The Official Man United Thread

[Yorkey 0]

THE OFFICIAL MAN UNITED THREAD OF Xisto

This is the Man United thread of Xisto. Everything Man United. Latest news, general discussion as well.

Please, not only Man United fans must join in.

[telatoyo 0]

Well good one, but maybe we can make this the English Soccer Official Thread, including FA Cup, Carling Cup, and of course the English Premier League, im a Man Utd fan, and i even have the official Jacket... but i dont think they can win the EPL this year, Chelsea have a better team, and now wit Rooney injured... worst... hope they win at leas the FA Cup...

 

PD: Heres my Man Utd Jacket...

[stevethedog 0]

For the game v Spurs Live on SS1 @4pm!

Manchester United skipper Gary Neville has been ruled out for two more weeks after picking up a thigh injury.

Striker Louis Saha is likely to be on the bench, keeper Edwin van der Sar (foot) is also available and Anderson is set to make his competitive bow.

Gareth Bale could make his Tottenham debut and Dimitar Berbatov may return but Darren Bent (thigh) is a doubt.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Michael Dawson, Younes Kaboul, Ledley King and Aaron Lennon are all out.

Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Heaton, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, O'Shea, Evra, Silvestre, Fletcher, Eagles, Carrick, Scholes, Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson, Giggs, Saha, Tevez.

Tottenham (from): Robinson, Cerny, Chimbonda, Bale, Lee, Stalteri, Gardner, Rocha, Zokora, Tainio, Jenas, Routledge, Malbranque, Boateng, Huddlestone, Ghaly, Murphy, Taarabt, Berbatov, Bent, Keane, Defoe.

# Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson:
"We will win the game on Sunday. Our performance level will win the game for us.

"There is no question Tottenham will come here with a great determination to help their manager.

"But with the ability in this team, I know the results we have been having will not carry on for long."

#
Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas:
"We know it will be a really tough game.

"They are going to be battling themselves and won't be happy with their start.

"Being a big club like us, they will be feeling it. They would have expected to have been in a better position than they are - exactly like we do."

BIG-MATCH FACTS

Manchester United have made their worst start to a Premier League campaign since the inaugural season in 1992-93.

The Red Devils have never had fewer than four points after the first four matches of a Premier League campaign.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side have not won in five league outings, and scored just one goal in the five matches.

This is a massively important game for Tottenham manager Martin Jol. Spurs have only registered one win against any of the so-called "Big Four" since the Dutchman took over just under three years ago; that victory being 2-1, home to Chelsea on 5 November 2006.

United have not suffered back-to-back defeats in 84 Premier League matches.

Spurs have never won a Premier League fixture at Old Trafford.

CLUB FORM

MANCHESTER UNITED
(all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures)

1. One of three clubs to have scored just one Premier League goal so far. The others are Aston Villa and West Ham.

2. One of five clubs still searching for a first Premier League victory. The others are Aston Villa, Birmingham, Bolton and Derby.

3. Lost 1-0, away to local rivals Manchester City last time out. They've not suffered successive league defeats since Norwich (a) and Everton (a) defeated them on 9 and 20 April 2005 respectively.

4. Picked up just three points from a last possible 15, since beating Manchester City at Eastlands on 5 May.

5. Gone six games since scoring more than a single goal in a game - the longest current such run by any club in the Premier League. They last netted more than one in the 4-2 home win over Everton on 28 April.

6. Defeat here would make this the clubs' worst ever start under Sir Alex Ferguson.

7. Entering the weekend in 16th spot - their lowest since the first few weeks of the first ever Premier League season in 1992.

8. Dropped only seven points in their first 17 games last season.

9. Not won a home league game for over four months, since the 2-0 eclipse of Sheffield United on 17 April.

10. A home clash with Roy Keane's Sunderland is the next fixture after this.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
(all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures)

1. The current tally of three points after three matches, mirrors their start last season.

2. Twelve months ago they made their worst start in 11 years when bagging just three points from the first four games.

3. The shut-out against Derby last time out was only their third clean sheet in 31 league matches.

4. Also gone 31 league games since a goalless draw; that being away to Watford on 28 October last year.

KEY PLAYER NOTES

MANCHESTER UNITED

Paul SCHOLES has netted Manchester United's only goal so far. His strike against Portsmouth made him the club's highest Premier League scorer with 96 goals. Ryan GIGGS has 93.

