Re: Message to Rafa
 

same here, i would swop last nights result to beat u-shited on saturday;)

Re: Message to Rafa
 

Ouch.

Re: Message to Rafa
 

Come on then Matt, come and defend your useless bunch. You'll still win the league like, but everyone else had a great laugh today!

Re: Message to Rafa
 

:D it was a pleasure watching liverpool rip united a new arsehole and shove their fans inflated ego's right up it;)

Re: Message to Rafa
 

My word. What a match. What a joy. :D

Re: Message to Rafa
 

united will most likely still win the premiership but i really enjoyed it!
still trying to get hold of 2 of my united mates who won't return my calls:D:D:D:D:D

Re: Message to Rafa
 

i enjoyed dossena's chip for the fourth in front of an half empty stretford end...............well, after all its a long drive home; that and fergie being so angry with the result the purpleness of his nose had spread to his whole face :D although according to him utd were the better team!

Re: Message to Rafa
 

I'm here...

to defend my team...

Except i can't because i don't actually know what happened.

They simply fell apart (combined with Liverpool being resurgent). I would have taken 2-1 defeat, but being humiliated 4-1 at home by our biggest rivals hurts - it hurts bad, and will take something to get over - I'd rather have got knocked out of Europe than lose to Liverpool at home - seriously...

I have a couple of possible explanations

1. United were complacent - and assumed a draw would have been enough

2. Liverpool so needed to win that they played their socks off.

3. Liverpool were still on a crest of the wave that was the Real Madrid result (they too, a big club must be reeling a bit)

4. United's defence, which was at fault for three goals, and a sending off was also so complacent after the long run of results... this showed

5. Vidic has been bribed by Mourihno to scupper our season after not being banned for 3 games.

United should still win the league, but the difference between losing 4-1 and say 2-1 at home is massive... and it could psychologically harm them - its certainly harmed me!!

I wish I could brush it off but its not that easy... Fergie thinks we played well, possibly in parts, but it wasn't good enough, and 4-1 was flattering but it happened and Liverpool deserved the win - lets just leave it at that. Rafa will be smiling, lets hope at the end of the season or in the Champions League we can shove the result back in Rafa's bearded face.

the only concelation should come at the end of the season when we should reclaim the league but if this has damaged the team then that is something to worry about... we need a game soon to bounce back

not a good weekend to be supporting the Red Devils.. :(

Re: Message to Rafa
 

That's an absolutely ridiculous thing to say (and I've seen Liverpool fans offer similar sentiments that they'd rather have lost to Madrid if it meant they could win at Old Trafford). Why would you rather win a more or less meaningless league game than progress to the Quarter Finals of the Champions League? So you lost a game at home to one of your rivals, so what? In the big scheme of things you're still going to win the league and you're still very much in the mix for the FA Cup & Champions League and could end this season with an unprecedented Quintuple.

And if the Liverpool fans still bring this game up at the end of the season then just point to their empty Trophy Cabinet and your overflowing one and see who laughs longest...

Re: Message to Rafa
 

without wishing to be too much of a smartarse, but when you win the European Cup 5 times you get to keep it for good..............................and anyway its March, the season's far from over

Re: Message to Rafa
 

I support Spurs so what would I know about such things? ;)

Re: Message to Rafa
 

not being a supporter of either team you wouldn't understand.....and i'm not patronising you or anything, that's just the way it is.......as i said, one of my good mates who's a manc won't even answer his phone so i can take the piss:D i''l get him the weekend

Re: Message to Rafa
 

Well, there is the Arsenal thing, but I'd take losing to Arsenal everytime if it meant Spurs were winning League Titles and European Cups.

Plus there seems to be echoes of Welsh Rugby in that for years there was this mentality that as long as we beat the English it was a successful season, even if we lost all the other games. Thankfully we seem to have left that behind now (although there's still a minority that think that way). And while it will be great if we beat Ireland on Saturday and so win the Triple Crown I'd much rather we had put more points on Italy and so also be crowned champions if we were to win on the weekend

Re: Message to Rafa
 

i was exactly like that with my mum (who supports Liverpool) i didn't speak to her all weekend.

its more than just a game in the league for fans of these two clubs - see Rooney & (in previous years) Gary Neville's comments to the game's build up

As a United fan, i would rather win the Premier League every season, than the Champions League - i don't care what Fergie's priority is - the League to me is THE most important thing, and losing so heavily to the biggest rivals is THE worst you can get

beating Inter Milan - so what - its still just a knock out club competition, the League is a long fought out campaign which pits you against the same teams every year which you always want to beat. Simple.

Re: Message to Rafa
 

couldn't have put it better myself! for us the premiership is the holy grail.....so what if we beat a few spanish and italian teams? It takes nearly 9 months of football to win the premiership......

