Comments on: Comparing Carling Cup Squads – Arsenal vs Chelsea vs Liverpool vs Manchester United

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:27:04 +0000

iqnadirshah – i hope that’s sarcasm otherwise you need to put down the pipe and start READING

PM – i’ll promise to come over and watch a game live with you if you can manage to read this article again and tell me what I’m saying. I’ve given Arsenal due credit (a lot, actually), have said that Coventry outplayed United, and as far as the rest of it goes, I’d disagree but then it’s a matter of opinion, not based on facts

Seriously guys, I appreciate the feedback, but if you’re not going to read AT ALL and comment on your hallucinations, then…there’s not much point in you talking, eh?

By: PM

PM — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 11:13:07 +0000

Ahmed,

Your article is not indepth analysis, you must start watching matches, preferrably live on the ground, rather than watch some clips and comment on the quality of game play.

I find it hard to understand why do you not give Liverpool and Arsenal the credit they deserve?

Honestly as much good as a team Man U are, they are playing rubbish football at the moment. And why not say Coventry outplayed Man U? Thats the reality. Also why not just accept the future for Man U is not rosy, either on the field and off it as well.

By: iqnadirshah

iqnadirshah — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 11:08:48 +0000

What a ****ed up article. Once again it is ‘why man u lost’ or ‘we lost but it would have been the same if chelsea,liverpool or arsenal had played in our spot’. Honestly Ahmed, your loyalty is so warped………….

By: KyleAusGooner

KyleAusGooner — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 05:16:47 +0000

Well Obviously we do not have the ‘most skilled’ or ‘star-filled’ Carling Cup sides but hey e showed what we could do ast season beating a full-stregnth Spur side (See, They are totally shit puds cannot even bat a buunch of 19 year-old kids!, Maybe the Under 11′s Girls Side might just loseto Spuds.. if the girls had no keepr and 3 players!) But we only ust lost to a Chelsea side with the likes of Lampard, Cech, Drogba etc. 2-1..

Carling Cup should and will be ours in 2007!

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:59:34 +0000

I was so busy staring at the pic up top that I…oh, never mind, you know how us United fans are, we think we deserve to win the title. No wait, that’s Arsenal. We just think it’s our year…no, wait, that’s Liverpool. We actually think we’re special, no, wait, they’re not special anymore, are they?

By: LiamOKelly

LiamOKelly — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:28:10 +0000

Ahmed it’s 9 titles with a 10th on the way

By: Frankie

Frankie — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:22:30 +0000

The real point is that Alex Ferguson got it badly wrong on the night. He played too inexperienced a team against Coventry. Another experienced defender was needed and at least one good striker. To start a home cup tie against a Championship team with one striker up front, and an inexperienced one at that (Dong!) showed an excess of confidence on SAF’s part that the team and formation that he put out could do the job. My only surprise is that SAF was “surprised” by the poor performance of the youngsters as a team. His scathing criticism of the team afterwards sounded a lot like a bad workman (on this occasion) blaming his tools.

It was unfair on the youngsters to chuck them together and just hope it would work on the night. Even in pre-season friendlies SAF took pains to make sure that his sides were balanced between youth and experience (e.g. remember the night United played two teams: one in Ireland and the other in Scotland). Why not do something similar for the Coca Cola cup? These boys simply did not have the physical presence or desire to stand up to the strapping hardened professionals of the lower league side.

The real problem for United underlying all of this is that the club are desparately short of experienced match-fit strikers. SAF probably felt that he couldn’t take a chance on playing the likes of Rooney, Tevez or Saha in the Coventry game with important premiership and Champions League games coming up. The gulf in class between that group and the likes of Dong and Campbell is just too great. What really stood out on the night against Coventry, was United’s complete lack of fire-power. Struggling to score goals has been the one of the stories of their season so far.

By: Red Desire

Red Desire — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:16:27 +0000

Quest asked: Another thing I want to bring to attention: The list of acadamy players who are either playing in Arsenal or other clubs and national teams at various age groups:

Fran merida, Henry Lanisbury, Gavin hoyte, Justin hoyte, Steve sidwell, Ashley cole, Johan Djourou, Fabrice Muamba, Sebastian Larsson, Arturo Lupoli, Nicklas Bendtner, Jermaine Pennant, David Bentley, Jeremy alliadire to name a few are academy graduates in the recent years.

How many have ManU academy has produced?

ANSWER:

currently at OT – Eagles, O’Shea, Scholes, Giggs, Gary Neville, Brown, Fletcher, Bardsley, Evans, Simpson
Jones @ Derby
Higginbotham @ Sunderland
Butt @ Newcastle
Spector @ West Ham
McShane @ Sunderland
Richardson @ Sunderland
Savage – Blackburn
Phil Neville – Everton
not to mention Beckham (not in Prem now obviously)

Now what was your point again.

Wenger pays through the nose for his youngsters Denilson, Eduardo et al. I am not criticising that in itself, but the blind eulogies of “look at all the young talent Arsenal have produced…” need qualifying.

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:41:57 +0000

comparing how much the players cost has nothing to do with their talent or ability, all it proves is that United played two of their latest recruits, both of whom have the potential to be world class players. Oh, and it probably makes Arsenal fans happier to see that they don’t spend money to win. More power to you.

Do you see me shoving the 10 Premier League titles in anyone’s face? No. Try focusing on the discussion as opposed to introducing tangents which serve to prove points we’ve already agreed on (that Arsenal spend less and still have a great pool of talent) and which have no relevance on the current question.

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:34:14 +0000

kixzon – do you understand the difference between ‘playing together regularly as a team’ and ‘being thrown in at the far end of the pool with no experience’?

The Carling Cup matches were no indication of quality of players.