[Clas Sified]

God only knows why you're still in the newbies...

God only knows how he's still not been banned.

 

[lalloyd]

Well that counters my incredibly vivid dream that Aguero put them 1-0 after 10 minutes, RVP then equalised and we went on to win the game 6-1 with Mata scoring 2 and assisting one after coming on in the second half.

What's your track record like? I hope it's better than mine.

 

[IwatUwat]

Watch the Chelsea game again. Where exactly did he bully their midfield?


If this was any other player then this performance would have gone unnoticed but the bar has been set so low for fellaini that suddenly this is a world class outing.

Agreed, really didnt buy into Fellaini last weekend, a slight improvement yes due to physicality i.e his size. But he looked like a donkey with the ball at his feet IMO. Still looked behind the pace and one step behind others. Im not sure he's capable of long term being a CM for us but Im hoping last week and less criticism helps him build some confidence, as he was a much better force at Everton (playing further forward).

 

[DanNistelrooy]

Watch the Chelsea game again. Where exactly did he bully their midfield?


If this was any other player then this performance would have gone unnoticed but the bar has been set so low for fellaini that suddenly this is a world class outing.

I don't like the word bully but you have just posted a video of Fellaini dispossessing the best midfield in the league about 7 times, added onto that some brilliant hold up play and of course the header leading to our goal. I'm not his biggest fan but it was a very good performance and I can see where the "bully" statements come from!

 

[finneh]

What's your track record like? I hope it's better than mine.

Sporadic. I wouldn't be going to the bookies put it that way!

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Funny to see Fellaini getting in more people's teams than Mata. Could never dream of this happening, say, 6 months ago when Mata was the great hope and Fellaini was seen as a useless drain on wages

 

[Sied]

Funny to see Fellaini getting in more people's teams than Mata. Could never dream of this happening, say, 6 months ago when Mata was the great hope and Fellaini was seen as a useless drain on wages

2 good performances will do that. I look forward to when Mata benefits from the same.

 

[lalloyd]

Sporadic. I wouldn't be going to the bookies put it that way!

You have to mate. Can't take a chance with a vivid dream. Dreamt Arsenal beat Milan 11-0 a few years ago. They gave me some proper odd looks in the bookies. They went 3 up quite quickly as well if I remember correctly. I was actually disappointed.

 

[Danny Boi]

2 good performances will do that. I look forward to when Mata benefits from the same.

Also, this is a game more suited suited to Fellaini that Mata.City have a lot of physical players in the their team.Fellaini will hopefully help to nullify their set piece threat and help to avoid our midfield being overpowered by Toure,Fernandino etc.

I think if it was a choice between in form Fellaini and in form Mata for this game Fellaini would still be picked.In form Fellaini is an obvious choice over out of form Mata.

 

[Dobba]

Silva out for 3 to 4 weeks, apparently.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

No Silva.
No party.

Big boost for us.

 

[Shark]

Yep, Pellegrini has confirmed it apparently. Great news!

 

[Barca84]

2 good performances will do that. I look forward to when Mata benefits from the same.

It's just the usual fickleness. There's no "big pictures" around here only whats happened in the short term. Saying that he's been pretty solid the past 2 games and has earnt a start I reckon.

We owe them a good shoeing and I think they'd get one if it was at OT. But for the first time in what seems an age I'm relatively confident we can get something at theirs and thats a nice change after previously knowing beforehand we were going to get hammered home and away. Silva is a huge loss if out but even with him in they're looking fragile and lacking in confidence. Their defence is creakier than the Queens fanny.

We have some momentum building lets hope we press on.

 

[Brightonian]

Also, this is a game more suited suited to Fellaini that Mata.City have a lot of physical players in the their team.Fellaini will hopefully help to nullify their set piece threat and help to avoid our midfield being overpowered by Toure,Fernandino etc.

I think if it was a choice between in form Fellaini and in form Mata for this game Fellaini would still be picked.In form Fellaini is an obvious choice over out of form Mata.

This bit is a myth. He doesn't do this. Moyes tried to use him for this all last season and it was a disaster. The point is that powerful midfielders like Touré don't literally wrestle their way through midfield. You can't just put bigger midfielders in there and expect that to somehow even things out. What you need is defensively-sound midfielders, and Fellaini isn't actually that good in that respect. Not that great a tackler and not much tactical nous. Too prone to giving away free kicks.

By all means include him as a set-piece threat or to man-mark Silva if he plays, but don't put him in there expecting him to somehow make our midfield less penetrable.

Oh, and he's not really in competition with Mata. Rooney will replace Mata, Fellaini is fighting for a place with Herrera.

 

[Raw]

Silva confirmed out. Wish him a speedy recovery but this is great news for us!

 

[Aidan]

Silva confirmed out. Wish him a speedy recovery but this is great news for us!

Silva's out great , but we still won 4-1 without him last year!

 

[Raw]

Silva's out great , but we still won 4-1 without him last year!

