Utd - Liverpool post match

[danperkins]

that bit made me laugh as well.

mash had NO passing ability of any creativity and in possession of the ball took longer than poulsen does to get rid.

mash was good for us but i'm confident with the new tactics poulsen will be a better player for us.

Yup i completely agree once everything has settled for our particular squad, Poulsen should be a better option for us and add a bit more to the team, even though he wouldn't be as good as Masch persay, Poulsen is better for our team for sure.

[danperkins]

We kick into gear soon, other teams will drop points its inevitable just a matter of us capitalising on this. Players will gel and adapt and the team will get much needed continuity. I'm not worried in the slightest, too many good players not to do well, but we do need a few tweaks come January, if can stay in touch up until then, we MUST get a LM, it is a must. Get rid of a few players a get us a proper winger once and for all. Also a CB is on the list, Chris Samba as i keep on harping on about would be a class signing IMO

[the rev leeroy brown]

Less creative than Masch? Seriously common mate, Masch is better than him but is probably one of the least creative footballers in world football, Poulsen is far better on the ball and a superior passer, thats clear after just a few games. He doesn't have Masch's dogged style and frenetic energy but offers other things and hopefully can adjust a push on.

that bit made me laugh as well.

mash had NO passing ability of any creativity and in possession of the ball took longer than poulsen does to get rid.

mash was good for us but i'm confident with the new tactics poulsen will be a better player for us.

[danperkins]

Too slow, less creativity than Mascher, and takes two minutes every time he gets the ball to decide what to do with it.

Hopefully he can get better when he gets used to the pace of the game and gets to know his teammates better.

Less creative than Masch? Seriously common mate, Masch is better than him but is probably one of the least creative footballers in world football, Poulsen is far better on the ball and a superior passer, thats clear after just a few games. He doesn't have Masch's dogged style and frenetic energy but offers other things and hopefully can adjust a push on.

[the rev leeroy brown]

tricky start for any team.

we have a new manager for all players to get used to and what 1/4 of the first team are new.

so we have a lot of adapting/gelling to do.

im not worried but i dont think we'll get 4th unless we can gel pretty frikin quick and take maximimum points from a strong run of games from now.

we're only 3 points off 4th right now and thats after a bloody difficult ( if not the most difficult ) start. a good run of games now and we could easily be sitting 2nd!

4th is more than acheivable this year and once our new guys gel we'll be far far better.

[Redspin]

Sense at last.

I watched on holiday so may've not really been concenrating that hard but, ffs we showed a bit of fight in the second half and improved immeasurably once we went 4-4-2. That's got to be encouraging seeing Torres and Ngog on the field and Gerrard in the middle with another decent player alongside him. Maxi looked cack, perhaps he's not flexible enough to play in the premiership and needs shipping off.

I think a few people will be eating their words soon, and I'm not an eternal optimist. Scum and Citeh AWAY out of the way, free scoring Arsenal held (and unlucky not to win). Birmingham are no mugs and a draw away there is nothing to be ashamed of. WBA beaten and we'll see what happens next.

FFS we've played 3 of the top 4 already and two of those games away from home. The most important thing now is for Torres to forget about off the field and to earn his wages. He gets his pay packet regardless and is playing alongside the core of last season's team plus some exciting new signings who will undoubtedly improve us. Cole is better than Benayoun, Meireles is better than Lucas and Konchesky is better than Insua and Aurelio, despite what you'd read on here.

Disruptive influences have been shipped out - Riera and, sadly, Mascherano. The manager has made subtle changes and secured the crux of the team for another season. We're having a slow start but who else in the top teams have changed their manager? None

Meireles is not playing in Lucas's role, so why compare the two?

[Fredo]

In other words, we now have very limited ambitions and, sadly, perhaps a manager to match.

Indubitably.

[Neil Young]

Those are the key words to me. Roy's on his dream ticket and he's a level headed guy. He's going to move mountains to keep this job

No-one has questioned his motivation or commitment or willingness to work. It's his ability, not to put too fine a point on it, that's in doubt.

It's not entirely fair of course. He's going to have b*gger all money and lots of managers would look better if they had more money to spend. He has done well - along with Purslow it seems - to keep Gerrard and Torres, for now at least and the opening fixtures have been difficult.

His appointment was clearly a case of getting someone to keep us competitive with Villa and Everton and Spurs, with the hope we might just get lucky with a poor season from one of the "New Big Four" (we'll see whether Man City deserve being in that bracket - for now they get in there on their spending alone).

In other words, we now have very limited ambitions and, sadly, perhaps a manager to match.

