₦airaland Forum

Awful match and performance but got the job done so thats all that matters really. Very confortable position now in the league even though we have a few tough matches ahead like, Home to City and Chelsea, Away to Arsenal coming up. But we really should see it through now.

Also would like to see us step up our performance in the FA Cup as its going to be a very tough match at Stanford bridge then City in the semis if we get through. Really hope we can step up our level of performances from now till the end.

Aaaaanyway. Although Im not happy about Rio going back to England, I think Smalling needs matches as well need him to be ready and also aid his development.

Seems Nani is still out. I really hope Young or anyone else can save us from seeing Valencia on the right.

elampiro: The mirror is one of the best papers in the world. Also Telegraph.

The mirror? Oh my days.

I think it's a huge shame that Ddg is getting all the lashing considering he has been one of our best players in the last few matches. Are we really blaming him for the Chelsea draw? Or the Madrid defeat?

elampiro: If not for poor outing of De Gea, United would be almost 20 points clear with the way our strikers have been scoring freely. United has conceded more than City, yet people said Hart is poor. Hart is poor when compared to Hart, but he is a superb when compared to De Gea.

I have seen alot of wrong posts in the forum but this one takes the cake. Care to break down these 20 points DDG lost us and in which matches?

This season the best goalie so far for me is Lloris.

coogar: petr cech?
don't let starboard and mr t-a punch you! cech to them is the greatest goalie in the league. if that chicharito goal that caught cech in a no man's land happened to us, these guys would have sent a killer squad to finish de gea off. rafa benitez jogged to the pitch last night to pat de gea in the back after the game in full respect!

https://i.minus.com/ibxJmlqMaJk2pB.gif

de gea is the best goalkeeper in this division by a country mile - it's not even close, it's not even an opinion anymore, it's a fact! that save from mata at the death was just top drawer. mata couldn't believe he missed! we just don't defend well with evra and we don't play high-line because of our slow defenders.

https://i.minus.com/iQtiudIvvnv08.gif

ashley young and anderson would give us a boost in the replay! these are the high-energy players that can destroy chelsea. anderson completely murdered chelsea in the carling cup tie before chelsea were aided by a dodgy penalty! we would need him again to finish the job.

Although Ive rated Cech as the best I have also stated that he has made many errors in the last 18months that Big Save Dave would have been slated for on this very thread. So Im not of the mind that Big Save Dave is a problem. Im very happy with him as the number 1. infact Im one of the first to forgive his errors. Only game I thought he struggling was the aerial assault from Newcastle this season apart from that he has done as well as any other keeper in the division.

Awful second half. I think some players are running out of steam. Evra,rafael,Carrick. Possibly. Also a huge shame to lose nani as I want Valencia as far away from the first team as possible. Even I would do a better job than him n the right. He is just beyond awful. Maybe play him at right back. Such a woeful winger this season. I really hope nani's injury isn't serious. Rooney was poor but Valencia was in a class all by himself and as he has been for a while now. Will need young,smalling Anderson to set up now as the team needs something to lift them. Rvp has been struggling badly as well so really need him to get back his pre-Christmas form. Bring on Reading.

@starboard. I hope you stick around and give your 2cents regularly. Try not to respond to insults etc. I know it can be annoying but it would be good to have your input and thoughts regularly. I don't get myself involved in a slanging match with anyone. I say my thoughts and keep it moving. Hope you do the same as your input in valued.

coded guy: You are playing a CL game against 9 time champs, real Madrid with a coach like maurinho and Fergie is being sentimental about one 40yr old playing his 1000th game. Which is more important, winning the game or Giggs hitting his 1000th game in style.

Yes Giggs played very well, but Rooney on the pitch would have given us a sharper edge against Madrid and given them something to worry about far better than what Giggs was offerring even though he was playing well. IMO

Fergie also reacted slowly to the red card, as soon as Modric was brought in we needed another body in the middle to distract/hassle him and any player from, young, Ando, rafael and smalling would have been capable of doing that.

Fergie messed up, simple! I have been to upset to comment since.

I disagree with your bolded bit. No way to know Rooney would have for sure performed well. He was one of our worst players in the 1st leg at the bernabeu. Giggs played well and we were leading till the red card and even after the red we was still playing well. Just absolutely no need to scapegoat giggs on this.

The main fault lies with fergie when he should have reacted to the red card but he didn't and the players didn't and before we knew it Real Madrid were 2-1up. Too late by then.

You all need to stop scapegoating giggs unnecessarily when he played well.

Is this still on going? Please. Im looking forward to the next match already. Another big game, Chelsea at home in the cup..

I do agree that fergie didn't respond to the red card at all and reshape the team. That was disappointing.

And without scapegoating RVP was our worst player not Giggs. Infact Giggs was one of our best players.

