Manchester united versus Manchester City sun 1.30pm

Spud83

nicklauski wrote: »

I thought Keane said something along the lines of : Everyone in Scotland is ranting & raving about him, but I dont see what the fuss is
Then again I could be wrong, but I could have swore he said soemthing about him.
Ah well

Nope, done a quick Google and it looks like you are right. Always remember it as being a go at players like Richardson, Miler, and O'Shea (who had gone backwards for numerous reasons)

The Muppet

I always though Fletch was good when played in the middle, he wasn't great on the right tbh. His game has improved over the last few seasons. I agree with you he does the simple thing well and doesn't over elaborate. He is great at breaking up the opposition plays and regaining possession.

It's a simple game really and every premiership team could do with a fletcher type player.

nicklauski

As you said Muppet, Fletch is best when playing through the middle, breaking up play and laying it off to Scholes/Carrick/Ando for them to power forward. I dont really like him playing out wide, as his pace doesn't cause the better full backs (Cole/ Clichy) much problems. I would say his delivery wouldn't be as good as Hargreaves, but the ball he played to Rooney last week was sublime.

Be interesting to see how he copes with Ireland on Sunday, and likewise Carrick/Ando against De Jong. Could be a belter of a game.

Nalz

So Tevez looks like he won't make it. I wonder what reception he would have gotten? I'll be there on Sunday, and if the unlikely event happens that he plays I can't see myself clapping him. Just can't. Love Evra's comments

"I have been joking with him about the reception he will get," added Evra.

"I don't know if the fans will boo him or clap him. He did a great job at Manchester United. He respected the shirt and the fans understand that. But if they boo him I will join in."

CHD wrote: »

and lotsa crap posted after.

to add to this post? Are these comments necessary, or am I worse to reply to them?

Xavi6

PORNAPSTER wrote: »

Hard to say which way it will go. It always is in the derby. I'm just looking for a good atmosphere and hopefully a good result. Will be interesting to see how MASSIVE the City fans think their club is at the weekend. They're getting more and more cocky every time I see them.

I think 'cocky' is an unfair word to use tbh. I certainly haven't heard any City fans behave in that way. We're definitely excited (how could any fan not be?) but that's completely different to the arrogance you're suggesting. Truth be told, the majority of us are too worried about us ballsing it up to go get on too much of a high horse. Win, lose or draw on Sunday we will still have a minimum of 12 points from our first 5 games and that's a solid foundation on which to build.

cournioni

Xavi6 wrote: »

I think 'cocky' is an unfair word to use tbh. I certainly haven't heard any City fans behave in that way. We're definitely excited (how could any fan not be?) but that's completely different to the arrogance you're suggesting. Truth be told, the majority of us are too worried about us ballsing it up to go get on too much of a high horse. Win, lose or draw on Sunday we will still have a minimum of 12 points from our first 5 games and that's a solid foundation on which to build.

Excited? I'd say that giddy is the more appropriate word!

City fans that I've spoken to, and this doesn't represent the whole lot of you have been very cocky. An example of this kind of cockiness was the guy that got a tattoo with "Man City European Champions 2011". Alot of them have been toning it down a fair bit coming up to this game already playing the strikers injuries card, just in case!

It will be very interesting to see how it pans out. I think it will be a shame that City won't have their strongest squad possible on Sunday. Just so we can see what City are made of.

nicklauski

PORNAPSTER wrote: »

It will be very interesting to see how it pans out. I think it will be a shame that City won't have their strongest squad possible on Sunday. Just so we can see what City are made of.

+1

_blank_

It's a nice co-incidence that Carlos is injured.

Can't handle the pressure. :rolleyes:

Spud83

Des wrote: »

It's a nice co-incidence that Carlos is injured.

Can't handle the pressure. :rolleyes:

Na he just got so used to being on the bench last year that a couple of games in a row killed him.

Mr Alan

Des wrote: »

Can't handle the pressure. :rolleyes:

LOL :P

pathetic

SlickRic

it'll be close.

but i just see utd having a bit too much on the day.

city will be out to prove a point, a week after a great performance against arsenal. they'll want to solidify their arrival as a heavyweight player in this league.

a lot rests imo on barry v fletcher.

if barry can keep the game moving for City when in possession, without being muscled out of it or fouled, then City will have a chance.

2-1 utd for me, with a late winner from Berba.

Mitch Connor

it will all depend on how the United midfield perform in my opinion.

We have seen the midfield do well (Spurs and Chelsea games as an examples) and quite badly (Arsenal and Burnley as examples).

