Timmy likely on the bench as United aim to spoil Arsenal's treble dreams in an F.A. Cup semifinal match at the neutral ground of Villa Park. Won't do a news update here, as Man Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson has favoured Roy Carroll over Howard for the third game running. Kickoff's at 3 a.m. PT/6 a.m. ET-- that's way early. 8 p.m. Melbourne time, a perfect kickoff time for me. Live audio webcast on The BBC's Radio Five Live service and live TV on PPV in the USA, and live on free-to-air on SBS in certain time zones in Australia (including mine, fortunately). I'll provide a very rote PbP update here, as I did last week.
Timmy's on the bench, confirmed. Lineups, per sportinglife.com's matchtracker... ARSENAL 1. Jens Lehmann 12. Bisan Lauren 23. Sol Campbell 28. Kolo Toure 22. Gael Clichy 8. Fredrik Ljungberg 4. Patrick Vieira 17. Edu 7. Robert Pires 10. Dennis Bergkamp 30. Jeremie Aliadiere Subs 5. Martin Keown 9. Jose Antonio Reyes 14. Thierry Henry 25. Nwankwo Kanu 33. Graham Stack (GK) MANCHESTER UNITED 13. Roy Carroll 2. Gary Neville 6. Wes Brown 27. Mikael Silvestre 22. John O'Shea 7. Cristiano Ronaldo 24. Darren Fletcher 16. Roy Keane 18. Paul Scholes 11. Ryan Giggs 20. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Subs 3. Phil Neville 8. Nicky Butt 12. David Bellion 14. Tim Howard (GK) 19. Eric Djemba-Djemba
Halftime update... United lead, 1-0, though a Scholes goal on 31 minutes. Finished off a good move involving him and three other teammates, I believe. Carroll made a fine double-save very early on, but appeared to be slow off his heels to react to a Pires header that hit the post late in the half.
Full time, 1-0. Scholes' goal stands up, and Carroll with not a heck of a lot to do in the second half. Quite simply, the Man Utd has tightened up quite a bit. Man Utd into the final, against the winner of tomorrow's Millwall v Sunderland match.
That's the way they started the year, and pretty much that way consistently until Rio got banned. Not sure how the benching of Howard helps the rest of the team, though.
Well, he was in good company on the bench. Frankly, I'm glad to see the pressure off. Maybe 'resting' Tim was the release valve that allowed the team to settle in for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, that's an impressive bench they bring to a match!
That's one way to look at it...Another is: Carrol played very well in the most important game left this season (now that one being the FA Cup Final). As a result, TH will remain on the bench, and SAF will gain even more confidence in Carrol, who knows, perhaps to the point of making him a permanent starter.... (of course, i am simply playing devil's avocate and taking it to the other extreme, the one not so rosy)
I'm sure some will claim it's all due to the organizational genius of Roy Carroll, but what got into Man U's defense? I agree -- it'll be hard to sit Carroll right now because he simply hasn't had much opportunity to make any mistakes! Have to take the long-term view, though. No matter what happens through the end of this season, Howard played well for a longer period than Carroll and should have a decent shot at reclamining the job unless Man U gets a veteran keeper and hangs onto both of the current guys. Still head-scratching in the short term, though. Reminds me of when Kansas City's defense completely quit when Meola was gone.
I agree. From what i understand Wes Brown had an excellent game, which has been the exeception, not the norm. I think Carroll probably starts the rest of the season just because and next pre-season will be a much tougher competition for the starting position. Howard may have a slight edge just on his history of starting longer during the season and playing well for the most part.
Cup hero Carroll unsure of Utd start http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=296269&cc=5901 ... "Finally, the 26-year-old goalkeeper made the two sensational early saves that laid the platform for the Red Devils to advance into the FA Cup final. With the three-match experiment now over, Ferguson must decide who gets the jersey for Saturday's Premiership visit to St Andrews. But, despite Howard's excellent form since his summer arrival from Major League Soccer, there can be little doubt Carroll will get the vote, even if the man himself is taking nothing for granted."
They brought Wes Brown back from injury too early. He wasn't ready to play, but with Rio out, Gary Neville suspended for three games and silvestre hobbling, we had little choice. There was a strong over-reaction to Brown's poor play when considering the storm he was thrown into. Carroll has earned the spot for the rest of this season which is not surprising. He is a good keeper. I am guessing that both will be given an equal shot when preparing for next year, and I wouldn't be surprised if Howard wins back the job. The biggest threat to both of them is if United decides to bring in a big name over the summer. I don't think that will happen as we will probably spend our money on more pressing needs.
Isn't Reyes a striker? Or is he more of a tweener? Cuz unless he's a tweener, that's 3 strikers, a defender, and a GK on the bench.
I thought he was signed as a striker-- but for sake or argument, with Kanu and Henry starting out on the pine, Reyes would be the "tweener" of the lot. But FWIW, all three of them came in as subs.