CL ~ Manchester United 2 Marseille 1

• zocoss

  27 Feb 11, 11:28

  CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2011

   

   

    

   

          VS       

    

   

  Manchester United vs Olympique de Marseille 

  Tuesday, 15 March 2011

  Time: 3:45 am  -  (Live) (Wed) 

  Mio Channel 110 / 102 in HD

  Champions League 2nd Leg

    

   

   

   

  Manchester United :  

   

  Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Fabio, Evra, Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Berbatov, Giggs, Scholes, Hernandez, Anderson, Rooney, Obertan.

    

• zocoss

  13 Mar 11, 12:44

  I saw the Marseille coach in the stands when United played Arsenal... He was on a spying mission... lol.

  I wonder what kind of midfield United can put out this time if without Nani, Fletcher, Carrick again...

   

                          VDS

    Rafael / Smalling / Vidic / Evra

  Valencia / Scholes / O'Shea / Giggs    

             Berbatov / Rooney

   

   

• zocoss

  15 Mar 11, 11:32

  Lucho: United’s aura has Gon

  

  OH I SEILLE ... Lucho sticks the knife in

  MARSEILLE striker Lucho Gonzalez insists Manchester United no longer have that invincible aura.

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  The Argentinian ace says the French side were unlucky not to win the first leg but will send Alex Ferguson's side packing tonight.

  Gonzalez said: "We go to Manchester without fear and ready to beat United.

  "They may look upon Old Trafford as a bunker but the challenge of beating them there is very attractive to us.

  "Clearly United are not the invincible team of other years.

  "Being at 0-0 from the first leg is a very dangerous situation for them because one goal from us and they must pull out all the stops.

  "Our coach Didier Deschamps has ordered us to do this to change the whole panorama of the tie.

  "Marseille certainly won't be ultra-defensive - I think that would be a disaster for us.

  "After watching their Cup win over Arsenal, I'm sure I can score against their defence.

  "I've waited a long time for this opportunity and want to experience the sensation of knocking Manchester United out of the Champions League."

• zocoss

  15 Mar 11, 11:40

  Vidic injury blow for Manchester United ahead of Marseille crunch.. but remarkable Nani is back
  

   

   

  

  Calf injury: United skipper Nemanja Vidic

   

   

   

  Manchester United have been dealt a hammer blow ahead of their Champions League second leg against Marseille - with captain Nemanja Vidic almost certainly ruled out by a calf injury.

  News that winger Nani is set to complete a remarkable recovery from a badly gashed shin - by playing just four days after he had been ruled out until next month - was almost immediately overshadowed by the bleak update on Vidic.

  The Serbia defender only returned from suspension in Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal, but picked up a knock in the 2-0 win and was unable to train on Monday.

   

   

  

  On the ball: Nani (right) could return sooner than expected for Manchester United

   

   

   

  United are keen to have Vidic available for Saturday's Barclays Premier League game against Bolton to combat the physical presence of Kevin Davies.

  'He was getting treatment,' said Sir Alex Ferguson. 'He's tough enough but couldn't train in the morning.'

  With Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans out, it means the United manager might have to rely on the central defensive partnership of Chris Smalling and Wes Brown which proved so vulnerable against Liverpool nine days ago.

  Although Smalling has made outstanding progress this season and was arguably the best player in the goalless first leg in Marseille, the 21-year-old looked less assured at Anfield as United lost 3-1.

  United will want to avoid conceding an away goal against the French champions as they seek the win which would put them into the quarter-finals.

  At least there was better news on Nani. Ferguson admitted he did not expect to see the forward back in action before April after hitting out at the 'disgraceful' tackle from Liverpool's Jamie Carragher that cut the Portugal star's shin.

  However, a successful attempt to stitch the wound appears to have speeded up the healing process dramatically.

   

   

  

  Swift recovery: Nani was not expected back in action until next week after he injured his leg at Liverpool

   

   

  Ferguson must now decide whether to name Nani in his starting line-up, with Antonio Valencia also available after coming through 45 minutes against Arsenal.

  The United boss also confirmed Michael Carrick is expected to play after recovering from calf and groin injuries. He said: 'Nani's got a good chance. He trained on Sunday along with Michael Carrick, which is a better situation than we had at the weekend. Both will be involved tomorrow.

