Sunderland vs. Manchester United

nemanja15

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vs
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Saturday 30th March 2013
Barclays Premier League
The Stadium of Light
KO: 1245 GMT
​
 
Early kick-off, tricky away game, Fergie possibly resting players for the Chelsea replay.

I definitely have a bad feeling about this one.
 
As pointless as it is two weeks away, I'm going to have a random stab at the team using the best logic possible.

de Gea - picks himself unless injured.

Rafael - not in the Brazil squad for their friendlies.
Evans - not many United minutes recently and is not going abroad.
Vidic - retired from internationals.
Evra - rested against Reading presumably looking ahead to this upcoming busy time.

Nani - if the timescale is right, he should be back for this.
Cleverley - will have some minutes for England but had a good rest prior to internationals.
Anderson - not in Brazil squad for their internationals.
Giggs - retired from internationals.

Rooney - seldom gets tired, needs games to stay in form.
Welbeck - presumably won't play all minutes for England; can cope with three games in two weeks.

SUBS:
Lindegaard - not in Denmark squad for internationals.
Jones - fits his timescale to return and can cover many positions.
Buttner - not in Holland squad for internationals.
Carrick - protect him for Chelsea; can have half an hour if necessary.
Scholes - will have had two weeks at Carrington and be nice to see him again.
Young - likely to play most minutes for England and maybe carrying small knock from Reading.
van Persie - will need a rest after internationals after seeming leggy recently; definite Chelsea starter.

Rest Ferdinand for sure with a view to Chelsea. Smalling very unlikely to start either. It's likely that at least one or all of Valencia, Kagawa and Hernandez won't be involved because of their lengthy journies and won't return to United until the Thursday before this game. Bench at very most; unleash the latter two on Chelsea perhaps?
 
De gea
Rafael smalling Evans buttner
Valencia Anderson Scholes welbeck
Kagawa
Hernandez

And then vs Chelsea on Monday...
De gea
Rafael Ferdinand vidic Evra
Nani Carrick Cleverley giggs
Rooney van persie

Most of the above players will be busy with internationals, so I'm expecting 2 completely different teams from the one that plays Sunderland and Chelsea, with it only being 2 days apart. I doubt we'll win this one to be honest, but the game against Chelsea is more important at this stage really with the lead we've got.
 
I'd play a very strong team for this to make sure we go into the derby 15 points ahead. Couldn't care for the replay until this game is out of the way and won.
 
The question is this: do you go all in with your best XI against Sunderland and take your chances on Chelsea, or vice versa, or try to thread the needle with both games?
 
Pretty much agree with Nemanja15 except for maybe the lack of Chris Smalling in the squad.

de Gea
Rafael Vidic Evans Evra
Nani Cleverley Anderson Giggs
Rooney
Welbeck
--
Lindegaard; Jones, Smalling; Carrick, Scholes, Young; van Persie​

I wouldn't be surprised to see Buttner start, or even Jones at Right Back. I could even see Scholes starting but I'd hope Fergie has learned not to start him and Giggs together by now. It'll be nice to see Welbeck given the chance as a lone striker if it happens and he'll be up for it against the team he had a good loan spell for. However, I could still see him being shifted out wide to accommodate Giggs in the middle..

I'm not as worried about this game as most people seem to, we basically need four wins from nine games. This may be one where we really need the win though, as I can see us dropping a few points in the next five following this and Chelsea. We've City, Stoke, West Ham, and Arsenal as four of the five, then Chelsea in the league as well. Crunch time, but this lead is too much for any team to catch us now. We'll do our job and it starts here. It'll be a somewhat tight game as we've come to expect. We'll win by one or two in an average performance with a few minor scares. People will complain that we're not being ruthless and such, but at the end of the game we'll have three points and when we have that 20th title no one will give a feck.

Sunderland 0-2 Man Utd
 
Just play the youth players plus a few reserves. If there is ever a 'significant' game for them this season, this is the one. It might be a risk, but a loss at this stage isn't a disaster and it is a good chance to see how much these players have developed. I'm sure they won't let us down. They are already quality players. We don't want a repeat of players tiring against Chelsea. We have great squad depth and this is the time we prove it.
 
do chelsea have a league game during this weekend as well? against who if they have one?

never mind i've checked it and they got soton away.
 
scholesy legend said:
Just play the youth players plus a few reserves. If there is ever a 'significant' game for them this season, this is the one. It might be a risk, but a loss at this stage isn't a disaster and it is a good chance to see how much these players have developed. I'm sure they won't let us down. They are already quality players. We don't want a repeat of players tiring against Chelsea. We have great squad depth and this is the time we prove it.
Click to expand...

I endorse this recommendation.
 
ricky-romeo said:
do chelsea have a league game during this weekend as well? against who if they have one?

never mind i've checked it and they got soton away.
Click to expand...

