Manchester United Vs Olympic Lyon

charleysurf said:
Fergusons quote about changing his mind about his team for Lyon half way through the Fulham game may imply that either Scholes or Nani have forced their way into the team.

I can't remember a big game like this for a long time where I have absolutely no clue what team the manager will play. Rooney, Ronaldo, VDS and the usual back 4 are definites, but any 4 out of Anderson, Scholes, Tevez, Nani, Saha, Haregreaves, Carrick and Fletcher could fill the remaining places.
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Reckon Anderson will get a spot, just because of his versatility and grit in the midfield. Reckon he will score if he starts as well, last time I said this he didnt start though:mad:
 
Personally I always think its better to have our experienced players in the lineup during important matches(especially European!), but considering how great Nani has been as of late I'd be hard pressed if I was SAF to not start him. We may see Scholes/Carrick start in the middle, but I am more inclined to want to see Anderson/Carrick. We more and likely will see Hargo in there along with any one of the other 3/4 we have available to start.

My guess at the line up is

--------------VDS-------------
Brown---Ferdinand--Vidic---Evra
----------Hargreaves----------
Ronnie--Carrick--Anderson--Nani
------------Roo--------------

We may see Ronnie switching up front again and having those for behind him/Roo in a 4-4-2 formation.
 
Play Nani then, there is no need to risk Giggs with Nani in such great form.

And oh please don't play the 4-5-1 formation again, we are at home now, We must go all out for the win, so 4-4-2 please.
 
Fergie saying that we will be playing attacking football tomorrow got me worried. Everytime he says that we play cautious piece of crap football...
 
Ekeke said:
I'm a bit surprised about Benzema speaking out about playing in a position he doesnt really like. I'd hate to see Rooney do that with us.

He does have a point though, he's by far and away their best striker and even though he could play from the wing on the left its a little bit unnecessary.
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Rooney will never do that. He'll happily play centre back if he was asked to. I remember Tevez saying something along the same lines of not liking to play on the left wing for West Ham last season though.
 
jojojo said:
Those who enjoy playing guess the team (and their mental state) from the training photos can now indulge themselves with:

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=1&language=en-GB&family=editorial&p=manchester%20united&ebd=2008-03-02&src=quick#

Ronaldo looks hyper

Vidic is lurking - poor Park.

And SAF is doing his Michelin man impression, while Ole gives anyone who'll listen a few hints on throw-ins.

Not for tomorrow, but Sylvestre's back with them as well.
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My favourite game!
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Giggs doubtful for Lyon clash

Hmmm.... Anyone else think this might be a blessing in disguise?
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Defiantly, Giggs wasnt good in the first leg and his lacked the legs to cause any damage and was the reason we looked disjointed, when nani and tevez came on it changed things, so its definalty a good thing that he is out, nani needs these experiances to come on.

Im sure that rooney, ronaldo, tevez (fergie spoke of his admiration for him today and likened him to cantona for his ability to score important goals, i think he is in after his rest), brown, vidic, rio, evra, van der saar and anderson will all start, which leaves two places, and the choice of formation of either 442 or 433 in question.

Ferguson knows lyon will come to attack so i think we will look to counter that to a devastating degree to bury the game, and im thinking we will go 4-3-3, which means there is 2 spaces left next to anderson who can speedily link the midfield and attack, id like to think he would go with fletcher and carrick becase they did so well against arsneal but i now think scholes performace against fulham was enough to give himself a starting birth for this game next to carrick who has to play because he also got rested.

so the team goes as follows,

----Van der Sarr----
brown rio vidic evra
---carrick scholes---
-------anderson------
ronaldo---------tevez
--------rooney-------

and we will win, tough game though and i cant wait :devil:!
 
We're at home, good advantage on top of the fact that we have a much better team, all we need to do is play well and this is in the bag. the only players that really worry me are Benzema, and to a lesser extent Sidney Govou. Juninho was quite ineffective in France but we'll see how he does tomorrow. Now if I was Lyon looking at United, there are 4, 5 even 6 match winners in the team we will most likely put out, and that would worry me a lot more than one very good striker.

Perform well and we win. We are the better team. Looking forward to it :D
 
I think we must play Nani. He's so unpredictable and effictive. But he would only be used in a 4-4-2 which isnt much like Fergie in europe.

