The Community Shield – that clichéd ‘traditional curtain raiser to the season’ – is, of course, little more than a final warm-up for the real business of winning the Premier League in the modern game. That task begins away to West Bromwich Albion next weekend, yet, with United facing local rivals Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, it is perhaps only Sir Alex Ferguson who remains exactingly dispassionate about the fixture this season, with all the emotional and psychological edge that this game brings.
Supporters feel differently of course but the Scot remains focused on bigger tasks ahead despite the local rivalry on hand. After all, major trophies are won in May not August, even if the Manchester sides are competing for this particular gong for the first time since 1956. The full house and local pride ensures that nothing less than victory is acceptable for the 80,000 Reds and Blues return home on Sunday evening.
“It’s very easy to get emotional about this type of game. I don’t think we’ll be changing our policy,” Ferguson said of the Community Shield.
“I’ve always viewed the Community Shield as a stepping stone for the first game of the season and there are two or three players who will need a game to boost their fitness.
“I don’t think it [the Shield] has made any difference at all to the leagues. We have lost and still won the league. It is at Wembley. That is the significance of it. When you go to Wembley, you want to win. That is the only significance.”
Ferguson is likely to be without a quartet of key players at Wembley, with Michael Carrick suffering from an achilles injury, Javier Hernández not risked following concussion in pre-season and Darren Fletcher only recently returned to full training. Antonio Valencia is perhaps a fortnight away from full match fitness after the Ecuadorian suffered an ankle injury at the Copa America.
The absence of midfield pair Carrick and Fletcher, together with Paul Scholes’ retirement, offers Anderson an early season opportunity to impress. The Brazilian scored in Friday’s 6-0 win over New York Cosmos at Old Trafford and should start at Wembley. With Owen Hargreaves released and Darron Gibson consigned to United’s reserve squad in pre-season, Ferguson needs the former-Porto midfielder to start the season in good form.
Anderson, together with youngster Tom Cleverley and veteran Ryan Giggs form Ferguson’s only central midfield options at the season’s start. The limited roster serving to highlight United’s obvious weaknesses ahead of the new season.
Despite this United begins the new campaign as favourites to claim a 20th domestic title. Yet, City will be in contention from the off, having spent £38 million on striker Sergio Aguëro in the close season. The 23-year-old Argentinian offers City both creativity and goals and will likely make City’s bench at Wembley, with Carlos Tevez still absent.
However, with three weeks until the transfer window slams shut, Ferguson believes opposite manager Roberto Mancini may yet add to his already burgeoning squad. It is a challenge the Scot appears to relish.
“Because of the particular facet of the club that they have the money to spend, I thought maybe they would spend more this summer, and that may still happen; they may still sign a couple more players,” Ferguson added.
“We get this almost every year when clubs round about us buy, and that’s how you view the importance of winning the league these days. Chelsea had this great spell of buying when José [Mourinho] first went there and we accepted that challenge. It’s good to accept challenges, it keeps the complacency away from your door and we carry on as best as we can.”
Ferguson also believes that the coming season promises to be one of the most competitive of his 25 year tenure at Old Trafford. Liverpool’s huge outlay in the past six months is a gamble that must be rewarded with Champions League football, with Arsenal seemingly the most vulnerable of last season’s top four. With Tottenham Hotspur also chasing a spot in Europe’s premier competition only four of six leading clubs will reach their goals come May.
Yet, for United – and now City – it is the Premier League title that remains the season’s priority, the Blue half of Manchester now with genuine pretensions to the crown.
“To win the league in England is very difficult. If you look at the Premier League you are looking at the top six fighting for four places,” added the 69-year-old United manager.
“I think 84 points will win the league next year. We had less last year but you have to consider the increasing competition. Liverpool are expected to be better, the top four we know about and Tottenham as well. You expect it to be a really tough league.”
If Ferguson still regards this weekend’s derby as a friendly then his star player Wayne Rooney is more in tune with United fans who travel to Wembley for the third time this year. Defeats to City in the FA Cup semi-final and Barcelona in the Champions League offered a traumatic end to last season. A third Wembley defeat in a row is unthinkable.
