Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

Son Of A Vidic

One of the biggest pluses this season has been Evans delivering again on his potential. He had a couple of poor inconsistent seasons, but has really stepped up with Vida out. I just hope when Vida returns he doesn't regress, though I doubt he will. I don't know if anyone has noticed this in the past, but Vida and Evans have had some serious verbal exchanges at times during games.

Yes I know this happens but I sensed something else at play. Tbh, initially I thought it was just a bad attitude from Evans, but now I'm beginning to think otherwise. Sometimes when an Alpha leader(Vida) doesn't trust/respect or just constantly nags a junior (Evans), it can have a demoralising effect on the junior players performance.

So has Vida's absence liberated Evans and restored some self belief and confidence to his game? Because it certainly looks that way to me. Yes this is just a theory of mine, but I do believe it has merit. So when Vida does return, it will be interesting to see how Evans performs overall.

Backstreet Moyes

Evans ability on the ball is a big plus imo he carrys it out and lets Scholes or Carrick drop deep and start an attack. He also is a good passer. Smalling and Vidic tend to hoof the ball clear. I feel Evans allows us to play better football along the ground from the back, but Scholes ability on the ball helps also.

J. Marston

Just seen this, cool if true...

in the Blackburn v United game Valencia set a new record becoming the fastest Player in the World to run with the Ball, his record was 35.km/h thus becoming faster than Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo who was 33.6km/h then came Arsenal's Winger Theo Walcott with a time of 32.7km/h

Son Of A Vidic

J. Marston wrote: »

Just seen this, cool if true...

in the Blackburn v United game Valencia set a new record becoming the fastest Player in the World to run with the Ball, his record was 35.km/h thus becoming faster than Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo who was 33.6km/h then came Arsenal's Winger Theo Walcott with a time of 32.7km/h

This does not surprise me at all, because the beast always looked like he had some speed.

Blatter

I thought Evans started the season pretty well.

Actually I think he's been relatively good all season (bar a few mistakes here and there) and the only real major blip was the City game.

But over the last couple of months, he has definitely raised his game even more.

It'll be an interesting Summer actually. I think going into the new season with all of Rio, Vidic, Evans, Smalling and Jones (providing we sign a fullback, Clyne seems likely) is unnecessary unless we suffer another horrific injury crisis. And it's not really prudent to plan for a highly unlikely injury crisis at the back.

If they all stayed and remained fit for most of the season, it would be very likely that two of Evans, Smalling and Jones would be spending A LOT of time on the bench (I'm even allowing for Rio not playing all games here), which wouldn't be ideal in terms of their development.

We already have a bloated wage bill and I think it's quite possible that a difficult decision is made, and one of Rio or Vidic will be sold. I would personally like them to stay, but would understand if one of them were to go.

MagicMarker

Beast.

Eathrin

J. Marston wrote: »

Just seen this, cool if true...

I knew he was fast but wow!

Cantona's Collars

Nice to see Mancini giving up on the league already.Don't want to count my chickens but I hope he's right.

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini concedes his side's title hopes could be over by Sunday night.

The long-time Barclays Premier League leaders have fallen five points behind rivals Manchester United with just seven games remaining following a series of costly results in March.

City could even be trailing by eight points by the time they kick off in their next match at Arsenal on Sunday if United beat QPR earlier in the day.
Should that happen, and City then lose to the Gunners, Mancini would accept the race was over

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2125627/Roberto-Mancini-Title-race-Manchester-City-lose-Arsenal.html#ixzz1rCZ6ZrMe

Kylo Ren

Three years ago today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpa0KuaG8Rs

TonyD79

Blatter wrote: »

We already have a bloated wage bill and I think it's quite possible that a difficult decision is made, and one of Rio or Vidic will be sold. I would personally like them to stay, but would understand if one of them were to go.

With Berbatov going in the summer I doubt the wage bill is an issue. With the amount of injuries at the back we have had for two seasons running selling one of the 5 centre halfs is not going to happen.

