Soccer 2012-2013 3.0

Neki_sl said:

They are lacking a creative attacking midfielder in the mold of Ozil, Mata, Modric, Ronaldo, Bale etc.

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I completely disagree, United lack a truly class winger and a solid midfielder to partner Carrick. Nani & Valencia & Young have had poor seasons and seem to no longer provide consistent service, Zaha will be young and a large uncertainty (who else feels for the lad who probably loved the idea of working under SAF... only to be the last guy he signs before retiring).
As for the midfield, United classically operate 2 man midfield. If we look at the Bayern model, now the 'hot thing', it's nothing new for United as it's always been similarly set up. The difference right now is Bayern have by far better wingers than United with Ribery/Robben, and of course Martinez/Schweinsteiger both being great. Carrick is good enough, just he can't do it on his own: Jones, his defensive work is brilliant but his touch & distribution aren't anything to look at - he'll eventually be a great CB. Cleverly actually looked strong for a lot of the earlier games but SAF himself said he was too poor in key games and no longer featured in the run in. Anderson has completely removed all hope with his injury record & trouble finishing any game he's "fit" for and Fletcher was decent enough at his peak... just health.
Last, and sadly least, Giggs experiments in CM have nearly always backfired - a common SAF mistake has been placing him alongside Carrick in 2 man midfields in critical matches only to be completely overrun. Barca final, Bilbao Europe, Norwich, City matches and the most cost worthy of last season during the title run in with the point lead over City: Wigan's 1-0 win over United in April '12.

So with regards to looking to buy a Ozil/Mata/Modric... I don't think so at all. They have Rooney & Kagawa to choose from and Kagawa is a beast and will prove his weight in gold next season mark my words, Rooney provides plenty of quality assists even if people say his standards have lowered he still does it more than enough. Fellaini to replace Carrick? What in this world my friend, Carrick is in the PFA team of the season for a reason!

Good points

I do agree that they are lacking world class wingers since Nani, Valencia and Young are nowhere near that level but if you think about it, how creative is the Utd centre? Carrick is solid but not spectacular, Kagawa is pretty good but there is a reason why Dortmund let him go since their current midfield players are much stronger. Rooney is frustrating in my opinion and I don't think central midfield is his natural position. Scholes is retiring and Giggs does a job but as you said, is lacking in big games as he is getting on a bit.

Think back to one of the strongest Utd team, in the centre they had Keane and Scholes. One is hard tackling no nonsense and the other is a creative scoring dynamic midfielder being flanked by peak form Beckham and Giggs. What Utd is haven't replaced (in my opinion) is the position Scholes plays in and obviously the two wide midfielders.

The BBC has reported this morning that Rooney asked to leave two weeks ago, thus far he has only verbally asked though apparently.

Manchester United insist Wayne Rooney is not for sale after the striker asked to leave Old Trafford for the second time in three years.

The 27-year-old ex-Everton forward told United boss Sir Alex Ferguson two weeks ago he felt the time was right to move after nine years at the club.

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No way Rooney will stay. Gollum sued Rooney after his autobiography. Also :

"Old Trafford insiders last night confirmed rumours that have been circulating in Manchester for many months: the jaded United star Wayne Rooney has gone off the rails, and is trying to engineer a situation in which he can leave the club.

The same MUFC sources did, however, say that Ferguson's attitude was emphatic: "Wayne Rooney is not for sale." This is despite the fact that apparently Rooney asked the outgoing manager for a transfer last month. The England striker was dropped for the club's biggest match, the Champions League second-leg meeting with Real Madrid at Old Trafford in February. Real won easily, but Rooney has been out of sorts for most of the season.

"He's pushing as hard as he can to get out," said one source, "Turning up pissed for training and so forth, generally behaving badly and trying to create embarrassment. He just wants out.""

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Sell Rooney imo

It's the second time he asked for a transfer so obviously his heart is not in it anymore. He is causing a disruptive influence in the dressing room and I believe his ability has peaked. He can still command a big transfer fee (?30-35M approx) and selling him would take off his massive wage bill off the books (?250k p/w) to reinvest in players in other positions that are needed (wingers, creative midfielder).

Still crying over being dropped against RM? It's his own fault, in these matches he often fails to track the deep lying midfielder from the other team or if he played out wide he's looked far lazier than his time in the Ronaldo side. Fucking Giggs at 39 shows him up (and how!). If he went to Munich he'd never feature there either in a key match with that work rate. These teams win because they are talented but work so very hard, all of the players. One person not pulling his weight can undo all of it.

That's why the Rooney to Chelsea rumours puzzle me tbh. Surely Mourinho would only go back if he had assurances he wouldn't be involved in a Torres/Shevchenko type situation again where players are bought without manager input and if he does why would he want Rooney in his current form?

