Our Academy is better, and has been for a fair while. However, I wouldn't expect the national papers to acknowledge this. The better quality young players that United have brought through recently have all been hooked from other clubs at the age of 16/17. They have hardly done that much to improve the players, they are simply buying top, young talent.

What went wrong EE!



I don't think United have figured out playing with Berbatov properly yet. I also get the impression that Fergie is planning for war RE Ronaldo and trying to figure out a way to play without him when he goes, be it this summer or next.

Apart from workrate, which as you say, is imperative for all the top teams, United's players are all comfortable on the ball (even O'Shea) and can slot in several positions. Apart from Berbatov probably. Wednesday is going to be fascinating - looking forward to seeing if Ibrahimovic is any better in the flesh than he is on TV.

Which is precisely why Blatter wants to impose nationaility restrictions to prevent the likes of United and Arsenal doing that. Chelsea do it as well but they usually pick up crap (hello Franco Di Santo), or at least, they have done.

Are clubs still hampered from recruiting players from outside a certain catchment area?

I think most people acknowledge City's Academy as being one of the best in respect of local/English talent.

The likes of United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have simply got their foreign scouting network looking at youngsters as well as established players. When you think about it, they are a bit behind the times relative to Spain and Italy.

Unlike my dad, I refused to sell my soul. My dad was brought up in a Blue area too – Ardwick. I was very awkward and disagreeable. I will soon find out if it’s a trait that is in the genes.




TBF I think pretty much all of the first team players in the top 4 teams are comfortable with the ball. I wouldn’t say United’s players look more comfortable on the ball than those at Arsenal. However, West Brom’s players look comfortable on the ball but they are rubbish.

My opinion is that United and the rest of the top 4 are equally matched in pretty much all aspects of the game, but I think what has set them apart is the workrate.





We have signed two or three lads from the continent in the last few months. I’m not particularly happy about it but those clubs you listed above seem to have a majority of overseas players in the Academy.




I thought that there was some 60min or 90min rule. I’m not sure though – and I have too much on to bother Googling the answer)


Another thing that I find annoying at the moment is the number of overseas players in the lower leagues. I was watching a match the other week – a League One game – and a team had a Brazilian substitute goalkeeper. What a nonsense. So league 2 clubs have to go abroad to find players good enough to be on the bench?

I would imagine that comes down to the wages nthey command as well as transfer fees.

Look at the lower end of the SPL they have a fair amount of Europeans, I would wager the majority are from Eastern Europe too.

I'm not quite sure about that. The margins involved must be small, even for a lower league club. I just cannot imagine that there is a significant gulf between the wages paid to a homegrown player andthose paid to someone who comes fromn overseas. It's not as if many of these overseas players are any good. I have seen the equivalent and better playing in semi-pro.

Which brings me on to another issue:
5Live - always seem to have stupid debates and calls from the hand-wringing and guilt-ridden when I am cooking - are seemingly trying to encourage top-flight footballers and clubs to put their hands in their pockets to pay-off the debts of those lower league clubs close to financial ruin. Is it just me who has no sympathy for those clubs facing financial ruin?

The fans yes, the club no.

I'd go with:-

VDS
O'Shea
Rio
Vidic
Evra
Ronaldo
Scholes
Carrick
Park
Rooney
Tevez

The front two looked great on Saturday and should start together although I think SAF will leave Tevez on the bench and look to being him on if we are stuggling to break them down.

id go with that

i thought tevez had his best game last week for you

i hope he gets dropped for saturday tho

Can I assume you're listening to 'The Monday Night Club' with Mark 'Sanctimonious t**t' Saggers and his band of cronies? It's a good listen but only because of some of the crap they spout.

As for moribund clubs - I'm with Keith. I have some sympathy for the followers but not for the idiots in charge.

ferdinand set to play

I think it was last Thursday. Pretty much the same thing though. I actually quite like the football programmes on 5Live, especially when they have the more intelligent guests - Graham Taylor and Gab Marcotti. But you're right, there is a lot of nonsense spouted. I cannot listen to the programmes when Ian McGarry is a guest. To refer to him as my "least favourite journalist" would be flattering.

Saggers annoys me. He's a terrible interviewer. He interviewed Rodney Marsh at the time when we were linked to Kaka. His style of questioning and bias was a disgrace to journalism.




I'm with you and Keith. It's only the fans I sympathise with, although it wouldn't apply to Leeds.

Agree on both counts.

I work with a Liverpool fan who said last week that Manchester United didn't deserve to win anything this season because they haven't even been playing well. Lets just hope he finally gets to see us play well on saturday

36/1 for all the english teams to win their champions league games today/tomorrow? Worth a couple of quid?

thats good odds that

nal will spoil it tho

Well fooook me! 3 pages of sensible, interesting discussion. Here's what I think.

United and Liverpool players do work extremely hard. I think Liverpool players more so without the ball and United players with it. United hit teams hard by scoring a lot of goals (granted this season has been a little different). They do this by getting plenty of men forward into the box, quickly. Liverpool struggle in this department and consequently do not score as many as they should. Next subject.....


I can't remember who posted it but somebody said if United scored early against Inter it would force them to change their game plan......


I don't agree. Inter know they have to go to Old Trafford and score a goal at some point. If United score early, that scenario does not change. Inter still need to score a solitary goal. However, If Inter score early and United need to score 2 to win the tie, it should be a fantastic game to watch for the neutral.

As for the other ties, I can see Liverpool scoring again at home and I feel that will be enough. I also think Chelsea will score again and hang on to go through. Arsenal mmmmmmm........I think they may come unstuck in Rome.....not sure though.

As for your friend Mutt1, he obviously has his head up his butt!! Manchester United have played well enough to get to within touching distance of the league title before the end of March. If they can do that by not playing well then so be it

I didn't say anything about him being my friend the guys a class A to$$er



Our main problem is that we're everyones cup final so teams are happy to come to O/T park the bus to try and get one point from the champions. Only Hull, Stoke and West Brom have come to O/T and had a go this season but look at those three scorelines. Do you attack and leave space at the back for the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney to run at or do you park the bus and let 10 outfield players run at you for 90 minutes and just hope you don't concied

Counts, did you say...?

Don't all teams go to the likes of Old Trafford, Anfield and Stamford Bridge with a mindset of containment and try to get away with a tight 0 v 0 or 1 v 1???

When top 4 teams travel to other top 4 teams they also play a cagy game. It is more important to avoid defeat than to win the game it seems these days.....

That's the end of that then...

Cheers

I guess he is half right, in the sense that United actually haven't played that well. The whole "doesn't deserve to win" that he came out with is rubbish. If you win the league you deserve it. You are the best team in that league. It's not o black and white with cup competitions but you can never argue about whether or not a team deserves to win the league.

Well apart from Stamford Bridge, we didn't. Next!