What has Fergie to say?

[Pogue Mahone]

Vidic, maybe not ...



But Rooney had a much better chance of not overextending himself, if Tevez had been on the pitch.

Or if Ronaldo had come out at the start of ht.

I could play to 'What If' game from here until the start of the match against Barca, but that isn't going to help anyone.

And that's my whole point... 'It would have been 'End of Story' if Fergie just said 'We got it wrong' -

Blaming the refs leaves the reality of there being a poor selection swept under the rug.



And by the way, it's Mr. Muppet...

Asshole!

You say poor selection, I say poor performance. If Nani and Anderson had played to the best of their abilities and Giggs had played in the first half as well as he played in the second, it would have been a very different game of football.

Fergie chose to show some faith in our most exciting young footballers and they let him down. Shit happens. Of course, if he hadn't selected Nani and Anderson people would have been calling for his head for not playing them It's the caftard way. Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

 

[ooeat0meoo]

You say poor selection, I say poor performance. If Nani and Anderson had played to the best of their abilities and Giggs had played in the first half as well as he played in the second, it would have been a very different game of football.

Fergie chose to show some faith in our most exciting young footballers and they let him down. Shit happens. Of course, if he hadn't selected Nani and Anderson people would have been calling for his head for not playing them It's the caftard way. Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

Ok, I think we're finished with this conversation when I mention a defender and a forward, and your follow-up has to do with the midfield.


Besides... Fergie might have realized that giving Anderson and Nani a chance through the first half is reasonable - with everything on the line, starting off the second half - not very bright.

I know that there has to be a new guard of players replacing the Giggs' and Scholes'... but the way Fergie is doing it is much too costly - from this fan's perspective. (mind you, this a sorta departure from the flow of the conversation)

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Ok, I think we're finished with this conversation when I mention a defender and a forward, and your follow-up has to do with the midfield.


Besides... Fergie might have realized that giving Anderson and Nani a chance through the first half is reasonable - with everything on the line, starting off the second half - not very bright.
I know that there has to be a new guard of players replacing the Giggs' and Scholes'... but the way Fergie is doing it is much too costly - from this fan's perspective. (mind you, this a sorta departure from the flow of the conversation)

Rooney was carrying a knock and we'd already used up one of our subs.

Taking off both Nani and Anderson at half-time would have been beyond "not very bright" and into the realms of utter madness.

 

[ooeat0meoo]

Rooney was carrying a knock and we'd already used up one of our subs.

Taking off both Nani and Anderson at half-time would have been beyond "not very bright" and into the realms of utter madness.

Jesus fecking Christ... You're going actually make me spell it out for you?!

Wayne was struggling throughout the first half as it was...

Tevez should have replaced Nani or Anderson at the half, whichever one - you pick.

Then Ronaldo could have replaced Wayne (as he did - yay! Fergie) at any point, there forward.
----------------------------------

Listen, Fergie was lucky to have made it past Roma with all the mind-feck tactics with having Ronaldo sit the entire match on the bench and Rooney coming on at min. 70.

It worked... BUT, it didn't work against Chelsea. To simply say, 'Woops, it didn't work' isn't a big fecking deal.


*For those squeemish about my Jerseyisms... my deepest apologies

 

[ralphie88]

What Fergie Said:

Football, eh? Bloody hell. No question about that. The referee moderator - what's his name - Keith Hackett? - what job does he do, eh? I wonder what we have to do to get a decision these days. We played well and were the better team I thought, no question about that. The lad... Carlos... has done well. We wanted to win today, no question about that. And FC United, there're not the conscience of this club. Ah cum frim guvvan. No question about that.

 

[Bearded but no genius]

Jesus fecking Christ... You're going actually make me spell it out for you?!

Wayne was struggling throughout the first half as it was...

Tevez should have replaced Nani or Anderson at the half, whichever one - you pick.

Then Ronaldo could have replaced Wayne (as he did - yay! Fergie) at any point, there forward.
----------------------------------

Listen, Fergie was lucky to have made it past Roma with all the mind-feck tactics with having Ronaldo sit the entire match on the bench and Rooney coming on at min. 70.

It worked... BUT, it didn't work against Chelsea. To simply say, 'Woops, it didn't work' isn't a big fecking deal.


*For those squeemish about my Jerseyisms... my deepest apologies

Surely Rooney carrying a knock shouldn't have been a problem, seeing as he was more juiced up than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Is Rooney tripped out on roids?

--------------------------------------------
I'm not attempting to wind anyone up, and this is purely speculation.

Rooney's temper and lack of reason could very well be do to excessive steroid usage. If he is, it's up to Fergie to put an end to it. Sure Rooney is bulking up, but the price his team pays on the pitch is too high.

Once again, I'm not adding salt to the wound. This is genuinely out of concern for the player and club.

That foul had been monumentaly stupid. Then to shove Ronaldo as he did further puts into question his ability to reason.

