Castiel

Bjd isn't debating that he's not a good player but he's not the new messiah and the answer to all our problems either. He's a perfectly good squad player at the moment and gave a good performance today against what is essentially lesser opposition (although in good form) but that doesn't qualify him as a match changing presence on the scale of pre injury Essien, Lampard and Drogba to cite a few.

Now a CL knock out by Schalke, their league campaign collapses and we steal first. Ancelotti's master plan is coming together. Also agree with the unusual dignity over the red card but you could see that he genuinely made a bad and dangerous mistake and knew he'd f**ked it. As soon as it happened his first move was to check on Zabaleta so I do believe it was just one of those things that goes completely tits up and he knew it.

Anyone care to join me in a quiet laugh at Man United's fitting exit from the FA Cup?

Good display. Drogba on fire, excellent all round improvement in attitude and pace. Shame Torres' goal was disallowed but anyone questioning his movement and vision should have something to think about after that. Malouda and Kalou have improved but they're still being very selfish players, we would be far more effective with dedicated wingers in their positions in my opinion. MOTM Drogba by a mile.

Common that was beautiful! How f**king unlucky is Torres!

Its an optical illusion with the colour to make him appear bigger than he is to oncoming strikers. Some Rugby club strips use a similar effect and so do skydiver jumpsuites to make them easier to see.

Excellent excellent game by drogba so far. Both goals were all him, if Kalou had scuffed that it'd be a disgrace.

Drogba's back! :D

http://veetle-sports.blogspot.com/2011/04/channel-2.html In Spanish but working.

Malouda... Business as usual. /sigh

Actually pretty good headlines, don't give them any ideas!

To his credit, he did hint that there are plans for some of the youth featuring in next seasons first team. However if Carlo goes we don't know how the next manager will feel about our academy products.

A journalist specifically asked this question today in the press conference and Carlo indicated that he wont be fielding the younger players for the remainder of the season as its important to have "experience and character" at this point. However he did hint at some of the young prospects featuring a more prominent role next season (in the event that Carlo is with us next season).

Don't know who else saw Carlo's press conference today but Alex and Ramires both took minor knocks and wont feature in this game.

Looking forward to it to be honest. Took this squad one bridge too far and paid for it but now we get to see some youth brought up and some new exciting signings. Its the next generation of this club, just a shame this squad had to end on such a poor note especially after their last push in the previous season. I have no doubt that next season we'll return to our winning ways with plenty of fresh faces leading the line. Maybe it took this spectacular failure to make the powers that be realise that an overhaul is needed within the player base.

Because you missed the point... Not going to get into a pedantic pissing contest with you.

Missed my point entirely. I almost agree. However, had you been our manager during the CL tie, can you honestly say you'd have fielded an 18 year old and other equally young and inexperienced new comers over the people you've seen do the job before time and time again? In the biggest match of the season with your job almost certainly resting on the result? His hands were pretty much tied and so long as we rely on this squad they always will be regardless of who manages them. He fielded them in our strongest formation so he got the tactics right. Cole, Terry, Cech, Ivan, Alex (despite injury), Ramires and Drogba all looked sufficiently motivated so Carlo must have done his job there. Some question why he made a defensive sub but it was pretty clear to me that Alex was about to flatline. What? You want a 3 man back line with on form Rooney and United's already impressive counter attacking ability? He brought on Kalou when Anelka was proving hopeless to re-energise the attack and Kalou just couldn't be bothered that day. What else could he have possibly done short of going out himself?

Just wonder how some of the doubters would feel if Carlo went on to win us the Treble next season.

Well it isn't really that simple is it? Ray's sacking, highly unlucky and concentrated injury list, loss of faith in the managers future, failing morale, ageing squad and resulting lack of drive all compounded the problem. Our campaign suffered too many setbacks, and it happens to everyone. If you step back and look at what we endured this season, and all the factors involved, its quite astonishing that he managed to salvage the situation to the point where we may even finish second. Anyone thinking that we could have won the CL this season is deluded. All 3 English heavyweights couldn't touch Barcelona and likely Real Madrid too and that'll become apparent if United make it to the final. I've chosen to embrace the idea of "better them than us" enduring that humiliation.

I'm pretty certain he'll become a legend here. The squad has several serious and deep rooted issues with form, morale and desire which Torres can't do anything to help with. I've been impressed by his movement and attitude in games so far, he's made a good number of set ups for others and he's been pretty unlucky with the few chances he's had. We don't need to build the team around him and I don't believe we should, because if he gets injured we'd be pretty boned (ala Liverpool without him). But you could put any striker in the world in front of our midfield and you'd find similar results, such is their form at the moment.

From what little information we have from that incident, I do believe Carlo made a personal appeal to Roman and it failed. Whatever went on seriously pissed off the powers that be and the axe came down regardless of anything Carlo could say or do - that's the only certainty. I have no doubt that his sacking shot our squad morale in the foot and no doubt had a big part to play in how we hit those low points. People criticise his substitutions and tactics. For the most part we're tactically sound. Yes he does make mistakes but so does the almighty Jose who lost 5-0 to Barcelona in the Spanish league. How'd you feel if United did that to us? As for the substitutions, its very easy to call him out with hindsight - but if you're in that digout with a squad of equally misfiring, demoralised, uninterested players with NO idea who's feeling like earning their wages today, I'd like to see you do any better. Carlo is a proven manager with our Club. You don't win the domestic double by chance and to say otherwise is to ridicule the whole point of competitive sport in the first place. This isn't the first bad season we've had and it wont be the last. Stop overreacting and throwing your toys out of the pram and judge the situation with some honesty rather than scapegoating Carlo to satisfy the bloodlust. All that said I don't think the board will see it my way either and he's likely gone unless something astonishing happens in the league.

I'm always fighting Torres' corner but he did go missing in that match. Personally I'd have started him with Yossi then used Drogs as an impact sub (remember that ploy worked last season it just wasn't enough this time). But even though he didn't have a good game (he wasn't the only one) it shouldn't detract from the progress and effort he's put in since his arrival. Once we sort our mid field issues out and he's made the official focal point of attack we'll all love watching his finishing week in week out. Until said issues are resolved he's a gun without a bullet. He's never been known for creating goals from nothing, he's a clinical finisher and in my opinion, the best there is at it. But he needs something to finish.

Another year another champions league disappointment. All my criticisms have already been mentioned but I think we all saw this coming and just have to hope for improvement on our next campaign. Even though we don't deserve to go through, it'd be really nice if we can have one CL campaign that isn't tarnished by ridiculous decisions. I'm going to take a lot of pleasure watching Barcelona/Real humiliate them in the final though.

For informations sake United lineup: VDS O'Shea - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra Park - Carrick - Giggs - Nani Rooney - Hernandez (No Valencia idk if he's out or benched)

Team news on sky sports. 433 Cech Ivanovic - Alex - Terry - Cole Ramires - Essien - Lampard Anelka - Torres - Malouda Edit: Sorry read it wrong Drogba and Yossi not starting. The graphic they put up and what the reporter was saying is contradictory.