TRon

In short, yes. He's probably not even seen the tackle in replay yet. What was Barton apologising for then? The ref's mistake?

I doubt Liverpool have come up against more gutless wankers in years.

He went in hard with both feet off the deck. If he gets sent off he can hardly complain.

The old shut the door after the horse has bolted ploy. Good one.

It's pointless arguing about the goals, we are probably lucky it's only 2-0 at this stage.

What was wrong with the second? One of the Liverpool defenders was holding Beye. Beye was just shit, didn't track his man, nothing illegal about it at all. Ask yourself...does that sound like Beye? Watch it again when the ball is delivered (not when Kuyt actually heads the ball in).

What's wrong with the second one? The first was a clear offside, of course. Watch the replay, there's a Liverpool defender who grabs Beye round the waist to stop him challenging Kuyt for the header.

The full backs aren't getting enough protection from Loven and Martins. Daft idea to go 4-3-3 in this game for me, Liverpool have far too much space down the flanks.

What was wrong with the second? One of the Liverpool defenders was holding Beye.

both Liverpool goals were illegal btw.

4-3-3 has transformed what would have been rape into a consensual fuck.

You were all over Nolan, remember something like "Kaka with a bit more pace" or something like that... "He's like Kaka with an edge of steel" was the phrase IIRC.

He called the Nolan and Ryan Taylor signings a mistake while people here will still trying to justify them and that was before he saw them play their first match. Whatever else you can accuse him of, it's not hindsight.

I would like to see that team line up against boro next week. It might be a bit too easy for Liverpool to get through us, there's actually only two proper midfielders in that team, Barton and Butt. Smith, Oba and Loven are strikers, although Smith is far better in centre midfield. Pretty attacking line up.

It's 4-3-3 in all but name. I can't see Oba putting in the defensive work that Jonas would have but at least we've got a real goal threat on the counter.

4-3-3 is ok against the lesser teams who won't make the most of the space they get against a three man midfield, against the top four it's a disaster waiting to happen. Even in the successful spell under Keegan last year it didn't work against the likes of Chelsea and that was with all three strikers fully fit and bang in form. We aren't going to trouble Liverpool with any combo of strikers tomorrow, IMO to have any chance we have to stop them playing and that means crowding the midfield and cutting off the supply to their best players.

If Owen is dropped I don't think we will get battered, if we pick the right men in midfield. I would pick 5 across the middle: Harper Beye, Colo, Bassong, Duff Smith, Butt, Barton Guthrie Jonas Viduka/Oba That midfield 5 has the running and energy to stop the Liverpool onslaught, after that we can only hope the defence doesn't make mistakes.

I think this is a decision based on the team we are playing and Owen will be back against boro. We wouldn't have a prayer of getting any points with a 3 man midfield against Liverpool, we can always switch back to 3 strikers against the teams who might give them a sniff.

Away from home they will be next to useless as they offer nothing on the counter. We'd actually be better going for Oba and Loven who are quick enough to hit on the break.

I'd agree with that. In theory, yes. But I'm not sure how much they'll be able to adjust to the system while getting humped for 90 minutes. Aye. Plus the fact our goal difference is pretty much our only advantage over the others right now. As Gol says we've never been able to intentionally keep teams at bay but we might have to try after the first 15mins or so... 4-3-3 against Liverpool will end in us getting hammered. What is the point of going toe to toe with our groaning, half dead strikers? Pick one striker to play up front everyone else has to be in midfield in an attempt to strangle the Liverpool midfield.

Who gives a toss, he can score 20 for someone else for all I care. He'll probably join Everton for half the money he's on here just so he can be back on his beloved Merseyside. Only stupid money would persuade him to stay here so he's welcome to take his final wedge and fuck off at the end of the season.

I can guarantee 100% that Owen won't score against Liverpool, he never gets a sniff against them and just ends up trudging off the pitch with a face like a smacked arse. He hasn't got a prayer so he shoulld be left out on Sunday then brought back against a low grade side like boro who are shit enough to let him score.

I think he covers enough ground, it just takes him three times as long as everyone else to do it. He could probably use a fag break. There are goalkeepers who cover more ground than Nolan. I remember when Peter Schmeichel said that one game, just to prove that the OPTA stats meant nothing, when the ball was up the other end of the pitch in one particular game, he spent his time running backwards and forwards across his penalty area just so in the stats, he'd ran the furthest. On the subject of Man U, every team Ferguson has built and re-built has always had exemplary movement off the ball, whether it's forwards or midfielders. Because there are always players running into space the player on the ball always has plenty of options. How many of our players are looking for the ball? Most of them are usually stationary and hoping someone else makes a move.

Maybe i should have clarified: over the last two seasons, not the last game played. He'd still be up there. Have a go at Duff for being shit all you want, but he puts the effort in, something a lot of our other players need to do. There's far better players than Duff in the side, but none of them have the heart he does. Well, not many of them. He's a winger, he's supposed to produce in the final third. His best perfomances have come at left back, so yes I agree he puts the effort in.