Hazard is pretty much identical to Willian. Oscar is only 21 and is already a 1st team player with Brazil. Think he'll have a really good year this year. Mata was up their for player of the year. Schurlle looked good in Germany, as did De Bruyne. Attacking wise I think they've got a bloody good set of AM. Just need a top class forward to go with it.
Matas really good Hopefully they've brought that many in they'll get pissed off when they're not playing #spoiltchavs
I think you're right Tobes, and given how much times that ferguson got at the beginning of his reign I think it's crazy. Hopefully the TRUE United fans who supported them throughout the 70's and 80's will be more steadfast than the glory boys who've tagged along for the last two decades.
of course the press have those stories ready. its so bleed'n obvious that the job is indeed to big for him. In short Utd post ferguson must evolve. they must spend like the others and employ coaches that attract stars.... not a guy from their perennial reserve side and then buy no-one. in the end: utd with an improved de gea, a fit ferdinand and vidic and evra, a functional midield and RVP is stil la threat... BUT we talk about options. how for 5 years lfc had none but torres and he was injured, how carroll was an awful one and how suarez misses half a season. now finally lfc have some options, not top ones but utd... suddenly.... welbeck looked awful, hernandez a sub and rooney is going... are they going to largely be a one man team? nani is not good, valencia seems to be great and then useless and the utd fans use englands awful team as an excuse why carrick is great... when patently he isn't. If moyes can get 80+ points i for one will be shocked. i can see him getting the mean defensively if he gets it right but i cannot see them continuing the same style of possession and control with urgency they leads them to always be a threat. If the concede as many as last year early in games i can't see them coming back and frankly when the pressure comes on if the start isn't great i don't see them powering out of it. In short city look to be favorites to me and Chelsea SHOULD be second favorites.
Yeah or something like KK wouldnt have ruined him but BR did I do like mfg's posts though. He does write well (interesting style) He never sticks around to argue his point though!
I think any Liverpool fan claiming that Man Utd haven't got a quality squad is just being silly and/or biased. Sure, they could be better, but they have some quality options. People pick out the likes of Welbeck are their lesser squad players and should be compared to Borini rather than Sturridge! they obviously need strengthening in the middle but then, we've been saying that for about three or four years and they've won stuff in that time too! And trust me, I want them to lose as much as any other Liverpool fan!!!
I only judge them by the HIGH standards that the reputedly aspire to. compared to the top clubs in europe they are awful.. compared to the top 2 club this season they will look average. Last years league was an anomoly, not at all saying they would not win it anyway BUT the other sides were simply terrible. thats why both spend like water. arsenal never count such is the small ambition they have. COmpared to lfc's squad which is not even top 4 of course utd have a quality squad... but they are not supposed to compete for 6th are they?
It seems like everybody has already given City, Chelsea and United the top 3 spots. I've got nothing to base this on but it is just possible things at the top are not so certain. Of the protagonist, it is perhaps easiest to see the flaws in United. No new signings but with an ageing defence and a porous midfield AND the unknown Moyes factor. Whilst Mourinho has come back to a love-fest, he does have a squad that whilst containing talent also harbours some too long-lived elements perhaps more worryingly also contains the same psychological baggage. City are a classic example of the old and the new. Lots of new high profile players, a new high profile manager and a residue of existing stars. What we don't know is if it will be possible to actually build some kind of team mentality. Let's face it even when they won the Prem they still lacked team cohesion. If one or more of these sides suffer this season then we could well see a major 'upset'. As for the second-tier. Spurs look like they have improved their squad, Bale or no Bale. We have bought well it would appear and Willian (if he does come) would be a major signing. I won't mention Suarez as I don't know what will happen - but it could be tasty with him. Arsenal are the club with the most obvious problems. For us I think that we must try and bust a gut to get 4th. At the moment I don't know if it is possible.
Put it this way, how many united players would you put in our first team? I can think of three immediately, Rooney, RVP and Vidic. But the rest? Meh, up for debate. SAF built a team to be more than the sum of its parts. But christ, they have midfielders of Cleverley, Carrick, Anderson, it's cack.
Rio was outstanding last year. As much as I don't like them, Rafeal and Evra were better than Johnson and Enrique too. they clearly have better wingers considering we only have Assaidi and two promising youth players. Their midfield is lacking but I did say that. The onyl areas we have an argument for is in goal and midfield although Suarez would be alongside RvP
Rio and Evra had good seasons, not so sure about Rafael ahead of Johnson, the wingers point is true though of course we use fullbacks more than wingers for width, agree with RVP yes but Rooney no. I think Man Utd would take Gerrard and Suarez from us, probably a 100% fit Lucas, and would probably prefer Henderson as a utility guy to Jones. Coutinho would also get a place depending how much the particular Man Utd fan wants to rate Cleverley/Kagawa.
I agree Gerrard, Lucas and Suarez would get a spot but I think that is it. Although, that does also depend on the system being played for Coutinho (despite him still having a lot to prove).
Good post, I do however think that while Welbeck is under rated (always looks alright from what ive seen), he isnt as good as Sturridge. Problem with Sturridge are his injuries! They are very similar players but for me Sturridge has more about him They have quality and experience definitely but, I think of the likes of Jones, Evra (used to be quality), Anderson, Valencia, Nani, Cleverley (I know alot think hes good but im not keen) and Evans and I think when you put that to an ageing Rio and Giggs and thats quite a lot of players in their squad. All these for me wont be good enough this season. Ferguson wouldve got more out of them but the current manager? Problem is, Chavs have the Madrid hated one back and Pelligrinis a good manager (Manchini needed to go although I liked him) He failed at Madrid but did other good stuff. He'll have to bed the in but look at their squad? Its like ****ing football manager game Ferguson got them over performing last yr and he has been a magnificent manager but he'd have had a job on this year Also, I think Fabregas would be at Utd now had ferguson been wanting him. How will Moyes wanting them affect future targeted players? I think their team is quite uninspiring for Utd, a good team yes, but Utd, defending their title without Ferguson? No Like you say, we've been here before but theres a massive difference this year. Not just him not being manager but coaches changed and all that as well, not to mention the fear factor carried by Ferguson (it makes a difference, the greatest motivation is FEAR). Moyes is the wrong man imo and he'll have bad patch. Utd fans arent used to this new manager malarkey and I wonder how much slack they'll give him. They say they will, but we'll see. Will be interesting
How old is Evra? How old are both Vidic and Ferdinand - and how many matches did they miss last season? I rest my case.
The DR says... I understand what you are saying (although I don't agree with the player ratings stuff but I'll leave that for another day) and I agree that they won't get top two this year, but those players aren't going to just forget how to play because a manager has left. Sure Fergie got the best out of them but I think the reason we haven't seen much transfer activity at Old Trafford is because there has already been a major shift without creating any more disturbance. They (Man Utd and Moyes) will be better than people are giving them credit for IMO
Age is irrelevant if they are still able to perform. How old was Pirlo during the last international tournament? Plus, our very own Steven Gerrard is older than two of them, are you writing him off too? I could have sworn he is still seen as a key player Edit: I don't like any of the three you pointed out by the way but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be respected and acknowledged for their ability, irrelevant a club religion.
