[haggler]

just watched the build up and game . listened on radio last night as at work .

hargreaves had an absolute shocker . he was all over pitch like a headless chicken first half and at fault for benzema goal then spent rest of time passing to lyon or generally getting in the way .

andersons performance was much better than has been made out and i must say for the second game running nani looked good . still say he has a hell of a way to go but maybe i have missed something others are seeing in him .

nemanja had a great game as usual but hargreaves kept getting in way of attempted quick breaks out from the back .

trust me on this hargreaves cant play in a 4-5-1 with anderson or any other ball winner alongside .

i wouldnt play him again this year unless desperate .

[United_OG]

Originally Posted by Jazz 16

I felt we were a bit off the boil though a score draw away from home is a good result.
Ronnie didnt seem interested in even closing people down or trying to make space. Himself and Giggs came infield a lot which meant we had no width which was disappointing. Im still worried about Rooney though....I believe we need him in the team but he continues to miss chances and play poorly. Apart from the Arsenal game I cant remember the last time he had a great match (it was THAT long ago). He should have scored in the first half and messed up Tevez' chance. He needs to do a lot better.

I was disappointed with pretty much the entire midfield.
Anderson looked tired, Hargo wasnt at the races. Giggs and Scholes seemed off colour as well. The defence were grand. They took care of most things. The Benzema goal was quality and only a half chance.

Im pretty sick of people saying we should ditch Giggs and Scholes.
They are club legends who deserve a bit of respect. We can analyse and criticise their performances but saying they should hang up their boots and that they are a liability is a disgrace. Some of you seem to have forgotten what these 2 have done for the club. Scholes is still getting his match fitness back so give him time.
Giggs hasnt been at his best this season it has to be said, but the man deserves our respect and gratitude.

All in all it was a decent result and we should be able to do the business at home.
lets hope so anyway.

i agree with everything that was said in this post. The truth, end of,lol.

Seriously Nani looks like a great prospect but when ronaldo came atleast 2 years younger than him he looked an even better prospect and he is not in the same bracket potential wise as ronaldo but like carlos queirez said, if he gets to half of ronaldos ability, everyone will be happy. Also i agree with versa that he should be starting more games along with anderson (who possibly looks an even better prospect than nani) BUT they cannot be relied on week in week out because they are soo young and in there first year in the premier league. Also young players if played too much suffer from burnout very easily, they become less effective so i believe fergie knows what he is doing. Giggs and Scholes still have a part to play in this season, maybe next season they will become bit part players but they deserve respect for everything they have achieved and on there days are still great players. I still say we start with Nani and anderson but there is nothing wrong with playing the likes of scholes in CL matches where anderson is still very new to and is still learning the ropes of that style of play which is very different to the premier league.

Anyway i have high hopes for both players and i believe nani and anderson are the today and tomorrow of this club BUT giggs and scholes are the yesterday, today and tomorrow of this club because they represent what united are all about and will forever be legends in uniteds history.

I think next season and possibly from now till the end of the season we will start to slowly see more and more of the younger lads and giggs and scholes may slowly start to play less games but they are still needed, they can still change games now and again.

As for rooney and ronaldo, i hope ronaldo is not carrying any niggling knocks or saving energy now for the euro championships and as for rooney, we havent seen much of him at all this season but i hope we get the best of him now because we need him, ronaldo has had a poor february and its time for the other lad to shine. We cannot always expect ronaldo to score all the goals and win us matches all the time.

[conor myles]

It was a brilliant game great result we propably should of wining with all the posesion we had we really controlled the game the away goal was crucial we will do the business at old trafford in a fortnight

[versa]

Originally Posted by United_OG

Seriously Nani looks like a great prospect but when ronaldo came atleast 2 years younger than him he looked an even better prospect and he is not in the same bracket potential wise as ronaldo but like carlos queirez said, if he gets to half of ronaldos ability, everyone will be happy. Also i agree with versa that he should be starting more games along with anderson (who possibly looks an even better prospect than nani) BUT they cannot be relied on week in week out because they are soo young and in there first year in the premier league. Also young players if played too much suffer from burnout very easily, they become less effective so i believe fergie knows what he is doing. Giggs and Scholes still have a part to play in this season, maybe next season they will become bit part players but they deserve respect for everything they have achieved and on there days are still great players. I still say we start with Nani and anderson but there is nothing wrong with playing the likes of scholes in CL matches where anderson is still very new to and is still learning the ropes of that style of play which is very different to the premier league.

