Scrappy Win (AET Crewe Alexandra 1 - Manchester United 2)

I finally managed to finish torrenting the game and watching it. Not much good to say about our performance, except that it was a scrappy affair and we played poorly for most parts.

4 youngsters were given a run, David Jones and Ritchie Jones in the centre of the park, Phil Marsh on right wing and David Gray in right back.

Both Jones performed alright, and were quite frankly overwhelmed by the occasion. David Jones did show some nice passes, but nothing to suggest he could make the transition into the first team. Ritchie was nervous and besides a good cut back for Ole to score the first goal, I didn't see anything special. That being said, both of them are still very raw. Hopefully they would grow and mature in the coming years.

Phil Marsh was spectacularly unimpressive. I couldn't remember anything noteworthy to mention, except for losing the ball on numerous occasions. I hope it was a bout of nerves. David Gray, on the other hand, had a presentable debut. Perhaps it was the role he played in. He looked good going up front and able in defence.

Our other players were noteably underwhelmed by the occasion. With the exception of Ole and Kuszczak (who incidentally had his name spelt wrongly on the jersery), the rest of the other players played down to their level of opposition. Silves, Heinze, Brown and Smith were all terrible. Had it not been for Kuszczak heroics, we could have been flatten.

If you noticed, Richardson was not mentioned....yet. I thought he had a good game playing on the left and subsequently controlling the midfield in the later part of the game. However I was extremely disappointed with his general behaviour on the pitch. He was often whining and complaining to the referee. And when decisions didn't fall his way, he went on to exact his own vengeance by fouling the opposition. How he stayed on the pitch, only the referee knows. Despite a good performance, he showed he's not a classy person. At the rate he's going, I'm going thru what I felt for Ronaldo last season. The difference here is that I feel Richardson is a player we can let go.

3 youngsters were given debuts as they came on as substitutes. Michael Barnes came on and played in the left flank. I wasn't too impressd with him. Too much dribbling. You can see he has the physical gifts and it might take a while before he knows when to dribble and when to pass. The potential is there, but it's going to take sometime to harness.

Ryan Shawcross came on in right back and like the other youngster he replaced, had an okie game. We seem to produce alot of good full backs who are able to join in the attack when required.

Kieran Lee came on and generally played a quiet game until he scored the winner in the dying minutes of injury time. Amongst all the kids on display, he perhaps showed the most maturity. At least he was composed enough to take the chance when it mattered. Will be sometime before he even matures to command a place in the first team.

On the whole, I wasn't impressed with this crop of youngsters. There is some potential, but nothing jaw dropping. I reckon all the ones with potential have been loaned out to other clubs all over Europe. What's probably more disappointing was the level of play of the veterans. If they can't up their level of play in a cup competition, then our squad is truely thin, which doesn't bold well when the injuries in the first team do eventually pile up.

RIP Red

Rest in peace, Red Auerbach.

For those of you who don't know him, he's probably the greatest sports manager who ever lived. I never had the chance of watching any of his teams in action, but he created the Boston Celtics dynasty, the team I follow closely, besides the team that plays in Red.

RIP Red.

He's Back (Bolton 0 - Manchester United 4)

It was just a matter of time before Rooney found the back of the net. And he did just that today.....thrice!

If there was a match that was accused of fixing, today's game was definitely it. It turned the form books on their heads with the result. Bolton, who had been playing well this season, basically capitulated in the opening 20 minutes of the game. Before Rooney's opener in the 10th minute, Giggs, Evra and Saha all had chances to punish a leaky Bolton defense. Bolton were guilty of not defending as well as sloppy play all round the Reebok Stadium. They kept on giving the ball away whenever they had the possession.

Rooney added a second with a stinger from outside the penalty box 5 minutes after his first. Like the game last week, we bossed the midfield and gave Bolton no time on the ball. We did take the foot off the paddle when we were leading 2-0.

Kentona and I watch at the Ghim Moh kopitam and we effectively went into sleep mode until the last 10 minutes of the game. Bolton were ineffective and their attack was well marshalled by the outstanding Vidic and the defenders around him. Evra, who had a good game was carried off injured. I hope the injury sustained is not serious. His play has been improving and he's gaining confidence. My tirades must have worked, just as it has worked on Ronaldo. Time to work on Carrick, who was virtually invisible again.

Ronaldo put us 3-0 up in the 82nd minute, tapping the ball into an empty net after Saha passed the ball to him, after faking a shot which fooled both the defender and keeper. Rooney then promptly went on to mark his transition from teen prodigy to full fledge star, by smashing home his hattrick.

As long as this team remains relatively injury free, I'm confident we could possibly win the title this season. We have one of the strongest first teams in the league. The midweek game should be a walk in the park against Copenhagen. Our next challenge is against the stout Portsmouth defence next weekend.

No Access to Mickey Mouse Cup

Due to my Windows Media Player 10 crashing to devastating effect, I've not been able to catch the mickey mouse cup game against Crewe. After fiddling with the damn computer for the past 18hrs or so, I've finally managed to isolate the problem to window's media player. I've since reinstalled it together with all my other programs and hopefully will be able to catch this weekend's game live from the PC.

