Isn't a lot of that down to the fact he was shifted about so much due to injuries he played almost every position from defence to midfield?
English Football Thread 2012/2013
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Isn't a lot of that down to the fact he was shifted about so much due to injuries he played almost every position from defence to midfield?
After reading what Carlo Ancelotti said in his press conference, it didn't really surprised me that he did not mention much on the Ray Wilkins exit issue and respects the board's decision instead. Having said that, I wonder whether did he really try to persuade the board to allow Ray to stay? Not too sure about that. Seriously though, the way Ray Wilkins was kicked out of the club is just disgraceful! He has been essential to the club in the previous season and the board just treat him like a toy and remove Ray just because he is no longer useful. PATHETIC! 
There are reports suggesting that this decision was related to financial issue, stating that the club is cutting costs. C'mon, I'm sure there are other areas for the club to cut costs. Why try to rock a steady ship by removing a man who is the link between the manager and the players as well as the coaching staffs? Roman unceremoniously kicked out Mourinho a few years ago and now they kicked out Ray Wilkins! This is not a way to treat a club's legend!
I hope the players won't get too distracted with this. We are already not at our best in recent weeks and we do not need anymore problems!
J-Psychic added 9 Minutes and 50 Seconds later...
It seems that the theme in football right now is 'Injuries Galore'. We are already without Essien for the next 3 league games and now Lampard is out for a further 3 weeks. GREAT! With matches against Sunderland(h), Birmingham(a) and Newcastle(a) coming up, we have to pick up at least 7 points from those matches. It is important to stay top going into December with the crazy league fixtures in the month.
Perhaps the one positive thing with Essien and Lampard won't be playing for the rest of this month is that they would be fresh for those tough games in December. For now, we definitely need to play better than we have been and be more ruthless in front of goal starting with Sunderland this weekend.
There are reports suggesting that this decision was related to financial issue, stating that the club is cutting costs. C'mon, I'm sure there are other areas for the club to cut costs. Why try to rock a steady ship by removing a man who is the link between the manager and the players as well as the coaching staffs? Roman unceremoniously kicked out Mourinho a few years ago and now they kicked out Ray Wilkins! This is not a way to treat a club's legend!
I hope the players won't get too distracted with this. We are already not at our best in recent weeks and we do not need anymore problems!
J-Psychic added 9 Minutes and 50 Seconds later...
It seems that the theme in football right now is 'Injuries Galore'. We are already without Essien for the next 3 league games and now Lampard is out for a further 3 weeks. GREAT! With matches against Sunderland(h), Birmingham(a) and Newcastle(a) coming up, we have to pick up at least 7 points from those matches. It is important to stay top going into December with the crazy league fixtures in the month.
Perhaps the one positive thing with Essien and Lampard won't be playing for the rest of this month is that they would be fresh for those tough games in December. For now, we definitely need to play better than we have been and be more ruthless in front of goal starting with Sunderland this weekend.
War
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Well obviously given:
- Carrick form for United last season
- Lack of proper defensive mid-fielder & playmaker (Hargreaves & Scholes) in the ENG WC Squad.
Capello was right not to have faith in Carrick last season.
Dr. Pepper
Chairman of Selectors
England's passing at the world cup was atrocious. There was ridiculous gaps left between midfield and defence. Carrick's ball retention and positioning would've been perfect for the situation.
MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
There was something badly wrong with England all round at the World Cup. Rooney's touch was awful - when it's usually sublime and it's rare to see defending like the nonsense we saw in the Germany game in the Premiership. Indeed, I think that's the worst I've ever seen an England team defend and by far the worst showing I've seen at an International tournament.
Today's game - great comeback and we could have nicked it at the end. So, that matches Chelsea's result here - it could yet be a point gained instead of two dropped. Still, another flippin' away draw! Chelsea have a great chance to go six clear - I'm sure they will, as it is at Stamford Bridge vs Sunderland.
Nani was a very lucky boy not to be sent off - you could see him looking to see if anyone was watching, then he smacked his arm straight into the defender's face!
Can anyone tell me how many more times united are gonna score goals for free after macheda arrives ?? Its just been countless since he made his debut against villa, followed that with sunderland , valencia and now aston villa. What really bemuses me is that Ryan babel not long ago used to be branded the super sub of European football. 
A great game definitely especially in the second half. However, not being biased, Man United should have lost today. Aston Villa ran them ragged and had about 3-4 shots hit against the post before eventually scoring those two goals. Man United's goals came out of nowhere especially Macheda's goal.
Apart from Nani, I thought Hernandez might have been sent off as well IF Mike Dean had booked him in the first half for kicking the ball away after being caught offside.
Putting the match aside, do you think that Aston Villa's performance and the way they played made a mockery out of Mancini's team in midweek? I mean Villa's midfield mostly consists of youngsters and able to ran Man United ragged. Whereas with the players available at Man City, Mancini decided to play for a draw contributing to a poor derby game!
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MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
No doubt, we should've lost today, probably by a couple of goals - but that's Man Utd for you, we have this never say die attitude. It's slightly concerning though, the number of draws we're racking up away from home.
That's the mark of a champions I guess. Anyway, you have drawn 7 games so far which means it's like half of the points that you have dropped last season. However, given the unpredictability of the league, anything can still happen. Which ever team that wins the league this season might win it with just 70+ points.
mattfb
Chairman of Selectors
It was an interesting game. United despite being away were clearly looking to be more dominant which is predictable with Villas injurys. Song and Nani played a lot more inverted which allowed Carrick and Fletcher to sit deep and hold up play and play clean passes. But United has zero movement up front until Macheda and Obertan came on and it was evident.
