The unofficial official Chelsea v Man United thread

[Joey Joe Joe]

So who's gonna win, and by how much will Chelsea win?

[STEVIEG]

Hard to see the home record going but it won't last forever so you never know

Great to see cunts like Deco being wheeled out to press conferences and mentioning "revenge"

Chelsea till he die is our Deco, who probably hadn't even heard of them till about 3 years ago

Prediction 2-2

[3pointplay]

1-1 would be a good result all around.

[Quarehawk]

Chelsea 2-0, they look very strong so far this season and united haven't got going yet

[Albert J Arbuckle II]

Chelski to do ManYoo 2-1 ..... Vidic will be a big loss for Fergie's men ....

[Alan Smith]

1-1
Fat Fwank will open the scoring and Rooney will also end his goal drought in the 89th minute to earn a point

[Joey Joe Joe]

Hard to see the home record going but it won't last forever so you never know

Great to see cunts like Deco being wheeled out to press conferences and mentioning "revenge"

Chelsea till he die is our Deco, who probably hadn't even heard of them till about 3 years ago

Prediction 2-2

haha, you gotta love old Deco. Sure he's been coming to King Road and sleeping with expensive hookers for years

[STEVIEG]

haha, you gotta love old Deco. Sure he's been coming to King Road and sleeping with expensive hookers for years

heh heh I wouldn't be suprised!

[Eoin]

Hard to see united winning this one, but you never know. They have to click sometime and chelsea can't keep that record going forever.

I think a draw would be a decent result all-round.

[wat_boy]

chelsea to win but would prefer a draw

[Philby]

Hoping for a draw, chelsea win or manyoo win...in that order. A few suspensions or injuries wouldn't go astray either.

It would be a huge boost to the confidence of United if they could turn Chelsea over at the Bridge but it's a big ask. I can see Drogba having a big influence on the game in Vidic's absence if he's close to match-fit & gets enough time on the pitch.

2-1 Chelsea.

[Philby]

Ronaldo returns - and Rooney may be fall guy
<LI class=byline>Daniel Taylor (http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/danieltaylor) <LI class=publication>The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian),
Saturday September 20 2008
Article history
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pictures/2008/09/19/rooneys3.jpg Wayne Rooney hasn't scored for Manchester United yet this season. Photograph: Mike Egerton/Empics

Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed last night that Cristiano Ronaldo was ready to start his first match of the season at Chelsea tomorrow and, with Dimitar Berbatov also fit again after a knee injury, the Manchester United manager is now deliberating whether Wayne Rooney might have to sacrifice his right to be considered a mandatory first-team pick.
Ferguson was not prepared to say whether he will relegate the England striker to a place among the substitutes, but someone is inevitably going to be disappointed unless Ferguson takes the extraordinarily bold gamble of trying to squeeze Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov and Carlos Tevez all into the same side.
Ferguson described it as "possible" to include his full attacking quartet but, pressed further, he also accepted that it would mean "sacrificing a bit" elsewhere in the team and that Stamford Bridge was generally not a place for opposition managers to experiment. "I've got selection problems," he acknowledged. "It's the right kind, mind you. We've got a collection of talents and we want to make sure we pick the right ones."
The other options are to leave out Tevez, or disappoint either Ronaldo or Berbatov by asking them to start on the bench. Rooney, however, must be considered the most vulnerable after what, by his standards, has been an erratic start to the season. While Tevez, for example, has won the club's player-of-the-month award for August and has a happy knack of scoring in big games, Rooney has not scored in any of United's opening six matches and, although he is regarded as one of Ferguson's favourites, it is also understood the manager singled him out for criticism after the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool last Saturday.
With Berbatov making his debut, Rooney had been asked to take Ronaldo's usual position on the right wing and struggled to have any impact. Ferguson is said to have been shocked by the frequency with which Rooney gave away the ball, although the striker did partially redeem himself against Villarreal on Wednesday.
The only certainty is that Ferguson's recruitment of Berbatov makes it his most difficult selection process since Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham were fighting for two places a decade ago. "We had four fantastic strikers and no matter what combination I chose, you were always disappointing two of them every game," Ferguson recalled.
"There were a few occasions where I was able to play Solskjaer as a wide player but, in the main, I was always disappointing someone. That's what a manager has to do. The name of the game is to win and if I've got a stronger squad than last season - and hopefully I have now after bringing in Berbatov - then that is the right thing to do. Whether it gives me 1% improvement or 10%, no matter. Any improvement is what we're looking for. And Berbatov was signed for that reason."
It made it sound like Berbatov should now be considered his first-choice striker, although it might also play on Ferguson's mind that the Bulgarian could be a little rusty. "He has played only one and a half [games] with Tottenham and one with us," said Ferguson. "He needs games. But he's OK." As for Ronaldo, Ferguson was encouraged by the player's first appearance of the season, as a second-half substitute against Villarreal. "I have no qualms about playing him," said Ferguson. "He's bursting to play, nibbling in my ear all the time. When Ronaldo's playing and he's really, really buzzing and attacks people with speed, they're forced to go back.
"That was the case on Wednesday. He was on fire, the boy. He was revved up to perform really well and that's what surprised me given that he had had an operation and been in rehabilitation for two months. You have to say that his performance level was outstanding, really good."

[xvis]

poor article, ..goes on about August MOTM.

***

I'd take a draw now, ...1-1.

but perhaps a win if United sort their midfield sorted out right, ..give Scholes a rest, go with Nani/Giggs, Anderson, Hargreaves, Ronaldo. Give Anderson a position he knows where he is playing. ..Rooney playing off the left shoulder of Berba. ..and Tevez as an impact sub.


