Ferguson has a history of not putting his latest marquee signings into the first XI immediately, I believe.
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Football Thread 2012/13 |OT2| @agent_89: My sources tell me the season has started
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Ferguson has a history of not putting his latest marquee signings into the first XI immediately, I believe.
It'll be a lot less stressful for him, and also, who gives a shit. People change brands all the time.
They're thick.
They don't regard the Bundesliga as proper football and see Shinji in the same way as they would an academy prospect.
Lineup forecasts are intrinsically dribble anyway.
I'd like us to start with the strongest possible team available to us. Young just isn't in that bracket. FWIW I don't think Kagawa or RVP will start this evening.
He'll probably be brought on in the second half.
Vivalaraza
Member
Apparently we've launched MUTV in Japan.
Is it me or did that guy jump reeeally high?
Tim the Wiz
Banned
Alan Hansen allowed that reports from United indicated Kagawa is a "decent" player. Basically, Young is a known quantity in the PL, so he's the starter in the predictions of most British papers. No matter, all shall become clear very soon.
I had a friend who switched over to supporting Madrid's Glacticos side after the Beckham transfer, during United's dry spell back in the Chelsea years. 2008 must have been difficult for him. At least he had the integrity not to switch back.
Vivalaraza
Member
You might have gone ahead of us on the pitch but United's commercial department is still running this town dc.
Morsel's going to buy it.
Throw a grenade
Not got any. Just got ammo for shotguns, pistols, machine guns and quite a few flame rounds for the grenade launcher.
Tried 5 times now. Fuck this game.
I don't know. That's 18 to 19 years of support down the drain.
Freewheelin'
Member
I'd like to see us go for a 4-3-1-2, to experiment once in a while:
Chesney
Sagna ----Kos ---- Verm --- Gibbs
--------------Coq/M'Vila/Capoue?------
-----Sahin/Arteta/Diaby-----Wilshere/Ramsey---
------------------------Cazorla/Ox------------
-----Giroud -------------------Podolski--------
Walcott and Gervinho come on late to stretch defences.
Chesney
Sagna ----Kos ---- Verm --- Gibbs
--------------Coq/M'Vila/Capoue?------
-----Sahin/Arteta/Diaby-----Wilshere/Ramsey---
------------------------Cazorla/Ox------------
-----Giroud -------------------Podolski--------
Walcott and Gervinho come on late to stretch defences.
Well, it's his problem to deal with, not yours. People switch teams all the time. Where do you think all the Chelsea fans popped up from around the world over the last few years? They weren't grown in pots, they were fans of other teams who switched.
Shake Appeal
Member
If I had to put a long shot bet on what I think Ferguson has in mind:
All the lineups I'm reading are predicated on the idea that Ferguson 'always' plays either a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1, but in reality he's proven far more flexible than that over the years, and arguably his finest hour, at least in this decade, was a fluid sort of 4-3-3 in which Rooney, Ronaldo, and Tevez were given loose reins: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/20/teams-of-the-decade-3-manchester-united-2006-09/
The biggest surprise of the season may be Rooney playing wider, not deeper.
All the lineups I'm reading are predicated on the idea that Ferguson 'always' plays either a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1, but in reality he's proven far more flexible than that over the years, and arguably his finest hour, at least in this decade, was a fluid sort of 4-3-3 in which Rooney, Ronaldo, and Tevez were given loose reins: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/20/teams-of-the-decade-3-manchester-united-2006-09/
The biggest surprise of the season may be Rooney playing wider, not deeper.
Vivalaraza
Member
Saw a headline from Arsenal.com where Wenger says he's still after a midfielder and defender.
I'm guessing Sahin is that midfielder so a defender still to come in maybe, if it's a good one it'll mean Arsenal have made some nice signings across the board.
I still have some doubts over Podolski and Giroud though. I don't think they will be rubbish I'm just not convinced they are top quality forwards. Could be wrong about this of course, especially on Giroud who I've hardly seen...but I think Arsenal are going to need the midfield to chip with plenty through the season.
I'm guessing Sahin is that midfielder so a defender still to come in maybe, if it's a good one it'll mean Arsenal have made some nice signings across the board.
I still have some doubts over Podolski and Giroud though. I don't think they will be rubbish I'm just not convinced they are top quality forwards. Could be wrong about this of course, especially on Giroud who I've hardly seen...but I think Arsenal are going to need the midfield to chip with plenty through the season.
LabouredSubterfuge
Member
Really don't want us to start playing players out of position to accommodate others. One of my special pet hates.
No to Rooney on the wing and no to Kagawa on the wing.
I'd rather have Young there thanks.
No to Rooney on the wing and no to Kagawa on the wing.
I'd rather have Young there thanks.
