***Official Manchester United Thread***

[DaSawx]

The silly season is starting.

The Sun is 'reporting' we are trying to sign Dani Alves and Luis Fabiano

 

[Crimson King]

We have signed Ramsey, apparently for 5 million according to the mirror.

They even have their own scouting profile on him.

 

[Shinboners]

The silly season is starting.

The Sun is 'reporting' we are trying to sign Dani Alves and Luis Fabiano

Same shit, different year.

Last year's signing of Anderson caught everyone by surprise. I don't recall any newspaper predicting that one.

It wouldn't surprise me if we signed another goalkeeper. Van der Sar can't have too many years to go, and Foster is going to have his good days and bad. Kuszucak looks to be strictly a back up 'keeper.

We might buy a back up left back. Brown has been very solid as right back, Gary Neville will be back, and Hargreaves has done well when Brown has moved to centre back.

The final position will be another striker, probably someone who can add something different to Rooney, Tevez, and Ronaldo.

 

[Crimson King]

Dont forget Manucho.

 

[Shinboners]

Dont forget Manucho.

I did forget about him

And there's Fangzhuo Dong too.

 

[belfast_bomber]

Now we've won 10 Premier League titles, how does everyone else rank them?

Was thinking about this question this morning on the train while reading a little potted history of them in the paper.

Here's my ten:

1. 1998/99. Can't look at the league campaign in isolation from winning the other two trophies, because the successes in each kind of built on each other. The amount of comeback wins, cavalier football, spectacular goals, fan camaraderie... it really was the perfect season in every way.

2. 1992/93. They say you never forget the first time. After the humiliating scenes at Anfailed the previous year I was starting to think we'd never ever win it. I cried like a baby when we did... and I never dreamed it'd be the first of ten I'd see in my lifetime, let alone in the next 16 seasons!

3. 2006/07. We hadn't won it for a while, and Chelsea looked to have raised the bar impossibly high. Sold Van Nistelrooy, Rooney and Ronaldo were supposedly hating each other after the world cup, and everyone said we hadn't a hope in hell. We showed 'em.

4. 1993/94. For the sheer quality of football. That side were unstoppable.

5. 2007/08. Mightn't stay that high in the long run, but I'm still buzzing. CHAMPIONS!!!!

6. 1995/96. "You won't win anything with kids." Wanna bet, Hansen? The dogged pursuit of Newcastle was particularly memorable - we loved it, loved it!

7. 1999/00. 97 goals and some absolutely breathtaking football. We were really tearing teams to shreds that year. Except when we picked Taibi and the roles were reversed...

8. 2002/03. Wenger - with one title win - had been talking of a "power shift" in English football; we shifted it back again.

9. 2000/01. Is there such a thing as "just another title"? Never!

10. 1996/97. A bit of a slog, this one, results were more ground out than spectacular. And we lost Cantona at the end of it. Felt like the beginning of the end, rather than the kick on to the next level it actually turned out to be.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

[youtube]ujU6C5Qd_Eo&feature=related[/youtube]

Fights like a girl.

 

[TheNextBigThing]

Haven't been on here for a few days for obvious reasons, but anyway well done on winning the league this season, after a slow start you guys were just too consistant, played the better brand of football and are deserved winners.

Now to look forward to the CL Final, can't wait.

 

[footylover18]

I'm convinced SAF/the board etc make bogus bids/enquiries on players as red herrings in order to try and conceal who their real targets actually are.

 

[Shinboners]

2. 1992/93. They say you never forget the first time. After the humiliating scenes at Anfailed the previous year I was starting to think we'd never ever win it. I cried like a baby when we did... and I never dreamed it'd be the first of ten I'd see in my lifetime, let alone in the next 16 seasons!

Where were you when you heard United won the title?

There was very little internet access or content in those days, and if you wanted to keep up with the English football, you needed to buy the British Soccer Week newspaper.

I was at work when I found out. I was speaking to a client and somehow, we ended up talking about the Premier League. I was fretting about United's chances of winning the title, and he said that he heard on radio that United had won it. I just clenched my fists and said, "Yeessssssssss!!!!!!".

3. 2006/07. We hadn't won it for a while, and Chelsea looked to have raised the bar impossibly high. Sold Van Nistelrooy, Rooney and Ronaldo were supposedly hating each other after the world cup, and everyone said we hadn't a hope in hell. We showed 'em.

Did the Liverpool players know that Ronaldo was about to take the next step? In the weeks after the World Cup, senior Liverpool players started talking in the media about how they'd never accept one of their players doing what Ronaldo did to Rooney. The implication was that Ronaldo should just leave England.

Thank Cantona for Fergie's skills of persuasion.

 

[Shinboners]

I'm convinced SAF/the board etc make bogus bids/enquiries on players as red herrings in order to try and conceal who their real targets actually are.

It wouldn't surprise me.

With Chelsea's ability to easily outbid us for any player, United have had to get smarter with how we identify and purchase players.

 

[Punchy Bassett]

I'm convinced SAF/the board etc make bogus bids/enquiries on players as red herrings in order to try and conceal who their real targets actually are.

Having Peter Kenyon no longer in charge of your negotiations might help as well.

 

[davey_magik]

Do you guys think it is a realistic option that SAF might target Ashton as a true target man?

Rumors are going around you offered us 10 million for him, personally I wouldn't sell as he's one of our few players who has star potential but Curbs might think differently.

