United hunting for Red October

[rondwisan]

United hunting for Red October
MEN, James Robson - October 08, 2010



West Bromwich Albion will be the first to discover if Sir Alex Ferguson’s early season boot up the backside has had the desired effect.

Publicly bemoaning his side’s lack of ruthlessness was an unusual step for the Manchester United manager – but one he thought absolutely necessary given Chelsea’s march over the horizon before the clocks have even gone back.

A five-point lead in October is far from insurmountable. But given United’s sloppy start to the season – their worst for six years – Ferguson is justified in fearing Carlo Ancelotti’s champions could be out of sight by Christmas at this rate.

He has identified the next month as a crucial stage in the campaign to assert their title challenge as well as wrap up qualification from the Champions League group stage.

On paper, at least, United have a generous October once all their players return from international duty, taking them right up to the Manchester derby against City on November 10.

By then, Ferguson expects to have closed the gap on Chelsea, while the clash with Roberto Mancini’s side already looks like it could prove pivotal in the title race.

“If you look at Chelsea's start to the season, you'd have expected them to have won all those games, so the position they're in doesn't surprise me,” he said.

“We've had tricky trips to Fulham and Everton then played Liverpool at home. Those are difficult matches.”

Chelsea had a dream start to the season – playing two of the newly promoted sides in West Brom and Blackpool in their first five games. But given that they have now faced City and Arsenal in their last two, Ferguson’s argument begins to lose weight.

However, with games against Wigan, Stoke and West Ham as well, the Stamford Bridge side were certainly given a gentle start to their defence of the title.

The worry for Ferguson is that he knows United should have made more out of winning positions against Fulham and Everton, while four points dropped at Bolton and Sunderland is far from championship form.

Opportunity

Which is why he sees the next month, with three home games against West Brom, Tottenham and Wolves as well as a trip to Stoke, as a perfect opportunity to click into gear.

Harry Redknapp’s Spurs looks like the toughest in that group of fixtures – but the Londoners have not won at Old Trafford in their last 23 visits.

Their last victory came in the old First Division in 1989.

United have won on each of the last six occasions the sides have met at their home ground.

Ferguson is also looking to secure safe passage through to the Champions League second phase over the next month, which will again allow him to concentrate on domestic matters.

A total of 10 points is usually seen as enough to qualify from the group stages and with United having already picked up four against Rangers and Valencia, they now face a double-header with Turkish side, Bursaspor, at home on October 30 and away November 2.

A maximum of six points could give Ferguson opportunity to rotate his squad in the final games against Rangers and Valencia.

Ferguson’s latest comments have already been interpreted as mind games in some quarters and they will have been made with every intention to get a reaction from his own players as well Chelsea’s.

And while he will know that the Premier League table could look a lot more pleasing on the eye at this stage of the season, United are still in touch at the top.

But a return of 13 points from their opening seven games is their worst start since the 2004/5 campaign when they ended up finishing third behind Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and Arsenal.

By this stage last season they had 18 points – despite a shock defeat to Burnley – and still ended up a point behind Chelsea in the title race.

Realistically Ferguson will know United can’t afford to drop any points in the lead up to a hotly anticipated derby, where both sides would probably settle for a draw.

The mind games have begun early this season, which is evidence enough of Ferguson’s concern at how the campaign is panning out.

The question will be whether he has played his hand too early or if will prove yet another psychological masterstroke?

[Redsbusby]

Originally Posted by rondwisan

United hunting for Red October
MEN, James Robson - October 08, 2010

“If you look at Chelsea's start to the season, you'd have expected them to have won all those games, so the position they're in doesn't surprise me,” he said.

Chelsea emang dapet Dream start yah musim ini, dan beberapa musim lalu jg United dikatakan mengalami start terburuk dsb, toh bisa juara... setuju ama Opa fergie...


