I Believe! (Manchester United 4 - Blackburn 1)

What a performance! What a show of true character! I never really believed we would win the title even after beating Liverpool, but after today's performance, I truely believe we can and we will. We have a squad of winners and the level of desire they've shown on the pitch today was just astounding.

To be fair, we started off the game pretty tame and for most parts were sloppy on the ball. We did have a larger share of the possession, but didn't really create many chances. Then tragedy struck on the half hour when Vidic fell awkwardly going for a corner and broke his collar bone. He's by far the main guy in our defence. Chances are that the season's pretty much over for him.

O'Shea came in for him and while the defence was still readjusting to the shuffle, Blackburn struck. Morten Gambst Pedersen whipped in a delightful cross that Carrick could only deflect goalwards. Van der Sar could only parry it into the path of Derbyshire and he scored easily. Double whammy.

The game a contest almost ended there. Blackburn refused to play football. They resorted to time-wasting with the usual fake injuries, roughhouse tackling and taking forever to take freekicks and throw-ins. And this was all done in the first half!

The second half was no better. In fact the tactics got worse. The Blackburn players started to play dirty, by fouling unnecesssarily. The referee, in my opinion, was weak and did not take action. Credit to our boys, we not only weathered the storm, but we continued to play our brand of attacking and positive soccer, bringing out countless superb saves from Friedel. He single-handedly stood between the actual scoreline and what could have been a cricket scoreline.

On the half mark, we got what we deserved....the equaliser. And my word, what a brilliantly taken goal! Scholes won the ball at the edge of the penalty area and with a few herky-jerky moves, jingled his way past 2 Blackburn defenders and as calmly as a cucumber, slotted the ball beyond Friedel and into the net.

After a hail of United barrages, the Blackburn defence caved-in again at the 73rd minute. This time it was Carrick who scored after Ronaldo had taken on the entire Blackburn defence on the left byline. It was truly nothing more than we deserved. It was just a relentless onslaught of United attacks, knowing that a draw would do us no favours. Not to mention the treatment given to us by the Blackburn players.

The floodgates truly opened up in the 82nd minute when Park joined in the scoring. Ronaldo's freekick could only be parried and Park was on hand to score from the rebound, just as he had done in the Bolton game.

Ole came on as a substitute and rounded off the scoring in injury time. And, it was nothing more than we deserved. Glory Glory Man United! It was truely a gutsy performance by everyone on the pitch. You can hear the crowd singing, 'The Trophy's Coming Back' (it sounded something like that).

Special mention must go to both Scholes and Carrick. They were fabulous in the centre of the park. I know I don't say this enough (in fact I often do the opposite), but Michael Carrick was brilliant. This could easily be his best performance in a Red shirt.

Also worthy to note that Rio is lucky to be playing in England. In a rare show of emotion when we were 1-0 down, Rio kicked the ball into the stands on a referee's decision not to play the advantage and decked an elderly lady. If it happened in USA, you can be sure the lawsuits would come flying in thick and fast. Rio, being the gentleman that he is, went over a number of times to apologise and to check on the elderly fan. As you guys know, I've always wanted Rio to show more emotion in a game but after today, I'm hoping he plays it 'cool' from now on. An emotional Rio isn't exactly worth the trouble, as we already know, he's not the brightest person around.

Now let's not waste this effort and go on to win the freaking Premiership.

Reserves : On Loan Today, Stars Tomorrow?

After the rather doom and gloom piece the last entry, I found this gem of an article in MEN (Manchester Evening News). It gives a rather nice round up of the players who are on loan. It's probably a puff piece, but still a good read for those of us who are unable to follow the progress of our future stars.

Worthy mention of Johnny Evans, Giuseppi Rossi, Ben Foster and Lee Martin, who I think are all in contention of breaking the first team based on what limited footage I've caught on them the last couple of years.

Reserves : Manchester United 1 - Everton 0

Quite frankly, I don't know why I bothered to even stay up to watch this game. I'm not too sure why I bother with the reserve games at all. I've caught the last couple of reserve games as well and quite honestly I don't think we're going to promote anyone from the youth squads for sometime.

To be fair, half the actual reserve squad has been out on loan, so we're playing mostly the under-18s. Still the quality just isn't there. Last week we got burnt 3-0 by a pretty strong Sheffield United side. Today we edged out a strong Everton side 1-0. With the exception of Chris Eagles, who is already in the first team, no one stood out.