GIGGS has scored seven times in Premier League matches against Tottenham, including one in their first ever meeting in this league on 19 September 1992, which ended 1-1.

SCHOLES has scored four league goals, and one in the FA Cup, against Tottenham.

GIGGS is a double short of 100 career League goals.

If he plays:-

Michael CARRICK will be facing a former club. The 26 year old England international midfielder made 75 appearances (64 in the league) and scored two league goals for Spurs between August 2004 and his Ł18.6m move to Old Trafford in July last year.

If on the field from the outset:-

Edwin VAN DER SAR will be making his 200th career Premier League start (Fulham and Manchester United).

John O'SHEA will be making his 200th start for Manchester United.

Suspended:-

Cristiano RONALDO (two matches)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Steed MALBRANQUE is Tottenham's top scorer with two Premier League goals.

If he plays:-

Jermain DEFOE will be making his 150th appearance in a Tottenham shirt.

Tom HUDDLESTONE will be making his 150th club career appearance (Derby, Spurs and Wolves).

HEAD TO HEAD

Manchester United are unbeaten in 12 Premier League games against Tottenham (10 wins, two draws), winning the last three.

Spurs last beat United in the closing game of the 2000-01 season, when Les Ferdinand added to Willem Korsten's brace in a 3-1 victory.

The Londoners' only triumph in 29 annual top flight visits to Old Trafford was 0-1 on 16 December 1989 when Gary Lineker scored an historic winner. Since then Tottenham have drawn four and lost 13 of 17 League trips.

Home and away
League (inc PL): Man United 69 wins, Spurs 35, Draws 36
Prem: Man United 22 wins, Spurs 3, Draws 5

at Man United only
League (inc PL): Man United 46 wins, Spurs 10, Draws 14
Prem: Man United 12 wins, Spurs 0, Draws 3

LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME

Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
9 September 2006 - Ref: Mike Riley
Man United scorer: Giggs 9

REFEREE

Howard Webb (Yorkshire)



Team to look like this
VDS

Evra
Vidic
Rio
Wes

Giggs
Hargreaves
Carrick
Scholes
Nani
Tevez

with some sort of strikeforce.

1-0 to Spurs after 12 minutes with man u trying in vain to score for rest of the match imo.

[stevethedog 0]

As for the game, we were pretty lethargic in the first half, hate to say it as i've been a fan of his but Carrick was really poor, everytime any passage of play went through him it just ruined any tempo we might have had and allowed spurs to get men behind the ball, when Eagles came on we looked a lot brighter despite him not offering much purely because the ball wasn't going through Carrick. Think it was a bit of a one off though i've got to say, I usually think he gets unnecessary stick. Nani's goal really was a bit special wasn't it but that being the only real effort on goal aside from the clearance is worrying, Tevez was working hard but coming too deep, it'll be all very well him doing that once he's playing off somebody but yesterday he kept picking it up outside the box and having a non existant frontman to thread it through too. Thought Hargreaves and Evra were our two best players tbh, both so combatant and hard working and going forward Evra is looking like one of our most creative at the minute.Hopefully we can pick it up on Saturday as Sunderland are going to be very difficult to play against, hurry back Louis as well please

[preston 0]

I would like to bring up the kid whos only 9 and is signed up for manchester united

[stevethedog 0]

The man we miss most is still in the teamOliver Holt The Best Sports Writer In Britain 05/09/2007


Whatever happened to Rio Ferdinand? Whatever happened to the stylish young defender who was going to break the mould?

Where did the new Baresi go? Where's the libero who was going to change the way England played?

Where's the defender who was supposed to be more than a defender?

Where's the man who was going to step into midfield and give his team something extra?

Advertisement
Steve McClaren might have a lot of players missing for the crunch tie against Israel on Saturday.

But the man the country's missing most is the man who shrunk back into the shell of the player who will take the pitch alongside John Terry at Wembley.

Back in the late 1990s, former England boss Glenn Hoddle planned to position Ferdinand at the heart of a brave new world.

Hoddle saw Ferdinand's ability on the ball as the key to the classic sweeper system he hoped to implement.

