No this is not the match thread, I leave that to the illustrious Tony!! I see that SAF has stated that he will not be resting players against West Ham but will instead rest them against Chelsea. Well good onya Alex, we beat you when you had a full side and we were playing like crap so go ahead and pontificate as much as you like about how you need to show Jewell and Warnock the respect they are due. I think we will beat you anyway, which really would be a sweet ending to the season for us. PS. I think he's probably bluffing anyway. he is bound to rest some of his normal starters for both the Chelsea match and ours.
Totally agree Ballard,SAF is just putting on a show,he mite play a few players for 20 minutes,but soon as he see's how hard were playing,tackleing,he'll get them out of there.not that it matters,we'll win anyway
We only need a draw for survival and Man Ure have no incentive to go all out against us, just to avoid defeat on their big day at OT. I reckon if we turn up it will be a nice comfy 1:1. We will take the lead in the first half. They will get a soft pen to equalise with 10 minutes to go, the final 10 minute will see sustained pressure from us that they will soak up, leaving a result which keeps everybody happy. Which would suit me.
At first I thought that SAF was just trying to keep the bottom clubs happy by fielding a strong side but didn't really have the intention of risking their fitness by going all out for the win. But now I wonder if he will field more of medium strength side, as I suspected earlier this week. He has said that any players that need to be rested will be and he played many of his second choice defenders against Milan whom he claimed were good enough for the job. If anything I think ManU will probably score first, but this won't necessarily be a bad thing. Quite often this season they have scored their goals in the first half but taken their foot off the gas in the second and lost goals. I too reckon it wll be 1-1. Ronaldo and Tevez.
But Chris you are forgetting the obligatory Old Trafford soft penalty Where's your sense of tradition man?
I wish I could muster such optimism. ManU won't want to lose their final home game of the season... on the day they are presented the trophy. The mancs don't give a toss about us and will be looking for a typical guns ablazing performance from the reds. My only solace is that with the FA Cup final looming some reds players may be not so anxious to jump into a tackle. I don't think it will be a conscious decision as much as a sense that they don't want to get themselves injured. That being said though, once a game gets roaring players can get really motivated (including ours). My real fear is that our lads confidence while high is still brittle and knowing they need a result nerves may kick in. If things start to go pear-shaped early I can see us getting a real tonking from ManU. Ball possession will be such a huge factor in this match. To be honest, this is the first time I've been bricking it over a game since the play-off final v PNE. Oh well... Come on you Irons !!!
The closer we get to this match the less confident I feel. I see no reason now why ManU would go easy on us. Yes they have the FA Cup final looming but the league was their main goal. The question is does SAF really care about being fair to all parties in the relegation scrap or is he just sending this message out through the media to cover his back? If we lose then it'll be hold onto your hats time again.
Well, this should be some quality drama played out before our very eyes... Sun May 13 07:00AM Pacific Sun May 13 08:00AM Mountain Sun May 13 09:00AM Central Sun May 13 10:00AM Eastern Length: 2 hr 30 min LIVE FOX Soccer Channel (FSC) - US English Premier League Manchester United vs West Ham United
Re: against ManU Manure will NOT lose at home, obviously, but, they wont mind a draw. And all u hammers need is 1 point so, there ya gooo... as long as west ham play with a ferocious bite to them, theyll scare most of the man united squad out there... come on, why in hell would fergie risk his quality players in a which means nothing mathimatically to them, just before the FA cup final and the off-season.... for that reason, i say west ham come out playing very very hard from the get go.