Manchester United v West Ham United

Evra badly needs a rest but I think both Fabio and De Laet got injured in the last reserves game.

Anderson at LB? Hopefully won't need to do much defending and running up and down the left flank will be good for his fitness.
 
I would have thought Evans at LB would be more likely than Anderson, providing we have adequate centre-halves.
 
This is what O'shea gives to the team. With him right now, we could have rested Evra for a bit and would have still had composure at the back.


-------------VDS-------------
Rafael----Rio----Vidic----Evans
Fletcher---Anderson---Scholes
Valencia----Rooney----Park


Subs : PIG, Brown, Evra, Owen, Berbatov, Obertan, Gibson.
 
Time to freshen up a bit

Code:
                 Foster

Rafael     Vidic      Ferdinand    Fabio/Evans

 Valencia   Scholes   Anderson    Obertan

           Berbatov    Owen

Subs: Kuszczak, Evans/Fabio, Evra, Carrick, Park, Diouf, Rooney
 
Isnt Ferdinand suspended?

If not:

-Brown---Ferdinand---Vidic---Evra- :drool:
 
Time to freshen up a bit

Code:
                 Foster

Rafael     Vidic      Ferdinand    Fabio/Evans

 Valencia   Scholes   Anderson    Obertan

           Berbatov    Owen

Subs: Kuszczak, Evans/Fabio, Evra, Carrick, Park, Diouf, Rooney


Think thats about right barring Rooney and Van Der sar, i just dont see Rooney missing any game at the moment, hes been in the press again this morning saying he dosnt feel tired at all and whether he plays 70 or 80 games it wouldnt matter he feels fine so i dont see him being 'rested' anytime soon, and i dont see Van Der sar being left out at all, hes missed 4 months of the season already so im sure hes fine.

Fletcher, Carrick and Evra definetly need a rest though.
 
Games against West Ham are never easy. The form book will go out of the window somewhat for this fixture.

Yes let's forget that tight 4-0 victory at Upton Park that wasn't easy in the slightest. Man Utd need a very attacking lineup here to improve their Goal Difference and put the above to bed. West Ham rarely beat Manchester United, and historically they've not scrapped the form book to raise their game but have been whipping boys for them most times. Three freak results doesn't change that overall. I remember a game where Nani got sent off very early and they still won the game comfortably. We cannot afford to give them any respect, it's their only hope of getting something here!

Where's your Tévez now? :lol:

Oh wait. :lol:
 
This is what O'shea gives to the team. With him right now, we could have rested Evra for a bit and would have still had composure at the back.

Yes, and an option for midfield to rest the likes of Fletcher or Carrick. Criminally under-rated though, as we know.
 
Yes let's forget that tight 4-0 victory at Upton Park that wasn't easy in the slightest. Man Utd need a very attacking lineup here to improve their Goal Difference and put the above to bed. West Ham rarely beat Manchester United, and historically they've not scrapped the form book to raise their game but have been whipping boys for them most times. Three freak results doesn't change that overall. I remember a game where Nani got sent off very early and they still won the game comfortably. We cannot afford to give them any respect, it's their only hope of getting something here!

Where's your Tévez now? :lol:

Oh wait. :lol:

Your criminally righting off west ham, they do always make it difficult, we were very lucky to put 4 past them.

Also that game with nani sent off, on the half hour, was already 2-0 and finished 3-1 iirc.
 
Your criminally righting off west ham, they do always make it difficult, we were very lucky to put 4 past them.

Also that game with nani sent off, on the half hour, was already 2-0 and finished 3-1 iirc.

It's a crime to tell it as it is with West Ham, a club of Newcastle-esque delusions of granduer. Just like Middlesborough and Newcastle they have a few quality players but the vast majority, particularly in their defense are awful. The fact is Man United took a half hour to get a 2-0 lead against West Ham and with 10 men still managed to breach the West Ham defence again.

I'm convinced that it was because Man Utd were wrapped up in this Accademy of Football BS that they were frightened to impose themselves in the three freak results and they just got caught out by dodgey route one class-less football.

In past seasons Man Utd have over-rated West Ham and paid for it. They're nothing but a midgit Stoke City with 3/4 "average" England internationals, maybe 5 if you count Kieron Dyer.

