Ronaldo Opens Premiership Account (Birmingham 0 - Manchester United 1)

This was, by far, not a vintage performance but we secured the points and kept a clean sheet. I almost did not catch the game, but fortunately Kentona's gf was kind enough to make a detour to pick me up and send me to Queens Country Club to catch the game with Kentona. I know this sounds abit gay, but I think I've caught every weekend game with Kentona since the season started.

Before I go into the game, I'd like to add a few comments on the game that I missed during the midweek. We were dumped out of the Mickey Mouse Cup by a determined and persistent Conventry side in front of a record home crowd (debatable) for a Cup game. A day after a very VERY youthful looking Arsenal side kick the crapshit out of an experienced Newcastle team, I was actually expecting alot from our own highly touted lads. As we all know by now, we had nothing to show for. Our 'future' didn't turn up, and quite frankly, there was little, if anything, to cheer about. Our academy had stopped producing gems since Fergie's fledglings left the perch in the 90s. Granted Brown, Fletcher and O'Shea have come thru the ranks, they are certainly not setting the world alight. The juice seems to have run dry. Already we fall far far behind the likes of Arsenal and Barcelona in terms of youth development. Slowly and surely, whether we like it or not, we're turning into a cheque book team and our summer spendings on young prodigies like Nani and Anderson do little to disspel that notion.

As for today's game, the first team turned up and did credibly. There was little style in the win, but it was backed up by substance. It wasn't an easy win by any means, but still a job well done in the end.

Steve Bruce's side could have, and probably should have, had a couple in the opening few minutes, but their lack of cutting edge in attack was cruelly exposed when they failed to capitalise on their only dangerous moments of the game. Both Rio and EVS did well to avert the danger. After that it was all United.

We didn't exactly light it up, but we controlled the tempo as well as the game, even though Birmingham shoved and tried to bully their way into the game. In a way they almost succeeded. Giggs was hurried, pushed and kicked into giving possession away cheaply everytime he had the ball. Thankfully Fergie saw what we saw and substituted Giggs on the 64th minute. Perhaps this signals the end of Giggs' reign as an automatic starter. If it comes to pass, it certainly comes a couple of games late, but in Giggs' defence, he's earned it. I, for one, would love to see him start for a few more games....just for old times' sake.

Our goal wasn't a classic, but we capitalised on our only chance when it came. Frank Queudrue dallied a Rio punt forward long enough for Ronaldo to nip in and steal it. While it was a defender's mistake, the goal itself was coolly taken. Ronaldo took his time to round Maik Taylor and score the only goal of the game.

A win's a win's a win. Take nothing away from it. I'm only worried that our lack of penetration forward and the shortage of clear cut chances will come back to haunt us soon enough. Meanwhile, we celebrate our position in second, waiting for Arsenal's long awaited slump to come.

United Piles on the Blues (Manchester United 2 - Chelsea 0)

There was plenty to celebrate this week. We won away in Europe, Moanrinho left Chelsea, Tevez scores his first goal, we score two in a match (finally), we beat Chelsea, we climb above Pool and we finally found a referee worse than Rob Styles (not an easy feat!).

With the exception of that one night in Barcelona, I can't think of a happier way to end the week.

To be truthful, I had a bad feeling about today's game. Today's game was the classic game in which we usually screw up. For the first 30 minutes I felt that my worst fears were close to realisation, Chelsea was probably the better team despite all their on and off field troubles. They were taking the game to us in our own backyard.

Then incredibly, referee Mike Dean showed a straight red card to Obi Mikel for a foul on Evra. It was harsh, and the replay suggested so as well.....but I'm not complaining. It changed the complexion of the game. Chelsea settled to defend deep while we forayed forward. Our attacks still lacked the cutting edge but we were eventually rewarded with our persistence with a Tevez goal deep into the first half injury time.

Chelsea was poor in the second half. With Brown and Evra having outstanding games, we withstood everything the ten-men team threw at us (which really wasn't very much). Saha, who replaced Tevez, scored a dubious penalty (awful refereeing again) in injury time to end the second half the way the first ended.

