Just like all other United fans, I was absolutely crushed by the shocking home loss to local rival City, who are now on an upswing.The somber atmosphere at Old Trafford brought emphasis to the defeat, marking the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air disaster. United had hoped to draw inspiration from the heroics of the Busby Babes and pay them homage in some style.
But instead the team looked tardy and emotionally handicapped throughout the match, and City no doubt capitalized on their weaknesses to produce a victory.
Now I know I’m not Fergie, but I have to say I think he made some real errors in his lineup.
Why play Anderson and Scholes together? While their levels of expertise and experience may differ, these players share a very similar style of play.
Sir Alex should have started either Hargreaves or Carrick to secure the back of the midfield, but he went for an attacking strategy and this will never work without Wayne Rooney, who is currently suspended.
And why play Giggs for the entire 90 minutes? Yes, he's a veteran, he can deliver (sometimes) when it comes to big matches, and he creates lots of assists.
But look at his age! Giggs is 34 years old. Is it really ever a good plan to start an aging player, then rely on him to complete a grueling 90 minutes?
J.S. Park is not as graceful as Giggs, but when you play Nani and Park in the wings, the team gains mobility and most likely some decent assists—provided that Ronaldo plays up front.
Finally, let’s consider this error. Not truly a tactical misstep, but rather Ferguson’s brazen decision not to buy a striker in the January window.
Players like Huntelaar and Berbatov were closely linked to a United move, but Fergie still conserved his faith to rely on Louis Saha, who has truly disgusted me this season so far. You know that at some point, either Rooney or Tevez will suffer slight knocks or be rested for big matches, but who can defy Sir Alex?
Meanwhile, though, United must look forward to Sparky's team, who could cause an upset at the Emirates.
Yeah, I may be talking crazy, but it's football after all.
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4 months ago
I agree that I would have liked to have seen one of Carrick or Hargreaves in the team – but it’s easy to pick the team in hindsight and Fergie rarely gets it wrong. Pretty much everyone played poorly – even Rio misplaced passes and Vidic was often outmuscled and dived in against Benjani.
Giggs was of course of those to have a poor game, but so did Nani and Park offered little different when he came on. Overall, a bad day in the office, a very bad one, but I think it has been coming to be honest – United were lucky not to lose at White Hart Lane last week, against Portsmouth they played very well but again against Spurs in the cup they were fortunate to win and should have drawn and could have lost. The performances in the last few weeks haven’t been great and they will need to improve as I think United now need to win 10 of their last 12 in the Premiership if they want to retain the title.
4 months ago
lol
4 months ago
Why United lost the Derby has nothing 2 do with tactics
Its all to do with the fact that:
Rooneys your only forward who spends time in his own half
Ronaldo dissapears in big games, only showing skill against lesser opposition
Park Ji Sung is rubbish, Nani is still learning, Giggs is 2 old
Manchester City were a better team
The whole 50th anniversary thing was way over done in my view
God is a Gooner.....
Thats y u lost ;)
from 4 months ago
Tevez doesn't defend always does he??
Ronaldo doesn't always disappear in big games...i have given u some good examples on Live Msngr
Connolly!!!!
Park is poor, but at that point of time, i wud have preffered him to start in the right...
Citeh was better, no doubt about that..
If God is gooner, then most of us should have been atheists...
from 4 months ago
Tevez gets back 4 opposition corners and thats about it, lazy fool. Him and Diaby should start a fishing clun
MSN Messenger? hmmm I dont recall.......
And yes God is a Gooner, his spirit lived within Dennis Bergkamp and now he sits next 2 Le Boss on the Arsenal bench....and no hes not Pat Rice either
from 4 months ago
What a disgusting comment to make about the 50th anniversary being overdone! This was one of the biggest tragedy's in football history never mind just in England! to mark the 50th anniversary was obviously going to be a big deal...it's stupid fans like yourself who spoil the sport and to be honest I have to say the Man City fans respected the silence perfectly well. The day didn't go to plan for United which was the only dampener on an otherwise fitting tribute to the people who's lives were lost 50 years ago.
Typical rival fans to make crude comments whenever they can. I wonder if you would have the same opinion if the same thing happened in this day and age to your beloved Arsenal team. If you stop and think about that for a moment then maybe you can relate to how big this actually was for United.
Imagine, Arsenal winning a Champions League quarter final match and then on the way home, Fabregas, Adebayor, Van Persie, Hleb, Senderos, Silva, Bendtner and Gallas are all lost forever and Wenger is left fighting for life. How would you feel.
from 4 months ago
Sho sime one has some issues
I never said it was wrong 2 commemerate the tragic even, I was saying it probably had an adverse effect on Manure's performace and the whole building of the tunnel and the press day at old trafford...well it was a wee bit over cooked if u knw wat i mean?
The Boxing Day Tsunami, Asian Quakes, D-DAY, Labour Day and even Easter are commemarative (sp) events and none are as exposed or made a deal of quite like The Munich Disaster....a disaster yes, but also a chance 4 great media exposure
Now don't get me wrong Nicky, I mourned with the team as all football fans do, it doesnt matter what team perished. A minute of silence was great, dont make accusations muppet
4 months ago
"instead the team looked tardy and emotionally handicapped throughout the match, and City no doubt capitalized on their weaknesses to produce a victory"
You Man U fans are all the same...whiners, especially those more than 50 miles away from Manchester (which is pretty much most of you). "Oh we lost because of Munich... all the emotion," etc. etc. Maybe you just came up against a better team on the day....? How easy do you think it was for City to prepare for this game, when the entire week before almost every sports media outlet in England devoted at least 50% of its time to Munich, and almost every one at some point made a comment about City or their fans "spoiling" the commemorations. Now don't get me wrong, Munich was a tragedy (for the whole of Manchester) and took away lives of some incredibly talented young players, but Man U have milked it for 50 years. It was clear
from 4 months ago
Are you talking to yourself nameless sucker??
We admitted the defeat and Cty was better than us..
We are not out of the title race and a 5 poin deficit can easily be overturned in 2 games...
We were tired, our players needed rest, and it clearly showed on the match y...
4 months ago
Nobody "milks" anything regarding Munich, it's just a topic which will never be forgotten in the halls of Old Trafford. For a manager to be close to death's door and then recover and lead his team to Champions League glory 10 years later is a testament to United's never say die attitude.
No one is saying United don't have bad days....in fact I'm personally disgusted at how badly we played in the derby, there are no excuses for that. But I wont tolerate people who dis-respect everything which makes United the club they are today. To lose 8 members of the squad obviously instilled the family quality in United to this day.
And to say that the majority of United fans dont live in manchester is true also......but only because we have a global fanbase of 300 Million so Manchester isn't even big enough for us all.
4 months ago
Never play Hargreaves and Carrick together!
from 4 months ago
Never play Hargreaves and Carrick at all
4 months ago
"Ronaldo wannbe Ronaldo".....can't even win a silly local match....in one of the weakest organized leagues in the world.
Is this the guy Ferge said was the new Pele....ha... England lives in a fantasy dream world.
It's like being an alcoholic.
England will never fix their football until they first admit that the brand is lame and outdated.
Yeah that's right ...I don't only think Ronaldo Wannabe and Beckham are lame ..I think the entire football as a whole is so 1940's ....."OH he plays it down the wing...what a lovely cross ...in comes the header...and another chance goes a beggin"
YAWN!!!!!!!
4 months ago
united will win the leave with 2-3 points ahead of arsenal....
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