Man Utd v AC Milan (agg 3 - 2) - RTE, ITV

m@cc@

joe123 wrote: »

When did I say 10?

Ive already said I think Barca,Madrid,Inter,Chelsea and possibly Bayern would beat them.

Id say Arsenal but they tend to bottle it against the big sides.

You used the term 'average' and I'm asking you to name 10 sides that are better. You can only name 5 good sides? And Madrid? Ha ha ha ha, classic.

Mr.Nice Guy

Great result tonight. Milan were terrible. Very pleased for Park. I know he divides a lot of United fans but I'm a big fan of him for his work ethic.

Thrilled for Beckham getting that great reception. RTE panel talking shite about his limited talent. Giles mentioned how in his prime his celebrity status tended to make people overstate his talent which is a fair point, however what's happening now is people are understimating the impact he made because of his celebrity status. United would not have won what they did in the late nineties without his many contributions.

Anyway with Rooney leading the charge anything is now possible.

m@cc@

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Thrilled for Beckham getting that great reception. RTE panel talking shite about his limited talent. Giles mentioned how in his prime his celebrity status tended to make people overstate his talent which is a fair point, however what's happening now is people are understimating the impact he made because of his celebrity status. United would not have won what they did in the late nineties without his many contributions.

Even Ole said a few days ago how great it was to have a right midfielder like Beckham who puts the ball into the box early for the forwards to get on the end of. I'm sure Yorke and Cole were very grateful for his service.

flahavaj

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Great result tonight. Milan were terrible. Very pleased for Park. I know he divides a lot of United fans but I'm a big fan of him for his work ethic.

Thrilled for Beckham getting that great reception. RTE panel talking shite about his limited talent. Giles mentioned how in his prime his celebrity status tended to make people overstate his talent which is a fair point, however what's happening now is people are understimating the impact he made because of his celebrity status. United would not have won what they did in the late nineties without his many contributions.

Anyway with Rooney leading the charge anything is now possible.

He was ridiculously good in the treble winning season, had something crazy like 30+ assists. Wouldn't have won anything that season without him.

Mitch Connor

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Great result tonight. Milan were terrible. Very pleased for Park. I know he divides a lot of United fans but I'm a big fan of him for his work ethic.

Thrilled for Beckham getting that great reception. RTE panel talking shite about his limited talent. Giles mentioned how in his prime his celebrity status tended to make people overstate his talent which is a fair point, however what's happening now is people are understimating the impact he made because of his celebrity status. United would not have won what they did in the late nineties without his many contributions.

Anyway with Rooney leading the charge anything is now possible.

I would be one of Beck's biggest critics, especially given how he left. I do think, towards the end of his united career, he was over-rated by a lot, but at times in his United career he was just superb. the 98-99 season in particular - he was spectacular that season, his best season imo.

Beckham is a player that benefited from being surrounding by great players (those that we able to make the runs and control his stunning long range passes) but it is foolish to look at the impact he had at United, at Real Madrid (major reason they won the league in his last season having forced his way back into the side on the back of his TALENT) and last season at Milan, and then say he was a limited player.

Mitch Connor

flahavaj wrote: »

He was ridiculously good in the treble winning season, had something crazy like 30+ assists. Wouldn't have won anything that season without him.

27 assists, a great return. What is also amazing from that season, it was only the JOINT top ammount with Yorke also getting 27 (what a contribution from a striker!)

flahavaj

Mitch Connor wrote: »

27 assists, a great return. What is also amazing from that season, it was only the JOINT top ammount with Yorke also getting 27 (what a contribution from a striker!)

Ha I think you have that Treble video that gives all the stats like I have? Great drunken viewing.:pac:

Mitch Connor

flahavaj wrote: »

Ha I think you have that Treble video that gives all the stats like I have? Great drunken viewing.:pac:

Yeah - 3, is a magic number!

ShiverinEskimo

joe123 wrote: »

But from the beast United used to be they just arent anymore.

Yea I suppose how 3 titles and two Champs league finals in the last three years would illustrate that alright.

Tosh.

PHB

I tell you what, Park was outstanding tonight. Best performance I've seen from him in quite some time.

