Spurs Break Old Trafford Jinx

Manchester United 2 - Tottenham 3
Scorers
Manchester United: Nani (51), Kagawa (53)
Tottenham: Vertonghen (2), Bale (32), Dempsey (52)

Team: Lindagaard, Rio (Hernandez 90), Evans, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs (Rooney 46), Nani, Kagawa (Welbeck 79), Van Persie

Anyone even surprised at this result? I know I'm not. We were terrible. Absolutely putrid in the first half and deserved this loss even though we did give a good account of ourselves in the second half. Sadly the game is not played in 45 minute halves.

I'm sure the newspapers tomorrow would all be screaming at our porous and sometimes non-existent defense, but the problem for me lies squarely in the midfield area. We are so bad in the centre of the park that we just didn't give our much maligned defenders a chance. The cover just wasn't there and there were times our midfielders didn't seem like they cared.

Just look at the first goal by Vertonghen. Neither Nani nor Carrick were interested in tracking him when he got the ball. If either had tracked back, he wouldn't have the chance to slice right thru our defense to score. Similarly, Bale was given arces of space to run at Rio while Evans was busy covering Defoe. Even for Dempsey's tap in, no one shadowed him, allowing him all the space and time in the world to tap in Lindegaard's shotblock.

To make matters worse, our midfield is terribly static. Kagawa had no one to play with. Once Rooney came on in the second half, the entire complexion of the game changed. Suddenly all the off the ball running by Kagawa mattered. Suddenly he had someone to play the ball off, and as a result, we played so much better, pinning Spurs back into their own half. They could barely cope with the movement. Even Van Persie and Nani came to life, after stinking it up in the first half.

We brought the game to Spurs in the second half, but were unable to claw back a huge first half deficit. Until Ferguson starts playing the youngsters (Ando and Cleverley together) or we get a covering midfielder in the mold of a Yaya Toure or Tiote, we're going to see a whole lot of play like the first half. Sometimes we pull out of it, like against Fulham, Soton and Liverpool, but against good enough opponents, we're just going to fail like against Everton and today against Spurs.

Anderson And Cleverley Stunners Sees United Thru

Manchester United 2 - Newcastle 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Anderson (44), Cleverley (58)
Newcastle: Cisse (61)

Team: De Gea, M. Keane, Wootton, Vermiji (Turnnicliffe 76), Buttner (Brady 86), Fletcher, Anderson, Cleverley, Welbeck, Rooney (Powell 76), Hernandez

I'm usually not a fan of our midfield, but today I am. With Fletcher leading the pack with his first start after a long absence, our midfield was almost fantastic. Ando and Cleverley has always been my preferred pairing and today both got on the scoresheet with absolute belters.

For once without the static Carrick holding play back, there was movement and urgency in the centre of the park. With the help of Rooney and Welbeck playing deep, we were creating chances and looked significantly more dangerous going forward.

We did look vulnerable at the back especially during Newcastle set-pieces, but both Michael Keane and Wootton held their own well. With Vidic, Smalling and Jones out for an extended amount of time, Ferguson seems to have viable options. Whether he uses them or not is another question altogether. For what it's worth, they both got valuable play time today.

The stand out youngster today however was the young Belgian, Vermiji. His delivery into the box from the right wing back position was delicious. It was unfortunate that most of the time he whipped in those delightful balls, no one was at the end of it.

I'd be surprised in the weeks to come, Ferguson keeps faith in Carrick. Fletcher, Ando and Cleverley are all knocking on the door and should really be given the opportunity to play over Carrick, Giggs and Scholes. The Ando-Cleverley pairing would be a godsend. When together, both are hungry and mobile. Mpre importantly, neither will have an elder statesman along side them which they would feel obligated to defer to.

Can't wait for the weekend to come. If Spurs play anywhere near what they are capable of, they are going to knock our socks off. Maybe then, Ferguson will start changing the midfield.

Trivia: Ryan Turnnicliffe was substituted into the game at 76th minute. His father placed a 100 pound bet on his son making the first team of Manchester United 10 years ago at a 100-1. Today, the elder Turnnicliffe walks away 10,000 pounds richer.

United Continues To Scrap Wins

Liverpool 1 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Liverpool: Gerrard (46)
Manchester United: Rafael (51), Van Persie (pen 81)

Red Card
Liverpool: Shelvey (39)

Team: Lindegaard, Rio, Evans, Rafael (Welbeck 89), Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Nani (Scholes 46), Kagawa (Hernandez 81), Van Persie

After a few dismal reviews, I had hoped to gloss this one with accolades, especially with a win over our fiercest rivels, but instead we were treated to this abysmal crap that continues to spew from our non-existent midfield. If there is one game that is truly terrible, this one has to take the cake.

I know the emotions were high with everything going on, and the tributes off the pitch, but we were never in the game. To make matters worse, Liverpool were reduced to 10 men late in the first half and we never really capitalised until Gerrard put them ahead early in the second. Although we responded with a quick equalizer, the game was entirely dominated by Liverpool.

We hardly had a sniff against a team with 10 men and to add insult to injury, we were awarded a penalty late in the game just to rub it into Liverpool, who really were outstanding and possible hard done by by the result.

With Nani taken off the pitch at half time, Van Persie stepped up and powered his spot kick into the net. It could nearly have been a 4th fluff from the penalty spot had Reina had a stronger pair of hands.

