Manchester United vs. Reading FC - Sun 12/08/2007 (16:00 BST)

This will be the team imo

--------------------Vds---------------------
Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic---------Tweety
Ronaldo------Carrick------scholes------- evra
----------giggs-----Rooney----------------
 
--------------------VDS---------------------
Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic------Evra
Ronaldo------Carrick------Scholes---Giggs
------------Ole---------Rooney-------------

I think Fergie puts a lot more trust in Ole's old legs and usefulness than anyone else does.
 
--------------------VDS---------------------
Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic------Evra
Ronaldo------Carrick------Scholes---Nani
----------Giggs---------Rooney-------------
 
The reactions here will be crazy if we fail to win.

I just hope we get an early goal like we used to in a lot of our homegames last season. It will settle nerves and it could go onto a rout. :)

Wouldnt rule out Reading defending for their lives either and snatchin a point. :(
 
Not 100% sure on Tevez. Depends when you have to register the player for saturdays games. Be it yesterday or today.

I think its very hard to predict who will be playing. Giggs, Rooney and Carrick are 100% starters. Ronnie, Scholes and Owen have all been injured recently. Nani should probably play but it's whether or not Sir Alex will want him to go straight into playing for the first team.

The most sensible thing is to play Giggs in the hole behind Rooney. Have Ronnie and Nani on the wings and play Carrick/Scholes in the middle. But I have a funny feeling that won't be our team.
 
--------------------VDS---------------------
Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic------Evra
Ronaldo------Carrick------Scholes---Nani
----------Giggs---------Rooney-------------
Either that, or with OH in a 433 if he's fit enough. Somehow I doubt Fergie will put Nani in the starting XI in his first League game. So I'd expect Fletcher or OH in a 3-man midfield
 
--------------------VDS---------------------
Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic------Evra
Ronaldo------Carrick------Scholes---Giggs
------------Ole---------Rooney-------------

I think Fergie puts a lot more trust in Ole's old legs and usefulness than anyone else does.

He's been injured for a very long time, did not feature in one pre season game and his fitness is still doubtful. So why the hell should he start in our first League game?
 
This will be the team imo

--------------------Vds---------------------
Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic---------Tweety
Ronaldo------Carrick------scholes------- evra
----------giggs-----Rooney----------------

i'll second this
 
This will be the team imo

--------------------Vds---------------------
Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic---------Tweety
Ronaldo------Carrick------scholes------- evra
----------giggs-----Rooney----------------

Spot on chap !
 
Was this game moved to Sunday for some reason?
 
Phelan played Scholes in yesterday?s friendly victory at Dunfermline and said: "It was good for some of the players to get some minutes under their belt and they all came through it fine.

"Paul came off the tour early which gave him an extra week or so.

"He has worked really hard, his injury is fine, he's came through the training and he is in contention for the weekend."
 
Phelan played Scholes in yesterday?s friendly victory at Dunfermline and said: "It was good for some of the players to get some minutes under their belt and they all came through it fine.

"Paul came off the tour early which gave him an extra week or so.

"He has worked really hard, his injury is fine, he's came through the training and he is in contention for the weekend."


Miss, why do you just copy and paste? It would be a lot more interesting to know your thoughts on the given subject. I like that people bring in articles, like yourself and some other guy I can`t remember the name of, but post some of your own thoughts as well please.;)
 
Miss, why do you just copy and paste? It would be a lot more interesting to know your thoughts on the given subject. I like that people bring in articles, like yourself and some other guy I can`t remember the name of, but post some of your own thoughts as well please.;)

Yeah! I like to post some articles, but I post my own thoughts too.. but it seems like nobody notic them! well, thank you for your noticeable, and I`ll try to be more active :)

*ManUtd.com: Coppell surprised everyone in the Premier League by leading Reading to eighth spot and his managerial colleagues voted him LMA Manager of the Year for the second year running. But he is expecting another tough season, if not tougher, as they look to repeat last season’s heroics once again on a limited budget.

"You find yourself [awaiting the new season] in a state of nervous anxiety," Coppell told Reading's official website. "We’re anticipating a very difficult season. You like to think you've got enough but only time will tell, we’re not on the same financial footing as everyone else.”

The fixture list has not been kind to Reading. The Royals face United on Sunday, before entertaining Chelsea and Everton at the Madejski. It’s a tough start, but Coppell’s attitude is one of taking whatever he can get. “I don't think [the tough start] has anything to do with it, it makes no difference,” he adds. “I think teams last year recovered from a bad start.”