Nani also did really well with the assist, despite a generally poor first half, really was outstanding in the second, with 3 peaches of crosses only for the finisher to **** it up.

Defence was great. Rooney was outstanding. Overall stunningly good performance from a Milan team that was good, but clearly missing Pato and Nesta. Will take it though.

Lyon, Sevilla/CSKA, Bordeaux/Olympiacos would all be nice ties now.

Bayern, Arsenal, Chelsea/Inter, Barca all ones to avoid, although Barca is the only team I would genuinely be devastated to draw, can't see us beating them over two legs, one maybe, but not over two.

Pro. F

Milan were pathetic tonight, that's the only way to describe them. Unbelievable waste of the attacking talents in their side. Still, it was very satisfying to see how clinical United were in putting them to the sword.

That front five that we had on the pitch tonight I'm very happy with. They would give me a lot of confidence about our prospects going into the rest of the big games this season. Also Giggs will be coming back from injury and can replace Nani or Scholes (when he's tired).

Lots of good individual performances tonight.

Ferdinand and Vidic seemed to be re-establishing their partnership (please please please please both stay fit).

Park showed how much better he can be when playing centrally. I've been saying for a while that i'd like to see him play there so i hope we see more of it. Happy for him that he got a tasty goal.

Fletcher and Scholes had it so easy tonight, I don't know if they got beyond second gear at any stage.

What can I say about Rooney? Tbh I'm sort of getting tired of trying to describe how good he is
First touch, close control, movement, passing, vision, finishing, work rate - all world class. He has 30 goals now so far this season. I wonder does he does he fancy his chances of getting another 12+?

Pro. F

Ffs PHB use spoilers about tonights games!

UnitedIrishman

PHB wrote: »

I tell you what, Park was outstanding tonight. Best performance I've seen from him in quite some time.

Nani also did really well with the assist, despite a generally poor first half, really was outstanding in the second, with 3 peaches of crosses only for the finisher to **** it up.

Defence was great. Rooney was outstanding. Overall stunningly good performance from a Milan team that was good, but clearly missing Pato and Nesta. Will take it though.

Lyon, Sevilla/CSKA, Bordeaux/Olympiacos would all be nice ties now.

Bayern, Arsenal, Chelsea/Inter, Barca all ones to avoid, although Barca is the only team I would genuinely be devastated to draw, can't see us beating them over two legs, one maybe, but not over two.

Agree with all of the above.

Only thing is, I think Nani is a bit wasted on the left. He keeps having to cut inside because he's mostly right-foot. If he had a bit more confidence in his left - as he showed for a cross to Valencia tonight - he'd be flying. Hopefully he works hard on his left foot over the next 6 months because it'd sort out our problems on that side without having to go out and spend.

Pro. F

Ffs PHB use spoiler tags about tonights other game!

What's up with people in here tonight?!

PHB

Pro. F wrote: »

Ffs PHB use spoilers about tonights games!

Apologies.

redout

PHB wrote: »

Lyon, Sevilla/CSKA, Bordeaux/Olympiacos would all be nice ties now.

Bayern, Arsenal, Chelsea/Inter, Barca all ones to avoid, although Barca is the only team I would genuinely be devastated to draw, can't see us beating them over two legs, one maybe, but not over two.

I would honestly say there is no team to avoid.

I would fancy us against any of them tbh.

No team in the competition scares me and I think Fergie has similar thoughts.

I believe we could take them all with Fletch being the key - No Fletch then against certain teams we would struggle.

_blank_

I love Park, he's my favourite player of the last six or seven years, just gets on with it to the very best of his ability, and he looked chuffed when he scored.

nullzero

As a United fan tonights game made pleasant viewing, but being honest I thought the game was an awful advertisment for the Champions League.
United played ok but didn't have to do anything special to beat Milan. Rooney handed possession back to Milan cheaply maybe four or five time in the first half alone. He worked hard and took his goals very well indeed, but against a better side he would have been in a higher gear at leat.
Milan were awful, United were average, the game wasn't a good one, but again as a United fan I'm glad we're through and through comfortably.

flahavaj

nullzero wrote: »

As a United fan tonights game made pleasant viewing, but being honest I thought the game was an awful advertisment for the Champions League.
United played ok but didn't have to do anything special to beat Milan. Rooney handed possession back to Milan cheaply maybe four or five time in the first half alone. He worked hard and took his goals very well indeed, but against a better side he would have been in a higher gear at leat.
Milan were awful, United were average, the game wasn't a good one, but again as a United fan I'm glad we're through and through comfortably.