The only explanation that would make sense is that Jose has already spoken to Shrek?

Moyes confirmed.

Moyes will take over on July 1 and will replace Sir Alex Ferguson, who announced his retirement on Wednesday.

Announcing his successor, Ferguson said: "When we discussed the candidates that we felt had the right attributes we unanimously agreed on David Moyes.
"David is a man of great integrity with a strong work ethic. I've admired his work for a long time and approached him as far back as 1998 to discuss the position of assistant manager here.
"He was a young man then at the start of his career and has since gone on to do a magnificent job at Everton. There is no question he has all the qualities we expect of a manager at this Club."

Sir Bobby Charlton said: "I have always said that we wanted the next manager to be a genuine Manchester United man. In David Moyes, we have someone who understands the things that make this such a special club. We have secured a man who is committed to the long-term and will build teams for the future as well as now. Stability breeds success.

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Don't know what that Gill bollocks was all about a new manager needing European experience.



Also :

Wayne Rooney has risked increasing the speculation over his future after deleting the words "Manchester United player" from his Twitter profile page.

The England striker has replaced it with "NikeUK athlete".

In the last 24 hours it has emerged that the striker told Sir Alex Ferguson a fortnight ago that he wanted to leave Old Trafford.

The departing manager categorically rejected that request and though the club say they do not want to sell, the player's ?250,000-a-week contract which has two years left to run will be difficult to renew at the same level, following Rooney's performance levels of this season. United stated: "Wayne Rooney is not for sale."

The 27-year-old, who will now be asked to work for David Moyes, a manager who sued him over comments he made in his 2006 autobiography, did not know of Ferguson's intention to leave when he asked to go and Moyes' imminent arrival has not been a factor in his request.

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Dunno why LFC fans are so happy that Moyes has gone to Utd to be honest.

He has finished above you guys for the past two seasons on a vastly smaller budget and now he has gone to a club where their finances are streets ahead of LFC, better players and stronger spending power. Six year contract means Utd are aiming for stability as opposed to chopping and changing all the time like most other clubs do.

Moyes might be unproven in Europe but given Utd's playing squad, background influences and financial clout, they are likely sooner win the PL again than Liverpool because remind me again with what Rodgers won during his managerial reign so far?

I mentioned before that Mourinho should have been a strong choice before Moyes but obviously with Maureen whilst you can definately get short term success, he also comes a lot of baggage and he never stays at a club too long if you look at his history.

Neki_sl said:

Dunno why LFC fans are so happy that Moyes has gone to Utd to be honest.

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When Dave Whelan was interviewed last summer he said Ferguson was retiring the end of this season.

My dad is a life long Everton fan. Funnily enough the day before Ferguson retired I asked him what he thought about Moyes going to Everton. He said he would be a disaster. Good at keeping a mid table club going but would be well out of his depth at Man Utd. Time will tell.

Moyes does have European experience with Everton. They got through to the qualifying round in 2005 and got battered and swiftly knocked out of the Europa. They also qualified for the Europa in 07/08 and 08/09 and did poorly both times.

I think Liverpool fans are happy because this weakens both Man Utd and Everton. The Red Cafe thread on the Wigan Everton game is good for a laugh, for example. Funny reading the Caf thread on Moyes while they all try to convince themselves he's the right man for the job.

The truth is he's going there out of vanity from Ferguson, who will no doubt try and work Moyes like a glove puppet.

Ossoi_sl said:

Ferguson's first six seasons: 11th, 2nd, 11th, 13th, 6th, 2nd, one FA Cup

LOL

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Context: When SAF took over, they were battling relegation finishing 16th? iirc in the league. He's had to do a job there and it took time, unlike the team Paisley would have inherited right? It's not exactly fair to compare everything directly, as Fazana said, apples & oranges. You also missed out on the Cup winners cup over Madrid in Europe, not a small feat by any means..

Brando_sl said:

Look at the Derby results for his time in charge at Everton which are always their biggest games of the season, it's horrible.

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I'm pretty sure Moyes record at Everton vrs Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea away is Played : 47 Won : 0


edit : P 47 W 0 D 16 L 31 David Moyes record for Everton in away games against Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea (from last season, can't be arsed looking up and adding this seasons results)


/rofl

Regime_sl said:

loving the news

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SSN have taken liverpool out of his away record against the big teams now and replaced them with Spurs and City so it looks better. Beyond parody. Record including this season btw is played 50, won 0.

Redcafe were praising his 2 manager of the year awards yesterday... saying its a credit to him and not to be sniffed at.... until someone mentioned the current holder of the award is Alan Pardew!