*** The Official "Red Devils" Manchester United FC Thread***

[Leon]

Great read on SAF, Manchester United and their European Cup story thus far.

Quote:

As Ferguson later said: "My hands were tied because Manchester United's policy on salaries gave me no chance of providing the financial package required to secure those great players' contracts. I think the restrictions applied to wages prevented us from being the power in European football that we could have been in the '90s." At that point, United's wage ceiling was £23,000 a week. When the club were offered Brazilian legend in the making Ronaldo by the player's agent before he went to Barcelona in 1996, they were told they would have to start at £50,000 and likely go higher.

Can't believe OG Ronaldo could've been a red!

[Leon]

Chicharito just had his best game since arriving at United. Made good passes, scored, harried players, and that run in the 2nd-half that almost led to a goal? Gorgeous. Hopefully he develops his game more so that he's not merely a poacher.

[Leon]

According to ESPN, Kagawa was taken off because of a knee injury. Hopefully it's not too serious.

[mb625]

Quote: Originally Posted by Leon

According to ESPN, Kagawa was taken off because of a knee injury. Hopefully it's not too serious.

He played on it for 20 minutes, so hopefully that's a sign that it isn't too bad.

[~LiverpoolRed~]

Quote: Originally Posted by Leon

Chicharito just had his best game since arriving at United. Made good passes, scored, harried players, and that run in the 2nd-half that almost led to a goal? Gorgeous. Hopefully he develops his game more so that he's not merely a poacher.

He's such a good header of the ball.

[Leon]

Quote: Originally Posted by ~LiverpoolRed~

He's such a good header of the ball.

Majority of his goals have been headers, so it's no surprise. Another thing I forgot to mention was his timing - he should've had a hat-trick but the linesman incorrectly called him offside.

[~LiverpoolRed~]

Quote: Originally Posted by Leon

Majority of his goals have been headers, so it's no surprise. Another thing I forgot to mention was his timing - he should've had a hat-trick but the linesman incorrectly called him offside.

I hate when managers sub a guy off who is on a hat trick, what a punch in the gut!

[Leon]

Some thoughts on the Chelsea match:

1. Really good in the first 30 minutes, carving Chelsea up. Then all of a sudden we were giving the ball away cheaply and we hardly made it out of our own half until it became 2-2 and Chelsea dropped deeper.

2. Carrick was poor. Struggled defensively and got knocked off the ball too easily when he had it. I think Fletcher would have been the better pick for that DM role.

3. Young was impressive for his first outing from injury. I would have preferred to have taken Young off, put Rooney wide-left and introduce Anderson or Scholes at the start of the second to gain more possession of the ball.

4. We still can't defend. One sequence had Evans and Ferdinand bumping into each other and it almost led to a Chelsea goal. When the heck did we become Arsenal with all the bumbling defenders?