Man Utd vs Blackburn, ESPN Sat @5:30pm

Sully

Ah poor blackburn - offside goal. Nice save though.

NaiveMelodies

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

He's had at least 2, how many chances at that howler do you want him to need ?

Whattt?

d22ontour

Shocking offside decision there.

Mr.Nice Guy

Need to be more clinical than this in future. Good win though.

Simply Red

Great play and chance for owen, could ave been 3. full time 2-0

Sully

Ah jesus - another chance blown sadly. Game over, another United win.

Kinda weird we cant win against Pool, who loose the majority of their matches, yet do pretty good in all other matches.

PHB

Good important result, keep up to pace with Chelsea.

Rooney and Berbatov get the goals, but we're still not playing quite as fluid as I would like. Nani still needs to step up, while I thought Valencia did well today. Carrick was fairly dull I felt also, but he didnt have much movement in front of him.

Obertan did ok when he came on. Good movement and touch, which on a debut I'll take. Let's wait and see.

Quandary

good win, should have scored a few more though. Really nice to see Obertan looking lively. He's going to be a great player me thinks.

d22ontour

Sully wrote: »

Kinda weird we cant win against Pool, who loose the majority of their matches, yet do pretty good in all other matches.

Obviously they raise their game for their cup final.

adox

Obertan already looks more likely than Nani for me, after only watching him in the last 2 games. Seems to have muc=h more of a football brain than Nani.
Having said that I still think Wellbeck may cement that left side position for himself later in the season.

The Muppet

A bit of magic from berbatov turned the game, i feared it was going to be one of those days up to that point.

Oberton played ok when he came on, he should have scored. Lets see how he develops.

Good Win

Bobalicious93

Electricity cut out before half-time lads :mad:

Can someone describe the goals please?

Quandary

Berba goal - very nice....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8zo5R4YTV0

The Muppet

[

Bobalicious93 wrote: »

Electricity cut out before half-time lads :mad:

Can someone describe the goals please?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIsGe7eH8Ss

Here's Berbatov's

Julez

nuxxx wrote: »

anderson evra has been class today

Have too agree. Evra at his normal best. Great to see Anderson putting in a brilliant display, Man of the Match for me, controlled the game pretty much.

ccosgrave

Really impressed with how we bossed the game today, but that might have been down to Blackburn's ineptitude more than anything else. Anderson played extremely well, glad to see him putting in a few solid performances. Would love to see him get a few good shots in though. Evra was great, legend of a man him. I love Berbatov to death, but his final ball wasn't great today, that header in the first half still irks me for some reason. I think I just want to see him pull away from the average-to-good performances he's been putting in since he joined and move into the Torres/Drogba category of expecting him to score or set up a couple rather than hoping he will.

Unfortunate about Obertan, would have done his confidence a world of good to get on the scoresheet with the two great chances he had, he just looked too nervous or something. I'll certainly give him a chance though, he had a great touch and good positional sense.

Nani is really grating on my nerves though. I don't like to criticise this man too often, but he just seems like such an immature player.

Dave!

The first half was pretty frustrating... We were totally dominant, had all the possession, and Berba had about 100 chances that he shoulda put away. His goal was a beaut though.

Anderson had a good game I thought, as did Evra. Evans and Brown were fantastic, which is great to see. Evans is gonna be an Old Trafford legend, he really hasn't put a foot wrong in a long time.

I thought Obertan made a solid cameo. His first touch, he ran it straight out for a throw-in. He also missed that sitter of course, but sure that happens sometimes. Berba missed sitters, and Owen should defo have scored at the end too. Other than those two lapses, he was passing well and linking up with the others pretty well too. Good appearance.

Dave!

Berba and Sam interviews here (on right hand side of page)

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/?cc=5739

Bobalicious93

Wow, Berba never ceases to amaze me.

How some people don't rate him I'll never know

speedboatchase

Anybody else think Waddle is a fantastic commentator for ESPN? :eek:

Pro. F

Good result today but nothing more than expected. No disrespect to Blackburn but this match wasn't much of a test. They defended well in their own third but they couldn't hold onto the ball and didn't really try to get forward much.

