Rooney Sends United To Wembley

Manchester United 3 - Manchester City 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Scholes (52), Carrick (71), Rooney (90)
Manchester City: Tevez (76)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Evans, Rafael (Brown 74), Scholes, Fletcher, Carrick, Nani (Valencia 90) Giggs, Rooney

Gotta hate those weekday games. I was almost asleep by the time the game started at 4am in Singapore. It didn't make for good viewing in the first half either, making me almost regret my decision to pinch myself all night just to catch this game.

The first half was probably as putrid as it can get. Shitty were all over the place and our 5-man midfield was found lacking severely going forward. Strange tactic by Ferguson to field 5 in the midfield while chasing a game. The result left Rooney all alone upfront and a defence that continued to punt the ball forward. It was pretty awful to watch. The only bright spark in the first half was Nani taking on defenders and crossing to the lone man upfront.

I had half a mind to write this game off and sleep instead of watching Ferguson mess it all up. But I was glad I didn't. The second half proved to be one of the most exciting and emotional filled halfs in a long long time.

Shitty revved up the pressure in the second half and the crowd at Old Trafford responded in the most uncivilised manner. A coin was thrown and it hit Bellamy on the head while he was retrieving the ball for a corner. There was a brief stoppage, while Van der Sar did the right thing to stand between a fallen Bellamy and the fans. It was disgraceful behaviour shown by some of our own fans.

The incident, however, seemed to have sparked United into action. Right from clearing the Shitty corner, United broke away and Scholes fired United into a rather undeserving lead. The tides shifted towards United's direction and Shitty couldn't even get a sniff of the ball.

Our persistence was rewarded in the 71st minute when Carrick passed the ball into the net after some good work from Fletcher.

Minutes later, Tevez pulled one back with an unlikely goal. The game was finely balanced and both sides were going for the win.

As time ticked away, it looked like both sides had settled for extra time, but Rooney had other ideas. He nodded home Gigg's corner in injury time to send Shitty packing.

It was an excilarating second half packed with incidents and a minor scuffle between Fletcher and Richards that threatened to boil over. In the end, we somehow overturned the deficit and came away victorious. All that's left is a cup final date with Villa on the 28th of Feb.

Rooney Four The Win

Manchester United 4 - Hull City 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Rooney (8, 82, 86, 90)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Evans, Rafael, Evra (Fabio 88), Scholes (Gibson 72), Fletcher, Park, Nani, Rooney, Owen (Berbatov 72)

Rooney smashed 4 past Hull to send United back to the summit.

I'm going to try to make this a short one here. Abit under the weather and actually missed the first goal. Luckily I set my alarm to ring on 2 minute intervals, if not I probably would have slept right thru the game.

Rooney showed impeccable form in front of goal, scoring on early in the game and another 3 as the game was ending. But the true star today must be Nani. Some of Nani's play today reminded me of another Portugese who recently left. Playing him on the right seems to have unleashed his portential. The only problem now is that Valencia can only play on the right as well. I suppose it's a good problem to have on our hands and a headache Ferguson has to face.

Marring the win was an incident on the pitch that leaves a sour taste in the mouth. 'Cheapshot' Rio apparently swung and connected a punch on Fagan. From the replays, it looked delibrate and a low blow. I hope the FA takes a long serious look at it, even if it means Rio gets a lengthy suspension. As much as I love the team, I draw the line at cheapshots and classless individuals, especially when you're winning.

Tevez Steals The Show

Manchester City 2 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Manchester City: Tevez (pen 42, 66)
Manchester United: Giggs (17)

Team: Van der Sar, Brown, Evans, Rafael (Diouf 90), Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson (Owen 72), Valencia (Scholes 88), Giggs, Rooney

Good game by the boys in red, but we came away trailing from the 1st leg of the Mickey Mouse Cup by a goal against rivals Shitty. We showed plenty of good and hard work in the 90 minutes played. Shay Given had a blinder and on any other given day, we could have buried the tie here. With all their newfound riches, Shitty are still shitty. Without the help of Mike Dean who made a criminal decision to award Shitty a penalty in the late stages of the first half, we would have won this tie in a canter.

Yet on the final count, we only have ourselves to blame for conceding a second in the second half with some miserable defending. At least we gave a really good account of ourselves with a rousing end to the game although it yielded no results. There is still a second leg to be played in a week's time and if all things remain the same, and the players show the same amount of desire, I'm pretty sure of a positive result.

We started the game well, almost completely dictating the pace of the game and rightfully went into the lead with a Giggs tap-in after Given had punted Rooney's effort onto his own defender. We had the early lead and were cruising. Shitty were not even in the game.

Pretty much against the run of play and a criminal decision by referee, Mike Dean, allowed Shitty back into the game. Rafael's foul was clearly outside the box, but Dean pointed to the spot and Tevez levelled the scores.

