The Manchester United thread 2006/2007 - featuring BBB leaving early

[pjburrage]

I think Kalinichenko could act as more of a wide midfielder. But he shouldn't be anywhere near the top of our target list.

Riquelme - if he could play with Rooney without bumping into him, then at £12.5m it would be fb!

Aimar - Again a player who if the price was right he would be a good buy.

Torres - I agree with Fran, I think its all done bar the paperwork, fee all agreed, just making sure he gets through the tournament unscathed (So Fine better not cripple him tomorrow).

[elmonzo]

Reading the first couple of pages of this thread I've noticed the title has come under a bit of criticism. But compared to Foobs' last thread entitled The Return of the Manchester United Thread v1.3 - The Future Starts Hereâ„¢, I think it's all right.

[Taz & The Devil]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by BBB:

Love it how Becks could handle it, effigys being burnt yet this little twat can't. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Becks was a lifelong United supporter who wanted nothing else but to play for us and he is English so was at home here. Ronaldo is neither.

[BBB]

hah, I need to read

[mark g]

How was Carrick yesterday? The Spurs thread lot were saying he was ****, but i'm aware they may not have the most objective viewpoint at the moment.

[Mika]

And he got a yellow too.

[Terry Cheung]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by markgood guy:

so why wasn't steel given more of achance. I think he is agood young GK.

do you agree with me, or he just wasn't good enough ? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have never watched him, but goalkeeper is such a specialist position that if Foster is a better player, then there is no point keeping Steele. We might as well let him go and get on with his career.

[Keyser]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Nick OGS20:

Who's been rooting for the Scouse? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Check the blades vs the blades users thread

[BBB]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Can all journalists, other interested parties and in particular Manchester United fans please note that the "Love United, Hate Glazer" and "Fight For United" campaigns are not connected with or affillated with, in any way, the "Manchester Education Committee" as has been suggested in several newspapers this week and also by the Sun. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

and also The Sun

[mark g]

I'm not even convinced by Carrick and Scholes as the first choice partnership, let alone who the first choice backup is.

[ACou2000]

[ACou2000]

and last year?

[Nick OGS20]

funny you should say that christopher...

[pjburrage]

1 - Why the hell has Rossi gone on loan? We better get a new striker in (and that does not mean Smith)

2 - At least we get to see how Javier and Carlos play in the premiership before buying them next summer.

[BBB]

I don't understand Fergie praising the youngsters and then sending them to the likes of Antwerp, what will that achieve for them in terms of progress? Absolutely jack all.

I'm just fuming in that Gill came out at the Quadrants sales thing and promised 2 world class midfielders, constantly saying "yeah the moneys there if we need it, I said Alex wants Vidic/Evra and Brian said yeh go for it" well where was the money this summer boys? Don't feed me that bo11ocks that "well we identified who we wanted but couldn't get them". You see a player, you bid, they say no, you move on. There are plenty of players we could have signed but in the end it all comes down to the fact that we don't have a pot to pish in.

I was on 606 forums yesterday and people were jumping in to defend the Glazers, it's shocking how many people actually believe the propoganda they throw at us, get us to pay for our Season Tickets and then not buy anyone, Yes ofc I was always going to get a ST, that was never in doubt but do I feel ripped off? Hell yeah I do.

Oh It's such a crap day today, no new signings to look forward to, forget Europe it ain't happening.

[Taz & The Devil]

Fergie does not have to come out and bash the supporters or FC United to tow the company line.

[BBB]

ofc they are Jonny, the TO are an utter utter joke.

Standing for 90 mins was awesome

[14AlanSmithifb]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by alilaw:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by 14AlanSmithifb:

Was going to mention about Rio should be dropped before Wes but both should be in the team. I would go with this against Arsenal tbh.