If we don't compete properly in midfield (and that won't be easy against Ireland, Barry and De Jong) then we could be over run. If the guys we play in midfield play to the level they are capable of (drop Carrick, he can't play at all at the moment) then we should have enough to battle in midfield and I would be confident in our defence and our attack.

Will be interesting to see how we line up too - will it be 442, or will Fergie go man for man in midfield and play 451 like in the midweek game. Tough one to call.

Personally, I'd go 442 as I don't think 1 up top against City will be effective.

Spud83

Mitch Connor wrote: »

it will all depend on how the United midfield perform in my opinion.

We have seen the midfield do well (Spurs and Chelsea games as an examples) and quite badly (Arsenal and Burnley as examples).

If we don't compete properly in midfield (and that won't be easy against Ireland, Barry and De Jong) then we could be over run. If the guys we play in midfield play to the level they are capable of (drop Carrick, he can't play at all at the moment) then we should have enough to battle in midfield and I would be confident in our defence and our attack.

Will be interesting to see how we line up too - will it be 442, or will Fergie go man for man in midfield and play 451 like in the midweek game. Tough one to call.

Personally, I'd go 442 as I don't think 1 up top against City will be effective.

I think its gonna be 4-5-1 and match Citys formation. As you already pointed out the central midfield is going to be crucial, and a hard battle, so going into the game and being outnumbered there is not gonna do us much good.

With the amount of strikers that City are apparently going to be missing I can't see them going with two up top.

Nalz

Mr Alan wrote: »

LOL :P

pathetic

asl?

Mitch Connor

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

I think its gonna be 4-5-1 and match Citys formation. As you already pointed out the central midfield is going to be crucial, and a hard battle, so going into the game and being outnumbered there is not gonna do us much good.

With the amount of strikers that City are apparently going to be missing I can't see them going with two up top.

True - but if we do go man for man in order to compete in midfield, then i think we will run into problems when going forward, as we did in the CL match - Rooney could easily end up being isolated which will ruin our chances.

nicklauski

Mitch Connor wrote: »

True - but if we do go man for man in order to compete in midfield, then i think we will run into problems when going forward, as we did in the CL match - Rooney could easily end up being isolated which will ruin our chances.

Which in turn could see him being frustrated and lash out and head for an early bath. Why not play Berbs up top, and tell him to stay there, and drop Rooney back to an AM role? Snuff out De Jong/Barry.

Spud83

Mitch Connor wrote: »

True - but if we do go man for man in order to compete in midfield, then i think we will run into problems when going forward, as we did in the CL match - Rooney could easily end up being isolated which will ruin our chances.

Yeah but if we don't go man for man in midfield then we may run into problems going forward as we won't have the ball. I would like us to be able to switch around. Go in with 3 in the middle and then switch to a 4 man midfield with two up top if have a decent foothold and are controlling the game.

---

Fletcher---Anderson

---

Winger

---

Giggs

---

Rooney

---

Berbatov

---

Then go

Winger--Fletcher--Anderson--Giggs

---

Rooney----Berbatov

---

Its impossible these days to guess what Fergie is gonna do, and who he will play.

Mitch Connor

nicklauski wrote: »

Which in turn could see him being frustrated and lash out and head for an early bath. Why not play Berbs up top, and tell him to stay there, and drop Rooney back to an AM role? Snuff out De Jong/Barry.

would be a way to go alright.

Also, if we go with Rooney up on his own, and he does become isolated, he would be more likely to drop deep in order to get involved in the game - which means we'd have no one up top to release the ball to - more issues.

I think we need to play Berbatov and Rooney on Sunday, with Rooney told to roam around and get stuck in - harass the deep lying midfielder and try to pressure passes to/from him.

Berbatov can hold the ball up and release team mates as well as anyone so if we play him he can be a great option for playing the ball to.

If we did got 442 (or 4411) it would be interesting to see who gets picked in midfield - Fletcher obvioulsy, but who would partner him? On top for i'd go with Carrick but he is very poor at the moment. If you could be confident of Anderson putting in a good shift i'd go with him cause his energy and workrate defensively would be invaluable in midfield as a 2 man team with Fletcher, combating the 3 man midfield of City. Other options are Giggs and Scholes, you'd have to say Giggs would be the more likely as he is less likely to get himself sent off and the fact Scholes playing 90mins during the week while Giggs didn't play at all.

Mitch Connor

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

Yeah but if we don't go man for man in midfield then we may run into problems going forward as we won't have the ball. I would like us to be able to switch around. Go in with 3 in the middle and then switch to a 4 man midfield with two up top if have a decent foothold and are controlling the game.

