What A Comeback!

Manchester United 5 - Tottenham 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Ronaldo (pen 57, 68), Rooney (67,71), Berbatov (79)
Tottenham: Bent (29), Modric (32)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael (O'Shea 70), Evra, Fletcher (Scholes 62), Carrick, Nani (Tevez 46), Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov

Thanks for all the concerned smses and emails. I was down with a terrible flu and at the moment still in the long process of recovery. With the swine pandemic spreading and causing fear around the world, my overly concerned and easily excitable doctor even suggested I took a blood test just in case. A suggestion which I rejected. The only pigs I've been around the past couple of weeks were my girlfriend and that swine, Kentona.

As bad as my flu was over the weekend, I stll managed to catch the game while drooping off to sleep as the coughing took every ounce of energy. Enduring a putrid first half just made it excruciatingly worse.

It's not to say we played that badly. We just played without any intensity whatsoever. With every missed chance, we just shrugged our shoulders and continued with the game. There was no desire or urgency. I'm beginning to feel why Ronaldo whines so much. Flanked by teammates who don't care, I'll want to leave too.

After an unwatchable half hour, Lennon struck. He's been a constant threat down the left and everytime he got the ball, he made Evra look like a schoolboy. Evra's dip in form recently has been alarming to put it nicely.

Before we knew it, Spurs were two up with goals from Bent and Modric. We were staring down a barrel of a loaded gun.

We did try to pull one back before the break, but there was a distinct lack of urgency in the way we went about our business. The half time and the throwing of teacups from the locker room couldn't come soon enough.

Ferguson decided to unleash Tevez in the second half in place of Nani and that possibly made all the difference in the game. Tevez injected some life and desire into the game. Perhaps playing for his United life, he went about trying to murder everyone foolish enough to cross his path.

Fergie's second substitution brought on even more agression from Scholesy. We were taking no prisoners and playing with reckless abandon. Both Scholes and Tevez soon found their way into the referee's book for being overly aggressive. And at the way the game was played, it was apparent more swashbuckling action was on the way. Rooney, Ronaldo and a couple more were already hacking away and it was just a matter of time before we were going to end up with 9 or fewer men as the scoreline continued.

Referee Howard Webb probably had the same feeling as I did, when he awarded a soft penalty when Carrick was taken down in the box. It threw us a lifeline which Ronaldo grabbed to give the score some respectability.

The complexion of the game completely changed from that goal. It gave us hope and Tevez's unique style of play rubbed on on everyone. Everyone, including the much maligned Berbatov, pulled up their socks and chased for every ball. There was a whole lot of game to play and we were finally getting the upper hand.

In quick succession, Rooney and Ronaldo scored 3 more goals between themselves to overhaul the deficit. We were running amok and Spurs, who looked so comfortable in the first half, were getting a mauling. This was the best we've played in a long long time.

Berbatov bundled in a 5th just to twist the knife little bit more. There probably could have been another couple more but we eased up on them.

While all this was going on, Michael was busy smsing me just how this game resembled that Beckham-led turnaround earlier in the decade. We cameback from 3-0 down to win 5-3 against today's opponents. I just want to take a quick timeout to apologise to Mike here as my replies were short and curt. I was practically dying from my flu, and the adrenaline rush from watching United play the way they are capable of, nearly gave me a heartattack in my weakened state.

This was United at it's finest. The only problem now is how to replicate this second half performance for the remainder of the season. If we can do that, then repeating last season's feat would be a walk in the park.

Closing In On The Title

Manchester United 2 - Portsmouth 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (8), Carrick (82)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, Neville (O'Shea 13, Rafael 53), Evra, Fletcher, Scholes, Anderson (Carrick 76), Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney

Just in case anyone was wondering, I haven't died and disappeared from the face of the earth since the FA Cup semi-finals. I just decided to take my mum's advice: if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all. Well, that's not entirely true. I was very impressed with how our kids performed against the tested and tried players of Everton, but I realised I was probably going to spend the entire post slagging off Berbatov, so to save everyone from my tirade I made the executive decision not to write anything.

Which bring me to today's post, I really ought to keep my keyboard somewhere where I can't find it. With the exception of Anderson and Fletcher, we were pretty terrible.

The moment Rooney scored the early goal, we completely lost our intensity and passion for the game. In short, we settled for a 1-0 victory.

If you read the stat sheet, it's true we had an incredible amount of shots on goal, but most of it was due to the god awful job Portsmouth was doing defending. How the hell Portsmouth isn't at the bottom of the table along side West Brom is beyond me. They were giving the ball away in dangerous positions time and time again. Utterly incredibly poor finishing on our part and brilliant keeping from James kept the scoreline respectable.

Again I reiterate, other than Fletcher and Anderson, we could very well had 9 other Berbatovs on the pitch and it wouldn't have made a difference. I don't know if yesterday's results between Arsenal and Liverpool had an impact on how we played, ot simply fatigue playing into it, but our players looked disinterested. Damn, my Sunday soccer team shows more passion than them.

To add to the woes of our fans, we're actually going to increase ticket prices to droll out this kind of entertainment. I'm just glad I'm in Singapore watching the games at a minimal cost, rather than in England getting fleeced.

