Manchester United vs. Chelsea [R]

[Dark Savante]

http://www.codemasters.com/manutd/images/manutd-badge.gif vshttp://home1.skysports.com/images/badges/100x100/8.gif


K.O: 4.05PM
Date: Sunday 6th November
Venue: Old Trafford

[Dark Savante]

It's just around the corner now.. and what a crazy week we've had leading up to it.. to say the least.

They're coming here off the back of a defeat and, well, we are looking to sort ourselves into some form of a winning team.

I cannot see us playing a 4-4-2 against them... and Drogba vs. Ferdinand is not looking too smart for us :eek:

[listen_up_fergie]

I'm going to state the obvious and say that this is going to be a really tough game for us, and if we play like we did against Boro we can count on letting in at least another four goals. I hope Brown is match fit for this game, because we could really do with some strengthening in our defense. We could start him as a rightback, but I think he should start out in the centre and mark Drogba, since he generally does this sort of job well. Rio in my opinion isn't the best of man-markers, and when he does something good, its mostly coming in to cover for his partner when an attacker gets past him, or intercepting through balls aimed at the targetman.

Since Chelsea play a 4-3-3, it would seem our best bet is to play like for like...but I feel we should play a 4-4-2, simply because it means we can get Ronaldo, Rooney, and Park to play in attacking positions at the same time.

So with Brown marking Drogba, and Rio playing as a sweeper...the question is who should play as fullbacks: Silvestre, O'Shea, Richardson, or Bardsley. This will probably depend on who plays against Lille and how they perform, but I think Silvestre should definitely play as leftback ahead of Richardson and O'Shea to contain SWP or whoever will be causing trouble down the right wing. That leaves the question as to whether O'Shea or Bardsley deserves to start as rightback...on one hand we have a sloppy, out-of-form player who could easily be our weakest link...on the other we have an inexperienced but generally solid youngster. My choice would probably be Bardsley, because even though I don't think he adds much to the team when going forward, I think he's pretty solid at the back. I reckon Bardsley should just sit back, and not venture forward too much as this would leave us open to a counter-attack. Whilst Chelsea counterattacks, he could always drift into the centre to help out.

On the right wing, I'd like to see Park starting because he can track back to help Bardsley contain Joe Cole or Robben. Del Horno will also pose a threat on that flank, and so Park will need to prevent him from attacking. If Ronaldo started there, I think it would leave us a whole lot more exposed. Ronaldo would then be on the right, and although this would expose that area a bit, I think Chelsea are far more dangerous down the left. Silvestre is more experienced than Bardsley and hopefully he'll be able to cope with the attack down his flank.

The centre of the midfield is most worrying for me. I think Smith will need to watch Lampard very closely, and it is imperative that when Chelsea attacks Smith closes him down and does allow him to shoot. I don't know who should start alongside Smith...on the one hand, we could play Scholes who will be a better choice while going forward...or we could play Fletcher, who could easily disappear in that midfield. My choice would probably be Fletcher, simply because I think he is a better tackler and would do a better job of containing Essien. That of course leaves us with a distinct problem of who will take on the task of spraying the ball around the field, because whereas Scholes and Keane are good passers, Fletcher and Smith are pretty ordinary. Fletcher though on his day can play a few good long passes...but we probably wouldn't expect him to contribute much to the attack. So essentially we would have a central midfield pairing whose role would be to essentially take care of Lampard and Essien, and preventing them from moving the ball around in our half.

That leaves Rooney as our main attacking source. He'll probably have to drop very deep into the midfield to get away from Carvalho and Makelele, and to get into a position where he'll be the one controlling our play when we attack. He'd need to look out for Ronaldo, who could drift out onto the left when Chelsea attack, so that he can take advantage of the space created by del Horno surging forward. Quite frankly, our tactic so far leaves us quite short of options going forward, since Bardsley, Smith and Fletcher really won't get into the attacking play. Silvestre will need to get into a crossing position as often as he can...hopefully one of his crosses will be met by a header by Ruud, Rooney or Park. Ruud is going to have a pretty tough night because he is going to be very carefully watched by Terry. It is imperative that Ronaldo and Park look to expose any gaps down the flanks, and try and get in a good ball to Ruud.