Their away record this season has been awful, Going to Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, the Emirates, Goodison, Craven Cottage, Anfeild will expose them and I'd fancy Bolton to get something down there too. They're not going to get any more away points this season and I feel if they lose 3 homegames, they'll be relegated.

I honestly hope Carlos Tevez sends them down last day of the season and relegates them infront off their own fans, it'd be poetic justice.

Going for Gold! West Ham owner offers to lend Portsmouth £10m to in a bid to ease Hammers' relegation fears | Mail Online :lol:
 
This will be a tough one for us our probable line up is

Green

Faubert Upson Tomkins Spector

Behrami Kovac Parker Diamanti

Cole Franco

Franco is only just back from an injury so may not make it, in that case I would expect Zola to start Ilan or Mido or even play a 451 with Noble in midfield.

Away from home we've been shit but then against the top 4 our results have been 2-3 to Liverpool, 2-2 with Arsenal, 1-1 with Chelsea and of course 0-4 to you.

Not that I would have believed if you'd said it a few years back but Cole is our most important player. Upson a close second. We'll be a different team to the last time we played you solely because those 2 are back. Since Upson returned we have played 9, won 3, drew 4 and lost 2 conceding 5 goals. Since Cole returned we have won twice and lost once. So we are on a good run.

Diamanti is the one to watch as he's able to create something from nothing. He drifts in and out of matches but will pop up with something brilliant after being anonymous for the last ten minutes. The back 4 has been fairly solid but are still nervous. An early goal will kill us.

I'm not sure why you think we're anything similar to Stoke, if you have a look here Stoke have had the least shots in the league, only 5 teams have had more than us. They also pass it around the least whereas we would be 8th. That would tend to suggest that Stoke and Bolton who are almost as bad do not play football and we do. I'm sure you know that really but there is no harm in pointing it out.

We've always had our international players both seniors and youngsters but as you know decent players never play at their best when in a lesser team. Cole is certainly more than average now 9 goals in 16 starts this season. An average of goal every 2 matches over the past year. If that makes him average then i'd love a few more average players in our team.

Anyway good luck for the rest of the season :)
 
This will be a tough one for us our probable line up is

Green

Faubert Upson Tomkins Spector

Behrami Kovac Parker Diamanti

Cole Franco

Franco is only just back from an injury so may not make it, in that case I would expect Zola to start Ilan or Mido or even play a 451 with Noble in midfield.

Away from home we've been shit but then against the top 4 our results have been 2-3 to Liverpool, 2-2 with Arsenal, 1-1 with Chelsea and of course 0-4 to you.

Not that I would have believed if you'd said it a few years back but Cole is our most important player. Upson a close second. We'll be a different team to the last time we played you solely because those 2 are back. Since Upson returned we have played 9, won 3, drew 4 and lost 2 conceding 5 goals. Since Cole returned we have won twice and lost once. So we are on a good run.

Diamanti is the one to watch as he's able to create something from nothing. He drifts in and out of matches but will pop up with something brilliant after being anonymous for the last ten minutes. The back 4 has been fairly solid but are still nervous. An early goal will kill us.

I'm not sure why you think we're anything similar to Stoke, if you have a look here Stoke have had the least shots in the league, only 5 teams have had more than us. They also pass it around the least whereas we would be 8th. That would tend to suggest that Stoke and Bolton who are almost as bad do not play football and we do. I'm sure you know that really but there is no harm in pointing it out.

We've always had our international players both seniors and youngsters but as you know decent players never play at their best when in a lesser team. Cole is certainly more than average now 9 goals in 16 starts this season. An average of goal every 2 matches over the past year. If that makes him average then i'd love a few more average players in our team.

Anyway good luck for the rest of the season :)

Stoke are currently better, if they've had the least shots in the league that just shows that the likes of Tuncay and Fuller are a lot more efficient in front of goal. When a Huth or a Shawcross go up for a corner they're a major threat. Their defence is a lot more robust than West Ham's and they don't need to go chasing games. All you're saying is that West Ham are a side with a shoot on sight policy. I think you're playing well now because you had your Portsmouth games at the best possible time and you had your Hull City games and now you have to face 6 out of the 7 European chasers and a load of relegation contenders who are more capable of winning away from home than you are.

