Man Utd v Chelsea (Match Thread) KO 4.00 SS One

Boggles

Boggles wrote: »

Thought he did, I stand corrected so, like the man in orthopedic shoes.

One assist, one goal, and he was involved in Evra's cross which led to Rooneys, still not too shabby.

One question though, how did Evra get injured?

Even if he had touched it I'm fairly sure he was going for goal, so while Fantasy Football would give it as an assist for final touch, I would still give it to Evra.

Boggles

Deleted User wrote: »

Vidic on the other hand didn't put a foot wrong all day.

That's a bit unfair you are comparing a 20 year old Human with a specially designed Serbian Football playing Cyborg from the future. :pac:

Headshot

Boggles wrote: »

That's a bit unfair you are comparing a 20 year old Human with a specially designed Serbian Football playing Cyborg. :pac:

vidic has to be one of fergies best buys up there with the likes of Roy keane

only 7 milliion for him

says it all

Boggles

{(-_-)}HeadShoT** wrote: »

vidic has to be one of fergies best buys up there with the likes of Roy keane

Vidic and Evra were 2 inspired signings.

{(-_-)}HeadShoT**

{(-_-)}HeadShoT** wrote: »

vidic has to be one of fergies best buys up there with the likes of Roy keane

only 7 milliion for him

says it all

Himself and Evra, and they were bought together, and after 2 or 3 games everyone thought he's blown a fortune!!!

_blank_

Chelsea were shíte today, but still. Their weaknesses were clinically exposed by a dominant team.

Beating a genuine title rival 3-0 will do a lot for the confidence of Manchester.

Giggs rolled back the years today, great performance by him.

Drogba should never have played, and when Chelsea went two up front it was the end for them.

Manchester's attacking play was awesome at times.

In my opinion, Berbatov was instrumental in this, they way he spread the play at times was just brilliant.

Mitch Connor

Deleted User wrote: »

Himself and Evra, and they were bought together, and after 2 or 3 games everyone thought he's blown a fortune!!!

i'll admit i was unsure about evra after the first few games, but i always had faith Vidic would be a star, thought people were way to harsh on him in his first half season. Bar his first 2 or 3 games i thought he was great, and deservedly first choice once back from injury for his first full season with us.

Evra is unrecognisable from the player of his first few games with us though

ShooterSF

Mitch Connor wrote: »

i'll admit i was unsure about evra after the first few games, but i always had faith Vidic would be a star, thought people were way to harsh on him in his first half season. Bar his first 2 or 3 games i thought he was great, and deservedly first choice once back from injury for his first full season with us.

Evra is unrecognisable from the player of his first few games with us though

Agreed. I was very biased towards Heinze and didn't like seeing Evra ahead of him but he really did make the position his own. I hope Tosic is afforded the time by the fans with that in mind.

Carroller16

ShooterSF wrote: »

Agreed. I was very biased towards Heinze and didn't like seeing Evra ahead of him but he really did make the position his own. I hope Tosic is afforded the time by the fans with that in mind.

He will be, as Nani was... Nani just didn't reach the standards > enter Tosic.

Smegball

Nani needs more time yet.

Headshot

Smegball wrote: »

Nani needs more time yet.

the way park is playing

Nani wont be getting in the squad anytime soon and rightfully so

was never a fan of park but really has come on leap and bounds

Skud

dont know if was mentioned yet - why was the ronaldo goal disallowed before the vidic one? utd took the corner ball in play?!? giggs took it and ran and crossed it for ronnie? http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1955933/ <- not clear in this? Who played the ball out about a yard or did giggs just start running with it? Missed alot of the game so didnt see what happened

Headshot

Skud wrote: »

dont know if was mentioned yet - why was the ronaldo goal disallowed before the vidic one? utd took the corner ball in play?!? giggs took it and ran and crossed it for ronnie? http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1955933/ <- not clear in this? Who played the ball out about a yard or did giggs just start running with it. Missed alot of the game so didnt see what happened

think the lines man didnt know what was happening

Rooney should have told him but as fergie said "does the lines man need to know"

Skud

{(-_-)}HeadShoT** wrote: »

think the lines man didnt know what was happening

Ronney should have told him but as fergie said "does the lines man need to know"

rooney took the corner or ronaldo did so?