Blatter

TonyD79 wrote: »

With Berbatov going in the summer I doubt the wage bill is an issue. With the amount of injuries at the back we have had for two seasons running selling one of the 5 centre halfs is not going to happen.

But with Berbatov going we will likely invest in another forward, or at least a creative, forward thinking midfielder.

I don't think we will use our injuries over the last two seasons as a deciding factor to keep all 5 centre backs.

We have had 4 senior centre backs before and coped, and most top clubs in the world are the same.

City: Kompany, Lescott, Toure, Savic

Chelsea: Terry, Luiz, Cahill, Ivanovic

Madrid: Pepe, Ramos, Carvalho, Varane

Barca: Puyol, Pique, Mascherano, Busquets (last resort)

Milan: Thiago Silva, Mexes, Nesta, Yepes


And so on. I'd have no problem with us going into next season with Vidic/Rio, Evans, Smalling, Jones. Especially if it helped us invest in a quality CM. Saying that, I'd be inclined to agree that there's a better chance that we start next season with all 5, but just don't be surprised if one of Rio/Vidc was to be sold.

RasTa

Maybe Rio as he has being offered a contract extension but on a lower wage, no chance Vidic.

Blatter

Vidic is very unlikely to go because of the injury and the question marks that brings alright (and he is the captain), but I wouldn't be totally ruling it out. If Rio doesn't accept the reported pay cut in his new contract offer, which there's a decent chance he won't as I'm sure other clubs would be willing to pay him what he's currently on, he could make way alright.

Neither really fits at the moment though, as in it's hard to see either leave, but it is unnecessary having 5 senior centre backs (if we sign a fullback, as Jones/Smalling won't be needed at RB even nearly as much as they have been)

Eathrin

Manchester United are reportedly monitoring Athletic Bilbao midfielder Oscar de Marcos as Sir Alex Ferguson begins to make plans for the summer transfer window.

The 22-year-old has been one of the stand-out performers in an impressive Athletic side this season, and has netted eight times in 37 appearances over the course of the campaign.

De Marcos struck in both legs against Manchester United as Atheltic dumped the Old Trafford club out of the Europa League, and it appears the Premier League champions are now interested in acquiring his services.


According to The Mirror, United manager Ferguson has asked his chief scout Jim Lawlor to take a look at the Spaniard, following a scouting trip by the former's brother Martin.

Manchester United will, however, have to spend big if they hope to capture the signature of De Marcos, who has a release clause of £26 million written into his contact with Athletic.

Such a valuation may put Ferguson off formalising his interest, with De Marcos yet to even be capped by his country.

Martinez is the one who excites me, though I understand he is playing a CB role these days.
What do we think of this lad?

Samich

That lad played well, sauata or whatever his name is?

Samich

Also anyone see this? The indian Frank Lampard :pac:

G.K.

I'd not heard of De Marcos before yous played him - now, having watched him in 4 games I think he's a cracking young attacking mid. He'd certainly give you a different attacking dimension/option/other cliché.

SoulTrader

killwill wrote: »

LOL I thought he was saying "Quick F*$king Thinking" Ha.

I always thought it meant quite f***ing true! I guess it could.

Fuhrer

Samich wrote: »

Also anyone see this? The indian Frank Lampard :pac:

Just like the Tranny John Terry

Blatter

Quality picture.

Son Of A Vidic

^ ^ ^

Great picture and it reminded me of some of the quotes after he retired last season.

After the Champions League Final whistle on Saturday (2011), Xavi, Messi, Pedro, Iniesta and Busquets all wanted to swap shirts with Scholes, so they drew straws and Iniesta won and got to swap with him. There is a lot of talk about him retiring so they were feeling like it could be the last time they play against him.