Fair enough, if Cole is average for a Premiership striker you'd want more average players ... if average is the quality of midtable sides like Stoke and Fulham having average players in other areas of the pitch such as defence, goalkeeper and it has to be said midfield too would probably mean that the four points you won against Portsmouth aren't the same four points keeping you out of the relegation zone.
 
Stoke are 7 points above us and we still have them to play, they don't have an easy run either whereas at home at least we have a very favourable set of fixtures. It's possible that we will finish above them.

Fuller has scored one goal in the league in 24 matches. If he's more efficient than Cole or any of other strikers then I can honestly say i'm not bothered that they have a more efficient striker than us. Granted their defence has been tighter but we've spent large periods without our first choice left back and CB's.

With the exception of Manchester City we only have relegation teams to face at home. Only Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and yourselves have beaten us at home this season.

Even if you took away the 4 points we took from Portsmouth we wouldn't be in the relegation zone so i'm not sure where you're coming from on that.
 
Stoke are 7 points above us and we still have them to play, they don't have an easy run either whereas at home at least we have a very favourable set of fixtures. It's possible that we will finish above them.

Fuller has scored one goal in the league in 24 matches. If he's more efficient than Cole or any of other strikers then I can honestly say i'm not bothered that they have a more efficient striker than us. Granted their defence has been tighter but we've spent large periods without our first choice left back and CB's.

With the exception of Manchester City we only have relegation teams to face at home. Only Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and yourselves have beaten us at home this season.

Even if you took away the 4 points we took from Portsmouth we wouldn't be in the relegation zone so i'm not sure where you're coming from on that.

Sorry if you take the 4 points away from Portsmouth you'd be outside the relegation zone on goal difference, something the away games could rememdy, and you said yourself you rely on Cole and Upson, and who knows maybe the so-called West Ham "injury jinx" will get to them again before the end of the season.

You say you're 7 points of Stoke, I say you're 4 points off 19th place Burnley, You say can win all the relegation six pointers, I say West Ham 0 Blackburn 0. You say you drew with Chelsea and Arsenal, I say Wigan beat Chelsea, I say Burnley beat United, Stoke beat Arsenal, Hull beat Man City and Pompey beat Liverpool, Wolves beat Tottenham twice, you lost at home to Everton, Bolton won that game ... all you have to brag about are beating 10 men Villa and Hull. Those sides down there are a lot more capable of getting shock results than you lot seem to be.

Last time West Ham were relegated they did it with 42 points and they were considered "too good to go down", but since then the argument has switched to "plenty of worse sides down there." Other than the shambles that are Portsmouth, I find myself asking ... are there?
 
.......VDS...........
rafeal....rio...evans....de laet
valentia....carrick...fletch....park
.............berba..........
................rooney............



SAF saying utd were "tired" v everton wasnt a good sign, thats why i think he took off park, valentia and berba...

therefore i think he'll start with these three v WG...
 
Remember, resting too many players results in a fine. :nervous:

We'll be relatively strong. Would like Evra to play and get the next two matches off or something.

West Ham are a bit of a bogey side and I'm never confident against them.

If we're ever going to rest Evra, this game would be it. Our next few games are far more trickier imo.
 
this is the business end of the season. Its no time to be resting players.

the trick is to play a full strength side from thre start and get a big early lead if possible then take rooney evra and fletcher off the park just after half time.

a big win is needed here to give a lift before the CC final on sunday
 
this is the business end of the season. Its no time to be resting players.

the trick is to play a full strength side from thre start and get a big early lead if possible then take rooney evra and fletcher off the park just after half time.

a big win is needed here to give a lift before the CC final on sunday

People keep saying this but it doesn't make sense.

You can never guarantee a big early lead, no matter who we're up against. The opposition keeper could have the game of his life, we could just be unlucky in front of goal. Whatever. We've already seen plenty of games this season where we've taken a long time to get a lead, before opening the flood-gates towards the end of the match (Wigan, Pompey, Wolves etc.)

This means Fergie then has a decision to make at around the hour mark of whether or not he keeps his jaded players on for the full game or take the crazy decison to sub off our best players before the opposition get knackered and the game starts to open out a bit.

