yes on the playmaker part, we need to find someone before Scholes hang his boot, either someone in the team to step up, or splash the cash, both have their pros and cons, so its up to the gaffer to choose

its just the second season that combo broke up, how many season we took to recover after the 1999-2002 three peat (a.k.a between Yorke-Cole-Scholes --> Rooney-Ronaldo-Tevez)?

Average players? A lot of them are the one who won us 3 consecutive titles so its impossible that all of them suddenly turned into average/crap players overnight.

Its pretty easy for outsiders/media/pundits to say we need spend on this player or that player. People need to remember the fact which is the club is in debt and its not a small amount. Its a big debt and its long term. We are servicing the interest which will increase if we do not reduce the debt. The bonds sort of help restructured the debt but that doesn't means we can simply spend as we wish.

Look back on the previous transfer market. You are looking at players who normally might not be that expensive but due to the clubs after them are rich, the price automatically went up a chunk. I still don't believe Yaya Toure worth his transfer fee, not by his current performances for City at least. Same goes to Milner who sort of gone off the boil recently. If you follow the rumours/paper speculations, some of the player price are ridiculous to say the least so its not 100% wrong when the gaffer say there is no value in the market. I am guessing those pundits who say we need to buy this/that player will be the same bunch of people critising us if it doesn't turn out to be a good deal.

yerp. it would be one MASSIVE TASK to replace scholes. 

agree with ya. there will always be a 'transition-phase' between one generation with another.

but after the yorke-cole era, we still have lots of above-average (or some say world class) players like RvN, solskjaer, etc and we still have keano, scholes, giggs who can still perform at high-level for most of the time. and on top of that we have exciting young players coming in. Our level of football (passing,movement,etc) is still high and enjoyable to watch back then.

comparing with the current team...i dunno what to say...every week wanna give me heart attack. haha. surely anyone who follows man utd long enough can see these clear and simple facts.

anyhow , i'm a strong believer in "make use with what u got", lets just see what will happen comes May. Either SAF come up with a tactic that can accommodate the current average players effectively or buy quality players~

I am still hoping Anderson will step up to the plate this season. We saw a glimpse of that during February before he got that serious injury.

People expects us to 'stream-roll' these teams. The fact that football has evolved, the game has evolved and it is very competetive these days. There's a business side to it. And the fact that people tend to forget that players are also human is an another thing. Criticize all you want, but don't spout crap just because you have played FM.

The team played poorly last night except for the last 15mins(including injury time). No doubt. I don't know what was the reason for them to play poorly but I could easily point out that Park, Berba, Chicharito and Nani didn't help Fletcher and Carrick at all. I could see an another setback for Carrick. Nice! Just as he is trying to get his confidence back.

Anyway, teams found out that to play us, they'll need counter attacks. A way which we used to play back then. Especially against Arsenal in recent years. Soak up the attack/pressure and boom, counter. Clearly, we missed Scholesy creativity last night. We need to address that. Actually, we hoped for Nani to stand out yet it was an off day for him.

We truly missed Valencia as well. Having both Park and Nani is good but to have different options on both sides are better. Valencia is good with crossing early which something Nani lacks/rarely does it. As a matter of fact, he would choose to cut inside like most of the time. When you're having a lot of players to defend inside the penalty box, it doesn't help much.

Oh well.

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Added on November 14, 2010, 2:41 pm
Don't say that lah. We aren't allowed. We should allow constructive criticism on our players. Believe/faith is bullshit.

We are Manchester United. We need to win the title every single season. An off day for players isn't acceptable. They must perform all the time.

We only showed urgency when we were 2 nil down. I have to say, even though we have been on a winning run a few games back i do not recall Man United imposing ourselves on opponents. Few season's back when opponents faced us, they would park the bus with they're tails between they're legs expecting us to put an almighty onslaught on their goal.

Bolder tactics from "smaller" teams? or we have not played up to our standard? 

