On A Positive Note

[Grob]

hughes was going ballistic at the sidelines because of the lack of shape as we were being dragged across the park. He was screaming for calm and communication...... but edge275 knows more than anyone of course

Maybe a name change to hindsight275 is in order??

[Lees Alter Ego]

We should only be positive from today, as long as we win our home games then defeats like that wont hurt our campaign. I Tevez was half fit, I think Ireland was to. Missing 3 strikers and still nearly nicked a point. Great character shwon today to come back form behind 3 times. top four is ours no problem.

[dikdik]

Agreed. Let's not forget we have been weakened by injuries and suspension. An honest referee and a 3-3 draw at the swamp would have been an excellent result.

[bluej]

If we can play as bad as that and score 3 goals at the swamp and nearly nick a point we must be heading in the right direction!

Add our injury list onto that and you're spot on. I don't think I've seen a team soak up that much pressure and still have the ability to go straight up the other end and score at OT.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

There are no fucking positives from this shit. Discount the fact we arseraped them in the first half and should have been in front. Discount the fact we equalised in proper injury time.

We are fucking doomed doomed DOOMED!!!


Why are you so positive KK. I am fucking gutted. We had those cunts.

Your happy clapping sometimes pisses me off well and good. Well done, I think you are starting to grow some balls. You can wind me up now. Slim's schooling has done world of good for you.

I even think that Carl and Hooty are secretly impressed with your recent work.

I'm also delighted to hear that some people are happy when we've lost the Derby. That's the fucking spirit.

[petrov]

We need to stop whinging about the ref and be realistic, we were poor in the 2nd half.

We bossed the first half without creating much but might of deserved a lead which is a positive.

2nd half we were hammered lucky to come home with a 4-3 as 6-3 would of being a fairer reflection. Had we not messed with the system and had DeJong played the 2nd half we'd of given them a game. We didn't deserve a point, we didn't get one. First half was positive, 2nd was awful which is what we've being like all season (Wolves, BBurn, Arsenal). We suck it up and move on.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I fully agree with that assesment. We didn't really deserve anything based on that second half performance.

That said it was much better than last season when they just strolled past us half arsedly.

[bluej]

Show me these happy people then?

I think there are just some people looking for positives, or are we banned from doing that now as well?

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Show me these happy people then?

I think there are just some people looking for positives, or are we banned from doing that now as well?

As well would indicate that you are banned to do something. What are you banned to do?

And I was talking to Darren there.

[Mike J]

There are no fucking positives from this shit. Discount the fact we arseraped them in the first half and should have been in front. Discount the fact we equalised in proper injury time.

We are fucking doomed doomed DOOMED!!!


Why are you so positive KK. I am fucking gutted. We had those cunts.

Your happy clapping sometimes pisses me off well and good. Well done, I think you are starting to grow some balls. You can wind me up now. Slim's schooling has done world of good for you.

I even think that Carl and Hooty are secretly impressed with your recent work.

I'm also delighted to hear that some people are happy when we've lost the Derby. That's the fucking spirit.

fucking hell u dont have go over board.

people are trying to take the positives from the game and rightly so. we were beaten by a cheating ref its simple. u are mad if you think anyone one on here is happy. yes it hurts right now but to be positive is a much better response.

[Dubaimancityfan]

Nooly I was going fucking ballistic at our inability to retain possession in the second half. However, we still should have had a fucking point. Bent fucking cunts.

I want to know why Hughes couldn't see what everyone else was seeing. We were under pressure for so long and he didn't do anything about it.

C'mon Edge, you're the fuckin Manager, what the fuck would you do?

Taken De Jong off and put Zabaleta on. Revert back to 4-3-3 with the ball and 4-5-1 without it same as we did the first half.

Put Weiss on for Ireland.

Nice shout, apart from Zabs for Schlong, that would do what? And Weiss for Ireland...sorry but thought Vlad was a wide player and we had SWP out there??????????????????????

Zabs should have come on for Ireland to try to regain the midfield which we lost in the 2nd half.
Also Weiss should have come on for SWP as we needed a player who could run with ball and keep it in their half which SWP was not doing.
And did you see where SWP was standing when the ball went to Owen !!! instead of being in our penalty area marking him.
Sunstitutions are also made to break up the rythem of the opposing team but MH made only 1. It was very clear that we were being killed on the wings by Valencia and Giggs, Zabs coming on would have made a lot of sense and also I would have brought on Sylvinho or Garrido to try to keep it at 2-2 with about 15 minutes left.

[mr_nool]

Nice shout, apart from Zabs for Schlong, that would do what? And Weiss for Ireland...sorry but thought Vlad was a wide player and we had SWP out there??????????????????????

