United Scraps Past Boro (Huge Berbatov Rant)

Manchester United 1 - Middlesbrough 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Berbatov (69)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Rafael (Neville 63), Fletcher (Scholes 63), Carrick, Park, Ronaldo (Giggs 86), Rooney, Berbatov

This is turning out to be a difficult season to watch. Week after week, we labour to put away bottom-dwellers. This result puts a particularly foul taste in my mouth when the most undeserving player on the pitch got all the accolades.

I played special attention to Berbatov, in the hopes of writing something nice about him after dissing him in the last post. And after today's game, I come away totally justified with my previous piece. He contributes nothing to the game. In fact, I feel he's stifling the progress of the team.

When we break, he's hardly every around, being too slow to keep up with the pace of Rooney and Ronaldo. When we play in the opponent half of the field, he lazes around, not making runs to free up space or draw defenders. When he does eventually move forward, he never runs back to avoid being caught offside. In short, he basically does fuck all.

Yet, despite all that, he scores the winning goal. The footballing gods must be blind. To top it off, it was a ridiculously lucky goal. The ball fell at his feet and all he had to do was volley it in.

I suppose the argument is that he's there for precisely that reason...to score goals when the opportunity presents itself. Right....so that's what....he's 2nd or 3rd goal after 15 games in the EPL. I'm just simply not impressed with what I'm seeing and every week that passes it just gets worse.

The entire team should also bear alot of the blame, including and especially Ferguson, but I'm giving everyone a free pass this post. I'm just incredibly amazed that we're still in the chase for the title after turning out such dross over such a long period. Everyone else must be rubbish as well.

I Puked My Christmas Dinner

Stoke City 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Tevez (83)

Red Card: Wilkinson (72)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, Neville, O'Shea (Berbatov 64), Scholes (Carrick 90), Fletcher, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez

Had I known we would churn out such a putrid perfomance, I would've eaten alot less the day before. We were so god awful for such long periods in the game that I was wondering what the hell happened in Tokyo. It didn't help that we looked as blue as our away jerseys.

It was so bad that I thought Stoke could've nicked it, had they not been reduced to ten men. They were easily the better side for good portions of the game.

We even had to endure the ugly sides of both Rooney (wild elbow swing) and Ronaldo (stamping) when things were not going their way. Just disgraceful from both of them.

Eventually we did score late from Tevez, with a little big of work from Berbatov, who came on as a substitute. Berbatov, to date, hasn't impressed me. In fact, I'm feeling terribly underwhelmed by him. He's not turned up for so many games that I'm beginning to wonder if he's ever going to repay the price we paid for him.

Teve'z future hangs in the balance as well. He's been out of sorts lately, and not getting a consistant run in the team. Hopefully he gets a regular showing during this festive period.

The problem with United this season is that no one is exactly on fire. Unlike in previous seasons, our strikers have been taking turns to light it up at different periods. Rooney, Saha, Tevez and Ronaldo have all taken turns to contribute to our last two titles.

So far this season, only Rooney has had a small spell of scoring. Ronaldo has been inconsistent and Tevez has been largely woeful. The least said about Berbatov the better. Barring a couple of magical touches, he's been doing a Carrick on us.

If we are to retain the title, our frontmen have to find the net more consistantly.

Conquering The World

The holiday in Beijing provided so much entertainment and fun that I missed both the world club cup games. Beijing exceeded all my expectations and it's a city I'm looking forward to visit again. The food is cheap and good, and the people are honest and friendly.

Top of the World
While I was taking time off to enjoy myself immersely, gorging on exortic food, ranging from donkey to dog, United went on to crown themselves world champions against some third-rated opponents. That's right, third-rated opponents. I wouldn't consider Gamba nor LDU anywhere near the kind of competition provided by top European sides.

We played at half-pace and thrashed Gamba 5-3. The score only looked respectable due to defensive lapses when we were already 5-1 up.

As for LDU, they are a shell of the team that won the South American version of the Champions League. Most of their influential players have already left, and it's little wonder that they fell to a 10-men United. The hard truth is that the South American teams just aren't good enough to face their European counter-parts. Most of the best players from the continent now ply their trade in the top European clubs, while the few remaining ones play for the bigger teams in Brazil and Argentina. LDU Quito, from Ecuador, is really one of the smaller teams.