I felt sorry for Nani, he had a terrible game and he knew it. He got loads of the ball and plenty of space, because Evra was having a stormer, but he just couldn't produce anything. When the crowd cheered when he was subbed his face dropped.

Oberton was easily able to make use of the possession and link up with Evra to get the ball into the box. He totally eclipsed Nani.

Valencia was hit and miss for me. Overall i think he should have done more really. He and JOS don't seem to have a good understanding yet, i hope they sort it out soon.

Anderson and Carrick had a very easy job in the middle since Rovers were sitting back so much. Carrick did fine but Anderson completely outshone him in every aspect.

Rooney and Berbatov both seemed off the pace for me but they were still our best attacking threat and they deserved their goals. Berbatov's was class.

curry-muff

To be honest Obertan shat a brick he was really nervous today, on the bright side if thats how he plays on a nervous first team debut, plenty more to come from him

Lemlin

Disappointed for Kalinic with his goal being ruled offside. Would have been nice to see him get off the mark in the PL. He ndees to get some game time, goals and confidence because Di Santo will be back to Chelsea in January unless they can get the transfer ban lifted.

FutureGuy

curry-muff wrote: »

To be honest Obertan shat a brick he was really nervous today, on the bright side if thats how he plays on a nervous first team debut, plenty more to come from him

Completely agree...I can't remember the last time I saw someone so nervous on the field. On his first run, he dribbled the ball out of touch and he seemed like a wreck every single time he got the ball. And yet, he contributed way more to the team in his 30 minutes than Nani did in his 60. I'd be really worried of I were Nani.

Mitch Connor

FutureGuy wrote: »

Completely agree...I can't remember the last time I saw someone so nervous on the field. On his first run, he dribbled the ball out of touch and he seemed like a wreck every single time he got the ball. And yet, he contributed way more to the team in his 30 minutes than Nani did in his 60. I'd be really worried of I were Nani.

Two screwed up chances and 3 crosses to nobody?

SlickRic

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Two screwed up chances and 3 crosses to nobody?

exactly.

obertan looks a talent, but let's not pretend he offered so much more on the day.

berba's goal was class. to be honest i was surprised at how much he was lambasted in some quarters recently. i thought he'd had a good start to the season, and the Liverpool game seemed to trigger a new mini-vendetta against him.

he's been one of your better players this season for me.

only defintely behind rooney, fletcher, giggs and evra.

Mitch Connor

SlickRic wrote: »

exactly.

obertan looks a talent, but let's not pretend he offered so much more on the day.

berba's goal was class. to be honest i was surprised at how much he was lambasted in some quarters recently. i thought he'd had a good start to the season, and the Liverpool game seemed to trigger a new mini-vendetta against him.

he's been one of your better players this season for me.

only defintely behind rooney, fletcher, giggs and evra.

I'd agree. Taking the Liverpool game as an example of the hate shown towards him - the midfield was shocking that day, offering nothing. No fan will deny that. So, how can Berbatov (or Rooney who also did nothing against 'pool) look good when they are getting nothing but long balls and crap from midfield?

As for Obertan on Saturday. I did like his cameo. He showed great pace, a good work rate in getting back and helping in defence as well as showing that his positional awareness is good. Going forward there were promising signs, the run for his first chance and being in the right place for the second. I think nerves from making his debut got to him on both occasions, but the fact is he screwed up on both occasions. He actually provided no more offensively than Nani did in the game. He still looked promising, but to say he provided more is wrong imo.

I would say it is mostly a matter of perception and feeling. Some are looking and judging Obertan on his debut and correctly saying it was a promising debut, feeling good about what he did. But, they are directly comparing the promising debut to another more frustrating game from Nani. Nani did about the same as Obertan, but Nani cost a lot more, and is in his 3rd season, so more is expected of him. So, while I do not feel the performances were that different, the perceptions of them are very different, just cause of who the players are.

