I think that was mainly a press concoction, the Arsenal fading away thing. I never though they'd lose out on a top 4 place. Didn't think they'd play as well they did, but still.
And Man United have played the best football (and have been much more clinical in the final third than Arsenal), consistently IMO. Tonight's and last weekend's games proved that.
They've played the most successful football.
Enjoyable? That's subjective. The irony is, if everyone had played against them like Arsenal, Tottenham, and a few other teams, they'd not be winning the league. If you don't allow yourself to be intimidated by Ronaldo's press-hyped reputation (And in general, Man Utd's), you can do well against them. Derby proved that, also. Tottenham outplayed them, Derby gave them a run for their money with Ronaldo AND Rooney in the team. Arsenal's full-strength team smothered Ronaldo to the point that he had to drift into midfield to have any effect (They didn't win that game either).
This is a case, not of how well they played, but how badly teams played against them. Newcastle want to give Arsenal the game of their lives, but then it's 6-0 and 5-0 against Man Utd. I've heard Man Utd fans say it, too. Someone said it to me today: "Teams make themselves go to pieces, we don't have to.". Villa can be a remarkably tenacious team, but as soon as they are faced with the reputation of Ronaldo and such, they destroy THEMSELVES. It wasn't a great Villa defense being taken apart by Man Utd, it was a shambolic defense being exposed.
Man Utd do not destroy defenses, defenses destroy themselves against Man Utd. Any defense that hasn't crumbled in the face of the rep, not the team, has given Man Utd serious issues. Derby, Lyon, Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City etc.
Ronaldo has been a massively prolific scorer, an effective player, but his goal tally does not reflect his ability as a player. He is scoring way more than he should. He is as clinical as his is because is is allowed to be. At the end of the day, Man Utd are likely going to win the league because they've gotten a majority of the right results, and who's gonna take that away? Nobody. I just feel like there is more to this than people are seeing.
Most of Man Utd's games have proven that. They'll likely win the league, I can admit that. I think Arsenal deserved it, but they didn't end up earning it for one reason or another (I could go into the amount of screwjob decisions, but it won't change anything). Let's just not overlook the way Man Utd have won their games, if we're going to admit they've won the league.
I don't feel that anyone who has consistantly watched multiple games can totally put everything down as bias, here.
-AC
i would put a lot of that down to bias, some of it is true, but most of it comes off as bias to me.
man u's movement took villa apart, they couldnt handle it at villa park and they couldnt handle it today either.
ronaldo always drifts into the middle, thats why hes so effective, he drifts everywhere on the pitch.
man u caught newcastle at better times than arsenal did i suppose but they still played better in both of their games against them.
that shit about ronaldo is retarded, he scores goals because he gets himself into goalscoring positions and is clinical when he gets theres.
they had rough patches at the start of the season and in the middle but the difference is they still picked up points when things werent going their way because they have more to their game than slick passing. manchester bounced back when they lost, arsenal went 5 games without a win. its those sort of things that make a championship winning team.
i wouldnt put everything down to bias but i think you're putting everything down to some teams being intimidated. manchester still have to go out and outplay the other team.
Ronaldo's goal tally does not reflect his ability as a player, and if you think otherwise then YOU are biased. He is not one of the best PLAYERS in the world, he never has been. He has not played insanely good this season, he has just scored a lot of goals, fair play to the man.
Exactly, and how does he even get there? He is allowed to do those things. Watch any YouTube compilation of his greatest skills or moments, it's always the defender watching him do stepovers, rather than thinking "Wait, I'll pester this man ALL game.", like Clichy did, like Tottenham's defenders did, like Lyon's defense did. Lyon shut him out, and he ended up running around like a headless chicken. His goal came from him scrambling into a goalmouth war. It's not like Drogba being a beast and giving anyone trouble, because he's a mountain, it's people psychologically thinking they have to indulge Ronaldo. Rooney can do what Drogba does to a certain extent, because he's strong (When he's on form at least). Ronaldo can't if you smother him.
It's not like defenders charging into Ronaldinho and him slying round them. If you smothered him all game, he'd be able to do less than half of what he does, because as much as it may hurt you to hear, he's simply not as good as this season suggests. He's really good, but he's not that good.
