Do we go for broke on Saturday?

i would be tempted to play 4-5-1 to start with.
bring Viera in for Tevez and SWP for AJ.
carlos looked a bit leggy in our last game and i wasn't surprised at all when he came out with his distain at recent training methods.
SWP is a little more effective at tracking back than AJ and i think that could be key against Evra.
having the extra man in midfield (Viera) would allow Barry to stay a little closer to valencia thus helping out Garrido who deffo had problems against him.
see how the game pans out, then if the scoreline and situation allows, we can introduce Tevez, who, by now, will be absolutely champing at the bit and could make a devastating impact.
same with AJ for SWP, and possibly Ireland for Viera.
this all depends on the shape of the team baconface puts out and tinkers with, but at least it will keep him guessing as he will probably be thinking we would stick to the same team we had last week.

tin hat time.
 
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

United are not a team to be afraid of, we've been electric lately. Stick with the same and take the game to them, we're at home remember.
 
KentBlue said:
"Taking it to them" is not the right play for Saturday, imho.
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I don't agree with that at all. They will be nervy and extremely anxious because pretty much their entire season rests upon this one game. From the off we must hassle them all over the pitch and not allow them to settle on the ball for one second. A game of this magnitude means they WILL make errors of judgment and we have to capitalise on every slip up. It's no good wringing our hands in despair afterwards and saying: "If only..." all the time.

Sitting back against the rags is not an option, I don't think. We have to go out there and dictate the pace of the game and do to them what Barca did so beautifully last year.
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Of course we have to pressure them and not let them settle. And of course we can't sit back and try to absorb pressure from them for 98 minutes (or however long Fergy tells the ref he needs).

But we aren't good enough yet to play in their half leaving our defense exposed. If we do that, we WILL lose the ball and they WILL hit us on the break and hurt us. This is not Burnley we are playing and Rooney or no Rooney, they are lethal on the break.

Of course this is just my opinion, but I think in reality we will never know if this would happen, because I don't for 1 moment expect us to play like that. I am certain Mancini will play us 4-5-1 and tell us to be more defensive.

Whether that's going to be the right strategy, we will see.
 
I agree stick with the same team. You don't try and fix something that aint broke !!

The Fab Four (Bellers, AJ, Tevez & Ade) are all on fire !!!

Bring 'em on
 
mancity dan said:
I agree stick with the same team. You don't try and fix something that aint broke !!

The Fab Four (Bellers, AJ, Tevez & Ade) are all on fire !!!

Bring 'em on
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The last time I remember us really going for it against one of the top 4 was when Chelsea beat us 6-1.

We've come on a long long way since then, but before that game confidence was sky high and we thought we go to the Bridge and take it to them. The way Chelsea (and Lampard/Drogba) hit us on the break was frightening.

On Saturday we are likely to have at best a rusty Wayne Bridge at the back, and maybe Garrido or Silvinho. If we go for it too much, we could get hurt in the opening 5 minutes and have a hell of an uphill struggle getting back into it.
 
Can't believe so many people think Bob may go 4-5-1, not a cat in hell's chance.

It will be 4-4-2 with the same brief as last few games, go at them from the first whistle.

Carlos will drop off Ade to create link between midfield and attack.

4-1 easy win.
 
When was the last time we did ourselves justice against Ragistan? It was when we beat them at O.T. which is over two years ago. Since then we lost pathetically at home and away in the league last season, and we are all fully aware of what has happened this campaign. In all five games since Benjani's finest hour, we've been found to be too nervous and given them far too much respect. Every team deserves a certain amount of respect, United included. They are a good team but by no means brilliant.

This is our moment to finally assert some authority. United's recent form has been poor, whereas we have been ripping up trees. Football, like cricket, is about seizing the moment when the opportunity arises and having a feel for the game - knowing when to do things at the right time. I don't know any better than most people on here, but my feel for the game is that we are in the ascendancy against a team whose confidence as taken a biffing lately. We have a chance to put our foot on their throat. This is our time. Let's grab it with both hands.

