Look at how Rio defends. Doesn't do all that much tackling. It's all in the mind. How he sees things and position himself accordingly. He is still the best shield we have. He could play alongside Scholes or Fletcher so it's not a problem. Just like Carrick won't start to run all over the pitch tackling everything that moves even his own tail like how Fletcher/Hargreaves does, Fletcher won't suddenly alter his game massively to compensate. They're different players. Fletcher's game is all about movement so he will leave gaps here and there and whoever that is need to plug that gap. Not blaming anyone here it's just the way it is. All the goals we conceded tonight came from someone being free in front of the defenders pulling the string.. we need to find a way to plug that hole. Carrick comes to mind since he's the best at it, and if his CS performance is anything to go by, he will have a massive role to play for us.

Evans played well I thought, apart from that foul inside the area. And seeing it was against Torres, it's no wonder. He pwned both Rio and Vida in the last 5+ games.

It was good to see Macheda came on and making an impact. Bodes well for the future.

Carrick back in the lineup would somehow help plug it a bit. Dunno what's wrong this season. Seems like we are in a comfortable position, but come the last 15 mins, we concede.. damn frustrating.

This post has been edited by Wan: Sep 19 2010, 11:15 PM

He was struggling with his knee problem midway last season I think where he missed a few games. And even when he got back, he was only playing every other game. Totally look a different player so far. Confident and whenever he has the ball, it's hard to see him lose it like in previous season where he would have it before getting tackled and whatnot. But this time he's able to keep it control and actually bring the ball forward. With Rooney still not in form, it's good to see him doing the business for us. Now we need both of them to do it at the same time. That would be good.

He was never prolific so to expect him to bang them in was a bit too much just because he cost a lot. His all round game was usually good which is why SAF bought him for(to take over Giggs' composure or something along those lines), but a lot of it didn't come to fruition before so it got swept aside although his finishing was bad and to criticise him for that was fine. But to call him lazy and whatnot is just a bit too much. Glad he's doing the business so far. Still early There's still 30 games in the league to go.

It could be that. But we had the whole of last season without Rio mostly and we were OK then. It's just something this season about the midfield protection. The whole team can just switch off paving way for the opposition to come back into the game.

That's the problem you see. You're expecting someone who isn't that kind of player. Chasing, making an effort to get the ball back yada yada. Do you see Ronaldo do that often? Heck SAF even give him the license to stay forward and just jog back into position out wide instead of chasing back like Park/Rooney does whenever they play out wide. And if you didn't notice Berba himself said he was aware of the criticism so he look at the opta stats about how far he runs in the game etc. And in that he was actually one of our top players in that department. I still see him do the same thing he does previously without the ball. He chase, but not wholeheartedly like say a Rooney/Tevez does. But he does his fair share. But because he's in form now, it's suddenly become more 'obvious' when in fact it's what he does the whole time he's been here. What we're seeing now is a confident Berba. Goals breeds confidence, and he's showing it. His all round game have always been good, although he was far from perfect. But it's easy to ignore those and bash him because of yet another missed chance saying oh, he's a 30m striker, he should score more etc. We're going round in circles I feel. No need to debate.
You guys see striker=goals, but like Rooney previously, the 2nd striker don't necessarily get the bulk of them, especially in our team where only a few times our striker get to 20 goals in the league, let alone surpass that in our history(EPL at least) so far.

See, that's the thing. Not all strikers have the same role. Berba was in his first season playing as an AM almost linking play up. His goals return was 14 having to share the spot with Tevez playing alonside/behind Rooney. Carlos Tevez got only 5 more with the spot all his the previous season. Have to remember how dry it was for our whole team in 08/09 in getting goals. He wasn't bought to be a pure goal getter, he was bought because of his ability on the ball to influence play for us. The critiscm was justified for last season since he was obviously poor in that area, but his confidence took a massive knock and was struggling with injury. But still people are expecting him to become something he isn't.

Work hard, put more effort blah blah.

Not sure if Fletcher was trying to follow Meireles.. don't think it was that. Even before that there was a small gap between him and O'Shea. Then Meireles pushed his body into Fletcher towards O'Shea and ran away quickly. Fletcher in response like a spring, tried to get back into position, but got too far from his original position. It was the momentum that got him there I think more than anything. Once he tried to get back into position, it was fine if his left foot didn't move further, but for some reason he lift his leg another time and land it a bit more to the left, and his body follows suit. Even then the ball was really close to him.. everyone would freeze in that respect unless you got superhuman reaction to put your arm and stop it there.

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Added on September 20, 2010, 6:40 pmHe actually runs further than most in our squad. He looks at the stats and make sure he's not fallen too far behind the others.

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Added on September 20, 2010, 6:42 pmAs for Reem Shahwa

This post has been edited by Wan: Sep 20 2010, 06:42 PM

He was injured I think.

