CL: Olympique Lyonnais vs Manchester United F.C

Its obvious they arent as good as previous seasons but we have to go there and do the work. They lost the last game and will be up for the challenge. They play 4-3-3 so we may use a formation like we used against Arsenal. I think Anderson can help us more than Giggs but Fergie will prefer to go with the experience.
 
Hopefully Anderson is given at least a half even if he doesnt start
 
I think we will play this team from what Fergie has said.
--------------------VDS-------------------------

Brown------------Vidic-------Rio---------Evra

Ronaldo--Scholes--Hargreaves------Giggs

----------Tevez-------Rooney--------
 
I think we will play this team from what Fergie has said.
--------------------VDS-------------------------

Brown------------Vidic-------Rio---------Evra

Ronaldo--Scholes--Hargreaves------Giggs

----------Tevez-------Rooney--------

Ditto.

How good is it that you can, play one midfield against Arsenal, and bring that 4 in against Lyon?! Awesome!

The thing is for quite a few of them, the City defeat will still be lingering, good management Fergie.
 
To be honest, our attackers are going to enjoy playing against Lyons defense. We have the strength and pace to simply push them to one side. We'll be brutal, expect Tevez, Ronnie and Rooney to be on fire.
 
I wouldn't start fletch because he hasn't played in months then he obviously used alot of energy during his great performance against Le Arse. If he plays he won't be able to exert the same energy unless he is actually robotic!

i think thats wrong. i bet he works hard on his fitness in training, so he will be ready for any call.

but i think we should play hargreaves and scholes in the middle, if were comfortable at HT, take scholes off for anderson, we need hargreaves there for away games in the CL.
 
-----------VDS-----------
Brown---Rio---Vidic---Evra
-------Hargreaves--------
----Carrick--Anderson----
Ronaldo--Tevez--Rooney

If Hargreaves doesn't start this game we might as well sell him, even if that would make my Hargreaves shirt look rather silly.

Not as silly as my mate's Cheyrou Liverpool shirt mind.

:smirk:
 
i think thats wrong. i bet he works hard on his fitness in training, so he will be ready for any call.

but i think we should play hargreaves and scholes in the middle, if were comfortable at HT, take scholes off for anderson, we need hargreaves there for away games in the CL.

First game back is probably alot of adrenaline. I don't think you can replace match fitness with training. I think if Fletcher Carrick and Anderson are all still fit as a fiddle then they would be very dissapointed to be dropped for this game. They all played brilliantly and seemed to have a great understanding.
 
Scholes
Hargreaves
Ronaldo
Rooney
Giggs

are all undroppable for this game. The only question is whether Tevez is going to start or another midfielder. But I think Tevez will start.
 
Tell me why Hargreaves should start, because we payed £18 million for him ? Same with Scholes, because of what he's done in the past ? No, I'm sorry, that's not good enough.

Players should be picked on form and fitness, and at the moment the form guide reads like this:

Carrick
Anderson
Fletcher
Hargreaves
Scholes

For me, Scholes and Hargreaves haven't done enough this season to warrant a start, OK Fletcher has not done much, but he was better in the one match on Saturday then Hargreaves or Scholes have been all season.

As I've said before, in the League, Scholes and Carrick should start, but a tricky European away leg is no place to play someone short of match fitness.
 
I actually wouldn't mind the same formation we had against Arsenal tbh. Except Park for Ronaldo of course.

It was neither a 4-5-1 or a 4-3-3, it was really a mix of both.
 
We should play :

Ronaldo-------Hargreaves----Carrick/Scholes-------Giggs/Nani

------------------------Anderson--------------------------

----------------------Rooney-----------------------------
 
Tell me why Hargreaves should start, because we payed £18 million for him ? Same with Scholes, because of what he's done in the past ? No, I'm sorry, that's not good enough.

Agreed, although I don't quite agree to that Hargreaves bit. I think he should start because he adds a lot of energy to our midfield, and combined with Anderson they are going to overrun almost everyone, certainly Lyon. I'd stick them in first team along with Carrick, because that way we are going to outplay Lyon in midfield which is crucial.

They play 3-men midifeld, if we go with out-of-form Scholes and less than creative Hargreaves we are fecked, unless OH runs 300 miles.
 