Also, the same story says that Busquets had hung on to the match ball and gave it to Scholes. For players like the 5 mentioned, and the esteem people hold them in, to take time out of their celebrations says a lot. It shows the class and humility of the Barca players for starters. But it also says a lot about the esteem that Scholes is held in amongst his peers and those who have played against him

Xavi: “Paul Scholes!? A role model. For me, and I really mean this, he’s the best central midfielder I’ve seen in the last 15, 20 years, the most complete. I have spoken with Xabi Alonso about this many times. Scholes is a spectacular player. He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn’t give possession away, vision, he has everything. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more. Players really love him.”

Lionel Messi: “At La Masia (Barcelona’s Academy) his name was mentioned a lot. He’s a teacher.”

Iniesta : “Rooney is one of the best players in the world and I love watching him play. But if you had to pick out only one, then for their history and for all that they have achieved it would have to be Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs. They are two shining examples for any player.”

Zinedine Zidane : “It’s only natural to want to select your best players and there is no doubt for me that Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own. He’s almost untouchable in what he does, I never tire of watching him play. You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get. One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career. He was an extremely tough opponent to play against. You didn’t get any time on the ball when he was around. He would close you down and make your life terribly uncomfortable. He is the type of player you want on your side, not in opposition because he could do so much damage. He is very gifted. He makes the game look easy because he’s so much natural ability.”

Jose Mourinho : “Scholes? Fantastic! Why isn’t he playing for England? It is crazy. Only in England. Scholes is a great, great player. So experienced and still, for me, one of the best in the world in midfield. Manchester United are lucky to have him.”

Kylo Ren

Manchester United’s five key players this season

They chose Evra not Carrick.

Here is what they wrote on Evra

The Frenchman’s standards are so high that it is unremarkable when he puts in yet another splendid performance. Was in the spotlight for a while with the Luis Suarez issue but didn’t let it affect his form and has been as consistent as ever. Evra’s solidity on the left allows for the likes of Ashley Young and Nani to roam infield without too much concern for leaving their man. He also attacks fantastically for a full-back and has done no less this season. Probably the best left-back in the league.

-_-

kmart6

Oh for fcuk sake!!!!

Giggsy11

Samich wrote: »

Also anyone see this? The indian Frank Lampard :pac:

He is RCB (Royal challengers Bangalore) bowler, Syed Mohammed.

Yeah looks like him, just one click, because when I watched him in IPL 4, he never looked like Lampard.

Giggsy11

Blatter wrote: »

I thought Evans started the season pretty well.

Actually I think he's been relatively good all season (bar a few mistakes here and there) and the only real major blip was the City game.

But over the last couple of months, he has definitely raised his game even more.

It'll be an interesting Summer actually. I think going into the new season with all of Rio, Vidic, Evans, Smalling and Jones (providing we sign a fullback, Clyne seems likely) is unnecessary unless we suffer another horrific injury crisis. And it's not really prudent to plan for a highly unlikely injury crisis at the back.

If they all stayed and remained fit for most of the season, it would be very likely that two of Evans, Smalling and Jones would be spending A LOT of time on the bench (I'm even allowing for Rio not playing all games here), which wouldn't be ideal in terms of their development.

We already have a bloated wage bill and I think it's quite possible that a difficult decision is made, and one of Rio or Vidic will be sold. I would personally like them to stay, but would understand if one of them were to go.

I dont think it will be a problem.

Rio is 33 or 34 and he has injury problems. We can't rely on him for entire season. We never know when he is gonna break down. And also with the injury problems I think he can play 1 season max at top level then if he stays he will be just part time player spending much of the time on bench.

Jones is just 20 and he is no where ready to play week in week out as a CB. He will learn gradually and surely he will be ready by the time Rio calls it a day. And he can get games as FB and CM too.

IMO we have very good age gap between our first teamers and youngsters. By the time our first team players are close to call it a day our youngsters will be ready to take the mantle. By that time they will be experienced enough to handle week in week out games.

Going by our histroy in last 2-3 seasons I wont be surprised to see us having one more injury crisis next season. To add to this Twins are also bit injury prone so Smalling and Jones will be getting games as FBs.