---

Fletcher---Anderson

---

Winger

---

Giggs

---

Rooney

---

Berbatov

---

Then go

Winger--Fletcher--Anderson--Giggs

---

Rooney----Berbatov

---

Its impossible these days to guess what Fergie is gonna do, and who he will play.

Last season I'd have been more inclined to agree with that (having the other winger as Ronaldo) and being used to seeing Rooney shunted out wide. However, this season, Rooney is playing great stuff up front and I'm not sure i'd want to compromise that. I do think he is capable of putting in great performances from the left, we saw a number of them last season, but i just don't know if i'd want to start moving him around again while he is on form.

Spud83

Scholes is suspended and I'm nearly sure Giggs will be starting this game.

Mitch Connor

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

Scholes is suspended and I'm nearly sure Giggs will be starting this game.

ah yes - forgot scholes was suspended.

Xavi6

PORNAPSTER wrote: »

Excited? I'd say that giddy is the more appropriate word!

It's just been a whirlwind 12 months. I'm still not sure it's even real or just the biggest windup of all time.

City fans that I've spoken to, and this doesn't represent the whole lot of you have been very cocky. An example of this kind of cockiness was the guy that got a tattoo with "Man City European Champions 2011". Alot of them have been toning it down a fair bit coming up to this game already playing the strikers injuries card, just in case!

That's just embarrassing and small time, but you see it everywhere. Sure this week we saw the Liverpool fan with that 'Bye bye Ronaldo' thing on his away shirt. It's not indicative of every fan though, or even the majority.

It will be very interesting to see how it pans out. I think it will be a shame that City won't have their strongest squad possible on Sunday. Just so we can see what City are made of.

Agreed. I also want to see what we're made of, and I think we caught a glimpse of it for about 20 minutes in the second half last weekend.

Des wrote: »

It's a nice co-incidence that Carlos is injured.

Can't handle the pressure. :rolleyes:

Does the coincidence also apply for the Arsenal match he also missed with the same injury?

nicklauski

Mitch Connor wrote: »

would be a way to go alright.

Also, if we go with Rooney up on his own, and he does become isolated, he would be more likely to drop deep in order to get involved in the game - which means we'd have no one up top to release the ball to - more issues.

I think we need to play Berbatov and Rooney on Sunday, with Rooney told to roam around and get stuck in - harass the deep lying midfielder and try to pressure passes to/from him.

Berbatov can hold the ball up and release team mates as well as anyone so if we play him he can be a great option for playing the ball to.

If we did got 442 (or 4411) it would be interesting to see who gets picked in midfield - Fletcher obvioulsy, but who would partner him? On top for i'd go with Carrick but he is very poor at the moment. If you could be confident of Anderson putting in a good shift i'd go with him cause his energy and workrate defensively would be invaluable in midfield as a 2 man team with Fletcher, combating the 3 man midfield of City. Other options are Giggs and Scholes, you'd have to say Giggs would be the more likely as he is less likely to get himself sent off and the fact Scholes playing 90mins during the week while Giggs didn't play at all.

Thought Scholes was suspended

Id go with Anderson. Carrick seems to forget how to play football at the minute. He has been awful lately, dont know whats up with him!!!
4-4-1-1 Would be the right Job. Berbs up front holding the ball up waiting for the wingers to spray it out to.
Looking forward to this game now I have to say.

Spud83

regarding your comment above that about moving Rooney.

I don't want to start moving him around either, but it was the only way I could see us bringing flexibility into our team/formation.

As for playing him around the AM it could work, if Berbatov is willing to stay high up the pitch.

Mikeyt086

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

Scholes is suspended and I'm nearly sure Giggs will be starting this game.

And when you consider Anderson has started the last 2 games and Carrick is just awful at the moment, i think it looks more like Fletcher-Giggs everytime i think about it. Park-Fletcher-Giggs-Nani is my bet.

kida

I hope its 4-4-2 with Fletcher in RM - same as against Spurs

PHB

Game to be won or lost in midfield. If Fletcher and Anderson can play in the middle and match City there, United should win the game fairly easily. However if we lose the midfield battle, the game could go either way, and if we do win, it'll be an ugly one.

nicklauski

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

regarding your comment above that about moving Rooney.

I don't want to start moving him around either, but it was the only way I could see us bringing flexibility into our team/formation.

As for playing him around the AM it could work, if Berbatov is willing to stay high up the pitch.

