Manchester United vs. Everton

Surely it's best to put out the best team we have for this one, save perhaps Ferdinand to be rested due to not being able to play twice in 4 days.

If it's going well, then take key men off.

The league IS the be all and end all after last year's heartache.
 
Vidic has still not played two games in a week since he came back, so it has to be unlikely he'll start against Everton, and be saved for Real. Ferdinand has played two games in a week this season, so perhaps he will partner Evans or Smalling. Rafael, Evra and De Gea will have no problem playing both games, so that should be the back 5.

It will be interesting to see if SAF wants to rest Mr. Persie, he's shown he can play two games a week and still bring his best. Everton is a hell of a tough team to beat, I would really like to see him start both games. However, Chicharito has been in great form lately, and we may well be able to afford to rest Persie.

Young may return against Everton, but if he does I doubt he'll play against Real, and if he doesn't I can't see SAF starting him against Real straight off. Nani can play both games, but Kagawa hasn't played two games in a week since he came back and I'd think he'll be saved for Real. So Valencia or Welbeck are likely to start against Everton with Nani.

I expect Carrick and Cleverley in the middle for Real. Carrick has started 11 of the last 13 and came on as a sub in another, being rested only once, so I see him playing both. Anderson seems the obvious choice for Everton.

Everton:
De Gea
Rafael Ferdinand Evans Evra
Carrick Anderson
Valencia Rooney Nani
Persie​

Real:
De Gea
Rafael Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Carrick Cleverley
Nani Rooney Kagawa
Persie​
 
I think he'll play Rooney because when he's in good form you can't leave him out, he also has the physical capacity to play 3 games in a week.
Also the last couple of games Robin has looked a little bit jaded so am wondering if he's got some fatigue either mental or physical, so I'm thinking he might put him on the bench and go with Rooney and Wellbeck/Hernandez.
 
Rooney, Evra, Nani, Kagawa, Hernandez, Smalling & Valencia all played 90 minutes for their teams. Evans, Cleverley & RVP comes off at half time and Welbeck played for 61. Jones is out with Shingles and Young is still injured.

That should make for an interesting team selection for this game. With Real three days later, this is what I am expecting now:

DeGea
Rafael Vidic Smalling Buttner
Carrick Scholes
Welbeck Anderson Giggs
Hernandez​

For Madrid:

DeGea
Rafael Rio Evans Evra
Carrick Cleverley
Valencia Kagawa Rooney
RVP​
 
Forevergiggs said:
Rooney, Evra, Nani, Kagawa, Hernandez, Smalling & Valencia all played 90 minutes for their teams. Evans, Cleverley & RVP comes off at half time and Welbeck played for 61. Jones is out with Shingles and Young is still injured.

That should make for an interesting team selection for this game. With Real three days later, this is what I am expecting now:

DeGea
Rafael Vidic Smalling Buttner
Carrick Scholes
Welbeck Anderson Giggs
Hernandez​

For Madrid:

DeGea
Rafael Rio Evans Evra
Carrick Cleverley
Valencia Kagawa Rooney
RVP​
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How can you not play Vidic, our best defender against Madrid? He will have the duty of marking Ronaldo during corners and in direct free kicks since he is such a threat in aerial situations.
 
RDCR07 said:
How can you not play Vidic, our best defender against Madrid? He will have the duty of marking Ronaldo during corners and in direct free kicks since he is such a threat in aerial situations.
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It is a toss up. I like the pair of Vidic and Smalling more against the physical threat that Jelavic and Fellani will pose. We have our problems against big, physical men and Vidic is the best equipped to tackle that.

Rio and Evans has been our best CB partnership for two seasons now. I don't think there are any issues to starting them against Madrid. Jonny hasn't done too bad aerially off late and you are underrating Rio in that regard.
 
It will be very interesting to see if Evra is able to deal with Mirallas assuming he starts RW. Also if Rafael can deal with Baines! Your full backs will have to be on top of their game this weekend.
 
SilentWitness said:
It will be very interesting to see if Evra is able to deal with Mirallas assuming he starts RW. Also if Rafael can deal with Baines! Your full backs will have to be on top of their game this weekend.
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Rafael will have Baines on toast, i'd suggest your full backs will be far more busy.

Does Mirallas have much more than a decent 45 minutes against a shite Liverpool side to back up his hype?
 