Probably the most accurate summation of the evening. No need to get carried away, job done with minimum fuss, but Milan were dire.

deisedevil

Des wrote: »

I love Park, he's my favourite player of the last six or seven years, just gets on with it to the very best of his ability, and he looked chuffed when he scored.

For me I find the vast majority of the time he looks like a headless chicken but to be fair to him he hassles the opposition with the same enthusiasm all the way through the game and is constantly looking to win a ball back, even when he's not having much luck up front he at least gives us that.

timetogetfit

I said a while back that Darren Flecther is becoming the best all round midfielder in the EPL, I dont know whether its because he is scottish or took a while to develop but most people that are not united fans cant appreciate or accept how good he is,sure there are more creative midfielders but for all round effort he cant be matched and the bigger the game the better he is, he was a massive ,massive loss in the final last year, I wouldnt swap him for any other midfielder in europe, if his name was flechardinho and played for brazil he would be held in much higher esstem

flahavaj

deisedevil wrote: »

For me I find the vast majority of the time he looks like a headless chicken but to be fair to him he hassles the opposition with the same enthusiasm all the way through the game and is constantly looking to win a ball back, even when he's not having much luck up front he at least gives us that.

I guarantee you he will play every one of United's big matches in Europe this season. Hopefully more in the centre too.

Mitch Connor

timetogetfit wrote: »

I said a while back that Darren Flecther is becoming the best all round midfielder in the EPL, I dont know whether its because he is scottish or took a while to develop but most people that are not united fans cant appreciate or accept how good he is,sure there are more creative midfielders but for all round effort he cant be matched and the bigger the game the better he is, he was a massive ,massive loss in the final last year, I wouldnt swap him for any other midfielder in europe, if his name was flechardinho and played for brazil he would be held in much higher esstem

I do love Fletcher, and I do think he has become a really great midfielder, but not swap him for anyone? Please, give me Essien any day (apart from the ones he is injured on....)

Essien is the player Fletcher wishes he was imo. Fletcher does what Essien does, Essien just does it better.

I do agree that Fletcher is underrated by too many opposition fans. The guy is so important to what United do, such a tireless worker and such an intelligent player. To be fair to oppo fans - its only in the last 2 seasons that a rather large proportion of United fans have finally seen just how important he is.

Dave!

timetogetfit wrote: »

I said a while back that Darren Flecther is becoming the best all round midfielder in the EPL, I dont know whether its because he is scottish or took a while to develop but most people that are not united fans cant appreciate or accept how good he is,sure there are more creative midfielders but for all round effort he cant be matched and the bigger the game the better he is, he was a massive ,massive loss in the final last year, I wouldnt swap him for any other midfielder in europe, if his name was flechardinho and played for brazil he would be held in much higher esstem

There's many midfielders I'd swap him for -- Fabregas, Iniesta, Xavi, Essien, etc -- but I'd rather have him alongside those

I'll be calling him Fletchardinho from now on BTW, even though it's a bit of extra effort to type.

_blank_

nullzero wrote: »

Rooney handed possession back to Milan cheaply maybe four or five time in the first half alone.

Rooney was shocking, apart from the goals. Was it Wenger who said that about Drogba earlier in the season and got ridiculed for it? I understand that opinion, I really do.

_blank_

Mitch Connor wrote: »

its only in the last 2 seasons that a rather large proportion of United fans have finally seen just how important he is.

It's only in the last two seasons that Fletcher has grown into that player.

He wasn't as good as he is now three years ago, not a bit of it.

Mitch Connor

Des wrote: »

It's only in the last two seasons that Fletcher has grown into that player.

He wasn't as good as he is now three years ago, not a bit of it.