_blank_

Skud wrote: »

rooney took the corner or ronaldo did so?

if Ronaldo took the first corner then he's a bloody genius.

Headshot

Skud wrote: »

rooney took the corner or ronaldo did so?

no Rooney did

Rooney just passed the ball out of the corner box and giggs crossed it

perfectly legit goal

very smart move

brilliant to see stuff like that

chips1234

Skud wrote: »

dont know if was mentioned yet - why was the ronaldo goal disallowed before the vidic one? utd took the corner ball in play?!? giggs took it and ran and crossed it for ronnie? http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1955933/ <- not clear in this? Who played the ball out about a yard or did giggs just start running with it? Missed alot of the game so didnt see what happened

i've done this in one of my own games and in my experience you have to tell the ref/linesman otherwise they dont have a clue whats going on so i understand what happened today

_blank_

{(-_-)}HeadShoT** wrote: »

Ronney

Dude.

It's Rooney.

I apologise for even doing this, but it's every single time you type the guy's name, and it's fairly confusing, seeing as some people actually refer to Ronaldo as "Ronnie".

Skud

Des wrote: »

if Ronaldo took the first corner then he's a bloody genius.

he is... and possibly could have had time to get back in the box - was rooney http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/wires/01/11/2080.ap.soc.man.united.canny.corner.0332/index.html

I was confused by ronney also haha

Headshot

Des wrote: »

Dude.

It's Rooney.

I apologise for even doing this, but it's every single time you type the guy's name, and it's fairly confusing, seeing as some people actually refer to Ronaldo as "Ronnie".

my bad

i was always a crap speller

ShooterSF

chips1234 wrote: »

i've done this in one of my own games and in my experience you have to tell the ref/linesman otherwise they dont have a clue whats going on so i understand what happened today

Agreed. As headshot paraphrased Fergie "But does the linesman have to know?" No but he has to be aware of whats going on. It was a fantastic move and showed real ingenuity on the training ground. Even the way Rooney and Giggs walked to/from the ball was perfect. All it needed was Rooney to say, facing the linesman with his back to the players "I'm taking the corner now". A small part of me thinks Rooney wanted an argument where he was in the right

redout

I thought United were class this afternoon. We really upped our performance for the first time this season and played Chelsea off the park. Gary Neville I thought was immense and thoroughly justified his selection. Ronaldo looked good for the first time in about two months which can only be a positive.

Ronaldo first goal should have stood imo as what the lads done with the corner was a stroke of genious. Fergie said after the game that he thought the player does not have to tell the linesman he is taking it and the sky guy said they were awaiting confirmation (Anyone heard anything yet ?). I thought that Cech could have done better for the first goal but in fairness his defence let him down. Rooneys goal was cheeky as fuvk sliding his foot between Coles legs and connecting. In fairness I think Cech was rightly expecting Cole to deal with that cross. Berbatov's goal gave Cech no chance but again his defence were culpable.

JT looked disullusioned towards the end in my opinion. I dont think he could believe what he was witnessing. We sent a clear message to Anfield. Scared ? LoL. That performance will probably burst a couple of kidney stones hey Rafa ? Onwards and upwards. We could be top by saturday if all goes to plan. What a turn around that will be considering we were 6 points behind Liverpool before going to Japan only a month before.

copacetic

ShooterSF wrote: »

Agreed. As headshot paraphrased Fergie "But does the linesman have to know?" No but he has to be aware of whats going on. It was a fantastic move and showed real ingenuity on the training ground. Even the way Rooney and Giggs walked to/from the ball was perfect. All it needed was Rooney to say, facing the linesman with his back to the players "I'm taking the corner now". A small part of me thinks Rooney wanted an argument where he was in the right

when Giggs was talking to the linesman afterward he could be seen saying 'Did he not say it to you' as if it was part of the plan to do so?

