Manchester united football club

[Stormvolution 9]

Wooooooowwwww~~~ Now tht SAF turns to said he is looking for a possible 3 transfer targets in the summer... Hahaha... Both Media n papers will hv a very very bz summer~~~ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^

Errr... The 3 names mentioned on The Star paper today, will do me real fine for the coming new season... But i think SAF will always revise his signing quotas depending on who else going to leave the club... ^o^

I'm very very exciting to watch ManUtd lifting the EPL trophy come Sunday!!! It will b a great great moment as this is the 19th title, a historical moment!!!



As for the relegation battle, my initial bet were Blackpool, WHU n Wolves to go down... But now it seems tht Wolves place will b taken up by Birmingham~~~ They r away to Spurs who is in the fight for Europa place with Loserfool... So it wil a tough tough battle for Birmingham... =.="

Good luck to all those who r still in the fight for survival this weekend!!!

 

[Stormvolution 9]

Finally, the trophy come HOME to Old Toilet!!! Hahaha...


To b frank, the game itself wasnt very good to watch as there were many mistakes by our players... All i can hope is players who will b picked for the Champions League Final, can play much better than they did in the past 2 games...

Too bad tht Berba cant score a goal to win the Golden Boot... But i think he is reserving his goal on the ECL Final @ Wembley to win us the trophy!!!! Hahaha... Great tht M. Owen scored a good goal... I dun mind keeping him as our 'old experience' head in the squad!!! He still possesses those killer instinct in front of the goal... He hv got the calmness tht a striker needs (which Berba certainly lacking against Blackpool yest....)

Let's hope SAF will hv a fit full squad to choose from come this Sat Final...

Champions!!!! Champions!!!! Champions!!!

 

[Stormvolution 9]

Learn something new abt football after listening to Shabby Singh @ yest Monday Verdict!!! The importance of marking out Sergio Busquest of Barca in the Champions League Final, not Messi, not Iniesta and certainly not Xavi!!! Hmmm... Interesting n sound logic by him~~~ Haha...

S. Busquest is playing a similar role to M. Carrick in ManUtd, for Barca... He is the link-man btw the defence and attack... By closely marking him out of the game, it will force the defence to either pump the ball upfield or the defenders themselves hv to bring the ball out of the danger zone... Thus, it will create spaces at the back and also with the ball on a defenders' feet, mistakes tends to happen!!! Other than tht, it will also force Xavi or Iniesta to drop further back into the midfield cum defending areas, in order to help out carrying the ball from defence... If the tactics work well enough, it will help restrict Barca treat upfront!!! Bravo to Shabby for his understanding of the game n clearer mind in reading tactics n football!!!

I remember SAF did the same thing against Milan's Pirlo when we played against them last season... He asked Park to closely mark out Pirlo from the game and it worked well for us where we managed to win the tie 7-3!!! Without the usual service of Pirlo, Milan found it hard to operate their usual tactic n attacking plan... Bravo to Park for his industrious run n tactical know how in tht game!!! We lost to Milan b4 in the previous few seasons ago... And SAF did learn the lesson and made this superb plan to bring us the victory, so hopefully SAF can do the same this time against Barca n win us the ECL trophy!!! ^.^

Shabby do predict tht Barca will employ a similar plan to shut off Carrick too... Hmm... Interesting!!!

 

[Stormvolution 9]

It seems tht it will b De Gea to b replacing our retiring soon VDS... SAF hv confirmed tht!!! So in SAF i trust!!! Hopefully he will b a great keeper for us and b able to help us win countless trophies both domestically n in European Champions League, once he is signed!!! SAF said De Gea hv got what VDS possesses to b a great keeper at the top level... I onli concern abt De Gea experience in the top league... Hopefully he will b able to continue progressing well under our couching staffs n guidance of SAF... Waiting for De Gea with both hands!!! ^.^

Hmmm.... Its a very very shock newz abt Giggsy recently... He has been a role model for everyone related to football... Great professional, taking good care of himself by maintaining his fitness level at the very top eventhough he is 37 now and he hv never had any bad newz abt him in his glorious footballing years thus far... So hopefully this case hv got nothing to do with him and MOST IMPORTANTLY, this will not affect his and the team preparation for the ECL Final this Sat!!!!

Come on Giggsy!!! U hv got my support!!!

 

[Gti]

Guys, would just like to share with you this brilliant piece of interview of Sir Bobby.
It almost moved me to tears. Just, brilliant. Brilliant.