I wouldn't be surprised if Vidic plays both games to help with Fellaini and Ronaldo aerially in particular. It might be why Fergie and the medical team have been particularly cautious with managing his knee over the last few weeks with these two fixtures in mind, perhaps? You could probably get away with taking him off after 60-70 mins vs Everton depending on the score too.
 
Utd heap said:
Rafael will have Baines on toast, i'd suggest your full backs will be far more busy.
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Really? As good as Rafael is, I don't think he is lightyears ahead of Baines, if you take into account his age, yes he does have more potential, but currently, with the Baines of late, it won't be as simple as you think.

Utd heap said:
Does Mirallas have much more than a decent 45 minutes against a shite Liverpool side to back up his hype?
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No
 
Back 5:

Everton

DDG - Raf - Evans - Jones/Vida - Evra

Real Madrid

DDG - Smalling - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra

EDIT: This is because I want Ferdinand fresh for RM as well as Vida, however one of the two should start vs Everton.

I would personally like to see Smalling at RB, I know that's a kick in the teeth for Raf who has come on amazingly so I am split, but from an aerial POV, Smalling would offer more guarantee.
 
SilentWitness said:
It will be very interesting to see if Evra is able to deal with Mirallas assuming he starts RW. Also if Rafael can deal with Baines! Your full backs will have to be on top of their game this weekend.
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Rafael dealth quite well with Bale so I think Baines will be a similar level of difficulty at best.
 
Jaybezia said:
Back 5:

Everton

DDG - Raf - Evans - Jones/Vida - Evra

Real Madrid

DDG - Smalling - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra

EDIT: This is because I want Ferdinand fresh for RM as well as Vida, however one of the two should start vs Everton.

I would personally like to see Smalling at RB, I know that's a kick in the teeth for Raf who has come on amazingly so I am split, but from an aerial POV, Smalling would offer more guarantee.
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I think Rafael would deal far better with Ronaldo than Smalling would.
 
Utd heap said:
Rafael will have Baines on toast, i'd suggest your full backs will be far more busy.

Does Mirallas have much more than a decent 45 minutes against a shite Liverpool side to back up his hype?
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Jaybezia said:
No
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Yes, he's one of the few players in our team that will run and dribble past players successfully. Little greedy at times but if he sorts that out he'll be excellent and he's already very good. If he's fit he will give you a torrid time.
 
The only, and only advantage of it being called off is that our players will receive more of a rest prior to the Madrid game.

With that being said, some might argue that a long pause is not what some of our players might need right now. For example, Rooney seems to be hitting good form at the moment so we need him to play constantly.
 
Jaybezia said:
Back 5:

Everton

DDG - Raf - Evans - Jones/Vida - Evra

Real Madrid

DDG - Smalling - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra

EDIT: This is because I want Ferdinand fresh for RM as well as Vida, however one of the two should start vs Everton.

I would personally like to see Smalling at RB, I know that's a kick in the teeth for Raf who has come on amazingly so I am split, but from an aerial POV, Smalling would offer more guarantee.
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I am not sure about de Gea as RB. :p

pauldyson1uk said:
FFS there is a snow warning for Sunday now, last thing we need is it called off.
Hope they have it wrong.
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I think that could actually be good thing for us.
 
I don't understand why anybody would say that this game being called off would be a good thing, or any United game for that matter. I'd like to get Everton out of the way now, as they've been a giant thorn in our sides as of late.

Rooney is also looking in sizzling form. The kind of form that can usually see him win games like this on his own. It's best that we keep him ticking.
 
Given it's on a Sunday, I reckon Fergie will be playing a weekend team. Yep, coat.


In all seriousness, I think we have moved into that stage of the season now, and our squad is now fully engaged in battle mode. We have closed ranks and it is game-time. I would be confident on most combinations of players at this stage of the season, as this is why Fergie is who he is. The likes of Welbeck/Hernandez will go out there on Sunday knowing that they are our selected men to continue this mission over the next 90mins. I have seen players like Phil Nev, O'Shea etc really step up in similar circumstances, and I think the closer we get towards achieving something really historic and special - the more confidence I will have in any member playing their part. It is a squad game more than ever at this stage onwards, and our men will know they have the chance to be part of something extraordinary. All of them, not just Rooney and van Persie.
 
