United's lineup against Leverkusen

TOD

Guest
This is more or less a meaningless match, but i'm sure SAF would not tolerate another defeat. So, what would be the lineup be? Will SAF...

1)rest our star players and give the youth a chance?

2)Play our strongest 11 even though its meaningless to be honest!!!
 
It's not meaningless.

We need to finish first to avoid the big European teams.
 
My guess is SAF is truly pissed of at the shirts. I bet he has already threatened most of them with the door if things/performances don't improve quickly. He will be demanding a result in this game in a bid to get thinks back on track and he will name a team accordingly. Everyone's card has been truly marked so expect great performances from the following:-
BARTHEZ

G NEVILLE BLANC FERDINAND SILVESTRE

BECKHAM VERON SCHOLES GIGGS

SOLSKJEAR VAN NISTEROOY
 
Originally posted by SOCALRED:
<strong>My guess is SAF is truly pissed of at the shirts. I bet he has already threatened most of them with the door if things/performances don't improve quickly. He will be demanding a result in this game in a bid to get thinks back on track and he will name a team accordingly. Everyone's card has been truly marked so expect great performances from the following:-
BARTHEZ

G NEVILLE BLANC FERDINAND SILVESTRE

BECKHAM VERON SCHOLES GIGGS

SOLSKJEAR VAN NISTEROOY</strong><hr></blockquote>
It would be more like:
BARTHEZ

G NEVILLE BLANC FERDINAND SILVESTRE

BECKHAM VERON SCHOLES PHIL GIGGS

VAN NISTEROOY
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Based on Saturday, I'd pencil in Barthez, Scholes, Solsjkaer (and Becks) and fit the rest around them.

If we play a defensive anchor (and Neville's copped for a PL suspension soon) then why not O'Shea ? He only came on for a short spell on Saturday but at least appreciated that it was a derby game.
 
O'Shea in place of Ferdinand. I'd love to see Sir Alex take a hardline stance on some of our biggest earners, don't get me wrong i'm not focusing the blame on Rio but he needs to show that poor performances = exclusion, and there would be no better example than our biggest signings. Because, if he's not safe, then who is? And besides, dropping Veron would be too easy, plus he does well in Europe.

Barthez;
GNeville, Blanc, O'Shea, Silvestre;
Beckham, Veron, Scholes, Giggs;
Forlan, Solskjaer.

No point in risking Ruud either, he looked very weary against the massives. Bring him on around the hour mark though.
 
Barthez;
PNeville, Blanc, Ferdinand, Silvestre;
Beckham, O'Shea, Veron, Scholes, Fortune;
Ole.

I'd stick with Rio on the grounds of CL experience. I think he's the type of player that is always going to have a 'mare every 20th game, and when Anelka's hot there's not many that can handle him.

Subs: Giggs, RVN and Forlan to come off the bench if we need to increase the fire power.
 
Barthez

Neville O'Shea Ferdinand Silvestre

Beckham Scholes Forlan Giggs

Ruud Ole

OR

Barthez

Neville O'Shea Ferdinand Silvestre

Beckham Neville Scholes Forlan Giggs

Ruud
 
Just hope he goes all out and straight for the throat we need some big performances and the sooner the better.
BARTHEZ
G.NEVILLE O'SHEA FERDINAND SILVESTRE
BECKHAM SCHOLES VERON GIGGS
RUUD OLE

I would personally be tempted to give Giggs a game on the bench to get him angry of losing his first team spot.I am a big supporter of Giggs but cannot excuse his fluctuations in form.Richardson looks like a lively young lad give him a go and lets see what he can do.
 
Originally posted by Livvie20:
<strong>It's not meaningless.

We need to finish first to avoid the big European teams.</strong><hr></blockquote>
But finishing 2nd means we would pair up with the big guns of europe. Isn't that what you guys wanted?
:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
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Originally posted by arnie sidebottom:
<strong>Barthez;
PNeville, Blanc, Ferdinand, Silvestre;
Beckham, O'Shea, Veron, Scholes, Fortune;
Ole.</strong><hr></blockquote>That team looks good. However, I would be very interested to see how O'Shea does in midfield ala Johnsen. John is fast becoming our new Mr Dependable, though I hope SAF remembers his best position is CB, and not play him on the flanks just to accomodate Blanc/Rio. Why would you drop Gary?
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Originally posted by TOD:
<strong>
But finishing 2nd means we would pair up with the big guns of europe. Isn't that what you guys wanted?
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: </strong><hr></blockquote>


No. Where did you get that idea.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
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Originally posted by Livvie20:
<strong>


No. Where did you get that idea.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: </strong><hr></blockquote>

it is actually not a bad idea IMO, we need tough games to toughen up.. personally i wouldn't mind finishing 2nd. We need to get tough with our players and SAF to produce solid performances.. this is the best opportunity.
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Well the club has already said they want to avoid the big guns. SO there's your answer.
 
