Milan V United SL second leg

daveg

According to SSnews Vidic has a scan today, and if passed will play. Rio also in contention to play as well. Maldini is doubtful, but gattuso passed fit (shite).

Mitch Connor

Going to be a very very tough game for United, but my fingers are crossed. I reckon we can get a result over there, but we need the players to keep their heads, especially if we go 1 down early on. Hopefully scholes will stay on his feet, would be terrible to see him miss another CL final, if we make it.

PHB

I don't think any real predictions can be made until we know whether or not Fletcher is playing RB.
Either of Vidic or Rio being fit will mean Fletcher can play in the middle of the park. I hope he does, cause without him, Scholes will be getting booked. With him, Scholes can concentrate on the passing.

I think Fergie might considering risking one of them, if the risk is only 2-3 weeks out. It would get us through the semis, and with the premiership looking extremely likely, it's a risk we can afford.

Mitch Connor

PHB wrote:

I don't think any real predictions can be made until we know whether or not Fletcher is playing RB.
Either of Vidic or Rio being fit will mean Fletcher can play in the middle of the park. I hope he does, cause without him, Scholes will be getting booked. With him, Scholes can concentrate on the passing.

I think Fergie might considering risking one of them, if the risk is only 2-3 weeks out. It would get us through the semis, and with the premiership looking extremely likely, it's a risk we can afford.

I'm hoping fletcher starts in the middle, and is told to run after Kaka all night. Fletchers workrate and closing down of Kaka will be needed - we gave Kaka too much sapce in the first half at OT, and the begining of the second, we can't afford to do that again.

Mr Alan

I think if United can keep Kaka out of the game, they will go through.

If they can't, they'll lose.

He is THAT good. Best player in the world IMO

Mitch Connor

millersangel wrote:

I think if United can keep Kaka out of the game, they will go through.

If they can't, they'll lose.

He is THAT good. Best player in the world IMO

he is too hit and miss to be the best in the world imo. Sometimes he is amazing, others you'd wonder if he had even been on the pitch. However, he is still the type of player you'd want playing for you, not against, as he can play poorly and still turn teh game in that 1 minute spell where he plays well.

Look at the game at OT - apart from his two goals he did nothing all night, and was hardly to be seen in the second half, personally i think Rooney played a better game that night, but he did get the two goals and you can't really complain about that!

Paul Tergat

Tauren wrote:

apart from his two goals

i think that was enough!

he is a great player and i am very worried about the game, but excited about another big European night (missed these over last few years!)

Flecther playing in the middle is needed, makes the booking evra got even more annoying fi he has to play RB!

either one of vidic or rio being back will make a massive difference, our defence has looked all over the place without em.

Really hope we can do it and that Scholesy gets to play in a final

Mitch Connor

p_larkin99 wrote:

Tauren wrote:

apart from his two goals

i think that was enough!

he is a great player and i am very worried about the game, but excited about another big European night (missed these over last few years!)

Flecther playing in the middle is needed, makes the booking evra got even more annoying fi he has to play RB!

either one of vidic or rio being back will make a massive difference, our defence has looked all over the place without em.

Really hope we can do it and that Scholesy gets to play in a final

But to call him best player in the world, there needs to be more.

Rooney scored two goals in that match too, and i think his all round contribution to the side and workrate that night was better as well (imo) so should i proclaim him as the best player in the world? He is also a good bit younger then Kaka, which makes his performance that bit better as he is less experienced.

Right now, if I could pick any player in the world, it would be Messi.

But anyway - back to the game..... I hope Kaka has a stinker. COME ON UNITED

PHB

In all fairness, Kaka's all round contribution that night was incredible. He set up chances, had a couple of shots on target, nearly scored twice more. To say he did nothing other than two goals is just bull****.

Mitch Connor

PHB wrote:

In all fairness, Kaka's all round contribution that night was incredible. He set up chances, had a couple of shots on target, nearly scored twice more. To say he did nothing other than two goals is just bull****.

what chances? I remember for real chances, one volley from Kaka, and one shot wide at the start of the second half. I don't really remember Kaka creating anything for Gilardino.

He certainly didn't do more then Rooney.

Pighead

Tauren wrote:

what chances? I remember for real chances, one volley from Kaka, and one shot wide at the start of the second half. I don't really remember Kaka creating anything for Gilardino.

He certainly didn't do more then Rooney.

