for some reason i love Darren.
Darren Fletcher's break from football
- Thread starter Maciej
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Thanks for your concern Erica, I'm doing well at the moment I've got over the last operation and big spell in hospital, I'm not back to full strength but I'm close! I'm just currently talking with the surgeon about the possibility of another operation in the summer!
Says the seal with a rather fetching mooey.
Have-a-go-hero who tackled gunman to ground during armed robbery is jailed for murder of grandfather
I thought for a few seconds......it's Darren Fletcher.
I thought for a few seconds......it's Darren Fletcher.
Fletcher looks much better now than a few weeks ago with the reservesHere's one way to forget that Wigan defeat... Fergie, Rooney and co head to Aintree
Wayne Rooney and co tried to forget the damaging defeat to Wigan with a trip to Aintree.
The Manchester United striker was joined by several team-mates and boss Sir Alex Ferguson at the Liverpool course.
Darren Fletcher, who is currently taking a long break from the game because of a serious bowel condition, and Jonny Evans were with Rooney and wife Coleen in their private box. The United players were unwinding on the day after their surprise Barclays Premier League defeat to relegation-threatened Wigan.
The result let rivals Manchester City move to within five points - with the two sides due to meet at the Etihad Stadium in two weeks' time.
Ferguson's horse What A Friend failed to finish in the places in Betfair Bowl, which was won by 50-1 outsider Follow The Plan.
As Rooney and co enjoyed their day off at Aintree veteran Ryan Giggs issued a rallying cry to his Old Trafford team-mates, urging them to not blow their big chance of a 20th top-flight title.
United were left stunned by Shaun Maloney's 50th minute winner at the DW Stadium which - allied with City's 4-0 drubbing of West Bromwich - has pushed the door ajar on the Barclays Premier League race once again.
'We didn't perform,' he told MUTV.
'For a start, our normal passing game wasn't as fluent and we kept giving the ball away.
'Obviously, you've got to give credit to Wigan - they put us under a lot of pressure, especially early on and credit to them as well.
'They worked hard but that's something we come up against quite a bit (being closed down) so it's not an excuse not to be able to handle that.
'We just didn’t keep the ball like Manchester United usually do. I think we only had one or two shots on goal and that's also disappointing so we have to look at the game and work on it and get ready for Sunday.'
Daily Mail
Fergie forgot to take the tag off his charity shop coat.
His break appears to have made him more handsome.
Cant wait for him to be back, I really hope he can come back because he is proof that hard work pays off. He took the criticism in past seasons and really gave it his all after that and left everything on the pitch. Gutted for him to miss out on the CL 09 and 11 but maybe that is his fate. Maybe he will play in the next final if we get there? Who knows. I just hope he comes back!
Ronney looks a right state in a suit - jacket far too tight, trousers too short and brown shoes.
if its a blue suit than brown shoes are spot on.
It doesn't help being next to a lean 6ft Darren Fletcher who wears a suit very well.
What was the latest with Fletcher? Has anything concrete come out in recent months, since confirmation he had that stomach issue?
Is it clutching at straws to think he might come back some time, or does it look like a reasonable possibility?
Our current squad with Fletcher and Vidic fit and in contention (assuming Fletch comes back a similar player to the one he was) would fill me with considerable confidence.
Is it clutching at straws to think he might come back some time, or does it look like a reasonable possibility?
Our current squad with Fletcher and Vidic fit and in contention (assuming Fletch comes back a similar player to the one he was) would fill me with considerable confidence.
How much have we missed him this season? We've also lost Anderson and Cleverley for the majority of the season as well, thank god for the form of Carrick and Scholes coming out of retirement.
To be honest, I don't think we've missed him too much this season in the end. Carrick and Scholes are our two best midfielders, and Fletcher wouldn't get into our team when they are playing.
I'd still welcome him back next season and he'd have a role to play for us, however he certainly shouldn't be the sort of player starting each game.
I'd still welcome him back next season and he'd have a role to play for us, however he certainly shouldn't be the sort of player starting each game.
Not sure. But my mate has been going through a very similar thing the last 3-4 years and he's ended up with a colostomy bag and a variety of consequent issues. If Fletch has it even half as bad as him then he's done, regardless of the medical treatments available to him. We just have to hope it's not at that end of the scale.
We missed him more before Scholes came back. Would have done better in Europe as well if we had more than 2 midfielders to rotate with.
Fletcher before his illness was class for us. People seem to forgot how good he was, and only seem to remember what he was like this season and last season whilst struggling through a debilitating illness.
He would have played against the likes of Wigan and Everton, I have no doubt about that.
They're to get into the grandstands/boxes
Rooney's suit is fine, Fletcher needs to visit the tailor!
I'm sure he would if you asked nicely enoughfeck me Gok Wan
We have missed Fletch this season, a lot of the fact we give away so many chances to the opposition is down to the fact we have no midfielder who will go chase down the ball, allowing the opposition to reach deep into our half before any real pressure is applied to the ball as neither carrick or Scholsey do this job.
I would go as far to say, w struggled in Europe for this very reason as the Euro players are all technically very good on the ball and so without any pressure forcing them to hurry we struggled badly.