---------- Post added at 07:30 PM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 07:21 PM ----------

Speaking ahead of the game at this weekend, seriously as deluded as we United fans are, i sincerely think that we have a genuine chance.
You just never know what will happen.
Like Raul said earlier, an early penalty, a sending off etc. And also we could hurt them where they are weakest - set pieces. Just never know the likes of Vida or Chica could just pop out of nowhere.

And as i said before, the axis of Park and Evra would form the partnership to stop Messi.
Park would be the absolute key men. If 2 years ago it was Fletcher, then as at today it would be Park.

Seriously, i still can't comprehend how Fergie will play the game.
If he sticks with 442, then it's 100% that we will be exposed in the middle defensively.
And on the same note we will be having difficulty delivering the balls forward as well since Xavi Iniesta Villa and Messi are very good in closing down those defensive passes forward.

When it comes to attack, delivering the passes to Rooney would be absolutely vital bcos it is Wazza that would be our playmaker - where he would stand off Chica, behind the lines of Xavi Iniesta.
Expect a direct combat btw Wazza and Mascherano/Busquets.
It could also be a Park Carrick central midfield parnership.

And all that being said, SAF could actually revert to a 451 with Park Carrick and Giggsy in central and Wazza in from the left, drifting towards the hole and Chica as the target man.

Champions League final: Sir Bobby Charlton, My United. Duncan Edwards was the greatest | Mail Online

 

[YK9]

Learn something new abt football after listening to Shabby Singh @ yest Monday Verdict!!! The importance of marking out Sergio Busquest of Barca in the Champions League Final, not Messi, not Iniesta and certainly not Xavi!!! Hmmm... Interesting n sound logic by him~~~ Haha...

S. Busquest is playing a similar role to M. Carrick in ManUtd, for Barca... He is the link-man btw the defence and attack... By closely marking him out of the game, it will force the defence to either pump the ball upfield or the defenders themselves hv to bring the ball out of the danger zone... Thus, it will create spaces at the back and also with the ball on a defenders' feet, mistakes tends to happen!!! Other than tht, it will also force Xavi or Iniesta to drop further back into the midfield cum defending areas, in order to help out carrying the ball from defence... If the tactics work well enough, it will help restrict Barca treat upfront!!! Bravo to Shabby for his understanding of the game n clearer mind in reading tactics n football!!!

I remember SAF did the same thing against Milan's Pirlo when we played against them last season... He asked Park to closely mark out Pirlo from the game and it worked well for us where we managed to win the tie 7-3!!! Without the usual service of Pirlo, Milan found it hard to operate their usual tactic n attacking plan... Bravo to Park for his industrious run n tactical know how in tht game!!! We lost to Milan b4 in the previous few seasons ago... And SAF did learn the lesson and made this superb plan to bring us the victory, so hopefully SAF can do the same this time against Barca n win us the ECL trophy!!! ^.^

Shabby do predict tht Barca will employ a similar plan to shut off Carrick too... Hmm... Interesting!!!

@Stormvolution9, it is a bit simplistic to think that my marking out Busquets, Barcelona's threat is neutralized. I think Shebby does not watch enough La Liga games (though he claims he does).
The same thing happened to Real Madrid when they tried to do that using Khedira and Madrid ended up losing 5-0.

The threat is actually the trianglular midfielders (Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta) used in their system of 4-1-2-3. That's the beauty of having the triangular formation as if any of the midfielders is man-marked, Barcelona will be more direct in their approach. The key thing is to get the ball to either Xavi or Iniesta through their "ball playing" center-back of Pique of the 2 full backs. Busquets task is really to be the "extra" defender (similar to the Makelele's role but more refined) whenever Barcelona pushes and less of linking role as you mentioned. The linking role is actually through either Pique or their 2 full backs in Abidal and Alves with Puyol always staying put. It will be a disaster for Man Utd if SAF's plan is to man mark Busquet. Once the ball is with either Xavi or Iniesta, they have quite a bit of options upfront with Messi-Villa-Pedro (or Krkic) rotating up front.

What I'm trying to say is that Shebby is talking nonsense (most of the times including this) and both you and I can even be a pundit!

 

[Gti]

Well Shebby is full of shits all the time anyway. A typical tin kosong.

YK9,
I agree with you exactly on the triangular threat of their central midfielders.
And that notwithstanding, the most annoying part would be that all 5 of their forwards (Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Villa and Pedro) can play in each others position interchangebly without a sweat.
When the ball is spread out wide left and with Messi moving to the centre unchecked, that would be the moment the damage is done.

