[United_OG]

I dont know about you but i thought the idea of having O'shea playin in Centre back was worrying from the start, same with wes brown and in pique we had a ready made replacement for centre defence....maybe fergie has no faith in him? everytime i see him play he looks good to me but for fergie to pick a utility player from the start over someone who is a natural at centre back was strange to me...especially for fergie to do since a younger fergie would not have worried about who is more experienced.

Also he played both scholes and giggs in the same team with 2 front men....i think he can only afford to play one of the two ageing legends because they seem slow at times and scholes was totally off the pace at boro...giggs was shocking aswell. I think hargo or anderson would have been perfect for that match because they both play with energy and boro are always up for a game against united because of history between the teams and players and try an extra 20% harder against us. I dunno maybe i'm being too harsh on the lads but i thought it was poor team selection.

By the way did anyone else see two different rooneys on the pitch in the game? Because the first one for about 60-70 minutes was absolutely shocking who looked to be playing with a hangover and then after he got into a little scuffle with a boro defender it just totally woke him up and then with that little anger and determination it looked like a new rooney was on the pitch. I hope he plays like that from the start in the next match because the boro match for large chunks seemed like if ronaldo was not going to score or do something special we would be getting nothing out of the game. The others need to start banging them in more often too, including centre midfielders because there is way too much pressure on ronaldo to consistantly perform or score for us to win at the moment imo.

pz

 

[reddwarf]

Anderson is starting to look tired this season and I think he was in need of a rest. The Giggs-Scholes-Carrick-Ronaldo midfield is the one that won us the Premiership last season and, although Giggs has not been at his best, Scholes had been finding some good form recently.

I thought the team we put out looked very strong but O'Shea at centre-back was a concern. Tbf to Fergie he switched O'Shea to right-back and moved Brown into the centre and when this didn't work he brought on Hargreaves for O'Shea so he realised there was a problem.

I think Pique surprised Fergie with his assured display after coming on for Rio. He described him as 'terrific' after the game and I can't remember him descibing too many players like that over the years.

 

[jd_united]

The Giggs-Scholes-Carrick-Ronaldo midfield is the one that won us the Premiership last season and, although Giggs has not been at his best, Scholes had been finding some good form recently.

That was exactly the point I was going to make.

Scholes has been a bit in and out of form in recent weeks and Giggsy hasn't really looked himself as of late. Ronaldo and Carrick on the other hand are currently in good form I think. Obviously Ronaldo is having a great season, but Michael Carrick has really started to show what he can do as of late. He has been showing signs of what we knew he was capeable of, but hadn't really hit at United with the exception of a few games, e.g. Roma 7-1.

Overall I wasn't too suprised with the team. I thought we had enough in our locker to beat 'Boro. I thought Wes might have played CB and Johnny fill in at RB, but SAF must have not wanted to disrupt Wes Brown's game as he has had a great season at RB.

 

[ManUtd08]

no it great

 

[Fergaiste]

I dont know about you but i thought the idea of having O'shea playin in Centre back was worrying from the start, same with wes brown and in pique we had a ready made replacement for centre defence....maybe fergie has no faith in him? everytime i see him play he looks good to me but for fergie to pick a utility player from the start over someone who is a natural at centre back was strange to me...especially for fergie to do since a younger fergie would not have worried about who is more experienced.

Also he played both scholes and giggs in the same team with 2 front men....i think he can only afford to play one of the two ageing legends because they seem slow at times and scholes was totally off the pace at boro...giggs was shocking aswell. I think hargo or anderson would have been perfect for that match because they both play with energy and boro are always up for a game against united because of history between the teams and players and try an extra 20% harder against us. I dunno maybe i'm being too harsh on the lads but i thought it was poor team selection.

