Athletic Bilbao vs Manchester United

Patrice Evra is getting a bit of a kicking on MUTV. I am inclined to agree that he has lost something. He is getting caught out a lot. Unfortunately appears to be no one challenging him. He may be playing too many games.
 
Patrice Evra is getting a bit of a kicking on MUTV. I am inclined to agree that he has lost something. He is getting caught out a lot. Unfortunately appears to be no one challenging him. He may be playing too many games.

He's barely had more than the odd match off for 3 years...
 
Seeing that SAF interview i wonder if the penny has finally dropped regards what needs to be done with this squad in close season.....we can only dream

Out
*carrick
*park
*rio
*owen
*berba
*bebe
*mechada
*evra (i know)
*nani

In
*hummels
*martinez
*munain
*hazard
*tiote
*gotze
*shaqiri
 
Seeing that SAF interview i wonder if the penny has finally dropped regards what needs to be done with this squad in close season.....we can only dream

Out
*carrick
*park
*rio
*owen
*berba
*bebe
*mechada
*evra (i know)
*nani

In
*hummels
*martinez
*munain
*hazard
*tiote
*gotze
*shaqiri

I definitely wouldn't sell Carrick, he is one of the few decent midfielders we have. Evra, not sure, he is getting overplayed so top class leftback to rotate with him. Rio will be gradually phased out. As to who we will buy, if anyone. Not sure if Sir Alex will take any notice of what we want or think.
 
If City win the Europa League will this defeat feel worse than it does now?
I hope that get tanked as well.

This defeat doesn't feel bad to me.

It's a tournament of losers. It's pointless. A bunch of teams playing for the title of 40th best in Europe. Who gives a shit? It's just a ridiculous way to wring money out of football fans and make not good teams think they are something special for a while.

Glad we're out. Bring on the league title.
 
Seeing that SAF interview i wonder if the penny has finally dropped regards what needs to be done with this squad in close season.....we can only dream

Out
*carrick
*park
*rio
*owen
*berba
*bebe
*mechada
*evra (i know)
*nani

In
*hummels
*martinez
*munain
*hazard
*tiote
*gotze
*shaqiri

:wenger:
 
It's not such an achievement if the champions of England can't get out of the CL group stage. That is how Europe see us.

No it isn't. We are seen as a powerhouse by the way, one that is having an off year. Look back a few years, not just a few games.

There are going to be peaks and troughs, everyone knows that, there isn't a team or club that doesn't have them.

Winning the league is winning the league, ask any other set of fans in the division.
 
No it isn't. We are seen as a powerhouse by the way, one that is having an off year. Look back a few years, not just a few games.

There are going to be peaks and troughs, everyone knows that, there isn't a team or culb that doesn't have them.

Winning the league is winning the league, ask any other set of fans in the division.

I will be happy if we win the league. I just worry that in the past when we haven't won Sir Alex has made a big signing to rectify it. It is like he doesn't see that the team isn't as good as it should be. Too much reliance on Giggs and Scholes. They should now be backups going gracefully toward retirement. Instead we don't perform well without them. That can't go on for too much longer.
 
Just finished watching the match on delayed coverage.

Just humiliating. Rarely have I seen us look so outclassed over 2 legs in Europe. We haven't been good enough this season. If the Champions League opponents were too much for us, the Europa League opposition have also shown what level we're currently at. Not good enough and let's hope the hurt inspires a response.
 
Seeing that SAF interview i wonder if the penny has finally dropped regards what needs to be done with this squad in close season.....we can only dream

Out
*carrick
*park
*rio
*owen
*berba
*bebe
*mechada
*evra (i know)
*nani

In
*hummels
*martinez
*munain
*hazard
*tiote
*gotze
*shaqiri

Bebe will be away for sure. I'd sell Park, Owen and Berbatov too. Macheda may go as well. Carrick, Rio, Evra or Nani won't go.

Please bring in Llorente, Martinez and Hazard.
 
Bebe will be away for sure. I'd sell Park, Owen and Berbatov too. Macheda may go as well. Carrick, Rio, Evra or Nani won't go.

Please bring in Llorente, Martinez and Hazard.

Macheda seems to be letting himself down when he is on loan. For some reason other manager don't rate him. Maybe it is Mark Hughes being a tit.
 
Seeing that SAF interview i wonder if the penny has finally dropped regards what needs to be done with this squad in close season.....we can only dream

Out
*carrick
*park
*rio
*owen
*berba
*bebe
*mechada
*evra (i know)
*nani

In
*hummels
*martinez
*munain
*hazard
*tiote
*gotze
*shaqiri

TLtkT.gif
 
Seeing that SAF interview i wonder if the penny has finally dropped regards what needs to be done with this squad in close season.....we can only dream

Out
*carrick
*park
*rio
*owen
*berba
*bebe
*mechada
*evra (i know)
*nani

In
*hummels
*martinez
*munain
*hazard
*tiote
*gotze
*shaqiri
are you a 14 year old who loves Football Manager?

7 senior players out?
 
