Self-Destructing In Spectacular Fashion

Fulham 2 - Manchester United 0
Scorers
Fulham: Murphy (pen 18), Gera (87)

Red Cards: Scholes (17), Rooney (88)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Evans, O'Shea (Tevez 70), Evra, Scholes, Fletcher, Park, Giggs, Ronaldo, Berbatov (Rooney 46)

So much for rising from the ashes like a phoenix. We crashed and burned in spectacular fashion today. A midweek break did little to improve our play. Even a favourable draw in the Champions League to Porto and the bracket avoiding all the big guns like Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona and Bayern Munich did little to improve the morale of the team after that mauling last weekend.

I've seen zombies play better football than we did in the first half against Fulham. If half the chances in the first half had fallen to Andrew Johnson instead of that pathetic excuse of a striker Zamora, we would have been long dead and buried before Scholes had a chance to handle the ball in the box.

The game, however, didn't play out that way and Scholes instinctively handled the ball preventing it from going into the net. The result was a straight red card (3 match ban), and a penalty that gave Fulham a deserved lead.

The half ended that way, but really Fulham could have rised a rugby score but for some incredibly wasteful finishing. We were completely outplayed in every area of the pitch.

Ferguson didn't help matters when he, yet again, shattered our strikers' confidence by playing musical chairs, this time pairing a completely disinterested Berbatov with a petulant Ronaldo.

The result and the situation demanded a change at the half and Rooney was brought on for the injured Berbatov. Things improved immensely, with Fletcher, Park and Giggs leading an improbably comeback.

Even with ten men, we still had significantly more quality than Fulham and it showed. We begun to string passes together and made penetrating runs into the Fulham box. But try as we may, Schwarzer had a blinder, almost single-handedly stopping everything we threw at them, including the kitchen sink.

As it is with such games, when you chase, pushing men forward, you get stung by the counter. Zoltan Gera struck a dagger into our hearts near the end of the game, ending all hopes of getting something out of the game. Well, Rooney had other ideas and after the Fulham goal, he literally went beserk and got himself sent off.

This was more than a fair result. We should have been utterly crushed by the first half.

This was not the reaction I was expecting from the team. If anything, this race is almost blown wide open now. I suppose this is the United way, we don't do things easy. At least we're still in pole position....for now.

Ferguson needs to identify his best eleven and stop screwing around. When you screw around, someone's gonna get hurt. Along the same lines, he needs to start benching some of the non-performers and the prima donnas in the team. We've stopped playing like a team for a long time.

Humiliated!

Manchester United 1 - Liverpool 4
Scorers
Manchester United: Ronaldo (pen 23)
Liverpool: Torres (28), Gerrard (pen 43), Aurelio (77), Dossena (90)

Red Card: Vidic (76)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, O'Shea, Evra, Carrick (Giggs 74), Anderson (Scholes 74), Park (Berbatov 74), Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez

Not going to dwell on the game. I'm sure everyone's watched it and everyone will agree it's a nauseating loss. We didn't just lose, we were utterly and completely humiliated. We conceded 4 goals to our fiercest enemies and Vidic should be facing a 3 match ban for a straight red for hauling Gerrard down in a goal-scoring position. It was a bad day all around.

At the same time, I feel it's a good loss. We've been sleepwalking thru the season so far. We've not found any sort of form or rhythm. Barring a few choice wins against opponents at their weakest (Chelsea) or just weak opponents (West Brom, Fulham), we not been able to really stamp our authority in most of the games we've played. In fact in alot of our games, we've just been plain coasting and getting the results.

Although many will argue that that's what champions do, playing like shit yet etching out a win. Well, today we got exposed in the worst way possible, humiliated beyong recognition.

All along I've been maintaining that Van der Sar is just an average keeper and today with Vidic being thoroughly abused by Torres, we see just how average Van der Sar really is. The cleansheet record has been more a credit to the men in front of him. In most of those games, he's been a spectator.

The defense was awful on Tuesday against Inter. Today they just collapsed. But I'm not going to get down on them today. They have performed miracles for most of the season. It's time for them to step up again. Evans will have to step in for the suspended Vidic, and I have every confidence that they will be up to the challenge ahead.

Midfield is where most of our problems occur IMO. Ferguson hasn't settled on a centre two. I understand resting Scholes due to his age, but fielding Anderson and not Fletcher was a terrible decision. I wonder what in the world Fletcher has done to end up in Fergie's doghouse. He's been our most consistant player for the entire season and he usually performs in big matches. Yet today Fergie benched him and played Anderson. I understand that Anderson is one for the future, but in all honesty, he's still a kid. Today's game needed a man to stand out. As for Carrick, I'm sure everyone who reads my posts know exactly what I think of him, so I'm not going to sound like my mother and leave as it is.

