Manchester United v Olympiakos

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I have been patient with Moyes but this match is the last straw for me. Not looking at the result because anyone who thinks we will go through has rocks in their head but if we don't get on the front foot and attempt to attack Olympiakos, I will have lost all faith in Moyes.
 
Eric'sCollar said:
I have been patient with Moyes but this match is the last straw for me. Not looking at the result because anyone who thinks we will go through has rocks in their head but if we don't get on the front foot and attempt to attack Olympiakos, I will have lost all faith in Moyes.
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I'm going for a draw. I don't care that Olympiakos are the supposed weakest team left in the tournament. They must fancy their chances of getting a result and progressing. If Moyes adopts his "let's not get hurt" philosophy to this match, we're beaten before we take the field.
 
I would play this:

-------------DDG
Rafael - Jones - Evans/Smalling/Vidic-Evra
----------Fellaini---Cleverley
-------------Kagawa
Januzaj-------RVP----------Welbeck


At CB, Jones is obvious and I'm not sure who else is fit but my order of preference would be Evans then Smalling then Vidic. Evra has to play at LB because Buttner is a liability. Rafael was one of our best players against Liverpool aside from the brainfart.

In midfield, I'm tired of the lack of movement. I am willing to put up with Cleverley's possible shitness to see some quick movement in midfield. Carrick has been average anyway and is just slowing everything down. Kagawa will play a free role in midfield. Not strictly a number 10, but more of how Iniesta operates. He is capable of it and has had a lot of joy in Europe compared to the PL.

Welbeck and Januzaj as wide forwards. They both have pace and smart movement. Kagawa can combine nicely with both of them. It is either RVP or Rooney up top and for me Rooney was one of the worst players on the pitch against Liverpool so I have no qualms dropping him. I also think RVP is better in this system because he's better at holding up the ball and won't be as likely to drop back and hog the ball.

Go out and try to win rather than set up to avoid defeat. It is a very flexible 4-3-3. If now is not the time to try something different, then I don't know when that would be.

Having said that, it won't be anything like this and I expect it to end 1-1.
 
It has just dawned on me that this our final game of the season in which we have something to play for. Because professional pride means nothing to this lot apparently.
 
van Persie and Carrick should be dropped. Shouldn't even be up for debate. IF Moyes had a spine he'd drop them both. Anyway 1-1, Olympiakos with an early goal, we'll batter them but not score and then Moyes will talk about the referee or us being unlucky even though we'd have just been comfortably knocked out the CL by Olympifeckinaikos.

Also our last Champions League game for a couple of years so we should all find some way to enjoy it :)
 
Gerald G said:
We will beat Olympiakos 3-1. Miss chances and go out on away goals.
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What on earth have you seen recently that makes you think we can score 3?

I'm expecting a terrible performance with very few shots and either a loss or a low scoring draw.

If I had to put money on it I'd go 1-2 Olympiakos.
 
I want Moyes out, but I think he might actually pull this one off. Will postpone his sacking, but it'll be an extremely welcome boost to the players and the fans. 3-0 to us.
 
Greek sides have a pretty lamentable record on English soil from what i can recall, if we get an early goal their mental state might not be significantly better than our own.

I'm not sure that a fluky win would be a kindness to either Moyes or the supporters mind you.
 
RustyS said:
I would play this:
...
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Get that football managery crap out of here. You have to have a footballing brain to understand how Moyes constructs his lineups. It starts off with the crucial and fundamental element:

Oh god if I don't play Wayne he's going to be so mad at me.

And then everything else is kind of secondary. Oh and by the way that fear permeates into all areas of the club, from the forwards' defensive training to the set-up-not-to-lose mentality. All hallmarks of a man who's never known what it's like truly being the person that the other person is afraid of.
 
If everyone is fit, I'd play this:

De gea
Rafael - smalling - jones - evra
Fellaini - Carrick
Nani - kagawa - giggs
Rooney
​
Januzaj should be rested a bit. Kagawa needs to start, behind the striker as well. Maybe put Rooney on left with welbeck up top, or welbeck left Rooney up top, and giggs in midfield. I'd definitely play giggsy though. At a time when everybody is rock bottom, he's the one person who won't be phased and will bring a cool head and some technique and intelligence to the pitch. Will have a point to prove as well.

