Weekend Football Thread. *spoilers* 18-22

Not too bad a performance today although Wigan were so negative right from the outset that it was always going to be one-way traffic. Song was very impressive today and seems to be maturing nicely. Diaby on the other hand was his usual frustrating safe, frequently giving the ball away and to be honest Wenger really needs to be benching him in favour of Ramsey/Wilshere.

Vermaelen is fast becoming a fans favourite, announced as fans player of the month today and the general consensus is that Gallas seems to play better with him rather than Toure as partner. Good in the air, solid in the tackle, comfortable on the ball and a goal threat, he seems to have it all and although I may be biased, I'd say he's probably the best centrehalf I've seen this season.

No idea what was up with RvP today, totally off his game. Badly needs a goal I think and on current form his place must be under threat from Bendtner :eek:

General lack of width today (hardly surprising given all the injuries) and while the meandering midfield might be too good for Wigan, I can't see it working against the big boys.
 
HangTime said:
Vermaelen is fast becoming a fans favourite, announced as fans player of the month today and the general consensus is that Gallas seems to play better with him rather than Toure as partner.
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:confused:

Although Vermaelen has been great, our defence overall has been pretty shoddy so far. 8 goals conceded in five games in the league, two games lost already. Toure and Gallas had a excellent run together not long after Willy lost the captaincy, so I'd say its far too soon to start saying this is a better partnership.
 
^People seemed to think that the defensive problems were down to Clichy this season. Heard it suggested that Gibbs should be given a chance but I'm not convinced myself, Clichy has been one of our best performers over the last couple of years.
 
3 of the 4 goals against Man City came from his position i think, he certainly isnt as effective defensively recently. That being said our defence as a whole is performing a lot worse than it should be considering the players in our first choice back 4. Gibbs is still a lot worse defensively that Clichy though.
 
so what does everyone reckon the results will be today i fancy a chelsea win although spurs will score and manu to thump city. sending hughes off in a petulant huff after all the media No swearing. ;)
 
HangTime said:
^People seemed to think that the defensive problems were down to Clichy this season. Heard it suggested that Gibbs should be given a chance but I'm not convinced myself, Clichy has been one of our best performers over the last couple of years.
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A few guys behind me were talking about the subpar performances of Clichy this season and i am inclined to agree with them......he isn't looking himself if you ask me. I'd be tempted to give Gibbs a shot and let Clichy think about it for a couple of games.

I think we looked decent yesterday but our middle is still sloppy in posession, which is fine against teams like Wigan (no offense) but not against the ones who will punish you for it. Gallas/Vermaelen look better than last seasons Gallas/Toure already but for the life of me i can't figure out why Wenger still hasn't gone for a DeRossi/Gattuso type holding player. Song looks better this season but i'm still not convinced.....we always look susceptible and 8 goals in 5 league games tells you something.
 
CliffyG said:
3 of the 4 goals against Man City came from his position i think, he certainly isnt as effective defensively recently. That being said our defence as a whole is performing a lot worse than it should be considering the players in our first choice back 4. Gibbs is still a lot worse defensively that Clichy though.
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He doesn't get much support from Diaby though, which means he's doubled up on fairly often. Rosicky if much better at tracking back so hopefully when he starts more often it should add a little bit more to our defence.

At the start of the season we were pressing opposition players much higher up the pitch, yet we seem have stopped doing that already?
 
Yeah that's a good point, Rosicky was putting himself about very well against Liege midweek. Put in some crunching tackles and covered well. Can't see Diaby holding onto his position, i hope not at least!
 
United lineup as expected really, although I probably would have preferred Nani ahead of Park. Anderson starting his 3rd game in a week, ahead of Carrick. Will be good for his confidence.

Hopefully it's Fletcher right, Park left with Anderson/Giggs central.
 
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What's the lineup? Glad we're getting some consistency in midfield. Anderson's performances over the last week have been really good.

Edit: Ah came up on BBC about a second after i wrote that:

1252: TEAMS Man Utd v Man City
Man Utd: Foster, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Park, Anderson, Fletcher, Giggs, Berbatov, Rooney. Subs: Kuszczak, Neville, Owen, Carrick, Nani, Jonathan Evans, Valencia.

Man City: Given, Richards, Lescott, Toure, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Barry, De Jong, Ireland, Bellamy, Tevez. Subs: Taylor, Zabaleta, Garrido, Petrov, Weiss, Ball, Sylvinho.

Would have preferred Nani or Valencia over Park but I'm glad He's not gone with one striker again.
 
Man Utd

* 12 Foster
* 03 Evra
* 05 Ferdinand
* 15 Vidic
* 22 O'Shea
* 08 Anderson
* 11 Giggs
* 13 Park
* 24 Fletcher
* 09 Berbatov
* 10 Rooney

Substitutes

* 29 Kuszczak,
* 02 Neville,
* 23 Evans,
* 16 Carrick,
* 17 Nani,
* 25 Valencia,
* 07 Owen

Man City

* 01 Given
* 02 Richards
* 03 Bridge
* 19 Lescott
* 28 Toure
* 07 Ireland
* 08 Wright-Phillips
* 18 Barry
* 34 De Jong
* 32 Tevez
* 39 Bellamy

Substitutes

* 12 Taylor,
* 05 Zabaleta,
* 15 Garrido,
* 16 Sylvinho,
* 17 Petrov,
* 40 Weiss,
* 54 Ball
 
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