Wow... Crouch missed a sitter.

My god, who is this co-commentator? He must have played for Man Utd before, so biased it's not even funny.

There are some games where Man Utd have deserved their last minute goals, but this isn't one of them. If they get a late one it will be so harsh on Stoke.

Edited by imnofreak: 25/9/2011 04:21:18 AM

FT 1-1.

Fair enough result.

Solid first half from QPR.

Baffling that S. Warnock didn't get sent off for a crazy check on Barton that left him on the floor.

Villa were chasing shadows. Only decent effort a Bannan FK.

FT: 1-1. Stoppage time OG from Villa. Keeps that run of draws up ;)

Another piss poor effort from Steve Bruce today. I've been saying this for over a year now...

If you play with a right winger on both wings, you cut your attacking options in half...
If you play without creative central midfielders, you require direct penetration and speed...
If you play a 4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1 formation, you require the wide men to join the attack...

Tired of Bruce and his excuses. Excellent at getting a good deal on a player, but has no idea of how to set up a team.

I tend to agree but it can work. Look at Young and Nani both right wingers. Young is more than comfortable on the left because everyone in the team knows what he is going to do.

(Swiss Challenge League)
FC St. Gallen - 3
SC Kriens -2
:cool: Good win boys.

But Young is of sufficient quality to still be able to beat his man consistently. And you have options through the middle as well.

And you're usually on top in games.... if you're a team like Sunderland in games like this, you're not going to be controlling the ball in the middle of the park always.

Yeh, I understand that it is a different kettle of fish. But it can be done. Players have to be smart, especially when they are out of position (switched sides).

Yeah... Downing has done it a lot this year, moving right to left. It just brings a different form of attack to the game, providing you have a player capable of playing both sides. Which tbf, all top wingers should be able to.

This is why I specifically said "right winger on the left" rather than "right footer on the left" - Young, Nani, etc., have the vast ability to play on either side. You tell Nani to play left wing, he will stay on the left and provide width.

You tell Larsson to play on the left and he has no option but to come inside, he hasn't the speed to beat a man on the outside, nor the ability in his 'wrong' foot to deliver a cross - as a result he drifts inside. The effect of him drifting inside is that it squeezes the space for Sessegnon to work in behind the striker - it also allows the entire opposition defensive unit to move 5 meters toward the right, which squeezes the space that Elmohamedy needs to sprint into (because that's all Elmo can do).

It busts my balls to think that this was our biggest problem last season, and Bruce 'fixed' it by signing another right-winger!

With the exception of Elmohamedy, I haven't a problem with any individual Bruce has signed in the last 18 months - but for the life of me I can't understand why he's signed all of them. There is no shape.

What if you moved Sessegnon to LW? He's got enough pace and trickery to do a job out there, and Larsson could play in behind the striker.

But again, it's square pegs in round holes.

I'd rather play Sess on the left, move Larsson where he belongs on the right, and send Elmo back to Egypt to be honest.

Unfortunately, it appears we signed Sess with no idea of where to actually play him - and I'm beginning to suspect that the best place to play him is "in a very good squad who can cover for him on his down days" - when he's good, he's excellent, but the rest of the time (too often) he can be pretty average.

This is happening more and more often. Torres for example, bringing him in to play along side Drogba or Anelka was never really going to work. Some clubs just go, yep we will have him but have no real plan or consider what they already have at their disposal.

You can thank teams like Barcelona and United for that, just signing players and not giving any thought to how they will fit into the team. It's been made common place.

OHHHH MY GODDD, that is one of the BEST goals I've ever seen.
Fuuuucckkkk, over 30 passes, every single player on the team touches the ball, and sublime detail in a succession of passes to finish!!
Madrid Magic

Edited by sanga1: 28/9/2011 05:53:14 AM

3-2 BASEL!!!!!! CMON

FML 3-3

nhub, how many teams do you go for lol.

Finally a good game in Europe involving United.

Swiss teams are a rarerity in Europe and it versing Man U :) Good comeback boys!

(Y)

So how was the United vs Basel match this morning? I'd imagine most Man Utd supporters would be disappointed with only a point...

M City’s defence was shocking today and upfront below average .

Dzeko could not score from chances that he usually puts away, Aguero was pushed of the ball (legally) on most 1V1 encounters and Nasri was nowhere, I would vote him as the worst player of the match, on the other hand Ribery destroyed them on the left and would give him man of the match.

I expected more from City

This is a “We’ll have him so no one else can buy him” policy that is happening more and more in the world football and Real Madrid is the best example of that.

Basel dominated for the majority of the second half and should of come away with 3 points tbh. United looked quite flat for the whole game bar the last 10.

Does the first half count for nothing? United were better in the first, Basel better in the 2nd. Draw. Just because United were poor by their standards doesn't mean they didn't deserve a point. It was good enough for a point against a team like Basel.

If you only looked at the score and the stats you'd actually say United were unlucky to lose.

16 shots to Basel's 14. 9 shots on target to Basel's 5 and 60% possession compared to Basel's 40%

It is just a common misconception people make.

A poor game from a top team is usually better than a good game from a lesser team. I should say sometimes, not always.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, welcome to the big time, you beauutyyy!!