Anyway i have high hopes for both players and i believe nani and anderson are the today and tomorrow of this club BUT giggs and scholes are the yesterday, today and tomorrow of this club because they represent what united are all about and will forever be legends in uniteds history.

I think next season and possibly from now till the end of the season we will start to slowly see more and more of the younger lads and giggs and scholes may slowly start to play less games but they are still needed, they can still change games now and again.

I largely agree with you. The whole point in contention is we should be playing Nani and Anderson more often than not, but not as much as in risking a burnout or to derail their performances. Perhaps what we need is just a wee little bit more trust and faith for them to run the show from the onset, and I am sure we can all count on Fergie to strike the necessary balance. But putting Giggs and Scholes in the First XI as a given is a no-no and definitely DOES NOT qualify on merits as we are witnessing. Afterall, they can still come in from the bench if the younger players can't cope or when experience is called for or just simply a change of tactics. That is all.

[CROoney]

Originally Posted by Jazz 16

I felt we were a bit off the boil though a score draw away from home is a good result.
Ronnie didnt seem interested in even closing people down or trying to make space. Himself and Giggs came infield a lot which meant we had no width which was disappointing. Im still worried about Rooney though....I believe we need him in the team but he continues to miss chances and play poorly. Apart from the Arsenal game I cant remember the last time he had a great match (it was THAT long ago). He should have scored in the first half and messed up Tevez' chance. He needs to do a lot better.

I was disappointed with pretty much the entire midfield.
Anderson looked tired, Hargo wasnt at the races. Giggs and Scholes seemed off colour as well. The defence were grand. They took care of most things. The Benzema goal was quality and only a half chance.

Im pretty sick of people saying we should ditch Giggs and Scholes.
They are club legends who deserve a bit of respect. We can analyse and criticise their performances but saying they should hang up their boots and that they are a liability is a disgrace. Some of you seem to have forgotten what these 2 have done for the club. Scholes is still getting his match fitness back so give him time.
Giggs hasnt been at his best this season it has to be said, but the man deserves our respect and gratitude.

All in all it was a decent result and we should be able to do the business at home.
lets hope so anyway.

I can't entirely agree... They had a plan of his own , Lyon... Up to the goal I thought we controlled the game pretty much . We were doing excactly what I had been hoping we'd do... Pressing them on their own half. They didn't have any clear cut chances. Ronaldo played it simple. I think we're expecting too much from him. Look at Kaka - he's officialy the best player of the world but he wasn't sparkling at Emirates too( in fact-he hasn't been since May ). And to be honest on Giggs and Scholes. I'm not the one who thinks we should ditch them - I just think that maybe in some matches ( 60 % of them ) they could be used as subs. Giggs had some great through passes that I missed in Lyon match ( to Rooney and Evra )

Originally Posted by mufcpavlos

i was about to start this "report" by saying some good things but i changed my mind on the 54th minute when for once again brown proved me and as i hope the manager that he is not able at all to handle matches in europe like this. and because there's nothing correct until you prove it i'll try to give you some "football lessons" (i dont make myself a football teacher but i know something about football as i play in championships for 11years). i have to say that brown was bad but there have been worse and i'll analyze them below.
firstly, united played a not so often formation and i mean the 4-5-1 sheme.this means that the job in midfield is divided. ronaldo on the left flank and giggs on the right. as ronaldo is made to take the ball and create his space in midfield and score this time he didnt have the chances because the midfield and the upwards were full of players, united's and lyon's players. also he had 2-3 defenders always to take care of him and take the ball away from him!so ronaldo was just "one person" in the match and not "THE person". giggs showed that even if he is 34 years old, his skills became experience and that he is a great great footballer. well, that was in the first half!the second half found him a little bit tired because of this pace the game had and SAF substituted nani instead of giggs! united is made to play 4-4-2 because we have great wingers and a great left back who can run over and over in the left flank!and if you want me to make it more clear i'd say that when a team play a 4-5-1 sheme they definetelly go for a draw or NOT to lose!you play this formation only if you are the small team and you have to get just a point to qualify/win/whatever! and also you play 4-5-1 when you want your left-right back to press until the mid line and behind and when you want your wingers just wait for the ball in the mid line to run up front!
that's all for the match generally. and now i'll speak for each united player exclusively!

