Football The 2011/2012 Season Thread

[Shagrat]

Have united even had a shot?

 

[caLLous]

So much for adding the Europa League to the trophy cabinet...

 

[Shagrat]

Lol this game should be about 15-2

 

[Billargh]

Bilbao just seem incapable of hitting the target most the time

 

[Raven]

I doubt they are bothered really. The Premiership is their target this season.

 

[Shagrat]

Bit of a kick in the teeth for any fans who've travelled to bilbao if yhats their attitude

 

[Raven]

About the same distance to Old Trafford isn't it?

 

[Turamber]

Such a shame for plucky Manchester United, but they gave it a great shot. Amazing to take that squad, assembled on a shoe string, playing for meagre wages that far in the Europa. It's a huge credit to the manager, just a shame they drew moneybags Bilbao.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Lets not all forget that Bilbao are strictly a Basque ONLY club. So they do have a huge wealth of potential talent.

 

[cHodAX]

So much for adding the Europa League to the trophy cabinet...

Didn't see it happening, at some point Fergie would have had to favour the league campaign and field a weak side, the desire for 13 is far more than for Europa League much as it saddens me to say that. Personally I would have loved for us to have won it, Bilbao gave us a torrid time time though and cemented my ideas on where we are weak, who needs to go and the kind of players we need to bring in to challenge at the top table again. Good luck to Bilbao, they play some nice stuff and have great fans.

 

[cHodAX]

Such a shame for plucky Manchester United, but they gave it a great shot. Amazing to take that squad, assembled on a shoe string, playing for meagre wages that far in the Europa. It's a huge credit to the manager, just a shame they drew moneybags Bilbao.

You have turned into such a bitter in the 6 months I was away. Every other post is a dig at the top sides and how much they have to spend, we all know Villa are in a rut at the moment but don't become an arsehole out of frustration, rise above it.

 

[Raven]

He has always been bitter. Have you ever been to Aston? Fucking hell, it's enough for anyone to have a touch of the weepies.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

In fairness he does have to put up watching McLeish's tactics every week. That's enough to turn any man into an eyeball gouging mentalist.

 

[caLLous]

He wasn't exactly bouncing off the walls with Houlier either.

 

[Turamber]

You have turned into such a bitter in the 6 months I was away. Every other post is a dig at the top sides and how much they have to spend, we all know Villa are in a rut at the moment but don't become an arsehole out of frustration, rise above it.

Humour Papa Cho, humour. *huggles*

 

[Keitanz]

So Man Utd and Man City can both only win the Prem now..? going to be really interesting

 

[Raven]

Well the euro micky mouse cup may well be important to Lollerpool, I don't think either side of Manchester give a shit about it.

 

[Keitanz]

Well the euro micky mouse cup may well be important to Lollerpool, I don't think either side of Manchester give a shit about it.

Oh really?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/mar/07/manchester-united-europa-league-carrick
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/...ited-athletic-bilbao-europa-league?intcmp=239
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/mar/15/manchester-united-alex-ferguson-bilbao

Oh and how about this "We want to win the Europa League" http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...nts-to-win-the-competition-article864046.html

and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-failures-in-Champions-League-are-a-blip.html "“But we are where we are and all we will try to do is to do well in the Europa League.”"

And from your own website
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-F...-alex-ferguson-aims-to-win-europa-league.aspx

They really did give a shit, both teams did.. every team gives a shit about everything they are in, if they don't then they are destined to fail.

It's hardly a micky mouse cup as demonstrated by Atletico Bilbao literally raping you in two matches.. if it was a micky mouse cup you would have won it and you didn't

(btw I didn't mean to have a stab at either club leaving the Europa League, was just saying the Prem is going to be a lot more exciting now)..

 

[cHodAX]

Of course they were going to make the right noises about trying to win it, they were asking 70,000+ people to pay for tickets. They had also been given a polite warning from UEFA after Fergie described Europa League as punishment and so they started to talk it up, played reasonable sides and gave it a little bit of a go. As I said earlier though, top of the league with a one point gap, United were always going to ease off at some point and make the league absolute priority for squad resources. Unfortunately the players were aware of that and it was noticable in the body language, they didn't really care about it very much and just tried to avoid injury for the run in. Bilbao had nothing to lose, played great football and wanted to make headlines, congratulations to them.

Don't buy into any of those comments, United players are media managed and say whatever they are told in cases like this. The one comment that holds true is the original off the cuff comment by Fergie about him considering it a punishment, which he made before he was censored.