We have 5 CBs among which 1 can play at max 1 or 2 seasons and 1 needs at least 2-3 seasons to be ready to play as CB.

_blank_

Jones is not a good enough Centre Half yet to be considered one of 4 "senior" CBs at the club.

It's probably his worst position at the moment, of the three he plays.

Mitch Connor

G.K. wrote: »

I'd not heard of De Marcos before yous played him - now, having watched him in 4 games I think he's a cracking young attacking mid. He'd certainly give you a different attacking dimension/option/other cliché.

I saw a infographic of the positions he has played this season and he has played a decent number at both full back positions, on both wings and an central midfield. Almost for that fact alone I could see why Fergie would be interested - he loves a versatile player.

Mitch Connor

This is the De Marcos pic....



No real team news for the weekend, Nani is back, Owen and Anderson still not available, I think that is pretty much it. Oh, and Fergie praised Valencia while saying talk of an operation in the summer (to do with the plate in his leg following the fracture) is news to him.

Blatter

Giggsy11 wrote: »

I dont think it will be a problem.

Rio is 33 or 34 and he has injury problems. We can't rely on him for entire season. We never know when he is gonna break down. And also with the injury problems I think he can play 1 season max at top level then if he stays he will be just part time player spending much of the time on bench.

Jones is just 20 and he is no where ready to play week in week out as a CB. He will learn gradually and surely he will be ready by the time Rio calls it a day. And he can get games as FB and CM too.

IMO we have very good age gap between our first teamers and youngsters. By the time our first team players are close to call it a day our youngsters will be ready to take the mantle. By that time they will be experienced enough to handle week in week out games.

Going by our histroy in last 2-3 seasons I wont be surprised to see us having one more injury crisis next season. To add to this Twins are also bit injury prone so Smalling and Jones will be getting games as FBs.

We have 5 CBs among which 1 can play at max 1 or 2 seasons and 1 needs at least 2-3 seasons to be ready to play as CB.

I agree, but I was already making allowances for that. The way I'm looking at it is, presume Vidic will play most games and Rio plays half. How many games is there for Evans, Smalling and Jones? I don't see too many, and iirc SAF has already said he doesn't plan to rotate as much next season. There would also be the issue of Evans not playing consistently, which has affected him in the past. It wouldn't surprised me if SAF wants to make him first choice for next season after his performances this season. It would certainly be a lot easier to do that if one of Rio or Vidic weren't here and imo we'd still cope with Smalling and Jones as back up.

We should be fine for the fullback positions assuming we sign someone. Evra, Fabio, Rafael and say Clyne would be no problem imo. Even if we did need Jones to fill in at RB, the odds are that we should still have 2 fit centre backs left out of the other 3.

Des wrote: »

Jones is not a good enough Centre Half yet to be considered one of 4 "senior" CBs at the club.

It's probably his worst position at the moment, of the three he plays.

Of course he is. He's had as many good games at centre half as bad ones. It's only the fact that his bad ones have been more recent, it would tend to skew one's opinion. He was quite good there for Blackburn. There's a reason Liverpool, United, Spurs and Arsenal were all willing to pay big money for him, and it wasn't due to inept performances at the back. I had seen him there a few times for Blackburn, and he was excellent, most notably against United in the 1-1 which saw us win the title. He was fine for United in the first 5 or 6 games of the season, a bit of naivety here and there, but good overall. His next 5 or 6 games at CH there weren't so good, but a lot of that can be put down to an unsettled back 4, and I'm sure switching between midfield, right back and then back to centre half didn't help him either.

He is inexperienced of course, but so are a lot of fourth choice centre half at top clubs. He's much better than Savic for example. And if you say Jones isn't good enough to be 4th choice for United, then do you think Varane is good enough to be fourth choice at Real? He's just as unproven, probably even more so.

Nalz

Blatter wrote: »

He's had as many good games at centre half as bad ones.

How many games has he played at CB?

