[Archived] Manchester United Preview

[John]

Surely that'd be Andrews when Samba returns ..... Warnock will surely be played further forward. As with RSC at PNE I only had to see Givet for a short time to see that he is some player. He's been MoM for us in the two matches that he's played at Ewood and imo he was one of our our star players yesterday.

Givet has to start, he looks top quality. He is a real defender and seems to really enjoy getting stuck in. They say 'top players' don't need time to settle into new enviornments/countries, and that seems to be the case with him.

[thenodrog]

Agreed.

Grella was better today as well, perhaps he is starting to get back to full fitness.

Grella's got quite a bit of stick on here from various sources as not being good enough. He is a bit slow but is a very good player imo........ especially when he is allowed to play in his natural position in defensive midfield and is not asked to do the work of two.

[thenodrog]

Even so it would only cancel out Evans' perfectly good goal in the first.

I think Webb must have had word down his earpiece from the 4th official that he'd dropped a huge bollock by giving a corner when it was an absolutely crystal clear goalkick. I guess the whistle would have been moving towards his lips as the corner was taken.

Swap Pedersen with Rooney and would the pen have been given?

It would have taken more than a quick tug on the shoulder to stop Rooney when he's 1 on 1 with the keeper. He's like a charging rhino.

[thenodrog]

Allardyce: Back to his old tricks with a route one playing 4-5-1- I did miss Villanueva tough, he could have brought somethng to this game.

A stereotypical comment if ever there was one! Chucking more mud commondore? We've just given our best perfotrmance of the season at the home of the best team in the world. imo we should see out the season starting 4-5-1 against any team above us.

[DeadlyDirk]

Surely that'd be Andrews when Samba returns ..... Warnock will surely be played further forward. As with RSC at PNE I only had to see Givet for a short time to see that he is some player. He's been MoM for us in the two matches that he's played at Ewood and imo he was one of our our star players yesterday.

It's definitely an option but the jury is still out for me on whether or not Warnock is a center midfielder. Plus I still think Givet would be wasted to an extent at left back, he looks solid in the middle. Like I said before though for once it's a good selection problem to have.

[thenodrog]

I simply don't understand what Vogel has done to warrant being frozen out by successive managers like this. He can't be worse than Andrews,

Obvious. Grella is the defensive midfielder so he's in. Vogel is not an attacking midfielder so thats why he's out.

[thenodrog]

Beacuse he is a coward & a cheat.

He was through on goal the contact was minimal, it would have been easier for him to stay on his feet and take his shot. He was scared of misssing and felt going down would absolve him of any responsibility.

For all his natural talent, the guy is mentally soft. Not someone who should be in the team in a relegation battle, not that we have any viable alternatives.

Don't be stupid.

Don't think they were taking the mick, but couple of Man Utd fans remarked to me that they were impressed with Andrews.....

How many manc fans do you know who know anything about football?

[thenodrog]

It's definitely an option but the jury is still out for me on whether or not Warnock is a center midfielder. Plus I still think Givet would be wasted to an extent at left back, he looks solid in the middle. Like I said before though for once it's a good selection problem to have.

Indeed..... but we do know that Andrews is not!

imo Givet is too small to play ch against teams with bigger and better headers of the ball than Berbatov and Rooney. His size allows him to be quicker on the ground which is where utd tend to like to play.

[Amo]

Obvious. Grella is the defensive midfielder so he's in. Vogel is not an attacking midfielder so thats why he's out.

And Andrews is??

[AggyBlue]

To quote the great Ebbe Skovdahl (ex of Aberdeen Football Club):

"Statistics are just like mini-skirts, they give you good ideas but hide the most important thing."

Couldn't care less what Ebbe Skovdahl says, he doesn't pick our team.

My point was that Sam is very reliant on stats when analysing our performance. Whenever I have checked, Andrews usually has some of the best stats from our midfield players. He's probably Sams first midfield name on the team sheet.

Don't expect him to get dropped into oblivion anytime soon.

[DeadlyDirk]

Indeed..... but we do know that Andrews is not!

imo Givet is too small to play ch against teams with bigger and better headers of the ball than Berbatov and Rooney. His size allows him to be quicker on the ground which is where utd tend to like to play.

