Ending on a High Note (Manchester United 4 - Charlton 0)

I had quite a torrid time torrenting the game. Took almost 36hrs to find the torrent and download it, but it was well worth it.

To be frank, the scoreline flattered Charlton. We were dominant and we did it without Rooney or Ruud. Had it not been for an absolutely brilliant performance from the Charlton keeper, we might have really stomped them on Alan Curbishley's last game in charge.

Richardson in particular impressed me the most this game. He not only played well, but he played smart as well. Ronaldo was a close second. The difference between them was that Richardson was able to deliver the ball to where the players in front of him wanted, while Ronaldo's final delivery was somewhat lacking. When and if Ronaldo polishes up that part of the game in a couple of years (hopefully), he would be the difference maker in the team.

While Richardson had an awesome game, his consistency still worries me. He has shown that he has the determination and the passion to play for this club, but his performance this season has been inconsistent. Until he finds that consistency and performs in every game, he'd still be a fringe player. To be fair to Richardson, his appearance has been inconsistent as well, but this is the typical chicken and egg scenerio.

It was also great to see Schole and OGS (Solskjaer) get decent playing time. Scholes looked like he's been playing all this while and hasn't missed a beat. OGS, on the other hand, looked rusty. In the time that he was in the game, I hardly saw him. The truth was we probably didn't need him to do much either. The game was already sewn up by then.

What was heartening to see in this game was how we looked on defense. Everytime Charlton had the ball, we always had players back defending. It was a very hardworking display. We hardly gave Charlton a sniff at goal, even when we were 4-0 up. It was a comprehensive victory at both ends of the pitch. And we also showed that we are able to cope without key players like Rooney or Ruud.

And on the subject of Ruud, all signs seem to point to an exit. I suspect the writing has been on the wall since our exit from the Champions League. He didn't deliver in those 6 games in the group stages and we all know how ruthless Fergie is when players fall out of his favour. I, for one, will miss Ruud next season if he leaves. He would be a hard act to follow, and judging from the talent we have, it looks to me we're going back to scoring by community instead of having a one man goal machine.