He experimented with playing Jamie Redknapp there in an Under-21 game in Switzerland but never saw it through. He was waiting for Ferdinand to grow up. But then Hoddle was fired, Kevin Keegan took over, Ferdinand moved to Manchester United and somewhere between then and evading a drugs test, he had all the adventure beaten out of him.

Ferguson might give his forwards and his midfielders free rein to express their glorious talents but his defenders defend.

Ferdinand stopped stepping out. He went from an adventurer to a conservative. He started hoofing his clearances into Row Z.

Sure, he cut out some of the mistakes that had affected his game but he lost far more than he gained.

He's still a fine player in many ways. He won a league winners' medal with United last season after all.

But he's lost what made him special. He's lost what made him different. The system chewed him up and spat him out as an Average Joe. He's a stopper now but his heart's not in it.

Just because he doesn't get forward in open play any more hasn't stopped him losing his concentration.

He was poor against Germany in England's last game and even in United's colours, he is looking increasingly slipshod.

Watching him dawdle on the ball in his own box against Spurs as Dimitar Berbatov nipped in to steal it away from him was sad to see.

Ferdinand has got to the stage where he's ripe for demotion. Once, it was a shock when he was dropped.

Now it has got to the point where no one would be surprised if Micah Richards was moved into his England place once Gary Neville is fit at right back.

And if it's not Richards, it will be Jonathan Woodgate or Ledley King.

Ferdinand's star is waning. When he takes the field against Israel, he will do so as a poor man's John Terry.

Everyone recognises that.

Terry is a peerless defender, dominant in the air, comfortable on the ball and described by Alan Hansen as one of the best near post defenders the game has ever seen.

Ferdinand does the same things, only not as well. He's a bad copy of Terry where once he could have been the England captain's perfect foil.

Imagine the old Ferdinand playing alongside Terry. What a combination that would have been. The immovable object teamed with the swashbuckling libero.

Terry Venables did his best to resurrect that dream when England switched to a 3-5-2 system for part of the defeat to Croatia.

But McClaren was so traumatised by the loss and the resulting criticism that he has never strayed that way again.

So the old Ferdinand is lost forever. His gradual decline represents another depressing story of a technically gifted English player sinking back into conformity and ordinariness.

He could have been the jewel in England's crown. Instead, he'll run out at Wembley one more bad performance away from being dropped.

It's sad to say it but it looks like Rio's on the way out. Going without ever having fulfilled a magnificent talent. What a waste.

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Quite possibly one of the worst reports I've ever read, what a load of pish!

it's annoying that people that clueless exist... but its worse still that they're employed in to a profession where they must write about the things they know nothing about

well thats just it, apparently Rio doesnt have any technical ability now

he just "hoofs his clearances into Row Z" and "doesn''t get forward in open play any more"

except that that is the COMPLETE opposite of what he does

actually embarassing how backward that article is.

Mon the RIO

[stevethedog 0]

Man Utd vs Chelsea

Well, with Jose making a swift exit now the heat is on , it gives this match more than its usual edge. Fergie has had a poorer than usual start to the season as well, but you know we won't see him run off. No, Fergie will stay where he is and get the results he knows his squad are capable off. Without Rooney they have looked a little blunt in the striking department, and Tevez has not been the quick answer so many thought he would be. He needs time , though. Ronaldo hit the target against Sporting Lisbon in the CL, so he's getting back to match fitness, and who doesn't want to see him in full flow?
Chelsea minus Drogba and Lampard is not the sole reason for the dip in form. The team is big enough and deep enough in talent to cope without them, but you have to feel for Shevchenko as he's had so little faith placed in him by Jose and now he has to step up and perform, however he will have to do better than he has, to prove his worth.

Pizarro is a decent addition , but it's the midfield I see as being the area that can really bring it all back. Having SWP, Malouda, Essien, Sidwell, Obi Mikel, Cole and Makelele available is great...who wouldn't want these guys on your team. But if they don't gel then it's a waste of time. Chelsea need to get that productive possession and distribution back, and start making the passes/movement count. Pressing from midfield and opening up the pitch is what they have been about since Jose came in. They had 70% possession vs Rosenberg and where did it get them? ...29 shots, but only 5 on goal , with Kalou and Shevvy guilty of wasting more than a few. Against Aston Villa they had 60% possession, 20 shots, 8 on goal, and lost 2-0.

