A Certain Shade of Red - Manchester United

retired_rassoulis · 08-08-2007, 08:11 AM

"... Should we get started?"

The skeleton of the crew who would be in the matchday squad for the game against Lille all sat up straight, ears *****ed up waiting for some incredible pearls of wisdom

"I'm sure you've all met our New tactical coach Piet Schollen? And before you ask, I am capable of telling you my tactics myself, indeed, that's what I am going to do; but Piet s going to describe the finer points of all your roles. The formation we are going to use is the formation which was used against Charlton today 3 at the back with a sweeper behind, a Defensive Midfielder, A central midfielder- who may find himself pushed into a second striker-esque role- 2 wingers and 2 strikers. Are we clear on the basics of the formation?"

"Yes Sir!"

"How many times must I say? just call me Ross"

"Sure thing Ross"

"Now Piet; If you would be so kind as to brief the team on the more complex points of this formation"

"Yes Ross."

"Ok boys, This formation has been chosen be me, Ross and Carlos Querioz for a number of reasons: Number one, If we need to fall back and defend, the formation can change from a 4-1-1-2-2 Into an ultra Defensive 6-1-2-1 or into a more attacking 4-1-2-3 with 3 centre forwards and two wingers. Number two, with Ryan And Cris on the wings, we've got one of the fastest, most skilled wing pairing in Europe, this lets us utilise that with whoever ends up playing Centre Midefield slipping into an Attacking midfield/Shadow Striker Role. finally,With Gareth and Cristian Zaccardo in the Wide defensive roles, we're in a better position to break quickly, without leaving ourselves too exposed, thanks to Gary and Rio standing fast in the centre of defense. is everyone clear?"

I hoped they were, Piet was a tactical genius, but by God he was dull, most coaches could put it across with energy, but Piet's monotone could bore you to tears if you listened to it for too long. Luckily, everyone got the message, everyone knew their roles, and knew in the back of their minds that if they performed like the did in Munich, there'd be hell to pay... My starting lineup for the Lille game had been decided in advance, and luckily, there were no injuries to force me to change it...

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">4th in English Premier Division| Pkd | Name | Position | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || GK | Edwin van der Sar | GK | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || SW | Rio Ferdinand | D C | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || DR | Cristian Zaccardo | D R | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || DL | Gareth Bale | D L | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || DC | Gary Neville | D RC, WB R | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || DMC | Michael Carrick | M C | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || MC | José Sosa | AM/F C | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || AMR | Cristiano Ronaldo | AM RL | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || AML | Ryan Giggs | AM LC | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || FC | Louis Saha | ST | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || FC | Wayne Rooney | AM/F C | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || S1 | Wang Dalei | GK || ------------------------------------------------------------- || S2 | Wes Brown | D RC | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || S3 | John O'Shea | D RLC | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || S4 | James Keene | AM/F C | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || S5 | Patrice Evra | D/WB L | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || S6 | Roberto | DM | | ------------------------------------------------------------- || S7 | Eddie Johnson | ST | | ------------------------------------------------------------- |</pre>

retired_rassoulis · 08-08-2007, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Real Radio Football Phone in - Wed 27 September

"You're listening to the Ewan and Roughy on thReal Radio Football Phone-in 100 to 101 FM and on Setanta Sports until 8 o'Clock. as is usual when we're on Setanta, we're Joined by Keith Jackson. Roughy, you've been boning up on your European football since Celtic's Champions League group revealed, Who would you say are the main players in CSKA Moscow's Line-up?"

"Ewan, you're the one who worships Hearts of Lithuania, you should be aware of the talent in the old eastern bloc."

"Roughy, shut it, we've brought in Ian Black and Sharbel Touma, who've you brought in?"

"Never mind who we've bought, who sold Scotland's number one for half what he's worth?"

"We did, 5 million, good money, who have Man Utd. bought from you?"

"nobody"

"exactly so wheesht; let's go to Steven in Manchester, HELLO STEVEN!"

" Hi boys, and can I say something before I go on to my main point?"

"Aye Go ahead Steven"

" 5m for Gordon was a steal mate, he'll double in value in a few years"

"Aye Aye, just get on to yer point"

" I was at the Man United Lille game last night, and can I just say; the team that played last night put the squad who played Bayern to shame, Young Gareth Bale made Pat Evra look like a sub for my local pub team. Bale's only 17, 8 years younger than Evra and he showed Evra up something awful. Young Jose Sosa's going to be an incredible player in a few years; he slots right into that half position behind the strikers like a young, less volatile Paul Scholes, He's a great signing. Well chuffed about the fact that we managed to thrash Lille 3-1, a great result for a squad with an average age of 24"

"Roughy, Bale looks like he's Silvestre's long term replacement, part of Ross Delany's summer spending spree; how would you have felt with him playin in front of ye'?

