A couple of United rather than city thoughts from me:

Berbatov; I don't buy into the "lazy" slurs he has been receiving but I still remain unconvinced about what he is bringing to the table for United. Evidently he's a very talented forward but a year on from his arrival I still can't shake the feeling that he'll go down as another Seba: incredibly talented but unable to fit into a United side.

Anderson; when are we going to give up on this lad? He is very average. His passing is woeful at best and he actually seems to be going backwards since his arrival. Check out some of the YouTube footage from his previous clubs - where has this gone now he is wearing red?

I rate Berba and thought he didn't have that bad of a game yesterday and was unluck not to grab a couple of goals but he's going to have to improve his desision making as he seems to hold on to the ball for too long and loses possesion. I really do think it's a case of once he bags his first goal this season he'll start banging them in regular.

As for Anderson son son i think he's played well this season when given the chance, i think he could do with an extended run in the first team to strike up a partnership with Fletcher. He's certainly got the skill and the workrate to fit into the MUFC style of play although i do agree he hasn't kicked on like expected on his arrival but he has added more to his game in the past 12 months.

One of the women at work has a son who works for a football stats company and he text her this today

"United on average had the least stopage time at home than anyone else in the premier league last season and the least of the top four sides since 2006 home and away"

would be interested to see those stats if you can get hold of them.

You sure he didn't just see it on SSN?

Well my uncle's mate's daughter's cousin told my mate that stat is wrong.

A meaningless stat, by itself.

I agree. Why would the ref give lots of injury time when they're regularly winning at home?

Tim Vickery, the BBC's South American football expert said recently that United would never get the best out of Anderson if they continued to play him in a deep or sitting centre midfield role. Most football fans in this country seem to think that is the lad's natural position. It isn't. In Brazil he was employed as an attacking midfielder, given licence to run at defences, often playing in one of the strikers after having drawn a couple of defenders.
I'd like to see him push forward more and let opne of the other midfielders sit in the middle.

only thing that annoys me about him is that he can't keep the ball down when he shoots. every shot seems to be row z

Thing is, I'm not sure if Anderson can go back to being the player he was at Gremio. Fergie has obviously seen the lad's natural physique, but like CR9 and he's tried to mould him into the player he wants. He's tried to use Anderson's speed and strength and tried to get him to boss games by using it; he can't. He was an excellent youngster in South America, bags of speed, skill and was on course to be a star, his progression had really slowed down during the past year or so. He was impressive in his first season, I remember reading somewhere that Fergie said he'll use Anderson much less in his next season, it doesn't seem to have had the right effect.

IMO, he can pass the ball well, he has excellent technique and he seems to have decent enough range, but I dunno, maybe it's confidence, maybe he's lacking the role or whatever, who knows, but Fergie needs to figure out his best position and utilize him there much more often. Watching yesterday's game, I often noticed it was Fletcher who would break forward, whilst Anderson sat deep and anchored the midfield, that, IMO, wastes his talents.

Cos he'll have grown up surrounded by city fans.

In Bury?


Very poor effort. Lazy. 4/10

A fan who was shoved in the face by Manchester City footballer Craig Bellamy has been charged with unlawfully running onto the pitch.

[urlhttp://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/09/09/21/SOCCER_Man_City_Bellamy.html[/url

Anyone remember this?

[url=http://img87.imageshack.us/i/owenr.jpg/[/url

Hull City managed a similar 'amazing' 4-3 defeat at Old Trafford last season. I wouldn't get too giddy.

Photoshop is good innit?

Quote ="flipper"would be interested to see those stats if you can get hold of them.'" Here are some interesting stats www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009 ... ppage-time

Quote ="flipper"would be interested to see those stats if you can get hold of them.'" Here are some interesting stats www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009 ... ppage-time

That’s not a good effort, mate.

Adebayor has celebrated like that a lot – admittedly, he generally doesn’t sprint 80m beforehand.

As for Bellamy, I would say that he celebrates like that pretty much every goal he scores.





Watch the footage, mate. It was never a punch.




I remember Ferguson, once coming out and saying that United lost because he had “plumbers and electricians” in his team because of injuries. United were by far and away the biggest spending club in the country at the time. Thing is, City have simply spent so much cash because they want to catch the big 4 as quickly as they can. United have been one of the biggest spenders since the 70s. They threw millions at the club for many years yet went 26 years without winning the league. Don’t forget that over a three-year period not so long ago, our net transfers were -£11m.

This is what makes me laugh about Everton fans. They go on about us spending huge amounts and they run the club on brass buttons, yet not so long ago, our highest transfer fee one summer was £1.1m.




I do find it amusing that United fans keep repeating this mantra of ‘City will nothing’. Are you lot hoping that if you say it often enough, it will happen.

Difference is we now have the resources. United are drowning in debt and Ferguson isn’t far off retiring.

It looked like a push to me.

It doesn't negate the fact he went out of his way to assault someone who was already restrained.

I don't think I have heard one United fan condemn the idiot who threw the coin that hit Garrido.

I assume that means we all condone it then?

If some idiot in the crowd throws an object onto the pitch then they should be banned for life imo, regardless of what club it is.

Congratulations on the most clueless post of the day.

Three times, as in three in a row.

Adebayor is a different type of centre forward than those that played. It was that size and presence that has a huge bearing on our ability to keep the ball up that end of the field. His loss could have been handled better if we had had Santa Cruz or even Benjani available but we didn't and it had a big impact on the way we had to play the game.

We only had one fit striker in Bellamy, who played wide left and a clearly unfit one in Tevez, playing a lead role that dioes not suit him. The rest were injured or suspended.

As it happens, we bought three strikers and let six go.

You're not dim, so don't act it.

It can be, which makes that effort all the more disappointing.

Quote ="Enfield Exile"Here are some interesting stats www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009 ... ppage-time'" Reading those stats it's not really saying anything too amazing, is it? When teams are drawing (or winning) at Old Trafford, they generally try to waste time. It's a natural defence. As a result, more time is added on - and by the laws of the game, rightly so. It doesn't take a genius to work that out! That goes the same with all the top clubs, and as City improve and a draw at the COM becomes a great result in some peoples eyes, you'll see more of it there too.

Quote ="Enfield Exile"Here are some interesting stats www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009 ... ppage-time'" Reading those stats it's not really saying anything too amazing, is it? When teams are drawing (or winning) at Old Trafford, they generally try to waste time. It's a natural defence. As a result, more time is added on - and by the laws of the game, rightly so. It doesn't take a genius to work that out! That goes the same with all the top clubs, and as City improve and a draw at the COM becomes a great result in some peoples eyes, you'll see more of it there too.