 

[Stormvolution 9]

YK9,

Hahaha... Ya, we all agreed tht Shabby is sucky most of the time... But i think to his understanding, stop Busquest from spraying passes (just like our Carrick did for us), it will 'force' either Xavi or Iniesta to drop back deeper into the midfield to get the ball out of their defence... And this is 1 of the way to 'stop' Barca's triangular treat!!!

Other than tht, i would love to know who Barca gonna play in their left back... There is where Valencia gonna play... Over on our left, as Gti hv mentioned, it will b our Double Delights of Evra n Park on Messi n Dani Alves... If its the "just fit again" Abidal marking Valencia, then i think we stand a good chance by attacking from the right!!! Cos match-fit doesnt equal to match sharpness, as in the case of our Fletcher!!! Which i dun think Fletcher hv done enough to win a starting place for the Final...

Other than tht, it d question of what ManUtd is able to do when the ball is not with us!!! And how effective can ManUtd attacking be, when we r in the possession!!! Everyone of us is expecting Barca to dominate the ball possession from the start... So we need to frustrated them, get in their face, get the right passes and take the chances tht fall to us!!!

With a 1 off game, i think we stand a good chance even though i agreed tht Barca is the favourate!!! Hopefully all our players will b able to perform at the BEST in this final game of the season...

And i still keep wondering tht SAF said he knew where it went wrong in the 2008 final... And he seems confident this time round to get things right!!! Then, he mentioned abt the Wembley pitch being a tiring 1 (certainly dun think its bcos the pitch is too big, cos we always emphasizes alot on wing play, it shld b d bigger d better for us!!!)... Hmmm... I think he shld know how to use it to our advantage!!!

Let's pray hard, fellow Red Devils~~~ ManUtd will b able to win the Champions League for the 4th time in our history at Wembley tmr!!!! ^.^

 

[Gti]

Storm,
Actually defensively, the bigger it is, the worse for us.
A bigger pitch essentially means more yards to cover against Barca's tiki taka - which needless to say is a nightmare.

What they meant with the Wembley's pitch is that it's actually quite a heavy and slow pitch.
As compared to the likes of the Emirates (which encourages fast passing) the Wembley pitch could actually be in our favour.
All that being said, playing in Wembley would be an advantage to us.
1) We save up on travelling lag.
2)The pitch is more favourable to us
3)'Homeground' advantage. Words has been going around that even other teams' supporters are getting behind our back because it's 'England' vs 'Spain' and also the fact that Barca's players' antics in the semis against Real has done considerable damage to their reputation
4)We have a near flawless home form in the EPL and away in Europe we havent conceded any. We tend to perform better, more compose in the UCL.

All in all i still don't believe SAF will go for the jugular from the start.
i think he will stick with an Attacking 4-5-1 with Rooney out wide on the left when we do not have possession and Park, Carrick and Giggs in the middle.
But when we have the ball i expect Rooney to drift sligtly further in the hole behind Chica and Park moving to the left wing.

It's will the the Best Possession team Vs Best Counter Attacking team
It can't get any better than this.
Make no mistake, we are definately a better counter attacking team than Real Madrid tactically, regardless of the stars on display in their team.
Our team has played together for many years just like Barca and the difference btw us and Real is that in our team, everyone is sincerely playing for the team. For everyone else in the team. That has been the significance of Ronaldo's departure. The selfless, never say die attitude epitomises the soul of this team.

I BELIEVE

 

[Stormvolution 9]

I'm just glad tht the season is finally over!!! And all players n staffs can go on holiday n hv a great break b4 coming back strongly for the next season challenges!!! As for SAF, yep, he said he will go for a vacation... But I'm sure his mind will b fully occupied by this defeat to Barca!!! Hopefully SAF get a well rest too, b4 he is able to come up with plans for next season~~~

Salute to Barca for their performance on the ECL final!!! It was nearly a total domination n 1 of the best performances i hv ever seen~~~ They deserved to b crowned champion!!! I think we were running out of ideas n ways to stop them... Although we managed to play good football in the 1st 15mins, it was too taxing for our players to do so... Was so shocked tht the quality gap btw the 2 teams is tht HUGE!!!

