*** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

[CR7]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

Long time lurker here bringing this thread back to the forefront

Just to introduce myself as an avid Man United/Real Madrid fan as a kid. My brother, Perceptor, posts here regularly so I thought I'd get some United flavour to combat his Gooner tastes lol

So how has this season gone for you? I have to admit I was worried when Fergie left and Moyes came in because Fergie's tactics and management papered over a lot of deficiencies within this club since Ronaldo left. The club sure didn't do itself any favors with the transfers, but is not in as bad a shape. The start to the season wasn't great, but hopefully things will stabilize.

[Leon]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

Long time lurker here bringing this thread back to the forefront

Just to introduce myself as an avid Man United/Real Madrid fan as a kid. My brother, Perceptor, posts here regularly so I thought I'd get some United flavour to combat his Gooner tastes lol

So how has this season gone for you? I have to admit I was worried when Fergie left and Moyes came in because Fergie's tactics and management papered over a lot of deficiencies within this club since Ronaldo left. The club sure didn't do itself any favors with the transfers, but is not in as bad a shape. The start to the season wasn't great, but hopefully things will stabilize.

Welcome! There's not a lot us on here, but I attribute that to people hating on the club's greatness.

The season has gone down OKAY, to say the least. We're in a good position to get back into the mix of things but that hinges on getting 3 points against Arsenal on Sunday. It's important that United don't drop any more points to put pressure on all the clubs and to put themselves in a position they're familiar with come December - contending for the title.

I have no idea how you can support Madrid at the same time considering the continental rivalry but we'll let it slide. For now.

[CR7]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

I've followed Madrid since I did a course there as a student years ago. I know quite a few United fans who also follow Real. I'll always be a United fan against them though.

I agree - the Arsenal game is huge this weekend. We definitely can't afford to drop anymore points for sure. Hoping Moyes does the right thing and benches Young - he's so useless now

Leon, are you Filipino?

[Leon]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

I've followed Madrid since I did a course there as a student years ago. I know quite a few United fans who also follow Real. I'll always be a United fan against them though.

I agree - the Arsenal game is huge this weekend. We definitely can't afford to drop anymore points for sure. Hoping Moyes does the right thing and benches Young - he's so useless now

Leon, are you Filipino?

Tactically, I want to see Shinji and Carrick in the midfield and only play with one real winger (Valencia/Nani). Rooney/RVP is a given but I think that combo + 1 other mid will be good on the counter and keeping the ball. Hopefully, Rafael will be fit because that attack on the right just isn't the same without him.

And yes, I am.

[CR7]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

Agreed. I think the issue with Shinji's that he hasn't had a lot of playing time and i think it's hurt him. I'm wondering if Januzaj will start since he wasn't in the CL squad this week.

My wife is Filipino and we're likely going to to the Phils for a month in late Feb early March. I've never been, but I'm already getting prepped

[Leon]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

Agreed. I think the issue with Shinji's that he hasn't had a lot of playing time and i think it's hurt him. I'm wondering if Januzaj will start since he wasn't in the CL squad this week.

My wife is Filipino and we're likely going to to the Phils for a month in late Feb early March. I've never been, but I'm already getting prepped

As we saw in the match against Sociedad, Shinji was LOADS better once he switched to the 10. Moyes simply has to, HAS TO find a way to play Rooney, RVP and Shinji together and if that means playing without a winger at times - which is almost sacrilege considering that wingers are a part of United's identity - then so be it.

Ah, that's nice. I'm sure she'll take you to the beaches, which is something to look forward to for first-timers.

[Leon]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

Joey Barton

[Leon]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

I feel the need to rant.

I do not understand our manager at all. We don't have a match for 11 days and yet the team he chooses to field is a midfield lineup that has consistently shown it can't do squat the whole year. Fellaini just got back and had a good game against Palace but what happens? Sit on the bench and pair Carrick with Cleverley. Why does this not work? BOTH of them are easily bullied. If you're going to play Carrick or Cleverley, you have to partner them with a Fletcher or Fellaini. Both of whom were available but weren't selected. Then we have Young and Valencia. Except for 1-2 matches, they have not made their case as to why they should even be considered in the starting-XI. WE CANNOT PLAY A TRADITIONAL 4-4-2 when our wingers can't deliver a good cross consistently.

