There’s been a lot of talk since the start of the season about how much of a genius Alex Ferguson is and how he’s putting together a team to rival Barcelona this season. Then, they go an maul Arsenal on Sunday, which was a result for many people’s promo codes. There’s no doubt in my mind that the entire media and press are going to be utterly, completely and totally insufferable in their praise for them come the next few days. Personally, I think that’s utter nonsense; as far as I’m concerned, he is in no better a position than he was last year. All he’s done is add a winger to the two he’s already got, a keeper that will take at least a full season to completely bloom and another young centre back that won’t play every week.
They had a good result against Tottenham last weekend as well, winning 3-nil. Only, so did City Sunday just gone, putting 5 past Spurs at their own ground. That – coupled with currently being rock bottom – would kind of suggest that they’re actually there for the taking at the moment. And United’s win against Arsenal on Sunday was as much to do with Arsene Wenger’s growing insanity as anything. Anybody who saw the game could see that Ferguson appeared to be trying to stop his team from scoring toward the end and even Gary Neville took little pleasure in the nature of the scoreline. This wasn’t a masterclass by United, this was the brutal murdering of a club already hamstrung by years of mismanagement; our own new first-team made a much stronger Arsenal look poor last weekend and were they to have played us at Anfield, we’d have probably knocked a few more past them as well.
Some might argue that United have just added to the depth of their squad but I would argue that if anything, we’ve had the far more successful summer and will also benefit more in the long-term. Ferguson has added Ashley Young and Phil Jones when, in reality, he didn’t really need them. What he needed was a couple of quality, central mid-fielders and a good holding player. The only one of their signings they actually needed was De Gea and he’s looked far from a potentially great player up to now. On the other hand, we’ve brought in Doni, arguably good enough to be a first choice at most Premier League clubs; Charlie Adam – a player United could probably have done with themselves; Stewart Downing, Jose Enrique and Jordan Henderson. Coupled with Suarez and Carroll in January (who are still seemingly new signings, as we’ve barely seen them together yet) and are looking to bring in one of the most promising young players to come out of Uruguay since Suarez himself, and for less than half the price of Phil Jones, he could turn out to be twice the player.
To back up my belief, I’m going to have a quick look over each side’s starting 11’s and the likely benches that both sides would choose if at full-strength.
GK – Reina v De Gea: I think I’ll have about 99% of fans of any club on my side in this argument, but Reina is hands-down the better keeper and De Gea is unlikely to ever reach his level (but will no doubt become first-choice for Spain, given the ‘special’ club he’s playing at). So this one is easy: Reina – 10 v De Gea – 7
RB – Kelly v Rafael: This is a slightly tougher one, as we’ve seen so little of either player, with Kelly having played 17 games for the Reds and Rafael around 40. On first impressions of both players though, they’re both incredibly promising. Kelly is a very tall and surprisingly quick full back with a growing penchant for getting forward, as he demonstrated last week against Arsenal, and Rafael likewise. The only downside to Rafael’s game is that he’s always walking a bit of a disciplinary tightrope, having already received 2 red cards in less than a half-century of games. As both show a lot of potential: Kelly – 7 v Rafael – 7
CB – Agger & Carragher v Ferdinand & Vidic: This is a difficult one for both sides as it’s highly likely that both CB pairings will change regularly over the season due to fatigue, injury, etc as both contain players that are – to put it kindly – ‘getting on’. But these are more-than-likely going to be the first choice pairings. Both Carragher and Ferdinand are coming to the end of distinguished careers and both are still highly thought of. The fact that they both walk in to two of the top sides in Europe, when fit, says a lot about both players. While Agger and Vidic are two of the best CB’s around and are likely to be for some time to come. Both sides regularly top the table when it comes to ‘goals against’ and that is largely down to having such experienced talented men at the back. While Vidic is widely regarded as one of the best in Europe though, it is also a widely held belief that Ferdinand isn’t the same player he once was and hasn’t been for some time: Agger – 8 & Carragher – 8 v Ferdinand – 7 & Vidic – 9
LB – Enrique v Evra: Both quality full backs and both with plenty of experience in the Premier League. The only thing that goes in Evra’s favour here is that he is much more proven. He’s played at the top level for years and is regarded throughout as one of the best left-backs in Europe, while Jose Enrique is one of the best in the League but only potentially in Europe: Enrique 8 v Evra – 10
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Hilarious article. Please, i want more of this kinda stuff coming from Liverpool. Gives me great satisfaction to know you simply gutted to see what a great team we have., that gutted you give us special attention.
