Fierce_LiNk

It's just turned 11 o'clock and we are both stuffed full of pizza and naughty food. Eenuh/Ine/Enis/Ineurrrgh is going to be 29 tomorrow. If she is lucky, she might receive one of these: Although, it'll probably be moar of these: Yees, our friend the SURPRISE HUG ATTACK. She'll most likely wake up like this tomorrow, when that alarm unexpectedly goes off on what should be an otherwise awesome day: She will spend most of her day solving problems with her team, who mostly get in her way. But, she will be one year older. Everything will be glorious. Her dinner will taste better than it ever has done before: She will be BLOWN away by the gifts she will be receiving: And the day will turn out to be a massive success. Happy Birthday, darlingk. Cats. Gifs. Dealwithit.gif.

That's all well and good, but everybody knows that 4-4-2 with Giggs and Jones in the middle revolutionised the game.

I want him to do well, as do the majority of United fans out there. (probably, nobody wants to see him fail) But, he isn't helping himself one bit. His tactics, substitutions, line-ups and general style of play are all questionable. The fact that he is seemingly adverse to trying out new things (giving Zaha a game, for example) just doesn't sit well with me, imo. We are now in February and we haven't had a consistent back four, a central defence or midfield partnership and Moyes STILL doesn't know his best 11. The alarm bells have been ringing for too long with this one. Any other Premier League club would most likely sack him tomorrow. Liverpool would have sacked him, Chelsea would have let him go and Spurs would have said bye to him already. I'd like to think we'd give him time to sort things out, but we've also seen no progress at all since he took over. We've gone backwards with the performances AND results becoming worse. In these types of situations, you usually see the team come out and fight for their managers, but you don't see that with this lot. I question whether they themselves actually believe in what he is doing.

We are shocking defensively. Not surprised Stoke beat us because we don't have the grit or the fight to win games like that. Moyes' handling of the Jones injury was dire. Putting Rooney in midfield and bringing on Welbeck instead of just simply bringing on Fletcher was just terrible. Not even sure why we just didn't start with Fletcher anyway. Also, we are far, far too rigid and reliant on a 4-4-2 type of system. We've put Mata on the right wing to fit Moyes' system, which doesn't work. Why not actually change the formula? It's common sense, isn't it? When something is so obviously not working, you change it. We play the exact same way every single game, only with different players coming in and an almost certainly different back four every fucking time. Well done to Stoke because they knew how to beat us, but we made it so easy for them. I'm convinced that we could still be out there right now and we still wouldn't get an equaliser.

Match of the Day seemed to clear this up. The sending off was wrong, but the disallowed goal was the right call, as Ade motioned towards the ball when it was played in and he was already offside. Sending off decision was shit, mind. I doubt it would have changed anything and City were a bit unlucky not to be 3 or 4 up by that point. But, fuaaaark. City are unreal. Attacking wise, they're ripping through teams like sheets of paper. Any team that finishes above them deserves the league. Can't see it happening. The Aston Villa-West Brom match was fantastic, too. Really, really great viewing. Shite defending, but you need that for lots of goals.

No waiii. I wouldn't swap our four for your four. Anyway, the problem with us isn't our forwards. Everything behind our forwards (bar the keeper) is the issue. :p I'm shocked at that scoreline tonight, though. Didn't expect Liverpool to put 4 (almost 5) past Everton. I'm pleased with our result, but that midfield we played tonight was dire. Giggs and Jones. Why?

Mata and RVP are hnnnnnngggggggggggggggggg. The four behind him...Giggs, Jones, Young and Valencia are not. :p Also, whether or not the Wenger Paedophile jokes are offensive or not is irrelevant. They're shit jokes anyway. It's almost like saying WENGER IS A POOPOOHEAD LOLZ!1

He sure is...sorry, I lost myself for a minute there. Been giddy about this all day. Fuuuck. I know there was talk about this potentially happening in the summer, but I'd never have expected this to happen. Attacking wise, I think we're there. We now need to sort out everything behind the front four of Rooney, RVP, Mata and Januzaj. With the exception of De Gea, everybody else could and should be fighting for their places. I hear rumours of Toni Kroos, but that one will DEFINITELY not happen. Personally, I think he's just making Bayern sweat it out and hoping that they offer him a bit more money. :p The ultimate signing would be a Gundogan style of player. Somebody who will rule that midfield and make it difficult for teams to pass their way through it. Vidal at Juventus is another name I see popping up. We'd easily have to spend another 30million on these players (as they are high quality players), which I can't see the club doing right now. Maybe in the summer. But, definitely a much needed boost.

Fuuaaaaark. Can't believe the Mata deal actually went through. I was expecting something to go wrong, it seems too good to be true. Been buzzing all day. He is Juan sexy motherfucker.

You look miles better under Poyet. The commitment the players showed was fantastic, great hustling when not in possession and they looked more dangerous when they had the ball. Can't say that they didn't deserve to be in the final more than us. I've been terrified/scared shitless that the Mata deal would collapse. But, it looks like it's going through. This is how I've felt all day...

United could use you right now. I reckon a 30million pound offer will seal the deal. Semi-srs.

Pretty sure I cried, brah. Tears of despair. This does cement Welbeck, Jones and Johnson's England career. We're due some more shite penalty taking at international level.

