LIVE THREAD: Champion's League Edition! 9/14/2010
by CPC on Sep 14, 2010 6:26 PM BST
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Make The Busby Babe your base of operations for this afternoon's 'Battle of Britain.' Need an account? You can sign up here and join in!
Links, lineups and predictions after the jump!
PREVIEWS:
More links later as the match gets closer.
PROJECTED LINEUP: Van der Sar, Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand, O'Shea, Nani, Giggs, Fletcher, Valencia, Rooney, Berbatov
I think there are emotions run amok in this game...whether it's the locals who still take issue with Rangers last trip to Manchester or former SAF assistant Walter Smith returning to Old Trafford or the fact that SAF gets a chance to play not only the club he supported as a boy, but the club that he arguably had his greatest success as a player. For these reason alone, United would be clear favorites. Add to that the disparity in quality between the two sides and I think United should prevail.
With Rio returning and a (very) hard lesson learned at the weekend, I honestly don't think United will ever take the foot off the gas, espeically with this being the first match of the group phase. It'd be nice to set the tone for the other 5 games (as well as the immediate future in the league) by hanging 4 or 5 goals on them and getting away from the group on goal difference. Valencia are @Bursaspor tonight, so don't expect them to put a bunch of goals on the board. It'd be nice to look at Valencia and United both having 3 points, but United have a GD of +4 to Valencia's +1...makes a lot of difference in preperation for that showdown a fortnight from now in Spain.
I think Darren Fletcher gets the nod in this one, simply because he's the only Scot on the squad and as captain of the Scottish national team, he knows the Rangers players well. Antonio Valencia will be well rested after his (long) trip back from South America last week . Berbatov will get his chance to shine....while he still has plenty of detractors among United faithful, his supporters have long claimed a run of games is what his form needs to be as good as he was at Spurs. He's had his run...he's been quite impressive during it, too...now it's time to shine. I think either Scholes or Giggs will get the start opposite Fletcher in the central midfield. With the lineup, it should be pretty simple for SAF to move from the 4-4-2 to the 4-3-3 or other similar formations as he wants.
I'll get into this more in a future post, but I'm of Scotish blood...it's what I like about SAF and Fletcher...we're proud of our Scottish roots. But in Scotland, I'm a Hoops fan. And while I may not show them the support I show United, respect for the Old Firm dictates my hatred of all things Gers. I'm dead serious when I say my daughters middle name is "Alexis" after SAF....but I gotta go against his boyhood team.
This FanPost represents the view of the member who posts it and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Busby Babe or SB Nation.
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Sky Sports News
just reported that Tomasz Kuszczak will start and Chris Smalling will play some part in the match. They also confirmed that Rio and Rooney will both start. Still no full squad list yet, though
Hey thanks for keeping this place going
I took that loss over the weekend really hard. And I know it wasn’t a loss but it sure felt like it. If I think about that last 5 minutes right now it still makes me queasy. I am working on a couple of pieces that I hop to get up soon.
Hope today’s match goes better. I am at work but we have a TV here so I will catch as much as possible.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 14, 2010 6:49 PM BST reply actions
No problem
Stoppage time at Everton was probably my fault. I’d made that scoreboard graphic and uploaded it to tinypic already. I was almost done fixing it after Cahill’s goal when Arteta scored. At that point, I just shut down photoshop and waited.
United Lineup:
Shocking to say the least:
Kuszczak, Brown, Ferdinand, Smalling, Fabio, Valencia, Fletcher, Gibson, Park, Rooney
Subs: Van der Sar, Owen, Anderson, Giggs, O’Shea, Jonny Evans, Macheda
Crap, how did I leave out Hernandez
FINALLY!!! Buckle up, everyone…Hernandez and Rooney together is gonna be a fun ride…
Smalling and Fabio
getting a real chance here or is this just a wake up call to some of the other guys who didn’t perform on the weekend?
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 14, 2010 7:27 PM BST up reply actions
Smalling played really well for the U21s
so I’m sure his form has something to do with it, though I’m not sure what’s going on with Vidic. I have no clue why Fabio starts before Evra….and for that matter, where’s Nani?
Evra and Vida were world cup guys so maybe a rest for them after
a tough start to the season? Rangers is a team we should still be able to handle without them. Not sure about Nani other than Fergie likes the work rate of Park and Valencia in Champions League matches more?
