Cluj v United
We’re inviting some of our Twitter friends to share some of their ‘Pre and Post Match’ thoughts with us from now on. You can still enjoy my nonsensical, confusing punctuation buffets below their proper good ones…
Iwan (@IwanLehnert):
No Carrick, Scholes or Giggs in the squad that flew out to Romania, then. Whatever Ferguson says in the press, he will have noticed what happened to that trio against Spurs and it would’ve hurt. I’d rather not pretend to know what goes on inside the boss man’s head but this is a good chance for Anderson, Fletcher and Cleverley to stake a claim for a place in a midfield that is crying out so hopelessly for some graft and energy that I feel like running on there myself. And I’m rubbish.
Simply put, Europe just isn’t scared of us anymore. United don’t overrun teams when we play in the Champions League these days and, Shalke aside, we rarely punish teams who are willing to play openly and attack us. I can’t claim to be a tactical genius, but the switch that flipped Ferguson into being more pragmatic in the knockout stages has turned United into a less potent side throughout the competition. Not that I’m suggesting that Cluj are just lambs for slaughter, but with the calibre we have up front, surely it’s worth really seeing what Cluj are made of? Also, get through that last sentence without a double take, and I’ll give you one English pound.
In sumination, if SAF really wants to improve in Europe, then choose a side that will attack, and not probe.
Prediction: Rooney remembers how to score, 3-0 stroll IF they genuinely got fearful from Fergie’s post-Spurs wrath.
Brett:
I was present at a talk on The Kluge a couple of years back, so am more than qualified to share my vast knowledge on the subject. What? It’s what? Oh … sorry, excuse me, I thought you said ‘Kluge’ – referring to the theory of the brain as a dysfunctional machine. I did wonder. There would certainly have been a few administrative difficulties in attempting to get a theory to put out a correctly licenced XI . You mean Cluj – the football team – of course!
(I had a thing planned with a brain analogy and that – but I’m too busy. Another time.)
I’ve said all the things I’ve wanted to say on the team recently, in previous posts. If I start repeating myself this early in the season, I’ll soon run out of words.
The second half of the Spurs game was enough to show me things are moving in the right direction. Most of the issues I have will not be addressed in this game. I just hope we win. Which we should. Probably a bit awkwardly.
More of Nick Powell and Fletcher please.
Prediction: 0-2
Goals: Two O.Gs
