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[quote author=Mr_TA link=topic=567773.msg8426670#msg8426670 date=1306846231]Even after giving us a hiding, its good to see the Barcelona players queuing up to gets Scholes' jersey after the match.[/quote]they(spaniards) have always admired scholes. didn't xavi say scholesy is the best central midfielder he has seen in the last 15-20 years?

Akolawole:
Jackalboy,

Sometimes you eat okro before logging into the forum.

1) Is 76th minute goal a ''last minute'' goal ?[size=12pt][/size]

2) We have already win the tie at 3-2 but on the verge of being eliminated on away goals.

NB: Becareful when una dey argue with me on facts relating to chelsea

you said barcelona were well beaten and yet without terry's header, barcelona would have won via away goals. i am attacking your emphasis on the phrase "well-beaten". . .not disputing the fact that chelsea won. i wouldn't even claim chelsea were well-beaten by united this season. united vs schalke qualify as well-beaten, united vs ac milan(last season) qualify as well-beaten but chelsea vs barcelona tie in 05/06 cannot qualify as well-beaten. the aggregate was chelsea 5-4 barcelona. one goal margin.


[quote author=Mr_TA link=topic=567773.msg8425374#msg8425374 date=1306834353]Scholes, What a legend. Im glad he has retired as the legs were really going. He can still pick a pass as well as anyone and the brain was still there but it seems he started to need a little while. he was alot slower. I have many many fond memories of him.

One of my favourite Scholes goals was the one he scored against Aston Villa in the league. Also one he scored at Stanford Bridge against Chelsea some years ago was an Absolute cracker but the Villa goal was plain ridiculous.

Legend.[/quote]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. I've spoken to Xabi Alonso about him. He's spectacular, he has it all: the last pass, goals, he's strong, he doesn't lose the ball, vision. If he'd been Spanish he might have been rated more highly. Players love him

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.”

debosky:
My friend sharrap!

We beat this current Barca team, something your scumtwats have been unable to do in two separate finals.

why didn't you play in the final then? you beat barcelona at the emirates, not on a neutral ground. . .you doofus. remind us what happened when barcelona came to old trafford in 2008 or tell us what happened when they met arsenal in paris(2006)?
-----------

paul scholes retires. . . . .i wish giggs can follow him out.

StarBoard:
@Cougar,
.Not because of anything,but because of his good-old trust in Giggs. Nothing more.
We lost.
Let's get over it (never mind what these fans of losers are harping about,including a club with "some-mothers-do-have-em" approach to football management and one whose team hasn't seen a trophy in eons),hopefully we will rebuild in the summer and challenge for the title.
Barca were heads and shoulders above us.
We didn't go in there to injure anyone,unlike Real Madrid.So kudos to us for playing fairly. . .

fergie is stubborn. . . . . .i hate him for that!

Akolawole:
2009 : Barca eliminated us but did NOT beat nor disgrace us like last saturday. The almighty barca had one shot at goal

they did not disgrace you but they were able to limit chelsea's appearance in a champions league final to one in chelsea's entire history. . united have been to[b] three finals[/b] in the last four seasons and won it twice too. so check again and ask yourself if you were not disgraced.

2006/7 : We took 4 out of maximum 6 points from Barca. Really really insignificant!

it was in a group format. barcelona probably took 4 points out of 6 from another team in that group. you did not eliminate barcelona so this season's tie had no significance. it's like roma fans gloating they took 4 points out of 6 from chelsea in 08/09 season and claiming they are superior to chelsea. this is akin to what arsenal fans did when spain won the world cup last summer. chelsea fans are gradually becoming arsenal fans. trophyless syndrome is spreading fast in london.

2005/6   : We were beaten but there is potato and red card issue

you were beaten at stamford bridge. jose mourinho's team was beaten at home. that was how serious this loss was and we all know jose take home games like world cup final and yet etoo dashed his hope.

2004/5   :  They were well beaten. We even scored 3 goals with 25 minutes.

well beaten and yet chelsea needed terry's last minute header to win the tie. is that what is called well-beaten? without terry's header, barcelona woulda won via away goals. that my friend does not qualify as well-beaten. well-beaten is what united did to ac milan last season or schalke this season.

Its obvious only Chelsea ALWAYS gave them problem others are mumu

united beat barcelona in the semis of 2008 and won the trophy in 2008. for all chelsea's "supposed superiority" against barcelona, they have nothing to show for it. no wonder roman has hired 7 managers in the last 7 seasons. chelsea are the greatest club in europe, aren't they?