Hopefully, with more fitness and confidence, Obertan can build on the promising performance from Saturday.

grames_bond

ive got to say i am really happy with michael owen, and his overall contribution, he is a vetran, playing well, great work rate, doesnt moan and is even teaching the younger players on the pitch - as could be seen when he let obertan take that shot on....not many players would have done that...nice to see.....just unfortunate that obertans nerves got the best of him and he paniced a little!

Nalz

I'm happy with Owen too. I just wish he had that extra yard of pace he had at Liverpool... always liked the guy. He's no Torres, heck he's no Rooney but fit he's a great and vital member of the squad.

daveyboy_1ie

Yeah on the one hand I thought 'why didn't Owen take it himself?' but on the other hand it was selfless and nice play from him. In the 15 minutes or so he was on Owen made two great chances for himself 9giving one up to Obertan) and is more than good eough to put these away on another day.

I still think he is capable of providing 10 league goals this season but he needs to be starting more, giving him a dozen or so minutes every third game is not the best way to get goals from him.

on a side note, relaly pleased with Rooney's finish but up till then his touch was simply awful and he badly needs games to get back in the groove.

Mitch Connor

Really don't agree with this Owen teaching Obertan stuff....

For me, the ball was too far away for Owen to hit when Obertan took it on. Any player, in the same situation as Owen, would have left that for Obertan to hit, cause there was nothing else he could have done.

Sully

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Really don't agree with this Owen teaching Obertan stuff....

For me, the ball was too far away for Owen to hit when Obertan took it on. Any player, in the same situation as Owen, would have left that for Obertan to hit, cause there was nothing else he could have done.

Think Owen could have taken it, was about to and then spotted Obertan so gave the slot to him for what should have been an easy finish.

Mitch Connor

Sully wrote: »

Think Owen could have taken it, was about to and then spotted Obertan so gave the slot to him for what should have been an easy finish.

At best it would have been on the stretch for Owen, and on his weaker foot too, Obertan was far better placed to take the shot. I don't think it is a case of the veteran leaving it for the new kid to build his confidence, I think it was simply a case of leaving it to the far better placed player.

Boggles

Trilla wrote: »

I'm happy with Owen too. I just wish he had that extra yard of pace he had at Liverpool...

Owen never overly relied on his pace.

Good finishing and being in the right place is why his scoring stats are impressive.

Sully

Mitch Connor wrote: »

At best it would have been on the stretch for Owen, and on his weaker foot too, Obertan was far better placed to take the shot. I don't think it is a case of the veteran leaving it for the new kid to build his confidence, I think it was simply a case of leaving it to the far better placed player.

Perhaps. Ill take a look at the shot again later but it looked very much like Owen was about to take it before spotting Obertan. I took that as leaving it to the newbie (just the way it was passed) over better positioned. Regardless, I could not get over how he missed it. Please tell me it was the pressure!

Nalz

Boggles wrote: »

Owen never overly relied on his pace.

Good finishing and being in the right place is why his scoring stats are impressive.

When Owen made room/space for himself (which he obviously still has) there was no catching him. Now, I think he's at least half a yard slower and imo won't get as many off the shoulder/pull away goals. He's still good at what he does and if he were to get injured we would suffer somewhat as he is a quality backup/squad player.

Mitch Connor

Sully wrote: »

Perhaps. Ill take a look at the shot again later but it looked very much like Owen was about to take it before spotting Obertan. I took that as leaving it to the newbie (just the way it was passed) over better positioned. Regardless, I could not get over how he missed it. Please tell me it was the pressure!

Could have been pressure, or nerves, or he simply scuffed the chance. He isn't the first player to miss an easy looking chance. Better players have missed easier to be fair.

I'll put it this way, I think we'll see an Obertan goal or two way quicker than we saw from Anderson!

ctrl-alt-delete

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Could have been pressure, or nerves, or he simply scuffed the chance. He isn't the first player to miss an easy looking chance. Better players have missed easier to be fair.

I'll put it this way, I think we'll see an Obertan goal or two way quicker than we saw from Anderson!

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i wouldn't have thought you could compare him to Anderson? Should he not be compared to Nani, and Ronaldo?