In the second half, it was Tevez who once again proved to be the bane of the United goal with a simple header after the entire United defense went walkabout in the outback admiring the kangaroos. Shameful defending.

At least this time, we responded positively. We peppered the Shitty box with crosses and only Given stood in our way. Rooney must have been the most frustrated man on the pitch. He had a hatful of chances thwarted by the former Newcastle custodian. Shitty were so overwhelmed that the last 15 minutes was played exclusively in the Shitty half, as they packed every available body into the area.

In the end, Shitty barely held on to the precious, yet slender lead to bring to Old Trafford next week. We might not get the result at OT, but if we play anywhere near the kind of intensity we did today, I have no doubts we would be able to beat this very mediocre Shitty team.

United Sees Off Spirited Brunley

Manchester United 3 - Burnley 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (64), Rooney (69), Diouf (90)

Team: Van der Sar, Brown, Evans, Neville, Evra, Scholes, Carrick (Anderson 65), Nani, Valencia, Rooney (Diouf 73), Berbatov (Owen 73)

Once again the scoreline flatters the Champions. We were decidedly the poorer team until Berbatov's deflected strike in the 64th minute. Througout the game, Burnley were threatening with ex-United player, Eagles, leading the counter attack and really had their finishing been anywhere spot on, we would have been staring down a barrel of a gun.

But as luck would have it, we scored with probably our first shot on target. A thru pass by Rooney, and Berbatov's cruel deflection dented all Burnley's hopes of an unlikely scoreline at Old Trafford.

From then on, Burnley crumbled in a heap and Rooney found himself on the scoresheet as well after Jensen spilled Berbatov's strike. Sensing the game was well and truely won, Ferguson opted to rest both his frontmen and giving Owen (finally) and youngster, Diouf, a run out.

Diouf promptly went on to score a late goal to put us 3 up, and his acrobatic celebrations put the icing on a scoreline that never looked this emphatic during half time.

We still need a playmaker in the most dire sense. There was plenty of good passing all the way until the Burnley penalty box, where we completely ran out of ideas on how to break a resolute defense down. Scholes and Carrick are awesome at making the lateral pass, but when it comes to going forward, both failed terribly.

Nani, who was given a start, seemed to have played his way out of the team. He was almost completely useless in the game, bar a spectacular overhead kick in the first half. It was his only highlight in the game, one which he would probably want to forget for all the piss poor decisions he made on the left wing.

Valencia was much better, seeing alot of the ball on the right, but he continues to hug the right flank tightly, a bit too tightly for my personal liking. He's play is almost one dimensional, taking the ball on the right and crossing it with too much regularity. It would have been much better if he would have taken on his defender once in a while just to mix the play up abit.

Berbatov was a bit lucky to get the goal from a tight angle. Up to that point it looked like he couldn't score in a brothel. As for his partner, Rooney, well.....he's the only good thing we have at the moment. As with Ronaldo last couple of years, we're going as far as Rooney carries us.

The defenders weren't much better. We may have kept a clean sheet, but everyone was at sixes and sevens when Burnley counter-attacked. We could have been dead and buried before Berbatov's strike.

As for the substitutes, Anderson did marginally well enough when he was on the pitch, but really didn't make any significant contributions, much like the player he replaced, Carrick. Owen was just simply anonymous.

And what can I say about Diouf...hmmm.... Let's just say he's young, new and enthusiastic. He puts himself into good positions and you can see why he's found his way into the team so quickly. Not to mention the goal was pretty high quality, showing plenty of composure with a looping header over an oncoming keeper at the edge of the box. Is he going to be our new Ole, well, the ingredients are there, but it's going to take more than a goal and a game to make a hasty judgement. The jury's still out on that one.

All in all, we got the 3 points, and that's what that matters. To be frank, I'm not looking forward to the midweek clash against City in the League Cup.

United Continue To Drop Points

Birmingham 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Birmingham: Jerome (39)
Manchester United: Dann (og 63)

Red Card
Manchester United: Fletcher (84)

Team: Kuszczak, Brown, Evans, Rafael, Evra, Scholes (Diouf 81), Fletcher, Carrick, Park (Giggs 66), Valencia, Rooney

Wow, just how awfully uncreative are we? And you wonder just what Owen has done to get doghoused by Fergie? He didn't get on the pitch when we were whipping Wigan, he didn't get on the pitch when we were being run out by Leeds and he wasn't even required to warm up in the bleeding cold at St Andrews.

I'm personally glad we dropped points today. I hate to admit this by I really am. It would have made my day if we actually lost the game today. Too bad we managed to get some help from Scott Dann with an own goal to save a point. At least after dropping two points, even someone as stubborn as Ferguson would have to admit that we have some serious issues with the squad, namely - creativity.

Ferguson put out a team that was just awful. He packed the midfield with Scholes, Fletcher and Carrick, while Rooney toed the attack alone with the occasional help coming from Valencia and Park.

