Manchester United vs. Rangers

Hmm, I was hoping that Evra was taken off just because of the mistakes he made and Sir Alex didn't want to risk his confidence being shot in the last few minutes, that could have cost us (albeit we got undone anyway). He must have had some kind of problem, it makes a lot more sense, anyway. I wonder if Sir Alex will start Fabio at Left Back and O'Shea at Right Back, or give Brown a game at Right Back and go with Fabio or O'Shea.. Or will Neville be given another game so soon? Personally, I'm starting to think this, now:

van der Sar
Brown Ferdinand Vidic Fabio
Valencia Fletcher Scholes Nani
Berbatov Rooney​

The bench is more difficult..

GK: Kuszczak (Or Amos if Kuszczak starts)
DF: Neville / O'Shea / Evans / Smalling
MF: Anderson / Gibson / Giggs / Obertan
FW: Own / Hernandez / Macheda

I can see all of these players having a shot at making the bench. I think it'll be a bit too soon for Bebe (but I'm sure he'd make the bench in a Group Stage game against Bursaspor) and I expect Park to be left out basically to start against Liverpool.

Anderson and Gibson are players I want to get on at some point, just to get them game time and to rest Fletcher and Scholes for Liverpool. But we can only do this if we have an established lead. Brown needs a game, so does Fabio, and so does Ferdinand. I don't think any of those weaken our side at all, with Evra possibly out.

In an ideal world I'd like Nani maybe rested, as well as Scholes and Fletcher (and bring Berbatov off...). But this is a game we need to win to kick off the CL in the right way. All the Home games are games we should be winning without too much difficultly but until we reach 10 Points we shouldn't be 'weakening' the side too much, no matter who we're facing in the Premier League the weekend after. The only time I'd like to see us play a weakened side is our last game if we've already won the group and we've got Arsenal in the League on the weekend right after.

I hope we dick the bastards. 4-0+

Well one eye will be on Liverpool, particularly when dealing with the likes of Scholes, Giggs and Neville. Maybe playing Neville here will show that Rafael or O'Shea will be lined up for Pool. Nani needs a rest of course after such a competitive week, and Valencia, Hernandez and Park can all come in.

We know that Rangers will be physical and defensive, so United should take account of that... I'd definitely play Rooney, Valencia, Gibson, and bring Ferdinand into the defence... probably Park too.
 
Gibson will start. Scholes will be rested.

Rio and Anderson will feature at some point.

Rooney will start alongside Berbatov.

This is what I am sure of.
 
Rooney is going to set Old Trafford alight. Not in the literal sense, that'd be weird and he'd be done for arson, but its going to be a big performance.
 
The manager says everyones fit bar Carrick now unless your calling him a liar (what reason hed have to lie god knows) why youd question it i dont know, ill take his word over yours all day long thanks, he actually works with the players after all, your just a thing on the internet.
 
Fergies press Conference Pre Rangers game:

"I have no concerns about Wayne Rooney. I left him out for the reasons I said on Saturday," said Sir Alex at his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon.

"I told the TV interviewer why he was left out. I wasn’t going to subject him to that nonsense at that ground [Goodison Park]. It was of benefit to the team. I did the right thing.

"Rio Ferdinand, having trained so well in the last few weeks, is desperate for a game now and we will welcome him back. We have no (new) injuries to report. Everyone is fit, apart from Michael Carrick who is recovering from treatment to his Achilles problem."

United's last European match on home soil resulted in a major disappointment as the Reds bowed out to Bayern Munich on away goals at the quarter-final stage. But Sir Alex denies that blow will make his team any more determined than normal to win the competition.

"Every season we want to reach the final. We were disappointed last year, there is no question about that. It was quite an unbelievable tie against Bayern Munich but we have to put that behind us. I have virtually the same squad but hopefully a little bit more experience in some departments."

Rooney is one of Sir Alex's most experienced players in Europe as he enters his seventh Champions League campaign, six years after scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Turkish visitors Fenerbahce. The boss is backing him to rise to the fore again and carry on from where he left off with England last week, when he scored in Switzerland.

