Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - See Mod Warning in OP, 09/11

Your Airbag

Did you make this by any chance Larry?



Listen guys, things aren't quite rosy at the club right now but LVG is re-building and we are beset by injuries. A couple of decent CB signings and top CM in January and we could have a great run. With Chelsea and Co in the UCL knockouts after January it will take its toll on their squads. You never know we could get back into the title race but we are only 4 points off fourth I think. Thats extremely doable.

J. Marston

Your Airbag wrote: »

Did you make this by any chance Larry?



Listen guys, things aren't quite rosy at the club right now but LVG is re-building and we are beset by injuries. A couple of decent CB signings and top CM in January and we could have a great run. With Chelsea and Co in the UCL knockouts after January it will take its toll on their squads. You never know we could get back into the title race but we are only 4 points off fourth I think. Thats extremely doable.

Operation "Lets attack the foreigner" begins for the English tabloids.

MisterAnarchy

Your Airbag wrote: »

You never know we could get back into the title race but we are only 4 points off fourth I think. Thats extremely doable.

Top 4 is highly plausible but the team are going to have to start picking up points quickly as they will need to have a hefty cushion on other top 4 teams come March 4th .
After that there are 6 highly difficult matches in 7
Newcastle (a),Tottenham (h), Liverpool (a),Villa (h),City (h),Chelsea (a),Everton (a).
Its a horrific run of fixtures

Timmyctc

As cliche as it is, they need to take it one game at a time and next weeks game is a big must win. If Chelsea beat the pool we can go 2 points clear of them at least.

KH25

J. Marston wrote: »

Operation "Lets attack the foreigner" begins for the English tabloids.

This a season after they absolutely tore Moyes to shreds. Rags the lot of them.

Sgt Pepper 64

Your Airbag wrote: »

Listen guys, things aren't quite rosy at the club right now but LVG is re-building and we are beset by injuries. A couple of decent CB signings and top CM in January and we could have a great run. With Chelsea and Co in the UCL knockouts after January it will take its toll on their squads. You never know we could get back into the title race but we are only 4 points off fourth I think. Thats extremely doable.

OMG, please tell me you are joking, that's bordering on Liverpool delusional that is

Cantona's Collars

Timmyctc wrote: »

As cliche as it is, they need to take it one game at a time and next weeks game is a big must win. If Chelsea beat the pool we can go 2 points clear of them at least.

How many times this season have we had the chance to go ahead of them & blew it? It's a crazy league this season,we can't string 2 results together yet are just 2 wins off 4th.

thelad95

The way I see it, Chelsea, City and Arsenal will take the top 3 spots. It's then a battle between ourselves, Pool, Spurs and Everton for 4th. Southampton will eventually decline once they come up against the big boys.

Are we favourites for 4th? I think we're no worse off than the teams above who also have a litany of problems.

The Moldy Gowl

Also, for any fanboys of Klopp, Dortmund are 17th after 10 games. Interesting to see if he can turn it around

MisterAnarchy

Utd have had five red cards this season ,the most in the league.

Timmyctc

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Utd have had five red cards this season ,the most in the league.

Roo, Blackett, Smalling who else?

kryogen

Gowlasauras Rex wrote: »

Also, for any fanboys of Klopp, Dortmund are 17th after 10 games. Interesting to see if he can turn it around

He has had horrendous luck though with injury and stuff, they will get it together sooner or later also I am sure. They seem to be fine in the CL though oddly

MisterAnarchy

Timmyctc wrote: »

Roo, Blackett, Smalling who else?

Not sure myself but thats what the graphic said on MOTD2,must be a mistake

KH25

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Not sure myself but thats what the graphic said on MOTD2

Maybe it was in 2014 rather than just this season Genuinely can't think of 2 other reds.

Your Airbag

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

OMG, please tell me you are joking, that's bordering on Liverpool delusional that is

13 points off top. Its a big if but like I already said if Chelea have tough UCL games and we get some CBs in January and our injuries subside and we get Falcao on a run in a team thats gelling we could put a run together and make up some ground.

