Man Utd v Blackburn

Ronaldo#7

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006
20.00
League Cup Semi-Final (2nd Leg)
Old Trafford
 
Team I would play:


- - - - - - - - - - - - Tim Howard
Phil Bardsley - Namanji Vidic - Wes Brown - Patrice Evra
Ole Solskjaer - Darren Fletcher - John Oshea - Kieren Richardson
- - - - - - - - - - Lious Saha - Guiseppe Rossi


Bench:
Van Der Sar
Rio Ferdinand
Ryan Giggs
Wayne Rooney
Ruud Van Nistelrooy


Alan Smith, Paul Scholes and Ji-Sung Park will probably still be out. I have lost faith in Silvestre now, especially when Brown deserves to play alot more then him and I'm very curious to see how Vidic will do.
 
soccerbest said:
O'Shea might not play either with his rib injury, thats a blessing in disguise actually. ;)
Click to expand...
Another start for Jones maybe?
 
---------------------Howard---------------------
--Bardsley-------Vidic------Brown----------Evra--
--Fletcher------O'Shea-----Jones-----Richardson--
-----------------Rossi------Saha-----------------

SUBS:
Van Der Sar
Rio Ferdinand
Ryan Giggs
Wayne Rooney
Ruud Van Nistelrooy
 
Smith should be back. SAF had expected him back for the Liverpool game, so he should be ok for Wed.

Scholes, Ronaldo & Park would all still be out.

This is a big game, only 90 mins from Cardiff plus the added incentive of a revenge for the OT defeat in the league early on. Blackburn is on good form, so I'd expect SAF to field a side at least as strong as the 1st leg, injuries permitting. Further, the players needing rest can rest for the Wolves game on Sun. And considering the personnel available and our second half tactic against Liverpool, my prediction:-

433 Line-up:

---------Van der Sar---------
-GNev, Ferdinand, Brown, Evra-
---Fletcher---Smith---Giggs---
--Rooney-Van Nistelrooy-Saha--

Subs: Howard, Silvestre, O'Shea, Richardson, Rossi.
 
The commentator said several times that Smith returned to training on Friday but limped out, don't know how true this is, hopefully he is well enough and fit enough to return to contain Savage the cnut.
 
Ronaldo#7 said:
---------------------Howard---------------------
--Bardsley-------Vidic------Brown----------Evra--
--Fletcher------O'Shea-----Jones-----Richardson--
-----------------Rossi------Saha-----------------

SUBS:
Van Der Sar
Rio Ferdinand
Ryan Giggs
Wayne Rooney
Ruud Van Nistelrooy
Click to expand...

:nono: No Ole? You have to be mad!
 
---------------------Howard---------------------
--Bardsley-------Pique------Brown----------Silvestre--
--Ole------Fletcher-----Richardson-----Evra--
-----------------Rossi------Saha-----------------
 
---------------------Howard---------------------
--Bardsley-------Vidic------Brown----------Evra--
--Ole------O'Shea------Fletcher----Richardson--
-----------------Rossi------Saha-----------------
 
Red17 said:
Smith should be back. SAF had expected him back for the Liverpool game, so he should be ok for Wed.

Scholes, Ronaldo & Park would all still be out.

This is a big game, only 90 mins from Cardiff plus the added incentive of a revenge for the OT defeat in the league early on. Blackburn is on good form, so I'd expect SAF to field a side at least as strong as the 1st leg, injuries permitting. Further, the players needing rest can rest for the Wolves game on Sun. And considering the personnel available and our second half tactic against Liverpool, my prediction:-

433 Line-up:

---------Van der Sar---------
-GNev, Ferdinand, Brown, Evra-
---Fletcher---Smith---Giggs---
--Rooney-Van Nistelrooy-Saha--

Subs: Howard, Silvestre, O'Shea, Richardson, Rossi.
Click to expand...


I fully agree with you on how important this game is to us.

We put out as strong a side as possible, secure victory and only then, take chances with the line-up.

