Cleverley to Wigan
I mentioned this when the rumor first surfaced but I like Wigan as a destination for Tom. It's a Premier League team so he should get some time on the pitch against top quality opposition and Roberto Martinez encourages his teams to get the ball down and pass it and I think that will help Cleverley develop as a player.
There is also a lot of rumors about a bid for Jack Rodwell floating around. I hate rumors and I hate acknowledging them but I love Rodwell and I want him at United.
A Monday morning poll question
by Section 312 on Aug 30, 2010 6:57 PM BST
14 comments
Well another win in the bag against a weak opponent in West Ham has United right in Chelsea's slipstream where we like to be. SAF always seems to favor being just on the shoulder of the leaders and then at the start of the new year United kick it into gear. So far so good as far as United are concerned. Would we have liked to have gotten 3 points against Fulham? Obviously. And we should have gotten them. But other teams will drop points to Fulham this season so it could have been worse.
I thought in light of the fact that we are 3 games into the new season I would get a feel for what you have liked so far about United. What you are most encouraged about. So a poll question is in order.
Manchester United vs West Ham Game Thread
by Section 312 on Aug 28, 2010 3:00 PM BST
44 comments
United host West Ham and need to score some goals. No one needs goals more so than Wayne Rooney. Here's hoping United run riot.
Game Thread On.........
Fergie protects his Bebe and West Ham preview
by Section 312 on Aug 27, 2010 7:09 PM BST
3 comments
I thought I would start with a classic example of why Sir Alex is one of the top managers in the history of the game. The man is just an absolute genius when it comes to man managing and his reaction to the reports surrounding Bebe were pitch perfect. This is why the players at this club perform to such a high level so often. Even if the reports were true by coming out strongly in support of the young player Fergie has shown Bebe that he is at a club where the manager will protect him. I mean honestly at this point who could this young man not give everything he possibly has on the pitch to try to thank Fergie. The other players see this as well and most of them have experienced it. It's very rare when Fergie gets this sort of situation wrong. He supports them when they need it and kicks them up the back side when they need it. It worked with Nani and I am hoping this season we will see the results with Anderson as well.
So on to the West Ham match this weekend. A match that we should win. A match that we need to score some goals in as well. But the thing with West Ham is that they really get up for United. We are their cup final as the old expression goes. We at Old Trafford though which helps so long as the fans don't get too anxious too early. West Ham used to be a bit of a bogey side for United including an embarrassing FA Cup defeat some years back when Paolo Di Canio made Barthez look a little foolish.But recent results really favor United. With 5 straight wins and only one goal allowed in that time. West Ham are also coming into the match in really bad form. So what does that all add up to? Probably a nail biting one-nil United win. Ideally a 3 or 4 nil victory and a goal for Rooney.
West Ham look set to go with a 5 man midfield and a lone striker and will most likely play defensively forcing United to break them down. It also appears as though Paul Scholes, our chief midfield breaker downer, could be rested with Ryan Giggs drawing into the game from the start. Rooney looks set to partner Berba up front. For West Ham the key men will be Parker and Noble two very good players in the middle of the park. If they can keep the battle in the middle of the park fairly even it will give West Ham an outlet for some attacks. If not? West Ham will spend most of the match defending in their own half.
Any predictions? I am going to say 3-0 with two for Rooney and one for Berba.
Champions League draw pool
by Section 312 on Aug 25, 2010 11:14 PM BST
15 comments
OK so based on leghumpingjihadkiller's fanpost about the Champions League draw I figured we should do a pool. Guess the teams that United will face in the Champions League correctly to win a prize. I will provide the winner with a vintage Manchester United kit.
So it's simple. Pick the three teams that will face United in the Champions league group stage and you can win. This will be first come first served. So if someone already picked the teams you wanted tough luck.
UEFA has a page up in case you need a refresher on the rules for the draw.
Mourinho shows Wenger how to be classy.....
by Section 312 on Aug 25, 2010 8:42 PM BST
7 comments
The Special one shows the Voyeur how to show the proper respect for a true footballing great.
Mourinho told the Telegraph: "Scholes? Fantastic. For me, why isn't he playing for England. It is crazy. Only in England. Scholes is a great, great player So experienced and still, for me, one of the best in the world in midfield. Manchester United are lucky to have him."
Also on United and Liverpool Mourinho had interesting comments.
"Manchester United would be a great challenge for me. But Liverpool is not the club for me. I know why, but I cannot tell you."