Its unlikely but not out of the question just yet. Nothing delusional about it

kryogen

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Not sure myself but thats what the graphic said on MOTD2

Rooney
Blackett
Smalling


Nobody else has been sent off have they?

Edit: I am practically certain there are no others, I googled and espn stats show this

http://www.espnfc.com/club/manchester-united/360/statistics/discipline

not sure where MOTD get their stuff from or what they are on about

Liam O

Your Airbag wrote: »

13 points off top. Its a big if but like I already said if Chelea have tough UCL games and we get some CBs in January and our injuries subside and we get Falcao on a run in a team thats gelling we could put a run together and make up some ground.

Its unlikely but not out of the question just yet. Nothing delusional about it

United have half as many points as Chelsea after much easier fixtures. Top 4 is slipping away, never mind the title...

MisterAnarchy

kryogen wrote: »

Rooney
Blackett
Smalling


Nobody else has been sent off have they?

Edit: I am practically certain there are no others, I googled and espn stats show this

http://www.espnfc.com/club/manchester-united/360/statistics/discipline

not sure where MOTD get their stuff from or what they are on about

Yeah ,I'm almost 100% sure it was a 5 but maybe it was a funny looking 3
I'll check it on the iplayer later

Whatsisname

Just said it on MOTD2 there, its in 2014, not just this season

MisterAnarchy

Whatsisname wrote: »

Just said it on MOTD2 there, its in 2014, not just this season

Ah ,that makes more sense ,my apologies.:o

kryogen

Liam O wrote: »

United have half as many points as Chelsea after much easier fixtures. Top 4 is slipping away, never mind the title...

Easier fixtures, with an incomplete squad either because of injury or because of players not even being at the club yet! While also learning a new style/system and getting to know new players.

If the results between now and christmas don't greatly improve I will be shocked, and then maybe worried about CL football, but I think we will certainly be in the top 4 at Christmas. The team is getting better and stronger every week, the results will come. Chelsea and City were incredibly tough tests for the team, most tipped us to be hammered in both games.

The performances were good, the results will follow. Its a process, but one I think its started to reach fruition. So much more to be positive about this season compared to last season. Points tally now and then makes little difference to be honest, its where we end up at the season end that counts.

kryogen

Whatsisname wrote: »

Just said it on MOTD2 there, its in 2014, not just this season

Excellent match of the day irrelevant analysis as per usual so

Larry Wildman

kryogen wrote: »

Easier fixtures, with an incomplete squad either because of injury or because of players not even being at the club yet! While also learning a new style/system and getting to know new players.

If the results between now and christmas don't greatly improve I will be shocked, and then maybe worried about CL football, but I think we will certainly be in the top 4 at Christmas. The team is getting better and stronger every week, the results will come. Chelsea and City were incredibly tough tests for the team, most tipped us to be hammered in both games.

The performances were good, the results will follow. Its a process, but one I think its started to reach fruition. So much more to be positive about this season compared to last season. Points tally now and then makes little difference to be honest, its where we end up at the season end that counts.

So when it comes to the only barometer that matters, points, we're an unmitigated disaster but everything is grand?

This thread is incredible.

Whatsisname

Jesus lads, how good was Rooneys run at the end? haven't seen him burst past players like that in years. Would have been an unbelievable goal if he finished it.

Deiseboy01

Gowlasauras Rex wrote: »

You arent a troll, just very hyperbolic and cant accept fellaini played well among other things. Its blind frustration on your part. I like your outrageous outbursts.

For the corners, he was trying to get it just over the head of the first place because this is the most dangerous area to put the ball in a corner.

I agree Larry is OTT but this Fellaini love in after two decent games is knee jerk nonsense. The guy is just not top class. Would he get a game for Chelsea, City, Barca, Bayern etc?

Or lets put it another way would he be getting all this praise if, as should have happened, he gave away two penos today?

Just a very clumsy, linited player.

Larry Wildman

Whatsisname wrote: »

Jesus lads, how good was Rooneys run at the end? haven't seen him burst past players like that in years. Would have been an unbelievable goal if he finished it.