Van Persie to the bench, let him think about how he hardly touches the ball during the game and see if he notices anything different. I would drop Carrick but there's nobody to go there. Cleverley and fellaini I feel like just wouldn't work at this moment in time with their confidence levels. Smalling if fit starts, if not start Evans, if he isn't then start rio.
It's possible to come back and win this but the state of the club is so down right now that I just can't see it with the current management.
 
hungrywing said:
Get that football managery crap out of here. You have to have a footballing brain to understand how Moyes constructs his lineups. It starts off with the crucial and fundamental element:

Oh god if I don't play Wayne he's going to be so mad at me.

And then everything else is kind of secondary. Oh and by the way that fear permeates into all areas of the club, from the forwards' defensive training to the set-up-not-to-lose mentality. All hallmarks of a man who's never known what it's like truly being the person that the other person is afraid of.
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We might as well have some fun with different formations that will never happen :(

I agree there is no hope whatsoever of him dropping Rooney or doing anything outside of his comfort zone.
 
I would go for a 4-4-2 with Nani and Valencia and CM pairing of Carrick-Cleverley. Alternatively, if score is 0-0 at HT and as there will be nothing to lose it would be interesting to have Carrick as deep lying playmaker, Nani and Valencia on wings and Rooney and Kagawa behind RvP such that Carrick-Kagawa-Rooney-RvP forms a diamond and Nani-Valencia deployed wide.
 
I don't care what team we put out or formation we employ, we need to get into the buggers and be all over them from the first whistle. Pressure and pace. They're pretty brave at home in front of their own howling hordes, but they don't travel well. I've put money on us turning them over and going through.
 
This should be fun.

I'd like to see:

- De Gea -

- Rafa - Jones - Smalling - Evra -

- Cleverley - Felliani -

- Januzaj - Kagawa - Welbeck -

- Rooney -​
 
SharkyMcShark said:
The amount of times we've scored more than twice at home this season:

Leverkusen (4-2, Champions League)
Stoke City (3-2, Premier League)
Norwich City (4-0, League Cup)
West Ham (3-1, Premier League)

:nervous:
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Also worth noting that only one of those scorelines would put us through.
 
Trigg said:
This should be fun.

I'd like to see:

- De Gea -

- Rafa - Jones - Smalling - Evra -

- Cleverley - Felliani -

- Januzaj - Kagawa - Welbeck -

- Rooney -​
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This. The front four is just more fluid this way - it's not necessarily a case of Welbeck left or Rooney behind Welbeck as both will naturally roam.

I'd have Carrick though.
 
We need to go out and attack, we need at least 2 goals, on that basis, I don't want to see us stick with what we usually do, as it's clearly not ticking.


Hernandez
Rooney____Kagawa____Welbeck
Fellaini____Fletcher
Evra____Jones____Evans____Rafael
DDG​
 
I reckon Young and Valencia will both be in his plans big style and I'm not even wumming.
 
OnlyTwoDaSilvas said:
Any reason why? Based on however many games we've played this season, I can't see us passing through them, or having a deadly striker getting in behind their defenders like Hernandez used to do. I reckon giving them a physical problem to deal with could work. It's certainly worth a go, since little else is working. He won't constantly give the ball away cheaply like Rooney always seems to when he plays behind a striker.

I wouldn't want to see it long term, or for more than just this game, but when the objective is to score at least 3 goals, Moyes needs to go direct, IMO.
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Good point, but there's no way he'll try that, he's too afraid. He put in Rio against Liverpool because he was afraid of what the reaction would be after a defeat ala City in 2010. He won't drop RvP, despite his lack of form, or try Rooney on the wings, because he wants to keep both happy and not lose the entire dressing room. Can you imagine what will happen if he plays Fellaini, instead of Kagawa, behind RvP, and after we put 50-60 crosses in the box ,we fail to qualify? He'll probably need a helicopter to leave the stadium.

We need to score early, so i think we may see Welbeck on the left, playing near RvP and Rooney, and Valencia or Young trying to provide width and attack with pace on the right wing. The only risks i think he would take is Giggs in the midfield and Rafael-Evra playing higher than usual, with Carrick or Fellaini providing cover for them.

God help us!
 
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