The mere mention of Ireland for this game is madness. Therefore:-

Given

Onuoha Kompany Toure Bridge

Johnson Vieira Barry Bellamy

Tevez Adebayor

There's nothing to say we can't change this as the match unfolds. There's nothing to say we'll win at a canter. But let's go out there meaning business. The vibe around the club and it's fans suggests that mere containment from the off is the last thing we should be thinking.
 
Rammy Blue said:
Can't believe so many people think Bob may go 4-5-1, not a cat in hell's chance.

It will be 4-4-2 with the same brief as last few games, go at them from the first whistle.

Carlos will drop off Ade to create link between midfield and attack.

4-1 easy win.
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Agree with this (but not the 4-1 bit) 4-4-2 with Tevez dropping deep to help out.
Really cant see us dropping Carlos or Ade for Vieira & go 4-5-1
 
I know it will be frustrating if we play more defensively and go 4-5-1. Everyone's buoyed up after our recent results.

But let's just think about this for a moment.

Our last three games have been against dross opponents, none of whom have taken more than 4 points from 24. Birmingham are bottom on the 6 game form guide and Wigan and Burnley are worse teams than them.

In all those games we dominated midfield and we were able to feed Tevez and Ade at will. When we lost the ball there was no threat.

We CANNOT play like that against the rags. Their midfield will boss us completely if we have only 4 against 5. Tevez and Ade will never see the ball let alone touch it.

Of course we'd all love to go out 4-4-2 and thrash them 4 or 5 nil, but I just don't see us setting up to even try to do it.
 
Chippy_boy said:
I know it will be frustrating if we play more defensively and go 4-5-1. Everyone's buoyed up after our recent results.

But let's just think about this for a moment.

Our last three games have been againt dross opponents, none of whom have taken more than 4 points from 24. Birmingham are bottom on the 6 game form guide and Wigan and Burnley are worse teams than them.

In all those games we dominated midfield and we were able to feed Tevez and Ade at will. When we lost the ball there was no threat.

We CANNOT play like that against the rags. Their midfield will boss us completely if we have only 4 against 5. Tevez and Ade will never see the ball let alone touch it.

Of course we'd all love to go out 4-4-2 and thrash them 4 or 5 nil, but I just don't see us setting up to even try to do it.
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Thats all well and good with regards to the midfield but playing 1 up top will mean that they will be able to carry the ball out of defence and build from the back because they'll only have one striker doing the chasing and that in itself means we'll be pushed back and pinned in for long spells. Of course we can play that way and try and counter attack but i'd rather go 4-4-2 and take it to them just like we did against Chelsea at home earlier in the season where we went 4-4-2 and didn't get over run by their midfield despite them having better centre midfielders than United
 
We cannot afford to go for broke. Yes we have scored 11 goals in our last two games but I studied each one of these goals on tape and every one of them had an element of luck about them. Deflection, defender slips, mishit shot, Viera closing his eyes as he headed it etc etc. We are still a long way off being a formidable force going forward.
My dad videotaped the 1969 cup final for me all those years ago and I have tereasured the tape ever since. I watched it again the other night I realised that we need someone like Neil Young again. But I live in hope of a win .
 
Chippy_boy said:
I know it will be frustrating if we play more defensively and go 4-5-1. Everyone's buoyed up after our recent results.

But let's just think about this for a moment.

Our last three games have been againt dross opponents, none of whom have taken more than 4 points from 24. Birmingham are bottom on the 6 game form guide and Wigan and Burnley are worse teams than them.

In those games we dominated midfield and we able to feed Tevez and Ade at will. When we lost the ball there was no threat.

We CANNOT play like that against the rags. Their midfield will boss us completely if we have only 4 against 5. Tevez and Ade will never see the ball let alone touch it.

Of course we'd all love to go out 4-4-2 and thrash them 4 or 5 nil, but I just don't see us setting up to even try to do it.
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Chippy_boy and Master Wig - I could not agree with you more.

It is not just a case of OUR tactics, but also consider what they will most likely do.

Anything other than 3 points and they have zero - as oppossed to a slim chance of retaining their title.
They have nothing to lose by going on all-out attack and second place is probably secure for them. Would they care if they get 3rd place rather than 2nd? I don't think so.

We need to contain their midfield and wingers (especially Valencia) as well as Evra on the overlap.
Keep our fab four, who have a least 2 goals in them, up front, and we can smash them on the counter.

