Official Premier League 2009/10 thread

[therockbox]

Owen's out for the rest of the season, which just goes to show that even where injuries are concerned: form is temporary, class is forever.

And for anyone that wants a laugh, Henry Winter's having a bit of a breakdown on Twitter over it.

[Pesci]

Bosingwa's also going to need further knee surgery, but to be honest I wasn't really expecting him back for the rest of the season anyway. I've always had a high opinion of Ivanovic and he's done really well this season in Bosingwa's absence.

I love Ivanovic, I'd rate him ahead of Bosingwa but then I've always been a fan of sturdy right back types.

And lol, Henry Winter. What a cunt.

[stokeriño]

All Ivanovic needs is some practice with his crosses. Because Christ, they can be dire sometimes.

[stokeriño]

David Nugent, I love you.

*45 minutes later*

Not so thrilled now.

[Dynamite]

Our back four today reads Brown - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra. Unbelievably, this is the first time these four have played together since October 2008 .

[Shelty92]

Ugh, United fans chanting "Rooney!" just seconds after Berbatov had the ball. Sure, Berbatov ain't as good as him, but for fuck's sake, that ain't gonna help the guy do better. >_>

[HailtotheYo]

Yeah, Arsenal tried to fuck that up. Jeebus the rest of this season is going to be a pain in the ass.

[Scott McFly]

Our back four today reads Brown - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra. Unbelievably, this is the first time these four have played together since October 2008 .

Not really when you consider their injury history. And Brown's off at half time for just that

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

This is worrying. It's almost sickening that we can go to Milan and beat them, yet we're struggling to even score against WOLVES?

[Dynamite]

100 for Scholes! Thank god for that goal, it's been a really dire performance so far.

[Shelty92]

A pretty frustrating game to watch and a real testiment to the fact that right now, apart from Rooney, we don't have a solid enough striker available. We were lucky that Wolves don't have real quality finishers up front, 'cause otherwise they could have easily won.

Oh well. 3 points in the bag, 100 league goals for Scholes and back on top of the league, so it turned out pretty well after all.

[Baddar]

I knew we wouldn't play well today when I found out Berbatov would be on his own up front. He drifts way too much into midfield/out wide. Rooney's the same, but at least he gets back into the box in a hurry. Berba goes in at his own pace.

It wouldn't have been so bad if we had Giggs as an option to play off of him. I just hope Rooney is back for the next game.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

While disappointed to lose Michael Owen for the season, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased to report that Federico Macheda is ready to resume training.

Macheda was about to start training again after a recent injury, which given Owen's injury and the fact Danny Welbeck has joined Preston on loan until the end of the season, could offer United a solution to their striker problems.

"They are dropping off at the moment but we have got some encouragement with players coming back," said Ferguson.

"Macheda starts training with the first team again next week which is also good news, particularly considering the loss of Michael.

"He is a good player to have back.

"So we have had some disappointments with some, and light at the end of the tunnel with other players."

Macheda has finally recovered

[TCO]

Great the most over-rated young player to ever grace the Premier League is coming back. I really don't understand why people rate him so highly one good goal and another fluke and he's superman. From what I've seen of him he's been nothing but average and Welbeck looks like the much better prospect.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Great the most over-rated young player to ever grace the Premier League is coming back. I really don't understand why people rate him so highly one good goal and another fluke and he's superman. From what I've seen of him he's been nothing but average and Welbeck looks like the much better prospect.

How he's the most overrated player I'll never know. Actually the only person who EVER overrated him here was me to be quite frank. The fact is that he's a young player with great potential. I've said from day one he's got a style familiar to what Totti did and if he can just find a bit more pace, he could really be a promising player. Nobody came in here and overrated him, it's just a boost to have another striker in the frame. Owen is out, Rooney has a slight niggle, Giggs is out and that basically leaves just Berbatov. Having Macheda come back in the frame is great news, it again gives him the chance to gain experience and gives us a second option. And for the record, it wasn't a 'good' goal, it was spectacular

To add to that, he wasn't ever overrated either. A fuss was made because he arguably saved us in a title winning game last season, that moment deserves to be fussed over. It's a shame you'd decide to judge him off of about three or four games.

Edited March 7, 2010 by JohnnyPerfect

[Adam]

I'm with TCO. He was raved about after those two goals last season, one of which was a complete accident, and yet every time I've seen him he's been really average. I don't see why everyone keeps talking him up, I doubt he's gonna be one of the leading strikers at Man Utd in the coming years.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

I'm with TCO. He was raved about after those two goals last season, one of which was a complete accident, and yet every time I've seen him he's been really average. I don't see why everyone keeps talking him up, I doubt he's gonna be one of the leading strikers at Man Utd in the coming years.

Again, where is this 'everybody is talking about him' coming from? Not many people have mentioned him as of late. At the time they made a rave about it, because it was a huge moment. He's played about five first team games, I don't see how you can just class him as average and overrated on that basis if you haven't really even seen him properly. Nobody has even said he's great, they've just noted how he has potential, which he clearly does. It'll all depend on the chances he gets and whether or not he takes them from here on. He's spoken well of at United, so there's every chance he could have a future at the club.

[Crybaby Bunting]

The thing is, if he really was as great as his two or three showings last season he'd have played more first team games this season.

When he's behind Owen in the pecking order, surely he's not as good as people make him out to be.

This isn't really being that critical... but if SAF of all people doesn't believe he's good enough to play cup games (to be fair, he has half an excuse this season ) then he's really not going to develop into anything special.

He just stands out as one of those players where an Italian side will be naive enough to spend a couple of million on in the near future whilst SAF laughs his way to the bank.

[TCO]

I never said EWB overrates him, I meant that the press and most Man Utd fans I've heard/known have praised him to no end, for what was one good goal and one that deflected off him. From all indications apart from that 30 seconds against Villa, he hasn't shown any indication of possesing anything remotely near world class ability, but I guess time will tell and a loan move to a good Championship would do him good IMO, even there I don't think he'd score that often, but it would be the litmus test.

The guy just reeks of a guy who'll move to someone like Bolonga in a few years and never be heard from again. All of this would be a moot point if United had kept Gisueppe Rossi who has become a better player than Macheda can ever dream of being.

To sum up he's more of a James Vaughan than a Wayne Rooney.

Oh and instead of marking posts down, who don't you people, you know respond to my post.

[Age Of The Lariat]

I mostly agree you with about Macheda. He's shown glimpses of real class and raw ability, but struggles for consistency in full games. I think he will become good enough to start for United in a few years, and agree a loan move to a lower-Premiership or Championship club where he plays every week would be a true test of his talent, as you say. I'm not feeling the Wellbeck praise though. I do think he's a very good player but when I watch him play there just seems to be something missing with him, and I'd put him on par with Frazier Campbell when he was having cameos with United.

Edited March 7, 2010 by Age Of The Lariat