Re: Message to Rafa
 

Funny.... in Spain everybody would agree that winning the Champions League would be far more difficult, if only for the level of the other competitors.... If you ask any Barça/Madrid fan they'd choose winning the European Cup over the League any day (at least I would!).

Re: Message to Rafa
 

Keep in mind that some fans like beating their rivals and some fans like knowing their team has beaten the best competition available.

Re: Message to Rafa
 

5 more years of Rafa...

he won't last two more seasons, unless they can win the league in that time...

I ask LFC fans... what would you rather win this year / next year The Premiership or the Champions League...??

Re: Message to Rafa
 

It is kinda more unpredictable, because its a cup, (well in the final stages it is)...

I mean, the Champions League is a money making exercise first... because you play 6 games and only really need to win 3/4 of them to qualify for the knock outs... almost always the best teams get through... then they get to play a 'lesser' side by being top seeded... its all so that the best teams get to the final - and yes its harder to beat the best teams... but you get two chances, home and away... its too random really to have fans get passionate about it as they do over 'home' league football.

League football has always been the 'bread and butter' of all clubs in England, and the 'home' league is a harder longer fought out campaign and during it you get to play several teams that you just never want to lose to...

LFC had never played Real Madrid at Anfield before - so there was no rivalry, yes they were upset when they lost 4-0 but it won't have hurt so much as losing to say Athletico Madrid or Barca in the league... surely?

Last years final when Man United beat Chelsea was truly exciting, but I still think that if that game was to determine who would win the Premier League it'd have more passion and more riding on it...

Everyone hates Man United (mainly because of success and popularity), but they have 5 big rivals that MUFC fans 'hate', but none are European beacuse we don't play them often enough and most of the time when we do its just in the Champions League, League stages...i.e. unimportant games...

United in my opinion want to beat these teams in this order (mainly in the League): Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, Leeds

no one else comes close...

I'd take winning the Premiership each season over anything else... (provided Arsenal, Liverpool & Chelsea don't win the European Cup!) I might be in the minority, but i think the League is still No. 1 for most United fans...

Re: Message to Rafa
 

Sheffield Wednesday have done the double over Sheff Utd for the first time since 1914 but i'd swap that for promotion to the premier league any day. It meant a lot to beat them but theyre still the ones in the playoff positions and we're stuck in midtable. I know its not quite the same...

Liverpool have to enjoy that theyre the most successfull european team of the last 5 years and that theyve done the double over United. But United will win the league, which is something Liverpool havent done since 1990, evn though theyve managed to win everything else in the years since then.

Re: Message to Rafa
 

you already know the answer to that one matt!:p:D

Re: Message to Rafa
 

Deary me oh lore! :D

First we hammer ManU, and now we thrash Villa 5-0.

Ok, so ManU have a game in hand, but there is only one point in it at the top of the table now.

Tsk. Tsk. :p

Re: Message to Rafa
 

18 ALL

unless you think we'll not get 1 point from our last two games...

i'm counting my chickens now...

Re: Message to Rafa
 

Well, Arsenal away is one that you could lose, but then you've got Hull who are desperate for points to stay up. I don't hear any fat lady singing yet.

Re: Message to Rafa
 

from my point of view, it'd be handy if the arse pulled off a surprise so you'd have to make sure of doing the job on hull...


...but i'd be surprised if you slipped up at the weekend!

Re: Message to Rafa
 

Heres for a big slip up this weekend and a heroic hull win... because hull will have nothing to lose and United will not know what hit them...


..but this is only on the condition that Newcastle win their next game, otherwise United can thrash the hell outa hull and i would not give a toss

Re: Message to Rafa
 

well we're at home and we'll get the trophy if we can get a point at HOME on Saturday, we've only been presented the trophy once at OT in the 11 times we've won it - so the boys will certainly be up for it....

you seriously think that United will lose their last two games having just won 7 in a row...?

i feel you and the whole of anfield are wishfully thinking....

i see a West Brom upset on Sunday anyways...

Re: Message to Rafa
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnul...champions.html

"Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez grabbed a few more headlines on Saturday morning with a somewhat churlish - make that mystifying - claim that the best team does not always win the title, it just means they have more points than anyone else.


Not so Rafa. Not so at all. Any argument is always won by the team holding the trophy and no-one can seriously discredit them."

thanks for the congrats Rafa, Fergie will be thinking of you whilst on 'Holiday' in Rome next week :D

Re: Message to Rafa
 

I agree Matt. The best team over 38 games wins the league....end of.
We can take heart from a much better season - even though we won f**k all, and hope we can do better next season. We lost our chance when we drew at home to Stoke, West Ham and Fulham around christmas/January time so no complaints from me........