The game wasn't pretty but we were competent in containing Chelsea, especially after they were down to 10. Brown, Evra and Carrick should be singled out as outstanding performers. Any attempt by Chelsea to come forward was stopped by them.

It has been a long week and Fergie has the opportunity to rest players this week when we face Coventry in the Mickey Mouse Cup in midweek. It should keep the players fresh when they play Birmingham in the weekend.

Ronaldo Scores Against Old Club (Sporting Lisbon 0 - Manchester United 1)

Dry, drab, awful....these are a few adjectives that you could use to describe this encounter, and you're probably being way too kind. In truth this was possibly the worse game of football I've seen in a while. Well..... the Italy vs France Euro 2008 Qualifier a couple weeks back probably topped this one in terms of boredom, which is way I hope those two teams NEVER get to play one another EVER again.

Despite the level of play, the condition of the pitch and the inability of both sets of players to lift their game, Ronaldo stood out. And it was probably fitting that he scored the only goal from possibly the best move of the game on the 63rd minute. It was a beautiful diving header delivered by Brown that gave the Sporting keeper no chance whatsoever. Besides the goal, the game had little to nothing to offer from every perspective.

I can't really say we deserved it for turning up uninterested in the fixture, but I'll gladly take the 3 points and a step towards the next round. However I can say this, we're not going to win the Champions League this year, next year or ever, if we're going to the opposition ground and play scared. It's been the case for the past few seasons. We've lost our swagger since the tactical switch to play 4-5-1 in Europe, especially in the away fixtures. And I think it's pretty obvious to everyone who has watched United play in Europe the last 4-5 seasons.

Yet Ferguson and Queiroz are the only ones who seem oblivious to the fact. Today, their decision seem justified, but further down the competition, we'll face tougher opponents like the AC Milans and the Barcelonas and their are going to whip our sorry asses.

Silvestre's Out For The Season

Ouch! Silves suffered a cruciate ligament and is ruled out for the rest of this season. This is awful news for already left back-challenged Manchester United.

The position currently rests entirely on the dodgy shoulders of Evra. He's the only recognizable left back left at the club. With the next transfer window only available in January, it looks like we might have to rely on some really inexperienced players (Johnny Evans or Phil Bardsley), something I'm not entirely comfortable with. This compounds the fact that I'm already not comfortable with Evra playing in that position.

At least on the bright side of things, despite playing like crap, we've somehow managed to claw our way back to within touching distance of the top teams. Chelsea and Arsenal don't scare me one bit. Come the African Nations Cup, both teams would be severely depleted with key absentees. Liverpool, in my opinion is the strongest challenge to the title, with the strongest squad. In fact last season, they possibly had the strongest squad. However, as long as Benitez continues to handicap his team by NOT playing the strongest 11, the window is always open.

All that needs to happen now is for Ferguson to stop being stubborn and start Saha as our focal point of attack.

United Grinds Out Another Win (Everton 0 - Manchester United 1)

Alex Ferguson doesn't like early kickoffs and neither do I. Early kickoffs on Saturdays usually means that I would miss the match since it usually coincides with a bit of time I share with my girlfriend. It's usually the only time of the week we get to take time off our schedules and meet for a nice dinner, before rushing back home to catch United play.

Since knowing about the schedules 2 weeks ago, I hatched upon a plan and knowing that Kentona would be facing the same dilemma, we arranged to go prawn fishing as a couples outing. Both our gfs like prawn fishing and both of us love United. It also helps alot that the pub beside the fishing pond was showing the game live. While the ladies were occupied exercising their patience, we would be seated comfortably in front of the projection TV watching the game. Brilliant plan of keeping the ladies happy, as well as satisfying our needs.

Now that I've almost sprained my shoulders patting myself on the back, let's get to the game proper.

I was terribly disappointed that Ferguson opted to start Giggs upfront along side Tevez. To me that seemed like a recipe for disaster. I really thought that Saha would have been a better complement for Tevez. For the entire first half, we did absolutely nothing as an offensive force. In fact until the goal, we never threatened the Everton goal.