So officially we're now the best team in the world. The additional silverware is great, but let's not get distracted from the true prize, the EPL and the Champions League.

Champions League
Seapking of the Champions League, the draw to the next round really screwed us. We somehow managed to get Inter Milan from the draw. It's going to be hard facing the champions from Italy. And the task will get much harder without the services of Vidic, who will serve a suspension for his red card in the world club cup finals.

This is one matchup I'm not looking forward to.

Evra's Ban
Plenty seems to have happened while I was away, so I'm cramping it all here today.

Looks like the club is not going to appeal. 4 matches seems like a ridiculous number of games to miss for an off-the-pitch incident. It seems from the length of documents released by the FA, they are trying to confuse than to make a concerted effort to address the punishment. In any case, we can only hope this sets the precedence for consistancy. Somehow I seriously doubt it though. One rule for United, another for the others.

Firing Blanks

Tottenham 0 - Manchester United 0

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, O'Shea, Rafael, Carrick, Fletcher (Scholes 70), Park, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Tevez (Giggs 70)

I've got to make this a quick one. I'm due at the airport in a couple of hours, so after factoring in the travel time, I've precious little to spare.

There was a time when seeing a zero on our side of the scoreboard would be an anomaly, but this is fast becoming an increasingly distressing statistic as we are churning them out at an alarming rate. The problem here is that we're not creating enough chances. And from the very few that we've created, they've been spurned by our goal-shy forwards.

After Arsenal and Liverpool drew earlier in the day, this was the perfect opportunity to make up lost ground, facing Spurs and a dodgy keeper between the posts. Like every week where we could make up ground, we threw the chance away. The normally edgy Gomes produced a stunning performance to thwart our best chances, especially late in the game.

Tactically we were woeful. Fegie opted to field Tevez upfront on his own, while Berbatov plyed his trade deep in midfield. Often balls that were crossed into the area were headed out as Tevez jumped and stretched but could do little to head the balls beyond his reach. Berbatov would have been a more ideal target man for this course of action.

The midfield was utterly crap today. Carrick is crap as usual, but it was a surprise that the consistant Fletcher joined him in the tomfoolery, giving away possession cheaply.

Perhaps sensing that the plan wasn't going well, we sent on Giggs for Tevez and Scholes for Fletcher. We did increase the pressure but found Gomez in unbelievable form, saving from a fantastic Giggs' freekick.

In all, it wasn't a terrible game, just a terrible result. We simply need to score goals and we're serverely lacking in that department. Maybe it's time to stop with the Berbatov experiment and start playing the kind of swashbuckling football that we've been pampered on. Maybe it's time for Manucho and Welbeck to stop rotting on the bench and present them a chance to make a name for themselves. The current incumbents are simply not doing the job.

Product Review: Adidas F30.8 TRX TF Shoe

I was recently approached by the chaps at SoccerPro to review a pair of shoes and grabbed the opportunity, especially considering the pair I was using was wearing out. Perfect timing here. For those of you who don't know, SoccerPro is growing soccer apparel company that sells...you guessed it, soccer boots and related equipment like jerseys, balls and guards.

The great thing with the offer was that I was given free rein to choose any pair within a set budget. Since I almost solely play on an artificial pitch nowadays, I chose a pair of Adidas F30.8 TRX TF.

The shoe was shipped on time via UPS, nicely packaged in a box. No hassle, no fuss. Here's where the real review starts. Quite frankly I don't know where exactly to start so I'll just do it in point form and start with the cons.

Cons
- This has got to be one of the most uncomfortable pair of shoes I've ever worn. After the first couple of sessions, my feet were filled with cuts and blisters. Even though I purposely got a size larger (to accommodate socks, ankle guard, taping, etc.), it's too narrow for my hobbit feet. After consulting my teammates, I realise that it's a generic problem with Adidas shoes. It's too narrow in the front for East Asian feet. I had the exact same problem with my last pair of Predators, which explains why I've not worn a pair for Adidas for years. Unfortunately I got overly excited this time round and forgot my past experience.