Shame he didn't hit it rather than trying to cut across the last guy...a great run

fuzzydunlop85

Whatsisname wrote: »

Jesus lads, how good was Rooneys run at the end? haven't seen him burst past players like that in years. Would have been an unbelievable goal if he finished it.

Why the fk didn't he shoot instead of cutting inside is what I want to know.

MooShop

Whatsisname wrote: »

Just said it on MOTD2 there, its in 2014, not just this season

When did this trend of stats for a calendar year become the done thing? A calendar year is part of two different seasons, it's nonsensical to take stats from two different seasons and throw them together, in my opinion!

The_Kew_Tour

Not seen any highlights. Not read anything here will just give my opinion from what I saw.

Not seen replays but Aguero looked like he took few dives today. Not sure if I'm right but plenty around me taught same maybe we were biased. anyway

Positives
Fellaini had a very good game. Won a lot of 50/50 ball and was looking to get on ball all the time which was great.

Blind I thought was very solid. Some lovely touches and his close control was very neat. At one stage early on in game he chested ball down and got possession back when most players would have headed ball back to opposition.

Rooney and RVP worked their socks off. Great run by Rooney but looked like he could have pulled trigger earlier.

The team work and the spirit in the team today was very encouraging. The City fans were quite and nervous bunch for last 15 minutes. We really should have scored but seeing every player wanting to get on the ball was very encouraging and something few of us mentioned when walking out of stadium.

DDG was again at his best although you would expect him to have made most of saves. Don't know if camera picked it up though but he was bending down to his leg after the collision in first half quiet at bit. Seemed to be doing it in 2nd half too but did not take as much notice with him down other end. You have been warned...

Negatives.
Smalling...Ya ****ing goose.. That is all..

Rojo was pulled out of position a few times. That was a stonewalled on YaYa too. Don't need see that again. Although had Smalling been on pitch.

The result.

Overall
Leaving the stadium most United fans seemed disappointed of course but there seemed be plenty to be happy about considering down10 for most of game. We gave as good as we got and the fight in the team is back.

I was convinced we would score. We created chances against the 2nd best team in league in their patch with 1 less player.

Result aside I take a lot of heart from that game. We are moving slowly in right direction and given the injuries its not been all that bad.

Today actually pleased me more then last week. This United team would have crumbled last season when down to 10 men, instead I saw a team roll their sleeves up and try find way back into the game.

Overall I can't fault the attitude and effort.

Just quick question on Rojo? What happened at all? Did a player stamp/connect on his shoulder? It looked nothing at time.

adox

He dislocated his shoulder when lunging in with that sliding tackle and landed awkwardly. No one else touched him.

Whatsisname

https://twitter.com/marcosrojo5/status/529050947407069185

No way did we just get good defensive news

Pighead

kryogen wrote: »

The performances were good, the results will follow. Its a process, but one I think its started to reach fruition. So much more to be positive about this season compared to last season. Points tally now and then makes little difference to be honest, its where we end up at the season end that counts.

Agree with this. Some of the one touch quick passing has been a joy to watch over the past couple of weeks. You can see it's slowly starting to click. Utd will be dishing out a hiding pretty soon I reckon. Maybe even against Palace on Saturday.

The_Kew_Tour

I hope thats good news. Good news to us is him being out for 2 months instead of 3 though .

Maximus Alexander

If it's just a dislocated shoulder I'd expect him back pretty quickly.

Whatsisname

On reddit, someone translated it (which I now see ya don't need to be fluent in spanish to understand) "thank god it was only a bad moment" whether thats the injury or what I dunno

gosplan

Pighead wrote: »

Agree with this. Some of the one touch quick passing has been a joy to watch over the past couple of weeks. You can see it's slowly starting to click. Utd will be dishing out a hiding pretty soon I reckon. Maybe even against Palace on Saturday.

Yeah, you can clearly see the difference in attitude and belief this time around.

It's funny but being arrogant and simply speaking like the manager of a big club might be the biggest difference between the two.