The return of Ronaldo from suspension did nothing to booster our attack. Sure there were times we did look really good going forward, but the end product severely lacked substance. The first half was so dull that the only moments that stirred the emotions were when Scholes did look like he was going to get a red for a couple of mistimed challenges and when Silves injured himself. It did look like a pretty painful injury when his knee buckled under his own weight....and I'm speaking from experience, having my own knee give way under my own imposing weight. Silves was replaced with Nani and Evra, who was doing pretty damn well playing in left wing, was pushed back to defence.

The second half was more of the same crap from both sides and the game looked like heading for a scoreless draw. On the hour mark, Ferguson must have heard both mine and Kentona's rants and replaced the ineffective Giggs with Saha. Honestly, it didn't make much of a difference to the level of play, although I certainly felt much better having a striker on the pitch.

As the game wore on, Everton looked like the side that were increasingly able to take the points, while we were continually frustrated every time the ball reached the last third of the pitch.

In the 83rd minute, we won a corner. Suddenly remembering that we scored from one two weeks ago against Keano's men, I turned to Kentona and told him that we were going to score. It was totally against the flow of the conversation we were having since we spent most of the time bitching about the quality of the game.....or the lack of it.

Up rose the majestic Vidic to head the ball home. It was a brilliant header! He ran past two defenders and stuck his head to the ball, beating the Everton keeper in the near post. An absolute stunner!

The entire pub must have been filled with ABUs coz the only two people celebrating were Kentona and myself. Fancy being a pub with dozens of beer drinkers, and the two insane people prancing around were a couple of guys drinking Coca-Cola!

The is our third consecutive 1-0 victory and it brought us to the top of the table, if only for a mere 45 minutes. We need to do better and play better. There were many moments in this game where it things could have gone terribly wrong. For long periods in the second half, I felt we rode our luck. But in the end, we ground out a result.

I'm sure I'd be crucified by saying this, but Ferguson needs to stop playing favourites. Giggs has been a wonderful employee and one of the most loyal players, but he needs to either play on the wings or be benched. There is simply no place for him upfront when Saha's fit. There were many moments in the game when I cringed whenever Giggs got the ball. I only hope that Ferguson was saving TissueMan (Saha) for Sporting this midweek in the Champion's League.

Speaking of Sporting, let's hope we get the results in Portugal, especially with our current form. We're pretty poor travellers in Europe and a last few seasons are a testament to that statement.

Saha's Goal Separates Sides (Manchester United 1 - Sunderland 0)

We entertained Keano's Sunderland and for a good 70 or so minutes played terrible football. We had a good portion of the possession for most of the game but failed to make any meaningful impact, resulting in possibly one of the dullest first halves Old Trafford had to endure this year.

It wasn't till the half hour mark before we had our first shot at goal. Anderson was blooded, and partnered the hardworking Tevez upfront, but apparently the mismatch pairing of Argentinian and Brazilian upfront didn't produce any South American flair. It was as clear as daylight that the pairing simply wouldn't work and Ferguson opted to replace Anderson with Saha at the half.

Immediately Saha made an impact by chesting a long ball, turning and volleying on instinct, forcing a save from Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon. At the same time, Tevez was released to roam freely, while the Sunderland defence concentrated on Saha. The game instantly became significantly more watchable from a neutral view.

On the 70th minute, Saha put us ahead with a header from a corner. I suppose given the way we dominated possession, it was possibly deserved. Sunderland provided nothing in the form of scoring and much of it due to the industry of the entire team, in particular both Owen Hargreaves and Patrice Evra (in the absence of Judas, I'm giving Evra a generous amount of love).

Perhaps it's a good thing that next week is an international weekend. I'm sure given the way we're playing right now, I can't see us producing the goods at Goodison. It would give Saha sometime to get himself match-fit. I can't emphasis how important it is to have a target man upfront (as seen from today's result). Not to mention, we'd be having Ronaldo back, which in itself is huge.