Man Utd

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Few Man U fans on here and it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this.

I have just finished watching the game against Liverpool, i have watched most their live games too this season and what has really struck me is the difference the side is these days.

I dont know anything about the George Best sides years etc but i have watched them since the start of the Premiership growing up and they always used to be such a joy to watch with their up tempo free flowing attacking football.

Nowadays i am beginning to find their games torture to watch as the zip just seems to have gone out of them.

Not sure the reasoning on this is - maybe someone could enlighten me a bit?

Also their side seems to contain so many more mediocre players now compared to what i remember being, which was more or less 9 or 10 top top players starting each game.

Now im seeing players such as Fletcher, Silvestre, Smith who are no bad players - but are just now Man Utd, or what i wouldve classed as Man Utd quality.

Scholes, Keane and the older ones seem to be getting on a bit and arent near the quality they once were.

Even Van Nistelrooy looks jaded these days and nothing like when he first arrived.

This isnt a dig at your club either, as asmuch as i dont like the team, i did used to love watching their footbsll they played at times.

[Swooperman]

Not much to say as I aint a fan, but its just been announced that Roy Keane has broken his third metatarsal & is out for 2 months.....

[zonker84]

I'm not a Man Utd fan, far from it. I have posted about this elsewhere, the problem is Ferguson.

Too many poor signings over recent years, too much tactical ineptitude. He has done well over the years, but he has always had massive money to spend, dating right back to the days of breaking the transfer record for the likes of Pallister, Keane and Andy Cole.

Recent signings like Veron, Smith, Saha, Kleberson, Forlan, Djemba-Djemba, Howard and Carroll haven't worked out.

Even the players who are regarded as good have cost an absolute fortune: van Nistelrooy, Rooney, Ferdinand, Heinze and Ronaldo.

The fact is that any decent manager with that kind of spending would do very well. Anyone else would've been sacked for the kind of failure Man Utd have had. They have won ONE knockout tie in the Champions League in the 6 years since they won it (against Deportivo in 2002). That is astonishingly bad. They have finished a distant third 2 seasons running in the league (18 and 15 points off the lead).

Anyone else at any other club would've been sacked, especially in Spain or Italy. I think Manchester United will probably do well when Ferguson finally goes. They have spent as much as Chelsea, just over a slightly longer period. Arsenal have spent a tiny fraction of what Man Utd have done, and have consistently out-performed them in recent seasons.

Back to your original point, I don't think this safety-first approach from Man Utd is working. They were at their best when they were scoring loads of goals and attacking teams. Perhaps Ferguson thinks they are not good enough to play that way any more. I just think he is a poor tactician and his recent record in the transfer market has been absymal

[crowie]

Terrible game today, both sides looked scared to lose it and seemed happy with a draw. Is 2nd place in the EPL that much sought after?!

Have watched all Man Utd's away games this season. They pissed on Everton which given current form is no great achievement. Their first half today was very much like their first half at Newcastle, controlled. They pissed the 2nd half there which again, given current form, is no great achievement. Today I expected more in the 2nd half but they played it much in the same manner as the first and seemed more than happy with the point.

Defensively they look sound but there is something missing between midfield and attack which means chances are just not being created. Having said that, if both Man Utd and Liverpool go into games like this with one man up front on his own against 4 defenders then there is very unlikely to be a lot of chances or goals.

Someone should actually point out to all these sides "challenging" that Chelsea are actually winning their games at the moment. Chelsea were as low as 1-3 before this weekends games, what price Monday morning?

[jasper_77]

Do you think that the Man U players have the hunger to do well that they used to have? Ferdinand, particularly, looks pretty complacent about the situation. The only ones who stand out to me as still having some passion are Rooney and Ronaldo.

[slick]

Not so much complacency but age, Man U have had their moment and its time to move on, even saying that i wouldent put them on par with the great Liverpool team of the seventies and eighties who allthough winning everything in site must have had 2 or 3 completely different teams by the end of their era and it was only Haysell that put a stop to that.

United allthough a great prem side never set Europe alight even though they did win the champs league when completely outplayed by Bayern which you have to do to be called 'great' like Liverpool were.

Cantona was their catalyst and won them the prem and they became quite adapt at winning it but going no further, I agree Ferguson is also to blame for their eventual failure as his tactics on the continent leave a lot to be desired and he has never fully grasped it with the talent they had but he's done the best if not better with his ability and to call him the best Brit manager of all time like i've heard a few talksport hosts say of late is completely bollox.

There on the decline , bought a few great young attacking players admittedly but need guidance from another player like Keane who are a rarity in a sport that is now becoming non contact and expecting a player like Smith to fill his boots tells you all you need to know about Fergies Judgement skills.