Manchester United v Liverpool - Pre Match Thread

Anyway. This game is a big test of our teams mentality. I want to see confidence and no desperation

Totally true. And like Rafa Benitez confirmed on LFC TV, only a win will matter.

Its good knowing that the Lads are going into the games with a must-win mentality.

Arbeloa, Carra, Skrtel, Riise

This is how I see the back four, I'm not a great fan of Riise, but one thing I can say about him, he does know how to play Ronaldo, he has never had a good game against Riise.

I think the rest of the team picks its self

I don't think we will lose this game, so I'm going for a 1-1 draw, and with any luck 1-0 to Liverpool.

Come on you mighty reds. 

Arbeloa, Carra, Skrtel, Riise

This is how I see the back four, I'm not a great fan of Riise, but one thing I can say about him, he does know how to play Ronaldo, he has never had a good game against Riise.

I think the rest of the team picks its self

I don't think we will lose this game, so I'm going for a 1-1 draw, and with any luck 1-0 to Liverpool.

Come on you mighty reds. 

I'd pretty much agree with that Graham, considering Utd have Ronaldo and the fact that both Riise & Aurelio can be suspect defensively on occasions I considered having the pair of them doubling up on the left but I think we'd lose too much attacking impetus. One slight change I would make though is I'd have Babel & Kuyt on opposite sides, as I feel Dirk will offer more in terms of helping the full back take care of Ronaldo.

I feel quietly confident about this game, for the first time in years I feel we are able to match them in all departments, we have such an in form tremendous striker in Torres and how often have we been able to say that in recent years, we have such a core in midfield with Gerrard and Mascherano, and a superb back four with, for me, the best keeper in the Country at the moment.

We have the best chance of beating them in their own back yard and I feel this is the time for us to do it, everything is going well for us at the moment (on the field of play anyway :) so why shouldn't we go there and beat them and not with a lucky goal in the dying minutes either

We need to go into this game proud to wear the Red shirt of Liverpool, every man needs to give 110%, no shirking and get at them from the off, get in their faces and hassle them on the ball, don't let them settle.

They will get rattled and make mistakes, Fergie will be shouting at them on the touchline and giving himself a heart attack in the process !!!

I can't wait to see his face when Torres scores the winning goal.....

Come on Liverpool this is as good a chance as any, go into this game with the belief that you can win this

I'm off to my sisters in Manchester to watch the match, will be gloating all the way home if when we win !!   Quite looking forward to the journey along with fellow reds going to the match !!   

Where's everyone else watching the match then ? 

By the way, I'm with MsG on this, I'm quietly confident as well 

I'm really starting to feel it now, and I'm no where near the actual stadium, let alone kick-off! Its going to be difficult, but like we mentioned, this time, there must be no time for the scum to get into their stride, no time for their players start passing it around and no space for the show pony. We can do it, City showed how. We have to go out there, with belief and confidence in our ability. Masch's role will be critical in neutralizing the United central build-up...if he plays well, Gerrard can push up the field and assist Torres and terrorise their centre backs. If they choose to mark Torres out, then the likes of Babel, Gerrard and (most probably) Kuyt will have to take their chance.

Come on you redmen...it's been too long.

IRWT
Walk on...

I haven't got anywhere to watch the match yet! Online isn't reliable enough. Don't have satellite and none of my mates are interested! I have roughly 24 hours now to find somewhere. 

I haven't got anywhere to watch the match yet! Online isn't reliable enough. Don't have satellite and none of my mates are interested! I have roughly 24 hours now to find somewhere. 

Go the pub Reepicheep !!  Who cares if your by yourself, you wont notice anyway, you'll be too engrossed watching Torres scoring ! 

I'd pretty much agree with that Graham, considering Utd have Ronaldo and the fact that both Riise & Aurelio can be suspect defensively on occasions I considered having the pair of them doubling up on the left but I think we'd lose too much attacking impetus. One slight change I would make though is I'd have Babel & Kuyt on opposite sides, as I feel Dirk will offer more in terms of helping the full back take care of Ronaldo.

I really don't think Ronaldo will be a force to be reckoned with in this game, so, personally I wouldn't want us building any part of the squad dedicated to putting him in check. They have an active midfield, so we need to make sure our midfield out outplays them. Riise will do well to hold Ronaldo, but we need Pennant or Benanyun to go at the wing backs definitely, Kuyt may start from the bench.

This is one match where Crouch would have been useful, but our current 'strong' match-winning formation does not have a place for him.

I haven't got anywhere to watch the match yet! Online isn't reliable enough. Don't have satellite and none of my mates are interested! I have roughly 24 hours now to find somewhere. 

Pub.

Pub.

A man of few words. 

I may have to. But I usually get hassle being in the pub on my own in a football shirt watching a game.  Will find somewhere, still trying to persuade one of my mates. 

So what is everyone doing for the match, anyone going the match, or anyone going to watch it in the pub, or at home.

Myself, im gonna go the pub and watch it.