Chelsea and Arsenal destroyed Blackburn, Had Ronaldo been in the United team i'm sure it would have been 4,5,6 we'd be looking back on. United had all the ball and all the chances, it's not as if they were afraid of being caught on the break.

I'm a Blackburn fan, and i have a fondness for United, mainly due to my brother supporting them. If i was a United fan i'd be still complaining that the club have never really replaced the type of player Van Nistelrooy was. They do not have an out and out finisher - Ronaldo took away the need, or at least the importance of that the past 2 seasons at least. That's what i'd be worried about and be looking for as a Christmas present at United.

Boggles

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

If i was a United fan i'd be still complaining that the club have never really replaced the type of player Van Nistelrooy was. They do not have an out and out finisher - Ronaldo took away the need, or at least the importance of that the past 2 seasons at least. That's what i'd be worried about and be looking for as a Christmas present at United.

I disagree, an out and out finisher never guarantees success.

I prefer the United forwards to be dynamic, you can overly rely on a 30 goal striker like we did too often with RVN.

A good spread of goals throughout the entire team trumps a 30 goaler every time IMO.

The Muppet

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

If i was a United fan i'd be still complaining that the club have never really replaced the type of player Van Nistelrooy was. They do not have an out and out finisher - Ronaldo took away the need, or at least the importance of that the past 2 seasons at least. That's what i'd be worried about and be looking for as a Christmas present at United.

United were never really a team for one main striker with the exception Of Ruud's time there. We have alway had goals coming from every area of the pitch. I was happy we reverted to that philosophy when Ruud was sold.

Mitch Connor

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i wouldn't have thought you could compare him to Anderson? Should he not be compared to Nani, and Ronaldo?

I didn't mean to compare them as players or in style, simply saying that despite his misses on Saturday, I would expect him to be a decent goal scorer for us - between 5 and 10 goals a season, and that I don't imagine he will turn out like Ando in front of goal.

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

Chelsea and Arsenal destroyed Blackburn, Had Ronaldo been in the United team i'm sure it would have been 4,5,6 we'd be looking back on. United had all the ball and all the chances, it's not as if they were afraid of being caught on the break.

I'm a Blackburn fan, and i have a fondness for United, mainly due to my brother supporting them. If i was a United fan i'd be still complaining that the club have never really replaced the type of player Van Nistelrooy was. They do not have an out and out finisher - Ronaldo took away the need, or at least the importance of that the past 2 seasons at least. That's what i'd be worried about and be looking for as a Christmas present at United.

I agree to an extent. I don't think we need a 'Ruud', an out an dout finisher and little else (though i think Ruud offered more than that at his peak for us). I think what we lack is a clinical finisher, the type of player who, when one on one with the keeper, you know will hit the net 9 times out of 10. Ronaldo was this for us at his best. He wasn't all about goals but he was fairly clinical.

As you say, we create the chances, we just don't finish enough of them. If we had an out and out lead the line lump it to him forward we might score more of the chances created, but we may also create less chances with a more limited playing style.

A more clinical player like Torres, or Eto'o, or Villa, for instance, would offer more than a Ruud type player in terms of running and team play, but would score us a crap load of goals.

Rumours that United want to sign David Silva and David Villa. I'd fap to death if that happened as I think it would make us a lot better going forward, and give the top sides more to think about when we face them. Even just Villa would be an amazing signing - though we'll face stiff competion for him from Chelsea, if the transfer ban is lifted or 'Pool if they get bought. Real and Barca (though Barca less likely imo) will come sniffing again too if he is on the market.

ctrl-alt-delete

I didn't really mean play like you did when Ruud was there, as much as i can't notice much of a difference in the style of play of United from then and now - and that's not me saying there is no difference

I also didn't say that success would come with that type of player, United are still creating loads of chances, they just do not have a player who thrives on that.

I just mean a player who will score goals, not even when he is given a chance, but half chances, like the Torres goal the other day. I would agree with a Torres, Villa or Eto'o type player over a Ruud.