They have attacking options...plenty, in fact too many want to do just that. It's the patience and finishing they lack, as I see it. Camp in the midfield and spray the ball when the opportunity arises, when the advantage is set.

I'll take a couple of bets in this on, as I expect changes to the Chelsea side by whoever takes charge....so,

Penalty awarded @ 3.50 paddypower and Chelsea first team to score @ 2.625 stanjames

Notice from rvalkass:

Being hosted you should know better than to copy and paste. Quote tags added, copied from /search?q=cache:fWAirlient%3Dfirefox-a&gbv=1&sei=nIftV_y-LYK2-QHQ5aDAAQ

[stevethedog 0]

Yeah sorry about that.Regarding yesterday's game, Wow...that was not very pretty was it?One dumb mistake gives Ronny a goal.That really was some save from Kuczack though, deflected so near to him and his reaction was instantly, briliant stuff.Anyone spot Ronaldo's triple bluff with the cross as well, that really was cool! He's got to be up there for the best in the world just now, the guy has absolutely everything in his locker, still improving & is a complete class act.MOM: I still think Evra is the best player on the pitch week in and week out. Best left back in the game?Vidic set to sign a new 4 year contract, bloody brilliant new as well. That should see our defence sorted out for a good while alongside Rio.

[stevethedog 0]

That was a bit of a cracking game yesterday, shame we couldn't get the win.For me in the first half we posed very little attacking threat, and it was due to the way we were set up. Given that, while we had one or two chances on the break, i still think Arsenal looked the more likely to score, and we were lucky to be ahead given Gallas' chance not long before the goal , which if it's two yards either side goes in, and the deflection on rooney's miss hit for the goal.Once one goes in, the rest of the pattern of the game is far down to that opening goal than anything else, but if that luck goes against us its far harder for a team sent out with a more defensive mindset to start attacking. I also think that if we give them more to worry about, that's another way to make them less of a threat. Their full backs were able to fill in and influence the game far more than they should have been, because we're asking Ronaldo and Rooney to track back from what should be forward positions to deal with them. If we play 4-4-2, they have to worry more about our wingers and overlapping full backs, and maybe you force Eboue and Rosicky back more.it just seems to me that the tactics we play in these game seems to rely too much on someone doing something special, rather than forming a pattern to control the game. And we'r talking about a draw here almost like it's a win, because we've lost so many of these games where we've been set up like this, so it's almost like we feel we can't go away and beat the big teams.I'm a bit puzzled at people having a go at Ronnie. Like the rest of our attacking talents the system was never going to let them strut their stuff but you look at everything good we did in an attacking sense and he was a big part of most of it.Ronnie created the good chance for Giggs, got the assist for our first and scored the second. I just hope this isnt the start of people getting on his back again if he doesnt win every game by himself.Giggs while i dont think he was awful by any stretch i just dont see the point of playing him these days. People say hes in there to track back and yes he used to be immense at it, tracking back for miles and winning the ball with great sliding tackles but now he just doesnt bother with the tracking back or lets his man go if the guy decides to sprint.The first goal was Browns fault for me. he stands there with nobody near him and just watches Fabregas walk in unmarked and does nothing until hes slotting it away. God knows what planet he was on at the time.On the substitutions, good to see Saha back but i didnt agree with Anderson coming off for Carrick. If it was being changed to 4-4-2 then Giggs needed to come off. Anderson was doing really well for me.

[telatoyo 0]

Well well, we lose the game against Bolton, now Arsenal is alone on the top... come on Sir Alex, after Englands Fail to clasify to Euro'08 you should give British players more chances...

[stevethedog 0]

Man Utd currently have what I reckon is the best squad in the Premiership. Arsenal have been phenomonal so far this season and nobody can deny that so I don't think there is any shame in being 2nd behind them. I'm sure the Bolton game was just a one off blip and the team will pull it back together for the next game.Right now looking forward in Europe/.so teams for the next round of the Champs LgePorto/Marseille/BesiktasRosenborg/SchalkeMadrid/Olympiakos/Bremen/LazioMilan/Celtic/ShakhtarRangers/LyonFenerbache/PSVSeville possibly but unlikely.Milan, Madrid, Seville should win their groups, and not that there's anyone we should be scared of, but other than those 3 I'd happily take anyone from that list, Rosenborg first choice, Lyon last probably.

