(Really didn’t mean it to contain a swear. I’d deleted all the files, so couldn’t re-edit, before I’d even realised there was one in it.)

Iwan: (@Iwanlehnert)

Not to detract from the importance of the shocking treatment that England’s under-21 team had to endure in Serbia this week, but it’s comforting to be welcomed back to club football’s welcoming bosom. As much as I love international tournaments, qualifying can be bloody laborious, so I’m not exactly beside myself that we’re done with it until the new year. Even less so considering some fixtures on the horizon; Champions League v Braga, two consecutive visits to Stamford Bridge and then Arsenal at home. Ace.

I’ve never felt like jumping on the Stoke-hating bandwagon as I’m more than happy for a club to function and play within their means if it brings them some success. Stoke are never going to play silky football so why expect them to? They can’t outpass or outplay the likes of Arsenal, so why not just try and compete with them in their own way? Some teams seem to find it to be a similar challenge to Barcelona v Chelsea in the 2^nd leg of last year’s Champions League semi-final; the latter defended brilliantly, the former weren’t good enough to beat them. Moan all you like about teams that play anti-football, but if you’re not good enough to get past their tactics, then you don’t deserve to win. I like watching Stoke because they’re a hard working side that rarely leaves anything in the dressing room. Don’t expect any different on Saturday.

Not that United have much problem with the Potters. We’ve got seven wins from eight league matches since their 2008 promotion and whilst they rarely roll over, this should be  three points. It’s good to have seen all four frontmen bag goals whilst away with their national sides, in particular Hernandez who you suspect needed a bit of a lift with the limited amount of play time he’s been getting. Ashley Young’s return might just light another fire under Nani’s backside (if he needs another one) if the rumours swirling this week about a transfer to Italy are true. Thing is, I don’t think he really wants to leave but he’s still not quite gotten it yet. The penny has dropped on a few occasions, i.e. the second half of the 08/09 season but it’s always been temporary.

It’s an easy statement to make, but we’ve got players returning at a good time, with games in three different competitions in the next two weeks. I know; exciting, isn’t it?

Juan (@theredinsider):

‘United over England’ or better said ‘United over every other competition’

To say that international football is less important than domestic football for Manchester United supporters is a brutal understatement. If there’s something that Red Devils faithful fear more than Steven Gerrard kissing a camera after scoring a goal at The Theater of Dreams, this must be a weekend without a proper match of their venerated team.

‘United over England’ is something most Mancunians tend to proudly sustain, something which raises some eyebrows in some quarters abroad. The reason behind this assertion, according to them, is the lack of respect shown by The Football Association towards the most decorated club in the country in a number of occasions. To name a few, an 8-month ban to Rio Ferdinand for missing a drug test in September 2003 (testers played their part according to the 33-year-old centre back), a 4-match ban to Patrice Evra for (allegedly) confronting the Stamford Bridge groundsman in May 2008 and a 2-match ban to Wayne Rooney for swearing (apparently no other player had done it before) in front of a camera at Upton Park in April 2010.

These circumstances do not necessarily mean English United fans do not enjoy cheering on their national team, but there’s a widespread feeling that they would rather win the 20^th Premier League championship than the 2^nd World Cup in Brazil 2014. This is particularly remarkable in a moment in time when United boast as many as seven regular English senior international players -namely Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling- and three more members of the Under-21 English team -namely Ben Amos, Nick Powell and William Keane-, something speaking volumes about how important Manchester United is currently for The Three Lions.

This sentiment is not isolated within the 600-milion strong Manchester United contingent all around the globe. When internationals disrupt “what really matters” for them, Internet social networks, blogs and forums are filled with hundreds of comments pointing towards that direction. Albeit not everything is doom and gloom for The Red Devils fans. The odd game from the Reserves or any other Academy United team can help to make the pain a tad more bearable, regardless of if you are a Stretford End season ticket holder, or a fan from Kathmandu, Johannesburg, or Melbourne.