[Norbs]

tricky start for any team.

we have a new manager for all players to get used to and what 1/4 of the first team are new.

so we have a lot of adapting/gelling to do.

im not worried but i dont think we'll get 4th unless we can gel pretty frikin quick and take maximimum points from a strong run of games from now.

Those are the key words to me. Roy's on his dream ticket and he's a level headed guy. He's going to move mountains to keep this job

[barnes10]

tricky start for any team.

we have a new manager for all players to get used to and what 1/4 of the first team are new.

so we have a lot of adapting/gelling to do.

im not worried but i dont think we'll get 4th unless we can gel pretty frikin quick and take maximimum points from a strong run of games from now.

[Suarez]

I cant say i'm optimistic. Yes, we've had the most difficult start to the league of anyone, but even so, we played 3 top 5 sides and come away with only a single point, add to that a point against birmingham (yes they're tough at home but still) and the only maximum points we've taken have been west brom. 5 games in and 5 points, sitting 2 places above relegation and the our confidence must be shot. confidence destroyed us last season early on but this is far, far worse. 10 points behind chelsea already after just 5 games is abysmal.

The one hope i have is that gerrard, cole and torres will click and potentially they will provide a **** load of goals, in fact i can see some superb entertainment coming our way on one of those matches when it does all come together. Then a little voice inside my head says the yanks will still be here and torres will feck off in january...

Heres hoping we're yank free in a few weeks.

[Norbs]

My overall assessment.

Man Utd were the better team and deserved to win. They controlled the game and were able to sort themselves out from being on the backfoot by making a couple of good changes and swung the game back in their favour.

But this is Man Utd at Old Trafford. We seldom win. I think we've lost 5 out the last 6 now. It's hardly a great shock or something to take digs at our players or manager over.

The one thing that worried me was a lack of communication on the flanks, understandable given two of the three central players (Poulsen and Meireles) and the left full back (Konchesky) are new to the team.

I think at times we were a little slow to get numbers wide to prevent 2 on 1 situations. The deep cross by O' Shea for the winner was the type of ball Birmingham were getting in. Against Brum the LB was Konchesky, against Man Utd it was Agger, but this is not a fault of the full back, it's a fault of the team as a whole atm. Just a lack of understanding.

Sense at last.

I watched on holiday so may've not really been concenrating that hard but, ffs we showed a bit of fight in the second half and improved immeasurably once we went 4-4-2. That's got to be encouraging seeing Torres and Ngog on the field and Gerrard in the middle with another decent player alongside him. Maxi looked cack, perhaps he's not flexible enough to play in the premiership and needs shipping off.

I think a few people will be eating their words soon, and I'm not an eternal optimist. Scum and Citeh AWAY out of the way, free scoring Arsenal held (and unlucky not to win). Birmingham are no mugs and a draw away there is nothing to be ashamed of. WBA beaten and we'll see what happens next.

FFS we've played 3 of the top 4 already and two of those games away from home. The most important thing now is for Torres to forget about off the field and to earn his wages. He gets his pay packet regardless and is playing alongside the core of last season's team plus some exciting new signings who will undoubtedly improve us. Cole is better than Benayoun, Meireles is better than Lucas and Konchesky is better than Insua and Aurelio, despite what you'd read on here.

Disruptive influences have been shipped out - Riera and, sadly, Mascherano. The manager has made subtle changes and secured the crux of the team for another season. We're having a slow start but who else in the top teams have changed their manager? None

[little dave hedgehog]

really rather pleased that football weekly has picked up my "paul konchesky can't pass" comments.

[Kenneth]

I guarantee that is crap. Brining on Jovanovic was a defensive move, I would put my house on it.

Meireles was getting torn a new one on the right wing and so Roy put Joe Cole on the right to stop that threat and Jova on the left to keep the balance of the side.

I think if he wanted to stick at 442 it was a change that needed to be made. I guess he thought Jova would be more solid than Babel.

Personally I would have took Torres off and gone 4231 with N'Gog up top.

Hmm. If you want a player to add defensive grit in front of a dodgy rightback, the name Joe Cole instantly springs to mind.

[DannyMan2006]

At 2-2 Hodgson gained ambition, bringing on Milan Jovanovic, but ironically Liverpool finally lost the game only once they finally adopted a more open philosophy.

I guarantee that is crap. Brining on Jovanovic was a defensive move, I would put my house on it.

Meireles was getting torn a new one on the right wing and so Roy put Joe Cole on the right to stop that threat and Jova on the left to keep the balance of the side.

I think if he wanted to stick at 442 it was a change that needed to be made. I guess he thought Jova would be more solid than Babel.

Personally I would have took Torres off and gone 4231 with N'Gog up top.