How can we beat Manchester United

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Just arm Meireles to the teeth and instruct him to hunt down Shrek and Cheese Dorito and we have nothing to fear.

[Ollie 4,400]

I dunno why everyone is so scared, we aint Fulham going to Old Trafford or QPR....

[ZanSnake 1,211]

With the broken tears of the disillusioned Arsanal fans

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

Yep, not too sure about Torres too atm - I remember in the UCL he got the nod over Drogba and when Drogba came on he scored, I know they scored minutes after and Torres hit the post but not sure if Utd in their impervious form will be a good place for Torres to start atm he could have a great game I mean I don't think I'd be angry or nervous if he started as I do still have faith. We haven't actually seen a full game with Mata and Torres yet (let alone Meireles too), wonder if we try it against Leverkuson .I know Lukaku won't get the nod but I definitely want to see him come on, especially if Drogba doesn't recover in time. Sturridge & Mata must start, I hope we don't fall for the 'inexperience' factor in a big game like this because Kalouda ahead of Sturridge won't get us anywhere. Without those two atm we do lack flair and are a different beast. Don't want too talk of Lampard not starting because theirs no chance, especially in a game like this but I guess I'm not going to complain because of that even though I am more than confident that Mceachran would do a better job even against Utd Wonder if Luiz could start, if he does Bosingwa will have to be dropped to the bench and Ivanovic would take his place - it's way too risky too have the both of them playing against Utd atm. And like Tomo I’d be scared shitless with Bosingwa’s defending, I mean Boswingwa and Luiz lol it could be genius or disaster.

United have looked good, but their opponents (including Arsenal) have been absolutely shocking. The defending has been poor, and we should definitely fare better. Hopefully we have learnt from our last encounter and try and abate the Rooney- Hernandez combination. Ivanovic normally gives Nani a good time, and both Young and Nani aren't going to have the luxury of facing poor fallbacks in Cole and Ivanovic. Meireles looked good against Sunderland, but weather it'd be Mikel or him I'm not sure - either way I think we're ok their. (Still wish we had Essien though )

Anyways we're well equipped, like mentioned its not fulham v Man Utd lol

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[Sheva. 5,373]

I agree about Ivanovic starting at RB. He's capable of stopping Young, while Ash will do the same on the other wing to Nani.

Will be really interesting to see who will start as CF. Could easily be anyone at this point, no one is exactly "on fire"

[Blue Armour 4,468]

We got shredded to bits against all the teams from the top last season and the one before that (remember tottenham and city the season we won the double). There lie the ominous signs of what was to come...

As much as it hurts me to say this, come next Sunday we'll see whos right

Agains't all the top teams? We've won matches against Utd, City, Spurs and Arsenal last season..and did the double over rest of the original top 4 before that...

Now this has nothing to do with the match coming up this weekend, as form counts for little in football, but do you have to spout portents of doom in all your posts?

[synavm 4]

Well, first and foremost it's going to be tough. United pose a number of threats from a number of areas of the pitch, we need to be aware and disciplined. We cannot allow for lapses in concentration as we have shown in a couple of matches this season. With the confidence and form that United have, a concentration lapse will certainly be punished and therefore we should drop the high defensive line for this game.

So, I would go with this line-up:

----------------------Cech-------------------

Ivanovic----Alex-----------Terry---A.Cole

-------------Ramires--Meireles------------

--------------------Lampard-----------------

Sturridge-------------------------------Mata

----------------------Drogba-----------------

First contentious issue is the choice of Right-Back. For me, there is no question as to who we should choose. It has to be Ivanovic. Against, United we definitely don't need to full-backs constantly bombing forward. With the likes of Nani and Young on the wings, we need to close them down as tight as possible, we need to stop the crosses coming in (One of United's main threats this season have come from crosses drilled to the six-yard box or back centrally in the area to the likes of Rooney or Cleverley). For me Bosingwa is better going forward than Ivanovic, but is not good enough at putting in tackles and remaining discliplined and sticking to his man. Ivanovic would play this role. He also tends to get in the heads of his opponents, and we need him to try and knock Nani and Young's confidence.

Second big issue is who to choose to partner Terry. This is a tricky one for me, but I went with Alex due to the fact he is an experienced head, determined to make the tackle who rarely makes major errors in defence- Everton and West Brom are the only games that stand out for me. Luiz poses a greater attacking threat and is going to be brilliant, but I feel he is too prone to making mistakes for this game. There are certain aspects he needs to shake out of his game before playing in games like this. I also chose Alex for his talent at set pieces, which I feel will be vital in this game.