We are deadly when given space on the counter, but not so good at trying to break down 10 men behind the ball.

We need someone solid at LB - I would rather play Zab, Ned or even Barry rather than Garrido or Sylvinho.

First priority is not to concede a goal and not to lose.
Let them start getting desperate and go at us - we will smash them on the counter.

We can live with a draw whilst going for a win.

They have no option other than to go all out for a win.
 
NI Blue said:
We cannot afford to go for broke. Yes we have scored 11 goals in our last two games but I studied each one of these goals on tape and every one of them had an element of luck about them. Deflection, defender slips, mishit shot, Viera closing his eyes as he headed it etc etc. We are still a long way off being a formidable force going forward.
My dad videotaped the 1969 cup final for me all those years ago and I have tereasured the tape ever since. I watched it again the other night I realised that we need someone like Neil Young again. But I live in hope of a win .
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You can look at near enough every goal and pick problems with it from a defensive point of view but thats football for you. Defenders make mistakes and it's all about punishing them and thats what we've done recently
 
J-Bay Blue said:
Chippy_boy said:
I know it will be frustrating if we play more defensively and go 4-5-1. Everyone's buoyed up after our recent results.

But let's just think about this for a moment.

Our last three games have been againt dross opponents, none of whom have taken more than 4 points from 24. Birmingham are bottom on the 6 game form guide and Wigan and Burnley are worse teams than them.

In those games we dominated midfield and we able to feed Tevez and Ade at will. When we lost the ball there was no threat.

We CANNOT play like that against the rags. Their midfield will boss us completely if we have only 4 against 5. Tevez and Ade will never see the ball let alone touch it.

Of course we'd all love to go out 4-4-2 and thrash them 4 or 5 nil, but I just don't see us setting up to even try to do it.
Click to expand...

Chippy_boy and Master Wig - I could not agree with you more.

It is not just a case of OUR tactics, but also consider what they will most likely do.

Anything other than 3 points and they have zero - as oppossed to a slim chance of retaining their title.
They have nothing to lose by going on all-out attack and second place is probably secure for them. Would they care if they get 3rd place rather than 2nd? I don't think so.

We need to contain their midfield and wingers (especially Valencia) as well as Evra on the overlap.
Keep our fab four, who have a least 2 goals in them, up front, and we can smash them on the counter.

We are deadly when given space on the counter, but not so good at trying to break down 10 men behind the ball.

We need someone solid at LB - I would rather play Zab, Ned or even Barry rather than Garrido or Sylvinho.

First priority is not to concede a goal and not to lose.
Let them start getting desperate and go at us - we will smash them on the counter.

We can live with a draw whilst going for a win.

They have no option other than to go all out for a win.
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Good post mate,

like you say they need to go all out for a win, which will suit us. We struggle to break teams down who put ten men behind the ball, which is why well organised teams like Spurs and Everton frustrate us. The rags can't afford to come out to frustrate us, they have to throw everything at us and I'm sure they will. .

I can't see Adebayor or Tevez being dropped and in midfield Johnson's delivery has become a key part of our play so I would expect us to line up as we have done in previous games but with a change at Left Back. Its going to be interesting to see how both teams line up, but for me its going to be a fine line between being too attacking and too defensive, hopefully Mancini will be able to get the balance right. An early goal for them is the last thing we need, as that is when they will sit back and try and frustrate us.
 
Anyone else worried Mancini's going to start Vieira? I'm not sure he'd be able to cope with Fletcher's pressing game. Personally, i'd bring him on with about 20 mins to go when their midfield has tired a little, to (hopefully) see the game out.
 
Tricky_Trev said:
Anyone else worried Mancini's going to start Vieira? I'm not sure he'd be able to cope with Fletcher's pressing game. Personally, i'd bring him on with about 20 mins to go when their midfield has tired a little, to (hopefully) see the game out.
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Yeah, thats been worrying me as well. Especially given how off the pace he was against Wigan, him and De Jong didn't get near their midfield in the first half of that game. Like you said if he comes on with twenty minutes to go that would do fine, he's still got an eye for a pass, its just his legs have gone.
 
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