Reading began last season with a 3-2 win over Middlesbrough, but followed it up with losses to Aston Villa and Wigan. Coppell’s message to his players is simple: hard graft is required, but he won’t hit the panic button if his side fail to pick up any points against United and Chelsea. “People will make judgement calls after the first week,” he said, “but we know we just have to try hard.”

The Royals, who are without injured striker Leroy Lita, have lost just once during pre-season, against River Plate, but they have won six of eight friendlies this summer, including a 1-0 defeat of French champions Lyon.
 
Yeah! I like to post some articles, but I post my own thoughts too.. but it seems like nobody notic them! well, thank you for your noticeable, and I`ll try to be more active :)




Allright! I remember you used to post a bit a while ago, but hadn`t seen any of your posts lately. I`ll keep my eyes open though.
 
Yeah! I like to post some articles, but I post my own thoughts too.. but it seems like nobody notic them! well, thank you for your noticeable, and I`ll try to be more active :)

They do get noticed, its just not everytime that somebody will reply to them. Many people enjoy reading this site because it's nice and clear but posting with such 'exotic' fonts means it can be difficult to read sometimes. Many persist with the default font but the one you have now is better than earlier as it is readable.. :)

Back to the topic of the thread, I just hope we get Tevez registered and he can at least play some part if not match fit. The formation and players that have been branded about seem more than okay to do the job, hope we see a good performance as a signal of intent just like Fulham last year but I'll take the three points whichever way they come!
 

BIG-MATCH FACTS

Manchester United set out in pursuit of their 10th Premier League title, which would see them being crowned champions of England for the 17th time, just one behind Liverpool's all time record.

In finishing eighth last May, Reading achieved the highest place by any club in their first Premier League season after promotion since Ipswich managed fifth in 2000-01.

Of the 20 clubs competing in the Premier League, Reading are the oldest but the least experienced in terms of top-flight football; this is their second season at the highest level in 136 years existence.

The Royals hold the English League record for the longest winning sequence at the start of a season of 13 victories in Division Three at the beginning of the 1985-86 season.

CLUB FORM

MANCHESTER UNITED
Last season: 1st 89 points

1. Won the Premier League title for the first time in four seasons. They had picked up the trophy eight times in the first 11 seasons since the inception of the league.

2. Attempting to win back-to-back titles for the sixth time, having achieved it in 1956-57, 1993-94, 1996-97, 1999-2000 and in 2000-2001 (when the hat-trick of titles was also achieved).

3. The most successful club in Premier League history, having won 367 matches, scored 1,140 goals and gained 1,232 points; that's 59 more victories, 166 more goals and 151 more points that their closest rival, Arsenal.

4. This is their 33rd consecutive season in the top-flight; only Arsenal (82 seasons), Everton (54) and Liverpool (46) have been in the highest league longer.

5. Sir Alex Ferguson begins his 21st full season in charge. He is the longest serving manager of all 92 English League clubs. He is also the most successful with 27 major titles from his time in charge of both Aberdeen and United.

6. Won the title last season with 28 victories and 83 goals, in which they built the longest home winning sequence in the Premier League of 10 matches.

7. Attracted the highest average Premier League attendance of 75,821.

8. Lost the opening match of a Premier League season only three times in 15 attempts, and once in the last 11 (1-0 at Chelsea on 15 August 2004).

9. Kicking off the league campaign at Old Trafford for the third season running and bidding for a third win after defeating Everton 2-0 on 13 August 2005 and Fulham 5-1 on 20 August 2006. They went on to build a four-match winning sequence from the outset of last season's title-winning campaign.

10. Ended the last campaign with defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup final, but have already avenged that to a degree, by beating Jose Mourinho's team in last Sunday's Community Shield.

READING
Last season: 8th 55 points

1. The 40th different club to play Premier League football became the 23rd side in the 15 seasons of the league to have survived their first campaign after promotion.

2. They became the ninth of 15 clubs to have survived after being promoted as champions of the second tier.

3. Achieved the highest placing of a promoted club experiencing a first taste of Premier League soccer since Newcastle finished third in 1993-94.

4. One of eight clubs to have survived their rookie season in the Premier League after promotion; the others are Bradford City, Derby, Fulham, Newcastle, Portsmouth, West Ham and Wigan.

5. Recorded the biggest margin of victory of any club in the Premier League last season; 6-0, home to West Ham on New Years Day 2007.

6. Picked up the fewest number of yellow cards in the Premier League last term (42).

7. Began life at the highest level with victory; 3-2, home to Middlesbrough on 19 August 2006, having been 0-2 behind.

KEY PLAYER NOTES

MANCHESTER UNITED
Wayne ROONEY and Cristiano RONALDO were Manchester United's joint top scorers with 23 goals each.