Overall, during open play I think the situation looks pretty bad for us. The main problem IMO lies on the rightback position and in our central midfield (incidentally two positions that I believed we needed strenghtening in over the summer). Lampard and Essien are in good form, whilst Smith looks a bit lost in his new position, and Scholes and Fletcher are still to hit some good form. Our situation during deadballs seems even worse...we're going to have to be very careful with giving away needless freekicks anywhere in our own half, and Terry needs to be marked well during corners.

On paper, Chelsea will definitely look the better team. The only way I can see us scraping a win from this game is if the whole team remains disciplined...mark the player sthey're supposed to, close down every ball, cut out every threatening longball or pass, and no goof ups...but this alone won't be enough, because in addition to a solid all-round team performance, we'll still need somebody to shine...my eyes are on Rooney, but it could be Park, Ronaldo or Ruud. I think this game will truly show whether the current crop have the same resilience as teams from the past.

[RedFriday]

Why do I get the feeling that VDS is gonna feel like King Kanute holding back the blue sea.

Might just be worth Fletcher taking two yellow cards and flying two footed into Lampard and Terry's kneecaps. At least he will have contributed to the team effort for once...

[king_saladin]

Be prepared for Terry's "spread like an eagle" defending when Rooney takes a shot...

[littleman]

http://www.codemasters.com/manutd/images/manutd-badge.gif vshttp://home1.skysports.com/images/badges/100x100/8.gif


K.O: 4.05PM
Date: Sunday 6th November
Venue: Old Trafford

I like how our club crest is 2x bigger than theirs :D :cool:

[littleman]

Be prepared for Terry's "spread like an eagle" defending when Rooney takes a shot...

I've finally figured out the reason. He must be playing goalie too much in training (!!!)

[MtP07]

We need to win this match... [/mr. obvious]

[Vermont Red]

As distasteful as it may be, we should try to kick them off the field. I don't know if it will work, but at least I'll feel better.

[50 Euro]

http://www.codemasters.com/manutd/images/manutd-badge.gif vshttp://home1.skysports.com/images/badges/100x100/8.gif


K.O: 4.05PM
Date: Sunday 6th November
Venue: Old Trafford
Starting a match thread when there's still a prior match to be played; where's the 2-nil prediction, Catfish... ;) :D

[Howard Zinn]

Who built the ark?

Rooney! Rooney!

Who built the ark?

Mother****ing Wayne Rooney!!!

[Achtung]

We need to win this match... [/mr. obvious]

It's basically the same as the situation preceding match last season against Arsenal--y'know, when we ended their unbeaten run. Loads of injuries and a poor run of form for us against a team looking really good, but not quite as good as a few weeks ago.

[Achtung]

DISCLAIMER: Trolling won't be tolerated one bit in this thread or forum, especially in the event of a poor result for Man United. Fair opinions from fans of both teams as well as neutrals are always welcome, but tread carefully.

We now return to our regularly scheduled discussion. :D

[StrikerCW]

What about if we get the win?

[Achtung]

What about if we get the win?

Troling won't be as bad, but we'll still get the "still 10 points clear and defending champions... HAHAHA Go Glzaer!" crap most likely.

[littleman]

Did I not look hard enough? I didn't notice much trolling after we got punked by Boro..

[Achtung]

Did I not look hard enough? I didn't notice much trolling after we got punked by Boro..

You're right, we were lucky not to get hit too bad. But then its not like there are loads of Boro fans on here either. Let's just say in the past its happened after losses.

Just following in the proud tradition of the my country's current presidential administration and launching a preemptive attack with questionable reasoning. ;)

[deeplennon]

5-1 manu.

C'mon!

[king_saladin]

As distasteful as it may be, we should try to kick them off the field. I don't know if it will work, but at least I'll feel better.

Look at how their players act when things don't go their way, or if they get pushed around. Fergie should take note... let Chelsea's tempers flare and they will lose concentration. Maybe even get a player or two sent off.

You might think with the table, they will not take a loss too heavily... but considering their results lately, surely they'll be a bit anxious to do well.

[johno]

baiting players shouldn't be our plan at all... if, however we can play them physically and disturb the play of their wingers we may be in with a better chance. Chelsea looked VERY beatable yesterday against a so-so betis team (their performance that day) that's 17th in la-liga.

If we play a 442 and we don't make mistakes we can certainly beat this team... Ruud's due for a brace and Rooney's even more due.