posted Jul 14, 2009

barrymanulow

best comment i've seen all week, don't agree with Owen though as i can see him takeing on a solksjaer type role

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posted Jul 14, 2009

Man Utds prospects for a 4th title in succession will hinge on whether a few players improve this season.
Evra, Anderson and Nani all seemed to stand still last season and failed to flatter. These three are key to whether United can go to another level without Ronaldo and Tevez, whilst Welbeck and Machedo are also ones to watch in terms of potential stars.
If these 5 players can improve this season United will once again be hard to stop, if they dont improve, you can expect SAF to dig into the bucket of cash he got for Ronaldo and rebuild the side next year.

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i think our season will hinge on the partnership between rooney and berbatov but improvements on nani and anderson would definately make it easier for them/us. i thought evra was good last season.

looking at our rivals i don't think any of them are the finished article yet. just been looking at liverpools squad and there is a hell of a lot of pressure on torres to get goals and there aren't many players outside the first 11 i rate - benayoun, carragher...

chelsea seem the strongest without being outstanding, joe cole and essien should earn them a few more points than last year. though joe cole will take a while to get his form back i should think, he's hasn't played competitive football for a long time. i can also see deco and ballack becoming increasingly irrelevant. however if they keep drogba, lampard, essien, terry and cech fit they'll be the ones to beat i think, especially if malouda and mikel continue to improve.

theres quite a bit of uncertainty around arsenal. selling adebayor and getting chamakh sounds like a calculated gamble - but would make them one of the shortest teams around with a new boy maybe needing a bit of time to get used to the PL. i'd fancy eduardo and arshavin for a front 2 but for me its asking for too many things to go right straight away, eduardo's not had a proper run of games for over a year and they'll need to be lucky with injuries as the quality of their squad takes a big dip after the first 15. and theres still no partner for fabregas. i don't particularly rate gallas and toure and the new fella vermaalen is untested in england.

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posted Jul 14, 2009

dreamland.serious flaws in midfield.playing old men and a washed up ex scouser is no recipe for success.seeing city get tevez makes my blood boil and personally i think ferguson blundered badly by trying to play bumbling berbatov in his place.not looking forward to next season.take your rose tinted specs off!

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posted Jul 14, 2009

Missinaldo: I agree that Ronaldo is one of the best players to have played for United. However, all the ability in the world is not, in and of itself, enough to make a United legend in my opinion. Its something to do with the nature of the relationship the player has with the fans and the club in general; for this reason I would say Giggs more of a United legend than Ronaldo, even though Ronaldo is probably the better player. Charlton, Cantona, Edwards, Robson: all these players embodied United in a way Ronaldo does not. These players saw Old Trafford as their home, they were United through and through. You can't decide to play for another team and still be considered a legend at Old Trafford imo. Fantastic player? Yes; legend? No.

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posted Jul 14, 2009

famouscrocadog (U14053611)

I see what you say, and agree that your view is what a strict definition of a legend is/should be. Unfortunately times a changing my friend . It is too much to expect players now(especially foreign) to show the love and commitment that Cantona showed us; Only a blind optimist would have thought Ronaldo would have stayed at United for life. Even if Real played in Liga adalante he would have moved, so we kinda have to judge by what he's done for us surely, and the bottom line is his improvement is directly responsible for three league titles, and our improved showing in the champions league. For that reason there are some united fans, like myself, who will consider him a legend. His conduct ofcourse has been appalling at times but baggage is baggage. Maradonna had his flaws, as does Ronaldo. Messi and Kaka on the other hand seem angels .

Servants to our will be remebered there is no doubt. But there are players who have come and gone who have put a lot of effort in the united shirt during the spells here to contribute to our on field and off field success. Players like Beckham, Ronaldo, Keane, (even Van Nistlerooy to an extent) should at the very least be held in the highest regard.