Van Der Saar

Neville

Silvestre

Rio

Wes

Evra

Ronaldo

Fletch

Scholes

Rooney

Saha

Subs

Kuszack

Vidic

Carrick

Solskjaer

Smithy </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Carrick doesn't even make your bench? Harsh tbh. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

**** forgot about him

[batch]

He can come if i convince him to get up out of bed even earlier.

He's 18, is huge and has biceps of steel. Basically i could get him to cave your face in if i fancied it.

Oh and he posts on OTF - well he has done about a dozen times as "bluearmy"

[ACou2000]

who drinks cockneys? :/

[mark g]

What Terry and Scatter said.

[James07?]

I'll chip in a bit extra if we can break his neck instead?

[Mika]

Training photos from today.

[Mika]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Coldberg:

Are we on football first? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not the game of the day, that's the Arsenal one.

[pjburrage]

Not seen the penalty but it sounded harsh on the radio.

[Mika]

He'd better not.

[Saha]

off to lyon in exchange for one of their strikers or midfielders pls

[theis]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mark g:

While he wasn't the only one who could have done better, the majority of the fault has to lie with Carrick. While Evra could have been tighter, his first responsibility is to stop a cross, not a pull back.

Carrick basically just kept running back towards his own goal and ended up almost as deep as his centre backs, rather than marking a player. He did exactly what O'Shea kept doing when he played that position. If you're the defensive midfielder and you're not marking anyone, you should be looking to pick up any midfielder at the edge of the box, but he didn't start to move out until their player had picked up the ball, which was far too late. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I fully agree.

I do kind of think though that with three of them on Simao word should have gotten to Evra that he could fully commit himself. If this is Evra's fault or not is unknown, especially seeing as though he probably expected Carrick to be on Nelson.

[mark g]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Taz & The Devil:

Do bookings carry over into the knockout stages of the Champions League or do they get wiped clean when the group stage ends? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Suspensions carry over but bookings are wiped clean.

[mark g]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rcjuk:

I've never actually heard us chant ANYTHING about nistelrooy this season. Maybe they do it on aways.

So what if we do anyway, we chant about cantona ffs is he threatened by him? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, but Saha isn't viewed as the direct replacement for Cantona, is he?

[Razor Eddie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ACou2000:

does applying for every domestic home game count for anything.. ANYTHING </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've missed two league games at OT this season - might actually be three. I haven't applied for any except the Scouse, (which I didn't get through the TO in the end, anyway.)

So, to answer your qurstion. Probably not.

[Scatter]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Larsson makes his mark

Richard Jolly

Manchester United arrived to praise their newest Scandinavian striker and departed celebrating the enduring ability of another. That Henrik Larsson and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are extremely accomplished goalscorers is hardly breaking news, but a demonstration of their prowess is impressive nonetheless.

Not least because of the timing. For both, there was a certain inevitability. No matter how many times Solskjaer has scored in the early stages of games or what his tally of meaningless consolation efforts or superfluous strikes that boost goal difference is, he is indelibly associated with a late arrival from the bench to decide a vital game. This was no exception; indeed, with an injury-time winner, this was archetypal Solskjaer.

Loyalty and humility have contributed to his status as an Old Trafford legend, but not nearly as much as late goals. The strike that secured the Champions League in Barcelona - another in added time - is the most famous, but earlier in United's treble season, he emerged from the ranks of the substitutes to eliminate Liverpool from the FA Cup at a similarly late stage.

Now it was Aston Villa's turn. Solskjaer's shot was drilled hard and low, squeezing inside Gabor Kiraly's near post and saving United a replay and, potentially, a first third-round exit in Sir Alex Ferguson's 21 seasons in charge.

'Gabor's distraught,' said Martin O'Neill, amid suggestions his on-loan goalkeeper should have saved it. 'Somebody blocked my view for the winning goal,' said Ferguson, who admitted he had been contemplating a replay. 'But with Ole Gunnar on the park, you always have a chance of scoring.'