It's not so much moving him around, just get him to play a little deeper, but still through the middle. Keeping him happy seen as his not on the wing

ShooterSF

Looking forward to this game. The derby is always a little more exciting A win for United would leave us in a strong position with 9 points from Spurs Arsenal and City. I'd like to see a 4-4-1-1 but with Berbs playing off Rooney. Any word on VDS? Thought he was meant to be back around the 18th?

nicklauski

I thought VDS was still 3 weeks away?
Doesn't bother me anyway, I'm happy enough with Foster. He's growing game by game and I hope he keeps it up.

ntlbell

richards, nothing to fear

How many times do people have to eat their words before thinking before they talk.

Xavi6

I wouldn't take anything Micah says seriously tbh.

Vampireskiss

Im expecting

Park Anderson flecther giggs

rooney berbatov

Vampireskiss

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Im expecting

Park Anderson flecther giggs

rooney berbatov

Although I wouldnt mind seeing owen get the nod ahead of berba

SlickRic

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Although I wouldnt mind seeing owen get the nod ahead of berba

yes you would.

berba, now, is at least double the player owen is.

Mars Bar

ntlbell wrote: »

eh?

3-1 away from spurs is grinding out results? finishing with ease with 10 men?

I wrote that after the Besiktas match so perhaps I was slightly under the influence!

Either way, I expect them to take a good result.

Mitch Connor

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Im expecting

Park Anderson flecther giggs

rooney berbatov

Nah - either Valencia or Nani have to play. We need to give them something to think about too - not just go massively defensive.

PHB

Personally, I'd go for

Valencia--Fletcher--Anderson--Nani-

---

Berbatov----Rooney

---

SlickRic

is anderson being included in everyone's team because...

1) carrick's been awful; or

2) anderson has proved he deserves his chance now; or

3) a mix of the two?

Headshot

SlickRic wrote: »

is anderson being included in everyone's team because...

1) carrick's been awful; or

2) anderson has proved he deserves his chance now; or

3) a mix of the two?

number 3 for me

Spud83

SlickRic wrote: »

is anderson being included in everyone's team because...

1) carrick's been awful; or

2) anderson has proved he deserves his chance now; or

3) a mix of the two?

For me it because if we go with two in the middle then I would prefer to have the energy and hustling that Anderson can bring.

If we go with three I wouldn't be surprised to see Carrick start but he hasn't turned up yet this season, and Anderson has looked better than him when playing in the middle

Nalz

SlickRic wrote: »

is anderson being included in everyone's team because...

1) carrick's been awful; or

2) anderson has proved he deserves his chance now; or

3) a mix of the two?

number 3

nicklauski

SlickRic wrote: »

is anderson being included in everyone's team because...

1) carrick's been awful; or

2) anderson has proved he deserves his chance now; or

3) a mix of the two?

Bit of both being honest. Although Im glad he's getting a run in the team.

CHD

ntlbell wrote: »

richards, nothing to fear

How many times do people have to eat their words before thinking before they talk.

Whats he saying thats so wrong?

Zonda999

Well Carrick was awful against Besiktas, totally anonymous. Anderson was at least good against Spurs so he should probably get the nod

Vampireskiss

Zonda999 wrote: »

Well Carrick was awful against Besiktas, totally anonymous. Anderson was at least good against Spurs so he should probably get the nod

Carrick has always been a waste of space and is not good enough for united, spurs were his level and I was so pissed off the day we signed him.

Essien would be the perfect player for us, he is the closest thing to keane I have seen but that is just wishful thinking.There are not many midfielders around good enough for united to be honest, marcus senna would have been a good buy when we were in for him a few years back but he is too old now.

Maybe we should have gone in for Gareth Barry

SlickRic

i'd have gone with a mix of the two myself.

anderson, probably a bit like lucas our end (don't start!), needs a consistent run in the team. and maybe carrick's lack of form will give him the opportunity he needs.

time will tell.

SlickRic

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Carrick has always been a waste of space and is not good enough for united, spurs were his level and I was so pissed off the day we signed him.

not a fan of him at all, but;

he has been in Championship & Champions League winning teams, not to say squads, but teams.

so you're probably being a tad harsh.

that being said, i believe utd could certainly do better, and could do with anderson realising his potential.

or hargreaves getting fit, while re-discovering his form.

Spud83

Vampireskiss wrote: »

Carrick has always been a waste of space and is not good enough for united, spurs were his level

I was gonna discuss this but I don't want to ruin a match thread three days before the match but suffice to say this is bollix.

Instant Karma

CHD wrote: »

Whats he saying thats so wrong?

Not a thing, he's absolutely corrrect, City have nothing to fear from this Utd side. We may not win the match, personally I think we will do well but the truth is that City are every bit as strong as Utd in all areas of the pitch.