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The Thoughts Of A Madrid Fan
Since not one Madrid fan posted on the mailbox, I'd thought I'd add my 2 cents:
- This is a POOR United side. Go ahead, rip me to shreds, but I'll still say I was very disappointed in not winning. Playing like Chelsea did last season is fair enough, but don't pretend you're a decent side with no midfield. Ronaldo apart, this is not a great Madrid side either, and yet the first 45 minutes we made you look like a League 2 team. 12 points ahead in the EPL = A joke of a competition this season.
- De Gea saved United. Yes, RVP could have scored, but you would have been 3 down in 9 out of 10 games by that stage.
- Phil Jones got praise today? HOW? Worst bully I've every seen. Mr. Jones go play rugby, please do yourself that favour. The fact that you didn't get a card for persistent fouling is beyond me. Horrible player, utter, dire, lack of class. The penalty claim was a bit harsh, but since when is a good old shove allowed? Horrific player, i.e. the new John Terry. The fact that he is praised in the UK shows how much you need a classy italian like Baresi to come teach you about proper defending.
- No one mentioned the fact that the corner which resulted in the goal wasn't a corner...So I won't mention it either ;-)
- Rooney is not world class, there I agree. Kumbaya united fans.
- Madrid need to play better against closed defences. If United knock us out, the drastically poorer side will go through and yet again show that a good counter-attack and 9 behind the ball can work in Europe. That is only acceptable if it stops Barça from winning the CL. Otherwise let's have good old fashion end to end contest. Remember 2003? Aggregate score 5-4. What a couple of games that was. I understand Mourinho built this team to counter Barça's 'no you can't have the ball' style, but in games against anyone else, it is to our detriment to not be able to pass the ball quickly enough in tight spaces to break down parked buses.
André (Not at all bitter, don't be silly) London
United Are Not The New Stoke
Just to clear up any confusion with regards to T Reilly's mail this morning, the difference between United and those teams you mentioned is that, that is the only football that they serve up week in week out, not just away at a difficult ground. I also didn't see the United team filled with 6 ft 5 orcs intent on smashing as many bones as possible with WWF/UFC/Cian Healy (Google it) tactics.
Glad to be of service.
Matt (Now if only Arsenal were able to adopt those sort of tactics against Bayern Munich...) AFC Warwickshire
...The reason, T Reilly, that Manchester United are not slated for playing like Stoke is that Stoke play like that every week, against everybody.
United did it once, away at Real Madrid.
Stoke have great fans and they don't deserve the dross that Pulis serves up every week.
Rob Davies, THFC (The two worst games i've ever seen at WHL were both against Stoke)
...Once Stoke (or the equivalent) reach the dizzy heights of the top 4 to qualify for the Champions League to play away to the likes of Real Madrid, then and ONLY THEN can you insult my eyes by offering such a comparison.
This has to be a new low to compare a tactical away display, at the Bernabeu! in the quarter finals of the Champions League!... to the tactics of f**king STOKE CITY (or the equivalent)...!
Reading this sh*t is worse than reading decapitated pen*s stories by Mediawatch.
Derms (MUFC)
Defending Rooney
To reply to Gavin Higgins , mate what are you basing your mail on ?? Rooney did not have the best of performances , but hitting long balls was the job assigned to him by Sir Alex. It was clear from the beginning that Rooney's role in the game was purely to assist the defence and help them contain ronaldo , coentrao and di maria , and when in possession of the ball , to try and find a striker in space. He was put on the right , and to be honest he was absolutely sacrificed by Sir Alex for the good of the team. Not many players would tolerate doing their side's ''dirty'' work while others go out and claim the limelight. Especially players of Rooney's ability .
After all , the first time rooney was allowed to attack with the ball , he found van persie , and the latter struck the post. Rooney is a world class player and this has been the case for as long as I can remember. He also got 10goals in his last 10 games prior to the madrid game. And really , If rooney is not world class , what is world class to you mate ?? He might not be Lionel Messi or Cristiano ronaldo , but Rooney surely makes it in the list of the best players playing the game at the moment.
TONY ( I would love it if we beat them , love it (Not quoting anyone) ) MUFC
...Why should Wayne Rooney be ashamed? He was asked to play in an unfamiliar wide right position for the good of the team last night, and did so with no apparent complaint. He still got an assist, and created another gilt edged change for RvP. In other words, he still influenced the game positively and decisively despite being 'under par'.
I'm sure he won't be too bothered about being upstaged by Ronaldo (who of course is genuinely a better player than Rooney) if, in part because of his own selfless contribution, United progress and Real don't.
This comes after he played the best part of 90 minutes as a left sided defensive midfielder against Everton on Sunday (and on a very heavy pitch to boot), and 90 minutes as a loan centre forward against Brazil (in which he scored and got an assist) a week ago. That's three tough, full games in seven days, in which he played three different positions, and got one goal and two assists.
