Whilst it's hard not to jump on the bandwagon after such an incredible day of football, let's try and put yesterday's mauling into some degree of perspective: 1. City were immense. Seriously, seriously good. They would have comfortably beaten just about any side in the world, save Barca and probably Real, on their performance yesterday. Having said that: 2. United, as a team, were not that far behind yesterday until they went down to 10 men and lost their collective heads. Ferguson summed it up quite well - when you go 4-1 down with 2 minutes to go, you take the beating and shut up shop. What they were doing charging forward like the light brigade I will never know. 3. From the outside looking in, Jonny Evans is a liability. The ball through which led to him being sent off looked like a ball that he should have been first to. I don't know how he firslty let himself be second best to it, then stupidly pulled a player back knowing full well he was the last man. The form City were in yesterday I as a player would rather be 2-0 down with 11 men than 1-0 down with 10, especially with the best part of an entire half remaining. 4. Freak results happen every season. Yes, you got battered. Yes, as a team in the second half the defending was worse than England's against Germany in the world cup. (the only game I have watched that I could even compare it to, given the fact that minus Vidic it was basically first choice) And at this precise moment City look like they are going to walk the league. But football has a funny habit of not going according to the script, as yesterday proved. You will be there or there abouts, and I cannot wait for the return match against City
Evans Old Trafford Career has been over for a while. Why you didn't sell him to Sunderland when Roy Keane wanted him I don't know, he's cost you so many points in the last 3 seasons, as well in the CL. I think both Oshea and Brown would have been better than Evans. Also Ferdinand looks really past it now. He can't run anymore. He kept just standing around. Smalling and Vidic should be your cb with Jones on the right.
United's attack this season has covered over the cracks in the defence. The defence will take time to develop into a strong unit, but they will. All season, even against the happless Arsenal, United have been skakey at the back and all it needed was a team with in form strikers to explout the weakness. ALso, we've seen this before where United lose to their nearest rival but prevail overall because (4-1 loss to LFC in 2009 yet still won). City - they look good right now, but reamins to be seen if they have staying power, or will crumble like Newcastle in 96 or Arsenal in 2008. The Champions Leagues shows what they are like when nerves take hold. If United are within a few points of City at the run-in with 5-6 games to go I would bet on United.
good analysis.the fact that citys 1st goal was their 1st shot of the match as well as having 7 shots on target an 3 goals coming in the last 3mins kind of sums it up.Taking nothing away from them cos they did play well but we also played into their hands.
Agreed - although I wouldnt read too much into the fact that they only had 7 shots on target minus the first goal they were all from point blank range. What would worry me most if I was a United fan was the fact that the defense literally gave up. I havent seen Ferdinand play that bad in, well, ever. Evra seemed to completely forget that the left back position even existed. And the protection from midfield was non existant. That, far more than City's fantastic attacking would be what worried me if I was Ferguson. It's praise worthy when a team doesnt give up and keeps trying to retrieve a game. Its another when they compeltely disregard the need to defend, hopelessly expose the goalkeeper (who didnt do an awful lot wrong ironically enough given the score) and turn a tough but respectable defeat into a humiliating demolition that will take a long time to recover from. However, as I said in the original post, I have no doubt at all that you wll recover, and posts talking about united's demise and the league being won already (its october for goodness sake) are very premature.
That's what I would read most into to be honest. It's not like City were scoring long range stunners or laying siege to our goal. It was more like we just let them walk it through our defence far too often and literally stroll into the goal after we went a man down. They barely had to try to score by the end of the game we were that bad and open at the back. Although I reckon Arsenal would still have contrived a way to miss a fair few of those chances
The hysteria generated by this United defeat only magnifies the importance of this club in the general football arena. Loved and loathed in equal quantities that there are so many people on these forums just ready to vent their spleen on one loss, albeit a heavy one, but the football world would be a poorer world without the genius of of successive Man Utd teams of years gone by. I bet many a supporter would love to have a manager the calibre of SAF, Sven is the latest manager who has spent a fortune but has not got the ability of the wiley Scot. One day Sir Alex will be gone then the vultures will really circle the football forums in droves and predict a dire future, maybe, just maybe they might be right for once, but what a legacy there is.
True, but then a 2-1 defeat would hardly have been momentous given our form against top four teams over the last few years. City played well enough to deserve the win, but the hammering was more down to our defensive failures imo.
The best team won yesterday, but 6-1 was a freak result.........the same as Utd beating Arsenal 8-2 the right winners, but not a true reflection of the ability of the losing teams
mm - first goal - very well worked move. 2nd goal - from what i remember an excellently worked goal that (man down aside) there was nothing you could do about. (in other words, more city's good play than your poor defending. 3rd goal - Similar to above 4th - freak 5th and 6th - absolutel joke goals that i would expect to see on a sunday league pitch playing for the bottom team of the league against the top. I take your point - but City definitely deserved to win, and there was a clear difference between the teams on the day. Partly due to the sending off and partly because city were just better on the day. it happens. The comprehensive scoreline was, as you have suggested, because at around about the 87th minute the entire united defense went off shift.
city played well, united played badly, we got a trashing, it happens hopefully it'll be the fire that motivates the team on and with Ferguson as manager i'd expect it. the problem with any results like this is it prompts the silly comments from pundits and lacklusture tabloid sports journalists that are incredibly shortsighted and poorly considered, aka that City will walk the rest of the season, United are finished. I think most people know this is not the case hench the comments from Mancini, however this is a wake up call to several players in the United team, especially those in midfield and defence, though i do hope Ferguson does remeber that he used to play these games with 3 centre mids or at least Park who would work as a winger and then slip into the middle when it was getting overun aka Chelsea last year, the team perfromance was off but the tactics didn't help. My point is I expect United to bounce back, and I do expect City to have some patches of bad form likewise United's will pick up again, though must say its been funny how it all seemed to drop off when Cleveryly got injured, really want to see him come back to see if it makes a significant difference!
when SAF gave Jonny the #6 shirt. it was all about giving the lad some confidence, but I'm afraaid he's never going to be good enough, maybe convert him to LB? But he's not a modern centre half and never will be, lower league only.