Mitch Connor

I partly agree with Des in saying that Jones hasn't looked as good at CB as he has in other roles. His enthusiasm and lack of experience have found him charging out of position to get the ball, and failing to recover - with a number very good chances being presented to the opposition as a result of this.

I do think though, and I could be wrong, that the majority of his appearances at CB have been with Smalling or Evans. So the partnerships have lacked experience. I would like to see Jones play CB with Ferdinand a bit - with Jones being the all action CB and Ferdinand sweeping behind. Rio talking to Jones regarding position and when to hold would, imo, also help his game.

I have said a number of times that Jones isn't a very good CB at the moment - he isn't disciplined enough for the role yet. I would say that will come though, and that I think he is going to be a world class CB soon enough - I just think he needs experience there, which he will get in time.

Right now though, Evans and Smalling would be ahead of him in the pecking order. (along with Rio and Vidic)

Blatter

Trilla wrote: »

How many games has he played at CB?

Second half of the CS v City - Played well

Last 20 mins v West Brom away - Did well

Tottenham home - Was brilliant

Arsenal home - Was good

Chelsea home - Was good overall however a couple of mistakes began to creep in.

Stoke away - Was good in that game.

Those were at the start of the season, If Mitch still has the statistics for the ratings of those games, I think it would show most thought he did really well.

Basel home - Poor

Norwich home - Did Okay (I remember him putting in a couple of great last ditch tackles, but caught out a bit too.

Aldershot away - Beside Vidic, untroubled as one would expect.

Benfica home - Dodgy enough performance. Scored an OG, but wasn't too bad overall.

Blackburn home - Poor, but beside Michael Carrick.

Newcastle away - Poor

Ajax home - Poor, but played with Smalling, Fabio and Rafael, who were all equally as poor.



And those are all his games at centre back for United, to the best of my knowledge. I think his last few appearances there have skewed peoples' opinions on how good of a CB he actually is, he's done pretty well there overall for his first season and you would expect him to be even better there next season.

Giggsy11

Blatter wrote: »

I agree, but I was already making allowances for that. The way I'm looking at it is, presume Vidic will play most games and Rio plays half. How many games is there for Evans, Smalling and Jones? I don't see too many, and iirc SAF has already said he doesn't plan to rotate as much next season. There would also be the issue of Evans not playing consistently, which has affected him in the past. It wouldn't surprised me if SAF wants to make him first choice for next season after his performances this season. It would certainly be a lot easier to do that if one of Rio or Vidic weren't here and imo we'd still cope with Smalling and Jones as back up.

We should be fine for the fullback positions assuming we sign someone. Evra, Fabio, Rafael and say Clyne would be no problem imo. Even if we did need Jones to fill in at RB, the odds are that we should still have 2 fit centre backs left out of the other 3.

I wouldn't be so sure about Rio playing half games. And also I dont think Vidic will be playing every game when he is fit. Fergie will rotate and he did it with every other player maybe except Evra and Rooney. We didn't make Champions league ko round, early exit from carling cup and FA, maybe next season if we do well in all the cups then we will be have many 3 games a week, I'm sure everyone with get their chances.

Also Fergie said he didn't expect Jones to play so many games in his first season and because of injury he was forced to play him. So maybe next few season will be a slow learning process for him?

Like Des said even I think he is not a good CB currently. He was very impressive as a RB but not as a CB. He may go onto become our first choice CB or CM, but imo he is not there yet.

Mitch Connor

Blatter wrote: »

Those were at the start of the season, If Mitch still has the statistics for the ratings of those games, I think it would show most thought he did really well.

August

September

What I would say is that people can be, and are, swayed by attacking contributions. Everyone will acknowledge that Jones loves to rampage forward with the ball - and iirc we had a few attacks start with him bursting forward with the ball. Those bursts forward will have excited people and contributed to the ratings he got. When discussing his performances at CB, it would be important to analyse the games with an eye on his defensive aspects alone, which we aren't likely to do now.