RONALDO was the club's leading marksman in the Premiership with 17. The Portugal World Cup star finished three behind Chelsea's Didier Drogba, who won the Barclays Golden Boot.

Paul SCHOLES is one goal short of holding the record outright as Manchester United's highest scorer of Premier League goals. He has netted 95 and equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy's total. Ryan GIGGS has scored 93 times in the Premiership.

GIGGS is a double short of 100 career League goals.

If he plays:-

Goalkeeper Edwin VAN DER SAR will be making his 100th appearance for Manchester United.

Rio FERDINAND will be making his 150th Premier League appearance in a United shirt.


Darren FLETCHER will be making his 150th club career appearance - all for United.

If he's on the field from the outset:-

Gary NEVILLE will be making his 350th Premier League start - all for the Red Devils.

John O'SHEA will be making his 200th start for Manchester United.


READING
Leroy LITA was Reading's top scorer last season with 14 goals.

LITA needs to score one to total 50 career League goals (Bristol City and Reading).

Kevin DOYLE was the club's top Premier League marksman last term with 13.

Ivar INGIMARSSON was one of four outfield players to have been involved in every minute of every one of his clubs' Premier League matches last season. The others were Richard DUNNE (Manchester City), Phil Jagielka (Sheffield United, now Everton) and Yobo (Everton).

HEAD TO HEAD

These clubs met four times last season with Manchester United recording a win and a draw in the Premier League, and victory in the FA Cup courtesy of a replay at the Madejski Stadium.

Reading line-up for the 15th time against Manchester United in all competitions. Their only victory over them was 2-1 in the FA Cup on 17 January 1927, in a third round second replay at Villa Park.

Home and away
League (inc PL): Man United 1 win, Reading 0, Draws 1
Prem: Man United 1 win, Reading 0, Draws 0

at Man United only
League (inc PL): Man United 1 win, Reading 0, Draws 0
Prem: Man United 1 win, Reading 0, Draws 0

LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME

Manchester United 3-2 Reading
30 December 2006 - Ref: Mike Dean
Man United scorers: Solskjaer 33, Ronaldo 59, 77
Reading scorers: Sonko 38, Lita 90
Sent Off: Sodje (Reading) 69

My probable United`s formation:

-------------Van Der Sar------------------
--Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic---------Evra
Ronaldo------Carrick------scholes------- Giggs
----------Nani-----Rooney----------------

Obviously that we needed a full-back on the right, I don`t know why Sir.Alex ignored this issue and kept thinking about attacking players, G.Nevill has a long time injurey and who knows when he will come back. and even if he came back.. his age won`t help him to play every single match this season. I`ve never been convinced of Brown as a diffender, so.. I can`t see him as a full back neither! :confused:
 


-------------Van Der Sar------------------
--Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic---------Evra
Ronaldo------Carrick------scholes------- Giggs
----------Nani-----Rooney----------------

Obviously that we needed a full-back on the right, I don`t know why Sir.Alex ignored this issue and kept thinking about attacking players, G.Nevill has a long time injurey and who knows when he will come back. and even if he came back.. his age won`t help him to play every single match this season. I`ve never been convinced of Brown as a diffender, so.. I can`t see him as a full back neither! :confused:

We do have many options at right-back but to be fair nobody is on the level of G.Neville, its just never been normal for him to be out for so long. I think he will be back soon and Brown, Oshea and other youngster are more than adequate cover.

The team above is close to what I would predict but I just don't believe Nani will play as it is most likely too early for him to play in the Premiership. We have been using Evra as a winger in parts of pre-season and Silvestre at left-back, this again may be the case as it would allow Giggs to play centrally and as a striker.

The rest of the team looks what is most likely going to be playing as they pick themselves really...
 
My probable United`s formation:

-------------Van Der Sar------------------
--Brown--------Rio-----------Vidic---------Evra
Ronaldo------Carrick------scholes------- Giggs
----------Nani-----Rooney----------------

Obviously that we needed a full-back on the right, I don`t know why Sir.Alex ignored this issue and kept thinking about attacking players, G.Nevill has a long time injurey and who knows when he will come back. and even if he came back.. his age won`t help him to play every single match this season. I`ve never been convinced of Brown as a diffender, so.. I can`t see him as a full back neither! :confused:[/FONT]


Nice stats that!

Anyway, I think the reason that SAF hasn`t strengthened at RB is that Gary Neville is likely to be playing for atleast another couple of seasons. We do also have adequate backup IMO. Brown, O`Shea, Pique, Bardsley and Simpson can all play there. I like Brown best in the center, but I reckon he is more than good enough to cover for Gary Neville when he is injured.

I also think your starting line up might be correct, but I think Nani will play on the wings and Giggsy up front.