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 14, 2010 7:33 PM BST up reply actions
Vida was doing the work of 1 1/2 people back there
I haven’t given up on Jonny Evans, but you’re right, Vidic could probably use the rest. Same with Evra.
Anderson on the bench
that’s good to see I still think he has the ability to be a United player. Would like to see him get 20 minutes tonight.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 14, 2010 7:31 PM BST up reply actions
Rangers Lineup:
McGregor, Broadfoot, Weir, Bougherra, Papac, Whittaker, Davis, McCulloch, Edu, Naismith, Miller
Subs: Alexander, Lafferty, Foster, Beattie, Weiss, Little, Hutton
Ref: Olegario Benquerenca from Portugal
Rangers whole strategy
has got to be to close down as quickly as possible in the middle to keep United from scoring…that’s pretty basic stuff. Really gotta exploit the wings and get quality crosses in. This long ball stuff from just ahead of midfield isn’t gonna work against a 4-5-1
Fabio's cross wasn't perfect
but Hernandez still managed to get a good head on that ball….a little better cross will see that ball into the back of the net.
Not quite the sharpness
I would like to see yet.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 14, 2010 8:01 PM BST reply actions
Fletcher nicked his ankle
no need to be cautioned…ref got that one right….Hernandez got ball before player just before that…ref got that one wrong…
That's a foul?
The guy ran his head right into the side of Wes Brown. If anything that was a foul against the Rangers man.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 14, 2010 8:16 PM BST reply actions
So then play on right
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 14, 2010 8:22 PM BST up reply actions
Gibson's second shot goes right to the keeper
impressive bend on the ball, despite only being a little bit off the ground
It's like we are letting them get back
we need to pick up the tempo in the second half. When they have the ball press them up the pitch and when we get it back release Hernandez quickly.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 14, 2010 8:24 PM BST reply actions
Andy Gray said something similar
he was saying United need to let Rangers get a little deeper offensively so we can stretch them on the counter attack. United just aren’t looking good when in possession of the ball for long stretches…they aren’t finding ways to unlock Rangers
Gotta be more creative
simply trying to work the ball into the middle of the box isn’t working…gotta get Rangers defense to have to move around some more. Maybe some 2nd half changes in the lineup will find some creativity….
Gibson's shot hits the camera mounted behind the goal
if it’s broken THAT’S COMING OUT OF YOUR WAGES!!!
good adjective
It’s really hard to get anything going when you’re playing against basically 9 or 10 in the box…
Sure
but Valencia and Park arn’t doing their job and hugging that touchline enough. And when we get it too them there isn’t enough quality
by Sweet science on Sep 14, 2010 9:00 PM BST up reply actions
Giggs coming on... Silver lining to every cloud?!
by Sweet science on Sep 14, 2010 9:01 PM BST up reply actions
hopefully he provides the spark United desprately need
See you in 2011, Valencia….hope you get healed quickly….
The way Andy Gray described it
it was probably more along the lines of a break, than a sprain/tweak/dislocation
They keep using words like tragic
I haven’t seen a replay but it sounds really bad. Eduardo was never the same after his break.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 14, 2010 9:05 PM BST up reply actions
It's playing again on FSC next if you really want to see it
Reyes, Thole, Wright, Beltran, Bay, Davis, Martinez, Tejada...
by Stephen Schmidt on Sep 14, 2010 9:09 PM BST up reply actions
hey 312
dunno if you watch American football, but look up Tim Crumrie in the Super Bowl in 1989….there’s been a couple since then too…USC running back had a nasty break a couple years ago..
Gibson shot from outside the box = Paul Scholes shot from outside the box
Gibson just needs to reign in his accuracy….WOW
Evans trying to give the ball away
Gibson got off a long shot that deflected out…late corner for United
Giggs to Hernandez’s head?
1 point for both squads
Rangers did what they had to do…United could never unlock their 9-in-the-box strategy…
After see the 4-0 scoreline in Turkey…this is gonna be one tough group.
I am not fucking happy
Liverpool better get fucked over on sunday!
by Sweet science on Sep 14, 2010 9:40 PM BST reply actions 1 recs
Pitiful. Color me stunned if we come away with a single trophy this season.
Oh, and lovely team selection, Fergie.