Akolawole:
Here is the statistics;

2009
Nou camp: Barcelona 0 vs Chelsea 0
Bridge : Chelsea 1 vs Barcelona 1
Rather unfortunate match that Referee denied us 3 penalties and Barca had only i shot at goal in the whole match.

barcelona eliminated chelsea from europe this year, isn't it?? whether referee denied chelsea 3 penalties or not, the referee did not stop chelsea defenders from blocking iniesta's shot.

2006/2007

Nou camp: Barcelona 2 vs Chelsea 2

Bridge : Chelsea 1 vs Barcelona 0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L8zlebbfz0

group game not a knock-out stage. . . .thus insignificant.

2005/2006

Bridge: Chelsea 1 vs Barcelona 2

Nou camp: Barcelona 1 vs Chelsea 1

barcelona eliminated chelsea in europe again this year. despite jose using a potato pitch to disrupt barcelona's passing game, the catalonians still came out victorious with etoo scoring a powerful header.

2004/2005

Nou camp: Barcelona 2 vs Chelsea 1

Bridge: Chelsea 4 vs Barcelona 2

the only time chelsea eliminated barcelona in a knock-out stage. . . . .

rikkyjen:
Henceforth, i would never never never never NOT in my life yab JM for negative football again!.

JM is the winner in this whole scenario. he has been proved right that the only way to STOP Barca is putting 5 strong and agile bulldogs in the Midfield and then hope to score a smash and grab victory against them. That's all!

Any team that does anything less is digging their graves. Boy! Barca outplayed, outthought and outballed us out of the park, yo.

We played the United way and in the process opened our @ss yakata for barca to deposit nonsense inside

I know JM the master tactician is already plotting Barca's overthrow and failure next season, as his failures this season has taught him a lesson. and i swear JM would def outtthink Barca next season. As much as i no too gbadun Jose, he doesn't lose to the same opponent successively in different seasons. And once Jose dymystify Barca nextseason, that would be the beginning of the end of Barca, as everyone would line up and use Jose's template.

Jose Mourinho, the next Man Utd Manager, insha Allah!!!

fergie is a stubborn manager - that was why we lost. if we had carlos queiroz, there's no way he would have let ferguson set his team like that. we beat barca in 07/08 and they did not score a goal in 180 mins of football. how did we manage that? we simply parked the van. why did fergie change that tactics in the final of 09 and 11? whether a team parks the van or not, barcelona will always boss possession so i dunno what fergie was playing at playing giggs-carrick in the centre of the midfield.

Ibime:
Look at these guys expounding on tactics that Chelsea have been using against Barca since 2005. Some are just now agreeing with what we know for the last 6 years.

and how many times did chelsea get past barcelona in europe? the only time you did, carvalho had to impede barca's goalie to stop him from saving terry's header. in subsequent games, barcelona have beaten chelsea every time with your 5-5-0 formation.

sirwebs:
0 corner kick for Utd. That's probably a first. LWKMD

man utd 4-0 arsenal(feb 2008)

BlueDiva:
All these noisemaking of trying to explain why u lost.
Do you know better than the legendary SAF?
Wouldnt be surprised if some dummy starts saying "SAF should be sacked" 

If your Fletcher and Ando had played, we would have been hearing, "Oh, Giggs should have played"
Truth is United has an inferior squad. Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Pedro, how many una wan mark?

Take it in good faith, Barca is a superior team.
Better luck next time.

granted, we might still have lost without giggsy but not in that feeble way we did. united defended well. vidic/rio/fabio were excellent. two of barca's goals were long-range shots. the only where we lacked bottle was in the midfield which was compounded by a lethargic giggs. it's bad enough facing 3 excellent barca midfielders plus messi who was dropping deep to make the numbers, having giggs was minus one in that set up. at the very least, fletcher will contribute defensively if not offensively. same as anderson. giggs did nothing and he played 90 mins.

hannie:
What annoys me most about this Manure team was that I actually thought they would have another look at ZONAL MARKING's analysis and try prove 'em wrong . . .

RIDICULOUS!!!!

zonalmarking was not even sure about what fergie would do. everyone knows how barca plays, no one knew how fergie would set his team. arsene wenger told ferguson to go for it, attack barca cos they are knackered. why i am pissed is fergie should have known you cannot play open football with busquets, xavi and iniesta. germany weren't foolish at the world cup playing a defensive game. . . . .holland weren't retarded too. granted, they still lost against spain but it was a hard-fought victory for the spaniards unlike yesterday's game that was almost a practice match for the catalans.