So what’s next for United? Michael Owen’s Stoke City is likely to pose a threat for Sir Alex Ferguson’s troops. Although they are yet to get anything from Old Trafford in four attempts since they got promoted, their physical strength, ability on set-pieces play, and resilience is always a handful. Nothing bad has happened in the shape of fresh injuries, long-term absentees Chris Smalling and Ashley are in line to return to the fold, which would be a timely boost just before facing Chelsea and Arsenal in successive weeks. But the big question is: Will Ferguson keep the diamond system? That could very much depend on the available players and the opposition; in addition, this system is likelier to be used in away games, as it would be pointless to make Old Trafford narrower when visiting teams play in a very defensive manner and United are trying to break the deadlock.

Considering Ferguson tends to ticker with their starting line-ups following international fixtures, my predicted line-up is as follows: Lindegaard; Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Büttner; Valencia, Scholes, Anderson, Giggs; Rooney, Van Persie.

Prediction: 3-0 to United.

Goals: Robin, Wazza and Antonio on the scoresheet.

Brett:

I guess I must be one of those forgotten statistics – the one that slips through the cracks –  cus I am a Manchester United supporter, however I don’t harbour dislike towards the F.A because of any perceived disrespectful anti-United bias. The reasons I don’t particularly like them are based in the fact they are grossly outmoded (I’ve written on this, elsewhere on the site). As for preferring the 20th Premier League title over a World Cup, that’s a tough one – with much more consideration needed. I’ll get back to you.

Anyhooo0…

Gone are the days when the “littler teams” can potentially cause an upset as the “big teams” players have to recover from the jet-setting lifestyle of international week – all Premier League teams now have a significant contingent of international players, whose absence from the club during this time can impact on their preparations for the following weekend … but without meaning to sound arrogant *All together, “Just Better”, Wahey!* (a sentence that starts that way, can only be heading into arrogant waters), this game has got 2-0 home win written all over it.

Crouch (one of my favourites) has looked as good as always this season and will cause our defence a few problems and there’s no doubt that it’s not just a case of turning up to beat them. They are a well drilled side; a side that has already drawn at Anfield (if that means anything at the moment), almost snatched a draw at Stamford Bridge and drawn with City at home. This will be tough. I’m just quietly confident that the spark of forward momentum from the Newcastle result (and glimpsed in games prior to that) will still be evident, despite the break.

The return of Smalling and Young to the squad can only be a good thing and as far as I’m aware there are no new injury concerns  Trying to guess Fergie’s line-up this week is liable to bring on a migraine again – so I’ll decline.

Prediction: 2-0 

Goals: Anderson, Scholesy (why not?).

I’ve made a bold prediction based on copying. Rob, a Liverpool fan – who writes the Bi-focal posts – assures me there is no way in the world we will not win this game. He’s so sure Liverpool will lose he’s locking himself in his house and refusing to watch the game with me – me his bestest friend in the world ever. Yes, yes, I know being best friends with a Liverpool is frowned upon if you support United, but I’m an adult and sane.

Rob, in spite of his prediction, has been relatively not as unhappy with Liverpool this season as some and as he’s my only real frame of reference for them I’ll have to ignore him. It’s not so much he thinks they’re any good, but more their age old problem of actually sticking the ball in the back of the net is the only real issue they have, apart from they have no midfield or defence and no-one knows what they’re doing (Did that paragraph make any sense? I sure hope not).

These games, regardless of either teams form, are (almost) always compelling and it’s not really surprising that again it finds itself played out against a backdrop of controversy and a potential for flash points. If there isn’t an undercurrent of  something, this fixture will inevitably find a way of making sure there is. Let’s just hope the game passes by relatively trouble free *Crosses everything*

Team wise (I’ve given up guessing) we’re without Rooney: Liverpool Slayer which means we have to rely on Van Persie: Liverpool Slayer … It’s tough at the top. We have more than enough to beat this struggling Liverpool side. I expect Rio and Evra (always my first choice regardless of Buttner’s play for LB) to come in and De Gea to start in pegs. Carrick is looking really well this season and I can see him starting alongside ClevZ, with Kagawa forming a three. That wasn’t a very good impression of giving up on guessing was it? Oh yeah and I feel a T.V goal is due (which means nothing).