I'm guessing you watched that match with your girlfriend and you missed lots of it because she kept switching over to Corrie. To say Rooney had a better game than Kaka last Tuesday night is absurd.

PHB

Yes he did.

There was also shot from about 30 yards, another from 20 yards (at the start), the run where he hit the ball wide of the left post, chance in the box around the 20th minute, and the volley. He also set up Seedorf for a volley, but Seedorf sent it wide. Also the two goals.

Rooney was good, but Kaka was immense in that game.

Raskolnikov

Pighead wrote:

I'm guessing you watched that match with your girlfriend and you missed lots of it because she kept switching over to Corrie. To say Rooney had a better game than Kaka last Tuesday night is absurd.

Yep. Kaka' is the reason why Milan even have a chance of progressing to the final.

Trippie

the dynamic of this game is going to be much different than the last one and it is going to go either of two ways imo

the first one is that looks like inzaghi is going to be playing from the start which means the united defence regardless of who is playing is going to push up in order to catch inzaghi in his natural position - offside, this is going to create a lot more space behind the backline which means the game could play out like the munich game as there will be less space for ronaldo,scholes and rooney to run into and therefore less ground for gattuso to cover while running after them like the lunatic he is while more psace for seedorf and kaka to run into and once they get clear they wont have any defenders in front of them like the last game.

the second one is that united take a page out of arsenal's book and sit back and try and soak up as much as possible and then hit the slow milan backline on the break but this has its problems as well as it creates space for seedorf/kaka to shoot from distance which they are quite capable of and then that places inzaghi in the box much more and regardless of what people think of him he is still one of the most natural goal poachers out there and capable of getting a few if given the opportunities. this is the way a lot of teams try to play milan recently and it seems to play into their hands as gattuso soaks up most of the pressure and regardless of how old people say maldini he has seen so many truly great players that very few things seem to surprise him as his positional sense is very good,

and in regards to the people who say kaka drifts in and out of games and seems to go missing, he does sometimes but even when he has dissapeared he strikes such fear into a team ala zidane that there will still be someone there marking him creating space for other players which was what made the 200 team of madrid so good because even if zidane went missing he created so much more space for the others that they could capitalise on it

jank

Will be a good game but id expect United to go through

herbieflowers

anyone know why Fletcher was left out of the squad against Everton?

Paul Tergat

herbieflowers wrote:

anyone know why Fletcher was left out of the squad against Everton?

Rest your big players before the European game!

gracehopper

The key to Utd winning this is to keep Kaka, pirlo and seedorf quiet. I think its the first time i've ever thought this but we really do need fletcher in the centre of the park in this game.
Hopefully Rio and vidic are back. I'd personally put them straight into the team. We've been poor at the back without these 2. Heinze has been terrible since his injury and Brown has been very poor aswell. I will say I've been impressed with o shea in the last while. I thought he played very well against everton on saturday.

Hopefully the starting lineup will be something like this:

---

VDS
O Shea

---

Rio---Vidic--Heinze

---

Fletcher---Carrick
Ronaldo

---

Scholes

---

Giggs

---

Rooney

i think we'll score but so will milan. I expect a similar result to the first leg. I Hope it goes our way. Hope scholesy doesnt get booked!

Nalz

gracehopper wrote:

Hopefully the starting lineup will be something like this:

---

VDS
O Shea

---

Rio---Vidic--Heinze

---

Fletcher---Carrick
Ronaldo

---

Scholes

---

Giggs

---

Rooney

I'd like to see this line up too. This is going to be a tough game, I think it will be 1-1 or 2-1 to Milan. I'm hopeful for the draw. If Rooney continues his form then we'll definitely score. Keeping them out is the thing.

herbieflowers

Ferdinand is probably a safer gamble, seeing as Vidic hasn't played since March...

I dunno, I think people are putting too much stress on the lack of defenders, for one, Milan only play with one striker - likely to be Inzaghi, they have little width, more a central side with Pirlo and Gattuso deep-lying, that leaves Kaka and Seedorf (lacks pace, needs time and space on the ball) - once they're pressed (and that goes for all of Milan's midfielders) they can't do anything with the ball. So, imo, it's more crucial for the midfielders of Man U - Carrick, Fletcher and Scholes - to play out of their skins...I would have been worried if Milan still had Shevchenko or Ronaldo eligible....