At least on the bright side, we really should have the title in the bag now. 6 games to go, a match in hand and a healthy 3 point lead should really do it, especially after both Liverpool and Chelsea have dropped points.

We should look better on Saturday against Spurs. I can't possibly imagine us playing any worse than we have today.

That Ronaldo Goal Against Porto

I don't really like to post videos on this blog, for the simple reason that there usually get taken off rather quickly. But since I promised it in the last post, here it is. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't get taken off anytime soon.



While we're at it, I'll like to add a link to Simon Barne's commentary on Ronaldo, which should provide a good read. Like him or loathe him, he's currently our very own footballing mad scientist.

And lastly, here's a sneak peak at a movie called Looking For Eric.

United In Semis Via Insane Ronaldo Goal

Porto 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Ronaldo (6)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, O'Shea, Evra, Carrick, Anderson (Scholes 78), Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov (Nani 68)

I've been sleeping 2hrs daily for the past couple of days and haven't really gotten to get my beauty sleep yet. But duty calls. I'll make this one really brief before I go catch my 40 winks.

Ronaldo added to his collection of crazy, insane United goals last night to carry United into the semi-finals against Arsenal. The goal came early, practically out of absolutely nothing. From a ridiculously far distance from the goal, Ronaldo struck a wondershot that ended it's trajectory inside Porto's net. It was a stunning goal. (Note to self: I need to find a video of the goal and post it here when I have the time and energy)

Porto tried to muster a response but we were playing some really good football, although without really threating to add to the scoreline. Our passing was quick and crisp. I almost forgotten how good we can be. Berbatov, Giggs, Rooney, Anderson and Ronaldo were playing some truely inspired football in midfield.

Porto is a counter-attacking team and did not really trouble Van der Sar. We had the lead and were not allowing Porto to play their brand of football. However, Evra's form continues to go from bad to worse. Everything that Porto had in way of long shots came from the left side of the pitch.

We continued to have the greater and better possession in the 2nd half and really should have end the game as a competition with a 2nd goal. But as it is the entire season, we're still not putting away opponents with any ease. Porto nearly grabbed a desperate leveller at the death had Van der Sar not come to United's rescue.

While it's not a great performance, we played significantly better than we have had in a long long time. The players look like they are starting to click and more importantly, after Fergie's weekend pep talk, Ronaldo seems to be enjoying his football without the constant whining.

There were also good outings by fringe players like Anderson and Nani, who came on as a sub. Playing in Portugal seems to have brought out the best in them. Rooney and Giggs were outstanding and Berbatov seems to have shaken his injuries and playing with more zest.

The downside, however, is that Vidic and Evra still look jittery. Evra seems to have taken a really bad shot at his confidence. He's been pretty bad for a few games and last night's seems to top all of those. If he doesn't find his form soon, we may have to switch O'Shea back to left-back and gamble with Neville playing on the opposite side. It wouldn't look pretty going forward, but there's hopefully enough experience at the back to make up for it.

In any case, it's been a pleasant surprise to win in Porto after last week's abymal result. We're, hopefully, starting to find some form as we move into the crucial final leg of the season.

And this has gone longer than I anticipated.

Macheda - The New Ole

Sunderland 1 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Sunderland: Jones (55)
Manchester United: Scholes (19), Macheda (76)

Team: Foster, Vidic, Evans, Neville, O'Shea, Carrick, Scholes, Park (70), Rooney, Berbatov (Macheda 75), Tevez (Anderson 82)

He's only 17 but if we win the title this season, he's name will live on in the minds of United fans around the world. In a space of 7 days, the Italian has emerged as an unlikely hero.

United were unbelievably poor in defense, yet again and should have been punished harder. Thankfully their counter-parts on the opposite side of the pitch were equally poor.

United started the brighter of the 2 sides with Scholes scoring in the 18th minute from a Rooney cross. It looked like a routine day at the office and a customary routing of another opponent. But our midfield and defense had other ideas.

We started to lose possession with increasing frequency and we were leaving gaps all over the place for the Sunderland attackers to exploit. Lucky for us, they had their tactics all wrong. The were so afraid of the counter-attack that they refused to commit men forward when attacking. Had they done so, we would have been staring at a defeat.

As it were, only Cisse and Jones were left to fend for themselves upfront. Still they made life extremely difficult and we barely coped with their strength and pace.

We've been playing some shitty football in the first half of games and have been able to turn it around in the latter halves. Unfortunately, today we decided to be utterly crap for the full 90 minutes.

Sundeland found the equalizer in the second half when the defense collapsed and Foster was left flapping in the box when Jones poked it home.

We tried to regain the lead but our front guys were either misfiring or simply missing. It didn't help that there was no support from midfield. We were definitely dropping the points. Even the presence of Ronaldo, who came on for Park, didn't help the situation. Instead of providing the killer punch, Ronaldo was more interested in his stepovers and basically clowning around.

As an almost last resort, Ferguson sent on Macheda. Barely seconds after his introduction, Macheda redirected a Carrick shot into the net. He single-handedly changed the complexion of the game. We've found our supersub, we've found our Ole.