RuuDie:
@ coogar,

we didn't lose because of Giggs/Carrick midfield ~ we lost because those players out there didn't have a clue which formation or positions they were playing. . . . where was Evra half the time? Were we playing a back-3 or 4? Why wasn't rooney tucking into midfield and sitting on Busquets?

that was exactly why we lost. with a more dynamic midfielders with specific roles, we would have stifled barcelona like we did in 2008. barcelona are a good team but they can be stopped from scoring. can you tell me one single thing ryan giggs did yesterday to help michael carrick? nil - nothing.

rooney tucking into the midfield and sitting on busquets is the wrong tactic to stop barcelona. why? because xavi was even dropping deeper than busquets at times to help the transition of the ball from the defence to the attack. rooney got confused and stopped trying. wayne rooney is a striker not a man-marker.

i am not particularly angry that we lost to barcelona. i was angry because we didn't learn any lesson from 2009. how do you play barcelona? match their formation, 4-3-3 when attacking, 4-5-1 when defending. giggs and hernandez had no business starting last night. fergie should have known better.

debosky:
Park switched into midfield (not on the wing) for the second half, yet Messi was free to shoot with no pressure on him.

It's hard to blame the abysmal second half performance on formation - too many players had poor games, from VDS to Evra to Park.

park did not switch to the midfield, he was just intelligent enough to know man utd were getting battered in the midfield by 4 barca players (busquets, xavi, iniesta and messi). messi was dropping deep to collect the ball and it was only carrick that was doing anything of note in the midfield.

ferguson is a stubborn manager and his allegiance to giggs/scholes have cost him 2 champions league titles now. in 2009, man utd despatched arsenal in the european semis(both legs) playing a midfield of anderson-carrick-fletcher. apart from the huge score-line of the tie, united dominated proceedings throughout and united booked a place in the final against barcelona.

man utd still had a league game against arsenal at the emirates, fergie experimented with the formation he was going to play against barcelona in rome against arsenal. arsenal mashed united at old trafford. the game ended 0-0 but arsenal only had themselves to blame for not winning that game. a good manager should have known then that a midfield including giggs cannot work against highly mobile midfielders of arsenal or  barcelona. what did fergie do? he played the same giggs against barca in 2009 final and united were outclassed with giggs offering nothing.

cue 2011. fergie's template against arsenal in recent times is playing a lone striker and 3 midfielders. at the emirates last month, fergie changed it and used the same 4-4-1-1 deployed yesterday against arsenal's midfield three(song, ramsey, wilshere), united lost again. rooney kept chasing shadows all day and chicharito was anonymous in that game. fergie's notepad should have told him one thing. . . . . . if his newly invented formation couldn't dent arsenal(a less technical side than barca), what hope has this formation got against barcelona in a european final? yet, his stubborn nature forced his hands and his team was defeated again.

compare the games united played 4-3-3 against arsenal and the ones we play 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 against arsenal with emphasis on the performance and the results. not only did united win by huge score-lines playing 4-3-3 against arsenal, they also bossed the matches. whereas in a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1, united struggled to win the games they managed to win by sheer luck or own goals. . . .and they lost/drew quite a few. it's no brainer. yesterday's match was begging for a 4-3-3 formation. . . . . .we might not have scored a goal cos the creativity will be null but we wouldn't have conceded as well. man city with their 4-3-3 would have put up a better resistance than united did last night and that is clearly fergie's fault.

coogar:
the moment i see giggs + carrick in the line-up(1 hour before the game), i will just concede a loss before the ball is kicked. barcelona would take the piss on our midfield. park in a 4-4-2 won't work against barcelona. js park loves to tuck in, he doesn't hug the touchline like nani/valencia which means dani alves will have a field day against evra. it's one thing to use this formation against chelsea(ivanovic and bosingwa) are light-weights - dani alves will be more dangerous.

coogar:
why do we need chicharito and giggs to start this game? isn't that an overkill? our plan should be to contain barcelona and hit them on the break. giggs is too lightweight to harry busquets, iniesta and xavi. giggs and chicharito should be part of our plan b. plan a is to prevent barcelona from scoring and nick a goal if an opportunity arises.

we lost in rome because giggsy started. that midfield was begging for a park-anderson-carrick with tevez, ronaldo and rooney starting. fergie kept tevez on the bench to accommodate giggsy and the rest was history. to beat barcelona, we need players who can hurry them into elementary mistakes. will giggsy maintain the same tempo of pressing for 80 mins like our younger players can do?

coogar:
the problem with barcelona is they are different to any other team out there. they are wonderful with the ball, they are awesome without the ball. the key to beating barcelona is to start with hardworking players. barcelona's pressing will swallow giggsy and scholes in that regard.

in my opinion, i will start. . . . .