In the meantime, I've also stopped reading my mail and reading all soccer related sites while I torrent the game. Hopefully no one reveals the Crewe result before I have a chance to watch the game. The unfortunate thing here is that the bloody goddamn torrent is taking forever to download. As of typing this entry, the estimated completion date is probably next year.

So in the meantime, I'll be browsing this site to watch South Park from the net until I can watch the game.

http://southparkvideos.blogspot.com/2006/08/south-park-videos-index.html

BTW, this site is so awesome. I've not had the chance to browse thru it all since I already have every single episode in my harddisk, but I think it has ALL the episodes available for viewing online!

United Puts a Poor Liverpool to the Sword (Manchester Unitred 2 - Liverpool 0)

I caught this game at Cow's place together with some really good Sunday soccermates, namely Cow, Kentona, Ly, Matt and God. Of course Cow, Matt (sourpuss) and God were more or less diehard Pool fans, were pretty bitter over the poor display put up by their favourite team.

Kentona, Ly and I were delirious with the result, and more importantly the determination and grit shown by our own lads. We wanted the game more and the scoreline provided the fruits of our endeavor.

The game was played in a fast and furious pace, with neither set of players settling down and controlling the game for any sustained period of time. The tackles flew in and a number of players were lucky not to be booked in the first quarter. However we began to control the midfield, marshalled by Scholes, Carrick, Giggs and, the ever determined, Fletcher. To say Fletcher had a good game was a gross gross understatement. He played like a man possessed, flying in for tackles and winning all of them, causing panick in the Liverpool ranks.

Scholes, Carrick and Giggs followed his cue and started to boss an ineffective Liverpool midfield, bullying them into submission. The only respite Liverpool had was from Momo Sissoko, but after his booking at the half hour mark, the taming of the Liverpool midfield was complete.

Scholes, celebrating his 500th appearance for the men in Red, fittingly scored the first goal for United. Giggs crossed the ball from the left and Scholes side footed the ball at Reina, whose half save could not prevent Scholes from poking in the rebound. 500th appearance and a goal to boot. It was a virtuoso performance from Scholes.

In the second half, Rio scored a brilliant goal with his left foot, booting the ball into the top left corner beyond an outstretched Reina. 2-0 to United. The game was effectively sealed and the points in the bag. If anyone remembers, Rio scored a last minute winner in the same fixture last season.

Liverpool on the whole were pathetic. Their defense was slack and slow. Their midifeld crumbled at the slightest tackle, all thanks to Fletcher leading the way in that department. And their attack was virtually non-existent. To be honest, I had my doubts this game. I was almost convinced this was going to be like another Arsenal game, where we were heavily touted to win but would eventually lose again at Old Trafford. And to make matters worse, it would be the kick start to Liverpool's season, the way victory over us kick started Arsenal's. Thankfully my worst fears didn't materialise. And I credit it to Fletcher for setting the tone early in the game.

I suppose you must all realise by now where I'm heading with all this Fletcher praise. I've been getting all sorts of stick for my staunch support for Fletcher throughout the years and finally this season he's showing why he's so highly touted. I know many would have, for sentimental reasons, picked Scholes for the man of the match, but to me it was Fletcher. His individual performance was what epitomised our play today....determined, tenacious and yet effective. And the ironic thing is that he replaced Ronaldo, who was down with flu. Ronaldo would have definitely played had he been fit. Today, I feel vindicated.

Taking nothing away from Scholes, he too had a brilliant game. He tackled, passed and scored the all important first goal to mark his 500th appearance.

In fact I can hardly fault a player in a Red shirt today. Everyone played their hearts out. Even Evra and Carrick, my favourite boo boys, had a pretty darn good game. I couldn't be more proud of the boys today, as I'm sure many United fans would be. Having bragging rights to start off Monday at work is always a nice thing to have.

Captain Rooney Leads United to Victory (Manchester United 3 - FC Copenhagen 0)

Rooney captained the team to a 3-0 trumph in the absense of Giggs, who was not feeling well, and Rio, who somehow hurt his neck during the warm up. It was a scoreline predicted by most pundits, but to be honest, Copenhagen played really well.

Copenhagen impressed me with the way they approached the game, throwing players forward in attack and did make an impression on Van der Sar numberous times. However in throwing players forward, they were caught out at the back, and had it not been for keeper Christiansen's outstanding performance, they might have been dead and buried in the first half.

The game itself was played at a breakneck pace in the first half. Both sides played attractive attacking football with precision passing. But it was United who broke the deadlock in the 40th minute with a Scholes scoring his first of the season with a trademark thunderbolt.

And right in the beginning of the second half, O'Shea, perhaps luckily knocked the ball into the net from a corner to give us a 2-0 lead. After that goal, we somewhat took the foot off the paddle. Christiansen then fumbled a Richardson shot from outside the box to undo his first half heroics and sealed the victory for us in the 83rd minute.