Another one of the biggests problems is that we have no true, traditional wingers. No one can really cross the ball with any accuracy or consistancy since Beckham. Actually it doesn't really matter. We don't really have traditional strikers who can head the ball with any accuracy or consistancy either.

On paper we have a really sweet looking strikerforce. The problem is that no one, including Ferguson, knows which partnership works. The thing we do know is that so far nothing works consistantly. I really like Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov. Rooney and Tevez have the heart and Berbatov has the sublime skills, yet none of them can play with one another. It's frustrating to see so much talent on the pitch not gelling. And since I cannot pinpoint the problem here, I'm just going to put the blame on the midfield.

The result is immaterial. We're still 4 points ahead of Liverpool with a game in hand. The title is still ours to lose. What this means is that Liverpool can hold on to their pathetic hopes for a while longer, and they will expand more energy in league games which could affect them in Europe. I especially luved it when the cameras panned to arses like Gerrard and Torres patting themselves on the backs like they won a cup final. Well, this was their cup final. We are of a different pedegree, we go after records.

Like I said, this is a good loss. We needed this loss badly. Now we will see what this team of ours is made of. Will they rise from the ashes like a phoenix or will they wither and die. I believe a fire has been lit under their arses and they will go all out to prove all detractors wrong. We've been playing far too poorly for far too long. It's time to pull up our socks and play some real football.

United Rides Out Mistakes

Manchester United 2 - Inter 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Vidic (4), Ronaldo (49)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, O'Shea, Evra, Scholes (Anderson 70), Carrick, Giggs, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Rooney (Park 84)

Goals four minutes into either half by Vidic and Ronaldo settled a nervy second leg. Had Inter, in particular Ibrahimovic, been sharper, we would have a harder game than the scoreline suggests.

We wasted no time to signal our intentions with Vidic opening the scoring from a corner. Our supporters hardly had time to warm their seats before standing and cheering the lead. We probably could have scored with chances falling for both O'Shea and Berbatov.

Then in uncharacteristic fashion, we began to make mistakes all over the pitch, allowing Inter to come back into the game. Ibrahimovic was menacing, hitting the crossbar and missing a hatfull of chances. Had Inter had a striker of any worth, we would be staring at a totally different scoreline and a probably exit from the Champions League.

We somehow survived a frantic end to the first half. We started the second period in the exact same way as the first. This time it was Ronaldo who got on the end of Rooney's delightful cross to head us into a 2-0 lead. Even with a 2 goal advantage, we still looked terrible and allowed way too many opportunities for Inter to snatch it. I shudder to think if we allowed a team like Barcelona that kind of space and time.

In the end, I suppose the difference between the teams is finishing. We made the most of our opportunities while Inter fluffed theirs. This was one of our poorer performances in Europe this season. I'm not sure if we have the pedegree to take it all the way.

That said, I'm hoping to meet Barcelona in the next round. If we want to be the best, we've got to beat the best, and they don't come better than Barcelona. It would be good on two counts. If we prevail, we'd know that we're the best team in Europe, if not the world. However, if we do lose, it's to a better team, a much better team. At least we would be able to concentrate on completing the domestic treble.

As the way things are going our way right now, we're on a crash course with destiny, with immortality awaiting at the end of the journey.

United Marches Into Semis

Fulham 0 - Manchester United 4
Scorers
Manchester United: Tevez (20, 35), Rooney (49), Park (81)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio (Evans 46), Vidic, O'Shea (Eckersley 52), Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson, Park, Rooney (Welbeck 64), Tevez

You know, just when I was complaining about our lack of killer-instinct in the last post, United came up with a masterful lesson in killing off opponents. Goals from Tevez, Rooney and Park made easy work of Fulham in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Both teams endured a jittery start to the game. Both set of defenders were pretty unstable, making mistakes that could have resulted in goals in the opening 5 minutes. Fulham settled the faster of the two and looked like giving United a run for our money.

However Rooney and Tevez had other ideas. Quite against the run of play, Rooney's header was squeezed in by Tevez from close range to give us the lead. The tide immediately turned and Fulham was left facing a sea of red that threatened to wipe them out of the competition.

Rooney had numerous chances to add to the lead but superb goalkeeping and poor linesmen's decisions kept Rooney from the scoresheet. Instead it was Tevez who added to his goal total with a brilliant curler that just bent beyond the stretching Schwarzer and just into the upright. It was an exquisite piece of finshing by the little Argentinian.