Zabs should have come on for Ireland to try to regain the midfield which we lost in the 2nd half.
Also Weiss should have come on for SWP as we needed a player who could run with ball and keep it in their half which SWP was not doing.
And did you see where SWP was standing when the ball went to Owen !!! instead of being in our penalty area marking him.
Sunstitutions are also made to break up the rythem of the opposing team but MH made only 1. It was very clear that we were being killed on the wings by Valencia and Giggs, Zabs coming on would have made a lot of sense and also I would have brought on Sylvinho or Garrido to try to keep it at 2-2 with about 15 minutes left.[/quote]

Sort of agree with this. We started suffering the moment we went 4-4-2.

[ronk]

On a positive note, I went for a game of squash after the final whistle and I hit that ball seriously fucking hard.

Great way to get the frustration out.

We made life hard for ourselves with some bad mistakes, but we fought our way back. We played a clean game and didn't descend to their level.

2nd half we were trying too hard to hit them on the fast break when we should have held possession a little more and allowed our defence a respite from the pressure.

Depth was a real problem. Tevez wasn't 100% and faded as the game went on. Probably not unreasonable to keep him on knowing that he might still have the odd moment. Ireland too didn't have his usual engine. In hindsight maybe Zabaleta would have been a good replacement and maybe Sylvinho for Bridge, but who knows.

We had 3 fullbacks, 2 wingers (one with about 20 minutes of first team experience) and a striker who's never even sat on the bench before. Not a lot of tactical options. Having an outlet like Adebayor would have been crucial when we were struggling in the 2nd half. Even having another senior forward would have been so useful.

The bench hurt us today. They were able to replace Park, who'd run his guts off and been brilliant for them and put on a big money signing. We waited till 83 minutes to make our only substitution. Tough when we're not at peak fitness.

[Lev Bronstein]

Don't accuse me of being happy about losing to that lot - under any circumstances.

But, I go back to what I said in an earlier post. They were under more pressure than us today. Despite the fact that we were under the cosh for much of the second half, we battled away and always seemed to find a response. That was not the emphatic win that put us in our place. That was a last gasp saviour due to the indulgence of the referee. Anyone who thinks that Utd casually reasserted their "natural" dominance over us has spent the day on the Planet Zarg.

Sure, our defending was woeful - their's wasn't much better. (Chelsea must be rubbing their hands at today's performance). They had their established defence playing - ours is still a work in progress. You could argue that that's the best they have, but, ours has hardly played together and is bound to improve.

Listen carefully to the words coming from their camp, beneath the bluster their is the unmistaken smell of nervous relief.

We haven't got them by the balls yet, but the cold, iron hand of inevitability is slowly unzipping their flies.

[Ted Hughes]

Don't accuse me of being happy about losing to that lot - under any circumstances.

But, I go back to what I said in an earlier post. They were under more pressure than us today. Despite the fact that we were under the cosh for much of the second half, we battled away and always seemed to find a response. That was not the emphatic win that put us in our place. That was a last gasp saviour due to the indulgence of the referee. Anyone who thinks that Utd casually reasserted their "natural" dominance over us has spent the day on the Planet Zarg.

Sure, our defending was woeful - their's wasn't much better. (Chelsea must be rubbing their hands at today's performance). They had their established defence playing - ours is still a work in progress. You could argue that that's the best they have, but, ours has hardly played together and is bound to improve.

Listen carefully to the words coming from their camp, beneath the bluster their is the unmistaken smell of nervous relief.

We haven't got them by the balls yet, but the cold, iron hand of inevitability is slowly unzipping their flies.

Nicely put.

Agree apart from the bit about Chelsea's defence as I recon both they & the scousers are looking iffy at the back too. Spuds carved them open quite a few times today & were denied a definite pen at a crucial time. Makes for a potentially exciting season if everyone's better attacking than defending though.

[john68]

Lev,
As always, I love your thinking and relish your posts. Alongside Grob, you are the best poster on here by a mile. sadly, neither of you post nearly enough.

For my part, this season seems like '68. We lost the 1st derby at maine Road having murdered the rags in the 1st half. Were a team on the up and we were so near but at that point had just not reached them. It was only a matter of time and that time came after January. We destroyed them in the return fixture and that game was a landmark game in our history. It became the game that we/they/the football World knew we had not only reached them but overtaken them....they became the underdogs.

I had hoped that yesterday would prove to be that point again. It proved not to be but I know it is only a matter of time and that time will be very soon.

I too have sensed a high level of relief from rags. I don't think they are relishing paying us at Eastlands. The more intelligent of them are fully aware that it could be their moment of truth...and humiliation.

[david yearsley]

In my mind we just stopped believing for 20mins once we got to 2-2 - when it was 3-2 we realised that we were still in the game and went for it again - 3-2 would have been a fair result and I would have had no complaints had we not been able to respond those last 10 - it´s what happned after 94 that really sticks in the throat - he should be made completely unwelcome at our place EVER - a cheat if ever I saw one