United Tightens Up And Bores The Toffees To Death

Everton 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Hernandez (19)


Team: De Gea, Vidic, Evans, Jones, Evra, Fletcher, Cleverley (Nani 57), Park, Rooney, Welbeck (Valencia 73), Hernandez (Berbatov 67)

Gotta say I missed a good portion of the game and the goal along with it. Got the timing of the early kickoff completely wrong. Didn't help matters that I was caught in a middle of a truly terrible stomachache and frequent trips to the toilet didn't enhance the viewing pleasure.

Ferguson tried something new today. After the crisitisms of his players after last week's debacle, many found themselves on the bench, or even not at all. Evra was truly lucky that we didn't have a ready made left-back. Would have expected to see him along side Rio. Strangely enough, Rooney was given a midfield berth. Cleverley and Fletcher were also given a run out but Cleverley seems to be rather unlucky to be brought off after the break for another injury. The lad just can't get a break.

From what I gathered, the goal came rather early and United were content to take Everton on the break. Everton were dominant on the ball when I got on, and the game was mostly played in United's half. There were a number of raids to the Everton goal, but most fell apart before Howard got involved.

De Gea was outstanding with a couple of good saves. He's definitely making a name for himself and slowly being the undisputed No. 1 after a shaky start. Vidic looks to have shaken off the rust and was massive.

Everyone else probably played to Ferguson's gameplan and extra effort was taken to take care of the ball. Certainly no one was going to do what Evra and Rio did last week.

United Advances In Carling Cup

Aldershot 0 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Manchester United: Bervatov (15), Owen (42), Valencia (47)


Team: Amos, Vidic, Jones, Fryers (M. Keane 70), Fabio, Park, Cleverley (Progba 60), Diouf (Morrison 70), Valencia, Berbatov, Owen

After the derby day debacle, this fixture was exactly what the doctor ordered. None of the 11 that started on Sunday were involved in this game.

We didn't exactly walk all over our opponents, but we showed plenty of desire, especially from the front two of Bervatov and Owen. Both were playing exceptionally good games, with a shout out to Ferguson not to forget them. Berbatov in particular was as industrious as I've seen him in a red jersey. From defense to attack, he was everywhere. Considering that this is only his second start of the season, he was definitely making the most of it.

Cleverley was a welcome return. He once again showed what we lacked in midifeld; someone who can move the ball quickly from the defensive third to the last third.

At the back, Vidic was paired with Jones, and he still has abit of rust to shake off, but he's getting there. Fryers reprised his role at left back for the Carling Cup and did a credible job. While it wasn't stellar and his distribution was a little lacking at times, at least he stayed behind and didn't allow Aldershot to rip the left flank to shreds.

All three goals were well worked with clever passing to rip the Aldershot defense to shreds and Valencia's screamer was the pick of the lot. After it was scored, United let off the pressure and played to contain Aldershot till the final whistle.

The youngsters, Michael Keane, Morrison and Progba, who came on made little impact. Keane looked abit overawed by the occasion and was poor in his distribution. Morrison has a good touch and looks like a player for the future. All he has to do is to keep his head screwed on right. As for Progba, he's passing is top-notched, however, I'm a little worried about his tackling, tt looks very Scholes-like. The rest of his play reminds me of a certain Patrick Vieira.

Come Sunday we face the real challenge of Everton at Goodison. It will be the true indication if we've shaken off the result from Sunday. I can't exactly say I'm looking forward to it. Everton is a tough opponent and we're looking distinctly at our worst form for a long long time. Unless Cleverley plays, I can't see how our front players can penetrate the tight Everton defense. And I don't even know if it's too soon for Cleverley to play in such a huge impact game.

United Handed A Thrashing

Manchester United 1 - Manchester City 6
Scorers
Manchester United: Fletcher (80)
Manchester City: Balotelli (22, 60), Aguero (69), Dzeko (89, 90), Silva (90)


Red Card
Manchester United: Evans (47)


Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans, Smalling, Evra, Anderson (Jones 66), Fletcher, Young, Nani (Hernandez 66), Rooney, Welbeck

Ouch, this one hurts. In all honesty, we had this one coming. We've been coasting for the last few games and it's come back to bite us where it really hurts. I supposed, despite the gloom emitting from the red half of Manchester, there is a silverlining here, it was a wake up call, in the worst way possible, not only to the players, but the higher-ups as well.

We can no longer afford to sleepwalk to the title. At this early stage of the season, we're already finding ourselves in a small hole, most of it by our own doing. As I've said after the Stoke game, it was the beginning of the end if we continued to play like this.