"My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder." -Zinedine Zidane
"If City play a game against United for 89 minutes, maybe they’ll have a chance." -King Eric Cantona
10 changes
We should have had a much stronger bench if we were gunna make the changes. Scholes and Berba a must
by Sweet science on Sep 14, 2010 9:42 PM BST up reply actions
Way way way too early
to make that judgment. And Fergie changes his team pretty much every week. He had an eye on Liverpool on the weekend and we still should have beaten Rangers. The team selection isn’t the reason we didn’t score.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 15, 2010 12:03 AM BST up reply actions
There is no single reason that we didn’t score, but the team selection was certainly one of the reasons. That match was absolutely begging for the likes of Nani and Scholes… We didn’t show an ounce of creativity.
"My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder." -Zinedine Zidane
"If City play a game against United for 89 minutes, maybe they’ll have a chance." -King Eric Cantona
by Useful_Idiot on Sep 16, 2010 8:23 AM BST up reply actions
And Berbatov, by the way. Forgot to add him
"My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder." -Zinedine Zidane
"If City play a game against United for 89 minutes, maybe they’ll have a chance." -King Eric Cantona
by Useful_Idiot on Sep 16, 2010 8:24 AM BST up reply actions
Team selection had nothing
to do with why we didn’t score. Unless you can prove conclusively that we would have scored with a different lineup out there.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 16, 2010 10:06 PM BST up reply actions
Okay.
So if we throw the reserve squad out there for the rest of the season, are you gonna tell me that’s fine because I can’t prove that we would’ve played better with the first team?
In case you weren’t aware, you can’t prove anything in hindsight. But it’s not exactly going out on a limb to make an argument that Scholes is better than Gibson, Berbatov is better than Hernandez, and Nani is better than Park (particularly against teams that park the bus in front of the goal for 90 minutes).
"My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder." -Zinedine Zidane
"If City play a game against United for 89 minutes, maybe they’ll have a chance." -King Eric Cantona
by Useful_Idiot on Sep 16, 2010 10:19 PM BST up reply actions
Just because you put out better
players doesn’t guarantee they play better or a better result. The greatest manager in the history of English football thought that was the best team to take on Rangers and to keep the squad fresh and ready for Liverpool. If he thought that then he was probably right. The players on the field didn’t get the job done. That’s not a team selection issue. That’s a Rooney not being in form issue more than anything.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 17, 2010 12:17 AM BST up reply actions
I guess you didn’t read my post. Any 10 year old knows that you can’t prove anything in hindsight. If there was a formula that guaranteed a win (or even a goal, for that matter), this game would be very, very boring… And not even worth discussing.
But Fergie put a second rate team on the pitch thinking it would be enough to beat Rangers. He was wrong. By his own admission, the team would’ve benefited from Berbatov’s presence.
"My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder." -Zinedine Zidane
"If City play a game against United for 89 minutes, maybe they’ll have a chance." -King Eric Cantona
by Useful_Idiot on Sep 17, 2010 4:42 AM BST up reply actions
There is n osuch thing as a second rate team at United
Hernandez, Rooney, Fletcher, Valencia, Park, Fredinand. I mean we have a squad for a reason and he used it. The players on the pitch didn’t do the job. You can’t blame the manager. Blame the players both for us and for Rangers.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 19, 2010 4:37 AM BST up reply actions
Was pretty pleased with Smalling though. I missed the first 25 odd minutes but from then on he didn’t look out of place
Yeah, he was never really challenged though
it seemed to me like they were working United’s left side a little more…I didn’t seem to notice much out of Brown or Smalling, but neither detracted from the team any. The few times Smalling was in possession, he seemed to have a good presence over the ball.
It looked like
Fergie cared a lot more about the EPL result this weekend than this one. If he really had wanted to win, he would’ve put on Nani, Berba or Scholes instead of Evans and Owen. Horrible, uninspired play but hopefully they turn it around over the weekend and we top the group anyway so no harm done.
Nani, Berba and Scholes
were all being rested for the weekend. They weren’t on the bench.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Sep 15, 2010 12:52 AM BST up reply actions
It's a pretty weak group on the whole, they really should be able to rest the main guys some during group play
I really think Fergie is more focused on staying in touch with Chelsea and Arsenal at this point than dominating the group.
Reyes, Thole, Wright, Beltran, Bay, Davis, Martinez, Tejada...
by Stephen Schmidt on Sep 15, 2010 2:00 AM BST up reply actions
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