  'It was a fantastic bonus for us to get 45 minutes from Antonio considering he's been out for such a long time.'

   

  

  Ready to go: Manchester United players are put through their paces at Carrington

• Rooney9

  16 Mar 11, 04:58

  Hernandez scored early in the first half. not a vintage performance from united at old trafford, keep on making misplaced passes. Marseille is certainly not dead yet, as it is only 1-0. United needed to score another goal to make it safe just in case, otherwise it will be jittery towards the end of the match.

• Rooney9

  16 Mar 11, 05:09

  Rafael is hamstrung like O Shea. the sub was sub by Fabio.

• Rooney9

  16 Mar 11, 05:13

  looks a serious injury by Rafael, who needed a stretcher to get off the pitch. Fabio his twin brother is playing at RB.

• Rooney9

  16 Mar 11, 05:38

  2-1 to united. what a nervy end to the final whistle when Marseille scored late in the game, via an own goal from Hash Brown. not a vintage performance by United today.

• CKeer

  16 Mar 11, 05:43

  Rooney and Chicharito did very well today. Their movement and passing was so superb and Chicharito scored 2 typical goal poacher goals. Rooney's passes has been top class all evening, is he the playmaker United needs?

  The defence is stuck together by glue, Smalling needs a more composed partner at the back to play effectively which Brown is unable to provide. Van der Sar proves time and again that vintage is gold.

  O'Shea and Rafael both subbed off due to hamstring injuries. Hope they recovered soon as the defence has already lost Rio and Vidic.

  Scholes and Carrick played more defensively today which is a risk as we all know Scholes' capabilities at defending and Carrick occasional switching-off. Nani and Valencia's return is yet another boost to the already depleted United side.

  I thought United shot themselves in the foot but well, tough luck Marseille.

• Rock^Star

  16 Mar 11, 05:55

  I think brown is the weak link. His positioning is suspect man.....not reading the game well. United were lucky. Can't imagine if the finisher had been some top striker.

  And nani played quite crappy today. Fergie subbed him with valencia lol. Perhaps sending a message to him that he's not indispensable? hehe. The second goal had to do with valencia's relay to giggs.

• zocoss

  16 Mar 11, 11:52

  FERGIE 'SURPRISED' BY HERNANDEZ

  

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  Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson lauded Javier Hernandez after the rookie striker steered his side into the Champions League quarter-finals.

  The summer signing scored a brace, one in each half, in the 2-1 win against Marseille at Old Trafford to make it five goals in five appearances and 16 in all in his debut season.

  Hernandez's remarkable impact has been a huge bonus for United, according to Ferguson.

  He opened the scoring in the fifth minute by getting on the end of a cross from Wayne Rooney. His second in the 76th minute was almost identical with substitute Antonio Valencia supplying the delivery.

  Ferguson said: "I think we are surprised. When we bought him we thought it would take him some time to adjust first of all.

  "He has adjusted to the physical part very well and he is lasting 90 minutes very well now.

  "That has given us great options because we look at the main strikers as Wayne (Rooney), (Dimitar) Berbatov and Hernandez. With Hernandez's form the way it is we can make some changes now.

  "Hernandez's pace and movement is helping us. He is real handful. You see the first goal, they boy's movement is fantastic.

  "Wayne is enjoying the freedom behind Hernandez and is in really good form at the moment."

  Despite an own goal from Wes Brown with eight minutes remaining United advanced to the quarter finals for the fifth successive season.

• iceFatboy

  16 Mar 11, 15:18

  what happened to fletcher? heard he got a virus..

  and mu have their top scorer on the bench, strange man.

  and from 7 defenders in gunners game, now MU got 5 defenders out.. irony.

• Rock^Star

  16 Mar 11, 18:48

  Feel quite sorry for berba but he and rooney tend to play quite deep, if chances do come, they are definitely not as often as witnessed this morning. Rooney dictates the final pass and hernandez would ghost in to meet the ball. Every match that hernandez plays, he is always likely to get some shots on target and of course goals will naturally flow.

• Rooney9

  16 Mar 11, 22:45

  frankly the united midfield is the same for the last 2-3 seasons, with the same old people, except for hargreaves in midfield. no creative sparks and no playmaker or a central midfielder that can score goals. look at our midfielders goals ratio, carrick, fletcher, anderson, scholes, gibson etc

   

• Rooney9

  16 Mar 11, 22:48

  actually Marseille got a chance to score when it was 1-0 towards the end of the first half. if they tied the score at 1-1 going into the second half, anything can happen, can be 2-2 at final whistle.