But surely you should have to earn a place in the team, like Carrick and Anderson have done, and to a certain extent Fletcher, with his performance on Saturday ?
 
Tell me why Hargreaves should start, because we payed £18 million for him ? Same with Scholes, because of what he's done in the past ? No, I'm sorry, that's not good enough.

Players should be picked on form and fitness, and at the moment the form guide reads like this:

Carrick
Anderson
Fletcher
Hargreaves
Scholes

For me, Scholes and Hargreaves haven't done enough this season to warrant a start, OK Fletcher has not done much, but he was better in the one match on Saturday then Hargreaves or Scholes have been all season.

As I've said before, in the League, Scholes and Carrick should start, but a tricky European away leg is no place to play someone short of match fitness.

In my opinion it should be Scholes and Hargreaves/Carrick. Scholes has huge amounts of experience at this level and that is vital. And I would not put him below Fletcher in the form guide, he hasn't been his best but against Pompey the other week he was brilliant. A sustained run in the side will get him back to his impeccable best.

Hargreaves adds that 'steel' to our midfield and is full of energy and a tireless midfielder, whereas Carrick has excellent passing ability and great vision. Depends on what SAF wants from the game really, if he wants to go all out for it, start Carrick (which is what I would do), but I feel he may go a little cautious so I'm tempted to say Hargreaves will start. Has had terrible luck with injuries since the 2006 World Cup but we all know he is a quality player and, if we progress, he will be vital to us in the latter stages of this season.
 
------------------------- Van Der Sar -----------------------
Brown ------ Ferdinand ------------------- Vidic -------- Evra
----- Scholes ------------ Hargreaves -------- Anderson -----
----- Ronaldo -------------- Rooney ----------- Tevez -------

Bench: Kuszczak, Pique, O`Shea, Carrick, Nani, Giggs, Saha

seconded, great team.
 
In my opinion it should be Scholes and Hargreaves/Carrick. Scholes has huge amounts of experience at this level and that is vital. And I would not put him below Fletcher in the form guide, he hasn't been his best but against Pompey the other week he was brilliant. A sustained run in the side will get him back to his impeccable best.

Hargreaves adds that 'steel' to our midfield and is full of energy and a tireless midfielder, whereas Carrick has excellent passing ability and great vision. Depends on what SAF wants from the game really, if he wants to go all out for it, start Carrick (which is what I would do), but I feel he may go a little cautious so I'm tempted to say Hargreaves will start. Has had terrible luck with injuries since the 2006 World Cup but we all know he is a quality player and, if we progress, he will be vital to us in the latter stages of this season.

I can see your point about Scholes, and I admit, I would be tempted to play him, although I'd rather let him play a few more Premiership matches first, and if we go with two in the middle, Carrick and Anderson have earnt the right to start. But I suspect we will go with three, and probably Hargreaves, which I personally do not think is right, given his performances compared with others. And if we want steel in the midfield, Fletcher or Anderson can certainly add that, as proved on Saturday, as well as the ability to do something useful when they get the ball.

But hey, Anderson will probably be benched, and Fergie will go with Scholes---Hargreaves----Carrick. There really is no justice in football.
 
I can see your point about Scholes, and I admit, I would be tempted to play him, although I'd rather let him play a few more Premiership matches first, and if we go with two in the middle, Carrick and Anderson have earnt the right to start. But I suspect we will go with three, and probably Hargreaves, which I personally do not think is right, given his performances compared with others. And if we want steel in the midfield, Fletcher or Anderson can certainly add that, as proved on Saturday, as well as the ability to do something useful when they get the ball.

But hey, Anderson will probably be benched, and Fergie will go with Scholes---Hargreaves----Carrick. There really is no justice in football.

It's a double-edges sword with Anderson, some will say he hasn't the experience in these European games (he did play a few with Porto though), but then how is he supposed to gain experience if he doesn't play? I think Anderson has earnt the right to start, but Fergie will definately opt for Scholes (barring injury) and then it is one of Carrick/Hargreaves and Anderson for his partner. I just hope he doesn't play Rooney out on the left, that just frustrates me to hell. Still, I'm sure whoever he chooses to play will do the job that is required of them.
 
Lyon will be up for it, trust.

I'd prefer play a team physically equipped who can match/beat Lyon for pace/power as well as technical ability and work rate.