"The boy Bale's got a lot of potential, if Man Utd can nourish it, they've got a superstar on their hands, same with Zaccardo and Sosa"

"Steven, what do you think of Delany and his signings?"

"Where to begin? Gareth Bale, Leighton Baines, Zaccardo, Corluka, Sosa, Cardenas, Wang Dalei, who looks a great prospect, and the best signing of all, Gordon for 5 million, a steal Ewan, Romanov can't be that good with money, Gordon should've been more than that"

" Out of all of them, who do you think's your best players?"

"Cardenas is one for the future, he's over at Antwerp just now and thriving, he'll come back to old trafford as a wonderkid, Eddie Johnson from Kansas City is a great player, a good backup striker, and a good super sub like Solskjaer was in his prime. The who are automatic picks in my book already are Gareth Bale and either Vedran Corluka or Cristian Zaccardo in defense, both rock solid and both able to ping the ball up to Giggsy and Ronaldo, as Lille found out to their cost."

"So you think Delany's got it right?"

"Without a doubt, he was shaky at first, but there's no doubt that he's got skill in the managerial side of things, building a side based on youth"

"A bit like Arsenal?"

"Exactly, he's got a squad large enough to play 2 different First teams"

" OK, Thanks Steven, After the break we'll be hearing from Mark in Knightswood, Callum in Greenock and Alan in Ibrox, don't go anywhere"

"Ewan."

"Roughy?"

"Gordon was a steal at 5million"

"ok, we're going to the break now while I strangle Roughy"

*Real Radio Jingle*

retired_rassoulis · 08-08-2007, 09:37 PM

Quote:

The News of the World - 1st October

Roeder Dismisses United title challenge

In a press conference yesterday, Glenn Roeder spoke about his stance on the "Man United title charge", speaking to assorted press, Roeder said "I don't know what's in the water at Old Trafford, but they can't be thinking straight if they think they've got a chance of winning the Premiership this season. They're not exactly setting the heather on fire with their performances, 2 wins against 2 average sides, a sound thrashing by Munich and a draw against Tottenham, it's hardly groundbreaking. No, i'm afraid that this year, as per usual, Man Utd fans have worked the themselves into a frenzy and we're not even into into October yet. one thing's for sure, their unbeaten run in the Premiership will be coming to an end on Moday, and at our hands" Some may question the right of Roeder to make such a comment considering his Newcastle united team are languishing in 14th, only ahead of newly promoted Watford on goal difference. Delany's reaction to Roeder's comments was, short, sharp and concise.
"I sometimes wonder if Glenn is on the same planet, his Newcastle side got dumped out of europe by Maccabi Haifa, and he thinks he has a chance of beating us on Monday? perhaps Glenn should wake up and pour himself a strong coffee, he must be dreaming."

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> totalbet.com odds NewU vs ManU 2nd octoberMan Utd win - 4-5 (fav)Newcastle Utd win - 3-1Draw - 2-1</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Ladbrokesodds NewU vs ManU 2nd octoberManU Win: 13-15 (Fav)NewCastle Win: 7-2Draw: 3-2ManU to win 3 - nil, Bale to score first: 25-1</pre>

The bookies' odds told the story, losing was not an option at all. The team who played Lille would all be playing, since I feel I may have found my first XI at long last, and ournext objective was to wake Glenn Roeder and the football world up to the NEW FACE OF English football.

retired_rassoulis · 08-08-2007, 11:58 PM

"Putting Vidic back into the squad didn't work"

"Don't remind me, I'll be moving Rio back into the sweeper role with Gary where he was against Lille"

It was true, Vidic, and Carrick as well, had an awful game. 3-2 was flattering Newcastle to say the least. Ameobi and Obafemi Martins kept newcastle in it with their pace, Ameobi's goal was, admittedly, a brilliant piece of quick passing play right from the kick-off after Wayne scored our first. Martins' was a horrendous mistake from Vidic, who headed the ball back to Van Der Sar, only for martins to reach it first and tap it in to make it 2-2, we needed a miracle, and we needed to rest Rooney a bit.

"Ross, I think you should put Eddie on"

Carlos didn't usually tell me to make substitutions unless they're needed, so Eddie was told to get readdy to go on...

...he blew them away, Eddie linked up much better with Louis Saha, and their combned pace could leave 100m sprinters behind, Shay Given kept Newcastle in it until the 70th minute; when the link between Louis and Eddie telled, a beautiful piece of passing between them to allow saha into the box, a great pass from Eddie Johnson, and a first time strike from Louis made it 3-2, and that's how it stayed. we could have scored more, but we were happy with what we had, 3 points and the gap closing on Chelsea, we would be going to Villa on Saturday, and Turkey a few days after, which is playing on my mind, to push on in the Premiership, or to play a second string to leave my first eleven fit for Galatasaray... at least I had just under a week to think about it..."

A Certain Shade of Red - Manchester United

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A Certain Shade of Red - Manchester United