"I think his performance for England and scoring for them was good for him," reflected Sir Alex. "He is a terrific player and we expect another good performance tomorrow. I don't know whether playing in Europe inspires him but I think he’ll be looking forward to it.

"I think all of the players look forward to European games, they are wonderful occasions. We have had some fantastic nights at this club and all the great teams in Europe have been here. Our home record over the years has been very good, I hope that continues. The other game in our group on Tuesday night, between Bursaspor and Valencia, is a difficult one so hopefully we can get off to the right start.

"It won’t be easy. If you look at Rangers' performances away from home last season in the Champions League, they were very good. For example, they drew away to Stuttgart and they lost only 1-0 in Seville.

"I think they are even better this year after bringing in players like Vladimir Weiss [on loan from Manchester City] and they will be well organised by Walter Smith, with no problems regarding their temperament or fitness.

"Of course we have faced many teams in the past who have come to Old Trafford with a game plan and we've had to do something about it. It will be the same again tomorrow."

Seems pretty clear to me, take your time though Berlinknives.....
 
I know the press are trying to big it up, but we really should trash them. People can say 'Oh but they're organized' or about it being a battle of Britain but in reality the gap in quality is huge.
 
I see lots of the animals have arrived in Manchester already this evening..

They'll be shitting on Market street and smashing the streets up again by 10o'clock this evening!
 
ooooo, haven't seen any yet, we should start a 'ranger watch' for these pests.

Just been told I've got extra security at my apartments for tomorrow though. :lol:

There was a good few (20/30) down at sinclairs oyster bar near the wheel at about 6oclock.. No doubt pissed as farts by now. :rolleyes:

I proper despise them. They make my skin crawl.
 
My Predicted Starting Line:

TK
O'Shea, Rio, Vida, Evra
Valencia, Fletcher, Anderson, Park
Berbatov, Rooney

Bench: Amos, Rafael, Evans, Owen, Gibson, Nani, Hernandez
 
There was a good few (20/30) down at sinclairs oyster bar near the wheel at about 6oclock.. No doubt pissed as farts by now. :rolleyes:

I proper despise them. They make my skin crawl.


If that wasn't noticable from the 5 or so posts slagging their fans off already in this thread! :lol:

Some of the banners that people have made over on RI are quality though.. Gonna be a cracker tomorrow.

racistbus.jpg


Silly racists.
 
My Predicted Starting Line:

TK
O'Shea, Rio, Vida, Evra
Valencia, Fletcher, Anderson, Park
Berbatov, Rooney

Bench: Amos, Rafael, Evans, Owen, Gibson, Nani, Hernandez

Going to have to take Rafael out, he's suspended.
 
fecking broken arm means I can't go to this now, which has really pissed me off.

3-0 comfortable United win. Rooney, Nani x2
 
Would like to see Fabio get some sort of run out, also Hernandez running at Weir. We should win with ease about 3-0 I hope or more.
 
I think we should play:

..................VDS..................
Neville....Vidic.....Evans....Evra
Park...Fletcher...Scholes...Nani
.......Rooney..Berbatov...........

Sub:
Giggs for Park (60th min), Hernandez for Rooney after his 2 goals (75th min) and Rio for Evans (80th min)
 
Fergies press Conference Pre Rangers game:

"I have no concerns about Wayne Rooney. I left him out for the reasons I said on Saturday," said Sir Alex at his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon.

"I told the TV interviewer why he was left out. I wasn’t going to subject him to that nonsense at that ground [Goodison Park]. It was of benefit to the team. I did the right thing.

"Rio Ferdinand, having trained so well in the last few weeks, is desperate for a game now and we will welcome him back. We have no (new) injuries to report. Everyone is fit, apart from Michael Carrick who is recovering from treatment to his Achilles problem."

United's last European match on home soil resulted in a major disappointment as the Reds bowed out to Bayern Munich on away goals at the quarter-final stage. But Sir Alex denies that blow will make his team any more determined than normal to win the competition.

