On a positive note I remember big Tony giving Ashley Cole the biggest doing ever Cole was battered that night something Ronaldo never even managed to do!
Manchester United vs. Chelsea
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On a positive note I remember big Tony giving Ashley Cole the biggest doing ever Cole was battered that night something Ronaldo never even managed to do!
Why does this have to be on a fecking monday when I work?
No chance of avoiding the score either..my phone will blow up at work.
No chance of avoiding the score either..my phone will blow up at work.
3-1
RvP hattrick and Hazard
RvP hattrick and Hazard
Squeaky bum time 
Can't wait hope its
DDG
Jones
Rio
Vidic
Evra
Carrick
Cleverley
Welbeck
Valencia
Rooney
RVP
DDG
Jones
Rio
Vidic
Evra
Carrick
Cleverley
Welbeck
Valencia
Rooney
RVP
Lots of goals but fear our midfield will get overrun. 2-2.
Nani and Hernandez not being available is a big loss
Both of them are known to have good games vs Chelsea so their absence is a blow, however I still think we've enough quality to win this. RVP, Welbeck, Rooney and Kagawa can all hurt Chelsea severely.
To stifle Chelsea's midfield, United has to beef up their midfield
with runners and spoilers.
Possible line-up, playing 4-1-2-3 could be:
..................................De Gea................................
Jones...............Vidic....................Evans.............Evra
..................................Carrick.................................
....................Cleverley................Anderson...............
.....Rooney..................Van Persie.................Welbeck.
Subs:
Lindegaard, Kagawa, Zaha, Smalling, Ferdinand, Valencia, Fabio.
Rooney and Welbeck to track back when defending (4-1-4-1).
with runners and spoilers.
Possible line-up, playing 4-1-2-3 could be:
..................................De Gea................................
Jones...............Vidic....................Evans.............Evra
..................................Carrick.................................
....................Cleverley................Anderson...............
.....Rooney..................Van Persie.................Welbeck.
Subs:
Lindegaard, Kagawa, Zaha, Smalling, Ferdinand, Valencia, Fabio.
Rooney and Welbeck to track back when defending (4-1-4-1).
Rooney is a massive gamble for this.
I really wouldn't be surprised if he plays like shit if he plays, probably safer on the bench.
I really wouldn't be surprised if he plays like shit if he plays, probably safer on the bench.
Not really IMO because their central midfield is no better than ours
For Hazard/Oscar/Mata playing three CM's isn't absolutely necessary for me, it's not like Hazard will be playing in that area. In that formation if you set Jones on Hazard and Evra on their attacking midfielder on the right then you don't need the extra midfielder.
Not sure how it helps at all really, I think Carrick and Cleverely (if the latter plays like he can) are more than good enough to go toe to toe with Ramires/Lampard
I don't think Rooney will apply himself properly. Risky to start him.
Yeah an if it becomes a game of one narrow attack against another narrow attack than I think we're clearly not as good. Kagawa isn't up to speed yet and we don't know what form Rooney will be in. We need a winger in there and to focus on that wide play. It's a big loss that nani isn't fit for thi one but hopefully Valencia will be on his game.
Still as giddy to see RvP play as I was when we first signed him. He is one of the best I've seen in my lifetime.
We definitely need to be using the fact that we can attack from wide positions and through the middle, whereas they're always going to be playing narrow. The OT pitch is big, it should suit a side that can spread the game.
In terms of defending we just need to do our work high up the pitch, cutting off the supply to the three amigos rather than waiting until they have the ball before doing our defending. I think Theon is right that this is one top team whose CM is no better than ours. Lampard and Ramires are average compared to Chelsea's strength in more attacking midfield positions, so that's where we've got to pile the pressure on. The likes of Welbeck, Rooney, Kagawa and Valencia (remove as appropriate) all pressing the feck out of their back line and CM should yield results.
We're going to have to play a high intensity game off the ball. We've seen Everton do that a lot over the years, so hopefully Moyes can make that work.
In terms of defending we just need to do our work high up the pitch, cutting off the supply to the three amigos rather than waiting until they have the ball before doing our defending. I think Theon is right that this is one top team whose CM is no better than ours. Lampard and Ramires are average compared to Chelsea's strength in more attacking midfield positions, so that's where we've got to pile the pressure on. The likes of Welbeck, Rooney, Kagawa and Valencia (remove as appropriate) all pressing the feck out of their back line and CM should yield results.
