United Rips Arsenal A New One

Manchester United 8 - Arsenal 2
Scorer
Manchester United: Welbeck (22), Young (28, 90), Rooney (41, 64, pen 82), Nani (67), Park (70)
Arsenal: Walcott (45), Van Persie (74)


Red Card
Arsenal: Jenkinson (77)


Team: De Gea, Jones, Evans, Smalling, Evra, Anderson (Giggs 68), Cleverley, Nani (Park 68), Young, Rooney, Welbeck (Hernandez 36)


My word, we really gave it to the Gunners in the worst way possible just to pound on their already troubled start to the league. For a moment there I actually felt sorry for Wenger, but after a few drinks (ok, drank more that I can remember) while watching the game with some friends, I think he fully deserves all the trouble he's in for with his fans. The squad is dire and in need of fresh faces, especially after losing two of their most important players, and Wenger still stubbornly refuses to pay above valuation for players. The economist in him must give way to the manger that is in dire need of help.

We couldn't have asked for better motivation when earlier Shitty gave it to another London team, Spurs, a good hiding. Knowing that we needed to beat Arsenal by a 5 goal margin to claim top spot, the lads came out of the dressing room fired up and were all into the gunners. The first goal took awhile but when Anderson's lob ball over the tentative Arsenal defense who failed to clear, Welbeck needed no second invitation to head the ball over the keeper (I refuse to spell that impossible name).

Arsenal almost replied with a weak penalty when Walcott was seemingly tripped in the box by Evans. The referee didn't give it but the fucking useless linesman flagged for it instead. If the award of the penalty was weak, Van Persie's spot kick was even worse. De Gea dived the right way and push it out for a corner. How they missed Fabregas.

Immediately from the counter, Young found himself in yards of space and curled a wonderful ball beyond he-who-shall-not-be-named's outstretched arms.

Rooney helped himself to a third with a carefully placed freekick. By this time, we were looking dandy and threatening to run riot against an Arsenal team who have yet to know the first names of the players beside them.

But as it is with United, complacency crepted in and we failed to clear our lines in the last minute of the first half and Walcott pounced on the chance to whip on back for the Gunners. An unlikely fightback seemed on the cards if we continued to give them space and time.

These days United are made of sterner stuff. We came out of the dressing room determined to make up the goal difference that Shitty has built on us and piled on the pressure. It's been a long long time since we've played this well. Like the first half it took awhile before we got on the scoresheet again and once again it was a well-worked freekick from Rooney that left he-has-an-impossible-name-to-spell stranded.

United were flying. Nani added a fifth, and his replacement, Park, scored a sixth. Van Persie did get on the score sheet but it was really one-way traffic.

The last ten minutes saw United compounding on Arsenal's troubles as they had yet another player sent off. Rooney completed his hattrick from the spot when Evra was crudely fouled in the area. Young completed the demolition with another curler in the dying seconds.

I honestly can't remember United domination proceedings in such from start to finish. Even in the 9-0 Ispwich game or the 8-1 against Forest, there were pockets of resistence. This one was completely one-sided.

The Anderson and Cleverley midfield is possible one of the best I've seen in a long long long time. They seem to work well with one another and are very positive with the ball, constantly pushing it forward. Honestly, if they don't face a burn out anytime this season, I simply cannot see Carrick getting into the team again. But it's a long season and they are young players playing in a position that wears you down and at some point in time, I believe it will get to them.

Even Welback leaving the pitch in the first half with what I believe is a hamstring problem isn't a huge miss. I mean it's sad to see him go off in such fashion, but we didn't miss a beat with Hernandez coming on. And we have able replacements with Berbatov and Owen still in the wings, not to mention Macheda and Diouf even further behind the packing order.


This team is just so deep that 3 of our back four aren't supposed to be in the first team, but they damn well are playing like they've been there all their lives. Said this before, say it again, they are still very young and will get their rest when the 'big guns' return. As of now, they are getting some insane experience playing for a winning team.

Bloody hell, since I'm still abit drunk, might as well put this down in writing. Take away Messi, I think we're right up there with Barcelona!

Welbeck Arrives

Manchester United 3 - Tottenham 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Welbeck (60), Anderson (76), Rooney (87)


Team: De Gea, Jones, Evans, Smalling, Evra, Anderson, Cleverley (Giggs 82), Nani, Young (Park 82), Rooney, Welbeck (Hernandez 82)

That was utterly brilliant. Utterly brilliant. Ferguson must be so proud of the boys tonight. We started with what I must say a really youthful looking team. With the exception of probably Evra, we literally played with boys out there. Boy did they come of age, in the most emphatic fashion.

We didn't exactly start off well in the first half, but did well to stand toe to toe with Spurs, probably edging the number of shots on target but possibly narrowly losing out on the posession stats. We should have gone into the lead, but that ancient giant, Friedel at the ripe old age of 40 was having a really good game preventing shot after shot from beating him.

Whilte the first half was a eye-catching, the second half was breathtaking. The moment Welbeck scored the opener in the 60th minute, the game only went in one direction.

Once Welbeck directed Cleverley's super cross, there was only going to be one outcome. With the goal giving him confidence, Welbeck went on to put an exclaimation mark on his man of the match performance. He had a bicycle kick saved but went on to set up Anderson's goal on a platter. He brilliantly backheeled the ball into Anderson's path and he couldn't miss.

Ferguson was so delighted with the display, he made a triple substitution to allow the Old Trafford crowd to give Welbeck, Cleverley and Young a well deserved ovation. Rooney added icing to the cake with a headed goal provided by Giggs.