“You couldn’t get better motivation to start the season with a bang,” Rooney told Four Four Two.
“I hadn’t even thought about it until I turned on the TV and someone was talking about potentially the best Community Shield ever. Playing City is the best way to start.”
Elsewhere Ferguson is likely to deploy those players short of time in pre-season. Both Rafael and Fabio da Silva are in contention for a place in the side, with Ferguson boasting a full complement of defensive options, including new signing Phil Jones. With Valencia unlikely to play Ferguson will choose from Nani, Park Ji-Sung and Ashley Young in wide positions.
Friendly or otherwise United is protecting a proud record in the competition, including 18 victories overall and seven appearances in the past decade. City, meanwhile, is taking part in the match for the first time since 1973. The Blues lost that game 1-0 to Burnley, with Colin Waldron scoring the only goal.
The game could also be the final appearance in the Shield for Welshman Giggs, who turns 38 this season and holds the record for the most number of appearances with 13. What better tribute, in what might be the midfielder’s final season, than seeing off City at Wembley on Sunday just as the Reds did 55 years ago. On that occasion another United legend Dennis Violet scored the only goal of the game.
Match Facts
Manchester United versus Manchester City. Wembley Stadium, London. 2.30pm 7 August 2011
Likely Line-ups
United – 4-4-1-1 – de Gea; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Nani, Anderson, Giggs, Park; Rooney; Berbatov
Subs from: Lindegaard, Fabio, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Young, Cleverley, Owen, Macheda, Welbeck, Diouf
City – 4-3-3 – Hart; Richards, Lescott, Kompany, Clichy; Toure, De Jong, Barry; Ballotelli, Dzeko, Silva
Subs from: Zabaleta, Bridge, Onuoha, Kolarov, Toure, Johnson, Milner, Wright-Phillips, Agüero
Hard fought win 2:1
anyone know of a good website to watch the game ?
am i the only one who thinks sir alex is going to turn valencia into a wing back??other than rafael and fabio{who very rarely play the full 90 mins}we have no cover for the position.same way we have no cover for evra.we haven’t bought a fullback so either he is planning to develop smalling and evans for those positions or convert valencia completely into a RWB and play him behind nani which worked pretty well the few times it was tried last season!!!!
No, he’ll consider doing that only when United aren’t winning after perhaps 65-70 minutes and bring on Nani/Young from the bench.
Crucial opportunity for Berbatov…
http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=125570&part=sports
cheers
Agree. Would be good if he can score and build some confidence for the new season.
No cover for right back except for Smalling, Jones and Evans. Yes they’re all CBs but they’re all comfortable on the ball, particularly Smalling, so filling in is not a problem.
Valencia will only play there if we’re chasing the game in the last 20 mins.
pretty sure he meant the whole season
boring draw. we’ll win in penalties. good to see welbeck in the starting xi.
Good start by Utd
like the team, good amount of english and no bollockless except carrick, not watching the game tho obviously
United looking good.
Christ, Dzecko makes Berbatov’s pricetag seem dirt cheap.
Richards should have gone then
Showing studs off the ground.. That’d be a red and 3 weeks in my league. Minimum. Ando looking good.
Anderson, Young and Welbeck all very encouraging
We dominate the game and they score from a setpiece ffs
oh well…….
should have been 1 up and now 1 down
There will probably be questions about De Gea for that goal, but not sure there’s much he could have done to be fair
We need a new left back
That’s going to be the City blueprint against good teams this year
the way city play it is pretty difficult to break them down but with the possession and opportunities we have had, it really should be us opening the scoring
don’t think the keeper can be blamed for that – our defenders need to look at that though
fuck off
2 fuckin nil
fucking blunder by de gea there though
Should have saved that one though!
Shit. But defenders should have shut him down
De Gea should have stopped it
how the fuck did we not score. We are playing like Le Arse. fucking about around their box. This team deserves a couple of top notch midfielders.
WTF is wrong with him, another one who should go to Specsavers?