[stevethedog 0]

A rare Monday night game for us, feels very strange. Rooney returns after being out for the last few weeks. Team to look like this pleaseVDSBrownRioVidaEvraRonaldoHargreavesAndersonNaniTevezRooneyPrediction - 2-0 us with Tevez and Ronaldo the scorers.Fulham will probably line up asNiemiKoncheskyStefanovicHughesBa(ir)dBouazzaMurphyDavisDaviesDempseyKamaraSanchez not one to change anything ever. Expect Healy and Kuqi to come off the bench after about an hour. SO predictable.MON

[hyett 0]

thers only one man utd wehey were gona win the premiership AGAIN beat roma in champions league and have liverpool after that! i think c.ronaldo will get top goal scorer to be honest he is the best player in the permiership and is untouchable cant wait untill we win the champions league again with our quality signings,nani,anderson,tevzand owen hargeaves etc it should be easy now that we are doing so well.

Edited December 10, 2007 by hyett (see edit history)

[stevethedog 0]

Another hard earned 3 points. Good to see that we can dig them out when required. Here's what I reckoned for the day.disjointed team performance for the most part although i thought there were only a couple of individuals who were really below par - just didn't quite click for us. Everton played their part in that of course, and even in disjointed-mode we created a fair bit and certainly were the better side. looked like we'd pretty much run out of ideas before we got that penalty though - can't believe Pienaar's stuck his leg out like that with Giggsy going away from goal and extremely unlikely to pose an immediate threat with a shot/cross on his weaker foot. will gleefully accept that present though.Kuszczak - kicking couldn't have been worse if he was wearing flippers. didn't think he had much chance with the goal though.Simpson - had a shocker unfortunately. big test for him now to come back from getting hauled off at HT in his biggest game to date.Brown/Vidic - generally very good, dealt with the threat of Yakubu/Johnson well for the most part. need to see their goal again to see whether either/both were at fault though, initial thoughts are Wes has been dragged out to the wing to help Simpson against a winger and full-back (which should really be down to either Ronaldo or one of our central midfielders) and that leaves us a bit exposed in the middle with the two strikers plus Cahill, who no-one seemed to track at all.Evra - didn't get into the game as much as you'd hope attack-wise, did well defensively though, albeit against no real direct opponent.Ronaldo - awesome first goal, great penner (jinxing him here ofc but i'm as confident when he's taking them as i was with Eric or Ruud), really worked his *bottom* off defensively, was a constant threat down the right and put in some great crosses. just seemed completely in the mood today, what a f**king player.Anderson - faded second-half (not helped by the Saha-Carrick substitution) but had a really bright first half. really needs to cut the card-waving out though - hopefully getting carded for it will help.Carrick - seen lots of criticism of him, didn't think he was too bad myself. played a couple of fantastic passes and didn't give it away too much. played second fiddle to Anderson for the most part though.Giggs - his complete refusal to make any effort to win headers or 50-50's absolutely does my head in but he had his moments going forward and won the penalty ofc (ta Pienaar).Rooney - unlucky with the one off the line and a few other near misses. worked as hard as usual, just didn't quite come off. could do with a goal to kickstart another of his streaks.Tevez - final ball maybe let him down a bit but as full of running as ever and took up some great positions.Saha did really well off the bench i thought, yet another reminder that if he could ever stay fit and sharp he's a great asset to have. Fletch clearly changed the game Coolreally good atmosphere second half i thought, bit like Blackburn at home last season (not quite as good but not far off). most enjoyable home game of the season i think, for that reason. great way to start off this run of games over christmas. hopefully Everton will be smarting and feed off the frustration of chucking away a point when they come to play Arsenal.

[stevethedog 0]

Nod a good performance at all, missing so many chances. You just felt B'ham somehow might have got an equaliser but in the end luckily they did't.MOM: Anderson by far. worked very hard to regain lost balls. Vision and passing are just awesome.Runner-up : TevezWell hopefully Berbs will play his last game for Spurs tonight with Saha going the other way. Another sub-par performance from him.Fergie is having a go at the fans for not making an atmosphere.