Hococop

My guess is means thank god it was nothing too serious (nothing broken or ligaments damaged)

J. Marston

Dislocated shoulder, pff. Just pop it back in like Riggs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igrdi_lhhW4

beno619

KH25 wrote:

This a season after they absolutely tore Moyes to shreds. Rags the lot of them.

They gave him a lot of time tbf.

KH25

beno619 wrote: »

They gave him a lot of time tbf.

Yeah but then they leaped on him. Its the same for all PL managers. They're sharpening the knives for Rodgers at this stage.

Leroy42

That performance wasn't good. What part of the performance are people happy about?

RVP offered nothing, Rooney did little all game. Adnan continues to offer little of an end product.

Fellani, well he was back to his best from last year. Lots of running around, nearly making it and being clumsy to give away frees and what should have been penalties. He also, unforgivably pulled out of a number of tackles. He gave the ball away in the move that lead to Smalling having his brainfart and he pulled out of a tackle which lead directly to the goal. 1.5 decent performaces and then back to his normal standard.

De Gea was decent, but if Mignolet had done the same flap that DDG did at a cross we would all have been laughing. He is still one of the brightspots.

Rojo is either not good enough or struggling to settle. Given the changes in the back I'm willing to give him the beneifit but he needs to seriously buck up.

Smalling, well that should be the end of him at Utd. The manager warned them prior to the game about staying focused. I don't think the 1st yellow was even a free never mind a yellow, but once your're on a yellow you need to manage yourself. He slid in on Milner for fecks sake. Exactly what was Milner going to do with that ball. At the most he was going to cross it in. Stand up and force him to the end line. Jebus. He has had more than enough changes, he has played 100+ PL games and he still doesn't get it.

Shaw, jebus, where to start. How anybody thought this guy was worth 30+ million I don't know. He offered little going forward, which apparently is a strong point of his, and he is continually caught out of poisiton when defending. If he is the future than we are in bigger trouble than I thought. The only good thing is that I think if we fix the CB's. Rojo will move to that poisiton and solve many of the problems

Valencia, well if the others were fit he wouldn't be playing so can't really blame him. He did what he always does.

The fact that Carrick was our best Cb says it all. MCNair was out of his depth. Again, no real issue with him, he looks decent and none of it was his fault.

Blind played alright. Nothing great, he's clearly too slow but a nice player to have in the squad.

ADM, provided very little to the game. Gave one perfect whipped free kick which Fellani totally misjudged but didn't offer much more. No doubt he is a class act, team must be able to carry him on his offdays as he will have plenty of on days.

The only reason we threatened towards the end was down to City losing the plot. They sat deeper and deeper. Had they gone for it they would have thumped us.

LVG isn't exactly setting the world alight. He has failed to deal with the defence, our midfield isn't any stronger than last year. He has failed to get anything from RVP. His slump was blamed on MOyes, yet LVG seems powerless to do anything about it.

We are only close to 4th because the other teams around us are just as bad. We are now relying on Southamton and West Ham falling off during the rest of the campaign in order to make the top 4. 150m spent, a much easier opening quarter fixture list and we are worse off.

I have no idea where this positivity is coming from. I still think we'll make top 4 but only becasue of other team failings rather than us actually dong somehting.

MagicIRL

I imagine LvG will be given more time than Moyes purely because of the style of performances his team are putting in, and his history with big clubs, but 13 points from 10 is a shocking return.

advertsfox

MagicIRL wrote: »

I imagine LvG will be given more time than Moyes purely because of the style of performances his team are putting in, and his history with big clubs, but 13 points from 10 is a shocking return.

223vmax

Points total so far is shocking. However, the players we've bought and the way the team is playing is almost as important as points total. Its very encouraging to see how they are playing and partnerships are developing. Surely if this continues the points will look after themselves. Everyone knows defence isn't so strong and will be addressed in Jan. I'd rather be where we are now with LVG than this time last year even if we're on less points.

The Moldy Gowl

Leroy42 wrote: »

That performance wasn't good. What part of the performance are people happy about?

RVP offered nothing, Rooney did little all game. Adnan continues to offer little of an end product.