You can understand the frustration Brian McClair feels running the academy. I got this link in my mail yesterday and found it to be a bloody good read. It's from a source I seldom visit, The Herald (Scotland). It's recommended reading.

Ronaldo Pledges Future With United

'I'm Not A Galatico' - Ronaldo has given the clearest indication yet that he's going to remain at Manchester United. Given all the smoke screens passed out by the media, I'm taking this with a healthy pinch of salt. Even if he stays at United for life, it's going to take him quite a while to even come close to Cantona's cult status.

Woodgate Defuses Ronaldo Row - Well, he didn't say it outright, but the implications that it was a penalty were there. Kudos to Woodgate for clearing the air.

Ferguson's F-word Rant - This is a Sun exclusive, and I almost never got to read the article. Page 3 always distracts me whenver I visit the Sun website, and today's entry almost had me in my own F-word rant! Anyway, back to the article, I don't know why this is a big deal. It's just Fergie being typically Fergie, and the English media typically being the English media.

Nevilles to Equal Charltons' Record - Er....I'm happy for them, I really am. Just not a fan of the English national team.

Boro Barks Up Wrong Tree

In the news today:

Ronaldo Branded A Cheat - Typical Boro. I'm beginning to lose complete and total respect for Boro. It's getting disgusting and getting on my nerves the way they are coming out to discredit Ronaldo. I can understand they were still complaining about the Riverside penalty incident back in December, but in last night's game, even a fucking blind man can see it was a penalty. It's just disgraceful that Southgate and his coaching staff are such dicks.

'Why Does Controversy Follow Me?' - Good to see Ronaldo being totally unflastered about the whole 'cheat' thingy. Boro would have garnered more sympathy had they attacked the referee instead for playing favourites by not sending Rooney off. I sincerely hope they get relegated next season. Boro is seriously pissing me off.

Warnock Brands Southgate A Disgrace - Neil Warnock probably conveys my feelings best when he calls Southgate a disgrace.

Owen Bent On United - Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a big fan of Owen Hargreaves. But his commitment to joining us cannot be doubted. I hope his transfer goes thru this summer for a reasonable price. My only fear is that he's going to be another Michael Carrick, not that Carrick isn't good, just too damn pricey.

Ronaldo's Penalty Sees United Into The Semis (Manchester United 1 - Middlesbrough 0)

How Southgate must hate to face Ronaldo. This is the third meeting between the sides this season and Ronaldo has earned 3 penalties, taking the penalties himself in the last 2.

The game itself wasn't really anything to shout about. Neither side really played well. Boro were content to sit back and let Viduka take long shots, while United didn't really create much. When they did, the chance mostly fell to Rooney who left his scoring boots at home. Credit must also be given to Mark Schwarzer. He must have made at least 3-4 utterly brilliant saves from Rooney.

Smith who was given his first start of the season looked sharp and was his usual pesky self, irritating the Boro defenders to no end. Carrick also had a pretty outstanding game, by his usual standards. Giggs started in midfield and was superb beside Carrick. I suspect alot of it was due to the fact the entire Boro midfield was playing like auxiliary defenders.

The game had looked like it was going to be a draw until the 75th minute when a Carrick (or was it Giggs?) pass down the left flank found Ronaldo. Ronaldo ran past Woodgate down the byline and was facing Schwarzer one on one. In a desperate challenge, Woodgate caught Ronaldo's trailing leg and brought him down. Penalty! No doubts about it. Just as he had earned tonight's replay 9 days back, Ronaldo stood up and smashed home the winner.

Boro could hardly muster a comeback as United looked confident playing keepball. Deep in injury time, Morrison was sent off for sliding 2 legged into Ronaldo. Somehow the referee, Mike Dean, did not send Rooney off for a second yellow for confronting Morrison. It was honestly piss poor refereeing.

Rooney was booked early in the second half for mouthing off at the referee which was the right decision. Then when the 90 minutes was up, he initiated a tussle with Boateng, which saw Boateng booked. Strangely Dean let Rooney off the hook. Then of course in injury time, he failed to book Rooney again. A stronger referee would and should have sent Rooney off. Rooney despite all his talents still cannot keep his head in check and it's really frustrating for us to see him being stupid time and time again. This time he got away with it, but he might not be so lucky next time. Of course the situation is compounded given the current squad status, which makes it doubly frustrating.

Same case for Alan Smith. Being his usual self, he too was booked for a stupid tackle which he had no chance of winning. Good thing Fergie replaced him in the second half before any real damage was done. Unfortunately, he didn't take Rooney off, and Rooney's ugly self manifested itself.

