Portsmouth News 24/7Writer: pompeyrug 
Date:Tuesday February 19 2008
Time: 12:18PM
UK time is: 08:31:59
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Beat United? Of course we can!
The initial reaction to drawing United was a very 'defeatist one', but I do think that some people are starting to come around to the idea that we can actually beat United after all!
The air was certainly blue in the Rug household when the draw was made, out of all the permutations of the possible draw United at Old Trafford was the worst one imaginable, the draw that no one - not even Chelsea - wanted, so clearly I was disappointed but this is the FA cup, the magic never dies and belief can make such a difference and this is what we need to do, believe...
I am personally going to Old Trafford as I have had things confirmed today, and I am not going to Old Trafford for a 12.45 kick off that will mean one hell of an early start just for 'a day out' at one of the best stadiums in the world, I am going because I fully believe we can win...
Ok, I have been known to be wrong before, I am after all only human - and maybe sometimes my heart rules my head - but I have this really strong feeling that this year is going to be our year... I had a feeling last season, but nowhere like this. Maybe I will be wrong, but my belief will not be shattered until the final whistle goes and we have lost - not that I think we will!
Not since our very first season in the premier league when from the minute we won the old Division One title and I told anyone and everyone that would listen that we would 'no two ways about it' stay up have I have had such a strong belief that something can happen.
I was going to list reasons why we can and why we cannot beat United but the positives far outweighed the negatives, even if the negatives made more sense so I am just going to keep it simple:
What is the main reason for me thinking we can beat United?
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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Your Comments
Time for a positive mental attitude......
"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."
Muhammad Ali
NinjaTim
I'm a United fan and I'm gutted we have drawn you lot,I had a cheeky £10 on you at 25/1 for the cup.
SweetLeftFoot
im going, we should all go!! 9,000 pompey fans, outnumbered 7-1 agaisnt the prawn sandwhiches supporters, should be like a home game then.
Gleams
Quite right - we were all shocked at the draw, but we must believe we can win. We've got all our players back and they are not invincible - they lost to Citeh! If Havant & Ville can go to Anfield with the belief they can win, then we can have that vision going to Old Trafford. And we're way overdue a win away at one of the big 4. Fantastic quote NinjaTim!
tracyc
Is it 12.45 on the Saturday or Sunday? Is that BBC or Sky? (Just can't find it anywhere at the moment.)
tracyc
As a Gooner, I genuinely hope Pompey go on to win the Cup. Harry and your lot deserve silverware, Redknapp Snr has done a brilliant job and Fratton might be the only Prem ground with a semblance of "atmosphere." The likes of Sol, Lauren, Kanu and Tone know all about winning this competition. Jermain Defoe on the other hand, knows nothing about winning silverware. Probably just as well he's cup tied!
Little Dutch
Tracey its 12:45 on SKY. and yes we are going to win it :-)
Midge
Oh and Tracy its on the Saturday.
Midge
I've got to admit I'm yet another one who immediately started swearing at the telly when the numbers came out....you just knew it was going to happen. I'm pretty confident we could squeeze a draw and bring them back to Fratton....and we all know how good we are against them down here. Beat them at Old Trafford?
A big big ask as 'Arry would say.
Tantona
We have beaten them before, maybe not at Old Trafford, but our fans will be more up for it than theirs. As I think they may think of it as a formality with our record there............
Sachas_Brother
This has a familiar ring to the game in 2003 our great championship/promotion season. Bl00dy early ko. Livid.
storagematt
last year was a pretty tight game until rooney came on, and weve got such a stronger squad now, plus last year not many pompey fans went becyase of a strike of the ticket prices. all pchyed up, with the drum and trumpet, we will lift the team for sure!! if we can bring it back to fratton, then wembly here we come!!!!!
Gleams
I went to the cup tie last year there (Stood up whole match, couldn't have sat) - I do want to go again - got to work on the other 'arf, We can do it! Especially if theres 9000 Pompey fans singing their 'earts out for the lads.
tracyc
bringing them back to fratton would be great, but lets finish the job in their own back yard... as i say im not going for a 'day out' im going to see us win!
pompeyrug
villa went there last year, and a certain milan baros scored.....in the last minutes nearly earning a reply, so I am alot more optimistic. tbh, I never like you rug, saw us going to lift the trophy, just wanted to go to wembly with pompey. If ronaldo gets injured between now and the game, and we pick up some good form... we have the best keeper in the prem, two central midfielders who claim they want to play for a team like man u, so surely will be looking to impress, have veterens like sol and slyvain and even hernan. glen aswell, is alot better then wes, and i dare say it, I think we hav a better back five then man u. think about it, jamo is better then van der sar, glen better then wes brown. hernan aint as good as evra, but evra cant defend that well., and slyvain and sol is a match for rio and vidic. anyway. if harry believes, then we can, mabye get a result!!!!!