--------------------vds-----------------

fabio/rafael-----rio-----vidic-----evra------

-----------------carrick-------------------

fletcher-------------------------anderson

valencia---------rooney-------js park----


if we start this way, you can be sure there's no lazy player in this set-up. . . .when we lose the ball, we have enough terriers to snap at barca's playmakers and retrieve the ball asap. it's not the most creative line-up but there's no point matching barcelona's passing stats. even if we play 11 paul scholes, barcelona will still boss possession. the key is not to concede early goals and make the most of the 11% possession we get. if it's stalemate after 80 mins, bring on chicharito to stretch their tiring defence and nick a goal.

coogar:
it's one thing stating giggs and carrick against an ageing chelsea midfield, it's another thing starting them against highly mobile midfielders who can find a through-pass. a midfield of ramsey-wilshere-song stopped us from functioning the other day at the emirates, imagine what busquets-xavi-iniesta will do to us if we play the same midfield. saf is wise enough to know giggs won't work against barcelona. against every other team in europe, the formation is perfect but barcelona are just different.

fletcher played against schalke. the coming games against blackpool/blackburn should be enough to bring him back to speed. anderson has played himself back into the first team after his show against schalke last week. it doesn't get better than that. to stop barcelona, we have to match their brilliant interplay with hardworking players who will run all night without tiring.

dannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng!

sergio busquets? he is barca's best player. the starter of all moves. the presser, the sniffer. without him, barcelona are nothing. minus busquets theatrics, he is the most intelligent youngster in europe. steve mclaren said. . . . "For me, the key player United have to stop is Busquets. I've looked at the passing statistics and Busquets has the ball more than any other Barcelona player, even more than Xavi and Iniesta".

busquets is not the most likeable player but he does what he does very well. more than any defensive midfielder in europe. watch barcelona/spain and you will notice busquets is always available to either make himself a passing outlet or to make tackle to break the opposition's play. we have to do a special job on him to nullify his influence.

the loss was expected. saf told us he learnt his lessons in 2009 and then repeated the same mistakes. how can a gaffer be so stubborn? you have street dogs like anderson and fletcher on the bench and you start giggs in a 2-man midfield? giggs did nothing offensively/defensively. it was essentially carrick vs xavi/iniesta/messi.

agreed, barcelona are a great side. . . .it's like spanish national team + the best player in the world but it was so easy for them last night with the lethargic set-up. wish i could get hold of ruudie now and pull his ears apart. you wanted giggsy in the set-up, giggsy was clog in the wheels of progress. if he has any dignity left in him, he must retire this morning.

hannie:
I stand by my opinion as I dont rate Barca as highly as u guys do . . .

Manure won the EPL a more competitive league, even if it were a team that was lower in pedigree than Manure like Stoke City I can still stake my money on their winning Barca, it has very little to do about HOW THEY GET THE JOB DONE!

Borrusia is a team I believe that the whole world sees what compactness they exhibit, on their good day they can hold their own and beat Barca, personal opinion!

Madrid is Madrid, the BABA of all clubs, they won a trophy and Barca hasnt won any more than the La Liga, u wont get a prize for a quiz question as to whose expense they got it . . .

Madrid is BIGGER than Barca, they arent cheaters and moaners like those twunts from Catalonia. Mourinho is a bigger coach and I dont freaking care what you all say.

4ck BARCA!!!

so you sincerely believe madrid/dortmund/man utd are better than barcelona at this moment?

hannie:
What makes Barca the best team in the world?

the fact that they are the KINGS OF CHEATING AND THEATRICKS?

the fact that their best player is also the best player but couldnt score a single goal at the world cup or what?

the fact that they are not defending champions and the fact that when they got into their last final they lost to Madrid abi

abeg cut me some slack jare!

this team cheated us out in the last encounter we had, I have absofuckinglutely no respect for them whatsoever!!!

in all fairness, they are the best in the world at the moment. no need denying that - its one of the reasons their theatrics is even more infuriating. it's difficult enough trying to beat barcelona. when they dive like dolphins and get opponents sent off, it makes the task impossible. however, it doesn't take away their brilliance when they decide to play the game. pique, puyol, xavi, iniesta, busquets pedro and messi together on the pitch have never lost a game in barca shirt.

chic2pimp:
Ashley Young is set to sign for Manchester United it seems. . . . . .

i hope this is not true. ashley fuckin young? hell no. i will have charles nzogbia/alexi sanchez/douglas da costa/ instead.