The biggest disappointment were the goals conceeded in the last 3 minutes. Some of our players, namely Rio, just stopped playing. It allowed Shitty 3 additional goals that they did not deserve. He just stood still when Shitty broke and came at us with numbers. Rio simply didn't seem interested in playing and it was a huge letdown for the fans to see a self proclaimed 'legend' throw in the towel. It's just not the United way.

Of course the bulk of the blame will fall naturally to Evans who was red-carded right at the start of the second half when he found himself on the wrong side of Balotelli and had to pull him down.

The substitutions by Ferguson also left me scratching my head. Anderson was by no means the worst player on the pitch. In fact he was one of the few who showed a willingness to plod forward despite being two down. And taking Nani off instead of Young was another head-scratcher. Young's been playing like he's been auditioning for the Night of the Living Dead for the past month, yet he remained instead of Nani.

A combination of poor decisions and the lack of quality from the creative side of midfield spelt our demise. But what's more galling was the lack of desire from a number of players that was really a smack in the face of the fans. The honeymoon is over for this team, and the management has alot of heavy lifting to bring the spirits up and more importantly, the purse strings need to be loosened in January to bring in some help in midfield.

United Barely Escapes A Torrid Night In Bucharest

Otelui Galati 0 - Manchester United 2
Scorer
Manchester United: Rooney (pen 64, pen 90)


Red Cards
Otelui Galati: Perendija (88)
Manchester United: Vidic (66)


Team: Lindegaard, Vidic, Smalling, Evra, Fabio (Fabio 76), Carrick, Anderson, Valencia (EVans 70), Nani, Rooney, Hernandez

Not really sure what to make of this match. To say we were really poor is an understatement. We were nonchalant, unmotivated, disinterested and for large parts of the game looked like they just didn't want to be there. So much so that for a good portion of the game, I was really rooting for Otelui Galati to score.

The first half was possibly some of the worst football I've seen this season....and I've been watching quite abit of football. On paper, we should really be handing the Romanians a hiding, but the game isn't played on paper and our players just didn't seem interested in the game. The passing was slow and at times sloppy. There was very little movement away from the ball. In short, what we had was a bunch of millionaire footballers taking things really easy.

If Ferguson didn't open a can of whup ass on this bunch of arseholes at half time, he isn't a very good manager. Period.

We, somewhat, tried to pass the ball alittle faster, showed alittle bit more urgency, but it was sorely lacking to make the breakthru. At the rate things were going, it certainly looked like 3 draws in 3 Champions League encounters.

Then we got a ridiculously lucky break. The Romanian captain handled the ball in the box and Rooney scored from the spot. The goal came just in time as moments later, Vidic was harshly sent off for a foul. It didn't look bad enough for a straight red.

The sending off reduced us to defending for the rest of the game. Otelui nearly capitalise on their man advantage immediately but Carrick made a crucial last second block to prevent the equalizer. Most the game from then on was played in our half, keeping the Romanians at bay. It wasn't until after the Romanian team was reduced to ten men themselves very late in the game before we got our second goal from the spot.

There were a few notably putrid performers.

Valencia was simply terrible. I hate to pile on the guy as he seems a geniunely nice guy, but he was just terrible. You would think with a rare start at his preferred position, he would grab onto the opportunity with both hands...I mean legs. Instead he wasted possession, refused to run and generally was such a disruptive force that Ferguson had no choice but to replace him. Way to fight for your place in the team.

Vidic wasn't any better. In fact the red card could have saved him from further embarrassment. From his very shaky time on the pitch today, it looks pretty apparent that he's not fully recovered yet. It would certainly be a scary thought if he continues in the same vein against Aguero or Balotelli this weekend.

Most the the rest of the team wasn't any much better. Since I've been ragging on Carrick most of the time, I'm not going to dedicate anymore space on him. There would be further opportunities to do so I'm sure. However, as bad as the team played, there were a couple of star performers.

Evra was possibly the only player to do anything worthwhile in the first half when everyone was sleepwalking. Although he hardly defended, his runs upfront were the only cause of any excitement for a United fan.

Smalling possibly was the other player who didn't do too badly. Playing bad to his preferred position in the centre of defense, he did an admirable job, especially when we were reduced to ten men.

A repeat of this performance against the current leaders of the EPL this weekend will surely see us lose. After a scintillating start to the season, it seems the brakes have been applied in the past few weeks and we're coming to a grinding halt. Unless we can pull our socks up and get our collective heads back in time, there's going to be alot more noise coming from our neighbours at the end of the season...or even as early as this Sunday!

What Was Ferguson Thinking!