Shark22 said:
I don't understand why anybody would say that this game being called off would be a good thing, or any United game for that matter. I'd like to get Everton out of the way now, as they've been a giant thorn in our sides as of late.

Rooney is also looking in sizzling form. The kind of form that can usually see him win games like this on his own. It's best that we keep him ticking.
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I can see why a postponement could be good for the team, a bit of a rest after stupid meaninglessness internationals can only be good, but I am with you, Rooney is playing well and I want to get Everton out of the way.
 
jdmufc said:
Has Rooney ever played well against Everton?
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It's normally the away game that causes him problems, not the home game.

I don't recall him exactly playing badly as we scored 4 at home to them last year!
 
I think the big problem for us will be dealing with fellaini. Not only in the box but when he moves between the lines. He will probably be played as an attacking midfielder and they will knock the ball long. Will our CB be coming out that far to pick him up? I would have gone with Phil Jones in DM for this one.
 
We need to do a couple things to prevent the bombardment that ruined us at Goodison - things we've been really poor at lately:

1. Keep a high line - Fellaini is only truly dangerous once he's in the box with players around him. Our biggest mistake in defending 'the long ball' is dropping so deep. If the defense formed a line outside box and held it, we'd be in much better shape.

2. Actually pressure the deep ball. Our forwards/midfielders barely seemed to close down the deep 'launch' ball in the last match. If you make that defender at least be honest with his kicking it's not going to be nearly as accurate, rather than standing off.

3. Keep the ball.

4. Score lots of goals so it doesn't matter ;)
 
Forevergiggs said:
It is a toss up. I like the pair of Vidic and Smalling more against the physical threat that Jelavic and Fellani will pose. We have our problems against big, physical men and Vidic is the best equipped to tackle that.

Rio and Evans has been our best CB partnership for two seasons now. I don't think there are any issues to starting them against Madrid. Jonny hasn't done too bad aerially off late and you are underrating Rio in that regard.
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I thought Fellaini was injured. Smalling will definitely play against Everton. Its a matter of if Rio is going to partner or Evans. I am not underrating Rio in any regard. Rio is good in the air but its just Vidic is better. I would prefer Vidic to be rested for the league game because even if something goes wrong this weekend, we have time to recover. But if something goes wrong in Madrid, we can't recover.
 
Beachryan said:
We need to do a couple things to prevent the bombardment that ruined us at Goodison - things we've been really poor at lately:

1. Keep a high line - Fellaini is only truly dangerous once he's in the box with players around him. Our biggest mistake in defending 'the long ball' is dropping so deep. If the defense formed a line outside box and held it, we'd be in much better shape.

2. Actually pressure the deep ball. Our forwards/midfielders barely seemed to close down the deep 'launch' ball in the last match. If you make that defender at least be honest with his kicking it's not going to be nearly as accurate, rather than standing off.

3. Keep the ball.

4. Score lots of goals so it doesn't matter ;)
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1 and 2 are obvious.

But if Vidic or Ferdinand play, impossible. You can't play high with CBs with no pace, and you can't press without a high line.
 
RDCR07 said:
I thought Fellaini was injured. Smalling will definitely play against Everton. Its a matter of if Rio is going to partner or Evans. I am not underrating Rio in any regard. Rio is good in the air but its just Vidic is better. I would prefer Vidic to be rested for the league game because even if something goes wrong this weekend, we have time to recover. But if something goes wrong in Madrid, we can't recover.
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I think the Fellani injury is one of those "before meaningless international friendly" injury.

You may well be right. Imo, Vidic would be better in a more physical contest this Sunday/
 
I think with Fellani, we're not gonna be able to play high, esp if say scholes comes in which is very possible. But I always think you can deal with that by making sure you win the second ball, that's the thing, make sure the midfield get in tight so they're there to help plug the gaps, we don't have to win it first time but we need to be in a position to ensure we can get the second ball or at the very least we're much tighter to stop him getting the ball to the runners as much.

I think we use Rooney and Hernandez or welbeck up top, save rvp for Madrid. I think everyone else should be fine, aside from carrick and the fullbacks they've not played masses amounts of football this season.
 
Fecking international friendlies, served absolutely no purpose except to tire our players ahead of a very crucial week of everton and real madrid.
 
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