United Knocks 5 Past Newcastle

Newcastle 1 - Manchester United 5
Scorers
Newcastle : Faye (79)
Manchester United : Rooney (25, 80), Ronaldo (45, 54), Saha (90)

Team : Van der Sar, Evra (O'Shea 46), Rio, Vidic (Scholes 74), Brown, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani, Ronaldo (Saha 67), Tevez, Rooney

I'll try to make this one short. It's been a long week and this is a late game, so I'm virtually exhausted from lack of sleep.

We closed to 3 points in the table with this emphatic victory against Newcastle as Arsenal dropped vital points in an earlier game which they practically dominated.

It kinda baffles the mind how far Newcastle has fallen. It's reached the stage where it's just almost catastrophic, like their sponsor Northern Rock.

Just as in the first meeting between the teams, they were utterly pathetic. While we were nowhere near top form, we still dominated the game without much effort put in. It didn't match the excitement of the first meeting but we still managed to scored 5 really outstanding goals, 2 each from Rooney and Ronaldo, with Saha rounding it all off in the dying minutes. It was a measured victory to say the least.

Rooney opened the scoring in the 25th when Ronaldo found space and time to provide an inch perfect cross right onto his feet. The defence was nowhere to be found and Rooney gleefully sidefooted it into the net.

Ronaldo got on the scoresheet at the end of the first half when Carrick sliced the already porous Newcastle defence with an absolutely beautiful pass. Showing incredible balance, Ronaldo controlled and shot while in full motion. It was a beautiful goal.

In the second half, Ronaldo added a third when he rounded Harper and smashed the ball into the empty net from an acute angle, finishing off a superb individual effort.

Newcastle managed to score a consolation goal when Faye scrambled one in from the corner. There was a suspicion of a handball involved, but quite honestly, no one really cared. We were going to win this one regardless.

The crybabies' joy was short-lived. The 3 goal cushion was quickly restored from the restart. From a blotched clearance, Rooney found just enough space to curl, what is probably the best goal of the game, into the corner of the net. It was pretty special and spectacular.

Saha finished the party with a well taken fifth. United didn't really break a sweat notching this victory. If only all the games were this easy.

Wes Brown
I can't believe Fergie actually blasted Brown's agent in an interview. While most of us probably agree that agents have hurt the game in some sense, but let's be realistic.

The players, barring a few, are not known to be good decision makers off the pitch. Without agents making deals on their behalf, who is going to prevent them from being fleeced by the clubs they play for? It's just the lesser of two evils.

As for Brown, I think he has every right to hold out for a better pay package. By United's standards, he's possibly underpaid. He's playing a key role for the best defence in the Premiership and that should account for something.

Not to mention, if he leaves on a free transfer, he'd probably be paid a singing on fee and someone like Newcastle would probably increase his current salary as well.

To put things into perspective, all we need to do is look at the guy playing on his left. That guy makes a whooping 120k a week! Just imagine your co-worker getting paid so much more than you, for practically doing the same job. I'm not saying that Brown's role is exactly like Rio's but when Rio's out, Brown is the natural replacement. That's gotta at least say something about Brown's worth.

I just don't get it why the club is being so anal over Brown's pay package...I just don't. Afterall, Brown's been with us since he was 12. That loyalty's gotta mean something.

Arsenal
I don't really like to write about Arsenal, but I would just love to pen my thoughts on them. I was out watching their game against Birmingham earlier today. I missed the foul on Eduardo, but Arsenal were pretty damn awesome in that game against virtually ten men Birmingham. Hell, there was a point in time I actually thought Arsenal were going to run up a rugby score.

But of course we know they didn't. And when it really mattered, they collapsed in the dying seconds of the game. Despite Wanker's protestations that last weekend's result was a one off, you can't help but wonder how much damage it has done to their fragile little egos.

In midweek, they failed to capitalise on numerous chances to put AC Milan away and today they simply collapsed against a much weaker opponent, despite having numerical advantage for the entire game.

Gallas' reaction when Clichy conceded the penalty was a godsend (to me). It just shows how fragile their makeup is. As the captain of the team, instead of rallying the troops, he actually threatened to walk out on the team. As the final whistle blew, he just slumped onto the ground in defeat. Imagine the impression he left on the youngsters playing beside him.

They must have been devastated to see their captain react in such manner. I know I would be absolutely disgusted if our own players did that with slightly less than a third of the season left.