Behind Lampard in Midfield, I have chosen Ramires and Meireles. I picked Ramires due to his effectiveness against United last year, he posed one of the only threats to United in the CL ties, and showed enough confidence to run past their CMs'. He is also pretty disciplined and will track back when required, although his tackling ability could pose a problem. Alongside Ramires is Meireles, I chose him as he could communicate well alongside Ramires and is good at spraying the passes around, we need to play at a faster pace and not give United the chance to organise themselves when we are in attack. In front of Ramires and Meireles is Lampard. His form hasn't been great recently, but he shows pride for his shirt, and will make the runs to support the CF. He is experienced and will not allow United's early season reputation to get to him.

On the wings we have Sturridge and Mata. Simply put they are pacy, are not afraid to take on a man. They are unpredictable yet calculated and will pose a threat to United. Both men will be in high spirits and ready to knock United off their perch.

Up front is Drogba. I feel we need his stregnth to take on Ferdinand, Smalling and Jones. He is composed and poses a threat from set pieces. I am concerned about his confidence levels and I would want him to try and abstain from making those ridiculous shots he occasionally takes. I'd want him to get in the area and shake the defenders off him and get the shot away. He also poses an aerial threat which could cause De Gea some problems when dealing with corners.

In terms of our general play, I believe we need to be robust, not lose shape and try and retain posession. We need to be focused, determined and disciplined. We need to get our passes away quickly and accurately, directly to our wingers. We cannot be afraid. It'll be tough but if we can keep our heads together we can do it. KTBFFH.

[Tomo 21,751]

Its very unlikely United will batter us, even last season we went into the decider at Old Trafford were bad but still made them sweat till the end, infact apart from one 3-0 a piece and a 3-1 Chelea win and 2-0 United win the Chelsea V United matches since Roman brought the club have been draws or one goal wins either way.

[Waterfall 893]

Alex - Terry partnership is too slow to deal with Hernandez, Rooney, Young and Nani. With high defensive line, it's only going to look worse.

[Blue Armour 4,468]

I'm just glad that we're getting this fixture over so early in the season...its almost like getting the first leg away in the Champions league

[TopDrog 119]

Agains't all the top teams? We've won matches against Utd, City, Spurs and Arsenal last season..and did the double over rest of the original top 4 before that...

Now this has nothing to do with the match coming up this weekend, as form counts for little in football, but do you have to spout portents of doom in all your posts?

Really?

[Blue Armour 4,468]

Really?

Yes... really...

If you're still confused I'll elaborate. Form matters when it comes to the player, but in a game of football anything can happen.

Example: Man Utd 1999. They won the treble. Was unbeaten till they came to the bridge to lose 5-0

[Grillinnap 129]

Ivanovic should continue to intimidate Nani.

[Spike 12,049]

Ivanovic should continue to intimidate Nani.

I've never seen a Defender trouble Nani in the way Ivanovic has, and in that same match I really thought Ivanovic was going to flatten Nani with his fist.

Cole should easily shut down Young, I'm just hoping they don't play Valencia, because of what happened last time Cole and Valencia squared off.

[Rambo 1,729]

Cole should easily shut down Young.

If Cole was in his prime, then yes. Not sure about now, Ash can still hold his own but shutting Young down completely will not be an easy task to do.

[Spike 12,049]

If Cole was in his prime, then yes. Not sure about now, Ash can still hold his own but shutting Young down completely will not be an easy task to do.

He couldn't do any worse with Young than he did with Valencia.

And if Torres plays, I will cry. I'm sick of him, sell him and buy Benzema or Higuain.

[Beast 85]

I'll take a scrappy win or draw against U*ited. I hate that club, their fans, their players and even their stadium.

[Kostas 1,468]

I dunno why everyone is so scared, we aint Fulham going to Old Trafford or QPR....

Ditto.

This topic's title is annoying.

[Fulham Broadway 17,363]

....by scoring more goals than them

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Manchester are in great form but to be real they haven't played any team playing descent football so far. Still we'll need to do everything thing right to win at Old Traford, like always.

Starting with line up: Iva at RB, Luiz to partner JT, Miereles and Mikel to hold the midfield. We also need to stick with experience in this match in my opinion, that means Lamps and Drogs to start.