reply 1000 :shifty:

also, this young Rossi kid we signed is supposedly looking awesome in our reserves :love:

I think Jay Bothroyd scored about 3 goals in 25 games for Perugia. Whether you would consider that kind of record great or not, who knows?

As for Manchester United, I think Scholes and Giggs will go back to their original positions, and it'll be as simple as that. Rooney and Smith will take over from them playing off the front man of either Saha or Van Nistelrooy.

all you need to know about jay bothroyds goal history:

http://www.soccerage.com/en/07/19613.html

Rooney is good at Free kicks and that'll help United too. The fake Ronaldo's free kicks arent bad either. Similar to what ECG said, I think Rooney will take long shots and Nistelrooy will tap in what ever the keeper spills or other rebounds. I can't see Rooney playing as much as the other three this season to be honest, as RvN is still tricking people into believing he is good, Smith has a great work rate and is loved by the fans, so out of Saha and Rooney I think Rooney will play less because he is still young and needs more practice before being good enough for the United team. I am aware that he was the man in Portugal 04 but it doesn't mean much IMO, as Fergie will want him to gradually settle in, unlike at Everton where they needed hi to play the whole time, theres no rush at United.

Take a look at how many goals Manchester United score without Ruud Van Nistelrooy playing, to many they score when he does.

Dazz, his goal scoring rate speaks for itself. Simple as that.

I think Rooney will force himself into being played, simply because he's a fucking brilliant player. Manchester United have made a big signing there. I don't think we realise right now what an effect Rooney will have on the overall attitude of the side.

But do you not think Rooney will need time to settle in? He is not going to be on fire straigh away, I can see Fergie playing others more then him this season, he is more there for next season and beyond, and they pretty much had to sign him now to ensure that no one else did.

And as I have always said, if RvN was as good as people say, he would be able to score from outside the six yard box, apart from penalties. Nistelrooy does the old tap in routine pretty well which is why him and Rooney will be good together.

His goal against Fulham, where he ran from the halfway line? His goal against West Ham, where he skinned a couple of men, then swung it in the top corner from the edge of the box with the outside of his foot?

Anyway, it's irrelevant. There are great goalscorers and scorers of great goals. Van Nistelrooy is a great goalscorer. It doesn't matter how good they are, he is there to score them, which is a talent in and of itself.

The only thing is, I don't really want to see Alan Smith out of the side after the start he made for us.

You'll be here all night trying to convince Mental Mantle that RVN is a good player.

And Saha has hardly done anything wrong, bar being crippled half of the time either.

Alan Smith won't be out of the side. The thing is, Van Nistelrooy is the only one amongst them you'd call a pure striker. I don't think Smith is best leading the line on his own, and he'll be even better when he's allowed to drop off a front man, pull wide and generally put in the leg work.

Saha can play out wide, too, as an attacker, with his pace and two-footed abilities. Rooney is an excellent option, something not many teams have. A player who links midfield and attack brilliantly. Scholes doesn't really fit that role, for me. He's better in the central midfield, joining the attack.

apparently this young Rossi kid we just signed in the summer picked up on the edge of the area, past 3 and scored off the post with his weak foot.

I might wander down to watch the reserves play sometime. I can afford that, at least.

Apparently Lee Martin, the kid signed from Wimbledon, is something special too. Never seen him play, considering he's 16 or 17. They paid £1 million for him, though, so he must be alright.

We have signed kids for huge money before and they barely broke into the first team.

Like who? How many 16 year olds have you signed for £1 million? Bear in mind, 16 year olds who haven't broken into a club side regularly at any level.

Greame Tomlinson and Daniel Nardiello just to name two. If a player isn't playing for a club at any level then he ain't a player.

Hasn't broken into a club's side, I said, at any level. He's not ben a first team regular.

And I'm pretty sure Nardiello came through United's youth system. Not sure about Tomlinson.

Added to that, Nardiello isn't exactly past it.

Nardiello came from Wolves. Kirky will back that up.

Tomlinson cost us like £500,000 and never got a first team game. Think he was from Luton or Bradford.

Nardiello isn't past it. But I never said he was.

You said that players you've paid big money for haven't become first team regulars.

But anyway, Lee Martin is supposedly an excellent prospect. Sought after by a lot of the top clubs.

Sorry I must have missed when they became first teamers. And what I actually said was we have paid big money for kids who have barely broke the first team. There's a difference.

Right, I understand that, but it's not like they're so old that they still might not break into the first team.

So anyway is Rooney going to allow Man U to challenge Arsenal?????

I would say yes to challenging more effectively...

But Arsenal are still better.

Nardiello was poached :rant:

http://www.football365.com/mediastor...rooneyruud.jpg

:lol:

I would say Ferdinand will be more crucial to United challenging than Rooney will. But that's just me.

like nobody saw the donkey and shrek thing coming.

I take more pleasure in all the ABU's who must have bought a red england shirt with Rooney on the back during Euro 2004 though.

Calm down Mask one might think you were peeved over something

If there's one word to describe my mood right now, peeved is it :mad:

:shifty:

apparently Rooney has some behaviour clause in his contract too, so if he does anything to embaress the club, we can fine him more than the maximum 2 weeks wages or whatever.

The goal that started with an elbow ;) and he still had to run to the six yard box, and the one against West Ham was inside the box, but I cant remember it too well though. Fact remains, if he was as good as people say he is, then he would be able to do more then tap a ball in and take a good penalty.

Never said it wasn't a talent, just saying it isn't as big a talent is people would make you think, bearing in mind the team does 99% of the work for him.