Kalo diliat2 sih, mungkin bisalah ambil posisi runner up

City

17 October 2010 16:00 A Blackpool
21 October 2010 20:05 H Lech Poznan
24 October 2010 16:00 H Arsenal
30 October 2010 15:00 A Wolves

Chelsea

16 Sat 17:30 PREM A Aston Villa
19 Tue 17:30 CPLG A Spartak Moscow
23 Sat 15:00 PREM H Wolverhampton
30 Sat 15:00 PREM A Blackburn Rovers

Man United

16 Oct Barclays Premier League West Brom H 15:00
20 Oct UEFA Champions League Bursaspor H 19:45
24 Oct Barclays Premier League Stoke City A 13:30
26 Oct League Cup Wolves H 20:00
30 Oct Barclays Premier League Tottenham H 17:30

lagi-lagi, selama 2 pertandingan BPL berturut2.
Kalo ngeliat lawan United sih, mungkin bisa meraup poin penuh 9 poin, karena selain yg dihadapi adalah klub 'sekelas' WBA dan Stoke, rekor pertemuan United dgn Tottenham jg masih berpihak sama United, apalagi bermain dikandang. Mungkin WBA saja yg harus diwaspadai, karena berhasil gebukin Arsenal d rumah sendiri bulan lalu... Stoke cukup berbahaya, karena lusanya United harus maen di Piala Liga, yah moga aja rotasinya tokcer deh....

Poin maksimal mungkin gagal diraih Chelsea, semoga Aston Villa masih ingat kekalahan memalukan 7 gol di Stamford Bridge musim lalu. Blcakburn ROvers? biasa aja, sejak Hughes cabut uda ngga impressif lagi maennya. Wolves harus bermain melawan United di piala liga 3 hr kemudian, jadi mengingat liga 'mungkin' lebih penting, pemain yg diturunkan bukan terbaik sepenuhnya. Y semoga tergelincir di villapark aja deh, tentu united harus tetap bermain Mati2an.. yang mungkin terjadi adalah, kita berada di posisi Runner up klasemen karena city harus bertandang ke Blackpool, dan mengingat beberapa hari setelahnya harus bermain di Liga Europa, dan kemudian melawan arsenal, meskipun bermain di kandang, kayaknya ngga bakal dapet poin maksimal...

1. Chelsea 25
2. United 22
3. City 19

[K3nny_11]

mesti sapu bersih neh match2x yang tersisa di Oktober ini... kalo masi tersendat2x juga susah nyusul si Biru yang lage kejem2xny ituh noh... no more step down is allowed...

[rondwisan]

14/10/2010 09:13 - ManUtd.com, Mark Froggatt
Back in business



Mark Froggatt welcomes a busy return to action for the Reds...

Never before have I anticipated the return of the Barclays Premier League with such optimism and enthusiasm, safe in the knowledge that the Euro 2012 qualifiers are finished until March.

'Paint' and ‘drying’ are two words that come to mind whenever international football is on TV - I think those words must be a reference to an activity I'd rather watch. And while there is another midweek of mundane friendlies to endure in November, United fans can rest assured our club's season is about to get extremely exciting.

Beginning with West Brom on Saturday, United have nine matches to play in 29 days, including a home cup tie against Wolves, a European double-header against Bursaspor and of course the Manchester derby. This busy schedule provides the Reds with an ideal opportunity to stamp some authority on the league table, build on the unbeaten, unbreached start to the Champions League campaign and make further progress towards winning a third consecutive Carling Cup.

Admittedly, five points behind Chelsea in the title race is not a comfortable position for any United fan. But I'm not panicking - history shows that Sir Alex Ferguson’s men can still burst into championship-winning form after a slow start, and a stack-up of fixtures is sometimes the trigger.

Besides, there is much to encourage us already. The Reds are currently unbeaten in 18 matches, a run stretching back to 7 April (Chelsea at Old Trafford). Plus, the recent reunion of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand in defence is a massive boost to the squad, reforming an almost impenetrable partnership that has been the platform for United’s recent triumphs.

When the fixture congestion clears on 13 November - we'll then have a full seven days' breather before the following game - it would not surprise me to see United safely through to the next rounds of two cup competitions and sitting much closer to Chelsea.

Don’t trust my optimism? Then trust the omens… at this very same stage in the 1998/99 campaign, United had yielded the same number of league points (13) from the same number of games (7). And I think we all know what happened next…

[sellamanyaunited]

harus memanfaatkan celah yang ada deh, jangan sampe buang buang poin lagi kayak matchsbelumnya.
disaat semua rival meraih hasil imbang seharusnya united bisa ngambil kesempatan buat ngambil 3 poin penuh apalagi bulan oktober ini lawan2nya gabegitu berat.
go go united, kerja keras opa fergie