I'm not saying he was poor in those games defensively, because I can't quite recall now if he was or wasn't - just pointing out that a high rating can be down to his attacking runs rather than being defensively sound.

Jimmy Iovine

Keno 92 wrote: »

Manchester United’s five key players this season

They chose Evra not Carrick.

Here is what they wrote on Evra

That is brilliant. I had to thank it. That was just pure and utter laziness from the writer. He saw Evans doing well and assumed Evra was as well. Sheer class.

The good thing is that no one is agreeing with them in the comments. At least not all United supporters are blind.

Al Capwned

Mitch Connor wrote: »

What I would say is that people can be, and are, swayed by attacking contributions. Everyone will acknowledge that Jones loves to rampage forward with the ball - and iirc we had a few attacks start with him bursting forward with the ball. Those bursts forward will have excited people and contributed to the ratings he got. When discussing his performances at CB, it would be important to analyse the games with an eye on his defensive aspects alone, which we aren't likely to do now.

I'm not saying he was poor in those games defensively, because I can't quite recall now if he was or wasn't - just pointing out that a high rating can be down to his attacking runs rather than being defensively sound.

Absolutely spot on.....

ShooterSF

Keno 92 wrote: »

Manchester United’s five key players this season

They chose Evra not Carrick.

Here is what they wrote on Evra



-_-

Equally baffling is the amount of support for Young to be in the top 5 from a lot of commenters . He had a good start to the season along with Ando Clev and all the attack but apart from one or two goals lately has been very average...

Mitch Connor

ShooterSF wrote: »

Equally baffling is the amount of support for Young to be in the top 5 from a lot of commenters . He had a good start to the season along with Ando Clev and all the attack but apart from one or two goals lately has been very average...

But he scored a few goals lately....

That really is the mentality you are seeing. Once someone is racking up assists and goals very few people care what else they are doing. If they have performed well, even just statistically, in the last few games people will stretch that out over the season.

Giggs and Nani are two great examples of this. Likely to be shocking for 89 minutes, giving the ball away through poor passes, crosses or shots - but a very good chance they will score or assist before the match is done. If they do, they will be given an 8 by most fans and most will consider they have had a good game.

Same with Jones re. earlier comments - defensive mistakes are forgotten about as long as he goes on a few attacking runs and we don't concede because of him directly.

Same with Evra - his attacking qualities mask his defensive issues for a lot of fans.

My key 5 for the season would be:

Rooney, Carrick, Valencia, Evans, De Gea.

Other players have contributed brilliant at times - Nani at the start of the season, Scholes has been immense since coming back and absolutely key to our resurgence imo.

Jimmy Iovine

If Nani never got injured then he'd be in contention for POTY imo. His season from December on has been too stop start to get any momentum going at all.

Thankfully Valencia has stepped up in his absence. Hopefully next year we might be able to see the two of them playing at the same time.

kryogen

The way I see the centre back situation is

Vidic - Captain, first choice, not absolutely certain how much longer he will be with the club, just a hunch, 2 years anyway I imagine.

Rio - Invaluable experience, hugely popular and still well able to perform at a high level

Evans - Cemented his place this season as first choice for me, him and Vidic havent worked great as a partnership before however from memory

Smalling - Good enough to be first choice already imo and hopefully just behind Evans in the pecking order

Jones - Not good enough yet to be first choice, but is so young and the benefit of having a fit Vidic and keeping Rio would be great for him to me.

In short, I would keep Rio for at least another year, especially if he is willing to take a nice wage cut as it seems, he brings plenty to the squad, is a leader and can be relied upon in crisis. Get him doing his coaching stuff too and let him take less of a role in the playing squad, he will still get plenty of games hopefully as the team will be in a few competitions, hopefully.

For next season I think we should start with

Vidic and Evans, with Smalling as the next in line, Rio then alternating with Jones and helping to mentor the two younger guys, if Evans and Vidic dont make a good partnership swap Evans for Smalling, or make the big decision and move Vidic on earlier then anticipated.