We're going to have to play a high intensity game off the ball. We've seen Everton do that a lot over the years, so hopefully Moyes can make that work.
That's all well and good saying it, but it's nothing like how United actually play.
I don't think Chelsea will be as open as they have been in the past against us. I've noticed Ramires has been a lot more disciplined under Mourinho than he has under any other manager.
Dangerous tactic pressing high Brightonian I think we will sit back and kill the space for that attacking three and look to hit them in wide areas going forward. Their midfield 2 aren't great on the ball so I think we will let them have it while being disciplined.
They won't be able to stop Van Persie. I'm going for 2-0 with Robin getting both.
Huge bonus from the Cardiff game today, a good incentive to get a lead over City from the off.
Drill in crosses along the floor, they always seem to struggle with that. Shame Hernandez is injured.
Knowing Mourinho, he will probably have a special plan in place for Robin. Hopefully Robin can cope with the custom treatment.
It would be great to lay down an early marker against a rival and get Moyes reign off to a winning start at Old Trafford, but I expect a very tight game to the point that I wouldn't be surprised to see Mourinho line up without the 3 in behind Torres, I could see him going with an extra CM.
I've seen us play a complete range of styles over the last few seasons, and we've certainly done something like that against a number of opponents. It's how we played against Madrid.
Plus obviously it's the first game against a top team that we've seen from Moyes, so we have no idea what he's going to do.
Great chance to get a 3 point gap over our 2 main rivals. Considering our fixtures as well it will be a big boost for us.
Very confident going into this game now, no way will Jose lose a chance to steal a march on the rivals, even if its only a draw.
After todays events Im convinced, Lukaku to start. Him, Hazard, Oscar and Ramires will be watering at the mouth at the sight of that United defence. Its whether we can keep RVP quiet that will determine whether we get 1 point or all 3. Going for 2-2.
After todays events Im convinced, Lukaku to start. Him, Hazard, Oscar and Ramires will be watering at the mouth at the sight of that United defence. Its whether we can keep RVP quiet that will determine whether we get 1 point or all 3. Going for 2-2.
You realize it's City who played and lost today, not United?
Lukaku is a bloody monster. Keep him on the bench and play that fecking big girl's blouse you paid a king's ransom for, or Ba.
Well if we're anywhere near our best I think we'll win convincingly, Chelsea didn't exactly look good against Hull or Villa in my opinion. You were very lucky to get all 3 points from Villa in the end.
Chelsea and Spurs overconfident as feck, I love it.
Chelsea and Spurs overconfident as feck, I love it.
He had really good games against Madrid last season despite not really having his finishing boots on. Hope we have more luck this time around though.
They'll be playing with fire if they pay too much attention to him. Welbeck is also in glittering form and we also have Chelsea's favourite striker Hernandez and one of the league's best players Rooney to bring in if necessary.
Plus last season we had a record-breaking number of different players scoring for us, so focussing too much on any one player is a dangerous game.
I feel this is one of those games that is just going to swing wildly based on small things. On paper I'd say it's a pretty even match-up at the moment, although van Persie's form probably gives us a very slight edge.
Is it? I actually think its rather even. Ill give you that our better defensive record last season may not hold too much sway as United conceded 5 in a dead rubber, but under Jose teams are always better defensively. Give us space like you gave Swansea and you shall be punished.
Your old team under Jose had much better players in defence. As you've acknowledged, your defensive record last season was worse. And on paper, Ivanovic-Luiz-Cahill-Cole is weaker than Rafael-Ferdinand-Vidic-Evra. Vidic's superb form at the moment gives us a particular edge.
I reckon your defensive work as a team might be better. That's one thing Mourinho has consistently excelled at, and as a club we've had problems with it for years now. But in terms of the actual back-line we're stronger on paper.
EDIT: Forgot Rafael was injured. That might even it up a bit, given that he was probably the league's best RB last season. But we've seen how monumental an effect Jones can exert on the big matches, so his involvement might actually be a boon.
Well thats probably why you ended up with 9 draws, you sat too deep at times. Kept out 4 more goals (wow) but in the end it probably cost you a feck load of points.
True, but as you acknowledged its the Jose factor that leads me to feel our defences aren't too far apart.
That might be overstating it a tad.
Only if you haven't watched him.
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