The central four (Vidic, Ferdinand, Carrick and Fletcher) were good on the ball. They kept calm and looked for the right passes. But Carrick and Fletcher were very slow in the transition of attack to defence and I feel they have to take heavy blame for the two Villa goals which came off counters through the middle.
Albrighton was superb down the wing, was the best on the pitch in my opinion.
The central four (Vidic, Ferdinand, Carrick and Fletcher) were good on the ball. They kept calm and looked for the right passes. But Carrick and Fletcher were very slow in the transition of attack to defence and I feel they have to take heavy blame for the two Villa goals which came off counters through the middle.
Albrighton was superb down the wing, was the best on the pitch in my opinion.
Not a chance man . 70 is only good enough to claim 3rd/4th place
I did say with the unpredictability of the league, anything can happen and I also said "might".
First of all, I would like to congratulate Sunderland for overturning us at Stamford Bridge and scoring 3 goals. They played fantastically well and totally deserved all the 3 points.
As for us, the team's performance was flat and absolutely diabolical! I'm seriously speechless and don't even know where to begin. To lose that heavily at Stamford Bridge is just unforgivable! Without Lampard and/or Essien in the team, nobody else stepped up and took responsibility! In fact, I don't think any of the players turned up today.
We started decently and created a few half chances but as the game went on, Sunderland were looking solid and more dangerous and could have easily scored more than 3 goals. Without Alex and Terry, the defending was just shocking and abysmal! I cannot believe they just allowed Onuaha to ghost past the defense easily and got the first goal. The defense was so static and lacked any organization. I know Terry and Alex are both out and at least they can do a better job than that! The timing was pretty "perfect" too!
Just like last week, our midfield was the same again. And again, the result was the same. We were bullied off the park and could not retain any possession. Out of the three, I think only Mikel did a decent job but the other two; Ramires and Zhirkov was pathetic! This problem was perhaps underlined when Drogba and/or Anelka dropped deeper to pick up the ball leaving only one upfront and isolated. Even when we got the ball forward, we were slow, never looked dangerous and hate to say it, it's becoming pretty predictable in the way we play too. Ancelotti needs to do something about this.
This might has something to do with Ray Wilkins departure but it's not an excuse for such an abject performance. I seriously think we need to get a creative midfielder. We have Ramires but he's not quite up to it yet after recent poor performances. Without Lampard or at least Essien, our midfield is spineless and have no creativity whatsoever! While I like the fact we are giving youngsters a chance, we can't always rely on them for such situations. Not only that, the bench today looks pretty depressing too. Also, it's a growing concern that in all of the 4 games that we have dropped points this season, we have not scored a single goal. That is a worrying statistic.
Overall, we were diabolical, abysmal, shocking and clueless today! Ashley Cole's mistake for Sunderland's third goal pretty much sums our performance. For such an experience defender, he should have just clear the ball. So much for the getting at least 7 points out of the next 3 games.
As for us, the team's performance was flat and absolutely diabolical! I'm seriously speechless and don't even know where to begin. To lose that heavily at Stamford Bridge is just unforgivable! Without Lampard and/or Essien in the team, nobody else stepped up and took responsibility! In fact, I don't think any of the players turned up today.
We started decently and created a few half chances but as the game went on, Sunderland were looking solid and more dangerous and could have easily scored more than 3 goals. Without Alex and Terry, the defending was just shocking and abysmal! I cannot believe they just allowed Onuaha to ghost past the defense easily and got the first goal. The defense was so static and lacked any organization. I know Terry and Alex are both out and at least they can do a better job than that! The timing was pretty "perfect" too!
Just like last week, our midfield was the same again. And again, the result was the same. We were bullied off the park and could not retain any possession. Out of the three, I think only Mikel did a decent job but the other two; Ramires and Zhirkov was pathetic! This problem was perhaps underlined when Drogba and/or Anelka dropped deeper to pick up the ball leaving only one upfront and isolated. Even when we got the ball forward, we were slow, never looked dangerous and hate to say it, it's becoming pretty predictable in the way we play too. Ancelotti needs to do something about this.
This might has something to do with Ray Wilkins departure but it's not an excuse for such an abject performance. I seriously think we need to get a creative midfielder. We have Ramires but he's not quite up to it yet after recent poor performances. Without Lampard or at least Essien, our midfield is spineless and have no creativity whatsoever! While I like the fact we are giving youngsters a chance, we can't always rely on them for such situations. Not only that, the bench today looks pretty depressing too. Also, it's a growing concern that in all of the 4 games that we have dropped points this season, we have not scored a single goal. That is a worrying statistic.
Overall, we were diabolical, abysmal, shocking and clueless today! Ashley Cole's mistake for Sunderland's third goal pretty much sums our performance. For such an experience defender, he should have just clear the ball. So much for the getting at least 7 points out of the next 3 games.
MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
Wow - I didn't see that coming, just goes to show you can't predict anything it seems this season! Typical - Chelsea lose at home for the first time in ages, and we don't take full advantage. 3-0 though - was it really that comprehensive? I haven't seen the game yet.
Themer
Chairman of Selectors
Chelsea were completely terrible. Sunderland should have scored more and Ivanovic should have been sent off just before half time.
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