By the way did anyone else see two different rooneys on the pitch in the game? Because the first one for about 60-70 minutes was absolutely shocking who looked to be playing with a hangover and then after he got into a little scuffle with a boro defender it just totally woke him up and then with that little anger and determination it looked like a new rooney was on the pitch. I hope he plays like that from the start in the next match because the boro match for large chunks seemed like if ronaldo was not going to score or do something special we would be getting nothing out of the game. The others need to start banging them in more often too, including centre midfielders because there is way too much pressure on ronaldo to consistantly perform or score for us to win at the moment imo.

pz

i agree up to a point. Yes the team selection was iffy and o'Shea has proven time nd time again he is not a top class centre half and at best he is a decent full back where his lack of concentration and positional sense cant be exposed as much. Pique as was shown tonight is reliable and steady and rrady to step up to playing at this level on a regualr basis.

aS for Giggs selection i just cant fathom it. He has been consistently poor all season and no way should he have been selected ahead of park who when he came on changed the game.

Where I disagree once again is regarding Rooney.its just beyond belief that you described his perforamcne for 70 mins as shocking. I thought he was excellent over the 90 minutes. I think you are blinded just because he is not scoring at the rate Ronaldo is he is therefore not contributing . In the same way that Ronaldo in the big games may score but his overall contribution just doesnt compare to Rooney's. cristiano though was also outstanding against Boro and is showing greater maturity to his play every time I watch him.

 

[United_OG]

i dunno i thought he looked pretty shattered against boro and was very ineffective (roon) and then he got into an arguement with a boro defender and it was like his game went up 2-3 levels. By the way lets not make this into a ronaldo vs rooney thread, i was just giving my 2 cents.

I just thought the team was relying on ronaldo wayyy to much in the boro match. Tevez needs to pass the ball to rooney and ronaldo more often when they are in space. Ronaldo and rooney for all the shots they take, if there is a player in a better position and they don't think they will be hitting the target usually pass the ball, tevez often takes one too many touches. Again nothing serious against tevez because its great having all three and they all score important goals, just i think rooney and ronaldo are great on the counter attack, tevez needs to get in tune with that abit more imo.

pz

 

[Fergaiste]

i dunno i thought he looked pretty shattered against boro and was very ineffective (roon) and then he got into an arguement with a boro defender and it was like his game went up 2-3 levels. By the way lets not make this into a ronaldo vs rooney thread, i was just giving my 2 cents.

I just thought the team was relying on ronaldo wayyy to much in the boro match. Tevez needs to pass the ball to rooney and ronaldo more often when they are in space. Ronaldo and rooney for all the shots they take, if there is a player in a better position and they don't think they will be hitting the target usually pass the ball, tevez often takes one too many touches. Again nothing serious against tevez because its great having all three and they all score important goals, just i think rooney and ronaldo are great on the counter attack, tevez needs to get in tune with that abit more imo.

pz

yeah i think tevez is still not the finished article as a Man united player. Can be a bit frustrating when he loses possession.however where he makes for that in spades is his attitude. He chases down defenders better than rooney or Alan smith which is saying something.I thought he scored a terrific goal last night and in my view he scores the ugly goals better than anyone in the current united team. He seems to have that knack of getting in the rights position in the 6 yard box eg against Liverpool,spurs, Lyon -all big games aswell. I think his finishing still needs fine tuning but i believe he will be even better next season with a full pre season rather than the protracted transfer summer nonsense he had to endure and the fact he was thrown right into the team with Saha and Rooney injured for the first few games.

Room for improvement definitely which is great news for us reds

 

[scott 4 evra]

ye i agree with most of that. at the time i though because of o shea's experience, that he should get the nod over pique. i was wrong and i think sir alex knows now. i'm more impressed each time i see pique play and i'd stick him in v arsenal.

Regarding, scholes and giggs, in the same team I think your right. You could see the difference, for example against spurs away we had no penetration. when they went off for anderson and carrick, we looked far more threatening.

I know giggs and scholes are getting on a bit but they really should contribute a few more goals. Also, carrick and hargreaves need to help out. Ronaldo has nearly carried us this season when it comes to important goals. Tevez has got a few important ones also.