  United passing is awful, esp the midfielders, who kept losing possessions or misplaced passes. if united get barcelona in qfs, dun think united got a chance.

• TIB1167D

  16 Mar 11, 22:53

  I think OM has tried their best, and only an own goal as a consolation well anyway the best team won and yeah.

• Rooney9

  17 Mar 11, 02:23

  scholes and carrick combo in midfield is simply too weak. carrick is weak in tackles and scholes is the rash type who tend to get yellow with his challenges, maybe get a red for second yellow card. carrick's passing seem to go from bad to worse.

  scholes always made mistakes in a match, either pass to opponents, misspass or caught in possession and his pace is long gone, which is a liability, esp when carrick cant afford protection to scholes. fletcher although his passing is also no good, but he does the dirty work in tracking back and challenges and his work rate is energetic and protects the back 4, but he is out at the moment.

• CKeer

  17 Mar 11, 10:10

  Originally posted by Rooney9:

  scholes and carrick combo in midfield is simply too weak. carrick is weak in tackles and scholes is the rash type who tend to get yellow with his challenges, maybe get a red for second yellow card. carrick's passing seem to go from bad to worse.

  scholes always made mistakes in a match, either pass to opponents, misspass or caught in possession and his pace is long gone, which is a liability, esp when carrick cant afford protection to scholes. fletcher although his passing is also no good, but he does the dirty work in tracking back and challenges and his work rate is energetic and protects the back 4, but he is out at the moment.

  I think that is why probably Scholes hasnt sign a new contract as Giggs did. Neville has already retired and Van der Sar is retiring at the end of the season. Next season will be a season of transition.

• iceFatboy

  17 Mar 11, 12:14

  Originally posted by Rooney9:

  scholes and carrick combo in midfield is simply too weak. carrick is weak in tackles and scholes is the rash type who tend to get yellow with his challenges, maybe get a red for second yellow card. carrick's passing seem to go from bad to worse.

  scholes always made mistakes in a match, either pass to opponents, misspass or caught in possession and his pace is long gone, which is a liability, esp when carrick cant afford protection to scholes. fletcher although his passing is also no good, but he does the dirty work in tracking back and challenges and his work rate is energetic and protects the back 4, but he is out at the moment.

  to be fair to scholesy, even in his heydays, he is never known to be a good tackler. his asset is his passing and controling ot tempo of the game. Carrick sits on top of the back 4 to provide protection to defence, and i believe he did a tidy job.

  currently, mu is relying on the wings/wingbacks and rooney to unlock other teams' defence. MF is to tahan and provide support and protect defence.

  hence the many talks/rumours about MUFC sourcing for MFs.

• iceFatboy

  17 Mar 11, 12:16

  Originally posted by Rooney9:

  frankly the united midfield is the same for the last 2-3 seasons, with the same old people, except for hargreaves in midfield. no creative sparks and no playmaker or a central midfielder that can score goals. look at our midfielders goals ratio, carrick, fletcher, anderson, scholes, gibson etc

   

  if u enlarge the timeframe, if I am not wrong, the only prolific MF was Scholes. Keano has a few goals here and there but did MF have other scoring MFs (central)??

• Rock^Star

  17 Mar 11, 14:01

  A burning question is....why this scholes never work on his tackling for the past 15 years???!! I mean he had more than enough time right lol.

• Rooney9

  17 Mar 11, 23:31

  it is imperative united get a play maker of the calibre like sneider or even kaka to helm the centre of midfield.

• Asromanista2001

  17 Mar 11, 23:36

   

  Ronaldinho................and Rivaldo still available what................

• CKeer

  17 Mar 11, 23:36

  Originally posted by Rock^Star:

  A burning question is....why this scholes never work on his tackling for the past 15 years???!! I mean he had more than enough time right lol.

  He fine tuned his passing and technique instead since back then he had Butt, Keane, Djemba-Djemba, Smith, Carrick, Hargreaves, Fletcher to do the dirty work.

• Rooney9

  17 Mar 11, 23:42

  Originally posted by Asromanista2001:

   

  Ronaldinho................and Rivaldo still available what................

  lol they are over the hill liao.