True that, Yaya will probably step it up like he always does and Aguero is always a danger.

I do think we can get a draw out of this though.

 

[saivet]

With Rooney pretty much nailed on to start I'd imagine how do you think we'll set up formation wise?

I'm thinking we'll go to the diamond or more of a 4231.

I'm not convinced that LVG will stick with the same formation used against Chelsea. It would require Rooney playing deep instead of Mata (I'd prefer Herrera there) or he drops RVP, which I definitely don't think we will see.

It will be interesting anyway, we have a bit of variation to work with.

 

[Shark]

Silva's out great , but we still won 4-1 without him last year!

You were playing very well then and we were absolute dog shite that day/season with no plan or organization. Also, Di Maria...

 

[Danny Boi]

This bit is a myth. He doesn't do this. Moyes tried to use him for this all last season and it was a disaster. The point is that powerful midfielders like Touré don't literally wrestle their way through midfield. You can't just put bigger midfielders in there and expect that to somehow even things out. What you need is defensively-sound midfielders, and Fellaini isn't actually that good in that respect. Not that great a tackler and not much tactical nous. Too prone to giving away free kicks.

By all means include him as a set-piece threat or to man-mark Silva if he plays, but don't put him in there expecting him to somehow make our midfield less penetrable.

Oh, and he's not really in competition with Mata. Rooney will replace Mata, Fellaini is fighting for a place with Herrera.

Firstly I disagree that Fellaini is a bad tackler.Perhaps he is not a very precise one but he has a way of getting his body in the way and winning possession e.g. against Hazard,Matic,Fabregas on Sunday.He didn't just stop Fabregas getting the ball he put in good tackles against all of Chelsea's midfield.

Silva is definitely out, so I think we should be putting Fellaini on Toure.To stop him getting the ball as much and generally just be in the way when he does.Fellaini is not going to sit as a dm and be in the right place at the right time to make a crucial tackle as you said.But he sure as hell can rough Toure up and put him off his game.

Finally if I was picking the team I would have Blind,Herrera,Di Maria and Fellaini in a diamond behind Rooney and RVP.

 

[saivet]

Silva's out great , but we still won 4-1 without him last year!

I can't remember how you started last season but wasn't it Toure pulling the strings for you early doors rather than Silva?

 

[He Comes From Serbia]

I'm probably one of Fellaini's biggest critics on here but even I found the 'ironic cheering' at that game really uncomfortable.

Posted in the Fellaini thread, but I can't post in there in case I am a Viagra spam bot or something. I'm pretty sure the cheers were to drown out a small section of fans who were booing. It makes no sense for a large portion of the crowd to ironically cheer a player like that, after the cheers stopped you could still hear a few boos. The biggest cheer of the night came of course when he scored the late winner. It is amusing to see his turn around (albeit still early days to see if he has a future here), and shows just how motivating and influential LvG can be, if anything. I was very much in the same camp of "Fellatio out!", but I think LvG said it himself that everyone deserves a chance under the new management.

Silva being out is a boost but as others have pointed out, a crocodile with a replaced tooth is still a dangerous crocodile. Aguero is still the main threat, here's hoping Rojo has played with him enough times to keep him relatively under control. Press conference should be interesting (as always).

 

[Shark]

Posted in the Fellaini thread, but I can't post in there in case I am a Viagra spam bot or something. I'm pretty sure the cheers were to drown out a small section of fans who were booing. It makes no sense for a large portion of the crowd to ironically cheer a player like that, after the cheers stopped you could still hear a few boos. The biggest cheer of the night came of course when he scored the late winner. It is amusing to see his turn around (albeit still early days to see if he has a future here), and shows just how motivating and influential LvG can be, if anything. I was very much in the same camp of "Fellatio out!", but I think LvG said it himself that everyone deserves a chance under the new management.

Silva being out is a boost but as others have pointed out, a crocodile with a replaced tooth is still a dangerous crocodile. Aguero is still the main threat, here's hoping Rojo has played with him enough times to keep him relatively under control. Press conference should be interesting (as always).

Of course he is, but Silva is the main supplier. Aguero won't be as effective without him on the pitch.

 

[Hemil]

I hope that Silva out is going to be a massive boost for United to do and beat City.

 

[2 man midfield]

Aguero is a different proposition to an ageing Drogba. We saw how we were hot and cold in terms of dealing with Hazard, i think he'll give our defence a tough time of it.

Yaya is obviously a threat, but for once i'd like to see if we can threaten them at their end of the pitch. With Di Maria, Rooney, Van Persie, Falcao, Mata etc we should have enough options to score a couple. It's been far too long since we went into a derby saying that tbh, usually it's Valencia and Young wide, trying to nick one on the counter.

 

[adamwest]

Silva always turns up against us. He's usually the best player on the pitch so it is definitely a bonus for us that he isn't available. However, they have so much quality available, even though they haven't quite hit the heights yet this season. I can see them being fired up to no end for this game, Kompany will see to that.