Howdy.

Can this thread be locked? It depresses me.

Mr.Nice Guy

I thought it was a great performance from United today. I must admit when I saw the teams I was nervous and felt Fergie made a mistake with his central midfield options. I should know by now not to doubt the master as the performance was top notch. Van Der Sar must have been amazed at how easy his day was. I thought Vidic and Evans were great. Park had a very good game too. Giggs was also well up for it. I was shocked Chelsea's main
performers were so poor.

Overall a very good weekend. Now come on Brucie go easy on us this Wednesday. :pac:

I think today really really emphasised how much we've missed evra and how much he adds to our attacking play.

Insect Overlord

^ Agreed. Let's hope he's not too badly injured. He was a class act today.

Unearthly

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Another case of Fergie completely screwing up the team selection. I honestly can't believe he has selected Giggs over Carrick. It is just unbelievable. I am gutted he has done this as without Rio it was going to be tough enough, but to select Giggs and Neville is basically handing Chelsea the game before it starts.

Really gutted - this game puts us out of the title race, and it is all Fergies fault.

Well aren't you a drama queen fool

eagle eye

^^ Yeah very interesting, the best performance of the season so far from United, with a rock sold display from the defence and no Rio in the lineup. And Giggs gets MoM.

You gotta laugh at those who doubt the most successful manager in Premier League history.
Even though I do hate him, I do admit he is the best manager ever to be in charge of an English team, if Mourinho had been treated properly at Chelsea, he might have given Ferguson a run for his money over time. He is probably the second best I've seen in the PL(in charge of a top team) but you cannot rate him near Ferguson as he wasn't long enough there. And please no what about Wenger comments.

mormank

what about wenger???

Mitch Connor

Unearthly wrote: »

Well aren't you a drama queen fool

someone hacked my account. obviously.

Highsider

Has anyone got any idea how in god's name Rooney did'nt get a red card for his disgraceful tackle in the first half followed by a verbal assault on the referee? Absolute thug of a player whatever his talents.

Mitch Connor

Highsider wrote: »

Has anyone got any idea how in god's name Rooney did'nt get a red card for his disgraceful tackle in the first half followed by a verbal assault on the referee? Absolute thug of a player whatever his talents.

It wasn't a red card tackle - i could turn round and ask how Belletti or however you spell it, didn't get a red for a much much worse tackle in the second half on Ronaldo.

As for the verbal assault....lol.

Loco

A glorious win! Gutted I had to sell my ticket!

Berbatov cost me £85! Had a bet on 2-0. And i was thinking 3-0 all week. Damn my last minute impulses!

Loomis

spockety wrote: »

Surely depends on what they say. Carragher is being very gracious and respectful of utd from what i can see

He could hardly say much else based on their play.

United made Chelsea look very poor. They ran around the entire second half unable to get the ball from us and when they did have it they were woefully lacking in ideas going forward. Huge fillip for United and a fair blow to Chelsea's confidence if nothing else.

RasTa

Chong wrote: »

Dunno who is singing it but fans singing " You should have gone in the summer " aimed at Ronnie.

allybhoy wrote: »

Probably the Stretford end

Just back from this game, was in the Stret and no one would sing a song like that about a Manchester United player without getting a slap.

John Terry did get a lot of cheers though :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Anyway great game, great performance nothing more to add that hasn't being said. Roll on Wigan, Bolton and West Brom in the next 3.

ShooterSF

Wathcing Fergie's post match interview ya get the feeling that even though we scored the retake he really wanted that cheeky corner to stand. I think the prankster in his heart would love to be celebrating the first one

iregk

Ok now that I've had time to think about it more I think I can sum the Chelsea displays of recent times up.

