Sam

Have to say it was nice of Falcao to pay such respect to Stevie G today. Slipped over non stop.

Surely climate in Manchester isn't too different to that in Holland.

Have a beer with me! Didn't think we stood a chance after the Scunthorpe match. Obviously the 3 points secured against Mykes team back in Jan were crucial.Cheers Myke

Goaaaaaaaaaaaaallllll! We've missed a penalty had Preston batter us for 10 odd minutes but are now 7 odd mins away from survival.

Carrick is the real captain of the team. I think with the role he plays that he has at least 2/3 more seasons left in him, however the number of injuries he's had this season makes me wonder. I'm sure Van Gaal will be signing his replacement this summer. Not sure who it'll be mind.

We're a one man team and his name is Michael Carrick. 35 points from 14 with him and 30 from 21 without him shows this. Just pathetic football today. I don't know why Van Gaal has switched back to cautious football again but it doesn't work.

We only need 8 points to secure it and that's provided Liverpool win all thier games. (They still have Stoke and Chelsea to play away and aren't exactly playing fantastically at the moment) I suspect we'll take 6 from the home games and draw the two away ones. Van Gaal and his capacity to do well in the big games should see us past Arsenal and I think WBA will have their flip flops back on now they've got their big win.

Rooney tackling his own players now... ....and he's injured himself doing that.

Just been a pathetic performance today; pass, pass, pass no penetration. Exactly the same as last season.

Just goes to show what an important job Carrick does for us. No surprise that we're a poorer team without him in it. Very slow and pedestrian today, thank god Liverpool drew yesterday.

I think it was a very clear onside to be honest. I mean you can see Benteke holding his run to be in line with the defender. I think Villa were very unlucky there. Could be a very costly mistake for them and goes to further highlight the poor standing of officiating in this league.

Hughes surely is the worst supporter we have in this thread :/

Stay of execution or great escape for Colchester United? Either way great win to keep alive! I thought the throwing away of 3 points last week had done us but we've still got hope.

I suspect he meant by coming to the champions and dominating possession. It's hard to break down a team that has most of their team back for the entire game and yet there were 3 chances we probably should have stuck away. The fact Chelsea's goal came from a foul says it all really. An unlucky match for us but not one we played poorly in. If we hadn't lost Carrick, Jones, Rojo and Blind I'm sure we would have won that game as we wouldn't have had Rooney playing deep and Falcao being Falcao. Our form from the last 4 games is very promising for next season and seeing the way Mourinho reacted to it shows us that we should be back up there competing for the title. Especially if we sign one more midfielder, defender and right back.

Such a boring match to watch. Not sure why Chelsea have set up so negatively against us. I mean we're playing Falcao for Christ sake!

And overpaid massively, compared to the norms of the time (and some of the deals Chelsea and Arsenal made that window. Robben for 7 mil and RVP for 2.75 mil). There was real fear that a Shearer situation would occur again. I think he's more than paid back that fee over the years though.

Spent more on Louis Saha that same season.

We spent £30 million on Rooney which is just a big as a gamble on an 18 year old. Thus £12 million in relative terms wasn't that much. Even more so when you consider the fee he was sold for. We also received £24 million for Beckham that summer.

Theoretically Newcastle should benefit from FFP as they have a bigger stadium than most premier league teams which should go some way to giving then decent revenue. Also only in the last season or so have United become this galatico buying team. Players like Ronaldo, Vidic, Evra weren't big names or prices before we signed them. We've spent more than Arsenal but we've always had a bigger income and stadium than them. On total money out Chelsea and City have spent more than us in the premier league era. I don't buy into this right time, right place stuff. They were a big club before the premier league albeit a sleeping giant.

What about the tea lady?

It's weird to see United being put in the same category as City, Chelsea and Blackburn when we earn our own money and have been one of the world's richest clubs for the past two decades, thus why we've spent quite a bit of money just like Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool. Surely the squad Fergie built with Giggs, Scholes etc. is more organic than Arsenal's French imports TCO?

I suppose they could bring a youngster through...

Completely agree. How on earth are City going to win another title if they can't spend hundreds of millions of their wealthy benefactors money? It's so unfair. Meanwhile those nasty clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United will be able to spend big because they've got big fanbases which isn't fair. How on earth will the likes of Southampton ever be competitive in this league? Also amazing win . Van Gaal is god. Big Bad City® United won their first trophies by spaffing money up the wall. As did Blackburn. As did Chelsea. But it's only disgusting when City do it. Clearly. Even Gary Neville has come out and said it's unfair on City and should be challenged. Where exaclty have I stated it's disgusting that City have done it? I can see why FFP is unfair to the smaller clubs but considering you're meant to be a big club now why is it unfair to you?

Completely agree. How on earth are City going to win another title if they can't spend hundreds of millions of their wealthy benefactors money? It's so unfair. Meanwhile those nasty clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United will be able to spend big because they've got big fanbases which isn't fair. How on earth will the likes of Southampton ever be competitive in this league? Also amazing win . Van Gaal is god. We're coming for you Arsenal

A mauling from Smalling XD