Hard to imagine life without Vidic in the past couple of seasons, and I know his loss has been huge this season, but Smalling will become a dominant force in the air I believe and more experience will make them all better defenders.

Blatter

Giggsy11 wrote: »

I wouldn't be so sure about Rio playing half games. And also I dont think Vidic will be playing every game when he is fit. Fergie will rotate and he did it with every other player maybe except Evra and Rooney. We didn't make Champions league ko round, early exit from carling cup and FA, maybe next season if we do well in all the cups then we will be have many 3 games a week, I'm sure everyone with get their chances.

Also Fergie said he didn't expect Jones to play so many games in his first season and because of injury he was forced to play him. So maybe next few season will be a slow learning process for him?

Like Des said even I think he is not a good CB currently. He was very impressive as a RB but not as a CB. He may go onto become our first choice CB or CM, but imo he is not there yet.

I don't think there should be a question over whether Jones is ready to be our FOURTH choice centre back tbh, of course he is! Especially when you look at the fourth choice centre back of other teams.

Look at it this way, do you think we would be weak at CB going into the season with Vidic, Evans, Smalling and Jones as our CBs, especially in comparison to the centre backs at the disposal of Real Madrid or Manchester City?

What would you prefer?;

A. Vidic, Evans, Smalling, Jones

B. Kompany, Lescott, Toure, Savic

C. Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Varane


I really don't see the need for 5 CBs, especially with a bloated wage bill. A situation whereby 2 of our CBs will be frozen out, have their development stunted and become unhappy is far more likely to occur than all 5 getting decent game time due to another horrific injury crisis.

Mitch Connor wrote: »

August

September

What I would say is that people can be, and are, swayed by attacking contributions. Everyone will acknowledge that Jones loves to rampage forward with the ball - and iirc we had a few attacks start with him bursting forward with the ball. Those bursts forward will have excited people and contributed to the ratings he got. When discussing his performances at CB, it would be important to analyse the games with an eye on his defensive aspects alone, which we aren't likely to do now.

I'm not saying he was poor in those games defensively, because I can't quite recall now if he was or wasn't - just pointing out that a high rating can be down to his attacking runs rather than being defensively sound.

I agree that his attacking play earned him a few extra brownie points, but he was still very good defensively as I remember it. He certainly wasn't poor in that regard, that's for sure. If you remember back then, we were giving up a lot of chances because of the sheer amount of space left in midfield on front of the back 4, very rarely were chances given up due to poor play from our centre backs.

Our centre backs actually excelled in that period, because we didn't actually concede many goals, despite being so exposed by the midfield.

kryogen

My 5 top players this season, is actually a hard one, few tough calls.

De Gea - Easy choice, been immense for most of the season
Evans - Edges Rio out on the defensive side, just for me, Rio has been a great influence.
Carrick - Again, great season by Carrick, one of his biggest critics but we would be far worse without him this year, came in a steadied the midfield. Rarely had a bad performance.
Rooney - Been somewhat quieter this year, in terms of the media etc, but has gone about his work on the pitch brilliantly.
Valencia - Brilliant, been on fire lately, and for most of the season tbh, when fit. Arguably the outstanding player of the season

Nani, if he had stayed fit would be in the running, Welbeck has had a good season, Rio has brought plenty to the table and Scholes gets an honourable mention too.

Blatter

Mitch Connor wrote: »

But he scored a few goals lately....

That really is the mentality you are seeing. Once someone is racking up assists and goals very few people care what else they are doing. If they have performed well, even just statistically, in the last few games people will stretch that out over the season.

Giggs and Nani are two great examples of this. Likely to be shocking for 89 minutes, giving the ball away through poor passes, crosses or shots - but a very good chance they will score or assist before the match is done. If they do, they will be given an 8 by most fans and most will consider they have had a good game.

Same with Jones re. earlier comments - defensive mistakes are forgotten about as long as he goes on a few attacking runs and we don't concede because of him directly.