Though Ryan Giggs struck the bar just after Larsson's opener, Villa responded with admirable purpose to conceding. 'We played our best football when we went behind,' O'Neill explained. Gary Cahill headed narrowly wide and Tomasz Kuszczak saved smartly from Isaiah Osbourne before Milan Baros equalised.

Latching on to Cahill's mis-hit shot, he beat Kuszczak and Martin O'Neill said: 'He took the goal splendidly. He's come and shown a vibrancy. That's the Milan Baros we really want. Centre forwards live or die by the number of goals they get.'

It is something Manchester United's veteran Scandinavians know only too well. Solskjaer was only introduced because Larsson had a tight calf.

'You're taking one really good finisher off and putting another really good finisher on,' explained Ferguson, enjoying a position the luxury of his attacking resources now affords. Larsson's availability made a difference; six days ago at Newcastle, Ferguson had fielded a bench without a specialist striker.

With Solskjaer restored to the replacements, the Norwegian swiftly emulated the Swede, but the significance of Larsson's debut extended beyond opening his United account.

'I wanted to find out about his fitness and his sharpness and he's proved that,' added Ferguson. 'His movement and his judgment was terrific. That split-second movement he gives was terrific.'

O'Neill knows that better than most. If he had not been beforehand, the Aston Villa manager must have been filled with a sense of foreboding when he saw the teamsheet. The majority of Larsson's 242 Celtic goals were scored under his guidance.

If a reminder of his clinical finishing was hardly required, one arrived anyway after 55 minutes. After a move involving Michael Carrick, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, he steered a shot into the top corner.

'He scored the goal and he's always capable of doing that,' the Villa manager said. 'I never thought for one minute he couldn't score in any league he chose. It is great news for Henrik and great news for Manchester United. It suits both parties.'

It was far from the only time Larsson and Rooney combined. Indeed, for an untried partnership, there was much to purr over. The 35-year-old's fine positional sense and ability to dovetail on debut with new team-mates suggested that he could have a pivotal say in the title race. An understanding of both his game and his role within the side enabled him to provide for Rooney without losing sight of his responsibility when leading the line.

Three times Larsson supplied chances for Rooney, most memorably with a deft backheeled flick. All were spurned and the Englishman endured the sort of match he seems prone to when, no matter how frequently he shoots, a goal proves elusive.

Besides unselfishness, United appreciate style, too, and Larsson showed himself capable of that as well, juggling the ball on the edge of the Villa penalty box before passing to Gary Neville. For once, it wasn't Ronaldo supplying the most memorable tricks of the day.

Ferguson, however, chose to concentrate on more prosaic contributions. 'I think he'll score important goals for us,' he said. 'He's been doing that all his career.' The comparison he reached for was Eric Cantona but few have scored more important goals, or more winners, for United than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Henrik Larsson - A simple choice. He oozed class in everything he did. For United, the only regret must be that he returns to Helsingborgs in the middle of March.

UNITED VERDICT: The result was satisfactory, as was much of the performance, but warning signs were there. United were more profligate in front of goal as they have been for much of the season and, in the absence of Nemanja Vidic, lax in defence after taking the lead.

VILLA VERDICT: Deprived of several vital players and short of numbers, they resembled O'Neill's Leicester, gritty and often underestimated. Theirs was a defensive gameplan, however, and Juan Pablo Angel was stranded alone in attack in the first half. This month may show if Randy Lerner's millions can transform them into a side with attacking menace and the quality to challenge for a European place.

INJURY NEWS: Nemanja Vidic and Paul Scholes are suffering with a bug, according to Ferguson, who denied squad rotation was the reason for their omission.

ROONEY IN TROUBLE? There were suspicions that the Manchester United striker kicked out at a Villa defender. 'I'm staying out of it,' said O'Neill, but a wink suggested he thought Rooney may have been guilty. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

henke \o/

what's the rooney incident he's talking about? didn't see anything. espn's coverage so dire mind, that someone could've been beheaded and we'd have missed it...