Thanks and keep up….Sorry, you can’t keep up, can you!
Hahaha that was well worth a chuckle ! Been raiding the medicine cabinet I see ! Howard Webb looked a gooner yesterday tbh and that’s only cause he’s afraid of the bitters crying into their pints with excuses why they’ve been dominated for decades ! Suarez would get into the united squad ! The rest aren’t a patch !
A absolute quality article. I like how you symbolise ‘sarcasm’ throughout – much like I have in my first four words of this post.
Seriously fella, an absolute joke. I look forward to title no 20 and the fact that I have and will always have the same number of Premiership winners medals as Steven Gerrard…
lol carrigher an 8?! in what world???? im not manc scum but i can tell you should probably take of your red tinted glasses there fella. your team is fairly pony except for suarez yet you rate your attackers very highly for some strange reason?? and lucas a 9?? seriously??
how can doni be 8 and de gea be 7 when donis never played in the premiership :\ proper good laugh reading this though
is it supposed to be ironic? :S
you should write for the beano mate HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh Dear! I hope you’re taking something for your delusion.
Wow. Just…wow.
Liverpool fans in absolute delusion shocker.
You guys are always great for entertainment.
i am a liverpool fan but i think you are dreaming. case in point — you rated aurelio 8. aurelio is only an 8 when he is asleep (ie dreaming). this one rating basically discredits every other. and doni an 8 — another one for the dreamers.
be serious. and be truly objective. if this is one for your personal fantasy, keep it for your personal journal.
haha u serious ?
spent well u say?
adam 6m good buy and enrique
suarez is good for 22m
but CARROLL FOR 35M HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
DOWNING FOR 20M WHEN YOUNG COST 16 HAHAHAHAHAH
HENDERSON FOR 20M HAHAHAHAHAHHA
very good spending…….
Best Article Ever. Great analysis. I read it 19 times. GGMU
are you serious with your tatings, if you are then your a fool.. rafael trumps kelly no question for a start.. nani trumps kuyt easily. and to say agger and carragher are in the same league as ferdinand and vidic is beyond a joke. clearly your just bias towards your team.
want proof? ngog and hernandez are rated the same
you’ve overated lucas, ashley young is twice the player downing is statistics show that.. if suarez is a 10 then so is rooney no to ways about tht.
and you’ve got berbatov the same as rooney when every pundit and fan will tell you rooney offers more to the team than what berbatov does so clearly rated higher.
dont try to give your liverpool team so hyped up about your squad being great, its not henderson is overrated too. how you’ve got to these conclusions is tragic and you clearly need to watch more football from your own team let alone uniteds.
Watching the game as a neutral i really don’t understand this talk of Howard Webb being the 12th man for United. From what i saw yesterday he gave Arsenal a very dubious penalty and could of arguably gave Arshavin 2 straight reds. As for Liverpool being as strong at United at the moment is pretty laughably they have a good team Suarez is world class, Kelly looks a great prospect for Liverpool and England, Adams is looking strong and relishing it at Anfield, but Carroll and Henderson for a combined cost of something like 55m albeit its early days i am less than convinced about. I think they need to strengthen the center back area and on the wings.
Love all the plastic Mancs coming on here, gobbing off.
Haha. Obsessed much, lads?
If a single one of you were capable of lateral, non-biased opinion I’d have a debate with you, but you ain’t.
You’re all from Surrey or bloody Timbuktu, whining on and on, 19 this, 19 that..get over it.
You’re still not as successful as Liverpool Football Club. End of argument. No comparisons can be drawn. Fact.
I’d have a tenner on none of you mouthy commenters ever having been anywhere near Old Toilet too. Plastic, glory hunting little no-marks.
(Cue the ‘I’m from Manchester ar’kid’ responses – to which I’ll preemptively reply: No. You’re not.)
Good article though, some odd scores, some fair ones, but an interesting read.
At least you LFC fans still have a sense of humour
It’s that famous Scouse wit.
Without going through each others squads, let’s comtemplate the 2 meetings since King Kenny’s return. First meeting at OT 1-0 to United awarded by Webb from a dubious penalty and Stevie G sent off, yet Liverpool deserved a draw. Second meeting at Anfield, Liverpool with Suarez totally outplayed United no helping hand from any referees just pure class from a superior side on the day. Liverpool have beaten all of last season’s Top 4 since Kenny’s return, so Liverpool can do it, even more so now that they have strengthened. The question is can Liverpool beat the mid-table teams who so often frustated us!! We will see!! If we can then we will definitely be in with a shout for the title at the end of the season.