It's not a bad time to play Chelsea ..no Essien, no Ballack ..and Makalele not long gone.

Would be a good point regardless.

***

Go with a 4-3-3 shite like last week and United are fucked.

[Philby]

Go with a 4-3-3 shite like last week and United are fucked.

4-3-3?? Rooney was practically playing right back!!

[xvis]

4-3-3?? Rooney was practically playing right back!!

..It was passed off in advance as an attempt at 4-3-3... granted it never-ever got within an arses roar of that. ..but it would have been expected that Rooney would play an attacking part. Didn't happen.

***

1. Edwin Van der Sar

2. Gary Neville
5. Rio Ferdinand
23. Jonathan Evans
3. Patrice Evra

24. Darren Fletcher
4. Owen Hargreaves
18. Paul Scholes
13. Ji-Sung Park

9. Dimitar Berbatov
10. Wayne Rooney

subs.
29. Tomasz Kuszczak (GK)
6. Wes Brown
7. Cristiano Ronaldo
11. Ryan Giggs
17. Luis Nani
22. John O'Shea
32. Carlos Tevez


hmm, Neville and Evans get the nod ahead of Brown. ...Ji-Sung on the left??
hmmmmmmm

good bench if things are goings wrong.

edit.. missed Ronnie! ..bench warmer.

[xvis]

1. Petr Cech

17. Jose Bosingwa
6. Ricardo Carvalho
26. John Terry
3. Ashley Cole

12. John Mikel Obi
10. Joe Cole
20. Deco
8. Frank Lampard
15. Florent Malouda

39. Nicolas Anelka

SUBS
23. Carlo Cudicini (GK)
11. Didier Drogba
13. Michael Ballack
18. Wayne Bridge
21. Salomon Kalou
33. Alex
35. Juliano Belletti


Ballack and Drogba on the way back.

[storysham]

0-1 park

[ho chi feen]

Very satisfied with the first half, overall.

Hope to see Ronaldo come on after 60 minutes and run at EBJT. Park is playing very well, it was inevitable that Chelsea would get back into it, but I think United can push on from here.

Classic from the Guardian MBM:

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pictures/2008/05/22/JohnTerryPAMartinRic kett3.jpg
Tears of a clown?

:lol!: :lol!: :lol!:

[ho chi feen]

Glad Scholes came off, had a feeling he'd end up picking up a red.

Hopefully Park and Hargreaves will keep up the good work.

[ho chi feen]

Ref is having a shocker. Jokeshop stuff. Let the game flow, FFS.

[ho chi feen]

Shame United fell back so deep in the second half, but I'll take that.

[Albert J Arbuckle II]

Ref didnt help matters by stopping the game evvytime someone sneezed ffs ....

[ho chi feen]

Ref didnt help matters by stopping the game evvytime someone sneezed ffs ....

He was a clown. There was no need for that type of officiating. While most (if not all) of the cards were deserved, it wasn't a nasty game by any stretch.

[scottyspud1]

riley is crap,pussy blew 10-15 sec early to avoid the free being taken.
he was handing out so many yellows i thought i was going to get booked

[STEVIEG]

Ref ruined what was going to be a fairly good game

Should have probably won but a fair result overall Chelsea should have equalised earlier (Anelka!!!!!!)

Now the fixture list looks a bit better and United should start climbing the table

This whole Chelsea and Liverpool 9 point deficit thing didn't happen and once United beat Fulham at home they are only 3 points off with both of those teams to visit Old Trafford

[Jay-birdd]

Up next for united in the league is Bolton, Blackburn nd West Brom along with a game in hand against Fulham.
Once we get Vidic nd Ronaldo back playing first team its all going to click.

[xvis]

Terrific game.


Bullshit defending from United for the equaliser. But otherwise a great display from United, very encouraging stuff.

Bullshit finish from Rooney from the Ronaldo cut back, which would have made it 2-0.

Decent result nonetheless, ..but very good performance regardless.


Ref was an absolute joke.

[JonnyOnionRings]

Thought united, apart from defense , were poor after they scored goal. Good result for them though . Long way to go yet though.....

[Philby]

Didn't catch the game but it's a perfect result for the other sides hoping to challenge them at the top especially with injuries to regulars Carvalho & Van Der Saar (although it's debatably whether his absence is a hindrance or a help the ways he's playing!)

[ho chi feen]

Carvalho will be a massive loss to Chelsea. Alex came and showed why Terry, far from being the best defender in the universe, probably shouldn't be getting his game ahead of him.

[Lee Bushwacker]

:|
After Anfield I would really have liked a win so as we wouldn't have been
too far behind the leaders but a point down there isn't a bad result when you
look at Liverpool's epic point from yesterday.
2 difficult away games are now done and dusted so it's about time to
remind the leaders of our presence! :cool:

[xvis]

Another masterful display from Fletcher in a big game.


..it's great to have someone to rest up all season, and then wheel them out for the biggies.

..why wasn't he used last week at Anfield?

[afeencalleddan]

Typical Berbatov today, OK he was involved in the goal but largely anonymous. United fans can expect more of the same whenever he comes up against opposition who aren't grossly inferior. The man will be nowhere near Cantona status.

[Lee Bushwacker]

Typical Berbatov today, OK he was involved in the goal but largely anonymous. United fans can expect more of the same whenever he comes up against opposition who aren't grossly inferior. The man will be nowhere near Cantona status.

Has anyone said that he was? :crazyeye: