VDS - 5 Poor O'Shea - 4 Shocking http://home.skysports.com/matchratings.asp?fxid=278782&clid=1&cpid=8 VDS has had a few bad games recently and Howard shined in his last outing. Is it possible for Howard to get a go in one of these "festive fixtures" or will Fergie stick with VDS no matter what? O'Shea was playing beside Rio today and he was very, very bad according to everything I read. If Silvestre is sold as many seem to think, would a showing like this by O'Shea bring Spector back from Charlton or do you think he'll finish the season in London?
I fell bad for ManU.... Their backline is a joke C.Ronaldo will never be the answer and I puke how bad Rudd leeches off Rooney
It's a very good question. I'm trying to stay neutral in all this because Howard is still a rather young keeper. BUT, VDS has already been shown far more forgiveness this year than Howard was last year. That said, I wouldn't want to be playing behind that back 4.
At the match and sat about 10 yards from the away box. Fergie wasn't to pleased with the first goal VDS gave up. He really let it in beneath him. And if I understood the chant from Brum fans, a group sounded like they cheered USA at VDS a few times, though I might be mistaken. Man U's back line was not splendid, and on both goals were unorganized. Richardson looked good out wide for Man U, and Neville wasn't bad, Rio was o.k., but I agree that O'Shea was less than impressive, Heskey worked him a few times. Van Der Sar got kicked in the arm by Heskey and was down for a little while. It was fun being so close to Howard, watching him try to figure out if he should get ready or not.
VDS seems to have Meola-itis. I mean, he's a far better keeper than Donut-ass, but he's gives it up at the near post like a Russian mail order bride.
For the record, I would stick with VDS for now. Part of the goalkeeping problem at United has been the quick hook Fergie has had. Goalkeepers at ManUtd have had to constantly look over their shoulders and that has caused some confidence problems. If Howard is to ever get another run with the 1st team I want him to know that it's his job and that nothing short of sucking ass over a period of time will cause him to lose it. If he gets the job back from VDS after only a couple of poor outings by VDS, Howard will no doubt be thinking about Fergie/VDS when he should be thinking about crosses into the box. Also, I think Spector should stay at Charlton. This Serbian that ManUtd just bought will be given a run of games because of the fee paid, so even if they sell Silvestre the situation really hasn't changed much from when Spector left. One could argue that he'd have a shot at left back with O'Shea sucking and Heinze out, but I think Fergie is determined to get Richardson on the pitch and left back seems to be the only place to put him for now.
Really? If that was the case there were plenty of other games for Richardson to play left back in instead of O'Shea. Also he could play left mid when Giggs doesn't start and Fetcher should be left of the bench. I think Silvestre stays and becomes the regular left-back, like he was before Heinze's arrival. He may leave in the summer, but the backline needs a serious overhaul and that would be the time to do it. If Wes Brown hadn't been injured O'Shea wouldn't have been on the field. Unfortunately Brown and staying healthy for more than a few games at a time seems to be a mutually exclusive thing. I agree on your thinking about Howard and VDS and that Spector should stay at Charlton.
Somebody get ready for M's post on how "Van Der Saar playing blindfolded is better than the United States could ever genetically produce, and anyway really Manchester United's problem is their BACKUP goalkeeping, which is making Van der Saar have to make sure he doesn't get injured, and really what Man Utd needs to get to the next level is a better backup keeper."
He got beat near post which is almost always considered a mistake. Oh, and he looked shaky and his defense was in shambles due to his poor organization.
he's been the starting Right winger ahead of Ronaldo basically. Note that Ronaldo played himself OUT of that position as sopposed to Park winning the position though
i think howard also suffered from being put out there with a weaker lineup than carroll often got. that's my impression, it may be false. i know howard did get a lot of games with the first choice starters, but his second season he also got a lot of games with a mixed bag lineup. it seemed to me at the time that carroll was getting games with the best back four and howard was getting games with something less, and i'm not talking about reserve games. too true about SAF and the quick hook. i don't even know if i want howard to get in there now, because he would be thinking only of avoiding that first blunder, which would guarantee that it'd happen sooner. SAF is going to give him a complex if he plays keeper merry-go-round too many more times.
Sometimes. SAF seems to be rotating Park, Fletcher, Ronaldo and Giggs at the outside mid positions. Ronaldo especially will be played on either side while Fletcher and Park seem to be favored on the right. I just don't think Fletcher is playing that well and if Silvestre were to move to leftback as the permanent starter for the remainder of the season, you could throw Richardson into the rotation and play him as a left mid alternating primarily with Giggs.
SAF has lost it.He should go after this season. What finally convinced me was SAF playing Ole Gunnar in the Birmingham game. I had watched OG in the last two reserve games and he was absolutely aweful.
...you are correct about Ole, however he has mythical status with Man Utd fans as he basically won them the champions league in 1999....and will probably be at Carrington for as long as he wants.
SAF has got to shake the rust off of Ole some how. Reserve team games aren't going to get him that. He'll need to struggle with the first team if he's going to come back strong. I always find it interesting when we all play "the coach" from behind our screens. Only a relative few in the world have seen how Ole has been training and whether he's capable of stepping in with the first team or not. My guess is the vast majority who post on these boards are not amongst that group. Now if you would've made comments regarding how late he introduced his substitutions then you would've had some sort of argument.
Ole Gunner is getting a bit long in the tooth for an effective EPL striker at a really big club and the writing is on his wall for sure....Man Utd is not known for keeping old strikers around....see Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Sparky for recent examples.....they will keep him around for a bit longer though.....
Number of Saves (Goals Conceded) Villa: 122 (29) Fulham: 113 (28) Birmingham: 103 (27) Pompey: 99 (31) West Ham: 99 (25) Wigan: 95 (21) Charlton: 93 (27) Everton: 93 (30) Man Utd : 92 (16) West Brom: 91 (28) Boro: 89 (28) Newcastle: 88 (19) Man City: 88 (22) Blackburn: 87 (24) Sunderland 79 (35) Liverpool: 78 (9) Arsenal: 74 (15) Chelsea: 73 (9) Bolton: 70 (14) Spurs: 66 (18) Saves to Goals Ratio: 1. Liverpool 8.67 2. Chelsea 8.11 3. Man Utd 5.75 4. Bolton 5.00 5. Arsenal 4.93 Van Der Saar isn't giving up the #1 anytime soon
Nothing you say here I can disagree with in concept. If he can prove to be a supersub (get his twenty minutes and a goal) then it's all good for ManU. My frustration is the "Ferguson has lost the plot" rubbish. Life isn't as grand as it could be at ManU right now, but that doesn't translate into sudden senility for Fergie.
How many of those saves were shots from 30 yards out? How many of those saves were forced by the keeper not protecting his box and organizing his defense? And no, I'm not saying VDS isn't doing those things, I'm only pointing out the weakness in statistics for goalkeepers in soccer. VDS isn't giving up the #1 anytime soon, though it has little to do with those stats and more to do with the his consistency, his reputation, and the fan base finally recognizing that Man Utd's problem last year wasn't goalkeeping.