Liverpool 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Liverpool: Gerrard (68)
Manchester United: Hernandez (81)


Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans, Smalling, Evra, Jones (Hernandez 76), Fletcher, Park (Rooney 69), Young (Nani 69), Giggs, Welbeck

Sometimes I have no idea what the fuck is on Ferguson's mind. There were some serious changes made to the team and most were just mindboggling. I can understand keeping Rooney away from the spotlight after the whole silly sending off while playing for England, but to keep players like Anderson, Nani, Hernandez from the bench is bewildering at best. Not to mention, Berbatov wasn't even on the bench, not that he would have made a difference after the kind of performance we put up.

There were times during the game I felt that we were trying our best to bore Liverpool to death, then sneak in a spoon to scoop the remains. We could hardly get past the last third of the pitch. Welbeck was left buried under a ton of Liverpool pressure whenever he ventured near the Liverpool box. Young was at his putrid worst, unable to shake off Kelly and Giggs really showed his age. If anything, Park was the only player who could stand toe to toe to his Liverpool defender, but his lack of creativity resulted in nothing everytime he had the ball.

The Jones and Fletcher midfield pairing left a huge yolk on Ferguson's face. For all the plundits on Jone's great touch, dribbling and passing, it was too soon and too huge a game to throw him into the deep end for his first outing in an unfamilar position. Damnit, even Carrick might have been less tentative in the position. And for all the praises I've been singing at Fletcher in the past, today was the game I take it all back. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. He hasn't really played many games the past year or so, so it's going to take time for him to come to grips with the game at the top level, but today he was just simply awful.

There is a reason why De Gea ranks ranks right up there for the keeper who makes the most saves in the Premiership. Our defense just can't keep anyone from taking potshots. With names like Rio, Evra and Smalling, you would think we'd have a really good defense, yet game after game, we allow our opponents to take a ridiculous number of shots. And only thru the great stops by De Gea that we manage to keep the scores in our favour.

Long story short, Liverpool scored via a freekick that Rio needlessly gave away. Giggs inexplicably stepped away from the wall and Gerrard's kick arrowed past the gap and into the net. Ferguson sent on Rooney and Nani, and subsequently Hernandez, before Hernandez scored an instintive header from a corner.

While we were all waiting for the patented United comeback, De Gea was called into action with two incredible saves from Kuyt and Henderson. Liverpool finished the stronger and, as much as I hate to say this, deserved to have the 3 points.

This definitely counts as a loss in my book. Liverpool were so there for the taking, but Ferguson decided to play possum.

Lesson of the day, if Ferguson refuses to play our best players, we don't deserve to win. And if Shitty pips us to the title to the tune of 2 points, then we must look back to games like this where we gave it away right from kickoff.

Debbie Downer out.

United Scraps Past Norwich

Manchester United 2 - Norwich 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Anderson (68), Welbeck (88)


Team: Lindegaard, Jones, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Fletcher, Anderson (Rio 77), Park, Nani (Giggs 64), Rooney, Hernandez (Welbeck 64)

Looks like we're back to the struggles we faced last season breaking down teams at Old Trafford. We won this one thru sheer, dumb luck. If luck was a lady, we definitely rode her ragged.

Norwich came with a game plan and part of that was to park the bus. Their counters were particularly devastating and really could have resulted in, an altogether, different scoreline. Lindegaard also shown in this game that he's a really good keeper too. He kept us in the game when our back four fell apart for the second consecutive game.

Ferguson has got to be worried at how easily we're allowing opponents potshots at goal every single game. We may not have conceded in this game, but for every game this season, we've kept opponents in the game with terrible defending. The statistical fact that De Gea makes the most saves in the Premiership is testimont to just how fragil we are at the back. While we glow at the emergence of Jones and Smalling, the revival of Evans, the truth is that they have not really performed as a unit. The reason we're still keeping clean sheets is all due to the keepers.

Cover from midfield has been terrible too. After a springly start, Anderson seems to have faded off really fast. He may have scored the winner today, but his passes today, and the last couple of games, have been all over the place. He really needs to pick up his socks. When Vidic returns, I can see Ferguson pushing Jones to play in midfield.

Upfront, we seemed to lack the firepower despite both Rooney and Hernandez returning from short-termed injuries. They are probably shaking off abit of rust, while Welbeck seems to be showing some really good form, and scoring a good goal to kill off the game.

Overall, it's a great result but a poor performance. We take a couple of weeks off for the international break, which really isn't much of a break for us considering most of our players are involved. When we return, it's a trip down to Anfield to face Liverpool. If we get a similar kind of treatment from the refs the way they screwed Everton, we're in for a really long day.