FA Cup & League are just qualifiers for the Charity Shield

[sandman]

The heats don’t matter, It’s the final that counts, and of course it’s a credible trophy.

Some have the mindset that its just a glorified pre season friendly that makes absolutely no odds whatsoever but I think that is ridiculous.

There is no way that Chelsea could have taken this too lightly, after all what was the point in working so hard through the heats (League and FA Cup) if you’re not going to put out your best side in the final. I am sure that they left their best striker (Drogba) out of the starting line up because of his lack of experience, this talk of resting him and other first teamers is just ludicrous.

In fact I reckon they should play their reserves in the Champions League this year so that they are not too fatigued for next years charity shield.

Discuss…

[Beeks]

One thing this little pre season game proved is that unlike what a lot of City fans would like to have us believe

The rags are far from a spent force

[sandman]

Ha ha, that match meant absolutely nothing, its a long season and I have a feeling they will be 4th.

Chelsea are the best team in the country.

Arsenals young squad were not far behind last year and now have another years experience.

City are City... Enough Said.

Scum are ageing and while they managed to play well with their first team yesterday, they no longer have the squad to compete in all competitions all year, their decent players will be streched far to far and they cannot rely on subs with too many old giffers on the bench. Plus Rooney has an internal demons that I believe will hamper him this season, if not he'll get overused again and get injured... again. By the end of the year they will have half a squad retired, several 1st team players injured through over use, they have no money in the bank to replace them and no prize money to repay the Glazers annual salary.

[Dubciteh]

One thing this little pre season game proved is that unlike what a lot of City fans would like to have us believe

The rags are far from a spent force

i actually agree, as per usual i have wrote scholes and giggs off like i do every year and yet again it looks foolish, sooner these guys retire or die along with fergie it will be easier for us...

[paulh]

they certainly dont look a spent force but if they suffer any injuries early on they will be screwed due to lack of strength in depth with current long term injuries.

[Ted Hughes]

One thing this little pre season game proved is that unlike what a lot of City fans would like to have us believe

The rags are far from a spent force

They look miles ahead of everyone pre season. Once again, whatever the eventual outcome, Ferguson has outclassed his managerial opponents by getting his team prepared better, seeing the advantage that could give in this weird post WC shambles. Whilst everyone else is complaining about the World Cup & moaning about the players going away for friendlies, he's got the players available to him working in a system they understand ready for the rest to join. Exactly what we should have been doing. They look 100% ready for their 1st game. (2nd one could be interesting, so they need it!)

Lucky for us, our squad is so much better than theirs, because pre season they're way ahead of us in everything & have been since losing that one game. That's the level we need to reach for next season.

[Im_Spartacus]

One thing this little pre season game proved is that unlike what a lot of City fans would like to have us believe

The rags are far from a spent force

They look miles ahead of everyone pre season. Once again, whatever the eventual outcome, Ferguson has outclassed his managerial opponents by getting his team prepared better, seeing the advantage that could give in this weird post WC shambles. Whilst everyone else is complaining about the World Cup & moaning about the players going away for friendlies, he's got the players available to him working in a system they understand ready for the rest to join. Exactly what we should have been doing. They look 100% ready for their 1st game. (2nd one could be interesting, so they need it!)

Lucky for us, our squad is so much better than theirs, because pre season they're way ahead of us in everything & have been since losing that one game. That's the level we need to reach for next season.

United had 6 players at the world cup, surely an all time low number of players in a major tournament for them, and possibly the reason we will see United out of the blocks well, wheras in the past it is fair to say that United have often had a rotten start possibly due to the strains of tournament football.

Chelsea had 12 players at the world cup who have only recently returned to training.

I would say it is natural to see United in front of Chelsea at the moment in terms of preparation, just like Sporting were miles ahead against us. I'd still be fairly relaxed about Chelsea's chances despite yesterday.

[BlueinBosnia]

The heats don’t matter, It’s the final that counts, and of course it’s a credible trophy.

Of course it is. As it's the only trophy we've won 3 times (apart from the Thomas Cook trophy), it must be the reason we have 3 stars above our badge...

[Ted Hughes]

One thing this little pre season game proved is that unlike what a lot of City fans would like to have us believe

The rags are far from a spent force

They look miles ahead of everyone pre season. Once again, whatever the eventual outcome, Ferguson has outclassed his managerial opponents by getting his team prepared better, seeing the advantage that could give in this weird post WC shambles. Whilst everyone else is complaining about the World Cup & moaning about the players going away for friendlies, he's got the players available to him working in a system they understand ready for the rest to join. Exactly what we should have been doing. They look 100% ready for their 1st game. (2nd one could be interesting, so they need it!)

Lucky for us, our squad is so much better than theirs, because pre season they're way ahead of us in everything & have been since losing that one game. That's the level we need to reach for next season.

U***d had 6 players at the world cup, surely an all time low number of players in a major tournament for them, and possibly the reason we will see U***d out of the blocks well, wheras in the past it is fair to say that U***d have often had a rotten start possibly due to the strains of tournament football.

Chelsea had 12 players at the world cup who have only recently returned to training.

I would say it is natural to see U***d in front of Chelsea at the moment in terms of preparation, just like Sporting were miles ahead against us. I'd still be fairly relaxed about Chelsea's chances despite yesterday.

We had most of last season's players available. We chose to experiment & treat it purely as a fitness program, the rags slotted all their players into their usual formation & after 2 games they were in business, whoever played, they played together. We changed through about 6 formations whilst using 20 odd players & looked confused.

The rags never miss a trick. They seek out every single advantage they can get. It's in their blood. For years they've been acting whilst we've been sleeping. They've been doing us at short corners for 20 odd years for example; we never see it until it's too late. It's stuff like that which wins them leagus above better teams. Now, they know that other teams are catching them, so they're looking for a head start. Mancini was complaining that we're not ready but 'all the other teams are the same'. Not the rags. They're sorted. I recon we'll give them a real scare this season because we have better players who also have the self belief we've lacked in the past, but there's still a lot we can learn from them & taking every advantage you can get, is one big lesson.

[ashton287]

I agree with ted, but i think it's all down to fergie. Sucks but mancini isnt on his level but neithers is other manager in the world. The scum won't be spent until that sneeky old cunt is dead and buried.

[gillie]

The heats don’t matter, It’s the final that counts, and of course it’s a credible trophy.

Some have the mindset that its just a glorified pre season friendly that makes absolutely no odds whatsoever but I think that is ridiculous.

There is no way that Chelsea could have taken this too lightly, after all what was the point in working so hard through the heats (League and FA Cup) if you’re not going to put out your best side in the final. I am sure that they left their best striker (Drogba) out of the starting line up because of his lack of experience, this talk of resting him and other first teamers is just ludicrous.

In fact I reckon they should play their reserves in the Champions League this year so that they are not too fatigued for next years charity shield.

Discuss…

Sarcasm at its best lol.