I've played sports (hockey for 14 years), Rooney's perifial vision is among the highest of athletes. He had to have know where the nuggets of his opponent had been, as well as the whereabouts of the ref.

A great messuring stick to insane behavior is Keano. Roy Keane had been aggressive towards the refs, but he had a handle on how far he could take things, for most of his years. Rooney does not have the same ability to grasp the consequences of his actions. Thus the possability of a chemical problem.

If only you were the boss...

 

[Adebesi]

Football, eh? Bloody hell. No question about that. The referee moderator - what's his name - Keith Hackett? - what job does he do, eh? I wonder what we have to do to get a decision these days. We played well and were the better team I thought, no question about that. The lad... Carlos... has done well. We wanted to win today, no question about that. And FC United, there're not the conscience of this club. Ah cum frim guvvan. No question about that.

Convincing. But if it was SAF he'd have said "there's no question about that" more than four times. There's no question about that.

On a different note, I thought the selection against Chelsea was OK - certainly Nani and Anderson are players I want to see starting in the big games because theyre fecking brilliant.

It seemed like the way they played - as opposed to who was playing - was the problem. No idea whether it was SAF telling them to keep it tight and not commit people forward or the players just having a bad day. But I think it was the former. There is, however, some question about that.

 

[ronnie dazzler]

You may not be best equipped to answer this but do you think that managers often instruct their teams to go out and play negatively?

negatively is a bad description of what SAF probably said. They would have anticipated Chelsea coming at them really fast at the start. Let's face it, they were guaranteed to be pumped.

Tactic was probably to soak up early pressure, knock the ball about, hit them on the counter attack for the first 20 minutes. Not to over commit and concede a goal. In reality, United played crap, didn't pass well, Chelsea dominated very strongly and United were stretched to contain them.

Fergie couldn't anticipate United's midfield and attack being so inadequate. You can only base any tactical assumption on the basics of your team being right and that's to attack with some skill in United's case. Unfortunately, Fergie does not have a button that will make Nani, Rooney, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs to play well on the day. That midfield and attack should have been better on the day & Fergie can't be blamed for that. Unfortunately, it has been a worrying trend in the last few weeks - with or without Ronaldo.

Also ends that argument about never losing with Rooney in the team

 

[Chorley1974]

Or did he do the cowardly thing, again, and shove Carlos out in front of the cameras, again?

cnut

 

[Pogue Mahone]

negatively is a bad description of what SAF probably said. They would have anticipated Chelsea coming at them really fast at the start. Let's face it, they were guaranteed to be pumped.

Tactic was probably to soak up early pressure, knock the ball about, hit them on the counter attack for the first 20 minutes. Not to over commit and concede a goal. In reality, United played crap, didn't pass well, Chelsea dominated very strongly and United were stretched to contain them.

Fergie couldn't anticipate United's midfield and attack being so inadequate. You can only base any tactical assumption on the basics of your team being right and that's to attack with some skill in United's case. Unfortunately, Fergie does not have a button that will make Nani, Rooney, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs to play well on the day. That midfield and attack should have been better on the day & Fergie can't be blamed for that. Unfortunately, it has been a worrying trend in the last few weeks - with or without Ronaldo.

Also ends that argument about never losing with Rooney in the team

I'd agree with that summary entirely.

Except I would argue that Fletcher played quite well. The only midfielder/forward who did in the first half.

 

[Giggsy PO]

Surely Rooney carrying a knock shouldn't have been a problem, seeing as he was more juiced up than Arnold Schwarzenegger.



If only you were the boss...

WTF was that for a post from LABOB?

 

[Bearded but no genius]

The insane thing is that in spite of playing so crap we were 3 minutes away from effectively ending their challenge.

If we play like that next weekend then it is likely to all be over. WHU are being seriously underestimated - and to be honest so are Wigan. They got a point off of Chelsea, and in spite of us being Bruce's former club you know that his players will want to knock off the reigning champions.

 

[ronnie dazzler]

I'd agree with that summary entirely.

Except I would argue that Fletcher played quite well. The only midfielder/forward who did in the first half.

that's true, Fletcher played quite well

 

[edmundo]

Can't understand how some people go so unbelievably overboard. We lost the match by a goal,had two shots cleared off the line and could,sorry,should have had at least one pen. Was'nt meant to be our day,the title is still in our hands and this isn't game that we should definitly be winning,its the likes of the boro's,blackburns and west hams we should be picking up maximum points.

And just going to highlight the fact that,if United win the double this year,the lads here who are mouthing about SAF will have nothing to say. As they always do.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

The insane thing is that in spite of playing so crap we were 3 minutes away from effectively ending their challenge.

So we're 3 minutes away from drawing with Chelsea, away from home but...

If we play like that next weekend then it is likely to all be over.

Not following your logic there.

