the game at the weekend was:

- Fletcher did not once try go by Gallas.
- Ronaldo huffed and puffed but got nothing from Eboue.
- Rooney was non existant.
- O'Shea was brought in to break up attacks but Im struggling to remember one crunhcing tackle.
- Saha had little or no service.

With so many players out of the game we hadnt a hope. The defense looks shakey at the moment but its because our midfield is so poor. Scholes was way too deep. So many times I saw him clearing up on the edge of our box.

We need a holding midfielder, not signing Senna was a huge mistake. Our midfield lacks so much quality that I dont see why we didnt sign/attempt to sign Senna and Hargreaves.

Fletcher, OShea and Richardson are not good enough.

bucks73

Aquos76 wrote:

Hargreaves doesn't think so...

Not really up to him as we have seen, if Bayern dont want to sell, they wont. Would prefer him to Senna but I dont think its going to happen. Although they might discover that they dont need him if they play well while he is injuerd.

sofireland

Senna signed an extension. so he'll cost big bucks to get!

Attractive Nun

The_B_Man wrote:

I'm sorry, but personally, i think Ronaldo is dragging us down. Hes a glory hunter.

Watching the game at the weekend, i knew exactly the out come of that free kick he had on the edge of the box after lehmann handled it.

100% of the time, its a shot, and its over. i cant even remember the last time he scored! sure, hes fancy, but im not a fan of his in any sense of the word, and i think we perform without him.

While I'll defend Ronaldo's place in the team until the cows come home, I agree with you on one thing, I don't know why he's allowed take the free kicks. Giggs would get more joy, I think, and maybe even Rooney. I'd give Ronaldo the long range ones, as he has one mighty strike on him. But we really should mix it up more elsewhere, considering we don't really have a specialist free kick taker.

And yes, we badly need a holding midfielder. EDIT: Mascherano in January? Pardew would not be pleased!

dr.bollocko

You have to concede that ronaldo is a bit inexperienced yet. He loses too much ball, he runs into impossible situations, and while he is a good footballer, his ability to stop, and take time to look up, is not there yet. He loses a lot of ball and his dead ball skills need work, but I would definitely prefer to have him on the team than playing for someone else. He is definitely a talent, whenever I see him on the ball that is re-affirmed, but the guy does cost us a lot of possession in important areas, and he often tries to pull off something over-fancy when the simple ball or a decisive through ball is the better option. If not ronaldo, or giggs, who else is there to take free kicks?

Attractive Nun

Rio Ferdinand for free kick taker!

I always think that there are certain players in a team that you have to allow some leeway when it comes to retaining possession. I agree that Ronaldo does give the ball away too much, and his final delivery is poor (although better than most on the team), but at the very least he is often the only player trying things. As much as people hate stepovers and backheels, they are increasingly coming off for Ronaldo. You can see he's learning which tricks are most effective, he cuts out the fancy stuff a lot more often now and he's passing much earlier. That thing he does where he's running then all of a sudden he cuts inside by kicking the ball with his outside foot under his other leg (poorly explained) consistently comes off now, for example. He's also our only midfielder that gets into the box to support the strikers at all often enough. The flare players like him - and even people like Ronaldinho, Messi, Robben etc etc will often lose the ball. But if he didn't risk that, the ball would end up going back to Ferdinand and Brown to pass it about defense for no reason.

As frustrating as he is, a United team without him is often toothless.

dr.bollocko

Thats true, we have always thrived with players that arent afraid to take on defenders, and we need someone to beat a defender and whip a ball in. Giggs hasnt been this kind of player for a long time, Rooney can take on players but he is too deadly in the box and also off form at the moment. Our midfield is composed of strength and holding players that are under-performing, but if we did not use ronaldo regularly we would lose a dimension that every great team needs.

herbieflowers

This is the problem with Man U the past few seasons - no problems against dispatching average teams but when it comes to the crunch games we just lack that extra edge.

Big Nelly

herbieflowers wrote:

This is the problem with Man U the past few seasons - no problems against dispatching average teams but when it comes to the crunch games we just lack that extra edge.

No offence but I think your wrong way around, Utd have still managed to defeat the major teams, e.g. Arsenals run, Chelsea last season at home, but have struggled against the lower teams, defeats against Wolves comes to mind. A few seasons before if they lost against arsenal they would trash every other team in the PL and Arsenal would lose points somewhere along the line and Man Utd would win the league!!

evad_lhorg

defeats, and bad ones, at the hands of blackburn and middlesboro come to mind from last season.

gracehopper

dr.bollocko wrote:

You have to concede that ronaldo is a bit inexperienced yet. He loses too much ball, he runs into impossible situations, and while he is a good footballer, his ability to stop, and take time to look up, is not there yet. He loses a lot of ball and his dead ball skills need work, but I would definitely prefer to have him on the team than playing for someone else. He is definitely a talent, whenever I see him on the ball that is re-affirmed, but the guy does cost us a lot of possession in important areas, and he often tries to pull off something over-fancy when the simple ball or a decisive through ball is the better option. If not ronaldo, or giggs, who else is there to take free kicks?

I agree here with what is said about ronaldo. Why not Rooney for freekicks? do you not remember his first game for united against fenerbace(sp)?

sprinkles

Saha can strike a free kick too, as can Heinze. There's a number of options for free kicks...

Nalz

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8742_1545101,00.html

MonkeyWrench

Great win for Utd at the weekend, they should have won 4 or 5 nil. I was very impressed with Ronaldo on the left wing, he does look like more of a threat in giggs position coming in from the left, passing defenders on the inside and shooting. He should have gotten a hatrick yesterday but seems to have some sort of magnetic ability to always hit the post!
If yesterdays performance is anything to go by, Chelsea will be shaking in their boots....

Headshot

MonkeyWrench wrote:

If yesterdays performance is anything to go by, Chelsea will be shaking in their boots....

utd are well able to beat the bad teams like Newcastle [no offence to Newcastle supporters]

but coming up against the big teams i can't see utd beating the likes of chelsea

look at utds midfield compared to chelsea's midfield

Nalz

Read an artical last week by Ronnie Whelan stating that Carrick will come good and will push Chelsea to the title if he stays fit for the season, I think it was in the free metro/hearld (either that or the indo in Mickey D's!) . I hope his right, but I disagree comepletely. Hopefully Ronaldos improvement regarding judgement will continue to improve...he has some potential to be the most dangerous player in the league