Rio Ferdinand...

He was excellent- all our defenders were in the first half though. Brown for me really stood out at right back. I would love to see us stick with:

O'Shea - Silvestre - Rio - Brown

for now. Solid as feck to say the least.

Rio does need to lose the England hoof syndrome though.
 
Stick Ferdinand as right back, Brown is a better CB than him!
 
Good god, what am I saying!

Gary Neville is the best RB in the Prem.
 
Rio had a brilliant first half - the best I've seen him this season - but he disappeared again in the 2nd half.

Can anyone tell me why O'Shea was subbed?

I cudn't catch the commentators properly.
 
Originally posted by WeasteDevil:
<strong>Good god, what am I saying!

Gary Neville is the best RB in the Prem.</strong><hr></blockquote>

in 2nd half, it seemed that he first played RB and then moved to CB.....i think he is better at CB. When he played RB, he sometimes left opponent's left wing open. Our CB then has to cover his position leaving open space in centre
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Originally posted by BusbyReds:
<strong>

O'Shea - Silvestre - Rio - Brown

</strong><hr></blockquote>

This just simply quite the best defence any team in the world could come up with today. Guess what, this line of defenders is quite stupendous. The only one who has never played as a full back in the lot is Rio! Anybody could play anywhere otherwise! How stunning is that?

Rio is starting to establish himself as the CB of choice. He marshalled our defence quite admirably today. And I think Silvestre is just quite so reliable as a CB in the crunch games. He has been quite incredible this season at that position.

Brown is maturing ever so well. This defence, next year will be reminiscent of the Bruce-Pallister era when we had arguably the best defence in the league besides the Arsenal defence with Adams, Keown, Dixon and Winterburn. Long may they continue...

O God, please!
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Originally posted by Vinay:
<strong>

This just simply quite the best defence any team in the world could come up with today. Guess what, this line of defenders is quite stupendous. The only one who has never played as a full back in the lot is Rio! Anybody could play anywhere otherwise! How stunning is that?

Rio is starting to establish himself as the CB of choice. He marshalled our defence quite admirably today. And I think Silvestre is just quite so reliable as a CB in the crunch games. He has been quite incredible this season at that position.

Brown is maturing ever so well. This defence, next year will be reminiscent of the Bruce-Pallister era when we had arguably the best defence in the league besides the Arsenal defence with Adams, Keown, Dixon and Winterburn. Long may they continue...

O God, please!</strong><hr></blockquote>

Buy some other young defenders and we'd then be sorted. O'Shea's future is in central midfield or on the left wing I reckon.
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Originally posted by spinoza:
<strong>

Buy some other young defenders and we'd then be sorted. O'Shea's future is in central midfield or on the left wing I reckon.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Yes, I would go with that! Daniel Van Buyten, it would seem. Or maybe let Jonathan Spector fit in? Seem to have a bright future the big young Yankee!
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Originally posted by Vinay:
<strong>

This just simply quite the best defence any team in the world could come up with today. </strong><hr></blockquote>


Er, perhaps if Rio can stay committed like what he did in the first half, as opposed to his previous games & also learns how to close down more quickly on opponents about to take a shot, Tweety learns to play more correctly weighted balls back to his keeper ( 2 consecutive games when his back-pass was woefully short ) or fellow defenders, & Wes learns to put more weight on his tackles ( can't fault O'Shea tho'!
;) ).......
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I thought Brown had a nightmare 2nd half. Ok, he wasn't entirely at fault for Henry's 2nd (although Fergie got him out of central defence immediately after that), but what about his tackling for the 1st?!?
I have doubts over his concentration levels at top-level matches. Remember Bayern 2 years ago, Real last week. If Van Buyten comes, he'll be in trouble.
 
Perhaps that's why he's better off at RB. I feel that Utd players tend not to go full-blooded in their tackles as seen by Brown's feeble attempt. In that respect, only Blanc & O'Shea seem to put their full weight into tackles.
 
I thought the defence, and especially Rio was immense in the first half, and very good throughout the game. Apart from the goals (which both were offsides) Arsenal hardly had a sniff all game.
 
So, like me, you thought the 1st Arsenal goal might also have been offside? :)
 
Originally posted by kkcbl:
<strong>So, like me, you thought the 1st Arsenal goal might also have been offside? :) </strong><hr></blockquote>

From where I was sat, it looked like Henry had drifted into an offside position when Cole hit the ball.
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As I always said altough Rio is not yet the finishing product and 30m where a bit too much, at the end of the day he will prove himself to be a shrewd buy.

What Rio needs (like any elegant defender) is a tough partner that would cover him, while he moves forward and exploit his renowned talent. Just look at Rio’s past and you will notice that whenever Rio made a hit he had always had a tough Stam type of defender at his back. PPL like Woodgate and Radebe at Leeds or Campbell with England. Mind you The bad boy, good boy partnership is not today’s creation but was the root of any good defense in football history. Who can ever forget the Baresi – Costacurta’s partnership who was the heart of the legendary AC Milan’s defense or the all conquering French defense inspired by Blanc and Desailly?