That is why I think Nistelrooy tricks people into thinking he is a great player, because people remember the goalscorer, not who set up the goals.

Examples: Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0, Alexei Smertin was BY FAR Chelsea's best player, but he didn't get man of the match, Eidur Gudjohnsen did, anyone watching the match will tell you that apart from the goal he did nothing.

When Manchester United played Millwall in the F.A Cup final, RvN got man of the match because he scored a penalty and a tap in, Ronaldo was clearly Man Of The Match, and played much better.

Those are just two examples off the top of my head, the point is, people remember the goalscores and thats why people think RvN is better then he is.

the FA cup was just because Sven is a clueless wanker. Just about everyone on earth thought Ronaldo was man of the match.

:yes: yet he's still the manager of the national team :nono:

Ruud does his job, he's paid to put the ball in the net and he does it. Bernie Slaven is a legend in middlesbrough and he was the tap in king!

i agree with the fact people dont remember the creator of the goals but the simple fact is if the person who hadnt put it in the net hadnt put it in the net then there may not have been a goal.

a forwards job is to score goals RvN does that. Terry Henry is a hell of a better player tho as he plays for the team but still gets the goals.

I used to think in the same way as Dazz on RvN but then i remembered Gary Lineker was pretty much the same and he's a legend, in Leicester if not all of England.Sort of the same point that Doink made really.

You do realise that sponsor's choice for MoM are always bullshit? No one actually pays any attention to them. Except you, obviously.

What about Van Nistelrooy's goal against Arsenal, where he skinned Sol Campbell, and took the ball into the box to chip it over the keeper? Didn't have to do much for that one either?

Van Nistelrooy is an all round great player. He's not Thierry Henry, but few players are. He's a pure striker, big and strong, and perfect for other attacking players to play off. I can only think you haven't actually played football yourself, Dazz, if you can't understand the benefits of a big man up front with brilliant technique and the ability to hold a ball up and link the play. His movement off the ball is also excellent, floating between defenders and straying into offside positions where they can't see him, only to come back on again before the ball is played to him.

Added to that, the amount of goals he gets, and you've got one of the best strikers in the world today.

And being there to tap them in is a talent in itself.

Every Chelsea striker is better than RVN.

Last time I checked, just because you don't score 20 yarders, that doesn't mean you can't. Goals win games. 1 yard header or 55 yard shots. They all count for the same if they hit the net.

Ruud is quality, He scores goals domestically, in europe and at international level at a very impressive rate.

:wtf: only time will tell on that one.

RvN is one of those players you either love or hate, i hate him myself and think he drifts in & out of games to often but thats my opinion, however saying that my cousin always ask what i think of him i say crap, so he reverses the question and says and if he played for boro? i always say he'd be a legend because he scores goals.

my main problem with him is that he plays for man u and always seems to score against us, same reason i hate pires at arsenal as he always scores against us :mad:

anyway ive seen games where RvN scores in the six yard box, runs with the ball half of the pitch and takes it into six yard box and scores. ive seen him let the ball drop over his shoulder, control it then leather it past keepers only needing two touches. my point is he does his job and there are plenty of teams who would take him if he became available - including chelsea!

he will be up there with the top scorers again this year at the end of the season but i think this year will see reyes top the scoring charts!

to change the subject el tel is in talks with newcastle to become their new manager !

Even as a Liverpool fan, I have to say Van Nistelrooy is quality, everyone knows his faults (except the United fans obviously) but at the end of the day, he is in the top 5 penalty box strikers in the world, and that is what matters.

Also, about Rooney.

All I have to say is, wait and see, he's still got to prove himself in the Premiership, he's young and has all the potential in the world, its just a matter of him living up to it in the league, where it'll matter the most.

By the way, can I just say how "pleasant" it is to see all the United fans regaining the usual cockiness, I wondered where it had gone for a while

Wow, you didn't even read what I wrote, why don't you reply once you've read it.

It was Sky's choice for Eidur Gudjohnsen not Orange's.

I've played at centre back and up front in football, admittedly at no level higher then sunday league though, and I don't think your right about your big guy theory. Jimmy and Eidur were a great partnership and neither of them are tall or used to hold off defenders. Whilst RvN uses his strength to his advantage, he doesn't even do it fairly, anyone that watches a game he's in knows that.

I agree about the coming from an offside position, that is about the only thing that I think he is good at doing, he uses the rules to his advantage on that one.

And I've never denied he gets alot of goals, I just don't see why people cream themselves over him where he barely does anything more then tap the ball in. Until he got lazy, I'd always rather have Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in my team, because anyone who can score 33 goals in all competitions for a team that gets relegated, proves that he has to do alot of it for himself when his team mates were shit. IMO until RvN does more for himself, he will never be one of the best strikers in the world. You can use statistics to prove anything, just because he scores lot of goals doesn't make him good, IMO it makes his team mates good.

What about the fact that the rate of goals scored per match by United, effectively doubles when Ruud Van Nistelrooy is on the pitch? If his team mates were that good, surely it wouldn't matter which striker they had on the pitch?

So obviously Van Nistelrooy contributes a lot more to the game than simply rounding off the moves.

And Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is a fucking tank. His whole game is holding off defenders with his fat arse.

I could almost garuntee that that statistic changes this season, your forgetting that for years he has been their only good striker, now they have four good ones we'll see what difference he makes.

Hasselbaink never really tried to hold off players, he preferred to moan to the ref as soon as someone even breathed on him.