I think we'll play midfield trio of Carrick, Giggs, and Welbeck.
I really really hope not.
That's not a midfield trio, it's a midfield uno.
That's AIDS-like.
We would play Rooney in midfield every day before even considering Welbeck in there.
Front three of RVP, Kagawa and Welbeck with Rooney in midfield is actually a very probable line-up given Jones is unavailable and SAF seems to want some drive in the middle to break up some of what Madrid can throw at us.
My bad!
That should have been Cleverley and not Welbeck.
Apparently no Jones tonight, how big of a miss will he be after the first leg?.
I was very cautious about him playing in the first leg but the role he played i thought he did very well. I suppose it sort of forces our hand to play more attacking tonight.
I hope we don't sacrifice Carrick for that role.
Not very. Starting him at home would've been the wrong approach to take for me.
Pisses me off that we ever signed him really, has just taken over the John O'shea role of getting played in loads of difference positions whilst never being able to cement a place in any of them.
Playing him alongside carrick means we play far too deep and lack support for our strikers as well as the ability to play any kind of decent pass into the strikers feet.
I can understand the logic of playing him in midfield if Carrick is out because he offers something solid deeper in the midfield and something to build from. However with both of them in there we have about the most uninspiring midfield in the top 6 in the PL with both playing the same role with Jones doing it worse.
You can see why Pogba got pissed off when Fergie seems so intent on negative midfield choices in the big games, even if he'd got time here he'd have been dropped for the big games so that we can play someone in the mid who would run around for a bit. Of all of Fergie's strengths midfield seems the position he's never fully understood and was blessed for a decade by happening to have two of the most talented midfielders we've ever had but had missed with the majority of his signings in there because he seems to look for all the wrong attributes.
Wow, that's crazy on so many levels. You think Carrick plays the same role as Jones, you think he can't play any decent passes into feet and you think we made a mistake in buying Jones. I would say Jones will quickly prove you wrong but if after 5/6 years of watching Carrick you can't see he's an excellent passer then chances are that'll probably never be the case.
The bulk of Carrick's passing is sideways and smart passing, of course he makes some great passes but he's the guy who keeps us ticking and its usually his partner tasked with making the attacking moves. I think Carrick is one of the finest players in the world in that position but he's never going to be the kind of CM that racks up 15-20 assists each season.
Carrick and Jones were both playing the same role of offering protection for the defense, not sure I'm wrong there.
It was a negative move to play both and I'm kinda glad we lost because the team who set out to play the better football played it and won.
The bulk of Carrick's passing is sideways and smart passing, of course he makes some great passes but he's the guy who keeps us ticking and its usually his partner tasked with making the attacking moves. I think Carrick is one of the finest players in the world in that position but he's never going to be the kind of CM that racks up 15-20 assists each season.
Carrick and Jones were both playing the same role of offering protection for the defense, not sure I'm wrong there.
It was a negative move to play both and I'm kinda glad we lost because the team who set out to play the better football played it and won.
How many midfielders can you name that consistently play through balls to the strikers every time, as opposed to "sideways, smart passing" most of the time? It really is just a stupid cliché which doesn't actually mean much.The bulk of Carrick's passing is sideways and smart passing, of course he makes some great passes but he's the guy who keeps us ticking and its usually his partner tasked with making the attacking moves. I think Carrick is one of the finest players in the world in that position but he's never going to be the kind of CM that racks up 15-20 assists each season.
Carrick and Jones were both playing the same role of offering protection for the defense, not sure I'm wrong there.
It was a negative move to play both and I'm kinda glad we lost because the team who set out to play the better football played it and won.
What kind of centre mid is?! Even Scholesy never managed that. I think you're ridiculously harsh on Carrick's passing. It's excellent. He's been very incisive and creative all season.
He will start against City alongside Carrick in the same role he did today and at Madrid