It never was this hard to predict a United line up FFS!
 
jojojo said:
Those who enjoy playing guess the team (and their mental state) from the training photos can now indulge themselves with:

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=1&language=en-GB&family=editorial&p=manchester%20united&ebd=2008-03-02&src=quick#

Ronaldo looks hyper

Vidic is lurking - poor Park.

And SAF is doing his Michelin man impression, while Ole gives anyone who'll listen a few hints on throw-ins.

Not for tomorrow, but Sylvestre's back with them as well.
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Saha looks like he's doing a Michael Jackson "Hoooo" impression! Then Rio and JSP are laughing their asses off! It looks like all the mates are in very good spirits and they all seem to be relaxed, which isn't good news for Lyon. I think we should beat them soundly at OT tomorrow, I've even more sure of it now after I've seen those pics. Thanks!
 
I really can't predict a team with any confidence. Still at least the opposition haven't got a clue either. Then he whips out Anderson to destroy them all, I hope.
 
22 - John O'Shea
10 - Wayne Rooney
26 - Phil Bardsley
21 - Dong Fangzou
20 - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
6 - Wes Brown
1 - Edwin Van Der Sar
13 - JiSung Park
18 - Paul Scholes
3 - Paddy Evra
17 - Nani

Team chosen using http://www.mdani.demon.co.uk/para/random.htm
number generator.


-------------VDS---------------
------------------------------
Bardsley--Brown--O'shea----Evra
------------------------------
Solskjaer---Scholes--Park---Nani
--------------------------------
--------Rooney---Fangzou-------
 
3-0 United. Tevez, Scholes and Benzema OG.
 
This is what the Independent thinks the lineup will be....

Tonight's probable team
MAN UTD (4-4-2)
Van der Sar;
Brown
Vidic
Ferdinand
Evra;
Nani
Anderson
Saha
Ronaldo;
Tevez
Rooney

Weird, to say the least. Never seen that one before.
That's more like 4-2-4 to me!
 
BahamaRed said:
This is what the Independent thinks the lineup will be....

Tonight's probable team
MAN UTD (4-4-2)
Van der Sar;
Brown
Vidic
Ferdinand
Evra;
Nani
Anderson
Saha
Ronaldo;
Tevez
Rooney

Weird, to say the least. Never seen that one before.
That's more like 4-2-4 to me!
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Wait, one central midfielder?
 
My game day starts now. Day off work tomorrow. Electric on. Dish working. Ample supply of rum. Heart's beating faster than normal. Told the wife and sons, and their sons, to STAY AWAY FROM ME for the next 16 hours or so. This is MY time. A must win European game at OT. Doesn't get much better than this (and for those that think 'get a life' I've already done that and this is one of the highlights of it!). My eldest son is running my store. Been told to contact me in emergencies only. I was physically sick after the game against Milan last year. Hope to avoid that this year.
All we have to do is to play like we can. Is that too much to ask?

COME ON UNITED!
 
Lyon prepare to enter the theatre of nightmares



[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Daniel Taylor
Tuesday March 4, 2008
The Guardian

[/FONT]
OldTraffordbig1.jpg

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Old Trafford has become a fortress for Manchester United in European competition. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images
[/FONT]


The priority for Manchester United tonight will be to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League but Sir Alex Ferguson's men will also have an added incentive when Lyon visit Old Trafford. Only one team, Juventus, has ever won 10 successive Champions League games on their own ground and Ferguson's side will equal that 11-year record if they defeat the French champions inside a stadium that is gradually becoming recognised as the most impregnable fortress in Europe.