Yes, some of our players played real badly, but i dun blame any of them... Against the best team in d world, its no shame losing!!! With this defeat, i wonder where do it put us in the footballing map!!! Really concerning abt the gap btw us n Barca~~~ After checking the FIFA n UEFA clubs ranking, 2 of us together with RM r the top 3 teams, but the gap btw Barca n the other 2 r obviously huge!!! =.="

What can we do with the summer strengthening in order to close the gap?! To win the EPL title in England is 1 issue but to try to mold a team to beat a Barca team is totally diff scenario!!! Hmmm...

I think we really need a new midfield unit come the new season~~~ A playmaker and a midfield enforcer r the least requirement!!! Hopefully SAF will have some players identified for the jobs!!!

Ya, is worrying abt Berba future at the club now especially he was being omitted from the squad for the final... All the best to him, if SAF decided tht its time for him to go, in SAF I trust!!! ^.^

 

[Gti]

Just a food for thought
I wonder how this Barca team will fare against Keano and Scholes in their prime, say 1999?

By the way, it was another bad performance from us.
Barca were tremendous. That's without a shadow of the doubt and i take nothing away from them.
But what bothered me the most was why did SAF not do anything about it during the course of the game? clearly, Barca were running riot in the 25 yards area of our side of the pitch and SAF insisted on the 442 with Park marking Messi as expected.
But Carrick and Giggs was just literally ball watching throughout. Valencia, Rooney and Chica simply can't get the ball.
So my thought was why did SAF not bring in another midfielder say Scholesy or anderson and sacrifice either Chica or Valencia?
With either Anderson and Scholesy we could at least get a better grip of the defensive midfield area or perhaps could distribute better.
I m not saying it could change the result of the game. Make no mistake, it would not.
But at least we could've given a better account of ourselves instead of letting Barca totally dominating it.
Also, if you noticed. All 3 goals came from the left side. and i sincerely all 3 goals could've been defended better. I think Evra nowadays, his mouth is way better than his performance.
And this performance is not a one off from him either. I am sure most of you could've observed that this has been coming from him for quite some time.

Based on my observation, some naive supporters queried why did Manchester United not attack Barca. And here;s my response to them:

"...Trust me when I say Barca is unplayable when they really engage the gear. There's no team in the world that even comes close. And if there's one team that can do it, it's either Man U or Real. And they were both swept aside convincingly. There's no shame in losing to the best side.
It would be a bit naive for you to think that offense is the best form of defense. If you understand how Barca operate, their main offensive weapon is the triple/triangular trajectory threat posed by Xavi, Iniesta and Messi which I believe has been well documented. But that being said, their most potent weapon which has been downplayed so often was their defensive prowess. They press high up the field - double teaming and at times triple teaming against the opponents' distributor. They get back the possession at the opponent's half and that has been the key to Barca in which they can consistently produce it during the course of the entire 90mins. It doesn't help that once they get possession they have the 3 best players in the world to utilize it.
Yes attacking is good but you really thought someone with the intelligence of Sir Alex and Mourinho wouldn't have thought of it as well? Idea is one thing. Execution is entirely a different story.
To put things into a simple perspective, Barca simply wouldn't allow you to attack and nobody has got an answer to it. Simple as.

 

[Stormvolution 9]

Gti,

I'm 110% agreed with your statement of "Evra nowadays, his mouth is way better than his performance."!!! Ever since he has established as 1 of our star player, his performances r on the down hill!!! Talk too much, slack marking, caught off position often n there is ego in him now!!! =.=" I've been saying this for some times too... But too bad, he is our best LB at the moment... No 1 able to challenge his position and mayb tht made him Big-Headed!!! He even said SAF persuaded him to stay last summer... Hmm... I really dun mind tht he goes to other club!!!

Yes, talking abt the Final... Our MAIN problem lies in our midfield!!! It didnt even give Barca a proper fight!!! I wonder whether Xavi, Messi n Ineista did said it was surprisingly way too easy for them, when they chat among themselves~~~ =.="

I agreed with u tht why SAF didnt make any changes when he saw Barca dominating the ball n putting us under immense pressure~~~ Chicha shld b subbed as he hardly touches any ball... Add a midfielder n push Rooney upfront was my call too... In d 2nd half, Giggsy was running out of gas... Mayb his age shown up after all those hard running ard chasing for ball!!! Dun think Carrick contribute much too both defensively n in attack...