It's not a coincidence that against most other teams Villa's defense is tenacious, and then against Man Utd's it becomes totally shambolic (Which it was, it wasn't Man Utd dissecting a well functioning Villa defense, at all). Same with Newcastle, same with Liverpool.
If you think Man Utd deserve credit for anything more than being successful and getting wins, then you are biased. They did the job, good luck to them, they came to retain their trophy and they probably have. Not without a fight, but they have. To say there's mostly no true to what I said is biased yourself. You ARE a Man Utd fan also.
-AC
Originally posted by Deathblow
I think that was mainly a press concoction, the Arsenal fading away thing. I never though they'd lose out on a top 4 place. Didn't think they'd play as well they did, but still.And Man United have played the best football (and have been much more clinical in the final third than Arsenal), consistently IMO. Tonight's and last weekend's games proved that.
Man Utd don't play great football that often. They are definitely the most clinical team. Before their recent ascent to the top, they were playing absolute shit football, but grinding out results.
im not saying he is going to get 35 goals a season for the rest of his life, im saying you're writing him off unjustly. people dont let him score, he goes and takes every goal he gets. hes not ronaldhino, hes not drogba and hes not kaka, hes a different type of player. yeah they smother him, then he pops up and scores another match winning goal. if kaka was closed down in every game like he was by flamini in milan then everyone wouldnt be singing his praises either, it happens to everyone sometimes. id take a goal in a tight game over a dribble around a player (which he can do as well) any day of the week. im not saying ronaldos the best player in the world, but hes better than you're giving him credit for.
to say the goal in lyon took no skill is plain stupid, he created space for himself where there was none to be had and blasted the ball into the net from a hard angle with his weak foot.
ronaldo scored a quick little goal at an important time and played a beautiful ball to tevez and two more decent ones to rooney. aston villa didnt roll over and let them win, man u won the game because they outplayed them.
no i agree, its not a coincidence, manchester presents different problems than arsenal and villa couldnt handle it. we played them better than arsenal did and we beat them comfortably. arsenal struggles against a team and all of a sudden its "they just dont try when they play man u, they tried harder when they played arsenal, everybody hates us, man u doesnt deserve the title". get over it, we beat them, you didnt. west ham beat us through two great balls into the box and two great headers, you dont see me bitching and moaning that they didnt do the same to arsenal in their respective game.
id give them credit for playing entertaining and attacking football as well. maybe i am a little biased, but im not being ridiculous.
newcastle rolled over to liverpool as well, i forgot about that. they're just a shitty team. they did pick it up against you, ill concede that. but it was the new manager and a big game to prove themselves more than it was anything else i think.
Originally posted by Phat J
im not saying he is going to get 35 goals a season for the rest of his life, im saying you're writing him off unjustly. people dont let him score, he goes and takes every goal he gets. hes not ronaldhino, hes not drogba and hes not kaka, hes a different type of player. yeah they smother him, then he pops up and scores another match winning goal. if kaka was closed down in every game like he was by flamini in milan then everyone wouldnt be singing his praises either, it happens to everyone sometimes. id take a goal in a tight game over a dribble around a player (which he can do as well) any day of the week. im not saying ronaldos the best player in the world, but hes better than you're giving him credit for.
You did actually say he was the best player in the world not long ago, you even said "Without a doubt." or something similar.
The difference is, Kaka' is genuinely one of the world's best, hard to deal with players. If you mark Ronaldo tightly, he actually won't have much luck. A.C. Milan proved that. That was the game Man Utd did try what you just said, and couldn't stop Kaka'.
He dribbles because, as any video evidence will show you, the defenders stand there and let him do his shit. It's not like people steaming into Ronaldinho and him just buzzing around.
Originally posted by Phat J
to say the goal in lyon took no skill is plain stupid, he created space for himself where there was none to be had and blasted the ball into the net from a hard angle with his weak foot.
What? The ball came loose in a scramble and he hit it home. He was silent all game.
Originally posted by Phat J
ronaldo scored a quick little goal at an important time and played a beautiful ball to tevez and two more decent ones to rooney. aston villa didnt roll over and let them win, man u won the game because they outplayed them.