It’s a farce.
city giving us a pasting today will give SAF some ammo for signing 1 or 2 more before month’s end
de gea is young and needs to learn but quickly
Ball dipped late on DG there.. Still should be stopping them 9 times out of 10. Unlucky that one came now. That’s the game then. Fuckin bitters will treat this as if they’ve won the world cup
aye and united handed them both trophies ffs
The cunt stood too long, should have moved seconds before, that would’nt have happend to EVS
Good start, but no cutting edge
After the first goal they dominated midfield with their extra men, and it’s looking like a United away/Wembley performance
Sneijder time
Not what I expected: our midfield is okay, but our wingers are crap. United are clueless in the attacking third.
i guess lindegaard will be on for the 2nd half – but if de gea does stay on, he has some balls
We stopped playing after the first 20 minutes. Or more accurately after the first goal. Reminiscent of the last time we played at Wembley.. How did that go again..?
the tov on for wellbeck
time to bury wembley memories away
getting 2 goals past them is going to be difficult but not impossible
“The Tov”? You’re not the same cunt who calls Gibson “The G-Bomb” are you?
come on, you all knew the skinny cunt was going to fuck up a few times.
I agree similar to Messi’s goal in CL final, but De Gea moved very slowly
Be interesting to see how Fergie reacts. Can’t do worse than the stroke of genius that was ‘bring on Owen with 20 to go’ of the CL final.
*sighs*
hopefully he’ll man up at the Hawthornes next week and show why we invested so much in him
he’ll be ok
maybe not today but over the season he will come good
Time for Cleverley to show what he can do
agree. he was world class for AM when they won the Channel 5 Cup
Vidic should have done better with both goals
Well, for all those who are putting their faith in the youth this year, we’re about to find out what they’re made of.. Can’t see why he’d take Vidic off
I like Jones already: two clattering – but fair – challenges
i knew playing those yank teams and handing them their arses was too good to be true
this was city’s cup final again and judging by their dirty tactics,which they also used at wembley in April, we should have manned up and learnt that lesson
fuckin yes
game on
2-1
come on reds
Young’s not having a great game, but he continues to show for the ball – doesent hide like some do.
Massiveling!!!!!
Finally Richards gets punished for being a cunt. In a roundabout way. Get in
Great delivery and finish
Soft yellow that.
what a goal
come on reds
gettttttttttttttttt in
FANTASTIC GOAL
What a fucking finish. 4-2 coming here.
fuck me
city going for the win
mancini takes off ballotelli and puts barry on in his stead…ffs
and that’s why City won’t win the league this year
Berba Time
I agree. Welbeck has to go. Right back looking like a problem position for us this year
// Right back looking like a problem position for us this year //
Are you on crack? Both Da Silvas play there. Jones and Smalling very decent there too.
I think Welbeck’s movement has been very refreshing, but I’d like to see Berba get on the ball now
can’t afford to take any chances in a vital game like the charity shield
I’m only able to listen on the radio. Sounds like our attacking creativity and movement is excellent.
Cleverly is making Carrick look redundant.
Rafael captain now.lol
I think Cleverley’s postive passing has given us some impetus 2nd half
Shocking innit. And clichy on now. Still no sign of Aguero. They better not score from this corner. Undeserved
how many subs in this game?
surely the tov needs some play time
6 apparently
cheers triggs
I think Berba will put the handbrake on which is the last thing we need. Need to up the tempo as much as possible to counteract their faux hardman defensive bollocks.
Cleverley is a hell of an upgrade from Gibson
a concrete lamp post is also 1 heck of an upgrade….
Nevermind Gibson, he’s an upgrade from fucking Carrick. At least he goes into second gear.
pace slackens
1 more effort from the reds
really dont want pens
id take a draw
Mancini looking worried. Must have run out of defenders to bring on.
DG better get his act together for pennies..
I wonder what the average age of the 11 players we’ve got on the pitch now is? Great to see SAF giving the young lads a go in a fairly competitive match:
— De Gea
Smalling Evans Jones Rafael
Nani Cleverly Anderson Young
Welbeck Rooney
Rooney, Nani & Young are the aged veterans…
Wellbeck looks brilliant at times and a dumb tool sometimes.
If we were Arsenal the media would be collectively wanking over our young team, especially given how many are English/British Isles.