We completely dominated the midfield with Scholes picking up all the loose balls. But as the game wore on, the constant thing that was bugging me was - who the hell is going to get our goals tonight? We hardly created any chances despite having the bulk of the possession.

In fact a huge portion of the game was played in Birmingham's half. Yet Kuszczak was the busier of the two keepers. Kuszczak was called into action at so many crucial points in the game that he gets my vote of the man of the match by a far margin. You could say he single-handedly saved us the solitary point.

Ferguson's tactics while made sense on paper to control the midfield, resulted in a stale and entirely forgettable performance by a team that was absolutely clueless going forward. The silverlining with this result is that even Ferguson will have to acknowledge that we're as limited as the scoreline suggests.

Quite frankly, since the departure of Ronaldo, we've found it hard to breakdown stubborn/hardworking sides anymore. More importantly, there is no one in the team, bar Rooney, who is willing to take the responsibility of carrying the team on their shoulders and push it past the barrier.

Maybe with some luck, Ferguson sees what we all see and the purse strings will open, if not this transfer window, then by the end of summer. Whatever the case is, something's gotta change. United in this current shape and form is just god awful. I'd be glad to escape with a 4th placing this season.

Shocking Exit From The FA Cup

Manchester United 0 - Leeds 1
Scorer
Leeds: Beckford (19)

Team: Kuszczak, Brown, Evans, Fabio, Nevilla, Anderson (Owen 69), Gibson, Obertan (Giggs 57), Welbeck (Valencia 57), Rooney, Berbatov

This one bitter pill to swallow. Our Jekyll and Hyde season continues. The last game we're almost perfect and today, we fell straight back down to earth in the most empathic fashion. Not only we were absolutely clueless on how to break down the Leeds defense, we got humliated in the cruelest way on our home court. The crossbar saved us from futher humliation, if that was in anyway possible.

At the same time, credit to Leeds for playing as if their lives depended on it. We, on the other hand, played like the had beens we truely are. On a day where everything was going south, this defeat added the icing to a terrible day on a personal level.

Given the way we approached things, maybe it's for the best. It may seem like sour grapes, but we can fully concentrate on the league, but if we continue to sleepwalk in games, we're going to get our ass handed to us. Already this season has been peppered with way more downs than ups.

All I can say is that this is going to be one hell of a long season for us fans to endure. Maybe this result will spur Ferguson to open the pursestrings and get some needed reinforcement during this transfer window. As it stands, I have no faith the current make up of the team is going to make inroads on any of the silverware we're pursuing.

Product Review: Nike Tiempo Mystic III

After my last product review about a year back, the fine guys from SoccerPro offered another pair of soccer shoes for me to review. This time round things didn't go as smoothly on my side, and I have to apologise to the lads from SoccerPro for the delay in getting this review out.

After the last experience with Adidas, I went ahead and chose from a stable of Nike soccer shoes instead. After much deliberation I settled on a pair of Nike Tiempo Mystic III.

As with last year, the shoes came sealed and delivered within a fortnight. This time round I got my camera ready and snapped a few shot. So instead of showing a generic photo pilfered from a website, I've got my own photos to show this time round.




Erm...just that the bulk of the photos didn't turn out very well. (Note to self: Need a better camera) So only two managed to make the grade.

As with last year, I'll go with the same format of listing the cons followed by the pros to hopefully make it an easier read and to prevent myself from rambling on.

Cons
- The foldover tongue is fastened over the laces to the shoe with velcro, but the problem is that during the game, it comes loose easily. There really should have a larger velcro surface to fasten the tongue more securely to the shoe. My laces kept coming loose while running with the ball. This is probably the only worthwhile complaint I can make for the shoe.

- Two words : School shoes. It looks like a pair of school shoes. Not the type you'd wanna wear out for any other occasion.

Pros
- Superbly comfortable. This is one of the rare shoes that didn't give me blisters after the first try. The only other brand that comes marginally close to this comfort level at the first try is probably Puma, but even then that's abit stretching it. Seriously awesome level of comfort. Nike has outdone themselves here.

- Super light. Maybe it's just me, but I found the Tiempo extremely light on the feet. There are some soccer shoes that just weigh you down, but I hardly felt the Tiempo. I felt I was moving faster and my little jinks and stepovers were significantly easier. It could also be a psychological thing since I've also lost abit of weight in the past month or so.

- Superb control. I rank the Tiempo rather highly for close control.

Conclusion
For anyone looking at the Nike Tiempo Mystic III, all I can say is that it's a really good pair of shoes at a reasonable price. It does look awful and with a white pair, like the I have currently have, it's incredibly difficult to wash. But if you can overlook the general ugliness of the shoe, there are alot of good points to it.

Once again, I need to thank the guys at SoccerPro for giving me this opportunity to try out yet another wonderful product from their site.