"Every season we want to reach the final. We were disappointed last year, there is no question about that. It was quite an unbelievable tie against Bayern Munich but we have to put that behind us. I have virtually the same squad but hopefully a little bit more experience in some departments."

Rooney is one of Sir Alex's most experienced players in Europe as he enters his seventh Champions League campaign, six years after scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Turkish visitors Fenerbahce. The boss is backing him to rise to the fore again and carry on from where he left off with England last week, when he scored in Switzerland.

"I think his performance for England and scoring for them was good for him," reflected Sir Alex. "He is a terrific player and we expect another good performance tomorrow. I don't know whether playing in Europe inspires him but I think he’ll be looking forward to it.

"I think all of the players look forward to European games, they are wonderful occasions. We have had some fantastic nights at this club and all the great teams in Europe have been here. Our home record over the years has been very good, I hope that continues. The other game in our group on Tuesday night, between Bursaspor and Valencia, is a difficult one so hopefully we can get off to the right start.

"It won’t be easy. If you look at Rangers' performances away from home last season in the Champions League, they were very good. For example, they drew away to Stuttgart and they lost only 1-0 in Seville.

"I think they are even better this year after bringing in players like Vladimir Weiss [on loan from Manchester City] and they will be well organised by Walter Smith, with no problems regarding their temperament or fitness.

"Of course we have faced many teams in the past who have come to Old Trafford with a game plan and we've had to do something about it. It will be the same again tomorrow."
Hopefully the club knows that Rafael is suspended. :nervous:
 
I hope SAF saves some of our players for the dippers. If we can't use some of our second string to beat Rangers at home we've got problems. That said, I expect a 2 or 3 nil win. My ideal lineup:

..............PIG.....................
Wes.....Rio........Vidic....Fabio
.........Gibson...Anderson.......
Valencia.....Rooney.........Nani
.............Hernandez.............

I really want to see Rooney + Hernandez as both players compliment each other well. Rooney wants to drop deeper and Chicatrito wants to play off the shoulder. I say we let them have it. Rangers won't be able to live with our pace in front of the home support.

Bring on - Macheda, Park and Berba / Owen at some point to give them some game time.

Save Giggsy and Scholes for the dippers! Give Evra and Evans a rest to get over their wobble and get ready for bigger tests down the line.
 
Thank feck we play Rangers today, being absolutely gutted after the Everton game on Saturday and the next game couldn't come fast enough.

Van der Sar
Brown - Ferdinand - Vidic - Fabio
Valencia - Fletcher - Gibson - Nani
Rooney - Hernandez​

Guess we'll see a few players being rested for Sunday - Scholes, Giggs and Evra and maybe even Berbatov.
 
I´m not much for swapping and changing the team every other week but since that is the reality these days and bearing in mind that we play LFC this weekend my team is:

----------------------------TK--------------------------------

Nev------------------Rio----------Evans------------------Fabio


Valencia--------------Fletcher--------Giggs---------------Park

---------------------Rooney---------Hernandez-----------------

Vidic, Berbatov, Evra, Nani, Scholes, VDS and O´Shea all to start against the feckwits on Sun.
 
Nice boots and all,but you have either heard something most haven't or you are going for a very surprising squad mate. Btw, does Rooney really play with these yellow things? I have never noticed.

Meh, I just try to get the brands right. As for the line-up, I know it's a bold predict and it might well be waaay off the real deal. It lacks creativity in the central park though, as Magnus mentioned above Liverpool is next up and that's why I assume Scholes, Berbatov, Evra and Nani get a rest. Kuszczak needs a game and Evra didn't train as far as I know. I'd like to see Anderson, Ferdinand and Hernandez get a run out at some point.
 
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Tuesday 14th September, 2010
Kick Off: 19:45 GMT
Old Trafford (capacity: 76,212)


It's 19:45 BST, please correct me if i am wrong, some nitwits around here will start watching the game after half time. ;)