I am still hoping Anderson will step up to the plate this season. We saw a glimpse of that during February before he got that serious injury.

not really...Giggs and Scholes was average during those years (before their yoga session rejuvenate them lol)...still remember some people call for their head that time lol...heck even SAF's head had been called...

and of course the strings of failed players: Kleberson, Djemba Djemba, Veron...and mostly, the keepers....really sakit hati to see those who start as our GK after the great Dane and before VDS

wow villa played very well indeed. their pace was causing so much trouble.. very good counter attacking football.. hope our lads take some lessons out of this draw.

Both. They played the right way and we haven't played our best.
Yup. But, I guess Ando will take sometime. If he's showing his form from his first season, then I'd say. GAME ON!
True. Becks, Scholesy, Giggsy and the rest of class 92 were nothing back then. No one ever knew them. Apart from Giggsy maybe.

And the string of keepers coming and out was funny as well. Had some fair frustrating moments too.
They should. I think SAF will have quite a headache now. At first, defensive issues, now we're back on the attacking. Well, like many have posted, form is temporary, class is permanent.

and thats just the fledgling era most remember, how about when the early years the gaffer came here.constant downs then ups, and what we had to show for bak then??an occasional league cup, fa cup and outstanding matches agains cit£h, leeds and the pools.

after 2/3  season we started to click, and some future things were set in motion.

and thats just the fledgling era most remember, how about when the early years the gaffer came here.constant downs then ups, and what we had to show for bak then??an occasional league cup, fa cup and outstanding matches agains cit£h, leeds and the pools.

after 2/3  season we started to click, and some future things were set in motion.

im looking at Anderson to take over from Scholesy. Sure, he wont be as good as Scholes but im willing to let him flop one whole season if it means giving him the experience.

I saw a match between MU and Liverpool 2007/08, i see Anderson as a very good future for us. Plus he smiles a lot lol

Well, that's the most successful Fergie's fledgling that anyone could remember. I am not sure how many knows that Ebanks-Blake was a product of our academy. Robbie Savage even.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has confirmed that Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken with him about Jordan Henderson.

Manchester United and Manchester City are both thought to be keen on the highly-rated midfielder - who has just been handed his maiden call-up to the England squad.

The 20-year-old has been in excellent form for Sunderland over the last 12-months which has not only propelled him into the international scene, but has also seen him linked with a big money move.

And now Bruce has admitted that Ferguson has asked to be 'kept informed' over Henderson.

"Only once has Fergie talked about one of my players, and that was [Antonio] Valencia, and bugger me he bought him!" joked Bruce in the News of the World.

"He had spoken to me about him. 'Keep me informed' were his words, then he signed him.

"He has said the same about Jordan, but to be fair they have all asked to be kept informed.

"What has caught most of their eyes is his ability to get up and down the pitch now is huge. You looked at Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Cesc Fabregas, they are all great players but they can get up and down the pitch to get the mileage, and you need that in the modern game.

"He has caught the eye because he is a very good player. If you are Chelsea, Manchester United, or Liverpool, there is a 20-year-old who is playing in the Premier League week in, week out. There are not many you can look at.

"He is a Sunderland player, and a Sunderland lad and we will do our utmost to keep him but we can never stop speculation.

"He has huge respect for this football club and he will do the right thing. Jordan has a good grounding."

There's too much "hoping" from us, rather than the actual end product from the players. Hey, I don't mind the optimism but surely, you must feel that we're really awful currently.

Even on the commentary, one of the commentators said "It's a good chance for Man United to gain points against a weakened Aston Villa side"
I seriously doubt that we have to face a weakened team to win? We are Manchester United, and currently, we are not playing as we would've liked.

We lack crosses that pinpoints on the penalty spot, we lack that extra speed in going forwards, and our centre of midfield looks like they'd rather have Berba helping them to push up @_@

Yeah I know it's frustrating for you guys to block off unwanted comments,pessisms and such , but it's a known fact that we aren't the best that we could, and hence most of the other comments (getting player X, getting rid of player Y)
We want the best for our team, so why can't we? Other than Rio and Vida, we don't look as much as formidable as before.

dear god. your ex-employer asks you to keep him informed about your own player.

scary.

It should be scary for Bruce as the last SAF did that, we actually signed the player (A. Valencia)! 

it's hard to say no to your own ex-employer lol.

EDIT:

GUYS. count how many things have I jinxed towards Chelsea. COME ON HELP ME COUNT.