Agreed that Warnock can't be worse in midfield than Andrews.

Interestingly enough though according to the official site Givet is only an inch smaller than Nelsen so can't really say he is too small. I don't think an inch makes that much difference, with that said Nelsen is a much bigger build than Givet.

[No Nay Never]

Beacuse he is a coward & a cheat.

He was through on goal the contact was minimal, it would have been easier for him to stay on his feet and take his shot. He was scared of misssing and felt going down would absolve him of any responsibility.

For all his natural talent, the guy is mentally soft. Not someone who should be in the team in a relegation battle, not that we have any viable alternatives.

Comments like that really annoy me. Now if you are moving at any speed then the slightest clip/tug/whatever is going to send you sprawling. I am sure pedersen would have much rather smashed it in the net.

[LeChuck]

Now if you are moving at any speed then the slightest clip/tug/whatever is going to send you sprawling.

Watch any game of rugby and you'll find there's not an ounce of truth in that.

[No Nay Never]

Comments like that really annoy me. Now if you are moving at any speed then the slightest clip/tug/whatever is going to send you sprawling. I am sure pedersen would have much rather smashed it in the net.

How often do rugby players move at that speed, and if they do 9/10 times they end up on the floor. FACT

[AggyBlue]

How often do we see referees give free kicks when a player dives in and doesn't make contact with either the ball or opponent, giving the excuse that 'the intent was there'

So we ask was there any intent when the fullback puts both hands on Peds shoulder, I'd say so. Penalty.

Yes it's soft compared to when I played but that's the way the game is now.

[Roaming Rover]

I thought it was interesting that away from home and with little expectation, the boo boys favourites, Grella, MGP and Andrews played pretty well against man U.

Granted Andrews didn't do anything spectacular but was pretty tidy in possession and unlike at Ewood didn't panic anytime the ball came near him. So whether some of our players are good enough or not, we need to support every one of them at home.

Anyway, good effort from the lads and deserved a draw. Lets jut hope we don't revert back to form against Hull...........

[LeftWinger]

I think Webb must have had word down his earpiece from the 4th official that he'd dropped a huge bollock by giving a corner when it was an absolutely crystal clear goalkick. I guess the whistle would have been moving towards his lips as the corner was taken.

I have a friend who is a referee and he says they all do this. If they think they've got a corner decision wrong, just look how many times they spot a phantom foul as soon as the corner is taken.

[thenodrog]

I have a friend who is a referee and he says they all do this. If they think they've got a corner decision wrong, just look how many times they spot a phantom foul as soon as the corner is taken.

To err is human, to forgive is divine.

[eddiewac]

Did anyone see the Newcastle game? I can't remember which Everton player it was but he did the exact same thing to Duff, and Duff went down like he'd been shot, Duffer got the free kick and the Everton player was booked

[CAPT KAYOS]

(CAPT KAYOS @ Feb 20 2009, 17:43 )

Could he be our hidden weapon - or will it be I time to even it up with UTD stat's given the number of decisions that have gone against us at O/T?

Although I fancied us to get something ... it wasn't from the officials as suspected

Not that whoever is in charge has a cat in hell's chance of being favourably reviewed here with such hyper-analysing, even before a ball has been kicked!

Care for a re-think again Le Chuck - I see your backing for the officials is still in existence then, surprised to even see you post 'bad' and 'referee' next to each other

thenodrog

I rate Webb quite highly as far as refs go. But on this occasion he seems to have succumbed to the usual malaise and chickened out of sending people off at OT. It's wrong but I guess they are all sh1t scared of getting the disgraceful RFW treatment as David Elleray did which ended by death threats screwing his life for a considerable time.

See my earlier synopsis Theno on Webb - I was confident of a result subject to the 'officials'.

For Pedersen - I think we have to give him the benefit of the doubt, as I am of the opinion he should have stayed on his feet also as it looks like he is looking for the penalty beforehand ... but if he did get clipped - regardless it was still a penalty and a sending off so just another example of incompetent officiating and begs the question again what where they looking at.