- The heel is also abit too high and hard, thus cutting into the achilles. Very painful. At least this problem would go away as the boots gets more seasoned.

Pro
- I'm a sucker for aesthetists, and this definitely a beautiful work of art. From the colour to the fold-over tongue, it just looks good. If not for the fact I'm lazy as hell to wear shoes in our hot and humid climate, I would gladly exchange it with my sandals when going out. Good fashion accessory.

- I don't know what leather it uses, but it provides plenty of cushioning to control the ball under your feet. Compared to the other boots I own, the FX 30.8 tops them all in terms of control. For a good two sessions or so, I actually felt I played on a different level. It's hard to explain the feeling. You got to try it to understand.

- Another plus point here is that it packs a punch. My strikes just seem more powerful with less effort put into the backswing.

Things that leave me scratching my heard
- I suppose I understand the whole concept of having a fold-over tongue. It's supposed to give you a larger smoother surface area to control the ball, but let's face it, if you have to use that particular area of the shoe, then you're really not much of a soccer player. ;o) That said, every bit helps I suppose.

- Another thing I don't understand is why is there a see-thru window on the outside of the boot? The last thing I need is for the whole world to see all the holes in my socks....and I do have loads of them. Embarassing is an understatement.

Conclusion
There are alot of good things about the Adidas FX 30.8 which should help you improve your game. But Adidas needs to take into consideration the Asian market when designing shoes. If it doesn't fit, it doesn't sell.

Lastly, I would like to extend my thanks to the chaps at SoccerPro for the opportunity to do this review.

United Tops Table Despite Slack Defending

Manchester United 2 - AaB Aalborg 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Tevez (3), Rooney (52)
Aalborg: Jakobson (31), Curth (45)

Team: Kuszczak, Rio, Evans, Neville (Rafael 77), O'Shea, Anderson, Giggs (Scholes 45), Gibson (Park 45), Nani, Rooney, Tevez

Nothing much to say really. Celtic did the job and beat Villarreal, meaning that the result here didn't matter. We topped our group and avoided a possible draw in the next round against Barcelona, who I think are the best team in Europe right at this moment. The potential opponents are Inter, the two Madrids, Lyon and Sporting Lisbon, none of whom scares me.

As for todays game, we started sharply, scoring early thru Tevez and really looked like running up the score over the Danish side. But yet again our sloppy defending from set-pieces let us down.

We simply cannot defend from freekicks coming in from either side or deep. The equalizer gave Aalborg plenty of confidence and they took the lead with practically the last kick of the half in a blistering counter attack.

Ferguson was obviously not happy as he brought on a couple of more attacking substitutes. The result was a Rooney goal to draw the teams level again. We played Aalborg off the pitch for the remainder of the game but unlike the weekend, were not able to find a winner today.

We should see the return of the regular players on Saturday again Spurs. I should still be able to catch the game, before flying off to Beijing to freeze my ass off. With some luck, I may just be able to catch the world club cup (or whatever they name it now) games there.

Rant of the Year
This part is not United related. I'm just going to rant for the sake of ranting.

As some of you may know, my former pc went down in flames(literally) and I've just gotten myself a spanking new computer. It's ridiculously fast, and more importantly, I got it at a ridiculous price. Hell, it's almost like stealing it.

The downside is that it's pre-installed with Vista. I've heard loads of horror stories about Vista but after using it for a couple of days, it seemed like those stories were just that...stories. Everything was hunky dory.

Then the shit hit the fan. I spent the weekend installing all the programs I used to have on the old pc only to realise what complete asswipes the developers at microsoft are. No seriously....what complete asses.

The freaking damn Vista keeps prompting some security warning whenever I install a program. As if that's not bad enough, the same freaking warning pops up whenever I run those programs. And to make it even worse.......it continues to appear even after I've specifically removed the warning!

I can't believe the anal fucktarts that developed this shit. In the end I had to visit some geeksite and manually remove the works from the registry, not something I'm confident of doing without fucking up the whole system. It's a nightmare I tell ya!

Don't even let me get started on the Disk Defragmentor.......