You're expecting him to be a 30m 'striker who score a lot of goals' when the intention from SAF to buy him was to take over from Giggs in terms of composure in the final third which he showed time and time again also for him to contribute his fair share of goals. He is the feeder to the likes of Rooney and Ronaldo back then supplying ammo, and even now it's the same. SAF praised him and Scholes for the way they dictated the attacking play just a few matches back. And SAF himself said 15 goals would be a good return for Berbatov last season or the season before that, can't find the exact quote. But it shows what role he plays and what is the expected goal return from him is by the club.

SAF on Berbatov after the Rangers game.
”Because of that we left Berbatov out and his form has been absolutely fantastic. He has been one of our best players this season and his ability to create in tight situations would have made a difference.”

I myself would like to see him get 20 goals at least which he could easily get. But first season blues, and us finding it hard to get goals in his first season, and last season he obviously lost his confidence and belief also struggled with a knee problem throughout the season means that he got a low goal return. But he still played a part in our attacking play, a big part in fact although in the big games he wasn't used that much. This could be his season, but let's wait till the middle of the season before praising him too highly. It's a long season ahead.

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Added on September 20, 2010, 7:09 pmOwen will partner Macheda I think with Hernandez coming on as a sub unless SAF play him out wide again like against Rangers in the 2nd half. Park need games, Obertan will start, Gibson and Ando in the middle.. kinda looking forward to that. If Gibson played like how he did agianst Rangers and allowed Ando to do everything all over the pitch, it could be a promising partnership. Smalling and Brown at the back with the twins flanking them. Go go go! Hope Bebe will be on the bench although SAF might want to protect him at this stage.

This post has been edited by Wan: Sep 20 2010, 07:09 PM

He's never been prolific..

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Added on September 20, 2010, 7:43 pmToo late now that they are one of the top teams, or are about to be one.
David De Gea is the man..

This post has been edited by Wan: Sep 20 2010, 07:43 PM

Unless they're young like Rooney, they won't improve that much regarding their finishing. If they are good, they would show it off from the start that part of their game is strong. But since his days here, and even shown at Spurs, it isn't one of his strong point. He does get his fair share but he's never been a Ruud style, or Rooney of late(not the last few months obviously) ruthless in front of goal. His record is exactly like Tevez almost and Berba was further away from goal in all the time he's been here sometimes not even managing a shot. And last season that criticsm of him is probably justified, but then you have to take into account the troubles he had last season with injuries and his confidence is shot..

BTW, BEBE is not included in the reserve team that's going to play tonite! HOHOHO! Sheep, don't spoil him!

20 minimum each season I'd say.

He got 14 goals in his first season, 6 short of that. Have to bear in mind he had to share with Tevez and the team as a whole was strugling to get goals that season. 12 goals last season(all in the league) which isn't that bad a return from 33 appearances(league alone). Almost 1 goals every 2 games which is ok. He was struggling with his knee, and his confidence problem. Cantona's goals stats isn't much to shout about either. 19(10 leeds, 9 us), 25, 14, 19, 15 in his time wth us.

This post has been edited by Wan: Sep 20 2010, 10:10 PM

That's the thing. Those kind of players usually get less goals the the one in front of them. Usually unless the guy is a natural born scorer. Saying that looking at Rooney's stats, it's quite good considering his age and where he played. 17, 19, 23, 18, 20, 34 goals in each of his season here. Not a bad return. Looking at Drogba's it's, 16, 16, 33, 15, 14, 37..

Have to look at the circumstances. Lowest season in which the team scored or something along those lines in his first season and he had to share with Tevez playing alongside/behind Rooney. And last season he was struggling with a knee problem throughout where he was in and out of the team and with sometimes only Rooney starting.

Who knows, maybe it's something he's been doing for a while now, who knows when and is now finally starting to pay off.

Macheda is still young and his performance is still up and down. Same with Hernandez who just got here and probably will take a while before he can play like himself. Until they are at a stage where we can really trust them, there's no reason for us to let Owen go. At least not until the end of the season. After that Hernandez and Macheda would have likely become better players and hopefully can act as backup for Berba and Rooney.

That should be right, although Gary, Rio, Hernandez could start too. Looking forward to seeing Bebe, if he gets on the pitch that is. He could be on the bench for this one.

Until we hear it directly from himself or through official lines out in the media(his agent, or someone from the club make an official statement), we know it's bullshit. You should know sorting out new contracts usually takes a while for most players.

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Added on September 21, 2010, 7:14 pmThe Macheda that came on against Liverpool(and Villa when he scored 'that' goal) is exactly the kind of Macheda we want to see regularly. He's young so he'll have a lot of off days, but he brings a lot of energy to the team with his runs and whatnot. He's getting better with linking the play up with the others too. Cole like?

This post has been edited by Wan: Sep 21 2010, 07:14 PM