@coogar - It cant be dangerous play when he wasnt even making a tackle. That was an attempt to control the ball dropping over his shoulder which he had eyes on the whole time. He didnt even see Arbeloa there who just came out of no where.

Too bad. Was shaping up to be a great game before that red and we had the edge.

It looked a very harsh red card as Nani was trying to control the ball. No way did he intend to kick Arbeloa in the chest. It took us a while to get back in the game after that incident and Madrid took full advantage. I thought we could have brought on Hernandez and Maybe Rooney much earlier after the red card. Overall, both teams were very evenly matched and its really the ref who killed what was shaping up to me a very good game.Also Giggs was excellent.

The CL was always a bonus so On to the next one.

For the haters, Dont forget, your hate is just confused admiration.

Early rumours suggest

De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Cleverley, Nani, Welbeck, Giggs, Van Persie

Would really love an on form Nani to play but his inconsistency this season cannot really be afforded.

Jones injury has forced a rethink. I'm guessing Welbeck will start because he had a good first leg v Madrid. So I think it'll be Welbeck,rvp,Rooney up top. Midfield seems like Carrick,Cleverley and Valencia will be the middle 3. Though I wouldn't be surprised to see Kagawa for Welbeck. I'm guessing Vidic comes in for Evans?

Or even giggs for Cleverley won't surprise me. Think I've got a better chance of getting the lotto numbers than guessing SAF's 11.

That's my skinny Spanish keeper .


Getting more and more nervousness about the Madrid match. Our middle composition is so vital to how well we do I wonder if SAF still goes with a 4231?

montelik: I could care less about who starts against Madrid. Even we beat Madrid, we aren't going to win the UCL anyway as this squad is not strong enough. I find all the treble talk a little exaggerated.

All what treble talk?

Morrison and Pogba 100% regularly trained with the first team. Im not getting into this again about those boys though. Especially morrison, he's gone and he's thrown his career away.


Excellent result and good performance. I'm doing the gangnam style in honour of our Shinji
Hope RVP finds his scoring boots again asap, we're going to need it. Real just casually beat Real madrid again with Ronaldo on the bench. He have good momentum as we do as well so its going to be a tough battle on Tuesday.We'll need everyone to be 100%.

WHat a goal by Rooney. Havent seen one of those super strikes in a while from him.

coogar: we don't need jones to be honest - we are at home, we have to attack and smash them! as long as evra stays in his position, we should be fine. anderson + cleverley + carrick are good enough to cause madrid huge problems. van persie has trained all week so he should be ok for the big game. add rooney and nani to the mix and we are good to go!

I definitely think we need the added defensive cover jones provides at home especially if we want to attack more at home. Real are probably the best counter attacking team in the world, it would be so easy for them to pick us up on the counter with someone like jones doing the same job he did at the bernabeu. Infact, I think we have to play like the away team at home to progress in my opinion.

As long as he's not a regular starter I'm ok with his new contract.

Looks like jones won't make the Madrid match.

Bale just smashed all those goals up, sorry Rafa.

Fantastic result. Just as happy about the clean sheet as well. 15 points ahead, over to you Chelsea and City. Good to see Rooney back from injury while really hope RVP's injury is minor. Just need Jones to fully recover now.

Wenger has earned of £50m from arsenal in that period.

coogar: valencia is finished. i don't care if he ends up as a right back but as an attacking threat, he's done. valencia is so useless these days he doesn't even know what to do with the ball again. the attack breaks down with the ball at his feet - he gets the ball and slows down, there has to be a good reason for slowing down but with valencia he slows it down and passes the ball back like a fool!

nani gets 3 out of 5 decisions wrong but the 2 he gets right can lead to goals or brilliant assists. nani is not scared to try outrageous moves and when he's bäng in form, he is more of a goal threat than valencia. he has to play against madrid to shackle contreao. rooney gave contreao too much liberty in the first leg with his zombie tracking back.

------------de gea-------------
--rafael--rio--evans--evra--
------carrick--cleverley------
nani------rooney-----welbeck
------------van persie----------

anderson, young, hernandez, valencia, giggs on the bench to be called upon if we need goals.

I think if fitness permitting I would prefer jones in midfield to do the same job he did in the first leg as we'll need it. Madrid are probably the best counter attacking team in the world.

Good to see nani play well yesterday. Hope he can keep this consistency till the end of the season as he could be crucial for us.

Really hope jones' anl.e injury isn't too serious.

I'm still a huge fan of nani, I really hope we can get him back on form. But I fear his career is over at united this summer.

I prefer one step at a time. League first and most important, then FA cup as that to me is more realistic then CL.

I hate all this treble talk.

Could be a tough next round if we beat Reading tomorrow as we might face Chelsea next.