Massiveling is a fucking brilliant player
Amen. just brilliant
how are we not 5 or 6 up this half?
yesssssssssssssssssssss
nannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnni
naniiiiiiiiiii
I crunched the numbers — our average age is 22.1, and the median age is only 21!
And Nani wins it, nice!
Captain Kompany!!!!
Best Charity Shield ever!
nice
very nice
very very nice
Mancini due for some criticism now
What a game!!! Briliant young players. Its been a long since I enjoyed our game.
Not quite as good as 94 (or was it 95) when Keano bagged the winner – but that was a nice victory against the scum
What a game. If you were a city fan you would be worried about getting dominated from start to finish despite spending all that money.
City might has well have had ten players lined up on the 18 yard line for all the attacking they did. Especially second half. Utterly deserved win and the best match I’ve seen us play in a while. Surely cleverly will start next weekend.
Saw the score just after half time and thought FFs not again but the character shown by the team is brilliant coming back after being 2 – 0 down is no easy feat when you look at the players in the ranks of City, suddenly ive got a warm feeling for this season it could turn out to be fun. The new players and young players will still need a little time to properly gel but when they do we will be laughing.
Honestly, they bring it on themselves. 2-2 with 20 to go and Mancini’s game changing sub is bringing on a right back.. For a right back. Cunt. A deserved win by attacking football over defensive, dirty tactics. Get in.
What today has confirmed is that City will not win the CL or the league with Mancini in charge
I WILL WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS
6pm itv1
Ando and Cleverley to play Scholes games this season. Sneijder transfer more unlikely now.
so is this what’s its again gonna take for us to win a game away from ot
how’d you work that out?
My view is that last season’s midfield roles and minutes to this will be thus…
Scholes>>>Giggs
Giggs>>>Sneijder
Gibson>>>Cleverley
Carrick>>>Carrick
Fletcher>>>Fletcher
Ando>>>Ando
cleverleys banging on the door big time
http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Match-reports/2011/August/City-v-Manchester-United-Comm-Shield
Edit: They’ve corrected it
http://i52.tinypic.com/xgctpy.jpg
Sir Ryan Giggs? No no no. Sir Paul Scholes say.
Some brilliant stuff. Ando hardly put a foot wrong & Cleverley showed how average Carrick is. It is going to be very difficult not to play Jones; you can already see him as captain in a couple of years. If you add movement & good touches from Welbeck & Young that was the icing on the cake.
Must admit despite all the scepticism about Young, he looks as though he has a lot to offer. That ought to kill off any thought of Nani being dispensible but maybe not Berba. If we score a better goal this season it will have to be a blinder.
I bet carrick cried at halftime
I can’t remember being this excited about a new season after seeing that performance today. Where do you start? Great performances all over the pitch but I would single out Anderson as one of the best. Wellbeck and Cleverly could save us a fortune as well. Sad to say it but I just can’t see Berba being a part of this team and they way they are going to play.
i bet you did
I’ve been very sceptical about Cleverley for the last 18 months, but today he showed us what he can do … find space, pass & move for the return & find space again. He worked hard too. In comparison SAF must reealise how bloody average Carrick,(pass …. back …. & take a breather) Park,Giggs & even Fletcher on last season’s form are.
Yep I agree on that display I have not felt as enthusiastic for years. For God’s sake Alex just add Sneijder to the mix.
Throwing Sneijder into the mix wouldnt do Cleverley much good..
Berba comes on and tries his best to slow the game down. Honest to God, why can’t we pay some team to take him off us.
One sensational back-flip to lose two City players by Anderson was worth the admission money only.
Nani? What a footballer. Frustrating as hell some times but his talent is never in doubt. That second goal? The pressing all over the pitch and the quick, short passing. The work rate from everybody was so clear. I don’t care about City or any other team we play against. To hell and beyond the whole lot of them.
Manchester United. My heaven. Now for Fletcher to be fit. Please boss do not WASTE money on Sneijder.
ffs
he came on in the 87th minute
Yes he did and while others were ready to pile forward he was doing his usual holding the ball and moving BACKWARDS before laying it off to a defender!!!
