Thought I'd start this (shoot me if I did something wrong!) seeing as the fixture list is now released. Must say quite an eventful start to the season with the Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City games so early on. Also (and this may be counting one's chickens) but compared to some seasons the run in would leave our future very much in our own hands as we're playing the sort of teams that in end of season form should be 3 points (except for Everton away and maybe Newcaslte away, but the former is an unknown force this season and the latter are generally unpredictable).
17 August: Swansea (away) 24 August: Chelsea (home) 31 August: Liverpool (away) 14 September: Crystal Palace (home) 21 September: Manchester City (away) Welcome to being United manager David Moyes.
Yeah exactly, when the 'easiest' game you have from your first five matches in charg is against a team that's just been promoted coming to the Champions with everything to prove you're in for a fun time. Hopefully (and this is just being silly and dreaming) that it makes us ensure we get all our signings done way before the start of the season to be up and ready for the start.
I don't want anymore Sunday games this year and midweek games. I gotta start up my satellite service to get the NBC network.
Also, Feb 11 – Arsenal (A) is a Tuesday. Bit strange that. And the Mar 1 game against Man City is likely following the midweek CL Round of 16 second leg. (* if we get out of the group stage that is)
looking at the schedule we definitely half one paw on Moyes first BPL title. piece of cake this season will be.
Not sure where to put this so I'll throw it in here. I was talking about the upcoming season with some friends today and we fell on the topic of who will benefit/suffer most from the regime change that's going on?
I think for the most part, the team will have a clean slate. However, if Anderson does not come back in the best physical condition he's ever been in, for preseason, I'd say he's probably the biggest loser. Scholes is out of the way. Cleverley hasnt really played himself that much further ahead in the pecking order. The biggest difference for me is, he's actually had pretty decent luck with injuries this year, compared to the previous season. It was also probably his best year with the club. I've given up hope on him, I know the rest of you had a long time ago. But anythings possible. Im sure we would all love it if he could actually prove to be a true talent. With Nani, I think its all down to him if he want to stay here now. Whatever happened over the last season or so, is in the past. He should know that the opportunity for him to establish himself as the top winger is there. He's had to contend with Giggs, Ronaldo, Valencia, Young [over his stay here] as well as his own inconsistencies, but he's mature now. He's pretty much entering his prime. This is the perfect time for him to silence all the critics and earn the wages he thinks he deserves. Rooney, sigh. So much has been said about him. But, again its a new era for the club. 28 this season. Pretty much been through it all now. I think he's staying. I would think David Moyes wants him to stay. Needs a saftey blanket sort of, for his transition into the job. All the things we say about Wayne Rooney, at the very least he gives you 20+ goals, and a decent amount of assist. Also, relationship upfront with RVP was pretty good. Shows signgs of getting better. Cleverley, will benefit. Plenty of games to go around. Dont think he locks down a spot int he XI, but Im confident he's going to get better and better. To be honest, all the young English/British/NI, Wales etc] talent will probably benefit more than most. Most of them actually deserve the praise and the playing time they had and will get this coming season. I think everyone will be pretty much given a chance in preseaon. Those that want to leave have probably already made it clear by this point. So the only person who I actually think will suffer is Anderson. I dont believe he has the work ethic or desire to turn his career around. I'm going to be anxiously looking for the first shots of preseason training just to see if there's an obvious difference in his physical condition.
I agree with all for the most part. I think the biggest three to be affected are Rooney, Nani, and Anderson. Rooney can go one of two ways: Either continue going through the motions and putting up decent number without living up to his potential or he could get in shape and get hungry (figuratively) again. Nani has the biggest possible upside to me but with the biggest risk as far as his career goes. I'm sure other clubs will offer him the chance to be a starter every game and with possibly more money. However, if he decides to stay Moyes could see the potential he has and but faith in him to be one of the first names on the team sheet. The tough thing with Nani is he is going into the last year of his contract. He will likely have to make his decision before playing his first game under Moyes. That's why I think if Nani signs a new contract this summer, it will be because Moyes talked with him and let him know he is in his plans. Anderson is a loss for me. I have given up on him so anything he produces is a positive. Weirdly he still has a decent amount of upside. I would love if Moyes sat down with him and told him to get his ass in shape or ship out. I think that's what he needs at this point. Worst case scenario is he takes it poorly and wants to leave. Oh well, then ship out. The wild card in this for me is Kagawa. If Moyes convinces Rooney to stay, he likely won't push him out wide. So unless we play a 4-3-3 with Kagawa behind Rooney and RVP, which would leave us with no width, then I don't see how to put both on the pitch without moving Kagawa out of his natural position. Kagawa is a world class player in the making and needs to be given minutes in his natural position, especially if it's at the expense of a disinterested and out-of-shape Rooney.
hard not to have a big difference in that condition (we all saw him in the title photos actively sucking in his gut in vain to try match the others). still, if he does get it together we would have a good ball carrier and a carrier at pace too
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search...2013-07-04&mt=photography&p=manchester+united http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Features/2013/Jul/gallery-training-session-9-july.aspx# http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search...4dZ7kTfv_BAAA__-51gTN7AQAAA..&sx=AllEditorial First training pics of the season. Good to see Petrucci back with the first team. Doron Salomon @DoronSalomon 1h May not hint too much at the tour squad but Wootton, M Keane, Petrucci, Vermijl and Tunnicliffe (at least) all in first team training
Posted that in the reserves thread, but thanks for the update. I am looking forward to seeing these guys get game time.
well i guess Moyes wasn't lying about Rooney, with respect to Anderson he probably realizes that: a) this is a very fortunate complete fresh start for him b) ain't nobody gon buy him anyway
the messed up thing with ando is that he still is our best midfielder after carrick when fit/on form (which is almost never but still...) i'm way down on cleverley, he's not great or even very good at anything. at least, anderson is a very good ball carrier until he dies out at the 60th minute.
Cleverley is effective when he plays his game and when our style suits the way he plays. By that I mean when he keeps it simple with 1-2 touches and quickly distributes the ball he looks good. It's when he tries to do too much that he looks lost. Also, when the team is playing in tight triangles (think beginning of 11-12 season), Cleverley thrives because he has good control and vision. When the team is more spread out (like last year) he is forced to do more and can't handle the load.
^ so, basically, he's good at quickly recycling possession with short sideway passes while stopping well short of providing the kind of forward pass that can unlock defenses or carrying the ball forward himself. that's not enough. if that's all you're doing with the ball, you better be a khedira or obi mikel when you don't have the ball.
The start of this season could eat us alive if we don't get our transfers done soon and make sure they're all trained up and ready to go. Especially if we have any long term injuries or comebacks. Really going to show the character of this team right from the go.