Fellani, well he was back to his best from last year. Lots of running around, nearly making it and being clumsy to give away frees and what should have been penalties. He also, unforgivably pulled out of a number of tackles. He gave the ball away in the move that lead to Smalling having his brainfart and he pulled out of a tackle which lead directly to the goal. 1.5 decent performaces and then back to his normal standard.

De Gea was decent, but if Mignolet had done the same flap that DDG did at a cross we would all have been laughing. He is still one of the brightspots.

Rojo is either not good enough or struggling to settle. Given the changes in the back I'm willing to give him the beneifit but he needs to seriously buck up.

Smalling, well that should be the end of him at Utd. The manager warned them prior to the game about staying focused. I don't think the 1st yellow was even a free never mind a yellow, but once your're on a yellow you need to manage yourself. He slid in on Milner for fecks sake. Exactly what was Milner going to do with that ball. At the most he was going to cross it in. Stand up and force him to the end line. Jebus. He has had more than enough changes, he has played 100+ PL games and he still doesn't get it.

Shaw, jebus, where to start. How anybody thought this guy was worth 30+ million I don't know. He offered little going forward, which apparently is a strong point of his, and he is continually caught out of poisiton when defending. If he is the future than we are in bigger trouble than I thought. The only good thing is that I think if we fix the CB's. Rojo will move to that poisiton and solve many of the problems

Valencia, well if the others were fit he wouldn't be playing so can't really blame him. He did what he always does.

The fact that Carrick was our best Cb says it all. MCNair was out of his depth. Again, no real issue with him, he looks decent and none of it was his fault.

Blind played alright. Nothing great, he's clearly too slow but a nice player to have in the squad.

ADM, provided very little to the game. Gave one perfect whipped free kick which Fellani totally misjudged but didn't offer much more. No doubt he is a class act, team must be able to carry him on his offdays as he will have plenty of on days.

The only reason we threatened towards the end was down to City losing the plot. They sat deeper and deeper. Had they gone for it they would have thumped us.

LVG isn't exactly setting the world alight. He has failed to deal with the defence, our midfield isn't any stronger than last year. He has failed to get anything from RVP. His slump was blamed on MOyes, yet LVG seems powerless to do anything about it.

We are only close to 4th because the other teams around us are just as bad. We are now relying on Southamton and West Ham falling off during the rest of the campaign in order to make the top 4. 150m spent, a much easier opening quarter fixture list and we are worse off.

I have no idea where this positivity is coming from. I still think we'll make top 4 but only becasue of other team failings rather than us actually dong somehting.

We'll someone is a negative nelly. You are being outstandingly harsh and over critical and a lot of what you said was wrong, especially about Fellaini and well everything else really apart from Smalling.

Actually. It's pretty much all nonsense.

Backstreet Moyes

Leroy i am not going to bother quoting your whole post because their is so much wrong with it.

Well the first thing to be positive about yesterday was we didn't get hammered. City have bulldozed us the last few seasons and up to the sending off it was perfectly balanced. Even with 10 men we pinned them down and to be honest we deserved to score a goal.

Our football was lovely to watch nice interchange quick passing and movement. Fellaini was at the heart of this for people who say he is clumbsy and too slow on the ball just need to watch the last few games. Fellaini was the best player on the pitch yesterday he outperformed Toure who has bullied us for years.

De Gea made several good saves yesterday but you decide to pick out one mistake to discredit him which is unfair.

Shaw spent an hour with no support in front of him. He was left isolated and done very well considering the circumstances it was a very good performance.

Again McNair didn't put a foot wrong i see no reason for you to even mention him in your criticism.

Again Rojo while not being totally convinced yet i didn't see anything he done wrong yesterday he marshaled Aguero quite well.

Smalling ye he was good against Chelsea and yesterday up to his sending off but i wouln't be surprised if that finishes his career at United.

RVP was isolated and didn't get much service he showed a single bit of magic that could have got us back level.

Rooney in the second half looked like his old self. His passing and first touch was very good. He produced a dribbling run that he hasn't done in years.