If we play like we did in the first-half against Chelsea we will be in all sorts of trouble. But looking back at our overall display - over 90 minutes - a repeat performance should be too good for West Ham, especially as the home side (and the inevitable effect that has on officials)

 

[crappycraperson]

Our overall performance against Chelsea was poor. They full deserved their three points. The goal we got was a gift.
I full expect us to turnover WHAM though regardless of the result tomorrow.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Our overall performance against Chelsea was poor. They full deserved their three points. The goal we got was a gift.
I full expect us to turnover WHAM though regardless of the result tomorrow.

I don't think a draw would have been a particularly unfair result. Game of two halves an all that.

Our goal was a gift but so was their second (courtesy of Carrick or the lino, depending on your interpretation of the hand-ball rule) VdS didn't make a save of note in the second-half, we had two cleared off the line (one of them by fecking Shevchenko, how did that happen?) and a decent penalty shout. I think 1 all would have been a fair result.

 

[crappycraperson]

Well that's your opinion though I doubt many others would agree with that.

Despite those two goal line clearances don't think we did enough to warrant a point. It's a shame we could not get both Rooney and Ronaldo on at the same time. We never had two competent attackers on the park at one time, otherwise we would have killed them on counter. That was the big blunder by SAF for me. Rooney and Ron would have picked Chelsea up in first half itself with them over-committing.

 

[manufanatic]

no issue except the whole chelsea is going to get a penalty at newcastle

gave chelsea credit for playing a decent first half and said we bossed the second half

seems fair to me

 

[manufanatic]

I don't think a draw would have been a particularly unfair result. Game of two halves an all that.

Our goal was a gift but so was their second (courtesy of Carrick or the lino, depending on your interpretation of the hand-ball rule) VdS didn't make a save of note in the second-half, we had two cleared off the line (one of them by fecking Shevchenko, how did that happen?) and a decent penalty shout. I think 1 all would have been a fair result.

tbf the save off of drogbas freekick was decent

 

[peterstorey]

Chelsea had 60% of the ball and you never looked a threat until they gifted you a goal. The last 5 minutes of have-a-go-hero apart you wre never in it.

 

[manufanatic]

Chelsea had 60% of the ball and you never looked a threat until they gifted you a goal. The last 5 minutes of have-a-go-hero apart you wre never in it.

after we scored chelsea were in taters. if nani had an idea of how to pass the ball we would have scored another. i remember 5 or 6 times we countered and put them under pressure.

of course after they were gifted the penalty it was all hands aboard stuff but to say we didnt deserve something from the game is stupid.

your math is off a bit we had 47% of possession in the game in which they must have had at least 60% in the first half. Cleary we dominated possession and created several chances in the second half, but in the end they won. Thats football.

I just love the offside difference

Shots (on Goal) 13(8) 7(6) Fouls 14 16 Corner Kicks 8 3 Offsides 0 6 Time of Possession 53% 47% Yellow Cards 3 4 Red Cards 0 0 Saves 7 7

 

[ooeat0meoo]

Quote: Soccernet (yesterday's edition)
Ferguson defended his decision to leave Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez on the bench at Stamford Bridge and revealed the Barcelona game took precedence.

PFA Player of the Year Ronaldo, who has weighed in with 38 goals, came on in the second half but was unable to change the face of the game.

Ferguson said: 'Given we had played Barcelona on a Wednesday there was no way I could play the same team at Chelsea as it was a lunchtime kick-off.

'I have to give my team the best possible chance of getting to the Champions League final.

'This club should have had more success in Europe, so it was very easy for me to make those changes on Saturday.'

Wayne Rooney (hip) and Nemanja Vidic (face) are doubtful for the match after missing training following injuries suffered against Chelsea.

Ferguson added: 'It is an important game, so we have got to give them every chance.

'It is a difficult one. Both of them could make it but I cannot be dead certain about that.'

There we have it...

Are there any pre-match comments?

 

[Bearded but no genius]

Quote: Soccernet (yesterday's edition)
Ferguson defended his decision to leave Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez on the bench at Stamford Bridge and revealed the Barcelona game took precedence.

PFA Player of the Year Ronaldo, who has weighed in with 38 goals, came on in the second half but was unable to change the face of the game.

Ferguson said: 'Given we had played Barcelona on a Wednesday there was no way I could play the same team at Chelsea as it was a lunchtime kick-off.

'I have to give my team the best possible chance of getting to the Champions League final.

'This club should have had more success in Europe, so it was very easy for me to make those changes on Saturday.'

Wayne Rooney (hip) and Nemanja Vidic (face) are doubtful for the match after missing training following injuries suffered against Chelsea.

Ferguson added: 'It is an important game, so we have got to give them every chance.

'It is a difficult one. Both of them could make it but I cannot be dead certain about that.'

There we have it...

Are there any pre-match comments?

No, but there is a post-match comment.

You're a tool.