Short term investment could be Keane but on the long run we will need someone cut and groomed to do this role. Someone like Van Buyten
 
Originally posted by kkcbl:
<strong>


Er, perhaps if Rio can stay committed like what he did in the first half, as opposed to his previous games & also learns how to close down more quickly on opponents about to take a shot, Tweety learns to play more correctly weighted balls back to his keeper ( 2 consecutive games when his back-pass was woefully short ) or fellow defenders, & Wes learns to put more weight on his tackles ( can't fault O'Shea tho'!
;) ).......</strong><hr></blockquote>

Fine tuning required, indeed. But, potentially we are sitting on a gold mine there, don't you think?
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Originally posted by devilish:
<strong>What Rio needs (like any elegant defender) is a tough partner that would cover him, while he moves forward and exploit his renowned talent. Just look at Rio’s past and you will notice that whenever Rio made a hit he had always had a tough Stam type of defender at his back. PPL like Woodgate and Radebe at Leeds or Campbell with England.</strong><hr></blockquote>


Excellent post.
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Originally posted by devilish:
<strong>
What Rio needs (like any elegant defender) is a tough partner that would cover him, while he moves forward and exploit his renowned talent. Just look at Rio’s past and you will notice that whenever Rio made a hit he had always had a tough Stam type of defender at his back. PPL like Woodgate and Radebe at Leeds or Campbell with England. Mind you The bad boy, good boy partnership is not today’s creation but was the root of any good defense in football history. Who can ever forget the Baresi – Costacurta’s partnership who was the heart of the legendary AC Milan’s defense or the all conquering French defense inspired by Blanc and Desailly?
</strong><hr></blockquote>

Absolutely spot on, Devilish!
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Originally posted by Vinay:
<strong>

This just simply quite the best defence any team in the world could come up with today. Guess what, this line of defenders is quite stupendous. The only one who has never played as a full back in the lot is Rio! Anybody could play anywhere otherwise! How stunning is that? </strong><hr></blockquote>

If I haven't remembered wrong Rio has played as wing back or full back before in West Ham, though it may be only one or two matches. But then, judge from his skill, ball control and overall ability, I won't doubt he can do a job as full back in case we need it. ;)

O'Shea - Silvestre - Rio - Brown, I think the average age of this defence is 23. If there is no serious injury, may be this defence can play for us in the next 10 years! :eek:
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Its a bit of a scary thought for the opposition that this could be a constant back four for us and everyone one of them has bags of potential and some are rated as the best defenders around.

eg.Ferdinand one of the best CB's around very elegant player who has good composure and does well with the ball either with head or foot.Sometimes backtracks when in 1-1 positions instead of getting his foot in is my only gripe with Rio.

Silvestre the best Lb in the country by quite a way imo, very good attacking threat and has pace to burn one of few players who can keep up with the Owen's and Henry's.Has a big future at OT and glad he got his contract sorted out in the end.

O'Shea already showing what an unbelievable talent he is, very good feet for such a tall lad and can get up and down the pitch all day long, has 2 good feet and is very solid defensively. Deserves a starting place in the side and should run Rooney very close for Young player of the year but i feel Rooney has been too overhyped by the media for Big John to get the award. :(

Brown is a very good defender and has loads of time to improve has been very unlucky with injuries though, which have hampered his progress.My one small gripe about Wes is his concentration but i think with all young players this comes with experience,although Wes has played on the biggest scenes in football.

The future is looking bright <img src="graemlins/devil.gif" border="0" alt="[Devil]" />
 
rio scared the shit out of me yesterday when he slightly failed to pull out a cryuff at the edge of the area...
 
Originally posted by WeasteDevil:
<strong>Stick Ferdinand as right back, Brown is a better CB than him!</strong><hr></blockquote>

<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />

I presume you were drunk last night?
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Rio hardly made a mistake..absolutely great during this match! <img src="graemlins/devil.gif" border="0" alt="[Devil]" />
 
Originally posted by spinoza:
<strong>

Buy some other young defenders and we'd then be sorted. O'Shea's future is in central midfield or on the left wing I reckon.</strong><hr></blockquote>

<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />

Not because it's a silly comment but because you're right about O'Shea's potential. He could end up alongside the absolute greats of our history (the Edwards, Best, Cantona level).
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Originally posted by Vinay:
<strong>

Fine tuning required, indeed. But, potentially we are sitting on a gold mine there, don't you think?</strong><hr></blockquote>


Most likely! :)

Tho' I think we really need a huge CB who can win heading duels as Rio, despite his height, has so far not shown that he's commanding in the box.

Perhaps a Van Buyten at 1.96M or a Lucio at 1.88M who's not only great in headers, but awfully quick for a big man. ;)
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