Loving that he's spilling the beans before United have said anything. Welcome to the new Nicky Butt
We need a decent RB/LB & I think you'll need to give Podolski & Giroud more time before judgement.
Tim the Wiz
Banned
:lol Poor Butters. That's about as low-key as you can get it. Looks a bit of a mentalist otherwise. Hopefully, he is on the pitch too.
LabouredSubterfuge
Member
I like the guy already.
Vivalaraza
Member
It's Fergie's favourite thing to do. Ever.
LabouredSubterfuge
Member
Vivi pls
Vivalaraza
Member
On Liverpool/FSG selling before they buy.
I'm not that surprised if it's the case. They've spent close to £30m this summer already and not recouped much. With the supposed costs in changing management that's a pretty healthy outlay already.
I'm not that surprised if it's the case. They've spent close to £30m this summer already and not recouped much. With the supposed costs in changing management that's a pretty healthy outlay already.
Tim the Wiz
Banned
This is my dream for the CL knock-out stages. Rooney is our best player, but Kagawa is better in the hole and RVP is arguably more consistent at no. 9. Does it sacrifice some range of Rooney's individual expression on the game shifting him wide to drift in and interchange with Kagawa? Perhaps, but I expect Fergie to be ruthless; the tactics should be about constructing the best team possible. (The way the English national team has gone about things over the years is a good example for what not to do.) I'm confident that would be our best one. And if Rooney is contributing to winning trophies, he'll be happy.
Guys, I need to find a quick & cheap temporary replacement for my PS3 as a media player (PS3 Media Server forevah!). I need something that has a network connection, 'cause I stream all my media content from the PC. I was thinking about getting a second-hand WD TV Live (with custom firmware) ... any other suggestions?
Shake Appeal
Member
When Cristiano Ronaldo was at the club, Rooney's goal threat was regularly sacrificed to support the former as 'lone' attacker, very often from wider positions. Kagawa is also quite happy to drift wide to receive the ball there before cutting back inside and running at the defense. Ferguson has a range of personnel who offer different things in a variety of roles, and I think you'll see a lot of rotation and a lot of freer roles this season that don't easily conform to the stock 4-4-2 diagram in the paper.
And Young will not be in the Man Utd 'first team' this season.
The Other One
Member
Same, I dont doubt their ability but I dont think they are world class, neither do they fill the void left by RVP. Perhaps if they played together in a 4-4-2 it might work better but I still feel Arsenal need a world class striker to challenge in PL and Champions League
I plug my HDD to the TV, lol. Can't help you there.
LabouredSubterfuge
Member
I hope you're right and that there are more free roles - in the past it's been that if you're on the wing in Fergie's side, you're on the wing, so to speak.
My experience of Roon on the wing is that he just ends up frustrated and doesn't contribute too much.
Shake Appeal
Member
Podolski is only good when he lives near Cologne. 
We've got Joe Allen, who I think is our most important signing, a tricky, quick-footed winger (Assaidi) and a goalscoring forward (Borini). All of these are good signings, but the most important thing for us this season will be a consistent, coherent playing philosophy.
I don't expect an easy run this year, so I don't see the need to go spending more and more money on extra players. It'll be a tough year, we probably won't improve much, but we'll certainly improve at least a little, and next year we'll hopefully have little to no extraordinary costs to get going, like the hiring and firing of managerial staff and DOF.
Though it must be said, we have a few top 4 players, but we aren't a top 4 team. Agger, Skrtel, Reina and Suarez are all well within their rights to seek a move away from Liverpool, and I wouldn't be surprised to see two of those (probably Reina and Skrtel) be moved on next year, unless we came within touching distance of CL football, or god forbid, achieved it.
Like you said, almost £50m has been spent and that's a good outlay, and more than I would have expected. Don't think fans have any right to complain about that.
Shake Appeal
Member
Was Borini played centrally in the WBA game?
Nope, on the left side of a front three, but he struggled to impact the game.
Needs to be said, as well, that the sheer amount of changes made last summer actually set us back in our progress rather than accelerated it.
I have an older Sony Bravia HDTV, doesn't have any media player functionality. Come to think of it, it was really stupid of me not to include a HDMI cable when I was wiring the house with ethernet cables. The distance between the PC and the TV in the living room is only like 8 meters.
Shake Appeal
Member
Put him in the middle and Suarez on the left, slap Gerrard a few times in the face, stop getting players sent off, and you'll be fine.
True, and Gerrard in particular needs to improve. He was pants against West Brom, and his form has fluctuated wildly in pre-season. He was utterly abject on Saturday, but I can conceivably see him putting in a man of the match performance against City, that's just the reality of the current day Steven Gerrard.
TheLucifer
Member
So we basically need a Conte.
The only people we can hope to shift is Carroll and Adam and that's gonna be at a loss, we are never gonna shift Cole, he's our Wayne Bridge
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