 

[Embers]

Do you guys think it is a realistic option that SAF might target Ashton as a true target man?

Rumors are going around you offered us 10 million for him, personally I wouldn't sell as he's one of our few players who has star potential but Curbs might think differently.

Straight swap for Tevez

 

[bus24]

I'm convinced SAF/the board etc make bogus bids/enquiries on players as red herrings in order to try and conceal who their real targets actually are.

I think all clubs do. Leak a few names to "good sources" and let the media take hold of it.

It wouldn't surprise me.

With Chelsea's ability to easily outbid us for any player, United have had to get smarter with how we identify and purchase players.

Correct. But it also depends on the player themselves.

For example, Torres. Chelsea bid for him, said he didn't want any of that. Despite the insane wages he would have recieved. Also had larger offers from City and Inter last summer and turned them down.

Just an example I used, but I'd be absolutely certain that plenty of players that come to Man Utd are in the exact same situation.

 

[LondonCalling]

:O

Sergei Rebrov!

 

[Shinboners]

For example, Torres. Chelsea bid for him, said he didn't want any of that. Despite the insane wages he would have recieved. Also had larger offers from City and Inter last summer and turned them down.

As I said in the transfer thread, I think Torres has an exceptional loyalty to the clubs he follows. Fergie said during the year that he tried to sign Torres, but he just wasn't interested in joining.

 

[Rocco_S]

It wouldn't surprise me if we signed another goalkeeper. Van der Sar can't have too many years to go, and Foster is going to have his good days and bad. Kuszucak looks to be strictly a back up 'keeper.

We might buy a back up left back. Brown has been very solid as right back, Gary Neville will be back, and Hargreaves has done well when Brown has moved to centre back.

The final position will be another striker, probably someone who can add something different to Rooney, Tevez, and Ronaldo.

Completely agree with everything there esp the keeper situation, do you think silvestre is on the way out? We still have O'Shea who is more than capable holding down left back. Would be interesting to know whether Hargreaves likes to play right back as i'd probably pick him in our best 4 mids...I also heard somewhere Browns contract negotiations have somewhat stalled and is being difficult.

It was interesting to hear (i think maybe one of the commentators said it when the boys were waiting to lift the trophy) about the depth of the team and I totally agreed that this could be one way we could improve.

I'm convinced SAF/the board etc make bogus bids/enquiries on players as red herrings in order to try and conceal who their real targets actually are.

Another way this could happen is through the transfer speculation page on the Man Utd website has to say;

http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={C2572DA3-8A1C-457F-9926-899EA5639CB4}&newsid=550257

On it it speculates Saha + 8 Mill for Palacios. What do you think?

 

[Shinboners]

Completely agree with everything there esp the keeper situation, do you think silvestre is on the way out? We still have O'Shea who is more than capable holding down left back. Would be interesting to know whether Hargreaves likes to play right back as i'd probably pick him in our best 4 mids...I also heard somewhere Browns contract negotiations have somewhat stalled and is being difficult.

I'm pretty sure that Silvestre signed a contract extension last year and that Brown re-signed a few weeks ago.

 

[Rocco_S]

I'm pretty sure that Silvestre signed a contract extension last year and that Brown re-signed a few weeks ago.

Thanks for that, just wasn't sure...

 

[footylover18]

Hargreaves best position is defensive mid. I'm hoping he plays with Carrick in the middle against Chelsea, although I know this won't happen.

As far as our keeper situation goes, i think we do need to go out and splash out for the best young keeper available. Akinfeev or Ochoa are the two that spring to mind immediately. Apparently Arsenal were chasing Ochoa.

 

[Shinboners]

Hargreaves best position is defensive mid. I'm hoping he plays with Carrick in the middle against Chelsea, although I know this won't happen.

Why not? I reckon there's a good chance that Hargreaves and Carrick will both start.

I think Fergie will go with Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Hargreaves, Carrick, Ronaldo, Scholes, Park, Rooney. It'll be a 4-2-3-1 formation, although Park will be expected to cover for whichever one of Ronaldo or Rooney goes forward. We will defend deeply against Chelsea and try and get them on the break. It won't be pretty football, but Fergie just wants a win.

On the bench will be Kuszczak, Tevez, Anderson, Nani, Fletcher, O'Shea, Giggs. Tevez will be on the bench as fresh legs. If we've got the lead, expect Fletcher and/or O'Shea to come on. If we need to chase goals, then it'll be Tevez, Anderson, Giggs, or Nani. I don't think Giggs will be used unless we're 2-0 up with a few minutes left.

 

[Rocco_S]

Fletcher is an interesting one. Don't laugh or scoff but he's my favourite player because I love the scottish connection. He's interesting because he only seems to start 4 matches a year, 2 against Arsenal and 2 against Chelsea. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he started.

I also don't think Nani should be included in the squad after the West Ham calamity although going back to the depth argument we don't have players with experience/talent who can fill spots on the bench.

if you look at those who are certainties to start you have; VDS, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Scholes, Rooney and Ronaldo. Which leaves in my opinion; Brown, Hargreaves (mid), Carrick and Park.

Park gives us great width on either side with Ronaldo playing anywhere he wants but offering no defence whatsoever

Edit: Just realise shinboners our teams are the same.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

Silvestre only has a year left on his deal and Bordeaux want him.

 

[belfast_bomber]

Silvestre only has a year left on his deal and Bordeaux want him.

Larry White tried to sign him last summer didn't he?