Goals: Van Persie, T.V, Evra (What? I love a happy ending)

When within 90 minutes of the start of the campaign we’re having “SHOCK OF THE SEASON” shoved down our throats, the depressing inevitability of Football eventually eating itself crowns on the horizon. Oh Sky! With your patronising repetitive dirge ridden attempts to ingeniously trick us into chucking more money at you, you really spoil us.

Aaaanyway … the game was alright. I’m generally an optimist (you may have noticed I only ever predict wins. Maybe I’m just deluded), so tend to think back to how we got on at Goodison last year; we won. Then I think, okay what about at Old Trafford? We drew. SOOO, if we beat Everton at Old Trafford this year, we’ll only be one point worse off AND we can easily pick that up elsewhere (at the very least against City at home). Now doesn’t that make us all feel better?! Hhhhhmmmmm…

It was Fellaini, who I’ve said many times would be a great asset to any club, that did the hurting. Not just with the goal, but with his general “PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON” display. He would have been hard to contain, with the first choice in defence (if such a thing exists), let alone with, well, what we had. I thought Michael Carrick actually looked pretty confident (a good sign for the season) and Vidic, looked like Vidic, only someone had replaced his body with that of a child; he was also desperately in need of match sharpness (other cliches available). I’ve given up talking about T.V at RB, it just makes me sad and I love Evra too much to bring him into this. The star of the defence – without doubt – was De Gea. Still not the finished article by any means (of course), but his shot-stopping ability is almost unrivaled.

Up top there were a few promising signs of what could be. Rooney and Welbeck though (maybe feeling the weight of Van Persie on the bench) struggled to really get going (again, first game). Nani did his best impression of himself, and sterling it was too. With T.V on the right of midfield, I’m sure things would have worked out differently (pure speculation). Cleverly and Scholesy weren’t awful and were finding passing angles, but things weren’t quite clicking. When Van Persie came on (How surreal was it seeing him on the bench??!) we’d all  but abandoned playing nicely and so he was left to come searching for the ball. Still the sense of quality oozing from him was palpable.

There is one player I have intentionally omitted from mentioning to this point … Kagawa(wawa)! I THINK HE LOOKS AMAZING!!!!! He makes me feel like this:

Call me old fashioned, but I still, despite the occasional exception, see us as slow starters. I’ve seen a lot worse.

Pressure: sportspeople will always have to develop highly efficient cognitive mechanisms for coping with their own embodiment of it. External factors, from competition to expectation, and those of the internal world, from narcissism to nerves, all need to be dealt with in an appropriate manner (specific to the athlete) in order for them to excel. In Rooney’s instance, being in the position he is, those pressures – without doubt – must come close to being unbearably intense.  However, as a top sports star, it’s something he has had to deal with exponentially as his career has progressed, so relatively speaking he’s well practiced. This degree of pressure is not unique to Rooney, but the environment his career inhabits is very particular and we can only really draw reasonable comparisons with a handful of other stars.

The general malcontent and the nothing-is-ever-good-enough attitude of the media and football fans of this country are very specific to our national identity and, not looking back very far, we can pick out Beckham and Gascoigne as examples, who, like Rooney, have felt the brunt of this far more then their 11th share of the responsibility might warrant (neither Becks or Gazza actually dealt with those pressures any more successfully than Rooney: both were involved in numerous flash points on the field and had their own very personal issues off it). You could also argue, due to the violent emergence of social media in the decade that Rooney’s career straddles, Rooney has had additional stresses to rise above. Everyone with an opinion – and those without one who just want to be seen to be having one – can make their private thoughts very public, which gives rise to more irrational and spiteful fervour.

One of the disparities between Becks and Gazza and Rooney is undoubtably that the former pair are viewed with a certain amount of affection, and although it wasn’t always the case, have been very much accepted. Time inevitably allows a period of reflection to assess a “celebrity” as a whole and although Rooney is still very much in the spotlight – so isn’t afforded that luxury – I think it’s more than that.

Some people, particularly those who view professional footballers not as human but as Other and who take great pains to embellish them with vitriol – born out of a necessity to placate their feelings in relation to their own individual shortcomings – paint Rooney as part caricature caveman, part “chav” and part spoiled brat, who much to their annoyance just happens to be not too shoddy with a football. The function of all these taunts – of which there are many more – is simple, to conveniently sweep to one side the talents to which very few can compare favourably, and keep him down here with “the rest of us”, vying for status.