Rooney was once again outstanding for us in attack. He and Saha seemed to have developed a special chemistry between them and some of the passing between the two of them was simply exquisite. Vidic was also outstanding in defense, and together with Brown, formed a formidable partnership in the heart of the defense.

Special mention must also be given to Evra. He didn't make any noteworthy mistakes, nor give the ball away....too many times. However he did get booked for kicking the ball away (stupid fuck). Let's hope he steadily improves.

The stinkers today were Carrick and O'Shea. Besides a strike at goal, Carrick was largely anonymous, as usual. Kinda sad that we paid so much for so little (seems to be a recurring theme here).

As for O'Shea, he was simply awful in the first half, playing in right-back. I would be too harsh on him for a couple of reasons. Firstly, his performance improved greatly after scoring the second goal. Must have been a confidence thing. Secondly, the poor lad has been playing all over the park in his entire career, from left-back to midfield to right-back to left wing to central defence. I even remember him playing as an auxiliary striker at one point a couple of years back. No wonder he looks so lost on the pitch sometimes.

Alan Smith was also given a second half run out to the delight of the crowd. He showed plenty of willingness, but it was pretty obvious he was extremely rusty. His first touch was poor and he missed a tap in. I'm sure if given the games, he'd improve in time to come.

With this victory, we're pretty damn close to qualifying for the next stage in the Champions League.

I personally can't wait for this Sunday's clash with Liverfool. It would be exciting to see Rooney, Saha, Giggs, Ronaldo and Scholes all playing together in the same side, especially since most of them are peaking at the same time. I'm smelling blood!

Game of Two Halves (Wigan 1 - Manchester United 3)

After a terrible first half, a Rooney-inspired United scored thrice to pull clear at the top of the table in an early kickoff.

Wigan scored early in the first half and had United on the backpaddle. We obviously didn't help ourselves by playing some really uninspired football. There was no flair, no width and no idea in our play. Quite frankly when the half time whistle came, I was pretty much ready to call it a day and go to bed. Luckily my girlfriend was using it, if not I would have missed the second half. The only bright spark in that terrible first half was a determined effort by Rooney which struck the crossbar.

The second half started with Giggs replacing Wes Brown and inspiring some really sweet attacking play from United. It was literally a reverse from the way we played in the first half. Our attacking movement was crisp and quick, and we tore the Wigan defence apart, but failed to find the net.

However in the 60 odd minutes, we found the opening when Vidic scored from a corner. It's nice to see us actually threatening from corners since the days of Daisy and Dolly. A couple of minutes later, Saha fired us into the lead.

It was all United and by that time, Rooney had completely taken over the show. It's a pity he didn't annouce his return with a goal. He lead the team with his determined style of play, inspiring all around him to play above themselves.

Hell, even Evra had a good game. A far cry from the usual crap that comes from him. The disappointing player for me was once again Carrick. His impersonation of Invisible Man is wearing thin.

We rounded off the scoring in injury time with a really sweetly taken goal from fan favourite, Ole. Quite frankly, after looking at today's team sheet, with Heinez, Ronaldo, Fletcher and Neville missing from the starting lineup due to injury, I would have gladly taken a draw. Credit to the boys who rose above themselves with a come-from-behind performance.

It also marks the second time we've put three past a Liverpool keeper. We did it against Scott Carson at Charlton and today against Kirkland with Wigan. Let's hope I didn't jinx the team and we make it three times lucky next week against Reina next week when we face Liverpool.

Ole's Goals Takes United Back To The Top (Manchester United 2 - Newcastle 0)

When the teams trodded out with Ole replacing Saha in the starting lineup along side the out-of -form Rooney, I actually feared the worst. I'm ashamed to admit that my fears were unfounded as Ole scored twice to put a hopeless Newcastle out of their misery at Old Trafford.

After 5-6 uninspiring performances by the men in Red, we turned on the style today and practically outplayed Newcastle in every department on the pitch. Ronaldo and Fletcher were hardworking and utterly dominant playing on the flanks, giving Newcastle's full backs all sorts of problems. It's no surprise that Ronaldo hit the woodwork thrice and Fletcher once.

There was a brief moment of dispair when Heinze was taken off for an injury and replaced by the hopeless Evra. Thankfully post game reports stated that it was a hamstring strain and nothing serious. I would hate to see Evra start in left back by default, or anywhere on the pitch for that matter.

We bossed most of the game and Ole scored on either end of half time to give us a 2-0 lead. The first was from a rebound after Ronaldo had hit the post and the second from a Vidic volley that recocheted off Ole's knee. He probably knew little of both goals, but like in 99 Barcelona, he was once again the right man at the right place for us. That's why we love him, or at least I do (and not in a gay way).

Rooney was again a pale shadow of his usual self, but there are signs he's slowly but surely returning to form, and to the Rooney we have become used to. In defence, Vidic was outstanding, stopping anything that came his way.

As for the man of the match, Ronaldo was outstanding and would be anyone's choice for it. But personally, I'd give it to Ole, just for old times' sake.

There will be no games next week as it's the internationals. Let's hope most of our players return safe and sound for the meeting with Wigan on the 14th.