Gleams
Guys, it's not really how we play that matters is it? It's how United come out of the blocks that counts. As Walshie commented in the News it's all about attitude, ours and theirs. HR needs to stop all this double bluff bull***** about Kanu and spend his time making the team believe we can win.
ChrisW
Pompey have a decent chance and this is a good article, rug. I hope you give ManU a tougher time than arsenal (that shouldnt be too tough eh ;) and an upset is certainly possibele. I like Harry as a manager, coz he has done a good job consistently at Pompey, and I wish you guys some success this season.
prits
forget the prem this is 90 mins of football and with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work a trip to wembley could beckon
knocker
ChrisW, I couldn't agree more - it's about the WILL to win. Check out the quote at the top of the comments. That sums it up for me.
NinjaTim
Yep fellas, feeling more positive now the shock has died down. Need to put together 2 good performances in the league now to build a momentum. Still dont see Kanu up front as being the answer, never have, Play him in a 2 up front, or keep him on the bench to bring on WHEN we are winning to keep the ball. See you up there! Just looked at flying up, £90 odd + £50 odd tax Nearly £150 per person with no kids concession, would have cost me £600, so I think it's gonna be in the car!
pompey4me
Glad to see the mood has improved around here. To win the cup we had to beat United and why not now. Problem is we are not playing well at the moment and need to sort that out quickly then we can go and give it everything!!
eastneydave
Woo hoo! Got tickets. Going to be there when we win!!
tracyc
Deluded ManU 3-Pompey out of cup.
GreenGiant13
thanks for sharing giant... now jog on :-)
pompeyrug
fantastic tracyc, lets just hope its a day out we'll enjoy and remember forever - as we know i have this feeling it will be :-)
pompeyrug
Im Not sure whether i am going or not..its a long day from here.
i was at work with my tranny radio in the managers office..i was so gutted..but we would have to play them or chelsea somewhere if we are gonna win the pot..and we have a full squad now and the away formation is better suited to beat a team who will attack us. hey rug give us a call on the landline -mobys sick again- about travelling up options
plymouth graham
im both a pompey and united fan, i dont know who will win, in my eyes its a coin flip, if we can catch united off there game we could pull it off but if united is in full stride no team in the world can beat them, pompey need all there stars to shine and to put in a strong team effort with plenty of attack because if pompey just decided 2 defend they will get cut to shreds by cristiano ronaldo and the rest of united
NK19
I'm now in a much more positive frame of mind; all the above comments have helped as well.
Think of me watching it on FoxSport, or whatever it's called, cold beer in hand, at about midnight local time.
Play up Pompey and enjoy the day out/experience/game and result everyone.
UKTony
that explains why ive not been able to get hold of you plymouth graham - ive texted you several times recently with no joy... ive sent you an email to both your home and work addresses, so that'll do the trick.
pompeyrug
the thing we have to remember fellas - benji aside as he has now gone, and defoe as he is cup tied and was always going to be - at this point in time we have a full compliment of players, and it is not so long ago that we were all mostly in agreement that 'this is the best squad we have ever had' so if we play like we can, show them far less respect than we did the other week muntari, diarra and papa smurf should be able to ruffle a few feathers in their midfield and all being well sol and distin will be fit and at their best, hermann is playing well at the moment, johnson is glen johnson and lucifer is showing promising signs so the defence is good whoever plays... in jamo we have the best keeper in the league, if krunchie and utaka are on their games and baros is given the lone role ahead of kanu, or even if kanu plays just off baros - not ruling out nuge - we can do this...
pompeyrug
... yep we can... but we can not afford to carry any passengers... Should any player not be 'up for it' on the day they should be shot.. It's all about attitude and the will to win we've only been this far in the cup twice in the past 15 years (probably more if I think harder) and it is as much 'our' (the supporters) cup as it is the players... some of us having been waiting all our lives for Pompey to reach Wembley.. Theplayers need to realise what it means to the supporters of Pompey FC and play their hearts out... then if we lose we have done so by giving it our best shot... but were gonna win anyway....
Chix
Wed 20th 21.26 United are losing 1-0 in Lyon which is the best possible result for us. It means they will have to go flat on to beat them four days before they play us.. It all helps.
eastneydave
Wed 20th 21.27 United equalise - not good news but they still have to win at home as they really want to win the big cup on the 50th anniversary of Munich.
eastneydave
i was tying to decide what would have been a good result for united, when they were losing - altho as they are an english club i didnt want them to go out tbh - i was 'happy', a draw still leave a job to be done... hopefully lyon give them a really tough game in the 2nd leg, but we have to hope that united do ultimately win, as if they go out they'll be mighty *****ed wont they...
pompeyrug
its looking good for us i think, there could be a big win for pompey especially if we win at sunderland tomorrow, but i still cant look past united, so much class and i dont know how we are going to stop ronaldo
NK19
Good for you SweetLeftFoot ! - I'm sure we'll try not to let you down mate !
Toronto4Pompey
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