I really don't think Ronaldo will be a force to be reckoned with in this game, so, personally I wouldn't want us building any part of the squad dedicated to putting him in check. They have an active midfield, so we need to make sure our midfield out outplays them. Riise will do well to hold Ronaldo, but we need Pennant or Benanyun to go at the wing backs definitely, Kuyt may start from the bench.

This is one match where Crouch would have been useful, but our current 'strong' match-winning formation does not have a place for him.

It would be naive to think Ronaldo won't be a threat, when you're up against players of his standard it is advisable to have a gameplan to take care of them. I'd stick with the same attacking lineup we've had for the last few games, the only change I'd make is I'd bring Kuyt onto the left & put Babel on the right. If Ronaldo switched to the left like he does sometimes I'd switch Babel & Kuyt back. If needed, Kuyt is better equipped to help deal with Ronaldo than Babel is. It may well be that the fullback keeps him contained for the whole game anyway, but considering what Ronaldo can do on occassions it's sensible to have a contingency plan in case the fullback can't handle him, much as I hate to admit it an in form Ronaldo can need two players to deal with him. I'm not suggesting we alter our tactics to the detriment of our attack to deal with him, just a little tweak that should leave us in a better position to nulify one of their threats whilst still being just as effective going forward.

So what is everyone doing for the match, anyone going the match, or anyone going to watch it in the pub, or at home.

Myself, im gonna go the pub and watch it.

Have a look further down the thread Ste, I've just asked everyone that !! 

Have a look further down the thread Ste, I've just asked everyone that !! 

Oh yeah... Sorry about that

Thats why poor Reepicheep is trying to sort out where to watch the match, I think she should just go the pub regardless !!     You cant miss us whooping the Mancs !! 

Do you not think Kuyt would be more liable to foul Ronaldo? He tends to make clumsy unnecessary challenges when all he needs to to is shepherd the player onto his weaker side. I'd rather have Arbeola at left back with Riise in front of him. This would mean dispensing with another player somewhere though.

I'm going out for a cycle now but I'll be back to mull over the line-up and formation in more detail later.

Do you not think Kuyt would be more liable to foul Ronaldo? He tends to make clumsy unnecessary challenges when all he needs to to is shepherd the player onto his weaker side. I'd rather have Arbeola at left back with Riise in front of him. This would mean dispensing with another player somewhere though.

I thought of that but I don't want to see us lose any of our attacking threat, I'd stick with the same attacking lineup that's served us well recently but just with the one minor change in positions. Kuyt may not be the best player in the squad to deal with Ronaldo but he'd be better than Babel & has the legs to chase him for the whole 90 minutes if needed. We have to play to our own strengths rather than focusing on dealing with theirs, but if we can make a change that helps us contain them without weakening our attacking threat then it makes sense to me.

It would be naive to think Ronaldo won't be a threat, when you're up against players of his standard it is advisable to have a gameplan to take care of them. I'd stick with the same attacking lineup we've had for the last few games, the only change I'd make is I'd bring Kuyt onto the left & put Babel on the right. If Ronaldo switched to the left like he does sometimes I'd switch Babel & Kuyt back. If needed, Kuyt is better equipped to help deal with Ronaldo than Babel is. It may well be that the fullback keeps him contained for the whole game anyway, but considering what Ronaldo can do on occassions it's sensible to have a contingency plan in case the fullback can't handle him, much as I hate to admit it an in form Ronaldo can need two players to deal with him. I'm not suggesting we alter our tactics to the detriment of our attack to deal with him, just a little tweak that should leave us in a better position to nulify one of their threats whilst still being just as effective going forward.

I actually think solodee is right, just look at whenever he plays the top 4 teams hes like quaresma was against us in the second leg of lfc porto. He goes missing. When you make a gameplan to stop one specific player that is when you slip up and lose, we never normally make plans to stop one specific player so why start now.

I actually think solodee is right, just look at whenever he plays the top 4 teams hes like quaresma was against us in the second leg of lfc porto. He goes missing. When you make a gameplan to stop one specific player that is when you slip up and lose, we never normally make plans to stop one specific player so why start now.

Just because he has gone missing in big games in the past is no guarantee that he will against us, and as I said before it would be naive to write him off as no threat in this game. I'm not suggesting we make a gameplan to stop him, just a minor tactical tweak that will make it easier to deal with him if he is a threat.

I actually think solodee is right, just look at whenever he plays the top 4 teams hes like quaresma was against us in the second leg of lfc porto. He goes missing. When you make a gameplan to stop one specific player that is when you slip up and lose, we never normally make plans to stop one specific player so why start now.

After listening to Rafa's interview, I think he's thinking the same way.  Agree totally with Eddie 

Just because he has gone missing in big games in the past is no guarantee that he will against us, and as I said before it would be naive to write him off as no threat in this game. I'm not suggesting we make a gameplan to stop him, just a minor tactical tweak that will make it easier to deal with him if he is a threat.

Yeah i know but it still hinders the team in attack thats what i mean, as soon as a team sees that a plan has been created to hinder one of their players they up their game and become more of a threat themselves. Just leave whoever is at LB to mark him out of the game, Mascherano is gonna have his eye on him anyway, we all know how masch plays now, he will have already planned to keep him in check.