I think the same team against Arsenal would work but I still have faith in Scholes/Giggs etc
 
It's a double-edges sword with Anderson, some will say he hasn't the experience in these European games (he did play a few with Porto though), but then how is he supposed to gain experience if he doesn't play? I think Anderson has earnt the right to start, but Fergie will definately opt for Scholes (barring injury) and then it is one of Carrick/Hargreaves and Anderson for his partner. I just hope he doesn't play Rooney out on the left, that just frustrates me to hell. Still, I'm sure whoever he chooses to play will do the job that is required of them.

Aye, that is true.
 
-----------VDS-----------
Brown---Rio---Vidic---Evra
-------Hargreaves--------
----Carrick--Anderson----
Ronaldo--Tevez--Rooney

If Hargreaves doesn't start this game we might as well sell him, even if that would make my Hargreaves shirt look rather silly.

Not as silly as my mate's Cheyrou Liverpool shirt mind.

:smirk:

looks good to me and that would be the team id go with, although im suspecting that this will be the line up, after fergie said today he will play giggs and scholes for their invaluable experiance;

Brown---Rio---Vidic---Evra
-------Hargreaves--------
----scholes--giggs----
Ronaldo--Tevez--Rooney

id be ok with scholes for carrick but for me anderson should really play over giggs and be given his european debut especially after his good form.
 
Sam#1 it's since 2 weeks ago you were saying that Carrick & Scholes were our best partnership, and that we should play a regular settled pairing? Whats going on, we dick Arsenal and there's knee-jerk reactions galore!? Get a grip!
 
Sam#1 it's since 2 weeks ago you were saying that Carrick & Scholes were our best partnership, and that we should play a regular settled pairing? Whats going on, we dick Arsenal and there's knee-jerk reactions galore!? Get a grip!

Don't exclamation mark Sam, you will anger the Caf, remeber, he is the diamond geezer.
 
people are allowed to change their mind.... plus i think since scholes has come back he has confirmed to me what i was thinking before he got injured... that he is getting slower and can only act a deep lying playmaker, which means he can only be used in certain games and systems, he is no longer getting forward. Anderson has proved what he is all about now and its hard to keep him down. Wonderful options though
 
Sam#1 it's since 2 weeks ago you were saying that Carrick & Scholes were our best partnership, and that we should play a regular settled pairing? Whats going on, we dick Arsenal and there's knee-jerk reactions galore!? Get a grip!

And if you read my post carefully, you'll see that I still stand by that, as I say, in the Premiership, Carrick and Scholes should be our partnership because, to put it simply, they are our best. But this is not a Premiership match, it's a European away leg, and for that, I feel it would be best to play three in the middle, two of whom should be Carrick and Anderson, on merit, and the other, quite possibly, Fletcher, as those three have proved that they work very well together, Anderson and Carrick + Scholes/Hargreaves is not proven, and an away leg in the Champions League is no place to be trying out different combinations.
 
Whoever plays in midfield should be fresh and hungry enough to go out there and prove a point. They will know that there are in form players looking over the shoulders if they fail to peform.
 
Whoever plays in midfield should be fresh and hungry enough to go out there and prove a point. They will know that there are in form players looking over the shoulders if they fail to peform.

Thats is the fantastic point for our squad now. That if we put Scholes, Hargreaves, Ronaldo, Tevez, Giggs on the starting line up we still have Nani, Anderson, Carrick, Saha and Park to step in if needed.
 
I'm hoping Anderson starts. He handled Fabregas and Gerrard, so he should be able to deal with Juninho et al. No one else in our central midfield has his combination of ability and physical presence.
 
If SAF goes 4-5-1 again, I'd say:

--------------VDS--------------
--Brown--Vidic--Ferdinand--Evra--
-Ronaldo-Scholes-Hargreaves-Nani-
------------------Giggs-----------
----------Rooney-----------------


(Maybe Ronaldo moves upfront instead of Giggs)

I hate it, but I can see this happening.
 
--------------VDS-----------------
--Brown--Vidic---Ferdinand--Evra--
--------Scholes**--Carrick--------
-------------Anderson------------
-Ronaldo-------------------Giggs*-
--------------Rooney--------------

*Or Nani
**Or Fletcher or Hargreaves