Holders Dumped (Southend United 1 - Manchester United 0)

I'm going to make this short and sweet after watching this game with one good eye and a splitting headache due to a freak accident in my own cup final.

We played down to our opposition's level and was duely rewarded yet again. Southend's keeper, Flahavan, was in fabulous form, saving a hattrick of saves from the only player who actually played well wearing the red shirt, Ronaldo.

Our passing was horrible and wasteful throughout the entire game. The attack was non-existent, except for Ronaldo's long range efforts. Alan Smith was horrible, and thankfully was substituted early in the second half. I believe he was pretty much screwed last season by playing in midfield. He seems to have lost all his attacking instincts.

Besides Rooney and Ronaldo, all those who played in the weekend were rested. I thought this game would have been a really good test for Carrick. We badly needed someone who could pass the ball. And we badly needed to see if Carrick could dominate the midfield against poorer competition. But unfortunately it was not to be. Perhaps Fergie decided against having his 18 million pound signing embarassed against a side lying at the bottom of the second division. Sadly for Ferguson, he still got embarassed on his 20th year in charge of Manchester United.

At least we have one less competition to worry about, and fewer games to play.