The English Football Thread

[GravitySlips]

haha

As long as we're pointing out criticisms, while it might not be their strongest team, Man Utd are a big disappointment. No creativity, no clear cut chances created. Fair enough Rangers 'parked the bus' but considering the financial disparity between the two teams these days I don't think there was any other option. And considering the disparity, it makes Man Utd look all the more a failure for failing to do anything of note in the whole game themselves. Good point for us, and a lot easier than I thought it would be

And their fans - never realized how awful that support is, considering the numbers of people in the stadium. Outsung for 90 minutes, is it always like that there?

[TheCunningStunt]

Financial disparity? Are rangers extremely wealthy? If not, then we're similar on the financial side of things. Because it's common knowledge Manchester United are in debt.

That was a joke performance, Rangers had no intention of actually playing the game how it should be played. It's hard for a load of young players/second string players to do something of any note against an absolute abomination of a side that just sat there and play anti-football. We've had games that in the past in the Champions League, where teams just come and sit there and get a scrappy point. But I don't really see how it's a good point, what are you going to do with that hard earned point? Out the competition is my guess.

Awful support? Is a 75 thousand crowd awful now? We are vocal when we watch football, not that shower of shite. The most vocal area of the ground is where I sit - The Stretford End. The atmosphere at the weekend will be different, because Liverpool won't sit there and bore us all to death.

[right-track]

Originally Posted by GravitySlips

And their fans - never realized how awful that support is, considering the numbers of people in the stadium. Outsung for 90 minutes, is it always like that there?

The atmosphere at Old Trafford reflects the importance of the opposition and it's ability to play.
Like Cunning said, the place will be rocking come Saturday.

Nice touch from the Rangers fans applauding Valencia when he was stretchered off. Credit where it's due.

[TheCunningStunt]

Originally Posted by right-track

The atmosphere at Old Trafford reflects the importance of the opposition and it's ability to play.
Like Cunning said, the place will be rocking come Saturday.

Nice touch from the Rangers fans applauding Valencia when he was stretchered off. Credit where it's due.

I have a feeling it will be completely quiet, though - there won't be anyone there on Saturday.

Sunday however... it will be a different story.

[GravitySlips]

Originally Posted by TheCunningStunt

Financial disparity? Are rangers extremely wealthy? If not, then we're similar on the financial side of things. Because it's common knowledge Manchester United are in debt.

That was a joke performance, Rangers had no intention of actually playing the game how it should be played. It's hard for a load of young players/second string players to do something of any note against an absolute abomination of a side that just sat there and play anti-football. We've had games that in the past in the Champions League, where teams just come and sit there and get a scrappy point. But I don't really see how it's a good point, what are you going to do with that hard earned point? Out the competition is my guess.

Awful support? Is a 75 thousand crowd awful now? We are vocal when we watch football, not that shower of shite. The most vocal area of the ground is where I sit - The Stretford End. The atmosphere at the weekend will be different, because Liverpool won't sit there and bore us all to death.

Do Manchester United have to sell their first team players to clubs in the English Championship because of their debt? No? I'd say there's a fairly obvious financial disparity there, eh?

The fact that Rangers and many teams have severely limited resources compared to Manchester United, Chelsea, etc makes it necessary to play in that style, especially away from home. If you can't honestly see the value in an underdog team winning a hard-earned point against one of the biggest teams in the world, then you're missing out on a lot of the beauty of being a football supporter. It may not be pretty for YOU as a supporter of a team expected to always win and play well, but for supporters of that underdog team it's the best feeling you can get, and Rangers deserve great credit for a disciplined and well-organized performance. Of course Rangers aren't going to progress far in the Champions League, but to say this isn't a good point for them and to call them a 'pointless team' because they don't have the resources (anymore) to go to a place like Old Trafford and play free-flowing football is ridiculous.

And don't get me started, the mark of a good support isn't the numbers, it's the vocal element they give to their team. Especially when the team needs them, like tonight when they're struggling to create anything noteworthy against a team putting numbers behind the ball. Rangers are by my own admission a limited team, but it didn't stop their fans outsinging United for the WHOLE match, despite being the away team. With all respect, it's a great night for Rangers to get a point here considering how bad a position the club is in at the moment.

[GravitySlips]

And yeah, all the best to Valencia. Hope it's not as bad as it looked.

[TheCunningStunt]

Because we're not a joke team in a joke league, we bring in enough to keep us going efficiently enough.

I'm a football fan, and a United supporter. I'm sick of watching Blackburn and Stoke come to Old Trafford and The Emirates to sit there, and in the process of sitting pretty they try to kick the players off the park. I can see the value in the underdog, Leeds United last year in the FA Cup were total underdogs, League 1 team came and won. Because they didn't park the bus, they actually thought "we've got nothing to lose, let's go for it." Rangers didn't do that, they came out and said they had nothing to lose yet didn't play like they did. To me, that's pointless.

Blah blah blah, I've heard this all before. But the bottom line is, people don't listen to United's away support. It's second to none. Roy Keane's comments a few years ago criticised the home support but praised the away support. It's always been that way, your supporters were the away supporters. The away support is always going to be more vocal because they're the "hardcore fans"

You can take your point, but it was far from a great underdog performance.

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

That point is just as valuable to Utd as it is to Rangers.

Inexperienced defence, pedestrian midfield still relying on people who are almost 40 to create a spark of invention, misfiring / woefully out of form / untried strikers.

Man Utd will be lucky if they get past the first knockout round.

[GravitySlips]

I would agree with you, the SPL is a joke league. But Rangers a joke team? Quite an ignorant comment that, fair enough they aren't great now but Rangers have just as much history and tradition as Man Utd at the very least.

I realize the away support are more vocal, it's the same with every team. But if you have over 50,000 fans at home and you're outsung by much less away fans for the whole game - well, I guess Roy Keane was right! 'Joke' of a support, since we're throwing that term around loosely.

And we'll agree to disagree about the performance. Great performance from Rangers considering what's at their disposal, and a very disappointing, underwhelming Man Utd team on the night.

[TheCunningStunt]

United perform best on the break, not trying to hack down a team that isn't bothering to play football. But we may as well hit the panic button, since it happens every season.

I'm far from ignorant, I'm aware of Rangers history, 100+ trophies in their time which makes them on paper the most successful team out of them all. They've won the Scottish league over 50 times. They're the best out of a bad bunch, I'll give you that. I don't mean to sound spiteful and hate filled, but I am so that's how it comes out. Yeah, the atmosphere on Sunday will be rocking. Our away support are the ones that are there with vocal support in times of hardship, just like most teams.

I'm more concerned with the defence last weekend and how we bounce back to Liverpool. I've seen frustrating games like this in the champions league from United year after year, I've heard the press and pundits sharpen their claws year after year because Fergie has a tendency to drop players like he did tonight. That said, I'm not going to hide my frustrations. It wasn't a great underdog performance, I would have preferred it if you came out, took your chances and actually won the game. But there you go.