It's amazing how many teams are having a go at us now. A few years ago, we'd have closed this game out and have got a clean sheet out of it. We're nowhere near as clinical as we should be. I agree about it being another number 10, but I think Mata is versatile enough for that not to be a problem. He's a quality player and will definitely improve us. (if it does happen) Agreed. I'm waiting for the whole thing to go tits up, mind. Valencia should no longer be first choice. He's been a 6/10 player at best this season. The one good thing he used to be fantastic at was his crossing and he's no longer great at that. It's no surprise that we seem to be relying on Januzaj because the other wingers aren't cutting it. I'd like to see something like this... RVP up top. A three of Mata, Januzaj and Rooney behind him, with the likes of Kagawa coming in to vary it up. Then two midfielders behind these three to tighten up that midfield and make us defensively strong/provide us with another option in midfield. A Gundogan type of player would be absolutely incredible, but we'd have to be really fucking lucky to get him. If we can turn back the clock and sign Yaya before City get him, then we'd be laughing. I'd love to see an interchangeable and fluid front 4, with either Van Persie or Rooney leading the attack but each of the four (RVP, Rooney, Mata and Januzaj) being able to drop in and out of positions and vary it up. It'll never happen, though. We'll most likely play 4-4-2 with Mata on the wing and Rooney up top with RVP when fit, with Januzaj on the other wing. We'll then have to make do with GIGGS AND JONES in midfield. :p

Fuuuuuck, those penalties were diabolical. Fucking terrible. So this now makes us crap at... Passing Shooting Defending Tracking back Wing plays/Crossing Pressing We can add penalties to that list now. Mata can't come soon enough. In truth, we need two central midfielders. One of those has to be defensively minded, with the other more box-to-box/creative. Basically, it's easier for us to build a time machine and to nab Robson/Keane and Scholes. :p Well done, Sunderland. Definitely the better team over two legs.

Not sure if serious. Mata is world class and was Chelsea's best player for the last two seasons. The only downside for me is that we didn't make more of an effort to go for him in the previous summer window. I'm expecting it all to go tits up and he'll remain at Chelsea. But, if not, fuuuck. Would certainly give the entire team a lift.

YEAH, DAZZY. ... ... :'( Funny enough, we could have done with Fellaini today. Somebody to boss/bully Chelsea off the ball in midfield.

I can't believe that there are United fans out there claiming that that was a decent performance and we were somehow unlucky to lose that game that badly. Aside from the first 15 minutes, we were awful. What shocks me most is that we brought in David Moyes for stability and his ability to sort out the defence/make the team hard to beat. Defensively, we are absolutely dire. Not just in terms of the back four or five, but there's hardly any pressure from the front. Chelsea walked through most of that game. Jones' movement for the first goal needs to be seen to be believed. Complete crap. Valencia was culpable for the second and third goals (he basically turned Eto'o around for the third and allowed him to face the goal...seriously, it's extraordinary). What pisses me off the most is that we started off with Januzaj in the number 10 and Young out wide. Why not start off with how we finished the last game (where, coincidentally, we looked great) and put Kagawa in the number 10 and Januzaj out wide. We finished the game with Smalling (a centre back) playing right back, Rafael (a right back) playing left back, Jones (a centre-back) playing central midfield and Welbeck (a striker) playing in the number 10. In truth, we were losing the game before we even kicked a ball with those tactics. What about the idea of playing Fletcher (who has looked the business since coming back), Carrick and Jones in midfield with Welbeck through the middle and Januzaj playing wide, with one of Kagawa, Young or Valencia on the other side. You could have had an interchangeable front three and we could have caused them problems whilst also looking more stable in midfield. We're lucky we didn't lose that 5 or 6-0.

Yes and no. The refereeing should be better, but I can't help but hate the typical "modern-day footballer" who feels the need to go down whenever they feel the slightest touch. If you watch the incident again, there's no way that the keeper does anything to impede Suarez. He withdraws. But, players now know that if they do down in the box, they can potentially win a penalty. That isn't right. They go looking for it. Even when they know full well that they're not being impeded. Contact doesn't mean a foul. For me (and according to the rules) there has to be sufficient intent or a clear obstruction, otherwise you get bullshit like strikers (Danny Welbeck is guilty of this) leaving their legs trailing or even moving their feet TOWARDS the opposition even after they've run right past them. If anything, they're obstructing the defending team!

The consistency of refereeing is shit, though. Right now, anyway. I almost dread hearing that whistle go when somebody goes down in the box, because you can almost anticipate the fallout/shit-storm that is a-brewing. There's no consistency and there are so many poor decisions being made. I can't believe we're at that stage where Cricket, the slowest sport known to man, has technology and far greater accuracy in terms of decision making than football. Cricket. FUCKING CRICKET. I love cricket (playing it) with all of my heart, but how the fuck was this allowed to happen? This is football. God's game.

Pepper your angus before listening to the Alan Shearer reasoning of why strikers/attacking players "go down easily". On a side note: How good did Cabaye look for Newcastle today? Wouldn't be surprised if we put in a cheeky bid for him this January. He'd improve our side and I'd love to see him in a United shirt. It would have to be over his value though, as I don't expect Newcastle would let go of him easily.

Match of the Day wound me right up with the whole "contact" thing. Fuck that. If you've got to zoom in and highlight where the goalkeeper makes contact with the player, then it can't be that great a deal of contact. ("oh, you can clearly see at 250x magnification that the fingernail of the goalkeeper that he spat out 10 minutes ago grazes the knee of Suarez, with just enough contact to bring him down) I hate this bollocks of a player "feeling contact" and "feeling entitled" to go down. You're not owed anything.

It looked like a dive to me. If there was contact, it was the absolute minimum, nowhere near enough to bring him down. It's a typical Ashley Young dive, basically.

I'm delighted with this. I can only think of positives. It'll give them more time to work on the film and perfect it in many ways, it gives the actors time to get into the mindset of their roles. I personally didn't think it would be ready by next year anyway...far too soon. Best news we've had about the film so far, in my opinion.

I thought of you whilst I quoted it and posted it. Ohhhhhh! 21st Century Love.