He stepped it up last season, but the season before that he was excellent for us too imo. He has been deserving of praise for the last 3 seasons at least imo. It was only really last season he started to get the headlines, but the season before he was an important player for us too, imo.

timetogetfit

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I do love Fletcher, and I do think he has become a really great midfielder, but not swap him for anyone? Please, give me Essien any day (apart from the ones he is injured on....)

Essien is the player Fletcher wishes he was imo. Fletcher does what Essien does, Essien just does it better.

I do agree that Fletcher is underrated by too many opposition fans. The guy is so important to what United do, such a tireless worker and such an intelligent player. To be fair to oppo fans - its only in the last 2 seasons that a rather large proportion of United fans have finally seen just how important he is.

Well all I can say to that is that flecther was way better than all the chelsea midfielders including essien in our very unlucky loss at stamford bridge this season.

You may be right however because I think chelsea dont use essien properly

nullzero

Des wrote: »

Rooney was shocking, apart from the goals. Was it Wenger who said that about Drogba earlier in the season and got ridiculed for it? I understand that opinion, I really do.

I wouldn't say it was a typical thing for Rooney to be doing, but tonight he was playing short passes without looking. Had he been doing it against a decent outfit I'm sure Fergie would have gone through him for a shortcut at half time.
He took his goals well and worked hard, but passing without looking is a basic error and one you shouldn't make in the CL knockout stages, especially when you're Wayne Rooney.

timetogetfit

Dave! wrote: »

There's many midfielders I'd swap him for -- Fabregas, Iniesta, Xavi, Essien, etc -- but I'd rather have him alongside those

I'll be calling him Fletchardinho from now on BTW, even though it's a bit of extra effort to type.

If you swapped flecther for any of those more creative players you mentioned and did nothing else , united would be more likely to get knocked out of the champions league then with flecther in the team

timetogetfit

United get alot of stick for there midfield being fairly average and have no stars but you cant just fill a team of super star attacking players and expect to be a success(look at real).Park and Flecher are perfect examples of types of players that every team needs

Pro. F

timetogetfit wrote: »

United get alot of stick for there midfield being fairly average and have no stars but you cant just fill a team of super star attacking players and expect to be a success(look at real).Park and Flecher are perfect examples of types of players that every team needs

conversely, if you lack quality creative CMs you will struggle, just like we have so regularly this season. If we had just one quality creative CM who was young and fit enough to play every week then we would already have the league wrapped up imo.

IvySlayer

Didn't see the match (was at a premier )

I'm glad we got a fantastic result and a good performance by the sound of things!

flahavaj

I think we should all call it a f*cking night tbh.

Slan.

kryogen

flahavaj wrote: »

I think we should all call it a f*cking night tbh.

Slan.

good call!

SlickRic

i saw the last 10 minutes.

was it as easy as it seemed, even though the game was won at that stage?

Milan looked an embarrassment.

Ush1

SlickRic wrote: »

i saw the last 10 minutes.

was it as easy as it seemed, even though the game was won at that stage?

Milan looked an embarrassment.

The funniest was when Ronnie and co. were patting Beckham round the neck down the tunnel after. Have these clowns forgot why they play football, they just got hammered like??

ShiverinEskimo

SlickRic wrote: »

i saw the last 10 minutes.

was it as easy as it seemed, even though the game was won at that stage?

Milan looked an embarrassment.

AC Milan actually had the first two chances of the night and with them a chance to put pressure on us but they wasted them.

Once United scored the result was never in doubt. Milan resorted to 6 passes back and forth midfield before trying an impossible ball and lumping it out for a goal kick again and again and again.

SlickRic

Ush1 wrote: »

The funniest was when Ronnie and co. were patting Beckham round the neck down the tunnel after. Have these clowns forgot why they play football, they just got hammered like??

i saw that on the news this morning, and was very confused.

it's good they can get over that kind of hammering so quickly and be happy for their teammate.

if they'd put away a couple of the 3/4 nailed-on goals Beckham put on a plate for them over the 40/50mins minutes he played over the two legs, they may have at least made it remotely close.

