Oh for **** sake, unless someone defines 'big club', right here in black and white, who gives a ****? Seriously. Both United and Real are European giants and this tie wouldn't look out of place as a final, that's all he was saying.
There are various threads in the PL forum addressing club SIZE. All started by attention seekers coincidentally.
Sir Alex said he wanted to do 7 changes in UTD, but changed his plans after City losing in Saturday will be interesting to know if he will stick to same players and how much he will change, as it seem 8-9 who played today were destined to play against Real
Mourinho Quote: "People think we are under pressure because a big team will be out, "But the people are not waiting for any other game." On SAF Quote: " I feel privileged about that because he is such an important person in the world of football and, more importantly, he is good person,". "I have always had a fantastic relationship with him and I am proud of it. We have had so many matches between us which started with Porto. We had some with Chelsea, Inter and now Real. Some I had won, some I have lost, others I have drawn. "Of course, I want to win and he wants to win, but I believe the loser will have a little bit of space to feel a little bit happy because of the friendship. "But make no mistake, I want to win."
given the players he played today, and some tiredness already for some players, i feel Sir Alex may go with ..........................................Gea................................... Smalling/Rafeal..........Rio.............Vidic...............Evra... ............................Carrick.........Anderson..................... Nani..............................Kagawa................................. ......................................Chicha.......................Welbeck i hope we start with Rafeal, he was awesome today .. he didn't feature during the mid week international matches am not sure though about the trio ( Nani, Chicha, Welbeck ) as I think if not tired, Rooney or RVP will start .. tbh even Valencia could start ahead of Nani but i have a feeling thatSir Alex may opt to start with some fresher legs then introduce the big guns when Real back 4 are more exhausted in the 2nd half sure this is my guess, I could be wrong, am just interested to see what other lineup you think Sir Alex will be picking next Wednesday?
I agree with your back 5, and I think the holding midfielders will be Carrick and Anderson or Cleverley (unless Phil Jones is brought in to try and stop Ronaldo like he did for Bale). But I feel SAF will play Rooney and RVP, it's too big a match to rest them... Rather play them and take them off after 60 mins if they are tiring. So I think RVP up front, and either Nani or Valencia on the right... Then we'll have either Rooney at no 10 and Welbeck on the left, or Kagawa central and Rooney on the left. I would like to see De Gea Rafael Ferdinand Vidic Evra Carrick Cleverley Nani Rooney Welbeck RVP
Marca are reporting that they expect Mourinho to name the following starting lineup: Diego Lopez, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao, Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Angel di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. The team pretty much picks itself, the only difficult decisions for Mourinho is whether to play Pepe who is only just coming back from an injury, and whether to play Essien at right back and shift Arbeloa to left back, which would improve them defensively. For those of you wondering, this means that some of the players not in the first team would be Michael Essien, Raul Albiol, Luka Modric, Kaka and Gonzalo Higuain.
Essien doesn't have the legs to play right back anymore. Mourinho has to risk it and start with Pepe.
you have a point, all will depend on how much Rooney, RVP will be tired the mid is another puzzle .. aside from Carrick, all the remaining players have an equal chance.. Jones could be a big possibility, he was taking off in the 2nd half may be for that reason or may be simply bcz he was not fit after his recent illness, but he will definitely be fresh enough to start
hmmm they will be definitely more fresher, with only Lopez (GK), Arbeloa and Ramos played full match in Saturday
"Neville warns of 'bully' Ronaldo Ahead of Real Madrid's clash with Man Utd, Gary Neville branded Cristiano Ronaldo a "bully" who preys on weakness." Can't figure this comment out at all. Ronaldo always appears to be a bit of a nancyboy, hardly the appearance of a thug or bully? Strange remark by Neville??
i would've said mind games but i don't think it is, Ronaldo has bulked up nowadays, he's not a ''nancyboy'', if Messi weren't around, he would be winning the best player in the world award every year.