RuuDie:
@ coogar,

you call me a 'fanta-tist' (or whatever), but realistically visualize this; if UTD won the ball in a good position in midfield & all that was needed was as excellently, perfectly weighted thru ball for Hernandez or Rooney to latch onto & be 1-on-1 with Valdez. . . . . . who would rather be making that pass Ando, Fletcher or Giggs!!?

did you see anderson's through-ball for michael owen against blackpool? anderson can thread those passes too. . .all he needs encouragement. what you keep ignoring is we won't have the ball enough for giggs to even do any magic. barcelona will boss possession until the 80th minute(when they usually tire out) that is when i expect us to bring on giggs and chicharito to finish them off. arsene wenger used that tactic at the emirates, van persie ruined it at camp nou by getting himself sent off. . . . .mourinho was poised to use the same tactics until pepe got sent off.

no team on the planet can beat barcelona with open football. it's suicidal.

berba-class
https://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/249569_163986640332770_143353699062731_391170_3666992_n.jpg

chic2pimp:
Really? . . . . Or are you refering to a different Giggs? Playing two Midfielders vs Barca would only work if those two being mentioned went by the names Vieira and Keane.

ruudie is a fantasist. he is a harry porter fan. giggs and carrick against the diamond shape of busquets--xavi--iniesta--messi. the score line will be 5-0.

montelik:
But this is what some people are forgetting. Even if we pack d midfield, which is not a bad idea. We still have to score to win and to do that we will need to create chances. This Barca team are far from crap defensively so when I see people believing that we just magically waltz thru them on d counter attack, I have a problem. We need to remember what SAF said after Rome. D reason we lost was simple possession. Not necessarily that we gave them too much time in possession (particularly in 2nd half), but that we did nothing really productive with ours throughout.

So while we have too think of not letting them shellack us, we have to ensure we carry credible bite at d other end of pitch. An attacking or counter-attacking plan that goes further than simply hoofing long balls forward or Valencia running down d right putting in crosses to singular Rooney in attack.

how did we beat them in 2008 champions league? if we don't concede, we will not lose as well and i fancy us in a penalty shoot-out.

nateevs:
I really cannot understand why Arsenal allow Barca use their facilities to train for a competition they were cheated out of.

barca had to travel early to london because of the icelandic volcanic ash. while in london, they must train for the final(saturday) and which other top draw stadium in london would they go to? stamford bridge(too small), upton park(too small), white hart lane(pitch is dodgy) which leaves only the emirates. besides, it's an opportunity for arsenal back-room staff to nick messi's autographs.

RuuDie:
I understand and appreciate all these too. . . . but i feel we are spending way too much time occupying ourselves with containing FCB rather thinking of how to hurt 'em attack-wise; which in itself is conceding defeat without kicking a ball!
I swear if i see a midfield 3 of Ando-Carrick-Fletcher, that's it, ain't watching!

it's barca we are playing not stoke or schalke fc. they are far superior to us and they will always boss possession. they get better n better season after season possession wise. there's no point playing giggs/scholes against them. . . .we can never out-pass barcelona. so our best bet is to soak the pressure and hit on the counter.

HNIC:
It's the same thing.
I don't see how nasri would end up at UTD straight from Arsenal.
Unless he's sold to Inter and Utd buy from Inter

we don't even need him. he doesn't have the united dna. nasri is a specialist, we rarely sign specialist midfielders. . . .we are contented with the fletchers, parks, gibsons, andersons, carricks and osheas. players who are less skilful on the ball but work like trojan horses defensively. fergie is obsessed with utility midfielders. players who can be asked to play any role and will do so effectively. i prefer nzogbia to nasri.

chic2pimp:
Playing two Midfielders @ the centre of the pack vs Barca would be suicidal. Like a hot knife through butter, Barca would slice through the united Midfield and defence easily.