I've stated time and time again that Arsenal is not a threat for the title this season (me patting my own shoulders). They just do no have the mental toughness to see it out. Their lack of testicular fortitude reared it's ugly head today.

The problem with the team is that they have no winners. The only past winners they have in the team are Gallas and to a less extent Gilberto. And today we can see just how pathetic Gallas is without Terry beside him.

I'm going to maintain that Chelsea still remains our fiercest rivals for the title. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that Arsenal doesn't suddenly find their testes and make my eat a huge crow. ;o)

Vital Away Draw Puts United In The Driving Seat

Lyon 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Lyon : Benzema 52
Manchester United : Tevez 87

Team : Van der Sar, Evra, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Hargreaves (Carrick 78), Scholes (Tevez 65), Anderson, Giggs (Nani 65), Ronaldo, Rooney

4-5-1. I'm never too fond of this formation, granted it was the same one that won us the weekend game against Arsenal. Strictly speaking, today's formation looked more like a 4-3-2-1 (Christmas tree) formation, but you'd probably have an easier time selling that to a cow than me.

The first half was a tight affair, with neither side really gaining a foothold on possession. Both sides had a couple of decent half chances. Rooney did have a glorious chance to put us in front but a heavy second touch saw the ball go too close to the Lyon keeper.

We came out of the second half totally dominating possession. It was the first time in the game that any side actually looked like winning the game convincingly. Yet against the run of play, Lyon opened the scoring.

Benzema, with his reputation already bulging, enhanced it when he scored an unlikely goal. Already there are heavy rumours out there that there is very strong interest by Fergie. Alone against 4 red shirts around him, he somehow found space to fire in a shot from outside the penalty box and beyond the diving arms of Van der Sar. Like I said, it's an unlikely goal and as I'm typing this entry, I'm still alittle bewildered how the hell he found the space for the shot. I suppose that's why he's special.....the ability to make something out of nothing. I'm sure after today's perfomance, Fergie is going to press extra hard to bring him to OT.

Anyway, at 1-0, it wasn't good for us at all. In fact this is the worst type of result to bring back to OT. It means that we have to win at OT and prevent Lyon from scoring. Not exactly an easy task considering the presence of Benzema.

Fergie brought on Nani and Tevez in place of Giggs and Scholes to booster the attack. Given how both huffed and puffed without any telling contributions, this was the right move. As both Nani and Tevez walked to the touchline, I was actually fearing the worst, and that Fergie would do the silly thing, stay loyal to his veterans and take the outstanding Anderson off instead. Thankfully common sense prevailed.

As time was slowly slipping away, Carrick was brought on for Hargreaves on the 78th minute. By this time, Lyon was already contented to sit back and wait it out.

The good thing is that United were not. We kept pressing forward and in the 87th minute, our efforts were rewarded with a scrappy goal by Tevez. I'm certainly not complaining. I maybe abit picky at times, but I'll take them anyway they come by.

Like I mentioned in my previous entry, we brought a result back to OT. While it's not a victory, a score draw is possibly just as good, considering the circumstances we had to endure. Barring a catastrophe of epic proportions, there shouldn't be any reason why we would make it to the quarter finals of the Champions League.

More importantly, it's a result that should boost the morale of the players, given the way and time it was scored. Hopefully it's good enough for us to see a repeat of the result when we face Newcastle this weekend at St James. One can always hope! ;o)

Tearing Arse A New One

Manchester United 4 - Arsenal 0
Scorers
Manchester United : Rooney 16, Fletcher 20,74, Nani 38

Team : Van der Sar, Evra, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Anderson (Scholes 72), Carrick, Nani, Fletcher, Park, Rooney (Saha 71)

No Ronaldo. No Tevez. No Giggs. No Problem.

Fergie opted to save some legs for midweek's Champions League game against Lyon and it paid handsome dividends with a freshened lineup.

Arsenal, without their regular fullbacks, was tormented and torn apart down the flanks by a rampant United side, trying to put the nightmares of the past couple of weeks behind them.

A couple of early goals headers from Rooney and Fletcher in the first 20 minutes set the tone. Despite a healthy lead in the Premiership, Arsenal was no match for a spirited United. Park, Anderson and Fletcher were simply at their awesome best in midfield, giving the boys from London no chance whatsoever.

Nani added a third in the first half as United stamped their authority on the game. To put it simply, United were literally destroying the gooners.