Late Late Winner Keeps United On Track

Manchester United 1 - Sunderland 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Vidic (90)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher (Anderson 68), Park (Tevez 58), Ronaldo (Giggs 68), Rooney, Berbatov

What an incredible game. For a full 90 minutes we were knocking on Sunderland's door but couldn't find a way thru. And just when a 0-0 result looked on the cards, Vidic's last gasp winner brought on a sigh of relief that could be felt from Singapore to Manchester.

The day started with facing a rudderless Sunderland, who were low on confidence and even lower in quality. It's no wonder Keano decided to jump ship. Sunderland are easily the worst team I've seen this season by a huge huge margin. They couldn't string 3 passes together to save their lives.

Against such weak opponents, we completely dominated the game but yet were not able to find a way past their 10 defenders. Fulop was excellent in goal and the men in front of him were dogged in their task to deny us the points. 4-goal hero from midweek, Tevez, was brought on in the second half to provide much needed firepower but we were still lacking the killer punch.

As the game wore on, United grew more desperate. With the front runners in the title race all getting 3 points, it was imperative that we kept up the chase and it just wasn't looking likely today. Ronaldo's injury today and with suspensions looming over Evra and Rooney, who got his 5th yellow today, we could ill afford to drop points.

In the last few minutes of the game, we threw Vidic upfront as an extra body forward and the gamble paid off in the most dramatic fashion. Just as the final whistle looked more likely than a United goal, Carrick's long rage shot wickedly deflected onto the inside of the post and back onto Vidic's path. And he struck a dagger into the Sunderland hearts that sent Old Trafford into spasms of euphoria.

I don't know if we deserved the victory, but we deserved something for all the grunt work put in today. We outworked our opponents in every aspect of the game. Every man on the pitch carried his own load, even the normally anonymous Carrick. This was truely a team victory if there ever was one.

Tevez Stakes Claim

Manchester United 5 - Blackburn 3
Scorers
Manchester United: Tevez (36, pen 50, 55, 90), Nani (40)
Blackburn: McCarthy (48, 90), Derbyshire 84

Team: Foster, Neville, Evans, O'Shea (Evra 66), Rafael, Gibson, Possebon (Scholes 66), Anderson, Giggs (Manucho 71), Nani, Tevez

Quite an outstanding game with 8 goals. We played a mixture of youth and experience against what looks to be a very strong Blackburn lineup. And we played one of our best games of the season.

Giggs was simply incredible. This is best I've seen Giggs play in a long long time. He was at the centre of all the action and some of his touches today were outstanding.

However as much as I want to annoint Giggs as my player of the game, it still has to go to Tevez. It's not everyday you score 4 against a Premiership side.

The game didn't start too well for United. The players took a while to get used to playing with one another and Foster had to tip the ball over his bar a couple of times early in the game. But we gradually got into our stride and started to play some good football.

Tevez's opener looked like it was an own goal. But I really couldn't tell. I had to watch this game from the computer and had to make do with poor pictures and no commentary. So I'm just going to assume it came off him.

Nani added a second after playing a good one-two with Tevez in the box. The lads were looking really sharp.

We should have added a third early in the 2nd half when both Giggs and Nani forced some desperately defending. But it was Blackburn substitute, Benny McCarthy who scored instead. He brilliantly headed the ball past Neville and blasted it into the net. It was a superb goal and gave Blackburn a whisker of hope in the tie.

Hope, however, didn't last too long. Just a couple of minutes later, Tevez was fouled in the box and the referee wasted no time to point to the spot. Tevez duely obliged the Old Trafford crowd and sent Robinson the wrong way.

It got worse for Blackburn. Giggs, Tevez and Anderson combined to tear a hole in Blackburn's defense. With only Robinson to beat, Anderson unselfishly squared the ball to Tevez for a simple tap in to complete his hat-trick.

Anderson's unselfish play summed up the way we played today. Every member of the team was playing for the other. Even before the goals started trickling in, we were running into space, passing to the open man and basically enjoying the game. It's a total contrast from how the first team is playing. No pouting, no whining. They just enjoyed playing with one another and it's just so fun to watch. And the fans feed off from it.