Regular patrons of the Bernabéu, San Siro, the Camp Nou and Anfield might be reluctant to accept that, but the weight of evidence is very much in United's favour. The Premier League champions have not lost at home in Europe's premier club competition since Milan beat them 1-0 in February 2005 and have won all nine of their games at Old Trafford since, scoring 27 times compared to only seven against.
Ferguson talked last night about his players "increasing their expectations to do well" when they face European sides on their own pitch whereas, for United's opponents, there seems to be the same fear that once gripped away teams when they passed under the "This is Anfield" sign in the 1970s. La Repubblica described Roma's players "looking like car-sick kids vomiting at the first turn" when they lost 7-1 in last season's quarter-final, and there have even been sightings of opposition players taking pictures of each other on the pitch before some games.
"It's strange but teams can be scared when they come to Old Trafford," Patrice Evra, one of the more intelligent and considered members of Ferguson's squad, volunteered yesterday. "We shouldn't underestimate the effect it can have. It's a big stadium, the pitch is wide and we play with pace. Teams don't like that. It can be hard for them to cope. It's the Theatre of Dreams but that's only for United, not for any other team."
United will certainly go into tonight's game confident of progressing after drawing 1-1 in the first leg at Stade Gerland. "Honestly, when I play at Old Trafford I feel I have more power, more character in my legs, more energy," said Evra. "Playing at this stadium, the atmosphere is not the same as anywhere else on a European night. The fans really lift the team from the first minute to the last."
Ferguson has been critical of the Old Trafford crowd at times - most memorably, describing the atmosphere as like a "funeral" after a Premier League game against Birmingham City in January - but he, too, acknowledged the noise that is generated by United's supporters. "Our home record has been very good for a long time," said the United manager. "The atmosphere at Old Trafford helps because on these big European nights there is a real stirring among the fans."
And then, according to Evra, there is the sense of apprehension among visiting teams not to suffer the same kind of humiliation as Roma. "I think that game is in the minds of a lot of players who come here on European nights," he said. "I have spoken to a few of the Lyon players and their goalkeeper, Grégory Coupet, joked with me that he doesn't want to be in goal for another 7-1. It was unique, but it can affect teams. That's why we need to test Lyon from the start."
Ryan Giggs made his 100th Champions League appearance in the first leg but he is likely to be absent this evening because of the calf injury that kept him out of United's 3-0 defeat of Fulham on Saturday. That apart, however, Ferguson reported a full-strength squad and he will be encouraged by the news of an apparent falling-out between two of Lyon's most threatening players, Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa. Benzema made a point of not shaking Ben Arfa's hand when he was replaced by the winger in a 1-0 win over Lille on Saturday; they are said to have the same kind of fractious relationship that Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham once shared while playing in attack for United. "It's true they are not the best of friends," said the Lyon coach, Alain Perrin. "They wouldn't go out for a drink together, for instance. But it's nothing to stop them playing in the same team. It's a personal situation and should have nothing to do with the game."
 
Great to see Silvestre back
 
Tonight'll be a repeat of the Benfica match at OT last season score wise. ;) No smooth beginning for us, Lyon have nothing to lose so we shall have to work a fair bit harder than some think IMO.
 
reddevilcanada said:
It's been a while since I had this much difficulty predicting our CB's for a match.
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It's been normal that we know who we all want to play. Not any more. I'd be just as happy with a number of different combinations provided they play like they can. I believe Fergie had Carrick and Anderson picked in his head before the Fulham game and at half time he is quoted as saying he had to rethink. Why? Because I think he saw Scholesy and thought....it's got to be Scholes and Carrick. I think that's what it will be. With Anderson ready to come on if Scholesy is having one of those senior moments.
 
The squad we have at the moment is unbelievable. I'm having such trouble picking eleven players. Let's hope Fergie doesn't go bonkers with the tinkering.

---------- VDS ----------
Brown - Rio - Vidic - Evra
Ronaldo - Scholes - Carrick - Nani
--- Tevez - Rooney ---

Subs
PIG, O'Shea, Anderson, Hargreaves, Giggs, Saha, Pique
 
Gazza said:
The squad we have at the moment is unbelievable. I'm having such trouble picking eleven players. Let's hope Fergie doesn't go bonkers with the tinkering.

---------- VDS ----------
Brown - Rio - Vidic - Evra
Ronaldo - Scholes - Carrick - Nani
--- Tevez - Rooney ---

Subs
PIG, O'Shea, Anderson, Hargreaves, Giggs, Saha, Pique
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That should be the team by all accounts.
 
I'm guessing we'll go 4-3-3 and it'll look like this...

van der Sar

Brown - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra

Hargreaves
Carrick - Scholes

Ronaldo - Rooney - Nani​

...with PIG, O'Shea, Fletcher, Anderson, Park (or Giggs, if he's fit), Tevez and Saha on the bench (or Pique in place of a midfielder, although he's probably expendable since John O'Shea can play all four defensive positions/goalkeeper at once). Expecting a comfortable 2-0 win. Or at least hoping for one.
 
Going off to bed now, should wake up just before kickoff !

Can't fecking wait :devil:
 
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