Frigging excited. Three United games in 8 days is damn good for my mental health Too bad there'll be a drought soon after this though.. I expect Giggs to play only a small part in this since he's taken part in almost all of the last 2 games in 4 days. It's not as if I think he won't be able to handle the physical fatigue, but rather that SAF would be wise to better preserve Giggs this way for the rest of the season. Ole and Rossi will probably come on, as will Carrick. I'm curious as to whether we'll deploy a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 this time... Regardless, I don't want to underestimate Watford, because 3 points from "smaller" sides are really the bread and butter of Champions. If we don't win this, we really don't deserve to be champs. Plus, this is very early in the season, when smaller sides aren't fighting against relegation and going into bunker mode yet. I suspect second meetings with such sides later in the season will see them sit back to earn draws alot more. For now I'll ease on the speculation and see what happens.. : ) Oh, and Gary pulling out of Charlton is abit worrying. He's been getting injured quite frequently.
Right. Time to forget about the euphoria of the last two games and move on. This is a marathon not a sprint and we need to make this set of positive results into an actual streak now. I don't think we can field Giggsy again. He looked tired in the 2nd half or the game yesterday and it's probably time for the old vet to have a rest. So we're left with Park or Richardson for the LW spot or, we could put Ronaldo there and play Fletcher on the right. Carrick is likely to start and so we need to either give him flank protection in a 4-4-2 or go to a 4-3-3. In a 4-4-2 I'd go with this -------------VDS --------Rio--------Silvestre Brown----------------------Evra ---------Carrick---O'Shea Fletcher------------------Ronaldo -----------------Rossi ----------Saha Bench Kusczcak Richardson Jones Park Ole In a 4-3-3 This: -------------VDS --------Rio--------Silvestre Brown----------------------Evra ------------O'Shea -----Fletcher------Carrick Park---------------------Ronaldo ------------Saha Bench Kusczcak Richardson Jones Rossi Ole Giggs is probably going to be on the bench at the expense of Jones. I'd prefer him not to be in this game. He needs a break and Spurs is a game you'd want Giggs fully fit for. Up the lads, lets see some continuity!
Fergie won't drop Fletcher after his good play in the last game. He will want to start Carrick though, so I guess he'll play Fletch on the right, even though he's not as good there as at CM.
I don't think Giggs will play either. Even when he was younger he spoke of having troubles with his hamstrings after playing 2 games in a week. I don't see how he can play 3 at this stage in his career. I think Watford is a good opportunity to field Rossi, perhaps even Richardson, but I do think Park will start. I like your formation DS except I would start Ronaldo on the left and Park on the right. -------------VDS --------Rio--------Silvestre Brown----------------------Evra ---------Carrick---O'Shea Park----------------------Ronaldo -----------------Rossi ----------Saha What do you mean by flank protection by the way? With O'Shea doing the donkey work in the midfield do we really need Fletcher in the side against a team like Watford?
We have to learn to give every team we face utmost respect.. until we go there and get the pts. I think last season taught us that the 'little games' are where big points are won and we really have to remain focused and not get complacent. I heard the term 'bankers' thrown about a lot with the smaller teams and how we should expect 3pts off them, that's the first step to not winning the league. Mourinho made sure to rack up huge points against these teams and it essential we do that these season. As for Carrick. He needs flank protection in a 4-4-2. Like he got at Spurs with Davids, it's either that or play 4-3-3, which I don't think is smart whilst we seem to be flying. It may sound cautious, but Watford are at home and they are going to give it all that they have facing us, it's best to go in expecting to have a tough game where they try to kick lumps out of us. Fletcher handles that much better than Park, even though he is obviously inferior as a wide man.
Ah, thought you meant as an out and out wide man. Perhaps it would be worth putting Ronaldo on the right and giving Richardson that role, as he would give us pace on the break, and its a good chance to see what he can do this season. I'm just wondering when Jones & Rossi are finally going to get a chance. Also I'd prefer if Pique was still here because Silvestre has been getting chances at centreback! Very confusing.
We might just go with the 4-4-2 because it's an away game, and possibly switch to the 4-3-3 in the second to put the game away.
I think Jones and Rossi will feature in the Carling Cup. Early FA Cup action as well. Home matches against the relegation sides too perhaps?
We wont get too excited, we'll take this one game at a time, and we're back to square one at each game. I think we should play this: -------------------VDS--------------------- ----Brown-----Rio-------Silvestrerolleyes: )-----EvraD ) ---------------Carrick---O'Shea-------------- -----Park-----------------------------Giggs <-----------------Ronaldo------------------> --------------------Saha Since our central midfield is somewhat slow, we'll need hardworking players on each wing to come back and chase and harry for the ball. Ronaldo should play the role he's excelling in atm, which is a free one. He's absolutely dismantling teams with that type of freedom. Saha does his usual job of holding up the ball and being is usual strong, agile self. Prediction: 2-0 United, Ronaldo, Saha
What I'd like to see: --------VdS Wesley---Rio--Silvestre---Evra Ole----Carrick--O'Shea---Ronaldo --------Rossi ---------Saha 4-0....Saha x2, Rossi, Ronaldo
This is goin to be quite difficult imo this is watfords cup-final . Carrick is expected to start with gabby h maybe on the bench , we need to take points this sat to set us up for the match against the yiddos
Hey, can any one of you tell me where to find the lineup set in stone, or does SAF keep his mouth sealed until kickoff? I'm guessing he usually does, but maybe you guys know of some insider websites. thanks.
just to clarify, who is they, and what are the sources. You see, I'm doing fantasy league, and friday nights are the cut off period for player selection. If they don't announce it until kickoff, then i'm out of luck. I want to pick both fletcher and park, but dont know if they'll start.
Not entirely comparable IMO. Spurs often lined up with a midfield of Lennon and then the three naturally central selections of Davids/Carrick/Jenas. While other combinations were tried out and players like Tainio were mixed in those three players started 28, 35, and 30 games of the Premiership campaign respectively. While Jenas can certainly perform some defensive duties, I think to compare him to O'Shea defensively does O'Shea a disservice. The slack that a midfield combination of Jenas/Carrick resulted in largely was picked up by Davids; however, I'd think that a midfield pairing of O'Shea/Carrick should be enough defensively to unanchor the wingers and let them fly around. Just my opinion, but I think accomodating Fletcher as a winger is simply too much of a burden offensively on the flanks for a team that likely will look to the outsides for its creativity and inspiration.
VDS Gary Rio Wes Evra Ronaldo Fletcher Carrick Park Saha Giggs it will be a shame on O'shea whos played well but i think we can afford sacrafice John for a more creative player in Carrick against Watford (no disrespect to them) and take a risk. i hope the team keeps settled, no load of changes, it's time to keep the preasure on Chelsea and see how they react, so i want us to be ruthless and attack straight away, none of this 4-3-3 crap.
Manchester United 4-1 Watford Saha | Shittu Ole to the double Evra watford will try but class will shine throgh in the end. MOTM - Ronaldo/Carrick