4-1 up and with things looking pretty, Scholes came on for his first kick in two months. Blackburn had their shoulders slumped and looked like a defeated bunch, while we just grew from strength to strength.

I missed the last 10 minutes or so of the game due to an upset stomach. But when I returned, the score was bloody 4-3. Somehow, during my absence, Blackburn must have found some belief and pulled 2 goals back. It was abit shocking for several seconds but before I could really panic, Tevez sent a screamer past Robinson. Game, set and match.

I don't know who Tevez is going to replace this weekend, but he'd better be in the starting 11. And if Giggs can keep the pace up, some of the midfielders better be quaking in their boots too.

Conclusive Proof That Idiots Exists

Just read that Ronaldo won the Ballon dÓr trophy. Seriously was there any doubt after what he did last season? What really irked me was that he only garnered top choice for 77 out of the 96 assholes who voted.

My maths tells me that there were actually 19 idiots who didn't put him on the top of their list. Seriously, these bunch are supposedly the top sports journalists and they picked someone else. I think this only conclusively proves that sports journalists are nothing more than nincompoops who can write. And I should know since I know my fare share of local sports journalists.

But this is not my rant, although I love to have a dig at nincompoops with pens. This win for Ronaldo feels like a phyrric victory. Sure we have bragging rights of having the best player in the world, but just how long is that going to last. From everything that has happened in the past 6 months, I'm pretty sure he's on his way to Real Madrid, especially now that he's finally won all.

His body language this season is terrible. And he's gone back to that pouty and sulky boy 3 seasons ago. He's just making it hard to support him. Again that is not the point here.

The main point is that we need him more than he needs us. We are a terribly team without him. For the wealth of talent we possess, we're just not producing the results. The future may look bright with promising youngsters coming thru the ranks, but none of them boosts of a potential world-beater. I actually worry for the team when he eventually leaves.

Rooney's Winner, Ronaldo's Shame

Manchester City 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Rooney (42)

Red Card: Ronaldo (68)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Park (O'Shea 90), Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov (Giggs 84)

Not exactly the kind of derby result I was expecting. Rooney covered himself with glory, scoring the only goal in a tight game, while Ronaldo went the opposite direction, shrouding himself in shame as he was deservedly sent off for a blatant handball.

We had the upper hand in the opening exchanges but were, as usual, not able to convert. Even when Joe Hart spilled the ball, we were not sharp enough to pounce on the City keeper. On the other end, Van der Sar once again proved what a liability he is with balls floated in from freekicks. He flapped at the ball, getting nowhere near it. Thankfully, City were as lacklustre as we were upfront.

Rooney's goal came late late in the first half thru some determined work from Park. The ball was bouncing around in the penalty area and Park's tenacity brought it to Carrick's feet. With the goal inviting, Carrick took a fine shot that Joe Hart could only parry onto the path of Rooney. The newly crowned 100-goal man wheeled away in celebration, and somewhat in relief after finally breaking the duck. Maybe with that monkey finally off his back, he might produce the kind of performance we've been used to. He's been playing like crap for the past month, at times trying too hard.

City came on strong in the second half and we barely stemmed the flood of sky blue shirts coming at us. Then inexplicably Ronaldo handled in the area to leave Howard Webb no choice but to flash the second yellow. I don't understand how anyone can defend his stupidity, let alone a well-respected manager like Ferguson.

His dismissal left his teammates a man short, and United were left to defend the remaining 20 minutes in a hostile atmosphere. We killed the game and it was pretty much a bore to see City try to break us down, at the same time watching United play the kind of football we dread to see.

Despite all that, the game somehow managed to come to life in the dying seconds. City had a goalline clearance and from the resultant ball, Rooney launched a ball from just within the City half goal wards. Joe Hart, who had been sprinting back from the corner at the other end made a diving save to prevent the scoreline from being larger. My mates who were watching the game with me were marvelling at the sequence of play.

We stayed on to watch Chelsea get humbled by a crisis-wrought Arsenal. We've closed the gap between us. Now all that remains is for Liverpool to fumble against the Hammers tomorrow to make it a good weekend.