Carling Cup Thread

[dotoko]

I don't think Ferdinand and/or Vidic will make a difference, the game will be frantic and coming back from injury neither will be at their sharpest. They will probably give the rest of the United team more confidence to stay forward too which plays into City hands...

As for City... Adebayor should be back for the return leg which adds a much needed second dimension to their attacks. Tevez will have more confidence and will undoubtedly want to silence OT. Then Viera is a bit of a blast from the past and we all know that in football these old ghosts tend to haunt.

I really can't call this one. The best City side of probably all-time vs the worst United team in a decade? and neither is at full strength. I'd say United are still the slightly better team but the goal advantage probably balances that. Villa must be licking their lips though since neither team looks too dangerous.

As long as City secure a Champions League place I don't care what happens this season because we are in the ascendancy and wether we topple United this season or next it doesn't matter because financially we're a powerhouse and let's be honest eventually that's what it all comes down to.

[nakamura]

I really can't call this one. The best City side of probably all-time vs the worst United team in a decade? and neither is at full strength. I'd say United are still the slightly better team but the goal advantage probably balances that. Villa must be licking their lips though since neither team looks too dangerous.

As long as City secure a Champions League place I don't care what happens this season because we are in the ascendancy

Spot on here. I think not only are City in the ascendancy I also think Utd, at this stage with the problems with its owners could be in some kind of decline. I fear they could do a Liverpool in the next few years due to the lack of funds that seem to be available to them.

[arcnas]

The Worst United team in a decade is so far wide of the mark, yes they have had a few more defeats than usual, but on there day they are still very very good, as for financial problems they wont sell there best players, yes the glazers borrowed to buy Utd, but like i said the are Billionaires at the end of the day, City were outclassed last night, but Utd need to play more than one up front, theres no way city are going to Wembley it wont happen.

[C']

I don't think Ferdinand and/or Vidic will make a difference, the game will be frantic and coming back from injury neither will be at their sharpest. They will probably give the rest of the United team more confidence to stay forward too which plays into City hands...

As for City... Adebayor should be back for the return leg which adds a much needed second dimension to their attacks. Tevez will have more confidence and will undoubtedly want to silence OT. Then Viera is a bit of a blast from the past and we all know that in football these old ghosts tend to haunt.

I really can't call this one. The best City side of probably all-time vs the worst United team in a decade? and neither is at full strength. I'd say United are still the slightly better team but the goal advantage probably balances that. Villa must be licking their lips though since neither team looks too dangerous.

As long as City secure a Champions League place I don't care what happens this season because we are in the ascendancy and wether we topple United this season or next it doesn't matter because financially we're a powerhouse and let's be honest eventually that's what it all comes down to.

Typical hyperbolic nonesense. We lose the best player in the world (genuinely irreplaceable) and a good (but not great striker) and suddenly the team that has won three Premier League titles on the spin and a Champions League is suddenly the "worse United side of the decade". Sorry but the United team around 2004/5 was far worse than the side we have now with the likes of Kleberson, Djemba-Djemba (so ****, they named him twice),Bellion et al and a Ronaldo that was nowhere near the superstar he is today (all tricks, no end product).

I'm not going to comment too much on City's Champions League ambitions because based on what i saw last night, they aren't quite there yet.

[arcnas]

city wont get fourth , they have no chance it will be the top three as we know, and liverpool will end up fourth id put money on that, saying that it is critical city qualify or they wont attract the best players they so want next summer, i was sat there yesterday thinking which city player id swap for one of Utds 11 last night and there aint one, okay maybe shay given might get in Utds lineup

[C']

I'd take Given in a heartbeat. Probably Bellamy as well if it weren't for his reputation as he's an underrated player but if not handled well can be a bit of a handful.

[dotoko]

i was sat there yesterday thinking which city player id swap for one of Utds 11 last night and there aint one, okay maybe shay given might get in Utds lineup

But do you think City (or Chelsea/Villa/Spurs/Arsenal for that matter) would swap any of their players for a United equivalent? Evra (maybe) and although I'll admit Rooney is marginally better than Tevez and Bellamy I wouldn't have him over either.

And on that subject: United have one Rooney. We have Tevez, Bellamy AND Adebayor (at least one of whom tends to be on form). Of course you can argue Owen and Berbatov are at United but is Owen really any better than Benjani these days? Is Berbatov more use than Robinho or Santa Cruz?

United have a strong team that was built and knitted together over years. We have something put together by Mark Hughes, someone no City fan ever wanted or believed in, Micah Richards is resurgent under Mancini and under him I believe Toure and Lescott will also perform like we've seen they can for other clubs. We also have the best keeper in the league and De Jong is playing as well as any DMF. Wright-Phillips, Petrov, Ireland, Barry and Vieira are all solid midfielders and if Wayne Bridge doesn't pull his weight at left back we'll just keep buying them until one does.

United fans seem to be forgetting two thing A) They lost and B) We played badly. Look back at City games against Chelsea and Arsenal. We hammered both while they played well. Nothing says City have to play just as badly at OT (although they probably will since the manager is finding his feet).

Maybe we won't go to the final but as for fourth place we'll be there or there abouts and make no mistake... This City team is getting better all the time. United and their fans write us off at their own peril.

[arcnas]

Written off officially, you will see that when theres 30,000 extra utd fans at old trafford which city cannot fit in there stadium.

[dotoko]

What does that matter? Anfield is famous for being this country's most intimidating ground and that holds less than CoMS. If you're talking about revenues then some interesting figures:

£108.8m - United Match Day Revenues Last Season.
£395m - Amount gifted to City and turned into shares by ADUG after one season of ownership.
£325m - Amount United have paid purely in interest payments since Glazer takeover...
£121m - Total debt of Leeds United at it's highest (and look what happened to them)

[nakamura]

According to sky sports Utds parent company are 719 million in debt if it means anthing to you.

[CrispyXUK]

As a City fan I was disappointed by tonight's game, I think if we'd made any attempt to attack in open play we'd have had them on the back foot and been ahead by two or three going into the second leg. As it is the tie is in United hands, then again they're no less of a shambles than City so I guess that means it's anyone's game at this point?

Also it pains me to say this but Wright-Philips and Barry are dead weight in the City team these days. SWP is only notable for popping up as a make shift left-back when Richards bombs forward. Something Zabaleta would be better at since he is an actual left-back and also has the ability to deliver a decent cross unlike SWP. As for Barry, he does okay in defensive midfield but isn't quite as good as De Jong and IMO doesn't deserve to start over an AMF like Ireland or Petrov who would join/start attacks.

I would have a go at Benjani too but since Santa Cruz is crocked, Robinho is as much use as the mascot and Adebayor will probably rock up in a dazed state at the Arsenal training ground sometime next week I'll leave off the Zimbabwean until we buy another striker.

We still won, even when we played average

[nakamura]

Well great start to the Villa match. Must be the 2 best carling cup games I have seen in years. All the teams seem to have forgotten its a Mickey Mouse cup!

[dotoko]

Yeah 2-2 now, Blackburn down to 10-Men too, shame as it would have been nice to see Blackburn in the final.

[BaronSqwelch]

good lord what a night...

never want to see another goal again ha!!
my legs are ripped to bits by the seats in front....bring back terraces and roll on wembley!!