On the other end, no game is complete without a small boo-boo from De Gea when he let slip a cross but Defoe could only strike the woodwork. However that said, De Gea had a really good outing. Spurs peppered him with long shots and low shots but he handle it all exceptionally well.

And our youthful defenders all were outstanding. Nothing got past them, and for most parts, Spurs were left with long shots. What was most gratifying to watch was that fact that the 4 forward players continuously came back to help the defense. Everyone played for one another.

On the strength of today's wonderful performance, I honestly cannot see anyone taking the title from us. Screw Shitty and Chelsea, they are simply not at our level. Not even close.

Poor Game, Good Result

WBA 1 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
WBA: Long (36)
Manchester United: Rooney (12), Reid (og 81)


Team: De Gea, Vidic (Evans 55), Rio (Jones 76), Smalling, Fabio, Anderson, Cleverley, Nani, Young, Welbeck (Berbatov 65), Rooney

Barring the first 20 or so minutes, this was a pretty poorly played game from our standpoint. De Gea suffered a second howler in successive games but was ultimately rescued again late.

We came out blasting out of the gates when the game started and promptly got a delightful Rooney goal on the 12th minute. The goal was well worked out between Rooney and Young. The chances were there but none were on target as our ascendancy slowly faded under the workman-like pressure from West Brom.

De Gea did well to parry a powerful shot by Scharner when he broke thru the defence. However minutes later, our new no.1 was once again found lacking when Shane Long's weak shot from the corner squirmed under his arms, much like how Dzeko's did a week earlier.It brought West Brom level and gave them the confidence to take us on.

We could hardly string a series of passes in the second half. And as the game progressed on, West Brom were the team that looked the likelier winners. They looked especially dangerous on set-pieces and with the team's confidence on De Gea at a low, it just made it more nerve-wrecking to watch. Both Vidic and Rio also left the field with injuries.

In the end, it was abit of magic by Young who broke the deadlock. He wiggled past his man on the left flank and whipped in a cross that met with a double deflection and into the net. Somehow, despite not looking anywhere near our best, we managed to pull one out against a resloute team.

With all our so-called contenders drawing in the opening weekend, this has to be a huge result, even at this early stage of the season. More importantly, we've navigated a difficult away fixture with all 3 points. If West Brom plays the way the played today, I doubt many of the pretenders will have much to cheer about when they leave the Hawthorns.

United Takes The Shield In Style

Manchester United 3 - Manchester City 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Smalling (52), Nani (58, 90)
Manchester City: Lescott (38), Dzeko (45)


Team: De Gea, Vidic (Evans 45), Rio (Jones 45), Smalling, Evra (Rafael 71), Carrick (Cleverley 45), Anderson, Young, Nani, Welbeck (Berbatov 89), Rooney

Pre-season
Before I do this, I have to say that this has been a truely awesome summer. We opened the chequebook and acquired Young, De Gea and Jones as part of our retooling project after the departures of some experienced players, some via retirements and others off the greener pastures. Make no mistake, these players will be sorely missed.

We've also been absolutely a peach to watch during pre-season. All our keepers (De Gea, Lindegaard, Amos) performed wonderfully and worthy successors of Van der Sar's no.1 jersey. The only thing lacking is that little bit of experience that will differentiate them from good to great.

Our strikers were all on form and viaing for the starting position. Hernandez had a sizzling performance in the Gold Cup, while the others (Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Macheda, Welbeck and Diouf) all scored in the pre-season and looked extremely hungry. It's a pity only 2-3 will be used in the regular season.

Even in midfield, where we looked like lightweights, was churning out a surprise. Anderson and Park showed fine form, while Cleveley looks like a real keeper.

Just to emphasize how good our pre-season was, even Obertan looked the part. It seems like he's finally learnt the finer points of playing the wing ie. when to shoot and when to pass. Unfortunately, with the depth in that department, he's been loaned off to the crybabies (Newcastle). If he gains the kind of experience Cleveley and Welbeck did last season, we'd be looking at an awesome player come next season.

Community Shield
Amazing game, amazing result. To add to that, we practically did it with kids. In your face Shitty.

Well against the run of play, we conceded late in the first half after dominating most of the play. After a dumb foul by Evra, Lescott rose the highest to head the freekick into De Gea's net.

To make matters worse, De Gea was found lacking when he allowed Dzeko's rasping shot fly by him. Must have been a nightmare for De Gea, but he proved his worth in the second half with a couple of point blank saves that justified why we paid a princely sum for him.

The second half was when the true United turned up. It wasn't a surprise that the usually ineffective Carrick was replaced by a youthful Cleverley. Rio and Vidic were also replaced and the centre pairing of Evans and Jones did really well.

With age replaced by youth as the theme of the second half, it wasn't a surprise that Smalling stole the thunder when he connected to Young's freekick to direct the ball into the net with the entire Shitty defense napping.

Nani added a quickfire second after some beautiful inter-passing by Rooney and Cleverley set him free. It was all United all day. Shitty struggled to get a sniff of the ball as we passed the ball around the park effectively and efficiently. Cleverley was a marvel to behold. His range of passing and workrate is top notched. If he can play at this level consistently, it seems that our woes in midfield are finally over. Sneijder who?

Just as the game was edging towards penalties, Nani turned defense into attack with a lightning blitz after Kompany failed to clear the danger and sprinted off in the opposite direction, around Hart and gleefully passing the ball into the empty net before the final whistle.

It was a truely wonderful perfomance coming back from 2 goals down to stick the dagger to silience the perpetual noise. It's a very encouraging result with so many new and young players. We once again stamped our authority and once again showed the rest of the league that we're still the ones to beat.