4 games in ten days or something ridiculous for them
 
SAF has points to play with, but I think you have to figure the April 8th game vs Shitty will field United's top side and that's a week after the Chelsea match. Then just work back from there. He can play a very strong side in the FA Cup. I'd assume Evra in the FA Cup and Buttner vs Sunderland. He'll have two sets of different CBs. Carrick rests v Sunderland. If Jones is fit perhaps he'll start at RB v Sunderland. The rest he has plenty to choose from and you guess is as good as mine. I'd say no Valencia vs Ashley Cole though, at this time.
 
Team could be...

GK: De Gea

RB: Rafael
CB: Smalling
CB: Evans
LB: Evra

CM: Jones
CM: Cleverley
CM: Anderson

RW: Young
CF: Welbeck
LW: Rooney

Subs: Lindegaard, Vidic, Buttner, Scholes, Giggs, Carrick, RVP

Not a chance we'll win this, away from home in a tough fixture after an International break with Chelsea away 2 days later.... bloody hell. Vidic, Carrick & RVP have to be rested with the FA Cup in mind, I suspect the game will come too soon for Valencia, Kagawa & Hernandez and I'm assuming Nani will still be injured. Only hard part I had with my team was whether or not it'll be Cleverley or Giggs in midfield and I reckon Fergie would prefer to play Giggs against Chelsea
 
How far is Scholes away from returning? And I expect Giggs to start this one since he gets a good 2 week break.
 
Scholes is back in training. I think we'll see him involved in this one. We need to make the most of seeing Scholes in action!
 
Sunderland 0-5 United.

They are terrible. DDG to keep another clean sheet with RVP and Welbeck to get back in the goals. I'm being positive for a change.
 
I have a feeling the lads will be up for this one as they'll want to stake their claim to for selection in the upcoming Chelsea and City fixtures. I just hope for no injuries in the internationals.
 
Another dull 0-1, or a poorly played 1-2. I don't mind - as long as we keep rumbling these victories, my smile will remain.

As long as no injures going into this game, we should be fine going into both Sunderland and Chelsea.
 
Quite tricky to pick the team for this one, in the rare circumstance of having a tough game 2 days on.

We'll surely rest people like VP, Cleverley, Rio and Rafael who will need to be really fresh for the Chelsea game.
Carrick and Rooney might well be rested too.

I'd definitely field Smalling, Evans, Giggs, Anderson, Hernandez and Welbeck against Sunderland.
 
Sandikan said:
Quite tricky to pick the team for this one, in the rare circumstance of having a tough game 2 days on.

We'll surely rest people like VP, Cleverley, Rio and Rafael who will need to be really fresh for the Chelsea game.
Carrick and Rooney might well be rested too.

I'd definitely field Smalling, Evans, Giggs, Anderson, Hernandez and Welbeck against Sunderland.
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I'd definitely wouldn't field Smalling, no problems with the others.

However, I would go "full strength" and get the game won, then sub whichever three could do with a slightly longer rest. If we took that approach and say, drew, then fine. But we should give ourselves the best chance of being in a winning position first.

Sunderland are in poor form at the moment, and bombarding them from the start should discourage them, whereas giving them any sniff of a result through playing "squad players" would just give them unjustified hope.
 
Or defenders will all be fresh apart from Evra. No Vidic, Rio or Rafael for their teams during the break.
 
First time in ages I remember thinking an international break might help us. The combination of an unjust exit from Europe (always more deflating than a deserved one, because there's no sense of the team having to redeem itself) and an increasingly comfortable title race has thrown us into a bit of a slump, judging by performances against Chelsea and Reading. Hopefully a bit of a break will help the players snap out of it.
 
Brightonian said:
First time in ages I remember thinking an international break might help us..
Click to expand...

Performance wise yes.

But normally we have a stack of players injured and lap up the time to heal then, especially defenders!
Ironically we're almost at full capacity defense wise now.
 
Sunderland:
De Gea
Smalling Evans Jones Buttner
Giggs Anderson
Valencia Kagawa Young
Cheech​

Chelsea:
De Gea
Rafael Vidic Ferdinand Evra
Carrick Cleverley
Nani Rooney Welbeck
Persie​

Rest all the players!!!

I want the FA Cup so badly I could eat it! That team should walk all over Sunderland anyway.
 
gooDevil said:
Sunderland:
De Gea
Smalling Evans Jones Buttner
Giggs Anderson
Valencia Kagawa Young
Cheech​

Chelsea:
De Gea
Rafael Vidic Ferdinand Evra
Carrick Cleverley
Nani Rooney Welbeck
Persie​

Rest all the players!!!

I want the FA Cup so badly I could eat it! That team should walk all over Sunderland anyway.
Click to expand...

It's amazing how strong those two line ups are.
 
As good as Giggs has been in a number of recent games, he still doesn't really work as a CM at the moment. Put him on the wing or don't play him.
 
Wouldn't it be preferable to have Hernandez start against Chelsea? Plus him and Kagawa have the furthest to travel so might be best saved for the Monday game.
 
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