Manchester United Blog | The Stretty Rant

It is that time of the season again when we all get ready for a ‘friendly’ game that is the traditional season opener after a summer starved of Manchester United. Sure, the season doesn’t really kick off until that Monday night fixture against newly promoted Newcastle United, however there isn’t a Red that won’t be getting excited about the new season. Sunday’s fixture against Chelsea won’t give an indication of who will win the league, however it will be nice to get one over the South London side who have failed to win any of their last three friendly matches.

Continue reading Manchester United vs. Chelsea Community Shield Preview

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Having signed a new one year extension to his contract, Paul Scholes gave a masterclass today at Eastlands, showing there is much more to offer in those aging legs. His late headed winner was priceless considering the events that would unfold at White Hart Lane in the evening. Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for Scholes, who made his debut in the League Cup some sixteen years ago (scoring twice I might add), stating that he was the best player on the park. Other than getting the winner, Scholes was immense throughout the course of the game – always showing from the fullbacks to pick up and the ball and turning to switch play. Both Tevez and Adebayor ignored our number 18, who set the tempo throughout the course of the afternoon.

Continue reading Paul Scholes masterclass in passing drives United on

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I think it is fair to say that Antonio Valencia has been a hit since signing from Wigan Athletic in the summer for a fee believe to be in the region of £16Million and £18Million. He has notched up six goals for us and an impressive 11 assists so far. I’m not even going to suggest that he was bought as a direct replacement for Ronaldo, as it is unfair to compare the two – however, his athleticism, crossing and positioning have helped United create more of a balance, whilst providing Wayne Rooney with a number of goal scoring chances. Looking back at the 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge it dawned on me how quiet and pushed back Ashley Cole was due to the attacking position that Valencia occupied for most of the game. With Cole injured, Yuri Zhirkov has stepped in of late to fill the void – could Zhirkov’s attack minded approach play into the hands of our Ecuadorian winger?

Continue reading Antonio Valencia is key to our success against Chelsea

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Fair play to Nani, who was rewarded today with a four year deal after putting in some superb performances since returning to the starting lineup in January. I honestly thought, as i’m sure most of you did, that Nani was on his way in the transfer window. However, his performances against Arsenal and Liverpool were top class and the Portuguese winger was today rewarded with a four year contract, keeping him at the club until June 2014.

Continue reading Luis Nani signs contract after great improvement

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Wherever Nemanja Vidic ends up next season, there is no doubt we have been in the company of one of the best defenders in Europe over the past five years. Strong, commanding and brave – Vidic has become a fans favourite for his no nonsense approach and quality that he has shown alongside Rio Ferdinand. Both Ferdinand and Vidic have been dogged by injuries all season, but against Liverpool today they played in their fourth successive game this season – something Ferguson hasn’t been able to do all season. The press tried to bill Nemanja Vidic as a blundering fool when faced with the task of marking Fernando Torres – however he showed his class with a solid performance that demonstrated his importance to the side in the 2-1 victory over Liverpool.

Continue reading Nemanja Vidic shows his class against Fernando Torres

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After the 3-2 victory over AC Milan three weeks ago in the San Siro, Rafael came under some fierce criticism for his naive performance against Ronaldinho. The 2004 & 2005 World player of the year gave our young right back a big lesson, which will no doubt be of valuable experience to the lad as he develops even further. Firstly, my personal opinion was that Rafael did ok, although I believe he was at fault for not thumping the ball down the pitch just before Seedorf scored Milan’s second. However, as we approach kick off time, I wanted to look at the positions of both fullbacks in the previous game and their potential roles tonight.

Continue reading How does Rafael deal with Ronaldinho?

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There is no doubt that Dimitar Berbatov is a fine footballer who is capable of genius at times.  However, there is no doubt that there is an element of frustration around Old Trafford when Bulgaria’s top  goalscorer ever gets into a strop and throws his hands up in the air.  His hefty price tag hasn’t helped, considering we would have got him for around £10 million less had Manchester City not come in for him – but I think we’d all agree that we all gawped at the £30.75 million fee was a tad too much.  This blog looks at his movement, passes and goals against former United strikers.

Continue reading Is Dimitar Berbatov running out of time?

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Although at the Stretty Rant we concentrate on issues involving United – we do like to engage in debates over other aspects of the beautiful game. I got a royal ROASTING in the ‘Ferguson criticism blog‘ the other week. Some justified, some total bullshit – but it got people talking about the tactics Ferguson adopted against Fulham. I for one would never promote a three man defense – although I do adhere to a 4-3-3 shifting to a 3-4-3 if you have the players when attacking. So what do you make of the decline of the 3-5-2? Or is the 3-5-2 alive and kicking as it was back in 1986 when Carlos Bilardo (pictured above) shocked the footballing world with the removal of two wingers?

Continue reading The decline of 3-5-2 in modern football

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Yolkie and I have been discussing the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last night in depth and we’ve both got conflicting views on the events at Old Trafford.  I generally feel that we just had a bad day at the office, even though United didn’t play that badly.  Yolkie feels that, Giggs aside, we’re missing a creative spark from midfield, whilst many first team players are simply going through the motions.  We are going to try and have at least one ‘Stretty debate’ every month, which looks at a conflict of opinion.  We encourage you to get involved, pick a side and join in the discussion!

Continue reading Stretty debate: Villa performance poor or blip?

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I am in the process of migrating everything across from the old website to the new layout – I know i’m useless in terms of time scales. The article has received some great praise from around the web – including The Times. I’m going to store this under ‘old posts’ (new category) but I believe the arguments are still valid when assessing the pros and cons of either setup.

Date of publication: December 2006

Continue reading Zonal Vs. Man Marking

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