First to address those labels. The term “chav” is a meaningless, lazy meme. A middle-class buzz word which allows people to pigeon hole the entire modern incarnation of the working classes. It says just as much about the people who use it than the people they are addressing. As for him being a “spoiled brat”, he is in a privileged position and there is a perception he doesn’t appreciate it, a grossly speculative and grubby assumption.  Rooney as caricature caveman works on this simple axis: he’s stupid and ugly, although the “being stupid” part is rooted absolutely in the him “being ugly” part.

Those judgements are all entirely about the superficial, which idealistically speaking shouldn’t pose too much of a problem, but the reason racism is still prevalent in society is because we still haven’t learned how to look beyond something as incidental to a person’s individuality as the colour of their skin. Appearance really matters. It matters to all of us so much more than it should ever be allowed to, so why would Wayne Rooney be the exception? In case you hadn’t noticed, he had a hair transplant – not much was made of it.  The way his appearance is perceived and portrayed by the public is a barrier to him being afforded the acceptance he craves – the acceptance we all crave. He’s a “celebrity”, and as such a disproportionate amount of his stock rests on the general perception of the two-dimensional face-shaped canvas resting on his neck plinth, and not his actual talent. He didn’t ask for any of that.

As a cumbersome footnote to the above: the general impression of Rooney (which I think is based heavily on the way he looks), is that he lacks intelligence. At a stretch I would accept you might be able to argue Rooney lacks a certain emotional intelligence – his on-field misdemeanours, often dovetailing with those off-field – however, his apparent relationships with team-mates, fellow professionals and the way he carries himself in interviews and press conferences  suggests to me that he’s no more socially dysfunctional than you or I. He is a player who plays with his emotions very close to the surface, but I don’t personally see that as an indication he suffers from anything pathological.

The subject of his intelligence, or assumed lack of – regardless of what it’s based upon – is absolutely used as a form of cultural oppression; in the same way as the reference to his appearance is used. But that’s not the only thing eating him…

Further to the comparison, Rooney and Becks both share the enviable accolade of not only representing their country, but the biggest club side in England at the same time, and so have a comparable exposure to the pressures that that brings. However, again, I’d argue that Rooney has it much worse. Beckham had a very strong squad of players alongside him and the footballing climate was very different.

SAF has been conspicously vocal in his support of the owners recently, making very pointed comments on transfer targets (Twitter has been rife with speculation in relation to those comments, having conveniently coincided with the recent announcement of the IPO, some suggesting worse – although SAF himself has addressed those accusations as “insulting”). All of this in spite of the club admitting a few weeks ago that the financial situation may indeed begin to impact on the team. Could it be that their biggest on-field asset is the one that belies the truth?

Rooney is visibly unsettled. He doesn’t know his position on the field – yes, players are expected to be technically and tactically flexible, especially United ones. But going from out-and-out striker to central midfield in a matter of weeks and back again is a stretch even for the most staunch advocates of an interchangeable ethos. He gets frustrated with the players around him, Valencia aside (and he’s been absent through injury), we don’t have any attacking players that can stand toe-to-toe with the other top European clubs. He wants to win: obviously (as he’d no doubt say himself).

Tinkering with Rooney’s position is all about papering over the cracks. Rooney’s frustrations with the squad are founded in a lack of genuine quality. Losing the title and effectively becoming a Champions League punching bag are all inevitably rooted in the same issue; United don’t have the funds available to compete at the very highest level. Whether you believe in the strangle-hold the “market” has on football or not is irrelevant – it has one. If you can’t bankroll bringing in the best players and paying their wages – as it stands –  you can get by (with the experience and savvy SAF provideth), but you don’t win titles. Even the yoof, as we have experienced with Paul Pogba this summer, are no longer a source of replenishment for the first team squad, unless you are able to provide them with a contract that satiates their individual monetary prerequisites.