Do you even watch the games? Ronaldo's goal was another gift, yet ANOTHER gift by a team who simply can do much better, but didn't, cos they psyched themselves out. It's fact, because look at teams who don't allow it. Tottenham, Derby, Arsenal, Man City.
Originally posted by Phat J
no i agree, its not a coincidence, manchester presents different problems than arsenal and villa couldnt handle it. we played them better than arsenal did and we beat them comfortably. arsenal struggles against a team and all of a sudden its "they just dont try when they play man u, they tried harder when they played arsenal, everybody hates us, man u doesnt deserve the title". get over it, we beat them, you didnt. west ham beat us through two great balls into the box and two great headers, you dont see me bitching and moaning that they didnt do the same to arsenal in their respective game.
I think you just read reports and decide how the game went by putting the pieces together in your mind, because so many times in recent memory, your views of the games have not added up. Not even when Man Utd or Arsenal are playing. You seem to either make enough of a blanket statement for it to be true, based on the score.
Villa were an utter mess, and it wasn't because of United. United outplayed a mess, they didn't make them a mess.
Originally posted by Phat J
id give them credit for playing entertaining and attacking football as well. maybe i am a little biased, but im not being ridiculous.newcastle rolled over to liverpool as well, i forgot about that. they're just a shitty team. they did pick it up against you, ill concede that. but it was the new manager and a big game to prove themselves more than it was anything else i think.
You aren't living in England so I will cut you the slack of not knowing just how rabid and intense the psychological cock-sucking is for Man Utd, but it happens. You just see them as the team you support, playing games, why would anybody be THAT intimidated? I can understand that, being Canadian.
Over here, it's absolutely ludicrous. Just now Match of the Day was ended with "Let's play the show out with the Ronaldo masterclass.". What did they show? A scuffed shot goal that came from an uncharacteristically loose Villa defense.
-AC
Originally posted by Phat Jto say the goal in lyon took no skill is plain stupid, he created space for himself where there was none to be had and blasted the ball into the net from a hard angle with his weak foot.
That makes it sound like a great goal. It was a scrambled tap-in.
Stop calling them Manchester, it sounds bad. Especially from a fan.
Originally posted by Alpha CentauriYou did actually say he was the best player in the world not long ago, you even said "Without a doubt." or something similar.
The difference is, Kaka' is genuinely one of the world's best, hard to deal with players. If you mark Ronaldo tightly, he actually won't have much luck. A.C. Milan proved that. That was the game Man Utd did try what you just said, and couldn't stop Kaka'.
He dribbles because, as any video evidence will show you, the defenders stand there and let him do his shit. It's not like people steaming into Ronaldinho and him just buzzing around.
What? The ball came loose in a scramble and he hit it home. He was silent all game.
Do you even watch the games? Ronaldo's goal was another gift, yet ANOTHER gift by a team who simply can do much better, but didn't, cos they psyched themselves out. It's fact, because look at teams who don't allow it. Tottenham, Derby, Arsenal, Man City.
I think you just read reports and decide how the game went by putting the pieces together in your mind, because so many times in recent memory, your views of the games have not added up. Not even when Man Utd or Arsenal are playing. You seem to either make enough of a blanket statement for it to be true, based on the score.
Villa were an utter mess, and it wasn't because of United. United outplayed a mess, they didn't make them a mess.
You aren't living in England so I will cut you the slack of not knowing just how rabid and intense the psychological cock-sucking is for Man Utd, but it happens. You just see them as the team you support, playing games, why would anybody be THAT intimidated? I can understand that, being Canadian.
Over here, it's absolutely ludicrous. Just now Match of the Day was ended with "Let's play the show out with the Ronaldo masterclass.". What did they show? A scuffed shot goal that came from an uncharacteristically loose Villa defense.
-AC [/B]
villa werent an utter mess until we were two nil up. it could have dropped to anyone in the box, but it dropped to ronaldo and he put it away. i dont know where you're getting this loose defense shit from, they were playing well until we scored. then it was down to the movement of tevez and a great ball from ronaldo, not loose defense.
i dont know what the **** you're talking about with the blanket statement thing, that was how the game went, were you watching a different one or something? the ball falls to players in the box all the time and they get their shots blocked, ronaldo happened to get his shot away quick enough and scored. it once again had nothing to do with "uncharacteristically loose defense".