Fulham started the second half strongly but before they could stamp their authority, Rooney finally found his name on the scoresheet. A defensive mistake lead to Rooney possessing the ball and he passed it into the net to give United a 3-0 lead and end the contest.

Park completed the scoring in the 81st minute. We brushed aside Fulham to march into the semis.

The next week looks like a tough one. We have Inter in midweek and Liverpool in the weekend.

It's imperative that we build on this result on Wednesday if we're going to have to progress in the Champions League. After watching Inter play in their domestic games, I'm confident we possess what it takes to go thru. Serie A is pretty much rubbish this season, and I'm surprised that a poor team like Inter is leading their table. I'd be quite surprised if we do not get past this Inter side.

And after we dump Inter, let's beat the grannystabbers and crush their silly little hopes of the Premiership this weekend. That should make up for the terrible month I'm currently experiencing.

Fuck It, We're Champions

Newcastle 1 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Newcastle: Lovenkrands (9)
Manchester United: Rooney (20), Berbatov (56)

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

It never sprung so true, but it never rains......it pours. I've just endured the most financially wrecking week of my entire life. Due to that scrotum-faced excuse of pathetic crap ex-commander-in-chief's utterly incompetence while holding the helm, I suffered a huge financial loss when a company I was fully vested in went into administration. And that's only the part when it rains.

Here's where it pours. I've been constantly taking on United to win 2-1 away since the end of last year, betting on the expectation that it's been almost a full 2 years since we've had that particular result in the Premiership. At a whooping odds of 9 to 1, I've been martingaling it for the last couple of games. So with tonight's result, I should've been walking away with a mini fortune. Like I mentioned, it fucking pours. Just before the game started, I realised that due to all the shit I've been dealing with, I completely forgot to deposit money into my bookmaker to place the wager! It's unreal how the best made plans can go awry.

As for the damn game, we were completely crap and yet came away with 3 points. It only goes to show just how bad the Premier League is.

We have no killer-instinct and can't seem to kill off games, yet we remain heads above every one of those pretenders below us with a game in hand to boot. With only 11 games left, the title is as good as ours. We have to freaking lose 4 of those 11 to throw it all away, and that is if the rest of the rubbish win all theirs.

Champions! Book it!

Penalty Kings - Cup Winners

Manchester United 0 - Tottenham 0
Penalties: Manchester United 4 - Tottenham 1

Team: Foster, Rio, Evans, O'Shea (Vidic 76), Evra, Gibson (Giggs 90), Scholes, Nani, Ronaldo, Welbeck (Anderson 67), Tevez

Don't know about you guys, but it feels strange to win on penalties. It's even stranger that this is the third penalty shoot-out we've won. The first was the Champions League finals against Chelsea, then the curtain-raiser in the Charity Shield against Portsmouth and today in the League Cup finals. This very strange un-United-like behaviour of winning shootouts is making me feel uncomfortable.

After the euphoria of that penalty win against Chelsea, the excitement seems to have dwindled somewhat for me. Don't get me wrong. I'm still thrilled that we've taken another step to sweeping all before us this season, but it just feels that we haven't won this one on merit.

In the opening quarter of the game, we ran Spurs ragged and quite really should have halved and quartered them. But the story of the season continues, we're just simply unable to put opponents away despite dominating the play.

After weathering an early United storm, Spurs gradually grew in confidence and gave a good shout. Aaron Lennon was a constant threat, taking Evra out of the game time and time again. Relief for Evra didn't come until the first half of the extra time that he was taken off injured.

On our part, Ronaldo came closest to settling the finals deep into injury time, but his shot cannoned off the post to end a disappointing cup final.

I have to admit I never liked the lottery of penalty shootouts. It's cruel, meaningless and the better team on the day usually gets the short end of the stick. But with fixture congestions and logistic issues of a replay, it's simply between the devil and the deep blue sea. In today's case, we just about deserved to win it, but credit Spurs for putting up an incredible fight and nearly nicking it themselves.

No one really covered themselves in glory today. A case can be made for Foster who saved a penalty and a good shout for Rio for breaking down most of the Spurs most dangerous plays. Everyone else was just poor. It's a good thing we won it in the end. Fergie's decision not to put Rooney on the bench could have smacked us in the face today, especially since neither Welbeck nor Tevez showed up today.

At least the consolation is that most of our bigger named players would be fresh for the midweek visit to a woeful Newcastle side. I'm not particularly thrilled to face Newcastle in this current state. They are a cornered animal that could really hurt us, especially after all the celebrations winning the Mickey Mouse Cup.