Robinson - complete clown, been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but that was a clanger of the highest order - he should have been on his line without question - too static and lack of concentration ( similar to the Everton goal and the beginning of the season) - should have been saved - since my younger keeping days - my philophosy and one which I do believe in - if its a direct freekick you stay on your line regardless - still don't know why keepers just don't have one man in the way on direct freekicks so they have more visibility on the ball.

Givet looks class - and needs to be incoreporated into the team either at Fullback or at Centreback- Nelsen to me is the weaklink.

What is simple - is that we must continue to perform with the same sort of 2nd half performance we saw for the rest of the seaosn - and for as much of 90mins as possible - starting with the game at Coventry. What you don't want to see in agreements with others on here is the replication of the last time, where battling performances against the likes of Utd where offset by awful performances against the teams we were battling against

[thenodrog]

Although I fancied us to get something ... it wasn't from the officials as suspected

Care for a re-think again Le Chuck - I see your backing for the officials is still in existence then, surprised to even see you post 'bad' and 'referee' next to each other

See my earlier synopsis Theno on Webb - I was confident of a result subject to the 'officials'.

For Pedersen - I think we have to give him the benefit of the doubt, as I am of the opinion he should have stayed on his feet also as it looks like he is looking for the penalty beforehand ... but if he did get clipped - regardless it was still a penalty and a sending off so just another example of incompetent officiating and begs the question again what where they looking at.

Robinson - complete clown, been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but that was a clanger of the highest order - he should have been on his line without question - too static and lack of concentration ( similar to the Everton goal and the beginning of the season) - should have been saved - since my younger keeping days - my philophosy and one which I do believe in - if its a direct freekick you stay on your line regardless - still don't know why keepers just don't have one man in the way on direct freekicks so they have more visibility on the ball.

Givet looks class - and needs to be incoreporated into the team either at Fullback or at Centreback- Nelsen to me is the weaklink.

What is simple - is that we must continue to perform with the same sort of 2nd half performance we saw for the rest of the seaosn - and for as much of 90mins as possible - starting with the game at Coventry. What you don't want to see in agreements with others on here is the replication of the last time, where battling performances against the likes of Utd where offset by awful performances against the teams we were battling against

Good post. Andrews is weaker than Nelsen though imo, and Nelsen is captain.

A point that we have discussed many times. Most Prem keepers staying on their lines should save 99% of free kicks from 30yds plus without any wall at all........... although I guess the oppositions tactic would be to put their own wall in place.

[Hughesy]

Why do people compare Rugby to Football when it comes to contact.

Footy is completely different as not only do you need to keep running but you also have to keep control of a ball at your feet. In rugby its in their hands, they can fall on it and keep it no problem.

It was a stonewall penalty as he was clean through. Ronaldo or Rooney would of got it, just little old Blackburn didnt. All the United fans agree too!

[eddiewac]

Why do people compare Rugby to Football when it comes to contact.

Footy is completely different as not only do you need to keep running but you also have to keep control of a ball at your feet. In rugby its in their hands, they can fall on it and keep it no problem.

It was a stonewall penalty as he was clean through. Ronaldo or Rooney would of got it, just little old Blackburn didnt. All the United fans agree too!

yeah its the same people that call footballers a disgrace if theres a punch up in football but then say now they are real men, when rugby players get in punch ups

[tonygreenbank]

Watched the game in Cornwall and everyone was so complimentary about the lads. I come on here and still there are posters who find fault in the team no matter what. The whole team played well and performed as a unit to stifle then pressurise Utd. I have never seen them so rattled as they were at the end and that includes fergie and the fans. probably the best performance since Chelsea at OT in the semifinal. I read down there that Sam has taken on the sports psychologist that helped the Ryder Cup team. He obviously has made a difference already. It was a stonewall penalty on Pedersen; it looked even more obvious on MOTD2 last night.

[Jackson]

The last ten minutes made me proud to be a Rover. Seldom does Old Trafford s&%t an absolute brick.

Imagine if we had been playing like this against their world class first team/players.

Oh, hang on...