Same with Evra - his attacking qualities mask his defensive issues for a lot of fans.

My key 5 for the season would be:

Rooney, Carrick, Valencia, Evans, De Gea.

Other players have contributed brilliant at times - Nani at the start of the season, Scholes has been immense since coming back and absolutely key to our resurgence imo.

You would hate to be keeping tabs on Garth Crooks' team of the week on the BBC website. :pac:

I go on it for a laugh sometimes, he just picks all the players that scored! I really do wonder how these people get jobs in football media.

Just look at last weeks one.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17580431


And the week before...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17507702

Al Capwned

My top 5..

1. David de Gea - has saved us a LOT of points - outstanding for 95% of the time - best shot stopper around - great distribution - rest is improving quickly....

2. Antonio Valencia - simply the best at what he does. So direct, so exciting to watch, covers back brilliantly and is forming a good relationship with Rafael.

3. Wayne Rooney - top goalscorer, top footballer

4. Johnny Evans - filled a big hole really really well when asked to step in for Rio and Vidic.

5. Michael Carrick - been exellent in the main, imo. In spite of his detractors, he's been one of our best this year.

G.K.

Blatter wrote: »

You would hate to be keeping tabs on Garth Crooks' team of the week on the BBC website. :pac:

I go on it for a laugh sometimes, he just picks all the players that scored! I really do wonder how these people get jobs in football media.

Just look at last weeks one.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17580431


And the week before...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17507702

Ah, Garth Crooks... he also had a penchant for including Evra when he has shockers, and put people like steven fletcher in midfield....

Son Of A Vidic

Keno 92 wrote: »

Manchester United’s five key players this season

They chose Evra not Carrick.

Here is what they wrote on Evra

The Frenchman’s standards are so high that it is unremarkable when he puts in yet another splendid performance...

-_-

I think they meant to say....

The Frenchman has been so poor defensively this season, it really is amazing that he hasn't been dropped yet.

_blank_

For next season, should Scholes do a "Scholes" and not play at all until after Xmas.

Or retire completely.

Or play a "full" season?

I'd be of the opinion that he should play the early CL group games until United qualify/get knocked out, no league or carling cup games, until after Xmas.

Eathrin

I agree with the rest of you, that's a terrible decision to include Evra on that list.
Should be something along the lines of:
1. Valencia
2. De Gea
3. Evans
4. Rooney
5. Carrick

G.K.

Des wrote: »

For next season, should Scholes do a "Scholes" and not play at all until after Xmas.

Or retire completely.

Or play a "full" season?

I'd be of the opinion that he should play the early CL group games until United qualify/get knocked out, no league or carling cup games, until after Xmas.

I'd have said 'do a Scholes', but your suggestion is better imo.

Giggsy11

Blatter wrote: »

I don't think there should be a question over whether Jones is ready to be our FOURTH choice centre back tbh, of course he is! Especially when you look at the fourth choice centre back of other teams.

Look at it this way, do you think we would be weak at CB going into the season with Vidic, Evans, Smalling and Jones as our CBs, especially in comparison to the centre backs at the disposal of Real Madrid or Manchester City?

What would you prefer?;

A. Vidic, Evans, Smalling, Jones

B. Kompany, Lescott, Toure, Savic

C. Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Varane


I really don't see the need for 5 CBs, especially with a bloated wage bill. A situation whereby 2 of our CBs will be frozen out, have their development stunted and become unhappy is far more likely to occur than all 5 getting decent game time due to another horrific injury crisis.
.

I can see where you are coming from, so given a choice what would you do? Offload Rio or Vidic?

IMO Rio wont be fit for entire season for that reason alone we can afford to keep 5 CBs. Also rumors that he is ready for pay cut. We are in very healthy situation when it comes to wage bill. Our wage to revenue ratio is around 42% which is among the best in the world. So we can afford to keep few extra players imo, also surely Berba, PIG and Owen will leave. That would keep us in even better shape.