Any hint of an Arsenal fight back soon evaporated early in the second half when one of the dirtiest bastards in mordern football tried to maim Evra with an x-rated tackle that would make Edison Chen blush in shame. Referee Wiley had no choice but to show the red card to Eboue. How the hell anyone with the right mind can argue with the decision is beyond me, as Eboue hung around, refusing to acknowledge the colour of the card. I'm willing to bet that Wenger probably didn't see the tackle as well.

With Arsenal down to ten men, and their spirit completely broken, United sprayed passes around in midfield and threatened to add to the scoreline. And it wasn't long before Fletcher added a fourth with a header from a really acute angle. United could very well have added more but a 4-0 result was good enough to peg Arsenal's confidence back and secure a place in the quarter finals of the FA Cup.

This is the United that we know. Utterly ruthless. For some reason, we've not been performing up to par for quite sometime and let's hope we continue to show such desire for the rest of the season.

A huge part of today's performance is probably due to a world-class performance from Fletcher. He's a big game player. Whenever he gets a chance to play in a big game, he performs. He did it against Chelsea a few years back and last year against Roma and AC Milan. I'm praying that Fergie recognises his efforts after today's game and that he gets a decent run in the team, despite our riches in midfield.

Credit must also be given to Anderson, Nani, Park and, in no small way, Carrick, who all harassed the Arsenal midfield, not allowing them any space to play their brand of football.

And Anderson needs to start, period. I had my doubts about him when we got him, but he's bedded in well with the team and is our little terrier in the middle of the park. I'm really pleased with how little time he's taken to adjust to the English game....and he's only 19!

I'm really looking forward to the next game in France. We've not been doing too well against French opponents in recent years. Lyon looks particularly dangerous with frontman Benzema. If we play the kind of footbal we're so capable of playing, I'm sure we would bring a good enough result back to OT for the second leg.

Disgraceful Tribute To Munich Victims

Manchester United 1 - Manchester City 2
Scorers
Manchester United : Carrick 90+2
Manchester City : Vassell 25, Benjani 45

Team : Van der Sar, O'Shea (Hargreaves 74), Rio, Vidic, Brown, Scholes, Anderson (Carrick 74), Giggs, Nani (Park 63) , Ronaldo, Tevez

What an utterly disgraceful performance. Just when you thought that last week's game was a one off, United threw up this pile of dung right smack onto everyone's face. To add insult to injury, this was the one day designated as a tribute to the Munich air-crash victims of 58, the one day to remember those who had bravely worn the United jersey and played their hearts out for the club.

The only thing that went according to plan was the one minute's silence, which was impeccably kept. Everything else just totally and completely fell apart.

We entered this game without Rooney and Evra, both suspended for the game. And it showed. We were practically toothless upfront. Everytime Tevez or Ronaldo had the ball, they were crowded out by City defenders. It didn't help that Richard Dunne and Micah Richards were on top of their game.

In fact, City were by far the better team, by a mile. They were compact at the back, and at the same time pacy and powerful charging forward. It wasn't a surprise that they went ahead midway thru the first half. Even a double save from Van der Sar couldn't stop Vassell from opening the scoring. United just weren't able to clear the lines and paid the price for slack defending.

And right on half time, City debutant, Benjani headed a glancing header beyond Van der Sar's oustretched hand to put the blue side of Manchester 2-0 up.

United tried to make a game of it in the second half, but every move forward was stopped by the impenetrable City defence. Ferguson threw on desperate substitutions, without a notable goalscoring option on the bench, the result was only going to be a City victory. In fact we were lucky not to concede in the second half when City threw away numerous counter moves.

Just as last week, we brought back some respectability to the scoreline when Carrick pulled one back, deep into injury time. It was too little too late.

This was a loss that was utterly deserved and the scoreline somewhat flattered us. City could and really should have stuffed us. We walked into this game wearing our 58 replica jersey, thinking that City would roll over and play dead, given the circumstances of the occasion. Unfortunately, the jersey, like the team is just a replica of the one in 58, it didn't share the same fighting spirit of the team of 58. Someone forgot to let the team know that City is a Premiership team too, fighting for a place in the Champions League.

No one played well today. Everyone played for himself. When Nani, Giggs, Ronaldo and Tevez got the ball, all they were doing was trying to take on their own defender. Even when they did pass, it eventually went to an opponent.

Giggs in particular was a pain to watch. It's just so sad to watch Giggs labour in today's game. He's a step too slow to take on defenders, and it's just plain painful to see him try and try again today. Not to mention, his passing today was just atrocious.