The only lineup change from Palace that was needed was slotting Kagawa in for Mata. THAT'S IT. But no, Moyes decided he was going to play Cleverley from the very beginning, not put Januzaj in the match-day squad, and revert to a "style" that's been proven to produce absolute **** and the previous match was the ****tiest of them all (and I've watched every single match this year).

Please, stop the Smalling as RB experiment. If we're going to continue to use him there, he absolutely needs to be told to stop going forward by the half-way line. The only shocking thing about Smalling in the RB role in the previous match was him constantly falling. Better yet, let's just convert Valencia as Rafael's backup so that Januzaj can occupy the RW. Or Zaha if he were with us. I'm not even going to talk about Ferdinand. Simply awful display.

I'm not going to call for our manager to get fired because a) there's no point this late in the season and b) I genuinely want him to succeed. At the same time though, Moyes isn't showing us fans anything to hold on to. What kind of football are we trying to play (and please don't tell me it's pass back, to the side, or hoof it up 40 yards and see if one of our own players will control it)? I'm sure most, if not all, United fans would agree with me when I say that there's no progress being made. We're not losing because we're playing a new system and the players are still settling to it, we're losing because we plain suck and everyone is deserving of criticism for that. If we're going to lose, I would at least like to lose the United way - go down firing. Right now, we're just losing meekly.

It's a transition year. The squad needs replacements. What are we transitioning to? And why can't we do it slowly while still getting a couple of positive results along the way?

/rant over

Bring on West Brom.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

With a new manager, a new system, and an aging squad, I don't think anybody expected United to repeat as champions this year....but nobody expected what has transpired.

But it shouldn't be too shocking. Yes, Fergie led practically the same team to the title. But last year mostly hinged on RVP doing something that RVP normally doesn't do...stay out of the trainers room. And because RVP was able to stay on the pitch, he was able to cover up the problems that are becoming very noticeable this year....this team has gotten OLD.

So Fergie's gamble paid off, he rode off into the sunset with a title....and Moyes is left to pick up the pieces.

Moyes' squads at Everton grounded out the points by defending for 90 minutes and looked for opportunities to strike. In 2008, Vidic was one of the best centerbacks in the world, formed a formidable partnership with Ferdinand, and Evra was also one of the best.

But this is 2014 and all three are caricatures of their former selves.

Cleverly was labeled the next Paul Scholes early in his career.......he's clearly not.

They can't create anything out wide. United attempt the most crosses per game...and also have the most failed crosses per game. So that says they need to play up the middle, but once you get past Rooney, RVP, and Januzaj...they don't have anything. Maybe Mata, but he hasn't been the spark that they were hoping for. Their midfield is atrocious.

This club just needs a complete makeover.

[dubcity]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

Damn, son. MK Dons.

[gopher_guy]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

Wow. Well that's gotta be rock bottom, right?

[VTPack919]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

Wow. If that's not rock bottom nothing is.

[Leon]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

How nice of you guys.

Unacceptable loss, no matter what team we put out there considering the opposition. This just highlights the fact that a couple of our youth/reserve players -- most of them probably a lot on here have never even heard of unless you follow the club -- are not ready to make the step up. Even so, the absolute lack (ZERO) of quality with our passing and the way they allowed themselves to get bullied is downright criminal. All of MK Dons' goals came after schoolboy errors in giving the ball away to your opponent. Chicharito, in particular, was horrendous with his passing all night among the senior players; Evans too.

These young guys ought to learn from this, but they squandered their opportunity to play more first-team football by losing this competition.

[~LiverpoolRed~]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

I doubt the Mickey Mouse Cup is a priority for LVG and United. One less fixture to worry about.

[Leon]

Re: *** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

I doubt the Mickey Mouse Cup is a priority for LVG and United. One less fixture to worry about.

It's not, but it's a trophy, and the club should always aim to win every competition it is in; also, this competition has always been the proving ground for the youth to show they can make the step up to regular Premiere League football.