Stoke City Vs. Manchester United, Premier League, 24/9/2011

We weren't all that bad for a team missing it's first choice forwards and central midfielder and still could and probably should have won.

I'm pretty sure we'd have won easily with Rooney and/or Chicharito playing 90 minutes today.

Yup. Even with so many injuries we should have won it if it weren't for the ref. So well done I'd say.
 
fecking depressing.... on a day every big club won... god damn it. i cant believe it. so not fair.

I guess this week and last weeks just cancelled out. We were unlucky today not to win. Ref had a shocker IMO 2 pens and a red shoulda been given.
 
The ref was awful. United got into some good positions, but I thought Owen was either out-muscled or a step too slow. No one doubts that Owen still has world-class finishing skills or that he worked his socks off manfully today. He just isn't fast enough or strong enough to unlock a team like Stoke.
 
Stoke are a complete joke. Hope they get relegated with their 20 6ft plus monsters
How so?

The officials were atrocious, yes. But Stoke did what they had to do, credit to them. I think we played well given the circumstances, and we should have had at least 2 pens.

I'm angry after the game, but how can you whinge about Barcelona raping us and Stoke? Don't whinge. Shut up & drink! :D

Nighty-night, matchdaythreaders! Wrong once again...
 
Ref was terrible, we weren't much better though. The last 30 minutes were shocking (bar a couple of moments)... why did we join Stoke in kicking long and high balls? Keep the ball on the ground, that's how you make them uncomfortable.

What are you on about? We didn't kick a single long, high ball towards the box. Kept playing football right until the end.
 
Good point all things considered. Hope the injuries to our players are not serious, De Gea had an excellent game and the goal was not his fault as ESPN claimed. The ref was a disgrace.
 
It was really really annoying seeing De Gea kicking the ball out with 10 minutes to go when we obviously weren't gonna win anything in the air. That was a fecking waste of time. It's not like Peter Crouch is a big thing to pass for defenders like Ferdinand and Jones. Ridiculous.
 
The officials didn't just make two big errors they also kept making mistakes throughout the entire match.
 
I disagree with the comments about Stoke. They did a great job today. It's the refs job to make sure they don't get an undue advantage and he failed to do that. I don't see what they did that was so wrong. They defended superbly and pressed us really really well. From the 85th to 90th minute they barely let us into their final third and we were more often stuck in our own half.

Given some credit guys.
 
Upfront we were non existent.

Thought the midfield played quite well?
 
I disagree with the comments about Stoke. They did a great job today. It's the refs job to make sure they don't get an undue advantage and he failed to do that. I don't see what they did that was so wrong. They defended superbly and pressed us really really well. From the 85th to 90th minute they barely let us into their final third and we were more often stuck in our own half.

Given some credit guys.
I've never had a problem with the way Stoke play. They make it so the official has to make decisions on their challenges. Unfortunately, Walton decided not to do anything for the 90 minutes.
 
How so?

The officials were atrocious, yes. But Stoke did what they had to do, credit to them. I think we played well given the circumstances, and we should have had at least 2 pens.

I'm angry after the game, but how can you whinge about Barcelona raping us and Stoke? Don't whinge. Shut up & drink! :D

Nighty-night, matchdaythreaders! Wrong once again...

its hard not to whine when stoke are allowed to get away with violent foul to our players......and the ref robbed of us at least 2-3 penalty shouts......
 
I've never had a problem with the way Stoke play. They make it so the official has to make decisions on their challenges. Unfortunately, Walton decided not to do anything for the 90 minutes.

We got stuck into Arsenal all the time when they were better on the ball than us. It's the referee's job to put the two teams in their place.
 
its hard not to whine when stoke are allowed to get away with violent foul to our players......and the ref robbed of us at least 2-3 penalty shouts......

I didn't that many 'violent' ones to be honest. They just got decisions their way in general. And the ref truly messed up one or two game defining ones in their favor. But I still can't see how it's their fault. What are they supposed to do if every decision is going their way? Protest?
 
I guess this week and last weeks just cancelled out. We were unlucky today not to win. Ref had a shocker IMO 2 pens and a red shoulda been given.

yeah yeah. but if it all cancels out. Last week was amazing. so this week must be opposite of that. extreme devastation. :( and the thing that we were unlucky hurts that much more. you can accept not being good enough, but you cant live with not being lucky enough.
 
we missed rooney today sadly...... berba is a joke, slow down our play.....
 
A draw against Stoke away isn't a bad result. The Britannia Stadium has become something of a fortress for them. Referee has had an absolute nightmare though. Should have had a penalty in the first two minutes for that tackle from behind on Hernandez.

Crouch is a horrible player too, so dirty in the air. I thought we signed Phil Jones to be a centreback, not a pogo stick.

That's not to say we were without fault though, far from it. The defence and midfield were fine, doing their jobs well, and De Gea was actually MOTM in my eyes. Up front though, we were awful. Berbatov went back to his "I'm too lazy for this" attitude, and Owen was slow, both physically and mentally. Welbeck, when he came on, didn't look ready for it, and I wonder if his hamstring is still bothering him.

I'll get slated for this, but I think we should have had Diouf on the bench instead of Macheda or Welbeck. Strong athletic player, and I honestly think that was the sort of game that suited him.
 
Exactly. Walton didn't do that today. At all.

Yup.

It actually takes a lot for me to be really mad at the ref. It has to be really blatantly one sided decision making to get under my skin. Today was that kind of day. Just like Stamford Bridge last season.