I’m sure he was. Interesting that, that is your first comment on the game. Anyone would think you had something against him???
same old, same old cal
obviously berbatov was going backwards for most of the last season when he scored 20 league goals for us
and i seem to remember even you, yes you were singing his praises when he scored that treble against the scousers
you will always be sore about his performance away at blackburn 2 seasons ago and the fact that you personally must have dipped into your savings to enable the club to buy him and will never forgive him in spite of what he can bring to the team; a lesser player would have handed in a transfer request after what he had to endure the last time at wembley – give him a break – he wears a red shirt and is committed to the club.
and that sensational back flip by anderson was so brilliant that it wasn’t even on the highlights…..
Yeah I heard Cal was thinking of investing in gold/Stewart Downing in 2008 instead.
Bad decision!
didn’t get in from work till 6pm so didn’t see the game, but just watched the highlights of the match and i must say that for most of the match united played well and controlled the match,the lads especially in the second half didn’t give up and wanted to win it so much, the second goal was a goal that Brazil would have been proud of,cleverly played very well i thought in the middle, and looks a real prospect. great comeback and great game. PS how come the massive couldn’t sell their allocation, big not. great to be back, roll on next week.
ps hi Han, good to see your back.
hi mad red
i’ll let you see my front too….
great game by united and nani was brilliant
Anderson was great. Cleverly a revelation. Gibson can fuck off.
look yeah, just because cals a fucking thick bastard cunt doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a massive cock or that he’s wrong about berbatov
LKHF
faffing
and we all know you like a big cock or three…
damn………..
i promised myself i wouldn’t lower myself to the level of uncle’s posts this season and yet the season hasn’t even started and you’ve gone and posted that post which i just couldn’t resist replying to…
don’t underestimate how much uncle kiddyfiddler likes a massive cock.
you know how much he goes on about 442? well that’s his perfect dimensions of a flaccid cock, true story
Cal’s right about Berbatov. Come on PSG. Use your oil money.
Just 1 midfielder short of a very promising team. Injuries in that area will be the ruin of us this season
Just 1 midfielder short of a very promising team. Injuries in that area will be the ruin of us this season
agreed…i reckon its awesome too
tbf
lol go on then
Strangely, These bunch of young Utd players never know the meaning of the surrender.
Did anyone see charity match against French team? I cannot remember exactly but 6-7 Utd young players kept hold game against full 2nd ranked French club team.
I think some here are going a bit overboard.
Great win, for sure… and it’s gotten to the point where, United fans take the, “don’t know they’re beat” attitude for granted.
However… we conceded 2 terrible goals… we’re going to have to defend better than that over the season… and Evra looks like he did, when we first signed him… Welbeck still doesn’t look the business to me… Cleverly did well, but come on… for attacking ability, he’s no where near Sneijder, and he doesn’t have the defensive game to be an all rounder… he’s good, but not good enough to say, “who needs Sneijder?”… Anderson had a good game, but we’ve seen that before… followed by a half dozen rubbish games… Nani showed both sides of his game today… some of his brilliant best, but he’s still a selfish, head down, meat head… Young did ok, pfft, not that excited, tbh…
Great win… but I fear that team will drop a lot of points this year…
still, at least we have the luxury of darron gibson to call upon
welbeck has high class potential that’s obvious, only lacks sufficient goal threat but thatll come, he’s a no brainer
Class second half. Some excellent performances from a team with an average age of just 22.
But that shouldn’t mask the failure in the first half… City never made use of their extra man in midfield. We still need a midfielder
Also, Mancini is a goner. His cautious approach and bullshit like for like substitutions will be the end of him. His City team lacks serious amounts of flair when Bellend-telli can’t be arsed
I’m in love with Cleverly
Steps up to the plate, is a little clever terrier in midfield, just wot the doc ordered.
anderson was excellent too.. keep that up and maybe we are not fucked in midfield
Anderson must know that he’s got to do it this season else he’s gone…
han,
it is an indictment on football in the whole of the British isles that Anderson move was not shown on highlights!! Anywhere else and it will merit at least five replays. He hooked the ball over his own head and behind him to lose Dzeko and Silva. The crowd showed their appreciation.