He is not completely off his trolley. Owen, Berba, Macheda, Bebe and possibly Park could all be gone. Carrick definitely not.
I could understand with some of them but for 7 senior players and Bebe/Macheda to leave in one summer is completely knee jerk

thats not to mention the 200 million we're going to spend

we're in transition, have got it very wrong in europe but are still top of the league
 
Nobody is talking about one of the key things that happened tonight: We couldn't play out from the back. Smalling, when he came on, was the only defender we had who was comfortable with their pressing and showed enough guile to open space for himself and carry the ball forward. When we pressed them they casually stroked it around us in triangles, I mean just look how their right back dicked on our defence with those tricks if he'd have scored it would've been unreal and thats the right back. All this talk about midfielders is redundant if the ball cannot get to them and our defence just wasn't comfortable enough on the ball to cope with pressing. Cruyff was right about us in what he said before we played Barca: The defence is the weakest part of our team technically and by pressuring them you can force them to sacrifice possession, which is what the Spanish teams want cos once they get it they dont give it back easily. That is a key thing to fix before we start talking about Football Manager signings.
 
Is it true that the Bilbao fans turned to the United fans at the end of the game, clapped and sang 'United'? If so why?
 
Respect? They seemed like a genuinely class set of fans.

Yeah I assumed so, it's just quite shocking to hear about in football :lol: refreshing though.

I heard they swapped shirts with United fans after the game

Heard that too, also heard a Suarez shirt was being waved by a small minority at one point but everyone else gave them shit and they stopped. Really do seem like a decent set of fans all in all.
 
The season where we're top of the league?

Hush

Do you really think we've played well this season? We had a great start and it has been down hill since then and we have been outclassed multiple times , City at home, Benfica, Basel, Ajax, Bilbao...

I will take the league but will say that IF we win it, this is the poorest United team for years. You can bury your head in the sand if you like.
 
Do you really think we've played well this season? We had a great start and it has been down hill since then and we have been outclassed multiple times , City at home, Benfica, Basel, Ajax, Bilbao...

I will take the league but will say that IF we win it, this is the poorest United team for years. You can bury your head in the sand if you like.
We've played well this season.

The other thing is we've been shit in Europe.

And "this is the poorest United team for years". I've been hearing this for years.
 
Many posters have said my previous post regards wholesale changes to our squad was purely knee jerk, though throughout following team in many european games i have noticed a steady decline in our standards. I am always perplexed by the defense of certain players, so will expand on why i feel a few should be moved on;

Out
*carrick - when on form is a good player against average teams, though more often than not when asked to play against opposition midfield which does not allow him time or space to operate he becomes a passenger

*park - been a great servant to the club and type of player every squad needs, though he has always been a player who depend more on effort than ability, and unfortunately he is now not able to put in the same kind of shift.

*rio - great servant to club though unfortunately more often than not injured these days, and if vidic comes back ok from injury then i think we need to let rio.

*owen - great striker in his day though more often than not injured, and rather let a younger striker feel the void.

*berba - had a great season last year though has never really settled, and as i feared before we signed him, he slows our play down to much and isn’t really a fit.

*bebe - a wild flutter than we have known won’t ever develop into the kinda player capable of playing at united, so better to move him on a leave berth for other youngster.

*mechada - all pretty much down hill after villa goal, and nit sure if its attitude though don’t believe he will turn youthful talent into professional ability at top level.

*evra (i know) - both last season and this we have been exposed down the left flank many times, evra has been absolutely great player for us and knew when we signed him from monaco he would eventually become a legend. Sadly i think its time to bring in another player.

*nani - we hoped last year was his coming of age, and on his day nani is truly world-class. Though unfortunately i don’t believe them days will be consistent throughout his career

In
*hummels - great young defender who is comfortable on the ball, and would make a great partnership with the likes of smalling/evans. Admittedly he would probably cost £20>£25mill though class comes at a cost.

*martinez - here is a talented midfielder who would complement the like of cleverly/anderson/pogba, he is comfortable on the ball, good engine and tough tackler. I don’t feel he would go missing on cold night in north of england derby, and would be more rounded replacement for carrick IMO. £20mill

*munain - here we have a player who would compliment rooney”s guile upfront with his close control and ability to beat a player. I am pretty sure one of Europe's top clubs will come in for him soon, so even though he wouldn’t be cheap he’d be a bargain.£20>£25mil

*hazard - technically gifted attacking midfielder who would be ideal replacement for scholes, and would be cheaper than modric.£25>£30mill

*tiote - if we manage to keep pogba then maybe we won’t need this kid though love his energy and a player who is destined for one of Europe's top clubs IMO so maybe worth paying the £10mill he’d cost now. £10mill

*gotze - i think this kid is the next big thing in world football, though he has to add a little consistency to hi game he has everything in his locker and for me would be natural replacement for giggs and nani.£25>£30

Out = £40mill
In = £120>£140

Total = £60>£100

Add these players to our existing young squad and given a year to settle, truelly i believe we would have a squad able to challenge both domestically and against europes best for many years to come.


--------------------Rooney/Wellbeck/Chico
Gotze/Hazard---------Munain/Hazard----------Valencia/Young

-----Anderson/Cleverly/Giggs----MartinezPogda/Tiote/Fletcher/Scholes

Raf/Fab-----Vidic/Evan-----Hummels/Smalling----Jones

-------------------------DeGea/Lindegaard/Amos
 
:lol: Carrick, Evra, Rio and Nani out

What a load of tripe

Yeah because none of these players are injury prone, inconsistent, technically limited or one dimensional and all of them bar a man would walk into any of europes top side. Numpty

Still go to the games, still travel to europe and i don't like seeing my team get out played by average>good european teams. Maybe i was sploit by our previous teams, though if you truelly believe this is a squad capable of challenging in europe then you are truly a twat.