Manchester United v Real Madrid (agg 1-1) Champions league last 16 2nd leg

Madrid will be pissing themselves once they see that team

 

tbh i said it last weekend that aside from the goals, both pair didn't do alot .. we created nothing at first half against Norwich .. that is how much we were bad..
I think the message is more "play better bcz you can do better"

 

bcz we left it too late to be able to replace him with match was balancing 1-0 till 75min .. no way Sir alex would had take off Rooney when it was 1-0 after he just taken off RVP minutes earlier

 

agreed, If Sir Alex drops our key player then there must be a strong reason and a good plan too. Lets see

 

Giggs starting isn't an issue for me (ignore the name aha) as he'll be on the wing not in cm and will offer a lot of needed experience. Also the best crosser we have by far. The only issue I have is with rooney not starting. Don't buy tiredness as the reason as he could have easily rested him or played him only 45-60 mins against norwich rather than the full game. It's a gamble but may pay off....

50 odd mins in and bringing on a fresh rooney with that much energy and stamina... especially if it goes to extra time may just make the difference.

For those of you writing this game off already sort yourself the **** out. We are not a one man team, and even if other fans claim we are, they say its RVP that carries us not Rooney. Everything to play for still and just get behind the team!

 

Very surprisingly line up!

I would play Rooney all the time in a big match. However, I just wondered whether SAF has a game plan. May be he thinks that we will need the firepower in the second half. As Real is expected to score.

Just hope he is right. Massive gamble as Rooney is our best player...

 

I'd be stunned if that's the reason. Piss poor prioritization if it is. This is the biggest game of our season and we've put out a sub par team!

It has to be a tactical gamble and not one i would have made.

 

Jesus what a surprise selection. Can't see you progressing with that line up to be honest.

 

a little bit odd team selection but i think Sir Alex knows better than us how to manage a football team.

on Rooney people did complain he was pretty anonymous at the Bernabau so why not try a different player, not so sure about Nani but if there was a time to turn up this would be the day for it

 

Shut up slating our best player all the time when he scored and set up two i think? can't remember exactly but he clearly isn't being dropped on form... muppet

 

rooney off in the summer? can't see him being too happy a soon to be 40 year old selected ahead of him in the biggest game of the season. im off to drown my sorrows now. **** sake.

 

To me it looks as if Sir Alex is gambling on us getting to half time with a clean sheet and then bringing Rooney on in the second in the hope he can get something for us. I don't like it but then who are we to question?

 

Ronney himself admitted he is struggling with his form in past 2 seasons

 

that
he may think it will be too dull at first half with both team cautious before both teams go for it in the 2nd half

 

Am I the only one thinking that it may turn into a 3 man mid with nani playing a kind of free role behind the two strikers? Or will it be a standard 442?

 

This is such a massive gamble. I hope that by half time we are still in the game. Even at 1-0 down we could throw Rooney in and chase the game.

Wow!

 

This is very much a tactical decision.
By playing Nani it seems like SAF is challenging Ronaldo to track back and help coentrao.
I can only imagine the Giggs will play on the left wing because of his crossing accuracy as every possession will count in this game,
and with regards to the dropping of Rooney, I can only imagine that considering that Real Madrid are possibly the best counter attacking team in the champions league, he is fearful that Rooney might have one of those games when he gives the ball away a lot like in the first half against Norwich, and whilst Norwich could not capitalise on those mistakes, Real Madrid will punish them.
As well as Welbeck being better suited to do a marking job on Xabi Alonso without straying to far, as Rooney is a lot more creative than Welbeck and might concentrate more on his creativity than to cover Alonso, so it will be better to bring on a fresh Wayne Rooney when the Real Madrid players are tired.

 

it will be nani at right and Welbeck at left and Giggs as AMC

 

good post

 

Agree with this. Also when we play Rooney a lot of our play goes through him. That makes it too easy to counter us at times, particularly with a Mourinho side with Khedira and Alonso say right in front of the defence. Wonder if the plan is to get them used to no one operating in that space, then bring Rooney on once they've started to push forward a bit more and gaps appear.