Mitch Connor

herbieflowers wrote:

Ferdinand is probably a safer gamble, seeing as Vidic hasn't played since March...

I dunno - Vidic is less likely to tweak a healed collarbone, then Rio is to tweak a groin injury.

herbieflowers

True but Vidic must be waaaaaay short of match practice...Rio only played the other week

Nalz

Tauren wrote:

I dunno - Vidic is less likely to tweak a healed collarbone, then Rio is to tweak a groin injury.

I agree. Was just about to post that. Im happy cas it looks like we can bring the premiership trophy back home... CL and FA cup just a bonus for me!

Mitch Connor

herbieflowers wrote:

True but Vidic must be waaaaaay short of match practice...Rio only played the other week

He has really only missed 4 weeks or so, not that much - and i would imagine the fact he has been in full training for the last week would help him. Plus, he is Vidic, y'know, a freakin WARRIOR!

herbieflowers

Yeah...damn straight! But yeah...when I say lack of match practice I mean maybe not as sharp, match-fit...but Milan don't have much pace anyway so...

Mitch Connor

it would be a worry. It looks like inzaghi will be starting. That guy loves to break the offside trap - and though he may be crap at actually doing it, it only takes one defender to lose concentration for a moment and he's in. But having said that, i'd still fancy a non-match-sharp vidic to screw up a lot less then either Brown or Heinze at CB.

herbieflowers

But I'd expect Man U to drop deep defensively, crowd the midfield etc. like they did at OT

RasTa

John O'Shea
Shots: 5
Goals: 4

Andriy Shevchenko
Shots: 36
Goals: 4

smemon

i expect a 4-5-1 from Utd, with rooney struggling to get service up front.

dreadful game, milan to go ahead and utd to pull it level in the second half and hang on for the draw.

If utd go 1-0 down in 5 minutes, excellent. That's the only way they'll go out and attack milan. I'm never worried when utd go behind early on, everton a classic example. They'll create chances and with the likes of rooney, ronaldo, scholes on the pitch it only takes one moment of magic.

Mitch Connor

smemon wrote:

i expect a 4-5-1 from Utd, with rooney struggling to get service up front.

dreadful game, milan to go ahead and utd to pull it level in the second half and hang on for the draw.

If utd go 1-0 down in 5 minutes, excellent. That's the only way they'll go out and attack milan. I'm never worried when utd go behind early on, everton a classic example. They'll create chances and with the likes of rooney, ronaldo, scholes on the pitch it only takes one moment of magic.

i think Rooney will be wide, with Smith up top, to keep their defenders on their toes.

I also don't think we can afford to sit back, not with the defence we have, and i can't believe fergie does not know this - he has admited himself this season that the team only know how to play an attacking game.

joe316

I would definatly like to see heinze in the team at left back, i thought he was brilliant on saturaday (back to the way he was before his injury) whereas evra was very poor, the majority of his passes fell short and looked slow ( i know he s only back from injury himself) it was his worst game since his debut.

Its great having two very good players contesting the same position, each driving to improve themselves so they can stake a starting place, it breeds competition which can only be good.

homerjay2005

RasTa wrote:

John O'Shea
Shots: 5
Goals: 4

Andriy Shevchenko
Shots: 36
Goals: 4

best post up ere in a long long time, legend!!!

when o shea scored the last day, i was thinking about his 4 goals and how he surely had outscored or nearly matched alot of strikers/top midfielders in the premiership stakes. the likes of folwer, tevez, baptista, farregas, rosisky and more came to mind, but i never thought of shevchenko. 4 goals and 30 million pounds, is some waste of money.

gwan josh ya legend!!!

kaisersose77

Evra seems to make a meal of every tackle that goes in on him, its as if he wants to come off in every match (and he has gone off injured in lot of matches from what I can remember). He can be good attacking but I wouldnt want him as the main left back. If Saha goes in the summer I doubt Evra will be too happy.

btw any news on Vidic yet? Thought he was having a scan today.

Aquos76

kaisersose77 wrote:

btw any news on Vidic yet? Thought he was having a scan today.

Well, he travelled out with the squad this morning along with Rio and Saha. So he will definitely make the bench at least.

Aquos76

Taken for Skysports.com

Manchester United have been boosted by the news that Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand both travelled with the squad to Milan.

The defensive duo missed the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg victory at Old Trafford because of injuries.