7 comments | 1 recs |
A quick thank you
by Section 312 on Aug 23, 2010 5:53 PM BST
8 comments
First of all a big thanks to Scott K. for posting a game thread this weekend. My father is in town visiting and since I only see him 3 or 4 times a year and we very rarely get to watch a match together anymore I decided I would rather enjoy the game with him rather than blogging. I was also playing in a city championships tournament this weekend and with 4 games over the two days wasn't home much. So thank you Scott I owe you one.
Also, a big thanks to leghumpingjihadkiller for putting together his fanposts about recent United news. I am loving them and I hope you continue to post them. You guys are helping to make this blog a better place and the more you guys get involved the better this blog will be. And of course the less I will have to do. Everyone wins.
On the match this weekend. Ugh. I don't know what to say. It should have been all three points and I am very bitter about the way the match ended. It's easy to say now in hindsight but Ryan Giggs needs to take that spot kick. And Johnny Evans needs to be better. But in light of what happened against Burnley last season early in the year and what happened away to Fulham last season I am trying to frame this draw in a positive light. I guess as a Chicago Cubs fan I am an eternal optomist.
So today Liverpool continue their difficult opening to the season with a match against the other team I loathe the most. What do you want to happen tonight/this afternoon when Pool take on City. I am thinking nil-nil draw with both team picking up numerous injuries and red cards would be nice.
Arsene Wenger tosser or wally?
by Section 312 on Aug 21, 2010 12:21 AM BST
53 comments
You might not have seen the recent comments from Arsene Wenger when asked about Paul Scholes. So I will fill you in. Here is a link to the entire article in the Telegraph. And here is the main quote I have a problem with.
You ask me was Scholes a fair player: I say no,” said Wenger. “I’m sorry, for me he was not a fair player. There’s a little bit of a darker side in him, sometimes, that I did not like. I respect him highly as a quality player but I did not like some things he did on the football pitch and I have the right to say that. It’s not because you are older suddenly that you are a saint. “The regret I have personally is he was not always the fairest player.
First of all Wenger's complaints about guys like Fletcher have gotten old. We get it Arsene. You want your players to be able to run around and pass in beautiful triangles without being touched. Well guess what? Too f*ucking bad. Football is a man's game and tackling is as much a part of the game as passing and shooting. If you had a Darren Fletcher at the heart of your midfield you may have won a title in recent memory. I mean seriously Arsene. Get a grip. Tackling and defending isn't 'anti-football' IT IS FOOTBALL!!!! As much as attacking and scoring are.
Secondly Arsene, you used to be the boss in charge of the dirtiest team in the Premier League since Billy Bremner strapped on the boots for Leeds. How many red cards did the teams with Henry and Viera pick up? Yellow cards? More than any other team in the league is how many. By a large margin. So what? Now that your team is spineless and can't hold onto a title challenge once the weather turns cold you have realized the error of your ways? Nope. You are just a hypocrite.
Seriously. This is Paul f*cking Scholes. Paul Scholes!!!! He is the worst tackler in the league. And you could maybe argue he knows what he is doing. But calling Paul Scholes dirty? Or 'unfair' which is the word you used cause you are too much of a coward to say what you mean? That's ludicrous. Roy Keane Paul Scholes is not.
I mean no one asked you if he was fair. You were asked to talk about how great he is. How wonderful he has been as a player for so many years and how professional he has been to stay in top form all these years. If SAF was asked to talk about how great Viera was do you think he would go straight to the dirty player card? Probably not.Sure you went on to say nice things about Scholes as a player but sorry it's too late at that point.
Oh and sorry Telegraph hacks. The stats don't support Wenger. Scholes has been booked 81 times, 5th most in Premier League history, but he has also made over 400 league appearances. He has been booked at a rate of once every 5th match. Patrick Viera was red carded 8 times, twice as many as Scholes and he did it in just 259 appearances. Lee Bowyer has been yellow carded more than anyone in the history of the Premier League with 94 and he has done that in just 365 league appearances. Scholes isn't anywhere close to as 'unfair' as those two players. Or others like Keane, Michael Brown or Robbie Savage.
Paul Scholes is a class act on and off the pitch who is widely celebrated for his professionalism and ability and rightly so. Arsene Wenger is a has been manager who can't win trophies anymore and has always had an inferiority complex about United and our players. So I ask is he a tosser or a wally?
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