SAF’s somewhat clunky way of dealing with our inherently difficult financial situation indicates that certain elements of his managerial skill-set have become awkwardly obsolete as the game has evolved, and I think that all aspects of this problem – including SAF’s managing of it, without suggesting they’re rooted in duplicity – are responsible for Rooney’s attempted escape to victory last year. In convincing him to stay (to SAF’s credit) – with what we can only assume were promises of improvement if the plight could be navigated together – SAF heaped the pressure on Rooney to carry the team through. As these promises have yet to be delivered on, Rooney must be gnawing his own arm off. He’s trapped and when an object under intense pressure becomes trapped by the space it occupies, the outcome is never going to be pretty.

Whether you agree with me, that it’s the public perception of Rooney and the current financial situation at United that are eating away at him and stifling his development, or not (or whether you got those were the points I was making), I think you’d be hard pushed to suggest that everything is working out for him the way he would have wanted. It’s said that those with a genius quality see things afresh – through the eyes of a child; that they have the ability to imagine and create on an unconscious level. For Rooney, it’s perhaps the case that the pressures of the adult world he inhabits, and those things he is hyper-conscious of within that world, are seriously hampering his view.

]]> http://bifurcated.co.uk/manchester-united-chitty-chatty/bi-a-click-of-paint/bi-polar-pictoral-review-players-201112-season/feed 0 http://bifurcated.co.uk/manchester-united-chitty-chatty/reaction/man-city-1-0-united http://bifurcated.co.uk/manchester-united-chitty-chatty/reaction/man-city-1-0-united#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 15:24:45 +0000 http://bifurcated.co.uk/?p=4547

(Oh, how foolish of me, I appear to have attached the wrong photo.)

For a United team that was, according to SAF, set up to attack, it looked suspiciously like a team doing an impression of a team set up to park the bus.

I can go along with SAF’s periodical megalomaniacal team selections, but to leave T.V out was something I couldn’t get behind, or really see any sense in. The main fault (reason we lost) lies with the team and formation selection.

Park, who I have always thought of as a very strong squad player, has unfortunately become nothing more than a parody of himself.

(This next bit is just copied and adjusted piecemeal from my prediction, cus I’m lazy, but also cus I got it right, apart from the result the wrong way around)

So, the game that at various points of the season wasn’t sure whether it was going to be the title decider or not, has ended up being just that and then some, almost.

This effed up season has been so inappropriately and unabashedly wonderful at points, that soon the universe will run out of superlatives and we’ll have to resort to simply coming up with the most convoluted puns imagined to describe what on earth is going on … oh.

I always felt that whatever happened on Monday, the season, especially in light of what’s been going on up to this point, could take another turn. As much as many football scripts will have pre-empted a Tevez inspired victory over us (which was far from the reality of what happened, I think even he was surprised to see pictures of himself playing in the game in the press, such was his lack of presence).  I’m still going with QPR shocking City on the last day. Whether we can get six points is another question (and one I’ve just asked).

It was by no means a boring 1-0, but what happened is, as sometime does,  the game that everyone expects to be an earth-shattering humdinger is nothing more than the tetchy maneuverings of a terrified bunch of ill-fated corpses, more afraid to make the first mistake than force it from the opposition. It was still enjoyably tense.

Still, despite the result, we’re really spoilt with games like this. It’s what it’s all about.

Well the cliches for our games are writing themselves, so I don’t have to.

Here’s a few things anyway, that I’ve said lots of times before. Not cliches as such, just repeats. Does that mean they’re cliches? No, I don’t think so. It’s quite obvious what I think of Ashley Young. Get rid. Rooney needs some better players around him before he falls asleep mid-groan. Again Rooney not great, but crucial goals. T.V is amazing. Scholes never should have retired. Carrick plays better with Scholes.

Man of the Match: Scholesy.

*CTRL+V* What would we do without T.V? Altogether … LOSE!

It’s slightly surreal that we’re five points clear, the way the season has played out and considering how badly we’re playing.

Man of the Match: David de Gea (Everyone’s favourite moody-twenty-something-teenager)

p.s Here’s what the ‘human butterfly knife’ Ashley Young  just said after the game “It was a massive game for us, we knew we could go five points clear at the top, it was a great result and a good performance. It’s a crucial time of the season. It’s a squad game and we are all here to do a job. We had to be patient, we knew we could create chances. It’s a massive lead for us now.”

He’s broke the cliche claxon.