We now face Watford in the semis, and on course to meet Chelsea, who beat Spurs, in the finals. That's of course if both teams can beat their semi-final opponents.

Just a couple of small trivial before I leave:

• Boateng was actually one of the ballboys when we played Barcelona in the Cup Winners Cup finals back in 91.
• We equaled Arsenal's record in semi-final appearances of 25.
• Scholes will return in our next game against Blackburn on the 31st this month. He's served his 3 match ban.
• Our squad was so decimated by injuries that on the subs bench was a defender named, Craig Cathcart. Who? My sentiments exactly.
  

Ronaldo Makes Bolton His Personal Bitch In Rout (Manchester United 4 - Bolton 1)

I wasn't around to watch this game and could only rely on the ever reliable Ah Hong to keep me updated with a string of SMSes. This is the first League game I've missed this season, ending my personal endeavor to catch every League game live this season. Well, there's always next season to look forward to.

Anyway from the smses I've gathered that Ronaldo once again had Bolton's number and was once again running riot. For anyone who remembers, Ronaldo made his debut against Bolton, and he too had run circles around the Bolton defence.

We scored got a couple of goals from both Park and Rooney, and Bolton got a consolation from the spot when Vidic fouled a Bolton player in the box. It's a shame I had to miss this game.

Despite our mounting injury problems (add Neville to the list), we still managed to win to keep Chelsea at bay. Speaking of Chelsea, they've been pretty darn resilent themselves. With all the on-field and off-field problems, spats, injuries, contract issues and playing piss poor, they too have somehow etched out results to keep within striking distance in case we falter.

At the end of the day, I suppose we really shouldn't bother about how Chelsea does, and concentrate on doing our jobs. Next up is the FA Cup replay against Boro, before we take a break for the internationals.

Pool's Yanks No Different From Our

Ok, so this one's not so United related, but I thought it should put some perspective on Liverpool's own Americans. Some of my pool loving friends (and there are alot of them) love the fact the Americans have taken over, but bottomline, it's not very different. Like us, the club foots the interest payments, albeit indirectly.

Article from The Guardian:
Americans borrow £298m to buy Liverpool

United Wins Friendly (Manchester United 4 - Europe XI 3)

This was a game of 2 halves....literally. Since it was a friendly, neither side really defended nor tackled. In the spirit of the game, there were goals aplenty.

United went into half time leading 4-1. To be fair to the European select, they were pieced together barely 24 hrs ago and looked disjointed, and at times even uninterested. United were sharp, particularly Rooney and Ronaldo. The European side, made of players from Seria A, the French league and the Premera Liga practically allowed United to rape them.

In the opening 10 minutes, United were already 2 goals up thanks to Rooney and Brown. Malouda halved our lead with a superb strike in the 23rd minute, and Ronaldo replied with an equally superb freekick on 35 minutes. Then at the end of the half Rooney finished a brilliant team move to put us up 4-1.

At half time, Beckham came on to address the crowd, thanking the support he had received during his time here, especially in 98. He also heaped praises on Ferguson, and wished us all the best. Class act. You could tell Manchester United was his first love, and possibly his only love.

As expected in such friendlies, wholesale changes were made for both sides. The Europe select side brought in a largely Premiership contingent, with 4 players from Liverpool and 3 from Bolton. The change brought on more steel to the European side.

United, on the other hand, replaced Rooney and Ronaldo, taking away our sharpness in attack. Perhaps what was most heartening was that we invited Andy Cole back for this game. Phil Neville and Ronnie Johnson would have also turned out unfortunately, Phil got injured in training for Everton earlier in the morning and Ronnie missed the flight to Manchester.

Dong FangZhuo was also featured in the second half, and judging from what I've seen, he may not be the token Chinese player I initially thought he would be. There were glimpses of a good striker. That being said, he has a superb goal scoring record for Royal Antwerp.

Anyway highlights from the second half was that the Liverpool players were roundly booed and Diouf scored a couple to bring the score to a respectable level. We would be meeting Bolton this weekend in a competitive game, and I'm sure Diouf wouldn't be shown this much room.

Preview : Europe XI

Had some spare time so thought I'd put up some news reports and some of my own comments.

Becks set to mend ties with Fergie - Don't care what others have said, but Beckham will always truely be one of the lads for me. He bleeds Red. It's a pity he's down with injury. It would have been a fitting farewell for the fans to have him play, albeit for the opponent.