Originally posted by Livvie20:
<strong>Well the club has already said they want to avoid the big guns. SO there's your answer.</strong><hr></blockquote>

i know.. of coz they would.. the more definite we get to the quarters the better the chance we won't lose money this year.. the PLC are setting sights at the quarters to atleast note lose profits - but it certainly not a long sighted objective in terms of team spirits.

if we need to get tougher then i think we have to play the toughest.. even if we lose out in this second phase it will be a good lesson for the future. We need this IMO.
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Originally posted by Livvie20:
<strong>Well the club has already said they want to avoid the big guns. SO there's your answer.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Trouble is Livvie that we probably will end up in a group with a Spanish and Italian team, as probably all 8 will qualify. Should Real Madrid come second in their group, we could possibly end up in a group like this

AC Milan
Manchester United
Real Madrid
Dortmund

Even if we do win our group.
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personally if we beat the silly teams to get to the quarters then we'll be blinded and say we still don't have a problem..

we need to beat the best to still be called the best. I personally would love to see us get stuck with the likes of Real and AC Milan to prove ourselves worth champions - or even a worthy quater finalist.
 
Originally posted by WeasteDevil:
<strong>

Trouble is Livvie that we probably will end up in a group with a Spanish and Italian team, as probably all 8 will qualify. Should Real Madrid come second in their group, we could possibly end up in a group like this

AC Milan
Manchester United
Real Madrid
Dortmund

Even if we do win our group.</strong><hr></blockquote>

That would be fantastic! Juicy football with some fantastic games. The kind of action I want to see! UTD wouldn't have any choice but to turn up to the game. ;)
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its without a doubt going to be ;

barthez
g.neville - ferdinand - blanc - silvestre
beckham - veron - p.neville - giggs
scholes
van nistelrooy
 
Originally posted by WeasteDevil:
<strong>

Trouble is Livvie that we probably will end up in a group with a Spanish and Italian team, as probably all 8 will qualify. Should Real Madrid come second in their group, we could possibly end up in a group like this

AC Milan
Manchester United
Real Madrid
Dortmund

Even if we do win our group.</strong><hr></blockquote>

If next grouping for United looks anything like this, then they better play better because a performance mirroring Saturdays is not going to be allowed, I am sure. If it happens again ( don't think it will) then, well, I would not want to be SAF the next day.
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Fergie wud probably play his old favs in his fav 4-4-1-1 formation, but purely on basis of form & commitment, I feel it shud read like this :

Barthez
O'Shea Blanc Rio Silvestre

Beckham Scholes Veron Giggs

Ruud Ole
 
Originally posted by RUnited:
<strong>personally if we beat the silly teams to get to the quarters then we'll be blinded and say we still don't have a problem..

we need to beat the best to still be called the best. I personally would love to see us get stuck with the likes of Real and AC Milan to prove ourselves worth champions - or even a worthy quater finalist.</strong><hr></blockquote>
AGREED!
;)
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I hope fergie would start with this lineup

ricardo

Gneville oshea rio silvestre

Beckham Scholes Seba Giggs

Ruud Ole
 
Originally posted by jmanu:
<strong>I hope fergie would start with this lineup

ricardo

Gneville oshea rio silvestre

Beckham Scholes Seba Giggs

Ruud Ole</strong><hr></blockquote>

why the full team but with ricardo and not Barthez?
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Playing phil and veron together at the central midfield will be a disaster because both can't control the ball well and give away the ball easily. Both of them playing too deep lower field will make the striker lose supports and overload the defenders. This already happens in the City's game last Saturday. I really hope that Beckham can play he is the key man to United to form back the strong midfield with the absent of Keane. Veron should be the man to lead the midfield but I'm really dissapointed after seeing his performance last Saturday. He always did some unnecessary back pass or make a useless long pass to the front, why don't he use a bit of his skill to bring the ball to scholes, giggs or the strikers ? I'm a United fans that's not criticism to seba as all the other does, but keen to say that he's not giving all he had in the game and played like hell so far. <img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[No No]" />
 
Originally posted by kitgs11:
<strong> I'm a United fans that's not criticism to seba as all the other does, but keen to say that he's not giving all he had in the game and played like hell so far. <img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[No No]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>

hmm.. why contradict yourself? first you say you're not criticizing then you say he has played like hell..

well, he hasn't played like hell, he's done pretty good considering the many factors affecting our game - ranging from injuries to tactics to players playing out of position.

