Re: The Football Thread - 09/10

by LeFromage Fri 03 Jul 2009, 18:53

vilkrang wrote:The Owen free transfer could turn out to be a great deal to be honest. If he gets himself fit he will score a shed load of goals with the service he'll be getting at United.

I know that's a big "if" though.

Not sure about that - his pace has totally gone. No amount of getting fit will bring that back.

But it's the kind of gamble United can afford to make. Could become a decent off-the-bench poacher in the Solsjkaer (how the f*ck do you spell it?) stylee, I suppose.

by LeFromage Fri 03 Jul 2009, 18:58

Disappointed that no-one in the Prem seems to have followed through with their rumoured interest and signed the fantastically named Rod Fanni.

Now Ronaldo's left our shores, the league needs a new front-bottom.

by JKLever Fri 03 Jul 2009, 19:04

Ipswich have taken some Dutch winger called Rawley Rozendaal on trial.

Keep getting visions of a big-nosed Israeli.

by PearlJ Fri 03 Jul 2009, 19:06

doremi wrote:What service? Now Ronaldo's gone, their attacking midfield looks empty.

Ronaldo never provided any service anyway. He will play pretty well with Rooney or Berbatov, and is a fox in the box despite his lack of pace these days.

I must admit it is odd. I have never been a fan of him, but it's a pretty good bit of business. If he does well it's a Fergie masterstroke, if not then it doesn't really matter as he was free with quite low wages.

by doremi Fri 03 Jul 2009, 19:23

Solsjkaer

Close enough, Solksjaer.

Either way, the midfield is the big problem for Fergie.

by PearlJ Fri 03 Jul 2009, 19:30

doremi wrote:
Solsjkaer

Close enough, Solksjaer.

Either way, the midfield is the big problem for Fergie.

The midfield?!?! We have more quality midfielders than we can shake a stick at.

by LeFromage Fri 03 Jul 2009, 19:31

Didn't look it against Barcelona. Or even Liverpool.

by Guest Fri 03 Jul 2009, 19:32

Dello wrote:
vilkrang wrote:The Owen free transfer could turn out to be a great deal to be honest. If he gets himself fit he will score a shed load of goals with the service he'll be getting at United.

I know that's a big "if" though.

Not sure about that - his pace has totally gone. No amount of getting fit will bring that back.

But it's the kind of gamble United can afford to make. Could become a decent off-the-bench poacher in the Solsjkaer (how the f*ck do you spell it?) stylee, I suppose.

Look at his record over the past few years though, even without his pace he still scores goals. He has such good anticipation that he gets himself into goalscoring oopportunities. I imagine they will use him as a Solskjaer (spelt wrong I know) super sub type player.

by PearlJ Fri 03 Jul 2009, 19:52

Dello wrote:Didn't look it against Barcelona. Or even Liverpool.

It did when we won the league though.

by doremi Fri 03 Jul 2009, 19:58

PearlJ wrote:
doremi wrote:
Solsjkaer

Close enough, Solksjaer.

Either way, the midfield is the big problem for Fergie.

The midfield?!?! We have more quality midfielders than we can shake a stick at.

Not even one really classy midfielder in the whole squad IMO. If you exclude Giggs and Scholes since they've grown old.

by JKLever Fri 03 Jul 2009, 20:00

United are doomed...

by PearlJ Fri 03 Jul 2009, 20:14

doremi wrote:
PearlJ wrote:
doremi wrote:
Solsjkaer

Close enough, Solksjaer.

Either way, the midfield is the big problem for Fergie.

The midfield?!?! We have more quality midfielders than we can shake a stick at.

Not even one really classy midfielder in the whole squad IMO. If you exclude Giggs and Scholes since they've grown old.

Carrick. Hargreaves. Fletcher. There's 3.

Anderson as well. Even though he was a complete failure against Barca.

by JKLever Fri 03 Jul 2009, 20:23

Obviously the standards for 'really classy' have taken a dive the last few years Very Happy

by LeFromage Fri 03 Jul 2009, 20:25

Carrick was useless against Barca as well - as he is against every team that press him and give him the hurry up. Just passes the ball straight to them.

Hargreaves hasn't played for a year and there are rumours that his career is over.

Fletcher? The new Nicky Butt.

by doremi Fri 03 Jul 2009, 20:47

Adding to what Dello said and from what little I've seen -

Carrick - his contribution seems to be one really good pass in the whole game and then chase the ball around for the rest of the match.

Hargreaves - Defensive.

Fletcher - Above average at best.

by PearlJ Fri 03 Jul 2009, 21:14

Of course, How could I be so stupid? We won the league 3 times with a crap midfield.

by beamer Fri 03 Jul 2009, 21:17

The big problem they have is there's nobody in the midfield who can score goals on a regular basis. If you have one or two players there who can get into double figures it takes a lot of pressure off the strikers.

by doremi Fri 03 Jul 2009, 21:18

You won the league three times with Ronaldo.

by PearlJ Fri 03 Jul 2009, 21:19

doremi wrote:You won the league three times with Ronaldo.

Obviously with a host of crappy players around him.

by doremi Fri 03 Jul 2009, 21:31

Not crappy, just not class. Excluding Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov since they're not midfielders (or in Rooney;s case, shouldn't be).

by PeterCS Fri 03 Jul 2009, 21:34

Owen, Sickening Little Mealy-Mouthed Mercenary and Obdurate Leech on Tyneside, hits another jackpot.

It really endears you to football.

by LeFromage Sat 04 Jul 2009, 01:53

PearlJ wrote:Of course, How could I be so stupid? We won the league 3 times with a crap midfield.

You won the league like you always do - by being the best minnow bashers.

United's record against "the big four" over the past few years is nothing to write home about, but they're superb at grinding out results against everyone else.

Which is all fine and dandy in the Premier League, but if they're looking to close the gap on the likes of Barcelona, Carrick and Fletcher are a million miles away from Iniesta and Xavi in terms of quality.

by PearlJ Sat 04 Jul 2009, 02:22

Dello wrote:
PearlJ wrote:Of course, How could I be so stupid? We won the league 3 times with a crap midfield.

You won the league like you always do - by being the best minnow bashers.

United's record against "the big four" over the past few years is nothing to write home about, but they're superb at grinding out results against everyone else.

Which is all fine and dandy in the Premier League, but if they're looking to close the gap on the likes of Barcelona, Carrick and Fletcher are a million miles away from Iniesta and Xavi in terms of quality.

Record against the Big 4, last 3 seasons:

P18 W7 D5 L6 = 26 points

Liverpool

P18 W6 D6 L6 = 24 points

Chelsea

P W4 D7 D7 = 19 points

Arsenal

P 18 W6 D8 L4 = 26 points

Equal best with Arsenal.

And everyone wins the league by being minnow bashers. There are obviously a lot more points on offer from bad teams, because there are a lot more of them.......

by Makaveli Sat 04 Jul 2009, 12:06

It was just last season that we had a bad record against the other big three teams. The two seasons before that our record was extremely good.

As for Owen - i'm quite excited about this we are getting him for free so it's worth the gamble, one thing about Owen is wherever he goes he will score goals, the only doubt is keeping him fit, let's see what happens.

by Guest Sat 04 Jul 2009, 12:28

As an England fan I'm pleased to see Owen with a club and a manager that should get the best out of him. This move has drastically increased his chances of making the next world cup, and with the other strikers we have to choose from, a healthy Michael Owen who is in the goals would be a god send this time next year.

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