Zidane Avoids Metarazzi - Zidane declined an invitation to play alongside Metarazzi for the Europe XI. Just as I always thought, Zidane's a pussy....and a petty one at that.

Congested Fixture Gives Smith A Chance - Forgotten man, Alan Smith might be in with a shout to play regular football after the draw with Boro. Larsson leaving and injuries to both Saha and Ole also strengthen his cause. On top of that, Rooney's been rather off form lately, doesn't hurt either.

Keano, Next United Manager? - It's more of a Sunderland article, but a good read nonetheless.

United Live to Fight Another Day (Middlesbrough 2 - Manchester United 2)

Gotta hate these late games. We never look good in late kickoffs and getting a draw here doesn't help our cause.

The game started brightly with good chances falling for both sides. Kuszczak made an early save from Downing and set the tone for what could be an entertaining game. Despite the loss of Scholes, and the general crappiness of Carrick, we played well in midfield. Rooney dropped deep to help out occasionally.

In the 23rd minute, a moment of brilliance from Rooney gave United the first goal. He jinked around two defenders to make space for the shot and scored with a sweet strike. Unfortunately that was his only positive contribution of the game. He looked sluggish and a step slow the entire game. Personally he was the worst performer in a United shirt today.

After the goal, United took complete control of the game. It's ridiculous how we didn't manage to score a second goal with all the possession and shots. Boro was reduced to counters and nearly had one when Yakubu turned Vidic sweetly, only for Kuszczak to make another superb save.

Despite the odd Boro foray forward, we looked like coasting to the next round of the FA Cup. But we're United and we simply love to do things the hard way. 2 minutes either way of the break, some suicidal defending allowed Boro to equalise and take the lead.

For the first goal, Kuszczak, Vidic and Heinze collided with Yakubu, leaving Cattermole a chance at goal. Then 1 minute after the break, Boateng scored from a corner. The defending was horrible. No one was even a 3 metres radius near Boateng when he headed the ball. It was just suicidal defending from us. Have I mentioned that I hate late kickoffs?

Anyway, we pressed forward to equalise and were somewhat fortunate to be given a penalty when Boateng handed the ball which trying to protect his face. I mean the ball was flying towards his face and upon natural instinct flung his arms up to protect his face. Unluckily for him, a penalty was the result.

Ronaldo stepped up, just as he did in the Premiership encounter, and blasted the ball past Schwarzer. The rest of the game was pretty much a dull affair. Well, at least to me it was a dull affair. I had hardly the energy to keep my eyes open. Hell, I've hardly the energy to write this entry. Seriously these late kickoffs are pissing the shit outta me.

Just before I go, I would like to say that Rob Styles is a horrible referee (at least for this game).

1. How many times does Ronaldo needs to be hacked, chopped and flattened before the opponent gets a yellow card? The Boro players were getting away with murder out there!
2. How the hell did Larsson get a yellow card in the first half? He was tripped and this blind bat gave him a yellow for diving! Incredible!
3. I thought the penalty decision was harsh. Sure it was undoubtedly a handball, but what was Boateng supposed to do? Let the ball hit him in the face? What if it hit him in the eye? Having been hit in the eye and gone thru an eye operation with permanent disability, what Boateng did was absolutely right. Looks like a player must sacrifice life and limb in the game. Of course that being said, Boateng gets paid alot more than me. All I get is free rides from Pok.
   

United Draws Roma In Champions League

Someone obviously doesn't like us very much. We drew Roma in the Champions League. On paper that doesn't look too bad, however what erks me is that shold we prevail against Roma, our other opponents in the semis is either AC Milan or Bayern Munich.

On the other side of the bracket, Chelsea faces Valencia, while Liverpool gets PSV. Certainly looks good for the English clubs on the other side.

The English Press
In other news, it is reported in both the Guardian and the Telegraph, Ronaldo has indictated his intention to remain at United in the near future. It's the greatest hint by Ronaldo to remain at Old Trafford. The price is of course very high, something which I have no doubts United will match, given his talents.

The Sun reports that Larsson only has good things to say in his farewell to United. And according to the Mirror, Beckham is backing United to win the treble. Sounds pretty far fetched to me, but I had the same doubts back in 99.

United in Quarters of Champions League (Manchester United 1 - Lille 0)

After all the harsh words exchanged in the media, the complains to UEFA, the appeals and the general nastiness surrounding the first leg, the second leg proved to be a dull affair. United, as usual, was nowhere to be found on the pitch, but yet we somehow managed to pull out a victory to send the French side packing.

