Not buying a striker / Saudi Arabia / Rotation

Gazza

If United pull off the double, will Fergie and the club be vindicated on all those issues?

I myself had a problem with the rotation, because I feel it's disrupted our momentum in the home stretch, but then again it looks like we have an almost full squad going into the title and CL deciders.

People have been saying we need another striker for at least a year, but we could end up having the 2nd most successful season in our history, despite having Rooney out for a long period.

The mid-season trip was widely derided, but we were 2nd in the league before it and now we're first. Perhaps the players benefited from the sun and the rest, like in Brazil in 2000.

So would people say United just got very lucky and are doing alright in spite of these (mid)judgments, or have Fergie and co got it right when almost everyone thought they got it horribly wrong?

Scholesy

If we win, Fergies a genius.
If we lose, Fergies an idiot.

Bullshit.

BezsMaracas

The Arabia thing was bollocks, we struggled after it. Everyone has known about the striker situation for a couple of years, nothing has been done, but we've managed. The rotation has definitely been with Europe in mind, considering how knackered we were by the time Milan came around last year.

I think we should have had the title sewn up earlier, but all in all, especially considering the start we had, we've had a superb season.

Lizard King

I'm 100% sure that if we had another striker we would already have the title sewn up.

Chris H

That or if we could just get a point against Citeh.

united.7

I would agree Jimbo Morrison.

Great name by the way, im jealous.

I cant be arsed to repeat why i think we need another striker (the Berbatov thread wiped me).

REd FUn DevIl

There you go mate. you couldnt have said it better.

We lost too many silly points when Rooney got injured and it didnt help our case. You just cant plan an entire season just with two strikers and i say two cause we all know the Saha story.

Canuckred64

Have to second that. We need another striker and any success we have had or will have this year is in spite of us being a striker weak.

Chris H

The benefit of rotation is there for all to see.

We've done very well without having an extra striker, but we certainly could have used one. That said, perhaps there was no one available that we really wanted, and whom we could get at a reasonable price. But next season we'll definitely have more than what he had this year in that department.

As for Saudi...I didn't like the timing of the trip, and we did have a little blip when we came back, especailly against City perhaps we would have been better prepared without the trip. But perhaps not. I hope we won't be going on such a journey next winter, and if we're not, I'm just going to forget it ever happened. Except for this:

Alex

Was Chris Eagles killed on this trip lol

Plechazunga

This is correct

In fact we've been lucky that Tevez and Ronaldo haven't taken many knocks

noodlehair

The striker thing was an obvious problem even last season.

Rotation's the other one for me. Not the idea in itself, but the way it's been handled for certain games. i.e. taking nearly all of your key players out for an away game at Bolton, or playing Fletcher and Hargreaves in midfield away to West Ham, in order to rest people for Birmingham at home. Bizarre stuff.

Also the spell earlier this year, when Fergie changed the entire midfield for about 10 games in a row, and suddenly stopped picking Carrick when he was in the best form of his United career. That was weird, and didn't help.

There's been a lot of good stuff as well though. The new signings have all bedded in and been useful, which is impressive when you consider three of them have come from foreign leagues, and two of those are still very young.
Rooney aside, we've also coped far better with injuries to key players than we would have in previous years.

Julian Denny

Fergie decided to "gamble" (there's that word again !) with Saha. It didn't pay off and no doubt he will go for someone in the summer and may have Manucho making a challenge as well. That doesn't help us now of course and with Rooney struggling for fitness we are really short in that department going into the two most crucial games of the season.

Julian Denny

The midfield worries me. particularly for the final. I don't think we have a clear idea of what our best combo is. Hopefully Hargeaves will resume his best position and that is the holding /defensive one with Carrick and Scholes doing their bit to get things going upfront. But really there has been so much chopping and changing that we really don't know what team will be put out on 21 May. It's not ideal.

noodlehair

In every single game where Hargreaves has played in his "normal" position, our midfield has been utter shite. That's probably why he doesn't play there anymore

Julian Denny

Not at all, he's been filling in at right back because of Brown moving to the middle. He's also been hampered by injury and hasn't been able to have a decent run in midfield. He was bought as a holding midfield and whilst I agree he's hardly played there, it's still his best position in my view. Furthermore, in some games earlier on in the season he was excellent in that position and our midfield was far from "shite". It was more down to our attack, missing Ronaldo and Rooney that we didn't get the results. I'm thinking of the City away game. We need a strong midfield for that final. Carrick can play a holding role but it does detract somewhat from his ability to be influential in our attacks. That's certainly the case with Scholes. If he plays deep then he tends to be far less effective.

Ekeke

Hargreaves was absolutely dire on the ball in those matches (Think Sissoko). He didnt do bad defensively however. Regardless, our midfield gave almost nothing to our attacking play. Anderson had a go at it, though - and at times, was more effective breaking up opponent's attacks too. Completely outshone Hargreaves in every respect.

RedKaos

zing

what the fuck?

I can't stop laughing looking at evra

Sultan

True

I think Fergie reckoned/gambled Saha would come through his injury nightmare.

Julian Denny

That's the point. We didn't really have an attack to prompt with the two R's out. Anderson isn't a defensive midfielder. It's either Anderson or Scholes to start and we know it will almost certainly be the latter. I don't think you can play both at the same time - they have the same role. All this confirms my point that we don't really know what our best midfield is and that's the problem. I mean does Carrick continue to play the holding role with Hargeaves further upfield or vice versa ? Does Hargreaves continue at RB where he's done well ? Does he play a free role in an advanced midfield position or does he play the defensive one ? Does he play at all ? Does Scholes start ahead of Anderson and does Fletcher get a look in ? My view is that we need OH with all his experience in his "proper" position to anchor that midfield.

Lizard King

I feel uncomfortable when people quote my post and say I'm correct, I'm not used to it.

Usually I get called a fucking idiot or I get some half-page response which I don't even read.

Man-United

We went there efter the Reading game and we was 1st in the league already then.
But 2 weeks later we was 5 points behind Arsenal so I don't think they benefited from that trip. Would have been better to stay in Manchester to rest.

Chris H

What an idiotic post. Ban him.

a_devil_inside

I disagree you fucking idiot

Sam#1

listen cockface...you are the most vile cumstain I've ever encountered on this forum. You monopoloise every thread you come across with some half arsed one liner that would'nt qualify for the Joe Longthorne show and then present yourself like you are the King of comedy on American prime time. You epitimise most of what I detest about the internet...opinions formed at the drop of a hat....petty jokes at the expense of others with no thought for their feelings and most of all the self absorbing egotistical self correction of spelling that really points out to every other poster that the highlight of your day is a wank to "big tit weekly". You dont have the friends here you perceive yourself to have and have the intellect of a gnat and the culmanation of this sceario will be your demise in a slow and agonising manner.

Be warned.

Happy now Lizard?

Scholesy

Its over now, so go on and take a bow

esmufc07

weso26

So am I