1)VDS : he is a world class GK. he managed to clear every chance lyon had!he has absolutelly no responsibility for the goal he consided! i'll mark him with an 8!
3)evra : he was a solid rock in the left flank and he also tried to create the space for chances but the formation didnt help him!8 for him too!
4)owen : although he had a vision and he marked pretty well his pass completion was awful. in the second half i totally missed him. maybe 7 for him.
5)ferdinand : 6 for him because he almost scored an own goal in an empty space!he actioned like a child!he also missed some headers and he didnt stop Benzema in the scoring chance!
6)brown : everything was absolutelly well for him.....until 54th minute. and i dont know what to say?do i have to thank lyon to showing us that this guy isn't made for this football level or should i blame brown for that tackle he made in nowhere ? 6 for him coz he had his good moments in the first half!also what a stupid guy he is!he tried to cheat lyon when tried to play the ball quickly with giggs' back!only if you noticed giggs eye after that guff!
7)ronaldo : yeah what a great free kick against portsmouth!!!ok sit on the bench for the CL games now and we'll call you for the derby match! i'm starting thinking that kaka is better! except the 2 free kicks that Coupet blocked he didnt do anything!!!6 for him!
8)anderson : i like that kid! he is very concetrated and fights very well in the midfield!keep the good working!7
10)rooney : 7 for him too!he should have done a step less and shoot the ball! come on you are WAYNE ROONEY! shoot the ball!
11)giggs : fantastic game in he first half! lots of passes but we missed the goal!7 for him!
15)vidic : did absolutelly great! he was the king in the defence!he cleared every ball inside the box!toughpower!!!! 8!
16)carrick : played for almost 20mins!not so many things to show, his pass completion was not so good and he had a chance to score! 7
17)nani : he is working, he's getting better and better he was tonight's MVP and he's on a good performances period!he also assisted tevez for the goal!if i were fergie i should start nani instead of ronnie!8
18)scholes : far away from his old good performances!many mistakes in passes. 7
32)tevez : he is getting better and better in every game and becomes a lethal weapon for united!he should have start in a 4-4-2 sheme!he took the ball he kept it he passed well, he created the needed space, he did a chance and he scored a late equalizer!!!he is surely a 9 points performance!

well as you see Lyon wasnt a tough rival for united!united's performance was the rival tonight and we must overcome this terrific game and play to win in 2nd leg!but i'm not afraid!i believe we'll qualify!but in order to play big games in europe you must have an average of 8 points AT LEAST! and tonight we hardly had players over 7!our key players were really bad!

You almost share my opinion on everyone !!! Especially Brown in general ! Only - I think Kaka is THE best player in the world ... As our coach Bilic said - I rate 10 players in the world as THE BEST on their day - He calls them Jumbo-jets. He said: when ronaldo, messi, kaka, drogba,ronaldinho, eto'o,robinho etc have their own day - they're the best in the world. It's a matter of form really

[Silverbirch]

So no1 is allowed a bad game then haggler?? Hargreaves has had no bad games this season, remind me again what his role is? He does it better than any player at the club/europe. If u disagree ask yourself the same question about the welshman (lazy ****),what does he contribute? I f well atook your basis of opinion Giggs would have got to Maine Road in 1994 if that.

[Red Devil]

Why argue? It was a good game, we were in control up to a point, their goal was a flash of inspiration against the run of play and we got a deserved point. Could have been worse.