I though Lille had the better possession and worked Van der Sar, without really looking like scoring. Even though they came forward looking for the all important goal, there was a lack of conviction in their attacks. As for us, we were not too shabby and looked good on the counter attack but we never troubled the Lille keeper.

Our goal was scored in the 72nd minute. Ronaldo did brilliantly running down the left wing and somehow managed to find space to cross from the byline despite having two covering defenders around him. The cross found an unmarked Larsson to head the ball into the net. It was a sweet goal to shatter the French hearts.

I usually sympathise with the underdogs and hardworking teams, but despite their good performance, I was glad that this bunch of French pussies were out of the competition. The constant whining to the press was really getting on my nerves. The evening was made even better when the other French team playing tonight was also knocked out. Bye Arsenal!

Overall it was a good enough performance for us. We barely did enough to draw, but yet the football gods must have been smiling on us when we scored. The game however ended on a sour note. Silves got into a nasty, nasty collision and it took the medical team over 6 minutes to stretcher him off the pitch. It looked like a horrible head injury, and he could also have hurt the right side of the body. Despite him being French, I really hope he's alright.

A couple of comments I just thought I'd make:

• Silvestre was chosen over Heinze. I'm surprised.
  

• Alan Smith replaced Larsson and looked pretty sharp.

• Larsson will probably be leaving on the 12th of March. Pity we couldn't make him stay.

• Saha is too injury-prone for my liking. When Larsson leaves, we'd only be left with Rooney and Smith upfront.

• Carrick is shit.

• I'm souring on Park. He's workrate is top class, but he's as light as a feather.

• Scholes is God. We're going to sorely miss him for 3 matches, especially with no one in midfield marginally good enough to start along side him, let alone replace him.

• As mentioned, the squad us waffle-thin and now that the injuries are mounting, it's showing.
  

United Edges Closer to Title (Liverpool 0 - Manchester United 1)

United put one hand on the title with a win against a very dominant performance by Liverpool. I was at Cow's place watching the game with Kentona and God.

For most of the game, Liverpool controlled the midfield and had the best chances. Bellamy was a constant thorn, running Vidic ragged. In fact he created the best chances but Liverpool failed to capitalise on it. We conceded midfield dominance, with only Scholes the only player in white having any sort of control on the ball. The pool midfield practically dictated the pace of the game.

In the beginning of the second half, good fortune and Van der Sar's safe pair of hands kept Liverpool from running riot. Although we had our moments going forward, the Pool defence kept tight and I couldn't recall us making Jose Reina sweat at goal.

Then in the dying minutes, Alonso delibrately pulled Scholes back, frustrating him to take a swipe but missing the target altogether. Scholes was deservedly red carded for violent conduct, but how in the world Alonso escape without being shown his second yellow was a mystery to me. With only 4 plus minutes left on the clock, it seemed that getting a draw would have been a feat in itself, given the way Liverpool approached the game and our own inert showing. I personally would have been leaping for joy to hear the final whistle given the circumstances.

But United had other plans. Being ten men down, Giggs celebrated his 700th appearance in a United shirt won a free kick at the left edge of the Pool box. Up stepped Ronaldo who drilled the freekick hard and low into the penalty box. Reina, partially distracted by Saha, could only parry the ball to the path of John O'Shea, who had replaced Rooney, and he blasted the rebound into the Liverpool net with his only telling contribution of the game. 91st minute and one goal up for the good guys!!!!

It was a goal we hardly deserved, and we knew it. The celebrations were wild, both with the United players, the fans in the stands and the diehards at Cow's place.

I quite honestly cannot believe what I saw and could hardly bear to watch injury time play itself out. No doubts about it, we were lucky as hell to etch this one out. But sometimes in soccer you create your own luck. Despite being 10 men down and against the odds, we still continued to play constructive football and were duely rewarded for our efforts.

I believe the trophy is now ours to lose and it's up to us to show our mettle. Although Chelsea did reduce the gap to 9 points with a crappy win over the fast fading Portsmouth, the psychological advantage must still lie with us. Let's make good use of it.

The only worry I have is losing Scholes to a 3 match ban. He's absence is going to be sorely missed given the inert performances by Carrick and whoever replaces him in the centre of the park. But screw that thought, for today, let's enjoy this win!

Ole Kneeds Surgery

Looks like Ole needs to have surgery to clean out a bruised knee. Story in the Mirror.