For the amount of possession and chances United had on Saturday i think they should be more clinical, as we know Arsenal put 6 past and Chelsea put 5 past. I don't see a player in the United team who can do it for United, i think the lack of goals will do them this year, but i also hope you's can prove me wrong

ctrl-alt-delete

Boggles wrote: »

I disagree, an out and out finisher never guarantees success.

I prefer the United forwards to be dynamic, you can overly rely on a 30 goal striker like we did too often with RVN.

A good spread of goals throughout the entire team trumps a 30 goaler every time IMO.

As much as i'd like to agree, me supporting who i do - i would have hated to have the goals spread about the team rather than having Alan Shearer in the team

Lemlin

The Muppet wrote: »

United were never really a team for one main striker with the exception Of Ruud's time there. We have alway had goals coming from every area of the pitch. I was happy we reverted to that philosophy when Ruud was sold.

What's wrong with both? Chelsea have Drogba and have plenty of goals throughout the team too.

United lacking a top finisher could cost them.

Pro. F

Mitch Connor wrote: »

As for Obertan on Saturday. I did like his cameo. He showed great pace, a good work rate in getting back and helping in defence as well as showing that his positional awareness is good. Going forward there were promising signs, the run for his first chance and being in the right place for the second. I think nerves from making his debut got to him on both occasions, but the fact is he screwed up on both occasions. He actually provided no more offensively than Nani did in the game. He still looked promising, but to say he provided more is wrong imo.

I would say it is mostly a matter of perception and feeling. Some are looking and judging Obertan on his debut and correctly saying it was a promising debut, feeling good about what he did. But, they are directly comparing the promising debut to another more frustrating game from Nani. Nani did about the same as Obertan, but Nani cost a lot more, and is in his 3rd season, so more is expected of him. So, while I do not feel the performances were that different, the perceptions of them are very different, just cause of who the players are.

I agree that Oberton didn't really provide any end product but he was definitely better than Nani imo. He ran at, and got past, the defenders and that gave them more to think about which then gave the rest of the team more space in that part of the pitch. Also he linked up with Evra really well. Don't forget that both goals came came from our left after Oberton came on. I know he didn't provide the assists but i think he used his movement to make space for the rest of the team quite well. Whereas Nani had just been a vortex of shìte that broke down moves whenever the ball went near him.

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

Chelsea and Arsenal destroyed Blackburn, Had Ronaldo been in the United team i'm sure it would have been 4,5,6 we'd be looking back on. United had all the ball and all the chances, it's not as if they were afraid of being caught on the break.

Forget about Ronaldo, it was Giggs we were missing in this game. If Giggs had been fit and playing we would have scored a good few more imo. Nani had an shocker and Valencia was quite poor as well. I'm not saying that Ronaldo wouldn't have solved the problem as well but just that we only really needed one decent (as opposed to world beating) winger performance and we would have scored a good few in that game. What worries me more is that Giggs is our only winger showing any decent form this season. I'm still waiting for Valencia to take off.

Question for Blackburn fans - why does McCarthy not start? Is he out of favour or is he unfit? I've always thought he's quite an under-rated player.

ctrl-alt-delete

Pro. F wrote: »

Question for Blackburn fans - why does McCarthy not start? Is he out of favour or is he unfit? I've always thought he's quite an under-rated player.

I think it's a mixture of the 2, he does struggle to get and keep his fitness, or at least has done this season and last. I'm not too sure Allardyce rates him too much, but he has obviously never gone on record to say that.

I'd like to see Kalinic being used more, i know he has to settle in, but he looks good from what i've seen. I'd be using him ahead of a player we have on loan anyways, especially one who is due to go back in january.

ntlbell

Lemlin wrote: »

United lacking a top finisher could cost them.

so people keep saying.

yet i think we've scored more so far this year than in previous years with ronaldo and have a better points tally.

i wish this thing would end.

he won't be replaced

he cannot be replaced.

united will win trophies without him.

Theresalwaysone

ntlbell wrote: »

so people keep saying.

yet i think we've scored more so far this year than in previous years with ronaldo and have a better points tally.

i wish this thing would end.

he won't be replaced

he cannot be replaced.

united will win trophies without him.

What, if anything iyo, do you think is missing from this United team?