Crisis!!! That's right. Time to panic. We are AWFUL! Howard has no business starting for any club in the EPL, let alone the biggest club. I don't care if he made 3 or 4 world class saves, he should be able to jump (or BAMPH!/teleport) through other players to get a hand on or punch out crosses. Djemba-Djemba, the honeymoon is over. You've had 3 or 4 matches, why aren't you Eric Cantona yet? Kleberson, hope the time off gives you an opportunity to take a good long hard look at yourself kid. World Cup winner? Don't make me laugh. You are probably the worst buy since Milne. Why aren't you Ronald-bloody-inho by now? Forlan, I don't care if you've scored big goals against big clubs in the past, maybe you saved us valuable points in the title run-in last year, but you had 3 or 4 shots today, can't you put them all in the back of the net? O'Shea, it's the first match since you scored your first goal for the club, think you can wait another year, is that it? Ronaldo, Becks scored for Real Madrid after 2 minutes, you are making Fergie look like a fool! And none of this, "I'm only 18" rubbish! If you don't beat 5 guys and pull a "Giggs FA Cup Semi-Final Replay" goal out of your @rse in the next match, we're selling you to PSG for a cheap bottle of sparkling wine and a pack of Turkish cigarettes! Oh, and Mr. Ruud Van Nistelrooy - think that even though you won the UEFA Striker of the Year that you can't score without help from your teamates? Can't you do it all? Why can't you be more like Henry? Surely, he would have found a way to grab a late equalizer or an earlier go ahead goal... It's time to panic United fans. Scholes is out for a month, there's no hope from the current squad we have now, and Arsenal have opened up a seemingly insurmountable 3 point lead. "It's only Week 4" I hear you say, eh? Well, let me tell you, the way Arsenal are playing right now, it's impossible for them to drop any points at all from now until the end of the season. Matter of fact, I thought I heard Wenger say that very thing a few minutes ago....
They're not gonna go unbeaten are they!? Hope this thread was/is sarcasm DjDj - H'ell need time to fit in, but has given the ball away a fair bit. I think he should've been slowly worked into the team, phasing out Butt or somebody Kleberson - Also time needed to adjust to the physicality of the EPL... he'll be good, but I was'nt too hot on his signing myself, as I thought it was just part of the ploy to get ronaldinho to Old Trafford Forlan - He's no Solskjaer or Ruud when it comes to finishing, but that's not his main job. His main job is to run around and tire defenders. He's not bitchy and is a very diligent player thankful for every minute on the pitch he gets O'Shea - Don't EVER DISS THE J MAN EVER AGAIN! Ronaldo - He lit the world on fire against Bolton, then had a few average showings... in a year or so he'll be the sh!t, imo Ruud - 103 matches. 82 goals. If this wasn't a joke, please stop acting like a Real Madrid fan... othwerise,
One thing though: I was saying all summer we needed to get thuram and/or Puyol, as was just about everybody. with all the money we made it was very possile and definitely affordable. But nnnnnoooooooo... now we're screwed for defensive depth and most likely will be until about Hallowe'en (when Brown returns). Still, if worse comes to worst, waddaya say we buy Totti, Puyol & Thuram in January?
I'm disappointed. I was sure that it was over the top enough. I mean, really. "Why isn't Djemba-Djemba Eric Cantona yet?". Pure comedy gold I say!
Come on guys. Seriously. "A seemingly insurmountable 3 point lead after 4 matches". LOL! Where's your sense of humour?
Diego Forlan was the play maker with a free role in last two matches. If he is the most creative player on your team, I would say it's time to panic. 451 is not going to work without good midfielders like Scholes making runs into the box.
Howard was clearly interfered with on his attempt to catch the ball on the goal. He went up for the cross and someone took his arms out in the six. Howard had a solid match. The Man. U. midfield was not up to their lofty standards. They really missed Scholes and Ole Gunnar. Djemba had a poor showing. Also having two Nevilles on the field is double trouble.
actually, i started tolike djemba in the first game, but he gives the ball away too much,i guess it is a mid table finish for us this season!! , but still i dont care,i will always be a united fan.