I fear the Maldinis, Giggs, Rauls, Xavis are a dieing breed

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posted Jul 14, 2009

theres quite a bit of uncertainty around arsenal. selling adebayor and getting chamakh sounds like a calculated gamble

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Arsenal are just as dangerous as they ever were. Their style of play makes them the most unpredictable, yet dangerous sides in this league. All they need for success is for their defence to suddenly hit it off (a la Ferdinand Vidic two/three years ago). Any arsenal forward line will create countless chances, that is a given. We write them off at our peril really. Same goes for those who feel that united are a spent force.

I agree that next season's league title is huge mountain to climb. It is far too much to expect four consequetive titles. However experience lies firmly in united's corner. Our success next year is dependant on a lot of IFs. Berbatov finally runnig things, Rooney putting on some finishing boots, The young wingers stepping up to the plate, Anderson fulfilling the immense potential he has, Nani replicating a tenth of Ronaldo's achievements. Heres hoping a few of these IFs bear fruit

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posted Jul 14, 2009

Has anyone thought about Rooney playing on the left wing? I know everyone has been saying that because Ronaldo has left, Rooney will take over in the centre, but that may be incorrect. Ferguson liked having Rooney on the left, because he tracks back and is strong, so it may be that next year you side will look something like this:

VDS

Brown, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra,

Valencia, Carrick, Anderson, Rooney

Berbatov Owen

Macheda could come off the bench for the last 30 minutes to replace Owen. What do you think?

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posted Jul 15, 2009

theres quite a bit of uncertainty around arsenal. selling adebayor and getting chamakh sounds like a calculated gamble

--------------------------

Arsenal are just as dangerous as they ever were. Their style of play makes them the most unpredictable, yet dangerous sides in this league. All they need for success is for their defence to suddenly hit it off (a la Ferdinand Vidic two/three years ago). Any arsenal forward line will create countless chances, that is a given. We write them off at our peril really. Same goes for those who feel that united are a spent force.

I agree that next season's league title is huge mountain to climb. It is far too much to expect four consequetive titles. However experience lies firmly in united's corner. Our success next year is dependant on a lot of IFs. Berbatov finally runnig things, Rooney putting on some finishing boots, The young wingers stepping up to the plate, Anderson fulfilling the immense potential he has, Nani replicating a tenth of Ronaldo's achievements. Heres hoping a few of these IFs bear fruit

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thing about arsenal last season is that their unpredictability stopped them from being dangerous enough to do more than get 4th.

potentially the unpredictability continues now... they have a new untested centre back (whoever he is partnered with toure and gallas are a far from the best CB's in England), potentially a new (untested in the PL) striker to replace someone who has got 30 goals the last 2 seasons, still no partner for fabregas (who i think will leave next year anyway), a striker (eduardo) who hasn't had a decent run of games for almost a year and a half and i believe is currently injured, van persie never makes it through a whole season. as a team they can still be bullied. last season teams realised that they could take points off arsenal because they didn't seem to have an answer when teams set up to nullify them. maybe thats unfair, they had injuries but i wasn't impressed with the "youngsters" wenger had to put his trust in, although i do like gibbs.

ofcourse arsenal are a great team and they could win the league, it would be very difficullt for them to have a season as bad or worse than that just gone but there is a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability there that could be their downfall. i don't think theres a clear favourite yet.

we gave teams a big headstart last year, if we get going from the off we have a great chance. i expect SAF to reassess the squad in january and make any changes when he's got a better idea of what we need hopefully for a good price, especially regarding the hargreaves situation. fletcher will do fine until then.

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posted Jul 15, 2009

surprised to hear the spending is over but fergie knows what he's doing, he spent a fair whack on them 2 serbian lads in jan so surely they must be in his plans plus he'll have alot of cash to spend in january if needs be, if rio and vidic stay fit we'll be there or there abouts, i think anderson will have a great season he was poor agoing barca in cl final but well impressed by him all year, here's hoping.

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posted Jul 16, 2009

Real has bought the lot, end of story.

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