Oops, We Did It Again

Birmingham 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Birmingham: Bowyer (90)
Manchester United: Berbatov (58)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Anderson (Fletcher 73), Gibson (Hernandez 90), Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov

We still can't keep leads away from home. This game was a huge downer, especially how we got the lead then proceeded to give it away at the last minute of regulation time.

It wasn't a pretty game. Birmingham, mired at the bottom of the table, set up shop to frustrate the living hell outta us. We never got our passing game going, and barely 48hrs after the last game, we faced up to a fresh Birmingham team that was determined to spoil the festivities. And if that wasn't bad enough, we came in with a reputation of giving games away late when we're not at our favourite hunting ground. Everything pointed to a draw and we didn't help by living up to our reputation.

With the exception of an fabulous strike by Berbatov, there really weren't many bright spots in the game. Instead of pressing on for the kill, we sat back too deep and invited Birmingham to come forward and by doing that, the inevitable happened. Although it was a blantant handball by Zigic and a hint of offside by Bowyer, the bulk of the blame had to fall on ourselves. Spoilt by the pretty play of the past few games, we let ourselves down by not doing enough.

I suppose that on the bright side, we're still top of the heap come 2011, but barely. Our noisy neighbours have crept up and are sitting pretty alongside us, as the top gets uncomfortably crowded as a bunch of teams are within striking distance. Yet given how we're started our campaign, I suppose this is still a good position to be in. Looks like we have to pull up our socks and do what we traditionally do, and that is to finish strong into the second half of the season.

Strolling Past Sunderland

Manchester United 2 - Sunderland 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Berbatov (5, 57)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Anderson (Gibson 64), Park, Giggs (Macheda 64), Berbatov (Hernandez 82), Rooney

Firstly, I'm absolutely gushing over Anderson. He's been the outstanding player for me in the last four games. Maybe it's because he's playing along side Carrick, or maybe he's finally gotten it at long last. Whichever the case is, he's passing, tenacity and powerful runs forward are exactly what we've been missing at United for quite sometime. If he carries on in this fine form, it's just a matter of time before the goals come as well. Then we'd be talking about him along side some of the great midfielders currently playing for Barcelona.

Today Berbatov stepped up to the plate with a fine brace. Steve Bruce's side found it hard to cope with the power and pace at Old Trafford today. Our play was so good that after the first 15 or so minutes, you just have the feeling another Blackburn-type scoreline was on the cards. In that brief opening sequence, Berbatov scored, we hit the woodwork twice and Rooney had an exqusite chip narrowly miss the target. In short, we were all over Sunderland. It unfortunately fettered away. Although we only scored two, the defense was never really threatened.

It's just quite astonishing just how much we've accomplished with this team. On paper we look terribly average, yet on Boxing Day, we're leading the pack by two points with two games in hand. I think it's a combination of both the league being super competitive this season and all the title challengers not playing up to par. The fact we top the table by not playing up to par is a superb achievement.

As of right now, we're just beginning to play the kind of football the fans have come to recognise all these years. Alot of the credit has to go to Ferguson. He has somehow brought out the best from these players, managing the expectations, stroking the egos and nurturing the youth. There is still a long long way to go, but things looking up despite the hectic schedule that Mother Nature has thrown up.

Park Takes United Back To The Top

Manchester United 1 - Arsenal 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Park (41)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson (Giggs 85), Park, Nani, Rooney

Mesmerizing game, brilliant result. Going to do a really short one here. It's 6am in the morning and I haven't slept a wink for quite sometime.

- We completely dominated the first half. Arsenal were chasing shadows for most part of the game.

- The five men midfield total controlled the ball and kept Arsenal from playing their usual game. Park, Anderson and Nani were particularly effective. The downside with 5 in midfield was that besides Rooney, no one else was in the box when the crosses came in.

- On the occasion where Park got into the box, we scored. Good goal, highly difficult to direct the deflected cross into the box.

- The defense was immense. The Rio and Vidic partnership kept the Gunners firing blanks. Evra was at the end of some poor challenges, probably due to his unfriendly comments in midweek. Rafael is slowly but surely making his mark. Defensively, this is probably Rafael's best game.

- Rooney missed a penalty around the 70th odd minute. He could have sealed the game but blasted the spot kick way over the bar. Personally I'm glad he missed and we still won. His body language was very Berbatovish. While he did run his socks off, he was also guilty of berating his teammates frequently for not finding him.

- Particularly impressed with the bench and Berbatov. Berbatov should have felt hard done by, especially after the kind of form he's showed, but instead of sulking on the bench, he was intensely following the team on the pitch and focusing. In fact all the bench players were intensely concentrating on the game which is a good sign. It shows that everyone is ready and focused when called upon by the manager.

- I've already mentioned Anderson, but am going to do it again. He was just absolutely brilliant once again. He ran so hard up and down the pitch that by the time Giggs came on to replace him, he barely had the strength to walk off. His fitness still needs abit of work, but my word, he's been the best player on the pitch the last 3 times he's on it.

- 3 points clear at the top of the table and the team is coming together and playing some really good football. Next week we face a back-against-the-wall Chelsea, who is rapidly going in the opposite direction after an incredible start to the season. Potentially this one could get really ugly for us. Chelsea needs a win in the worst way possible and they are finally getting their best players back in the shape of Lampard, Terry and Essien. As always, let's enjoy the win and let next week worry about itself

United Avoids Big Guns

Manchester United 1 - Valencia 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Anderson (62)
Valencia: Hernandez (32)

Team: Amos, Vidic, Rio (Smalling 50), Rafael, Fabio, Carrick, Anderson (Fletcher 90), Park, Nani (Giggs 80), Berbatov, Rooney

We drew a game we largely dominated. Practically everything went thru Anderson today. The last couple of games he's played absolutely brilliantly and it was most deserving that he grabbed the equalizer.