He's been one of the key men in Europe this seasons and if we're going to go far we will need his services.

Phil has also done very well considering that he's no god damn CM! we have no other CM available at the moment if you haven't realized. SAF will insist on 4-4-1-1 so you can forget Scholes pairing up with Veron in CM - never going to happen.

So cheer up! this is an average year for us, but it certainly isn't a disasterous one yet.
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Originally posted by kkcbl:
<strong>Fergie wud probably play his old favs in his fav 4-4-1-1 formation, but purely on basis of form & commitment, I feel it shud read like this :

Barthez
O'Shea Blanc Rio Silvestre

Beckham Scholes Veron Giggs

Ruud Ole</strong><hr></blockquote>

if the squad does come out looking like that and he insists on 4-4-1-1 again then we will most likely see Ole on the right side or on the left with either giggs or beckham pushing into the middle and scholes pushing forward into the hole.
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Originally posted by RUnited:
<strong>

why the full team but with ricardo and not Barthez?</strong><hr></blockquote>

I personally feel it will be a perfect opportunity to give him his OT debut. He was excellent in his last season in Spain and from the reports of his reserve team games,he seems to be a good keeper. In the Haifa match he was beaten by 2 superb shots and one pen. It's not a must win match, so it will be good to see how he performs. I think Barthez played well for us so far this season, but had a poor game against City.
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I would love to see O'Shea get a first team place over Rio. He played well at weekend, ok apart from his daft miss, but he was the only player on the pitch that played with any conviction and passion.
 
When is Wes back? If he was available I'd play him along with Rio in the middle, with O'Shea at rightback. But, as that is not the case, here's my pick:

--------------------- Ricardo ----------------------

--- GNev ------ Rio ---------- O'Shea ----- Silv ---

-- Beckham --- Scholes -------- Verón ----- Giggs --

--------------- RVN ---------- Forlan --------------

Sorry Ole, but I'd like to see how Forlan and RVN combine in this one! And you can come on and save us if necessary.
 
Originally posted by Neil Thomson:
<strong>Do you think Alex will drop anyone for the city defeat?</strong><hr></blockquote>

The trouble with dropping people is that there are few options regarding replacements. I think that only P Neville will go because of Saturday. Who else are you going to replace Gary with? Giggs can't be replaced, Verón can't be replaced and this is his stage anyway, I want O'Shea to have a good crack at the whip, Rio needs games, and I just want us to play the straight 4-4-2 tonight without Phil Neville in midfield.

And have a look at how Forlan's pace combines with RVNs strength.

Ricardo should get a go too, as he's a decent keeper. Let barthez have a rest!
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Originally posted by WeasteDevil:
<strong>

Trouble is Livvie that we probably will end up in a group with a Spanish and Italian team, as probably all 8 will qualify. Should Real Madrid come second in their group, we could possibly end up in a group like this

AC Milan
Manchester United
Real Madrid
Dortmund

Even if we do win our group.</strong><hr></blockquote>


I'd love it!
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Originally posted by WeasteDevil:
<strong>

The trouble with dropping people is that there are few options regarding replacements. I think that only P Neville will go because of Saturday. Who else are you going to replace Gary with? Giggs can't be replaced, Verón can't be replaced and this is his stage anyway, I want O'Shea to have a good crack at the whip, Rio needs games, and I just want us to play the straight 4-4-2 tonight without Phil Neville in midfield.

And have a look at how Forlan's pace combines with RVNs strength.

Ricardo should get a go too, as he's a decent keeper. Let barthez have a rest!</strong><hr></blockquote>
Maybe...
Ricardo
Gary O'Shea Rio Silvestre
Beckham Scholes Veron Fortune
Ruud Forlan
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Originally posted by WeasteDevil:
<strong>

Cant happen now though! :( </strong><hr></blockquote>

If we at least draw tonight, that is! ;)
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Originally posted by Neil Thomson:
<strong>
Maybe...
Ricardo
Gary O'Shea Rio Silvestre
Beckham Scholes Veron Fortune
Ruud Forlan</strong><hr></blockquote>

If you're going to play 442 then Ole instead of Forlan. The latter hangs too deep to give Ruud the support he needs. We know Ole is a natural goal scorer whereas I suspect Diego is going to be a scorer of (the occasional) great goal rather than a great goal scorer . Now where did I hear that before ? ! Besides provided SAF concurs with 442, which I don't think he does at all, why not start with Ole and Ruud ?
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