No problems with the XI, however i'd put Rooney alongside Smith in the midfield and play a 4-4-2 with Saha parterning Ruud upfront.

There's scope to be flexible and go to 4-3-3 if need be, but Rooney'll provide some needed creativity in the middle of the park and can hold his own, for as we know Blackburn aren't exactly gonna stand off us giving us all the time in the world. Granted this season they're a far more potent force going forward [we've seen it ourselves and so have others] but the physical edge hasn't left their game. I believe it's a decent compromise with our current situation in mind and will work for us.

I just wonder if Fergie will try it from the start, it would be nice to see if such a system is good in practice and not jsut on paper too.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
I fully agree with you on how important this game is to us.

We put out as strong a side as possible, secure victory and only then, take chances with the line-up.

No problems with the XI, however i'd put Rooney alongside Smith in the midfield and play a 4-4-2 with Saha parterning Ruud upfront.

There's scope to be flexible and go to 4-3-3 if need be, but Rooney'll provide some needed creativity in the middle of the park and can hold his own, for as we know Blackburn aren't exactly gonna stand off us giving us all the time in the world. Granted this season they're a far more potent force going forward [we've seen it ourselves and so have others] but the physical edge hasn't left their game. I believe it's a decent compromise with our current situation in mind and will work for us.

I just wonder if Fergie will try it from the start, it would be nice to see if such a system is good in practice and not jsut on paper too.
Click to expand...


While I would support playing Rooney in the centre (as I have suggested in my line-up against Liverpool), I doubt SAF will play him there. If he did not play him there then, even when we were forced into the half time substitution, I doubt he'll start now. I can only assume either SAF feels that we can't do without Rooney's threat upfront and playing him in CM will be a waste or Rooney has never trained there and it's too short a notice to convert him. I think SAF would rather play a makeshift midfield 4 in 442 or a 433 to playing Rooney as a CM.

I suspect it would be a 442 with Rooney & Ruud upfront and Saha on the bench. But I would not be surprised at 433 - considering the personnel available.

From SAF's Pool post-match comments, it appears he has ruled out Smith returning for the Blackburn game. If that's the case, I'd opt for Richardson in as the LCM in a midfield trio. I thought he played better in the Pool game once we switched to 433 midway through the second half and our midfield trio of Giggs, Fletcher & Richardson then got a grip of the game. That's the position Richardson excelled in last season at WBA.
 
Id go with 4-3-3
Howard

Bardsley----Pique----Brown----Evra

Ole--------Fletcher-------Richardson

Rossi---------Ruud---------Rooney
 
Id go with 4-3-3
Howard

Bardsley----Pique----Brown----Evra

Ole--------Fletcher-------Richardson

Rossi---------Ruud---------Rooney
 
Red17 said:
While I would support playing Rooney in the centre (as I have suggested in my line-up against Liverpool), I doubt SAF will play him there. If he did not play him there then, even when we were forced into the half time substitution, I doubt he'll start now. I can only assume either SAF feels that we can't do without Rooney's threat upfront and playing him in CM will be a waste or Rooney has never trained there and it's too short a notice to convert him. I think SAF would rather play a makeshift midfield 4 in 442 or a 433 to playing Rooney as a CM.

I suspect it would be a 442 with Rooney & Ruud upfront and Saha on the bench. But I would not be surprised at 433 - considering the personnel available.

From SAF's Pool post-match comments, it appears he has ruled out Smith returning for the Blackburn game. If that's the case, I'd opt for Richardson in as the LCM in a midfield trio. I thought he played better in the Pool game once we switched to 433 midway through the second half and our midfield trio of Giggs, Fletcher & Richardson then got a grip of the game. That's the position Richardson excelled in last season at WBA.
Click to expand...


You're probably right unfortunately, if Fergie had considered using Rooney in that role, particularly when wer'e stretched so think, we would've seen it by now, and more than once. A shame though i think.