Ferguson kept to his word and the starting lineup was pretty much the strongest side we could have put out with the exception of Ben Amos. Felt kinda sorry for Kuz though. It looks like his time at Old Trafford is up. We've already signed Lindegaard and now Amos is apparently ahead in the packing order.

There was also a slight concern at our midfield pairing of Carrick and Anderson. Neither has featured much this season and with Fletcher on the bench, you'd think that this might not be the strongest we have at the moment. Anderson certainly blew that concern out of the water. He's energy, endeavour and enterprise was just fabulous and a breath of fresh air given how we've played much of this season. The only worry is if he can keep this up for the rest of the season. Shortly after the equalizer, Anderson was practically playing at walking pace and it was no wonder that Valencia came back into the game and could have stolen the lead back.

Carrick, on the other hand, didn't play too badly, but his mistaken in front of the back four was disasterous. His sloppiness cost United the win and it came at a time when we were completely in control of the game. He spent the rest of the game making amends and luckily for him, he did a credible job.

Upfront, both Rooney and Berbatov were quite brilliant, yet at the same time very wasteful. Berbatov seems to have used up all his scoring in the game against Blackburn. He did everything but put the ball into the net tonight. The damning statistic is that he hasn't scored in the Champions League for 17 consecutive games....and I'm not sure that statistic includes tonight's game. Some shocking stats!

At the end of the night, we got the result we needed. We've now successfully avoided the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Once tomorrow's results come in, we'd have a clearer picture of who we've avoided and who we're more likely to face.

And more importantly, we can put the Champions League aside for a long while and focus on the bread and butter topic of the Premiership proper. It doesn't bigger than this weekend against Arsenal, who leapfrogged us in the standings over the last weekend. After that, we have Chelsea, before the fixture logjam of the holiday period. Should make an interesting month to come.

United Comes Crashing Down To Earth

West Ham 4 - Manchester United 0
Scorers
West Ham: Spector (22, 37), Cole (56, 66)

Team: Kuszczak, Smalling, Evans (Brown 72), O'Shea, Fabio (Rafael 65), Fletcher, Anderson, Obertan, Bebe (Macheda 46), Giggs, Hernandez

Sobbering experience for the kids on show today. After the high achieved over the weekend by the senior side, Ferguson threw in 10 changes with a mixture of youth and experience against an injury plagued West Ham, and the result was a hammering...pardon the pun.

Jonathan Spector, formerly from United, opened the scoring after 22 minutes. He earlier had a goal disallowed for offside. He added a second as the half closed after some poor marking. Cole doubled the score in the second half with a brace to send United tumbling from the Mickey Mouse cup with our first defeat of the season.

We didn't really play badly, but we weren't any good either. I suppose the only thing that I can say about our overall performance today is probably 'meh'. However one thing's for sure, David May is absolutely right when he said that our youngster are falling short. Our squad is simply not good enough to compete.

Kus probably has seen his last game in a United shirt. Can't possibly see him in the starting lineup after letting in 4 today.With the signing of Anders Lindegaard, I'm pretty sure he's going to be our first casualty. It's sad in a way. There was precious little he could have done on all 4 goals. Our defense was miserable in the London snow.

Evans in particular was just woeful. There was a time I thought he would make it, but apparently we let the wrong one go. He's hardly progressed since Pique left for Barcelona. At least his current partner in crime today, Smalling, didn't do too badly. I'd be hardpressed to see Evans play any major part in the next few years. At best, he's going to be a bit part player like O'Shea or Brown.

I wonder what we're going to do with Obertan. I think I've come to the conclusion that Obertan is never going to get it....ever. He's got all the skills in the world, but something's just not doing it for me. Maybe it's his confidence or lack of it, or just his lack of killer instincts and desire to win. Whatever the case is, it's time to cut our losses and move on. He's ceiling is not at the Nani or Giggs level, and since we have so many holes to fill, we can ill afford to take on this deadweight. There are better prospects that deserve the time and experience.

And speaking of prospects, Bebe is still raw as hell. I have no idea what to make of him. He's done ok in the reserves and showed raw power when he gets to play. If we're patient with him, we may get to reap the rewards. Right now he has to ply his trade in the reserves for a long while more before he can make it. Still too early to make a judgement. At least he shows a hunger for the game.

As far as hunger goes, Macheda's hungry like a wolf. The problem here is that that's all he's showing. Sorry, but he's another one that's not doing it for me. As I've mentioned a few weeks back, he needs the games. Look at how much Welbeck has achieve in his short stint with Sunderland. I used to place Welbeck much lower on the packing order from Macheda, but right now I think he's become one the better players in the league. He's positioning and passing has improved leaps and bounds, and his predatory instincts seemed to have heightened playing alongside Bent. Macheda needs to play more competitive games to horn his skills. As of right now, he's just not good enough to make a team like ours.

Sadly we're out of the Mickey Mouse cup. What this means is that we're not going to see some of our young players much. In a way it's also a good defeat. At least now we won't get hung up over the 'undefeated' tag. With that silly monkey off our backs, maybe we can continue to build on the result over Blackburn. Hope springs eternal and our season starts right now.