Post-match: Real Madrid vs. Manchester United - CL Round of 16 - First Leg [02/13/13, 2:45 PM EST] [R]

I scratch my head at Cleverly. People suggesting he is the next "big" thing since Paul Scholes. I dont see it. Just an average player.

Wiltshire over Cleverly all day.

 

ffs, if we can handle xavi, iniesta, and busquets, carrick and cleverly should be torn apart

 

I wouldn't rate him that highly but he has much more to his game than Higuain but i can see why Mou favours Higuain when you have a guy like Ronnie as your main man and benz aint exactly a pure striker like Higuain. he would never get a starting position above Rooney or Rvp in the current manu setup and Red nose got that right by not signing him in 2008. I like him and his all round game is probably second only to Rooney but I dont think Madrid is the best club for him.

 

When they have such great forwards like Van Persie and Rooney facing our back line that's been shitting the bed quite often recently, it matters much less if we have a stronger midfield. They can really exploit Arbeloa.

 

Ya and in place of RVP and rooney, we dealt with messi pedro, cesc and iniesta

 

So Red nose knew in 2008 itself that Rooney and RVP will be playing together...in 2012/13??? Who knows, if Benz were getting consistent playing time, he would have been a great player.. Still the closest to R9 and personally, I don't rate Rooney that much-- he gets his hype since England doesn't have any other half decent strikers around..

 

no he knew he never needed benz if he had rooney...why would he they are too similiar just rooney is much better.

 

Rooney isn't "much better". He is a slightly better player but he is also two years older.

 

He likes to do a step-over and hit it with his left foot. He didn't used to work off the ball. And he is fat. That's about it so far.

Benzema is coming to the prime of his career, and he has ways to go before he fulfils his potential. I think he has all the tools to be a great striker, but he really needs to step it up for us. Not next year, not in a couple of seasons, but now.

 

I believe Madrid has the better overall squad. You guys have just been lacking focus in the back and not due to lack of quality..

With that said, your overall squad will beat manU in this series..

I think 3-1 first leg and 2-2 return..

Ozil will tear their defense a sunder

 

1. This tie mostly depends on which Madrid side shows up. If we get last year's squad to show up, United are in trouble, because we are both physical enough to play against their defense and too fast for their CBs.

2. This is the kind of match I expect Mesut to thrive in. He, more than any other single player, will ultimately determine who wins this tie.

3. Those talking about how Utd has the ability to create goals from nothing are correct. I do not expect us to keep a clean sheet. Which means we really have to score 3 to feel comfortable going to OT.

4. Lots of people worried about Arbs - I'm actually even more worried about Coentrao getting skinned by Valencia.

5. Cristiano is literally in his prime right now. The second half of his season may seriously be his lifetime peak as a footballer. It would be a damn shame if we can't get La Decima this year. I expect these players to be motivated, and I expect the best player in the world to make his impact on this tie. He has made a significant impact on almost every big game he's played for the last 2.5 years.

 

If the same team that shows up against Barca brings it on Tuesday, then we should be okay.

ManCity are a much better team than ManU, sure they scored a few lucky ones against us but we pushed them back and made them look like a mid table team.

I'll be ashamed if we lose. Specially if they put us up against Anderson, Carrick & Cleverly in midfield or whoever their 3 main mids will be.

 

We had a make shift defence v Barca couple of weeks ago and i feel we held our own just fine. They shut Messi down which is an achievement on its own.

Ramos.....Varane....Pepe....Fabio - will do a good job i think.

 

Pepe shouldn't start and I doubt he will. Varane is being rested and prepared for this one since his game against Barca. Ramos will start beside him.

We shouldn't concede a silly goal which will have them bunker. This is the sort of away game they'd start Park in before he left where they field their most capable runners and chasers and try and nick something. Aslong as we score first, we'll be fine.

I'd rather be up against Anderson, Carrick & Jones in midfield than Silva, Toure and Barry tbh. If we bring it like we've done so many times against Barca, pressing high smart quick counters we'll win.

Bottom line is, they should be more worried about us than us about them. And that will tell from the starting lineup specially if Jones makes it into midfield to just break down anything we build on our left.

I'm quite excited, big test for the boys. They have what it takes to win, now just go do it. We've rehearsed games like this for years with Barca, high pressure situations against some of the best players in the world.

 

Our team will be: Lopez; Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe, Coentrao; Xabi, Khedira, Ozil, Ronaldo, Di Maria and Benzema. It's 100 %

 

Since you like correcting people, you don't start with "upper case" when "Dark Side" is in the middle of a sentence.

 

You do if you are a Star Wars fan .

 

I hate it.

 

It's not for everyone.

 

bs. Varane will play instead of Pepe. Varane played many good matches and Pepe just recovered from an injury

 

X.Alonso. Like a fuucking boss.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1716/ch...o-hails-real?source=breakingnews&ICID=HP_BN_8

 

Xabi Alonso being a coach
Imagine the hard beard and the training suit