My views on Berbatov have little to do with that performance two seasons ago at Ewood. If anything, that performance is just one of many that prove to me that he has never been right for this team. his talent and abilities have never been in doubt. Yesterday for instance we did a lot of things one-touch and at PACE. One touch and at PACE. The United under SAF way. Berbatov will ALWAYS slow this type of game down. He will without a shadow of doubt. The speed and penetration of our play destroyed the physicality of City’s midfield and defence. We actually pressed them high up with an excellent work rate that Rooney, Welbeck, Young and Nani were ready to do. Change ANY of these players with Valencia, Macheda and Chicharito and the work rate will still be the same. Add Berbatov or God forbid Owen into it and the whole thing changes and we are slower. That is just the way it is.
Cal, I’m beginning to think you are the creation of another Ranter who he brings out when in WUM mode. So Berbatov can’t play one-touch football? Granted, he doesn’t have the pace of others in the team, but he has the skill to play any number of first time balls around the box. What is unfair for me is that you based your verdict on Berbatov’s performance yesterday on a 6 minute or so appearance when he touched the ball about three times. You moan about him him playing it backwards at one point, when clearly he had no forward pass on, and was forced backwards by 3 City players. Now Scholes has gone, you need a new scapegoat, I guess, and like so many others you seem to have settled on the handy target of Berbatov. Tiresome.
Anderson’s little move was ace, no doubt about that, but came at a time where there was nothing else happening, so had no context in which to be used in the highlights.
reddread,
what I find quite “tiresome” is to try and read somebody’s mind instead of his posts. My views on berbatov have little to do with yesterday’s performance. I do not follow the crowd here and will never do that. My biggest grouse with him has been his lack of pace. Since his signing I have always maintained that he does not have the athleticism to fit into the way united play. over and over again in the course of his time with us it has been borne out. If you think that I based my views on berbatov from yesterday then forgive me for reading your posts.
Anderson’s move happened at the height of our second-half performance and domination and really would have entered the highlights of many other countries apart from here. A man was being hounded by two players and he loses them in a manner not frequently seen yet you are saying “there was nothing else happening” – what does that mean?
It was 5 mins it so from the end, everyone was looking tired and there was nothing of note for a fair while either side of the lovely bit of skill. There was no context in which to use it in a highlights package without it looking out of place. Quite simple.
Your views on Berbs may not be based on yesterday, but instead of praising a team performance, you instead chose to have a go at a player who was on the pitch for less than 10 mins. Like I said, tiresome.
I produce football programmes for TV reddread. If it was possible for ‘highlights’ of Cleverly to be produced from yesterday’s match then surely Anderson who played the whole game and was just shaded by Nani and his two fantastic goals had far more to be highlighted. Some of the passing from the brazillian were stuff we had hopes of him being able to do and which he showed glimpses of in his first season. I suppose because he is not English then there is “no context”. He was immense yesterday and deserved more said about his performance than Cleverly – mind you they are both about the same age!
By the way, go to page four of this thread to read my first post on the game. Berbatov was just ONE line. And there were at least four more lines after that. Read my posts I said. Tiresome. Indeed.
The only disappointment was Anderson. He’s a talented footballer, but playing for the wrong team. He has nothing to offer. He’s not a goal scorer, doesn’t really assist goals, we can’t call him a ball winner either. He brings energy and can dribble but has little end product. He may take years to improve – not something we can wait for.
http://i55.tinypic.com/2jrv68.jpg
I am a video editor, Cal. I know how to put a programme together. There could have been a piece where they were saying how awesome Ando was where the presenters could say “look at this bit of skill”, but there wasn’t. Because Ando was on from the beginning and had a solid game, but Cleverley came on at half time and helped to change the game, and supplied the pass for Nani’s first goal. A little more to be included in a highlights reel than a nice flick that lasted two seconds and ended in fuck all.
And your post on page 4 may have had fifty more lines, but as usual you had to have a go at someone, and that was in your first line, which was not only irrelevant to the game as a whole, sets your agenda straight away. Tedious, it is, rather than tiresome.
Brilliant pic.
^^They say a picture is worth a thousand words…so true ^^
LOL