Why make a pointless post a sticky? Saying that Howard shouldnt start on ANY club in the EPL is like saying Micheal Jordon shouldn't have played in the NBA. When Howard is named to the World Cup best 11 team you can eat you words. You clearly need to rewatch or relearn the game. Just because ManU lost ONE game doesn't mean a crisis. It wasn't a good game for them, so what; they will hopefully come out next time and do good.
Oh I agree. Asking Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson to come in and both play at the same time and expecting results is hard to justify. Obviously there are some injuries that are forcing Fergie to gamble a bit with his team selections at the moment. The best case scenario would be to play them each as just one new player slotting into our normal midfield lineup to learn how to play with the team and in the English league. I don't see how not playing Fortune or Butt (if they're both totally fit) in the midfield would have been less adventageous. However, it's still the same situation as with the Wolves match, we just came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline today. Should have been 2 or 3 nil without Howard's play as well really. I'm still laughing at some people giving me crap for ripping Howard who was our Man of the Match today. (teleporting through players indeed)
Erm, Scholes doesn't really run with the ball.. he BLASTS shots from outside it (and better than anybody in the world at it, too) mainly
More of a sickly grin than a hearty laugh, I suspect, motterman It does look as if we're going to have to wait for anything much from the new guys. Dj-Dj has a lot to learn about distribution, Klebersen has yet to show any sort of sparkle whatsoever (even when Veron was at his worst you could see he had talent - albeit only in fits of activity), Premiership defenders have quickly realised that if you get to Ronaldo before he starts to move you have him, and Howard needs experience at handling a crowded penalty area at set pieces (should have punched!)
He didn't say "making runs with the ball", he just said making runs into the box, which Scholes often does.
as much as i realise this thread is a good bit of irony with the tabloid and knee jerk southern hemisphere "fans" reply to yesterdays stroll on the coast, i'd like to point out that if Barthez had been playing, that goal would have been disallowed because he would have gone down like a plugged quail the moment Marsden came into contact with him and drawn the foul for impeeding the keeper. Howard goes for the ball and is too strong and too young to think about the showmanship thing to do, go down for the foul, and blamo: a ref's blunder is uncaught because the foul wasnt sold to the right effect. Oh well. Chalk up another "he's still learning" point to Timmy, but I sure as hell hope that other people get a close enough look at that play to see he was (particularly his right, leading arm) clattered into by the wreckless Southampton sometimes striker. And yes, the defense is every bit as much at fault...where was the backpost man to challenge for that?
What crisis? Three defeats on the trot is a crisis. Charlton away should be an interesting game. Lets just see how they play.
While I agree with you that Howard should have punched in that situation, I remember reading that the coaching staff and players - Roy Keane in particular - were critical of Howard for not catching enough of the crosses that came his way. You have to wonder whether Howard felt that he had no choice but to try to catch the ball.
What's pathetic is that some people didn't sense the sarcasm. I swear some BigSoccer posters are wound far too tight. Good post, Motterman, it brings everything into perspective.
Good post, but I don't think it's any better to make totally light of Man Utd's one true problem. There is undeniably a true lack of creativity from central midfield. We have Scholes. He's my favorite player in the entire universe. First Man Utd shirt I bought had his name on the back. Best creative midfielder in the Prem. After that... what? Roy Keane's the most creative player from central midfield after Scholes. And he can't consistently move from box to box like he used to. After the Newcastle game, I was hoping... but that appears to be the exceptional game rather than the rule. Selling Veron, in itself, wasn't a mistake. He was an underachiever, and Man Utd got good money for him. However, not buying a replacement of some sort was criminal. A part exchange with perhaps Lampard might have been ideal. Van der Vaart obviously would have been our wet dream. But somebody was essential. If Scholes is out for long this season, Man Utd has no chance of retaining the title. He might not be as good of a player as RVN, but I think we could put balls in the net without RVN. Solsjaer and Forlan are actually good strikers. Without somebody to unlock the defense, we cannot without luck. That's the true problem.