Overall, this was a contest between two shit teams slugging it out. We were completely outplayed, yet managed to take all the points by the skin of our teeth. I wish I knew what's wrong with the team, I really do. As of right now, if we face any of the top teams, we're looking at a very harsh thrashing and deservedly so. Utter shit.

United Loses Midfield Battle But Wins The War

Manchester United 1 - Galatasaray 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Carrick (7)

Team: De Gea, Vidic, Evans, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Scholes (Fletcher 79), Valencia, Nani, Kagawa (Welbeck 84), Van Persie (Hernandez 81)

The more I watch United this season, the more underwhelmed I get. We keep getting lost in midfield and had it not been for some stout defending and brilliant goalkeeping, we would have dropped points tonight.

To be fair, we started off pretty well and really looked like taking the game to the Turkish. Carrick scored early playing pretty one-twos with both Kagawa and RVP. He rounded the keeper, kept his balance and put the ball in the net. We had numerous opportunities to double the score but were found wanting. As with every game, the momentum slowly swung the way of Galatasaray and we were kept at bay for the longest periods in the game.

They struck the woodwork thrice and had a couple of penalties denied. On our end, we had one called and Nani fluffed his lines while trying to fool the keeper. I don't understand why or what he was trying to do, taking a number of stutter steps which only ended up fooling himself. At least after making a complete and utter fool of himself, he actually played some really good football.

We created a good number of chances in the game, but were unable to find the target, while Galatasaray were good value for a draw. They were the better team and probably on the night deserved something. Yet we won the game. I hate repeating myself, but we continue to live the lie.

I really have a bad bad feeling for this Sunday. You know that Liverpool is a wounded beast, and as poorly as they have been playing, we're no better. Our careless play in midfield is going to come back to bite us in the back one day. I just hope it's not this Sunday.

Buttner And Powell's Turn To Open Their United Accounts

Manchester United 4 - Wigan 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Scholes (51), Hernandez (63), Buttner (66), Powell (82)

Team: Lindegaard, Rio, Vidic (Evans 77), Rafael, Buttner, Carrick, Scholes (Van Persie 71), Giggs (Powell 72), Nani, Welbeck, Hernandez

First off, let me apologise for missing the previous game. I cleared my the cache on my browser and kinda 'lost/forgot' my password. Real life hasn't been any kinder either. Too many fires to fight on too many fronts and too much work over the weekends. In any case, that shouldn't be an excuse to miss out on my opinions on the game. Too many readers have their hopes on me, and after a timely tongue lashing from Kentona today, I promise all my 7 readers (yes readership has increased), that I will put in a more conscious effort not to let anyone down. However, that being said, reports, rantings and opinions will not be as prompt as before. I foresee weekends for the next 6-7 months to be really busy, and I hope for your understanding (all 7 of you)!

A Fortnight Ago
Let me keep this short since everyone would have seen the highlights by now. RVP completed a hattrick to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying seconds of a game we didn't deserve to draw, let alone win. He made up for a penalty miss and single-handedly won us the game. Soton played their hearts out and really didn't deserve to come away with nothing.

One Night Ago
If last week was bad, yesterday was terrible. Yet in spite of that, we somehow thumped 4 past Wigan. If this was the cooporate world, the entire department would have been shut down to stop the bleeding after the first half.

As much as I want to use Carrick as the scapegoat again, Giggsy was equally poor. Both were guilty of slowing the pace of the game. At least in Giggsy's defense, he was trying to spray the ball forward with his wayward efforts, gifting it to the opponents. Like the previous game against Soton, Fergie's faith in Carrick remains a mystery to all. Sometimes I swear that Carrick has incriminating evidence of Fergie in compromising positions.

The game started brightly for us when Welbeck shamefully dived for a penalty. Just like RVP in the previous game, Hernandez had his saved but did redeem himself with a poacher's goal in the second half.

Other than the penalty, we were simply terrible. It was back to the lacklustre play we've displayed most of last season. The 4-0 result only confirms the lie we've been living.

It was much of the same dull football in the second half until Scholes get really fed up with everyone and did what he did best. He was the first to pounce on Al Habsi's dreadful parry from Nani's cross. The goal gave a kick up the butt for the lads (pun not intended)

Alex Buttner, making his United debut, was the outstanding player from then. His misdirected shot was redirected in by Hernandez, making up for his shambolic penalty. Buttner then got on the scoresheet himself after a determined run, jigging past 4 defenders and putting the ball in the net.

Nick Powell, a substitute also making his United debut, thundered home a sweetly struck shot to run off an unlucky rout over a poor Wigan who were hard done by.

Just to drum in for those of you who are still celebrating the margin of victory, WE PLAYED LIKE SHIT! This has to count as one of the emptiest 4-0 thumpings. I'm sure if we continue trying to sleepwalk thru the season, we're going to get caught out badly one of these days. What I really fear is that we might get caught out at Anfield next weekend. As poor as Liverpool has been all season, and they are really shit, I think we're worse.

The silverlining here is that our new players have shown plenty of hunger and desire. Fergie has a tough decision to make. He can either keep faith in the old guard, or he can play the new blood. The decision is crystal clear to me, and the question is how clear is it to him? And for fuck's sake, someone please take Carrick out of the game!