[James07?]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Keyser:

oh and the 1 ante natal class that I have attended scared the beejeesus out of me, ventrousing is still giving me nightmares. It's a kitchen plunger and a vacuum cleaner ffs. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

*****

WARNING - you may not want to read this

*****

It ain't pretty dude. But if it gets the job done. Matt ended up with a dislocated shoulder, but he was out.

The look of panic on the doctor's faces (they appeared from nowhere when it started to turn to sh*t) and the lumps of flesh left on the delivery room floor are my main two memories.

Oh and feeling soooo helpless when Matt was being carted off in one direct to the baby care unit and Sal was going in the other to be put back together again.

but hey, don't wanna scare ya or anything

[Mika]

Thoughts on these banners?

Bottom one is the best imo.

[vanester]

and I admit it was probably a penalty, just seen the replay

[DeafParrot]

If you don't win it, he can smugly say "I told you so lads," and it'll cushion the blow.

[Mika]

But again, he's hardly going to come out and say they are terrible is he?

[Asmodeus]

True.

[hairwad]

Squad players 1999:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

G: Van der Gouw

D: Brown, Berg, May, Neville P

M: Butt, Blomqvist, Greening

A: Solskjaer, Sheringham

</pre>

Squad players 2007:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

G: Kuszczak

D: Heinze, Brown, Silvestre

M: Park, Fletcher, O'Shea

A: Solskjaer, Smith

</pre>

Of course there is no disputing the 99 squad in terms of achievements and also having 4 top class strikers at the peak of their careers who could influence matches. On the other hand I think our current defensive and midfield replacements may just shade the old squad - especially if you take into account the current versatility of both our starters and replacements. Giggs began the 99 final playing right midfield did he not? Of course it's subjective but I think it's a lot closer than the old squad was great, our current squad has no depth.

[DeafParrot]

Yeah, Milan was the one I wasn't really sure about. With players like Kaka and Gilardino they can beat anyone, but they're only stumbling through so far.

[Scatter]

christ... you doom merchants.

6/1 a pretty realistic appraisal of our chances really. win the next three games, and the league is pretty much in the bag. boro and watford hardly the sort of opposition that should stop us reaching the fa cup final. roma eminently beatable if we pull our fingers out. same with milan/bayern.

by that rationale, 6/1 not far wide of the mark at all.

[SLO_Fila]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Nick OGS20:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ajw2255:

Vidic obv. conceding 4 goals in two key games.

3/4 due to defensive **** ups, and Vidic missing isnt a coincidence </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

i see your point, but can we really say VDS making three massive ****-ups (and the type of ****-ups they were) is down to Vida's absence? would Vida being there have stopped VDS slapping two shots straight back to the feet of onrushing attackers or going walkies for the Rio backpass? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well VDS has rarely made any mistakes the whole season while Vidic was in front of him.

And i think VDS only once palmed the ball in front of him while Vidic was playing throughout the season.

So maybe he wouldn't have made them

[BBB]

you're all *****.

seriously.

[T!mbo]

Poor Peej

[Keyser]

They are senior players, this is what their 3rd Champions League campaign?

Hardly virgins.

Again, when we needed a performance (that wasn't against Bolton or Spurs) where the f**k were they? Giggs was appalling (no suprise), Scholes played his heart out but was let down by others, Carrick may as well stayed in Manchester and Fletcher was beyond anonymous who else was left? The defence?

And all those (bar Giggs who was worse) had a bigger responsibility than R & R?

OK.

[Saha]

Sneak in wearing that ninja outfit.

[The_Fish]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by James07?:

so fast, tricky, no end product. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ronaldo 2 years ago?

[Razor Eddie]

Just found this.

"I don't think I'm a kitten, and if I was, I would be a really ugly one with a beard."[/qoute]

Gennaro Gattuso on Steven Gerrard's claims that he is as scary as a kitten.

[player_65]

nice informative page topper, well done