Ush1

SlickRic wrote: »

i saw that on the news this morning, and was very confused.

it's good they can get over that kind of hammering so quickly and be happy for their teammate.

if they'd put away a couple of the 3/4 nailed-on goals Beckham put on a plate for them over the 40/50mins minutes he played over the two legs, they may have at least made it remotely close.

It was similar to the last Milan derby, although obviously Man. United are better than a 9 man Inter, hence the score. But yeah, Milan couldn't score in a brothel. They had all the help in the world but played like a team that was 6 nil up and just playing out time. Unbelievable attitude.

kryogen

its shocking from the milan players tbh, the attitude is disgraceful, they should care about the jersey ffs

it really is time to shift the team on now

RasTa

Shared a bus with Milan fans back to Liverpool airport and they weren't happy with the club in general. Some atmopshere for the last 15mins and the opening.

Mitch Connor

RasTa wrote: »

Shared a bus with Milan fans back to Liverpool airport and they weren't happy with the club in general. Some atmopshere for the last 15mins and the opening.

it is a scary time for them.

Majority of their team needs replacing really, and the only real bright stars they seem to have are Pato and Thiago Silva (who has been hyped by the milan fans but didn't convince me over the two games). Strong rumours linking Pato with Chelsea, and he would be a massive loss to them. Would net them a lot of money, to reinvest in the side, but they really need a major overhaul and need to keep hold of Pato and build the team around him imo.

Just look at the subs they brought on last night to change the game. Beckham, Seedorf and Inzaghi - all well into their 30's, they have no real youth to call on. I would say they are kicking themselves over losing Gourcuff to be honest.

Pro. F

SlickRic wrote: »

i saw the last 10 minutes.

was it as easy as it seemed, even though the game was won at that stage?

Milan looked an embarrassment.

Up to the goal and for a little while after it I was thinking that they could score some goals and change the game. Ronnie and Pirlo were putting in some dangerous balls into the box. But as the first half wore on they just lost interest. United didn't even have to raise the tempo other than if they particularly felt like scoring, which they did a few times. Milan were pathetic.

leninbenjamin

Milan as a club are f*cked at the moment. Still, it's shocking how bad they were last night, and Leonardo still seemed clueless tactically even though he didn't have many options.

Mars Bar

The atmosphere was electric last night, my first time seeing a Man United match and I couldn't have asked for more! Beckham is one of the reasons I started supporting United and it was wonderful to see the reception he got and to be a part of it myself. Legend of a man!

Milan were almost a no show though. We could hear them giving out to each other from where we were sitting. It's quite evident all is not well in their camp.

Rooney was immense when he was on. A special mention to Park who was outstanding. Valencia could do with showing Scholes how to tackle!

The Leeds and Liverpool chants were priceless. My Dad was with me and he's a 'Pool fan so all we could was laugh.

Nalz

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Milan as a club are f*cked at the moment.

whats the load down financially?

leninbenjamin

Trilla wrote: »

whats the load down financially?

Not sure tbh, have heard different reports going as high as €100m. The big issue is that Berlusconi has stopped bankrolling them basically, he used channel funds into them from different companies but put an end to that last season. Serie A revenues and attendances are still in decline afaik (not 100% though), they haven't got too many assets to sell and they have massive financial obligations through the whole Milan labs thing. I just can't see them being competitive for a while debt or no debt.

Paul Tergat

Just got back from having been at the match.

Absolute quality.

JerryHandbag

I know Milan were crap last night, but here's an interesting stat, pouring scorn on the suggestion (from some quarters, not here I might add) that Uniteds victory last night was diminished because Milan are an ageing team...

Starting XIs, 10 March
UNITED: van der Sar (39); Neville (35), Ferdinand (31), Vidic (28), Evra (28); Valencia (24), Fletcher (26), Park (29), Scholes (35), Nani (23); Rooney (24)
Average age: 29.27

AC MILAN: Abbiatti (32); Abate (23), Bonera (28), Silva (27), Jankulovski (32); Flamini (26), Pirlo (30), Ambrosini (32); Huntelaar (26), Borriello (27), Ronaldinho (29)
Average age: 28.36

From ManUtd.com
Its us who are the ageing ones!!