Sorry for the misinformation about Dembele. I've seen our chances for a top four place dismissed, and maybe they should be, who knows? But if they're not, the team we're likeliest to need to finish above (if that makes any sense) is Man U. Not to say Everton, Liverpool, Newcastle or someone else might not finish in the top four, just that if I had one team to finish ahead of this year, of teams that don't look ATM like title contenders, it would be them. What I'm trying to say is that we need a result to keep our top four hopes alive, and we need a win, I would say, to kickstart making them a reality. I actually think this is a very tough game to call, between not having any idea how Sherwood will set up the team, and the fact that both teams have got some confidence back after having lost it more or less completely. If Sherwood has got a good Henry V pep talk in him, this might be the time.
what would happen if Sherwood called "fix" about Webb before the match? A fine for sure, but surely they'd have to take Webb off or as a minimum he'd have to give a few things to us to prove he's not a corrupt nobhead
LOL! From a Utd fan, a club where nobody seemingly ever congratulates an opponent when they've been beaten, its always someone elses fault
Yes, we're "blaming" him, not pointing out that it's a stupid appointment because of things he's already done. I assume this is Matth's latest incarnation?
He's stitched us up with various clubs in the past, including the other Mancs and the Scousers. Generally away from home and usually with ****ing terrible decisions for 90 minutes. The Clattenburg return was stupid. This is worse.
Will be interesting to see how Sherwood sets us up - if he goes 4-4-2 again, I think we could be on the receiving end of a battering. That's my main concern with Sherwood - he's desperate for us to play the spurs way but sometimes it's better to be a bit boring and soak up the pressure. I fear that he could be stubborn like AVB but going for attack instead of defence.
Give Sherwood a break. We beat a team by more than 1 goal. It doesn't matter who that team was, thats improvement already!
I read that yesterday was the first time since October 2007 that Clattenburg has refereed at Goodison. The last time he was there he sent off two Everton players and denied them a clear last minute penalty in the Merseyside derby. I wonder if Everton had got him stopped from doing their games, if so maybe we should ask for Webb to be kept away from ours.
This is a game between the most schizophrenic teams in the PL - capable of quality and dross in equal measure. I've predicted 3-2 to Utd as we've got the bit betwen our teeth again, Rooney should be fit, Valencia will be back, Welback's playing well and RvP might be on the bench (maybe), but any result is possible depending on which defence wobbles the most. Vidic and Vertonghen are key players; is Vertonghen going to be fit anytime soon?
How I see it as well. No result would be truly shocking. The big difference between the two clubs right now is that Man U has a big player playing like a big player, but considering we're level on points, it means the rest of our squad has been a bit better. We're dying to see if Sherwood's going to try a 442 at Old Trafford. It seems like suicide, but I'd give him some credit if he did. It's certainly daring. On the other hand, he might do well to try to imitate what AVB did last year...or not, considering we're now minus all three goal scorers from that game. On reflection, I might go for the exact same lineup we used against Stoke. Why not? You play well, the team has a good game, you get to stick together. It would certainly test the theory that coaches overcomplicate things. If we're forced to use Capoue due to Paulinho being injured, it might redress some of the defensive deficiencies. The most hopeful thing I saw against Stoke was Dembele's goal, which happened minutes after Capoue subbed for Paulinho and Dembele started playing farther forward. I loved the way he created space with his dribble, then blasted it in. That's the second time I can remember him scoring when he went forward in the last few games, and I'd like to see it a lot more. As long as he doesn't try to dribble through four people, he's very hard to take the ball from, and could be almost as dangerous as Lennon. Not to mention the fact that he seems to have as good a shot as anyone on the team besides Holtby, Eiriksen and just possibly Adebayor. A few more from him, and a few less from the Row Z specialists (you know who they are) would be nice. I'd love Rose to be available. If not, I'd rather have Fryers (gasp) or Fredericks then Naughton on the left. Naughton looks good on the right, but I never want to see him on the left again. What did people think of Eiriksen on the left? I only saw the first half (tennis court at noon my time Sunday), and thought he was okay, but no more. I would have a lot of trouble choosing between him, Chadli, Holtby and Gylfi. If anything, Chadli's looked best there this year, I'd say. (It seems to me Lamela always ends up on the right, for whatever reason.) No.
Moyes will play 4-4-2, but that can be a weakness for Utd when the opposition have the ball. Many teams have had success recently carrying the ball forward through midfield, which is why visiting teams have had more attempts at goal than in the past. Playing three in midfield could give Spurs a distinct advantage there. Last season Spurs dominated that area in the first half and Utd couldn't handle the direct running of Bale in the centre (or Vertonghen from left back). And there is no Paul Scholes to control the ball like he did in the second half last year when you were really under the cosh.
Good idea, but Clattenburg screwed himself royally in that game. He was clearly going for a booking, Gerrard had a little word and it turned into a red. Looked awful.
We had kind of a funny 4-4-2 last game, maybe more of a 4-1-3-2, really, with Dembele holding and Paulinho playing farther forward, though not quite as far forward as Lennon and Eiriksen. 4-1-1-2-2? 4-2-2-2? Add to that Adebayor getting the ball from back to front more often than anyone else, and it was definitely odd.
Why isn't he suspended? Picked up his fifth booking against Hull, then got sent off. Why isn't that a two game ban?
Perhaps the first booking doesn't count as he was sent off (thus putting him in the same position as if given a straight red). So his next booking will trigger the automatic one match ban instead.