We held on to the final whistle and gathered a much needed 3 points to leapfrog Liverpool in the standings. It was definitely not deserved but we'll take what Macheda gives us.

I'm not as confident as before that we'd win the title, although we'd still probably will. Liverpool's form is incredible. Pound for pound, I believe their starting 11 is way better than ours. And they definitely are showing much more desire right now.

We have no midfielders and our defense is in shambles. Even our front guys are looking shaky. Only Rooney is performing up to par. Tevez can't hit the side of the barn and Berbatov looks like a terrible waste of money. Ditto Carrick.

The only things that set us apart from Liverpool is that we have the experience of performing under pressure and we have a deeper squad. That said, if we continually use players like O'Shea week in week out, our squad depth's pretty shitty too. Least we have the new Ole to count on.

United Faces Uphill Task To Semis

Manchester United 2 - Porto 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (15), Tevez (85)
Porto: Rodriguez (4), Mariano (89)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans (Neville 72), O'Shea, Evra, Carrick, Scholes (Tevez 72), Fletcher, Park (Giggs 59), Ronaldo, Rooney

Our form is just terrible. Nothing seems to come easy and we're letting everyone come have a go at us. Once again we've found it difficult to get our engines warmed up before Porto hit an early goal.

To our credit, despite being completely outplayed in the first half, Rooney managed an equalizer to draw level going into the break.

Thankfully I hardly caught the second half. It's been an exhausting week and I kept drifiting off to sleep while pinching myself to keep awake. It's probably a good thing too considering just how pathetic we've been playing.

The game ended 2-2 and we now have to beat Porto in Portugal. Ferguson has to somehow wake this team up. Since the loss to Liverpool, we've lost our swagger and have been playing absolutely terrible football. The defense in particular has been abysmal. We're letting in all kinds of goals. If we're to win anymore silverware, there needs to be drastic improvement in all departments.

United Digs Deep For Victory

Manchester United 3 - Aston Villa 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Ronaldo (14,80), Macheda (90)
Aston Villa: Carew (30), Agbonlahor (58)

Team: Van der Sar, Evans, Neville, O'Shea, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani (Macheda 61), Ronaldo, Giggs, Tevez (Welback 87)

We were down to bare bones today and it showed. Vidic, Scholes and Rooney were all serving suspensions and were terribly missed. Berbatov and Rio, normally first team players, were out with injuries, although I personally didn't miss them terribly.

Villa showed absolutely no sympathy to our plight and were determined to make the most of their annual donation to Old Trafford. The opening moments of the game were totally dominated by Agbonlahor running circles around Gary Neville. They created so many chances that it was Fulham all over again.

I was watching the game with a few mates at a Clementi kopitiam, hoping to break the jinx which had followed me the last couple of games by pulling our collective karma together. And it didn't look at all good. In fact, we were hoping that we didn't dig ourselves too deep a hole before the team decided to play football.

This time it looked like our collective karma worked wonders. Friedel gifted us a freekick when he handled a backpass. Giggs rolled the ball to Ronaldo who whacked it into the top right corner giving us an undeserved lead.

Despite their good work, Villa were one down and their confidence started to fade. We couldn't exploit their brief moment of weakness and it wasn't long before Carew found himself being marked by Neville. Neville had neither the strength, pace nor height for such a tough and one-side appointment. And on the half hour mark, Carew easily lost Neville and headed a cross into the net. That was Neville's last meaningful contribution as a centre-back. He was returned to his normal position as right-back. Not that it made much difference. He continually was left huffing and puffing after speedy wingers like Agbonlahor and Ashley Young.

Villa had the upper hand and the half time whistle was just what was needed for us to regroup.

Sadly, half time was also what Villa needed to refocus and this time it was Agbonlahor who headed home Petrov's cross giving Villa the lead in a see-saw contest. Well, actually to called it a see-saw contest was giving United too much credit. We never really looked like scoring despite having a good portion of the possession.

2-1 down in a crucial game, it looked like Liverpool's season. Ferguson's response was to bring on 17-year old Italian Fedrico Macheda into the fray. Remember the name.

We still played like crap and Villa probably had the better chances until Ronaldo took over the game. With ten minutes left in the game, he took a wonderful shot that curled past Friedel to level the scores.

Tevez was sacrificed for Welback and he nearly made an immediate impact with a shot stopped point blank. Then in injury time, Macheda happened.

The young 17-year old twisted and turned in the Villa box before curling a beauty to crash Villa's dreams. It was a coolly taken goal. Huge emphasis on coolly.

It's been sometime since we've had a young player come in with such an impact. He plays hard, and more importantly he seems to have loads of confidence and spunk. I know this is probably abit premature, but I think we can afford to let Tevez go at the end of the season, as much as I hate it. But damn, Macheda's impact in this game reminds me of Ole's debut.

If he continues to get opportunites to perform like this, we may have a winner on our hands.

And to all the Liverpool fans who were crooning over their result yesterday, eat this!

Lastly, collective karma rules! The only downside is that everyone's gonna really unproductive at work in the morning.