However I strongly suspect he would deploy a 4-3-3 formation(which can be altered to a 4-4-2 if need be). Park would most likey join forces with Ando and Carrick @ the centre of the midfield with Rooney and Valencia Flanking Hernandez.

jonathan wilson:

Ferguson is a tinkerer, and often comes up with something unexpected for major games, but the chances of him using an untried formation and breaking up the Rio Ferdinand-Nemanja Vidic partnership are nil. So taking the 3-3-3-1 paradigm and pushing the Messi-tracking defensive midfielder to centre-back, we're left with a 4-2-3-1, which is the shape all three sides to have beaten Barcelona in league or Champions League this season – Hercules, Arsenal and Real Sociedad – have used.

That said, 27 teams have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 against Barça this season, and while three have won, 20 have lost. (The worst formation to use, statistically, is straight 4-4-2, which has a seven defeats out of seven record). What United must do at all costs is protect that space in front of the two centre-backs; Xabi Alonso did not have the best game for Real Madrid in the first leg of the semi-final, but it was after he had been forced by Pepe's red card to abandon his position just in front of the back four that Messi, granted a couple of yards of acceleration room, produced the second goal that effectively settled the tie.

the moment i see giggs + carrick in the line-up(1 hour before the game), i will just concede a loss before the ball is kicked. barcelona would take the piss on our midfield. park in a 4-4-2 won't work against barcelona. js park loves to tuck in, he doesn't hug the touchline like nani/valencia which means dani alves will have a field day against evra. it's one thing to use this formation against chelsea(ivanovic and bosingwa) are light-weights - dani alves will be more dangerous.

HNIC:
If Evra thinks AW would sell Nasri to Utd. . . . . he must be smoking guava leaves.
If Samir doesn't sign the contract by June 30, he will be flogged to a team abroad.
I am sure Arsenal have learnt from the Flamini episode

he did not say he wanted nasri in man utd or wenger will sell nasri to united. he was giving an interview to l'euipe magazine and he was asked if he knew about the rumour surrounding nasri joining man utd. he said he has not heard of it but he has told nasri in the past to leave arsenal and come to man utd where titles are guaranteed.

plenty to smile about. . .

--the assault charges against morrison have been dropped
--united made 60 million pounds tv money this season
--signing david de gea at 20
--the glazers have given ferguson the go ahead to splash 170 million pounds this summer.

glory-glory man utd.

patrice evra on samir nasri. . . .

Evra has told Arsenal star Samir Nasri to join United if he wants to win trophies. Nasri has emerged as a possible summer target for Sir Alex Ferguson, who is planning a number of addtions to his team - including Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David De Gea

And Evra reckons his fellow countryman Nasri would be better off in the red of United, rather than that of Arsenal.
He told L'Equipe: 'If he comes, he has to know there is no room for mistakes. Each year you are playing to win. That is Manchester's culture.
'Each year it is a guarantee of a title. I have been at Manchester for five years now and I can't remember how many trophies I have won. 13? 15?
'So, 'Petit Prince', if you want to become King you know where you have to go.'

evra is fast becoming my favourite united player. he is awesome on the mic.

StarBoard:
@fellas,
Just saw the youth Cup highlights.
I think Pogba should be in line for first team action.
As for Morrison,I agree with coogar,he has to be the best young talent in the UK,never mind what the muppets in Gunnerland say.

james ducker of times said this after the game. . . ."Pogba and Tunnicliffe are the kind of box-to-box central midfield players United have arguably lacked since the sudden departure of Roy Keane. And then there is Morrison, widely tipped to be one of the pre-eminent players of his generation but whose career to date has been dogged by controversy.
The 18-year-old, a deep-lying forward blessed with skill and vision to make defenders weep"

lalaboi:
Ryan Giggs Should just retire at now. . . Next season will be bad for him. .

i can feel your pain. giggsy supplied all the goal-assists that knocked chelsea out of the champions league(your only hope this season). when it also looked like chelsea might catch united in the title race, giggs conjured another assist for vidic to score the 2nd goal at old trafford. if i were a chelsea fan, i would want giggs dead too.

[quote author=Mr_TA link=topic=567773.msg8385855#msg8385855 date=1306262950]It seems De Gea to us is a done deal. Apparently about £17M. It really hope we make a better job of replacing a great keeper than we did last time out.