Were United brilliant yesterday? No. They were good but by no means brilliant.
Were Chelsea woeful yesterday? Yes. But this does not completely diminish Uniteds efforts. Chelsea have a lot of weaknesses right now and United exploited them.

So what exactly is wrong with Chelsea. Well in my opinion this team needs major surgery both on and off the field. I'd leave it as it stands this season but during the summer this needs to happen. I think we have all realised that Scolari is not a premiership winning manager. He is a great internation manager and yes was a great club manager in Brazil but as far as European club football goes he just doesn't think correctly.

I'd point to set pieces to backup a certain amount of my comment above. A lot of goals in the premiership are scored from dead ball situations. Under Mourinho the dead ball situation was something Chelsea excelled at, never conceeded from them and always scored from them. Under Scolari every set piece almost results in a goal or at least a near miss and they just don't score them anymore either. The problem here is how he sets them up. If you look at his Brazil and Portugal sides they were horrendous at defending set pieces so its no surprise that his current Chelsea side are also.

In my mind this comes down in large part to Steve Clarke. While there he was the defensive coach and controlled everything in that area. Mourinho realised this and as such gave him a lot of respect and space there. Clarke knew his time was up with Scolari so moved on and this season its easy to note how Terry has constantly been caught out of position and it can't be difficult to spot Petr Cechs growing anger as his defenders for the amount of chances now getting through.

Defending is only one aspect. In attack the decision to play with Drogba was a baffling one as he looked like a Sunday league striker and his head and heart clearly are no longer interested in Chelsea. Deco and Ballack are finished as top level footballers and its harsh to see Lampard is gaining nothing but frustration in the past two months at having to do everything in the middle.

So what needs to happen. Well in my opinion Ballack, Drogba, Deco, Malouda and Beletti all need to go in the summer. We can forget any silver wear this season its gone. Also and I know it may not be popular but Scolari needs to go. I'm not basing this on just yesterdays result but on the season thus far. Early season form papered over a lot of cracks and now in the heat of the business end of things they are coming through. I don't but into the Deco knock at half time hence the sub I'd almost wage money on a dressing room argument between players and Scolari hence no Deco for the second half. Again thats pure speculation but recent noise would suggest its not far wide of the mark. Its harsh to say this but yesterday was not a "Chelsea weren't at thier best" result. I think since October this is Chelsea's best, this is where the club is now and I think it could be Uefa cup time again!

event

{(-_-)}HeadShoT** wrote: »

no Rooney did

Rooney just passed the ball out of the corner box and giggs crossed it

perfectly legit goal

very smart move

brilliant to see stuff like that

aye, they didnt say it to the linesman, but also, rooney never stopped the ball, he rolled it in and out of the small area at teh corner flag. the ball has to be stationary.

Mitch Connor wrote: »

It wasn't a red card tackle - i could turn round and ask how Belletti or however you spell it, didn't get a red for a much much worse tackle in the second half on Ronaldo.

As for the verbal assault....lol.

well he should have been booked for the tackle and then booked for the abuse at the ref. Its nothing short of disgraceful the abuse at refs he gets away with. If they started booking him, he'd soon stop

Mmcd

event wrote: »

aye, they didnt say it to the linesman, but also, rooney never stopped the ball, he rolled it in and out of the small area at teh corner flag. the ball has to be stationary.



well he should have been booked for the tackle and then booked for the abuse at the ref. Its nothing short of disgraceful the abuse at refs he gets away with. If they started booking him, he'd soon stop

You cant roll a ball in and out without it being stationary at some point in time!

Mitch Connor

event wrote: »

aye, they didnt say it to the linesman, but also, rooney never stopped the ball, he rolled it in and out of the small area at teh corner flag. the ball has to be stationary.

