The Official Manchester United Thread [2006/2007]

[Help?]

Reaching the semi-final was nice anyways. We still can't seem to take that big step forward after 1999, but at least we returned to the usual, "1 step away from the final" United. Unlike, the one we saw in the last 3 years, that couldn't even get into the quater-finals.

Milan outplayed us and totally deserved it. The referee was totally on the Milan side, he did call anything for us and when he called something, it was when we should have had the advantage play called on us. So yeah, the referee didn't help one bit, but in all fairness, Gattuso destroyed our midfield. 4-5-1 is not our tactic and Gattuso just killed it off. One player, i wish we either had or nobody else out there had.

 

[MikeyM]

I really hope we get the other two trophies though, I just got a nagging feeling that we might have a Milan hangover and get done on Saturday. Please God I couldn't stand it if we blew it now.


Mike

 

[april__29]

we should bounce back for saturday i mean we'll have vidic back, 90 mins of footy got to be good, evra will be back as not suspended, rio should be back so thats good. plus citeh aint scroed for what 11+ hours this season, i mena for ****s ake they got turned over by a poor villa side. best case will be a win for us on saturday and a victory for the gooners to give us the title

 

[Help?]

Nah, we won't. City hasn't scored at home since New Year and i don't see them starting now.


Milan were just much fresher than us and all the games the players were involved in, took its toll today. Milan have been resting more than half their starters for the last two weekends, while we had very tough games at boro and Everton. It showed today, that nobody could just pick it up. Shame we are not in the final, but that's the price we had to pay to be where we are in EPL. Its no surprise that both Liverpool and Milan stopped competing for a title long time ago. They were both fresher than their opponents and as a result are in the final.

But next year, we'll be back stronger and better. This team is just starting and after this year, you feel like we are finally beginning to go uphill again, after 7 long years of downhill from 1999. United is finally strengthening its position in europe, rather than living on the past reputation. This squad is young and only 3 players are really aging and will need replacement in the near future, the rest can still go on for years.

Time to focus on the domestic double now, seal the EPL and have a final showdown with Chelsea. Shame, we are not in the CL final, but its still a finale to remember.

 

[Moreira_Benfica]

no affence i mean this in a good way, but for the squad you guys got you guys went far, you guys got a great starting 11 but you guys lack the depth as you could tell in this game with the fatigue and such things, man u should be proud with what they did

 

[d3adly]

^ yah, well said. not great of a squad, but still went to the semis. proud with the boys. with a couple of signings we should be back in there again next season.

 

[goal_machine84]

yup....time to concentrate on City....if chelsea r beaten by the nuts then we can win the title on city's ground....or better lets win at stamford bridge ...that wud just make up for our display agianst milan

And yeah the ref was biased....i almost threw something at the tv

 

[Bobby]

You guys say Henry goes missing in big matches, what happened to your WHOLE TEAM?

 

[MikeyM]

You guys say Henry goes missing in big matches, what happened to your WHOLE TEAM?

Fair point, that's the type of game where the big players need to step up, and no-one did. We can't continue to rely on Ronaldo and Rooney to bail us out. Last night everyone had a poor game (although I thought Fletcher did alright) and Ronaldo and Rooney were sub par.

Mind you, given the season Arsenal have had, you'd be better asking questions about your own side.


Mike

 

[jani]

why are some complaining about the 4-5-1?

was Fergie supposed to play a 4-4-2?

I think at the San Siro, Milan's midfield would be too strong for a flat midfield.

 

[mnj2x]

I was expecting soo much from the players. They just let everyone down. But i am still proud of them. Despite the injuries. We managed to stay in 3 competitions but one had to come to an end. Its alright. I will not get over it anytime soon though. Hopefully we can do the domestic double.

 

[Help?]

why are some complaining about the 4-5-1?

was Fergie supposed to play a 4-4-2?

I think at the San Siro, Milan's midfield would be too strong for a flat midfield.

4-4-2 is what players have been playing all season in EPL and beating teams like Liverpool and Roma with it. Who knows how strong Milan's midfield would have been, but what we know for sure is that whenever we play with a 4-5-1 we get dominated (Benfica, Celtic and even Copenhagen), but when we play with 4-4-2, we usually, not always but usually dominate the game.

 

[MikeyM]

It seemed strange that we went with a 4-5-1 when Sir Alex said that United intended to force the tempo, our most effective counter attacks are with the 4-4-2. Rooney was isolated up front and Ronaldo was stifled, rather than the interchanging with Giggs that we've seen week in and week out.


Mike

 

[jani]

in a flat four with Ronaldo, Carrick, Scholes and Giggs, there would have been nobody to chase Kaká down.

and surprisingly Sir Alex told the public that he told Scholes not to dive into tackles. major mistake there IMO.

 

[Bobby]

Fair point, that's the type of game where the big players need to step up, and no-one did. We can't continue to rely on Ronaldo and Rooney to bail us out. Last night everyone had a poor game (although I thought Fletcher did alright) and Ronaldo and Rooney were sub par.

Mind you, given the season Arsenal have had, you'd be better asking questions about your own side.


Mike

Gary Lewin went missing all season.

 

[Razza2k7]

Hey im just saying you have to put a new player in your 1st post (INFO). The Player:Chris Eagles, The Number:33

Just willing to help

 

[Help?]

in a flat four with Ronaldo, Carrick, Scholes and Giggs, there would have been nobody to chase Kaká down.

and surprisingly Sir Alex told the public that he told Scholes not to dive into tackles. major mistake there IMO.

Nobody from the midfield was chasing Kaka down anyways and last week, when United began attacking we didn't need to chase him down. Why worry about a player, when you are controlling the play?

Maybe it would have been much worse with a 4-4-2, we can never know, but from past experiences, 4-4-2 controlled the game for us, not 4-5-1. 4-5-1 was a tacitc when we wanted the team to come and us and we would try to hit them on the break. But you can't let a team like Milan to come at you because they really will come and will score. Besides, Ferguson himself said that we need to attack and can't sit back because he just can't defend. But then he goes out and uses 4-5-1 for 75 minutes!


Fans have been complaining about this tactic all season long and whenever we used it, neither Ronaldo nor Rooney ever performed well. They were all closed down and controlled easily, but when we would switch the formations, suddenly the two would become free again and attack at will. 3-1 win over Benfica was the perfect example. Ferguson uses 4-5-1 because according to him, everybody in europe uses it, but why follow everybody when you are only good at playing your tactic not somebody else's?

 

[adedawson]

i thought that 4-2-4 kinda setup we were using worked well, or was it 4-2-3-1

anyway enough of that, city and chelsea next. Good new is May 9th is my Birthday, might be a sign were gonna win, finger crossed

 

[Thelonious]

Ronaldo completes the clean sweep of awards with the Football Writers Association award
http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx...id=1&lid=4161&title=Writers+award+for+Ronaldo
no surprise there he deserved it

I found this compilation of Ronaldo playing for Sporting against us in a friendly, thought it was worth posting, after this game the club decided to buy him.

http://www.dailymotion.com/futebolportugues/video/3126821

 

[MikeyM]

According to Sir Alex, United were monitoring Ronaldo for two years at that point, though interest from Madrid, Liverpool and Juventus stepped up the urgency of the deal. His performance against us just sealed it.

Mike