I personally am a little worried about him, obviously he's very talented but he doesnt speak English and very inexperienced at the highest level. But if he works out then that's the goalkeeping position sorted for nearly 15 years![/quote]i quite agree that david de gea isn't the best we could have copped but fergie knows. personally, i would have preferred stekelenburg but then de gea is talented, very young and might be our own casillas. you can question his age that he might be too young but he is not inexperienced. he's won the europa league and the european super cup when they smashed inter last summer. i hope he makes it here.

montelik:
SAF has confirmed that we will play 4-4-2 with Hernandez and Rooney upfront. This most likely means 2 in d center. Personally I think it is our best shot. With Fletcher not ready I don't see d sense in trying 3 in d center, besides we don't have d personnel to excel with a front 3 like we did in d past. Hernandez can't play upfront alone, Rooney of this season has looked poor there and doesn't have d required predatory instincts and Berba is out of form and off pace as of now.

I see d same side as we played against Schalke and Chelsea with one possible change Anderson for Giggs.

                                       VDS
         
         Fabio/O'Shea    Vidic     Rio        Evra

         Valencia       Carrick     Ando      Park
                             
                             Rooney
                                       
                                        Hernandez

This means d entire team we will have to play mass defense and potentially attack. Rooney will have to work hard to help out Carrick and Ando who will have their work cut out for them. We beat Barca over 2 legs in 07/08 and played 4-4-2 both times. It can be done, just that it requires an herculean effort from d entire eleven on and off d ball.

4-4-2 will leave us exposed. i really hope fergie is kidding about starting 2 strikers from the onset. we cannot beat any team that craves possession foootball with 4-4-2.(it can never work). it simply means barcelona will always have 4 players against our 2 central midfielders. xavi, busquets and iniesta plus messi who now roams deep as a false-9.

yes, we beat barcelona over 2 legs in 07/08 but the set-up was not 4-4-2. it was 4-3-3. ronaldo played as a striker with tevez and rooney flanking him at nou camp. at old trafford, the 3 forwards were nani, tevez and ronaldo(centre forward). one thing was also a factor, ryan giggs did not start in both legs in 07/08. ryan giggs and carrick will be subdued against the barcelona's midfield. we must load that area of the pitch with hard-working players.

duduspace:
Ol'boy go back to yur rehab jare. I'm not a coward like you to go into hiding and then come and start sounding tough at the end of the season. What concerns me with your credibility?     you can hang it around your neck and go cool off in the thames.

i am not surprised you replied in this manner - you lack decorum.

See your loose lips open wide like an NNPC pipe cracked open by John Togo's boys, so Morrison won FA youth cup and yu're now celebrating?   were you not the loud mouth making little of it when our boys did the double at that level? damaged goods is being fought over between the U21 and senior team to go and represent England?

only in england would that happen. wilshere with all his brilliance lost 3 competitions within one week. wilshere with all his brilliance finished the season trophyless. under-21 and senior team fighting for him shows how limited and useless england is as a footballing nation. wilshere with all his brilliance got taken apart by rafael/fabio(2 defenders) in the fa cup. gareth barry had the same hype until he was undressed by ozil. this is a country where mediocre players are celebrated. wilshere will not start in spain and guardiola said he has hundreds of players better than wilshere in his academy when english media suggested wilshere might go to barcelona.

Come back and compare Morrison with Wilshere when Morrison wins any personal laurels jare. I'm sure he is not even the best player in that Manure youth setup, I would take Will Keane over him any day but you don't even know the better players in your youth setup.

the tool goofs again. william keane better than morrison and yet it's morrison that is the highly-rated and compared to scholes with his natural talents. what personal laurel has wilshere won? pfa young player gifted to him by the media? i laugh in mandarin. in your idiotic world, wilshere played better than chicharito/nani this season? you are a glorified dork!

mbulela:
seems Ravel is doing fine tonite.
will look up the clips later.
if we can get 2 of these players into the 1st team in 18 months, it would be a massive success.

i really dunno what morrison has to do to be promoted. it's so obvious he's more talented than his peers at this level. every time i have seen him play at youth level, he's been the best player on the pitch. he single-handedly wrecked liverpool at anfield and he was at his beastly best last night. . . . .
if morrison was in arsenal academy player, he would have been pushed to the senior team at 16. the lad is world class.

duduspace:
You dey mind the guy? haven't you wondered why its only Starboard and Coogar who keep on harping on the thing? I know say na one and the same person. He go develop "A beautiful mind" for my matter very soon if e no careful. I no get time for person wey nor dey comot mouth for matter. Maybe him go still dey yarn about am in 10 years time. 

you are a tool. . . . .an unrepentant tool if i may add. with all your moronic predictions and idiotic foresight your club won nowt with your hapless manager and lethargic youth policy. instead of you to go hiding for the next few months, your lack of decorum has brought you back to the surface. that cocoyam head of yours needs some rest. like fat ibime, your credibility on these sport pages has gone to the pits.