If players need a break you start them on the bench and have a bit of faith in their replacements. If it doesn't work out to plan you can bring the big guns off the bench for the last 30 minutes, against tiring opposition. There's a very good reason that this is always the approach that SAF takes to squad rotation.
 
People keep saying this but it doesn't make sense.

You can never guarantee a big early lead, no matter who we're up against. The opposition keeper could have the game of his life, we could just be unlucky in front of goal. Whatever. We've already seen plenty of games this season where we've taken a long time to get a lead, before opening the flood-gates towards the end of the match (Wigan, Pompey, Wolves etc.)

This means Fergie then has a decision to make at around the hour mark of whether or not he keeps his jaded players on for the full game or take the crazy decison to sub off our best players before the opposition get knackered and the game starts to open out a bit.

If players need a break you start them on the bench and have a bit of faith in their replacements. If it doesn't work out to plan you can bring the big guns off the bench for the last 30 minutes, against tiring opposition. There's a very good reason that this is always the approach that SAF takes to squad rotation.


i suppose you have a point pogue but the he must also have faith that the team fly out of the traps like he knows they can and blast the hammers that he can change it.

its a tricky situation but as long as we get a win I will be happy and we can deal with the next game when it comes
 
The team that will be put out tomorrow night will probably be stronger than the CC Final on Sunday, so a strong team should be expected, probably the same side that faced Everton, but maybe Vidic coming back into the side in place of Brown. West Ham can be a tricky side to play against, so we need to be wary.
 
Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Brown, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Park, Anderson, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Gibson, Rooney, Owen, Berbatov, Diouf.

This is the matchday squad. Glad to see Fabio make it. Hope evra gets a much needed rest.
Also good to see Anderson in it. No obertan though.
 
----------------VDS----------------

Rafael--Ferdinand--Vidic--Evra

Valencia--Anderson--Fletcher--Obertan

------Diouf----------Rooney

Contradicts my post above, but don't care
 
Id actually start Owen in this match. I know Fergie hates the owen/rooney partnership for some reason but I think it could work. Although with no other winger apart from Valencia (ie if park plays) id actually play Berba.
 
Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Brown, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Park, Anderson, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Gibson, Rooney, Owen, Berbatov, Diouf.

This is the matchday squad. Glad to see Fabio make it. Hope evra gets a much needed rest.
Also good to see Anderson in it. No obertan though.

According to who?

Obertan's not in the squad.

Apparently he wasn't in the squad listed on the beeb for the Everton game but played. They just guess the squad lists.
 
Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Brown, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Park, Anderson, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Gibson, Rooney, Owen, Berbatov, Diouf.

This is the matchday squad. Glad to see Fabio make it. Hope evra gets a much needed rest.
Also good to see Anderson in it. No obertan though.

I think Evra will start this and Fabio the final, playing against Behrami is virtually a rest anyway. I think Rooney is more likely to be rested.

Probably Van der Sar, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Park, Carrick, Scholes, Valencia, Berbatov, Owen for the Hammers and Kuszczak, Neville, Brown, Evans, Fabio, Fletcher, Anderson, Gibson, Obertan, Rooney, Diouf for the final.

:drool:
 
Rooney will start this. Diouf in the final.

My line up for this is :

VDS
Rafael, Rio, Vidic, Evra
Valencia, Fletcher, Anderson, Park
Berbatov, Rooney

Rooney will be absolutely seething after loss (and sort of poor game on top of missing opportunity at 1-1 that could have made it a completely different result).

For the CC final I expect

TK
Neville, Brown, Evans, Fabio (if not injured still)
Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Obertan
Owen, Diouf
 
Rooney will start this. Diouf in the final.

My line up for this is :

VDS
Rafael, Rio, Vidic, Evra
Valencia, Fletcher, Anderson, Park
Berbatov, Rooney

Rooney will be absolutely seething after loss (and sort of poor game on top of missing opportunity at 1-1 that could have made it a completely different result).

For the CC final I expect

TK
Neville, Brown, Evans, Fabio (if not injured still)
Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Obertan
Owen, Diouf

Reckon your predicted team for the West Ham game is a good shout. But as for the final, I can't understand why so many on here have predicted a relatively "weak" line-up. With five days between tomorrow's and the final, and then no game until the following weekend, I'd expect a full strength team in the final. Surely Fergie didn't put a strong side out against City just to throw it away now?