We can only hope that Smith is back because we sure could use him, funny that eh, how some of us [myself included] fretted over our midfield at the beginning of the season and the concern hasn't gone away. Yet with Keano leaving, Fortune's prolonged layoff, we're only the odd short term or mystery injury [like with Scholes] and a suspension away from being totally exposed squad wise, like we are now.

How we miss what we had and how valuable it was; as they say, you just don't know how much you'll miss something until it is gone.

If Smith doesn't make it back, and the jury is still out on him, we could be looking at having only one actual Central Midfielder in the 16 let alone the starting line up, in the shape of Fletcher. A bit of a concern that, the midfield battle and all over the pitch i guess could be Mt Everest like, before we even walk out.

We'll need to see plenty going forward from Gary and Evra [who improved a lot on Sunday] to help compensate for that, a potential lack of width, and to prevent Ruud and Rooney from becoming isolated utterly.

It just won't do for us to sit back playing nice methodical football trying to soak up any pressure as a gameplan [we barely have the players to do the latter as it is], nor underestimate Rovers and put out a weakened team, we've got to take it to em, win it in the 90.

I reckon *hope* the score will be a a mighty close 2-0, goal in each half.
 
Giggs set for central role


Ryan Giggs' stint as an emergency central midfielder is set to continue for Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final second leg at home to Blackburn.

With Paul Scholes (eye) now ruled out for the season and Alan Smith (ankle) almost certainly missing, Sir Alex Ferguson is short of options, especially as John O'Shea is also doubtful after a rib injury from Sunday's win over Liverpool.

If O'Shea does not make it, boss Ferguson may recall United's first-leg scorer Louis Saha to join Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney in a three-pronged attack. Nemanja Vidic could also make his debut as the Red Devils seek their first win in six games over the Ewood Park outfit.

Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Howard, Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Vidic, Pique, Evra, Fletcher, Giggs, O'Shea, Richardson, Van Nistelrooy, Rooney, Saha, Rossi.
 
Howard

Bardsley-Brown-Vidic-Silvestre

Richardson-Fletcher-Giggs

Rooney-Ruud-Saha

?
 
---------------------VDS--------------------

--Nevill-----------Rio-----Brown--------Evra----


--Ole--------Fletcher------Giggs-----Richardson--

-------------------Rooney---------------------

-------------------------Saha----------------

Bench: T-Ho, Vidic (sub on if leading by 2goals) ,Park, Pique, Rossi, Ruud
Note:Back 5 should stay follwing good display against Dippers.
Prediction2-1 win (Saha, Giggs)
 
Bellamy may sit this one out according to :-

Source: http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=356726&CPID=8&clid=&lid=&title=Hughes'+Bellamy+worry

Dickov is already out with a dislocated shoulder.
 
TV:

Sky Sports 1

Canal+ Sport (France)

Diema 2

Viasat Sport 2

Viasat Sport 1 DK

SportItalia (20:30)

Sport N

TV Sport RO

Sport 2 Hungary

Galaxie Sport

Supersport 1

Alfa TV

Al Jazeera Sport 2

Prva TV
 
Smith is back training with the first team today. May yet make the squad for tomorrow. Otherwise it'll be the Wolves game on Sunday.
 
This blackburn side is full of cnuts : Dickov, Savage, Neil & Bellamy to name few.....though they should be taken seriously.
 
kanchelskis14 said:
Any news on Park?
Click to expand...

Wasn't in the first team training yesterday, so he's out for tonight's match.

SAF's prognosis last Friday was that Park will be back to training with football this week and he expects him to be back in 10 days from last Friday, which means the Blackburn away league game. But as he wasn't seen training with the first team yesterday, it's not very encouraging.
 
----------------Howard----------------
Bardsley-----Rio------Brown-----Evra---
Ole---------Fletcher--Smith-----Richardson
------------Saha-----Rossi--------------

Bench:
VDS
Giggs
Vidic
Ruud
G.Neville
 
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