I don tell am make he tell us where him Gravel Morrison wey better pass Wilshere and Gibbs dey but I still dey await him answer till day after tomorrow but Wilshere don dey play for England and Gibbs dey go U21 with Lansbury wey we no mention following am dey go but wetin I hear be say Morrison dey go jail. 

morrison just helped his team win the fa youth cup tonight scoring a brace. we make our youths go through the motions before launching them on the big stage. this is why their mentality is deeply-rooted unlike the lansburys, wilsheres and gibbs that are damaged goods and will soon leave arsenal for greener pastures because they cannot cut it. morrison is destined for greatness - go to all sports websites and check out their rave reviews on his performance tonight. he's the best young english player in the country.

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/05/24/article-1390172-0C3AFBF300000578-595_634x395.jpg

england's only hope 2014 world cup. . . . .
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/05/23/article-0-0C3AC88900000578-830_634x465.jpg

StarBoard:
A donkey remains a donkey.
Regardless. . .
I argued with him for 5 whole days of the entire Rooney transfer saga.He kept blabbing and bleating about United's decline,how we were too reliant on Giggs and Scholes,how we wwere saddled with debt and hw Rooney did not want to be a part of failure. . .how will that kind of mountain-goat ever change?Do you think that someone who had such strong views would change all of a sudden?Especially when backed up by ninnies like Head Ninny In-Charge?Not possible.

h-n-i-c is a bit more reasonable. he loves arsenal to bits but he rarely makes the kinda dumb predictions known to mumuface. it must be said though h-n-i-c loves to be the bearer of any negative news about united in the media. he cant be a twunt for that but he's still more tolerable. fufuface on the other hand is just obsessed with united - he needs therapy.

debosky:
Even in my 'innocent' days I never spewed bunkum about Utd's decline and make bets on finishing places.

I have ALWAYS known the difference between optimism and misguided and deluded overconfidence. . . .I have always exhibited the former and clearly not the latter.

i agree 100%.

StarBoard:
I can bet anything that the fufuspace will open up his stinking gob and make another silly projection.
Gagging order or not.

i doubt it. he must have learnt his lessons. he is now where debosky used to be 3-4 seasons ago. over time, he will simmer down with his idiotic predictions.

debosky:
Versatility is the biggest killer of players at Arsenal - Eboue’s decline can be attributed partly to his ‘versatility’. Bendter’s current woes are caused by attempting to make him ‘versatile’. If we are to assess reasons for not making it at Arsenal, I’d say there are more reasons to ascribe that to JET than to any of the reserve/on loan players at the moment.

there's nothing wrong in versatility. arsenal's biggest problem is the mental strength. they should fire the shrinks working with the players. arsene must also carry some blame here. i don't think he gets the best out of his players. those players don't fight when they are pushed against the wall. arsenal won just 3 games in all competitions since that cup final in febuary. that is not good enough.

StarBoard:
Indeed.Your yearly mantra.
Arsenal haven't finished in the top 2 since 2005.Yet you pluckily said they would finish above a side who have finished in the top 2 every season in the same period.
Why not go ahead and make another dumb projection for 2011/12?

if debosky and co have any dignity left in them, they should put a gagging order on mumuface until further notice.

duduspace:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/922692/bendtner-tells-arsenal-he-wants-out?cc=5739

Number 2 on his way out, I'll miss this boy sha and I think he'll be good somewhere, should make some space for JET to step up and if we can add some money to what we make from selling him, might be enof to get a player like Gervinho or Willian.

the youth policy is working indeed.

saw it in 3-d. it was decent but not all that. the best part for me were the mermaids. if mermaids are that beautiful, i want to marry one.

debosky:
In the Arsenal vs Barcelona game played at the Emirates, Arsenal won the match 2-1. In the Arsenal vs Manchester United game played at the Emirates, Arsenal won 1-0.

Unless you're trying to re-write history, those are the facts.

i see. . . . .the games at the emirates are the only ones that should count. the ones away from the emirates never happened.

medjai:
And Messi didn't help Argentina to the finals of Copa America in 2007 and Q/finals of the 2006 and 2010 world cup?18 months, 16 months, whatever.

ronaldo has a better strike rate than messi in international games. ronaldo has outscored messi in la liga this season and he has had a better strike rate than messi for the past 2 seasons in la liga. those are the facts.