 

[Ch3tan]

So glad i was working and couldnt watch the match. Good luck to bilbao, sounds like they are a fantastic attacking team.

 

[Embattle]

So Man Utd and Man City can both only win the Prem now..? going to be really interesting

Considering the performance of English clubs this year it'll be who hits less banana skins.

 

[eksdee]

So glad i was working and couldnt watch the match. Good luck to bilbao, sounds like they are a fantastic attacking team.

Bielsa is a genius. Bilbao were absolutely fantastic.

 

[Lethul]

Bielsa is a genius. Bilbao were absolutely fantastic.

https://forums.freddyshouse.com/threads/the-2011-2012-season-thread.245552/page-9#post-3774162

He really knows how to attack doesn't he

 

[eksdee]

For sure! Tactical mastermind.

 

[DaGaffer]

If I was a more paranoid individual (which I'm not, no siree, *twitch*), I'd think United's terrible showing in Europe this season couldn't be a better way of getting the Glazers to open up the purse strings in the summer. Clearly, repeatedly getting to CL finals wasn't doing the job...

 

[Calaen]

If I was a more paranoid individual (which I'm not, no siree, *twitch*), I'd think United's terrible showing in Europe this season couldn't be a better way of getting the Glazers to open up the purse strings in the summer. Clearly, repeatedly getting to CL finals wasn't doing the job...

Oh come on Gaff, the Glazers for all the shit they get, have always given Fergie cash.

I'm sick of hearing fans going on about Sneijder, yes he's good, but he also hasn't started more than 25 games in the league for his club since 2008 due to injuries, that's just not good enough. I'm hopeful that they will invest in someone in the summer who is a bit more experienced to help out Clev/Pogba/Anderson, but i'd rather it was spent on someone who was going to play a real part!

 

[Vladamir]

CL Quarters

Apoel vs Real Madrid
Marseille vs Bayern

Chelsea vs Benfica
AC Milan vs Barcelona

Good draw for the quarters but tough semi game regardless of who goes through.

 

[DaGaffer]

Oh come on Gaff, the Glazers for all the shit they get, have always given Fergie cash.

I'm sick of hearing fans going on about Sneijder, yes he's good, but he also hasn't started more than 25 games in the league for his club since 2008 due to injuries, that's just not good enough. I'm hopeful that they will invest in someone in the summer who is a bit more experienced to help out Clev/Pogba/Anderson, but i'd rather it was spent on someone who was going to play a real part!

I'm not really talking about Sneijder, his personal terms would the problem for most teams. As for whether the Glazers have given Fergie cash; nah, sorry. Whether you like it or not, United were always prepared to spend pretty much anything to get the players they really wanted, until the Glazers arrived. Now its the constant refrain from Fergie of "not enough value in the market" or some such bollocks. "Value" is set by what the market will bear; if there's a shortage of world class midfielders, their scarcity will make them more valuable. Yes its nice to find some young tyro that no-one else has discovered or you've picked up through your youth development, but as Arsenal also prove, you can't rely on that (the scouting network is simply too sophisticated these days; there are no "finds" anymore).

What's telling about United is that you haven't seen them actively get into a bidding fight with...anyone...for the last 3-4 years. There is simply no denying the weakness at the heart of United's midfield. Its been glaringly obvious for at least three years, and Tom Cleverly on his own isn't going to be the answer, or Pogba (who I don't see United fighting particularly hard to keep).

If the young players were the answer, they'd be playing regularly by now. Instead, 37 year-olds are getting pulled out of retirement; so please don't tell me the Glazers are stumping up the cash because if they were we'd have had a Silva or a Nasri or a Modrić in a red shirt by now.

 

[cHodAX]

CL Quarters

Apoel vs Real Madrid
Marseille vs Bayern

Chelsea vs Benfica
AC Milan vs Barcelona

Good draw for the quarters but tough semi game regardless of who goes through.

Yep, potentially Benfica, Barcelona and then Real Madrid, you would need to be epic to win but it would be fun to see.

 

[Calaen]

I wouldn't have Nasri in the shirt at all. And I certainly wouldn't pay 50 million for Modric. Silva yes, but he was hardly expensive. City havent got in to a bidding war with anyone, neither have Chelsea. Fergies had more duds in midfield when he's bought in than anywhere else on the park! Veron, djemba djemba, kleberson, blomqvist, porborsky.

We spent on Jones and De Gea, you really don't have to break the bank look at Hernandez! Berbatov cost a fair whack a few seasons ago, United have never went out and spent 30+ million every year on a single player.

I will not buy into the Glazers not supporting Ferguson financially.