Vidic has been out since the end of March with a broken collarbone, while Ferdinand aggravated a groin injury ten days ago.

However, both players flew to Italy on Tuesday morning and will train with Sir Alex Ferguson's squad later in the day.

With United holding a one-goal lead going into the second leg at the San Siro, The Red Devils will want Vidic and Ferdinand involved.

But Ferguson is adamant he will not take any risks, although with Patrice Evra suspended he may have to play one of them.

"It is too early to say whether they will play," the United boss said. "They will travel and we will assess the situation after training tonight."

Meanwhile, striker Louis Saha, who has been struggling with hamstring problems in recent weeks, could make the bench.

Mitch Connor

kaisersose77 wrote:

Evra seems to make a meal of every tackle that goes in on him, its as if he wants to come off in every match (and he has gone off injured in lot of matches from what I can remember). He can be good attacking but I wouldnt want him as the main left back.

I think he was fantastic for the most part of this season, only in the last few games has he let himself down, imo. I think Heinze is only better in the air then evra, for everything else they are close, or Evra is better.

Sizzler

I heard Louis is dragging out his injury cos he wasnt too impressed with the fact that Alex brought in Henrik...obviously cant be true

PHB

I hope Vidic plays, as I think he's less of a risk.
I'd rather have Rio play, as I think his pace would be great against Inzaghi and Kaka, but Vidic will do

I expect us to line up like this (in fact, if either Rio/Vidic are fit, I'd bet my house on us lining up like this)

---

VDS

---

--O'Shea----Brown

---

Vidic

---

Heinze-

---

Fletcher----Carrick

---

-Ronaldo

---

Scholes

---

Giggs-

---

Rooney

---

I kinda hope Saha gets a run in, cause I think he was great for us in the group stages, and I'd still like him at United (unless all that **** was true, in which case, bye bye)

dubmick

kaisersose77 wrote:

If Saha goes in the summer I doubt Evra will be too happy.

Why are they mates?

joe316

rio and vidic both travelled as well as saha today

BaZmO*

dubmick wrote:

Why are they mates?

Probably for the same reasons that most people are mates, because they get on with each other.

Tusky

BaZmO* wrote:

Probably for the same reasons that most people are mates, because they get on with each other.

*laugh*

cardshark202

I'm pretty sure the question was missing a comma:

"Why, are they mates?"

BaZmO*

cardshark202 wrote:

I'm pretty sure the question was missing a comma:

"Why, are they mates?"

Noooo, really?

herbieflowers

Gattuso and Jankulovski could be deployed on the wings to stop Ronaldo and Giggs like they did against Celtic...more space in the centre...I've a feeling Man U, depsie the probelms at the back - which should be somewhat resolved by the return of Vidic / Rio - could well win. They'll no doubt be under the cosh bt with Milan needing to score and push men forward gaps could certainly open, and there's no better team on the counter than Man U.

leninbenjamin

What i'm afraid of is that the likes of O'Shea and Brown will panic and start hoofing the ball when Milan come at them. they gotta play it nice and composed, keep hold of the ball as much as possible and look to score first. It shoud be a good game.

Mr Alan

United are good on the counter alright, but in case ya weren't sure - if Milan have a team on the cosh, they are pretty good at breaking them down and banging in a couple of goals.

Milan to win on the night.
Too close to call by what score and who goes through.

Mitch Connor

if milan win on the night, they will go through - i don't see this being a 4-3 (or 5-4 or 6-5...) epic.

kaisersose77

dubmick wrote:

Why are they mates?

Well i'd assume there mates seeing as their French and there isnt many French players in the Manchester area. And Anelka is probably a wee bit too mad to hang around with! Some foreign players might only want to go to London as theres probably a good few players from their own country playing there. Thats why buying players from any southern european/south america countries is a risk as your always gonna get some players who want to go back to the warm weather. So a team-mate from the same country is always a help. If Ronaldinho signed for Utd instead of Barca a few yrs ago, i'd say he would be in Spain by now no matter how well he done at Utd. Evra himself was complaining about how cold and wet manchester was when he joined. Then again he might think saha is a ****head and will be delighted if he leaves!

mike65

Bump!

Mike.

Orizio

I think AC will do it.I saw enough in their performance at Old Trafford,to suggest,with home advantage and Kaka and Seedorf in fine form that they will go through.Should be a great game though.

Calling it 2-1 to Milan.