The ball was stationary.

well he should have been booked for the tackle and then booked for the abuse at the ref. Its nothing short of disgraceful the abuse at refs he gets away with. If they started booking him, he'd soon stop

no he wouldn't - he'd just play a lot less games. I don't think Rooney can stop himself.

growler

iregk wrote: »

Its harsh to say this but yesterday was not a "Chelsea weren't at thier best" result. I think since October this is Chelsea's best, this is where the club is now and I think it could be Uefa cup time again!

no need to panic just yet, i agree any shot at the Pl or CL is extremely unlikely but we'd need to implode to not be in the CL next season.

I'm undecided about Scolari myself, my reaction yesterday was to sack him asap as he has to accept a measure of responsibility for taking our club backwards in such spectacular fashion and the noises from teh dressin room suggest that the tactics, coaching and preparation are not on a par with JM's regime. On the flip side the players themselves seem to have forgotten how to play , Drogba looked like he'd taken ketamine before the game yesterday, Deco (despite it being his best performance in about 10 games) still looked slow and possibly colour blind, Ballack didn't care etc etc. and sadly this will only get worse as our aging squad meanders into 5star retirement with little young players ready to step up to the 1st team.

Ok we got spoilt by Abramovich's wealth and the immediate success that brought, going back to this kind of mediocrity is all the more difficult for having tasted success, but as the ironic chant at the of game yesterday went "chelsea are back, chelsea are back". So either Roman puts his hands in his pockets or we and he accept a return to not challenging for titles for a few years while we rebuild in a more traditional and less expensive fashion.

After the dejected trip back to London yesterday evening, i'm not at all looking forward to the trip to Anfield in a few weeks.

Mr. Presentable

{(-_-)}HeadShoT** wrote: »

no Rooney did

Rooney just passed the ball out of the corner box and giggs crossed it

perfectly legit goal

very smart move

brilliant to see stuff like that

Yeah, it has been a ploy by Roma for the last year or so. They have also had goals disallowed because it fooled the officials too!

SlickRic

perfectly good goal, the refs just weren't up to speed

even as a pool fan, it made me smile. something must be wrong with me, it must be that flu that's been going round

Spud83

I believe the main problem with the goal was the linesman. He was standing right at the corner flag into the penalty box. When Rooney was bringing the ball over the linesman never looked at what Rooney was doing with the ball.

Therefore he didn't see Rooney bring the ball in and out of the D whether it was stationary or not.

After missing that the all the linesman seen was Giggs take the ball and run towards the penalty box. His flag went up straight away thinking what the hell is he doing the ref seen the flag and blew.

Does Rooney have to tell the linesman he is taking the corner? No. Should Rooney have told linesman look I am going to take this? Yes.

It was imaginative and smart and the officials got caught by it as much as Chelsea. Now they should have just come out and said look I missed it. I didn't see Rooney put the ball in the D, I presumed he was bringing the ball over to take the corner and then left it for Giggs. Instead the come out with some crap that its not in the spirit of the game.

Mr Alan

dont know if it was mentioned here but Liverpool also did that corner routine in the CL in the last couple of years-Baros & Garcia i think.

Again, the officials blew it up that time too. Think its just that they get flustered and dont know wat to do!

Spud83

Mr Alan wrote: »

dont know if it was mentioned here but Liverpool also did that corner routine in the CL in the last couple of years-Baros & Garcia i think.

Again, the officials blew it up that time too. Think its just that they get flustered and dont know wat to do!

Yeah it certainly is not new.

Andy Gray (the horror) mentioned in the last word that a few years ago Chelsea were caught out with the same routine. It was in the FA Cup against a lower league team, the officials let it go. Cech saved the resulting header.

Mitch Connor

Scolari moaning to the press that Rooneys goal was as the result of a foul - personally i saw nothing wrong with it.

Spud83

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Scolari moaning to the press that Rooneys goal was as the result of a foul - personally i saw nothing wrong with it.

Can't see what he could be complaining about. Rooney certainly didn't foul Cole. Maybe he got confused with Berbatovs goal but complaining about a goal three minutes from time when your team has already given up would be just as odd.