Yeah I agree, fletcher brings a lot that people still don't seem to realise and jones has shown his role in a 3 has do much more to it then just having a lot of energy and running around. I think if we'd had either fletcher or vidic fit we wouldn't be heading into a title decider right now but would be comfortable, if we had had both I think in Europe we would have done very well once again.
We certainly wouldn't have conceded 4 goals in the last match if Fletcher was on the pitch. You're right that he is very underrated. Just because he can't hit a 50 yard pass doesn't mean he isn't a good player. He contributes by shielding our back four and generally being very disciplined in his positioning.
Tbh I've always thought his whole game is underrated, certainly what he brings defensively is not always appreciated, but I've always thought his passing, whilst not anywhere near scholes's level is still good and he's got an excellent cross on him. With most players being very specialised in midfield these days there are few quality out and out central midfielders out there and for me, when on his game he's one of them.
Fairly sure we had Vidic in Europe. It was in the final match in the CL that he got injured
I'm pretty confident he only returned from injury for a few games and then got injured again, I don't think he played a bit part in the group stage, as I said though I think we needed both of them to have done well.
I may be completely wrong, but from what I can remember he was available quite a lot, but didn't play due to squad rotation. Might be wrong though, don't have the best memory for stuff like that
Just checked and he got sent off in one game and then injured in the other.
Hope he can play again next season. If we add Kagawa to our midfield and Fletcher returns maybe Scholes can finally hang up his boots for good even though it will be sad to never see him play again.
I wouldn't agree that Fletcher is really underrated at all. I think most people can agree on the fact that he's a decent player for us but he's never really been a world class player as such.
What he offers us is hard work and a lot of effort. He'll never stop running or working for the team which can be great to have in some games. As well as that, he's quite good at shielding the defence, but I wouldn't say he's any better at it than someone like Carrick.
His ability on the ball is okay, but it's certainly not why he would regularly play for us and he's nowhere near the likes of Scholes and Carrick when it comes to his technique and ability on the ball.
What he offers us is hard work and a lot of effort. He'll never stop running or working for the team which can be great to have in some games. As well as that, he's quite good at shielding the defence, but I wouldn't say he's any better at it than someone like Carrick.
His ability on the ball is okay, but it's certainly not why he would regularly play for us and he's nowhere near the likes of Scholes and Carrick when it comes to his technique and ability on the ball.
Here we go with the "World Class" tags again. All in all he is a great player for us, like when Carrick slotted back in after his injury at the start of his season, you could see immediately what a loss he was. Fletch is the same. The stability them 2 provide is fantastic. The loss of Fletch for the final against Barca is always pointed out aswell as one of the bigger reasons we got walked over in midfield (and the match...). He just does all the donkey work, nothing fancy about him, just gets the job done.
The problem is so much of his role relies on energy, I can't see him doing the job that he once did. I thought he was dreadful in every game he played this season to be honest, which is a real shame as I rate him. It wasn't even his energy he just ran into closed spaces and left his partner without any options over and over again so it was hard to maintain possession.
We can't go into next season relying on him, it'll all depend on whether Fergie thinks Jones can play as an effective ball winner.
We can't go into next season relying on him, it'll all depend on whether Fergie thinks Jones can play as an effective ball winner.
well he is down on energy due to the restricted diet he is now on....or atleast was on. The problem went as far back as a year ago. I said it at the start of this thread, there wasnt a bit of weight on him at the Everton match at OT (Chico 1-0
). My jaw dropped when I saw him do the warm-up infront of my seat in the North Stand, and that game was considered his comeback too, so I guess he could have being even weaker. Crazy to think back on it.It's not really me that's applying the world class tag here, considering there's a full thread about him being world class where a lot of people agreed with it.
He's a good player for us, but nothing more and nothing less in my opinion. He's better than someone like Scott Parker for example, but not by too much.
He's often been key in the big games for us but that's mainly because of his hard work ethic to be honest, it's not because he's an absolutely incredible midfielder like some would make you believe.
I don't agree that he'd have really changed anything against Barcelona. I don't think any of our midfielders would've really been able to stop them that night.
Last few years he has also shown a propensity to get forwards and contribute to the attack once in a while. Scored a few goals too and his general positioning has improved so much since he was younger. Not being able to have him in the team definately hurt us when we played barcelona in the final. There was nobody to do the dirty work and help close down the passing carousel. Really hope he can come back at full strength next year because Scholes and Giggs can't go on forever.
We dont need someone much better than Carrick at it necessarily (though wouldnt complain if we had one), just having someone in the squad other than Carrick who can do it is a bonus.
That is what we have missed - options for that role.
Well my argument is that people bicker over whether he is World Class or not, rather than his obvious impact on the team. It doesnt matter whether he isnt the best technically gifted midfielder, but the fact he closes down well and commands his area is a great asset to have, and overall his team play is good for our level anyways. Look at the likes of Mascherano (sp?) for instance, he isnt the greatest passing and technical wise, but is good (although a bit dirty) at breaking up play and controlling his area. Not the same type of player overall, but similar respect held at both clubs. We have to shy away from the World Class tag, and simply admit he is a great player for us to have.
He wouldnt have won us the game against Barca, but playing Giggs centrally that night was a hinderence from the off. We would have being much more stable atleast, result may very well have being the same, but atleast we'd have a better shape.