Such contributions are why managers and professional peers seem to love and appreciate Wayne Rooney (they've voted him the 8th and then 15th best player in the world over the last two years respectively), even if some fans - United fans included - don't.
Yours in admiration of the Croxteth adonis,
Shaolinpunk
...In response to T Reilly, Toby Hudson and Gavin Higgins regarding Wayne Rooney.
I don't usually bite when it comes to some of the tripe that gets uploaded on here but I am a lifelong United fan and this particular topic really grinded my gears...
Oh my days will you just give the guy a break...?
I honestly cannot believe the stick he is getting for last night's performance... Did you all fail to notice that he was played out of position to help nullify the threat of Ronaldo, Ozil and co.?
Rooney is not and will never be a winger/defensive wing back/defender, but he was played in front of Rafael by Fergie because he knew we were likely to be under severe pressure for long periods and he also knew that Rooney would work his balls off to help United achieve their objective (and a damn impressive achievement it was) which was to soak up the pressure, hit them on the counter and grab a crucial away goal.
He did a job to help his TEAM at the expense of his own personal accolades and perfect opportunity to grab the headlines...
Okay so he did not have the best game of his life against Real Madrid, but his work ethic could not possibly be questioned and he still provided the excellent cross from the corner for Welbeck's goal and helped out Rafael on countless occasions. He did the job he was asked to do and I thought he did it reasonably well.
He ran his socks off, helped to break up the play, held up the ball and played the ball forward (okay on one occasion the ball went out of play but he is only human).
He was also an outlet for Phil Jones every time he smashed into a Madrid player and came out with the ball and he certainly did a much better job than Valencia (an actual winger/wingback at times) when he came on. (did he actually do anything? Apart from get booked?)
I would like you to explain how your categorisation theory works which enables a player to be labelled in your 'cough, cough' widely respected opinion 'World Class'?
The guy is on course to break Denis Law's goal scoring record for United, was he not 'world class'? He is closing in on Bobby Charlton's goal scoring record for England and United also, again was he not 'world class'? Does a player have to have shiny gel in his hair, glittery boots, a pony tail or a perfect set of abs to be labelled 'world class'?
So he may not be the best looking chap to have graced our turfs but he works god damn hard for his team and he gives 100% every single game he plays.
He is a delight to watch every week and I for one completely disagree with all of you.
In my opinion, (which may not be worth much to be fair, but clearly in this instance Sir Alex Ferguson and Roy Hodgeson both agree by the fact they keep playing him) Wayne Rooney is a class apart from any other English strikers and he would quite easily walk into any team in the World... Ronaldo even said as much himself...
And that my delusional friends makes him World Class whether you like it or not.
Phil Rigby (did you happen to miss his overhead kick against Manchester City? That is still THE best goal I have ever seen live!!!) Salford
Define 'World Class'
AB - So De Gea was flawless...apart from that one flaw?
T Reilly - Using an ambiguous term such as 'world class' means your argument packs no punch. Is Rooney better than Messi? No. Is Rooney in the top 50 players in the world? Yes. Decide your argument and get back to me. Also, if you think anything about that first half display was ugly then I pity you, because being a football fan (as I presume you are) you'll be watching a LOT of ugly football.
Neil - again, have the courage to define world class so we can have a discussion about where the flaws in your argument lie. Van Persie is probably Man Utd's best striker if that's what you mean?
Gavin - Define world class.
There's a definite thread to this post. It should be entitled, 'can anyone define world class'. Maybe we can create a dictionary definition? The footballing community should cease until we've sorted this out. Footballing debates can't continue until we've pinned it.
Matt, Manchester - MUFC
Lulz
Tiote's been arrested for fraud? What, did the Chieck bounce?
Thank you, thank you very much.
DM (available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and funerals) WBA
This Chap's Annoyed
"Saying we've spent £250mil on players to get worse is short-sighted - the man who made the majority of those decisions (Comoli) has quite rightly been sacked, with Rodgers, Ayre and co now set about digging the club out of the sizeable hole Comoli put it in."
You lot are really p*ssing me off now, Comolli came in a season in to the three years spent half the amount that I mentioned in my post the other day and of those signings the one successful signing of Suarez was his. That's not to say I forgive him for the rest. Henderson is still a £5-7m midfielder, so no based on what we paid for him he is still crap, my argument is why as a club over three season have we massively paid over the odds for distinctly midtable team players? Daglish had the balls to stand up and say he takes responsibility and damn f'in right as he picked them.
Rodgers' first two signings were crap players that he knew from Swansea, from a midtable/lower half team team, but we paid the money as if they were world beaters and Internationals, this has been an issue for the last three years, this isn't short termism, this is an endemic scouting / negotiating transfer problems, Ian Ayre and all the management (including Rodgers) is as much to blame for this as Comolli.