 

[DatIrishFella]

Silva confirmed out. Wish him a speedy recovery but this is great news for us!

The longer he's out the more it effects City's chances of putting points on the board. Why would you want him back asap considering he's one of the top teams best, if not best, player(s).

 

[carlosp]

Silva is hurt. Good news for us as he was someone who could have hurt us.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/...red-david-silva-misses-united-clash-on-sunday

 

[Trizy]

I'd honestly rather Jones to mark Aguero if I'm being honest, though Smalling doesn't deserved to be dropped... Rojo to do a job? he's quick enough.

 

[Invictus]

Aguero is a different proposition to an ageing Drogba. We saw how we were hot and cold in terms of dealing with Hazard, i think he'll give our defence a tough time of it.

I'm strangely calm at the proposition of facing Aguero with the knowledge that we have Rojo at the back. The two of them must know each other's game pretty well having trained all summer with Argentina. In this instance I think the defender has more to gain than the attacker in terms of knowing the opposition player's weaknesses. Hope Rojo stifles him on Sunday.

The one who really concerns me is still Yaya. Yes Fellaini did well vs Chelsea but I get flashes of last year's equivalent fixture at the Etihad. Here's to hoping his upturn in form and confidence continues.

 

[2 man midfield]

I'm strangely calm at the proposition of facing Aguero with the knowledge that we have Rojo at the back. The two of them must know each other's game pretty well having trained all summer with Argentina. In this instance I think the defender has more to gain than the attacker in terms of knowing the opposition player's weaknesses. Hope Rojo stifles him on Sunday.

The one who really concerns me is still Yaya. Yes Fellaini did well vs Chelsea but I get flashes of last year's equivalent fixture at the Etihad. Here's to hoping his upturn in form and confidence continues.

Yeah i'm not holding out much hope that Fellaini does a job on Toure either. Stopping Fabregas from pinging balls in every direction is one thing but he's about 5 ft 2. Yaya is like a JCB, Fellaini would do well just to keep on him.

As for Rojo, who knows. Aguero isn't overly physical, but he is a handful with the ball at his feet. I think Smalling and Rojo would be our best pairing for this.

 

[NessunDorma]

Silva being out is exactly the kind of thing that gives you false hope. I'm still predicting a loss, because it's not like they don't have plenty of other match winners.

(So do we of course, and i'll be tipping us in the return game at Old Trafford)

 

[Taher Shah]

I'm strangely calm at the proposition of facing Aguero with the knowledge that we have Rojo at the back. The two of them must know each other's game pretty well having trained all summer with Argentina. In this instance I think the defender has more to gain than the attacker in terms of knowing the opposition player's weaknesses. Hope Rojo stifles him on Sunday.

The one who really concerns me is still Yaya. Yes Fellaini did well vs Chelsea but I get flashes of last year's equivalent fixture at the Etihad. Here's to hoping his upturn in form and confidence continues.

Apparently Aguero and Rojo have some sort of feud going on between them. That will make things more fiesty

 

[Invictus]

Apparently Aguero and Rojo have some sort of feud going on between them. That will make things more fiesty

Not too sure that's necessarily a good thing in fairness. Rojo is a renowned mentalist prone to lapses in discipline from his Sporting days. Wouldn't want him to get to get sent off would we ? That said he's been a good lad in that sense so far in England, I'm hoping he keeps his wits about him come gameday.

I think Smalling and Rojo would be our best pairing for this.

Yup. Smalling is perhaps our most accomplished defender when it comes to cleaning up the deck. And his pace off the ball would a good counter to Aguero.

 

[MDFC Manager]

Silva being ruled out is huge news for us. He usually manages to run rings around us.

 

[RedDevil-85]

There isnt a better time to meet City than now,Silva is out and their form have dipped in recent weeks.
That being said,it will still be a very tough game,Aguero alone can cause havoc to our defence.

 

[Trizy]

The lack of belief here is a bit over the top, City haven't exactly being lighting up the league this season home or away. When they played us in recent years they've completely wanked over our midfield with a prime Toure and Silva against Cleverly, Carrick, Anderson... now they're missing Silva and Toure has being off form massively all season against Herrera, Di Maria and Blind with the option of a dropping back Rooney and most likely Fellaini.

We haven't lit up the league either but if we've ever had a good chance of beating them in recent years its Sunday. Last few years we've had a loan striker against them with hopeless wingers, we've basically replaced not looking like scoring with attacking talent in Di Maria, Falcao, Rooney, van Persie, Mata, Fellaini and even what we've lacked for years: goal scoring midfielders (Blind, Herrera)

1-3 United.

 

[Buchan]

Good to see Juan Crapa not in people's starting eleven keep it that way.

I'm going to make a bold prediction here:

You'll never see the Mains.

 

[2 man midfield]

I'm going to make a bold prediction here:

You'll never see the Mains.

Well, the general anyway.

 

[Lynk]

Good to see Juan Crapa not in people's starting eleven keep it that way.

This is why people dislike noobs.