Other than tht, i notice tht at times our defensive unit look lost as in how to defend against Barca attack~~~ Everyone was panic!!! And Evra was caught off position many times on our left... Its very unlike d usual ManUtd style of defending... Where is our usual calm n compose defending?! Haha... =.="

My mind now keep thinking abt how the summer spending will b able to get us closer to Barca~~~ I still believe a playmaker (Modric or Sneijder - best if we can get both!!! Hahaha... So we can do our own triple/triangular trajectory threat by including Rooney too!!! ^O^ ^O^ ^O^) and a defensive midfielder (Keano!!!!) r what we needed most!!! Then we have to hope tht players like Anderson, Fletcher n Carrick can b more consistent in the coming season... They need to play better, much better~~~ Scholesy might retire now... Giggsy wouldnt b able to play as many games as he did... So, its up to the mentioned names to step up n b counted!!! We also needs someone who is deadly in dead ball!!! Nani been sucks!!! =.=" Haha...

Is thinking how SAF gonna use A. Young, if he really make the switch to us!!! Behind the striker?! On the left wing?! Hmm... Any of u rate him well?!

---------- Post added at 12:40 PM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 12:36 PM ----------

Oh ya, for those who asked why we dun attack Barca!!!

- How do u attack when u do not have the ball?! And like what Paul Parker said: U cant play football without the ball!!! =.="
- Against Barca, the 1st thing is to think of how do u get back with the ball from them b4 u start thinking on how to attack them!!!

 

[Gti]

Well even if you put Ronaldo and others - Modric Sneijder and ronney into equation - a quadruple threat, you still can;t outpass the trio.
Those style of play is in their DNA. that's how they were brought up. That's how they were taught to play.
Even if you put Zidane;Ronaldinho and the fat Ronaldo, the 3 previous footballer of the year, not a chance.
This Barca team is a one off. Which is why they are trying very hard to prise Fabregas away to slowly blood him as a replacement for the ageing Xavi.

Frankly, we really need a midfield dynamo in the mould of Keano and Scholesy alike.
finding a replacement for Scholesy seems to be in the pipeline so there;s no worries bout it.
But it seems that the replacement for Keano/Hargreaves has been neglected.
Fletcher is good defensively. But he doesn't have the technical abilities of the 2 above.

 

[Supra_Fanatics]

Personally, I think Fabregas would be a good replacement for Scholes but too bad i know that wont happen at all...can't think of anyone else at the moment...

But would like to see the new GoalKeeper perform next season...

 

[Stormvolution 9]

Besides the usual suspects of Modric and Sneijder... Do anyone ever think of Nasri from the Gunners joining us?! Hahaha... Lately Evra hv been saying publicly by asking Nasri to join ManUtd if he wanna to win medals~~~ And today the paper said the new contract nego btw Nasri n AW hv stalled!!! Hmm... Mayb?! Nasri is a good ball player... Of cos, i dun mind him to b in our team~~~ Haha...

With Scholesy announcing his retirement, its a SAD SAD day for me... Gonna miss his 60-70 yards cross field passes, intelligent movement, thundering shots from outside the box and of cos, his reckless challenge!!! ^.^ Luckily he decided to stay as a coaching staff, else the player(s) tht r gonna replace him will not b able to get advises from him... To me, he is really 1 of the BEST midfielder ever to play football!!! Love him much~~~ And thanks so much for him for his 17 years of services to the club!!!

Although the season just ended few days ago, hopefully David Gill, SAF n Cos can wrap-up our initial transfer targets soonest possible in order to avoid any hiccup!!! With VDS, G. Neville, O. Hargo and Scholesy all retiring, M. Owen, Macheda, Diouf n Berba future remain uncertain, Obertan, Kuzi, Bebe n De Leat not making the grade and the way we lost the ECL final, I'm pretty sure SAF will 'increase' his quota of the summer signing of just 2-3 players!!! So wrap up the initial 2-3 targets, then continue perusing the newly set targets...

Summer transfer speculation is 1 of the best 'entertainment' for me to fill the boring gap of without ManUtd football!!! Hahaha... So, let's enjoy this period too~~~

---------- Post added at 10:47 AM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 10:41 AM ----------

Gti,

Do u hv any ideas or targets for the Keano/Hargo place in our team?! Was very enthusiast abt Bayern's Bastian Schweinsteiger, but since he signed an extention contract with his club so i know its impossible move now... >.< At the moment, there aint too many quality defensive midfielders ard... Used to admire M. Essien but his standard drop drastically this season after few injuries to his knee... L. Diarra or M Diarra from RM?! =.="