What's worse, no one seemed arsed enough to want to take on the responsibility to carry the team. We simply didn't have the winners' mentality, and to be frank we haven't had it for quite sometime now.

I'm personally feeling that perhaps we're just not good enough to win the title this season. If the players just can get motivated enough to win on a special occasion like today, then perhaps they are simply not worthy of winning it all. I just hope that there is a deeper strength in character the players have than I give them credit for.

Woeful United Steals A Point.

Tottenham 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Tottenham : Berbatov 21
Manchester United : Tevez 90+3

Team : Van der Sar, Evra, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Scholes (Anderson 60), Hargreaves (Carrick 46), Giggs (Nani 60), Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez

This was such a poor poor performance, it's probably best forgotten. We were ridiculously lucky to nick a point off Spurs with virtually the last kick of the game.

It didn't help that the Arsenal supporters were out in force at the kopitiam were Kentona and I were watching, making watching the game extra dreadful. It seemed that after the Arsenal game (which was played earlier) ended, all the Gooners decided to stay and catch the United game, bringing all their negative energy along with them. Bitter little pricks.

Excuses aside, we really didn't show up today on the pitch. Come to think of it, we haven't really been good for a full 90 minutes for a long long time. Yet somehow we've come away with the goods. Unfortunately for today, I doubt we even played a fucking full minute of outstanding football.

But take nothing away from a spirited Spurs. After the defeat in the FA Cup, Spurs were extra motivated right from the kickoff. Their passing was simply outstanding and they bossed the midfield. And it was only fitting that they took the lead midway thru the first half.

Jenas was brushed aside in our penalty area by Hargreaves and the ball fell kindly to Lennon. There could have been a slight debate that Jenas handled the ball as he fell, but if you asked me, it looked like a clear penalty that was not given. Anyway, justice had a way of righting itself. The 'handled' ball fell to Lennon. His pass was parried away by Van der Sar, but it only fell to Babertov with an open goal in front of him. The result was a goal.

United's response was pathetic at best. We couldn't even string two passes together. Had it not been for Hargreaves basically destroying play in midfield, we could very well been another goal or two down.

Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo were kept very quiet by the outstanding Woodgate and gang in the Spurs defense. Giggs and Scholes were frankly non-existant. And Evra was just Lennon's man-bitch for the second time.

Things had to change at the break and Fergie did just that. Unfortunately he shocked both Kentona and myself when he took off Hargreaves and put in Carrick. We both felt Scholesy should have been replaced instead. It just didn't make any sense to us that the best player was taken off.

Nothing changed in the second half. Our play was still simply dreadful. Spurs were first to every 50-50 ball and once again should have punished our poor play. And perhaps hearing our pleas for subsitutions, Fergie brought on Nani and Anderson in place of Giggs and Scholes.

Instantly there was an injection of pace and energy. We started looking marginally more threatening going forward. But it didn't really last very long.

You know I've been perpetually whining about Carrick's disappearing act for the longest time since he joined. Today I just wish he was just that....invisible. At least he would still be a good guy....behind the scenes.

But today he was just ultra dreadful. I don't even think his own parents can defend he's performance today (unless they are Spurs fans). He's passing was simply abysmal. Every other time he got the ball, he gave it away to a player in white. There were numerous times out there that I felt he was still playing for Spurs. If I contract lung cancer or becoming an alcoholic, I'm going to put the blame squarely on Carrick.

Just as the game felt like it was going to be a loss (well deserved might I add), Tevez popped up and scored from a corner with virtually the last kick of the game. For 90 odd minutes, the Spurs defense had been outstanding, keeping our attackers at bay. Yet in the dying seconds, they gifted Tevez will all the space in the world to nick an equalizer.

I dare say it was a vital point for us in the grander scheme of things. It kept us within striking distance from Arsenal who won earlier.

We've not been doing well recently and it's a worrying sign. Maybe the whole Saudi trip is coming back to haunt us. Or maybe we're just getting too complacent. But one thing's for sure, something's gotta change and I dunno what.

The only thing I know is that I really don't want to see Carrick play for a long long time. Fergie's been in the news recently saying that Fletcher's been a real trooper. I say let Fletcher play. Let Fletcher take Carrick's place. Someone in the backroom staff should just smack Ferguson on the head everytime he even puts Carrick's name on the teamsheet, let alone start.