I think we'll play well but ultimately lose. United look to be a much better unit than last season. Of course, anything can happen
Valley they do play 3 at the back and 2 wing backs who will be getting at our fullbacks constantly. That is the worry for me, will Rangel and Taylor be able to cope. Will routs and Montero or who ever plays wide, spend more time helping out our full backs (who are our weak link) than getting at their poor defence.
You could look at it like that, trundles. There will also probably be a lot more space for our wings, routledge/montero/dyer with their offensive wingbacks and three central defenders. I think the key to this game is attacking along the wings.
Agreed scfc, But with our weak link being at full back, then I feel our wingers defensive reponsibility away from home is going to be as important as their attack ability will be at home. That is unless we sign a couple of full backs. ( I am not having a go at either Rangel and Taylor< But honestly feel this is where we are at our weakest). Saying that If we can get the ball forward to whoever is out wide quickly then there may well be space in behind.
Man Utd to win the league easily by ten points! You're having a laugh! They've got a better manager in now and they've brought in two very good first team players, Herrera and Shaw, but they're still not as good as City, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool. Agree on the full backs btw, we need cover and competition for Taylor and Rangel, particularly the latter. They're both great players but Rangel is getting old and if Taylor's injury comes back we could be in a bad place.
Probably another thread but I can't be bothered to look Man City Chelsea Arsenal Man Utd Everton Liverpool Spurs Any order from Leicester Hull Newcastle US Soton Stoke West Brom Palace Any three from Burnley Sunderland West Ham Villa QPR Honestly can't see Liverpool getting anything like the season they had last year without Surez. Citeh, Chelsea, Arsenal are all more settled and generally better across their squads. Man U will be a completely different proposition and I'm a bit fearful a drubbing a week Saturday will push Bony into a move elsewhere. Everton, Liverpool and Spurs are all about the same but Everton have the edge over Liverpool for me as they have a more solid defence. Spurs will get caught up in the Europa Cup again and with the exception of Ben Davies haven't strengthened.
From tonights Evening Post: Louis van Gaal has told Manchester United that Swansea City is the game to win after their latest pre-season success. United's impressive run of results in their warm-up games continued with a 3-1 triumph over Liverpool. The Old Trafford giants have also beaten Real Madrid, Roma and LA Galaxy this summer, but van Gaal says it is the Premier League opener against Swansea which counts. "Of course, it is better to win in preparation time than to lose," said the Red Devils boss. "But the most important game is against Swansea City, the first game at home in the Premier League. That, we have to win." Read more: http://www.southwales-eveningpost.c...tory-22075434-detail/story.html#ixzz39Xxa10Pj
But RVP is out this time As long as we give a good account of ourselves, Burnley the week after is our priority
I'd agree with that. We would need to play extremely well to get a point at OT. Not impossible, but the odds are stacked against us. Monk v van Gaal is like David v Goliath I'd settle for a good performance, with one or two goals thrown in - as long as we don't get thrashed. Burnley at home will be a greater pointer as what we are up against this season - and we have got a reasonable run of games for a couple of months after that.
I got to say, i fancy us to put in a performance at utd. The pressure is all on them not us and the way they struggled to cope with Rahem steirling floating around will be made for somebody like Routledge to cause damage, we will also have some serious pace with montero and a real danger man on set pieces in Gylfi . If we can get through the first 20 mins i think we will be able to take confidence and who knows. Lets not underestimate ourselves, they are using a new system and van gaal has said he normally starts off slow while getting the players to understand their new jobs .
Please, please deflate the Van Gaal media bubble... even for a week. You failed us with Moyes but this is a chance to make it back.
We won all our pre-season games under Laudrop, and then look what happened!...........................
Pre season counts for nothing. Did you see the games? utd played well in patches but its clear to see there re areas they need to improve on, Liverpool, a team very much like ourselves in terms of moving the ball were having a field day and were unlucky not to get a second penalty. Im not saying utd will be easy, far from it, it could even be a horror show but we can cause them some problems if we start well with the right players. The bad thing with van gaal is that he seems clever enough to spot things straight away and isnt afraid to hook a player after 30 mins if he feels thats needed . Monk will need plan A,B and C !
We all said that last season too, so surely by being under confident, we are odds on for the 3 points Their defence is weak, so Monk should order Gomis, Gylfi, Routs, Montero and Bony to throw the kit hinge sink at them. I think it could be a high scoring game and fancy us to score a couple.
I agree with that. I saw the first half of man U v Liverpool last night and thought Man U were terrible, they couldn't string two passes together and deserved to be 1-0 down. I went to bed at half time (it was a bit late!) and woke up to find Man U had won 3-1. They have a fantastic ability to go through the dears - so you can play well for 80 minutes and still lose 4-0!