I actually don't know how a United fan can't find any positives from yesterday away to a side that have tore us to shreds in recent years. If you can't see any positives or the difference in performances than i just can't really understand it.

eamondunphy

Larry Wildman wrote: »

You'd have said the same about our first six games of the season, and they ended up being largely an unmitigated disaster.

Why is Van Gaal getting such an easy ride? The results are worse than under Moyes. Our defence is a shambles. Any good moments tend to be just the product of some individual good play rather than us overwhelming the opposition with quality play.

Where is the light at the end of the tunnel?

When we signing Vidal???

Leroy42

Nuts102 wrote: »

Leroy i am not going to bother quoting your whole post because their is so much wrong with it.

Well the first thing to be positive about yesterday was we didn't get hammered. City have bulldozed us the last few seasons and up to the sending off it was perfectly balanced. Even with 10 men we pinned them down and to be honest we deserved to score a goal.

Our football was lovely to watch nice interchange quick passing and movement. Fellaini was at the heart of this for people who say he is clumbsy and too slow on the ball just need to watch the last few games. Fellaini was the best player on the pitch yesterday he outperformed Toure who has bullied us for years.

De Gea made several good saves yesterday but you decide to pick out one mistake to discredit him which is unfair.

Shaw spent an hour with no support in front of him. He was left isolated and done very well considering the circumstances it was a very good performance.

Again McNair didn't put a foot wrong i see no reason for you to even mention him in your criticism.

Again Rojo while not being totally convinced yet i didn't see anything he done wrong yesterday he marshaled Aguero quite well.

Smalling ye he was good against Chelsea and yesterday up to his sending off but i wouln't be surprised if that finishes his career at United.

RVP was isolated and didn't get much service he showed a single bit of magic that could have got us back level.

Rooney in the second half looked like his old self. His passing and first touch was very good. He produced a dribbling run that he hasn't done in years.

I actually don't know how a United fan can't find any positives from yesterday away to a side that have tore us to shreds in recent years. If you can't see any positives or the difference in performances than i just can't really understand it.

So basically everything was fine except that we didn't play particularly well! Lots of excuses in that reponse, and I'm not saying they are not valid, but to be happy we were no hammered? Really. Last year is the standard now? Last year was a disaster, Utd should not be comparing anything to that. We spent 150m, yesterday we had the most expensice starting 11 in the PL apparently) and you guys are happy with that.

Shaw. I agree about the protection, but he is continually caught out of position and then racing back to cover. He either has no ability to read a game, or had concentration issues.

I said the DDG is the brightspot. It is still legitimate to mention what was a pretty major mistake on his part. Could eaily have been a goal.

If Fellani, invloved in two penalty claims, pulled out of numerous tackles, two of them leading directly to game changing instances, is considered as playing well then I fear for UTD. Fellani did not contain Toure of last year, he merely played aginst Toure of this year, a much lessor player. Anyone who tries to assign the importance oif Toure this lyear to last is not facing reality.

I didn't mention anyhting negative about McNair, it is clear he is out of his depth at this point of his career. If it wasn't for inhuries he wouldn't be near the team. Not his fault, he has done the job well. But he is currently not the level we need.

Rooney and RVP job is to score goals and create chances. How many did we get? Fine to blame the rest of the team, but then you can't complain when I mention that the rest of the team is not good enough

We agree on Rojo. I think h ewill be a great signing for us, but he will take time to settle and had a good game for the most part.

Again, this is not City that played us last year. They are a team struggling for form, shorn of some of their better players, Silva through injury and Toure through malise/indifference. To be happy that we only got beat 1-0 (and got a great deal of luck in the penalties) by a team that have lost their last two and doing badly in Europe!

advertsfox

I'm so sick of seeing RVP getting a free pass lately, he's nowhere near fast enough to be playing on his own in 4-5-1 / 4-4-1-1 - I was delighted to see him actually subbed for Wilson who is a spritely and tricky player to play against, I'd really like to see him start a game soon. Below for Rooneys post match interview, great to have him back.

bangkok

59m di maria cant even clear the first man with a corner. shocking. need to get rvp back on corners asap