As for taking time to adjust, they are not foreigners and most recent players that have arrived to these shores settled and played great instantly (i just don't buy the "they need time" argument), if anything Allen has gradually got worse as the season has gone on (average performances to sh*t performances). Look at the all the signings most of the Top four have made in recent seasons and they have hit the ground running (cos they are quality players), Silva, Aguero, Cisse, Mata, Sissoko (recently), Hazard, Van Persie, Dembele, the list goes on, so stick your argument about time to adjust - you know where. Fact is we pay hugely over the odds for average to sh*t players and then when they are crap come up with excuses.
Fergie was recently asked in modern Football how would you feel if you went 4 years without winning a trophy - his response "It's impossible" , his mentality is such that he doesn't celebrate mediocrity like Rodgers clearly does, lose 2-0 at home and it was a great performance - WTF!!. Benitez won the Champions League with an Average squad, his style of play was derided but he played winning football and tactically was far superior a coach.
Based on his transfer decisions so far and he has spent £50m (not including some of the youngsters he has bought), only Sturridge looks like he has some potential, Coutinho (I wont judge yet), but the bulk of the spend that irks me is Allen and Borini (Why are we buying players that none of the Top 4 would even consider to be in their squad let alone their team).
Allen - £15m
Borini - £11m
Sturridge - £12m
Coutinho - £8.5m
Assaidi - £3m
= £50m
Newcastle recently got Sissoko for £2m, £7m for Yanga-Mbiwa and both are French Internationals and on initial viewing twice the players Allen and Borini, factor in the price tag and they are 3-4 times better. Spurs paid £15m for Dembele and he is one of the reasons they sit where they are in the table. We just bend over and take it in the rear when it comes to transfers.
You lot need to wake the f'ck up, there is an endemic issue at Liverpool, which is about mentality and ambition, our current Manager isn't helping this. He needs to talk less about what he intends to do and actually do it.
Ash, (Hoping we can keep hold of Suarez this summer), LFC.
Which Real Madrid Players Would You Like To See In England?
- Van Persie was a red card waiting to happen. So lucky not to be sent off for a deliberate handball in about the 15th minute. I'm sure the only reason the ref didn't give a yellow was because he had already been booked. It was in many ways a typical Van Persie performance - anonymous for most of the game with a few flashes of skill. It was only lacking his customary goal, though his last minute effort involved sublime technique and was arrowing right into the bottom corner.
-Rooney has a horrible, horrible first touch. Last night proved that imposing yourself on the best the Premier League has to offer, and making your mark against a world class team, are two very different concepts.
-That tip on to the post by De Gea was one of the best saves I have ever seen. I am no Man U fan (except when they play in Europe - a concept most plastic Premier League fans wouldn't understand) but I am bored of hearing how he is dodgy in the air. From what I can recall he came out and got a weak punch on one cross, but otherwise put in a flawless goalkeeping performance.
-You'll never see a more blatant penalty than the shove by Jones on Di Maria in the first half. Surely you are only entitled to shoulder barge someone in the process of challenging for the ball? The ball was miles away when Jones barged him. Perhaps, aware that he made a huge mistake, the referee took the easy option by not giving a foul to Man U in the second half when the only result would have been a red card for the Real defender. Otherwise, I thought the ref had a decent game.
-If Real Madrid are trailing by 16 points, how good must Barcelona be?! Real could easily have scored at least six last night......
-But the fact they didn't means there will be a nagging feeling in the back of Madrid minds that the tie should really be done and dusted by now. Despite being by far the better team, Real could have still lost the match and as a result the tie is completely in the balance.
-Despite his team being thoroughly schooled, Fergie must be delighted with a draw, even if the manner in which he got it was probably not quite what he envisaged. As it stands last night looks like a tactical victory, but only some great goalkeeping and last-ditch defending kept the score down. From a United perpective let's hope Real bring their league away form to Old Trafford
-There are lots of really impressive teams in the CL this season - none of them British. From what I've seen Barca, Real, Bayern, Juve, Dortmund, Shakhtar Donetsk and even Ajax have looked absolutely brilliant at times. Their ball retention makes English football look positively prehistoric.
-I have read in a few places that Mesul Özil is having a mixed season, but every time I watch he is absolutely brilliant. If Jose comes to England, which players (apart from Ronaldo, obviously) would the Mailbox like him to bring with him?
Jamie Bedwell, Cheltenhamshire
Top Job Jones
I'm slightly surprised that all the hype this morning is over Welbeck's performance considering the top job that Jones did last night. Jones nullified the threat from Ronaldo considerably and that was displayed in full force in the dying moments with his last ditch tackle in the box on Ronaldo. A real master class of a performance in my opinion and United fans should use this as a positive for the second leg.
With regards to Wayne Rooney, this bollocks that occurs after he plays one poor game has to stop. He's played out of position, has a below average game and now he's overhyped, crap, ect. I'm one of those that believe that Rooney isn't a world class player and never fulfilled his real potential, but nevertheless he's still a very good footballer and just because he had an off game last night it doesn't mean he's sh*t all of a sudden.
Leon, Basel
