West Bromwich Albion vs. Manchester United

we played 433 last season there, with a terrible Obertan performance.

Yeah we were really shocking that day and then...

...Chicharito does what he does best. ;)

I thought we went to too many away grounds last season scared. The monkey on our backs of not doing well away from home clearly got into the heads of the players and they couldn't shake it off and I don't think the boss changing his tactics at places like West Brom helped either. It showed little faith in the team to hold a lead perhaps with justification but I doubt it boosted confidence. Best thing we could do is do what what we did against City: set out to attack them and win the game playing nice football.

De Gea

Rafael
Ferdinand
Vidic
Evra

Nani
Cleverley
Anderson
Young

Rooney
Welbeck

That should do the trick.
 
I dont get the calls for for De Gea to be dropped from some, OK so he had a dodgy first half V City , but the second half was excellent and he pull of a few good saves.
His first major match and I thought he was excellent.

I think you do get the calls ... not that I support them.

As for the game, international duty really hasn't had that much of an impact on things but Carrick pulled out before the game was called off, not sure if it was one of the fake injury things and Diouf and Vidic have had long(ish) journeys though, probably why Vidic was taken off early in the Shield.
 
Personally I've not called for De Gea to be dropped, to me hasn't won the #1 position yet from Lindegaard. Unless it was all lip service of De Gea having to earn his place and he was de facto #1 simply because we payed 18m for him.

Lets not forget he showed up to pre-season late and hasn't had that much time with the team.
 
If we are going to start two strikers, I would like us to start Berbatov. We can score and take the lead and then Welbeck can come into the game.
 
Personally I've not called for De Gea to be dropped, to me hasn't won the #1 position yet from Lindegaard. Unless it was all lip service of De Gea having to earn his place and he was de facto #1 simply because we payed 18m for him.

Lets not forget he showed up to pre-season late and hasn't had that much time with the team.

De Gea is de facto No. 1 because that's his shirt number as a matter of fact.

As for the earning his place thing, it does seem a bit like defending Foster ahead of Kuszczcak ... profile matters, possibly even above merit. Tomasz is too good to be a 3rd choice, he should give Celtic or Arsenal a call.
 
Our previous results against West Brom;

10/11
West Brom 1-2 Man Utd - Rooney, Hernandez; Morrison
Man Utd 2-2 West Brom - Hernandez, Nani; Evra (OG), Tchoyi

08/09
West Brom 0-5 Man Utd - Berbatov, Tevez, Vidic, Ronaldo x2
Man Utd 4-0 West Brom - Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Nani

05/06
West Brom 1-2 Man Utd - Saha x2; Ellington
Man Utd 3-0 West Brom - Scholes, Ferdinand, Van Nistelrooy

04/05
Man Utd 1-1 West Brom - Giggs; Earnshaw
West Brom 0-3 Man Utd - Scholes x2, Van Nistelrooy

02/03
West Brom 1-3 Man Utd - Scholes, Van Nistelrooy, Solksjaer; Koumas
Man Utd 1-0 West Brom - Solksjaer
 
Can't believe the premier league is starting tomorrow! I don't remember the last time I was this excited!
 
De Gea is de facto No. 1 because that's his shirt number as a matter of fact.

As for the earning his place thing, it does seem a bit like defending Foster ahead of Kuszczcak ... profile matters, possibly even above merit. Tomasz is too good to be a 3rd choice, he should give Celtic or Arsenal a call.

I should clarify then for your sake, I didn't mean the number on his shirt but, rather the #1 to mean more about starting goalkeeper. So to be clear - he isn't the de facto starting goalkeeper yet.
 
How is Lindegaard our default number 1? De Gea has won more in a tougher league. Not to mention Lindegaard has only played 2-3 games for us.
 
How is Lindegaard our default number 1? De Gea has won more in a tougher league. Not to mention Lindegaard has only played 2-3 games for us.

The position was up for grabs at least for the first part of the season (opinion based on SAF saying it was) - Lindegaard had a full pre-season, played really well and has been with the club/players to know them better.

De Gea has come in late and is playing behind players he has a hard time communicating with still. I don't think it's too drastic to suggest Lindegaard starts the season while De Gea gets a little more acclimated.
 
22 man squad for this one:

de Gea, Lindegaard
Evra, Jones, Ferdinand, Smalling, Vidic, Fabio, Rafael, J Evans
Anderson, Giggs, Park, Carrick, Nani, Young, Cleverley
Owen, Berbatov, Rooney, Welbeck, Macheda
 
De Gea

Rafael
Ferdinand
Vidic
Fabio

Nani
Anderson
Carrick/Cleverley/Giggs
Young

Rooney
Welbeck/Berbatov

I think Fergie gave a clear indication of what the midfield will be in his presser:

What we wanted to find out was how Jones equipped himself, Smalling and Cleverley too, and they did fantastic. We should know about Cleverley because he's been with us a long time, he's been with us since he was 12 years of age. You get to know boys in depth during that time, you get to know their temperament and their character. The only reason I didn't start Cleverley was I just felt the powerful players they have in midfield like Yaya Toure made me a bit cautious about playing him from the start.--Sir Alex Ferguson, pre-match press conference 12th August 2011
 
185152_Manchester_United.jpg


Fabio for Evra if he's out.
 
I predict:

De Gea

Smalling
Ferdinand
Vidic
Fabio

Nani
Carrick
Anderson
Young

Rooney
Berbatov
 
------------de gea-------------
------smalling-------vida--------
rafael----------------------fabio
-------------carrick--------------
------cleverley------ando--------
nani------------------------young
--------------rooney-------------
 
Judging by the way Fergie said that the CS made the team selection a bit easier, Ando-Clev in the middle.
 
22 man squad for this one:

de Gea, Lindegaard
Evra, Jones, Ferdinand, Smalling, Vidic, Fabio, Rafael, J Evans
Anderson, Giggs, Park, Carrick, Nani, Young, Cleverley
Owen, Berbatov, Rooney, Welbeck, Macheda

I thought Pogba might get called up.
 
----------De Gea------------

Smalling---Rio---Vidic------Fabio

--------------Carrick---------------

----------Ando-----Cleverley------------

Nani--------------------------Young--

--------------Rooney.
 
I'd definitely like to see Cleverly start but I doubt SAF will do that. I think he'll go with Carrick and Anderson in a two man midfield. Probably Berba and Rooney up front
 
22 man squad for this one:

de Gea, Lindegaard
Evra, Jones, Ferdinand, Smalling, Vidic, Fabio, Rafael, J Evans
Anderson, Giggs, Park, Carrick, Nani, Young, Cleverley
Owen, Berbatov, Rooney, Welbeck, Macheda

I just think Darron Gibson will be in the squad with Fletcher out and Carrick doubtful.
 
I should clarify then for your sake, I didn't mean the number on his shirt but, rather the #1 to mean more about starting goalkeeper. So to be clear - he isn't the de facto starting goalkeeper yet.

Erm ... I'm just pointing out that there's been a few unnerving Redknappisms (i.e. "literally doing <metaphorical action not done literally>" ) there but for the sake of being pedantic

De Facto = A matter of the Fact

# 1 = Number 1

The fact is De Gea is the Number 1 ... ergo he is De Facto #1

Can I make it any more simpler?

Yes, I guess okay he's not the number Number 1, but pedantically the person who has been assigned the number 1 jersey.

Now I'm wrong ... but I was just being funny.